Weekend Review: Lululemon Run Om Cincy

Saturday: 13.5 mile run, 90(?) minutes of yoga

I successfully cut back on running last week and gave myself a few complete days of rest.

While my foot is still a little sore, I believe it paid off since I was able to run over 13 miles on Saturday!

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 4:50 a.m. 

Yikes!

Luckily, it was for an absolutely epic event!

The local Lululemon stores put on an entirely free event called Run Om Cincy.

You had the option of running from one of 3 locations for distances of 6, 3, or 1 miles to Great American Ballpark (home of the Reds!) then participating in a 90 minute yoga class on the baseball outfield. If running wasn't your thing, you could just show up at the baseball field for yoga. So many options - definitely something for everyone!

I met my friend Emily at her house at 6, then we ran to the Hyde Park Square Lululemon (1 mile)

We then checked in and waited for the official start at 6:30 before running with the group to GABP.

Lululemon provided yoga mats for all of the runners.
Once everyone got settled, we started our yoga. Several different instructors lead different segments of the class.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning and it was so neat to be lying on a yoga mat in the middle of the outfield.

 Halfway through the class we attempted to break the world record for the number of people doing headstands at one time. The current record was 265. Over 2000 people were participating, so hopefully at least 266 of them were able to do headstands.
I am not one of them.

After yoga we ran back home. They provided bus transportation, but we wanted more mileage and it just felt silly to take bus back!

We ended up running 13.5 miles total. I didn't use my watch for the run to the Lululemon store in the morning, so it was off by a mile.

It was so much fun to see so many people coming together to participate. I hope they do this again next year!

Saturday night we were substitutes on our friend's bowling league.
My husband bowled a 253 one game. Seriously!

Apparently I married a pro bowler!

 The weekend was rounded out with errands, football, meeting up with a friend and this amazing pumpkin turkey chili simmering on the stove Sunday night.
Hello, fall!

Finally Friday

Thursday: Body Blast class at lunch, 3 run mile outside

I planned to attend Body Blast at lunch yesterday and just modify anything that would put too much pressure on my foot; however I ended up doing class just the way it was set up.

Which was a lot of running and lunges.

We went outside again and did lunges, overhead presses and side steps with a weight along the walking path. Then we did sets of sprints, then back to the lunges, etc. And of course we finished up inside with a million core exercises.

Thankfully my foot felt OK. 

 So why not add some running in after work? 

Kelly and I went for a short 3 mile run and took our time. I didn't want to push it since we had sprinted at lunch time too. (Yes, she does Body Blast class with me too!)

I'm still icing at night and I am officially over halfway finished with my steroid Rx.

The swelling is down, but there is still some mild pain and the tendon is red.

Hopefully that red part is normal! It was blue/purple last weekend.

I have a fun event I'm participating in tomorrow morning, so I hope I can make it through!

Here's a hint to the event tomorrow morning!

Source

Drinking Lately

Yesterday was a rest day for me. I had planned on doing some upper body toning, but work got in the way and I couldn't be late to meet my girlfriends for happy hour!

It had been far too long since all of us ladies had all been together, so I was super excited to meet them.

So, besides the bottle of wine they made me drink last night I've added a few other much healthier beverages to my routine lately.

Each morning I've been attempting to have a mixture of OJ, pineapple juice and apple cider vinegar. 1 Tablespoon ACV and 4 oz of juice (I add a little more juice to make sure I can't taste the vinegar)

Sounds delish, right?!

ACV has been used for AGES -  literally. It's been used by Hippocrates, people in the Bible, the Babylonians, Julius Caesar, Japanese Samurai warriors, the Greeks, Romans, Christopher Columbus...you get the idea, right?

Some of the benefits of ACV are that it increases your metabolism, good for your skin, helps with digestion, prevents muscle fatigue, reduces sinus infections and sore throats, whitens teeth and strengthens the immune system. It is thought to do many more things as well.

If you want to give it a try, just make sure to get an all natural ACV. I bought the Bragg brand at Whole Foods. Don't buy one of the clear processed brands, you want it be brownish in color. And mix it with real juice.

In the afternoons I have been enjoying an Energy Fizz Stick from Arbonne. I am loving the pomegranate flavor, but they also have a citrus one. 

The fizz sticks have antioxidants and B vitamins that help increase energy and alertness. Perfect for that afternoon slump at work! 

I've been drinking it either starting with my lunch or shortly after lunch and it really does help me make it through the rest of the work day.

Maybe eventually this will replace my morning coffee too.

Maybe no, I really LOVE my morning coffee!

What are your go to beverages throughout the day?

A Post Without Sporting Event Selfies

Tuesday: 2.25 mile track work out

Tuesday after work I promptly iced my foot in an effort to be ready to take on the track.

Thankfully the steroids seem to be working and even after a few doses the first day the swelling was way down.

You all know I love me some track workouts - especially 400 and 800s, so I could not miss last night's 4x400 relay competition!

We started with 4 400s (my times were all between 1:27 and 1:32) then switched to 2 800s.

I decided to sit out both 800s. My foot was feeling OK for 1 lap at a time on the track, but I didn't want to push it with 2.

We then did 4 more 400s with the last 400 being the relay race. I ended up doing the same leg as 1 guy that is always just ahead of me and another guy that we tend to take turns of who finishes first.

My team didn't win the race, but it was a lot of fun. It really brought me back to my high school track days. We even got to pass the baton and everything!

Once I got home I iced my foot again while attempting to catch up on Dexter. We've been so focused on Breaking Bad that Dexter has been overlooked for a few weeks. Between K's school, Bengals, Liverpool, Crew we just don't have enough hours to stay up to date on our shows! Thank goodness for DVR and the Roku!

I will say that even though we only have about 4 episodes to go, Dexter has finally hooked me this season.

A little blurry, probably due to the fact that this kid was a RIOT and had my laughing incredibly hard.

Earlier this week I got to do vision screenings for one of the Cincinnati Public Schools.

This guy was totally pumped up to have his eyes checked!

This is seriously one of my favorite days of the year. The kids are so much fun and making sure they get glasses if needed is essential to their future!

Weekend Review: Better Late Than Never!

Saturday: 9.75 mile run outside

It's sad that after 4 days of no posting, I only have one work out to post.

We will get to that in a minute though.

Friday night we had very heavy rain and wind so I was a little worried about what the morning would have in store for us. Luckily it only sprinkled some. Other than that it was great weather for running.

A Physical Therapy group was waiting for us when we returned from our run to treat any of us that have issues or just help stretch us out. I decided to ask about my calf since it's been bothering me off and on for over a month now.

Turns out I am not crazy and there is definitely an issue.

The PT massaged it and tried to release the muscle. It helped quite a bit, but it's such a mess that he suggested Trigger Point Dry Needling. Yeah, I didn't know what it was either!

I haven't decided to pursue this option yet, but I may.

Saturday night we watched the Crew beat the Chicago Fire 3-0!

Then Sunday morning it was up bright and early to tailgate for the Bengals game.

It was one CRAZY game.

One of the craziest and most fun football games I have ever been to.

After my run Saturday my foot was REALLY bothering me. Walking around at the stadiums Saturday and Sunday was very painful. I could pinpoint exactly where the pain was coming from so I automatically worried it was a stress fracture.

Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be a stress fracture - just really bad tendinitis.

I'm icing, "cutting back" on running and taking a steroid in hopes of flushing out the inflammation as quickly as possible.

*"cutting back" were the exact words the doctor used, therefore I fully intend on still running this week.

Fingers crossed since my next race is in a week and a half!

My first trail half marathon!

I have done a 20K trail race before, but that's just shy of a half marathon!

I go back to the doctor on Monday to confirm that it's not a stress fracture (they don't always show up on the x-ray right away).

It was definitely a sports-centric weekend for us. Good thing we both love soccer and football and attending games!

Oh, Garmin, you tempt me with your pretty colors

So yesterday was kinda crazy so I didn't get a work out in, but I have plans to make up for that today. Yesterday I saw that Garmin came out with 2 new GPS watches this week.

My watch is dying very slowly...more and more pixels (is that even the right word?) are gone each time I turn it on.

Sadly, it is much worse than this now.

But it still works and I can still read it just fine, so I still use it!

I am still looking and trying to decide on my next Garmin though.

I thought I had decided, then I saw this week that 2 new ones were introduced.

Pictures from www.garmin.com. 220 on the L, 620 on the R.

I mean, aren't they purdy?

Color screens? Yes please!

The extra features on the 620 are definitely ones I can live without (although they are very cool!).

But the purple 220 is quite tempting!

Decisions, decisions!

Track Party and a Bengals Win!

Tuesday: Track work out

Every time I think life might settle down a little bit, things seem to get just as crazy again.

I suppose that is just how life is, so I should just enjoy the ride!

Monday night the Bengals played the Steelers for their home opener.

Of course the Steelers are a HUGE rival of ours.

Rival + Home Opener + MNF = INSANITY! 

We had so much fun tailgating with our friends.

We grilled, played corn hole, and flip cup.

And we get to do it all again on Sunday when we play the Packers!

 

Hello, football season!

Needless to say, K and I both took Tuesday off. We didn't get home until almost 2 a.m. and we are FAR too old for that!

We enjoyed attempting to sleep in, brunch and a trip to the zoo yesterday.

Such a fun day off!

Then it was time to hit the track!

Yesterday's workout was 2 x 1 mile, 8 x 200s.

I held back a little for the first mile and completed it in 7:30. My second mile was 7:09.

 6/8 200s I finished in 40 seconds. The other 2 were 43 and 44.

And thankfully my calf held up! I really think it was the hills Saturday that aggravated it so much. Unfortunately it's hard to do too many miles in this city without running hills, so we'll see how it does on this coming Saturday!