CrossFit

5 years ago if someone had told you that beating tires, doing body weight exercises and plyometrics would be the  on of the hottest workouts going I am pretty sure you would have laughed. But in the last year this intense workout has exploded appearing on the Biggest Loser and new clubs opening every month all over the country.

There is actually one down the street from me, but to be honest after my bout with the Insanity DVD I’ve been too afraid to go during marathon training!! Once I make a final decision about whether I am running the full or half in March I can make plans to go.  Everyone I know that has truly committed to doing CrossFit has been floored with the results. They love feeling stronger…but no joke it is a serious workout.

According to Wikipedia "CrossFit is a strength and conditioning brand that combines weightlifting, sprinting, gymnastics, powerlifting, kettlebell training, plyometrics, rowing, and medicine ball training." Did you know CrossFit even has it’s own language? Just like runners say strange things like fartlek and tempo they have terms like box and WOD.

One other thing I do know from friends about CrossFit is they are big proponents of the Paleo diet. I am sort of on the opposite end with my current vegan style of eating, but I am very curious and may do a 30 day challenge in the future to compare my performance, energy and overall feeling of health between the two.
Here is a fascinating new video about Reebok CrossFitOne which is open to Adidas, Reebok and Rockport employees…now that is a benefit I could get behind!

Have you ever tried CrossFit? Does your company offer any kind of employee benefits to encourage an active lifestyle?

This post was sponsored by Reebok
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Gratitude Journal
Jan 28
I am grateful for fun new workouts
I am grateful for at home workouts
I am grateful for awesome employee benefits
I am grateful for large companies leading the way in health
I am grateful for Klout

Subway: Turkey Twist (giveaway)

I have been on HUGE southwestern food kick lately and therefore was very excited about this new Turkey Jalapeno Melt…a free gift card to try it out didn’t hurt either.  In college when I first started trying to lose weight, I kid you not my daily lunch was a turkey sandwich. It was plain and boring and probably still not as low in calories as what Subway now offers.
When traveling through the scenic (desolate) roads of Iowa to see family, Subway is always our default meal because I know I can get something not fried, tasty, and made the way I want it. Now that veggies are a major part of my meals I love that I can pile on peppers, onions, pickles, cucumbers, avocado and whatever else might tickle my fancy without worrying about calories. I need those calories for all the desserts I’ll consuming upon reaching said family.

Subway has also taken to posting great Fit Tips on their Facebook page…I’m a little partial of course since they recently featured my Fit Tip, but truly there are a lot of others sharing great ideas. Who can’t use little nuggets of wisdom to keep moving down a healthy path.

Here are a couple other tips from a pro: Monica Vazquez, CPT, LWMC

1: Be Consistent: Find a way to make working out a consistent part of you life. Once exercise becomes a habit, it’s much less of a chore. Schedule workouts into your planner and stick with your plan. When you successfully follow through, you will feel better about working out and small victories will be very motivating.

2: Find the right intensity: Many people either workout too hard too soon (which can lead to injury) or they waste their time by not working out hard enough. For strength training, if the difficulty is less than a 6 out of 10, it’s probably not hard enough. For cardio, make sure you are in the proper Heart Rate Zone when you exercise. You want to start at 65-85% percent of your Max Heart Rate (which, most simply can be calculated as 220-your age).

3:  Cardio and weights are equally important: Although losing weight is about calories in versus calories out, simply burning calories with cardio won’t give you the best results. Muscle helps burn fat (even at rest!), so building lean muscle tissue will help you lose weight, get fit and stay that way.

4: Never underestimate recovery: As great as it is to get into a routine, you also don’t want to get carried away and overtrain. Your body becomes stronger as you rest. Always give yourself 2 days of rest for each muscle group when strength training and give yourself at least one full rest day a week.

WIN IT
Would you like to create your own Twist on Turkey? How about a $10 gift card to make it happen.

Mandatory: Share your fit tip with me!
+1 Tweet, FB, Blog – Link back to this giveaway in some way i.e. “ I want to win a $10 gift card from @subwayfreshbuzz and @runtothefinish to stay on track with my eating! http://ow.ly/8IStZ “
+1 Like Subway on FB so you can see their Fresh Fit Friday info and let them know I sent you
+1 If you signed up for the Food Journal Challenge or Appreciation Challenge

Gift card was provided for me, but all tasting utilized my personal mouth and was followed by my own thoughts. Giveaway ends on Feb 3.
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Gratitude Journal
Jan 27
I am grateful for whole wheat bread
I am grateful for food options
I am grateful for Subway gift cards
I am grateful for Ryan Hall
I am grateful for his publicist! (yup interview today!)

30 Day Challenge: Appreciation

Does it feel awkward to take on challenge that asks you to show appreciation for a different person each day? As though you should be doing it naturally and suddenly it is a forced action…I agree it does feel strange and yet most of us are not doing it which is why I think this is such a highly valuable challenge.
How often have you heard people say “I wish I had told her/him” or give a compliment about someone when they aren’t there.  The thought may count, but hearing those words are so extremely important. What month could be more natural than February to create a lifelong habit of saying words of kindness to those who matter.  In this powerful yet simple three-minute TED Talk, Dr. Laura Trice explains the importance of two awesome words -- "thank you."

How did Laura become so interested in the power of praise? She said it stems from her work in a rehab facility:

"I'm fortunate enough to work in the rehab facility, so I get to see people who are facing life and death with addiction. And sometimes it comes down to something as simple as, their core wound is their father died without ever saying he's proud of them. But then they hear from all the family and friends that the father told everybody else that he was proud of him, but he never told the son. It's because he didn't know that his son needed to hear it."

As with every challenge you can choose the steps that make this work best for you...
- Calling one friend a day
- Writing an actual letter
- Compliment someone when you see them

Lots of Updates

I don’t really do random thought posts.. but I realized I also never update you on all kinds of things so here goes your Hump Day Update. 

Topics: Do you ever feel like you have so much to post about you can’t actually focus on a topic to get it written? I have about 50 started posts that I am extremely excited about and yet this is what you are getting today.

Health: Thanks for everyone who has continued to check up on me. Thus far I am still in one piece, no return doctors visits. I did however crack a crown on my back tooth during the episode and I am being a little slow in booking the appointment to fix it. Honestly, I am terrified of the ER bills and not wanting to spend more money.

Giveaways: After a giveaway is closed I have been contacting the winner rather than putting it in a post. So my apologies to those who keep looking for a post. The thing is no one but the winner cares about that post, so it’s just easier to email them. Currently the INKnBurn giveaway is still going.

Running Sucks: I posted a little about this on FB, but seriously here’s the deal…I just really don’t care for these shirts. I know a lot of runners wear them to be funny, but to me it’s like when people were big on the whole FML…I didn’t think that was funny either.  Love it or don’t do it, stop promoting it as something crappy.
Google Friends: You might have seen this when Marlene posted, but it’s a great reminder.
Google Friend Connect will no longer be available to non-blogger blogs as of March 1st 2012 (and will discontinue for Blogger shortly thereafter).

This means that if you follow using Google Friend Connect, you will not longer receive my posts as of that date.

Make sure you are following me elsewhere to stay updated.

• First subscribe via RSS feed
• You should Like RunToTheFinish on Facebook (from your fan page if you have one!)
• You should follow me on Twitter

PITA: Finally can someone explain to me why my pita contains 6 pockets, but the package says 8 servings??? So I can only eat 3/4 of each pita?

Nut Butter: Since the term Nut Butter addiction still brings hundreds of you to the site each month, I figured I should provide something to verify this title.  Thanks again to my favorite folks at Once Again Nut Butter for being an amazing sponsor. If I could eat nothing but their cashew, sunflower and almond butters…well I probably would. David might say I already do.
 
David: My love had a dental surgery this week and I really just feel so bad for him. I can see now this must be what it's like to deal with me post marathon. He’s fine and happy, but totally not allowed to exert any energy and you can tell that is making him a tad miserable.  I should probably use that nut butter to bake him an amazing treat seeing as how he can not exercise for months and still look like a cover model.

Happy Hump Day! Go tell someone you love them and have a great day.
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Gratitude Journal
Jan 26
I am grateful for cool recipe apps
I am grateful for vegan recipe ideas
I am grateful for a hot bowl of oats
I am grateful for crafty ideas (completed by someone else)
I am grateful for funny holiday party pics

The Foot Pain

It’s 70 degrees out, the sun is shining. I want to run, to walk, to be outdoors enjoying the fact that I live in Florida during the winter!  But alas my foot is refusing to recover according to my schedule and is limiting that activity.

With all swelling down this morning I decided to try a walk and found out pretty quickly that after more than a few minutes it hurts and running is a very bad idea. Since many of you have had your own foot pains and been trying to figure out what I’m talking about here is a lovely visual… you can see my calloused toe, my chipped toenail polish and more importantly the bruise that is neither on my arch, my ankle or really anywhere specific. 
After attempting to Google MD myself I am basically of the opinion it must just be an aggravated tendon. I went to see my miracle worker yesterday and he adjusted me after noting how off my hips were again, did some acupuncture and a laser. The result was a decrease in swelling and an overall sense of peace… I swear I love what acupuncture does!

When it first happened it truly hurt to put on any shoe…however I was super lucky that Saucony had accidentally sent me a wide in the Triumph 9 and that has been my savior, see things work out just as they should! With that shoe I have been able to bike quite a bit and get through the airport sans flip flops in January.

I have also had a chance to run in this shoe and I”m pretty excited about it for long runs. While the Saucony Kinvara is still one of my favorite shoes ever, I think there is a benefit for me personally to having just a bit more padding on the weekly long runs.  The Kinvara is a very low profile shoe with minimal padding and the Triumph is basically the next step up from that still having only an 8mm drop (compared to average 12mm) and weighing only 9.6 oz.

Any thoughts on my random sore foot pain? What shoes do you turn to when injured?
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Gratitude Journal
Jan 25
I am grateful for Sunday funnies
I am grateful for celebrations
I am grateful for filtered water
I am grateful for fresh cut lemons
I am grateful for veggie chili