To toast 20+ years of friendship, we recently flew west for the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon. It was a beautiful course, with only a few hills, from a winery to the Sonoma city square. Fueled by rosé wine, fresh food and hearty laughs, check out our 13.1 under the warm summer sun.

Our favorite wineries were Jordan in Healdsburg and Scribe in Sonoma. (In these photos, we are the embodiment of R&R.)

Warming up before dawn at Domaine Carneros in Napa. Hello, beautiful.

Peace, love and running at the start. I wore a New Balance tank and compression tights by Opedix, to reduce lactic acid build-up and resulting soreness the next day. Highly recommend.

And, my FitBit Flex! (It tracks everything from steps and calories to sleep cycle, for those of us who are super curious to see how things measure up–or, just need a little motivation.)

My time?  1 hour, 58 minutes.

So, here’s a toast to power in numbers. And, the power of one.

Compression tights (c/o Opedix); FitBit Flex (c/o Women’s Health Magazine & Target). #fitbitflex
All thoughts/assessments are my own.

In between outdoor training runs, I’ve been mixing things up with charity workouts, like last week’s Body Space Fitness “Sweat for Yellow” bootcamp to benefit LIVESTRONG.

Exciting out-of-studio classes also abound from Manhattan and Brooklyn to the FITiST Collective in East Hampton.  I just got sweaty with Cyc at a sunset ride.

Hosted on the terrace of the always-chic Gramercy Park Hotel as part of their #cycsummershare series, we enjoyed watermelon shots before class and Juice Press shooters afterward.

How’s that for happy hour?!

I was styled in Nike, Under Armour and Adidas by SIX:02. There’s nothing like some hot fitness fashion to really crank up the heat.

Today, I fly out to the west coast for the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon. I’m so excited for our trip, which has been in the works for a year. My friends and I will be hanging out with the crew from Clif/LUNA Bar at the company’s San Francisco HQ, touring and tasting at some of the most beautiful vineyards in Napa and Sonoma and snapping a few photos along the way.

Stay tuned for more from the race: #willrunforwine

My next one is the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon in July, with three of my best friends from high school.  To toast our birthdays, we WILL run for wine.  So, like many of you, I’ve been searching for ways to maintain (and even increase) my fitness level this winter before race training kicks into high gear.

Enter Soho Strength Lab.  Founded by 3 former Equinox trainers, it’s bright, big and industrial with a 54′ landing strip of astro turf that serves as the main training area for individual PT sessions and small group classes.

Equipment ranges from kettle bells and free weights to slam balls and battling ropes, plus the infamous Power Sled, which I’ll tell you more about in a bit.

I took Soho Speed, a 45-minute cardio conditioning class incorporating a mix of sprinting drills and ab work to help us find our “inner athlete.” Led by Andy Speer, who’s also an Elite model, Soho Speed was the closest thing to high school track practice that I’ve experienced since 2001.  From “high knees” (running in place, pulling the knees way up for stronger hip flexors) to suicide sprints, it was reminiscent of running for the Ramapo Raiders, all the way.

And, similarly, once Andy busted out my newest friend in fitness, which I’ve lovingly nicknamed #thesled, I was definitely feeling the burn.

That night, we pushed around a 120-pound Power Sled – the sled, itself, weighs 50 lbs. and the plates on top were 70. Hello, it was SO hard! I was totally seeing black spots afterward (in a good way).

My take?  If you’re in pretty good shape, you can definitely handle Soho Strength Lab classes.  It’s perfect for runners, cyclists and guys who find some of the boutique studios way too frilly.  Participating in passport programs like ClassPass or FITiST?  It’s part of their list.  If you’re coming off an injury or are just getting back into things, you might try personal training with Andy or another of their trainers, tailored to your current fitness level.

Before I arrived at Soho Strength Lab, it had been a rough day. Nothing seemed to be going right in my world. After the class, I walked outside and in the glow of the “Little Italy” sign, I texted a photo with #thesled to my dad. His reply?  I looked strong.  Even on the worst day, I know that I am.  You are, too.

I’d love to know: which races are you thinking about or training for right now?