A Scatterbrained Fitbloggin Recap

It has been an insane week, but I’m finally ready to sit down and mull over the awesomeness that was Fitbloggin!

I arrived in Portland a day early to hang out with the lovely Tasha of Lettuce Makes Me Fat. She took me to a phenomenal Vietnamese restaurant (Luc Lac, go if you are in the area!) and then we explored a bit of the area. Afterward, I showed her one of my favorite past times – hashing. I love sharing this craziness with others and was thrilled that she enjoyed herself . Seriously folks, if you like running, ridiculousness, and drinking, search for the hash house harriers in your city. They are some of the most welcoming and fun individuals.

The next morning I burst into my hotel room to ninja hug Kenlie and Martinus. It was great to be reunited with some of my favorite people (major shout out to my love Pinky who I got to spend a lot of time canoodling with). After catching up, I took the afternoon to explore more of the downtown area before trying out a pyrolates class. I went in a bit blindly and quickly realized why they called it PYRO-lates. Every part of my thighs and abs were on fire by the time the class ended (and for days afterward). It was intense, but fun to try something new. I need to get more burny workouts into my life, nothing proves that it is working like insane soreness the following days. (Is that a good or bad thing? Who knows.)

I set a goal to attend every workout class offered this year at Fitbloggin, but disregarded how tough it would be to wake up at 5:30am each morning… I’ll admit that the workouts were by far my favorite part of the conference. It is great to try out new activities and joke around with friends. This year we got to “spank our bad kitties” again with Jeff of JumpSport. Lucky for me, he teaches a class in San Francisco so I’ll get to do it again sometime. And I realized that yoga isn’t as bad as I had recalled, this might be something I add into my routine.

This year we had a great fashion show coordinated by Emmie and I was lucky enough to be involved. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but I was quite excited to rock my Nux outfit. Outside the room I was overly confident, then as my turn arrived I felt the nerves coming on. I sauntered up to the stage and demanded confidence from myself. I don’t quite remember what I was thinking during the walk, but I do love this photo that was taken of me strutting my stuff. When I look at it I feel so confident and proud, and I think we all need to feel that way more often about our awesome selves. Take a moment to check out the greatness that was Maggie killing it on stage.

Fitbloggin meant a lot to me this year for a multitude of reasons. It wasn’t just an opportunity to spend time with amazing people, but it was a moment to really consider what I’m doing with my health. I’ve managed to make some adjustments to my diet this past month and I want to think about what else I can do in the coming months as I reenter the working world. I want to make smarter decisions in both my eating habits and exercise. This is my year to make things happen, I need to remember that.

Overall I loved Portland. It had a nice urban feel, but it was easy to get out to nature. I’ll definitely be returning to do more hiking, kayaking, and site seeing. Who knows, perhaps I’ll end up in that area some day.

As for Fitbloggin, I’ll definitely be back! I’ve had a great time these past two years and look forward to meeting more amazing people next year.

Ellie Review and Discount

I first learned about PV.body when I attended Fitbloggin this past year. It sounded like a great opportunity to get high quality workout gear at a great price. I was intrigued, so I subscribed and got excited about my first outfit. A few days after ordering my outfit, I was contacted by PV.body to be an ambassador for their brand and I couldn’t turn them down. There were some issues with the style they sent me, but I was able to exchange some of the items for more suitable options.

After seeing all the great items on the market (and due to some style/sizing issues), PV.body recently decided to start their own line – Ellie. You can bet I was excited when I saw their new line of clothing. Each month Ellie has a new collection, so you have to get items while they last! There are new tops and bottoms to select from. Best of all? You can get two items for only $49.95. Seriously, when was the last time you got a full outfit for that price? You can also buy the pieces separately, they range from $39.95 – $59.95.

This month I was sent the After Dark top and My New Obsession leggings. I’ll admit that these were not my initial picks (I can’t typically wear tanks like this), but they are great quality items. The fabric is thick and durable, with great elasticity. At first I was nervous about the leggings, they looked so small, but they stretched and held me snug. (Can you tell I had a slight dance party during the photoshoot?)

Thoughts: I love how snug the pants are.  They make me feel secure and svelt. I wore them during speed training and they never slipped! They have a great wide waist band that is very flattering.  Unfortunately they don’t have a pocket for a key, instead I tied mine to my shoe. I’ll admit I was slightly over heated, but I blame this on the fact that California is getting too nice these days.

The top gives me a great shape. Yes, the straps were an initial concern, but they work well with my new racerback bra. There is a bit of cleavage in the front, but how else am I going to lure in the men folk? I don’t think I’d wear these two items together since I try to avoid wearing two tight items at once. But these would be great with a pair of shorts for a workout in the gym.

I definitely suggest checking out their new line. They have plenty of options to choose from and they are quite flattering. April pieces will be out in less than a week and the all black March line promises to be slimming. The material and manufacturing are high quality (things I notice as an engineer). Click on the image below or in my sidebar to get 20% off your first order.

 

Note: Ellie reached out to me and sent my outfit free of charge. All opinions expressed in the post are my own.

Tell Yourself a Good Story

While I was at Fitbloggin this past month, I heard some really beautiful stories. I didn’t resonate with all of them, but one statement has really stuck with me. I was sitting in on the discussion, When You Have a Lot to Lose, and Nikki was talking about her weight loss journey.

Nikki mentioned that the story you tell is the one that others believe. And sometimes the most important story you tell is the one you tell yourself. When you wake up, rather than complaining about the time or the weather, say something positive. Look in the mirror and tell yourself one great thing about who you are and one great thing about what you will accomplish today. Because today you will successfully accomplish something.

Although I’ve had a tendency to be melodramatic in the past, these days I’m waking up with a new attitude. The other morning I woke up and thought, “I’m tired, this is going to be a long day.” But moments later I realized my foolishness, why say that to yourself when you can invigorate yourself with a few simple statements?

In fact, I used this tactic while running the San Jose half last weekend. I told Maggie about this theory around the half way point and we began to talk about how great we felt. I said that my legs felt fresh and I could go for many miles more. We shouted about how awesome we were. Then there was that one comment about how great my butt looked… Come on, sometimes you have to have fun with it. :)

So do me a favor, tell yourself something positive today. And tomorrow. Then keep the trend going and remember that you are an amazing specimen worthy of great things.

What story did you tell yourself today?

Rockin San Jose

This past Sunday was the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose half marathon. Last year I came within thirty seconds of my half marathon PR on this course and this year I initially had hopes to break that record. Sadly it came to my attention recently that this wouldn’t be possible. My legs have been grumbly for the past few weeks. Of course it didn’t help that it had been almost two months since my last double digit run. But I’m not the type to back down (especially after I’d already registered).

So I did everything possible to ensure a good race. I carbo loaded on Saturday with a simple bowl of spaghetti and marinara sauce. Went to bed uncomfortably early. I even had my legs taped up for the first time to help with calf/shin cramping. By the time I woke up on Sunday I was feeling fresh-ish.

I departed from Palo Alto early to avoid traffic and found that it was incredibly easy to find parking near the start and finish line. With time to spare I went to find Maggie, the awesome chick I met at Fitbloggin. We had discussed the possibility of running with one another and, although she didn’t know it at the time, I had hopes of using her as a pace rabbit.

At the halfway mark my lower back began to ache. I’ve never felt something like that before and I didn’t know how to react. All I knew was that Maggie was kickin’ butt and I wanted to keep moving. She had mentioned that 50-75% of the way through the race was her toughest point, so I did my best to move along smoothly. And we did. And it was good.

Each time we passed a stage, I did my best to rock out with them. There was a lot of 80s music, which was fantastic. I may not have been alive when the songs were topping the charts, yet I know each and every one. I haven’t always loved the performances on a race path, but this time it really helped keep my spirit up.  By mile 10 I was letting everyone know how awesome they looked. When spectators said, “You can do it!” I replied, “We are doing it!!” It was probably the  most glorious race I’ve run. And as we reached the end, I made sure everyone knew what I was looking forward to the most. Chocolate milk. *

We crossed the finish line three minutes slower than my PR. Perhaps we could have pushed to make it, but I’m not dwelling on that. Maggie set a new record for herself and I am so glad I was there to run with her. Scratch that. I’m so glad she was there to run with me. I learned quite a bit from this race and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

Expectations and goals change naturally overtime. No, I didn’t set a new personal record, but I did finish the race with a huge obnoxious smile on my face. I pushed my body to move faster than I had planned and didn’t let myself slow down for any small excuse.  I worked hard and felt great. And isn’t that a beautiful thing?

What is the craziest thing you’ve seen someone do during a race? How do you handle a change in goals or expectations?

*Dearest fellow runners, I apologize if my enthusiasm was distracting or annoying to you. Sometimes you have to psych yourself up to push yourself harder.

Fitbloggin Part 2

And now that I’ve had a full week to process all of the awesomeness that happened at Fitbloggin (and to dive head first into grad school), it’s about time I complete my recap.  Right?

Check me out, I’m tramping!

Saturday started off with another bang. I dragged Melissa down to bounce on some tiny trampolines. Supposedly it was a fitness class, but it felt more like child-ish behavior mixed with inappropriateness from the instructor. I kid you not, he told us to “hit your bad kitty”. I’m still uncertain what he was referring to. So we jumped, then got on the floor and did some awkward dance moves. Afterward I was shocked at how much I was shvitzing. But I didn’t have much time to relax since it was absolutely necessary to Zumba! Although many people didn’t tramp, I swear that everyone got in on Zumba. It was a huge ball of fun. Who doesn’t love dancing? And let me tell you, all our sexiness rocked that dance floor conference center carpet.

After a seriously necessary shower, I ran away to the Natural Products Expo next door. Let me tell you, there is nothing life a conference center full of  natural food products… I spoke with so many vendors and picked up a bit too much. Fortunately my bunk mates were more than willing to take some free samples with. I met some great companies, who you’ll probably here about in a little bit, and learned plenty about the industry.

Then I jetted back to Fitbloggin so I could LiveBlog for the best (and most teary jerking) discussions of the event – When You Have a Lot to Lose. It was absolutely beautiful to hear each person’s story. It made me really reconsider things in my own life. The rest of the day I spent with the great roomies. We had crabcakes (naturally since we were in Maryland), had a slight fiasco with a patio umbrella, and enjoyed the reception where Robby won a KitchenAid mixer (that will be mine!). We spent the rest of the night relaxing around the grounds. I got picked up by Biggest Loser star Mark. Okay, that is a lie, I jumped into his arm and he couldn’t do much about it. Fortunately he was a good sport.

Our entire room woke up early on Sunday to prepare for the 5k. I had made plans to run with Maggie the day before and she was a perfect running mate. In fact, I’m hoping she’ll pace me for this weekend’s half marathon. Melissa was even kind enough to slow down and stick with us for the entire thing. Somehow having these two awesome ladies around me made me push a little bit harder.

The entire event ended on a high note of hugs and see-you-laters. Then off Pinky and I ran to the airport. It was sad to part from everyone and return back to California, but I knew it was time. The next day I started classes and TA-ing a class with a bunch of rowdy and confused engineering undergrads. This promises to be a very hectic and frustrating quarter. But I’m up for the challenge (as long as I can fit some training and healthy eating into the schedule). I’ve made some changes to my habits, in fact I’m even staying up later these days! But more on that soon.

What are your big plans and goals for October? I’m hoping to rock two half marathons and drop all those pounds I gained this summer.