Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Product Review

Happy Tuesday!

So I decided to do a little product review today... Too Faced Shadow Insurance. This is a really nice little product that seriously works wonders. I had never tried shadow primer before (and I really should have!) but one of my friends posted about Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion on facebook the other day and I knew I had a shadow primer freebie from Sephora laying around in the masses of beauty products that have taken over my cupboards and closets somewhere so I gave it a try.



What does this have to do with running, you ask? Oh, because I love wearing makeup when I run. Especially at races. Why? Ohhh, I don't know, because there's literally a cameraman following you around through the last third of the run at long distance races. You know, the part of the race where you're looking your hottest. I learned this lesson the hard way at Al's Run 2009. As Les and I are prepping at the hotel room, she looks at me and says "Uhhh are you really wearing makeup to the race?" and I was like, "Uhhh yeah." Well, by the end of the race I had raccoon eyes from mascara dripping down my face. That's when I switched to waterproof mascara for running. I will now be adding Shadow Insurance to my race-day repertoire. I tried this stuff last night and slept in my makeup just to see how well my shadow would hold up (normally I have a very strict anti-aging cleansing routine at night, but I threw caution to the wind yesterday evening). Good news, I seriously woke up and my shadow hadn't moved at all! I'm not kidding you when I say I normally have shadow all over my entire face if I sleep in my makeup and this stuff kept ALL of my shadow on my eyes and it still looked brand new even though it was almost EIGHTEEN HOURS old! I think I may go to Sephora today and get the full size tube because I have nothing better to do I love a nice brisk walk around the mall. Its such a great way to kill some time, waste some money, get out of the freakin' house workout!

So, I'm sold on this product. I think it will be great to help keep my face in place during those oh-so-important race day photo ops! Speaking of photos, Leslie just sent me a framed pic of her and me at the finish line of our very first half marathon. So cute. I have the bestest best friend everrrrrr.

Have a great day!

xo, c

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Runner's World and Real Simple

Good morning my fabulous four readers... :)

I absolutely love magazines and I wanted to share two little snippets from two magazines I just got in the mail.  As most of you already know, I am a pretty avid New York Times, Wall Street Journal US Weekly reader because I like to keep up with world news, politics, the economy current fashion trends, celeb diet tips, and Hollywood gossip, you know, things that actually matter. However, these tips are from Runner's World and Real Simple. 

I rely entirely on my Dad for political information which is why I still think Ronald Regan is president. And the economy's good, right? Cool. This is said somewhat tongue-in-cheek as I do think my Dad is the smartest person alive, but alas, I do have some of my own opinions... ;)

Runner's World October 2010
(Jenny Crain feature on page 23)
I blogged awhile ago about Jenny Crain (elite runner from Milwaukee, WI) and her struggle to live again after a tragic accident. Against all odds, her speech, memory and mobility have greatly improved and she is now walking again on an anti-gravity treadmill and participating in local races in an adult jogger. What a great story, I hope she continues along on the path to recovery. Kudos to her!

Real Simple September 2010
Interval Training feature on page 158)
If you're looking for a way to introduce hill-work into your walk/run, check this out. It only takes 15 minutes and I swear, its easy. Here's the gist of it:
  •  0:00 - 3:00 (3.5 miles/hour -- 0 percent incline)
  • 3:00 - 5:00 (4.0 miles/hour -- 0 percent incline)
  • 5:00 - 8:00 (3.5 miles/hour -- 4 percent incline)
  • 8:00 - 11:00 (3.5 miles/hour -- 6 percent incline)
  • 11:00 - 13:00 (4.5 miles/hour -- 4 percent incline)
  • 13:00 - 15:00 (3.5 miles/hour -- 0 percent incline)
Easy peasy! Right? Hope you give it a try!

So this is totally off-topic but does anyone watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey? I absolutely ADORE Caroline Manzo. I mean, I wish I could be her, that's how much I love her. But anyways, did you all just die when she looked at Danielle and said "We are in the OK CORRAL, so buckle up and let's ride. Yippy Ki Yi Yay!" Too funny. I love this chick. Next time Addy ticks me off, I might just use that line on her and see if it makes her shape up a little... Speaking of Addy, all the kids in the subdivision started school yesterday and I was really tempted to just put her on bus and see if they'd take her, but ehhh, I'd probably get in trouble for that, since she's uhhh 3. Only 728 days until her first day of kindergarten!


Have a great day!


xo, c

Monday, September 6, 2010

Vitamins...

Hi bloggies...

So here's a random question for everyone, do you take any daily vitamins/supplements that I should know about? I know there are a million different things available for joint health,  mental health, muscle recovery, increased energy, etc... the list goes on.

I seriously have the worst taste in my mouth in regards to the whole vitamin thing, literally. When I was pregnant with Addy and had to take prenatal vitamins, I wanted to puke every time I took them... and yeah, I pretty much stopped taking them because they made me so sick. So, because of that bad experience, and because I'm usually pretty lazy about stuff like this, I decided to not really worry about taking any vitamins. I always kind of figured that I would get all of the nutrients I needed from the food I ate. Well when you live on Ben & Jerry's and buffalo wings for nine straight months, you begin to realize, hmmm maybe I'm not getting all the nutrients that I should be getting... hmmm... let me ponder that.

Well, I pondered for awhile, I'm no longer suffering from pregnancy-induced morning sickness or prenatal vitamin nausea. So yeah, my kid is almost four years old now and I feel like I'm ready to take vitamins again. Wow, such a risk-taker.

So anyways, here's what I take:

Acai Vitamin Super Chews

Trader Joe's Gummy Multivitamins

Now you'll notice these are both gummy-ish vitamins. That's because I like candy. I'm sure acai supplements are available in regular pill form and I know they sell acai juice at Wal-Mart because I buy it there all the time. I don't really know why I take these, I just saw "stay mentally sharp" and "healthy hair and nails" and I bought them. Typical Christine impulse buy. I can't get much sharper than this, really.

My multivitamin is from Trader Joe's. I love them. Addy takes gummy kids vitamins from Target but I prefer the TJs brand for myself because they're shaped like flowers and they taste better.

I should probably be taking Viactiv because I have bad joints, but I don't. I would feel really old if I started taking calcium supplements before my 30th birthday. But maybe I should. Tell me all your secrets. How do you get your vitamins?! :)

xo, c

Friday, September 3, 2010

my week in running...

Hi All!


It was a STEAMY week here in Michigan. I'm talking like mid-to-upper 80s all this week until some sort of cool front moved in and now its really cool. I love summer, but I'm ready for fall, we had a very hot/humid summer in the D. I'm getting ready to bust out one of my 9274613 sweaters and begin every day with a pumpkin spice latte.


Here's what my running looked like for this week:


Monday -- rest (I started a pilates DVD and was too lazy to finish it)
Tuesday -- 3 miles (treadmill at gym, I'll throw some hills up in there!)
Wednesday -- 6 miles (half treadmill at home, half hoofing it around the 'hood)
Thursday -- 3 miles (track workout -- try to run fastttteerrrrrrrrr!)
Friday -- rest
Saturday -- 12 miles (I won't be running all of this, I'll definitely run/walk it)
Sunday -- cross train (does bumming around the mall count as cross training?)


I have to try to do a really weird training schedule until December because a) I'm simultaneously training for the Denver Half-Marathon and the Vegas Marathon and b) I combined two different programs. So work with me here, I know 12 miles looks like A LOT for a long run this early in the game, but my whole schedule right now is kind of a mess??? Does that make sense? Good, because I'm totally lost too. Oh, did I say, "this early in the game?" I meant this late in the game... Denver is 7 weeks away. And Vegas is 14 weeks away. Shoot me.


Anyways, so I might go home to wisco for the Al's Run for Children's Hospital. It's the week before the Denver Half-Marathon... My little cousin Matt has a pretty amazing story and Children's Hospital was there every step of the way with him, so its always cool to run for a good cause. Plus the entire Marquette University basketball team is there cheering you on. I did this run last year with Les and it was freezzzzzzing, but still a great time with my bestie. If I go home for the weekend, I'll definitely do this for fun and to support such a great organization.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Don't forget, no white pants if you have a fat butt after Labor Day! :)

xo, c