Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Getting Ready for Fall Training

If you caught up with me on Saturday over coffee, you'll know that I am ready for fall! Bring on the cooler temps, all things pumpkin and apple, sweaters and boots.

Don't get me wrong. I love summer. I love the heat and the cold brew. Tank tops & shorts. This summer was all about turning 40 which I loved as well. But I'm ready to move on to the next thing.

Even though I'm not quite sure what that is yet.

What I do know...
  1. My weight is slowly climbing back up.
  2. My pace is slowing down.
  3. My trail runs have all but disappeared.
Despite having finished RW Run Streak and the #ClarindaTurns40 fitness challenge, I've felt like my training lately has been floundering a bit. What am I training for? LIFE! :-)

Time to set some goals for Fall!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Week in Review - 9/03

Remember last week, when I said it's always something? Well, today, my phone decided to go kaput. Out of nowhere, it just attempted to restart and got stuck on the Google logo. Over and over again. I managed to log in for a few minutes, and then it happened again. After troubleshooting a couple more things, I hopped on a chat with Project Fi Support. Pretty painless and a new phone has been ordered and will (hopefully) ship tomorrow. It says it will ship tomorrow, but I'm not 100% convinced since it's a holiday and all.

Week in Review 9/03

Since it's a new month and new season (fall unofficially starts tomorrow, right?!), I'm switching up the format of these weekly posts. Hope you enjoy!

Week in Review 8/28 - 9/3

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Ultimate Coffee Date - September 2017

Can you even believe it's September already?! I swear this year is flying by faster than any other. Ok. maybe that's an exaggeration, but it does seem crazy fast. You know what today is, right? It's one of my favorite days. It's the first Saturday of the month and time for the Ultimate Coffee Date.

Ultimate Coffee Date - September 2017

August was such a fabulous month, so I have lots to share. Let's get right to it.

Friday, September 1, 2017

August Report Card

My 40th birthday came and went in August! It was one of the best birthdays I can remember. It really made this month so amazing - despite some apartment woes and other things. Come back tomorrow for the Ultimate Coffee Date and I'll share a lot of the details (in case you missed them in any of my other Week in Review posts).

First, it's time to check in with my 2017 Goals.

August Report Card

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Week in Review - 8/27

With new carpet being installed this past week, our apartment was a bit disheveled. My workout clothes were inaccessible a couple of days. 😲 So, most of the week I felt a bit like a schlub. I'm starting over and next week is going to be a good one!!

Week in Review 8/27

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Week in Review - 8/20

After last week's post, this one is gonna seem pretty tame. It took me most of the week to fully recover from all the birthday fun. I was pretty tired all week, so my workouts were, let's just say, lackluster. 😊

Week in Review 8/20

Monday, August 14, 2017

Week in Review - 8/13

I know, I know. I normally post my Week in Review post on Sunday, but it was the last day my sister was in town and I was still having too much fun celebrating my birthday. My 40th birthday is definitely one I will always remember. It was so special to have my family come to visit, and we had a great time!

We crammed in so many fun activities! Walking the Strip {a lot}, a helicopter tour, a pool day, hiking in the mountains, Hoover Dam. There were some very, very late nights and some early{ish} mornings. But mostly, there were good times catching up with my family that I haven't seen in way too long. Read my highlights below. 😊

Week in Review 8/13

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Week in Review - 8/06

This past week started out very stressful with some plumbing issues in our apartment. Sparing you the real gory details, because of where our apartment is situated in the building, if other apartments get clogged, it causes back-ups and issues in ours. This isn't the first time it's happened. But, it was the worst time it happened. It was bad enough that we secured a hotel room for the night.

If we hadn't been dealing with a lot of issues in our complex this year, it wouldn't have been so stressful. But, it was kind of a last straw type of deal. The stress came because we were fed up and we really wanted rashly break our lease, find a new apartment ASAP, and move this weekend. It wouldn't have been ideal with family coming in soon, but I was just so tired of dealing with all the shit (pun intended). So, we kinda made it a bigger deal than we probably should have. Ultimately, we calmed each other down and decided against such a rash move.

Despite all that, it was still a decent week! I had to skip a few workouts, but there were definitely some highlights, so be sure you read on to find out what they are. :)

Week in Review 7/30

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Ultimate Coffee Date - August 2017

Happy August!! I've been looking forward to August pretty much all year, so I'm super excited that it's here. :) Since it's the first Saturday of the month, it's time for the Ultimate Coffee Date! Grab some coffee, tea, or whatever your favorite beverage is and let's catch up!

Ultimate Coffee Date - August 2017

I sure hope that you've been enjoying a fabulous summer! Summer starts early here in Vegas, and the first couple months were glorious. July was a bit more humid than I like (nothing compared to my Midwest and East Coast friends, of course!), but overall this summer has been amazing! It's certainly not over yet and I plan to keep on enjoying it as much as I can!

Friday, August 4, 2017

5 Favorite Half Marathons

Today's Friday Five 2.0 topic is Favorite Races. A blogging friend, Jennifer at the Fit Nana, visited Valley of Fire when she was in Vegas for BlogFest. Her post on IG reminded me of the half marathon I ran through that park back in 2013. It definitely ranks as one of my favorite races.

I love the half marathon distance! There are some really gorgeous courses out there!! I've actually only run 12 halfs since my first back in 2002. I relived each race preparing for this post and want to include each of them as a favorite, but I'll limit myself to 5. 😃


Wednesday, August 2, 2017

July Report Card

I had grandiose plans of writing up this post Monday night, but I was thwarted by some disgusting plumbing issues in our apartment. It was so bad that we had to get a hotel room for the evening while our apartment aired out. We're still working through some issues. Ugh!

So, August is kinda off to a rough start, but I'm trying to stay positive. I've got family coming in next week to celebrate, so I'm trying not to let these apartment issues get me down!

July Report Card

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Week in Review - 7/30

Most of the week was kind of ho-hum. I had a little trouble recovering from BlogFest. I was so tired all week. It was a week that normally order Bountiful Baskets to pick up Saturday morning, but the thought of waking up at 5 AM was just too much for me, so I skipped it this week. It felt so good to sleep in until 8AM yesterday.

I'm feeling a bit more refreshed after sleeping in yesterday and kinda taking it easy. Plus the weekend ended pretty great with a Saturday evening hike and a super fun Sunday morning.

Week in Review 7/30

Friday, July 28, 2017

5 Things I Didn't Expect at BlogFest

I can't believe it's been a week already since BlogFest! This week flew by. Probably because I'm still so tired. I've been looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday all week long. 💤

BlogFest was amazing, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to attend. It was my first year so I wasn't too sure what to expect. Instead of doing a day-by-day recap, I thought I'd share 5 things that I didn't expect going into BlogFest.


How Exhausting It Would Be

Well, I did kind of expect this. I knew I was going to lead a group run and that there were going to be workouts, so this was kind of on me. I didn't exactly prepare for this conference, physically. I hadn't eaten, slept, or hydrated very well the few days leading up to the BlogFest, and I definitely paid the price on Day 1.

I had to skip the big Welcome Party dinner Thursday night because I was so exhausted! As well as the Friday morning workout. I was so bummed but knew I needed some sleep if I was going to make it through the next few days.


The New Way to Take Notes in a Seminar

I learned so much during the seminars. I'm a pretty terrible note taker, though. Always have been. That's where my phone came in so handy! The new way to take notes? Snap a picture of the presenter's slide! I did take some traditional notes as well, but snapping a picture was so quick and easy. I still need to go through all my notes/pictures and definitely plan on using some of what I learned in future posts.

A few of the "notes" I took


The Brand Connections

Oh, the brands! There was so much more emphasis on the sponsoring brands than I expected. It was called BlogFest, so I thought there would be a bit more emphasis on blogging tips and tricks. Best practices. That kind of thing. While there were a few seminars on blogging topics, it seemed there was more emphasis on learning about, and connecting with, the sponsoring brands. And working with brands, in general. Working with brands is pretty exciting, and I hope that I can do more of it in the future.

We were well fed throughout the conference!


The Swag and Samples

As bloggers, we were definitely hooked up! I brought home a big bag of swag the first night with so much fun stuff like a Takeya water bottle, a shaker bottle and other fun stuff from Great Lakes Gelative, earbuds from Larabar, wrist sweatbands from STRONG by Zumba, resistance bands from TRX and GymGo and so many goods to eat like dried California figs and Mariani dried fruit and SO MUCH MORE.

And that was just what the SweatPink/IDEA World team put together for us.

I snagged a lot more walking around the expo. :-)



How Much I'd Love Figs

I'd ever tried figs before BlogFest. Well, expect in a Fig Newton. I was so surprised at how much I fell in love with this little power fruit. I now love figs fresh and dried. Alone, on toast with cottage cheese or peanut butter, paired with cheese & crackers. I'm really excited to experiment with more ways to eat figs.


There is so much more I want to say about the things I learned and tried at BlogFest, so look forward to more posts to come. :-)


I'm linking up today with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for Friday Five 2.0.


Sunday, July 23, 2017

Week in Review - 7/23

Wow! Today flew by!! I enjoyed sleeping in, went to a seminar on Minimal Running, took a nap, and then put away my haul from Blogfest/IDEA World Convention. It doesn't seem like I got a lot accomplished, so it's crazy that it's already time for bed.


Sunday, July 16, 2017

Week in Review - 7/16

This past week kicked off the 30-day countdown to my 40th birthday! I may have complained to Jeff a couple months ago about being disappointed in my 30th birthday celebrations, so we are definitely making this milestone birthday THE BEST!

It's still several weeks away, but I'm embracing every day and looking forward to the big day! It's going to be epic fun, and I hope you'll follow along on my adventures.


Tuesday, July 11, 2017

How to Successfully Complete a Fitness Challenge

Tomorrow is THE Day! The beginning of the 30 day countdown to my 40th birthday. I'm beyond excited.

I can't wait to celebrate with all of you with a 30 day fitness challenge.

I've gotten some questions about the exercises and participating in the challenge, so I thought I'd share some tips on how to successfully complete a fitness challenge. Any fitness challenge, not just the one for my birthday.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Week in Review - 7/09

I took Monday off this past week, so I could have a nice 4-day weekend! It was so nice to have a couple extra days off. I'd like to say to sleep in, but... those were the last 2 days of the RW Run Streak. Soooo, no sleeping in. Instead, early morning runs to beat some of the heat. 💦

At least I didn't have to worry about getting back in time to get ready for work. That was nice!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th.


Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Celebrate with Me!

If you've been around for the past month or so, you might recall some casual mentions of a birthday challenge. The time is finally here to share all the details!


My 40th birthday is August 10th, and I really hope you'll celebrate with me. What better way to celebrate than with a good old fitness challenge.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Week in Review - 7/02

Nothing too special or exciting happened this week. Just running every day with a few other workouts thrown in. Oh, and a run with Katrina. It took us 2 years, but we finally made it out for a run together. :-)


Saturday, July 1, 2017

Ultimate Coffee Date - July 2017

Happy July! This year is FLYING BY! Since it's the first Saturday of the month, it's time for the Ultimate Coffee Date! I love catching up with some of my favorite bloggers over virtual coffee each month.

Since June was over before I even knew it, I don't really have a lot to share. I already talked about all my summer plans in June's coffee date.