Coach Jen B

The following post is sponsored by Fit Approach on behalf of Vega. Here I am.  The last day of April break.  I've gotten in a ton of mileage and fun treks with the kids over the past week and have relied on a very tasty new line of bars created by Vega to fuel me.      Pre-Workout My first bar was the  Chocolate Coconut Almond Sport Energy  bar.  The consistency is what really sold me on this bar.  It was incredibly moist and flavorful.  And it was gentle on the tummy.  I gave me the boost of energy I needed to get through a challenging (we had wind gusts up to 43 mph that day!) run.   That bar was so successful, I decided to pre-fuel my 16 miler with the Apple Cherry Sport Bar yesterday.  This bar was delicious, moist, and gave me enough energy for a majority of the run.  I only stopped to refuel one time during the run.   Refuel and Recovery After the Run After my 16 miler wit...

If I counted correctly, we have 35 more school days!  Today is our last day of April break and when we return to school on Monday, the time is going to fly!! Now, if only it would warm up!    Yesterday I saw a little girl running around the playground in shorts with her down winter jacket on as well!  That's spring in Maine for sure! Today is looking to be a nice day.  Blue skies.  The wind isn't super crazy like yesterday.  I saw on the news we had gusts up to 43 mph.  And trust me, it felt like it when I was running!  And it might get up to the 60s.  I'm hoping this is it!   Spandits!   It's no secret.  I love Spandits .  I especially love to have Spandits sightings when I'm out running.  Yesterday, I had a Spandits sighting on the Rail Trail.  I wanted to stop her and take photos of our Spandits...but thought she would think I was a little odd.  The funny thing about it is that I went ...

This was Ward's 3rd year running the Boston Marathon.  We are quite lucky, because when we head to Massachusetts for the marathon, we also get to have a family reunion with Ward's family, since they do live 15 minutes from Hopkington.   I knew on the way down they would be the perfect taste testers for the Yoplait vs. Chobani Taste Off .     The ingredients for the taste off:  Yoplait Greek 100 Strawberry, Chobani Simply 100 Strawberry, and a blindfold.    Then out came the blindfold and open mouths.   There is no better way to liven up a party than to pull out a blindfold and have family members taste yogurt.  Oh yes, I know, we are party animals! To keep my tasters guessing, I would switch the order of the yogurt, sometimes.  I didn't want them to know which one was coming first.   And the results......  As you can see, Yoplait was the clear winner in this taste te...

There are many positive actions you can take to show your love for our Earth and to keep it clean.  Using a reusable water bottle is just one of the many ways you can do this.  As a new CamelBak Ditch Disposable Ambassador, I am happy to have taken the pledge to be disposable water bottle free for a month.  Actually, my month pledge is now over with, but I'm still going strong! As part of the pledge, I took on the challenge to get my family on board with me.  I wanted them to see the importance of saving money, taking care of our Earth by not adding to even more waste, and having water with you whenever you need it.   The kids absolutely LOVE their new water bottles.  Before we take off for any car trips - even a 5 minute drive to the grocery store, they run and fill up their water bottles.  How awesome is that?   On the way to dance!  Gotta have her CamelBak! My husband is known for buying bottled water quite ...

Keeping my feet happy is quite important to me.  You know when you put your feet in a pair of running and shoes and they feel just right?  Oh, you know that feeling!   Recently, it's been a rotation of three pairs of shoes that have kept my feet feeling quite awesome. Skechers Go Run Ultra I'm still shocked by these shoes.  I never thought I'd put my feet in a pair of Skechers .  But I did and now I'm in love.  These shoes are like super light clouds on my feet, that offer a great amount of support.   Ward still comes back from running in his Ultras, picks them up, looks at them lovingly, saying "wow, I really love these shoes."    I've done long runs and speed workouts in them.  An overall awesome shoe.   Reebok One Cushion And then there is the Reebok One Cushion .  The first shoe I trusted my feet to after my injuries this summer.  They make an incredible trainer that has gotten me through ...

Tomorrow morning we'll be heading out to Boston for the 3rd year in a row to cheer on my speedy husband.   We are beyond excited to head down to Boston for the expo, to spend time with family, and to spend the day watching the Boston Marathon - waiting for this guy to cross the finish line!   this is last year at our meeting spot - we'll be meeting him here again! Not only did he qualify again, he also raised money for the Boston One Fund at work and will be running in one of these shirts on Marathon Monday - honoring Boston One Fund and his coworkers who donated.   Yes - two shirts made, just because he didn't know what he really wanted to wear on Monday and he'd rather be prepared!   Here's to a great, safe, trip to Boston!  

Sunday morning, I volunteered, for the 2nd year, to take photos at a local 5k at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine.  From what I gather, this is the 3rd year for the race.  The first year it was a senior project, then grew to about 200 people last year to over 500 racers/walkers this year.  For a Central Maine town, it's a pretty decent sized 5k. The 1 in 5 piece to the race is this "1 in 5 people will experience sexual violence in their lifetime".  For more information about the race, visit the website here .   What I like about this race is that it starts a little later than a lot of 5ks, with a 9am start time.  The race registration/expo is well organized, in the gym, which allows the participants a great place to stay warm until the race starts as well.  Since it is April in Maine, you never know if it will be 80F or snowing!  Race morning was a bit chilly and quite windy.  Knowing it was cold there last year, I came prepared an...

Yesterday morning I had plans to run with my bff, Stacy.  She's training for Sugarloaf Marathon  in May.  I'm not.  But, I like to run with her when I can.  Which hasn't been a lot lately.   She had 14 miles scheduled and I could actually fit it in after my morning commitments.  But then her daughter got sick and she had to change her plans.   So, when I got home from taking photos at a race, I changed and told Ward I was going for my run.  He asked his normal questions.  How far?  Where are you going?  I said 14 and to the rail trail and back.  He suggested a different route closer to the house that I haven't done in a long time and I thought, why not?    So off I went.  For my 14 miler.  In the freezing cold rain, with crazy wind.   After 3 miles, I remembered why I don't do that loop a lot.  Someone put freaking mountains along that route.  I might be exaggerating a little bit h...

There are some weekends when it all comes together and I can get my meal prepping done.  I love it when this happens because my week just goes a lot smoother when I do that!  As I type this, I have two meals already done and in the refrigerator plus my lunch for the week is already completed and ready to go too!   I love to eat salads for lunch. I love them even more if I can prep them on Sunday and just grab them in the morning.   With the weather getting warmer, I was feeling like a fiesta kind of salad.  So I tossed together some chickpeas, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, pepper, and onions.  Then I added Newman's Own Lite Lime dressing.  And boom!  I have a super simple fiesta salad and a new favorite salad dressing.  Since I only have four days of school this week, I only need 4 lunches! Monday Kind of cheating - but dinner at Reds, a local pizza place.  Reds is hosting a fundraiser for the Class of 2015, do...

Ward and I have been talking about taking the kids to their first Red Sox game this summer for quite some time.   Then I received an email yesterday asking me to try out ScoreBig .   ScoreBig is just that.  It's a ticket selling venue that offers it's customers tickets to concerts, theater events, or sporting events a savings of up to 60%. I was a bit skeptical at first, 60% off?  Now how on earth do the venues make any money off of prices like that?  But, ScoreBig is the first sales channel created to sell unsold ticket inventories.   They've been featured in  I have found a place where I can get tickets to the Red Sox at incredibly affordable prices for all four of us!   So, guess what?  We're taking the kids to see their first Red Sox game as soon as school let's out in June.   Now, it's incredibly easy to get tickets at ScoreBig.  First, just type in your zip code on the top of the page and then choos...

It is not secret.  I live in workout clothing and do try to fit in workout clothing/gear even when I'm at school.   My wardrobe is roughly 75% running apparel, leaving my everyday and work clothing to a measly 25%.  I don't really want to change that either.  I'd much prefer to wear running clothing anyway.       I've been a fan of Tommie Copper for the past couple of years.   Tommie Copper's compression isn't the typical compression, where it goes on tight.  The science behind Tommie Copper is that the fabric is lined with copper, a healing element.  That leaves the clothing and accessories Tommie Copper produces to be comfortable for all day wear.   Not something you feel like you have to take off after a couple of hours.    I recently was given the opportunity to review a few pieces of Tommie Copper apparel.  I received the Camisole and Capris while Ward received the ActiveFit Full Zip Mock Neck Jacket . ...