run because I genuinely love it. The freedom of getting out on the road is amazing. I love that its is competitive but also relaxing. Had a hard day at work? Heading out for an easy run can really help to clear you mind and unwind. At the same time, during a race your lungs may be burning, you may feel like you're going to vomit, you're worrying about if your pace and if you need nutrition. So many things! Then the feeling of finishing a race makes it all worth it. It's just an awesome feeling. I love that running has made me set goals and work my buns off to get to them. Running isn't just those things though, running has a TON of health benefits. Sports Fitness Adviser has an amazing list of health benefits from running. I highly recommend checking it out here. Since I discovered my love of running I have made a LOT of mistakes, so I wanted to talk about some tips to begin running. Things I've learned along the way. Hopefully, they'll help you avoid making the same mistakes. While, I'm not a fast runner, I'm a month and one day away from an injury free year and I'm proud of that. *I am not a doctor and this in no way should serve as medical advise. Consult your doctor before beginning a new working preogam* If you're new to running and are having trouble getting yourself to follow through, register for a race. This will give you something to work to. It'll give you a reason to lace up and run when you may otherwise not have gone out. And man, that feeling when the race starts is like no other. Pure adrenaline. Plus, you'll get your first race bib, probably get a t-shirt or medal. Save your bibs! It's so much fun to pull out all of the bibs you've worn and reflect back on all of your hard work. If you are running at night, there are two things that I believe are critical. 1: Reflective clothing and 2: a head lamp. I love shoes that have reflection, but I also wear a reflective jacket. If it's too warm for that, I also have a reflective vest. It's so important to make sure you're visible to cars. The headlamp is important to help you avoid any hazards like potholes or sticks. Before you lace up, make sure you have the right shoes and that they fit properly. I recently found my first pair of sneakers I ran in (see the above image). I decided take a trip down memory lane and lace them back up for a short run. I couldn't believe it, when I put them on they were too small!! I'd say at least 1/2 size too small. What was I thinking?! Just another example of how I did basically everything wrong when I first started! No wonder I always had blisters from them. Start slow. If you go out and try to run 5 miles and you've never fun before, you'll likely be in pain afterwards. So, don't do that! I began by doing walking and running. I'd go out for maybe 30 minutes and do a 5 minute warm up, stretch and then 20 minutes of walking running. Sometimes I'd set a time and do something like 3 minutes running, 1 minute walking. You can also use landmarks. Run to the stoplight ahead and then walk past the next three houses, etc. Keep it fun! This graph shows the number of miles I ran per month since I began running in September 2013. Notice the months with big spikes, then a lull? Those are all injuries. I'd have a moth with big numbers, then end up hurt a few weeks later. I had knee issues, I had shin issues. My body basically hated me (I'm so sorry for hurting you, body! ha) Finally, this year I've learned to slowly work into it. I've also embraced running slower paced training runs. The picture above is the perfect example of running way too fast. For an easy run, I now do about 2 minutes faster than my 5k pace (and monitoring my heart rate). I had just run a 5k eight days earlier at a 10:52 pace. Please, do not do this! My pace for the 6 mile run should have been in at least 12:5x. Maybe even in the low to mid 13 min mile not 10:57, which was almost exactly the 5k pace. Not to mention, I should not have gone from running a 5k (with 1 training run) to running 6 miles in EIGHT days. Speaking of starting slow, run slow too. It sounds counter intuitive, but running slow is really good for you and can help you become a better, faster runner. In the early stages of starting to run, you're building up endurance and your body is getting accustomed to doing a new activity. So, I wouldn't worry too much about speed.
I made the mistake of trying to run faster and longer than I had the week before. My joints hurt and it wasn't fun anymore. I think my biggest piece of advice is to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I put that in all caps because it is sooo important!! I could have prevented so many injuries if I would have listened to my body when I started running. If your shin is hurting, stretch and ice it. Maybe even considering resting a few days. It all depends on the level of pain. I knew something was wrong but tried to "push through" and ended up with a stress fracture, which mean no running for at least 6-weeks. So, I had I listened to my body, I could have taken maybe 1-2 weeks off and had my shin splints go away BUT because I didn't listen they got worse, turned into a stress fracture and made my recovery time SO much longer. Finally, make sure you stretch! I battled with my IT band hurting until I found a stretch that I do all the time now. Stretching is super important and will help you stay injury free. I made a whole blog post about my go to stretches here. I'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions about how I started running or any advice I may have (or any what NOT to dos), shoot me an email or comment below xoxo, Chelsea
0 Comments
Fabulous Friday!! And, yes... our Christmas tree is already up and decorated haha. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but I have seriously been slacking with only posting once per week. I've run into some growing pains! I didn't expect each post to take a much time as it does. First, you need to come up with an idea for the post. I try very hard to come up with content that I think will be helpful. For flat lay posts, I have to come up with the outfit. This (surprisingly) takes a LOT of time. I pull tons of things out of my closet and dresser. I make a huge mess, which will only get worse as I incorporate more accessories (sorry R!) and I try a bunch of looks before I settle on the one. Then there are the pictures. I do not have a nice expensive camera, I'm just a gal and her iPhone. A picture of one outfit takes a lot of tries. I just got a light source to help make the pictures easier, yay! Then, there is the actual writing of the post. My goal is to make it so that someone is able to imagine the outfit or the room or feeling I'm describing. I try to use colorful language to try to achieve that goal, so it takes some time to get everything out. Then there is product linking, because I'm a huge proponent of using what you've got, it takes a while to find similar items. I start working on posts 3-4 days before they go live, so I'm working to develop a schedule of posts and go from there. Hopefully, once I've got the schedule and kinks of it all worked out, I should be golden on more posts. Also, to you bloggers that can pump out content, major kudos to you! If you've been reading along, you may already know that I have blazers that I want to wear, but never do. I challenged myself to put together a few outfits with blazers to get me wanting to wear them. So I've chosen three looks with blazers. I'm not linking similar items for this post. Instead, I encourage you to use what you have. Get out of your comfort level and try something new. It's a lot of fun and I feel like my personal style has expended so much since I've really been pushing myself. Plus, my wallet has been happier. Rather than purchasing, I'm finding new way to look at pieces I own. If you realllllly want to know similar items, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send some suggestions. My first look is a sexy (slightly scandalous) combination. Something I wouldn't usually wear but wanted to go out of my comfort zone. A light pink blazer with black trim, black vegan leather pants and black pumps (and sunnies). Aren't I forgetting a shirt? NOPE! The way this blazer fastens, it is low cut but provides full coverage and stays closed, so you don't technically need to wear a shirt. Plus, I love the idea of wearing a blazer as a shirt. It just feels so scandalous haha. You can also add a black tank or cami if this is too risque for you and the look would be the same. Simple but sexy! I wasn't able to get the wrinkles out of the pants but loved them with the blazer, so please excuse them (more growing pains!) Next up, a look that I think would be great for the upcoming holiday season and one of my favorite looks I've put together so far. I'm not sure if it's the red blazer or the intricate detail and pattern to the pants or if it's because our apartment is already decked out for the season, but this outfit just feels so festive to me! The base of the outfit is very basic black, white and gold. I paired it first with a black blazer and it just didn't finish off the look. By adding the pop of red, it solidified the look and really made the gold touches pop. I opted to roll the blazer sleeve so the striped shirt would also be viable on the sleeves. It's amazing how little touches like that seem to take it from a good look to a great look! So far, this outfit is a front runner for Thanksgiving! This next look is so easy to recreate. I started with white pants and a white T-shirt. I finished the look with a patterned blazer. I love this blazer! The colors and pattern are just perfect. Can’t wait to wear this outfit. The final look of the week is a little more casual. I paired a black blazer with a pearl embellished 3/4 length sleeve, high neck sweater and pink distressed jeans. I finished the look off with a nude strappy pump and gold metallic clutch. I love the relaxed look of the frayed hem of the jean against the formal look of the pumps. I love the different length sleeve in this outfit. This time of year, temperature is such a variable (especially with the oven cooking dinner) so it is nice to have built in layers to adapt to the change in the temperature. I also like the mixture of gold and silver. Both the shoes and the pants have gold detail but the shirt and the clutch have silver (and pear) detail. I always wear my grandmother's gold rings and my white gold wedding ring, so I'm constantly wearing gold and silver. I like that it's continued through the outfit in this case. We've come to the end of another blog post and work week. I've been seriously slacking on running (ugh!) and blogging, too! I love that we gained an hour when the time changed but coming home from work in the dark is downright depressing and I do not approve of it! I want to finish on a more positive note..... only 38 days until Christmas (for those who celebrate it)!! Wooo!! *Sound the holiday music* I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. XOXO, Chelsea We've done it! We've made it through the week to arrive at another glorious Friday! This week, I'm centering looks around one shoe. It's got as many nicknames as ways to wear the shoe. The one, the only, Converse All-Stars aka Chucks aka Chuck Taylor's and the names go on and on. The story of the shoe is an interesting one too. So, Charles Taylor (aka Chuck Taylor) was famous basketball player who loved the shoe so much that he ended up joining Converse sales team. His efforts selling the shoe were so successful it became the most worn shoe in basketball. To thank him, in 1932 Converse added his name to the shoe and thus the "‘Chuck Taylor All Star’ was born" (source). For this week's Flat Lay Friday, I'm specifically centering looks around my white low top Chucks and a few ways to style them. They're very versatile, I'll likely do more than just this blog on pairing Chucks with outfits. For this look, I paired a blush tulle skirt (similar), black shirt and black moto jacket (similar here and here) and Chucks (exact shoe here). I love the juxtaposition of the "tough motorcycle chick" feel from the jacket with the "elegant, classic ballerina" feel from the tulle skirt (ballerina's are bad-ass BTW). Together they create a feminine, casually cool look with a hit of rocker. Plus, it's simple enough to throw it on and be out the door. The chucks really finish the look and tie it all together. While you could probably wear fun black booties with a motorcycle feel to dress it up, I just love how the Chucks work with it. I also like the white shoe to bring together the dark jacket and light skirt. For this look, I wanted to dress down this black and white blazer (similar style here and here). One of the purposes of me blogging is to use the items that I have in new ways. I've got a lot of blazers that I never wear. I played around with a few looks and settled on this one. I paired the blazer with a simple black and white stripe shirt for subtle pattern mixing (similar here). Up close the jacket has a chevron pattern (shown above). I wanted a pop of color to help relax the look, so I added a simple pink scarf (similar here). Then, adding distressed jeans (here) and Chucks to make the look even more relaxed and casual. This look could easily be changed by swapping out the scarf and blazer with some colorful options. I definitely see a lot of looks styled with blazers and Chucks in my future. For this look, I took a simple black long sleeve swing dress (similar here) and added a yellow, gray and white plaid scarf (similar style here) for a pop of color. Finish it off with my Chucks and a felt hat (similar here). I love swing dresses because they can be dressed up or down. They're also extremely comfortable. Overall, this casual look is easy, comfortable and fun. For colder days, you can add tights. Switch out the scarf for a solid colored scarf and add patterned tights. Or keep the scarf, and pattern mix with fun tights. The simplicity of the shoe and dress make it so easy to swap out a piece or two and totally change the entire look. Next up, I took my camouflage button down (similar here and here), white jeans (similar) and Chucks. I added a magenta and gold necklace (here) and a tortoise monogram necklace (here) to add some femininity to the look. I love how the pink necklace pops on the camo. Another very easy outfit to quickly put on and get out the door. Last but not least, I styled my chucks with skinny jeans (similar), a gray bow top (here) and a knit hat (similar style here). I felt like this outfit needed some color (sense a trend yet?) so I added a purple nail for a pop of color. The bow top is such an attention grabbing piece that I like pairing it with simple Chucks. It's pretty cold today, so I finished it all off with a puffy gray hat (which is sooo warm & soft).
This gray bow top is one of my all time favorites right now. It is absolutely adorable and a little bit over the top but still elegant (in my opinion). But I over do everything, so it is perfect and it matches my Tiffany & Co. bow earrings - shout out to the best hubby for getting them for me a few years back. There you have it! Chucks 5 ways. I love how each look has a different feel to it. From edgy to preppy, Chucks can do it all. Plus, they're comfortable! Can't beat that. I'd love to see how you style your Chucks! Shoot me an email at [email protected] or comment below with your favorite ways to style your Chucks. XOXO, Chelsea This weekend was spent showering my sister and her baby! This is the first baby in my immediate family and saying we're excited, would be the understatement of the year. Kimberly and her husband, John, have chosen not to find out the sex. Rather than go with gender neutral colors, we chose to incorporate pinks and blues. Kimberly wore a beautiful off the shoulder baby blue dress with beautiful ruffles (similar style here and here) and John wore a dapper (I wanted to write dipper instead of dapper to be punny, but I restrained myself, sort of) pink shirt (similar here). The colors looks so cute together!
For the theme, we chose to keep it rustic to pay homage to their wedding day. Burlap banners for the gift table, fire place and room entrance continued the rustic feel (similar here). The prizes for the games were put onto the mantle to add a splash of color. The venue fit the theme perfectly. I wasn't able to find any information with regards to the historical aspect of it but based on the name, I'm guessing it was used a inn way back when. It's a gorgeous building, inside and out! The rustic ambiance oozes from the building and that continues as you make your way through the restaurant into the party room. The party room had a beautiful fireplace and huge windows, it was cozy and intimate. The restaurant did a great job setting up the tables in the room. It provided a really great flow. A round table for the parents-to-be and helpers (some of Kim's bridesmaids). One long table down the middle of the room, with enough room for people to get around it on all four sides, and three long table against the window, perpendicular to the middle long table. This allowed people to see Kimberly and John opening their presents and leave the room without having to walk in front. It also facilitated lots of mingling! Every place setting had the favors, which were mason jars filled with cheddar and caramel popcorn, the menu and our first two games. (Side note on the popcorn, it sounds like a weird combination, right? You've gotta try it! Those two flavors together are flipping delicious.) We tied each jar with twine, pink and blue ribbon and finished it off with a sticker saying "she's ready to pop". Everyone also got a small box of candy with pink and blue ribbon tied around it. The boxes looked like they were wood, which continued the rustic theme. There were five total tables for guests. A few tables had beautiful yellow and white flowers. Classic, simple and beautiful. There were six games to win prizes including games like bingo, guess the baby animal, baby word scramble and guess the belly size. As the self titled "master of the games", I tried to keep a nice flow between eating, mingling and presents. I didn't want anyone to feel rushed (except during the timed game!). When I felt the group's energy change, I knew it was time for a break and a game. Watching people open presents for hours can get boring. Plus, it can get taxing on the guest of honor, so I tried to keep it moving, so everyone was having fun! For the prizes, Kimberly's mother-in-law chose the super cute gifts. Each one had a spa theme and various spy type products or candles, plus they included a pumpkin facial mask! I mean, who wouldn't love a pumpkin face mask. I must admit, I'm sad I was ineligible to win. I'll have to find those masks on my own! All in all, I'd say it was a fantastic day celebrating the soon to be parents! I hope you all had an amazing weekend. XOXO, Chelsea |
About meMore than just running....
Run along with me while I navigate my way through fitness, fashion and food. oLDER POSTS
Archives
November 2017
Topics
cATEGORIES
All
|