New Headbands!

Okay, so I love headbands. Esp ones I can wear when I work out/sweat... keeps the hair/sweat out of my face, hides my gross hair, looks cute.... what's not to love??

So I saw an ad for these on Facebook (marketing at its finest) and I just clicked to see what it was all about... and between the buy 2 get 1 free, $10 off promo code (seems like they're always running one), and free shipping over $20.... I got 3 of them for like $22. Couldn't say no.



I got 3 colors... black (solid, trustworthy) and two fun patterns!

They're stretchy and soft, and I love them so far!



Ignore my grossness.

They're the kind that can be worn different ways, so I've been playing around... they slip a little, but much less than normal for me (I'm pretty sure my head is a weird shape. Never let me go bald). Love them!

Cold Weather Exercise

My attempts at running these days look less like lovely summer mornings and more like this:



Mostly my ears and fingers freeze, hence the headband (probably a cheap, walmart special) and the gloves (which I love, found here... I can even still use my phone with them - helloooo running apps).

...We do what we can, right?

Our Peruvian Adventure!

Yay! I've finally started wading through the hundreds of pictures from our awesome trip last month! We seriously had the best time traveling around Peru, and my sweet husband even carried my luggage everywhere to save my back... no easy feat, let me tell you what.

A few highlights.



Lima. Amazing cathedrals with crazy-cool catacombs underneath! So huge and so beautiful!

The Amazon. A 3.5 hour boat ride up the River to our little bungalows. We saw SO much crazy wildlife! An ANACONDA, we caught and held that baby caiman (alligator thing), SLOTHS and monkeys.... we swam with dolphins and piranhas (which Kip also fished for, caught, and ate) in the freaking Amazon River (which looked more like a huge lake that went on forever)... and just had an amazing experience.




Cusco. One of the coolest cities I've ever seen. This was our hotel, such a great view of the city!

The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. What can I even say. SO BEAUTIFUL. Probably the coolest places I've ever seen. Pictures could never do it justice, it was definitely the experience of a lifetime. Go there. Do it. Just be prepared for those nasty toilets (yep, that gross hole in the ground) and that insane elevation.



Overall, it was SUCH a great trip! I'll forever be thankful for getting to experience parts of that gorgeous country with my love!!

Working out lately...

... has been rough. I'm on a lot of drugs and a lot of things still hurt, but I'm getting squishy, I'm getting antsy, and I don't want to get too far behind (I still have aspirations for races and rides next summer, not to mention ski season coming up), and I just plain miss exercising. So I try to do at least a little.

That means I run. And by run I mean slowly jog slash sometime walk for like 1 - 2 miles. Sad. But it's slowly getting better.

That means I lift. And by lift I mean do a few chest, bicep, and leg exercises (everything else hurts too much) with really light weights. But at least it's something.

That means I climb. And by climb I mean do a few, short top-rope routes and ask someone else to do all the belaying so I don't have to look up for long periods of time.

This means I think about yoga. But don't actually attempt it because ouch.

But I'm trying. Even when I can only manage a few minutes, I figure it'll add up eventually. And it's keeping me sane - I'm sleeping better, I'm feeling better, and I'm still getting to wear workout clothes :)



this is my life

It's Been a While....

Okayyyyy so it's been a long time. Here's what's been up:

Got in a car wreck. No bueno. I was driving on the freeway, it was raining, some guy hit me from behind, I spun and smashed into the center divide wall almost head-on. I was okay, but I'm still dealing with back and neck issues almost two months later. That means I didn't get to do my triathlon, the Dirty Dash, or my century.... among other things. Sooo that's lame.



On the plus side, I did get a new car out of it.



We also had been planning our Peru trip for months, so we went through with it, despite my limitations. While there were some things I had to miss out on, we still had an AMAZING time (we also have 50 billion pictures to go through, so more on that some other day).


(hiking the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, eating guinea pig, taking lots of steps and climbing lots of stairs)

Since the trip, recovering, going to Moab, and going blonder!





Do you feel like you're so up-to-date now??? :)

Compression, oh yeah.

The day I discovered compression was a happy day indeed.

I swell. When I travel (via car or plane), when I hike, when I get really hot... I get cankles and sausage fingers, pronto. It's real attractive. Not. So I used to just deal with it, albeit miserably.

Then I discovered that compression socks aren't just for the overly-obese or nurses (stereotyping at it's finest), and now I hate traveling without them!! Plus, talk about cute!!



Then, I took it a step further. My body doesn't always appreciate the abuse I force upon it. Enter compression tights. I mainly wear them running, and not only do they kinda keep everything aligned (and I find that I get less sore and tight), but they also look awesome! I always get compliments :)

My body just loves being compressed, I guess! :)



Thoughts on compression? Love? Useless? Recommendations?

Harry Potter 5K!

Very very few things bring me as much joy as Harry Potter.

I used to try to keep that under wraps, but no longer. I just straight up love Harry, JKR, and the whole Potterverse. So. Much. Happiness. I really do feel bad for you if you are too young or too old to appreciate the magic and awesomeness that is HP.

That being said, when I saw that there was to be a 5K on Harry Potter's birthday, I knew it had to happen. I looked and looked for someone who loved HP as much as I do, and I found an awesome friend who gets just as giddy as I do over this series.

Come July 31st, we showed up at Liberty Park, costumed up and ready to party! So much fun! So much birthday cake! So much happiness!!

I walked/jogged the first lap with my awesome friend, then I did the second lap on my own... and at the end, they gave me 4th place in the costume contest (which I didn't deserve, but that's another story)!! Such a fun evening!

It just doesn't seem like exercise when you dress like Dobby and have such a fun time!!