What’s in your #FitnessCloset?

I read a post recently by Heather of Through Heather’s Looking Glass about what was in her fitness closet, and it gave me the idea for this post. Originally this blog topic was started by Brian of Pavement Runner. So I started looking through my room, most of my exercise gear is in drawers so I took it all out and organized it better for the pictures at least. I’d say most of my fitness gear was bought in the last 1.5 years as before that I didn’t work out too consistently other than yoga & pilates before that. I really didn’t need real exercise gear since I would mostly exercise inside my house. I’ve realized that Adidas pretty much owns me, I just can’t help but buy more of their stuff, it lasts and fits great. Also I have lot of C9 for Target stuff, I adore Target so it was only a matter of time before I would discover their fitness clothing section. Now onward to the pictures:

As you can tell when I find a shoe I like I buy more than one pair, 3 pairs of Adidas Oscillation running shoes & 2 pairs of Adidas Kanadia trail running shoes.

Lots of tank tops, I live in south Florida, it’s almost always summer here. All Adidas on the left side. C9 by Champion for Target on the right side with one New Balance tank on the bottom.

Tee shirts for running. Left side “I Run This Body” shirt from Saucony. Top right side C9 by Champion and bottom Adidas Go Run shirts.

This year’s race shirts & some yoga pants. My favorites are the two gray ones 🙂

Running tights – 3/4 length – I love to run in these & Adidas makes the best ones, my favorites are the tech fit ones. Basically almost all Adidas (3 rows) and some Nike, C9 ones on the far right.

Running skirts & shorts. Don’t wear these too often, sometimes for races. Can’t wait to wear my RunningSkirts polka dot skirt!

Cold weather gear – I don’t get too much use out of this, as we hardly get any cold days in Miami, I’ve maybe used this stuff about 10-12x in the last year. Adidas jacket, C9 Jackets & half zip ups, RunningSkirts reflective heart on sleeve shirt and Adidas climacool long sleeve. Long tights: Adidas & c9 for weather 40-50.

Compression socks by RunningSkirts, Zensah calf compression sleeves (I adore these), 2 of my 4 yoga mats: Eko Manduka & Diane Von Furstenberg NM + Target, my Gaiam foam roller (my new love), 5lb dumbbells & 3 lb dumbbells.

And that’s my fitness closet so far, make sure to check out Pavement Runner’s blog post for links into other’s fitness closets.

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Race Recap – Carnaval Miami 5k/10k – February 17, 2013

This was a very last minute idea, I think I probably signed up 2 weeks before this race. According to my half marathon training plan it says I should run at least one 10k. Crazily I’ve signed up for another 10k just before my half, but that’s a whole other story.

Race gear ready, minus one compression long sleeve that I later added.

I knew this would be a nice race because it ended on Virginia Key beach, and that’s always a sweet ending to a race. What I did not know was how the weather would get, I expected a 60-70 degrees as usual for an early morning. It was 40-50 degrees and in Miami that is considered practically snowing weather. I got to the race early so I could pick up my race shirt since I had only collected my race bib when I went to Footworks a few weeks earlier. Luckily I found parking closeby and once I got the shirt I threw it in my car and walked around a bit more. Everyone was trying to stay warm and the wind gusts did not help at all. It was so cold!

Gorgeous Sunrise

even the dj was freezing!

I met up with MariaJose, I had been friends with her on Twitter for a couple of weeks but we hadn’t met yet, so we lined up at the start together while chatting. And we were off, of course I started out way too quickly but slowed down and got into a good 8:30 rhythm. Before I knew it I was at the finish line, although because of some construction on one of the Key Biscayne bridges the distance wasn’t a full 10k, so it became a 6 mile race instead. I walked around after and gathered a banana and some snacks & waited for the results to be posted. I came in 4th place in my age group!! I was so happy, and went quickly to the finish line to wait for MariaJose. She arrived just as the kid’s race was about to begin, so she got to dodge all the kids lining up. It was a nice race, and with some interesting sights on the path. As soon as I left there I went to Jamba Juice, it had been awhile and I was thirsty for some fruits. The cashier was like “oh you are a runner!” all excitedly when she noticed my race bib still pinned on my shirt, that was probably the moment where I felt very very proud to be a runner.

Another silly finish line photo for me.

Jamba Juice post race goodness!

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Race Recap – RunWild 5k – February 9, 2013

This was a race that my aunt had recommended to me soon after I told her that I was starting to run. She told me that they had great sponsors and it was for a good cause. Plus a day at the zoo afterwards sounded like a pretty good incentive also. I hadn’t been to the zoo in a couple years so I said, why not. I even got a couple of my friends to sign up, new runners! Maybe I talk about running a lot on social media and got them excited about it but I’m really glad they came along. The charity this race benefited was the Chapman Partnership, check them out to see how you can help the homeless.

So the morning of the race started out very eerie, the city of Miami was covered in a dense fog. Some people actually described it as Silent Hill-like. After arriving at ZooMiami the fog had mostly lifted and my friends set off to pick up their race packets. The line for race packet pick was extremely long and hardly moving. The race actually started 20 minutes late so that everyone would get the chance to start at the same time, otherwise half the participants would have still been waiting to pick up their race bibs. Running on Miami time, I suppose.

I bid my friends and aunt farewell and raced on. I know, I really should’ve ran alongside of them but I really wanted to PR on this 5k, unfortunately it didn’t happen. Probably due to the fact that I did my longest distance run on Friday morning, 12 miles, training for my half marathon. Now I’m positive I will be able to make it 13.1 miles in March. I was okay with my finishing time but I did realize that I started out waaaaaay too quick, beating my fastest mile PR at least. Dodging walkers and children at the beginning slowed me down a bit but after the 1st mile, there was no human obstacles. My finish time was 26.39, I was 168th overall and 6th in my age group. Everyone got a RunWild medal at the finish line, there was also a lot of good sponsors too. As soon as you finished, there were many volunteers handing out plenty of hydration such as water, Vitamin water and Coco Vita. I had some Alpina blueberry greek yogurt with granola on top, grabbed a banana, a KIND almond & coconut bar and headed back to the finish line to wait for my friends. Almost right after I arrived at the finish line one of my friends was crossing, then a few minutes later the other one crossed. It was perfect timing so we all walked around together so they could gather some nutrition from the sponsors. I got a Miami Heat cheerleaders poster for a friend of mine from the actual cheerleader & our group had our pic taken by someone who got our names. Stupidly none of us asked where the picture was going to posted, so we will be forever googling our names to find ourselves. Haha.

After the awards ceremony was over we took a nice walk through the zoo, getting lost and staying at the zoo much longer than we expected to. But hey, at least we got some time to take pics of the animals that we passed earlier, and some silly pictures as well. Still wearing our race bibs and RunWild medals we decided to get sushi for our post race meal and our waiter thought we had ran a marathon. We told him a 5k at the zoo and he ended up giving us a bowl of free cotton candy? Overall it was a really fun race that I will for sure do again next year.

Veggie sushi

My favorite race photo YET!

What is the most memorable place you have ran/walked a race at?

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Race Recap – Color Me Rad 5k – February 2, 2013

This race came very last minute for me, my friend & her coworkers were doing the race and wanted me to join in their team so I said sure why not. Not fully realizing until the last minute that I would be missing out on the long run part of my half marathon training two weeks in a row. So what did I do? I got up super early on Saturday morning, 5:30am to be exact and went running to complete 8 miles before I had to drive to my friend’s house and go to the race. Our wave didn’t start till 9:40am so I knew I would have enough time, just didn’t know if I would have enough energy or not. I figured I would complete most of my 11 miles before and then take it easy for the 5k. Well that’s not exactly how it went.

before pic

When we arrived at SunLife Stadium, we had to park at the far end of the parking lot, meaning we probably walked a mile to the starting line. We met up with one of her coworkers, who had organized and picked up most of the office’s race packets the day before. The rest were stuck in a long line to sign the waiver in order to be able to run, so lesson kids is dont wait till race day or you will be waiting in long lines for not typing out your name on an online form. We started on time, thinking it would be the last wave of the morning, leaving the rest of her coworkers behind to start probably an hour later. The first color station was not fully stocked and we hardly got any color on us at all. We all agreed if we didn’t get color thrown on us immediately at the next one, we would get on the floor and roll in the color instead. Next station had green liquid color sprayed on us, it looked like slime but definitely left a cool pattern on our shirts. Following that one we went through a pink station that had the same issue as the first station so we made corn starch angels on the floor to pick up some color on our backs at least. It was probably pretty dangerous of an idea but none of us got stepped on so it worked out well. By that time our pace was around 8:40 a mile or so, quite fast for my idea of an easy fun run. It was race pace nearly! I was starting to fade a bit but kept up with the others who had fresh legs. There were quite a few human obstacles during this “fun run”, walls of participants walking, people just standing in the middle of the road making it quite hard to get by while still running. I understand that some people cannot run the whole way or at all, but please move to the right side so everyone that is running can get by comfortably. There was another spray on green station and then a do it yourself station with a bunch of color bags on a table that we could pick up and throw at each other or on ourselves. I grabbed a few pink bags, ripped them open and held them in the air to cover us more.

Finally we reached the finish line, but it was hard to see with all the color floating through the air. It was not like other races where you are handed water right after crossing, I guess because most people were not sprinting to the line, but rather walking slowly to absorb as much colored dust as possible. It was a lil complicated but we found the water table and grabbed some of the Clif Crunh bars they had laid out. Then we walked further from the finish line and found the Naked Juice truck, where we partook in some fabulous juice. Overall it was a fun time, a bit different than The Color Run but on the same wavelength. Something I really liked about this race was the fit of the shirts they gave us, perfect fit, and I have never said that about a race shirt before, where they are the one size fits all unisex shirts, these shirts were heather gray, super soft & slight v and fitted for the female figure.

after the color explosions

Thank you, Color Me Rad!

Have you ever done a “color” fun run? If so, which one have you done? If not, why not?

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Running Down A Dream – An infographic about running

An interesting infographic I found recently:

Click the image to see it bigger

What is your reason for running? Or reason that you do not run currently? What are u waiting for?

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Race Recap – Tropical 5k – January 26, 2013

I apologize for the super lateness in this post, but here it is.

As part of ING Miami Marathon weekend, they have a 5k for ING runners to warm up and everyone else to run/walk the short 3.1 mile distance. Also you get a medal at the finish line, which to me was a big incentive since I have yet to get a medal. Then again, I have also yet to race a half or full marathon either, but I am currently training for one.

Friday night I laid out all my race gear and checked weather.com, it showed a cool high 50’s morning for Saturday. That meant I would finally get to wear my long sleeve RunningSkirts top with a heart on the sleeve. If you don’t know already, I love all heart printed things, so I was overjoyed at the cool weather. Saturday morning I woke up at 5am, had a quick bowl of Kashi cereal, and was out the door by 5:30am, heading to the beach. The moon was full and peering between the buildings of downtown, made me think this was a sign of a great race day. The start was at the Children’s Museum and the finish line was at Joe’s Stone Crabs in Miami Beach, it was my first point to point race.

I met up with my friend there, about 10 minutes before the race began and we squeezed our way into the crowd, about 100 feet from the starting line. Excitement began to build as Bart Yasso spoke to the crowd just before the gun went off. Suddenly we were off, dodging and weaving around children and walkers, finally about 1.5 mile out we had a less of a crowd and could relax a little more into our pace. My friend’s calves began to cramp a bit since she had did some spinning the night before, so we slowed down slightly at the water stop. Then was the slight incline of the bridge, I never train on hills, which I know, I know I really should start, that slowed me down considerably. There weren’t too many spectators cheering us on till we got closer to the finish line, I still laugh thinking about the very Cuban ‘Dale-eee’ sign someone was holding up at the end. Sprinted the last bit and finished with a new PR of 26:11!

look at that determination lol

With my race buddy, Ana, showing off our medals. I swear I’m happy!

Right after, can you see sweat?

Close up!

We then walked over to Nikki Beach and enjoyed a banana, bagel and some oatmeal raisin cookies before walking out to the sand and looking at the ocean for a few minutes. It was a great ending to a race, how many people really get to see that after the finish line? Had an amazing morning, running on a great course with a friend. Might even do it again next year as a warm up for the ING half marathon. I’ve already signed up, what about you?

Have you ever ran a race that ended in a beautiful location? Anyone signed up for ING 2014 Half/Full Marathon yet?

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Runabout

July 2012:

A post that I wrote at the beginning:

Let me start by saying I never enjoyed running in P.E. classes in school and downright hated it when we had to run laps at bootcamp. Then for some reason I woke up one morning feeling like I wanted to run a 5k, maybe even one day a marathon. So of course I got online and started doing some research (Google is my drug of choice) and found that a lot of people used the Couch to 5K program/phone apps. Basically its the Galloway method of walk/run intervals until you are running the whole time. I’m currently using the 5K Runner app and the Nike + GPS app.

I’d like to think that I’m influencing people to start getting some exercise too. Only saying that because when I first started running at the park, no one was walking on the path, I could tell they were watching me from the playground area though. Now that I’ve been out there for 6 weeks I have actually seen one couple running together and a couple of groups of ladies walking around the course.

When I first started I didn’t know if I would be able to run even a minute without gasping for air. I think going to fitness bootcamp has helped with my endurance too. About four weeks into my 5K Runner training I signed up for The Color Run to keep me motivated.

2013 Update:

I have now ran four 5ks and am training for my 1st Half Marathon in March, the 13.1 Allstate Life Insurance Marathon in Miami Beach. I still can’t believe that I enjoy running this much, to put so much dedication into it. I now wake up at 6am four times a week to get in my run, alternating with pilates and yoga throughout the week when I find time and bootcamp every Sunday. Lately I have incorporated some biking to cross train with less impact to help my muscles recover faster.

I have to say that my first race was very inspiring, it was the Komen Race for the Cure race, just a day before what I thought would be my first race ever, The Color Run. I started off way too quickly but to this day that first mile out has been my fastest mile ever, I was just too excited to start slowly. I have since been practicing doing mostly negative splits on my training runs. I’m excited and nervous about my first half marathon but I know that I can do it!

Yesterday’s 5K – Tropical 5k part of ING Miami weekend. My 1st medal. Came in 217th overall, 46th woman, 4th in my age group 😀

Do you run? If so, what is your next race? What do you use to motivate you to train?

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Start me up – my workout plan

So before last May my working out consisted of walking through malls to shop with occasional nights of yoga with my best friend and 10-30 mile bike rides through the dangerous streets of Miami. I didn’t get too serious about working out till the middle of 2011 when I realized I needed to work on my tone. Before that I really wasn’t worried about how my body looked because I wasn’t really showing it to anyone. Call me vain if you will, but if you know you will be getting undressed infront of someone you would think twice about how your body looks too.

So in May 2011 I finally got serious and thanks to a recommendation from my friend, Alyssa I bought a Tracy Anderson Method mat workout dvd. Its an hour of semi intense muscle restructuring that leaves u tired and sweaty afterwards. Sometimes when I would start getting a little bit bored of the same routine I would do some power yoga from a yoga/pilates dvd set I had. Mostly I did the Tracy Anderson Method and started to see changes and definition after about a month of 4-6 days a week of working out. She’s was trained in ballet and then became a personal trainer to stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna so even though it was a bit trendy to buy, it actually works. The last 6 months of the year was spent doing that dvd so often I thought it would begin to get scratched.

not a bad body to have, imo.

Then 2012 started and I found out about a hike in the Everglades Shark Valley and suggested on the Facebook invite that we should rent bikes while we were there. I met new people (Tatiana, Andrew, Jonathan) and some acquaintances (Allie & David) and Joe. The bike ride to the tower wasnt too terrible, but the ride back through the strong winds was torturous, I’m still not sure how we made it those 15 long miles. Here’s the blog entry with pics that Tatiana wrote.

That day Allie mentioned she would be starting up her weekly bootcamp again and I should check it out (I had actually been to one bootcamp session with her back in August) . For days afterwards I feel the soreness of my muscles and am unable to do my usual Tracy Anderson workouts so I’ve started doing more pilates from the dvd set mentioned above. Every Sunday now I attend bootcamp in the park which is 10x more intense than any of my dvd workouts. Plus you get to meet nice people who are working their way to their fitness goals as well, it’s a lot more motivating than working out alone at home. Usually the workouts are so intense that someone throws up but not always. Check out her website for fitness tips and exercise how to’s and if you are in the Miami area, like her Fit Geek facebook page and attend this bootcamp.

Last minute tip: Something that helps me stay on track and motivated is writing down what kind of workouts I do and the amount of time I’ve spent doing them on a calendar. Seeing that everyday keeps me going forward and not losing focus. I usually strive for at least 5 hours a week of exercise.

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Summertime Sadness

Life is so unexpected and messy. There have been times that I have thought things couldnt get any better or that nothing would change. Everything changed, things got better, they got worse, nothing stayed the same. Never did I think I would be where I am now, alone.

Do we ever know if the person we are with will always want to be with us? Or if we have even met the person we are supposed to be with or have we met that person but timing was wrong. Is there any way to tell if you have missed out or when something great is going to come around the corner and surprise you? I’m learning to basically take a chance on people that I didn’t previously let in. I keep coming back to the idea that life is too short to waste too much time.

This post was written on a blue day it seems, a few weeks ago.

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Heart – February is American Heart Month

Hope everyone has been wearing lots of red this month to bring awareness to others about it being American Heart month. Wear Red Day was on February 3rd, I made sure to wear a red shirt and my red TOMS. I should’ve wrote this post earlier in the month actually. I have had quite a few grandparents that have had heart disease and one that I was very close to pass away from heart failure in the past few years.

By just making a few simple changes in your lifestyle you can reduce your risk for heart disease by 80% . Exercising, eating healthy and keeping your BMI at 25 or under. This month I have actually been trying to exercise nearly everyday in some way or another and have changed my diet to that of a healthier vegetarian. Even after February I will continue on this healthy path as I have been wanting to make the change for a bit. Hope this post motivates at least one person to start eating healthier and get active.

For more info: www.heart.org

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