Happy Fall!

Woo! I'm back. It's certainly been a minute and half since my last post. Despite my lack of writing, I promise I haven't been skimping on my workout regiment :). This past quarter, I really upped the ante on school and kept my creative focus on my portfolio. A new ( and my final!!!) quarter begins next week and I'm determined to keep up with my blogging.

Some highlights from the past month:

The Bucktown 5K!

The morning after Yom Kippur, my dad and I dragged ourselves to the Bucktown 5k, a lovely neighborhood race. Of course, we were excited about the event, but after consuming a day's worth of calories in a single break-fast dinner the night before, we were definitely feeling a little sluggish. Can't say I recommend a fast before a race. The weather was a little stormy, but after my positive experience with a rainy half marathon in June I wasn't too worried about the clouds. I run better in cooler weather, and some brisk Fall rain is the perfect way for me to stay comfortable when I run. All in all, I thought that this race went better than expected! I beat my time from last year by about four minutes and really enjoyed myself. However, I felt that my lack of porta potty breaks during the race was my real victory, dig it? 

For Chicagoans looking for a fun run, I definitely recommend this race. The course takes you through the peaceful residential streets of Bucktown and it's surrounded by perfect post-race brunch spots. 

Also this:

Yup, just a friendly goat brought in to honor Buck Town's history and perhaps provide a little luck :). 

Let's what else is new...Starting next week, a new roommate is moving in! I've known Taylor since we were in the fifth grade and I think it's going to be a fabulous year. Like Jane and me, fitness and music are both huge parts of Tay's life so I think it's just going to be one happy party at Real World Paulina. Taylor is a yoga instructor at CPY and I can't wait to push my practice further with her. Living room flow sessions?! Hello, what a dream! Maybe I'll finally nail the elusive handstand..

Hopefully this won't jinx my luck, but today I have a second interview with a great women's outdoor and fitness apparel store. I SO DESPERATELY want to work there and spread the message of health, fitness, and positivity to the world!! But seriously, I do. I am such a cheeseball sometimes. So cross your fingers for me :). 

Peace, love, sweat xoxo SR

It's definitely been a minute...

Can't believe I haven't posted in a month- major slacker status!
I spent all of June traveling like some hotshot jet setter. Lawlz. First, I joined my family in Israel to celebrate my youngest sister's bat mitzvah. That was a unique experience to say the least! It was a very active trip, but my dad and I upped the ante a little with light jogs through the old city of Jerusalem and conducting yoga classes for the other members on our tour! Considering I was eating enough hummus to singlehandedly support the entire industry, these extra workouts were key. Check out the sweatastic memories below!

Jogging through the old city was a moving experience that's hard to verbalize. Feeling the cobblestones under my feet as I jogged through such a holy place was very powerful. It was very trippy to think about how many generations of people had run through these alleyways. The yoga sessions were also very meaningful. My dad and I took turns leading a few of our friends from our tour every morning in Eilat. We would practice on a pier that was smack dab in the middle of Israel and Jordan. Yoga is so peaceful and it felt very special to practice it between these two countries, staring at both of their flags.

After Israel, I went to Seattle where I laughed, drank, ate, had the most lovely time and gained about five pounds:) Happy pounds!

Now I'm back to the school grind and am trying to get back into my old good habits. I've been exercising about five days a week which, frankly, isn't enough for me and I've been trying to not get too frsuterated with my decreasing abilities. Right now I can't afford as many yoga classes as I'd like, and that's really throwing me off my game. I think practicing at least five days a week keeps me feeling groovy- without it I feel a little lost. Luckily, I just started a new job so hopefully I'll be back in the studio soon! My job is at an ice cream parlor...so great but so dangerous! Can't ever go to work hungry!

On final note, look what J and I did last Friday! Thanks Lululemon!

Yup, yoga on Wrigley Field! Definitely an asana to remember.

Peace, love, sweat xoxo SR

Terrapin 5K! IT IS COMING

Guess what's coming up...

Remember that summer you spent following the Grateful Dead? While that can't be repeated, at least not without the help of something reminiscent of those "Michael Jackson's ghost" visuals, Ram Racing has a temporary solution to fill that Jerry Garcia shaped void left in your heart. 

The Terrapin 5k beckons to the runners who have been humbled by Chicago's unforgiving summer temperatures and, despite their business suits in July appearance, still have a favorite Dick's Pick album. The race leads runners down the lakefront path where, after wiping the sweat out of their eyes, they can gaze upon the sunset over Lake Michigan. After hoofing it for three miles, runners join their friends and family for a few groovy pints of Magic Hat's finest and, if they did a few toe touches after the race, an opportunity to show off some deadhead dance moves to the tunes of popular cover band, Mr.Blotto. Rock on, ladies and gents, rock on. 

Ram Racing Terrapin 5K

Why yes, I HAVE run a half marathon!

We did it!!! After months of unstructured preparation ( uh, obviously not recommended) we completed our first half marathon! T, J, and I ran an under 11 minute average the whole time, and honestly, I don't think I really hit the wall until mile 13. It was a beautiful course through the suburb of Highland Park. It was pretty hilly, but we all managed to use adrenaline to carry us up and down the course. Luckily, the weather was in our favor. It was about 50 degrees and a little drizzly. This kept us cool and our heart rates down for the whole race. I think I would be writing a very different blog post if it had been sunny and in the 90's. The night before, I found this quote by Olympian Herb Elliott that I kept turning to during the difficult parts of the race:

“Poetry, music, forests, oceans, solitude--they were what developed enormous spiritual strength. I came to realize that spirit, as much or more than physical conditioning, had to be stored up before a race.”

Whenever I felt my spirit dipping, I'd connect my thumbs with my index fingers, this encourages a connective flow of power throughout the whole body, and look up at the green tree tops popping against the clean, gray sky. 

If you're thinking about running a half marathon, I cannot stress the importance of cross training. Unwisely, I never ran the full 13 miles during my training runs. However, for the past 5 months, I've been going to power yoga over three times a week, and I think that provided me with the tools I needed to successfully complete this race. Yoga strengthened my muscles and core, as well as taught me how to breathe properly. Next time I do a half, I will definitely follow a training schedule more strictly, however, I will also make sure to keep up with my other exercises. I've been seriously considering joining a gym this upcoming winter so I can start lifting weights again. In college, I lifted weights about 3 times a week and had significantly less injury problems than I do now. 

Have a great week!

Peace, love, sweat xoxo SR

Can a gal just get her mud run on in peace?

I wrote this post for another blog that I've been working on for school, but wanted to share it on this blog too. As always, please feel free to comment.

Peace, love, sweat xoxo SR

Does this picture look familiar? If you’re a member of Facebook, then you’ve probably seen it floating around your newsfeed the past few days. It’s the latest promotional photo from the SPARTAN RACE and boy oh boy, it sure has been popular. An ad like this raises some interesting questions. Mainly, is it wrong to oversexualize women when promoting a race? By sexualizing a female racer, does this picture suggest that instead of being strong, tough, and badass, women just look sexy when they roll around in the mud? By using this picture to promote their event, the SPARTAN RACE seems to be suggesting that watching hot girls play in the mud is just one more racing incentive for their male targets. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that; after all, a race needs to sell entry slots right? However, by portraying women in this way, the race may also be losing another target audience that has been showing up in masses at mud runs- women. Other runs like the Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder have done a good job at showing both genders looking tough, athletic, and, of course, goofy as hell. There’s nothing wrong with posting pictures of a muscular bod kicking butt on an obstacle. However, when the focus of the picture isn’t how tough the subject is, but how attractive they are, the result is, ironically, a turn off.

SoMe #6- this one has a fitness spin :)

Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a hot minute since I last posted. Just busy being overwhelmed and slightly irresponsible..anywho expect a fitness update soon. T, J, and I are running the half this upcoming Sunday ( yikes!) so I'm sure I'll have lots to say about that..if I can even move my fingers on the keyboard once it's over.
This week, we were asked to blog about social media buzzwords. I had a list and a post all written out when I realized that there had to be a better way to tie in my fitness blog to buzzwords. So Heidi, if you're reading this, I did my homework on the business buzzwords :)! However, I think this post should focus on the fitness buzzwords of 2013. For readers who are interested, feel free to message me and I'd be happy to talk shop on the SoMe buzzwords too! I just want to rein this blog in and focus on its original intent- to explore the wild world of health and fitness.

I've separated the buzzwords into two lists, focusing my favorite and least favorite words. If you can think of more key phrases of 2013, please share! Also, last minute half marathon tips would be deeply appreciated, a duh.

Peace, love, sweat xoxo SR

Dig

• Functional Fitness: You'll be hearing about this one a lot this year, and with good reason! Picture the scene, you've just run six miles and scored a PR. As you head out to the bars for a victory brew,you can't help but notice that you're hobbling like a deer with a broken ankle. Not so fit after all. Functional Fitness focuses on exercises that renew and restore your body so that you can kick ass in and out of the gym. Exercise should compliment your life, not turn it into a world of pain. 
• Boredom Blasters: Okay, I made this word up, but not the definition! All kinds of kooky activities were thrown our way in 2012 and continue to flourish in the New Year. Fun Runs no longer mean that there might just be a tee shirt and a beer at the finish line. Make way for a plethora of muddy dashes, tire hopping, colored powder, and more next time you sign up for a race. We've also got a series of yoga festivals to look forward to. Wanderlust Festival is a wonderful four day event that takes place in cities all over the world. It brings together like minded yogis, instructors, musicians and more for a giant yoga celebration. Namaste! SUPing is also on the rise. The stand up board paddling sport now offers new ways to paddle. Personally, I've been dying to try a vinyasa flow class on the board. 
• Strong is the new skinny: 

This new buzz phrase should successfully demolish Kate Moss's legendary pro-ana comment. If only this mentality had been mainstream when I was growing up. 

• Stacking: Twenty minutes cardio, twenty minutes weights, twenty minutes core; sound familiar? Breaking your workout up into sections doesn't benefit you as much as stacking intervals. Expect to see more classes and work with more trainers who tout the idea of interlacing these three areas together. By working in intervals, you'll get better results. 
• Social Training: I had to include a social media angle! In 2013, fitness and social media go hand in hand. We can't always workout with our friends in person, but that doesn't mean you have to sweat out your long run on your own! Fitocracy, MapMyRun, and Strava all let you compete and share updates with your social network. Another app I have my eye on is GymPact. This is great for groups of friends who are having trouble getting to the gym. GymPact encourages users to thrown down money each week then logs how many times the user goes to the gym( based on your attendance goal). Every time you skip a day, you forfeit some of your money. At the end of the week, the forfeited money is divided up among those who stuck to their goal and didn't miss any gym days. Social and motivating! 

Ditch

• Detox: Ugh, what does this even mean? I must admit that when I see shiny, happy juice pictures on Pinterest, I too am momentarily drawn to the idea of a cleansing juice detox diet. Then I close my computer and abruptly remember that humans, especially humans who exercise frequently, are probably not supposed to live off of juice for extended periods of time. The idea of a cleanse or detox is so appealing, however, it's not exactly possible. After a week of snarfing junk food or binge drinking, it's tempting to imagine that you can just "cleanse" the bad stuff out of you. Our bodies are actually quite smart and are constantly "detoxing" so to speak. Remember all those times that you like, pee? Though you'll lose weight on a detox diet, it's because you're drastically cutting calories and as soon as you start eating again you'll obviously go back to your normal weight. Instead of feeling guilty and succumbing to a crazy "detox",alter the way that you eat and exercise. If drinking beer every night makes you feel like your only solution is to survive on carrot juice for a week, then just stop drinking so much beer! It's probably easier to cut back on an indulgence than comfortably survive on a 500 calorie daily intake. Don't trade out exercise and food for a juice diet. Alter your lifestyle in simple ways now and I promise that a wacky detox will never seem logical to you again. 
• Shredding: Shred fat, shred muscle, shred tough- I don't think I need to go into detail about why this word sounds douchey- IT JUST DOES. 
• Target Fat: The lure of targeting belly fat is pretty strong, however, it's not really possible to just successfully target one area. Your best bet is to create a full body workout plan. Include push ups, cardio, and bench presses into your workouts and you'll see results. Just doing core work does not necessarily guarantee a flat belly- despite what your fancy Gold Coast gym class may suggest.
• Get Certified!: If you belong to a yoga studio or a gym, then you've probably been bombarded with newsletters making call outs for future trainers and teachers. That's all well and good, but an important detail seems to have been left out-not every Flexible Fanny ( or Freddy!) is meant to teach a fitness class. I belong to a studio that is constantly certifying yoga instructors and frankly, not every instructor I've worked with there has been very good. Let's bring the focus back to quality not quantity. Sometimes, it seems like becoming a teacher is the only way to push your practice to the next level- that's not a good enough reason. Become a teacher to pass on the good word to students. If you're trying to reach your next fitness level, sign up for a marathon instead. 
• Core Training: We have an obsession with our cores, I get it. I'd love to magically erase my beer belly. However, it takes more than a core training class to do that. A well rounded exercise routine will get you to where you want to be. If you take classes that only focus on the core, try weight lifting or other exercises that target other parts of your body. When it comes to fitness, balance will always be the key to success.  

This was a good weekend.

Palm Beach, Florida