Michelle

July’s Ultimate Coffee Date

July 4, 2015 by Michelle 15 Comments

Happy 4th of July! I’m so glad we could take a little time out during this holiday weekend to catch up with The Ultimate Coffee Date. A big thanks to Coco, Lynda and Deborah for hosting! Don’t forget to check out the link-up and see what the other ladies are dishing about.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that a 4th of July isn’t complete for me without some fireworks! We caught a great show last night and my youngest is already asking if we can see more tonight.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that my oldest son has been away at camp for a week and I’m thrilled to say that he’s already written home! It sounds like he’s having a blast, which makes missing him much easier. I am counting the days until parents’ visiting day – 14 😉

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I started physical therapy on Wednesday. My evaluation revealed weak and unstable hips (no surprise) and limited range of motion in my ankles (who knew?). So I’m faithfully doing my exercises and am scheduled for 2 PT visits a week for the next month or two. The exercises are tedious, but I’ll do anything to get back to running with less discomfort.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m doing two challenges with Black Girls Run! Boston this month – log 50 miles and a daily plank series. I love the way this group of ladies cheer each other on. I’m really hoping to squeeze in a couple of group runs with them this month too.

What have you got planned for this weekend? Are you catching any fireworks?

Filed Under: 4th of July, Challenges, Physical Therapy, Ultimate coffee date

Mid-Year Goals Update

June 30, 2015 by Michelle 20 Comments

We are at the half way point of the year so, of course, it seems like the perfect time to check in on 2015 goals, right? So I’m linking up again with Erika, Patty and April for Tuesdays on the Run as they invite everyone to join in on the mid-year check-in.

Back in January, I laid out the following fitness/running goals:

Run a 2:15 – 2:20 half marathon — There were no half marathons, or racing of any kind for that matter so I’m still waiting on this one – we’ll see what the fall races bring.
Set a new 10-mile PR — Again, no racing…but I do have the Wicked 10-Miler set for September.
1,000 Miles — Nope – not gonna happen. Once I started tending to my left knee issues I quickly let go of any mileage goals for this year…and I’m ok with that!
Continue my strength program — Happy to say I have fully embraced this one! Monthly sessions with Trainer Stacey have helped keep me accountable and on track.
Actively manage recovery – Hmm, this one is a mixed bag as I’m still not consistently rolling after runs/workouts, and I haven’t run long enough to require Epsom salt baths, etc.
Have fun! — I had a ball running the BAA 5K with my husband and son this spring and am hoping for some fall family racing as well. Coming back from injury has slowed my roll a bit, but there are lots of fun blogger meet-ups, Black Girls Run group runs, and destination races on the horizon!
Be kinder to myself — this one is still a work in progress for me. Rebuilding mileage has been a slow process and I’m generally not a patient person.

It probably goes without saying that I was hoping to be further along in some of my goals by this point. But, I’m thrilled to be on the other side of the injury and working my way back. I’m itching to shake things up to help re-capture that running fire — taking a step back from running has a way of making you re-access things — but still haven’t quite put my finger on what that “shake-up” will be. Looking forward to seeing what the second half of the year brings!

So, of course I have to ask – how are you doing with your 2015 goals?

Filed Under: goals, injuries, Tuesdays on the Run

Figuring out the Fall

June 25, 2015 by Michelle 10 Comments

As I’ve been working to rebuild my mileage base, I have been pouring over race listings trying to figure out my Fall calendar. I was toying briefly with the idea of running a summer race, but unless I get a sudden urge to jump into a 5K at the last minute, I’m going to let that idea go. I think I’m better off continuing to build my base, get stronger, and focus on the Fall.

So here’s what I’m thinking my Fall line-up will look like:

September:

Wicked 10 Miler — Yes! I will finally get a 10-miler in this year! This race is typically just a half marathon, but after the race organization had to cancel the Black Cat 10 miler back in March (thanks to the winter that wouldn’t quit!), they decided to add in the 10 mile distance.

October:

Tufts 10K — This one is still a question mark, because it is held on Columbus Day and the family could have plans that weekend. Luckily this is an easy race to jump into at last minute so I can hold off on registering until I know for sure.

RnR Philly — I have wanted to do this race for a while and I’m very excited that I’ll get to do it as part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Rock ‘n’ Blog team. It will be my first half marathon in more than a year!

November:

Vegas Baby! — I signed on for the RnR Vegas Half as soon as the registration opened. And now to add to the ~~madness~~ fun, I’ve decided to go for the Remix Challenge and make my 3rd Rock ‘n’ Blog race the 5K the night before! It looks like my husband J, my brother and a friend or two may also be in for this little adventure – should be a good time!

Should be a fun fall…and with Wicked a little over 12 weeks a way it’s time to get focused!

What’s your Fall calendar look like?

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Wahoo Fitness Giveaway Winner — Thanks to everyone who entered the Wahoo Fitness Giveaway. Congrats to Janet R – you won the Tickr X heart monitor! Please email me with your info and the folks at Wahoo will get that off to you.

Filed Under: #RocknBlog, #StripAtNight, #Tickrx, #Wahoo, race calendar, RnRPhilly

Monday Motivation – #1MillionMinutes

June 22, 2015 by Michelle 8 Comments

Happy Monday!

If you have been around here for any period of time then you know how much I like a good challenge! Well, the whole Sweat Pink community is coming together to try to rack up 1 Million Minutes of activity this summer.

From now until August 21, the goal is to inspire and encourage everyone to get moving – any and all sweat-worthy activity counts…the point is to move. You can sign up and track your minutes along with Sweat Pink – and, of course there will be some fun prizes along the way for a little extra incentive 🙂

It’s a fun way to celebrate Sweat Pink’s 4th birthday! My goal this week is to try to average 30 minutes/day for 180 minutes total.

How about you – how many minutes do you think you log in a week?

Filed Under: #1MillionMinutes, motivation, Sweat Pink

Thursday Thoughts

June 18, 2015 by Michelle 15 Comments

My head is swimming with final logistics for the event I’m working this weekend, along with camp prep, birthday and Father’s Day gifts that still need to be bought….well you get the idea….So today I’m joining in with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday and a little randomness coming your way.

Camp pack lists – As we start assembling everything on my son’s camp pack list, I continue to marvel at just how much he’s taking with him. And, I’m also discovering how time consuming it is to label everything!

Paper explosion – Just as I was starting to feel a little in control of the paper clutter that often consumes my dining room table and kitchen counter, my 3rd grader’s been bringing home a steady stream of papers and art projects from throughout the year, and once again my dining table has disappeared. Really how many worksheets do these kids do?

Calendar white space – One of the things getting me through the sheer nuttiness of this week/weekend is seeing all the white space on the calendar for the next couple of weeks. The last school event is done and lacrosse season is over, and I have visions of more relaxed evenings and the return of family dinners.

Training plans – It’s been a while since I’ve been on a training plan, and after reading about so many getting ready to kick off their fall training, it’s got me kinda itching to get started. I’m still playing with my fall race calendar….

New shoes – It was suggested by the orthopedists that I consider changing up my running shoes and try to opt for something with a little more cushion than my beloved Kinvaras – especially as I get back into the swing of things. So I’m going to give the Saucony Zealot ISOs a whirl – they’re suppose to offer the light weight and ride of the Kinvara with maximum cushioning – sounds like what the doctor ordered. Going to take them for a test run later today!

So tell me, are you drowning in end-of-school-year papers? Have you started your fall training?

Don’t forget to checkout my Wahoo Fitness giveaway!

Filed Under: #Tickrx, #Wahoo, crazy week, general musings, Thursday Thoughts, Zealot ISO

Wahoo Fitness Review & Giveaway

June 16, 2015 by Michelle 16 Comments

I received the Wahoo Tickr X for the purpose of a review. As always, all opinions expressed here are my own.

With school year-end events, the boys lacrosse tournaments, work and life in general, I am sometimes finding myself needing to be more flexible than usual to get a workout in. And in these situations of late, my go to workout has been to strap on my Wahoo Tickr X and crank out a few rounds of their 7-minute workout.

The Tickr X is a heart rate monitor with lots of fun features. With the Wahoo Fitness App (both iPhone and Android), the Tickr X syncs with your phone to track your workouts, runs, cycling and swimming. Best of all, it has up to 16 hours of memory so you still track a workout sans phone and sync up later. The Tickr X measures your movement so beyond your heart rate, it will track your distance and stride rate when running and your cadence when cycling.

Since I’ve only just returned to running I haven’t tried the run features yet – but I plan to! What I have really enjoyed is using the Tickr X with Wahoo’s 7 Minute Workout App. This was my first time working with a heart rate monitor of any kind – I’ve always been leery of the whole chest strap thing. The Tickr X band is soft plastic and much more comfortable then I anticipated, and once I got moving I quickly forgot about it.

The 7 Minute Workout app features 12 high-intensity bodyweight exercises, counts reps for each 30 second interval, tells you when to rest and congratulates you when you set a new personal best. At the end of the 7 minutes, it gives you a great recap to show you if you’ve completed more (or fewer) reps than the previous workout and your heart rate throughout. For me, 2 -3 rounds made for a good workout and I was still done in well under a half hour. Perfect for when you’re short on time! There is also an alternative 7 minute workout and a 7 minute Pilates workout available for 99 cents each if you want to mix it up a bit.

So what do you think? Want to try one for yourself?

Win it! The great folks at Wahoo Fitness are giving away one Tickr X to a lucky RWA reader!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: #Tickrx, #Wahoo, giveaways, product reviews

Friday Five – Fave Summer Activities

June 12, 2015 by Michelle 12 Comments

With temps now dancing just below 90, it is safe to say that summer has officially arrived! After such a brutal winter (yes, I think I’m still traumatized), I am not going to complain about the heat and look forward to making the most of the summer months ahead.

Courtney, Mar & Cynthia have invited everyone to share their favorite summer activities for this week’s #FridayFive linkup, so here are a few of my faves.

Beach: When you say summer to me, one of the first thing that comes to mind is hitting the beach! I can’t wait to get in some day trips to one of my favorite beaches.

Hiking: Hiking is another popular family activity. A well-shaded trail is a welcome escape on a hot summer day.

Farmer’s Markets: I could spend all Saturday morning at our local farmers market – great produce, cheeses, wine and other great local finds – nothing better!

Dining alfresco: Whether at home on our deck or at a favorite restaurant, there’s something about dining outdoors that I just love – I just want to slow down and linger.

Lazing a day away: Sometimes my favorite activity in the summer is no activity. We’re always so go-go-go in the RWA household, and summer gives us a chance to just hang out. Sometimes doing a whole lot of nothing is perfect!

Filed Under: fave things, Friday Five, summer mode, Uncategorized

3-Day Refresh Review

June 9, 2015 by Michelle 21 Comments

So as I mentioned on Saturday, I did the 3-day Refresh last week and lived to tell about it 🙂

Source: Beachbody

The Beachbody program combines 3 daily shakes, a fiber drink, lots of water and 3 small daily meals of fresh fruits and vegetables to help re-set your eating habits and drop some lbs. I did the program last Monday – Wednesday and for added fun had both my husband J and my brother join me.

The Pros:

– lost 4 lbs and my jeans fit much better on Friday!

– helped me to refocus on putting more fruits and veggies into my daily diet – I had definitely gotten lax on this.

– eliminated sugar from my diet.

– made me very aware that my late afternoon snacking is a trouble spot for me.

– three great nights of sleep!

The Cons:

– I missed my coffee.

– the Fiber Sweep drink tastes god-awful — The Sweep is a mix of whole ground flax, chia, and psyllium seed husks that you mix with 8 oz of water and drink mid-morning. I tried sipping on Day 1 and almost didn’t make it – thanks to my brother who suggested just chugging it as quickly as possible!

– Post-run on Day 2, I was seriously hungry…and seriously cranky! I quickly learned yoga was the better choice of workout during the Refresh.

– Pricey – At $69.95 the Refresh runs you about $23+ per day, not including the cost of the fruits and veggies.

I have to say that I’m so glad I had company on this little venture – the group text messages throughout each day were comical…some less than PG language keeps me from re-posting here 😉 It was great to share ideas on how to make the shakes and meals more flavorful (hello spices!), to commiserate over the lack of coffee and the taste of the Fiber Sweep, and just to keep each other laughing (and honest!)

So of course the big question is – Would you do it again? Was it worth it?

As I told a friend the other day who asked me this question over lunch the other day (and yes I was good and had a great field greens salad with fruit instead of the pizza the restaurant is famous for!), I needed good kick in the pants and this definitely provided it. And, it provided that kick in a way that I’m not convinced I would have pulled off on my own. So, if you’re looking for that kind of jump start then I would say it is worth it…but don’t say I didn’t warn you about that Fiber Sweep 😉

*I am in no way affiliated with Beachbody – I purchased the 3-day Refresh, and all opinions expressed here, as always are my own.

Filed Under: 3-day refresh, Nutrition, product reviews

June’s Ultimate Coffee Date

June 6, 2015 by Michelle 19 Comments

Busy morning ahead, but before I get going I’m making a little time to join with one of my favorite link-ups, The Ultimate Coffee Date. Thanks to Coco, Lynda and Deborah, as always, for hosting! Be sure to check out the link-up and see what the other ladies are dishing about.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m in the homestretch on all of the school projects/concerts/field trips, etc. After May Madness, things are starting to wind down a bit. I did spend yesterday in my youngest son’s class room helping out with a project – it was a sea of glue sticks, construction paper and stickers, but I survived and made my kiddo happy so it was all worth it.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I cannot believe my oldest son is leaving for overnight camp in just a few weeks! He’s really excited and I’m excited for him…but I’m going to miss him terribly!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that returning to running after a short hiatus is hard…harder than I thought it would be. Some days I feel like I’m starting from scratch and I’m working on not being too hard on myself.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I survived my 3-day refresh, and did lose a few pounds. I’ve got a lot of thoughts to share on the whole thing, but my boys are waiting and lacrosse calls, so I’m gonna save that for a separate post. 🙂

If we were having coffee together, what would you tell me?

Filed Under: injuries, kids, Ultimate coffee date, Uncategorized

National Running Day 2015

June 3, 2015 by Michelle 11 Comments

Happy National Running Day!

Today is a day to celebrate all things running…not that runners really need an excuse to celebrate 🙂 But who knows, maybe someone will be inspired to lace up for the first time! And, from the look at my inbox, it looks like there will be a lot of great deals for both gear and races available today – never a bad thing, right?

Fellow SweatPink Ambassador Kristen from Jonesin’ for a Run invited a bunch of us to answer the questions of her running interview for “a look into my miles” – so here goes…

1. Why do you run? There are so many reasons why I run…my sanity, my health, for the challenge…because it helps me to be a better version of myself.

2. How do you plan to celebrate National Running Day? After being sidelined these last few weeks, being able to run today makes me smile.

3. How many miles have you run so far this year? I honestly haven’t checked – thanks to over 100 inches of snow this winter (forcing me to deal with treadmill runs) and my left knee woes, there have not been a lot of miles. But I’ve got 7 months of 2015 left and I plan to make the most of them!

4. What big events do you have on the race calendar so far this year? My race calendar has been a bit of a moving target, but I am really looking forward to running RnR Philly and RnR Vegas. I’m looking for an early fall race and would like to get a couple of shorter distances in.

5. Before I leave for a run I must have: Garmin, iPhone, earbuds, SPIbelt, usually a hat /visor, and, if it’s really bright, sunglasses.

6. Do you have one favorite app to track your runs? I haven’t tried any of the running apps yet.

7. Who is your favorite running partner? Of late, my husband has been running with me on the weekends, otherwise I run solo.

8. What races have you ran so far this year? Just one – the BAA 5K with my family…always fun!

9. If you had to give someone one piece of advice about running what would it be? Run for yourself and don’t get caught up in the comparison game.

10. Describe your relationship with running in one word: Complex