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An Impromptu 24 Hours in NYC

Instead of saying hello from Geneva, we are still in New York City!

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Last night as we were boarding our flight from JFK to Paris, Delta announced that they were looking for volunteers to give up their seats on the oversold flight. Without thinking twice, Bo and I jumped in line to happily trade in our seats on yesterday’s flight for a spot on today’s flight. As Bo spoke with the Delta agent I quickly emailed, called and texted a few of our friends who weren’t able to make it down to Savannah last weekend.  Within minutes we went from boarding a flight to Paris to enjoying the New York sunset from a cab window.

IMG_1219[1]Our friends who just moved to Carroll Gardens were ecstatic to host an impromptu dinner for eight of us. Having the chance to catch up with these friends, two of whom are expecting their first child, was priceless. The evening was exactly what we wanted, casual and relaxed. We ordered pizza and salads, drank beers on the rooftop and enjoyed the cool, breezy evening.

IMG_1222[1]Thankfully Bo and I packed our workout clothes in our carry on bag as we thought we may have time for a quick workout during one of our layovers. As no trip to New York is complete without a Central Park run, I threw on my running gear and headed uptown at 6:45 to meet Gia and Theodora. We had no specific plan in mind so just headed to the loop for a few speedy miles filled with lots of chatting and a few hills. After my break from training, I was happy to feel strong during the run, able to keep up with the 8:40 pace!

IMG_1225[1]IMG_1229[1] IMG_1228[1]The rest of the day has included breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien with Theodora, where we planned her Europe trip over iced coffees and the avocado toast, which was full of flavor and very filling!

IMG_1232[1] After saying goodbye to Theodora I ran a few errands, including a stop at Jack Rabbit Sports to buy my marathon shoes for Berlin. Rounded out with a lunch uptown catching up with Jen and a shower, this day has been pretty perfect. Now Bo and I are lazily relaxing with a book before heading back to JFK for our flight to Europe.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Thursday!

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ashleyd /

Jumping for Joy

Man has today been incredible!

How can you not jump for joy when the weather is this beautiful? I can’t appreciate today’s weather nearly as much as my NYC friends who have dealt with the freezing weather but it’s still amazing! I also think it’s impossible for me to do anything fun like jumping without opening my mouth! #akwardforthewin

019I woke up this morning for a Soul Cycle date with my sister in law Meg and running buddy Meghan. Did you know that there are two Soul Cycle locations within two blocks of each other? Yup! I showed up at the 19th street Soul Cycle big as life this morning thinking that it was just a renovated Union Square studio. Or maybe it was just early and I hadn’t had any coffee. 007 006A few minutes later I found myself on bike 39 jamming out to an awesome playlist and Isabel’s inspirational and very arm heavy class. It was my first time spinning with Isabel but I really liked her format. The class was a sweat fest and filled with lots of pushups and touchbacks but her music took our mind off everything. The class flew by and before I knew it we were stretching. I appreciate the fact that Soul Cycle is such a full service studio offering you everything from shoes, towels, shower toiletries, and even hair ties. It’s so nice to know I can spin in New York and not have to pack spin shoes and not lug all my beauty products to the studio and then to work. 010 We followed our spin class with a trip to Liquiteria Union Square which just opened at 13th and 4th Avenue. The All Greens with lemon, ginger and apple was perfect to sip on all day as the ginger kick kept me mindful of how much I enjoyed. I loved their assortment and the fact that they also make smoothies and other fun treats like acai bowls. The past few days have inspired me with so many fun new ingredient combinations for my Geneva juicer beginning next week!012 013After a long day of meetings there was no where I wanted to be other than Central Park. Our work run club hit the streets for a fun, relaxed run through Central Park Zoo, over the small bridges, up the hills and through the tree lined row of statues enjoying the almost 60 degree weather! The park was filled with runners all enjoying the weather and fresh air!

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I’m so thankful to enjoy business trips to New York City which allow me to have great face to face meetings with my co-workers and business partners during the day and then enjoy quality time with friends during workouts and dinners.

Your turn: What about Spring has you jumping for joy?

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#Bostonstrongnyc

Tonight I took a break from my endless work to-do list and stepped away from my desk for some quality time in Central Park. While the running community in New York City seems so small since one often starts seeing the same faces, it never ceases to amaze me. Just a few days ago Abby Bales teamed up with the amazing movement Pavement Runner started to organize a #BostonStrongNYC. This Central Park based run for Boston a week after the 117th Boston Marathon tragedy was just one of the many runs taking place across the country tonight. (picture source)

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I ran from my office to Tavern on the Green in Central Park before meeting up with more running friends than I could imagine seeing in one place. For 15 minutes I literally felt as if I was hugging and saying hello to many of my favorite running friends!

We were blessed tonight with perfect running weather even if it seems a bit cool for late April. I was able to wear my favorite Lululemon crop pants (get your own see-through pair here) and long sleeve t-shirt which was perfect since it’s the only blue running gear I own. While it isn’t Boston blue it was close enough tonight! As you can see above, I was even able to reconnect with my awesome Philadelphia Marathon support crew (Kristin, Beth, and Nadia) who I haven’t seen, all in once place, in ages!

Around 6:30 Abby led the group in a moment of silence after a brief introduction thanking everyone for showing up and supporting those affected by last week’s events. There were people watching bags for runners between 6:30 and 7:30 which was a nice touch for the many people coming directly from work. In addition, they quickly sold through many of the I run for Boston t-shirts they were selling for $20 to support The One Fund charity.  (image source)

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The group took off running South from Tavern on the Green and people were encouraged to run their own pace and own distance though there were two primary groups completing either 6.2 miles or 3.2 mile loops in the park. Ashley and Gia runstrongforboston

It’s been ages since I’ve hung out with Gia due to our busy schedules so I was thrilled when she offered to run with me and Melissa Z. Our small group spent the entire run talking about Miami, sunshine, careers, and upcoming travel which was a great way to keep my mind off of our pace. I saw a group in front of familiar runners in front of us around the mile point and decided I wanted to make it my goal to speed up enough to catch them. When we did we added Meggie Smith to our group and talked about her awesome blog posts about becoming an OB/GYN doctor.

When I finally turned off from the group I asked Gia if she’d finally share our pace with me since she’d kept it from me while we ran so my mental blocks wouldn’t keep me from achieving a pace she knew possible.

“Sure, you just beat your 5k PR by running a sub 8:45 for 3.2 miles. Good job!”

I think I almost started jumping up and down when I heard that considering that Bo and I are running a 5k in Cincinnati on Saturday with our friends Amy and Ryan. It is amazing when both the soul and body feel strong and content.

Thank you to everyone who made tonight an amazing way to kick off the week while also honoring Boston and supporting the #runforboston movement.

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