Run to Finish (Daily Running Log)

Stitches

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:03:00 PDT

In just the first week of our move to Orlando we’ve already located and visited our nearest Urgent Care. We really like to get to know our city quickly, but I hope we don’t become regular patrons…I should have asked about a frequent visitor punch card.

Our new place has required some handy man work by David, as it did not have a single light fixture. Now 90% of David’s tools are still in Kansas City with my parents so while I used a plastic knife to open all of our boxes, David has been using a box cutter to do pretty much everything.

We’re like MacGyver and a toddler. I didn’t touch the box cutter because I KNEW it would result in me getting injured. I am injury averse. In fact, I have {knock on wood} never broken a bone and only had a couple of tiny stitches due to a knee surgery in high school.

David on the other hand actually broke his arm as a child, but didn’t tell anyone for a WEEK, so that he could continue playing at the lake. I am not sure whether he’s brilliant or insane, but he got what he wanted. This is also to say that he can endure a lot of pain {hmm maybe why he runs faster?!} and rarely complains.

Have I relayed the time where he nearly cut off his finger and left me a voicemail that calmly said “Honey, I’m in an ambulance, when you have a minute call me back.”?!

Thus Saturday when he came hunched over to me as I was unpacking with the statement “this isn’t good”. I was concerned, but knew there were no electrical tools insight and everything still appeared fully in tact. He had however managed to slice his palm open with the box cutter. {you’re welcome that I did not take pictures}

Next he actually called his mom {a nurse}. Seriously he called his mom, he hates the phone so much I often think they wonder if he knows how to use it. Yup this was serious.

We waited another 6 hours before actually going to Urgent Care because who wants to see a doctor when you can bleed to death in your own home. Luckily the place here was clean, quiet and SUPER friendly so within just an hour he had 5 stitches and we were able to head back to our little abode with no light fixtures and no cable… when I said I wanted to simplify our home this wasn’t what I had in mind exactly.

How many times have you had to get stitches? Broken bones? Do you handle pain well?
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Gratitude Journal
May 18
I am grateful for all of the amazing women I am meeting this weekend and the support of David for me doing these crazy things.

Vega and Lock Laces at Blend Retreat

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:11:00 PDT

You’ve probably seen enough tweets and pictures now to know that this weekend is Blend 2013! I promise not to drive you crazy with posts, but had to give a quick shout out to Vega and Lock Laces…so many brands are providing great swag, but I’m working with these two to spread a little extra love this weekend.
You know all about my love affair with Vega, so I promise not to rub it in repeatedly that we got more goodies this weekend and my belly is so happy. Of course this time I am able to share the love with all of the attendees and a fellow ambassador Heather!
Even if you aren’t sure about using Vega, you gotta checkout the free Thrive Forward Sport Edition Videos. Tony Horton among other trainers and athletes in the videos provide helpful tips about the entire spectrum from endurance athletes to strength training. I believe my nutrition will always be in progress and I love these for keeping me excited about WHY!

Lock Laces was a great sponsor for the Spring Challenge, sending a pair to every participant. Both David and I have been using them in all of our workout shoes since then and I am excited to not only test them out on hike, but get them in the hands of some other crazy workout women to see what they think .

REMINDERS
I’m also super excited to say, the Clean and Lean Challenge sign ups where blowing up, so I may have to cut off registration…don’t wait! This challenge is all about finding what works for you, in the meantime don’t forget to join the Under Armour Clean and Lean team to start getting feedback and motivation!

Fingers crossed tomorrow I will be doing a 10 mile run at altitude…hope these ladies are strong enough to carry me back if I drop dead.
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Gratitude Journal
May 17
I am grateful for sponsors who make it possible to keep following my passion and find out where it may lead.

Clean and Lean Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:52:00 PDT

COMBINING YOUR WORK IN THE GYM YOUR WORK IN THE KITCHEN AND YOUR MIND FOR LONG-TERM RESULTS.

Think of this as the previous 30 Day Ab challenge and 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge on steroids! 28 days to re-shape your thinking and get committed!

This challenge is designed to provide support, encouragement, tips and motivation to create habits and a lifestyle that support your goals.

Discovering YOUR best diet
Changing thoughts to change your body
Getting healthy without feeling like it’s a full time job
Easing in to new habits for lasting change
Eliminating sugar cravings
Increasing fruits and veggies with ease

Core workouts to define those abs
Conscious selection of the foods we eat

CHALLENGE INCLUDES
June 3 to July 1 -- First email with preparation details June 1

Daily email with a focus area (i.e. detoxing, core workouts, meals vs snacks)
Email will include links to tons of resources
Email will include mantras, recipes, tips
Private Facebook group for consistent support, daily check ins {lifetime access}
What’s Beautiful Clean and Lean Team page to shout your awesomeness to the world
Group tracking log (what we measure we manage)

OPTIONAL: You can use this plan to discover hidden food sensitivities by removing foods each week. Details for this will be provided.

IT IS NOT: An eating plan. While you will receive recommendations and recipes, this is about creating YOUR best diet to achieve your goals. No single way of eating works for everyone. It’s not a fast. It’s not a juice cleanse.

HOW TO GET STARTED

No need to buy a juicer or any other fancy tools to do this challenge.
Read the daily emails and use the group for support .
Pay what you want -- You got it, this time around you can simply have it for only the charity donation cost of $2 or if you feel that RTTF has helped support you previously and/or you see the value in this program join for a few bucks to support the ongoing efforts here. Either way I hope it works for you.

In 28 days I want you to look in the mirror with confidence. Knowing that you stayed true to your word and have made choices and changes that are moving you in the direction of your goals. When you can answer this you’re ready to enjoy life no matter where you are!

Amanda is a Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. Information provided will be from her own weight loss/maintenance experience, experience working with many others over the years and that of many other fitness professionals. For individualized recommendations and nutrition assessments, please see a local RD or ask for a recommendation! I know a few good folks.
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Gratitude Journal
May 15
I am grateful that David has taken to making daily fruit smoothies and always gives me some without me even asking!

Strong is not the new skinny or sexy

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:34:00 PDT

All right I’m just going to lay it out there…

I am strong (or working at it)! I don’t want or need to be sexy. But daily I’m being bombarded with images and people I respect telling me “Strong is the New Sexy”.

Strong is not the new skinny either. Skinny is skinny, strong is strong…both work for different people for different reasons. Why are we so excited to make physically fit women seem less powerful by relating them to terms like skinny and sexy?

Strong: Physically powerful; in good or sound health
Skinny: Very thin, lacking in flesh
Sexy: Intended to provoke sexual interest

I workout because it makes me feel confident and proud, which I fully believe shines through in my outward appearance…but not because I’m trying to look like Twiggy or provoke someone’s interest. Is it no longer acceptable to simply want to feel our best? Test our limits?

Can we/Do we only lift weights and run because it will make us “the new version of skinny and sexy”?!

We finally started move away from thinsporation (skin-and-bones) to focus on building healthy fit bodies, but it quickly morphed in to fitsporation (seriously lean and chiseled). The fitness and health industry strives on insecurity which is created by striving after ideals on the far end of the spectrum. It’s not to say that it can’t be achieved, but there is a reason it’s an ideal and not the norm.

I fully admit that many of the fitness images on Pinterest motivate me. Just as reading a great running book motivates me because I have an idea in my mind of what strong and healthy for ME looks like.

But have come to realize that life is a balance of pushing myself to achieve more and appreciating exactly where I am. Which is why in my running I often cycle through periods of aiming for a PR and simply running because it brings me a whole lot of joy.

A great deal of respect goes out to women like Laura and Candy who train HARD and focus on clean eating to reach their fitness competition goals. Thus I would never negate their dedication by equating them to skinny or sexy.

Part of what has continued to draw me to the Under Armour What’s Beautiful platform is that is serves as SUPPORT system rather than a competition of women who are all defining beautiful in their own way. If you are on social media or in the blogosphere you’ve probably seen a jump recently in posts about “What’s Beautiful”. Though I’ve been on the platform for over a year, I am excited to be refocusing on it with Fitfluential. I’ll be talking more about it later, but if you’d like to get connected for some support in your own journey to getting strong, here is the team page I’ve start Clean and Lean Team and my Personal Profile page

I’ve got to ride off on my high horse now, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

How do you define strong? Do you like the “Strong is the new Skinny” campaigns?
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Gratitude Journal
May 14
I am grateful for the opportunity to meet a variety of women this weekend who are all examples of strong in their own way.

Accountability Monday: Healthy Inside Out

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:33:00 PDT

Rest. I’ve talked about recovery lately, but the truth is I’ve never been terribly good at it. I enjoy being very active and fit lots of movement in to every day…this week I forced myself to SLOW down and it was all about healthy inside out.

What does healthy inside out mean?!

Feeding my mind with good thoughts.

Feeding my body with wholesome foods.

Allow my body to heal, rest, repair, restore, recover!

Moving at a measured pace.

Doing ONE thing at a time.

As people who enjoying working out we often focus on our time on eating the right things and moving, while neglecting one of the biggest components of health which is our mind. This is something that took me a long time to understand…no amount of green juices will make you healthier if your mind is toxic.

Just like training to run a marathon takes consistency and time, so does retraining your thinking. Particularly in a world that moves at such a quick pace. This week I actually spent more time chewing my food, which sound ridiculous! But I realized I was rushing through meals and that probably wasn’t helping my digestion any.

How do you clean out the mental garbage?

Goal Check In: Success I actually managed to read some great uplifting things every day, meditate and not go crazy with catching up after a few weeks of being in and out of office.

Goal for the week: Finding a balance between intense focused work and play.

Checkout the purpose of Accountability Monday’s>>
Want to participate? Fill out this form and I’ll be featuring people each week (see Your Goals below)!

SUCCESS: I didn’t know if I could truly stick to not getting my sweat on, but I did. I’m sure being busy helped a lot! I feel more relaxed…though I am nervous to see if I’ll be sluggish when I start moving again!
Goal for this week: Add back in 1 speed work session, enjoy the 10 miler at altitude during the Blend retreat!

May 6
AM: Fly home from Puerto Rico, drive to Orlando

May 7
AM: 30 min of Detox Yoga from Bex Life, meditation, walking errands

May 8
AM: 35 min easy yoga from Tara Stiles and BeFit, walking errands

May 9
AM: 45 min yoga from BexLife Summer Series, meditation
PM: Easy walk with David

May 10
AM: 30 min walk, 30 min yoga, meditation
PM: Easy walking around town to dinner

May 11
AM: 60 min walk, meditation
PM: 20 min stretching

May 12
AM: meditation, 50 min walk, 2x 5 min easy jog
PM: Stretching

30 Days Stronger challenge is now on day 13! I have been diligently making time each day for a few exercises to help my hips and core! I know over 100 of you are also participating in the challenge.

Last week many said they meant to, but forgot…which is the whole reason we are all doing this challenge together. I hope this week went better!

Here is a quick round up of some strength exercises for runners:
Competitor.com - 5 Essential Strength Training Exercises for runners
Shape.com - 6 Exercises every runner should be doing
Runners World - Strength exercises to help you run faster

Kelly - Committed to eating clean and getting 5 quality workouts
-- If you are looking for more clean eating support, check out the Clean and Lean group I’ve got going on the What’s Beautiful platform!

Don’t forget to share your goals for accountability and tell me how are you being healthy from the inside out?

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Gratitude Journal
May 13
I am grateful for meeting up with new friends in Orlando this weekend to already help it start feeling more like home.

Runner Spotlight: 5 Ways Ironman Training Improves Your Running

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:39:00 PDT

Last year I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Page via Oakley Women and being impressed with her serious social media knowledge (hello her Twitter handle is @Page <<she knows people in high places). Then I got the chance to room with her in Snowbird, Utah and realized how much I truly adore her as a person and RESPECT her as an athlete. After a crushing ankle injury weeks before her Ironman, she recommitted to training all over again!

Page Spicer Williams
Connect with Page to follow her training and get some serious motivation to get after it!
Blog: twentysixandthensome.com
Twitter: @Page
Instagram: @PageWilliams

How has having a coach changed your training?
When I decided to make the jump from running to Ironman, I knew nothing about swimming or cycling. The Ironman is serious business and I knew that I needed to a) take this seriously, and b) get a coach to help me arrive at the start line safely, smartly and with solid training underneath my belt. While my Ironman is at the end of June (Ironman Coeur d'Alene), I know that I absolutely needed a coach to take me from zero to Ironman.

My schedule is much different as Ironman training is about volume and endurance, rather than speed and tempo work. You also need to ensure that you get the right mix, the right progression and the right recovery to ensure that your body can handle large volumes of training. My coach maps out my training about three weeks at a time and uploads it to Training Peaks. After each workout, I load my data and add my comments so that we can adjust the training according to how I feel/my progress.

It's definitely much more strategic, but it's also very flexible in that I am in constant communication with my coach and we are always working to adapt my training accordingly. However, triathlon training is just like running training in that you have build weeks, peak weeks and recovery weeks.

A 1:30 half now that's some serious speed! Were you always fast or did it take you awhile to build to that? Ha! You're too nice! To be honest, I started running in high school but was horrible. Seriously...horrible. I started out on the sprint team because my friends were on it. I was deplorable. After a couple of years running in the back of the pack, I realized that I liked distance running much more. Thus, I started racing the mile and two mile and could tell that I had found my sweet spot. I was still one of the slower people on the team, so when I got injured during a two mile race, my coach said, "I had no idea." I remember wanting to say, "That's because you never paid attention to me!"

Anyways, I started my love affair with running then and have just been working at it ever since. One of my first half marathons was over two hours and I remember stopping, looking for my then boyfriend, asking to use someone's cell phone, and just mindlessly running with no real plan. I don't really have a favorite workout, but if I had to give someone advice about getting faster, I would have to say,

"If you want serious results, you need to get serious about running."

I never started to see results until I got focused during training and focused during the race.

Going from super fast to super distance, what made you decide to tackle a full Ironman?
Whoa, you're going to make me put that down in writing, 'eh? For as long as I can remember, an Ironman has always been on my bucket list. I've always been drawn to the sport, the challenge, and the ultimate triathlon distance. Because of a few personal factors, I knew that now was the time to just go for it and have my family by my side as I (hopefully) cross that finish line.

I am drawn to challenges and pushing myself to the limit, without them, I'm bored at lost. I'm beyond ecstatic to see what happens come race day.

5 lessons from Ironman training for any runner

1. FUEL! I don't care who you are, if you don't feel hungry, if you feel like you could run without it -- don't be a dummy. Fuel you pre-race, your race, and your post-race properly and your body will thank you (and so will your results).

2. PREVENTATIVE CARE! I learned this lesson the hard way, but if you don't do the proper warm-ups, cool downs, stretching, rolling, massaging, you will absolutely pay the price. This happened to me with my knee injury last season and it cost me some valuable training time. So don't be lazy, just roll your legs out.

3. SHIT HAPPENS! 10 days before Ironman Arizona, I fell during an easy recovery run, sprained my ankle on both sides and had to pull out of the race I had trained an entire year for. I was completely devastated and I may have literally run out of tears. Three plus months of physical therapy later, I am now training for IMCDA and feeling stronger than I did going into IMAZ. I have to believe that everything happens for a reason, so when shit happens, just know that it happens to everyone.

4. NEVER GIVE UP! When I started open water swimming, I didn't think I had anything to worry about. Little did I know that I actually had a terrible, non-sensical fear of open water swimming and had some pretty horrible open water panic attacks. While I still slightly battle with them today, the worst thing I could have done was given up. If you're afraid of something, keep at it. Keep trying. Keep working. Never give up. You'll get there...we all will.

5. IT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, IT'S HOW YOU HANDLE IT! This is a quote that my dad has told me my entire life and it's what has helped me through so much of my life. Bad runs, injuries and other less than ideal happening will occur. It's not a question of if, but when. But when they do happen, you have a choice in life. You can either dwell on it and let it consume you, or you can handle it with optimism, laughter, or whatever positive means necessary.

Get a double flat on your triple brick workout? Complain for a minute, then get it fixed. Have a bad long run? Get some rest then get back out there and try again. Sprain your ankle before the biggest race of your life? Take care of it then work even hard to go after your dreams.

It’s always inspiring to hear from someone with incredible speed that honestly says they worked for it! I know some have natural speed, but for those of us not gifted that way it’s good to know if we are willing to put in the effort great things can happen!
Did you mess the previous Runner Spotlights?
Pavement Runner with 5 Traits of a good Ultrarunner >>
Dani with 5 Tips for Weight Maintenance >>
Carly with a marathon debut of 3:20 >>

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Gratitude Journal
May 10
I am grateful for finding amazing new friends in unexpected places and knowing that even if we don’t see each other a lot we still have a great connection!

Puerto Rico Half Marathon - David’s Debut

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:50:43 PDT

David declared he was “one and done” at the finish line. I however have other plans for him, as in working with me so we can both hit a great PR when the weather cools down this winter. I’m pretty sure he’ll be excited about attempting this as well because who doesn’t want to cross the finish line with a shiny new PR while holding the hand of the one they love?!

SHORT STORY
David finished his first ever half marathon in the crazy heat after weeks of being on the road in 1:47! I bow down to his aweseomeness and truly could not be more proud. He followed the training advice I provided, he had the determination and he handles the heat like no bodies business…I’m wondering if he has sweat glands?!

I had a good race and finished in 1:52.

Pre-race and post-race…notice I look like I have been swimming and he is fresh as a daisy!
7th place age group for me, 23rd female overall and 8th place age group for David…can you tell the heat was killing everyone? 1500 participants.

EXPO
The expo as expected for a first year race was small. They did however have some great shirts which sold like hotcakes, so kudos to them on the designs! Additionally there were 5 speakers on Saturday, including myself, who took the stage for roughly 30 minutes to cover different topics like hitting the wall, nutrition and having your best race.
Great volunteers at the Expo helping everyone with packets and questions. Don’t worry about not speaking Spanish, that is not an issue for this race. They do a great job of announcing everything in both English and Spanish. They had one hiccup with running out of pins for bibs, but brought some to the start line so that was resolved!

THE RACE
The course had some great scenic parts and some less than wonderful parts.
Love the Spanish start line sign, did NOT love the temperature combined with the humidity.

START: 5:00 AM start time for the race accounts for it starting to get light out by mile 3. Unfortunately the first couple of miles had a number of areas where there were no street lights. I would recommend bringing a head lamp, though I think this is something they will likely resolve for next year.

They had Gatorade pre-fuel available, porta-potties and restrooms inside the Casino next to the convention center. I was able to go to the bathroom twice with no issues waiting in line. Impressive.

COURSE: After the dark patches the course was overall pretty good. Here are the highlights:

Rolling hills (none are huge)
Views of the water for last 4 miles (as shown below)
Great course support with water, ice chips, Gatorade
Porta-potties at each water stop << WHAT?! best I have ever seen at a race!!
GU provided twice for full and once for half

FINISH LINE: There was plenty of everything when we finished, but when Laura came buzzing in at the end of the full marathon there weren’t many spectators left at the finish and a lot of the food was gone. However with a finishing temperature around 90degrees, not much beyond a drink was going to hold much interest for most finishers.

Called out each finishers name
Finish line photographer
Post-race ice bath pools
Bagels, bananas, donuts, Gatorade bottles, Starbucks Refreshers, Pepsi
Post-race massage tables
Not much shade which prevents hanging out for very long
Excellent air conditioned medical tent (took a look as Laura got her scrapes cleaned up)

I really like the finisher’s shirt, but they only went down to a small so I probably won’t wear it a ton. The medal is also great! I’m not usually a huge bling seeker, but if you are the Puerto Rico Marathon needs to be on your list!

OVERALL: Puerto Rico is surprisingly cheap to get to and the hotels are really reasonable making this a great destination race. The downside is obviously the heat, so come prepared to enjoy the race rather than hit a PR in PR…ha! I am so clever sometimes.

LONG STORY
I trained with David to easily hit a 1:47, we both were secretly hoping for 1:45. Unfortunately I knew it wasn’t my day from mile 1 because my breathing was simply too hard for the beginning of a race. However, I dialed in to around an 8:15 based on our original plan and held that with David through about mile 7.

Suddenly I could tell he had a crazy energy spurt and was ready to push himself. He started to pull away and I made sure he knew that was ok with me, while in the back of my mind I was freaking out that he might crash and burn later. He did find that suddenly at mile 10 he had to slow it back down quite a bit because well he had 3 more miles to go. A 1:45 should be no problem for him next time.

After he pulled away, I started to evaluate how I was feeling and decided that since it would not be PR day I was going to slowly back down the pace and go for plan B. I moved off of the 8:15 pace to 8:45 until mile 10, where I knocked it further back to 9:30. This allowed me to get in a solid run with miles at pace and then recover so that I can work for my PR in June.

Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the stress of the move, maybe it was because my digestion is still out of whack. Who knows why it wasn’t my day, but it wasn’t. I was ok with it because I know what I did in training and thus will do.
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Gratitude Journal
May 9
I am grateful for a body that allows me to push and an ego that is growing enough to be ok with not always having my best day ever.

FitBloggin vs Healthy Living Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:30:50 PDT

One of the most frequently asked questions since speaking FitBloggin and Healthy Living Summit last year has been “which conference would you recommend?” I’m excited to say I will soon have Blend Retreat, FitSocial and FLBlogCon to add to the list, but for now here is a quick run down to help you decide.

If you aren’t sure why you’d attend a blogging conference here are 4 reasons that even long time bloggers should put one on their schedule and why meeting strangers isn’t as hard as you think.

LOCATION
Both change locations each year and do a great job of picking cities where you can enjoy things outside of the conference as well. Last year HLS was in Boston and Fitbloggin in Baltimore, both made for great running outings!
After our long training runs in Boston - Ashley, Mary, Meghann, Theo, Me, Anne. During the FitBloggin run Lindsay (that’s right even the founder of another event joins in these!), me and lots of people I can’t see everyone to tag.

This year HLS is in Twin Cities and FitBloggin in Portland.

FOOD
HLS won the food category hands down. I believe this is in part because HLS is attended by more food bloggers and thus it’s an extremely important component for the conference. Additionally, HLS is a shorter conference and doesn’t have to stretch the food budget quite as far.

HLS included a large morning breakfast spread created by one blogger using Wild Harvest ingredients, plus a number of dishes from Wild Harvest chefs. It was by far the best breakfast I’ve seen at any conference ever and since breakfast is my biggest meal of the day, this make me pretty darn happy! The hotel took the requested recipes and made the dishes exactly as requested. HLS Lunches then included a variety of options to fit nearly every dietary choice from paleo, to vegan, to gluten-free.

Fitbloggin lunches also provided a great variety, including salmon on Saturday! However the breakfast options were slim and I definitely heard mutterings from a number of folks that they simply weren’t satisfied. If you have any dietary restrictions plan to bring things with you or scout out nearby restaurants in advance.

Both conferences leave evening meals at your discretion (minus appetizers at opening mixers).

COST

Fitbloggin was $300 for two full days + an offsite event the day before + a 5K the day after
HLS was $100 for one full day + multiple events the day before + 5K the day after

FitBloggin - Offsite event included an amazing tour at the McCormmick facility with lots of information about healthy spices and a delicious meal.

HLS - Pre-events included lots of mingles to walk to Whole Foods, get ice cream, learn to take better photos. These all provided great opportunities to meet people in a smaller group and ensure you felt really comfortable once the conference began.

DRESS CODE
HLS and FitBloggin both have a cocktail night, but the HLS ladies really get decked out. It makes it feel like a very special evening and a celebration of friendship. Beyond those moments the rest of the weekend is largely spent in jeans or your workout clothes if attending the workouts!

Pre-dinner with Laura, mid-day with Jill (FitBloggin). Pre-workshop with Phyllis (HLS)

(HLS) Always time for silly at the photo booth and a group shot before the cocktail reception.

TOPICS
Both conferences contain a variety of speakers and panels on blogging tips. Clearly they both have good taste since I was invited to each! I kid, but really the topics are varied from how to blog local to blogging your weight loss journey. I can’t pick a winner in this category either, but will say HLS is probably more focused on how to GROW your blog and FitBloggin is more about how to ENJOY your blog (with ideas on money thrown in).

Checkout both sites from the images above for recaps of different topics. Both do a good job of live blogging and there are always lots of blog posts with recaps after so you can see how the topics unfold.

WORKOUTS
Both events have some great workouts planned which allow you to try different things and simply ENJOY being active. I would actually say it’s a tie on the total variety and types of workouts as both had bootcamps, Zumba and running events. The FitBloggin workouts were scattered throughout the day and thus had a little more participation than the early morning pre-conference workouts held by HLS.

Using the Cathe slides at FitBloggin and outdoor bootcamp at HLS.

WHO ATTENDS?
Is there a difference in who attends either conference? Well honestly yes there is. Neither is better in any way, they just offer different things.

FitBloggin was started by Roni Noone a weight loss blogger that has inspired a WHOLE lot of people. Therefore there is a very large contingent of people on their own weight loss journey from starting out to maintaining at this conference. It provides one of the most supportive atmospheres I’ve seen for people to share their stories and get pumped up to keep going even when it’s tough.

HLS was started by 6 large healthy living bloggers: Caitlin Boyle, HealthyTippingPoint.com; Jenna Weber, EatLiveRun.com; Meghann Anderson, MealsandMiles.com; Kath Younger, KathEats.com; Tina Haupert, CarrotsnCake.com. It seems to attract more food bloggers and a much younger crowd, including a number of college students, largely focused on getting better at blogging.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed both conferences, but for completely different reasons. I strongly recommend you attend any of the conferences out there for the great friendships and support. When trying to decide which one I hope this break down helps and I’ll be posting later this year after I attend the other 3 with another breakdown.

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Gratitude Journal
May 8
I am grateful for opportunities to connect with like minded folks from all over the world on the blog each day and then special opportunities to meet them in person throughout the year at races and events!

San Juan Puerto Rico

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:30:54 PDT

What comes to mind when you think of Puerto Rico? Perhaps crystal blue water, rice, beans, old forts, fish, beaches? I had zero expectations about what our trip would look like, but had seen a few pictures from Theo, Laura and Ashley’s trip there last month so I knew we’d enjoy ourselves, but I was nervous about food…hey race day priorities people!

Thanks to Yelp and Laura we found a variety of food options that allowed me to feel good and David to go to town! But of course all of that was really a sideshow to taking in the great vistas! A picture never quite does nature justice in my opinion, but I’ve tried to capture some of the great scenes.

From the El Morro Fort and from the plane…maybe I had my phone on after they said to turn it off…I’m such a rebel.One of the amazing views from hotel Caribe Hilton! The Hilton was the host hotel, so it was great to see all the runners hobbling around the pool and in to the ocean later in the day for recovery. Hot as it was everyone looked happy. We could have sat by the water for hours just listening to the waves crash on the rocks is so soothing!

The timing of our trip and my speaking engagement at the Expo didn’t allow us to do some of the day trips we thought looked interesting like hiking in the rainforest or kayaking in the bioluminescence, which was probably good for not over doing it, but we still ended up to walking a ton every day while exploring Old San Juan on Friday with Laura and Cornonado on Saturday.

One of the many towers in the fort built for protecting the island. I’m not usually a history buff, but this was really neat to see. The views from every side were phenomenal…I’m not sure in the US it would still be standing as this is prime real estate!Brick laid streets and brightly colored buildings caught me by surprise as they reminded me a lot of Italy. Meanwhile we always tend to get excited about kitties and this one was amusing as he was positioned in front of a cannon.
Now you’ve seen a few of the sites so here are some of the great places we enjoyed eating! All of the prices were extremely reasonable for getting such great fresh foods and the serving size made my tummy very happy.

St. Germaine had amazing fresh dishes that were really creative!
La Madre was on tap for Cinco De Mayo, but it was in no way your typical Mexican restaurant. It was Mexican with a twist…of some sort. I had a HUGE salad with avocado dressing and tilapia.
Somewhere in there was also a salmon burger from Punk Burger and a Falafel salad from Pure and Natural.

Eating out is really not something we do a lot of, but it wasn’t really an option here. I am SO GLAD we were able to experience a variety of small local restaurants because for once the eating out left me feeling good rather than weighed down and groggy!! Mind you it takes some hunting to find these off the beaten path places that aren’t serving the standard fried meat with rice and beans, but oh the flavors were well worth it. I won’t apologize for enjoying meals full of veggies or being a picky eater if it means my stomach doesn’t hurt!

Next up the actual race report…I have so many emotions about the day, mostly pride, that I wanted to take time to do it right. Hope you enjoyed our little tour of Puerto Rico! Have you ever been?
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Gratitude Journal
May 7
I am grateful for the opportunity to experience another new place and to have the added good fortune of doing it with David and friends.

Accountability Monday: Hotel Living and PT Check-In

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda RunToTheFinish) — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:22:00 PDT

While last week should have been all about focusing on Puerto Rico, it was largely about waiting for boxes, driving to Miami and checking out of our old place. In fact, I realized David and I have been in 6 different hotels in the last 4 weeks!

On the plus side someone else is doing the cleaning and you realize how few things you really need to get through your day. On the downside I am DYING for a green smoothie and some food not from a restaurant. We did our best to stock up where possible with fruits or veggies. And I can’t wait to share with you what I found in Puerto Rico! While the main cuisine might be fried, rice, and beans, we stumbled upon some great local eateries serving up amazing dishes with plenty of veggies.

As noted last week the goal was to keep it simple, flow with each day and not stress out…I have to say mission accomplished!

Life is full of surprises. It's best to just go with the flow.

I am so very grateful to be back to our new home today…even if it’s not unpacked yet! Thanks for all the well wishes on our move and the conversations on Facebook about it always make me laugh! I can’t believe how many of you have moved over 20 times in your life!!

Goal for the week: Rest. Recovery. This applies to my legs, my brain and most importantly my digestive system. I’ll be doing a detox from restaurant food and processed food!

Checkout the purpose of Accountability Monday’s>>
Want to participate? Fill out this form and I’ll be featuring people each week!

SUCCESS: Followed my plan to a T.
Goal for this week: Easy yoga -- going to take more rest this week than I have after any race and see what the results are!

Taper is so boring…thank goodness we had the move to keep me so busy I didn’t even notice!

Apr 29
AM: 3.25 mile easy run, 20 min walk, 20 min stretch
PM: 50 min walk

Apr 30
AM: 4 miles with 2 miles at 8min pace, 20 min walk
PM: Unpacking << that’s totally a workout!

May 1
AM: 50 min walk
All day unpacking
PM: 20 min elliptical, 10 min bike

May 2
AM: 3 miles easy, Drive to Miami

May 3
AM: Fly to Puerto Rico
PM: Long stroll around Old San Juan

May 4
AM: Speaking at expo! Short 20 min shake out run….4 miles walking (whoops)

May 5
AM: 13.1 Puerto Rico << Race report coming!

30 Days Stronger challenge links to the exercises in case you need a reminder>>
30 Days Stronger participant list >>

I’ve seen a number of #bestfoot tweets after you’ve completed your exercises! Check in today and let me know how it’s going.

Having trouble remembering to do them? Try setting a daily reminder around the time you watch a favorite TV show or put a note in your gym bag. For those who are on track and doing them daily, what other tips would you share to help someone else make it a habit?

Keep up the great pre-hab it’s so worth it! I know there are almost 100 of you determined to be stronger runners and I know that a little accountability is going to keep all of us on track! I certainly had to remind myself daily with all of the craziness around here, but it’s worth it because not a single thing hurts after the race besides a little muscle soreness.
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Gratitude Journal
May 6
I am grateful for the amazing opportunity we had this weekend to spend time together doing one of my favorite things!