Peachtree Take Two

This morning I received confirmation that on July 4th I’ll be participating in the world’s largest 10k for the second year in a row, along with 60,000 other folks. Where my fellow Peachtree runners at?

The Georgia Half Marathon Expo + Pre-Race Thoughts.

After an hour of hot yoga at Ember Hot Yoga‘s Open House to stretch everything out one last time, Mom and I hit the Publix Georgia Half Marathon Expo to pick up our race packet (and free swag, duh).

As hard as it was to pass all the vendors at first, we headed straight towards the back of the expo to pickup our race packets. Luckily, packet pickup was a breeze! There was no line and the volunteers were very friendly, even when I asked them what the hell a streaker was. The first order of business after getting our gear…

Calm Throughout The Storm.

What a day.

I was at work way early this morning to give a talk on social media safety and privacy to middle school parents. The talk went really well! There was a larger turnout than I expected, parents took notes and asked questions, and everything was going smoothly…until a tornado siren went off and phones started blowing up with alerts that all of Metro Atlanta was under a tornado warning. We moved our discussion into the basement until the coast was clear and the warning was lifted.

By lunchtime, a tornado hit Adairsville, a town about an hour north of us; by 1:30, the local sirens started up again. It was madness as we tried to communicate to the school and to parents the most up-to-date information about what was going on.

It didn’t take long for the tornado to make national news. As I was updating my BFF Mary about what was going on (she lives in Chicago) and how crazy things were at work, she commented, “Man, I bet your love of yoga really helps in situations like that.” You know what? I think she was dead on.

While I’m certainly not advocating taking a savasana while children are duck-and-covering in the hallway, if there is one thing that yoga has taught me, it is the importance of your breath. It’s ingrained in your brain from your very first class: “Deep breath in, slowly release. The most important thing is your breath.” After years of hearing these mantras repeated, I realized that I subconsciously have started to return to my breath when I feel stressed or anxious – and on days like today, where it is so easy to become overwhelmed, I’m so glad I do.

It’s seems so trivial to write about things as simple as breathing after days like today, and I’m not even sure how to conclude this post. I feel incredibly fortunate to have my home (and sanity) in tact and my little family safe with me tonight. Keep The Peach State in your thoughts as the rebuilding process begins.

Weekend Wrap Up.

Saturday morning, Mom and I decided to try a new run and hit up the Eastside Trail of the still-in-the-beginning-stages Atlanta BeltLine. Despite the chill & wind, there were so many people out! At the risk of sounding like I am thrice my age, it always makes me happy to see families out and about getting their fitness on with each other. I creepsmiled at so many babies in strollers that I was honestly surprised the APD hadn’t joined us on our run by mile 3.  We ran out and back for 4.5 miles and then made a loop around Piedmont Park to get our 6 miles in for the day.

We stopped at the Piedmont dog park to visit with some four-legged creatures and, in the process, peeped these crazy pop-up bathrooms. Mom was understandably impressed that they were not actually elevators.

After a Mellowterranean pizza from Mellow Mushroom and a trip to Trader Joe’s (always a great idea on a Saturday), we went our separate ways to relax for the rest of the day. I had big plans for staying awake to watch SNL, but my eyelids had a different idea and I fell asleep on the couch at 10 o’clock. Drake judged me.

After a glorious amount of sleep (hello, 10 hours), Mitch and I woke up and decided on brunch at The Olde Kitchen, a Castleberry Hill joint that was featured on Thrillist for their awesome chicken & waffles. The staff were super friendly, and I loved the red & white tablecloths and mason jars for glasses. Most importantly, their chicken & waffles lived up to the hype. Mitch forbade me from taking a picture of my breakfast, so let this image burn into your brain instead.

Courtesy of Thrillist

We tooled around a bit downtown before coming home to take care of some typical Sunday chores, like making this week’s batch of homemade Larabars. 2 cups of pitted dates + 1 cup of dry roasted peanuts in the Ninja  = 8 bars of goodness to take to work for the week. So easy and so delicious.

This upcoming Saturday is February’s race: Chattahoochee Challenge 10K. On deck for the week is yoga on Monday, 4 miles on Tuesday, yoga on Wednesday, and 3 miles on Thursday.

Most importantly, I have a playlist to create! Any song suggestions? Don’t worry, Alan Jackson is already in mind.

Friday Favorites.

The sun is here, the sun is here! After what seems like weeks of cloudy skies and a near-miss with a winter storm system, it is a beautiful (albeit chilly) Friday here in Atlanta. I can’t even begin to express how happy I was to have to wear sunglasses on my commute this morning.

• It must be the voyeur in me, but I love advice columns. What better way to remember Pauline Phillips than a look back at 10 weird & wonderful Dear Abby columns? 
• Billy Joel. The Black Keys. Fleetwood Mac. This year’s Jazz Fest line up is pretty awesome.
• Speaking of New Orleans, I’m holding out hope that Season 3 of American Horror Story takes place in the South.
• So excited about the green thick headband I won from Cherie Runs This and Sparkly Soul . No slip, no headache, AND sparkly? Obviously, the perfect accessory for my half-marathon on St. Patty’s Day!
• This week I found out I will be in the Big Apple for a few days on business at the end of February.

I haven’t been since I was a kid; what NYC spots do I absolutely have to see this time?