Michelle

Year of Running – 2014

December 15, 2014 by Michelle 25 Comments

Recently Amanda posted for her annual look back on the year of running and invited others to join in and answer a few questions about their year:

Best Race Experience?

Ah well, if you’ve been around here for a bit, then you know there wasn’t a lot of racing for me this year. But I was lucky enough to race two races through the streets of Boston – always a good thing! So yep I’m picking two experiences 🙂 Up first in April was the BAA 5K – the kickoff to an amazing, emotional Marathon weekend in Boston. Made better by being a family affair as both J and our oldest son also ran it.

Then in May I returned to one of my all time favorite races, Boston’s Run to Remember, running the 5-miler for the first time. This is a big race with a local feel, and it’s always a good time.

Best Run?

My running this year was really all over the place – at times feeling like such a battle with my body. So, honestly, I’d say any run that was pain- and frustration-free was a good run!

Best new piece of gear?

This is a tough one but I think I have to give the nod to my Mizuno Wave Rider 18s. Any shoes I can run 9 miles in straight out of the box are going to end up high on the list. They’ve quickly become my go to shoe since arriving on my doorstep.

Best piece of running advice?

Came from Coach Bennett – to let go of the watch and run by feel.

Most inspirational runner?

I’m going to go with two here also — Meb and Kara Goucher.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?

Frustrating. I had had such high hopes for this year, but unfortunately the running gods had other plans. This was definitely my most challenging year since I’ve started running. But, that won’t stop me from setting big goals for 2015.

So how would you answer any of these questions?

Filed Under: year in review

Thursday Thoughts – Things that make me smile

December 11, 2014 by Michelle 14 Comments

Christmas lights — I love how my boys still oh and ah at Christmas lights as we drive through town. Makes the early sunsets worth it 🙂

Runs with my hubby — For the past month, my husband J has been joining me for my weekend runs. We’ve never run together before so this has been a lot of fun and a great way to kick on the weekend!

Hockey Fever — My youngest son has been completely bitten by the hockey bug, which means we’ve been spending lots of in hockey rinks all over New England. While I’m not loving the cold toes and fingers that come with sitting in the stands, seeing how much fun my little guy is having just warms my heart!

What’s been making you smile lately?

Filed Under: 3 things, family running, kids, Thursday Thoughts

Ultimate Coffee Date: December Edition

December 6, 2014 by Michelle 20 Comments

It’s the first Saturday of the month so it’s time once again for the Ultimate Coffee Date! This morning I’m happy to be linking up with Coco, Lynda and Deborah. This is always one of my favorite link-ups – it’s a great time to catch up, so grab a mug and pull up a chair!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’ve started working out with a trainer. I had my first session yesterday and it was a killer…but in a good way! She’s created a great plan for me to help strengthen my trouble zones and correct the imbalance between my left and right sides. Hopefully working with Stacey, combined with the work I’m doing on my own, will put me in good shape come spring.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’ve been thinking a lot about which races I want to do next year. I’ve made no secret of my love of the 10-miler, so I’m going try to run more of them in 2015. There are three races in the area and I’ve decided to throw my hat into the Cherry Blossom lottery. I will definitely take on a half marathon or two, but I’m leaning towards holding off until the fall.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you we’re starting Christmas cookie baking in our house this weekend. Pecan balls, peanutbutter blossoms, rum balls, coffee-cashew biscotti and the classic sugar cookie are some of our faves. But, I’m itching to try something new – do you have a favorite?

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I just got tickets for J, the boys and I to see the Nutcracker over the school break. I took my oldest son a couple of years ago and we had so much fun. I’m really looking forward to all of us going!

If we were having coffee together, what would you tell me? Any good cookie recipes to share?

Filed Under: Ultimate coffee date

Mindful Monday

December 1, 2014 by Michelle 10 Comments

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I really enjoyed having 5 days off – it was a chance to unplug and re-connect, and I took full advantage of it.

It also gave me time to think a lot about how I want to spend this holiday season. It is too easy to get caught up in the “doing” that comes with holidays – the frenetic pace of shopping, decorating, cooking; of fitness challenges and events to attend all gets to be way too much. You can get so caught up in the doing that you forget to be….to just be in each moment.

I’m choosing to not spend this last month of the year ruled by my to do list; so frenzied by all that can be packed into these 31 days that I miss the opportunity to really enjoy it. My goal is to “live in the present wisely and earnestly” and hopefully both my mind and body will thank me.

How do you deal with all the hubbub of the holidays?

Filed Under: holiday sanity

Taking a Turkey Timeout

November 26, 2014 by Michelle 9 Comments

School break has started and I’ll be diving into my kitchen to start cooking shortly. I’m looking forward to a few days of relaxing and having time with my family. But before I sign off, I wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Quick note — There’s still time to get in on my WIN giveaway so don’t forget to enter!

Filed Under: gratitude, Thanksgiving

WIN Detergent Review and Giveaway

November 22, 2014 by Michelle 3 Comments

I received samples of WIN Detergent for the purpose of a review through my affiliation with Sweat Pink. As always, all opinions express here are my own.

If you follow RWA on Facebook (and really you should!) then you may have seen this photo in my feed a couple of weeks ago. It made me laugh because this is often what laundry looks like in my house. Between my husband’s workout clothes, my oldest son playing football, while the youngest is playing hockey, plus my own workout clothes, you can easily see how this pic is far from fiction! And if any of you have kids who play sports, you know just how ripe their clothes can be…we won’t even discuss my husband’s stuff!

Suffice it to say, we sweat hard in the RWA house, so when I was offered a chance to test out WIN Sports Detergent I couldn’t wait to try it. I received two bottles of Win – the original and Win green.

WIN offered a nice light scent, while WIN Green, as you might expect had no fragrance at all. When put to the test, both formulas delivered on de-stinking the clothes. The green formula wash smelled “clean,” while the original formula left the clothes with a pleasant fresh scent, without the cloyingly perfumey smell of other brands I’ve tried that do more to cover than remove the stink. The original formula did fall short on removing the stains from my son’s hockey socks, and does make me wonder how it might fair against the grass stains of my boys lacrosse clothes come spring. (I only tried WIN Green on my running gear – so no stain-removal required).

Want to see if WIN can stand up to the test of your workout clothes? WIN is giving me the opportunity to do a giveaway for all RWA readers. One winner will receive a full sized bottle of each, the original and the green formulas. If you don’t want to wait for the giveaway and want to buy it now, you can also use the coupon code WINGIVE1 for $1 off a bottle of WIN.

To enter the giveaway, please follow the Rafflecopter instructions below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: giveaways, product reviews, WIN detergent

More Runfessions

November 21, 2014 by Michelle 16 Comments

Joining up with Marcia, from Marcia’s Healthy Slice, for her monthly “runfessions” – a chance to cleanse your sweaty soul.

Runfession #1 — I was suppose to be getting on a plane tomorrow to head to the Philly half. Every time I get an email update from the race I must admit it stings just a little.

Runfession #2 — I’m not running much at all. I’m finding it hard to hit some those pre-dawn runs in the bitter cold when I’m not training for something.

Runfession #3 — I have been hitting the cross-training more and more…cause frankly I’m hard to live with if I don’t workout! Just ask my husband…

Runfession #4 — I am starting to plan a race schedule for 2015 that I’getting excited about. Now I either need to hit lotto or find a sponsor to cover the race fees 😉

Runfession #5 — Not at all run-related, but it’s freaking me out a little how quickly these weeks are slipping by. My youngest son keeps announcing the weekly countdown till Christmas and I haven’t even started planing yet. (Just under 5 weeks in case you were wondering!)

There….I feel better now! Do you have any runfessions to share? Have you started planning for the holidays yet?

Filed Under: Friday Five, general musings, Runfessions

Good Stuff Going On

November 17, 2014 by Michelle 7 Comments

Happy Monday!

The weekend went by way too fast for my liking (isn’t that always the way?) And this week is shaping up to be a busy one! Before I dive in, I wanted to share some fun stuff going on around the interwebs.

Women’s Running Telesummit — The International Association of Women Runners (IAWR) is hosting a Running Telesummit. The Telesummit features a great line up of speakers including my running coach Bennett Cohen, Jeff Galloway, Katherine Switzer, Sarah & Dimity from Another Mother Runner, and one of my fave bloggers Marcia from Marcia’s Healthy Slice. The Telesummit starts today and runs until December 4th…and it’s free! Click HERE for details.

DC Trifecta’s Gratitude Challenge — Also kicking off today, Mar, Cynthia and Courtney (aka the DC Trifecta) is hosting a Gratitude Challenge on Instagram. Should be fun to see the different things people are grateful for!

Holiday Sweat Challenge — Formerly known as the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge, this year Amanda from Run to the Finish is teaming up with Sweat Pink! This 6-week challenge is one of my favorites and with the addition of Sweat Pink, this should be fun!

The Challenge starts on November 24. Click HERE for details and please say I sent you 🙂 (Disclosure: I received the Sweat Pink Ambassador discount).

What have you got going on?

Filed Under: #holidaysweat, Challenges, gratitude, just having fun, running community

Friday Five – Cold Weather Running Tips

November 14, 2014 by Michelle 22 Comments

It’s Baaaccck! The Polar Vortex that left most of us feeling like human popsicles is back – and adding insult to injury it’s making an early appearance! With temps quickly dropping as much as 40 degrees in a day in some areas, Courtney, Mar and Cynthia’s link-up topic of “Cold Weather Running Tips” couldn’t be more appropriate!

Layer, layer, layer! — Surviving and thriving in cold weather running is all about layering. I think at minimum you’ll want to consider three layers: a base layer, an insulating layer and an outer layer. Depending on the weather and your tolerance for the cold, you may want to use more than one insulating layer. And, layering isn’t just for your upper body. Start with a good pair of running tights, and if you find that one layer isn’t enough, add wind-proof track pants over your tights for extra protection.

Wicking still matters — Just as with running in the summer heat, this is no time for cotton! Make sure your base layer is made of a wicking material to keep sweat away from your body and to help keep your skin warm and dry.

Protect you extremities — Did you know that you can lose as much as 40% of your body heat through your head? Wearing a fleece or wool hat can go a long way to keeping you warm during your runs. You can also lose a fair amount of body heat through your hands so you’ll want to keep them covered with moisture-wicking gloves or mittens.

Change quickly post-run — Chills can quickly set in as your body’s core temperature drops post-run. Quickly change out of your running clothes and jump into a hot shower or, my favorite, a warm Epsom salt bath.

Be willing to hit the ‘mill — Some days it may just be too cold to run outdoors, so be willing to head for a treadmill or do some form of cross-training.

How do you manage cold weather running?

Filed Under: Friday Five, winter running