Monthly Archives: July 2012

Jul31

B.A.A. Half Marathon Training Plan

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With every successful half-marathon there is a training plan behind it.  Considering the B.A.A. Half- Marathon is 10 weeks away I figured I’d better get a plan together.  The challenge in creating this plan is that *little* thing called Yoga Teacher Training.  There are a lot of unknowns with Yoga Teacher Training, the most concerning being how tired will I be and how sore will I be.   To be successful this plan is going to require a lot of flexibility.  My goals each week are to get in one easy run, one long run and one track workout in addition to the requirements for yoga teacher training.  Some weeks have 4 runs scheduled which is an effort to get in enough miles since I’ll be missing 3 long runs.  As always, I listen to my body and adjust any training for injury, and tiredness.

B.A.A. Half- Marathon Training Plan

A few side notes:

  • I follow all runs with Abs, Strength and Stretching.  It totals about 20 minutes post run.  
  • I take an easy yoga class at lunch time on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  It totals about 45 minutes per class.
  • I plan to run a few long runs with a friend, distance may vary slightly. 

Color Codes:

  • Purple = Yoga Teacher Training
  • Gray = Yoga Class
  • Blue = Easy Recovery Run (~9:15 min/mile)
  • Orange= Run (~8:30 min/mile) 
  • Pink= Long Run (~8:50 min/mile)
  • Yellow= Tempo Run (~5K pace)
  • Green= Track Workout

I’m really curious to see how Yoga Teacher Training will impact race day.  You can be sure I’ll be blogging about my experiences in Yoga Teacher Training and will update you all about my training progress throughout the next 10 weeks!

Have you trained for a race and done Yoga Teacher Training simultaneously? What do you look to accomplish with your half-marathon training plans? What questions do you have for me about the plan?

Jul30

Weekend Recap and a Winner!

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Good Morning!  Did you all tune into the opening ceremonies of the Olympics?  We sure did and enjoyed every minute of it!  My favorite part was the Queen and James Bond sky diving into the stadium.  We’ve been tuning into the swimming, diving  and beach volleyball.  I’m so interested to see how Phelps does after his disappointing 4th in the 400M IM.  So much to watch!

We had a fantastic mid-summer lazy weekend.  It was nice to have some time at home to relax and not feel like we had to be outside or taking advantage of the summer sunshine.  Saturday we started our day with a yoga class.  It’s been so long since Michael and I were on the mat together, it felt good to be flowing and working next to each other.  Yesterday we hit the golf course again for 9 holes.  I’m getting better and better each time we play so it’s becoming really fun for me!  Last night we spent some time prepping veggies and the like for a week of healthy eats.  We grilled zucchini, yellow squash, onions, red peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms to use for two meals during the week.  We also grilled chicken, washed and cut up lettuce for salads and even made coffee for our morning iced coffees.  We are hoping it saves us some time and gets dinner on the table a little bit earlier.

Prepped Veggies for a Week of Healthy Eats!

We rounded out the weekend with homemade pizzas on the grill and fresh salads! Yum!

Sunday Dinner! Yum!

Now, to announce the winner of the Zipfizz Giveaway!

Congratulations Candice! Please email at LiveRunLoveYoga at gmail dot com with your shipping address and we’ll get your prize out to you!

Have a great week everyone!

Are you watching the Olympics? What sports are you loving? How was your weekend?

Jul27

What is Your Word?

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Happy Friday! I’m psyched that the weekend is here and today is a rest day.  Tonight Michael and I are ordering takeout and watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics! I personally love the Olympics.  I truly love the winter sports and enjoy watching Nordic Skiing because many of the athletes are women and men I skied with in college.  While I don’t know anyone at the summer Olympics I still love the swimming and running!  Since the royal wedding I’ve been kind of obsessed with London and the royals so the fact that the Olympics are in London makes it even more exciting.  What sports are you looking forward to watching this Olympics?

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about being an athlete and what that means.  Maybe it’s all the Olympic coverage and listening to interviews with amazing athletes or just chasing down my dreams.  The word that comes to mind, and has stuck with me throughout the week is dedication.

When I was a college athlete I was always dedicated to my workouts, to my success, to accomplishing my goals.  I’d be the girl out skiing at 7am in -20F weather because I had labs and classes all day.  I’d study on the bus to and from races.  I’d go to class in sweaty workout clothes because that was the only time of the day I could get my strength workout in.  I’d be the girl who’d be at the library until close on a Friday night because time was valuable and I was going to ace my exams.

Now, I’m the girl who runs at 5am because I have a full day of work and a full night ahead of me.  I’m the girl who gets out the door for a run in the wind, rain, sleet, snow and sunshine to be sure I have the best chance to get my goal time for my next marathon.  I’m the girl who saves for a year to be able to take Yoga Teacher Training.  I’m the girl who digs deep and runs when it’s the last thing on earth I want to do.  I’ll push through the pain and find the strength to run my tempo run 10 seconds per mile faster than my training plan calls for.  If I sign up for a race you can bet I’ll cross that finish line.

As an athlete we all have a word.  Maybe your word is strong or resilient or passionate.  Whatever your word is, it describes you and why you are out there chasing your dreams and goals.  For me it’s dedicated; dedicated to a life of healthy living, running for me and that little thing called a personal record, to becoming a certified yoga instructor and sharing my passion with others.

Each and every athlete at the Olympics has a word to describe themselves.  The athletes at the Olympics remind me of my word, they remind me why I am so dedicated to 5am runs and time in the yoga studio.  They inspire me to live up to my word and remain dedicated and determined to accomplish my goals.  I hope these next two weeks of competition inspire you to find your word as an athlete and live up to it!

What is your word? How does it describe you as an athlete? Do you see your word in the Olympians competing?  Do the Olympians inspire you to be the best athlete you can be?

Jul26

Zipfizz Product Review and Giveaway!

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A few weeks back I was given the opportunity to receive a sample of Zipfizz to review for my readers.  I’ve never tried the product and to be honest, the “energy” part of the product had me a little nervous.  I’m a big fan of Nuun and the other sports drink products so I decided to give this product a fair chance.

What exactly is Zipfizz?

Zipfizz is an all-natural, great tasting energy drink-mix powder
that delivers a powerful charge of micronutrients to the body’s fuel
system. It contains no ephedra or other artificial stimulants. Most
people experience an immediate, revitalizing burst of energy after
taking Zipfizz.

Zipfizz has only 10 calories per serving and no sugar.  As someone who is being mindful of their eating this really appealed to me.  It also contains 25 nutrients including B12 which is responsible for providing you that extra energy.

Zipfizz contains 25 nutritional ingredients:
9 VITAMINS: vitamins C, E, all the Bs, and folate
8 MINERALS: potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium, manganese, chromium, sodium
ELECTROLYTES: magnesium, potassium
AMINO ACIDS: arginine, taurine
ANTIOXIDANTS: green tea extract, vitamins C and E
THE 4 G’S: Grape seed extract, Ginger, Green tea and Ginseng

The product comes in a variety of flavors including pink lemonade, grape, berry, orange soda, citrus and a limited edition creamsicle.

Review. 

I tried Zipfizz in the mid-afternoon.  I normally feel a little groggy and tired around 3pm so I felt it was the perfect time to get a little pick me up.  The first day I tried the pink lemonade flavor.  I didn’t really care for the flavor itself but I did enjoy the fact that the drink had a fizz to it.  Even though I didn’t drink the whole bottle I certainly felt more awake and alert.

The next day I tried the grape flavor which I really liked.  It kind of reminded me of the flavor of Grape Dimetapp Cough Syrup I had when I kid, random I know.  I ended up drinking all of it this time and again felt more alert and was better able to focus.

Zipfizz Grape!

My thought on the flavoring is that you’ll probably like some flavors better than others, just like anything else.  The product did come through as promised and give me an extra jolt of energy.  I felt more awake and alert and was able to focus better on work throughout the afternoon.

Zipfizz comes in individual plastic containers.  It’s a nice touch and definitely makes the product easy to keep in your purse or work bag but honestly it seems a little wasteful to me.  Many other drink mixes use the disposable plastic sleeves which work just fine for me.  If you are someone who is very environmentally friendly than this is not a product for you.

The company was great to work with.  One of the things I really liked is that they provided a USB with a presentation about the product and images to use within the post.  As a blogger this is really helpful and ensures I have all the facts right about the product.

Where can you get Zipfizz?

You can purchase Zipfizz online at www.zipfizz.com or at any one of their select locations.  Print the coupon below and you can save $1 on your next purchase!

I’m giving away samples of Zipfizz Citrus, Berry and Orange Soda flavors complete with a Zipfizz water bottle to one lucky reader!  

Zipfizz and Water Bottle!

Here’s how to enter:

  • Leave a comment telling me when you need an extra kick of energy throughout the day!
  • Follow Zipfizz on Twitter and leave a separate comment telling me you did so!
  • Like Zipfizz on Facebook and leave a separate comment telling me you did so!
  • Follow LiveRunLoveYoga on Twitter and leave a separate comment telling me you did so!
  • Like LiveRunLoveYoga on Facebook and leave a separate comment telling me you did so!
  • Tweet the following: @LiveRunLoveYoga is giving away a free sample of @zipfizzcorp! To enter visit www.liverunloveyoga.com! #energy #giveaway and leave a separate comment telling me you did so!

Giveaway ends Sunday July 29th at Noon! I’ll select a winner using Random.org and announce the winner Monday morning!

Have you tried energy drink products before? What time of day do you need an extra kick of energy?

Jul25

What I Ate Wednesday! Food and Fitness!

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Happy Wednesday! I love getting to the middle of the week and knowing that the weekend is only a couple of days away.   The forecast looks like the weekend could be really nice or cloudy with thunderstorms.  I hope it’s warm and sunny but if it’s not I hope it just rains all day.  The in between weather isn’t my favorite! I either want a beach day or a day inside watching Mad Men episodes.

I’m still counting calories but am definitely starting to pull away from it.  My goal is to be able to make smart choices with food and portion control without having to count everything I put in my mouth.  Being mindful of my eating is really key to making this a success.  I’ve learned a lot about my habits and the foods I eat so now it’s time to apply those lessons!

As always thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting!

Breakfast. 

Not every morning is as perfect as I like-  sometimes I run and workout and then putter around the house before rushing off to work without breakfast, other mornings I sleep for an extra 15 minutes and eat breakfast at work.   Sometimes I have to get up early and be out the door by 7am for one of my least favorite things-  a dentist appointment.  Since eating breakfast before the dentist makes me want to throw up, I eat after.  I tend to bribe myself with the promise of coffee and a muffin from a coffee shop on Newbury street because I literally think about cancelling my appointment a million times in the weeks leading up to it.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffin and Cafe Au Lait

Luckily the coffee and muffin enjoyed in the morning sunshine makes it all ok!  A banana when I got to work…

Banana

Lunch. 

We are switching up the standard deli meat sandwiches this week for roasted chicken or tuna.  We definitely need something new and fresh for lunch this week.  I’m still loving sweet and salty Wheat Thins, fresh and juicy peaches and Chobani Yogurt.

Roasted Chicken Sandwich, Wheat Thins, Peach and Chobani Yogurt

Some days I eat my yogurt with peanut butter, some days I eat it straight up and some days I don’t eat it at all.  When it comes to snack time I try to be mindful, listen to body and give it what it needs.

Dinner. 

What is better than stir fry when you have a ton of veggies that need to be used up? We sautéed thin-sliced chicken breasts in sesame oil then added red peppers, snow peas, bean sprouts, carrots and onions with Trader Joe’s General Gau’s Stir Fry Sauce and placed it on a bed of white rice and garnished with scallions and sesame seeds.  Dinner came together quick and easy after Mike and I got back from running.  The bonus is that there was enough leftovers for lunches!

Stir Fry with White Rice, Vegetables and Chicken

I didn’t finish my whole plate but certainly felt satisfied!

Dessert. 

My Mom made a delicious strawberry crumble tart over the weekend.  We took some leftovers home and have been enjoying them thoroughly.  I’ve been too eager to dig in to ever remember to snap a photo but it looks something like this…

Source: google.com via Whitney on Pinterest

Healthy? Probably not.  Delicious? Yes!  Will a small piece kill me and my weight loss efforts?  Absolutely not! It’s called living a little!

Fitness. 

Since this month’s theme is food and fitness I’ll indulge a bit here.  Monday was a 4 mile run after work.  I wore my new Lululemon Dart n’ Dash shorts which were beyond comfortable and nice cool.  I ran an 8:40 min/mile pace and felt awesome.  I followed the run with some weights and ab work.  I was a sweaty mess at the end but it was so worth it.  Last night was an hour vinyasa yoga class after work.  I got to use my new Yogi Toes from Lululemon which had me all excited to get to class.  The flow was challenging and athletic but it felt good to be moving and flowing to the music!  Today is another run, 5 miles is the goal followed by abs and weights again.  Thursday is more yoga!

Do you hate the dentist?  Do you reward yourself after doing something you hate?  Do you get sick of lunches and have to switch it up?  What is your favorite lunch?  Do you love indulging a bit in fresh summer pies?