Fitness Friday: New Year, New Goals

It's that time of year again: time to reflect, assess, and set new goals. 

But first, I made a list of some of my favorite running moments from 2012:

1. Earning a half marathon PR 1:57:51
2. Running another half marathon with my husband
3. Serving as a ZOOMA ambassador
4. Meeting and running with Joan Benoit Samuelson
5. Participating in my first relay RTB:NH
6. Finishing 6 half marathons!
7. Running and races with my step daughters.

It's been a year full of amazing running experiences, but did I meet my goals? Time for a little 2012 analysis:

1. Keep running!! - I ran more than 850 miles this year!
2. Run a race every month (at least one) - I ran a race every month - 19 total
3. Continue to improve my blog - Completely biased, but I think it's #1
4. Add another New England state to the list of places I have run - I ran a couple of races in Massachusetts this year
5. Keep meeting new running friends - I'm so lucky to have met so many amazing people this year. I'm looking forward to many more runs with all of you!

Looking back on my highlights and goals reminds me that every accomplishment begins with the decision to try. So, here are my 2013 goals:

1. Set a new half marathon PR
2. Run in NYC 
3. Host a fun run
4. Run 1000 miles
5. Do strength exercises consistently

What do your goals look like?

TrainingTruths: It's Not Always Easy

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

The last week before Christmas vacation is always a little hard...kids are excited at school, there are sporting events to get to, and lots of preparation to do. Somehow, I was still able to get in three decent workouts and keep up with my strength exercises.

#TrainingTruths: It's not always easy or pretty, but always worth it.

Tuesday: Another cold and rainy day chased me inside to the treadmill. Did an  interval workout using one of my favorite RockMyRun playlists followed by my planks. I'm loving my Polar heart rate monitor and learning how many fat calories I actually burn during my workouts.

Thursday: Did an easy out and back 5 miler after school trying to beat the darkness. Learned later that it was actually the shortest day of the year (probably should've known that). I wore my fancy seasonal stockings because I was feeling festive and because I've been participating in I Have Run's Runnerd Photo-A-Day Challenge: Holiday Edition.

Saturday: Got up early on the first day of vacation to get in a long run. As much as I was looking forward to running an old favorite route, my body wasn't feeling it. Two long days leading into this run and I was feeling very out whack. No winter wonderland on this run, but we did stop and check out the gathering of birds.

Sunday: After completing my daily plank and strength exercises, I decided to do a walking workout using a new playlist from MotionTraxx. Once again, I enjoyed seeing the results of my workout on my Polar. I'm thinking of adding a goal to keep track of how many fat calories I'm burning each week/month. Does anyone else do this?

#TrainingTruths is not just about me. We all like to see what everyone else is doing and use that information to assess ourselves. It's not judgement. It's a way to share and learn and make changes when necessary.

To participate all you have to do is share your #TrainingTruths:

1. Tag a Twitter post with the hashtag #TrainingTruths
2. Comment on the Running Escapades Facebook page 
3. Leave a link to your own blog post in the comments

I look forward to reading your #TrainingTruths!

Have you joined the Chilly Challenge yet? Only 8 more days until we get started. Check out all the details here or skip right to the sign-up part and be sure to choose #TeamEscapades! Then go invite all your friends: more people = more miles!

Fitness Friday: PV.Body - Fitness Fashion Mania

If you know me at all, you know I love new workout clothes, but I don't like to spend a lot of money. About a month ago I read about pv.body. Basically it's a fitness outfit-of-the-month club. For a minimal monthly fee, pv.body will put together a high quality fitness outfit for you (based on the survey you complete on the website), and then send you a very pretty pink package like this! 

Now, pv.body is a new company that has seen an explosion of orders recently. Even though I hate waiting, I was willing to be my most patient self while they worked through what must have been an almost overwhelming yet extremely exciting event. Needless to say, after a long wait I was pretty happy to see what was inside.

My personal pv.body style profile is Epic Athlete and I love what they picked out for me. 

I first unwrapped the super cute Colosseum Fairisle Racerback tank in smoked pearl. My first observations were that it is super soft and nice-n-long just the way I like my tops.

In the second gift wrap, I found the Focus Capri in velvet blue from NUX. At first the bright blue color really jumped out at me, pushing on my comfort zone a little, but my anxiety was quickly assuaged when I saw how nice they looked with the tank top.

I'm thrilled with my new fitness fashion and I'm glad that I decided to wait out the growing pains that pv.body has been going through. After receiving an update call from customer service and being assured that they are working hard to get caught up, I have faith that they will deliver.

Have you ever tried a monthly subscription service?

What did you think?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Three Things

Today I have three things on my mind:

Yesterday, my friends at Simple Hydration released an awesome promotional video. This bottle is a little known secret that runners (like me) absolutely love. The fun part was that Simple Hydration asked customers (like me) to participate in the video. See if you can spot me:




Today, I find out if I made it into the New York City Half Marathon. Daisy and I put our names in the lottery back in November with the hopes that we will be taking a little road trip in March. 

Last night I read about a 5K that is being organized to help the families of the Sandy Hook tragedy. The event will take place in the spring, so until then I hope you will join the group and help me spread the word. 

What's on your mind today?

The Heart Doesn't Lie: Polar FT40 Review

When I first started running, I remember stepping onto the treadmill at my local YMCA and noticing the metal grips on the bar in front of me. After a few attempts, I figured out that if you grip the bar for about a minute you get a heart rate reading. I never knew the value of a heart rate monitor until now. 

Polar recently sent me the FT40 Heart Rate Monitor to try out and review. I have had no prior experience with HRMs, so this was my chance to learn the ins and outs of using one as well as what to do with the data it collected. 

Setting up the watch using the accompanied instruction booklet was simple. After personalizing the settings, there was an option to take a fitness test to determine my fitness level that I thought was pretty neat. All you have to do is lay down and relax for five minutes and the results are instant. 

Once you are ready to use the Polar HRM, moisten the electrodes on the strap then attach the connector by snapping it into place. The strap is worn around your chest just below the chest muscles. 

Being a data nerd, I love the information this monitor gives you. During the workout, the display can show your current heart rate, calories burned, or the time. You can also keep track of the effect of your training: fat burning or fitness. Afterwards you can see a summary of your workout.

If you are trying to lose weight, knowing your heart rate during exercise is important because you want to stay in the fat burning zone. You also want to know how many calories you are burning. I like that the Polar Heart Rate Monitor can tell you this information accurately. It's clear that my regular running watch merely estimates the number of calories I'm burning.

Overall, I like the the Polar Heart Rate Monitor. It is not a right-out-of-the-box and use it piece of gear. It does require some reading to figure out how the data is displayed on the watch during your workout, but it's manageable.

Do you use a HRM? What do you like most?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product to review without compensation as a FitFluential Ambassador. All opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”