The Run Way: A is for Adventure, Asian Food and Authenticity

Those of you who know me aren't surprised if one day I post from Durham, NC and the next day from Barcelona, Spain and then mere days later from Los Angeles, CA.  Thus is the life of a single, professional, curious, adventurous, gypsy soul.  My Southwest account has seen quite a bit of activity these past few years.  My photo journal is rich in memories visiting family and friends.  A rich life full of memories.

As a marketing and finance professional in Corporate America, somewhere between planning budgets, designing marketing campaigns and managing financials, life just felt like it could be more flavorful than biege.  Over the years I have had many ideas and false starts.....start a business, write blogs/books, develop a clothing line, copywriting, photography, cooking blog, etc.  At one point I resigned to move to the beach to open a surf shop lounge. 

That adventure took me to Surf Expo and I discovered brave business people and brands like Lira and their amazing fabrics, Amuse Society with the fun, quirky styles, Roark Revival and the story of their brand, how adventure inspires their clothing (and a sip of Canadian whiskey with the surfer boys wasn't too shabby either), Jetty and conversing with the owner and learning their tricks of the trade, Hippy Tree and their southern California roots and so many other brands and people and their stories.  This is where my fondness for good quality athleisure wear brands was born.  Zyia most certainly belongs in these ranks.

After a couple weeks of traveling for work and the July 4th holidays for an annual trip with my besties, it is nice to homestead for a minute and take the adventure to the kitchen.  So began my week of healthy starting with some asian food dishes, like this Eggroll in a Bowl recipe.

Eggroll in a Bowl.  It really was quite tasty. One for dinner,
one for lunch tomorrow.  Smart Eating.

The recipe is easy and healthy.  Add some hot sauce to take it up a notch. Nom Nom.

Part of what it means to have a gypsy soul is I collect many stories along the way, get exposed to many different perspectives, cultures, influences, but yet somehow try to remain me.  But that's what keeps me evolving and changing along this journey.  I am not the same me I was yesterday, I'm a better version of me.  Authentically me.

The Run Way...join the adventure for body, mind and balance during Fit Days and F'It Days. 

The Run Way: So it Begins

Fitness for me has always been a love/hate relationship.  Maybe you can relate?  Some days I am the fitness goddess, ready to conquer the world and drop 5 pounds, and earn flat abs within a week.  Other days I am the TV series queen ruling the couch and popcorn bowl in mad form.  My clothes are workout machines on Fit Days and on others my clothes are lounge wear on F'It Days.  Both are important.

This blog is resurrected from a discussion a friend and I had while watching a 1/2 marathon in Raleigh from the sidelines and cheering on a friend at various points along the way.  Holding cups of warm coffee on a cold November day, we brainstormed disposable jackets to throw away after reaching the starting line on a cold morning.  We discussed how nice it is to look pretty in the cool running clothes and did we *really* have to run or could we just wear the outfits.  We also discussed how great it felt to be in shape and the inspiration those in the race provided, the discipline and hard work and how that feels to achieve a hard earned goal.

Today I bring that spirit back to my life.  The Run Way isn't about running, it isn't about fashion.  It is about real people with good days, bad days, looking good, and feeling better.  It is about feeling good and trying to stay fit and balancing Fit Days with F'It Days.  Most importantly it is about you and YOUR way.  No matter how you define fitness in your mind, body, and/or spirit, this forum is your way covering everything from A to Z.  Follow along and enjoy the ride, of course with a great play list, yummy dinner, and lots of great friends.

Welcome back to Deb's Road and her Radio on The Run Way.....join the adventure of body, mind and balance during Fit Days and F'It Days.

My 15 iPod Shuffles

A friend from high school tagged me in the list of his. Makes for a great playlist, so I thought I'd take my iPod for a shuffle spin. Here's what came up. Surprised even me, and it's my iPod!

Top 15 shuffle
1) Turn on your MP3 player, iPod or the music player on your computer.
(2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
(3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up--song title and artist--NO editing/cheating, please.
(4) Choose 15 people to be tagged. It is generally considered to be in good taste to tag the person who tagged you.  If I tagged you, it's because I'm betting that your musical selection is entertaining, or at least amusing.

To do this, go to "NOTES" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, enter your 15 Shuffle Songs, Tag 15 people (under the post) then click Publish.

1 Cheap Ain't Cheap - Scott miller and the Commonwealth
2 Grandpa- Justin Moore
3 Operator - Grateful Dead
4 Dear Mr. Fantasy - Traffic
5 Barstool Boys - Marah
6 Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
7 You Got Lucky - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
8 Girl from Greenbriar Shore - Ralph Stanley
9 Satisfy My Soul - Bob Marley & The Wailers
10 Girl on the Moon - Foreigner
11 Freak Me Out - Weezer
12 San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
13 Lithium - Nirvana
14 Be Mine - REM
15 Loving the Girl - Scott Miller

15 Songs

A friend from high school posted his top 15 songs from his random iPod shuffle and it was a great playlist. That means, of course, I had to take mine for a spin. Surprised even me.

Top 15 shuffle
1) Turn on your MP3 player, iPod or the music player on your computer.
(2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
(3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up--song title and artist--NO editing/cheating, please.
(4) Choose 15 people to be tagged. It is generally considered to be in good taste to tag the person who tagged you.  If I tagged you, it's because I'm betting that your musical selection is entertaining, or at least amusing.
 
To do this, go to "NOTES" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, enter your 15 Shuffle Songs, Tag 15 people (under the post) then click Publish.

1 Cheap Ain't Cheap - Scott Miller and the Commonwealth
2 Grandpa- Justin Moore
3 Operator - Grateful Dead
4 Dear Mr. Fantasy - Traffic
5 Barstool Boys - Marah
6 Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
7 You Got Lucky - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
8 Girl from Greenbriar Shore - Ralph Stanley
9 Satisfy My Soul - Bob Marley & The Wailers
10 Girl on the Moon - Foreigner
11 Freak Me Out - Weezer
12 San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
13 Lithium - Nirvana
14 Be Mine - REM
15 Loving the Girl - Scott Miller

Where has my run gone?

Well, well, funny how a year comes full circle.  This time last year I was grunting and sweating my way through 30 minutes on the tread with the alternate run/walk combo.  The months that followed I was actually running about 3 times a week and made it to a consecutive 30 minutes at a nice easy pace.  With the help of Netflix and headphones, I even made it through 45 minutes of running with a little 5 minute pre- and post- warm up.  Dare I say I even considered running in a, gasp, 5K?

Then I went to the doctor.  "Dr. S, I am dying."  "Again," she says in a drab monotone voice without missing a beat. "Why this time?" Concerned that I can't breath as deep as my fellow yogis while twisting my body into a human pretzel and then having watched entirely too many pharmaceutical commercials on TV, I just thought it prudent to insist on a lung test.  So off I went to see if my breathing was compromised.  Long story short:  By doing something good, like running, which I came to enjoy and actually provided healthy jube-jubes, I, in turn, acquired an annoying a pesky little friend called "sports induced asthma."  Devestated and refusing to become a slave to a prescribed drug, I talked myself into giving up my runs.

Not cool.  Think of where I could be today.

Flash to today:  Feeling like Bikram Yoga and my normal Saturday morning yoga sessions just aren't the complete ticket, I have decided to get back in the game.  Me and my new friend, Mr. Inhaler, will be taking to the treads and practicing the old strategy preached by my high school friend Anne, by simply putting one foot in front of the other.

Games begin tomorrow am with an episode of Madmen on the iPAD to take my mind off the beginning pain.  Keep me honest, y'all.  Hold me accountable if you don't see a blog post.

Tomorrow begins now.

Cowbells: Ain't Just for Farms Anymore

This past week I was in Florida on a business trip which unfortunately took about 8 long hours to return home. After a long layover in Houston Bush-Int'l, a plane delay to replace a sensor, which then got further delayed while the maintenance crew took cover from a torrential Texas-style thunder and lightning storm, a near husband-wife "you are on my last nerve" type of argument, the plane took off a mere 33 word search puzzles and an hour after scheduled departure.

By the time I was in bed and had cooled down from the heat of the trip home, it was 2am. Needless to say Saturday needed to be a nice happy day to get things done and listen to the radio. Wow, I got more than I bargained for. On 96 Rock it is Cowbell Songlist Weekend with the best cowbell songs selected and played at the top of the hours. So I started thinking about cowbells and what song would feature Bessie's bell. The only song I could come up with was Honky Tonk Women.

So, a little research on the internet and some Facebook petitioning was in order and here's what I foun

Grand Funk Railroad - We're an American Band
The Beatles - Taxman
Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give it Up
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
Santana - Evil Ways
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Queens of the Stone Age - Little Sister
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
Beastie Boys - She's Crafty and Hey Ladies
War - Low Rider
Sweet - Little Willie
Bad Brains - Pay to Cum
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog
Prince - You Got the Look
AC/DC - Thunderstruck
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
B'52s - Love Shack
Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter
Beatles - Hard Days Night
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Blues Brothers Band- Gimme' Some Lovin'
Bon Jovi - It's my Life
Britney Spears - Hit Me Baby One More Time
Dee Lite - Groove is in the Heart
Duran Duran - Reflex
EMF - Unbelievable
Frank Sinatra - My Way
Hall and Oates - Private Eyes
Inxs - Wild Life
Jimi Hendrix - Fire
Joe Cocker - Leave Your Hat On
John Denver - Annie's Song
Lionel Ritchie - All Night Long
Madonna - Justify My Love
Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
Pink - I'm Coming Up
Police - Roxanne
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
Salt n Pepper - Push It
Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
Simon & Garfunkle - Sounds of Silence
Twisted Sister - We're Not Going to Take It
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood or Live Wire

Created: September 29, 2009

Images courtesy of Wilkepedia and thepeoplescube.com

There she goes.....off and running....

Off and running again. Perhaps it was WDC and the reunion trip that got me started. Maybe it was the fact that I love to eat and hate dieting. Whatever the reason, I am determined to get back into running.

Who am I kidding? I never ran. Even when I was on the crew at USC, I rode my bike behind the rowers as they circled the campus jogging at wee hours in the morning. My running joke with friends was that I would start running when someone started chasing me. Well, that day never came.

There is something rather intriguing about jogging. From my beginner's perspective, as shallow, innocent and naive it may be, I don't get it. Allegedly there is a runner's high to be had. With the current drug testing philosophy at the company, that's all the high I can get these days but it just isn't coming. The nirvana that true runners feel must come much, much later. Here's my experience:

Week 1:

Completely motivated to get into running shape with hallucinations of running in 5K's for fun, laughing about running mis-adventures with other running enthusiasts. I am so confident that I will be a runner for life that I buy a cute running skirt to give me incentive to keep going. One day I just woke up and said "Today's the day," much like it happens with my hair appointments. Running shoes on the feet, head band on the hair and to the tread we go. Realistically I know that it will have to be a slow gradual process 5 minutes walk, 5 minutes run and then repeat for 2 miles.

What was I thinking? My knee hurt, my heart was about to beat out of my body, sweat was pouring out of edifices that I didn't even know I had. No matter. I pushed through and kept going. Somehow, as boring as it was, there were actually 2 different occasions in the week. Where was that high? When do I stop counting 1,2,3,4 over and over to keep my pace?

Week 2:

I think I started out too aggressively. Three cheers to Runners World and the "Couch to 5K" program. This week I am on the Mon-Wds-Fri plan to follow that to the tee. I do feel a little lighter on my toes though. But that could also be lack of proper nutrition after a weekend of concerts and playing with the girls