Tag: health

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Week Long Runs & Run Downs

runswithhips

Happy Friday, Hip Huggers!

A few pretty cool things happened this week!

Let’s start with Monday

a 5 miler and some yoga pose challenges right…

Well, as I was coming to blog about this massive dead turtle seen on my run,

my hubby came home with a gift bearing a familiar sentiment…

I got an iPad! A blog reader’s dream! I didn’t even beg ask!

Just Love Him 🙂

So, I’m distracted scrolling through Instagram when I noticed I had a message in my inbox.

It was a fellow fit IG’er, Heartbeat4Many, asking if I’d help host

a yoga challenge but not really a challenge #ShadesofHealth on Instagram.

Then she made a collage of all the yogis participating. I was blown away..

…blown away because I cannot believe someone felt I belonged in this crowd of exceptional yoginis.

I’m so humbled and filled with gratitude. I don’t. deserve. this. attention.

***

Tuesday…

has rolled around. I wanted to get a quick yoga session in before my run.

Another IG’er I follow posted a video of her first successful handstand.

Our fears were very similar, so that gave me a sense of strength in that I could do it, too…

Very proud of that!

But with all the energy given to the excitement of it all,

 I needed a jolt of energy to handle this short run…

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The beautiful sky honestly was almost enough.

***

Wednesday…

was a pleasant surprise! My neighbor wanted to run along!

I had 3 miles already planned! Perfect distance  for our friendship so it was just all meant to be…

***

Thursday…

was a much needed rest day from running.

I had been nonstop since the Week before! I needed to break before I broke myself.

But I did get in some yoga…

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**Friday**

Today, my long run was planned. 8 miles was on the menu…

Guess I wanted dessert! Pink Toes!

Today is also my twin son’s birthday and we’re taking them to see Transformers tonight.

So, I’m stealing a few moments with Runner’s World and

a green smoothie bliss and chatting it up with y’all!

Lastly, I got a few questions last week,  so I dabbled in vlogging it all!

Check it out!

Question? What are your questions??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Speeds & Starts

runswithhips

Happy Sunday, Hip Huggers!

I got my Jesus on to start this morning!

dancing

I came home, had a burger induced nap instead of starting my run.

Had to wait until the rain let up a bit before that happened… but it happened!

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I started on much avoided speed work. I’m glad to have started a little running streak.

 But I know I haven’t been pushing myself to run faster.

 That is still a big goal of mine: to run 10 minute miles easy.

 Another goal was to start some decent mileage this week.

Tuesday morning when I was gearing up for 3 miles I told myself,

 I should really knock the ball out of the park and try and run 30 miles this week.

Then, I laughed. That would leave me 6 days to run 30, no rest days.

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But I did it! With .3 mile to spare.

I think a good formula for me is running one long day, 8+ miles

 and getting out there at least 6 days a week.

 I may not get 30 miles total, but I’ll sure be close. And satisfied.

I should start there.

***

With some serious stretching started, I got on with the

Asana of the day for Summer Splits, Super Soldier is what they call it.

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My yoga teacher saw it on Facebook and even SHE was impressed.

Made my day! Love her to true death!

Speaking of, Season 7 of Trueblood starts Right Now…

lose me

I’m Outta Here, Hip Huggers!!

Question: Did anyone catch the Final Season Premiere? Let’s Chat!

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Boom! and Bloom

runswithhips

Happy Solstice, Hip Huggers! Today started out absolutely gorgeous!

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Summer is in full bloom!

I jumped in yesterday with a quick share about my natural hair feature, because

a) I can’t hold water, and

b) It was a special post that earned its own special spot.

**Quick Friday Recap: **

Yesterday was my hubby’s birthday so that is my excuse explains by leave of absence.

Not from running though! I got a good run in about 9am.

Funny, my brain said 6 miles and my body adamantly said 5. My plan was to break even, or at least

convince my body that was the plan…

Friday Workout: 6 Mile Run

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Clearly, the gams lost… I just have a weird peeve of half miles –

so I knew that wasn’t happening.

Today’s run was a little smoother. I knew I was running 6 miles, so I could totally zone

and win races in my head, as we should.

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Saturday Workout: 6.2 Mile (10k) Run + Yoga

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Some Sirsasana (Handstand) Love.

And I love this filter! It’s called Bloom.

My shoulder felt good, too! Just needed a few days

To rest I guess, glad I obliged and backed off of the challenges.

I’m good at listening to my body, totally over overdoing it.

***

I’m also totally over 27 miles for the week! Boom.

 So a 3 Mile run is the ONLY running I am

Planning to do tomorrow. Boom.

Long time since I’ve been able to

Tout those stats .. boom

I’m encouraged!

And rehydrated.

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I found this absolutely perfect quote on a Yoga page and

It just absolutely speaks my heart about being the best you…

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Bloom Big, Hup Huggers 🙂

Question: Do you find yourself competing? Does it help or hurt you?

 

 

 

 

 

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Kinda Klassy

runswithhips

Good Evening Hip Huggers!

I just wanted to jump in and let you all know I have been featured on a blog! Again!! And it’s kinda a big deal for me!!!

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Kinda a big deal because it involved oversharing talking about 2 things that I never even considered in my life 4 years ago

that more than  kinda set me apart from the flock of fitness folk…

Fitness and Natural Hair!

Yes, this is a fitness blog kinda, and I absolutely love it that way!

I feel when I was trying to get healthy, I had no one that looked, talked ate like “Me” and that made me go it alone.

My fitness goals were realized and achieved this way, and I have maintained this lifestyle well. But

I know someone needs to see it can happen…that’s why I am here! 🙂

***

I L.O.V.E. being NATURAL!!! Absolutely, 100% happy being Fit Bloggin’ Naturalista!

Becoming natural crazy sounding ain’t it? changed me in a lot of ways just like getting fit and healthy did!

I don’t see a lot of women of my color where I live embracing a fit lifestyle. I’m in no way saying they don’t or don’t exist,

but it’s not something I see often. Everyday. All the time.

I don’t see a lot of women of color where I live embracing being natural either, but that’s ok! To each, her own.

But, for me to make the decision, build up the courage, and shave it ALL off to become content

with what God gave me was…. is…freeing. Something I’ll never forget.

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And if I can help in just one woman’s choice to get fit, go natural or run their hips,

this blog has a heartbeat. And I know it does. I can feel it!

So, sniffle Hip Huggers, please go check out the interview at Klassy Kinks!

Ijeoma is doing great things reaching out to Naturalistas everywhere!

I gave some sound advice on getting started fitness wise and how to keep that natural hair looking fabulous, too!

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Share the knowledge, you never know whose looking 🙂

Enjoy the Read, Hipsters!

 

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Strep and Long Steps

runswithhips

Hello Hip Huggers!

I spent a lot of time late last night  fixing my  weird Wordpress issue blog. Booooo.

I’m totally spent. I’ve already had to repost a picture on Instagram

because I don’t know the difference between Day 10 and Day 19.

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Fa’ Sho.

My husband is off today, so that meant I got pretty late start considering my sleep was completely

uninterrupted until about 8 am. I had my typical morning of devotional and breakfast

and scrambled eggs to get out for a run before 9 am and it got UBER hot.

 Still, apparently not early enough because after just a brief warm-up I was already dumping my rationed water on my head.

Which I paid for later. But anyway.

I had only planned to run 2 miles, yes exactly 2. Was going to take it real easy;

maybe a longer yoga session, or lift session if the hubby was up to it later.

I certainly did not plan on doing any heavy cardio, especially anything over an hour.

But, I got going and felt good! My hamstrings were a bit sore from yesterday’s yoga session so,

I just told myself we were going to run until they loosened up, just a bit.

Before I knew it, I had made up in my mind it was going to be a long run …

Workout: 8 Miles!

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I had decided about mile 3 that I was going for 6… then 7.. you know how that goes.

I didn’t even care how slow it was, I just couldn’t shake the urge to run it!

Glad I did. I hadn’t run that long since the Hot Chocolate 15k back in February, and I got

a reality check on the speed I’ve lost.

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I’ve got work to do, Hip Huggers.

I wanted to jump off my roof right into yoga after my run, my daughter had been complaining about a sore throat

all morning. I gave her some Tylenol, but still felt I should check her in to see her Dr.

Thank God I did! She has strep throat, poor baby! So, while we waited for her Rx to be filled, I figured

I’d reward us for our her inflamed sufferings this Thursday morning..

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Doesn’t get much sweeter than this! Now back to fitness …

Yoga Pose of the Day:

Puvvottanasana, or Upward Facing Bow.

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My hips were about as heavy as an actual bridge. But we got ‘em up into a plank! For that, I’m very happy.

And glad that was the extent of the challenges for today.

My shoulder is not pleased. One of the yogi’s I follow, @gypsetgoddess who recently over exerted herself,

gave a very encouraging word in her post today. She said:

“Always practice safety first”.

“Respect your body and limitations.” 

“Don’t get so attached to advanced poses”.

“The basics feel just as good”.

.. and THE most wonderful thing I’ve heard on social media yet,

“Taking it easy isn’t the same as taking a step back. But rather a step forward in personal growth.”

Pretty amazing words from a pretty amazing Yogini. Namaste Caitlin 🙂

I’ll let that simmer on your minds. Meanwhile. I’m waiting for the electrician to come look at my kitchen.

The dishwasher won’t come on, the garbage disposal either, and my microwave is not heating anything.

This could get $$$! Then it’d be Kitchen Nightmares, for reals.

prayertime

Say a prayer for me, Hip Huggers.

Question: Who ran unexpectedly long today? How was the weather?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cold Legs and Hot Buys!

runswithhips

My legit reason for not working out, running, or blogging these past few weeks.

Its been sooo cold! And ugly! I self diagnosed myself with SAD so that has sucked up normal spice for life. I’m back now! So, lets recap…

Came, saw, and conquered the Hot Chocolate 15k! It was brutally cold! Freezing fog, and I wore running shorts because I’m a freak geek. I had a goal of sub 1:45.. My official time was 1:48 and 11 seconds. Considering the unexpected hills, trust me…I was pleased.

My playlist was awesome, the race was awesome, the whiskey shot was awesome, and I had a blast! I can’t wait until next year!

My reward for my conquest was a new pair of kicks! I now own a pair of Brooks. My dreams are coming true…

I was so excited about these guys, I ran 17 inaugural miles in them in 3 days! New shoes and still living off of the high of finishing that race! All the excitement of logging miles actually seeped into my laptop because I am registered for another race next weekend.

So! That’s enough a lot but in new food news, I also added a wonderful staple to my self-healing repertoire of eating… Bone broth!

This stuff is amazing!! I was immediately addicted! I’ve read SO much about healing benefits and just HAD to make it. I asked fellow IGer Paleo On a Dime for a great recipe because her food is awesome!! She directed me to a recipe on her blog and I went for it.

I’ll post the recipe below. I am so excited about it! Finally, something awesome I can make and bring to my sick minded ailing friends suffering from colds this season. I didn’t have am entire chicken carcass, but I had just made a batch of greens the night before so I had some big bones hanging around, so I used those.

Bone Broth
2 smoked or roasted turkey legs (my hubby smoked ours)
4 cups water
1 chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup baby carrots
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
4 sprigs of Thyme

Combine all ingredients in a large crock pot. Cover and cook for 24 hours. Strain, store, sip and enjoy!

If that recipe wasn’t enough good vibrations, my wonderful husband found a steal on me some jeans. Yes my husband buys my clothes and underwear. I have little style sense. I’m über hippie and hobochic 🙂

Well, I’m off to hit 5 miles on the road and get some arm work in… Happy Hump Day, Hip Huggers! Any natural healing remedies you’d like to share? I’d love to hear some!

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Becoming Golden

runswithhips

So, looks like we got a little snow today. This was just the beginning…

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Which was fun because per the weather gods, we were only supposed to get a light dusting. No. full blown white, fluffy. edible well, to my dogs at least snow!

My only complaint was it kept me inside yet another day. I am truly a weather wimp. I do NOT like being cold! Maybe its that warm California Golden Coast blood flowing through my veins, but I am so uncomfortable when its cold… like, more than you..

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Whining aside, I had to get a sweat in today. I haven’t mentioned it really since this prehistoric post, but I am running the Hot Chocolate 15k this Saturday. I was on a great training streak until my birthday…then I crashed and burned.

Not alarmed though, I have still been working out! I’ve done 30DS more times than I can count, some really awesome HIIT workouts from Fitness Blender and the Catching Fire Challenge, as well as hitting the gym and lifting heavy — before it got dumb cold.

So, am I ready to run 9.2 miles? Yes. Now, a 4:30 wake up call? A crowd of over 15,000 people? A frigid 30 degree start? Eh.

But, I am nonetheless excited out of my mind!  My dear friend Lisa is running it with me and we always have a BLAST whenever we get together, so we’ll start painting the town tomorrow when we meet up for the Expo!

So, no more workouts, or runs…just deep stretching and taking care of this body the next 24 hours. Today, I was bored crazy found some very well timed holistic remedies for inflammation. I don’t get sick a lot, which I attribute to a good, healthy diet, regular exercise, my daily acv, and the Good Lord’s grace…but I do get flare ups from time to time with foods I eat and just random body pains…especially the tummy.

I was researching the benefits of ginger, which I am pretty well rounded in, when I came across this Ayurveda remedy for inflammation called, “Golden Milk”

So, I had all the ingredients to make the paste as well as the milk. I figured why not? I had tried my hand at oven baked cheese crisps earlier and they came out golden and perfect! Luck was on my side….

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 So I made it. I drank it. I lived to write about it. I must say, I feel very kinda weird right now. My tongue is a little numb, my stomach feels warm, and my head a little heavy….so, must be what detoxification/healing feels like!

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I’d certainly research it before trying it, but its a win for me. I am going drink it nightly for 40 days and blog about it then…I hope to have a good report!!

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup mineral water
1/4 cup turmeric

Paste:
In a small saucepan, combine the water and turmeric, stirring with a wooden spoon for a few minutes. Once it thickens, pour into glass jar (carefully because it stains) and cover tightly and store in the fridge.

Golden Milk:
1 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp. turmeric paste
1/2 tsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. raw honey
Heat milk and paste in saucepan until combined. Add oil, honey, and cinnamon if you’d like, and stir until warmed through. Enjoy!

I’m off to wrangle kids together, and get ready for a busy day tomorrow, Hip Huggers!

Question: Ever skip out on race training? Did you still do well?

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Lean in 2014 – Junk Food

runswithhips

Hello Hip Huggers!

If you are anything like me, one of the greatest struggles in eating clean and staying lean in 2014 has been… junk food cravings, aaahh!! I can run 6 miles, go beast in the gym, but a pack of Oreos will have me on my knees. As I woke up today on my birthday (stay calm) and contemplated all the “permissions” I have today to get cupcake wasted my sugar fix, I came across one of my favorite blogger Kenzoufit’s post about quitting junk food.

I myself eat without a doubt 80/20 clean and try and keep MOST of my food intake within the low glycemic index, but every now and then, those Oreo’s start visiting me in my dreams! Ebony and Ivory is what I call them, and what a perfect pairing they are…

Anyway, she mentions some very great habits to adopt in the effort to combat that way of eating, which as we all know if abused can totally sabotage all the hard work you’ve put in! UGH! So, here are my favorite tips from her post:

Start Cooking. I cannot tell you how my culinary skills have improved by cooking healthy myself. Unless you want to pay an arm and a leg at the Hot bar at your local health food store, or eat mindless massive bowls of salad, you are going to have to learn to grill it up, bake it up, sauté it up so you can eat it up! And be creative! Grab eggplants, zucchini, veggies you have never tried before and cook them! I use coconut oil whenever I am cooking stovetop, and I cook on medium heat. Make a marinade for your protein, add Italian seasonings to your veggies, if you are eating a carb, look for something rice based (rice flour tortillas are so good!) or 100% whole wheat or brown. Trust me, once you start cooking, you will be Googling clean recipes daily and you will become quite the clean eating, culinary sensation!

Resist the Urge.  Now, if you have youngins’ such as I do, you may find yourself with a pantry full of snack foods. Yes, I am that mom. For me and my house, we will serve the snack food to friends and guests and even snack when bored because that’s what we do snack every now and then. The problem isn’t having snacks in the house, its the lack of control that leads you to think they are for YOU! I don’t go anywhere near my kids snacks, really! I tell myself you are taking food out of their mouth, you thief “no” and that works for me! However, you are going to want to snack and enjoy a treat ever so often. So my advice, eat and walk away. Don’t go park it on the couch, cookies at arm’s length, but rather grab a serving and be done with it! Deprivation just leads to overindulging later, remember that. If you tell yourself you can’t have that cookie but can have some peanut butter, you will frequent that PB til the jar is bare! Way more calories ( good or bad) than a few cookies. So, have a taste, but not everyday and not when you haven’t eaten a meal! Remember eat healthy more than not. 80/20!

Don’t Give Up. Food management is an art, and it takes time to get down. Don’t give up on your whole healthy eating plan because you didn’t say “no”. Regroup, and get back to your plan! MyFitnessPal is a wonderful way to track your eating and stay accountable until managing your food is second nature, and it will be! Take the time to create meals and research the calories/nutrition so you don’t overwhelm yourself later trying to add up calories, make it simple and doable!

Kenzou has a TON more tips and even for a weight loss guru such as myself, I was taking notes and taking names! She has lost over 70 lbs. with Low GI eating and has fantastic recipes and weight loss motivation. Check her out at kenzoufit.blogspot.com

Until next time, Hip Huggers! Eat clean, train mean!

Oreos for me! What is your hardest food to resist?

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Smoke and Mirrors

runswithhips

 

Hello, and Good Morning to you all out there! 

Guess what? I am 33 years young today, and I truly mean young! I have never felt more awake on a birthday in my failing memory as I do today. Full of energy, high on life, and looking forward to a great year.

So, let me touch upon something I mentioned a post awhile back. Today, I gave up on turned down a job that 3 weeks ago meant the world to me. No, not a dream job, but something I felt I needed to do to keep me busy and possibly enhance my hopeful future career as a fitness trainer. But, it was not for me. 

Funny how from one angle, an opportunity can look like field of gold. But really, slows you down on that path to where you have professed you want to be. Smoke and mirrors. Things look one way until the smoke clears or that mirror becomes distorted. Then, you are stuck looking around wondering how the heck you ever got wrapped up in all of it? Why your eyes deceived you. Why your thirst for something was unquenchable until you see it for what it is REALLY worth. That was a not-so scathing tough lesson as it was just a part time job, but it was a stark reminder that dreams take focus and hard work! You can’t just pure wet your way around that fear of failure, but you must tear down that wall, brick by brick..

Yesterday being MLK Day, we all are inundated with that one word… dream. What is my dream? Being a phenomenal mom? Loving wife? Well yes, those are efforts I strive most days daily to improve upon, and happy to be the mom/wife that I am. But what is my DREAM? What do I lie in bed at night and think about. When I am feeling my bossiest, where am I on my way to?

My dream is to be a fitness trainer. I want to help people lose weight and gain knowledge. I want to be fortunate enough to change lives for a living, not make a living fortune. That was corny, but I really mean it. I want my days to be filled with sessions and travelling, bands and kettle bells, spandex and hoodies. I want my biggest job expense to be a gym membership. I want my phone to constantly be going off with texts, and emails from clients about their non-scale victories and prospective clients to ask if I am taking newbies. I want to end a session and go pick up my kids from school.  I want the first GNC charge card, lol! 

From a child up until last year, I wanted to be a social worker…always. I have lived with that desire of leaving my job everyday knowing I made someone’s life better, and may even perhaps saved it! I looked forward to helping people that could no longer help themselves. I wanted them to leave knowing I was going to do everything I could to lift them out of their situation.

Well, you know what? Health and fitness IS my social work. This is me helping someone make a better life. I have transformed the eating habits of my family. I have helped friends lose 20-30 lbs and see frowns turn into smiles. The looks on my friend’s face when their body changes. That late text, “can I eat this?” That “you’d be so proud of me the way I ate this weekend”… that is life to me!

So, as I have been blessed to see yet another year of life, I am also blessed to have a passion and a desire to do something for the rest of my life that will make a difference! I am standing up and walking in what I know is my destiny.  Step by step. Onward and upward.

Even so with this blog! I am a very comical person, I live to laugh and joke. However, when I started this blog, my vision was to help people lose weight.

I found myself scrolling through older posts and realized, “wow, my blog is a whole lotta bout me!” That is not my intention for this blog, and could very well be why I have gone from hoping to post twice a day, actually posting once a day, to posting once or twice a month. Why this change? Fear. I may have to be certified to exchange fitness services for $$$ but I don’t have to be certified to share what I KNOW about losing weight, and keeping it off while enjoying food and life! I AM the expert at that, damn it.

So, the landscape around here will change a bit. More self-help and less self-seeking, sum that up as you please not too harsh hopefully, I’m still learning. So, be on the lookout for my next post… really soon! And thank you, readers! You are honestly the heartbeat of this blog. Whoever and wherever you are.

 Question: What is your dream job? Your REAL dream job?

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Salud! And Summings Up..

runswithhips

Hola!! Long time, eh? Well, laptop self destructed itself and that has left me blogging from my app indefinitely. I’m not fancy enough for a tablet and am too  lazy busy to drop my laptop off apparently for repair. But, I need to do something because this blog has become my 3rd home (gym is 2nd) and I have missed promoting the joys of fitness…

Well, back at the ranch lots of working out has been goings ons!! Lots of legs and heavy lifting..

I have even injected running back into the groove of things… I was challenged in Nikeplus and that’s all it took to get crazy competitive again…

Random, but I remember how toned my lower back was when I was running 20+ miles a week. I need to get back there and that’s that. Also random have been on this MonsterMilk that I got on sale half off and it is gonna be tragic when I run out!

I may have to break down and buy that big $50 tub and sacrifice my Visa payment, or flu shots desire for things like this…

I also started operation Beyonce booty. Is time for a glute upgrade.

I’ve got a lot of work to do. But I can sure rock a pair of jeans in the mean time 🙂

Anyone? Anywho.. it’s Christmas Eve and I just finished a 4 miler.

Going to brave Walmart one more time to make sure we have every tiny thing we need. Because I think they’ll be closed so employees can spend quality time with their families and that’s really what Christmas is about these days, right?

Have a Merry Christmas Hip Huggers!! And a Happy.. well, i’ll see y’all before the New Year! Salud!

3 mile run tomorrow 🙂 Do you work out on holidays, too?

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