Rainbow Fish

I'm taking a slight break from my regular posts about health, fitness and interior design to participate in a Fashionista Event!  I know.. me??  I typically post pictures of me all sweaty and disgusting from some race or intense workout... but my sister wanted me to participate and I thought, why not!  Are you ready to see what I look like in a dress?!  How I dress on a regular basis?! Ok... that in a little bit... For participating in this Fashionist Event a dress was provided for me to review by eShakti in collaboration with the Fashionista Blogger group hosted by Still Blonde After All These Years and ModlyChic.   I got to go on the eshakti website www.eshakti.com to pick out a dress, and was really excited to learn that they do custom sizing!  Most people have a hard time believing I have the hardest time finding a dress that fits me! I get the typical, "you're so tall and thin, you can wear anything!"  Let me tell you... that is NOT the case at all, and here's why: for starters I have a very athletic build - toned and muscular (more so than I'd really like... especially my thighs - one of the side effects of running marathons often), secondly I am so tall, with the average height of a woman in the US being about 5'-6" and me coming in at 5'-11" poses a HUGE problem with length of dresses.

     So I picked out a dress and put in my measurements!  As soon as I saw this dress I fell in love with it, it has pockets and reminds me of the book Rainbow Fish:

Such great colors! Pinks, blues, purples, grays...  I think you will agree with me when you see it!  I was so excited to receive the dress that I tried it on the second it arrived in the mail... Here's where I became disappointed.  I admit it, I have big hips and thighs and a smaller upper body, so often I need a larger dress to accomodate those "problem areas".  I put the dress on and felt like I was swimming in it, especially up top! NOOOO....  My mom assured me it didn't look as bad as I thought it did, but that she would be happy to make adjustments to it for me.  It's the curse... while I love that my mom doesn't mind making adjustments and she is a GREAT seamstress, I hate that she has to do that for all of my clothes.  Surprisingly I actually think the length is took long and that it hits at a weird spot on my leg... But for the purpose of the Fashionista Event, I wanted to take the pictures and wear it like it was made and see if I felt any different about it after wearing it. Ok... so here it is...

As you can see, I paired it with a pair of black heels - my favorite pair that my Dad thinks I am CRAZY for wearing because they make me approximately 6'-3", and also a bright pink sweater.  I work for a church so covering the shoulders is imperative while at work, not to mention it is ALWAYS freezing there!  While at work, I received an INSANE number of compliments on the dress, a variety of men and women saying that they had never seen a dress like it.  I was told that it fit me perfectly... 



What do you think? Love it, hate it?  Think it fits me well?

Disclaimer: Fashionista Giveaway Event bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.

The Deck of Cards Workout

  
I am constantly on the look-out for new workouts to spice up my routine, whether it be new cardio, strength, etc.  Now that I am coaching cross country, I've been looking even harder to find new things to give the girls some variety but to also make the workout fun for them.  A few weeks ago, I came across the Deck of Cards Workout in my Experience Life magazine put out by my gym Lifetime.  The concept is pretty easy but the execution can be very difficult!

    What you need: A deck of playing cards, including the Jokers
    How long it takes: Approximately 45mins if you use the entire deck
 
   There are a few things you need to remember:
       1. Number cards represent the number that you do of that particular exercise, so if you pick a 5 - you do 5 reps
       2. Face Cards are valued as follows: Ace = 10, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13 and Joker = Wild

  Now, each suit in the deck of cards represents a different exercise:

Diamonds: Hand to Elbow Planks
     1. You start in a plank position with your forearms flat on the ground.
     2. While staying balanced you place the palm of your right hand flat on the floor under your shoulder,  then do your left arm
     3. Reverse the movement and end up back in the forearm plank position.

Clubs: Jump Squats
     1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
     2. Squat down low reaching with your hands towards the floor while keeping your back straight
     3. Jump up with your hands reaching towards the ceiling, jumping as high as possible
     4. Land softly back into a squat position

Hearts: Burpies
     1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
     2. Squat down with your hands touching the floor
     3. Jump your feet back, so that you are now in push-up position
     4. Complete a push-up
     5. Jump your feet back to your arms, so that you are back into a low squat position
     6. Jump into the air with your hands reaching towards the ceiling, jumping as high as possible
     7. Land softly back into squat position

** Make it Harder** - Complete the Burpies with weights in your hands

Spades: Push-Ups
      1.  Assume push-up position with your palms under your shoulders
      2.  Go down as close to the floor as possible and push back up.

   **Make it Harder** - Do a Single Leg push-up instead

Jokers: Combination of side planks and regular planks with an overhead reach
     1. Lie on your side with your feet stacked on top of each other, with your forearm on the ground
     2. Lift your hips off the ground so that only your forearm and feet are touching the ground
     3. Switch sides
     4. Regular planks with an overhead reach - get into regular plank position and lift your right arm, so only your left arm and feet are touching the ground.  Switch after a few seconds

Let me know what you think of this workout! It's a great way to switch up your routine!
   

Running Shoes - Friend or Foe?

     People ask me all the time for shoe advice, where to go, what brand is the best, etc.  It is different for each person but there is no denying that for a runner, the absolute most important piece of equipment (unless you are a barefoot runner) are your shoes.  They can make or break a run... in some ways I didn't realize how important it was to be 100% properly fitted to your running shoe.  My first marathon I went into the Nike store and pretty blindly picked out a pair of shoes, they worked like a charm and so comfortable! Never blistered, never lost a toenail, both of which are pretty unheard of for marathon runners. 
     

      I finally found this amazing running store, Runner's High 'N Tri, a few years ago and have been going to them for all my running shoe and triathlon needs!  They watch how you run, do gait assessments, look at the wear patterns on your previous gym shoes and then set you up with an amazing pair of shoes.  They introduced me to the Newton brand a few years ago with the most amazing pair of bright pink shoes! I absolutely LOVED them!! I literally ran them into the ground and wore them as long as I possibly could but I finally decided that I needed a new pair for Chicago Marathon training.  I got Newtons again... this time an awesome blue...

   Shoes don't get much cooler than these!  What I didn't realize at the time was that these shoes were slightly modified... They felt great when I tried them on and jogged around the store but disaster struck when I really started running in them.  I went out for a 3 mile run, which is really nothing in the world of marathons, and my heels started to bother me, when I looked down I realized that they were bleeding.  I thought maybe it was because I was doing a speed workout.  I'll spare you those pictures...  I cut my run short and then re-laced my shoes when I got home, thinking maybe that had something to do with it.  After that I seemed to be fine in 3-4mile run.  However... a few weeks ago I needed to do a longer run and decided that 10 was a good distance.  I wasn't even 5 miles into my run when I was in some major heel pain again and discovered yet again that I was bleeding!  I stopped running and thought maybe I needed more room in my shoes, so I took my socks off and ran without them, it helped for a little while but I realized that my entire stride was thrown off because I was trying not to make it worse!  Naturally I had decided to do a big loop that day, so I was at the furthest point in my run, so I couldn't even cut it short!  I stopped again and took my shoes off and ran barefoot for a while, which certainly helped the heel problem but it was on asphalt on a 90+ degree day and I was slowly burning the bottoms of my feet.  I eventually finished my 10 mile run but my pace was at about an 11minute mile, which is NOT typical for me. I was so frustrated! 

    I finally decided I would go back into the store and talk to them, maybe they had a suggestion on how I could fix the situation.  They were incredible!   They told me that I should never bleed with shoes, maybe blister but never bleed!  For a while I thought I just needed to break in the shoes.  After talking with them we discovered that the shoe was slightly modified from my previous pair.  I apparently over pronate, which means my foot rolls in more than the ideal 15% when I hit the ground.  So in order to accommodate this I need a shoe that has a little more stability... I had NO idea!  Newton changed the heel support in the blue shoes, which resulted in my heel rubbing on the back of the shoe until I started to bleed... not fun!  They were so great and since they didn't have the old shoe in stock, they ordered it for me! 

    I got the new ones about a week later...

     It doesn't get much better than Pink!!! Aren't these awesome?!  It was amazing, I didn't realize how just putting them on I could feel such a drastic difference.  But really... the test is in the run!  So I decided to crank out another 10 mile run... I felt great!  I was running down the street when I suddenly saw a car on a side road stop and just watch me... always a weird feeling... Then the woman in the car got out and came over to me.  She said that she saw me running down the street and loved my shoes so she made the driver turn around so she could ask me about them!  That was a first!  I ended up running 10 miles at a 7:40 pace! I've never run that fast!!! These are like "magic shoes"!  They are such a better fit, no blisters, no blood! Just a happy runner!

   So a few things I want to leave you all with...

       1.  Don't assume that all shoes from the same brand will fit the same!

       2.  Go to a shoe specialty store like my favorite - Runner's High 'N Tri - had I gone to a department store or a Sports Authority type of place, I probably would have been screwed and not been able to get the right shoes!

       3. Figure out what you specifically need... I now know that I over pronate so I need shoes with a little more stability.  Knowing how you land on the ground makes all the difference in the world!

       4.  Your running shoes should make you want to go for a run, not dread a run just by looking at the shoes!

A HUGE thank you to Runner's High 'N Tri for helping me to get the right pair of shoes!  I'm gonna dominate the Chicago marathon with these magic shoes! :)

Alright... I'm out to go do a long run!