Burn Out

Posted on September 26, 2012 by aubrief

So I went AWOL again. The truth is, I totally burned out on marathon training. I didn’t want to run (far, anyway), I didn’t want to write about running, and I didn’t want to read about running.

I spent too many Saturday mornings in soaking wet socks.

I got my butt kicked by the move.

I couldn’t stand the thought of losing any of summer’s last weekends to long run recovery.

Consequently, I allowed myself to run 60% of my training runs for a few weeks and dropped blogging altogether.

Instead, I got to enjoy taking life a little slower. Charlie and I set up our new apartment.

I read a few good books:The Night Circus, which I LOVED; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close a worthwhile read, but not my favorite; The Hand and the Fist which I found both eye-opening and inspiring; and my current read Water for Elephants, that 100 pages in has me hooked.

I’ve also taken time to catch up with friends, enjoyed some of the less healthy pleasures in life, and finally got a damn haircut!

Anyhow, I’m back on the wagon- determined to get my mileage during the last three weeks of training before the taper begins

Summer Update

Posted on June 21, 2012 by aubrief

Summer’s back! For me it means two things:

1) I have time to breathe again

2) Marathon training is about to hit

I’m going to get back to my regularly scheduled posts about training, fueling, and managing to party hardy through it all, but first I figured I’d better give ya’ll an update on what’s up in my world.

I finished my Masters!! And am the proud holder of a Master of Fine Arts in Performing Arts Management, woo hooo!

I started a new job in my field and finally make enough money to get cable and pay for air conditioning. Thank GOODNESS given today’s forecast.

I’ve been kicking it with my awesome running team.

I had a grand old time in Atlantic City with friends.

I PR’d in two races in my “off-season,” proving that I have the potential to run much faster than I thought I could.

I set up my NYC Marathon Training Schedule in order to live up to the aforementioned PRs (soo much running)!

And finally, I moved my blog!

At long last, after a year of (semi) regularly maintaining Drunk on Opportunity, I decided it was time to move to a more customizable platform. I’ll celebrate my first “blog-o-versary” on Friday, and upgrading the blog was just the kick in the petutie I needed to get back on track for year two. So update your subscriptions and find me at drunkonopportunity.com!

Holy Overwhelmed

Posted on October 26, 2011 by aubrief

The past few weeks have been crazy. To be fair, much of my obligations have been self imposed and for fun (blowling with friends, going to see shows, marathon training runs), but since there isn’t much wiggle room in my schedule, thing’s have gotten a little…errr tight. Given my need to mental free time, coupled with the demands of school and work and sleep, I have NOT been getting up before work to run. I know. It’s pretty bad. My weekly mileage looks more like that of someone training for a 5K than a marathon. Ooops.

Not to fear: Groupon has come to my rescue! New York Sports Club offered a one month “passport” membership for $24 and I jumped on it. There’s a NYSC in the building where I work, which means I can squeeze in a few miles and a shower during lunch or between work and class whenever I can spare the hour. Awesome, back on track! (I’ll give a full report on how it works out.)

Since I havevn’t been running enough, I’ve been dealing with my emotional and mental overwhelm-ed-ness in other, not so productive, but equally fabulous ways:

Retail therapy! Who doesn’t feel great when they have on some cute new underthings and new makeup?

Malbec! I got halfway through that glass, put it in the fridge to finish tomorrow and went to bed. Nothing like a little resveratrol for your health, right?

Expensive greek yogurt! Umm, just yum, so much yum. Plus, all I need to do is throw it in my lunchbag and breakfast is made. Quick, delicious and full of much needed protein to start my day off right.

HUGH JACKMAN! This Friday, LIVE on Broadway, with these wonderful ladies (my grad school classmates, Melayna drew this on the board before our design class last night, mad skills, no?).

What do you do when you just need to cut loose?

Fun + Friends + Work + School = Not enough miles

Posted on October 17, 2011 by aubrief

Sooo, I’ve been a little…under…my scheduled weekly mileage the past two weeks, but I’m not disappointed in myself. I started running a few years ago to keep in shape in the absence of a gym membership, but I grew to love it. I decided to run a half marathon because I thought it would be fun. I decided to run a marathon because I wanted to accomplish something epic. I run for me. Running is something that’s completely natural and freeing and makes me feel both relaxed and exhilarated. This is why I’ll never get down on myself for cutting a run short, missing my goal miles for the week, or even deviating from a marathon training schedule. The fact of the matter is that I run because I love it, but there are many things I love in life: beer, theatre, sleep, learning, and more importantly friends and family. Lucky for me, there have been lots of friends around lately, new and old, that have taken up some of my running time. (Don’t worry, running knows I have a life and it loves me anyway. We have a very healthy relationship.)

As I mentioned earlier this week, I took a trip to the homeland and got to spend time with my wonderful parents and a couple of elementary school buds. When I returned, one of my favorite ladies from college was visiting NYC from London. We did happy hour, did lunch, went dancing with fabulous ladies, took shots of tequila (only one), and ate lots and lots of fro yo (it was really hot last weekend).

The lovely Adi

This week I got to spend a number of delightful dinners with my classmates (yea grad school!), including one that began at a Thai restaurant (Yum Yum….not sure which version), traveled to a bar for pumpkin beer ($5 special what whaaaaat) and ended with one of the most amazing pieces of theater I’ve seen since I moved to New York. Seriously, go see Sons of the Prophet at Roundabout. I say no more.


Green curry…yes I’m obsessed


Shock Top Pumpkin Ale. mmmmm.


Best Classmates Ever.

These are just some highlights of the glorious disregard for deadlines I’ve been reveling in lately. Yes, I have a marathon to run in a little over a month. Yes, I need to find a full time job soon. Yes, I’m in charge of making a huge event happen in early December. Yes, I have a flurry of school deadlines looming over the next few weeks. No, I haven’t accomplished as much as I should have on any of these things, but I haven’t been wasting any time. I’ve been taking good care of myself and my personal well being. I’ve been treating my relationships with the wonderful people in my life with all the care and time they deserve, and I’ve been enjoying every minute of my life. And you know what? I’m not behind on any of my big projects either. I still went on my long run on Saturday (which went great), I’ve gotten all my work done for this week’s deadlines, and that event is going to be awesome.

Work hard. Play hard. Love life.

Do you prioritize fun? How do you feel about missing a workout?

Do you 10Q ?

Posted on September 21, 2011 by aubrief

A few years ago I started answering 10 questions about myself and the world every September. The following year, those answers pop up in my inbox. I love this project (10Q) and it’s made me realize that 1) I know myself pretty well and 2) Many of my feelings and beliefs about the world are consistent year after year, but some things do change. It’s cool to see. Like last year I said one of my goals was to live healthier and “cleaner” one step at a time, and I’ve definitely taken steps to clean up my diet and lifestyle. Here are some of the more amusing predictions I made:

Day 9:

What is a fear that you have and how has it limited you? How do you plan on letting it go or overcoming it in the coming year?

Your Answer:
I’m afraid of going to the dentist and finding out I need expensive procedures I can’t afford.
I’m going to have to go eventually.

Day 11:

What are your predictions for 2011?

Your Answer:
More homework.

1)I finally went to the dentist
2) I definitely had a beast ton of homework

Have you ever participated in the 10Q project or something similar? Do you ever amuse yourself with your past year’s goals/resolutions/predictions?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Monday

Posted on September 13, 2011 by aubrief

Oh Monday, you never cease to kick my lazy weekend booty. So rude (Stephanie from Full House style). While it’s never fun to go back to my crazy packed weekdays, it’s never as bad as I imagine it will be on Sunday night. Since I like to end on a good note (this translates to “finish strong” when it comes to my runs).

The Bad
I woke up about 20 minutes late and proceeded to drag like molasses all morning. How many minutes late was I? Who’s counting?

The Ugly
I finished my homework for this evening’s class on my lunch hour at work…I still squeezed in 20 minutes of outside time to physically eat my lunch though, so not too bad.

The Good
I brought the pumpkin spice cupcakes I made into the office and they were a huge hit. Credit where credit’s due (totally not my recipe). Also, I ate really well today, and despite the long day, felt great throughout!

How do you get through a busy Monday?

Category Archives: life