fitness tracking with the EveryMove app.

[Disclosure:  I was given the opportunity to try out the EveryMove app through my #SweatPink ambassadorship.  All of my opinions are my own.]

I have been quick to jump on the fitness tracking bandwagon in the past — I recently purchased a FitBit and wore it with the goal of getting 12,000 steps a day.  I started to get frustrated when I didn’t hit that goal during bar prep – and by some weird fluke, my FitBit also fell off my wrist on July 4th – clearly a sign I needed to take a step back from compulsive fitness tracking.

That being said, it is nice and fun to get rewarded for logging those miles sometimes, and I track my runs through Nike+ (because, hello, they have excellent Instagram integration).  Enter: EveryMove.  This app allows you to sync your pre-existing fitness trackers (everything from FitBit and FuelBands to Nike+ and RunKeeper).

After you’ve logged a few miles, you are given the opportunity to redeem them for rewards.  A lot of the lower-level rewards feature coupons for discounts for health products — but since a purchase was usually required to redeem those, I opted to donate my miles to charity.  I’ve so far kicked a couple of bucks toward the Make a Wish Foundation and toward cancer research through the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Overall, the app is easy to use  — once you sync it with your existing apps, it does all of the heavy lifting for you!

Head over to the App Store to download EveryMove for iPhone here.

Weigh-in: What do you use to track your workouts? 

 

beat blue monday. [clif bar giveaway!]

So one thing I don’t like about the holiday season is how every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to have some sort of cutesy, hashtag-friendly name. Think I’m wrong? This year I heard about the usual Black Friday and Cyber Monday — but also Small Business Saturday,  Giving Tuesday, and of course the once-in-a-lifetime “Thanksgivingukkah” and the please-never-use-again “Friendsgiving.”

But these terms have trickled into 2014…

Did you know that apparently “Blue Monday” is a thing?  Some people refer to the last Monday in January as “Blue Monday.”  It makes sense — the holidays are a distant memory,  some New Years resolutions have fallen by the wayside, and credit card statements from the holidays are popping up, so this can be a depressing time.

While the term itself might be a little bit annoying, I’m all about getting people outside and active, so I was so excited when one of my favorite fitness-friendly brands reached out with a giveaway to help combat Blue Monday.  Clif Bar is offering five That’s G readers a Clif Bar gift pack to fuel them to beat Blue Monday — or the winter blues in general — by getting outside and getting active.

I love Clif Bar — their products are really delicious and half a bar is one of my go-to pre-run snacks. (Peanut Toffee Buzz, please!)

So on January 20th, try to take your workout outdoors for a little new motivation. Studies show that stress relief is faster in natural environments than urban ones. Getting outdoors also helps concentration and productivity plus it releases endorphins to boost your mood. This isn’t so daunting for me in LA — where the high today is 85 degrees! But in the rest of the country, even indoor exercise will boost your mood and lift your spirits.

On Monday,  I’m substituting an early-am spin class so I’ll be inside (lame).  Some of my favorite outdoor activities are running (duh), hiking, stand-up paddle-boarding (SUP), and cycling.

collecting endorphins.

teaching my roommate how to SUP.

christmas day bike ride with the fam in Oxnard. (aka a reminder I need to get a bike).

To enter:  

Leave a comment below with your plan to beat the Winter Blues — running outside?  Yoga as often as possible? Let me know! 

Extra entries:

(1)  Tweet about the giveaway and leave a comment here telling me you did!

(2) Like That’s G on Facebook and leave a comment saying that you did!

The contest will run until 11:59 PM on Wednesday, January 22nd and winners will be contacted via e-mail and announced here on Friday January 24th.  Good luck!

Disclaimer:  I am not being compensated for this giveaway (except in the form of a few Clif Bars).  Although Clif Bar reached out about running the giveaway,  all thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own. 

brand spankin’ new workouts.

For those of you following along with #Elf4Health, today’s challenge is to do a new workout. Wednesdays are sort of  workout-filled to begin with me for me — I was at Back on My Feet this morning and will be teaching spin tonight, but I still plan to try this workout Cori @ Olive to Run posted earlier this week. Already dreading those burpees…

I thought I’d share some of my favorite workouts you can do at home without much equipment.  I tried this one from Tina @ Carrots n Cake awhile ago and liked how it incorporated some cross-fit type elements with running.  Those burpees killed me at the end!

I am a big fan of the Seven Minute workout (and I love the 7 Minute Workout app for the iPhone).

Finally, Karena and Katrina over at Tone It Up are constantly posting creative, fun, and challenging workouts. This one is great if you’re looking to specifically target your back.

While my “something new” for today is a little on the DIY-side, there’s a bunch of cool, boutique style workouts in the LA I can’t wait to try as well.

Numero uno on that list? YogAqua. Yoga. On a stand-up paddleboard.   I need to try this, ASAP. Any takers?

I like yoga, but I struggle with the whole zen, woo-woo aspect of some studios.  Enter: YogaHop.  Yoga, set to hip-hop music? I can get behind this.

I’m spin-obsessed and have checked off most of the LA boutique studios, but I have never made it to Cycle House — and I used to live about a block from it!

Elves — what new workout are you trying today?

Has anyone ever tried YogAqua, Yoga Hop, or Cycle House? Thoughts?

Favorite “off the beaten path” exercise?

monday mojo.

Happy Monday everyone!  I thought I didn’t have anything blog-worthy going on and then I forgot that I am really good at being over-dramatic and hyperbolizing things. Alas, a blog post was born!

Today is the first day of #Elf4Health — a healthy living challenge taking over the blogosphere (hosted by Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean  and Elle @ Nutritionella).  The four-week challenge includes a task or goal for each day, and we have two different “elves” we’re matched with (each one for two weeks).

Today kicked things off with “Meatless Monday.”  I was at school almost all day (finals season), so my cooking “skills” didn’t get to shine, but I can’t wait to try some of the recipes I’ve seen floating around.

Speaking of meatless Monday, this is my latest obsession: three eggs scrambled with some kale, topped with avocado and pico de gallo. Get in my belly.

It has been fun starting to get to know my “elf,” Nicole @ Fruit ‘n’ Fitness, as well.  I’m looking forward to “unsubscribing” tomorrow — I get SO much junk mail and love Cori‘s idea to use a website called unroll.me.

In other news, I was the lucky winner of Whitney’s #Movember contest over at To Live and Diet in LA.  I showed off my Mustache Dache medal, made a dork of myself, and get to go to heaven Soul-Cycle for free! Thanks, Whitney!

anything in the name men’s health and tapping. it. back.

On Saturday, my 7:30 alarm came mighty early —  Friday night consisted of my final trial in my Trial Advocacy class, a fabulous dinner with Aviva at Little Bear, and celebrating my roommate becoming a member of the CA bar!

I started the day by leading my DTLA running group in a 6.5 miler.  We met downtown, headed out to Boyle Height’s Mariachi Plaza, and high-tailed it back. We ran at about an 8:10-8:15 pace which was fun and relaxed. Noel snapped this great show on the 1st Street Bridge.

photo credit: instagram.com/nottirednoel

After my run, I scarfed down some oatmeal (with peanut butter + chocolate protein powder, a.k.a my daily staple) and headed out to teach a little spin. I LOVE when the class is full, the regulars are there ready to work hard, and people sing along.

Current favorite song for a seated hill? Sorry I’m not sorry…

I delayed starting the Wills & Trusts outlining fiesta by actually blowdrying my hair for once and taking a selfie.  The real star of this show is obviously my new iPhone.

After logging 4+ long hours in the library teaching myself a lot of boring things, I picked up my friend Aviva and met my parents at a West Hollywood institution — The Troubadour.  My brother manages a band, Dewey and the Peoples, and they had a show there on Saturday (along with Cisco Adler and Radical Something).  The show was a blast and I had a great time.  It was also great to see my brother in his element.

On Sunday, I logged some hours in the gym with body pump + spin, back to back. I love the regulars at my gym — they fill me in on the gossip and joke around, and push me to work harder.  A new friend of mine from law school happened to be in class so she suggested we grab smoothies at Juice Crafters afterward.

I’m all about refueling post-workout, and often opt for a smoothie from my gym’s smoothie bar (my favorite has banana and peanut butter, duh), or make the legendary Green Monster at home. Juice Crafters was pricier, but delicious.  I opted for the “Lily w/ Strawbs” which consisted of fresh strawberries, almond milk, dates, granola, walnuts, and probably something else delicious I am forgetting.

I spent the rest of the day hanging out at school — it is finals time.  The last two years I have been crazy-diligent about being on top of everything, but I have slacked more this semester.  I have two finals in early-mid December, so the next few weeks is Operation: Learn Everything I Should Have Been Learning Since August, and Haven’t.

Just a heads up my posting might be even spottier than usual…

at least this is the view from campus…

Hit me with:

Your favorite meatless recipe.

Your favorite smoothie.

Have you ever done an internet/blog/twitter “challenge”? 

seven minute workout.

My evening class was re-scheduled tonight, meaning I had 3 un-scheduled hours at my disposal. I did a little of work on campus (I’m a Research Assistant for my favorite professor) but then I headed home to squeeze in a quick workout.

I was STARVING when I got home so I noshed on a new Clif Bar flavor — Pecan Pie. Loooove.

I hopped on the treadmill for 3 easy miles (around 8:30 pace).  I wanted to get a little bit of resistance training in, and my BFF Whitney suggested I try the 7 Minute Workout app.

I had first heard about this workout in May when the New York Times wrote an article about it, and then Run Eat Repeat followed suit shortly after.  After hearing Tony Horton and Harley Pasternak speak at #FitBlogLA, I have been antsy to incorporate more resistance and high intensity interval training into my regimen.

This workout was simple — it consisted of 12 movements you do for 30 seconds each, with 10 seconds rest in between.  I did it twice, for a grand total of 14 minutes.

The workout consists of the following movements:

(1) Jumping Jacks

(2) Wall Sit

(3) Push-Ups

(4) Crunches

(5) Step-Ups (on a chair)

(6) Squats

(7) Tricep Dips (on a chair)

(8) Plank

(9) High-knees (running in place) –> these were KILLER

(10) Lunges

(11) Push-ups and rotation

(12) Side Plank

source: NYT

This workout was no joke — but it was fun and relatively simple.  I liked the fact that you don’t really need anything to do it, just a chair and a wall. I was feeling the burn by the end — the high knee running in place was ROUGH.

I also totally recommend the (free) iTunes app.  It times everything for you and also has YouTube videos built into the app if you need a refresher on how to do the movement.

 I liked the workout — it felt good to do a little bit of HIIT in addition to my run.

plank selfie. don’t mind me.

Have you guys tried the 7 Minute Workout? Thoughts? 

Favorite fitness app?

halloween spin playlist.

Happy halloween, fitness friends!!

Source: HuffPost/Getty Images

I taught two spin classes last night — back-to-back — and for the second one I decided to break up the routine and do a Halloween Ride!

I perused a few Halloween workout articles online and mixed some of their suggestions with a few of my personal favs…”Come Little Children” from Hocus Pocus, anyone?”  My class had fun and liked the variation.

I thought I’d share it here in case anyone wants to make their workout today a little bit more festive!  (If you want more details about what we did on the bike for each track, just leave me a comment!)

What’s your favorite Halloween song of all time?

Mine is probably Thriller — gotta love MJ!

so much #fitspo.

The last week or so has been FILLED with fitness inspiration (#fitspo).

Last Wednesday, after my usual evening spin class, a student came up to me and said: “You’re an amazing instructor.”

That was probably the coolest thing, ever. Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would be a legitimate fitness instructor.  Life is weirdly awesome sometimes.

That compliment made my day, and also re-affirmed that I am passionate about fitness and need to continue this “side-hustle.”

When I came out of that class, my BFF Whitney let me know that Fitness Magazine had mentioned me in a short article about #FitBlogLA on their website. Too cool.

Check out the insanely good company I’m in in this round-up:

On Saturday, I was inspired by the energy of the people in my spin class — seriously.  The dude who JUMPED on the bike with excitement when I played some Kanye, my two friends Whitney and Armita who showed up and worked it, and the regulars who are in the gym every day sweating it out.

So here’s to re-affirming fitness as more than just as a hobby — but as a passion. I mean, let’s be real, it’s already a huge part of my life.

What’s your biggest source of #fitspo?

a weekend in nyc.

Last weekend, I flew to NYC to spend a long weekend.  I spent Thursday morning through Sunday exploring Manhattan and Brooklyn with three of my best friends from my sorority, and I also got to visit my aunt!

It all started late Wednesday night when I took the red eye from LAX to JFK. Red eyes are scary-sounding, but I actually totally recommend flying that way. I slept almost the entire way, and felt energized when I landed! (I couldn’t have done it without my neck pillow, eye mask, and ear plugs though, let’s be real).

My aunt Cheri picked me up at JFK – we got a little bit lost en route to her apartment, but a little while later we made it to Brooklyn. Our first order of business (no joke) was to watch the previous night’s episode of Real World/Road Rules: The Challenge (Rivals 2).  My aunt and I have shared this obsession for years, so before we got the day started I routed for my favs, Emily and Paula and Jordan and Marlon. Once we were all ready, my aunt Cheri, her wife Janet, and I headed out to explore their borough.

I consulted the Brooklyn guide of one of my favorite blogs, C’est Christine, and found a couple of places I wanted to check off the list. First on the list was the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. I loved strolling the walkway and getting glimpses of Manhattan:

Next, we cruised by One Girl Cookies in Cobble Hill (also a rec from C’est Christine). The place was so cute and hit the spot big time. My aunt said she loved “small foods” and “sugar” so she was game to try them out. I loved how the cookie shop had girls’ names for each cookie. I can’t remember which one was my favorite – they were all delicious.

Before I took the subway across the river to meet my friends in the East Village/Lower East side part of town, my aunt, Janet, and I did a couple of margaritas at a local taco place they like.  I sent my mom a photo (I still maintain that my eyes were red-eyes and not drunk-eyes) because she loved the margaritas on her last visit.  It was the perfect Brooklyn send-off!

Janet and me. Ignore the haggardness, I was still in my red-eye clothes.

On the way to the subway, my aunt pointed of the Barclay Center where the VMAs were held earlier this year. You know, #WeCan’tStop? My inner (outer?) MTV nerd was stoked.

I took the subway into the East Village and met my friends at the rental we had secured through Air BnB.  I have used VRBO before but this was my first venture into Air BnB. Our place had a good location, but it definitely just felt like two guys decided to vacate their apartment for the weekend.  There were no guest amenities and their fridge was stocked…with their stuff.  The place was perfectly fine, it just wasn’t nice.

I was meeting my friends Michelle, Kathleen, and Kate — three of my closest friends from my sorority daze. They all live in SF, and while we see each other when we can, it is still not enough!

The first order of business was dinner in the West Village with their friend, Michael, at a place called Tortilla Flats. The guacamole and margaritas were incredible, and Michael was funny, friendly, and super generous!

We also hit up a couple of other local bars — Upright Brew House (loved) and a super swanky place aptly titled “Employees Only.” (I have already instructed my friend Ryan, lover of all things bougie, to go there on his next NYC trip).

michelle, kate, a very washed out me, and kathleen ready to get our beer drinking on.

On Friday morning, Michelle and I had a very important #SoulDate at the Union Square Soul Cycle. We loved our class with Anthony F., and I may have incorporated his closing track (Kaskade – Atmosphere) into my latest spin playlist. It was a great way to the start the day, and not TOO touristy.

Later, Michelle and I stumbled upon a fabulous brunch spot — Friend of a Farmer — for some post-spin fuel. We then met up with Kathleen and had a couple of drinks in Bryant Park. The weather was GORGEOUS.

day drinking in Bryant Park. Doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.

Kate had to work (the plight of the Googler), but we met up with her that night for a trip to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yanks crush the SF Giants. Our seats were out in the boonies, but we saw A-Rod beat Lou Gherig’s grand slam record, scored a Nathan’s hot dog, and soaked up the fun Yankees Stadium atmosphere. That place is incredible.

#1 Reason Yankee Stadium > Wrigley Field. They let you put ketchup on your stinkin’ hot dogs!

I have officially checked off 10 MLB parks  off my bucket list. (if you count both old and new Yankee stadiums as separate…I do). I have been to all 5 in CA, Safeco Field (Mariners), Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and both the old and new Yankee stadiums. I am not sure what #11 will be. Any suggestions? 

love these girls!

On the subway ride out of the Bronx, I got into it with a Giants fan who overheard me talking about the Dodgers. I was recounting a meme I had seen where Brian Wilson (now a Dodger) was accidentally rooting for the Giants, and was laughing about his confusion.

This woman got all offended that I wasn’t respecting Wilson and that I should be happy to have him. I insisted I was, and also explained that her little organization didn’t want him anymore. Giants fans…god.

Saturday morning started for me and my fellow fittie, Michelle, with a low-key 4-miler along the East River. It was a little humid but a fabulous way to start the morning. Thanks for being my running bud, Michelle!

We hustled to get ready for brunch in Chelsea at Crema Restaurante. We met up with Amy, who was in town from Beijing (!), as well as Kiira, Trisha, and Kelly, friends from our sorority who live in NYC. It was great catching up with them over mimosas and delicious Mexican-inspired, family style brunch fare.

Amy, me, Kate, and Kathleen brunching it up.

I was obsessed with the french toast dish, but all of it was delicious!

After brunch, Kate and I headed out for a few hours. We explored Chelsea Market, walked the High Line, and stopped for a beer at the beer garden at The Standard. Such a fun afternoon!

view from the High Line.

it was super windy.

beer garden time with Kate 🙂

Later that night, I went out with Kathleen to a super legit beer garden in Brooklyn. We ordered kas spaetlze and it brought me right back to Vienna. And it was delicious. We got hit with a little bit of rain on Saturday, but it was all cleared up by Sunday.

My last day in NYC started with a delicious NY bagel, coffee, and a stroll through Central Park with Kathleen.

We stumbled upon a cute little Farmers Market in the Upper West — the $2 piece of pizza I had was perfect.  We mozied back to our AirBnB place, finished packing, and I grabbed a shuttle with Michelle back to JFK for our respective flights. The shuttle took FOREVER and was sort of uncomfortably hot and quiet — are all Super Shuttle experiences like that? This was my first.

I made it to my gate with only 15 minutes or so to spare.  I enjoyed the 5.5 hour flight back to LAX — I listened to some music and finally got back in the law school grind.

always gunning.

My friend Aviva was super generous and picked me up (who needs Super Shuttle when you have nice friends?). And with that, my whirlwind of a weekend came to a close!

I had a fabulous weekend in NYC with some awesome people, but I was so excited to wake up in my own bed on Monday morning and to go on a run through DTLA 🙂

What is your favorite thing about NYC? 

i went to the lululemon warehouse sale and lived to tell about it.

A few weeks ago, someone RT’d a tweet that mentioned a Lululemon warehouse sale taking place in Los Angeles.  I added it to my calendar and made a mental noted that my morning of Friday, September 13th would be spent at the LA Convention Center.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get up at 4:30 am that morning to get in line with the rest of the fitness population of Los Angeles. I got there around 9, stood in line for 90 minutes, and realized I would still have a good 3-4 hours ahead of me. I cut my losses and went and enjoyed the rest of my day. It was a SPECTACLE there on Friday. I enjoyed the tweets of @bretturig who was dragged to the event with his wife and was sort of poking fun at the absurdity of all of these people waiting in line for clothes they sweat in.

I pretty much gave up any hope of scoring any sweet deals, but then I saw that one of my friends from law school had waited 15 minutes (at 5:30 p.m.) and walked away with a ton of cute stuff. I was going to try again.

On Saturday, I had my afternoon relatively unscheduled (after my spin class, that is), so I stalked the warehouse sale twitter account (@lululemonWHUS), and as soon as they said the wait was under an hour, I bolted out of my apartment and walked to the sale. I stood in line exactly one hour before I headed into the sale. I spent about 90 minutes perusing the racks. Some of the items weren’t THAT discounted, but as time wore on, the deals get better.

Day 2 prices.

My best deal was the Vinyasa Before You Vino Bag for $29, a couple of cute crops (the pink ones were $9), a Fast Track tank in black, and the Puri Tee Short Sleeve shirt. I also grabbed a few things for my mom and a friend or two.

On Saturday, I managed to snag 12 items for $300. I’d call that a success. The 12 items were:

– Gym Bag

– Warm-Up Jacket/pull-over (2)

– Fast Track Tank (2)

– Power Y Tank in Blue Laceoflauge (1); for a friend

– Pink Crops

– Amped Crop in Blue w/ Yellow Stripe

– Boogie Short (Pink)

– Puri Tee Short Sleeve

– V-neck tank

– Cream colored yoga pants

I am NOT a huge shopper. I would rather go to brunch and laugh over mimosas or go hiking than go shopping, just about any day, but I have been in the market for new workout gear. I use workout gear just about every day – and sometimes more than once. And now that I am teaching spin twice a week, I feel like it was time to upgrade my workout wardrobe.  Seriously, I was wearing old Nike shorts that I’ve had for 5+ years that sag when sweaty. TMI? Probably.

Anyway, the event was fun. Lululemon did a pretty good job of carrying the elements that make the in-store experience into the convention center – they had women on kangaroo jump type shoes, people doing yoga, break-dancing demonstration, and a DJ bumping some great beats. They also had people come around and take pictures of people standing in line so they could write a “goal” down and have a picture taken with it.

I like lululemon because I have had great experience with the quality, and look. Before this sale, I have owned exactly 4 lululemon items: a tank, a pair of shorts, a running skirt, and a different tank I bought for spin purposes.

fav tank + shorts. [seriously my fav things to wear running]

running skirt convert on my first 20 miler.

spin tank.

After my success on Saturday, I decided to monitor the Twitter account on Sunday. Since I live so close to the sale, I really didn’t have a reason not to go if there was no wait. Around 5:30 I walked back in. To my delight, I found that tanks were now 5 for $50. I also scored a super nice rain jacket for $19 (I know it never rains here, but maybe I will travel sometime to a place where it isn’t always sunny and gorgeous), a pair of bright yellow crops (good for body pump/lifting) for $9, a few running skirts for $9 (one for me and two for my mom), and a few tanks for friends. Lulu success Pt. 2!

(I got more than what is pictured here, but you get the idea…).

I am not a lulu fanatic – in fact, much of what I have read about the company is unnerving and a little weird. (Remember the “Lululemon Murder” in 2011?). Some of the company’s ideology borders on cultish. That being said, I think some elements of the company’s marketing strategy is genius – they really have figured out the whole “aspirational brand” idea, and I love the fact that they offer great community events like free yoga, running clubs, and race support during local races. I also get that part of their marketing ploy is to make you feel empowered or inspired when visiting their stores, but I like the fitspo mantras and the fact their employees have vision boards and stuff.  A location is opening in Westlake Village near my parents’ home…and my fingers are crossed that a DTLA location is next!

Anyway, I had a great time scouring for deals this weekend and now look like a semi-legitimate spin instructor/”fitness professional.” Also, I signed an e-mail “Yours in Fitness” today…but that’s a story for a different day.

The rest of my weekend was spent trying to compensate for the overly girly activities of going to a sample sale 3 different times for cute workout clothes. I saw the Dodgers win the only game of the series against the Giants, watched them lose while drinking (grossly warm) beer with Armita at Public School 612, and drinking wine at Barnsdall Art Park.

Did you go to the Lululemon Warehouse Sale in LA this weekend?

Thoughts on the brand in general? 

 

what a week.

I’ve been pretty busy this last week since the OC Half…but fun busy…even if I had to study and take a final.

The day after the race I suffered through some soreness and went golfing for basically the first time ever with my buddy Taylor. I wasn’t great, but I actually hit the ball okay a few times.

The best part was when an old man watching clapped after my first non-terrible hit, and said “you’re closer than you think you are, this is a tough game.”

Also last week, I activated a one-month membership at Equinox DTLA that I received free from a Klout Perk. I signed up, got a tour, and a bag/T-Shirt. As part of my perk, I also get a complimentary session on a pilates reformer, which I’ve never used before.

So far I’ve taken a couple of yoga classes as well as a spin class. I also love the fact that the treadmill has a virtual reality course so you feel like you’re (almost sort of) running outside.

Hard to beat this view of DTLA’s Library from the yoga studio:

morning view.

I’ll do a full review of the gym when I’ve used up my month long membership, but I am going to try as many classes as I can.

On Friday, most of my friends were studying, so I hit up my parents to grab dinner with me at The Standard Rooftop.

Loooooove the views.

And how sick is the pool + sunset:

Plaintain chips & guacamole was the best thing ever.

We also noshed on chicken skewers and bacon-wrapped shrimp.

I also squeezed in some studying. With only one final this semester, spreading out studying for one class over two weeks was sort of hard – every day I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, but I probably studied more for this test than I would have had I been on a more traditional finals schedule.

On Saturday morning, I met up with Whitney at SoulCycle SAMO for a ride. It was so great to shake the remaining soreness from the half out. We rode with Gina, who I liked, but she told the class “I love you” over 10 times which sort of weirded me out. On Saturday evening, I headed home to spend Sunday with my family for Mother’s Day.

On Sunday, I decided to run 20 miles. Yep, you read that right. I have been wanting to do a full marathon for awhile – and wasn’t able to do LA when I trained for it due to messed up hips/IT band/knee. I figured if I could get in one really long training run of 20 miles, I could conceivably do Rock N Roll San Diego on June 2.

Last week’s half went well (and decently fast), so I mapped out a 20 mile route, and roped in my friend Hannes to run it with me.

We started at my house at 6 am. At mile 8, my Dad met us (near Westlake Lake) with gels and water. My focus the first 8 was just to maintain a good pace and not go to fast. Hannes and I chatted until about mile 10, when we put music on. Miles 10-14 were spent running up to and around Lake Sherwood, which was HILLY but gorgeous. Again, at mile 14, my Dad met us to refuel, and I slipped a hat on. The last few miles were sort of tough, but we did it. We ran 20 miles in about 2:40, so while I am nervous for 26.2, I am confident I can do it.

I took a gel/gu every 45 minutes, and wore what I plan to wear on race day. Side note: I used to think running skirts were dumb, but in fact this is THE most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn while running.

Also, how dorky/cool are my socks?

After running, stretching, showering, and lounging around, my parents and I headed to The Lab in Agoura Hills for brunch. Mimosas were imbibed.

And Cinnamon Toast Crunch French Toast was consumed. #bomb. 

My recovery has been great. My knees and hips felt a little sore, but I have tried to make a commitment to do way more yoga between now and the marathon. I took a class at Equinox yesterday and pigeon pose felt amazing.

Oh yeah, on Monday I took my final in Evidence. It was fine – just longgggg. 4 hours: 65 MC questions and “one” essay – one fact pattern, but 5 pieces of evidence we had to analyze. The exam started at 12, went til 4, and we’re not allowed to bring in food or water. So you better believe that I was starving. First stop after? Yardhouse…obviously.

beers with Connor, Blake (and Aviva)

Love that tradition.

Also on Monday…I officially committed to the 26.2 distance…SOON. I’ll be running my first full mary on June 2. Nervous/exited/will be yoga-ing non-stop until then. I’d love any marathon tips/tricks/advice any of you may have!

Yesterday I was able to meet up with Katherine for a #SOULDATE at Soul Cycle SAMO. We took a class with Laura Crago, who is by far my favorite instructor. She’s a BEAST, has the best music, and is super motivating. Loved her class. Afterward, Katherine and I caught up over brunch at Huckleberry. We both ordered this super-savory brisket hash served with arugula and two eggs. So good.

 

 

It was so nice seeing Katherine! We first met a little over a year ago and have caught up every few months. Proof that meeting people from blogging really is a thing.

The rest of the week I will be lounging, working out, and relaxing before I start my summer job on Monday.

Happy Hump Day, y’all!

Hit me with your best marathon advice!