Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Monday Yoga January 31, 2011

Filed under: Friends,Workout — Kelocity @ 9:07 pm
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I’ve never really enjoyed Yoga. I’m not the ‘slow down, breathe deep and close your eyes’ type of girl. I prefer to go outside and run with loud music. It’s just who I am. Perhaps I’m naïve and don’t fully appreciate the peace that Yoga can bring to mind and body. I feel like I’m going to offend the blog world by admitting I Just. Don’t. Like. It. But there, I said it. I bought a three-class pass, and I still have one more left.

Tonight’s class was called ‘Shadow Yoga’. The description of the class is:

Shadow Yoga is a modern school of yoga rooted in classical Hatha yoga. This is a slow-moving class, exploring basic poses and breath work. It combines traditional yoga, martial arts and Ayurvedic healing. This class helps to release our "shadows" where we are blocked or stuck in emotional, energetic or behavioral patterns. This is an awesome class. Everyone welcome.

There was a lot of slow movements and long poses. It definitely loosened up some tight muscles I had, but I was pretty bored. It frustrates me. Instead of feeling strong and empowered, I feel weak and defeated because I can’t hold some of the poses everyone else can. Then my eyes just start wandering around the room waiting for inspiration to strike me. My favorite part was the last ten minutes. All the lights go out and we lay down in total darkness. It felt nice to lay down, close my eyes, and know that there is nothing else I had to do in those ten minutes. No guilt. No pressure. No to-do list. Just relaxing. That part was nice. Letting go of guilt is something we could all use.

I know, I’m a self-proclaimed Yoga Pessimist. All in all, this class really wasn’t for me, and it made me appreciate the Lo-Flo class from the other night. I might go back again and do that one soon. People tell me that the more you do Yoga, the more you like it. Maybe that’s the case, I’ll let you know if I change my mind after one more class.

The highlight of the evening was taking the class with two of my favorite People! Janet and Chely! It was so nice to see them all together again. We’re all Team in Training Alumni. Friends who run and do yoga together, stay together.

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In other news, I’ve been working on updating some of my pages within the blog. Check out the Traveling Gnome page!

 

Sunday Supper at Samba January 30, 2011

Filed under: Dining Out,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 8:37 pm
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It rained in LA today, and I loved every minute of it. We ran around and did a bunch of errands and then I cozied up on the couch and finished reading Meb’s book. I love reading about running, it inspires me. I can not people humans can run 4-minute miles. It boggles my mind. I recommend the book to runners, especially anyone who has done New York or Boston.

We decided to end the weekend with a bang and head to CityWalk for dinner tonight.
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Our dinner companions tonight were the fabulous Erika and Timmy. We both bought a coupon a while back for Samba and we have been dying to try it. It’s always fun to play ‘tourist’ for a night and walk around CityWalk.
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Samba is tucked in the back, behind the Hard Rock Café.
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It’s a Brazilian Steakhouse served buffet style. There are two parts, first, the unlimited salad bar, and second, fresh meat shaved off of a spit right onto your plate. But first… The Salad Bar!
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They had SO many amazing side dishes.
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Lots of different kinds of veggies, salads, sides and bread! Oh man, the bread had cheese baked into it. DELICIOUS!
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The staff walks around with all different types of meat, and if you want it, you put this card on the green side, and if you don’t, you flip it over to red.
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They had lamb, beef, chicken, steak, tri-tip all cooked with a different spice or seasoning. My favorite was the bacon-wrapped chicken. MMm!
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The décor was festive and modern. It was swanky yet casual. Very nice.
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In the middle of the meal, these Brazilian dancers came out and danced for a while. It was fun entertainment, I felt like I was at the Rio in Las Vegas.
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We ate SO much, it was a delicious meal. We went for a mile walk after dinner, I definitely needed that to digest. We’re lucky to have such great friends close by to enjoy these adventures with.
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I’m off to watch the new Hallmark Hall of Fame movie with Betty White! Have a great week!

 

Rainy Sunday Morning

Filed under: Food — Kelocity @ 10:43 am
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This morning, I woke up incredibly sore from yesterday’s workout. I’m really feeling it in my butt, calves and back! I spent some time on the floor with a foam roller and a tennis ball. Feels a little better, but I feel a migraine coming on from my stiff shoulders. Nothing a little Dunkin’s can’t cure!
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First thing, Irving and I set out on a walk to run some errands, coffee in hand!
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It felt great to get the blood circulating. I’m still a little nervous about my shin splints since I’m running a half marathon next Sunday! So I am just taking it easy until then in the hopes it heals a little before the race.
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Just as we were heading back home, it started to rain (I LOVE THE RAIN!) Today will be spent folding laundry, Costco and grocery shopping. Kathy Kaehler coined a phrase called ‘Sunday Setup’, and it means that every Sunday, you plan, shop and prep all your meals for the week. Irving got right to work on Sunday paper coupon cutting!
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And I plotted out our meals for the week. This makes it a little less daunting. We are planning our meals around other events we have planned this week, so hopefully it will keep us organized.
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I hope the rain keeps the crowds away from Costco today!

 

A Very Blogger Saturday January 29, 2011

Filed under: Blogging,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 7:48 pm
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After our exciting workout with Kathy Kaehler this morning, a few bloggers met at the Sagebrush Cantina for lunch!
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I didn’t feel like we worked out all that hard, but I was starving by the time we got there (and it was only 11:30am!)
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Some awesome conversation ensued. Topics ranged from running, to FoodBuzz, to blog hosting. It was such a great group and I was honored to dine with them. 
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Andy, the other ‘Boo’ of Two Boos who Eat joined us for lunch too!
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I soaked up some Vitamin D while I ate my amazing BLTA sandwich (Man, I love Avocado!) It was a fun, relaxing lunch.
It was 75* and sunny over here in LA today.

After Lunch, Sarah (SkinnyRunner) and I headed to Crumbs across the street!
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Man oh man, so many choices! They all looked amazing.
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I decided on the ‘Half-Baked’ flavor, which was a marble cake, buttercream frosting, and pieces of brownies and cookies on top!
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Once home, I split my prized possession with Irving.  Marriage is about compromise, right?
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When I cut it open, I realized they put icing all the way in the middle (Heaven!) I swear, someday I’m going to open up a Cupcake shop that only sells the tops of cupcakes (It’s all about the frosting, people!)
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The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning up the place, cooking dinner, and hanging out in my jammies. Hopefully we’ll start a movie soon and call it a night. Til tomorrow!

 

Blogging Event: Salonpas and Kathy Kaehler!

Filed under: Blogging,Workout — Kelocity @ 5:07 pm
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Today I was invited to join other Los Angeles bloggers for a “Be Fit and Pain Free in 2011”  event hosted by Kathy Kaehler and sponsored by Salonpas. 
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It was exciting to meet Kathy. She trains lots of celebrities (Julia Roberts, Kim Kardashian and Denise Richards).
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It was held in a private community up the valley. The area was gorgeous and there were lots of horses and dogs out and about. Once I got to the event, it was fun to meet the other bloggers and their guests. Lots of chatting and mingling. It’s so fun to meet new people. My guest was the lovely Erin. Thanks for coming, Erin!
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I got to hang out with Mrs. SkinnyRunner again!
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The room was set up with all kinds of basic workout equipment. Kathy wanted to teach us moves that we can easily do at home.
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Kathy Started off introducing the different stations of the circuit for the workout.
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We did 1 minute of each of these (x3):

  • Step Ups with High Knees
  • Bicep Curls with Bands
  • Chair Sits
  • Plank
  • High Step Ups
  • Tricep Dips
  • Trampoline Jumping (my favorite!)
  • Leg slides
  • Lateral Raises
  • Squats

Not only was it a nice workout, it was fun to socialize as we did it. Lots of inspiring bloggers out there!
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The Trampoline was the BEST! Kathy told us that jumping is one of the best ways to flush out your lymphatic system (so if you have a cold coming on, hit the trampoline!)
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Jump, Jump Jump! It was so fun to feel like a little kid!

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After the workout session, we gathered around to talk about blogging, fitness and over all healthy living.
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It was great to hear Kathy’s approach in regards to physical fitness. She emphasized that you only get one body. No trade-ins or replacements. It’s important to exercise and fuel our bodies properly to make them go the long haul. We also talked about the power of blogging and how great is to have a community of like-minded, supportive people to share ideas with.

For participating, we each got goodie bags filled with products to help in being Fit and Pain Free in 2011. Along with some of Kathy’s products, we got face masks, makeup, a giftcard and quite a few samples of Salonpas.
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The circuit workout today was low impact (which was great for my shin splints). It was refreshing to do a workout that didn’t include running. But when I got home, I whipped open one of the Salonpas packets. Each one contains three patches, so now I’m pretty well stocked (YES!) I slapped one right on that darn shin splint. It feels so good. It has menthol in it, so it’s cool and tingly a little bit. I also found out today that they contain a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug too, so a little bit of that gets into your body. It’s basically doing the job of a topical relief in addition to Advil.Maybe that’s why it works so well.
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I’ve had it on for almost two hours now and even while I’m typing this post, I can still feel it working. I think I might leave it there all day and see how it feels tonight when I stretch it out.

Thank you so much to Salonpas and Kathy for inviting me to the event. I had a great time. And now I have a bunch of brand new blogs to follow too!
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If you are looking for some new reads, check out these ladies:
-Amanda: Two Boos Who Eat
-Kaitlin: Kaitlin with Honey
-Rose: Eat Drink and Be Meiri
-Sarah: Skinny Runner
-Maryann: The Balanced Bean
-Caryn: Rockin Mama
-Alyssa: Mommy Warriors
-Lea: Healthy Coconut
-Monica: Run, Eat, Repeat

This great event was provided to us by Hisamitsu for purposes of providing a review.