Couch to Active

I have been a fitness ambassador for FitApproach #Sweatpink for almost 4 years. Sweat Pink is a group of fitness influencers with an online presence. I really love their philosophy of fitness and health, and the founders have been nothing but responsive and kind to me in the several interactions I've had with them.

Recently, I was given two Couch to Active workbooks - one to keep and review, and one to giveaway on social media. Written by Lyn Lindbergh, she has a practical and no-nonsense approach to fitness. It's like having access to a motivational speaker who also cuts to the chase: exercise is vital and not some unnecessary luxury.

I created daily prompts through my Instagram stories that such as myths about exercise or 'stretch' exercises (we want to try) out of our comfort zones. Spoiler: mine is one of those aerial classes where your are suspended in the air using strips of fabric or 'silks'. Crazy cool, right? 

I added that cool sunglasses IG filter to Lyn's
cover photo. I hope she doesn't mind terribly :)

Mine would be taking an aerial class.
They look beautiful and crazy hard!
Have you tried one?

Congratulations to Kashmira G. for winning my giveaway! She answered each daily prompt with thoughtful and positive comments. If you are ever in San Diego, check out her indoor cycling classes at Carmel Valley CycleBar. She received the Couch to Active workbook, as well as a few extra goodies from me. 

Congratulations Kashmira!

#teamsparkle

I’m so behind in my blog posts, you guys. I was honored to be featured on Sparkle Athletic's blog in January. I know. Here it is, mid-March and I’m just now telling you all about it.

If you’re not familiar with Team Sparkle, they are as awesome as they sound. Sparkle Athletic was founded by three friends in 2010. A few years after their company was established, I ran the Warrior Dash with my daughter and a group of friends. We established a team of runners, some of whom were friends of friends. That's the beauty of running: you make connections with people that you might not have met otherwise.

One of those friends was a woman we met at the race with her now-husband then-boyfriend and their dog Frank. I obviously liked Brenna right from the start: anyone who has a dog sidekick named ‘Frank’ that also happens to be a Labrador has to be amazing, right?? Brenna had a bunch of ‘dress up’ stuff for us to wear: glitter skirts, striped sleeves and visors. I asked her where she had gotten the loot, and she casually explained her aunt Kelly owned a company that sold athletic wear.

This certainly wasn’t like any athletic wear I had seen before. I still own the skirt and sleeves Brenna give me that day, and I have worn my black and silver sparkle skirt to races several times over.

Believe it or not, I was actually able to salvage my
#teamsparkle outfit. I have laundry skillz, y'all.

Holy crap, were we ever muddy. Good times! I count my lucky stars we didn’t get hepatitis.

Anyway! It was an incredible honor to be a featured runner on their site. Many thanks to one of my favorite social media runners Carlee McDot for reaching out to me and making this happen.

Star Wars Half Marathon 2017: The Light Side

I ran the Star Wars half marathon in January for the second year in a row. You might recall the general bedlam of last years race: how I nearly missed the start of the race and my brush with the notorious 'balloon ladies'. I had wanted to run the 10k this year and pick up a third medal for running two consecutive days, but it was completely sold out. I should have purchased the Rebel Challenge packet when the race was first announced, but I was cranky and didn’t pull the trigger when registration opened. Oh well.

This year was more even fun than last year, if that’s even possible. I was in a much better headspace (read: I actually trained for this event) and I even planned an outfit.

Flat Brea 👋🏼 #runDisney #StarWars #halfmarathon #thelightside #BB8 #runalways #runner #Sweatpink #Disneyland

A post shared by Babydoll's Bloggie (@babydoll_brea) on Jan 14, 2017 at 6:50pm PST

The race coincidentally fell the same weekend that I needed to pick Girldoll up from the Long Beach port. It worked out to be a bonus because we got to spend the night at my SIL’s house and visit with my niece and nephew. The kids are always such good sports and came with me to pick up my packet at the Disneyland Hotel. The only hiccup was that I was supposed to pick Girldoll up at 10:30AM, but she wasn’t ready to go until well past noon. This ended up pushing everything back so that we didn't get to until a half hour before it closed. I had hoped to browse longer -- no one does an expo like Disney -- but time was too short.

Part of the problem was getting into Downtown Disney itself. Security was INSANE. In all the times I have been to Disneyland, I have never had to wait in any sort of security line to access the area surrounding the park. It is a sign of the times that security has become a necessity during travel or entering concert venues, but it definitely stole some of the magic visiting the resort. I’m not talking about a quick look inside backpacks, either. We were subjected to a full search of our belongings as well as being required to walk through a metal detector. Bummer, man. The only thing I could attribute the high security to was that Trump had just officially taken office as POTUS, and there were a lot of people in Los Angeles who weren’t happy about it. (You can count me as one of them. No surprise there.)

What has two thumbs and the best nephew ever??
This girl! Johnny and Lego Hulk at Downtown Disney.

This backdrop coordinates nicely with my glasses.
Of course, anything blue does...but whatevs.

By the time we got to the Disneyland Hotel, we had barely enough time to grab my bib number and pick up my race t-shirt. I quickly bought some anti-chafe Glide from an expo vendor and we were on our way. It was probably the least amount of time or money I've ever spent at an expo. Girldoll and I treated the cousins to a late lunch, and then we enjoyed a nice evening with family.

Of course, I took an obligatory Flat Babydoll photo. It was so cute that my niece reminded me to post the photo on social media; she had remembered me talking about the phenomenon of laying out your race day clothes and taking a picture of your race bib and outfit. The stuff kids remember!

Orange is the new black!

I got lots of compliments during the race on my excellent on the BB8 skirt I found on Etsy. Although there are all kinds of things that could go wrong running thirteen miles while wearing a knit beanie, I was totally fine.

The race was so much fun. 90% of the runners were wearing a costume or Star Wars themed embellishment. My personal favorite was a couple who dressed as Leia and Chewie wearing Belle and The Beast costumes. It was so meta! The spectators did not disappoint, either.

I decided I would live stream the half marathon on Facebook while I ran through Disneyland. I started in narrating my way through Tomorrow Land and filmed an epic lightsaber battle among cast members. I also caught some really fun footage of my hand as I high-fived a dozen Disney employees who had lined up along the course. I ran through Fantasyland and shared my favorite ride with Facebook (Storybook Land, in case you were curious) before the pièce de résistance: running through Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

After I crossed the drawbridge, I went to stop recording the video...only to discover I had never started recording in the first place.

Rachel doesn't use that word lightly, either.

I'll be honest: it took me the next mile to shake it off. For whatever reason, I fixated on my disappointment of not getting the video to work and had trouble letting it go. I'm charming that way. 

Right after this photo was taken, the key fob
to my car fell out of my Flipbelt. Someone
literallyran after me with it in their hand.
I mean, can you even imagine?? #bulletdodged

Fortunately, we were hitting the streets of Anaheim and it was time for me to focus and get my game face on. Since the rest of the race is through business and residential areas before finishing at the Downtown Disney parking lots, sections of the race on the streets feel like it starts to drag. That is, until the cosplay spectators start lining the course. It is truly an incredible experience seeing all the elaborate costumes and props.

Red Leader was all smiles and thumbs up.

I kept lapping these guys. I'd stop and mug for
photos along the course and pass them. #redleader

This was one of the most clever
costumes on the course. I love Greedo!

This couple finished the race together. How
her hair stayed perfect after running a half
marathon is one of The Force's mysteries.

Poppa Stormtrooper and Baby Stormtrooper

We had a moment. #BB8

There was something slightly despondent about
this ghetto Death Star. 

Done. Eye on the prize!

In addition to the half marathon next year, I really want to run the 10k for a chance to earn three medals. I know I said the same thing last year...but it's worth putting out to The Force, anyway.  

TOL #8: Work Anniversary, The Chocodiles, And Mandatory Dance Routines

This week's edition of Thinking Out Loud is going to be a quick one. I typically write my posts 1-2 days before, but I have been slammed this week. I'm not opposed to staying up late to write, but this week I just didn't have it in me.

Chocodiles. I'm an ambassador for Fit Approach, and their latest campaign on Instagram is for Whistle Pet Tracker. The prompts this week have me posting five consecutive days of dog photos, which got me thinking about how rich my life is for having dogs. They are frequently the bright spot of my day. 

I adore our youngest dog, Cooper. We got him as a companion for our older dog almost four years ago. Cooper is talkative, bratty, and stunningly handsome.  

Cooper is the Jeremy Renner of dogs.

Speaking of Jeremy Renner, here is a photo of Hawkeye wearing a pink Hello Kitty outfit. I love this way more than I should:

Hello Hawkeye!

Riley is our older dog, and he recently celebrated his 8th birthday. He is my best friend. Riley seems to get younger as he gets older, if that makes any sense at all. Part of that is the breed...but he also has way more stamina than Cooper, who is five years younger. No matter how excited Riley is to go somewhere, suiting up into his harness is very serious business: he will always stand very quietly, like the gentleman that he is.

Riley boy wishes you a Happy Independence Day 🐻🇺🇸💙❤️

A post shared by Babydoll's Bloggie (@babydoll_brea) on Jul 4, 2016 at 10:22pm PDT

Election. It's been an interesting 48 hours, to say the least. It was also my daughter's first time voting for a president. I was proud her for driving home from college to exercise her right to vote.    

I think all candidates should be required to perform 
a dance routine, a la Napoleon Dynamite. Just saying.

Eleven. This month marks my 11th anniversary teaching cycle at the Y. I am so honored for the incredible members who join me each Tuesday and Thursday during their lunch break (or the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday at 5:45am). My spin class closest to a holiday is often a themed event with prizes for the members. There is a sense of community at the Y that I haven't found at other gyms, and I love being part of a non-profit that focuses on health and fitness. 

Crafty. My photo cards are coming along nicely. I am about a third of the way into assembling them, and I will work on spreadsheets and pricing tomorrow. I am such a nerd for this kind of stuff! The craft boutique is next week, and I may do another one depending on the success of this event. The money I earn will go towards my 2018 trip to Japan :) 

Edit of one of the photos I took of a garden snail in
Kauai last August  

Veteran's Day Half Marathon. Yup! It's that time already. I'm hoping my hip (and now my knee) will be good to go this Saturday. One thing is for sure: I am going to TEAR IT UP with my girl, Dee. She gets here tomorrow and we'll run drive over to the expo to pick up our race packets and bibs for Saturday's race. I'll have lots of great photos to share for Weekend Snapshots this Monday! Here's a photo collage I made of our races together:

A photo posted by Babydoll's Bloggie (@babydoll_brea) on Dec 30, 2015 at 3:43pm PST

How frequently do you race? Do you have any events planned in 2017?

Thinking Out Loud #7 and Why My Back Better Get With The Program

Wassup, friends? This week, Thinking Out Loud has me thinking about my back, and other things. But mostly my back. 

Podcasts. Why am I so late to the podcast party?? This is HEAVEN. It started with listening to a podcast interview with runner and Instagram personality, Runnermarx. Currently, I am on my third podcast in a series called Manic Rambling Spiral, which features blogger Heather B. Armstrong and her co-host and freelance writer, John Bray. Heather's blog inspired me to finally start writing my own (albeit semi-regularly) seven years ago. I can't wait to listen to more!

I'm hooked on podcasts! 

Good grief. I’m writing this at the library while my son is meeting with his French tutor. I’m in agony.

Sunday night, my back started hurting. My final long run before the half marathon was on my training schedule last Monday. Everything felt like it conspired against me to get out of the house sooner, and I didn’t start running until almost 10:30am. The long and short of it was that I ran out of time; we were driving to USC for a jazz concert that afternoon. I had to get cleaned up and run a few errands before we left. I was only able to complete six of the twelve miles I was supposed to run. My back didn’t feel great while I was running...but it didn’t feel terrible, either. Once I warmed up, my back actually felt a little looser.

After teaching my spinning class on Tuesday, I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the chiropractor. He was able to make an adjustment to my lower back on the left side and after some physical therapy, I was feeling pretty good...until this morning.

I taught my spinning class Wednesday at 5:45am, and felt really good. There was a small pinch on the left and I was a little sore - but it wasn’t terrible. After I took our dogs to the off-leash park, I brought them home and decided to head back to the gym to bust out a few treadmill miles before meeting my friend for lunch. When I changed into my running shoes, pain shot up the left side of my lower back. All I could say was, ‘Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.’

So what did I end up doing? If you guessed that I acted a fool and went running anyway, you guessed right. 

You guessed right.

I had another chiropractic appointment today after my spinning class...but honestly, is there ever an convenient time for your back to go out? I’m starting to worry about allthethings: 

• Sitting in a staff meeting tonight on hard plastic conference room chairs.
• Teaching my spinning class.
• Chaperoning the marching band competition, which means a bumpy school bus ride this Saturday almost three hours each way.
• Running a half marathon in 10 days.

I can only do what I can do. If that means I have a DNF at the half marathon, then that's what has to happen. I'm hoping at a minimum I can run/walk the race because one of my best friends is coming to run the race with me. If I'm completely honest, I'm too prideful to scratch the race. #fomo

Mail day! 📦💌 Pretty sure I'm ready for my #halfmarathon in 8 days. #veteranshalfmarathon #gu #honeystinger Now if my back would only cooperate 🙃 #runner #fitness #sweatpink #girlsgonesporty #thirteenpointone

A photo posted by Babydoll's Bloggie (@babydoll_brea) on Nov 3, 2016 at 4:54pm PDT

Segway. So, have you ever heard a word and seen a word...but not realized it's the same word? I was writing a post a few weeks ago, and yeah: segue looks all kinds of wrong, but I had a suspicion that segway wasn't right either. Derp.  

Do you listen to podcasts? If so, tell me some of you're favorites in the comments. 

TOL #6 Weight Loss: It's Not You, It's Me

Things are gonna get real, k? For this edition of Thinking Out Loud, I'm going to be frank about body image and my struggles with being 30 pounds overweight. I know, I know. Stop the presses: a middle-aged woman is going to talk about food and weight loss.

Ridonkulous

There are weekly nutrition and weight loss facts posted at the gym where I work. One fact that I read several years ago has stayed with me since: the average person gains tens pounds with each decade. I was like '10 pounds every 10 years? That's not a big deal." Well. That happens to be the exact trajectory I'm following...and I'm not happy about it one bit.

Jennifer Lawrence is my spirit animal.

When I was a little girl into and into my early 20s, I had a very fast metabolism. I was rail thin and self conscious, and I had to drink protein shakes to maintain my weight. I ate poorly and had no sense of good nutrition or proper portions.

I weighed around 135 pounds when I was 25, and was 'skinnyfat'; I was in terrible shape with poor eating habits. I joined a gym and started really getting into fitness and nutrition, and my weight dropped down to 123 pounds. It was the least I have weighed as an adult, but I was physically in the best shape of my life.

I got pregnant with our daughter a few years later, and then had our son four years after that. By this time, I was in my early 30s and took up running. I fell in love with it, and I was able to lose the baby weight I had gained with my son within about 6 months. I started entering 5k and 10k races, and ran my first half marathon. Shortly afterwards, I began training for a full marathon. I was 36 years old, and I had started working for the Y as a spinning instructor. I picked up three classes, and I was offered a job at second gym. I became certified as a personal trainer and had a dozen clients.

Working in the fitness industry made me aware of my own nutrition. Some bad habits had started creeping in, and I made the decision to give up sugar. It was starting to feel like sugar had been running my life, similar to when I was doing drugs or drinking. Even despite cutting sugar out of my diet and working out 5-6 days a week, I began slowly gaining weight and was experiencing intense fatigue. My doctor ordered a blood panel, and we discovered that I had thyroid issues. Unless I'm eating clean, my weight quickly pops up.

Pretty much on point. 

The funny thing is that I don't feel overweight. In my mind, I look slender. It's like some bizarre reverse form of dysmorphia. Maybe that's just called denial? I'm always unpleasantly surprised at how heavy I look when I see photographs of myself. And I'll tell you, it's a total serving of humble pie to have slowly put on 30 pounds and work as a fitness instructor. Here's the important part, though; it's not worth disparaging myself over. The person who is bothered by my weight gain most is me.

It makes zero sense to compare my fitness journey
to someone else's. 

I've never really done a timeline in this matter and looked at my history with food and my weight before. It's certainly been cathartic. I'm getting back to the basics of what works for me: small frequent meals that include protein, keeping track of my food and drinking lots of water, and avoid watching TV or mindlessly looking at my phone while I'm eating. Thank you to Amanda at Running With Spoons for hosting her weekly linkup. It always gets me motivated and thinking about writing!

What are some of the things that have contributed to your successes in weight loss or maintaining fitness?

#AwareWithPink Friday Five

In solidarity of Breast Cancer Awareness month, here are five ways that I stay #AwareWithPink:

1. Educate myself: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women and it accounts for 29% of newly diagnosed cancers. 

2. Celebrate life: It is easy to get bogged down in the rat race. I make a conscious effort to tell my nearest and dearest how much I love them. I also spent time geeking out over stuff that brings me joy (writing, playing with my dogs, hanging out with my teenagers, and enjoying the company of my awesome husband).

These two keep me young. 

3. Self care: I exercise 5-6 times a week, schedule regular mammograms, focus on the 80/20 rule of eating healthfully most of the time but still enjoying treats, and make efforts to minimize my stress. 

4. Be inspired: Three women who regularly attend my spinning class have been diagnosed with breast cancer over the ten years I have taught at the Y. Despite fatigue and hair loss, these women continued to come to spin class weekly. That beats any excuse I have about being too tired to work out!

5. Share the message: As a fitness professional, I am an influencer in healthy lifestyle choices. It's an honor to advocate for #breastcancerawareness. This post was sponsored by Aftershokz in an effort to spread awareness about their new Pink Trekz headphones, in partnership with Bright Pink to spread awareness about breast cancer. All opinions and words are my own. I appreciate all of the brands that support the Sweat Pink community.

#AfterShokz is an incredible company with an equally amazing product: wireless headphones that conduct sound through audio technology without obsucring the ear canal. They are donating 25% of all Trekz Titanium Pink proceeds to Bright Pink, which is an organization that focuses on saving women's lives from breast and ovarian cancer. 

If Girls Ran The World

Disclaimer: I am partnering with FitApproach and If Girls Ran The World this October for a 'one of a kind adventure to collectively and virtually run around the world to benefit charities that empower girls globally.' 

My daughter played club basketball beginning in 5th grade through junior high and high school, and her team was unable to find a court for their practices. The local Girls, Inc. offered our girls use of their court at their beautiful facility. The impact of providing the facility was far reaching and most of the girls, including my daughter, continued to play basketball throughout high school and several even into college. Working as a part of a team, our girls literally learned to think quickly on their feet and to act selflessly to benefit the team as a whole. It was invaluable life skills that my daughter carries with her today.

I am committing raise $250 and to run 50 miles in October, adding to the global goal of running 24,901 miles equalling the world's circumference. I'm inspired by the work of Girls, Inc. and wanted to support them by raising money as part of my participation in If Girls Ran the World. Please visit my fundraising page and help me support my goal. Any amount is appreciated!

Santa Barbara Veteran's Day Half Marathon

Last Saturday was the Santa Barbara Veterans Day half marathon. Somehow I had in my mind that Veterans Day was late November, although I'm at a loss as to where that notion came from, what with Thanksgiving falling at the end of the month and all. Suffice it to say that the race snuck up on me and I wasn't ready, which is a growing trend that I need to buck. 

Packet pick-up never felt so patriotic!

This was the first time I spent less than $5 at a fitness expo. I picked up two Gu for race day (Espresso Love and a new flavor that involved salted caramel) for $3...only to set them down and forget them at the t-shirt table. Whoops-a-daisy! 

Not only was I untrained for this race, but it was mentally one of the toughest events I've showed up for. From the moment I woke up at 4:40 AM to the moment I stepped onto the course, there was negative dialogue going off in my head:

'I should just go back to bed.' 

'I'm too old.' 

'I hope I don't bump into anyone I know; they'll be shocked at how much weight I've gained.' 

'I should quit running.' 

Yikes! That's just a small taste of the negative self-talk that dogged my entire morning. We frequently talk about taking contrary action in the recovery community. If it were up to my head, I would have stayed home...but I knew I would feel even worse scratching the race for no good reason. Honestly, it was almost a relief to start running. 

The one thing that pulled me out of the hate-spiral was my bracelet. My mom gave me a slender silver bracelet about 7 years ago that I never take off. It has a small stamped sentiment on it, 'I always believe in you.'  It occurred to me that this doesn't mean, 'I always believe in you...except when you're overweight,' or 'I always believe in you...except if you run slower than a 9-minute mile.' Always means ALWAYS. It was the tiny blessing that I needed to get out the door and on with my race.

My game plan for the race was to follow the Galloway half marathon training method: 3 minute intervals of running followed by one minute of walking. This proved to be a good strategy for the first 5 miles...until the wheels fell off, so to speak. I was banking on muscle memory to get me through the first 10k, which was unrealistic. 'My muscles have lost so much muscle memory, there's nothing left to remember.' Ba-dum bum!

A polite and chatty crowd right before our start. There was a man 
that wore a giant foam cowboy hat and looked exactly like Stinky Pete 
from Toy Story. It still kills me that I didn't get a photo of him. 

A quick snapchat to my daughter before
I started running. Emoji are life.

Part of my race ritual is determining what I'm going to wear and what I'm going to bring during my run. The night before the race, I convinced myself it would be a good idea to wear underwear with my running skort. Prior to my weight gain, I was all about #teamcommando. However, since I'm the heaviest I've ever weighed, it's not a so much a matter of whether or not I'll chafe as it is where: neck, underarms, around the elastic band of my sports bra, etc. 

I'm sure you see where this is going. 

Despite being generous around potential trouble spots with Glide, wearing underwear was a bad call. I'll just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that once things started going south, so to speak, I switched my run/walk ratio from 3:1 to 1:3. It was bad. 

Thank you for saying so! About a dozen of these hand-drawn posters 
appeared after the wretched switchback onto Las Positas Road.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Despite being served a slice of humble pie -- in 2011, I PR'd my half marathon time by running this same event 85 minutes faster than last Saturday's effort -- it was a gorgeous day and a great course. The displays of patriotism reminded me of how fortunate I am to live where I do, and how grateful I am to my dad and all the veterans for their service to our country.

This gentleman saw us off safely and agreed to a selfie.
Thank you for your service, sir!

The man in front of me wore last year's 
race shirt. What an incredible sentiment! 

I dedicated the final mile of my race to three veterans: my father Joe,
my incredible SIL Michele, and my friend Bob Trimble. 

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
The last half mile was stunning and all downhill.

My race review: The organizers changed things up significantly this year by moving the start location onto the university campus. Although I was disappointed not to pick up the Obern trail right at the bird refuge, it was a spectacular course. It was also a nice change of pace, if you'll forgive the pun. Most local races begin and end in the same location, essentially making for an identical course over and over. This new change was well received. Variety is the spice of life, right? 

A month before the event, the organizers did away with the full marathon completely. I'm sure many people who were registered to run 26.2 miles were disappointed by this decision. The race officials offered full marathon participants three options which I thought were fair: a full refund, entry to the half marathon and a refund of the cost difference, or reduced fee for the half marathon in 2016. This race has been called three different names in the 5 times I've run it, and I'm certain putting on a road race is an expensive endeavor. I am sure eliminating the full marathon was a decision the officials did not take lightly. I was pleased with the new route, the volunteers were fantastic and the water/aid stations were plentiful. There was a good afterparty that included food trucks and a beer garden, and the morning concluded with an incredible airshow. I'm grateful to have such a prestigious race in my own backyard.