Will Run For Ice Cream

I began the #LJFitChallenge in February ( Let the Fun Begin ), and it's been a great challenge. However, at the end of this past month I've sort of fallen off of the wagon a little. As I increased my mileage, I was dealing with some soreness in my hamstring. And honestly, I am not a fan of walk outs and burpees. But then I had to remind myself of something that I had written earlier ( #TuesdayTidbit - Doing What You Need To Do ) which pretty much deals with sometimes the things we put off doing are the very things that we need to do. So I gave myself a little swift kick in the rear to get back on track! I plan to modify Phase 2 a little so that I can catch up with Phase 3. However, if I'm not ready to move ahead, then I will stay where I need to stay in Phase 2. That's the beauty of this challenge. You can start the #LJFitChallenge whenever, and do the exercises wherever.

In the past, I've tried Ice Baths, and although they did help, I found them too uncomfortable that I didn't do them often. Instead, I turned to Magnesium Sulfate soaks instead ( A Soak Will Do You Goo d). I've been experimenting with using Epsom Salt with Aveeno Stress relief bubble bath. I like to mix the two as I enjoy both the scent and the bubbles. But, what I didn't realize is that Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) is actually absorbed into your skin. But wait - that's a good thing! Did you know

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. I loved the Coovy Athletic Tank  . I loved that it has removable pads. I probably could have used a larger size tank. I've put on a few pounds and sizes that once fit me are a little snug, but I have plans to tone up over the summer. So I decided not to exchange the tank, but instead kept this size as I hope to get a lot of use out of it over the Summer. And I hope to wear it with confidence very soon! But let me tell you about the   Coovy Athletic Tank . It didn't 'pull or tug'. It fit without binding. It moved easy. I liked the fabric, and I believe that it will wick away sweat instead of sticking to my skin. I loved that it had pads that were removable. I don't like tanks that have pads that I can't remove. With the removable pads, you can choose to use them or remove them and I really liked that feature

I have never been so unprepared (mentally and physically) for a race. My longest run so far was 8 miles since my injury, and that run wasn't pretty. But I had tons of running friends running the Capital 10 Miler, and I ran it last year. I was registered, and I was going to do what I could do. I had originally hoped for a 10:20-10:30 pace.. but... well.. that didn't happen. My stomach wasn't happy (had to stop twice for the portapotty). And I could feel the old feelings of 'discouragement' setting in mid race, but I quickly threw those thoughts out. Although I told my friends that I was running with not to wait for me, as I made my 2nd portapotty stop, they did. They ran/walked slowly until I caught up with them. *affiliate link It was much slower than last year, but

Well. ready or not, the race is Sunday - the Capital 10 Miler . My longest run/walk has been 8 miles. I think hope I finish. I should unless something unforeseen happens. But I could feel my old habits creeping up on me. I looked up last year's time. My first thought was.. hmm.... I wonder if I could beat that? I immediately told myself to stop. That is not what I want this year!!! Don't get me wrong, I plan to try to go for some PRs this year. I love to see progress, and I hope to see some this year. And I plan to 'race' some races. But I plan to enjoy this year of running and not get caught up in comparisons ( to myself ) or others. I don't want to get so fixated on race times that I lose the joy of running. I am still injured. I am better, and I am getting stronger. I know now that I'm working with a trainer ( When It's Time For Professional Help ) that I will continue to improve. But I also know that if I allow myself especially at this point to ge

This past year I've tried tracking my calories, restricting food, detox teas, nothing 'too extreme', but the reality is I've gained weight instead of losing weight. I told myself that I really hadn't put on that much weight, but when it came time to try on clothes, the reality was in the seams - the bulging seams. Nothing fit - nothing in my entire closet. I found one pair of pants that I could still button - and they were snug. It was time that I stopped pretending that the 'scale' wasn't correct. The truth is, I have gained 10-12lbs over the past year. And my obsessing over the weight has caused  me to put on more weight. For me, personally , calorie counting made it worse. Don't get me wrong, counting calories and using calorie counting apps work great for a lot of people. However, I am the exception. I would see calories over nutrition. An apple with peanut butter can equal the same amount of calories as a serving of chips. Of course the appl

Tomorrow I'm turning 42, and this year I'm struggling with self image. So today's #TuesdayTidbit is how Small Changes Can Create Big Results. I think sometimes we have the misconception that if you want to see results you have to make big changes, and that's not always true. When the reality is,

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. This is a sponsored post.  Lil Man and I are big snackers. Hubby will snack here and there, but Lil Man and I are constantly snacking. I sometimes find it hard to find healthy on-the-go snacks. I'm working hard on cutting out processed food that has ingredients that I can't pronounce. My goal is to stick with products that are 5 ingredients or less, but if that isn't possible, I try to make sure that all of the ingredients are 'real' ingredients and not chemicals. When I heard about Love With Food , I was

Well, the hammy is still not 100% well, but it's improving. In fact, I was able to do a little speed work this past week. I do have the need for speed. I'd rather do speed work and mile repeats any day over any type of run. I love the challenge, and I love the rush especially if I hit my pace. I had planned on doing 3 (1) mile repeats, but decided to just do 2 to test how the hammy handled it. I was a little sore, but no pain. I'm considering that success.  But, I'm finding that I'm dealing with muscle imbalance like I did at the end of 2013 when I had my calf tear ( Injury Update - MRI results ). And the more I heal, the more muscle I'm rebuilding, but I know I'm overcompensating on my form due to the imbalance. So I reached out to

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. You know that one of my pet peeves is to see people running in low light without reflective gear or lights. Especially, when it's so easy to make yourself seen. Check out the Swift-n-Snug running belt with LED lights . I was in love at first sight. I loved the size, and of course I loved that it had LED lights. My main concern though was would it hold my iPhone because I usually always run with my phone. I was

I'm a morning person - it's just who I am. Evening running, well even afternoon running, usually just doesn't work for me. By the end of the day, I'm usually lacking energy, but also I just have too many things on my todo list that I want/need to get done. So if I leave my workouts for later in the day, they often don't happen. Also, with our family schedule, if I want to get a run in, it has to be before Hubby goes to work. That means I need to be finished by 7, or 7:30 at the latest which means sometimes I need to start running by 5:00 or 5:30am. Here are a few tips for early morning running: Plan Ahead  The night before, I always make sure that I have all of my my clothes laid out including my ( affiliate link ) compression sleeves , my running belt with my key/anything else that I may need such as fuel, my bottles of water filled and ready to go, my pepper spray, my ( affiliate link ) knuckle lights , my noxgear , my road-id and my reflective bands. I do

I'm not one to ask for donations for anything. Honestly, it really makes me terribly uncomfortable. Usually, if there is a donation event that I'm a part of, Hubby and I will just donate ourselves and not really ask others to help. But as I watched my friend say goodbye to her brother this week, as my Aunt is currently fighting her own battle with cancer, and I personally know " Collin Cureageous ", I felt in my heart to put this out there to to the world. If you find it in your heart to donate on behalf of my son's preschool to the Four Diamonds Fund (conquering childhood cancer) please go to this link. http://fourdiamonds.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1098 Here is a little info about the Four Diamonds Fund

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. Well, as you can probably guess by the name of my blog, #WillRun4IceCream , I love sweets. And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree  the cookies isn't far from the oven. Lil Man has my sweet tooth. I wish I would have videoed the squeals of glee as he pulled out box after box of cookies from  ginnybakes . "I want dis one. No, dat one!" We are both chocolate lovers, and those are the ones we reached for first. 

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. As most of you know if you've been following my blog, I'm a believer in foam rolling.   #TuesdayTidbit - Do You Foam Roll?   If you are new to the blog, welcome. :) But I have never used a trigger point foam roller. They've always looked scary to me! My first thought when seeing one was pain. That being said, I was a little apprehensive to try a trigger point foam roller, but there have been times that I just couldn't really get to the sore spot that I needed to massage. So I put my fears aside and tried the GR8 Goodz Trigger Point Massage Therapy Foam Roller .

Full Disclosure: I received products free of charge for the purpose of providing a review. My opinions are completely my own based on my experience. I love things that are versatile and have more than one use. It saves me time and space. So when I came across the Tough Headwear , I looked forward to giving it a try. The concept is really quite simple, but the number of uses from one product is amazing. Within minutes I could

Today's #TuesdayTibit - shoes! I have worn Asics my entire running life. It was the first shoe that I was fitted with, and well, I suppose it's worked for me all of these years. Several years ago, they changed the model as they usually do every year. And that model did not work for me. The fit was off. The feel was off. Everything was off. Thankfully, I was able to find the older model online, and I purchased 4 pairs of shoes. At the end of last year, probably around September, I needed new shoes. It's March, and I'm still wearing the same shoes. My knees are starting to bother me, along with my left arch. So I knew it was time to find a new pair. I went to the local running store and got fitted. I tried on the newest version of the Asics which had changed a lot. They seemed 'ok', but nothing to write home about. I also tried on several different models and settled on my first pair of Brooks. I got the Brooks Ravenna 6. Time will tell if they are my ne

To Run or Not to Run that's my question of the day. If you read my previous post ( When Your Run Doesn't Go as Planned ), then you know my run this weekend wasn't my best. In fact, it left me pretty sore. I had tenderness all afternoon on Saturday, and most of the day Sunday, I was sore in my hamstring area. Today, I'm walking without pain, and I was able to do lunges without discomfort. I haven't tried running yet. I plan to run either this evening ( probably not happening since I have zero energy in the evening s) or early morning tomorrow. I will have a better idea of how sore I am once I start running. But it got me to thinking that maybe I should

Some runs just don't turn out the way that you that want them to. Today was one of those days. The temp was 3, but there wasn't any wind. So it wasn't unbearable. My eyelashes did freeze together which was a first for me. My goal was an 8 mile run since I'm running a 10 mile race on March 29. By mile 2 I knew this run was going to be a struggle. At mile 3, I wanted to turn and head back. But I talked myself into going farther. I made it to 4 and turned for my 4 mile return. At mile 5, my stomach said no, and my hamstring started to protest. I turned

My stomach is the main area on my body that I dislike. It's the first place that I look when I see myself in the mirror. It's the first place that I look when I see a photo. It's the place that I'm always trying to hide or camouflage. I had a tummy before I had my son. I have an even bigger tummy now that I've put on an additional 10lbs. I'm working on losing the weight, or more so just getting healthy and ditching the scale (but that's another post).  So this post isn't so much about losing belly fat, but about strengthening your core. See, I have a weak core. How do I know this? I've been injured more times than I care to count. True, there are other circumstances that also contributed to my injures, but the root, the real root of the problem has been my weak core (and hip) area. It's an area that I hate to work, and it is requiring a lot encouragement on my part to get the workouts in. I'm doing the #LJFitChallenge , and a lot of the

* affiliate links  In today's #TuesdayTidbit , I thought I'd do some Random Running tips. Winter Running Requires More Prep Time I've found that Winter Running usually requires a little more prep time for me. Depending on how cold it is, I may have on several layers, and it can be a little time consuming to put on all of those layers. Also, if I'm driving somewhere to run either outside or the gym, sometimes I can't just jump in the car and go. I may have to clean off snow/ice/frost. So give yourself a little more time when running or working out in the Winter. I've had to cut my workouts short because I ran out of time due to either clothing or having to clean off my car. Be Flexible Sometimes getting to the gym or outside just

*affiliate links This NOT a sponsored post. I did NOT receive this product free of charge. This post is NOT associated with Beachbody /Shakeology. I am NOT a coach.  I simply wanted to share with you my thoughts on Shakeology. When I was looking into trying it, I wanted information from someone who was using the product who wasn't trying to sell me the product. So I thought I would put that information out there. First of all, Shakeology is ridiculously expensive, and I have to justify spending the money on it. But, it's about the price of one sugary latte, or a shake from the gym ( Think Before You Drink That Protein Shake ), or a fast food meal. So if you trade one of those things for a Shakeology shake then monetary wise it's the same. ( Yes, this is how I justified spending the money when I was convincing Hubby I wanted to buy Shakeology ). However, the ingredients aren't the same - not even close .