Tag: linkup

Friday Five: What I Love About Spring

March 19, 2015 · 25 Comments ·

Happy Friday! After last week’s busy week in New Jersey and NYC for the NYC Half Marathon last Sunday, things have gone back to normal. I am linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. This week’s theme is “Spring”. Here are five things I love about Spring:

1. The weather is usually great during the Spring for running. It’s not too hot or too cold.

2. Love the flowers blossoming in the spring.

3. Love that it stays light out longer.

4. My birthday occurs in Spring. The pic below was from last year. 🙂

5. Spring Break. This was a lot nicer when I was in School, but my kiddo’s Spring Break is next week so it will be a great time to have some fun before I start work again in April.
What do you love about Spring? Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Be sure to check out the other blogs!

Friday Five: Day in the Life

March 12, 2015November 1, 2015 · 20 Comments ·

Happy Friday! I’m out of town and am excited for the race on Sunday. I will be heading to the NYC Half Expo today. But I am linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. This week’s theme is “Day in the Life”. Here are five things about my usual day.

1. After I wake up and I get to the kitchen, first thing I try to do is drink about 16 oz of water. There are so many benefits to drinking water in the morning.2. I go for a run or do a DVD workout.

3. I drink the healthiest meal of my day, Vegan Chocolate Shakeology. I usually drink it after I run or workout. 4. Help my eldest with his homework.

5. Do laundry. The laundry never ends….
What’s a part of your usual day? Hope you have a great weekend!

Be sure to check out the other blogs!

Friday Five: Favorites

March 5, 2015March 5, 2015 · 28 Comments ·

It’s Friday once again! I am linking up with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. This week’s theme is “Favorites”. Here are some of my favorite things:

1. Sushi – I didn’t always love sushi but I was missing out before. Sushi is yummy!2. Pizza – I’ve always loved pizza. It’s not the healthiest food but I’m loving MOD pizza. This is the Dillon James with added spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, chicken, and chicken sausage.

3. CogniTea – This tea is so good. It has a sweet taste and I don’t know what it is but it really seems to give me some added energy. I’m glad I got to try it after winning it in a giveaway. I’ll have to buy some more soon. 4. Brookside Dark Chocolate Crunchy Clusters – These make for a great dessert or guilty snack. I have too much of a sweet tooth lol.5. Quest Bars – These are great for a snack with lots of protein. I love the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor and usually heat it up a little bit in the microwave.

What are some of your favorite things right now?

Have a great weekend! Be sure to check out the other great blogs!

Friday Five: Free Friday

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 · 14 Comments ·

Happy Friday! I am linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to link up a post about five things on their theme or you can write five things about your own topic. This weeks theme is “Free Friday” so we can write about anything. I’ve chosen to write about five things that have been on my mind this week.

1. Have you heard of the Earthathon Relay? It’s not too late to join in on this fun virtual relay around the Earth. My team #RunderfulRunners is currently in third place and we’d love to add more runners to catch up to second place! 🙂

Earthathon was created by @GoRunHappy last year as a way to motivate others to exercise regularly. It’s picked up and for 2015, he set up ten teams to run a relay around the earth. The teams will combine and complete a total of 250,000 miles, which is the approximate distance to the moon. There will be ten teams but they are just a part of the bigger picture of “One Team, One Planet.” Once a team finishes their leg of the relay, they will help the other teams. When all teams have finished, they will have accomplished finishing a 250,000 mile relay. How cool is that?

All you need is a Twitter account. Learn more here http://earthathonrelay.com/.

Just log your runs/walks/hikes on this form after you sign up: http://earthathonrelay.com/run. The password is: run. We’re a fun, motivating and supportive group! Would love it if you’d join us! 🙂

2. Today’s the last workout (Friday Fight: Round 2) of the two month long program, Insanity Max:30. I can’t believe it’s the last day. It’s been tough and challenging but I’ve seen great improvement in my times. I like the concept of maxing out (the time when you have to take a break for the first time) and you’re pushing to beat your own time each week. It’s a great way to see how far you’ve gone. I feel more stronger and feel it’s helped with my endurance. I like this insane program and will continue to do workouts from it.

3. Saturday will be my first race of the year. I’m excited! I’ll be doing the Mommathon 5k race that’s being put on by my local Mom’s Run This Town group and Uberthons. I blogged about this race previously and it should be a fun one.

4. We bought Big Hero 6 from Target and this is a pic from the back of the case. It’s so cute! The kiddos and I loved the movie!

5. Some really big news, I recently got a job offer and will be starting work again in April. This will be a big change since I haven’t worked since my eldest son was born, six years ago. I’ll be going back to the tech company I had w0rked for previously and will be working a compressed work week schedule. It will be 12 hour shifts and I’d work three days a week every other week and four days the other weeks. The thing I’m not looking forward to is that it will be on night shift. I felt it was time to go back to work but we’ll see how the night shift goes. I used to work nights so I’m familiar with it. I still plan to do all my scheduled races and pace for Uberthons.

Have you ever worked a night shift? Any big weekend plans? Be sure to check out the other blogs in the linkup! Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday Five: Five Running Items I’m Loving Right Now

February 12, 2015February 15, 2015 · 33 Comments ·

It’s Friday the 13th! I am linking up once again with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for their Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to link up a post about five things or write on their own theme. This week’s theme is “Love”. So I decided to write about five running related items I’m loving right now.

1. Wireless Headphones. I love listening to music when I run and I am loving wireless headphones! I just got these a couple of weeks ago. I usually like to whip out my phone and take pictures and not having to deal with the headphone cord is AWESOME! I’m using the Yurbuds Liberty Wireless Secure Fit Earphones and they work great. They don’t fall out when I run. I tried a different brand’s headphones and they just kept falling out after a while. Yurbuds are still my go to brand. I was lucky these were on sale and my hubby had a gift card. Since I’ve tried wireless, I’m not going back.

2. Injinji Socks. I love these socks! I won a pair in a giveaway a long time ago and I keep going back to these socks when I run. I just bought a new pair a couple of days ago. I dunno, my feet are comfortable in toe socks. I like how they’re lightweight and I don’t get blisters using them.

3. Strava. I just recently started using this App that tracks running or other activities like cycling. It’s a great way to keep track of your runs and look at your running data. I love how the GPS seems to be more accurate than Runkeeper since I’ve compared it with my Garmin. While running it’s great because you can setup audio notifications for every mile or half mile. It also syncs with Instagram so you can see your pics associated with your runs. Another neat feature is that it compares the same distance runs you’ve ran in the same location, or matched runs as they call it, and you can see the data on a chart. Pretty cool!

4. Beachbody’s Results and Recovery Formula. I’m really loving taking this recovery drink, especially on the days I do double workouts, where I run and then do an Insanity Max:30 workout. I think it’s really helping with having less soreness. I like how it has the 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio and tastes like an orange creamsicle.

5. Race-Kred runner charms. I’m loving the Race-Kred 13.1 runner charm I got to review. It’s a cool reminder of my accomplishment of running a half marathon. Love how it looks on my shoe! Full review and giveaway coming soon. Stay tuned.

What running item are you loving right now? Hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Be sure to check out the other blogs in the linkup!

5 Things I Like About My Favorite City

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 · 26 Comments ·

Happy Friday!! I am linking up with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for the Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to Link up a post about five things or write on their theme. This week’s theme is 5 Things I Like About My Favorite City.

I would say my favorite city is Seattle. I grew up just north of the city and have had some great memories in Seattle. Here are five things I like about Seattle:

1. It’s a beautiful city, especially in the Summer. The skyline is gorgeous and distinguishable with the Space Needle and Mt. Rainer. This is the view from Kerry Park. I remember going to Kerry Park after my wedding for pictures…oh the memories.

2. There’s lots to do. You can watch the flying fish at Pike’s Place Market as well as shop the many other businesses there that include crafts and farmer market type goods. The first Starbucks is at Pike’s Place too. There’s also lots of restaurants to try. I like walking by the waterfront. The Great Wheel is along there and Ivars, a great Fish and Chips restaurant.

Photo taken by S. Hanks

This is by Ivars, the Fish and Chips restaurant where many people have fun feeding the seagulls. 2015/01/img_1943.jpg

3. Seattle is an active city. There are many parks and lots of races you can sign up for. I did the Hot Chocolate 5k and Seattle Rock’n’Roll Half marathon last year. My first half marathon was the Seattle Half Marathon in 2009. Other races I’ve done in the past in Seattle were the See Jane Run Half, St. Patrick’s Day Dash, and Seattle Jingle Bell Run.

4. Home of the Seattle Seahawks. Love the Seahawks! The Seahawks won the Superbowl last year and are currently in the playoffs this year. I can’t wait to watch the next game! I love the fan support. We went up to Seattle over the holidays and everyone seemed to have a jersey on, especially on game day. It’s awesome!! 2015/01/img_1946.jpg

5. My last favorite thing about Seattle is that it’s close to family and friends. It’s always great to visit family and friends.

I’m happy that I don’t live too far from Seattle. It’s only about a 3.5 hour drive.

What is your favorite city?

Be sure to check out the other great blogs!

Five Favorite Fall Foods

November 20, 2014November 20, 2014 · 24 Comments ·

This week’s Friday Five theme is Five Favorite Fall Foods. I’m not the greatest cook so I don’t have any recipes for the foods I’ve chosen. But here are five favorite foods I love to eat in the Fall. Moderation is key since they aren’t very healthy. 🙂

1. Pumpkin Pie. You know it’s Fall when Costco starts selling their Pumpkin Pies. I love their pumpkin pie and how cheap it is to buy. 2. Turkey. I love having turkey especially on Thanksgiving. 3. Apple Pie. Gotta love apple pie too! I love apples!

4. Stuffing. I love having stuffing during Thanksgiving. I don’t have stuffing very often so it’s definitely a favorite of mine on Thanksgiving.5. Pumpkin Spice Muffins. I was at Sweet Tomatoes and they had some really good pumpkin spice muffins. A new favorite for me.

Those are my five favorite Fall foods. What is your favorite Fall food?

I am linking up with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for the Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to Link up a post about 5 things or write on their theme. Check them out!