fresh every day.

Anonymous said: I know you're a devoted runner, but what is your diet like? I ask because whatever it is you eat, you still look amazing. Share your secrets with us girls!

Funny story: I was on a date recently, and the guy asked me what I like to do besides running. Paused for a moment, asked myself, What are my hobbies? Then looked him in the eye and said, “Well, I like to eat.”

So here’s a typical day in the appetite of moi: egg whites and a piece of cheese or a green juice for breakfast (plus green tea with Splenda), Cobb salad for lunch, Larabar and half-pint of blueberries in the afternoon, salad for dinner, half a PBJ for dessert.

But that’s a good day. Here’s a “bad” one: bacon-egg-and-cheese croissant for breakfast, crab cake salad with French fries for lunch, handful of M&M’s in the afternoon, martini-and-sushi binge fest and gelato at dinner.

Bottom line: eat what you want when you want it (within reason), and then kill yourself at the gym and on the trail. Feel fat? Eat less, and move more.

(And thank you for the compliment…I often don’t feel amazing, but c’est la vie.)

Ask. Answer. Anything.

May 21, 2012 20 notes Comments

Anonymous said: Hi Cary! So I just found out my application was accepted for the NYC marathon - super excited! Even though I've ran a marathon before, I would like to take my training more seriously this time around. What are some of your go-to foods i.e. meals, snacks, drinks, etc. during training?

Congratulations! First of all, find a great training guide and stick to it. (For Chicago this October I plan to purchase Runner’s World’s “Break-3:30” plan. Hal Higdon’s plans are also excellent—and free.) Regarding food, eat everything. I love peanut butter on toast for pre-run fuel, salmon and dark greens (spinach, kale, etc.) for dinner, whole wheat everything, three-egg omelets, and very. little. dairy. As for booze, choose beer or vodka with water, and skip the wine and whiskey—the later have far less water per gram so you’ll get less dehydrated (although a hangover is a hangover is a hangover, am I right?). For more suggestions and inspiration, click here.

Ask. Answer. Anything.

May 9, 2012 3 notes Comments

Fifth marathon dead and gone. Official time: 3:47. Jane didn’t do too badly either, finishing her first half in just 1:56. Check those swagged out finishers’ medals.

February 12, 2012 42 notes Comments

From the Eugene Register-Guard, April 24, 1972.

January 2, 2012 28 notes Comments

The perfect.

A Saturday morning in fall or spring, sunshine, a few clouds but nothing ominous, no hangover—mind over matter—and bound out of bed but quietly, don’t wake him, sneak around the bedroom pulling on shorts and shoes, remembering when was the last time I saw my headphones? Wake him anyway, I’ll be back in forty minutes. Do you want coffee? I’ll get coffee! and then out the door before he has time to answer because there is a full day ahead, and the sun is already high—it’s a magic morning—and you run down the stairs or hop in place in the elevator and then out the door, music blaring, eyes and ears and some sort of sixth sense attuned to the nearest body of water…

Or maybe it is an evening in summer, later than the sunset suggests—already on the tail end of cocktail hour—but you’re halfway through a ten-mile run, hot, sluggish, skipped the margaritas, came home from work at a reasonable hour and peeled yourself off the couch, but just barely, and only because—no, the heat did not break but you have to get it over with or else you’ll hate yourself in the morning, and just before the turnaround, a text message or maybe a phone call. (You talk on the phone while running. You look like an idiot.) A friend, a plan, a party later! Now run, now hurry home…

Then again, a winter afternoon, slow and lazy, lounging around all day in spandex with the best intentions but weak batteries, Kardashians marathon, just one more episode, until you hear a song in the background of a TV commercial, or maybe you just thought you heard it, maybe you hallucinated—fast and fun and it takes you right back to the beach or a dance floor, and before you know it, you’re outside. Cold. But you play that song on repeat (maybe it’s Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything For Love”? Maybe you should not ever admit that?) Run till your chest aches and long after dark, till you’re sweating—can sweat freeze, make a note to find out—and hot, heat, you outran the cold…You just might outrun the winter. Thank God for that. Thank God for monster ballads and riverfront, for coffee and Lycra and all of the ponytail holders, for running, for races, for all seasons.

January 2, 2012 50 notes Comments

For Christmas the sisters surprised me with entry and registration in the Mercedes-Benz Marathon. Might be the best gift ever received (but ask me how I feel about that after 26.2 miles). Anyway, spent the bulk of these past twelve days pounding and pounding and pounding the pavement. Already hard at work on Resolution No. 5.

P.S. You know you want that gorgeous fuschia base layer.

January 2, 2012 30 notes Comments

The beach and me, after a thirteen mile run to Coney Island three Sundays ago.
(Reasons #15 and 28.)

December 5, 2011 13 notes Comments

100 reasons why I run:

To see the sun rise.
To blow off steam.
To eat whatever I want.
To raise money for good causes.
To avoid people.
To spend time with friends.
To hear my favorite song.
Prime daydream time.
To remember my ex-boyfriends.
To feel better than my ex-boyfriends.
To compete with my ex-boyfriends.
To forget my ex-boyfriends.
Window-shopping.
To figure out Brooklyn.
Because the ocean is at the end.
Because I know I can.
Because sometimes I think I cannot.
Because runners love to talk about running.
Because I bought these new shoes.
To justify buying the Nike Legend pant.
To run errands…literally.
To beat my old PR.
To break a six-minute mile…again.
To feel like I did when I was 19.
Marathon training.
Corporate challenges.
Because I like the taste of vanilla Gu.
To sprint up the boardwalk at Coney Island.
To feel long and strong.
Because my hair is long enough for a real ponytail.
Because I have these great spandex shorts.
Because the weather is gorgeous.
To say I've crossed all three Manhattan bridges in one day.
New socks.
Because I'm between the not hungry and hungry stages.
Because I am going to eat so much food tonight.
To cure this hangover.
To prevent this hangover.
To fit into those jeans again.
To sweat out the impurities.
To warm up for another workout.
Because it's Saturday morning, and I have nothing else to do.
Because it's Monday morning, and I have a million things to do.
Because he doesn't think I can.
Because I no longer know if I can.
Because I said I would.
To get a tan.
To see the sights.
To get my bearings.
To get lost.
To pick up coffee.
Because I don't have a hangover.
Because nobody else is up.
To catch the sunset.
Because all my friends have other plans.
Because we're all going out tonight.
Because I have not listened to Usher in a while.
Because I have not showered yet today.
Because I want to shower but should justify it first.
To sweat.
To bring a sexy flushed pink to my cheeks.
Because it's laundry day, and I have all these clean bras.
Because my friends are waiting for me.
Because nobody is expecting me.
To get some alone time.
To get some face time on the main drags.
Because I feel skinny.
Because I feel so fucking fat.
Because I just painted my nails and they need a breeze to dry.
Because if I don't, I might die.
To save money when I feel a shopping impulse.
To kill time.
Because I never have any time.
Because my legs feel fresh.
Because my legs feel so tired.
Sun's out, guns out.
To visit a new neighborhood.
To test my mettle.
Because we're on vacation.
Because sometimes I need to talk to myself.
Because I am so incredibly happy.
To avoid killing myself.
Milkshakes and cheeseburgers.
Because he said he wants to run with me.
To justify not smoking cigarettes.
Quick and easy getaways.
To look cool.
To have something to talk about at all times.
Photo ops.
Because it is such a good excuse to travel.
Because it inspires other people.
Because it inspires me.
To get angry.
Because it is the only time I ever cry anymore.
To earn tee shirts and win medals.
Because it gets me out of bed in the mornings.
Because it makes me happier than any man ever has.
To rehab my broken limbs.
To believe in God.
Because I have these two legs.

December 5, 2011 206 notes Comments

Anonymous said: What do you usually eat before you run in the morning? If I don't eat, I am distracted by how hungry I am, but if I do, I often end up bloated and crampy. Thoughts on pre-run fuel?

There is nothing worse than hungry running. Like you, I am often conflicted: to eat or not to eat in the early morning. Nothing weighs me down like a bagel or full-blown breakfast,(but on a typical morning, you’re probably not flipping pancakes). Compromise. Eat something, enough to tide you over psychologically. A single piece of toast with jam. A handful (or two) of dry cereal. A couple bites of this or that, enough to feel fueled up but not full. (And avoid dairy at all costs.) Our bodies conserve a surprising amount of energy, and while at first you may feel weak or hollow, with enough morning miles under your belt, you’ll grow accustomed to running on a(n almost) empty stomach. As for me, my go-to first thing in the morning is a spoonful of extra-crunchy peanut butter.

Ask. Answer. Anything.

December 5, 2011 11 notes Comments

4,501 runners ran the Race to Deliver this morning: a four-mile course through Central Park to raise more than half a million dollars for the charity that feeds four thousand New Yorkers too sick to buy food or cook for themselves. The Ralph Lauren team alone brought in over $11,000. Thanks to awesome, generous friends, I surpassed my fundraising goal by fifty bucks and scored a new personal record, placing eighth in my age group with a time of 27:53. But that is beside the point. Thanks to all the volunteers at both NYRR and RL for making this a very memorable—and certainly the most rewarding—race I have ever run.

November 20, 2011 16 notes Comments

Yesterday Kate and I ran from Union Square Park to Coney Island. Our route took us past toxic dumps and cathedrals and slums and the most beautiful cemetery in the entire world. By mile nine we were bitching, but the sight of the ocean as we sprinted up the boardwalk ramp—for that I would run a lot farther than thirteen miles. To see (and follow) our path through Kings County, click here.

November 14, 2011 13 notes Comments

Race to Deliver.

This Sunday I will join nearly 2,000 runners for a 4-mile race to benefit God’s Love We Deliver, a non-profit organization that provides free, healthy, and individually-tailored meals to those living with HIV and AIDS in the New York area. They prepare and deliver more than 4,000 meals every single day. My fundraising goal is $200. Click here to support the cause!

November 14, 2011 7 notes Comments