Running Stairs & Summer in the City

/ Jess / 5 Comments

Happy Friday everyone! I don’t know how it is by you, but here in NJ we are a few days into a heatwave, but I am NOT complaining after the brutally cold, snowy winter we had!

On Wednesday night I took my last run before the Oakley Mini 10K this weekend, and while it was about 80+ degrees in the shade even at 8PM, I still had a great time. I decided to take my run over to my old neighborhood and elementary school, where I haven’t run in years.

IMG_6187Running up and down the streets I used to ride my bike on as a middle-schooler made for a nice little nostalgic trip. I managed 4 slow miles before the sunset and I had to go back home for dinner – which was pretty much how my evenings would end when I lived there too!

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I also added some stair running into my workout too. I discovered a whole new housing development in my old hood that I found by taking this series of 3-4 steep staircases they built into the woods behind the school:

IMG_6178Like I said: steep.

After a few flights and a whole bottle of G2, I called it quits – my legs were starting to go rubbery and I didn’t want to risk twisting my already achy knees (thanks, humidity!). But afterwards I felt those hills in places I forgot I had, so that’s got to be a good thing!

Then yesterday my cousin and I went into NYC to pick up our bibs at the New York Road Runners Headquarters, and let me tell you: it was a scorcher!  At 97 degrees and full sun, what was supposed to be a fun stroll through the city turned into a race to beat the heat.

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We hopped on the local train to get into Penn Station and spared ourselves the heat by jumping on the C train to W86th.

IMG_6204It wouldn’t be an adventure without me making an ass of myself on a subway platform.

The subway spit us out right at the entrance to the Reservoir Running Track, which ran straight across to the East side of the park (where we needed to go). We were blown away at its beauty  – after walking/running through the park so many times, neither of us had ever seen this path and vowed to come back when we weren’t, you know, melting. There was even a fun prancerciser galloping along the track to keep us entertained!

IMG_6212After we made it through the park we just had to walk 3 blocks north, which is much easier said than done when it’s almost 100 degrees out. Once we hit the sidewalk we promptly burst into flames. OK not really, but you know what I mean.

One saving grace of these three blocks were the countless sidewalk chalk drawings done by the local kids – one piece really spoke to me, I’m not sure why…

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At 89th we crossed the street and I snapped this pic of the iconic Fred Lebow street sign:

IMG_6216And then we finally arrived at the NYRR Headquarters, which was blissfully air conditioned and full of smiling runner-friendly faces.

IMG_6222and inspirational wall art, too!

Seriously, if you live in the tri-state area and you haven’t experienced a NYRR race, register for one right now. They are the most well-organized, friendly, inclusive, and enthusiastic running club I’ve ever seen, and everything about their races is second to none. The aid stations are perfectly organized and always stocked well, the people that both work for and volunteer with them are always kind and helpful, and you will simply not experience anything like it at a race in your life. OK, love letter to NYRR over.

IMG_6225Brown Corral runners unite!

Once we picked up our bibs and tanks and chatted with some Oakley ladies (I am obsessed with their Feedback aviators and my birthday is coming up and I prefer them in rose gold, kthnxbai), we made our way back to the train station in the ridiculous heat. Thank god my cousin brought grapes for us to snack on or they would have found us in the park sometime next week, all shriveled and delirious from dehydration, babbling about sunglasses and prancercisers.

At Penn Station, we picked up some Auntie Anne’s cinnamon pretzels and peach lemonade (not pictured because I devoured them both almost instantly), and our Manhattan adventure was over! Honestly I’m looking forward to a fun race tomorrow – even though I know it’s going to be warm so I’m hydrating like crazy today and hope to get lots of sleep before my 4AM wake up call.

Who else is racing this weekend? How do you deal with the heat? Whatever your plans, have a great weekend!

The Top 3 Things They Don’t Tell You About Losing 100+ Lbs

/ Jess / 13 Comments

As you can probably tell by my blog header, I’ve lost a good amount of weight. From 2004-2009, I lost more than 100 lbs and have kept it off since then, naturally. I’ve blogged about this a little bit before, but today I want to talk about the things that they don’t mention in those weight loss stories you read about. Because even though I lost a whole bunch of weight, I’ve been faced with a whole new set of problems that I never expected as a result.

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3. You’ll lose weight in places you’d least expect.

Did you know that you can lose weight in your feet? Yeah. Neither did I.

Back in college (when I was at my heaviest), I was a shoe hound. Full on Carrie-Bradshaw-style, spend-your-rent-on-shoes addicted. Because one indulgence I could depend on when shopping – after getting upset that nothing fit or looked good, of course – was that a cute pair of shoes always fit!  But after losing the weight, suddenly all of my shoes were way too big. It pained me to donate the strappy black “date night” sandals that had carried me in and out of a number of bars, restaurants, and parties. I shed a tear when I finally retired the sleek peep toe pumps I rocked while interning with the NJ Devils Marketing Team… But they were all simply too big. All told, I went from a size 10 to a size 8.5!

2. You’ll learn a lot about biology.

Sure. When I was bigger I knew what body parts were what, I just wasn’t pleased with any of them. And I knew that they “recommended” we take in 2,000 calories a day. But what the hell did I know about how many calories were in the chicken parm at the diner? Pfft.

Once I started to lose weight, though, it was like there was a whole world of biology and math that I never knew existed. A lot of it is common sense, but we didn’t talk about food issues and weight when I was growing up, and they didn’t teach this stuff in school! By working at a gym with knowledgeable trainers and group fitness instructors, I discovered what triceps were and how heart rate affects weight loss. By collaborating with a nutritionist, I learned how many calories I should eat on days I work out vs. when I’m not training, and the importance of protein in muscle recovery.

I certainly didn’t become a fountain of fitness knowledge, but I definitely picked up a bunch of healthy tips and tricks that I still call on from time to time, which I think is pretty cool!

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1. Your relationships will change.

College was when I was at my heaviest. As I navigated the social waters and made new friends, I often connected with other not-stick-thin gals like me. In each new social circle I joined, there were girls in all shapes and sizes, but there was always someone to bond with over balancing our mutual love of the dining hall buffet with our desire to be thin. But then one night after (I lost most of the weight), I met up with a handful of college friends that I hadn’t seen since before the weight loss. At one point after the gang ordered another round of appetizers, I turned the plate down, saying something about not wanting to go overboard. That’s when one friend replied sarcastically, “Oh please, the skinny bitch needs to watch her weight!” And everyone had a good laugh. 

I was shocked: I know she meant it jokingly, but the way she said it made me feel like she viewed me as a traitor for losing weight! I never expected someone’s opinion of me to shift so drastically, especially since I was still so new to the whole weight loss thing. I was trying to figure out what it meant to have this new body while working through some lingering food issues, but these folks didn’t see that. They just saw the weight loss. To the people who didn’t really know me very well, I didn’t look like the same girl – so I wasn’t treated like her anymore.

2004

These are all just my own experiences – I’m sure that others in similar situations have their own discoveries too, but that’s what fascinates me. The changes I’ve gone through by going from a size 22/24 to a size 8/10 in 4 years affected a lot more than my closet, and I’m interested in exploring all of them!

Don’t Forget to Have Fun

/ Jess / 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how hard it is to balance things out without feeling like I’m stuck in an endlessly repeating loop.

giphyKind of like my friend the gray rat there..

In the past when a big race loomed on the horizon, I would get so focused on The Plan (with a capital P) that by week 10 I felt like a zombie. I’d spend most of the last few weeks wishing the monotony was over, plodding through each workout while repeating the faithful mantra “trust your training”.

duhFat lot of good that did me through endless treadmill miles.

I went from being excited to dreading those workouts, and if we’re being honest here, that kind of defeats the purpose of running, right?

So once my big spring races were done back in April, I scaled back my weekly mileage and looked for other ways to get my fitness kicks. And wouldn’t you know it, my running endurance has improved overall a result!

obvs I maintained a lower base mileage per week, kept my long runs to 5-6 miles on the weekend, and found that I looked forward to weekends because I could fit even more fitness-y type fun things in my day! On days when my knees and my heart just didn’t feel like running, I started doing stuff like yoga and walking (who knew?!). I biked more, both down the park on my trusty two wheeler and on my DeskCycle at the office.

IMG_5516Seriously, 18 miles while working? A few times a week? Hello, leg muscles!

As a result, the past few runs and smaller races I’ve done in May and June have been immensely better than my training runs and races in March and April. I go out strong and don’t waver after 10 minutes like I used to. My pace is consistently improving, even if by a few seconds. I feel stronger, more confident, and less anxious about race day in general. I’m also a few lbs lighter, which never hurts! Hell – yesterday I caught myself jogging up the spiral staircase at my office – I’ve never done that in the 2+ years I’ve been here!

hyperApologies to my coworkers for my new found energy.

I’ve got a 10K race coming up this Saturday and while I haven’t actually used a Plan with a capital P to prep for this race, I’m 100% fine with that. I’m trusting my training, even though it doesn’t fit into a rigid schedule and add up to a certain amount of miles per week. Sure, I’ll probably feel like dying halfway up those Central Park hills, but I look forward to it! Instead of “trusting my training”, this go-round I’m “embracing the journey” and look forward to smiling through all 6.2 miles.

How about you – have you ever just thrown “The Plan” out the window and gone for it? How did your race turn out? Want to race up the spiral staircase with me? 🙂

Chin Up Giveaway Winners!

/ Jess / 6 Comments

The winners are in for the Chin Up Apparel giveaway, and I’m so excited for them! They are… drumroll please…

Katie Petrick and Tamra Trousdale!

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Congratulations, ladies!! Check your email for instructions on how to claim your prize 🙂

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered – I love being able to bring you guys fun contests like this and look forward to the next one. Happy Tuesday!

Everything’s Better at the Beach

/ Jess / 5 Comments

This weekend the hubby and I made our 9th annual trip down to Long Beach Island, NJ, for a few nights of relaxation, seafood, claw games, and fun – and even though it rained for most of the time, we still had one of our best trips yet!

We arrived in the early afternoon on Friday to a brisk 59 degrees and a light on-and-off drizzle, but we made the best of things by hanging out at Ron Jon’s Surf Shop and heading out to one of our favorite low-key restaurants before taking over the arcade for shoot-em-up video games, skee-ball, Donkey Kong, and claw machines!

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I won little Grumpy Cat on the first try!

The next day I woke up and decided to go for a run. I tried something different and took a gel (peanut butter flavored, my new fave!) about 20 minutes before I hit the pavement instead of during the run, and I think I’ve finally cracked the fueling code! It made a huge positive difference in my run and I look forward to trying it out at the Oakley Mini 10K this weekend.

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It was a perfect 55-ish and still drizzly but not enough to stop me – I took off down one of the super-long, super-straight roads that go the entire length of the island and fell into a rhythm almost immediately. See the runner in the dark blue shirt and shorts in the distance on the left up there? I kept her about that far away from me for the first mile and found that her 11:15/mile pace was almost effortless for me! That was a huge shock, especially after all the wine (and ice cream!) I had the night before – hey, it’s vacation, I don’t deny myself the yummy stuff!

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I set out with the goal of doing 5 miles, so I planned on going out 2.5 then heading back. LBI is my favorite “destination running” spots because the roads are as flat as you can possibly get and the area is so runner/biker/fitness-friendly that you can’t help but want to get out there with your people as often as possible. Even in the miserable weather, the 2-3 other runners and bikers that passed by gave me big waves and hearty “Good morning!”‘s – I swear if it weren’t for our jobs, we’d move down there in a heartbeat!

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Everything’s alright down the shore – even a run in the rain 🙂

Suddenly around mile 1.5, the skies opened up and unleashed a full-on monsoon! My unwitting pacer slowed down slightly but I kept pace – I hate passing people then seeing them pass me when I inevitably slow down later! So for about 10 minutes we ran through the rain, me about 15 feet behind her and both of us wiping buckets of water away from our eyes every few feet. I was drenched in seconds, but I can’t lie – I felt pretty badass 😉

I briefly considered turning around at mile 2 and calling it at 4 miles, but persisted. After 10 minutes, the soaking rain started to taper and my pacer slowed to a walk. That’s when I decided to keep going for my 2.5 miles and passed her, thanking her for pacing me as I did, to which she smiled widely and said “No problem!” I love that island.

From there I stayed steady for the next half mile and finally turned around at around mile 2.5, seeing that my pacer had vanished. I briefly worried that I would slow down without her, but I did just fine! At mile 3.5 I stopped briefly to adjust my BioSkin (both the brace and my capris were completely soaked through so a little slippage was expected!), and  the wet weather did cause my ACL to ache in general. But other than that I felt great all the way through mile 5 as I stopped right at our hotel and discovered what an absolutely stunning time I had posted!

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Seriously, I haven’t seen consistent, effortless numbers like that since before my ACL surgery, so this was a serious breakthrough. I haven’t been logging as many pavement miles as I feel like I should be, but my knees need a break and the DeskCycle is evidently keeping my endurance up quite nicely! The only negative part about this run though? The completely solid, knotty rat’s nest that was my ponytail after an hour in the wind and rain:

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Ouch!

After 20 minutes of conditioner and painful combing, I managed to tame my mane and we headed out to the local Wine Festival, conveniently being held right down the road! I swear I didn’t plan it like that, it was just a happy coincidence!
IMG_6016The next day (yesterday), I woke up early and took off for a quick, watchless 2-miler to wake up and stretch out – the hotel bed was absolute murder on my back. I also wanted to keep up the momentum from Saturday’s run, and had a great time! While I don’t think I was as fast (I can’t be sure), the beautiful sunny weather and gorgeous scenery made it perfect. After we packed up the car, we ended our vacay with a walk on the beach and the most perfect ice bath ever:

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As I stood there letting the water freeze up my toes, I looked out at the waves and breathed in deeply a few times. Things have been a little hectic lately; and without getting into too much detail, I got a bit of a wake up call a few weeks ago and realized that I had to refocus and re-prioritize what’s really important to me.

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It’s a hard lesson to learn (especially when you’re a stubborn Polack like me) but this weekend was just what I needed, and those few moments of peace were the cherry on top. And as if I needed any more proof that was the case, a little waterlogged ladybug landed on my toe in the water as I stood there!

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Don’t worry – I saved him and left him on a wooden dune fence to finish drying out 🙂

So that was my weekend – how was yours? Did you have any running adventures, or do you have any planned in the future? How do you find a proper balance between life, work, and family? Have you ever experienced the ponytail from hell after a messy run like that? Tell me everything!

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Happy National Running Day!

/ Jess / 7 Comments

It’s June 3rd – that means it’s the biggest holiday in the running world (besides Marathon Monday): National Running Day!

I kicked off my day with a 2.5 mile run around town this morning before work, and while I know I’ve said that morning workouts are the worst (for me), I actually had a good time. I’ve decided to use the limited time I have during my morning runs to focus on speed bursts and hills because I have a hard time working them into my longer runs and never feel like doing them at the end of the day.

IMG_5888So I took off from home at around 6:30AM and set off right up the big hill around the corner, powering up without stopping. My newest playlist was bumping and I feeling fantastic thanks to these folks – have you ever heard of Matt & Kim? Highly motivating running tunes right here!

I coasted down into the main part of town and loved all the smiles I got from people waiting for the bus, walking their dogs, getting their morning coffee – while it was overcast and humid, this was the first morning that hasn’t been filled with torrential rain and miserable chilliness, so I think everyone was just in a better mood in general, which I don’t mind!

IMG_5886I’m always smiling anyway.

I nailed my first mile in about 10:40, which I was stoked about, but I think I may have pushed too hard because once I got to mile 1.5 I started to develop a throbbing headache. Does this happen to you guys? I think it might have something to do with the effort I’m putting in, or maybe I’m not warmed up properly? It mostly happens when it’s cold outside or after I’ve pushed hard in a run, and feels almost like an ice cream headache. I’ve tried taking off my headband, taking my earbuds out, and massaging my temples when it hits, thinking that maybe something is too tight, but that never helps. It’s weird and quite annoying, especially when I’m in a groove like I was this morning!

I spent the next half mile walking and jogging without music to calm the headache, and it mildly subsided enough for me to push through the last half mile to get home, with a respectable time of 2.5 miles in 28:17! Even with the walk breaks and hills, the speedwork evened out my pace to 11:18 per mile, which I’m pretty psyched about! While I haven’t been logging as many running miles as I used to during half marathon training, the 45-60 minutes per day I spend on the DeskCycle seem to have really made an impact on my endurance (plus my knees feel great)!

IMG_5887Thanks, feet!

When I got home and sat down and rehydrated, it took about 10-15 minutes for the headache to totally subside, but once it was gone it was like nothing had ever happened! Now I’m really looking forward to logging a few more miles in the coming days, and running long this weekend in prep for next week’s 10K in Central Park.

How about you? How are you celebrating National Running Day? No matter how you celebrate, make it a good one!

Chin Up Apparel Review & Giveaway!

/ Jess / 34 Comments

I’ve been a big fan of Chin Up Apparel for a while now – my obsession first began with the tanks I found in Kohls and Target:
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They also have a bunch of wine-related running gear, like the “Will Run for Wine” tank I ran my last race in (even if it was covered by a race bib):

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I even discovered that with a little ingenuity, you can get some more “outside the gym” mileage out their gear like I did with the Zen Elephant racerback tank I got direct from their site:

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While it’s slightly different from the other pieces I own (the straps are thinner & it’s a Woman’s fit as opposed to Juniors), the quality is still super high like I’ve come to expect from Chin Up. The slouchy fabric was perfect for working out outside: not too thick and loose enough to give me room to breathe, but not so thin that it’s see-through or feels cheap. Just the opposite – the softness and richness of the fabric really stands out. And because the print doesn’t scream “I’m working out!” it was able to turn it into a fun little date-night outfit too:

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But enough of all that – why not get one of your own? Enter now for your chance to win a tank top of your choice courtesy of Chin Up Apparel! Contest ends on Tuesday, 6/9, and you can earn entries in a number of different ways – and the best part about this giveaway is that there will be TWO winners! – so go ahead and enter now, today could be your lucky day!

Happy Friday!

/ Jess / 1 Comment

Hey guys – Things have been relatively quiet the past few days (and will hopefully stay that way for the next few!) so here’s a quick little update.

My father is a Feature Writer for our local newspaper and from time to time he’ll have the opportunity to put snippets of his own good news in the paper (it’s a really local paper). So when he discovered my blog a while back and read up on my adventures, he encouraged me to submit a story to the paper in my own words. I thought it’d be a cute idea, but never really followed up on it, until one Saturday a few weeks ago when he called me and said “You’ve got a column in May’s paper, get the final story submitted by midnight tomorrow.” Talk about making me an offer I couldn’t refuse!

After bouncing some ideas around with him, he suggested I write up a story about the lead up to the NYC Half Marathon, specifically about the media coverage I got through working with the New York Road Runners. So I got to work at 9pm that Sunday (how last-minute can you get) and came up with a fun little recap – you can check it out via PDF here. It appears on Page 23, and continues on 25. I know this is stuff that you all have probably seen before on here, but I thought it was still kind of fun to see my picture in the paper and wanted to share it!

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On an unrelated note, I’m hitting the beach this weekend for a little girls-only time with my mom in Atlantic City, and let me just say: I. Cannot. Wait. It’s been a long winter, and the beach is calling my name! Of course I’ll pack my running shoes and my camera – maybe I’ll recreate the last picture I had taken when I last ran on the boardwalk 🙂

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That’s about it for me – how about you guys? What are your weekend plans? When was the last time you partied it up in AC? What are your favorite slot machines? Mine are the Goldfish penny slots 🙂 Have a great weekend!

Race Recap: Run the Vineyards 5K

/ Jess / 9 Comments

I love running. And I love wine. So an event that combines these two things? Yeah, that’s pretty much a guaranteed must do. So when I spotted the Run the Vineyards 5K Series, I laced up my sneakers and dusted off my wine-drinking shorts (full disclosure: every pair of shorts can be wine-drinking shorts when you’re me).

IMG_5568The races take place at vineyards in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and this one was at the Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington, NJ. I’ll admit: I was so excited for a wine-related race that I blindly signed up for this one after a quick glance at where it fell on the map. I saw Princeton and Trenton around the area and thought “Meh, can’t be that far!” Well, I was kinda wrong. It was more than an hour away! But it didn’t matter – on the morning of the race, traffic was light and we arrived 15 minutes earlier than planned.

IMG_5577 We were so early in fact that we got to chill on a nice shady little bench after using the vineyard’s gorgeous restrooms (instead of the quickly-getting-more-crowded port-a-johns)!

IMG_5648IMG_5576Overall it was super easy to find the place, and the parking lot was set up just steps away from the starting line in a big open lot, which was great. We popped the trunk of our SUV, had a seat, and relaxed while the crowd got thicker and the sun got warmer. After about a half hour or so I met up with a few co-worker friends, pinned on my number, and we made our way to the starting area.

IMG_5632What up, Alex?

It looked like it was going to be a small race – the results say there were less than 350 runners!

IMG_5620Thanks, race photographer hubby!

Once the gun went off we cleared out of there and took off up a slight gravel hill onto the main road outside the vineyard. It was a gorgeous place: hills and mountains, lots of trees lining perfectly paved roads, big farm houses dotting the landscape – if they were to ever hold a longer race in that area I’d jump right on it!

IMG_5583We started off down the main road under nice bright sunshine and a cloudless sky, and I was feeling good – no tightness anywhere, knees were fresh, life was good! As we made the first and second turn through the first mile I realized that we were going almost explicitly downhill. Not by a huge amount, but still enough to know that I didn’t look forward to going back up them at the end of the race!

IMG_5585By mile 1.2, the speedier folks at the front of the pack had already turned and were making their way past us, and I realized the turnaround was only a quarter mile away. That was it?! It felt like nothing! For the past 6 months my shortest training runs were 4 miles, so I guess now 3.1 miles is like a warm up. Good to know.

I was feeling the heat by the turnaround though, so I grabbed a big cup of water (thank god for that!), sipped and walked, tossed the cup in the trash, and took off again up the rolling hills I’d just run down.

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The hills weren’t as hard as I thought they’d be though – or maybe it’s all the hill training I’ve been doing lately? – but either way, I alternated between walking and running when the sun was too hot. By this point it was already in the 80’s and the shade was far behind in the first half of mile 2, and I was pretty happy with my 11:45-ish pace. I wasn’t looking to break any records, I just wanted to have a good time at a no-pressure race again!

So by mile 2.5 I saw the entrance to the vineyard again and started to crank it a little harder. My music was bumping, my legs were still feeling strong, and I actually picked a few people off here and there! It was fun. We turned the corner and ran back down the hill we scaled at the start, past the finish line, around the vineyard building, and back up through the vineyard for the final .25 mile or so.

IMG_5600That’s when I hit a wall – literally, the ladies in front of me stopped to walk. I don’t know if you can see it up there, but there’s wire holding up the vines on either side of us – so I couldn’t pass them without being a huge jerk and literally nudging them away! I walked for a little bit behind them but soon heard the footsteps of other runners surging behind me, and that’s when I finally said screw it and dropped the hammer to pass them.

It was fun pushing that hard; I felt my ankles rolling on the uneven dirt, and spotted the clock at the finish line: 36:54. Under 37 would be awesome! I gave it all I had, but evidently that bottleneck in the vineyard was too much – I crossed in 37:02.

IMG_5624That’s one ticked off runner.

My Garmin said otherwise, though, and the race results are actually better than my Garmin: 36:39. Not my best, not my worst, and an overall fun race!

IMG_5602Afterwards we went back to the car where I changed into flip flops (ah the benefits of having the car right there!), then we all met up for some post-race chatting, delicious wine in our commemorative race glasses, and live music in the courtyard. We even went inside to explore the winery where I hit the mother lode:

IMG_5640Pop the trunk, I’ve got my wine.

We even found a place where the walls were made of wine…

IMG_5607… and a whole slew of little wine bottles that look like they ran marathons of their own! Look at all their medals!

IMG_5614After that we took a stroll back up the hill to the entrance where a giant cow statue was calling my name..

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Well, not literally, but how could I pass up a photo op with a giant copper cow?

And with that, we called it a day! I would definitely consider doing this again next year. It was very well organized, on a beautiful course, and the post-race festivities were awesome.

Trying out the DeskCycle

/ Jess / 19 Comments

If you’ve seen some of my recent Instagram posts, you’ll notice that I’ve been doing some different cross training this past week, and I’m thrilled to finally be able to tell you all about it!

IMG_5426aAfter throwing my name into the pool for a “calling all bloggers” post on the Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador page, the folks at DeskCycle contacted me asking if I’d like to review their flagship product. I felt like I’d won the lottery! I accepted, and last Monday I received a note from our office warehouse manager saying that I had a package downstairs. It was like Christmas morning!

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Once my lunch hour rolled around I quickly got to work on putting it together – and surprised myself when I got it all right on the first try in under 10 minutes! Ikea furniture takes me like 3 hours and half a bottle of wine, so I was impressed with myself. The directions were super easy to follow and they even included that cute little wrench you see in the pic up there to help speed things along.

I was also very surprised by the high quality of this thing – it was SOLID. I had a little difficulty getting it up to my desk because the box was so heavy (maybe that’s a sign that I need some Desk Arm Weights?), and the pieces are heavy metal, ensuring that it’ll stay put no matter where you place it. Really impressive!

IMG_5433The coolest part was this little egg-shaped desktop display that connects to the bike and gives me a live feed of my speed, distance, calories burned, and total pedaling time! It’s extremely motivating to see that little thing staring me in the face, urging me to pedal some more. But I’ll get to that in detail later.

IMG_5429Once I got it all set up and under my desk, it took about 15 minutes to adjust the height of my chair and distance I needed to sit away from it in order to not bash my knees into the underside of my desk with every rotation, but luckily I’m a fast learner.

After a handful of co-workers all wandered by to take their turn trying it out (I had 4 coworkers who practically threw their credit cards at me to order their own once they tried it out), I settled in after lunch for some actual WORK, adjusted the handy little tension knob right between my feet to a level of 2 to start, and pedaled away.

It was virtually silent – the number one question I received on IG when I first posted about it – so unless you work in a library or office where you can literally hear a mouse fart, you don’t need to worry about annoying anyone. The only related noise I’ve heard in a week of using it is my chair squeaking as I pedal, but that’s my chair and not the bike!

I soon fell into a super focused zone as I compiled stats and did my day job work, and about 10-15 minutes into my ride, I found myself really sweating!! Usually I’m the one huddling up in a thick cardigan and complaining about how cold I am, but just a few miles on this thing and I was burning up! It happened so quickly that I had a brief moment of confusion before I realized that yes, I’d been biking, and… holy crap I did like 3 miles already! That was when I was hooked. Throughout the rest of the day, I’d pedal some more, step away from my desk to take care of something, come back and start up again. Before I knew it, 5pm rolled around, my legs were jelly, and I had completed more than 10.1 miles in 47 minutes!

IMG_5441That was all it took to hook me – now it was a game. I HAD to beat my mileage the next day! So Tuesday rolled around and I started my biking even earlier. I cranked up the tension to 3 this time, and felt the difference immediately. It also made me experience some “drifting” for the first few minutes too, which was a little annoying. I would pedal harder, only to push myself away from my desk and the bike, then have to wheel myself in again.

The folks at DeskCycle already had me covered though, because the bike comes complete with this neat little velcro Tether Strap that you can loop around your chair base and the front stand of the bike. Once you get it hooked around nice and tight, you magically stay put with no effort at all! Once I took care of that, I was able to crank out 15.5 miles throughout the day, with a total of 55 active minutes and 572 calories burned! I again sweat through my shirt after a few particularly strenuous bursts of cycling while filing emails, and while I’m not 100% sure how accurate the calorie counter is, 15.5 miles is nothing to sneeze at! Even if I burned 1/2 of those calories, that’s still something!

IMG_5452The competition with myself became fierce – my legs were super tired at the end of every day, but it was a great feeling getting this hard work in when I was sitting at my desk. I’m usually bushed by the end of the day, and pushing myself for a ride or run after a full day is sometimes a struggle. But with this fun little device, I was getting a good hour’s worth of workouts done each day while also working!

Wednesday I clocked a total of 17.1 miles in just over 59 minutes, and Thursday I managed to get in 18.2 miles in 66 minutes! It became a game – my coworkers would see me sweating as we held impromptu meetings around our desks and I pedaled away, and every few hours someone would yell out “How many miles are you at now?” and no matter what the number, their responses were always something like “I have got to get one of those!”

IMG_5516Friday was the final day of my self-imposed challenge, and I managed to clock a total of 18.5 miles, beating Thursday’s mileage by a hair. It’s true that 2.5 of those miles were running in the morning because I hadn’t run in days! But the 16 miles I biked throughout the day were still 16 miles, and I was amazed at the numbers I racked up over just one week’s use:

  • Total Miles Biked: 77 miles
  • Total Active Minutes: 4:44:09
  • Total Calories Burned: 2,828

All told, I was thoroughly impressed by the DeskCycle. I went into this thinking it might be a fun thing that I’d use and get tired of because it was too flimsy or didn’t give me a good idea of what I was doing, but this far exceeded my expectations. I get such a sense of accomplishment seeing those little numbers add up, and the wobbly-leg feeling I get at the end of every day tell me that I’m doing something right! It’s a super high-quality bike that will get your blood pumping while you’re doing every day tasks at your desk or even on the couch at home! My husband is dying to get one, and while I’ve promised him I’ll bring it home for him to try out, I have to admit: I think I’m just keeping this one and getting him one for our anniversary so I don’t have to share!

For more information or to get a DeskCycle of your own, check out their website – and tell them that JessRunsHappy sent you!

Disclosure: DeskCycle provided me a free sample in exchange for my honest review. Receiving product did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.