Household Exercise "Equipment"

Lately I have been using my rolling pin to massage my legs muscles.  It works great and there was no need for me to go out and buy a foam roller or rolling muscle massager.

Good thing I don’t bake often.

Do you use any household items (towels to help stretch or can goods as weights) to help you exercise?

Top 10 Awesome things from this week

10.  Hearing that my friends who live in, or who are vacationing in, Hawaii were safe after the tsunami reached the islands – awesome!

9.  The new iPad.  I went to two Apple stores and one Best Buy on Friday and still came away with nothing, how does Apple do it?  I ordered mine online yesterday and should receive it the second week of April.  I don’t like to wait, but it is still – awesome!

You're welcome Apple.  Can you please ship
my iPad sooner than April 11th?

8.  My sister recommended the documentary “Spirit of the Marathon” and I watched it the other night.  It tells the story of 6 runners as they prepare for the Chicago Marathon, they range from 12-minute milers to the elites.  It is on Netflix Instant and I recommend it to everyone.  Awesome!

7.  My boss took me to lunch this week at a yummy restaurant, The River, in downtown Miami.  I love to try new restaurants and this place did not disappoint.  I had the Mahi Mahi, so good… but I have a feeling it was really good because it was cooked with so much butter, awesome!  Glad I ran 5 miles that morning.

6.  Above mentioned 5 miles were run in my new sneakers.  I love them – awesome!

Saucony, awesome!  Yes, I have a Road ID, do you?

5.  I signed up for the gym at work.  If I want to seriously run a marathon in January the fitness level needs to go up and the lbs need to go down.  Don’t want to drag the junk in my trunk around for 26.2 miles.  Awesome!

4.  Leisurely Sunday mornings!  Enjoyed a cup of coffee and an English muffin with peanut butter this morning in bed while watching the movie “It’s Complicated”.  It is also nice and cool outside, perfect for the 10 mile run I am about to leave for.  Awesome!

3.  Girl’s weekend has been planned for Labor Day weekend at Disneyland! My three best friends & I take a trip every year and this one will be to run the Disneyland Half Marathon.  Well, Annette, Jamie & I are all signed up, but Leah is on the waitlist (who knew the race would fill up so fast!).  Please send good vibes that Leah Z will get called up off the bench and into the game!  Coast to Coast medal here I come - awesome!

The girls & I at dinner during
last year's Girls Weekend in Tucson

2.  Skyping with my niece Lily is definitely one of my favorite times of any week!  She is easily the funniest person I know.  She really gets into Skype and always has lots of toys or dresses to show me.  The funniest thing is when Lily pushes my sister away from the computer so her & I can’t talk, she wants me all to herself!  This week she even started saying my name “Heatha”… my family is from New England where Rs are not always observed… doesn’t matter, that was totally awesome!

Lily was showing me that after you roast the play
marshmallows over the fake fire, you eat them!

1.  It’s my blog’s one-month anniversary!  Who knew this social media situation would be so much fun.  Can I please tell you that two weeks ago I had no idea what the hashtags were used for on Twitter.  Actually I had no idea how to even use, read, understand Twitter. 

Thanks to you all out there for stopping by to read my posts and leaving me comments.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Please keep coming back!

Now that I have gotten a hang of the whole technical side of things, I will definitely be out there more in social media world reading and commenting on all of your blogs, tweets, statuses, etc.  Social media – awesome!

Running Expos

In addition to running the Princess half marathon bright and early Sunday morning, I am also looking forward to the Fit for a Princess Expo held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  I love to shop and OMG there is so much running stuff to buy!  This is also where packet pick-up will be, so I have to go.  I am not even sure what I will be looking for, but I am sure I will find something!

My first expo was at packet pick-up for the Gasparilla 5K last year in Tampa and I was totally amazed by all the vendors and their running goods!  The first piece of running gear I bought was a pink running hat that said “Will run for wine”.  Perfect for me, right?  I bought it at the One More Mile booth.   

They have hilarious sayings on their items:

In my dreams, I’m a Kenyan

Slow miles are better than no miles

My sport is your sport’s punishment

I’m only doing this so I can post a picture on Facebook

… and on and on and on, they have so many good sayings! 

I am not a huge fan of running in a hat, but I have used mine a few times. It comes in especially handy on rainy days.

My first running purchase & my favorite GU gel packs

I also bought a pair of socks that said “It’s all about the finish”… because really it is.  I don’t run these races to win them, I just like being a part of the upbeat atmosphere, having fun and the competition I feel with myself to try and improve on different things each race.

My most recent running purchase was last month at the expo for the ING Miami half marathon.  I bought an Armpocket and I totally love it!  I use it for the longer runs and it holds my GU energy gel packs.  For the Princess half, I’ll use 3 packets of GU, one 15 minutes before the race, one at mile 5 and one at mile 10.  This worked well for my long a couple weeks back, so I will give it a go on race day.  My favorite GU flavors are Espresso Love and Jet Blackberry.

My Armpocket - love it!

What is some of your favorite running gear?  Do you use GU or other energy gels?