Happy Friday!!  This week seemed to fly by and was filled with some pretty fun things.  Massages, Fro Yo dates with friends, date night with Michael and a few really good runs left me feeling pretty happy this week.  Tonight some of my girlfriends from Team in Training and I are getting together to put our names on our singlets for marathon day, kick off carb loading and watch The Spirit of the Marathon.  Sounds like a pretty fun night to me!  Tomorrow morning is my last Saturday long run with Team in Training.  It’s hard to believe that in just two weeks I’ll be waking up to a Saturday where I won’t have to run or be anywhere.  It’s definitely bittersweet for this experience to be coming to an end.  Saturday afternoon Michael and I plan to get out and about in Boston, we’ll likely end up at one of the museums and enjoy a low-key dinner together.  Sunday is of course Easter and we’ll be spending the day with Michael’s family.  I’m actually really looking forward to the weekend!

Today’s post really centers around the word INSPIRE.   I have two topics to chat about today.  The first is that you may have seen a lot of tweets from FitFluential Ambassadors containing photos, or documentation of their workouts.  They are likely using the hashtag #PROOF and #fitfluential.  The idea of this is that every time you workout, sweat, run a race or exercise you tweet about it with the hashtag #PROOF.  This way we can all encourage and congratulate each other on staying healthy and active.  And additionally it gives each of us a way to be held accountable for our goals.  This whole idea can be pretty inspiring.  Think about it, it’s Friday afternoon and your tired and the idea of skipping your run or workout to relax and have a glass of wine sounds pretty good.  But your on Twitter and you see someone tweet about that amazing and stress relieving run they had or the muscle burning circuit they did and now you are inspired to get your workout in too!  Sounds pretty good right?!

#PROOF

So inspire me, and your followers on Twitter and start tweeting proof of your workouts!  Maybe you take a photo of your running shoes on your feet or capture the summary off your Garmin or a photo of those weights you used at the gym…get creative and tweet it! Use the hashtags #PROOF and #fitfluential!

#PROOF

The second topic is also about being inspired.  As a blogger I read other bloggers blogs and try to interact with them through comments and Twitter.  I love doing this and honestly love following a few blogs and am always intrigued about what they have to say because I honestly connect with their words and their writing.  They inspire me.  But lately my blog roll hasn’t been inspiring me.  In fact, since I’m being openly honest here, it is frustrating me.  It’s annoying me.   And sometimes it makes me mad.  So I decided earlier this week to do a blog purge.  I deleted all the blogs that frustrate, annoy and sometimes anger me.  Why did I delete them?  I deleted many of them because I didn’t feel they were authentic any more.  Some had become “garage sales”, always posting reviews and giveaways for what seems to me is just about anything that comes their way.  I’m all about giveaways and product reviews…it’s great that companies take interest in bloggers and want to use them as marketing tools.  Heck, I even do product reviews and giveaways.  What angers me is when those product reviews and giveaways don’t fit with a blogs message or branding.  I’m very particular about what products I accept and review here on LiveRunLoveYoga.  For example, recently I’ve been approached by companies to review supplements and protein powders and while I am completely flattered that they took interest in me I have politely declined the product.  Why? I just don’t believe in protein powders and supplements.  It’s just not for me or who I am.  I take a multivitamin in the morning and I eat as many whole foods as I can to get all of the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and proteins my body needs.  I think it’s great that people like these products and have success with them, it’s just not for me.  And with that, I’m not going to promote a product or try to convince you all how great it is if behind the scenes I don’t use it almost every day and don’t think it’s the greatest thing on earth.  So if a blog had become inundated with product reviews and giveaways had me wondering how or why they were working with that company, deleted they were.

I also deleted blogs where I didn’t feel that I was getting information that inspired, or educated me in the two or so  minutes I spent reading their posts.  Time is valuable people as we all don’t have enough of it.  And with that content is important to me.   I love blogs where people share their experiences and lessons.  I love when someone writes about how they had a horrible or completely awesome run and here’s what they learned and got out of it.  I love when someone shares how they fell off the workout and healthy eating train and are struggling but determined to get back on it.  That inspires me!  I love reading Dorothy Beals blog Mile Posts.  I love reading about how she is finding her strong, and getting the opportunity of a life time to work with Saucony.  I love reading about how she pushes her 44lb. daughter for a 20 mile run and loved every minute of it.  Sometimes that brings tears to my eyes because it makes me realize that you can be an amazing mom and an incredible runner all at the same time! And I love Jess Sutera’s blog EatDrinkBreatheSweat because she talks about facing down 26.2 miles and shares her fears, because yes 26.2 miles is scary! And how she tries to keep a balanced life.  Those women inspire me.  And again, since I’m being honest here,  life caster blogs just don’t do it for me.  I love seeing that people eat healthy  but I’m good with seeing a collaboration of eats once a week  or with the What I Ate Wednesday bloggers.  Knowing that you had banana oatmeal on Tuesday and eggs on Wednesday just doesn’t inspire me.  Every blog has their audience which is what makes blogging so amazing but I just don’t fit into that audience.   I love a blogger who shares their lessons and life experiences and keeps their message consistent.

And since I took the time and thoughts to purge I’m ready to be opened up and exposed to some new inspiring, amazing bloggers.  I think all bloggers love to hear that they inspire, motivate and encourage others with their words so let’s have a little blog love fest!  Leave a comment or tweet me (@LiveRunLoveYoga) your favorite blogs or maybe your own blog! Tell me briefly why it inspires you and leave a link.  Let’s fill up everyone’s Google Reader with someone new and inspiring bloggers! I’ll do a round-up next week with all the comments, links and blog love to help promote all those inspiring bloggers! 

What bloggers inspire you?  Who do you think I should follow?  Do you ever need to purge your Google Reader? Do you Tweet your #PROOF?