Fitness Friday – Page 2 – French Fry Runner

Rex Lee Run 5K Recap

This race was great! And considering I didn’t want to actually run that morning, it was especially great to get an official PR!

The race started at 9:15 a.m., which was awesome. Gotta love that fact that it’s still cold enough in Utah to start the race later in the morning. The race was around one of our local universities and really familiar since I went to that school and ran at least part of that same course almost every day–not to mention that a lot of local races are run on the course . . . Anyway . . . It was still really chilly when I got to the race, so I debated a long time whether to wear a jacket. I ended up deciding to, and that was a good choice. I got a little warm, but not bad.

The race started promptly (love that), and we were off! I’d decided to run a solid effort of 30-32 minutes, depending on how I felt. Well, I felt great the entire time! The first half mile was uphill, so I trudged on up at a good clip, going by effort. Then the rest of the race was downhill and flat. I tried to keep a sub-10:00 pace, and when I glanced at my watch, I was actually running 9:38s. Crazy!

My final time was 29:58 (9:40/mi), which I was definitely pleased with. And it’s a PR! I guess I’m a faster runner than I thought! It’s awesome to see improvement, and I owe it to all the strength training I’ve been doing. I love having strong legs and a strong core. That will help my half marathon and marathon efforts this year for sure.

Back to the race, they gave us awesome food at the end and held a magic show for the kids and a raffle too. The raffle was kind of lame, but hey. Oh, and we got gender-specific tech shirts this year, which is an improvement over the normal unisex T-shirts. Overall, a solid race!

#RexLee Run 5K Recap via @FrenchFryRunner #fitnessfriday #fitfam Share on X

I’m linking up with Jill for Fitness Friday and with the DC Trifecta for the Friday Five (Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia).

How’s your training going?

Are you racing this weekend?

5 Things I Love about Yoga

I’m linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia from You Signed Up for WHAT?!, and Mar from Mar on the Run. This week’s Friday Five theme is Five Things I Love about ____ . . . And I chose YOGA!

I’m still running and lifting, of course, but I’ve been focusing a lot more on yoga lately. So, to celebrate that, I thought I’d share five things I love about yoga.

I can practice in my pajamas! They say you can just roll out of bed and go running, which you can–once you put on shoes. But you don’t need shoes with yoga! You don’t even need a mat. You can begin your practice anywhere and at any time.
I know what utkatansana, vrikasana, trikonasana, and savasana mean. Being the word nerd that I am, I love that I know a little Sanskrit. 🙂
Yoga helps me center myself. I can be pretty high strung and stressed out, but yoga helps me focus inward and let my worries and stresses dissolve. I can better live in the moment through yoga.
Yoga makes me happy. And happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t. . . . In all seriousness, though, I can honestly say that yoga has improved my relationship with the world around me, myself, and my husband. I’m a much happier and nicer person after I’ve practiced yoga. And people want to hang out with a happy person, right? No one likes a downer. Sometimes the Engineer and I practice together, and he is calmer and happier too. Everyone benefits from yoga in my house! 🙂
Yoga meets you where you are. This is why yoga is a practice. You don’t have to force anything. You can just be where you are, whether you’re a beginner or you have been practicing for years. With yoga, I always see improvement–in my flexibility, my strength, my focus, and my heart.

Looking pretty graceful, I gotta say! :) — Looking pretty graceful, I gotta say! 🙂

Rebecca from Strength & Sunshine encouraged us in one of her posts to find our own yoga, which is different from others’. I’d like to share with what my yoga is, and I hope you’ll read her post and contemplate what your yoga (or running or favorite activity) really is and be mindful of that.

Here’s what I wrote:

My yoga is fulfilling, strengthening, contemplative, calming, and invigorating. It helps me center myself and look inward. It is a spiritual experience for me, and I feel this way whether in class or at home. After spending years in competitive sports in my youth, yoga is the perfect opposite for me. It’s all about my personal practice and no one else’s.

So do you love yoga? Why?

What pose are you working on right now? I’m trying my darndest to get into bakasana, or crow pose.

What do you love?

What do you love? It's #FridayFive with @eatprayrundc @yousignedup & @marmaone1. Share on X

Don’t forget to #taketheleap with prAna and Fit Approach. Details here.

It’s not too late to join in the 12-day #bringingyogaback mini challenge. Details here.

I’m also linking up with Jill Conyers’s Fitness Friday and B.J. for #FitGeekFriday. Be sure to check out the hosts’ pages and find other fun blogs to read!

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Favorite Indoor Workouts

I’m linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia from You Signed Up for WHAT?!, and Mar from Mar on the Run. This week’s Friday Five theme is Favorite Indoor Workouts.

I really like a lot of different types of exercise, so I thought I would share a few that I’ve been loving lately as I try to own the day every day.

Body Pump. I’ve been going to pump classes for about a month and a half (I think), and I’ve fallen in love with it! It’s a great way to get started with weight training, and the class atmosphere is just fun and not intimidating at all. I’ve seen major results in my short experience with it, and I really recommend it to anyone looking to dive into more strength training.
Yoga. Well, I just love yoga. It’s a great workout, especially Ashtanga or power yoga, and it’s a great way to work on your flexibility and your attitude. Yoga provides a way to slow down and focus on the moment with no judgment and to just be where you are.
Treadmill. Yeah, I know. A lot of people hate the treadmill, but I don’t really, especially when I make my workout interesting. I like to warm up with 5 minutes walking and then move into my workout. Lately I’ve been doing shorter easy runs (30-40 minutes) and then picking up the speed by .1 mph each 30 seconds to one minute of the last 5 minutes before a 5-minute cool-down. Good stuff. It also helps that my favorite treadmill at the gym overlooks the pool, which distracts me from the feeling of not actually going anywhere. Nothing like watching older folks do Aqua Zumba, eh? 😉
Swimming. I’m a fairly new swimmer, so my workouts aren’t anything crazy. I don’t have a tri on my schedule right now, so I haven’t been swimming a ton, but I do love it when I get to the pool. I swim for about 30 minutes and call it good. It’s short but effective since I’ve been trying to focus on form.
Cycling/elliptical. I’ve been having trouble with my plantar fasciitis, so I’ve been interspersing cycling and elliptical into my training to cut down on my chance for injury. I just hop on the bike or elliptical crank up the resistance and go for 30-45 minutes. And the ellipticals at my gym have built-in TV, so it’s fun to watch The Chew or whatever while I’m plugging along. Good times.

Incline elliptical — How many times can I use this photo, I wonder.

Do you watch TV while you exercise?

Do you have a favorite treadmill/machine? Favorite running route?

Favorite dessert?

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Sharing my favorite indoor #workouts for #FridayFive with @eatprayrundc @yousignedup & @marmaone1. What's your favorite? Share on X

I’m also linking up with Jill Conyers’s Fitness Friday and B.J. for #FitGeekFriday. Be sure to check out the hosts’ pages and find other fun blogs to read!