fitness

30 Days of Yoga

Whether you are a newbie to Yoga or a Yogi master, I think you will love 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene. While I prefer the challenge and focus of my favourite classes in a hot studio,  Adriene’s YouTube channel has helped fill in the gaps in the comfort of my own home, when getting to the studio isn’t so easy. And surprisingly, her 30 days has been much more challenging than I thought.

This challenge will take you through 30 days of yoga with a 15-30 minute video and minimal equipment required (just your mat and yoga block). The biggest struggle I find with my practice is consistency and getting on my mat regularly. With Adriene’s short video’s, it is almost impossible to say we are too busy. Sadly though, I have found myself skipping out on my regular practice, as summer has been quite full and let’s face it routines are tough and we aren’t perfect. Remember, if life gets in the way from you hitting the mat, don’t get down on yourself, just keep your goal in sight. It’s important to keep focus on the benefits that come with daily practice and to remember a short practice is better than no practice. It is amazing how daily practice quickly improves the clarity of your mind and how your body feels.

Adriene’s mission with the 30 day challenge is to inspire you to find what feels good. To connect with this 30 day commitment to deepen your practice and take the time play. It’s all about concentrating on the fundamentals. And I will  note that she is also a delight to practice with.

With a new season ahead, I am going to start from the top again and commit myself to 30 days. I challenge you to join me and take the 30 day challenge. You will not regret it. 🙂

30 days

Ready, Set, Yoga. xx

 

Race Recap – Nike Women’s 15K

What a whirlwind of a weekend! Job well done, Nike!

Looks like this will be the last race recap for awhile, as I have no major races planned in the summer months (yet lol). I hope I haven’t bored you with these, but it was a full couple months with some super amazing races that I had to share, so I hope you have enjoyed the recaps as much as I have. And what better way to end this race streak, than with a first of its kind in Toronto, the Nike Women’s 15K. This was the perfect kick off to summer, despite the less than favourable weather conditions.

Wow Wow Wow, Nike you sure did put on one hell of a race weekend. It seems to be all any one is talking about. From the excitement building up months in advance to race day weekend, to the final finish line and post race recaps. This was probably the most fun I have had running this year, not to mention in company with my favourite running gals.

Nike had ladies hopeful to participate in the first and only Canadian location in the global Nike Women’s race series, with a lottery registration earlier this year. This race was so highly anticipated, it had many men runners join in on the fun too, with close to 15,000 runners taking part day of.Nike Village

Nike Village took over Toronto Harbourfront with loads of runspiration and all the essentials pre-race. It was a great way to spend a couple hours on Saturday to mentally prepare for Sunday’s race. Followed by some healthy fuel and relaxation, the body and mind were now set for Sunday’s early wake up call of 5 am.

Sunday’s race was incredible. The route was spectacular, so well thought out, and by far the best route I have run so far. It was fast, exciting, and surprising.  From an aerial view it was even the shape of a Nike Swoosh (that Nike, so clever).Course Map

Terrain varied from sand, grass, boardwalk, and pavement which kept things interesting. With each new turn, my body and mind filled with excitement with the unexpectedness of what was up ahead. The real badass moment was running along Billy Bishop’s tarmac. With airplanes in sight and the cityscape behind us, what a view to take in. This was one of those “I need to stop and take a picture” moments. This picture below from Nike is far superior than the one I quickly captured in excitement.Runway Photo 20004325_race_0.9843545996596968.display

Not only was this route perfectly planned, but the course was lined with cheering fans, pumping music, jammin’ bands, and even a choir rocking gospel music in their Nike’s. It was the kind of course that makes your heart happy, a route that fills you with energy and leaves you with the urge to keep on running. It was magical and flew by far too quickly. Finishing at 1:30:45, I wanted to keep on going, it was seriously that much fun (I hope the picture above shows you just how much fun!).

Official Race Results

To top off an amazing event, Nike rewarded participants with a custom Tiffany & Co. necklace. A nice touch compared to your typical finisher’s medal. Talk about a  “silver lining.”

Race bib & blingAnother race to cross off my list and time to start planning the next set of races. I’ll take your reco’s! In a perfect world, I’d be heading to San Fran in October to run the Nike Half Marathon. However, I’m not sure if I am ready for that commitment at this particular moment, but could probably be easily persuaded (hint hint).

 

Better for it. xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run Rest Repeat

In 2014 I crossed a huge running accomplishment off of my list of goals- to run a half marathon (read all about it here). It was truly self-fulfilling and I was on a major runners high for weeks following. I instantly started to think of what my next race would be and after consulting with a few running friends; I committed myself to running Hamilton’s Around the Bay 30K. What was another 9K right? I thought it would be relatively easy (so to speak) after my first half, however with this deep freezing winter we had, I think I may have overestimated my love for running. HA!

With months of training for the 30K and race day quickly approaching (10 days away), I have crazy butterflies fluttering around the pit of my stomach going into this one. Some excitement but mostly nerves, I am “trying” to keep positive knowing that my body and mind are capable of magical things and that I will push through the mileage and hit this goal head on. I’m not too focused on a finish time, but am hoping to finish in 3 hours, average finish for 2014 was 3:07.

just run

My running goals for 2015 are to run more races and get better at running shorter races. I also plan to get more social with running and hit up some run clubs now that the weather is warming up.

Here’s a list of upcoming races that I will be gearing up for. I always love a good training buddy, so let me know what races you are training for and/or join me in one of these upcoming races. 🙂

Upcoming Races

March 29 – Around the Bay 30K

April 19- Toronto Yonge Street 10K

May 10- Sporting Life 10K

June 14- Nike Women’s 15K Toronto (hoping to get into this one!)

runspirationJust Run. xx

Shoulder Challenge

While I am not much of a fitness buff, I do have my go to arm workout that I revert back to every now and again to keep things tight – see Figure 1.

While these are great, I like to try and keep things interesting by kicking it up a notch every now and then with some sort of challenge. And with Spring just around the corner and the occasion to bare shoulders once again (with one of this year’s hottest trends), I thought it’s the perfect time to test out this 30 day shoulder challenge to shape up for Spring- see Figure 2.

Figure 1

Figure 1

 I challenge you to 30 days of shoulders.

Figure 2

Figure 2

 Let’s do this! xx