Hi friends – and happy Friday! I hope it’s a beautiful one for all of you. Thank you for your insightful comments on my Abstainers vs. Moderators: Do They Exist? post from yesterday – loved hearing your thoughts on the topic!
And now – for some things I’m loving lately!
1) Matt and I leave for vacation tomorrow!!
Matt’s brother Drew is getting married in just over a week down in Destin, Florida, and most of the family will be arriving on Tuesday/Wednesday, but we decided to go a few days early for a little mini-vacay just the two of us! Excited for some beach time and relaxation – and hopefully some scuba diving adventures, too! We’ll be in Pensacola Beach before meeting up with the others – would love any recs you guys have to share in terms of food/adventures/scuba diving in that area! I’ll be popping in with an update or two while we’re away, but you can see what I’m up to on Instagram in the meantime! 🙂
2) Fitness fun!
Now that my two big spring races (the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon and the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler) are in the books, I’m looking forward to mixing it up more on the fitness front and getting back into boot camps! I’m still planning to hit the track once a week with my running group but it will be nice to have more flexibility in my workout schedule. On Thursday, after some rest and a couple nice relaxing lunchtime yoga classes, I felt ready to get back into it. Our track workout was 400’s (one lap, fast), which we haven’t done in ages – whew! My legs felt surprisingly good and I enjoyed pushing it on pace and seeing what I could do. We did eight 400’s (2 miles total) with a minute-ish of rest in between each one, slowly building in pace. I also did about a mile total of warm up/cool down running, and we did a group warm up with some drills together too. We got rained on and it was a little windy out there but I loved seeing my buddies as usual!
As for this morning, I tried out a brand new boutique studio in Foggy Bottom called BLAST with my friends Chelsea and Kathleen!
BLAST just opened 3 weeks ago (it’s based in Atlanta, and this is their first location outside of Georgia) so I was excited to see what it was all about! Their team reached out to me during their grand opening but I wasn’t able to make it because of my races, so they asked if me and the ladies would like to come do a free first class at another time. Yes, please!
We hit up their 6 a.m. class today and even though it was so early I felt pretty energized, which was nice. BLAST’s classes are a lot like OrangeTheory, if you’ve tried that – a combination of high intensity treadmill work and boot camp/strength moves. We all enjoyed it! The only downside was that unlike our other boot camps it was hard to talk during this one since we were on treadmills/all over the place on the floor – I missed the social time with my buddies, but it was a great workout! I’m hoping they get on ClassPass soon (apparently they are entertaining the idea) because if they do I’ll definitely come back.
Thanks for having us, BLAST! Welcome to DC! 🙂
I also had another great stretching and mobility session with Paul Medina from Capital Energy Training this week! We kept things more on the stretching/mobility side which felt great post-race. Something new we did this week was quite a bit of rolling out of my feet using a firm but slightly squishy ball (if you try this at home, a tennis ball will work)!
Rocking my old fave Bombas socks!
As Paul explained, feet reflect what is going on in the rest of your body because they support and affect every body structure above them. They need to be pliable and mobile because their ability to move and flex translates to movement and flexibility in the rest of the body, too! By working with your feet you can also affect your fascia, which is connective tissue that surrounds your muscles, blood vessels, and nerves. When it’s healthy, fascia allows your muscles to slide and glide as you move; if it gets too tight, it can restrict movement. Fascia is interconnected throughout the body and most of the fascial lines start in your feet, so working on your feet will affect the rest of you! Interesting – and made sense!
3) These awesome Brooks shoes, created in honor of upcoming Marathon Monday in Boston!
Brooks was kind enough to gift me a preview of the shoes thanks to my Run Happy Blogger Ambassadorship and they are SO cute. Brooks took their best-selling Adrenaline GTS 16 and, inspired by the New England coastal culture and sailing roots, created a limited-edition version that represents the revelry of summer and miles spent running the streets of Boston. I love the plaid (there’s a red and white version, too), the lobster on the shoelace lock, the sailboat and whale on the heel and the anchor on the sockliner! So fun! You can buy the shoes at specialty running stores in Boston, at the Brooks Running Booth at the Boston Marathon race expo, or online. 🙂
4) Collaborating with others!
I’m so excited about Joyful Eating, Nourished Life, the 6 week intuitive and mindful eating program I’m launching in June with Alex and Rachael. I can’t believe we already have nearly 500 people on the email list that are interested in being notified when the program launches! I hope many of them and some of you will join us for the first 6 week program, and I can’t wait to help more people develop healthier, happier relationships with food and their bodies through intuitive eating and mindfulness. Alex, Rachael, and I had another long call yesterday to continue to work on finalizing the program – so much work but collaborating with them has made it fun because they are just as passionate about the topic as I am! Plus, 3 heads are better than 1. 🙂
5) Ginger almond butter!
I bought this jar of happiness on Relay Foods awhile ago and now I’m totally obsessed. It has bits of crystalized ginger in it – SO GOOD! Just picked up a couple more jars. 😉 Plus, the company, Big Spoon Roasters, is based in Durham, NC – yay North Carolina/Chapel Hill area!
6) Podcasts
I listen to podcasts on my 20 minute walk to and from the metro and it’s such a nice time to slow down and be calm. Sometimes I’m in the mood to be entertained (I love This American Life), sometimes I’m in the mood for something nutrition-related (I love Body Kindness, Food Psych, The Nutrition Diva, and the Psychology of Eating), and sometimes I want something that will just make me think. The Hidden Brain podcast is a new favorite – I especially loved Episode 25 about Dream Jobs. In the episode, the host talks with a psychologist about how it doesn’t necessarily matter what our actual job is, but rather how we view it. In the end, the most important thing is feeling like we have a purpose. I know that’s true for me – it was one of the big reasons I changed careers and went back to grad school to become a dietitian.
For my running friends, Runner’s World just launched a podcast – it’s called “The Runners World Show”. I just subscribed – we’ll see if it’s good!
Are you a podcast fan? What are your faves?
I’ve got a busy afternoon of meetings and wrapping up work ahead – plus, I need to pack for our trip! So excited. I’ll still be blogging next week but posting may be a little more sporadic than usual, just FYI. 🙂
Have a fabulous weekend!
From around the web:
- Eat: Kale & Spinach Cubes (genius idea for smoothies!) // Oatless Oatmeal with Zucchini (zucchini?! must try this) // Kale Salad Three Ways // Shrimp, Cucumber, and Feta Orzo Salad // Breakfast Lasagna with a Pancake Layer (omg) // Vegan Stuffed Sweet Potatoes // Jamaican Jerk Turkey Burgers with Pineapple Salsa
- Think: Food Shaming and Comparison: The Thief of Joy (yes, yes, yes) // 26.2 Side Effects of Marathon Training (love this) // Revisiting My Sugar Addiction (great tips – see also my post on How to Get Rid of Sugar Cravings)
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