Workout of the Week

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Colleen Lerro

Last week I wrapped up week 2 of my half marathon training program. I’m putting it in the books as another successful week and am really starting to feel like my fitness is coming back.

I got in a little more than 40 miles, although technically my long run didn’t happen until this week, I’m still going to count it for the last one! It was supposed to happen on Sunday, but my bachlorette party was also over the weekend and well, let’s just say I didn’t really feel up to running long on Sunday!

My runs this week took me through D.C. in the early morning, along some running trails I haven’t hit up in awhile and by the waterfront in Hoboken featuring stunning views of the NYC Skyline, so needless to say there was a bit of competition for my favorite workout this week.

Hands down it was my lone speed workout of the week, which took place after work on Wednesday. I made an unfortunate decision to sleep in that morning instead of going to the track. I set up a workout of 400 yard repeats with 400 yard recovery jogs in my Garmin and watched anxiously as I waited for the clock to hit five and saw the skies turning increasingly gray!

It was just sprinkling when I set out for the trail though that leads from the office to my apartment. After roughly a mile warm-up I started my repeats. As I progressed though, so did the rain until it was monsooning and I was getting pelted with rain. It might be the hardest rain I’ve ever run through. My clothes were drenched and my shoes were sloshing with water.

For some reason though I could not stop smiling. Everyone else on the trail was so friendly and seemed to be having the same experience as me – well except for the bikers, they seemed pretty grumpy. There were high fives, laughs and smiles exchanged and jokes yelled out about what a beautiful day it was to run as I passed others along the trail. It was a blast.

I questioned my sanity a bit more when I finished my repeats and got ready to do the roughly 2 mile cool down that would take me the rest of the way home – ALL UPHILL. Fortunately the rain had let up by then and I was able to stop by the Iwo Jima water fountain for a quick sip before the last push.

When I do the speed workouts on a trail on my Garmin, I don’t see the split times as I go along. Instead, I listen for my watch to signal the start and end of each repeat and don’t get to see how long each took me until I finish. I was really pumped with my times and very glad I didn’t resort to a treadmill because I would not have pushed that hard. I was mostly consistent with just a few slow ones in there, but given the rain and the not completely flat terrain I wasn’t worried about them. It was one heck of a workout!

Do you like running in the rain? What was your favorite workout last week?

NYC Marathon Fun – Volunteering at Mile 22

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I headed up to NYC this past weekend to give a little back to the sport that gives me so much. I signed up to volunteer at the 22 mile water stop for the NYC Marathon with a bunch of my Oiselle teammates. After a fun Saturday in Hoboken visiting my brother and his fiancée, I was up bright and early Sunday morning to make my way into the city.

As usual, I had a bit of trouble figuring out the Subway system, but was able to take a fairly quick cab ride to my volunteer spot. I checked in, got a poncho and plastic gloves and met up with the other Oiselle ladies volunteering there. Most of them I only knew through twitter, so it was very fun to meet them in person, and not surprisingly they were all awesome.

We got a quick orientation from the volunteer leader. It’s amazing the things you don’t realize that go into race day. He went over set up and what to expect once things got rolling. Safety was the emphasis. He pointed out the closest medical tent, then talked about how to form a safety circle around a runner if someone were to drop, and asked anyone who was CPR certified to raise their hands. After thanking us all, we were off to work.

I helped fill up water cups and stack them three rows high across the table to get ready for the onslaught of runners. After that, I enjoyed my front row seat to one incredibly cool marathon experience. The Marine Corps Marathon, which boasts finishers in the low 20,000s each year has always seemed HUGE to me. On Sunday, more than 50,000 runners set out to take on the five boroughs of NYC. Wow.

The wheelchair and handcycle divisions came through first. I don’t usually see most of these racers after they take off, but wow they are impressive. Soon the elite women were making their way through mile 22. It was so cool to see the pace trucks coming and know the first runners were right behind them.

These women were amazingly fierce and fast. It was so cool to see. I still can’t believe Priscah Jeptoo came away with the win – what a finish!

Also, I want her abs!

Not long after, another pace truck was coming through and we saw the elite men. Getting to see Geoffrey Mutai fly by up close on his way to his second straight NYCM victory was awesome. I couldn’t wait to see Meb come by, but of course had just put my camera away when he did, so I don’t have a shot of him. I know he didn’t have the race he wanted, but it was still so cool to see him and he is such an inspiration!

Soon the everyday runners started pouring through and just kept coming and coming. There were so many volunteers and I was near the back, so I didn’t actually hand out that many cups of water.

Still getting to cheer these runners on and see the determination and pain in their faces (or limps) as they passed us with four miles to go made for a great day. I yelled out for the runners who had names written on their shirts, cheered like crazy for random strangers and tried to pick people I knew running out of the crowd. So. Much. Fun.

Congrats to everyone who raced NYCM Sunday! You are all amazing!

Footprints: Monday Recap

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Last week was unfortunately not a great week of training. With travel, unexpected extra work at the office and the snooze button defeating me a couple mornings, I didn’t get as much in as I wanted. My long run is on tap for tomorrow though, so I’m not completely giving up on it!

Here’s the day by day breakdown of my less than stellar week:

Monday: 3 miles easy in the AM followed by a great track workout. I ran 6X800s with a 3-minute jog recovery in between each repeat. My splits came in at 3:24, 3:19, 3:21, 3:19, 3:19, 3:18. Thanks to the Labor Day holiday I also got a mid-morning Body Ride in at Revolve.

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 5.3 mile progressively faster, hilly run.

Thursday: Rest Day

I’ve been wearing my new Oiselle Flyte tank for way too many of my workouts! Thank goodness for in-unit laundry finally!

Friday: Rest/Travel Day

Saturday: 6.6 mile slow, sluggish run in the heat and humidity in Minnesota. Of course the weekend it finally cools down in D.C., it’s hot and humid in the midwest.

Sunday: 4 miles hard and fast around a lake in Minnesota with 4 striders at the end.

Finally…A FitBloggin’13 Recap Part 3: Touristy Stuff

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

My first two FitBloggin recaps were all about the event, so my last recap is more about the fun, touristy stuff Ian and I did while in Portland. Neither of us had ever been so we were looking forward to the trip. I really enjoyed the city although we unfortunately brought the D.C. heat and humidity with us as the temps never dropped below 95 while we were there, so that made walking around the city a bit uncomfortable. My runs around the city as I mentioned were all beautiful – the numerous bridges were very cool.

The only thing that surprised me negatively about the city was the sheer amount of panhandlers and how young so many of them looked. Ian took a short, 8-block walk while I was at a session and was asked for a dollar by 25 people. It felt worse than walking around New York City even in the touristy sections. It really caught me off guard.

Back to the positives… I loved the restaurants. One of my favorites was a haunted pizza place we went to twice called Old Town Pizzeria and Brewery. We enjoyed some great pizza and beers. Check out the full recap over on Ian’s blog.

We also hit up a semi-permanent food truck village where I enjoyed a pretty amazing grilled cheese sandwich and a coke! There was so much variety though, you could choose any kind of food you wanted.

Yet another great spot we went to was a bit more upscale – an Italian restaurant called Mama Mia. I ordered gnocci and left there so full I could barely walk home. It was that kind of food that’s so delicious you just can’t stop eating even though your stomach is ready to burst.

I also loved Brunch Box – another spot we hit up twice – yea we ate a lot! It was a relatively new restaurant that got its start as a food truck. One of the dishes they’re quickly becoming famous for is a burger with two grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun. With all the other food I’d eaten that weekend I couldn’t quite bring myself to try that, but I had a great bagel sandwich for breakfast on our first trip and an amazing buffalo chicken sandwich the next day for lunch!

As I keep writing this I’m starting to realize just how much I ate while I was there!! Good thing I was doing three workouts a day! To keep the food theme rolling, everyone said we had to stop at VooDoo Doughnuts while we were there. Apparently everyone else heard the same thing as we trekked over there four times before finally catching it with a short enough line to be worth waiting in the close to 100-degree heat for. They have some awesome doughnuts to choose from and I went with the “Old Dirty Bastard” – yeast doughnut, chocolate frosting, Oreos and peanut butter…so worth all the effort!

Just in case you’re wondering we did a few other things than just eat while we were there! We tried to go to the Oregon History Museum, but it was a bit pricey and only open for another 45 minutes, so we sat in the lobby for a bit pretending to decide whether or not to buy a ticket while we soaked in the AC before venturing back into the heat wave. We also wandered around the Nike store next door to our hotel and took advantage of Portland’s lack of sales tax! We walked around the famous Powell’s bookstore – the largest used and new bookstore in the world. It was a nice bookstore, but again we were really just more thankful for some AC and a break from the heat.

It was a great few days and I’d be happy to visit Portland again some day!

Finally…A FitBloggin’13 Recap! Part 2

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Yesterday I finally posted my first recap from FitBloggin’13, which I attended in Portland at the end of June. That recap looked at the great workouts we did throughout the weekend, today’s looks at the discussions, sessions and workshops.

Opening Welcome Mixer

The Discussions:
There were all sorts of sessions planned for the conference and a few of them were more geared towards group discussion rather than presentation and learning.

One of my favorites was Motivating Your Community to Choose Healthy Lifestyles. We talked about how to create a group that is welcoming, encouraging and inspiring – not one that feels like a clique. Some had really great stories to share about their experiences making a difference and promoting healthier living in their offices, their local schools or even just their families. It was really great to hear about all these people making a difference and see that you don’t have to change the world to make a difference – you can start small and you never know how much of an impact you might end up having.

Another interesting discussion was Tackling the Taboo of Therapy: The Importance of Mental and Emotional Health. Too many people don’t seek mental help until they hit rock bottom – don’t wait was the message of this discussion. I was amazed to hear that one in four adults in any given year qualify for some type of diagnosis such as a mood disorder. We also talked about the physical effects of stress, learning not to worry about things you can’t control and remembering it’s OK to take time for yourself and take care of yourself.

Moving on to the Education Sessions:

The most beneficial part of FitBloggin’13 for me was the education sessions and workshops. I took away so much valuable info and loved learning from fellow bloggers, many of whom were once in the same place I am now.

I really enjoyed the session on Photography for Blogging: Tech, Art, and Heart. Amanda Duran of Grow Soul Beautiful talked about the tech side of things like choosing the right aperture, shutter speed and ISO to take the best picture possible as well as what kind of camera is right for you and how to choose lenses for more advanced cameras. She gave some great tips on lighting, creative apps and backing your photos up, but my favorite piece of advice she gave was the best camera you can have is the one you’ll use. She also encouraged everyone to do something with their photos. I’ve always been a big proponent of actually using all of the digital photos I take rather than letting them rot on a memory card whether it’s printing them out, making a photobook, getting a digital photo frame or something else.

I went to another session on Google Analytics: Moving Beyond Pageviews that proved to be extremely helpful. You can check out the presentation here. I thought I had a good idea about how Google Analytics worked, but quickly realized I have a lot to learn. The Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) session, Building Your Blog Through Organic SEO, Social Signals and Image Optimization, was equally helpful. We learned about Google’s Panda and Penguin updates that have really changed how SEO works and are starting to make quality of content more important to your Google ranking. I also learned that I need to stop neglecting Google+ (not surprisingly) if I want to create the biggest impact possible.

Last, but not least were my two favorite sessions. In Turning Your Blog Into A Business: Key to Monetizing Your Work, I learned a lot about how to actually monetize your blog. While my main takeaway was, I better not quit my day job, I got some really helpful tips about advertising networks, direct ad sales, affiliate marketing and more. The presenters also talked about leveraging partnerships with local businesses and focusing on building a brand based around your interests and experiences. I was actually in charge of writing a recap on FitBloggin’s site for the workshop: How to Create a Media Kit that Showcases Your Brand and Gets Companies Knocking on Your Door. The three presenters shared the successes they’ve had with their media kits and detailed the logistics of creating ones, how to know what you’re worth and how to market yourself. Really interesting stuff.

Not to be Forgotten, The Receptions:

While I was really excited to go to FitBloggin, I was also super nervous. I didn’t know anyone there and I hate usually HATE networking receptions. After five minutes at the Opening Welcome Mixer, all my nerves had disappeared – this was an awesome, open and welcoming group. I started out introducing myself to others at the badge decorating table while I blinged out my badge with some stickers…yes, that’s the extent of my art talent. Next I wandered around to several tables meeting more cool bloggers while trying to complete a bit of a scavenger hunt. Then came the ice breaker games that I used to dread. I have to say, theirs were pretty cool though. The evening culminated in a dance off party that had me laughing and feeling completely comfortable with this huge group of bloggers. Kudos to the organizers on this!

Closing Reception

More to come in Part 3 on playing tourist in Portland!

Finally…A FitBloggin’13 Recap! Part 1

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I’ve been promising this recap since getting back from my first FitBloggin conference in late June/early July and it’s finally here. I’ve been so busy lately and I wanted to make sure I really did this post justice since I not only had a blast at FitBloggin’13, but thought it was an incredible learning experience too!

First up, The Workouts:

What would a conference for a bunch of fitness-fanatic bloggers be without awesome workouts? Roni Noone, the creator of FitBloggin, and team did not disappoint.

On day one I was up before the sun for an early bird bootcamp workout in Pioneer Square, known as Portland’s living room, just outside our hotel. Being a former boot camp instructor I love taking these classes. Erin Kreitz Shirey was our instructor and she did a fantastic job keeping the energy level high and the workout intense for the huge turnout. I was impressed by how many people made it up for the workout. We ran stairs, did burpees, push-ups, frog jumps, planks and more. It was a fun, challenging workout that was a perfect way to kick things off. As an added bonus, a local TV station films their morning show in the square and after coming out to see what we were up to invited us all in for a tour of the studio after our workout. So cool!

After a short tempo run I was back to try out a Reebok Cardio Dance class. I rarely take dance type classes. I’ve always been a pretty coordinated athlete, but when it comes to dance that goes out the window. I stationed myself in the back of the room and hoped it would’t be too awful. I ended up really enjoying things. Patricia Moreno, our instructor, led us through all sorts of moves that had my heart pumping and left me all kinds of sweaty. She also had us repeating positive mantras throughout the class. This sounds super corny, but it actually was pretty cool and left both my mind and body feeling stronger at the end of class.

Getting ready for Reebok Cardio Dance!

Day two began with another early bird workout for me. On tap for today was SweatPink yoga led by Fit Approach co-founder Jamie. As a SweatPink ambassador I was thrilled to get to see the awesome ladies who started it. I’m the first to admit I don’t do enough yoga and there are a lot of classes I don’t like. This class was my favorite kind of yoga class though. It was fast-paced, challenging and felt like a good workout. A lot of people who have also done pilates classes said it was more similar to those kinds of classes. I loved it.

After squeezing in a 5-miler around Portland I hustled back for my next group workout of day 2. It was the one I’d been really looking forward to: Fitness Trampoline class! Yes, you read that right. This class was so intense as we got our heart rates up bouncing on the mini trampolines while performing all sorts of cardio moves alternating with some really tough strength moves on the floor or leaning on the trampoline like push-ups into planks. It was a really tough workout yet I couldn’t stop smiling the whole class!

There was a group run on the last day, but I somehow managed to get myself up super early and was just wrapping up my 2-hour long run as they were getting started so I unfortunately missed out on that. I did beat the heat though since I went and brought the D.C. heat and humidity with me and took in some beautiful scenery running along the water and over some or Portland’s bridges.

More to come in Part 2 on the great discussions and workshops that I learned so much from!

Engaged!

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I’ve been neglecting my blog yet again, but for real this time hope to get back on track with my regular posts. I do have some pretty exciting news to share too! Ian and I got engaged last week!

I flew home from a great, but exhausting work trip to San Diego Thursday evening. Ian picked me up at the airport with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He had actually told me he was getting me flowers to welcome me home though, so I didn’t suspect a thing.

Beautiful Flowers!

We had a whole date night planned after dropping my bags at home, but before we could leave the apartment he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!! I was so excited I could barely get any words out, but of course said YES! He gave me the most beautiful ring that is just perfect for me and a big hug!

The Ring!

After excitedly calling our families – who all had known this was coming for the past week – and posting to Facebook/Twitter to let everyone else know, we decided to bag our initial dinner plans and walked up to Fireworks, one of our favorite spots in Court House. They even gave us some complimentary champagne to celebrate!

Celebratory Toast at Fireworks

It’s more than a week later and I still can’t stop smiling. I could not be more excited and I can’t wait to get to marry the love of my life on October 18, 2014!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

This was a pretty hectic week but a great training one. I started off Monday getting in my long run I missed during the previous week and ended the week at FitBloggin’13 in Portland fitting in 6 workouts in 2 days! I had so much fun and wish I could do this every weekend!

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Monday was really hot but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get my long run in early so instead I went during the hottest times of the day splitting my runs into 2 1-hour stints at lunch and just after work. I got 6.5 miles in around Hains Point during lunch and looped the opposite way plus over the Memorial Bridge back home for 7 miles after work.

Tuesday: Tonight I ran a 5k put on by the DC Road Runners. Check out the full recap.

Wednesday: Rest Day – although since it was moving day I think I got in a fair amount of cross training with all the lifting and walking up and down stairs I did in 90+ degree heat.

Thursday: Travel Day – flew out to Portland.

Friday: I started off with an early morning boot camp class, then hit the streets of Portland for a 20-minute tempo run and rushed back to the hotel for a Reebok cardio dance class…my kind of day!

Saturday: It was another early morning with some 6 a.m. SweatPink yoga, a 5-mile run along the water and a trampoline fitness class! Can you tell I enjoyed this one???

Sunday: I woke up bright and early one more time – staying on east coast time really helped me this weekend – and got in a 2 hour long run looping around the Portland waterfront area and bridges.

Trailblazing Through Saturday at FitBloggin Portland

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

It was another crazy busy, but awesome day at FitBloggin. I’m so glad I came out to Portland for this conference – it was even better than I could have hoped for! Like I said in yesterday’s post, I’ll get fuller, more in-depth recap posts up soon, but here’s a quick recap of my Saturday here.

My alarm went off bright and early again, and I was off to SweatPink yoga. It was one of the best yoga classes I’ve taken in a long time. I rushed off to squeeze a 5-miler along the water in so I could get back in time for my fitness trampoline class. Yes, you read that right. So. Much. Fun!

I needed to refuel after getting all of that in by 9 a.m., so I made my way by the Got Chocolate Milk booth in the expo…

We hit up a food truck area for lunch and then the afternoon was packed with some really great info-filled sessions. I went to a workshop on creating media kits, followed by a session on photography for blogging and finally a google analytics session. My brain is in serious overload. I learned so much. The people here are amazing. I can’t say enough about it.

We officially wrap things up in the morning with a fun run and goodbye breakfast. It’s going to be hard to leave!

Ready for a Break!

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, life has been a bit hectic lately. While I do love being busy, I headed off for vacation in Portland today and was so ready for it! I’ll be spending my first couple days at FitBloggin, which I’m so excited for, and then Ian and I will have another couple days to just relax and play tourist.

Around this time last night, I wasn’t so sure we were going to make it. We started moving into our new apartment after I got out of work Wednesday – because who wouldn’t think it’s a great idea to try to fit in a move in one evening the night before trying to catch a 7 a.m. flight?! (Looking in a mirror, shaking head at self disappointingly.)

Ian got up to the new place before I got out of work to let the bed delivery folks from Mattress Warehouse in. They were less than awesome, but at least he managed to get them to still bring it after a bit of a battle. He had our Zip Van ready to go at the loading dock when I got home and we started piling things in. Of course it was over 90 degrees out and raining on and off, because why not?

I was re-engergized when we dropped off the first load of stuff and I got to see the place. I never actually got to see our unit when we toured there because they were completely remodeling it before we moved in, so we saw a similar style, but smaller unit. I am so incredibly excited about the new place and can’t wait to get all settled in there when we get back from Portland.

Next up we headed into D.C. to pick up a coffee table and TV stand I found on craigslist because we already had the van, so why not fit one more thing into our night? Next up was a return to our old place to drop off the coffee table, which is actually staying there as we’re renting it out furnished, and pick up a few more pieces of furniture. We drove back to the new place and took a quick break for dinner at California Tortilla before unloading the last few things. Just after 10 we decided to call it a night and go bring the Zip Van back before returning for one last night in our old place. I still had laundry and packing to do and was running on just a couple hours sleep so I’d had enough.

Unfortunately the universe didn’t think I’d had quite enough yet and we walked out to find our Zip Van was GONE! It had been towed. Not going to lie – I was a bit upset! We managed to track it down and bail it out of car jail, but didn’t make it home till almost midnight. By the time we finished laundry and packing it was after 2. That 5 a.m. wake up call sure came quick!

I slept the entire first leg of the trip on our flight to Phoenix though and feel worlds better. I even enjoyed some breakfast pizza in Phoenix, which was shockingly good for airport food.

Now it’s time for a break – or well, my version of a break, which will include a couple days of workouts, sessions and meeting new blogger friends at FitBloggin’13. So excited!

Tell me your crazy moving stories? Anyone else have vacation plans coming up this summer?

heart & sole

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