Wine and Dine Half Marathon 2014 - Weeks 3 and 4 Training Recap

It has been another crazy two weeks! As I described last time, we are currently in the middle of remodeling our guest bathroom. It still needs a few finishing touches, so I am not going to share the pictures of the room just yet! 

The in-laws returned home on Monday, and Gus immediately got sick. He went to the vet and got some tests and it turned out to be nothing major. (Thank goodness!) Speaking of Gus, he is going to be going in for his last round of shots this week. I am so excited to be able to take him out soon! He is on my last nerve, but because he is so cute, I can't stay mad at him. 

While he was sick, Gus was on a diet of boiled chicken and rice with pumpkin. He ate so messily that when he was done eating, his face was orange from the pumpkin! He is so silly.

With all of the activity going on, I haven't been keeping up with my training runs. I decided to sign up for the Central New Mexico Race for the Cure 10K four days before the race because I had a 6 miler on the calendar and figured this would probably be the only way I would actually get it done.  

September 8 to 14, 2014

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 2.34 miles

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: weed backyard

Friday: weed backyard

Saturday: weed backyard

Sunday: rest

Total mileage: 2.34 miles 

September 15 to 21, 2014

Monday: rest

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: 1.6 miles

Friday: rest

Saturday: rest

Sunday: Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 10K (recap later this week)

Total mileage: 7.8 miles 

I'm not sorry...I'm sick

My friend, the upper respiratory infection (aka the common cold) paid me a visit last week, and I am still coughing up all sorts of goodness. 

He is so cute in Giant Microbe form, but he really needs to go back to where he came from.

Source: GiantMicrobes.com

I haven't felt like myself in days, and because of that, I haven't been up to writing blog posts. Having full days of work and commuting with a congested head and headaches that last for days doesn't put me in the mindset for blogging. So that's why there has been a lack of updates.

I think I would usually say that I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but not today, I'm not really sorry. I have not been in the mood. There are other things I have been doing and taking care of myself is my priority.

Have a great rest of the week! 

Weeks in Review (September 30 to October 13, 2013)

This was another rough week but for entirely different reasons. It has rained five of the last seven days! It definitely felt like it was never going to stop raining.

Because of the weather, it has been pretty hard for me to get out and do stuff. We did get to have some fun this weekend though. I found out late last week that I won two entries into the Cosmic Run 5K, so Raisin Bread and I ran it on Saturday night. We had a blast! Stay tuned for my post later this week.

September 30 to October 6, 2013
Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: ran 2.47 miles
Thursday: BBL - Sculpt (50 minutes)
Friday: rest
Saturday: ran 7 miles
Sunday: BBL - Sculpt (50 minutes)

Total mileage this week: 9.47 miles

October 7 to 13, 2013
Monday: rest
Tuesday: BBL - High and Tight + Cardio Axe (65 minutes)
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: BBL - Bum Bum (35 minutes)
Friday: rest
Saturday: BBL - Sculpt (50 minutes) + Cosmic Run 5K
Sunday: ran/walked 3.6 miles

Total mileage this week: 6.7 miles
Total mileage this year: 298.9 miles

Happy Monday! And if you get today off for Columbus Day, enjoy!

Week In Review (September 23-29, 2013)

This week has been rough. I'm not sure if it is because the sun isn't rising as early combined with the sun setting earlier or maybe it is because I got a flu shot on Monday and maybe that has made me fatigued. But I have been so tired this week. I even took a four hour nap on Sunday afternoon, which is totally unlike me. I hope I get over this soon! 

I participated in the Light the Way 5K on Saturday, which I will recap later this week. It was a lot of fun and can't wait to tell you about it. 

Light the Way 5K Finish Line

The rest of the week was pretty bad workout-wise. I had to stop a few times mid-workout because I was so drained.

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: BBL - Bum Bum (30 minutes)
Wednesday: BBL - Sculpt (didn't finish)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Light the Way 5K (recap coming soon)
Sunday: BBL - Bum Bum (30 minutes)

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 3.1 miles
Total mileage this year: 282.73

On Friday, I volunteered at the packet pick-up for a local race that happened on Saturday morning. It obviously wasn't a race I did because I was at the Light the Way 5K. During my volunteer shift, something occurred to me which made me think. I wondered if I felt that there was something wrong with me volunteering my time for a for-profit race. I have volunteered two times now at for-profit races and it didn't even occur to me the first time to ask myself why I was volunteering at an event for a business that was making tons of money. Anyway, to save myself from having to answer that question next time, I'm going to volunteer for not-for-profit events in the future.

On Saturday, Raisin Bread and I drove out to Annandale to try out a new-to-us Korean barbecue place: Kogiya. The wait was horrendous but the food was great. We had quite the spread. We ordered a seafood pancake, bulgogi and kalbi and of course, had loads of banchan. Yum yum! Kogiya seems to bring in a lot of bodies with their all-you-can-eat barbecue but we weren't sold on the cuts of meat, so we ordered a la carte.

Here's hoping for more energy this week!

Kogiya Korean BBQ
4220 Annandale Road 
Annandale, VA 22003

Week in Review (September 16 - 22, 2013)

I'm pretty sure that this is something I haven't mentioned on the blog before, but this is one thing that I have been plugging away at all year long. What am I talking about? Well, one of my goals this year was to complete the 13 in 2013 Challenge. That is to complete 13 races of any distance this year. You can also do a set distance, but I chose to do a variety of distances including 5K, 10K, 10 miles and half marathon. So far, I have completed nine of the 13 runs. You can see what I've done to date on my Race Results + Recaps page.

That means I have four more runs left to reach my goal, but I went a little overboard and have eight more runs on the schedule. I had better not sign up for anymore! This is partly due to the fact that I accidentally signed up for a series instead of one race back in May, so by the end of the year, I'll finish another four 5K's, one 10K and three half marathons. Most of them are virtual so they won't be officially timed.

The weather in DC is finally comfortable and I have been enjoying being outdoors more. This is what the week looked like. I'm still having fun with the Brazil Butt Lift DVDs and put in some runs this week after my week off.

Monday: Brazil Butt Lift (BBL) - Sculpt (50 minutes)
Tuesday: BBL - High & Tight (35 minutes) and Tummy Tuck (20 minutes) + ran 3.1 miles
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: BBL - Sculpt (50 minutes)
Friday: BBL - Cardio Axe (30 minutes)
Saturday: BBL - Sculpt (50 minutes) + walked 4 miles
Sunday: ran 5 miles

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 8.1 miles
Total mileage this year: 279.63 miles

Happy Monday!

Week in Review (September 9 to 15, 2013)

Big life decisions were made this week! I decided which two half marathons I will be running for 2014. The first will be the Rock 'n' Roll Nation's Capital Half Marathon in March, and while the second one hasn't open for registration yet, I'm hoping to run the Disney Wine and Dine Half in November (assuming it's the same time as this year).

Image source: Rock 'n' Roll Marthon Series

I was getting a little nervous that I didn't have any races scheduled yet for next year! Yes, I'm a planner.

I decided to take the week off from running and instead, focused on doing my Brazil Butt Lift workouts. Raisin Bread and I also decided to take a bike ride this weekend since the weather was so nice. We biked a portion of the Mount Vernon trail.

Here's what this week looked like:

Monday: Bum Bum (30 minutes)
Tuesday: Cardio Axe (30 minutes) + Tummy Tuck (20 minutes)
Wednesday: Bum Bum (30 minutes)
Thursday: rest
Friday: Cardio Axe (30 minutes)
Saturday: Bum Bum (30 minutes) + High and Tight (35 minutes)
Sunday: 7 mile bike ride

Happy Monday!

Weeks in Review (August 26 to September 8, 2013) + Weekend Fun in Baltimore

After last week's Disneyland Half Marathon weekend, you would think I would be resting my tired self, but nope, I did another race this weekend. Here's a sneak peek at how I looked after my Color Me Rad 5K. 

Because the race was up in Baltimore, Raisin Bread and I decided to head up there for the night. We had an early dinner at Thames Street Oyster House in the Fells Point neighborhood. This was both of our first times in this area of town, and we both loved it.

I ordered a selection of raw oysters and some jumbo shrimp to share. Raisin Bread had the Rhode Island Quahog Chowder. For our entrees, I had an ahi tuna special with gnocchi, sweet potato and cauliflower, while hubby had the swordfish with risotto. The food was amazing. I loved my tuna, which was perfectly seared.

After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood and along the pier before checking into our hotel for the night.

Sunset in Baltimore

I'll have a full recap of the race next week. For now, here is what the workouts looked like these last two weeks.

August 26 to September 1, 2013
Monday: ran 3.2 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: ran 3.2 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: lots of walking around Downtown Disney
Saturday: Disneyland 10K (recap here)
Sunday: Disneyland Half Marathon (recap coming soon)

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 25.7 miles

Before we left for California, Raisin Bread purchased a DVD workout set called "Brazil Butt Lift." Romantic?? I will be starting the full schedule next week, but I did get to try it once on Thursday. It is hard but fun. We'll see if I can keep up with the schedule though because it seems like a lot to me.

September 2 to 8, 2013
Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: ran/walked 2 miles
Thursday: Brazil Butt Lift - Booty Basics and Bum Bum (50 minutes)
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest
Sunday: Color Me Rad 5K (recap coming soon)

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 4.78 miles
Total mileage this year: 271.53 miles

Thames Street Oyster House
1728 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD 21231

Disclosure: I received complimentary race registration for Color Me Rad from Blogportunity and Fit Approach. No compensation was received. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here. 

Weeks in Review (August 5 to 25, 2013) + {Product Review} FrogFuel Protein Shot

How I feel after vacation
Image source: Free-picture.net

The Weeks in Review have completely disappeared this month, I know. Since school ended, I have been very unmotivated in general and with training in particular. That didn't stop me from running my third 10K last weekend though. 

August 5 to 11, 2013

Monday: rest

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: ran 1.62 miles
Friday: rest

Saturday: Metabolic Maximizer + 30 second plank

Sunday: hiked/walked 3 miles

Total mileage this week: 4.62 miles

August 12 to 18, 2013

Monday to Saturday: rest

Sunday: Run Wild 10K 

Total mileage this week: 6.2 miles

August 19 to 25, 2013

Monday: rest

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: ran 1.96 miles

Thursday: rest
Friday: rest

Saturday: walked 4 miles

Sunday: ran 4.02 miles

Total yoga this week: 0 times

Total mileage this week: 9.98 miles
Total mileage this year: 241.05 miles

Since I have a half marathon on the schedule every month until the end of the year, I won't have any choice but to keep myself on track! 

Before I go today, I wanted to finally give my review of FrogFuel. As you may remember, I hosted a giveaway last month. That post has some of the specs on the product, so I'm not going to rehash that information here. 

I was supposed to receive some samples to review, but there was some kind of issue so it took me quite a long time to receive the product, which is why this review is just going up now. 

I tried FrogFuel both before and after runs. If you are like me and regularly use GU or a similar product for mid-run fueling, the first difference you will notice between those products and FrogFuel is the consistency. FrogFuel is liquidy instead of gooey. This makes it easy to take before or after a run because no slurping is required. The second thing I noticed was the taste. The flavor is supposed to be "berry," but it tastes very artificial, medicinal rather than fruity. In fact, I couldn't really swallow the protein shot on its own and had to take a sip of water with it to dilate the flavor. So while the consistency would make FrogFuel ideal to take without water mid-run, the taste would not make this possible for me.

What's my take: I can't get past the taste. Although I really like the consistency and ease of use, the flavor was not my favorite. If FrogFuel comes out with more flavors, I might try it again.

Disclosure: I received three FrogFuel protein shots for the purpose of this review. No compensation was received. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here. 

Week in Review (July 29 to August 4, 2013)

Source: IWantCovers.com

Happy Monday! For those who read my blog regularly, you know that I am usually not afraid to try new things. This week I was hesitant to try a new class at the Pilates studio I have been going to recently, but I tried it anyway and I'm glad I did. On Saturday morning, I took a CoreAlign class, which is supposed to improve posture and balance. My posture is pretty bad and I'm a klutz, which made this class pretty challenging. It did not come to me naturally at all, but I am glad I went. I'm not sure that I will be adding this class as a regular part of my workout routine, but it was good to get out of my comfort zone.

I had fewer workouts this week but felt like I put in some good quality time!

Monday: Ran 2.84 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: Pilates Reformer class (50 minutes)
Friday: rest
Saturday: Ran/walked 2.2 miles + CoreAlign class (50 minutes)
Sunday: Walked 3 miles

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 8.04 miles
Total mileage this year: 220.25

Oh and this is exciting! I am being featured in today's blog post on RealInto.com as this week's F.I.T. Interview. Check it out here. Thanks, Carli!!

Question: What was the last new thing you tried? 

Week in Review (July 22 to 28, 2013) + Color Me Rad 5K Discount

We finally had a week of nice weather here in DC, with only one day hitting the 90 degree mark. Hey, I'll take what I can get. This gave me a chance to run outdoors three times this week. While it was still hot, it wasn't unbearable. Still not getting the numbers I need. Hopefully, this week will bring some better mileage!

Monday: Ran 2.43 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: Ran 2.02 miles
Friday: Mostly walked/ran 5.62 miles
Saturday: Pilates Reformer class (50 minutes)
Sunday: Pilates Reformer class (50 minutes)

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 10.07 miles
Total mileage this year: 212.21 miles

Finally, I wanted to tell you about a fun event I will be participating in. Themed runs seem to be all the rage recently, but I've never done one before! All of my runs have been simply running, no zombies, color or glow-in-dark. The Color Me Rad 5K will be my first themed run, and I can't wait to be bombarded by a rainbow of non-toxic colored corn-starch.

If you're like me and have yet to do a color run, here's what to expect. As you run your 5K, you will approach different color stations where volunteers will throw colored powder at you. With each new color station, a new color is added to your clean, white clothing, face and body so that by the end of the 5K, you look like a tie-dyed extravaganza! Sounds fun, right?

Well, the fine folks at Color Me Rad are offering a discount for a limited time only. From today, July 29th until Wednesday, July 31st, you can get 20% off your race registration by using the discount code: radfun. The code is applicable to any price and any race location. There are races all across the US and Canada, and their race calendar currently extends out to June 2014. So there is likely to be a race near you!

To find the race nearest you, visit ColorMeRad.com

Question: Have you ever done a themed-run?

Disclosure: I received complimentary race registration for Color Me Rad through Blogportunity and Fit Approach. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here. 

Weeks in Review (July 8 to 21, 2013) + Birthday Recap

It's been another two weeks of busy-ness! I celebrated my 33rd birthday and my little brother and his fiancee came to visit for the weekend. Lots of distraction from half marathon training so AGAIN, I didn't put in the miles that I needed to over the last two weeks.

My birthday brought lots of fun times courtesy of my lovely husband. We saw Camera Obscura and She & Him at Wolf Trap on the Thursday before my birthday. It was my first time seeing a show at this venue and it is amazing! Such a great setting, and both bands played great sets.

Camera Obscura at Wolf Trap

She & Him at Wolf Trap

On Friday, Raisin Bread planned a surprise evening for us. After work, we went to Urbana for happy hour oysters and dinner. I ordered the roasted brussels sprouts and the tagliatelle with sea urchin butter, mussels and leeks.

Oysters and dinner at Urbana

Then it was off to the big surprise! The Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center. I have been dying to see this musical and it was impossible to get tickets on the day they went on sale. It was a fun, ridiculous and hilarious show and a wonderful night! 

On my birthday, Raisin Bread had another surprise in store. One of my favorite dinners ever: King crab legs and corn on the cob. Followed by a fruit tart. So yummy!

I had a fantastic birthday! Earlier this week, I visited Gettysburg and hung out with my brother and future sister-in-law this weekend, as I mentioned. More on both of those later.

My workouts these past weeks:

July 8 to 14, 2013
Monday - Ran 1.98 miles
Tuesday - Pilates Chair - 45 minutes
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - The Biggest Loser 10K - 5.6 miles (recap here)

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 7.58 miles

July 15 to 21, 2013
Monday - Daily Burn - Yoga Hip Flow (1 hour)
Tuesday - Daily Burn - Cardio Sculpt (30 minutes) + ran 2.9 miles
Wednesday - Pilates Reformer/Jumpboard - 50 minutes
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Ran 2.6 miles
Saturday - lots of walking around DC
Sunday - lots of walking around DC

Total yoga this week: 1 times
Total mileage this week: 5.5 miles
Total mileage this year: 202.14 miles

Happy Monday!

Urbana
2121 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Weeks in Review (June 24 to July 7, 2013) + Goals Progress

{REMINDER} If you haven't already done so, be sure to check out my GIVEAWAY before it ends on Thursday night!

Now, where was I? I missed last week's Week in Review, so I'm playing catch up this Monday morning. These past weeks have been quite eventful, and I have been trying to enjoy the summer despite the DC weather of rain, rain and humidity!

Two Mondays ago I met up with my friend, who I knew back from my Los Angeles days, for happy hour at CoCo Sala. This place is dangerous because everything has chocolate in it!

I ordered the Allure to drink, which has lychee, sparkling wine, rose water and fresh lime juice, and Robyn got the Co Cojito (their play on the mojito). I also got an order of bacon mac and cheese, which came with a piece of chocolate covered bacon. So decadent!

That Saturday, Raisin Bread and I went on a segway tour of DC (recap here) and met up with some of my MBA friends for a cruise of the Potomac and then dinner in Georgetown. Look at this sky!

For the 4th of July, Raisin Bread and I headed to the Mall for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and then avoided the fireworks crowd this year.

Puli Dog Sculpture

I spent this weekend visiting my brother in Philly for less than 48 hours, but we made the most of it! More on that later. For now, here is what my two weeks of workouts looked like. They looked not so great.

June 24 to 30, 2013
Monday: rest
Tuesday: Daily Burn: Yoga 1 + Ran 2.7 miles
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: rest
Friday: Ran 2.8 miles
Saturday: lots of walking around DC
Sunday: rest

Total yoga this week: 1 time
Total mileage this week: 5.5 miles


July 1 to 7, 2013
Monday: Ran 2.6 miles
Tuesday: Pilates Chair 45 mins
Wednesday: Pilates Chair 30 mins
Thursday: Pilates Chair 45 minutes
Friday: travel day
Saturday:  lots of walking around Philly
Sunday: rest

Total yoga this week: 2 times
Total mileage this week: 2.6 miles
Total mileage this week: 189.06

I will be running the Biggest Loser 10K this Sunday, so hopefully, that will kick my butt into high gear! I sure hope so!
------------------------------------------------------------
Here is also an update on my Goals. If you recall, these goals (except for #7) were supposed to be completed by the end of June, and I have to say I did pretty well. From here, I will try to complete goal #7 as well as continue to cross out goals from my 60 Goals in 3 Years.  

Goals Progress

1. Finish my MBA - Yes! (recap here)
2. Finish my first 10 miler - Yes! (recap here)

3. Finish my first half marathon - Yes! (recap here)
4. Exercise three times a week - I worked out less than three times during 6 of the weeks. 
5. Participate in Meatless Mondays regularly - I didn't do so well on this one. 
6. Eat out less = save money - Definitely did great! 
7. Run 700 miles this year - Total Mileage To Date (TMTD): 189.06 miles (511 miles to go).
8. Try out two new workout classes - Yes, tried BodySculpt and BodyStep.
9. Post once a week - Yes!

Posted with Blogsy

Week in Review (June 17 to 23, 2013) + Dinner at The Liberty Tavern

Image credit: someecards

Sometimes I feel like these "Week in Review"s are exactly like the image above! So if you feel the same way, I apologize, but it also serves as a great accountability tool for me.

This was the first weekend all month that I have been at home for the entire weekend. I was able to get so much done. It was also Raisin Bread's 37th birthday on Friday, and he got to have not one, not two, but three birthday dinners! Yes, I spoil my husband. I'll get to birthday dinner #1 in a second, but first, my week was full of great workouts. I finished my 6 mile training run, so I feel pretty confident about running The Biggest Loser 10K in a few weeks.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: Daily Burn: Hip Flow Yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday: Ran 2.9 miles
Thursday: Daily Burn: Full Flow Yoga (60 minutes)
Friday: Ran 2.7 miles
Saturday: Ran 1 mile + 20 minute arm workout
Sunday: Ran 6 miles + Pilates Chair (30 minutes)

Total yoga this week: 2 times
Total mileage this week: 12.6 miles
Total mileage this year: 180.97 miles

We had a birthday eve birthday dinner for Raisin Bread on Thursday night. We chose The Liberty Tavern in Clarendon because Green Pig Bistro didn't have any openings. On this night, the service was totally off. Our server asked us if we wanted any appetizers, and we asked to see the cheese menu. He then took the remainder of our order and then proceeded to give us the cheese menu just as our entrees were coming out! Who does that? So we decided to just have the cheese for dessert.

I ordered the Prosciutto Pizza with Parma ham, mascarpone, Parmigiano, arugula, rosemary and preserved lemon. The lemon really made the pizza sing.

Raisin Bread had a half order of the Spinach Tagliatelle with prosciutto, peas, pecorino, crème fraiche, basil and mint, followed by the Arctic Char with mustard spaetzle ragu, fennel, peas, asparagus and preserved lemon froth. I had a few bites of the pasta, and it was really rich and yummy. I especially liked the peas.

For our cheese course, we had the Smokey Blue and the Cabecou Trufee. After our cheese plate arrived, we both noticed that the table next to us was looking at our table and whispering. We both thought it was because the Cabecou Trufee was SO STINKY!!! It turned out they were looking at us because they wanted to order cheese as well. *whoo* I liked the saltiness of the Smokey Blue, but maybe the other one was a little too complex for me or maybe it was just the smell, but I couldn't eat much of it.

Apart from the terrible service, we had another enjoyable meal at The Liberty Tavern. For birthday dinner #2, I cooked a meal of brown rice fusilli, ground turkey, baby portobello mushrooms and spinach. Finally, birthday dinner #3 will need its own post because it was a multiple course extravaganza at Sushi Taro, my favorite sushi in DC.

Happy Monday!

The Liberty Tavern
3195 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201

Week in Review (June 10 to 16, 2013) + Revenge Wears Prada Book Signing

It has been exhaustion central at the Stirling household. Traveling every weekend has taken a toll on me and Raisin Bread is not far behind as he is still in summer school. On Saturday, we spent the whole day in Pennsylvania on an antiquing mission. We also got to see both of his parents and my baby brother! It was quite a long and successful day. I'm serious when I say long. We woke up at 4:30 am and didn't get home until after midnight, although we did sneak in a short nap at his mom's house.

This week wasn't as successful on the training front as I had anticipated. I'm hoping to do better next week with my first double training weekend.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: ran 1.8 miles
Wednesday: ran 2.91 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest
Sunday: ran 5 miles + Daily Burn: Strength Recovery Yoga (20 minutes)

Total yoga this week: 1 time
Total mileage this week: 9.71 miles
Total mileage this year: 168.37 miles
-----------------------------------------------------------
On Thursday evening, author Lauren Weisberger was on hand at the W Hotel's POV Rooftop to sign copies of her new novel, Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, the follow-up to 2004's super successful The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel. This was Ms. Weisberger's only scheduled Washington, DC appearance.

DC's weather decided to behave this evening, which allowed for views of Downtown DC like no other from the W Hotel's rooftop. Guests were treated to tunes from DJ Neekola, mini Georgetown Cupcakes, plus a little primping from the NARS Cosmetics lipstick bar. Bloomingdale's showcased some current fashion trends and attendees received hair styling from IPSA For Hair.

Copies of the new novel were available for purchase, and guests were eager to meet the author and have their copies signed.

Week in Review (June 3 to 9, 2013) + {Product Review} RunGuard Sensitive Anti-Chafe

This weekend, Raisin Bread and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary in Maine! We visited Acadia National Park and I definitely ate my fill of lobster! We did lots of hiking, ate a ton and spent some quality time together. The weather wasn't great, but we were still able to make the most of it. Expect to hear more about Maine later. For now, here is a sneak peek at the natural beauty of Acadia. This photo was taken from Schooner Head Overlook.

I recently started incorporating a new product into my everyday runs and now I can't imagine running without it. At first, I wasn't sure what to do with RunGuard because I don't really experience a lot of chafing in areas, like underarms or thighs, that many other runners do. After considering how to use RunGuard for a while, it finally dawned on me that my arches experience a lot of abrasion during my long runs and actually feel quite raw afterwards. I've been applying RunGuard Sensitive to my arches before my runs ever since and I must admit that my arches have never felt better and haven't needed time to heal after my runs! Another thing that makes RunGuard great is that it contains added moisturizers and natural ingredients, and it's water-proof and sweat-proof. I'm super happy that I discovered this product especially with my hard core Dumbo training coming up. My feeties are going to need it! 

Speaking of training, my schedule fell off the last two weeks with all of my traveling. I am also really sad that I haven't been able to fit any yoga in and I have definitely missed it.  The next several weeks should be more conducive to following my training plan and I need to get back on track!

Here is a look at the last week:

Monday: walked around Toronto a lot
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: ran 2.4 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: hiked 6.1 miles
Saturday: hiked 4.1 miles
Sunday: rest

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 2.4 miles
Total mileage this year: 158.66 miles

Disclosure: I received a sample of RunGuard Sensitive from #RunChat and RunGuard. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here. 

Posted with Blogsy

Week in Review (May 27 to June 2, 2013)

This Week in Review is coming to you one day late. I am writing to you from a Starbucks in Toronto. Will be heading to the airport shortly! It has been a successful and busy weekend and I am looking forward to being back home, especially because I get to see Raisin Bread! You'll be hearing more from me about my trip but for now, here is what the last week looked like.

I ran my first ever virtual race, the Run for OKC through Anywhere 5K, on Thursday evening, and I got a PR (personal record). I decided to do the race on the treadmill for that reason in particular. I'll be running in a few more virtual races in the fall and winter, so I think I'll have a better idea at that time on how I feel about virtual racing. They seemed to be a good alternative to me for fitting in races whenever I wanted to complete them.

Monday: Daily Burn: Yoga 2 (40 minutes) + Ran 2.06 miles
Tuesday: Pilates Reformer Mixed Level Class (1 hour)
Wednesday: Daily Burn: Metabolic Maximizer (30 minutes)
Thursday: Run for OKC Anywhere5K
Friday: lots of walking around Toronto
Saturday: rest
Sunday: lots of walking around Toronto

Hope you all had enjoyable weekends and your weeks are off to a great start!

Posted with Blogsy

Week in Review (May 20 to 26, 2013)

Source 

"On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation!

                       Long as the sun doth shine upon it

                       Shall glow the goodly pine upon it,

                       Long as the stars do gleam upon it

                       Shall memory come to dream upon it."

                                            --- Thomas William Parsons, For One Who Fell in Battle

I hope everyone has been enjoying their long weekends. I encourage you to take some time today to remember what Memorial Day is all about and remember our fallen veterans.

This week was rather quiet on the social front so I had plenty of time to fit in my workouts. I will be traveling to Toronto later this week for my second blogging conference (more on that later). I'm planning to fit in some activities that will allow me to be active while enjoying the city's sights.

For now, here is what this week looked like: 

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Ran 2.62 miles + Daily Burn: Yoga 6 (60 minutes)

Wednesday: Body Sculpt class (45 minutes)

Thursday: Ran 2.05 miles

Friday: Daily Burn: DB15 Yoga (15 minutes)

Saturday: Daily Burn: Cardio Sculpt (30 minutes)

Sunday: Ran 4.23 miles + Daily Burn: Yoga 1 (35 minutes)

Total yoga this week: 3 times
Total mileage this week: 8.9 miles
Total mileage this year: 151.1 miles

Happy Monday! 

Week in Review (May 13 to 19, 2013)

Source

I had an eventful week of graduation events and my family coming in to town to see me graduate. I managed to get quite a few workouts in. Having my DailyBurn membership definitely helped me fit them in this week. I also did a TON of walking on Friday and Saturday around DC to visit some sights. I'll be creating a post later this week about my graduation activities. Until then, here is what my week looked like:

Monday: Daily Burn - Restorative Yoga (16 minutes)
Tuesday: Ran 3.21 miles + Daily Burn - Yoga 3 (52 minutes)
Wednesday: BodyStep class (60 minutes)
Thursday: Daily Burn - Yoga 4 (60 minutes)
Friday: sightseeing with family
Saturday: sightseeing with family
Sunday: ran 4.0 miles

Total yoga this week: 3 times
Total mileage this week: 7.21 miles
Total mileage this year: 142.2 miles

Posted with Blogsy

Week in Review (April 29 to May 5, 2013)

Done with business school after 33 long months!! Now, I can get my life back. I can't tell you how good it feels to not have schoolwork.

My left foot has been feeling strange since the middle of last week and I was afraid that I had aggravated it more by running and doing that difficult yoga class over the weekend. I had an appointment with my doctor on Wednesday, so I decided to hold off on doing more workouts until I got the okay from her.

It turns out that I have a nerve contusion. Contusion is a fancy word for bruise so it will eventually go back to feeling normal without me having to do anything. My doc also gave me the okay to continue my workouts.



Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: rest
Friday: 1 hour yoga class
Saturday: ran 3.15 miles
Sunday: 45 minutes Pilates chair at-home

Total mileage this week: 3.15 miles
Total mileage this year: 126.1 miles

Before business school, I had a pretty decent yoga practice that completely disappeared once school started. I started practicing yoga on a casual basis almost ten years ago. It always made me feel so good and strong. One of my goals now that I am done with school is to build up a consistent practice again. For now, that means once a week.

*Images: Source*

Week in Review (April 22 to 28, 2013)

I'm entering my last week of business school and I can't wait to be done! What will I do now that I will "only" be working?

I was able to do a couple of things to relax last week. On Monday, I took advantage of SpaWeek and got a massage and foot scrub.

The week also wound up having a few firsts for me. On Wednesday, I saw an acupuncturist for the first time and it was an interesting experience. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I have more appointments scheduled so I should be able to form an opinion rather quickly. On Saturday, I signed up for a Yoga for Runners class that wound up being a level 2 hot yoga class tailored towards runners. I had never been to a hot yoga class before. Needless to say, it was brutal and uncomfortable but for some reason, I am tempted to attend another class. Yesterday, I volunteered at my first race, the Inaugural DC Nike Women's Half Marathon.

I was handing out mylar blankets at the finish line from 10 am until the last runner came through.

I signed up to volunteer with a bunch of people from a Meetup running group, but this was the first time I had attended an event. We wound up finishing much early than we were expecting, and they were nice enough to invite the newcomer to lunch with them at Burger Tap and Shake in Foggy Bottom.

I had the house burger and a cookies and cream shake. Yummy.

  
Here's what my workouts for the week looked like:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: ran 2.9 miles
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: rest
Friday: ran 3.0 miles
Saturday: walked 3.8 miles + 1 hour and 15 minute hot yoga class
Sunday: rest

I was seriously considering signing up for another half marathon during Memorial Day weekend but have decided against it for a number of reasons. The main reason is that I just need to chill out and stop pushing myself so hard to constantly be doing more and more. Relaxing is very difficult for me and it is something that I hope I can work on this summer. So now, I am modifying my training schedule with Dumbo as my goal. Hopefully, that will give me some time to cross train more and focus on stretching.

Have a great week!

Burger Tap and Shake
2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007