Weekly Recap and Prepping for Park City!

By Jess in Minneapolis

I hope you enjoyed your weekend!  Mine was a nice long one, as I had Monday off for the MLK holiday. Having that extra day was such a treat!

I'm back to check in with a weekly recap of January 13-19th.

In fitness fashion this week, I reviewed my pair of capris from Splits59 (read about them HERE)

In fashion, I have been trying to figure out what to wear to my friend's bachelorette party this weekend. It's going to be such a fabulous day! We are starting out with a half marathon (the Securian Winter Run- read my review of last year's race HERE), then getting mani/pedis at Phresh, then a little happy hour/cocktail party before dinner at Pazzaluna, and then perhaps a little dancing? Who knows where the night will take us!

Anyways, I wanted to find something to wear that was a little warmer due to the cold temperatures hitting Minneapolis (again- boo).  I was so pumped to find this Bellini Lace shift dress on the sale rack at Anthropologie. I got such a great deal on it- a price that definitely fit the bill, at only $50, and I am sure I will wear it again. It must have been a return, because it is an online exclusive, but it was on the sale rack at my local Anthro. Score!

I plan to pair it with tights and ankle boots....its cold in Minneapolis! Yet I think I'll be able to style it differently in the spring, and maybe even summer to make it a truly functional fit!

And finally, here's how the week turned out with fitness:
Monday: Easy morning run
Tuesday: Easy (though very snowy) morning run and C2 (vinyasa) class with instructor Nikki at Corepower Yoga. She is so awesome- great class!
Wednesday: Treadmill run: warmup for about 2.5 miles, then two 7-minute tempo intervals, then cool down of about 2.5 miles. I actually really liked doing the tempo intervals on the treadmill, because I could lock in my goal pace and hold on (as long as I could at least!)
Thursday: Kettlebells at Balance Fitness
Friday: Hot Power Fusion at Corepower Yoga
Saturday: Long run- just over 14 miles
Sunday: hour long barre class at The Barre- really tough class! The instructor did all the tough moves, like water-skiers, etc. Felt great!

Then in the afternoon, we headed to Welch Village to ski/snowboard. 

Dustin and I are heading to Park City, Utah at the end of February with my younger sister (you might remember LL from the blog!) and her husband, and three other friends (two of them pictured above!) The Minneapolis people met up at Welch to warm up a bit for Utah. It was a nice warm-"ish" day, and I feel a lot more confident going into Utah now with a little practice under my belt this year.

Have you ever been skiing in Utah? Any recommendations? Please share!

I ended up with about 40 miles for the week, with only a handful of them at a hard effort; two yoga classes, 1 barre, 1 kettle bell (strength), and 1 snowboarding day (cross-training?) I think it was a  pretty balanced week!

How was YOUR week in fitness, fashion, or fitness fashion? Please share in the comments! I'd like to get to know YOU- my readers! So start commenting- let me know if you tried out something new in fitness, fashion, or fitness fashion lately!

Fitness Fashion: Splits 59

I know that Lululemon has received a lot of bad press lately. In fact, I have been fascinated lately by this book about the murder that occurred there in 2011....

So, like many of you, I have definitely found myself opting to purchase my workout attire from Athleta more frequently than before. But I have to be honest; I haven't turned my back on lululemon. I still really love some of their apparel, like their Bitty Bracers, groove shorts, wunder unders...and some of their tights are the best I have ever worn. It's hard to resist purchasing these items, when I can't find anything quite as great anywhere else. The bitty bracer bra is by far one of my favorite sports bras ever. 

So, even though I have decided that I won't cut off lululemon completely, I am still on the lookout for new brands with whom I could potentially feel a little better about spending my dollars.

Enter- SPLITS 59!

I read about Splits59 on a few different blogs, and started browsing their website to see if anything caught my eye. They market themselves as a new line of "premium activewear for women." They definitely have a premium price tag- $44 for a basic tank, and $98 for tights. Their stuff is pretty pricey- maybe even more so than Lululemon!  However, everything is made in the USA, and what little I know about the company seems pretty positive.  Their line is apparently a favorite of celebs like Emily Blunt, Miranda Kerr, and Kelly Killoren Bensimon (say what you want about  Kelly, but she's definitely FIT, right?)  

But despite the celebrity endorsements, I wanted to find out for myself if the quality lived up to the price tag.

I decided to test out the “ginger 3/4 length tights.” I found a bright orange pair (they called the color "Fire") on final sale, so I ordered a pair of those. (I didn’t want to invest too much before I knew what their stuff was like, so I headed to the sale items right away.)

 I went with a size medium based on their sizing chart. For reference, I wear a small at Athleta, and a 4 or 6 at Lululemon.

The tights arrived a week or so after I ordered them, and I tore into the packaging, eager to try on my new capris. 

Right away, I liked the feel of the material.  They are a really nice fit and the material is great- soft but strong!  It's kind of similar to Lululemon's luon, (well, the old luon, not the thinner and more sheer luon that they are using more of these days.) 

My size medium capris fit very well, and I like the thicker waistband. They feel slightly more compressive than Lulu's wunder unders.  The wide waistband is similar to the wunder unders, and they sit at around the same place on my hips. 

This "fire" color must be out of season, which is why they were “final sale.”  I only paid $59 for my pair. Normally, their 3/4 capris are $89.

If you sign up for their mailing list, you can 10% off of your first order (note: this doesn’t apply to final sale)

I can’t really judge the whole line based on my one pair of capris, so I’ll keep watching the sale items to see if any tops seem worthwhile. For now, based on just my one pair of capris, I would say I like the fit, and I like the quality. My problem is that I am drawn to the bright funky colors (like “fire”) even though they are not the most functional nor the most flattering (one picture from behind will never be making it to the blog- not flattering!) A simple pair of black capris would go with a lot more of my tops, but well..I was more tempted by the bright orange, what can I say.

There’s definitely a lot of cute stuff- here’s a peak at some of my favorites:

So far, I think Splits59 might be a strong contender to replace my luon love. The pieces are high quality, made in the USA, and are constructed of amazing materials that are definitely a touch on the more fashionista side of fitness. 

Have you tried Splits59? If so, what did YOU think? Let me know!