Thursday, April 11, 2013

New Crossfit Style Work-Out and Our Wedding Site!

So, with our long run on Monday night - I gave myself one day to recover (my legs were super sore) and yesterday I didn't really even want to think of running. I did want to get back into the gym though because I have made a promise to myself to exercise 5 times a week and cut down on those "oh so delicious" sugary treats until the wedding. (Bummer : )) I am doing this as a way to cut down stress but also to make sure I feel healthy and strong when I walk down the aisle. My body absolutely hates me when I eat processed sugar. Of course, I ignore it because it's delicious while I am eating it but I pay the price later by being really tired, gurgly and unfocused.

So! When I got to the gym, I decided to do a Crossfit style KettleBell workout. I didn't think it was going to be too bad but in actuality, it kicked my butt so I thought I would share in case anyone wants to try it!

You will need to have weights, jump rope, box you can step up on and access to a timer/clock.

5-10 minute stretch/warm up
1 minute Jump rope in between each set of 10
10 reps - Kettle Bell or weight deadlift
10 reps- KettleBell pull ups
10 reps- KettleBell Swings
10 reps- Upright Rows
10 reps- Kettle Bell Around the World
10- Push ups
Stretch/Cool Down

This is one round and then you do it again 2 more times but instead exchange the jump roping for 1 minute of box jumps during the 2nd round and for the 3rd round replace the box jumps with 1 minute of jumping jacks.

The whole circuit ended being about 45 minutes with roughly 20 minutes of high intensity cardio snuck in. I was a sweaty mess by the end of it.

Our Wedding Blog
 
So, what happens when you get 2 business and marketing people together to form a future family? A creative wedding blog, obviously. (Blogs everywhere!) Now that we have our venue and our engagement photos done, we feel that it's time to officially launch the wedding planning blog we created throught the Knot. We hope that it makes you laugh, cry and get pumped up to join us on our special day. Take a look and you can see our engagement video? Tee hee!
 
 
 
 




HUGE THANK YOU SHOUT OUT to Rachel Tokarski from Rachel Tokarski Photography. She did an absolutely stunning job and she got the photos edited and back to us so quickly! I love great friends and I can't wait to see what she does with the wedding!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

First Long Run of the Season and the Running Cult!

Good Morning!

It is a sore morning for me my lovely blog readers! Yesterday was a beautiful day in Charlotte -about 75 degrees and sunny. The weather and the active nature of Charlotte make me glad I moved here. There are times when I miss living in Pittsburgh a ton and so focusing on the lovely weather and young population in Charlotte makes it  a lot better!

Last night was a rare Monday night where my fiance was actually home and not working! So, we decided to make the most out of it and meet up with one of the local running clubs. They offered a 3.0 mile course or a 4.5 mile course. We decided on the 4.5 mile course and let me tell you, it was awesome! The course was through a nice neighborhood full of trees and other runners, people walking their dogs and riding their bikes plus they made sure to throw in some slight inclines and declines for good measure. The entire course actually ended up being about 5.2 miles for us according to my MapMyRun application because I may or may not have taken a wrong turn along the course and we went about 1/4 of a mile before we realized. OOPS : ) How is someone supposed to keep all those white arrows on the ground straight- I was rocking out to my 80's cardio station on Pandora - oh yes, that's right. There is an 80's cardio station on Pandora that I discovered last night has the most amazing mix of 80's songs to keep you motivated and dancing while you workout.


We held about a 9:30 pace through the whole run which is a bit slower than usual but for that long of a distance and it being the first long run - I was happy with that pace. We finished in about 50 minutes and afterwards everyone was supposed to meet up at a bar and grill up the street.























Now to the bulk of this post - last night I ran into members of the running cult! You know who they are - they are the people so obsessed with running that they can't wait to tell you about their next marathon. They run in snow, rain, ice and throw their personal safety and well being out the door to run, even through injuries and bad joints. They chug Gatorade and carboload before runs and laugh at your piddly 3.1 miles because tomorrow, they are running 17!

At the end of the course, everyone else that was there was wearing t-shirts from the marathons and half marathons they have finished, talking about their next big race. Making holier than thou statements about the top dollar places they get their running shoes. One man even saying "I hate Adidas - people go and buy those at Dicks Sporting Goods" with another man chiming in "Yea, why would you do that?" I chuckled in my head because the shoes on my feet were Adidas and I bought them at Dicks Sporting Goods last year. I chuckled because these "holier than thou" running people just finished the exact same course that I did in roughly the same time with their shoes that they obviously thought better than mine because I guess, they cost more? These people can discourage you but don't let them! I truly think, if you RUN then you are a RUNNER and it doesn't matter if  you run 2 miles or 26 miles. You don't need all the gizmos and gadgets or $350 shoes - you just need to run.


Now, don't get me wrong. I do think its important to have the right shoes if you are running consistently to protect your feet but at the end of the day, if you have fuel in your body, water in your hand and shoes on your feet that are right for you in shape, style, fit and price range. Just Run.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Wedding Venue Announcement and Weighing People at the Airport?

Hello all!

Today I have a very special announcement that I feel comfortable making since the deposit is made. We have chosen a wedding venue in Pittsburgh! After 3 feverishly fast days in Pittsburgh looking at 8 different venues, we have chosen to get married and have our reception at The Club at Shadow Lakes. This place is beautiful and can accomodate our ceremony and reception. It's not a very well known spot outside of the city but it came highly recomended by close, personal friends of ours who had their wedding there.


I am very excited, it was a no-brainer for Dwayne and I after we sat down with everything we had seen. I was very suprized at how many places will nickel and dime you for every little thing! One place even wanted to charge us per person for the ceremony seperate from the reception. I can definetly see how the charges for weddings can add up!  Shadow Lakes was the perfect blend of country club beauty and elegance with a great price since it was off the beaten path.

I am glad that the decision was easy and that we now know where we are going to have the happiest day of our lives!

Thinking about the wedding is also making me think about everyones travel accomodations. Some people will drive, some will fly, some are staying with family and some are staying in hotels. I read a very interesting article last night about Somoan Airlines - which is the first airline to imporse a ticket pricing system based on a persons total weight added to the flight (body weight + baggage.) Now of course, some people are threatening lawsuits because they think that it's discriminatory to have someone pay more because they weigh more but the Somoan regulations are trying to make some kind of impact on the obesity epidemic there. More than 80% of the population is considered obese or moribidly obese.

See the article here
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/airline-charges-weight-accused-discrimination-141000269.html

There have been inklings of things like this being put into place in other countries around the world. Even in the United States this has been talked about - the thought being that if you weight more, you make the aircraft utilize more fuel which costs more money for everyone. Now, I don't know that I believe that 10 pounds extra here or there really makes that much of a difference but the jury is still out on whether or not is legal or ethical to do this.

What do you think?