Destined Not to Race

Hi everyone! Long time no talk, er type. Things have been super hectic round these here parts but will slowly start to settle down in the ensuing weeks. Then it'll be back to a normal blogging schedule (3-5x per week). I truly admire those who can post multiple times a day, or even daily. I'm not that creative!

I was perusing through my honeymoon photos last night before heading to sleep and came across this one: Duuude I want to go back! Please? I miss my husband! The good news is that I will get to see him for a day or two before he ships out. Yippee! The time frame in which this will occur happens to be the same date that falls upon the Freihofer's 5k. Since Bri can't come to me, this means I can't run the 5k with Christina. Hence the faux drama of my post title. Ragnar didn't work out due to my work conflict. However, this reason is MUCH more acceptable. I can't wait to see him!! :) :) I will have to find another 5k to run so I can try to hit my goal of sub-30.

In other fun news, I'm in the process of transitioning the blog over to wordpress! Okay, that's kind of misleading. I'm in the process of starting a new blog to reflect this new stage of my life. The current blog name doesn't really fit any more, seeing as how I've been married for two months (today!). Additionally, I get very jealous at the wordpress bloggers' ability to use strikethrough font and reply to comments directly, among other things, so I'm excited! I don't think I'm going to shift my blogger posts over to the new wordpress site because I don't know how and, quite frankly, it seems like so much time and effort! For those of you that have transitioned over to wordpress, how was it?

So, be on the lookout in the next week or two for the new bloggie! I'll post a link here once it's finalized. I should have a cute new custom designed header, seeing as I won one at Ange's shop 4 a cause 2 auction. Woohoo!

Things have otherwise been going well. I have to go grocery shopping tonight (meh) for supplies for this weekend. I'm heading to Christina's inlaws' cabin "upstate" (it's south of here... don't ask) and it should be a great time! Do you have any fun weekend plans?

On that note, I'm out! Have a fantastic holiday weekend friends!

Thumbs Up Thursday- Coconut Style

Hi friends! Happy Thursday! How is everyone doing? I am feeling unnecessarily stressed for whatever reason. I have a feeling hot yoga will remedy that this evening. I skipped attending this past Tuesday and instead left my conference and came home and SLEPT. It was glorious. Presenting always seems to take a lot out of me, and I hadn't been drinking as much water as usual due to being at the hotel. So, today is hot yoga day :)

In other news, I've been acting as a running coach of sorts! On Monday we got a little break in the conference so my co-worker and I went for a run around congress park. It was really fun! My co-worker says that she will only run "if she is being chased" so I was surprised when she suggested we run together. She did incredibly well! We ran for a mile, walked for a tenth, ran another mile, walked for a tenth and then ran another half mile. She did WAY better than I did when I was first starting out. Maybe she will stick with it! :)

My bestie Christina and I met for a run yesterday at the local park in the cold rain. It's super hot today; upstate NY is schizo. In any event, Christina trained for and ran her first 5k back in December but then kind of fell off the wagon. I drafted a running schedule for her to follow to get back into 5k shape for the Freihofer's Run for Women on June 5. She did great! We ran two miles together (which her training plan called for) and caught up on things. Me and Christina after the two miles in the rain.

We ran into some geese and their babies. Geese are probably my least favorite bird (I love birds but Bailey tries to eat their poop, it's nast) but the babies are soooo stinkin' cute.

Actually, I wouldn't call these guys babies. More like teenagers! The mother goose was hissing at us as I tried to take a picture. I have never seen one hiss! Too funny. After Christina left I ran another mile. I'm kind of all over the place with running lately and I'm excited to start following a training plan this Sunday (for my upcoming 15k and half marathon... woot!)

So today's thumbs up Thursday relates to a product I have been using for well over a few months now:

Coconut Oil. Coconut oil can serve many functions... coconut butter, smoothies, sauces...

Nutritional Stats:

However, my use of coconut oil is not for nutrition. Nope, not I. Well, not that I'm opposed to it. I just haven't gotten around to cooking with it yet. What do I use it for, you ask? MOISTURIZER! I first saw these lovely ladies using coconut oil as a body moisturizer and I have to say, it piqued my interest. I purchased this container for ten dollars at the local health food store and it does not disappoint!

As you can see, the texture is hard but not too hard, meaning that I can break it up with my fingers to use as a moisturizer. When I first opened the jar I was surprised to find the solid consistency- I was expecting oil! It does tend to soften up if I don't use it for a few days (I don't bring it along while traveling, as it's fairly large).

So how does this fare as a moisturizer? It's awesome! A little bit goes a long way and it makes my skin uber soft. Surprisingly, there really isn't an overwhelming scent to it. And I have to say, I love the ingredient list: organic cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil. That's it! It doesn't get more natural than that.

I give the coconut oil as a moisturizer two thumbs up! I have read on some blogs that people do not use moisturizers, which I find hard to fathom. My skin is dry but not super dry, and I would feel crackly if I didn't put something on my skin! I have seen lots of other uses for coconut oil on other blogs- as a conditioner, face moisturizer (I'm not that brave) and cuticle softener. Like I said earlier, I've had the oil for well over four or five months and the jar isn't even half gone. Pretty good ten dollar investment if you ask me. What are your thoughts on coconut oil? Would you ever use it as a moisturizer?

Enjoy your Thursday and I'll see y'all tomorrow with a photo Friday post!

Yoga Pose May- Staff Pose & Giveaway Winner!

Hi everyone! I'm super excited to be participating in Tina and Kate's Yoga Pose May challenge, as yoga has become one of my favorite physical activities (aside from running, of course!). The pose of the day today is "staff" pose, which is a strength pose. There are a few variations of the pose, but after perusing Yoga Journal online my interest was piqued by the four-limbed staff pose, or chatarunga dandasana. According to the site, staff actually refers to the spine, or strength of the body, which makes sense, as this pose definitely requires a lot of strength! I still have a little lower to go on my chatarunga but I'm getting there!**



To start, come into downward facing dog by placing your feet about six to eight inches apart, your booty in the air and your hands on the ground (pants on the ground?) out in front of you. Your weight should be evenly distributed in your hands and feet. Make sure that all five fingers are pressing into the ground, and really try to extend your shoulders so that your back is long. Your tailbone should be pressing back towards the wall behind you. I'm working on being able to get my feet flat on the ground. Almost.

Then, shift your weight forward so that your shoulders are in line with your hands. This brings you into plank position. Your core should be tight (and feelin' the burn!) and your booty should be flat. If it is in the air it makes the pose easier and you're not really getting the full benefits of the pose.

Now comes the really fun part. Slowly lower yourself towards the ground, with your elbows IN next to your rib cage. Your back should be as flat as possible. It's essentially a sloooow burning close grip pushup.


Then, continue towards the ground and sort of push through and up into upward facing dog or cobra pose. I always go with upward facing dog.

Hands directly below shoulders, slight arch in back, legs slightly lifted, tops of feet flat on the ground.

Optional- take a picture with your yoga assistant afterwards. Bailey does a mean downward dog but I can never catch him in action!

So there you have my interpretation of the staff pose. Thanks for coordinating this, Tina and Kate!

And now for the winner of my Yoga Journal Subscription/Luna Bar Giveaway: Comment number 5, Danielle of Coffee Run! Danielle, email me your mailing info (fittowed@gmail.com) and I'll get the package sent your way! Also, are Luna Bars vegan? If not, I will grab some other type of fun bar for you. Thank you to everyone for participating in the giveaway and thanks for reading!


**Disclaimer- I'm not a yoga instructor nor am I a certified personal instructor. This post is merely a demonstration of how I interpret the staff pose. :)

Photo Friday- For My Pup

Hi everyone! Happy Friday. First and foremost, thank you to everyone for all of your comments regarding the relay. It worked out for the best for the team, so I am very happy about it. Team BAD is currently out running their hearts out; wish them luck!



I've had a quiet couple of days, which I wasn't anticipating as I thought I'd be getting ready for Ragnar. Given the huge conference I have from Sunday to Tuesday, it's likely a good thing. On the exercise front, I completed a hill workout on Monday (on a college campus, where it was finals time. Oh the good ol' days), hot yoga on Tuesday and a 3.5 mile run/pushups yesterday. Yoga on Tuesday was interesting. It is Bikram style but not exactly since I think we only do the positions once and incorporate some other moves. Man, it was effing HOT. It was my fifth class and by far the hottest. During the last 10-15 minutes I kind of laid there in child's pose because I couldn't move- my limbs were literally numb, particularly my hands. I think it's because I ate too close to class; the blood was going to my digestive system as opposed to where it should have been.



I intended on completing four miles yesterday but I started experiencing the familiar IT band twinge around 3 miles (wtf!). So I stopped to stretch and continued on for a half mile, then came home and foam rolled the bejesus out of my legs.



This weekend should be great. I'll be running through my presentations (eh), meeting up with a bestie that's in town tonight for drinks and discussion (yay!) and hot yoga and a run tomorrow. I have to work on Sunday but it's all good :)



So today's photo Friday is dedicated to my pup, Bailey. Bailey is a 4 pound yorkshire terrier and the sweetest boy ever. He turned four this past Christmas and we celebrated our four year "anniversary" on May 1 (I got him on May 1, 2006). At certain times in my life I can be quite spontaneous and getting Bailey was one of them. He's camera shy.



I had wanted a yorkie for a LONG time (my mom used to breed them) but my dad always advised me to wait until I was done with law school. At the end of my second year of school, I was at my friends house when she mentioned that she thought her neighbor had yorkie pups. Sure enough, they did. I came home with Bailey that night :) It was literally right before all of my finals; I remember waking up to go to my Commercial Paper final to find out that Bailey had peed all over himself inside of his crate. I still got an A on the final :)

I am so glad to have my little guy. He is so sweet and brings so much joy to my life. I love to sing him songs, substituting his name for the actual lyrics ("if you like it then you should have put a Bails on it"). He is the pup of many names- Bailey, Bails, BB, Bailey Blu, Beedle, Buckets, Bucks, Mr. Bs, Bailface...

How about you? Do you have a pet? If so, are they like a member of your family?

Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter my yoga/luna bar giveaway!

Change of Plans...

So, due to some things with work, I'm unable to take this Friday afternoon off, which happens to coincide with the Ragnar Relay. At first I figured I could commute back and forth, which would have been quite challenging to coordinate for the team. Thankfully, another fellow awesome blogger volunteered to step in and take my spot. I'm super bummed but relieved for the team- Suzy is awesome. I guess there is always next year! :-/

Yoga Giveaway!

Hi friends! Happy end of weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there (Hi Mom!). I've had a great weekend; hot vinyasa yoga yesterday plus a three mile run that culminated in me BOOKING home after getting caught in a thunderstorm. I had coffee with one of my besties and got together with my grandmother and some family members that I haven't seen for years for a Mother's Day dinner. Good stuff.

A few months back I won a giveaway from the lovely Shannon over at the Daily Balance. I recently received the goodies and I got some great stuff! Thanks Shannon!! :) Cashew butter (holy), teas, mission skincare items AND a one year subscription to Yoga Journal. Being the magazine addict that I am, I already have a subscription to yoga journal (and glamour, and shape, and fitness, and self, and health...). So, what better than to pass the subscription along to one of my readers?! Source

So, I'm going to give away a one year subscription to yoga journal PLUS a box of my new crack (also known as chocolate peppermint luna bars- to die for!). As a reader of yoga journal I can attest to its awesomeness. There are lots of informative articles that make you stop and think, explanations of poses and how they impact your body, healthy recipes... all sorts of goodness!

Are you a magazine addict like me? Or addicted to the deliciousness of luna bars? You can enter to win three ways:

1. Leave a comment letting me know your favorite yoga pose
2. If you aren't into yoga, leave me a comment with your favorite way to get active
3. Follow me on twitter @ fittowed and leave a comment letting me know!
4. Tweet about the giveaway!

I'll announce the winner next Tuesday, May 18. Enjoy the rest of your weekend friends and again, many thanks to Shannon for all of my fantastic goods!

Thumbs Up Thursday- Yogitoes!

Hi friends! I hope your Thursday is going well! Mine is zipping by! I'm trying to finish up the last of my three presentations- it's a doozy! I took yesterday as a rest day and it was fantastic. I met my friend Kara at her house for dinner and drinks, but was able to squeeze in a mani/pedi before for 35 dolla! Ah, bliss. I picked a light lavender color but it kind of looks bubblegum pink. Oh well, it's still springy! Unfortunately, I already have a chip on one of my nails. Without fail, whether I do it myself or go to a salon, this always happens so quickly! Grr. I love the look of nail polish but the chipping=high maintenance, which I am not. What about you? Do you wear nail polish or not so much?

Tonight's plans WERE to do a hill repeat workout (Ragnar in one week, eek). I'm seriously getting addicted to hot yoga though and may just get a 3 miler in after work and then head to class after that. It's okay though, I could be addicted to worse things :)

Speaking of hot yoga, this brings me to my Thums Up Thursday item of the day: yogitoes!!
During my first hot yoga class I was a hot mess (literally). I had brought a regular old bath towel to put on my mat. Yeah. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. I looked over in envy at the girl in front of me, who appeared to have a towel that was specifically designed for her yoga mat and that stayed in place! After class, I became a girl on a mission to get one of my own! Luckily, I didn't have to look very far, as my yoga studio sells them at a very reasonable price. What's the secret to yogitoes? There are little almost plastic like nubbins on the bottom of the mat, so it literally does not move during the entire class.
I've tested it out twice and am thoroughly impressed. It made concentrating on the postures SO much easier, since I didn't have to worry about the towel sliding everywhere and skidding off of the mat. I especially like the little guy on my towel- it's a good focal point when I'm trying to focus on the postures and not faint.

Apparently he/she/it is ganesha, the God of knowledge, wisdom and wealth, Lord of success and destroyer of all obstacles. The mat is machine washable and I think you can even put it in the dryer, although I didn't.

Today's verdict- two enthusiastic thumbs up!!

What are your thoughts on hot yoga? Have you tried it? If not, would you?

One last thing- Julie over at Julie's Running Blog is hosting a sweet giveaway in celebration of having 100 followers. It doesn't surprise me that she has so many followers; she is so sweet and encouraging and a great runner to boot! Go check out the giveaway! :)

Have a great evening :)

Feelin' Good

Hey y'all! Happy Wednesday... almost the weekend! Since I last posted I've had a great couple of days and workouts. Friday evening I hit up a new Italian restaurant with my bro, his gf and the 'rents. Bri was sorely missed but when he gets leave this December I plan on taking him :) I tried an amazing eggplant rolotini (?) appetizer. I definitely have a new favorite go to dish!

Saturday was my second ever hot vinyasa yoga class. SO awesome and challenging. I can easily see how the heat becomes addicting. I feel so much more limber and can sink deeper into the poses. Speaking of yoga, I'm participating in Tina's Yoga Pose May yoga challenge so I'm excited about that! Be on the lookout for a pose come May 18th ;)

Monday brought an amazing six mile run. I headed to a local park after work and just ran. The weather was SO beautiful- low seventies/upper sixties with just the right touch of wind. Six miles is the farthest I've gone since the 14k back in February! It was markedly different from the 5 miler I did the week before in VB. I'm telling ya, I'm not a hot weather runner! Give me the cold any day. What temp would you rather run in- hot or cold?

Last night I attended hot yoga again. It was different than vinyasa in that there was a lot of Bikram elements, which I've never done. The room was also heated to 105 instead of 95. I was sweating SO much before we even began. I don't mind though, because my skin has seriously NEVER looked better.

My poor pup has something going on behind his ear so I made an appointment to take him to the vet. Poor lil' guy. Here he is (on the right) with his best friend Molly:

Hopefully it's nothing but I'm still worried!

On Sunday I met with my Ragnar team and got the overview of the legs I am running:

• Leg 4- 2.7 miles. Extremely hilly. Awesome.
• Leg 16- 5.8 miles. Fairly flat.
• Leg 28- 3.1 miles. Easy day.

The only one I'm concerned about is the first leg. I'm glad it's the first leg though, since I'll likely have the most energy for that one. I'm starting to get really nervous!

I have been thinking a lot lately about blogging. I have a lot of ideas for future posts, including:

• My bucket list (via Wendy)
• A ten year review (again, via Wendy :) )
• Eating well while on the road/driving looooong distances
• Bri's guest post on fitness
• A fun topic inspired by Runner's World
• My ten basic essentials for a professional wardrobe

I have some other ideas floating around too. As you can see, they're all random. I don't consider myself to be "fitness" blogger, I'm definitely not a food blogger (although I love reading those blogs!)... I don't really know what I am. I'm just trying to live healthfully and interact with like-minded persons! What kind of blogger do you consider yourself to be? What steered you in that direction?

In any event, it's time to get back to bidness. I hope you're having a great week! See you tomorrow with a new thumbs up thursday post!