I'm IN!

I can't believe I forgot to write a post about this!

A few weeks back I talked about registration for runDisney's inaugural Dumbo Double Dare.  With this being an inaugural race as well as the newly added 10k, it was sure to be a big hit...and with the Dumbo Challenge selling out in ONE HOUR, followed by the 10k and the half marathon...they were sold out in 24 hours!  Well...I was lucky enough to get registered for it!

I've never been to Disneyland so I am really looking forward to this trip!  My 409 friend and the one responsible for getting me into Disney races, Amanda, will be making the trip with me as we head out to California Labor Day weekend, along with two of her friends (who I will be meeting at the Princess half in a few weeks!), for a fun girls "racecation"! 

Super stoked about this trip for another reason - Disney is known for having some pretty awesome medals to give out.  Not only will I be receiving a medal for the 10k, half marathon, and the Dumbo Challenge, but I will also be earning my Coast to Coast medal!

Source

If you aren't familiar with runDisney, the Coast to Coast challenge is earned when you complete a race at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the same calendar year.  Since I will be running the Princess half in a few weeks, this will qualify me for the challenge!

Now to start thinking of costumes for the 10k and half marathon...

Will you be traveling to Disneyland for the Dumbo Challenge?  Would love to meet some of you there!

Until next time,

Jen

Wanna get Pretty Muddy?

Want to get a group of girlfriends together to do something fun and different?

Ever thought about doing a mud run?

Well a Pretty Muddy women's run might be just thing you're looking for!

What is it, you might ask?

Pretty Muddy is a women's only 5k mud obstacle course that you can run or walk with a fun finish line party once you're done!  Plenty of places to rinse off and change out of your muddy clothes so you can enjoy the party with your friends!

Here's where they're headed this year -

June 1 - Dallas, TX
June 29 - Sacramento, CA
September 7 - Chicago, IL
September 14 - Columbus, OH
September 28 - Richmond, VA
October 12 - Atlanta, GA
November 30 - Tampa, FL
December 7 - Miami, FL

AND...I have a promotional code that you can use by January 31st to get $20 off!  This will be the cheapest you can get the race registration for, so don't miss out!

When you get to the check out page, click on the pink "Enter Promotional Code" link.  It will bring up a box for you to type in

Type GIRLTIME and hit apply.

A different price will pop up.  Enter the quantity you want and hit register!  You will fill out all your info on the next page including your preferred wave time and team name if you have a team.

This looks like it will be a fun event so I hope you'll join if you're near one of the cities that will be hosting one.

In the meantime, check Pretty Muddy out on their social media sites -

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
YouTube

Come out and get Pretty Muddy with us!

Until next time,

Jen

Biggest Loser Run/Walk Challenge

I've never really gotten into The Biggest Loser...until this season.

I enjoy watching the contestants go through their journey to a healthy new lifestyle, and they are such an inspiration.  I find myself looking forward to a new episode each week to see what the trainers have in store for them and how they do.

Through my affiliation with the Girls Gone Sporty ambassador program, I was given the opportunity to attend the Biggest Loser Run/Walk Challenge here in Georgia on March 9th.  I was excited (and honestly, a little nervous) when I found out that the one in Georgia is a mud/obstacle/trail run course!  I've not done anything like this before so I'm excited to complete it!  You can be sure that once it's over I will have lots to tell with pictures!

 Check out their website and see if there's a Biggest Loser Run/Walk near you...or join me in Georgia on March 9th!

Until next time,

Jen

Another Long Run in the Books

Last week was not my best...J traveled to NYC for work and I hate leaving the pup in his crate longer than usual, so I came home every day this week without getting a workout in.  It's shameful, but it's the truth.

BUT...Friday J got home and I decided to take a 2 mile run around the neighborhood.  It wasn't too horribly bad, but it was COLD!

And before I get flamed by all my Northern readers...yes...I understand that it is nowhere NEAR as cold as it is for you guys (my grandparents live in Minnesota so I understand) but for a girl in the South it was pretty chilly.

Sunday I had my 8 mile training run on the calendar.  We were super lazy and I didn't pull myself out of bed until 1:30 PM.  I ate a Clif bar, got dressed, and drove to the greenway.  It was a bit cooler than I thought it was going to be (I wore a tank and capris) but my run quickly warmed me up.

The trail crosses a highway, and I didn't really want to go that far, so I decided that I would turn around when I got to that point, run back to where I started, then turn around and run back down the trail, then back where I started (did I lose you yet?).  That was probably not the most intelligent thing for me to do as when I got back to the parking lot it was tempting to leave....but I pushed on and finished my 8 mile run.

I had a personal goal to run it in 1:45 or less, and I beat it!  Mind you, not by much, but hey...I reached my goal!

Got my Sweat Pink on :)

I was really trying to get a couple of negative splits in my run, so I was anxious to download my run from the Garmin to their website.

Woo hoo!!! I had not one, but TWO negative splits!!  I was pretty excited to see those numbers!

After I got home, I showered and slipped back into my compression socks for the day and had a nice post run meal of Skinnytaste's Spaghetti Squash Lasagna (I highly recommend trying it..it's so tasty!)

Overall, my run is good...but maybe some of you could help me solve a mystery.  The past two long runs I've done I have gotten pain on the inside arch area of my left foot, and on the ball of my right foot.  I have started wearing a new pair of shoes to break them in, but it happens with my old shoes as well.  I'm wearing either Swiftwick or Feetures! socks.  Any ideas?

I love Crossfit, and I will miss it while I'm gone on vacation, so I've decided to put it on the back burner until I get back home and focus more on my training for the half marathon (only 26 more days...squee!!).  Once that's over I plan to dive back into Crossfit.

Thanks for all the new likes on my Facebook page!  I'm trying hard to post more often on it, and please feel free to share with your friends!  Hello Fitness - We Meet Again

Until next time,

Jen

7 Miles Never Felt So Good

I went to my third Crossfit class Friday after work, and I'm still feeling the burn today.

When I saw the pull ups on the board, I got a little nervous.  I have so little upper body strength that I was so afraid I wasn't going to be able to do them.  One of the coaches (who we realized that we went to college together and hung out with the same group of people quite a bit) put my worries to rest when she showed me the resistance bands I could use to assist me with the pull ups.  The better I get, the less resistance I will need.  I LOVE doing kettlebell swings, so those were no problem.  I seem to have pulled something in my lower abdominal area, so I did modified burpee box jumps, but I still finished the WOD.  My arms are still unhappy with me for the 50 pull ups I did, but they'll thank me later when I'm able to do more with them in the long run.

Sunday I had a 7 mile run on the schedule.  It's only 32 days until my first half marathon, and I want to make sure that I get as much running in as I can!  I did NOT want a repeat of what happened after my 6 mile run a couple of weeks ago, so I tried a different approach.  When I woke up, I had a Clif bar.  On my way to the trail, I downed a bag of Sports Beans.  I also had my trusty water bottle with Strawberry Lemonade Nuun in it.  I made sure to stretch good, and then I was off. 

I didn't want to burn myself out (and I'm a slower runner to begin with) so I took it easy, trying my best to use the 1:30/1:00 run/walk intervals that I had set on my Garmin.  I did pretty well with them throughout the whole run.  When I got half way done, I took an strawberry kiwi flavored AccelGel.  I've never tried this brand before and wanted to see if I liked it better than Gu.  I wasn't crazy about the flavor, but I did like that it wasn't as thick as Gu usually is.  The disadvantage to that is that I got it on my fingers with nowhere to rinse them off, so they stayed a bit sticky through the rest of my run.

I was really striving to finish in 1:30 or less, and I ended up finishing in 1:31, so not too bad!

Here are my splits from the run -

I know I didn't have any negative splits, and right now, I'm okay with that.  I was overall pleased with my run, and it was soooo much better than the 6 mile run I did a couple of weeks ago...I finished 6 miles in 1:24, and this time finished 7 miles in 1:31, so for me, that in itself is a success.

Once I finished I went to the water fountain, except they had turned them off for the winter!  So I went into the restroom, splashed some cold water on my face, and headed home.  I had a Clif bar in the car so I downed that as I drove to the house and had some Powerade once I got home.  I took a shower and threw on these fun compression socks my brother got me for Christmas -

I believe the brand of them is Red Lion, if anyone is interested...I know I had a couple of people ask.

I felt absolutely great after my run!  I was so relieved that I didn't have the nausea and chills this time, so I think I've finally found a long run routine that works for me.  Yay!

It was a disappointing night in football as the Falcons lost to the 49'ers in the NFC championship game, but oh well...what can ya do.  It had a similar ending to the SEC championship game between UGA and Bama.  I think the Dome is cursed...at least for any Georgia team.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to sweat in some way, shape or form!

Until next time,

Jen

Time to Save with Vitacost!

Vitacost is an awesome website with tons of discounted items, ranging everywhere from ivitamins and supplements to pet and baby products!  And for today, you can receive 12% off of your entire order, along with their already discounted prices.

Vitacost has lots of name brand products as well as their own brand, so no matter what you're looking for, whether it be beauty products, energy gels, or pet treats, Vitacost has something for you.  AND you get free shipping with orders over $49!

I plan to place my first order with Vitacost and love that they have some of Guinness's favorite treats, so he'll be getting some goodies as will I.  I'm always in need of more Gu, and I've always wanted to try the Sharkies.

This offer is only good until 11:59 PM EST while supplies last, so act fast!  The promotional discount applies to purchases up to $1000, and you cannot use your "Refer a Friend" link.

Be sure to check them out...you never know what you might find!

Until next time,

Jen


Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored, compensated post by Vitacost, but all opinions are my own.

A Runner's Christmas

The Saturday before Christmas we had J's parents and grandparents over and made dinner and gave them their gifts since we spent Christmas with my family.  We headed to my parents on Christmas eve and had our traditional dinner with the godparents.

Ready for dinner!!

After dinner we exchange gifts with our godparents, chit chat a bit, and then eventually head to bed.  Even though my brothers and I are all well over 20, we still have fun with Christmas, starting with Santa still bringing us gifts :)

We don't get up nearly as early as we used to, but the excitement is still there and we're ready to dig in and give each other our gifts as well as open the ones for ourselves.

I got a lot of great things for running this year!  I think having an Amazon wish list helped me.  In previous years I've always had a hard time coming up with things that I would like, but since getting into running this year I think (and hope) it made Christmas shopping a little easier.

First off, my youngest brother got me an awesome pair of neon pink compression socks, and his girlfriend got some some pink arm sleeves!

Thanks Patty and Phillip!

J got me some great Under Armour gear...2 pairs of ColdGear pants, a pink long sleeved shirt, compression shorts, and a pink hoodie

He also got me a subscription to Runner's World as well as a gift card to Big Peach Running Company.  Thanks honey!!

My parents and other brother got me some other things - stemless wine glasses, a pair of Sperry "boating"shoes (as J likes to call them), kitchenware items, and much more.

On Christmas eve I received a card in the mail from my aunt and she said she saw this magnet and just had to buy it for me -

I thought it was too cute :)

We had a wonderful Christmas morning and took lots of naps after breakfast.  I hope that you and your family had a great holiday season as well!

What was on your Christmas list?  Did you get what you asked for?

Until next time,

Jen

Christmas Mail

I'm playing catch up from the holidays so I apologize in advance that most of the posts for this week will be from stuff in December!

I love getting mail that isn't a bill or junk.  So during the holidays I got a lot of fun mail from some of my fellow Girls Gone Sporty ambassadors.

Danielle over at Healthy Kitschy Vegan was my partner in our GGS Halloween swap, but instead of Halloween stuff I got Christmas stuff!

She sent me some homemade cookies, a bird ornament, 2 Cliff bars, a headband to run in, a Honey Stinger, an almond butter cup, and a protein shaker!  I have enjoyed everything she sent!  Thanks Danielle!

Next up was our Christmas swap, and Tammy at kyrunnergirl and I were paired up.  She sent a box full of goodies that myself, my husband, and even Guinness got to enjoy!

We got 2 bags of homemade chocolate chip cookes, a puppy cookie stick, 2 super cute ornaments, and Guinness got some homemade dog biscuits!  Thanks so much Tammy!

You may remember that I became an ambassador for energybits awhile back, and I finally received my ambassador kit!

If you're interested in learning more about energybits, check them out here, and to get 15% off your order use the promo code "HelloFitnessJen".  They rock!

Finally, through Sweat Pink, I was able to receive a Bulu Box!  Bulu Box is delivered to your doorstep once a month filled with different products for you to try.  The products change each month so you never know what you're going to get!

I will be doing a full review on the contents of my Bulu Box soon so stay tuned!

And finally, on Christmas eve, we got a letter from Santa :)

Do you look forward to getting fun stuff in the mail?  What's your favorite item(s) received?

Until next time,

Jen

Crossfit 101

Back in December I bought a Groupon for a local Crossfit box, and Wednesday night was my first class.

I met Sharon there and as we walked in there were a LOT of newbies waiting for class to start, which was good!  I believe a majority of them had also purchased the Groupon.  Before we started, I popped some bits - 

There were about 20 of us in the class, and the owner, Peyton, was our instructor for the day.  He gave us a little about his personal history with Crossfit - he lost 51 pounds after doing Crossfit for 11 months and has been doing it for 4 years.  He recently got the space to open a box after using some space at a local park.

Afterwards, he got us all around him and had each of us show him our form with push ups and squats.  Then we grabbed kettle bells and did swings, and finally, a medicine ball for some toe to balls.  When we were done, he gave us our WOD:

400m run

4 sets of 10:

Push ups

Squats

Kettlebell swings

Toe to ball

400m run

Boy, did I work up a good sweat with that workout!!  After the class was over Sharon and I stayed behind and chatted a bit, then headed home.  I knew I was going to be sore the next morning but I didn't realize just HOW sore.  I definitely felt the burn in my muscles!

But Friday...I went back for my second 101 class!  It was a rainy day and the gym was pretty full with the 101 class, the normal WOD class, and an Olympic lifting class (he's hoping to knock out one of the walls to make the gym bigger soon).  So for those of us who were there for our second 101 class, we did the WOD for the day.  Before I started, I decided to try a new energy drink made by FRS

A lot of my fellow bloggers have done reviews of this product and I wanted to give it a try.  I picked up the Cherry Limeade flavor, and while I was a little nervous about what it would taste like, I actually really enjoyed it!  I want to try some of the other flavors soon.

Here was the WU (warm up) and WOD for Friday ;

WU
2 sets of 20:
Raleigh hops
Mountain climers

WOD
5 rounds:
100 single jump rope or 500m row
15 goblet squats

It definitely got the heart pumping!  I could REALLY feel my quads duing the goblet squats, and I got a few battle wounds from the jump rope - 

All in all, I liked the WOD for Friday!  I'm planning to head back on Wednesday after work for more :)

Have you done Crossfit? What's your favorite and least favorite exercise during your workout?

Until next time,

Jen

It Happened Again...

The Princess Half marathon is fast approaching (only 45 days away!) and it's time to get serious about the long runs.

Yesterday I did a six mile run.  I jumped on the computer to Map My Run to plan my route, ate some peanut butter crackers, and headed out.

The run itself was okay...I wasn't expecting too much from it, but I knew I needed to get out and get it done.  I did learn a thing or two during my run - 1) don't wear a hoodie.  By mile 2 I was hot and ended up taking it off and tying it around my waist.  As I started to run again, I heard a car honk at me - it was J and Guinness coming to check on me, so I sent the hoodie home with him.  At mile 3 I had planned to take some Gu Chomps, but they were so hard!  I hadn't eaten all of them from a previous race so I saved them, which was lesson #2 - they don't store well after being open.

But I finished...and that's when things went downhill.

The same thing that happened to me on my 8 mile run back in September happened again yesterday.  I got very hot, clammy, and nauseous, so I took a cold shower.  I continued to be nauseous and then couldn't warm up after the shower.  I went straight to the bed when I got out, texted J that I would be upstairs for awhile, and just laid under the covers shivering.  I know exactly what I did wrong....I wasn't properly hydrated and I didn't fuel myself enough for that length of run.  J came up to check on me and tried to help warm me up, and finally about 3 hours later I felt better.  I absolutely cannot continue to let this happen, especially after my half marathon!

I have my first Crossfit class this Wednesday!!  I'm both excited and nervous about it, and I hope I'm still able to run!  Luckily this weekend's long run is only 3 miles per my schedule, so it shouldn't be too terribly bad.  You can bet I'll be blogging about it...if I can move my arms and fingers to type :)

I'm still working on my Christmas blog posts and hope to have those up this week.  Getting caught up at work and at home has put me behind!  And stay tuned for a Fit Approach Sweat Pink giveaway!

Until next time,

Jen