Fit the Bill: Ready for Springware

By LL in KC

I don't know about all of you, but I am ready for spring...R E A D Y! The last two days we have had teasers in KC - 67 on Thursday, 83 on Friday. And I wake up this morning to 38, windy and a 40% chance of snow. I mean, seriously?!?!

With the first day of spring just around the corner (Wednesday the 20th if you didn't know), I definitely have spring fever. Back in my college days, this fever would have been answered with a Spring Break trip to a warm climate. Since Spring Break is not happening for this working woman, I am left to pretend and shop for spring fashion in preparation for warmer days to come. You've heard of the show Doomsday Preppers on National Geographic? Well, I'm a Springday Prepper...hoarding spring fashion for the warmer temps.

Armed with a budget (totally necessary when heading out for crazy sale shopping), here are a few of the great sales that I will be hitting today:

LOFT has 40% off of everything today.

J.Crew Factory has 40% off Matchstick Jeans, 5" and 3" chino shorts, and dresses, and of course an additional 30% of all tops and 40% off all sale items. Don't have a J.Crew Factory near you? Online you can get an additional 30% off of everything!

The Limited has 40% off everything as well.

Madewell is offering an additional 20% off all sale items.

H&M is in the midst of its Midseason Sale, which could be very dangerous!

Old Navy has a good deal for those who don't want to leave the house today (perfect for those of you who are even colder than here in KC) - 17% off your entire order. Plus, all summer dresses are on sale for $15-$20.

Looking for shoe deals? DSW is offering free shipping this weekend.

Let's see how far my budget will stretch today!

Fresh New Fit: Kona Kases!

By Cool J in Minneapolis

I just cancelled one monthly subscription (to Ellie- if you missed it, read about it HERE, HERE, and HERE)  And now it’s on to the next subscription!

My friend Meggan gave me the heads up about Kona Kase – a monthly subscription of a completely different sort than Ellie.

Rather than fitness apparel, Kona Kase is a monthly delivery of “awesome endurance nutrition samples!”

It’s only $15/month with free shipping. You can try it out for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or a year. You can cancel whenever you want.

You won’t know ahead of time what will be contained in your Kona Kase, but the company will elicit your feedback to continue to customize the Kona Kase experience to fit your specific needs. There will be a variety of products- GU's, Cliff blocks, Picky bars, etc.

I signed up for a 3 month subscription, and my first Kase should arrive between the 15-18th of April.

Unlike Ellie’s fitness apparel, Kona Kases are non-returnable; this makes sense though, since it’s FOOD! It's more about trying out different products to see what you like and what works for you. I'm excited to try it and will provide my honest feedback of the products inside!

And if you're interested in trying it out, send me your email, and I'll send you an invite. Yes, I will get a $15 credit if you sign up, thanks :-)

I think this will be a good program for the busy runner. If you're anything like me, you often run out of GU/fuel the night before a long run. With this program, you'll get to try a variety of options, and you'll always have something on hand before the long run.

Example Kona Kase

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

By Cool J

Are you wearing green to work today? I am!

And a Shamrock BIC band!

Failed Fit: Farewell "Ellie"....

 By Cool J in Minneapolis

I just can't shake this monthly fitness apparel program! I thought I had cancelled it, but apparently, I had already been charged for one final shipment. So in the interest of full disclosure, here is my final shipment:

Ellie brand pants: 

I like the stripe down the side, and they are pretty comfy

 Ellie brand top:

I like the funky back, but I'm not a fan of built-in bras, as I don't feel like they are very supportive. I probably wouldn't have picked this out for myself.

You can read THIS POST for information on how Ellie works (previously known as pv body). Now I'm officially done with Ellie, but over the three months, I did receive some fun new fitness apparel. I enjoyed receiving a surprise shipment every month, but I think I'd prefer to try on clothes at the store and select things that I really want and actually need.  

Farewell, Ellie! It's been fun!

Fit Fanatic: Follow up

By Cool J in Minneapolis

Just a quick follow up to let you know I ran yesterday and today relatively pain free. I see Dr. Jenna Boren again on Friday, and I hope that I am ready for the Get Lucky half on Saturday.

And in other news, I bought a new swimsuit for swimming laps. It's basically just a Reebok sports bra made of swim material, but a bit more flattering than that high school one piece!

I was surprised at how expensive one piece suits are- most of the ones I foun were around $90! Since I don't swim that often, I figured a more versatile two piece would be better, as I could use it on active vacations, etc. And it was only $40.

Fresh New Fit: Swimming Laps...

by Cool J in Minneapolis

All these snowboarding pics...what about the RUNNING, Cool J?

It's true. I barely ran in Big Sky! It was all snowboard, snowboard, snowboard, all day, every day. We would head to the mountain right away every morning, and be there until the lifts closed. The long days on the mountain, combined with a few late nights, meant that I just wasn't feeling an early wakeup. I mean, it was vacation, right?

I did finally made it out of bed once early enough to head out for a run. I was rewarded by a gorgeous snow-covered view.

 The run was hilly and challenging- slick and uneven, but oh so refreshing.

I made up my long run on Monday when we returned to Minneapolis. Tuesday was a hard workout at the Metrodome (that makes three times we went to the Dome this year- read about the other times HERE and HERE). Then Wednesday was more running.

By Thursday, I started to wonder if I was setting myself up for injury. I took a rest day, and then ran easy on Friday. My IT band didn't seem to be bothering me though, so I wasn't too worried. I figured the cross-training in Big Sky must have been good for it! I was ready for my 16 miler on Saturday.

Unfortunately, my IT band was not ready for a 16 miler. Around mile 12, I started to get that knee-buckling pain (Erin and Abby, I know you know what I'm talking about!) I tried pushing through, but it was hurting so, so bad. I told the other girls to go ahead and let Dusters know the deal, (they are all the best- thanks ladies!), and then I managed a run/walk for the last 4 miles. It was ugly and disheartening.

I spent Sunday icing, foam rolling, and then a 90 minute Moksha yoga class. Today, I went to see Dr. Jenna Boren at Uptown Natural Care (She's the best. And she just ran a 2:42 marathon last weekend- check it out HERE!) Jenna did soft tissue massage on my IT band, and then did an ultrasound. We went over some exercises that I should do at home, and discussed my injury. She seemed to think it was actually the snowboarding that may have triggered the pain. She said it could have been all that torque on my hip from constantly turning. She also thought it could have been the weight of the board when riding on the lift. When on the lift with a snowboard, your back foot is unstrapped, and the weight of the board is all hanging from your left foot, pulling on your knee- lots of strain on the ol' IT band!

She did think that I should be fine to run today, but I decided to be cautious. Instead, I headed to the gym to swim instead.

SWIM? Yes. Swim. I'm not sure if I have swam laps since I broke my ankle in 2008! Back then, I would hobble out to the pool on my crutches, take off my velcro boot, and get in the pool. It was all I could do, and it kept me sane.

But it had been awhile. Clearly, my gear left a little to be desired.

I'm pretty sure that is the same one piece suit I wore as a lifeguard in high school. Yikes! And I am not the same size as I was in high school. I may have been pushing the line with the family appropriate  rule...time to buy a new suit!

Do you want to see a true Failed Fit?

Yes?

Here it is.

AHHH!!!

Scary! Failed Fit!

Despite the failing gear, and the failing look, I was able to swim hard for a good forty-five minutes (with some breaks). I definitely could tell that it had been awhile when I got out of the pool- I felt a little light headed! But according to "Fitness For Weight Loss" I burned about 400 calories. Swimming was a zero impact cardio full body workout. I felt it in my core, my back/shoulders, and my legs. I'd say swimming is definitely a Fantastic Fit!

I was happy to be able to get in a workout, even if it wasn't running. I hope Jenna is right, and that this IT band issue is a temporary one, and fingers crossed that it soon will pass.

Guest Post: Fitting Fitness: How to Balance Your Love of Concerts with Training for a Marathon

Guest Fit by Mason

Let's welcome Mr. Mike Mason to the blog!

Mason and Jess at Amore Victoria

Mason is one of our most loyal readers. He also monitors the blog closely for grammatical errors. We appreciate it! You may have seen his name and face before, as he has appeared on the blog many times; for example, he joined us for the "Fresh New Fit: Crashed Ice" last January (read it HERE), and then most memorably, he was the winner of the "Finalize My Fit" contest to Guess the Dress (read it again HERE)

Mason has run many marathons and has been a member of the Calhoun Beach Running Club for many years.

And most importantly, he's a great friend! So we were very happy when he offered to do a guest post from the male perspective. Another thing you need to know about Mason, is that he is an AVID concert-goer. So how do you balance all those concerts with all those marathons?

Here's his advice.

"When I was asked to make a guest contribution to this blog by both Cool J and LL, I was a little hesitant. For those that know me, it is clear that I am no expert in fitness and even less of an expert in fashion. But I reluctantly agreed to write something if I could think of a good topic for this audience. Thankfully, it took me less than a few minutes to think of one.

The topic of music and fitness has been covered ad nauseam, for example best playlist for long run, workout, etc.  My focus is on a different issue for runners: attending concerts.

I have attended my fair share of live concerts here in the Twin Cities. We are blessed with a large variety of venues for seeing your favorite band. Before getting serious about running and marathon training, a late night concert would never pose an issue, but once I started getting serious about running, late night shows and the resulting lack of sleep had a definite affect on my training.

The Rosebuds at 7th Street Entry

What is a music lover to do? Well, after years of trying to make my marathon training and love of live music mesh, I think I have found a way to “make it work”. (That takes care of my obligatory fashion reference.) Here are a few tips that may help you enjoy your favorite bands or live music in general without derailing your training.

1. Consider the Venue: 
First, if you are looking to catch some live music and are not looking to catch a particular band and you want to get home at a reasonable time consider the venue.  Attending a show at the Cedar Cultural Center will get you home in time to rest up for your regular Saturday morning long run. On the other end of the spectrum is the Turf Club, where the show is likely to end when you typically are getting ready for your morning run! Even if you are not in the Twin Cities area, just ask around to friends that are frequent concert attendees in your area to get a feel for the various venue’s reputations.

2. Be Sure to Use Your Facebook and Twitter! 
Second, follow the venues you frequent on a regular basis or where you know where your band will be playing on social media. Venues now-a-days have wised up on increasing their social media presence to bring in concert goers. One positive side effect of this development is that venues will frequently post the set times for when the acts are expected to hit the stage. The accuracy of the times can be suspect at times, but they are usually a good gauge. This is especially the case if you want to check out one of the opening bands and are not concerned with the headliner. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for the set times via the social media site. Sometimes they will respond, others times they don’t, but it is worth a shot.

Phantogram at First Avenue

3. Skip the Encore!

The final tip is one that becomes more acceptable with age, but maybe controversial for the hard core music fans out there: skip the encore. The hour is starting to get late, you’ve enjoyed the music and are happy that you got your money’s worth of music, but you have an 18 mile long run in the morning. Do you risk missing an epic cover by your band that no one was expecting when they hit the stage for a second time? Might the lead singer jump out into the crowd and serenade everyone as he or she walks the floor? These are all things that need to weigh into your equation, but more often than not, the benefit of getting a little extra sleep, not dealing with the crush of people trying to leave the venue, and not waiting in line to pay for parking on your way out will win out.

4. Don't let Marathon Training Ruin Your Fun!
That being said, sometimes you’ve got to say “Screw it!” and enjoy the show until the lights come up!

Thanks Mason for your expert advice for balancing concerts with marathons!