Weekend Buzz

June 2, 2014June 1, 2014 | cheriarmour

So, I totally hope you guys had an awesome weekend – I sure did! It went by way way too fast, and I don’t feel like I got to spend enough time with Austin, but I’m hoping to make up for some of it this week.

So, after I did wine with Matthew on Friday night, and taught Zumba, I headed to the Raleigh Half Ironman expo to grab some cowbells, because come Sunday morning, I had plans to wake up early, cheer on some Half Ironman and Half Iromwomen, and grab brunch with one of my best friends in the entire world.

Let’s review really quickly. So for those of you who are unfamiliar (cause prior to last year, I was!) with what a Half Ironman is, a Half Ironman (often denoted as 70.3), is a triathlon that involves a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile (whew!) bike ride, and a half marathon at the end (13.1 miles), to top it off. I spectated last year, and had such a great time, that I went for it again this year.

We started off by spectating some of the guys that would be considered elite.

We changed locations to meet up with the Lemons (the cool chickaroos from Lululemon)

Caitlin, on the left, was giving out free hugs, and it was really really cute to see folks stop, look really relived, and then go in for a big, sweaty hug. At one point, she said she had to spit someone else’s sweat out of her mouth (GROSS!!?) but she was an awesome sport about it.

After I cheered and cowbelled for the Ironmen and ladies, I headed down to a carwash closer to the north side that had been revamped, and that was doling out free carwashes. Since I’m on a budgeting kick, I could not justify paying to wash my car, so I went and got a wash, and vacuumed it out as well.

I’ve got to admit, the part where I put my car in neutral, and just sort of rode along was a little scary, and I’m not sure I’d like to do that again.

And finally, I was inspired by the folks from this morning that I topped this busy day off with a run.

How was your weekend?

OMG PS ONE LAST THING!!!!!!!!!! I finally registered for my Body Pump Training – so as of mid-July, I am going to Wilmington to get trained to teach Body Pump. I am SO excited!!!! Can you tell by all the exclamation points?

Body Attack in Review

May 30, 2014May 29, 2014 | cheriarmour

Two mornings ago, I dragged my butt out of bed to go to something called Body Attack, a class that is in the Les Mills family. Les Mills, by the way, is the umbrella under which Body Pump falls. Body Pump is that toning and weightlifting class I’ve been taking. But I digress.

So I dragged my butt out of bed because I knew my favorite Body Pump teacher would be teaching this called Body Attack. I get there, and I started off a little skeptically.

I was skeptical, but as I looked around, I saw a lot of the folks that were regulars at Body Pump, and the class was pretty packed, especially for 5:45am.

Instead of the class being dancey or boppy, like the classes I’m sort of used to taking the class involved some plyometrics, aerobic exercises, and high energy interval trainings that sort of reminded me of when I would go off on my own and do some of the Nike Training Center (NTC) workouts on my phone.

As the class went on, I felt like it got a little less weird, and the class morphed into exactly what I needed, especially some of the plyometric exercises that involved me holding and working with my own body weight. Especially in my upper-body, this is something I’d like to try to develop. Additionally, the class involved a good bit of running around the studio, something that I feel so at ease with. So between the running the development of some sweet strength, I think me and Body Attack (and Monica, the fabulous teacher) will get along just great.

So, when you go to try this class out, definitely give the class a little longer than the warm-up, which definitely feels strange, and you will fall in love.

**As a side note, the adorably amazing teacher, who can bust out like a million push ups, kept saying “jack it” when she wanted us to fly into some jumping jacks. I could not stop laughing. I have the maturity of a 15-year-old I know.**

Getting Old…

May 6, 2014May 5, 2014 | cheriarmour

Let me start this off by saying that I feel absolutely ageless. I’m 26 years old, and I don’t feel a day over 27.

Jk, but I think between the working out, and spending most of my summers with high schoolers, I’m kind of a young spirit.

But there’s something going on inside of me that indicates that I’m getting a little hold.

So, when I was training for my first marathon over a year ago, the Shamrock Marathon in VA Beach, I started “reading” books on tape, especially during my long runs when my partner, Jenny, couldn’t make it. During that time I tried to read some crappy book that my religion professor told me was good, I read Kathy Griffins memoir, and I read Tina Fey’s Memoir. All awesome. Like, falling-off-the-sidewalk-laughing-so-hard funny. Kathy Griffin surprisingly isn’t all piss and wind the way she makes herself out to be, she actually had some pretty sketchy things happen in her immediate family, suffered with binge eating, and suffered with a terrible end to a marriage. Tina Fey is perfect so…

So anyways, now that I’m not really training for much, I’m kind of in my groove where I run anywhere between 3-however many miles a day, and I discovered the best thing ever to help pass the time. I found comedians on Spotify.

Now, I LOVE a good comedian or comedienne.

My faves are obviously Tina, Chris Rock, and Kathy Griffin. (I can’t sand Chelsea Lately cause I think she’s not funny and really racist, and I hate that she has that little person running around her show like he’s some kinda of novelty item when he’s a human being.) But as I was listening to a Chris Rock album from about 2005, I could not help but be a little uncomfortable in response to some of the ubiquitous swearing.

Trust me, I can swear with the best of them. But my speech, in general, is not peppered with offensive words because I don’t want to sound like a dumb dirty idiot.

The older I get, the more offended I find myself getting with profanity, especially ubiquitous profanity just thrown in there for shits and giggles.

I kid. But anyone else starting to feel this way?

Home happenings….

April 22, 2014April 22, 2014 | cheriarmour

More mangos.

Number one, I’m still extremely troubled by the fact that there’s not one consensus on the plural word for mango. It can either be mangoes or mangos. So, I’ve been switching it up, but it makes me really uncomfortable nonetheless. But if you’ll remember from about a week and a half ago, I went crazy on the mango sale at Whole Foods. Well, when I went back the other day, and they were on sale, this time two for a dollar, so ya girl went cray on them.

I went to town dehydrating mango, which can be really expensive if you buy it in the bags, and really really fully of sugar, so it’s nice to slice up your own, and know that you’re not getting any of the gross stuff that can come in the bag.

Let’s make a right turn.

Reality TV.

Did anyone catch the RHOA reunion? Yikes, yikes, yikes. Porsha absolutely lost her mind for a second. Now I absolutely do not condone violence, and because of that, Porsha needs to leave the reunion, and whatever it is that Bravo Andy chooses to do with her is his decision, but my LORD Kenya was getting on my nerves with the scepter and that damned bullhorn. She is so so obnoxious, and she really needs to go. But Porsha, you know you were dead wrong for hitting her.

This app.

I know you’re probably sick and tired of hearing all about my iPhone woes, but while I was in the process of re-downloading and configuring where I like my apps to go on my little phone’s desktop, I stumbled on Sara from Loving on the Runs’ sort of mini-review of TimeHop.

Here’s what it looks like, and it’s terribly cute.

The app links up with your Twitter, your FB, and your Instagram, and pulls statuses and photos from YEARS ago, so it’s a total trip down memory lane. Here’s what I got yesterday!
This one was following a day when I won like $1000 in a local singing competition. It was really awesome. I also spent most of it repairing that Taurus that I had, but whatevs, that’s the life of being an adult, right?

I skipped Body Pump this morning 😦

I’m really bummed, but my thumb kinda still hurts from when I jammed it on Sunday night. I packed my running clothes, and as soon as my clients leave from the job today, I’m going to set out for a few minutes and get the blood pumping!

How’s your Tuesday shaping up!?

Today.

April 5, 2014April 4, 2014 | cheriarmour

Last night was great. For the first time in weeks, and weeks, and weeks, because I woke up early and went to body pump, I really had nothing to do after I got off of work, especially seeing as how I worked on a good chunk of wedding projects on Thursday night.

So immediately after work, I laid down with the foster baby (beagle) and took a nap.

Then, me and Austin hung out and watched this creepy creepy Netflix documentary on Jeffery Dahmer, which is pretty funny (not ha ha funny, but “omg this is crazy funny), because I read Jeffery Dahmer’s article on Wikipedia the other day. Don’t ask why, I love Wikipedia articles, they’re really a fun pastime. Not Jefferey Dahmer’s per se, but sometimes the articles I read are fun.

So today, I get to do something really fun.

Every year, Elon hosts a dance marathon called Elonthon that benefits the Duke Children’s Hospital, and every year for the past few years, I have gotten a chance to teach a short Zumba class to sleep deprived students at Elon, and every year, it’s been really fun. I’m honored to be able to do it again this year, and hope to snap a few pics of the sweaty, beautiful faces of my Elon folks.

What are you doing on this beautiful Saturday?

Fabletics Clothing Review!

March 19, 2014 | cheriarmour

rs_634x865-131016122604-634.shape.cm.101613 — via Shape Magazine

So, I wish I could have a subscription to every workout publication that’s out there, but usually, I limit myself to purchasing them when I see someone on the cover whom I love, and Kate Hudson definitely falls into that category for me. She’s funny, she’s Goldie Hawn’s daughter, and I was particularly intrigued by this cover cause didn’t she just have another baby?

At any rate, Kate Hudson teamed up with Fabletics, which is her new, affordable brand of activewear. I’m sure that you’ve started to see all the commercials for things like JustFab, FabKids, Stichfix, and Runnerbox, all subscription programs that you can enroll in, and Fabletics is a similar program, and I was super thrilled when they sent me a few pieces from their spring line to try and tell you guys all about.

The way it works:

You go to Fabletics, and you start by taking their Fit Quiz, which determines what sort of activity you’re engaging in. From there, there are a few options, a VIP membership option, which will allow for more discounts and a full outfit option, and a regular membership option which still allows you to shop, but at a less deep discount. But basically, after selecting your option, you’ll receive a new set of active wear (from a wide array of bottoms, tops, bras, jackets, and all of that), and If you hate anything, or you want to skip a month you’re totally welcome, but the basic premise is that you’re paying less for active-wear that’s pretty good quality, as opposed to a $90 pair of tights, which you can easily do elsewhere (and I’ve done it!).

The stuff.

So the pieces that I have are:

The Kingston Hoodie, which I’ve been wearing nonstop since it came in the mail a few weeks ago. Seriously, I wore this and the tank top like 3 times to work last week with different bottoms, and wore them to my race last Sunday.

The Extension True Tank, which is kind of like a muscle tee, and seems like it would be really good for hot yoga if you don’t want to run around without a bra on. I also wore this in my race Saturday, and it moves really really well with you, but I probably would go down in a size personally, and…

The Lima Capri, which is truly one of the most beautiful colors I’ve ever seen. The tight is really really comfortable and warm, and I’d probably do shorter runs in this one. This one is a little tricky in the sizing – I felt like I’m in-between the small and medium, and when I was down on the floor stretching, I felt like it was pulling in the crotch a little bit, fit that makes sense.

The verdict: I’ll start with some improvements so that we can end on the good stuff 🙂 This seems really dumb, but the tags inside of the clothing are really stiff and crunchy, and in a piece of active wear, that’s a big no-no. I don’t like taking scissors to my tags, because sometimes that makes it worse, so I’ve dealt, but I don’t love that aspect of the clothing.

The good stuff is very good. The clothing comes in the most stunning colors I’ve ever seen, and the photos don’t do it justice. The clothing is comfy and extremely easy to wear or pair with regular pieces to make it more “street-ready” and it translates easily between activity. I taught a Zumba class in them last week, hopped on the treadmill after and ran for a while, and was able to run a full half-marathon in the tops pictured above with ZERO chafing and that says something. At the very least, check out Fabletics, give them or month or two, and let me know what you think about your new (and affordable) digs!

[Full disclosure: Fabletics hooked me up with the beautiful clothing, but these opinions are 1000% my own]

When do I?

March 18, 2014March 18, 2014 | cheriarmour

This is Scott, over at One White Guy. He’s a bestie of mine, and has been for like, 10 years now? That makes me sounds really old, but I promise, I’m not.

Anyhoo, Scott suggested a really really good blog topic, so I credit this entire masterpiece that you’re about to get. 🙂

I’m a new runner. When do I….

…Invest in “real” shoes?

The first thing that you do, even if you don’t consider yourself a “real” runner (which I hate, if you run, you’re a “real” runner), is invest in a good pair of shoes. When you go running in a crappy pair of shoes, and your feet throb after, you’re never really going to want to run again. Reduce your chances of wanting to quit, and invest in a good pair as soon as you decide you’re going for a run. Plus I think pretty new shoes are a great way to motivate yourself.

…Spend a good bit of money of a sports bra?

Well that really depends? How big are are your breasts? If you’re a smaller chested women, I’m thinking small C and below, you can get away with a perhaps, not as expensive bra, maybe like you’d find at a Target. However, if you’re a mid C and above, or if you’ve ever had the experience of having to put two bras on, it’s time to drop some cash on a real bra. Your nipples and your breast tissue will thank you when it’s not being chafed and stretched all over the place.

…Buy shorts/shirts (running apparel) other than the t-shirts/shorts I have in my drawers

This is one of those things that I think you can wait on, especially if you don’t have particularly sensitive skin. Wear your t-shirts and shorts until you get sick of running around in sopping wet clothes, and invest in a few pieces that you can reuse again and again.

…invest in a gps watch

This is one that can wait too. I love love love my GPS watch, and I’m a big fan of Garmin and their products, however, with the advent of Smart Phones, generally there is some type of app you can download. The app will not be as accurate (Garmin is accurate within 5 feet), and the life of the phone can be a lot shorter if you have a music app opened up along with a GPS app. This is one of the products that is extremely useful, and luckily, Garmin has a few products that aren’t $400 that you can choose if you’re really in want of a GPS.

…Buy a pair of socks for $15/pair

This is one of those that seems dumb (like who spends $12 on a pair of socks!) but once you make the jump from cotton socks to socks that are an acrylic blend, you won’t want to go back.

…Start taking Gu/nutritional supplements.

At the point at which you’re running for an hour or more, it’s time to explore the ideas of nutrition, especially if you’re a person who is sensitive to shifts in your blood sugar. If you’re planning one of those longer runs, take one of these before (with a lot of water), and then one about every 45 minutes. Experiment prior to a race situation because these things (some of them) have been known to cause stomach problems. I avoid the ones with caffeine generally.

…Start carrying water.

Same rules as nutrition. If you’re running for over an hour, take water. If it’s hot, take water. If you’re just a thirsty lady or gent, take water.

Do you think I covered it all? What other questions do you have?

March goals.

March 8, 2014March 7, 2014 | cheriarmour

Can we not even talk about how poorly I did with February goals?

45 Ridiculous And Amazing GIFs Of Nene Leakes For Her Birthday

February, I really got serious in a lot, my running, I traveled home a lot to be with my family, and I blogged and networked with other bloggers a TON. I learned a lot this past month, but I did not in any way, remember, or stick to any of my goals for the month of February. All I did was run. Drive and run. So here they are, March Goals!

Pay my taxes. Last year, I waited kind of until the last minute, and it was really stressful, plus I think I may have ended up paying more money than I need to. I plan to start early, let my whiz of a husband-to-be help me out, and get it done early. I will have this done before the end of March.
This was a goal last month (and we’re forgetting about last month, okay!), but I really, really really, want to wake up early one day a week and work out. I have said this time and again, but if I need to go to bed early one night and make sure this happens, I will. I’m totally over having to drag myself kicking to the gym every day after work. It’s contributing to my exhaustion and it’s not good for anyone.
Make more efficient use of my time. This means not dicking around. Packing my lunch the night before, taking a shower when I have a spare second instead of right before I go to bed, and cleaning when I have a second or two instead of waiting until my apartment looks like a small atomic bomb detonated. Because it makes me really anxious when stuff piles up. I can’t do that anymore.
Do ONE big wedding thing. I am doing okay on this so far 🙂

What are your goals for March, beautiful readers?

Happy Sunday!

March 2, 2014March 1, 2014 | cheriarmour

I don’t think I’ve been so tired in a minute!

As I blog, I’m laying in bed at 10:57 pm on a Saturday night, so early because I want to run in the morning. I’m headed home tomorrow after my run to attend to some family business, and I can honestly tell you guys, I have not been so tired in long time. I’m tired. My feet hurt. I finally got my apartment clean after nearly a week of it looking like a small bomb detonated in here. And all I’m hoping for is an early bedtime tomorrow at my parents’ house.

To ease you into this week, I give you, this hot hot pic of my heiny, lookin’ oh so fabulous in my winter tights as I foam roll my hip, which has been talking to me since I taught 2 classes kinda of sick early this week. I think I was trying to compensate for the fact that I didn’t feel well by dancing the hardest I could and flopping about like Beyoncé when I knew good and well that each mucusy minute, I felt that I was knocking at death’s door.

Nevertheless, I’m feeling far, far better, and I am attempting a 16-miler today prior to my drive to Charlotte. Wish me luck, and I’ll chat with you guys after I get to Charlotte tomorrow!

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