Through Fitfluential, I’m excited to be part Under Armour’s What’s Beautiful Campaign. I wish I would have thought of this idea myself because it’s genius: to redefine the female athlete by encouraging women to set big goals, team up, and go after them in a big way.

(source)

My goal: To be a strong mom and good example for C. To show him it’s cool to have a mom who can do pull-ups! #IWILL

It may be pretty generic, but I think everyone’s definition of beautiful is different. I don’t necessarily believe I would be a failure if I didn’t complete 20 pull-ups. So I’m leaving this open so I can challenge myself along the way – see what I CAN do!

You can join my team, or another team, or set your own personal goal. Then go get it. There are amazing prizes being offered!

Check out this video to learn more about the campaign – it’s pretty inspiring! And then follow the hashtags #whatsbeautiful and #IWILL.

And tell me: What’s YOUR Beautiful?

Oh, and the winner of the Silver Spoon Awards Party tickets is……………..Mike T!! Congrats! Mike, email me your contact information by Friday at 5:00 so I can pass along your info to the powers that be.

Thanks to my amazing relationship with Fitfluential, I was offered the change to review the new Saucony Kinvara4′s.

To be honest, the last time I wore the Saucony brand was back when I ran the Pittsburgh and Cleveland marathons in 2010. So I wasn’t even sure how I would like them. I was even a little scared to try them – I was worried I wouldn’t like them!

But, from the packaging:

to the colors:

(they seriously glow.in.the.dark)

to walking and running:

and crossfitting:

………these have become my go-to shoes. They’re so light and fit my feet like a glove – so so so comfy! The heel insert was upgraded with this new model, which adds to the cushioning, which I LOVE. But my favorite part is that the material near the back of the heel doesn’t come up as high. That’s always one of my biggest complaints with running shoes. I love it!

Get excited because the Kinvara 4 release date is May 1st, 2013!

Do you wear Saucony? Which model is your favorite??

Saucony sent me the Kinvara4′s as part of my affiliation with Fitfluential. As always, all opinions are my own.

You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for the comments on yesterday’s post! I never meant it to sound like I didn’t like or believe in myself, it was just a random thought I had one day driving home from work. Our weaknesses give us something to work on every.damn.day. I hope to never stop trying to just be better.

So you know all those monthly box subscriptions that have been all the rage lately? I’ve tried Birchbox (which I still get!), Bulu Box (which I quickly unsubscribed from), and Stride Box (meh, more for runners training for a specific race).

I think they all have potential to be something awesome, so when I was offered a chance to try Kona Kase through Fitfluential I answered a quick YES!

And I am so so so pleased I did. I love the variety they provided – chocolate, shot bloks, energy bars, oh my!

This is the “health” box I’ve been waiting for. And I’m not just saying that. There’s something for everyone (runners, lifters, crossfitters, jazzercisers, cyclists, chocolate eaters, you name it)!

Here’s some information:

Fuel Your Active Lifestyle With A Monthly Box!

$15 per month

Cancel Anytime
Multi-Month Discounts
Free Shipping on all Kases

Do you belong to any monthly box subscriptions? Which one’s your favorite? Do you love Kona Kase as much as I do???

I was provided with one month of Kona Kase goodies for review through Fitfluential. However, all opinions are my own, as always!

When I was given the opportunity to review the new Saucony Virrata’s by Fitfluential, I jumped at the chance (duh, they’re running shoes!). Plus, I ran the Pittsburgh and Cleveland marathons in Saucony’s, so the brand has been good to me.

But I really wanted to try them because they’re a zero drop shoe, meaning there’s no lift under the heel. Typical of minimalist shoes, and not shoes that I’ve ever run in.

And they’re SO DAMN PRETTY!

I wore them to work the day after I got them (casual Friday!) and kind of fell in love with the fit and how light they are. It didn’t hurt that I got a ton of compliments on them either.

In theory, they’re supposed to help you land mid foot instead of on your heel (i.e. proper running form). But what really intrigued me is that even though there’s a zero drop, they still have foam cushioning underneath the foot, which is comparable to traditional running shoes. I never thought I’d be able to wear minimalist shoes, but these are the perfect shoe to give it a shot!

So far I’ve only run in them twice, and only for 3 miles each time. And to be honest, they were so light that it felt like I was flying on the treadmill! My calves were a little sore the day after the first run (probably because I was running mid foot!) but they’ve been fine ever since. They’re definitely great for my shorter runs, and I still want to try them on a speed work day. The weight (or lack there of) has to be awesome for speed work!

I’m grateful for the opportunity to try these shoes. I love expanding my knowledge and experience with everything, but especially running!

Do you wear different shoes for speed work vs. longer run days??

I was sent these shoes for review purposes by Saucony through my affiliation with Fitfluential. All opinions, as always, are my own.

This past Saturday I did the Warrior Dash.

And it was awesome.

So much fun in one place!

I was lucky enough to be able to attend this kick ass event courtesy of Fitfluential and Reebok so I quickly picked up my race packet so I could hit up the Reebok tent/Crossfit box.

I can’t tell you enough how nice the Reebok reps were (what up, Dan and Alena!!).

So friendly, welcoming, and personable! I heart nice people.

It’s really the little things that make my day and when they offered to hold my bag while I raced, my body let out this huge sigh of relief. I don’t know why, but bag check is something that always freaks me out. I do it as little as possible (probably only once or twice ever?). They were also total ballers and gifted me with a new pair of tennis shoes (separate post coming)!

Anyways, I wanted to be surprised as to what I’d be doing during the race so I didn’t really look into it too much beforehand. And I was so glad!

It was 3 miles of trail running, obstacle climbing, swimming (!), mud pit crawling, and fire jumping. Basically, 3 miles of awesomeness.

Of course, the last obstacle is the mud pit. You have to crawl under barbed wire through a mud pit. There’s no getting around it. You’re going to get dirty. It’s inevitable (I swear I still have dirt under my nails!).

I’m not much of a mud person so this was definitely the most challenging obstacle for me (give me climbing and fire jumping any day!). But I just sucked it up, took a deep breath, and dove in. You only live once, right?

The best thing about this race is that it really is for anyone. I placed 116/1307 in my age group, and I think that totally shows what a ride range of people there were: competitive racers, runners, walkers, people in costume, etc!!

Here are some tips if you’re going to do a Warrior Dash:

• Wear old tennis shoes that you don’t mind donating at the end of the race
• Bring flip flops for after
• Wear capris, or shorts that cover your knees – you will be crawling
• Bring lots and lots of towels for the ride home – I had one to sit on, one on my back, and a small towel for across my body where the seatbelt was!
• Bring extra water to wash your hands
• Bring a good attitude – it’s all about having FUN!!!

And then feel like a badass when you’re done.

Have you ever done a Warrior Dash, or something similar? Would you do it again?? Me? Hellzzzzzz yes!!

I was able to attend the Warrior Dash free courtesy of Fitfluential and Reebok, however all thoughts and opinions are all mine. I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity!

Fitfluential recently asked their ambassadors to make a Fitness Bucket List on Pinterest. I thought to myself “I can do that! Easy peasy.”

Hmmmm….yeah, right. It took a lot of thought (and time!) to make this list, but here it is:

Goofy Challenge

(source)

Cleveland’s 24 Hour Run at Edgewater

(source)

Learn to surf:

Go on a Cruise for Runners:

(source)

Boston (if I can’t run it, I at least want to go cheer and experience the amazingness!):

(source)

No words necessary:

(source)

This may be the only way I ever get my butt to California:

(source)

And the top 2 are…….

Become an Ironman:

(source)

And run a marathon with C!

The last two are HUGE goals and obviously it will be a few years before the last one is even possible, but these are all definitely doable.

What’s one thing on your fitness bucket list??