Merry Shopping, Baby

I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need. I don't care about other presents underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own. More than you could ever know. Make my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is you.

You, Miss Saucony Aerospacer Hoodie, with your soft, fleece lining and DWR-coated exterior to block wind and rain.

I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need, and I don't care about other presents underneath the Christmas tree. I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace. Because hopefully my stockings aren't really stockings. Rather ProCompression socks that go Boom! instead of ho, ho, ho.

Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas day. My Soleus will do me just fine as I head out for my holiday miles. A race entry, though, to give my miles some purpose could make my heart sing just a bit.

I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is you.  I won't ask for much this Christmas; I won't even wish for snow (not that I ever would), and I just wanna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe.

Even though we're under the mistletoe, I just don't think my current capris, with holes near the seams will do. Maybe, dear Santa, I can don a pair of sassy tights and the flush of a good workout.

I won't make a list and send it to the North Pole for Saint Nick. Afterall, I heard Santa has email. I won't even stay awake to hear those magic reindeer click – mostly because I was up at 5 a.m. to get in a long run before the festivities.

But from my Gmail account, I sent a quick note telling his elfish assistant that I heard there might be a Cyber Monday deal over at the Mother Runner Store where I found this sweet baby.

Speaking of deals:

• FitBit Flex for $79.99 at Kohls.com. Save an extra 15 percent with code TURKEYTIME plus earn $15 in Kohl's cash. It's like getting the FitBit for $65. The Maui leggings are also two for $29.99 before the 15 percent off code.

• Nike clearance is an extra 25 percent off with the code GETOUTHERE. I grabbed a much needed pair of sassy, sassy Nike TR Fit training shoes. The style is all I wear for teaching class. For less than $60, I should have bought two pairs.

This post does not contain affiliate links but if you would like to support me, feel free to sign up for Ebates using my referral link. I will say that I earned more than $6 using ebates when purchasing my Nikes.

Spring Training: Week 5

Spring Training posts document my training for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon on March 30 and my "A" race, the Wisconsin Marathon half, on May 4.

The week, in training:

Monday: 4.1 miles, outside
Tuesday: 4.78 miles; outside
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: ZWOW 31 (a.m.) + 3-mile run (p.m.)
Friday: 5 miles, intervals; treadmill
Saturday: ZWOW 22 + TurboFire 30
Sunday: 9 miles, long; treadmill

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My inclination is to use this sentence to wax on about the complexities of the weather but as I've done that time and time again, I thought I would spare you. Rather I will say this: Mother Nature threw me for a loop last week. A real figging loop. We had two gloriously warm (for January) days followed by another Arctic blast. And when I say blast, I mean it - wind gusts of 30 mph and just pure blusteriness.

I'm pretty sure I just made that last word up. Go ahead Merriam Webster, add it.

Anyway, back to the running ... the weather really messed with my schedule. I had been running indoors during the week, allowing me to quality control my quality runs. I did hills and intervals with set limits that didn't allow me to quit. On the weekends, I head outdoors with Denali. It was what it was, and I was settling into the groove. Or at least I had gotten in the habit of sleeping in a sports bra and shorts so I could hit the treadmill by 5:30 a.m.

With shorts-worthy temperatures, though, I knew I couldn't pass up the chance to pound the pavement ... even if it meant ditching a scheduled hill workouts. Long-time readers, or maybe even new ones (waves hi), probably know that I can be a bit stringent when it comes to following a schedule and I can get down on myself if I miss quality workouts or cut them short. And you might expect me to go on about how I'm going to suck it at Run the Bluegrass for missing the workout. But I'm not. Not this time.

I'll go ahead and spare you the annoyance of asking why and tell you that I know that other areas of my training are helping with hill work - specifically lunges and deadlifts. Today, alone, I did 100 lunges as part of ZWOW 20.

Rather than get boring and pretend I know things I don't, I'll tell you that I engage my hamstrings when I run on an incline just as I do when I perform lunges and deadlifts. My butt, too. (For real info: Read this.)

It only seems advantageous then to strengthen those hamstrings when I'm hanging out with Zuzana or doing BODYPUMP to help prepare for the Lexington half in March. I am no expert but a month+ of RAW and too much time on YouTube have introduced to me a number of variations on those exercises. These are my favorite and, again not as an expert, I think it could be worthwhile to pick two or three, incorporating 3 sets of 12 in regular resistance workouts.

• Alternating backward lunges
• Reverse curtsy lunges
• Weighted lateral lunge
• Propulsion lunge (explosive movement helps to build power; cue to 3:10 for demonstration)
• Single-Leg Russian Deadlift (Zuzana likes to add a squat with it) 
• Single-Leg Deadlif to Shoulder Press

Just a quick note - if you do a traditional deadlift, stick your butt back as you tip at the waist. I've seen some pretty wonky ways to do it when I teach BODYPUMP. So wonky I can't even explain it.  I just don't understand why you don't want to show people what you got.

Happy training.

Spring into Training: Week 4

Spring Training posts document my training for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon on March 30 and my "A" race, the Wisconsin Marathon half, on May 4.

The week, in training:

Monday: 3 miles, treadmill
Tuesday: 5 miles tempo, treadmill
Wednesday: 45 minutes on the elliptical + RAW class
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 4 miles hilles, treadmill
Saturday: BODYPUMP
Sunday: 8 miles, long, outside

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Ladies and gents, I have something different and possibly fun for you today. I was feeling inspired by Theodora of Losing Weight in the City and her vlog this weekend that I thought I'd try one to recap this week's training.

Let me know in the comments if you liked this or never want to see my face on camera again :)

Happy Monday!

Dear Santa

It's not even Thanksgiving. Not even. And yet, at dinner on Friday, my mother-in-law requested that I give her - of all things - a Christmas list. A Christmas list!

OK. Let's end the charade. I'm not really aghast - in love is more like it. I have fantastic in-laws who love to give gifts and love even more to give gifts that people really want. While I might be busy planning the perfect cheese tray to take to my aunt's house on Thursday, I decided that I could be just as gracious and find the time to answer her plea.

It's easy for me to just throw out some running gear but this year I'm trying to be a bit more, well,  balanced with my requests.

Fitness

Yoga mat. When I first tried yoga (thanks, Crunch DVD), I picked up a basic mat at Target. It was nothing special and it did the job. Until I left it on the basement floor for longer than I should of. Given that we do get some water there with a big storm, the yoga mat became soaked and smelly. I tried to rinse it but abandoned the task fairly quickly, deciding it would be easier to just get a new mat. I'm not very snobby when it comes to mats - I'm not hitting up hot vinyasa classes regularly - and like the printed Gaiam mats, the Flower of Life mat in particular.

Even if you already have a mat, a second one is nice to keep in your car for a spontaneous Piloxing class or Pilates session.

Tanks. Winter is near, and everyone is talking about base layers and half-zips. While I'm not against those things - and require them for outdoor runs - my mind is on tanks. Since I began teaching BODYPUMP, my desire for more fashionable tops has skyrocketed.

I am partial to the R-Gear Shades of Gray ($34.99), lululemon Back Burner Tank ($58) and the handful tank ($48). I won a handful tank via the Body Glide Facebook page, and I loved that the padded top meant I didn't have to wear a sports bra. It does run a tad big - I got a small and could have maybe squeezed in an extra small - but found it to be cute and functional.

While it's not a tank, I'd also like a shirt from the another mother runner store.

Stocking stuffers. The moment I saw it I knew I was in love.

The 'Twas the Night Before the Race mug is big enough to wake my butt up after a 5 a.m. alarm and cute enough to keep me motivated to run all winter long.

Other little things that are always good: Asics or Feetures socks (the only ones that my second toe can't poke a whole through), BIC Bands (I have one that has seen better days) and Yurbuds (as I'm taking to listening to podcasts on my lunch runs).

Beauty + Fashion

I am not the most fashion, beauty-centric gal but there's a few things that I'm antsy to put into my drawers.

Boscia B.B. Cream. I first fell in love with this stuff when I got it in a Birchbox, and it's a great moisturizer-makeup product that evens skin tone and offers SPF protection without being a foundation. It's pricey ($38), which is why it's a great gift - something you want but wouldn't buy for yourself.

Aveda Hand Relief. The minute the mercury dips below 50, my hands become dry, red and cracked. The hand relief from Aveda is the only product that offers help without being greasy. Bonus: It now comes in a Rosemary Mint scent.

TOMS. It's quite possible that a pair of TOMS shouldn't be listed under fashion but I got a pair for my birthday and love them. If someone ever tries to take these away, I will kick them in the face. I really like the Grey Pop Cords for winter.

In a similar vain, my boss wore moccasins today and they are uber cute. Pretty sure I'd rock a pair like these all winter.

Kitchen

My husband meant well but for our first Christmas as a married couple, he gave me a blender. A BLENDER. Astounding, I know. Even more so that we are still married. I have matured since then and now welcome kitchen gadgets and accessories as gifts.

Rice cooker. I am trying to eat more brown rice these days, and it's a pain to cook. It takes too long to do it after work and I sometimes forget to do it in the morning. I'd love one that I could set and forget.

Whisk. It's dumb. Really dumb. Except the only whisk I have belongs to my Cuisinart hand blender, and I don't want to fig it up just so I can scramble some eggs. I also know that I can easily buy one but I always forget and/or hate to add that much more to my already high Target bill.

Giant muffin tin. Is an explanation needed? Muffins are great, giant muffins are greater. (P.S. I'd also like to make egg muffins/patties for me to freeze.)

What's on your list this year? Any suggestions for my in-laws?