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I’m Going to Idea World!

Hello from LA!

This afternoon, I flew in to attend the Idea World Fitness Conference, as part of the College Discovery program. To say I’m excited would be an understatement! I’ve never actually been to downtown LA before-just in the area. I will definitely do a nice full recap of this trip and the sessions! I am mainly going to spin sessions and Nutrition/Science lectures, but there are also other fun things here like the Urban Party tomorrow night (not really sure what that will be like) and the big Nutrition/Fitness Expo. My morning begins bright and early tomorrow for a 7am spin class by Schwinn. I’m taking quite a few Schwinn courses while I’m here, and since I’m certified in Spinning brand of indoor cycling, I’m very interested to see how the philosophies of the two organizations are similar and different!

My morning began with a simple breakfast of eggs and mango, plus half of a Luna bar.

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My workout today was lots of Olympic lifting with my trainer. My snatches were not so good today, but the cleans are getting a lot better, and felt good! Plus, my hip is feeling WAY better. I’m going to still baby it a bit though and try to only squat in a controlled manner (like a back squat, not a burpee). My puppy came to pick my up from my workout since my car was in the shop, and she had her first walk outside since she is almost totally vaccinated!

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Once home, I was super rushed to pack, eat, and shower. Lunch was leftovers. Chicken breast, carrots, and asparagus with goat cheese. Plus the other half of my Luna bar.

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The trip here was short and uneventful-the taxi ride to my hotel was super expensive and long though because this is LA! I have actually had the worst experience with my hotel thus far in that I wasn’t happy with how they charged me originally, and then it took FOREVER to get checked in. I guess it’s kind of an apartment complex so there’s no lobby to check in at exactly. On the plus side, my room is actually super nice. It’s basically  a studio apartment with a full kitchen and everything. I’m less than a mile from the center where the event is held. I checked in today, and while where I’m staying is a good area and the expo is in a good area, Google maps routed me through a not so great area. Given I’m going to be by myself, I’m happy I found a much better (and more direct) route!

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I was actually pretty lost trying to find the Convention Center. To make it worse, I walked through the area where the ESPY’s are going on! I finally got close enough to see people with IDEA bags walking away and was able to find it!

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I stopped at a Carvery for dinner on the way back and got a salad with kale, avocado, and chicken. Perfect!

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On the way back, I stopped at a grocery for some food and snacks. I’m not sure what the food situation will be like, and I’m worried about my stomach acting up, so I tried to really stock up. I’m hoping I’m not eating Luna bars for every meal! I found a salad for lunch tomorrow. I also tried soy nut butter for the first time. The verdict? I like it! It doesn’t seem as fatty as sunflower seed butter (which can be good or bad depending on what you’re looking for), and it definitely doesn’t taste like peanut butter, but it’s nice to mix it up!

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It’s about 8pm here now, and since I have quite a big day tomorrow, I’m probably going to watch a little Netflix before calling it a night!

Have you ever been to a conference?

 

What a Difference a Few Months Makes

Hey guys! I had a pretty awesome day, despite a little hiccup. I recently changed my pre-run breakfast, and I’m experimenting with the timing of it a little-it’s not as hard on my stomach so I don’t have to wake up as early!

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Banana. Egg. Cocoa powder. Plus a coconut garnish. Which somehow managed to get all over my desk…Plus blackberries.

I went home today, so I ran on my favorite route. Since I’m tapering, I’m thinking a little more about speed-my last couple of runs were hilly so I didn’t even consider pace. 

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I pulled into a parking space and began gathering my running stuff when all of the sudden, the car parked in front of my starts backing up….quickly. I guess he never even saw me, because he rammed into the front of my car. I’m fine-but it definitely shook me up a little bit! My car is pretty much ok-my front bumper has a crack in it. First of all-how does a bumper crack? Oh yeah, my car is made out of plastic. So I have a plastic bumper. Awesome. I’ve never been in an accident (knock on wood!) but I’ve been backed into 3 times. Talk about pre-run adrenaline though!

My run felt really good-minus some more technical issues. I stopped the clock a couple of times to adjust my shoes-I think my foot inserts help prevent the toe pain I get, but they cause such bad rubbing that I had to stop and take them out 2 miles in. I ran another 4 miles without, and then my feet starting bothering me so I put them back in…only to have to remove them a mile later.

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What a difference a few months makes! A lot of my training runs (the flat ones) have been faster than the last training cycle for my first half, but this one really stood out. A few months ago (the picture on the left), I ran 9 miles, in the same place, at the same point in my training. The run was by far my fastest long run, but I destroyed my calf doing it, and was barely able to race. Today, I killed that time. I wasn’t dead. My legs are still intact. I’m ready to rock this race!

I visited my parents and kitties after running. And ate a snack.

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I then met up with one of my best friends from high school for lunch. We got sandwiches-turkey and avocado for me! I can’t remember the last time I had a sandwich!

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We then both had the genius idea of stopping by an amazing cake shop on the way back to the car-Nothing Bundt Cakes.

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It shouldn’t be any surprise that I immediately went for the pumpkin spice cake…I’m a tad obsessed.

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We also got a chocolate chocolate chip cake. We shared them both.

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Since Jessica is super artistic, I dragged her to a party favor store for a little craft project-I’m Sunshine Chair in my sorority which means I’m in charge of sending out inspirational messages, kitten pictures, and recognizing people’s birthdays (ok, I kind of read between the lines about the kitten pictures…). I wanted to have sometime nice to give people for their birthdays…with the secret hope that they will keep it and put in on their walls for ever. This is the end result (it’s a girl’s birthday tomorrow!)

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I then settled in with this baby-it’s time to get serious folks!

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And then the tiredness from the past few days began to hit me, and I started to fall asleep with images of freshly cut mango dancing through my head. I think this is a sign that I’m severely mango deprived. I then went to a quick dinner.

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And then I proceeded to break into the giant can of pumpkin pie filling my mom got me. Spoons up! (To be fair, there was some yogurt involved.) I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I may be kind of pumpkin-ed out for a while! 

I hope you all had great weekends! 

What is something you are proud of that you accomplished lately?