Philadelphia!

I ventured off to Philly a few weekends ago to visit with some college friends and to run in my 4th Half Marathon! I am actually upset with myself for not getting down to Philly more often - it is only 2 hours from my house and such a beautiful city!

We all met up Saturday and toured around a bit. I have seen most of the sights but everything is so close so we decided to do it all again. My good friend Laura is a History teacher and I am always thankful to have her along on trips like this! She is able to fill me on what happened: who, what, where, why, when and how! I was terrible in history and my memory doesn’t work so well so she reminds me on all that took place in this historic city. She was literally squealing with delight over the places like Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center! She has been inside a bunch of times and said we should go in - I wish we said yes but instead we opted to grab some drinks. Maybe next time little Laura :)

After some drinks we went back to the hotel and cleaned up a bit for dinner. We headed back into Old City and ate at a cute little restaurant/lounge called Gigi. It was restaurant week but we decided to opt out of the 5 course prix-fixed menu because none of us could eat that much. There were no burgers on the menu (I love a burger and fries before a long run) but since I am a red meat lover I opted for a rib-eye instead! After dinner we wandered into a 20-somethings college bar (way too young for us) and later ended up at this gorgeous restaurant/bar. I wish I could remember the name! None of my friends remember the name either; I just scoured the Internet and cannot find it! Anyway, the decor was beautiful, very metropolitan. I didn’t stay long as I had a 6m wake up call but it was so fun to hang with all my bffs!

The next morning, Jackie (Laura's cousin) and I got up and headed out to do the Philadelphia Distance Run - 13.1 miles. What a gorgeous course, it started off with 3 miles in the city and then headed out along the Schuylkill River. The weather was fabulous and the course was flat, this is my kind of race! There were more spectators that I had imagined which is always good too! This was a Rock N Roll race and there were about 12-13 bands which was a nice feature but I decided to keep my ipod on most of the time. I promised myself I would not "race" this, I would take my time and just finish but halfway through I realized I was doing great and stepped it up a notch. I did not make my best time but I still did pretty good - finished in 2:02 a 9:20/min mile! Jackie did really well, I believe she finished in 1:50 with a 8:30/mile, go Jackie! My favorite part of the race of course was my medal: a beautiful silver Liberty Bell!

Here are some photos! Note: I did not have my camera on this trip and had to steal all of these of my friend's facebook pages!

Laura, Lisa and I outside the Independence Hall




Me, Laura, Margo, Jackie and Lisa



Having a delicious margarita (a day before a race, shame shame on me!)



Out at that fun bar that I cannot remember the name of



Post race with Jackie

I walked the Red Carpet at the MTV VMA's!

This was an AMAZING experience and I decided I had to blog about it! First I am going to tell you a few background stories that lead up to the VMA experience!

I am signed up with a casting company and was alerted that they were seeking people for the VMA's, things like seat fillers, pit fans, red carpet, etc. On this website you have to upload a full body shot and appear to be the ages between 18-25, I guess I still look young so I went for it. I applied for all of the different categories and one that I got picked for was a Taylor Swift pre-performance taping. I was ecstatic about this and called my sister Dana up right away with the news! She is a huge Taylor Swift fan and was so excited about attending this exclusive taping. I have done these tapings before, one with Christina Aguilera and it was pretty great and we got to meet the celeb and everything so I figured it would be a similar experience and Dana would love it.

It was two weeks before the VMA's and we had to be at the Grand Central Hyatt at 8:00pm. The ticket said to check in by 8:00pm but no later than 10:00pm. My sister arrived early with some friends (who were also picked) and got in line. I however was running a bit late. I had to run 5 miles (ugh marathon training) and take a quick shower at the my Aunt's and then jumped on the subway to meet her. I am thinking to myself, it won't matter if I am a few minutes late, WRONG! Dana in the meantime is texting me to hurry up and they are letting people in. By the time I got there they stopped letting people in completely! I say ok don't worry, there are only 20 people in front of us and we will get in. Then they make an announcement that they have 150 people and they are at capacity! They are going to hold 60 more people just in case and we luckily (or unluckily) were part of those 60 people.

So make a long story short, they made us wait for 3 hours and in the end turned us away anyway! UGH! I felt so bad for my poor sister who got all dolled up and took the train in early, only to be turned away. Plus all her friends got in and got to meet Taylor Swift and hang out all night while they taped. They videoed everything down in the subway and were going to air it at the VMA's. Pretty cool but Dana got over it and said 2 days later she was seeing Taylor at Madison Square Garden and had 10th row tickets.

Quick side story - Dana got her Taylor Swift concert tickets on Craig's list for $150 and they ended up being FAKE TICKETS! What is her luck? Two times in the same week she gets denied at seeing Taylor Swift? She ended up buying new tickets on the street and got in but had to spend another $150. Poor kid.

Ok fast forward. A week after the Taylor Swift incident I get an email apologizing that we didn’t get to see Taylor perform and they were inviting us back to see her perform at the VMA's and go on the red carpet! Woohoo! I quickly signed up and signed Dana up as well and were accepted and got 4 tickets.

In the meantime I also got accepted to attend the VMA's and be inside Radio City in the "pit" but decided to decline those. Again those were not 100% guaranteed and I know from experience they turn people away as soon as they make their quota and get the spots filled. I later found out they only took 268 of 350 pit fans and that they also turned away 200 seat fillers! It is very sad this company does this but I understand why they have to overbook. I am glad we went with our 100% guaranteed Taylor Swift - sorry-we-screwed-you-over-the-first-time tickets

So now it is the day of the VMA's and we have to be in Rockefeller Center at 12/1:00. To be safe we get there at 11:00am. We arrive at the "holding cell:" an old, grimy, stripped office building. It was nasty but hey I am not going to complain because this is once in a lifetime but seriously I thought I was going to get asbestos poisoning in there. We waited there until 2:00 and then we were lined up to do Taylor Swift's dress rehearsal on 6th Avenue in front of Radio City Music Hall. We did that, saw her perform and then were free to grab dinner.

At 5:30 we lined up for the red carpet. It was a lot of standing around and total cattle call but you have to expect that. The red carpet was from 6:30-9:00 but they don't air it on TV until 8:00pm. Interesting. We got in position and the stars started showing up and it was AMAZING! We were positioned right past the spot where all photos are taken and interviews are done...there is one section specifically for fans and we were put there. All the stars stopped to sign autographs, take pictures, say hello, tell us what they were wearing - it was awesome! They were so nice! Some stars quickly walked by I think because they had to perform or present (Kayne West - eww, P Diddy, JLO, Green Day, etc) but I'd say the majority stopped to say hi and pose for pics. We met the cast of the Hills, the City, Real World, plus Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and the list goes on! See all my photos below! Also between the 4 of us that attended we had 3 cameras...all 3 cameras died at some point! UGH! Also I was not allowed to bring my Canon so we dealt with what we had and did the best we could - some are blurry but oh well!

After the red carpet we got into position for the Taylor Swift performance. We had to run out in the street and watch her perform on top of a cab. This was cool but it was a mob scene and girls were fighting to get a close spot. My sister got pushed down, scraper her knee, lost her shoe, but still managed to get front and center! Go Dana!

I am almost done here...hang with me...after the Taylor performance a security guard helped Dana find her shoe and we were moved with our group to another location to watch Jay Z arrive. We were tired at this point but stuck it out but afterwards we were all done and set free. Angela and I considered hanging around but we were just so tired and called it a night at 11:00pm. I caught a ferry home and finally got to see my hubby - I barely saw him all weekend :( We watched a few clips from the VMA's and saw me in the crowd a few times and then hit the sheets! What a weekend, it was great and I had such an awesome experience! I hope I get this lucky next time around!

Here are some of the pics but if you want to see more please visit my facebook page.

Us in the holding cell:



Us before the big events:





Angela poses for photos



Dana follows her lead



Dana's foot as she walks the red carpet:







Katy Perry (yes we were this close, this is not zoomed)





Lady Gaga (I kept singing "Just Dance" everytime I saw her)



Taylor Lautner (Team Jacob for sure)



Pete Wentz



Diddy



Jlo and Marc Anthony



Whitney from The Hills and The City



LC from The Hills



Nelly Furtado



Shakira





Jack Black





Chase Crawford



Pink signing autographs



Gerard Butler



Jimmy Fallon



ME



Taylor Swift performing on 6th Avenue

I never home leave without these!

Ok so it has been awhile since I have blogged but I have been super busy! I feel like things are really spinning out of control but I like it in a way. Time is flying bye and the marathon will be here before I know it!

Last weekend I was up at 6:00am to complete 18 miles and it had to be done running by 10:00am at the latest. This was by far my best long run yet! I ran 6 miles down to Hoboken and met up with two friends: Rosemary and Kristi. I did 6 with them and then we met up with the rest of the group (Hoboken Elysianette Running Society) and did my last 6 with the team! The weather is getting cooler and I did not feel fatigued at all. I think my body is getting used to running these long distances now!

After that I was in a huge rush because I had to meet lovely Jayd Gardina to shoot a wedding as a 2nd photographer! Woohoo! So I took my ice bath (burrr), showered quickly, packed up my camera gear and drove off into the city to meet her! I had a great time shooting with her and felt pretty good all day despite my early morning run! Ok and lastly I attended the MTV VMA's Red Carpet on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall! It amazing and I met so many celebs - this definitely deserves its own blog post so I will save that one for later but let's just say it was an INSANELY BUSY WEEKEND!

Anyway I thought it would be fun and helpful to blog about the items I never leave home without when going on a long run! I am obsessed with buying and trying out new running gear and have finally figured out what works best for me. Every morning when I wake up, I go through a mental checklist and make sure I have everything for my run. Here it is:

Mizuno Wave Ride 12 Running Shoes - I have been wearing these shoes for almost two years and refuse to try anything else. I dislike the current color that is out right now but beggars can't be chosers! If you are thinking about taking up running, please go to a specialty running store and be properly fitted for running shoes. Be sure to change out your running shoes every 300-500 miles!



Powerstep Insoles - These offer more support and cushion than the insoles that come with the shoe. I think these also help absorb the impact that your knees and shins take from all the pounding



Under Armour Running Socks - I pick these up at either TJ Max or Dick's Sporting Goods. They are pretty thick and offer more support and cushion than most running socks.



Nike Running Tanks - I tend to overheat so I always dress as light as possible. I have both cotton and dri-fit styles and love both.



Brooks Running Shorts - I have tried on many brands and Brooks seem to fit the best. They have a wider waist band and wont cause the muffin-top effect. I also love Nike running capris and running tights for colder months.



iFitness Running Belt - If I am going on a shorter run (1-7 miles), I will take my iFitness Running Belt which was purchased at Super Runner's Shop in Grand Central. (They can also be bought online.) This belt holds my blackberry, money, and several other small things.



Fuel Belt - I get very thirsty when I run and if I am going far (7+ miles), I take my fuel belt with me. This has 2 bottles that I can fill with water and pouches to hold my blackberry, Gu, etc. (There plenty of places where I am able to refill my bottles but if you run out in the boonies you may want to get a 4 bottle belt.) I got a size small and wear it around my waist but I know some people wear them around their hips.

I thought it would be important to note that your belt should be neoprene all the way around and velcro in the front. If it has buckles or non-stretchy fabric, chances are it won't stay in place and you will experience a lot of bouncing. Also, if I am running in a race then I usually leave this at home - anything over 15 miles and this belt becomes a big pain (literally). I purchased this at City Sports in NYC - they seem to have the largest selection!



Gu - When going on a long run I always take Gu with me. It offers carbs and a quick caffeine boost and helps you get through those lulls where you start slowing down and feeling tired. My best advice is to try these out before races to make sure your stomach can handle them. Eat them fast and take with a lot of water.



My favorite flavor is Espresso Love, it has more caffeine in it than the others - 40 grams. My second favorite flavor is Chocolate Outrage, it tastes like pudding!



Nike Watch - I do not know the make and model of this off the top of my head but I really like this watch. It is easy to use and fits very nicely on my wrist. I time my runs and and figure out my distance from my time (i.e. I consistently run a 10 minute mile.)



iPod Nano - I cannot run without music and always have this bad boy with me, even in races. I have the old 2G version of the Nano but it is still going strong after several years. If I am running with friends then I leave this behind but otherwise I love rocking out during running!



Blackberry, Money, Advil, Bandaids - I usually always bring these along for emergency purposes. You never know when you are going to need to make a phone call or pop an advil (lol that sounded funny). Also the money is important incase you need to stop an buy a water or god forbid you get injured and need to grab a cab. I have heard horror stories before and therefore have added these things in my running belt for long distance runs!



Body Glide - Last but not least you will need to lather up in Body Glide on anything longer than a 13-14 mile run. Girls: rub this all along your sports bra line, under your arms, and anywhere else you think you may chafe. I usually put it on my feet along with vaseline because I am prone to losing toe nails and blistering when it's really hot.



Finally - I would really love to add this to my running gear so if you are feeling generous please feel free to buy it for me!

GPS Garming 405 Watch



Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions! The above are all recommendations and not necessarily the best on the market or the best for you in particular. Definitely try things out and go from there!