Artist Madrid, Naturally

Just wanted to share the tunes that kept me going during last Saturday's 5k: Solange- Losing You Chairlift- Bruises Bastille- Pompeii Passion Pit- Take A Walk Twenty One Pilots- Stressed Out fun. - Sight Of The Sun Coldplay- Hymn For The Weekend Ingrid Michaelson- Afterlife Bleachers- Rollercoaster HAIM- The Wire Feist- Mushaboom Alessia Cara- Scars To Your Beautiful Grouplove- Ways To Go Beyonce- Halo

Blogging Before the 5k Began Hey Everyone! I wanted to take a moment to recap the 5k I participated in last week. I was only under 3 minutes 50 seconds faster than 5 years ago (And I was 70 lbs lighter at the time!). I'm really proud of myself for accomplishing that time. However, I am even more grateful that I was able to enjoy the whole experience. It definitely helped that I re-read my post of lessons learned after my 1st 5k.  It was a perfect morning and a beautiful course, all I had to do is put in my tunes and just took off. I did remember the advice to pace myself, which was much appreciated when approaching the final and largest hill on the course. I just kept thinking of all the amazing things I have accomplished on my fitness journey and told myself I could push through the discomfort of the last mile or so.  Can't wait for my next 5k! Maybe I can convince some of my family or friends to join me :) Check out Mr. Madrid's After-Race Roundup: ...

I made it! More pictures and insights to come soon.

Woke up with back, shins and calf hurting. I think my body hates me :.( Oh well! Here I Go!

One Morning You Will Decide One morning you will decide that this is the day to escape: time to load the car, leave the madness and mayhem. Soon we will drive along mesas, snow-capped mountains, along the Natchez Trace  and the Appalachian chain. Maybe we will leave the car at the airport and fly to that city on a cliff in Spain you saw online or Vienna where I will lure you to Sopron and show you the family homestead. Tell me when, my love, and I will Get the bags from upstairs. ~ Arthur Turfa Some times you want to run away. You feel the walls caving. Every tick of the clock, taking  you closer to the edge. You just have to get away...  But most times in life you can't escape because: your inner demons will follow you wherever you go -or- you feel you can't physically zip off in a car or plane at the moment (like the subject of Arthur Turfa's poem quoted above). When I reach that rock and a hard place, I want to Exude Energy... whether Cre...

So you guys... I am still stuck inside the house because of Tropical Storm Florence*. I took this extra time to catch up on some things and ended up deciding to dye my hair. I have dyed my hair years ago and it definitely has been a lot of trial and error. I needed a change from my Soft Black 4c tresses and ultimately a new challenge! The process of permanently dyeing your hair, especially when your hair is natural, actually changes the chemistry of your hair. Along with the change in color, I already knew it would change the texture/curl pattern of my hair. A good reason for me to go with all over color instead of highlights. I decided to go with Garnier Olia Deep Garnet Red. I knew I wanted something in the red family but didn't want to go too light. Every shade lighter you dye your hair from your natural hair color exposes your hair to more chemicals and possibly more damage. It actually came out looking more like a semi-permanent color rinse. Which was exactly the loo...

Today's WOD at Home: My Time: Tuesday's WOD: * Now Tropical Storm Florence but the alliteration works better for the blog post title.

“No matter how well-meaning a person may be, Should they have the right to vocally judge your hair choices? And where does it cross the line from sharing an opinion to a form of bullying?” I’ve have been pondering the above questions written above for a while now. However, this post I will not be answering either question. Confused… it’s okay, just keep reading. I try to practice kindness and patience in my daily life... But some days I wish I was wearing a white t-shirt that said: “I really don’t need your opinion” in ALL CAPS, Red , and Underlined . On two separate occasions in the past few months, I have had someone come up to me and make unsolicited remarks about my hair. I try plaster a smile on all the while thinking this: If I am in fact having a bad hair day, then I already know it. If you were trying to be encouraging, you did not add any value or substance to my day so your mission has failed. If you were trying to make me feel ashamed of my hair or try to change me, ...

5k Boot Camp Cram AKA Boot C(r)am(p) has begun!

Hey Everyone! I wanted to to let you know about how my End of Challenge went and my results! At the end of the 6 week challenge (last week) I had to complete: 200m jog 21 squats 21 sit-ups 21 kettlebell swings (15lbs) 15 squats 15 sit-ups 15 kettlebell swings 9 squats 9 sit-ups 9 kettlebell swings 200m jog This is the same workout I did the first day of the challenge. It took me 25 mins and 37 secs. Honestly it was not pretty. There was hyperventilating, crying and one time I even left the workout space. Coach David was amazing though! He talked me through the whole thing,  motivating me to not give up on myself. The whole class actually jogged my last 200m with me (again!) even though they had already finished up way before me. Fast forward to last week,  I was a little surprised because they actually had me do the End of Challenge workout that Thursday instead of Friday. I had not been in the gym physically all that week due to having a serious case of pin...