Mom in the Mtns

Hey everyone!  I want to thank you all for your support yesterday.  My weekend long run was tough but it’s awesome to know that everyone out there has had tough runs too.  This is one of the reasons I love blogging – I don’t feel so alone!

Lately I feel like I’ve been doing the same old thing every day – blog, work, eat, run, sleep.  Now that the holidays are over and things are back to normal, I need to try some new things to switch it up!  With my run streak completed, I’m looking for new workouts that won’t totally destroy my legs for my cross training days.  My sister, who used to do ballet, suggested trying a workout from Barre3.  I headed over to their website to check it out!  Their website says, “Our unique 3-step sequence creates the strength of an athlete with the long, lean, graceful lines of a dancer.”  They list the 3 things that make their workout program unique (copied from Barre3.com):

1. Isometric holds to align and strengthen combined with small range of motion to get deep into the muscles until failure.
2. Low impact dynamic movement to energize and elevate the heart rate.
3. Seamless recovery stretch to elongate and prepare the body.

I talked to my sister about it, and she told me that even though the movements look small and easy, you’ll end up shaking and sweating from all the work you’re doing!  I decided that since the movements were low impact and included stretching that I could definitely give it a try.  I’ve been meaning to find something new to do that will get me toned up!

Yesterday even though I was home sick with a mild cold, I felt better by late afternoon and after dinner I decided to try a 30 minute Standing Slim Barre3 workout that I found on YouTube (the link to the video is here if you want to try it out!).  I can definitely say that this workout was tougher than I thought!  I was definitely shaking, and my legs felt like they were on fire!  I had to do the modified “easier” ways a few times just to finish it!  Even though it was tough, I really liked it.  This particular workout was done standing up, which I loved – I hate rolling around on the floor in yoga (remember that I’m a klutz).  I also loved that instead of doing complicated poses, these poses were pretty easy to do and relied on many small repetitions to get your muscles worked up.  There were some exercises that confused me a bit at first, so I think I’ll need to do this workout a few more times before I’m doing everything right.  My sister told me to do the workouts in front of  a mirror, which helped give me confidence that I was doing the poses correctly.  I can tell that I used my back too much (I do this in a lot of new workouts) because it hurts more than it should, so this is something I need to improve on!  Sometimes when they ask me to engage my core I accidentally use my back muscles too – any advice on how to prevent that from happening?  Anyways, today I’m definitely a bit sore in my thighs and my butt, so I can tell something was working!  I liked this type of workout and I definitely want to add it to my workout regimen!  Yay for finding something fun to do on cross training days!  Barre3 has a 15 day online workout trial here, I might have to sign up for that!

In other “Try New Things” news, on Friday I decided to try some new running clothing websites and stumbled across Run Pretty Far on Twitter.  One look at their products and I was in love!  They had such adorable shirts and they even have “Trail Scarves” aka Buff-type products, but in adorable patterns and colors!  Now here’s the crazy thing:  I placed an order on Friday night, and I got my package yesterday!!!  Pretty awesome customer service right there.  Here’s what I bought:

I Eat Miles for Breakfast t-shirt:  looks and feels like cotton, but made with moisture wicking fabric.  This shirt was on sale too!

The trail scarf!  This is my favorite quote, so it was a no brainer buying this!

I usually buy all my workout clothes in person at either TJ Maxx or Marshalls, so it was fun stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new!  My wallet is a bit upset though, I may have to limit going to this website to once every few months  🙂

*Note:  all opinions are mine and I was not compensated for anything in the blog post.  Barre3 and Run Pretty Far have no idea I exist, I just loved their products and figured I would share them with my fabulous readers!  Although any representatives reading this from either brand can totally give me free perks if they want  🙂  Just kidding!

What is your favorite new workout?  Do you know of any cool running companies I should check out?