Last week we spent about 5 days with my family in Arizona working on our arctic tans (ahem, Marlie). 

What I love about being in Phoenix is that:

a) we’re on vacation but hey, my whole life’s a vacation…

and

b) lots of crusty old men stare at you we’re relatively active doing things like walking the dogs, biking, swimming and goofing off. 

None of it is strenuous or workout workouts, but it just feels good to be outside and be active, no matter what you’re doing.  especially when you’re with people you like… so basically not your family.  I kid.

Anyways, after all that activity we refueled with low-fat chocolate milk.  Just kidding, we went to Yogurtime twice and my dad tried froyo for the first time.  It was really special as you can tell by Jaymo’s face…

Yogurtime is a small, local joint that just opened last year in Peoria, and they have 16 flavors.  The Dulce de leche and Cinnamon Bun were crazy good. 

And the best part is that you can bring your receipt back for 10% off your next visit.  That’s why I went 19 times in the span of 72 hours.

The sample cups are out front so you can grab as many as you want; I love non-stingy sampling so I was all about it.  Not saying for sure, but they probably changed that policy once I left.

For the 2036 release of my future self-published book The FroYo Guide to the Universe, I’d rank it a 9 out of 10 sparkly high heels.

After church on Sunday, we said our tearful goodbyes to the Arizona sun and headed home to the California sun.   The second best part of vacation behind the old men in banana hammocks is all the mail that’s accumulated since you’ve been gone.  Besides all the eviction notices, JJ wants you to know he received the first book that he’s ever bought on Amazon:

I think it’s the first book he’s ever read, but who am I to question the Golf Master and the best instruction book EVER?

What’s one of the last books you’ve read?

My bro B and Niki gave me Onward by Howard Schultz; it was pretty good but dragged on a little in certain parts.

And then my dad gave me Pirate by Ted Bell for Christmas – not good, I had to struggle to finish this sucker.

DINNER, LIKE A REAL MEAL

I took a rest day last Monday which meant I had a free day to stew about the whole blog mess that was happening and then make an actual dinner.  Jaymo had some hot and heavy business meetings on Mon/Tues with the el jefe so I wanted to make a favorite dinner of his: PF Chang’s lettuce wraps but healthified by Iowa Girl Eats.

The real Chang’s wraps have 530 calories and 25 grams of fat in them and that’s just a starter.

I had to buy quite a few ingredients that I had either run out of (peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil) or didn’t have to begin with (chili garlic sauce, rice vinegar), but nothing was expensive or too weird that you wouldn’t use it again, like every Martha Stewart recipe ever.

This picture is from the recipe master Kristin because well, mine didn’t look that good.  But they tasted really good and were pretty easy to make.  If it requires more than about 4 steps, I’m tapped out, done.  Honestly, the hardest part about the whole recipe was peeling the lettuce “shells” off in one piece. 

Go make this, kids.  and then have some froyo.

WORKOUT -

(Monday)

Xtend barre class – 1 hour

Elliptical – 1 hour

Walked dog – 5 miles(!)

(Tuesday)

Rest day – walked dog 2.3 miles

(Today)

Piloxing Class – 1 hr

Bike/Elliptical – 30 mins/30 mins

After an April filled with a week of sickness and lots of racing and traveling, I fell off the barre bus but finally got back on it Monday. 

My friend Bri just got certified and taught the class, and if I were more self-conscious, I’d be super embarrassed about how many times I had to stand up (get out of the move) and rest.  My legs were shaking so bad during all the exercises at the barre that it looked like I was having a leg seizure.  not attractive.

^{Sporting my Vixen.}

Remember when I was asking about different grippy socks?  Well, Jaymo found these Gaiam socks on sale and bought them for me, but I have to say, I don’t like the whole separate toe thing and they hit a weird spot on your ankle… basically guaranteeing you cankles.  lovely.  I’ll use them but I definitely wouldn’t buy another pair.

After the class I did some elliptical action, took Marni on a 2 mile walk and later met up with Monica for a 3 mile walk.  I told you, I’m walking it out.

This was not us; it’s not that cold here in Southern California and we don’t look that cute walking.  And Janae didn’t walk with us.

Janae, Monica and I in Vegas for the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in December.

Then today I took another one of Bri’s classes, Piloxing.  This could be my favorite class of all.  I think I was born in the wrong fitness era, like I want step aerobics to make a big comeback.  Who wants to have a dress up aerobics party with me?  …crickets…

 source

DINNER WITH HOMIES

The other night we had our friends Katie and Merrick over for dinner.  We don’t entertain at our house that much because I’m a terrible cook and Jaybob has to go on a cleaning frenzy that includes painting baseboards, tiling, basically remodeling the entire house.  But we had bought these cute little burger baskets at HomeGoods and wanted to show off our $3 find. 

Some people like to boast about their kids; we like to brag about our bargain bin treasures.

Hey, I’m in the kitchen!  Look at me, I’m a chef!

JJ tended the grill, I made potato wedges with this recipe and Katie brought a huge salad with all the good stuff in it: dried fruit, blue cheese, nuts, and a berry vinaigrette.

Thanks Katie for the pics.  I should have you move in and do everything and I’ll just eat.

^{Good times.}

OTHER STUFF

I have a couple more Arizona posts from last week, but speaking of that sexy state, if you’re an AZ resident like my friend Diana, would you mind taking a short survey that affects things like local parks and rec services, hiking, camping, boating, etc?  Thanks!

Also, don’t forget you can get the cute DriBlend 26.2 Apparel shirts (or 13.1 shirt) for only $15.  Get yourself one, stat if for no other reason than to to make your newly sports bra’ed chesticles look athletic.

Last week I was invited to my local Road Runner Sports store to try on sports bras; this is the same store I get fitted for shoe inserts. 

I’m pretty sure Kirsten from RRS saw this picture and felt supremely sorry for me and my lack of support:

^{Oh hey, don’t mind me, just gonna tuck those things in my skirt.}

If you’re a creeper, you know I’ve always bought the cheap Target sports bras.  I’ve never been fitted for one and didn’t even know exactly what size I was.

RRS has these “bra closets” that might look a little overwhelming, but they’re set up from smallest to largest with a huge selection (sizes go up to 44E, phew, they have my size) and if they don’t have your specific bra in stock, they’ll ship it to your house for free.

They also offer free personalized bra fittings – you can set up an appointment and a “Fit Expert” will help you figure out exactly what size you are and what’s a good bra for your specific needs. 

I was like, Yeah ok, I’m a big girl; I can pick out my own bra… until I walked in thinking I was one size and walked out knowing I was a different one.

I’ve only had one real bra fitting in my life – right before I got married over 5 years ago so I thought this might be sorta awkward and uncomfortable, but my gal Tracy was really helpful and chill about it all. 

Since she’s a runner and CrossFitter, she totally gets all the ins and outs of chafing or finishing a race, getting cold and having “headlights”.  And I didn’t even feel like a total weirdo because she knew exactly what I was talking about!

She first figured out my preferences (do you want more of a bra or less, small straps, any movement at all or totally sucked in, a little padding, more compression, etc) and what workouts I was doing.  She measured me and then pulled a bunch of different sizes and types to try on. 

I probably tried on 10 different bras and my favorites surprised me because I assumed I’d gravitate to a minimal bare-bones bra like I was buying from Target.  You know what they say about making assumptions…

The Moving Comfort Fiona bra is their best seller and I see why – adjustable straps (easy for nursing or that special time of the month when all you want to do is eat chocolate and kill your husband) and a nice tight band that’s flattering without squishing everything flat.  I ended up buying this bra because I liked the way it looked and loved how comfortable it was.

My second favorite: the Moving Comfort Vixen bra.  I was also going to buy this one until the ladies gifted it to me.   I had heard of Moving Comfort before (I thought it was an old ladies company?!), but had never tried on their bras and ended up leaving with 2 of them. 

And the crazy thing is that I thought I was a 34B; turns out the 32C was a much better fit.  Who knew?  not me.

A couple bra tips:

***Don’t dry your bras in the dryer; it will break down the material much faster.

***Switch up your bras, don’t wear the same one day after day; you will get more use out of them if you rotate them, just like shoes

***If you are doing a lot of high-impact exercises like running, you need new bras every 3-6 months.  I’ve had my cheapo Target bras for about a year and a half.  Three cheers for saggy boobs!

***If you’re doing lower-impact workouts, you should switch out new bras every 6-12 months.

***You only get one set of lady parts (unless you live in Southern California, everyone’s a plastic surgeon here!) so treat them well.  You wouldn’t buy the cheapest, ill fitting shoes that don’t correctly support your feet, would you? 
(Ok, so I did once… hello, injury)

Road Runner Sports is offering you sexy ladies 10% off any of their bras and if you’re a VIP member, you get 20% off!  Just print out the coupon, scan it with your phone or use the promo code online to get your discount.  It will be good until the end of the month so get your girls fitted up right.

The only sad part about the whole experience was putting on my old Target bra afterwards, I swear I could stretch it down to my belly button.  really cute.

Here’s the bottom line: the Target bras are about $15 and with the discount, a lot of the RRS bras are in the $20-$30 range. 

More expensive, yes, but these two bras are the first ones I grab out of my drawer every time.  I took both to Boston, and if they’re clean, I’m wearing one of them instead of the cheaper ones so I gotta say, I really do think it’s worth the money.

What type of bra do you use for working out? 

Are you loyal to a specific brand? 

Have you ever been professionally fitted for one?

Thanks Kirsten for the invite!

Part 1 – my foray into CrossFit is found here. 

I’m sure you’ve read all about the weekend on otherblogsfarcooler than mine, but hang with me.  I promise it won’t be worth your time.

After our CrossFit workout, we walked back to the main building to learn about Reebok’s different shoe lines.

Like I previously mentioned, the Flex Transition is Reebok’s best selling shoe and is designed to be versatile so you could do a little of everything in it.  It sounded like Reebok really focuses on making shoes that are multi-functional, but we also talked running shoes: the Zigtech.  I’ve seen these all over in ads but never tried them on.

The Zigtech Optimal is their main running shoe with a 10mm drop.  Doesn’t the sole look craycray?

The centerpiece at our table, an exact replica of my wedding centerpieces

Some of the tips I learned:

-The longer the workout, the more cushioning you need (doing long distance running is going to require more cushioning than CrossFit)

-Looking at the wear and tear on your shoes is a great way to figure out what kind of shoe you need for your stride

-Have a couple different pairs/styles of shoes that you can rotate because it will extend the life of your shoes.

-When purchasing shoes, check out the sock liners – it’s a good way to judge the quality of the shoe.  They shouldn’t feel like thin paper.

-Have the flattest drop in your cross training shoes, not your running shoes

4mm CrossFit shoe – look how flat it is!  Flatter than my jokes, flatter than my greasy hair, flatter than my non-supportive bras.

We broke for a Paleo-friendly lunch, lots of salad with steak, chicken and sandwiches.  It was all really good, and I heard that the Paleo cookies were a hit but I didn’t try one: when I want a cookie, I don’t want the word “healthy” to be anywhere near it.

We were also able to check out the research and development area that’s headed up by an actual former rocket scientist.

It was really interesting to hear and see how much testing, development and subsequent prototypes go into making a shoe.  They can make 3D images with an AutoCad program and then actually create those computer images in 3D with crazy new technology.  And I thought I was high tech for learning how to use Pandora.

I was also going for the nerdy rocket scientist look but ended up just looking like I needed some serious face degreaser:

Then it was time for the last class of the day: a 30 minute hip hop dance class with Ilyse Baker, a professional dancer from California.  It’s so weird that we live in the same state and she doesn’t even know me or know about my amazing dance skills…

Unsurprisingly, I am absolutely talentless at dance (and art… and theater… and anything creative) and have zero rhythm so I was completely out of my element.  I wasn’t even in my own world let alone element, but again, it was fun to try something new and get outside of your comfort zone even when it’s well, uncomfortable.

CNC PIC

 PBF PIC

After the class I had to jet out of there early to catch my 6pm cross country flight back home.  It was a lot of traveling in 24 hours, but it was so much fun and I’m grateful to have the opportunity. 

I only wish I would have had more time to get to know some of the other bloggers.  There’s some gals I want to be besties with… whether they like it or not.

Thanks to Fitfluential and Reebok for allowing my un-rhythmic self to be a part of the event.

Are you a dancer at all?  Have any rhythm?

Do you wear Reebok shoes or tried the Zigtech?

**Next post will be all about sports bras and getting fitted, fun stuff

WORKOUTS -

Last week in Phoenix I ran a lot of very easy, post-marathon miles, most didn’t even get under 8:30 min/miles.

I’d run a few miles with Matt and Marlie or take Elmer the dog on a couple laps or someone would bike with me.  It kept it fun and casual and it was sorta like a hobo circus.

^{We even brought Nancy the miniature wiener dog on a run.}

BACKING IT UP

Last Tuesday night we left for Phoenix to spend a few days with my little brother Matti, his wife Marlie and my parents, but we decided to break up the drive and spend the night in Indio, CA.  On the way we did a little one-stop eating with Subway and Swirl Cup locations – a perfect pairing.

Dinner.  Dessert. Done.

I Pricelined a Best Western near the freeway that allowed dogs and not murderers.  It seemed to work.

We got up at 4:30am the next day and hit the road.  Both Jaymo and I were too sleepy to drive so Marni pulled double duty and helped us out…

Once we arrived and did the mega group run with dogs, bikes and people, it was spool party time:

My bro now has a Mohawk: he’s too hardcore for me so whenever he wants to hang out, I make him put on a dress and play with my Polly Pockets.  The Beanie Babies are off limits to him though, just not cool enough for those.

My mom’s also a hardcore hostess: she brought out a tray of fresh fruit, homemade guacamole and smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese on crackers and put it in the pool.  This is why I never learned to cook: if you wait long enough, my mom will magically appear with delicious food for you.

For dinner my dad had bought a fresh Oregon wild salmon from a fisherman friend and brought it to Phoenix for all of us to eat.

If you want to be healthier here’s a tip: eat WILD fish.  No farmed crap. 

And “Atlantic salmon” is not wild salmon; it’s farmed raised.  There is no such thing as wild Atlantic salmon anymore (you can check out this article for more info).  Wild salmon has far more omega-3 fatty acids but less fat overall, no dyes, colors or PCBs like farmed salmon.

Friends don’t let friends do drugs: don’t eat farmed fish.

The fillet master took the skin off for me, and then I used a mustard and bread crumbs recipe from my friends Katie and Merrick on one of the fillets.  The other fillet was marinated in teriyaki sauce and the third one had salt, pepper, onion and lemon on it.  All three were dynamite.

The three booze hounds say hi.

The next day we biked the 3.65 miles to our regular breakfast joint The Crooked Putter where we met the golfers in the family (they had just finished playing 18 holes at that course) for breakfast. 

JJ loves golf: he’s as passionate about it as I am about running so occasionally he asks me to take up the sport.  I always tell him the same thing: I’ll take up the sport when he buys me a Burberry golf bag.  Why, I don’t know because I’d never want him to buy it because I’d never want to play golf.  It’s so boring.  like more boring than my posts. 

But if you’re interested, a 130 lb woman playing golf for an hour walking and pulling her clubs will burn 254 calories.

Nice timing on that one, bro.

Oh, and the greatest thing to ever happen in JJ’s life: he got hit on by a 90 year waitress.  She called him cutie… multiple times.

Someone died and went to heaven… it was probably the waitress, she was so old.

In case you needed to know, while I was looking up calorie count for golf, I found out my next workout: forestry.  A 130 lb woman “ax chopping, fast” will burn 1003 calories in an hour.  Forget running, I’m going to become a lumberjack!

 source

Well…… maybe not.

WORKOUT -

(yesterday)

Ran on TM -

30 mins/3.6 miles

1.0 incline

Elliptical – 30 mins

Ab moves on ball

Walked the dog – 3.3 miles

(today)

Ran outside easy

7.25 miles/63 mins

Walked the dog – 2.0 miles

If you look at my miles tally on the right, you’ll see that I’ve run very few miles this month.  In April I ran 4 marathons and an ultra relay and ended up with 307 miles, a monthly high for me.  So I knew that I should take May a little easy, and when the blog decided to take a rest, it made it all the more easier for me too. 

  I’m going to try to not run all this week until the weekend, but we’ll see how that goes…  I want to get back into taking some barre classes and try to do more core work.  I have two marathons in June but nothing in May so it’s a good time as any.

BUT even though I haven’t been running, I’ve still been sweating.  Mostly about John Travolta’s recent legal troubles but also some cross training: I’ve been putting time in on the upright bike, elliptical, and stairmill.  <—that thing is a legit workout when you’re not draped over the handrails like me on David Beckham at Burger King.

My gym has a couple different elliptical options and I like the kind (above right) where the movement is more up and down like a stair stepper.  I crank up the resistance on that and get pretty dang sweaty by the end.

Yesterday for once in my lifetime I did some core work on a stability ball.  I did 3 sets of 15 of the reverse bridge and the jacknife and then did a few crunches on the ball and finished with a 2 minute plank. 

While I’d never kick a six pack like Dara Torres’ out of bed, my concern is having a strong core for running more than anything else.

Although abs like that for a 45 year old mom are pretty silly sick:

Besides gym time, I’ve been taking lots of walks lately which I love. 

Obviously the main reason we have legs is receptacles for skinny jeans and high heels, but the second reason is to walk.  It’s just relaxing and nice to be outside.  Jaymo didn’t feel like sporting skinny jeans yesterday so instead we walked. 

We got caffeinated and then walked 3.3 miles in a little over an hour.

NEW GEAR

Last week I received some new shirts from 26.2 Apparel – they’re a super soft “DriBlend” shirt that’s only $15.  They have that sort of old, worn in feel and look less “technical” than some of the other 26.2 shirts I own.

I really like the design of the pink shirt but love the heather grey color best.  Unfortunately, I already spilled crap on my pink one and think I stained it.  Why am I allowed to eat without a bib on?!

Many of you emailed me and said, I like the clothes but I’m not a marathoner and would feel like a poser wearing it…  Well, 26.2 Apparel listened and now has 13.1 gear in different colors:

My shirts are size small, but they are fitted for a woman so if you prefer a looser fit, go up a size.

You can check out all the tops and colors here and they’re all only $15.  Get your bad self one and we can be twinsies.

Yesterday I participated in a blogger’s event at Reebok’s headquarters in Canton, MA with Fitfluential and a group of fabulous bloggers.

The facility is pretty killer – a track runs around the building and through it, and there’s full-on gyms with every sort of exercise equipment conceivable. 

Over 1/3 of the 1000 employees do CrossFit on campus as well as other exercise classes.  Kinda cool, really.  Don’t like your boss?  Taking a Piloboxing class and give him a right hook… to the face.

We learned that in 2012 Reebok’s goal is to become “The fitness brand” like it was in the 80’s – remember Jazzercise and high top sneakers?  I never had a pair of the Reebok pumps, but I’m absolutely positive that if I did, I’d be in the WNBA today.

Anyways, in January they began a 10 year partnership with CrossFit and “The Sport of Fitness has Arrived” brand campaign.

How cute was our little gathering room area?  Best conference room I’ve ever seen… of course, I’ve never held a corporate job so I’ve never actually seen a conference room before either.

Reebok’s goal is to make fitness fun, challenging, a shared experience (sense of community) and accessible with CrossFit.

After the presentation it was time to gear up and walk over to Reebok CrossFit One and do a WOD (workout of the day).  cue the internal panic.

Reebok provided the gear {tank, bra and capris} and we each received a pair of the RealFlex Transition shoes – these are their most versatile shoes, made for a variety of activities and workouts.  They’re also Reebok’s best selling product.

The“box” was surprisingly large and sort of intimidating; I’ve never done CrossFit before so I was as green as they come.  Ummmm, where are the ellipticals and gossip magazines? 

We first talked with Austin Malleolo, the head coach at Reebok CrossFit One and sorta a big deal.  I think he’s doing the Hunger Games this summer or as they call them, the “World CrossFit Games.”

He explained the idea behind the shebang – it’s a “program consisting of constantly varied, functional movements, executed at high-intensity.”

We walked through a couple moves like squats and kettle bell swings to get the correct form down.  One of the complaints that I’ve read about with CrossFit is the lack of teaching correct form so it was great to see all the coaches critique and correct the smallest things that I would never even think about.  Push your knees out in your squat, weight in the heels, chest up...

Then it was on to the workout which we did with a partner.  Cat was my partner (in crime) and did the majority of the pull ups and kettle balls swings while I pretty much just did my hair.  We each did a 200 yard sprint, 45 kettle ball swings between us and 24 (assisted) pull ups between us, 3 times.

I think the workout took us around 15 minutes or something?  I can’t remember exactly.

I’m a long distance runner and CrossFit is the complete opposite idea – instead of pacing yourself and dividing your effort/energy equally over a long period of time, this is all about intensity and really short bursts of energy. 

I think it was fun and I like how the workouts differ all the time to keep your body and mind guessing, but I definitely didn’t get a workout; I didn’t even sweat.  But let me say, that was completely my fault: I didn’t do it intensely and really wasn’t in the mood to get down and dirty (but my shoulders were sore this morning so I must have worked something out). 

I mean, hello, we had photo ops to think about…

Superstar partner Cat and afterwards with all the girls:

Kelly’s pic

I’m in the red tank underneath the O.

Afterwards we went back inside for lunch and to learn specifics about Reebok’s different shoes, but I’ll tell you about that in the next post.

Ashley’s pic

Are you a CrossFitter?  It seems like people who do it are all about it or not really interested in it?  Are you in either camp?

**Go check out Bobbi’s Summer Shape Up program: Summer Shred if you wanna get in banging’ bathing suit shape.

**Kelly is running the Pittsburgh Marathon in May, and she’s running for the Mario Lemieux Foundation, which raises money for cancer research and Austin’s Playroom Project, which builds playrooms for young hospital patients.

Check out her donation page if you’d like to donate.

**Reader Jolene is raising money through selling necklaces.  Her story:

We’re fully funded for the adoption of two amazing blessings from China but we have to raise the money for our travel expenses. A dear friend of ours is making/selling these beautiful necklaces to help us raise those last funds to cover travel.

Check out the necklaces here and get one if you’d like to support Jolene’s adoption journey.  Thanks!

Reader Runners

Kayla:

I won first place in my age group at a 10k race in Portland (my first time racing this distance!) I was incredibly surprised! If I would have thought placing was a possibility I would have pushed it much harder!

My goal is the Eugene Full Marathon so I was just using this run as part of a longer run. It made for a great surprise on a sunshiny day!

Molly:

I ran my first ever half marathon on April 29; this is me and my cousin post-race. I ran this race in honor of her fiancée who unexpectedly passed away in December. That made me realize that life is short and there are no guarantees – his passing is what inspired me to run a half marathon – something I’ve been wanting to do but was too scared to commit to. 

After 3 long and crazy months of training, I ran the race 6 days before they were supposed to be married. I crossed the finish line in tears and felt so proud and honored that I could do this race in his memory. It was an amazingly emotional experience and thanks to him I can now call myself a half marathoner.

Crappy Reader Race Pics

Shay:

“Here it is. The worst race photo ever taken of me. Actually the worst photo ever taken of me period. Enjoy.  (this pic was even on the front page of the newspaper!)”

Holly:

“I ran my first marathon this weekend – the country music marathon – and it was not exactly the experience I was hoping for… I think the heat combined with the never ending rolling hills of Nashville ruined everything for me…

And in this gem of a race picture I look like a) I’m praying for a miracle that I don’t die, or just a little bit of rain OR b) hoping that I fall asleep and the whole thing was just a bad dream… As much as suicidal thoughts plagued me the entire time – I am hooked and have already been looking for my next marathon… this distance so owes me a better experience and I plan to be back with a vengeance!!!”

Jesse:

  “I started running just last year and reading blogs like yours really helped me keep going. I love how you put up crappy reader race photos and I was wondering if maybe you’d add mine.”

We all love crappy race photos so of course, I’ll add yours!

SR SHIRTS – get yours, send me a pic in it and I’ll post it

Christa:

Christa ran her 5th half marathon, the Middlebury Maple Run,  in her Don’t Stop shirt.

*Go vote for Leyna’s grant, would you?

“I wrote a grant for my work for reducing colorectal cancer rates (I know, exciting stuff) by having people eat healthier and becoming physically active.”

I was in Boston last month for the marathon and now I’m back for about 24 hours to attend a Reebok/Fitfluential event this morning.

I arrived last night and ended up timing things perfectly to miss the bus so it took about 2 hours total to get to the hotel with bus and shuttle waits.  No biggie, but I was starving and ordered room service the minute I got there, feeling all sorts of fancypants. 

Check out the sweet digs:

Oh, hello delicious greasy food that I might regret in the morning when I throw up doing the dead lift…

Thanks Reebok for the outfit and shoes:

I guess we are doing two different workouts today, a CrossFit one and a dance one, so we were asked to show up rested and ready to roll, basically don’t work out this morning which was a tiny bummer because I love checking out hotel gyms and running in new areas.

Off to the event!

I’m finally back in business, unfortunately for you guys, after switching to a new host/server which should make the blog run a lot faster and populate quicker. 

Don’t even mention the last 10 “dead” days… it was pretty frustrating and I’m sure there’s a billion more efficient ways to handle the process than what transpired by all working parties involved, but I’m telling myself it’s a patience and humility lesson: your blog isn’t your life and life actually goes on without it.  shocking.

Anyways, while I was away, I spent some time in Arizona with family (future posts coming), did some working out and running that you don’t really want to read about, and finished up my doctorate thesis entitled, “When you don’t blog everyday, you take significantly less pictures of yourself, surely a good thing.” 

Some other awesome things that happened during the week:

***My friend Reese sent me a Sodastream machine just because.  I’ve been wanting one of these bad boys for a long time, but Jaybob said I’d never use it and it’d be a waste.

Yeah, I showed him who’s boss.  I’ve drank so much sparkling water in the last couple days we go through a Costco pack of TP in 24 hours.  I just bring my pillow to the bathroom and sleep in there.

***Speaking of beverages, Zonin Prosecco sent me a box of their sparkling wines: this could singlehandedly be the best thing that has ever happened to me besides Jessica Simpson finally birthing a toddler.  Instead of sending a newborn onesie, I just sent a training bra.

Anyways, I buy their Prosecco from Trader Joe’s because it has a great, not too sweet taste and is really affordable – $6.99 a bottle.  Another sparkling wine I like is La Marca Prosecco, but it’s a little pricier – about $12 at Costco.

This post is a little more about Prosecco and sparkling wine.  Next weekend my college girlfriends (yes, the ones I pay to be my friends) and I are doing a Palm Springs trip so I’m going to bring a couple different bottles to have a little taste test by the pool.

Reese, Betsy and I at my birthday brunch.  GO TEBOW!  just not for the Broncos anymore.

***I also won Fitness Magazine’s Fitterati award, the editor’s pick for best running blog.  I’m absolutely positive they picked the wrong blog, but I’m just gonna go with it and pretend they’re not crazy for picking me.

***Last thing, You might have already seen this on twitter,

Fitfluential and Reebok are sending me to Boston today to attend a bloggers/Reebok event tomorrow.  And they sent me a bunch of sweet gear; I guess they were afraid I’d show up in my granny panties.

I’m pretty sure I haven’t used a backpack since 4th grade and I already feel younger.  Forget Botox, I need a lunchbox.

My first flight out of Long Beach left at 7am which meant a 3:45 wake up call.  While at the airport waiting to board, I opened up my laptop and saw that JJ left me a love note.  Yes, “DOI” is a love note in our relationship.  I don’t get it either.

I went from Long Beach to Seattle to finally the land of Dunkin’ Donuts, Boston. 

And now I’m ready to fall into bed and cry myself to sleep about doing an actual CrossFit workout tomorrow.

Tell me one thing you did in last 10 days. 

Anything fun, sucky, boring, awesome?  Run a race?  Eat a tub of cream cheese frosting by yourself while watching Real Housewives of Orange County?  yeah, I’d never do that either.