Category Archives: Fitness

Semi-Wordless: Tennessee Trip

I don’t really feel like writing about my long weekend in Tennessee. I wish I could write a blog post that reports great success, or at least success compared to last year’s trip, but I don’t feel like I can.

Scenes from the plane – got through the first season of Breaking Bad! And sipped on Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey.

I made it to the game this year, but not past the first quarter. I made an attempt to rally later in the game after Tennessee tied it up, and enjoyed watching the last quarter in the hotel bar with my Nana Connie.

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Re-cycling in Boston

I received a discount on the cycle class detailed in this blog post. All opinions on my experience are my own.

Awhile back (as in before my Christmastime trip to Boston!) I read Sarah’s first review of Recycle Studio in Beantown and eagerly made a reservation for a class (at a discounted price – thank you Megan!). I was going to be in Boston for an overnight trip in December and wanted to get in a morning spin session, which is one of my favorite forms of weekend exercise! Unfortunately I read the schedule incorrectly and didn’t get a chance to go back in December, but Recycle Studio agreed to extend my purchased class past its expiration date so that I could go again next time I was in town and had time…which was this past Sunday!

9-15-13-recycle2

I adore the logo.

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Marvelous Massachusetts and Plan B

Man, I definitely need positive reminders of marvelous on this Monday morning. My morning commute involved a nose bleed and the shocking realization that my car’s tissue stock was depleted long ago – and never had been replenished. The fall air is here, with a vengeance!

Join Katie in this marvelous link-up!

Marvelous is…finally visiting my darling blend Kelly in Massachusetts! About a month ago, we made a plan for me to stay over this past Friday to Saturday. The timing could not have worked out any better and I was so happy to be able to be there for Kelly and her family during a tough time in their lives.

We’ve hung out a bunch on my CT turf, but this was my first visit to hers in MA!

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Fashion-Show Friday!

As I mentioned on Monday, my fashionable friend and bartender maestro Anna asked me to model in a sports luxe fashion show held at Fleet Feet in West Hartford Center. The event took place last night as part of West Hartford’s Fashion Night Out; stores throughout the center offered deals, their own fashion shows, and beverages.

But ours were provided by Barcelona…so that’s a win.

Not only did the models rock trendy sports apparel, we also paired each outfit with eye-wear provided by SIGHT.

I brought Kat backstage to try on some shades with me!

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MIMM: Summer’s Wine-ding Down

Remember to enter my Marshall’s Bishop’s Corner giveaway – you have until tomorrow night to do so!

Another Monday, another marvelous weekend behind me, and a low-key one at that! Well, low-key in the sense that no drives longer than 40 minutes occurred. That’s really all I can ask for, especially since this coming weekend I’ll be off to Boston (and will see this marvelous lady). I over-use this word but it’s all about balance…balancing my weekends away with weekends at home has been key to making it through this marvelous summer (I can literally feel in the air that it’s ending, ugh!) and focusing on how grateful I should be to have so much marvelous to even FEEL stressed over.

Inspired by Katie, a blogger who is SO good at seeing the marvelous!

Marvelous is…my beloved StepMill #39 getting fixed at my gym. Long story, but that machine is the only one of my gym’s four StepMills that I like to/can use. My solo cardio sessions have been nothing without it (running and elliptical are not for me). Friday night I REALLY needed kickass cardio before a dinner out and StepMill #39 was good as new and definitely kicked my ass.

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New Haven: A Labor Day Tradition

Every Labor Day my parents do the huge New Haven Road Race, and the last several years I have been joining them to stay overnight at the Omni the night before. We feast and drink in Downtown New Haven (knowing we don’t have to drive anywhere), and the ‘rents do the race in the morning while I hit the gym (which is pretty darn nice for a hotel). Then I find an interesting cafe for coffee, followed by a unique spot for lunch, while my parents wait in huge post-race-beer lines.

This year my dad was away so my mom and I decided to still visit New Haven for a night, but she joined me in the hotel gym, because we stayed Saturday to Sunday (as opposed to the usual Sunday to Monday) this year. Our getaway couldn’t have come at a better time; I had a lot of anxiety and such going on after last Thursday night’s A Taste in Simsbury event, and I needed nothing more than a special weekend with my amazing mother.

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Accelerated Fitness – Cromwell

I briefly mentioned in my last post that over the weekend I took my first trip to Accelerated Fitness, at the Cromwell location (also located in Glastonbury and Tolland). My friend Maria brought me as her guest to join a session with one of Cromwell’s two personal trainers, Kevin Carlson (or as she calls him…Oh Sadistic One). This place is more than a gym; the primary line of business is personal training and programs tailored to each client’s fitness history and goals. Maria has her own program, but on Saturday when I was her guest, Kevin just decided to have some “fun” with us.

Kevin’s sick idea of fun!

I hadn’t been to a personal trainer in awhile so i was very excited! The setup was very Crossfit-box-like…plenty of toys of fitness torture were set up along the walls with an open space in the middle. The session lasted about 50 minutes and consisted of various circuits of 2-3 moves each, the whole circuit repeated three times. Here are some examples of moves Kevin had Maria and I doing:

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MIMM: All the Friends!

Welcome to the work week, folks. Remember that many of you may have a three-day (Labor Day) weekend on the horizon, so keep your chin up, you can make it through!

Make sure you join the marvelous party!

This was a weekend of friends of all sources. High school, Twitter, blogs, you name it. Not only did they give me the best of times, they also gave me the support I needed to give myself permission to enjoy the marvelous.

Marvelous is…Friday night in West Hartford Center.

My foodie partner in crime, Rachel!

My foodie partner in crime, Rachel!

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Planking with Puma’s Formlite and Compression

The following post is sponsored by Fitfluential LLC, on behalf of PUMA.

I had the chance to participate in my first PUMA campaign, and was spoiled with workout gear and new sneakers. Because that’s just what I need, right?!

They know my signature workout gear color - pink!

They know my signature workout gear color – pink!

I received the Formlite XT Ultra Fluo Women’s Training ShoesPerformance Bodywear Tech ACTV Long Tights, and Ribbed Performance Tank Top. Let’s start with the shoes, which are an awesome “highlighter” coral color. They are extremely lightweight (as their name suggests) thanks to the inclusion of cutouts on much of the surface area. While I’m not sure I’d pay the $70 they retail for, I definitely am highly satisfied with their performance and would recommend the shoes. I tried them out during both Group Power and Group Step. The minimalist design (the outsole was feather-inspired) is not ideal for side-to-side plyometric movements, but I really liked wearing them for weight lifting because of how easily the shoe bent when I was lunging or in a push-up/plank position.

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Three Things Thursday: A Discount, A Campaign, A Leap

Happy almost-Friday, folks. Our database and email network are both down at work today so you are definitely hearing from me. I have a few little things to talk about so I figured a fun, random post was in order.

1. Kona Kase Discount Code

I just received the July Kona Kase to review and will be sharing that eventually. I already received and reviewed the June Kase…you may recall I felt it contained more products for endurance athletes than I need (aka I need none) so I am looking forward to finding out what’s in the July box and seeing if the products are more “me”! I’m not withholding that information from you on purpose…I truly don’t know because I haven’t opened it yet. While you’re waiting for my review though, you can look at my June review and use a new discount code “GIFTSUMMER” to get $5 off your first Kase. That means $10 to try Kona Kase, which I think is a good deal given how much the products inside would probably cost separately.

2. Heather Waxman’s Kickstarter Campaign

Heather is taking a huge leap and pursuing her dream of combining her vocal talent with her desire to spread the word about the benefits of meditation. She’s started a Kickstarter campaign and needs $3,500.00 of funding by August 8 in order to create and distribute her very first meditation album, “Soul Sessions”. It will be available via digital download as well as CD, and backers can get their own copies (and more) as a thank you for donating. Even if you can only donate $5 it will help, so please take a moment to check out the video about her campaign and back it if you support it!

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