Coach Jen B

I recently had the opportunity to try out the Topo Athletic Run RT shoe.   I have this real attraction to minimalist shoes and these shoes have a look that draws you in and really intrigue you.   I tracked the shipping of these shoes for days....and when they finally arrived, I couldn't wait to put them on and take them for a test drive.  What was pretty cool about the Topo folks is that they included two complimentary pairs of split toe socks made by Injinji especially for Topo Athletic shoes .    And because I like these socks so much, I wear them for everyday wear - to work under my leather boots with other sneakers.  They are pretty awesome. First impressions go a long way.  Especially with a shoe that I am trusting my feet, my body to.  As I slipped into them, I knew I had put on a shoe that my feet were going to love.  The arch hugged my high arches like they were made for my feet. The toe box allowed for my toes to spread and feel free.  I was nervou

I'm a little late to the party - but I am officially IN !   FitFluential and  Under Armour have teamed up with the 1,000 Burpee Challenge .  The goal?  Complete 1,000 burpees by February 28th...... MY 37th birthday !   Which means 34 burpees a day.   I can do that!   Today was a scheduled rest day....but that doesn't mean I can't do burpees - so I busted them out.   In my cords and Bobs by Skechers.   Proof you can do burpees in just about any outfit anytime of the day!  No excuses!   And when Ward asked me what I was doing, I told him about the challenge.  Of course he had to step it up a level and tell me I should do 37 a day because it ends on my 37th birthday.  Okay.  Game on!   I'm going to track my count using FitSnap and post on Instagram .  I love FitSnap - but there isn't a category for burpees so I chose Strength Training - close enough..... and I'll track my burpees under the duration.  Check it out... .I have 37 a

I'm a runner.  But I am finding more and more that I am enjoying trying out new forms of exercise.  First it was yoga.  I have grown to really love and appreciate yoga.  However, I am only really consistent with yoga if I sign up for a class, and unfortunately my favorite yoga studio - Freeport Yoga Co . is a long drive away and the other yoga class option - which isn't as great but it closer - is happening on a night that is impossible for me to get too.  So.... with that said, my yoga practice has suffered.  Tonight, when I finish this post, I WILL hang out with Rodney Yee .  I have to.  My body is telling me it needs yoga tonight!   My new adventure was Les Mills Body Pump.  A newish fitness local fitness studio - Fortified Fitness  - hosted a free Body Pump class on Saturday.   The time actually conflicted with Tucker's swim class, but I managed to get Ward to take the kids which meant I was free to try it out!  I wanted to do a little run beforehand, so I stop

I love 4 day work weeks...it seems like Thursday got here so freaking fast!  I LOVE it.   1.  Izzy turned 5 yesterday.  Yes.  My baby is 5 years old now.  Time is flying by so fast and soon we'll be taking her to kindergarten screening.  Exciting times!   She celebrated her birthday yesterday at daycare with gluten free cupcakes.  They were outstanding!!!    Then we celebrated again last night with dinner and Reece's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream cake and invented my in-laws over for dinner as well.   And then we'll have her birthday party this weekend at Scrummy Afters , a super adorable candy store in downtown Hallowell.  They just recently renovated a room in the back to host parties!  They have a photo booth with props for the kids, face painting, a chocolate fountain and possibly a cotton candy machine (if it comes in tomorrow!).  AND we'll also do cupcake decorating.  I'm so excited for this party.  It's going to be a

This post is sponsored by REPREVE.  All opinions expressed on my blog are 100% my own.   I shared last week about Turning It Green with Repreve.  I love doing my part when it comes to recycling and purchasing items made from recycled products.   In our household, we Turn It Green with recycling our plastic and glass bottles.  I am fortunate that my husband is a talented cabinet maker and he built us an extra long drawer for our trash and bottles - so it's all in one place making it very easy to recycle. Even the kids are pro's at recycling!  We are quite fortunate, as well, that our grocery store has a recycling station right inside the entry door - through CLYNK  .  All we have to do is bag up our bottles in the green bag (that we need to purchase), add the little sticker with my account number, slide it through the door.  Then a few days later, I scan my card at the CLYNK machine, and I can get a payment receipt that I can either cash in or apply toward my groce

I don't know about you, but I am done with winter.  Yeah, yeah, it's only January 21st.  I still have 2 more months of winter.  Don't remind me!    In addition to the super cold and icy winter we've experienced, we haven't seen a lot of Ward either.  That man has been working a lot lately.  And mostly weekends.  We haven't had a lot of family time together.   So, this past weekend we joined crashed my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's annual trip to North Conway.  Since my nephew's birthday is in January, they started taking him to North Conway to stay overnight in a hotel that has an indoor water park.  Every year they take Tucker, which is awesome!  But we end up staying home and being jealous of all of their fun.   This year, however, Ward actually had the day off, so we knew we had to go.   We decided that we would only go up for the day and not stay overnight, since we had quite a bit going on the next day at home.   I

It absolutely breaks my heart that another member of our running community has been lost to a horrific tragedy.  I cannot even imagine what Meg's family is going through right now and I can only pray my family never needs to face their reality.    Sadly, Meg wasn't the only runner to have lost her life this week .   The most recent tragedies have angered and scared me.   The girls and I were already planning on running today but when we found out that today would be the worldwide, virtual run for Meg - it seemed fitting that I got to run today with my girls.  Well, minus one.  Poor Carrie had to work.  (we missed you,  girl!) We set out for a 10 mile loop.  But somehow I had forgotten that the loop is actually 13.86!  Ooops!   What's another 5k (and a smidge more)?  Right?   My heart is very heavy right now.  This is a scary world we live in.  You never know what is going to happen next.  But all I know is that I need to hug my kids, husband

The following post is sponsored by fitfluential LLC on behalf of  Under Armour .  As always, all opinions expressed on my blog are 100% my own.   I've been intrigued by snowshoe running for a couple of years now but I've never done anything about it.  Once in a while I will see that there was a race and I would think "Wow, now that's badass!  How in the world do they run in those?"   A few weeks ago, as the snow kept piling up higher and higher here in Maine, the thought of snowshoe running came to me again.  But this time I actually did something about it!  I strapped on my daughter's snowshoes, put on running tights, long sleeve shirt, hat, and gloves and went for it.  You can read about that run here .    What you can see from above, I ran 2.05 miles in the snowshoes and then ran 2.05 miles on the road. This was the PERFECT opportunity to use my Armour 39 to compare the results.  And the numbers do not lie!  At first I was curious

Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to your bottle after you drop it off at a recycling center?   Honestly, I never did.  I knew recycling was a good thing to do.   Here in Maine, we get our bottle deposit back if we  recycle our bottles .  We have our recycling bin beside our garbage bin, so recycling bottles is easy to do in our house.  Then every few weeks, I take the  GREEN  bag to the grocery store and drop it off at the recycling center.  A few days later, I can check my account balance.  I can either use get the cash or use it on groceries.  I tend to just use the balance on groceries. But clothing made out of bottles?  Now, that's a really cool and awesome idea.  And, even better? REPREVE is a recycled fiber that helps turn plastic bottles you recycle into cool stuff you can wear and use every day.  Now there's no excuse to not recycle!!! Companies that I already shop at and  LOVE  already use  REPREVE  to make th

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. Raise your hand if you ever had something you set aside, and couldn't wait to eat it/drink it when you got home from work only to find your husband consumed it.  Uh huh.  That happens here all of the time.   It especially happened when I received a case of Cheribundi's Refresh line to try out.  I seriously only had 3 out of the 12. But I AM impressed with the Cheribundi Refresh line up.  They are not a protein drink or any type of product that promises muscle recovery after a workout.  They ARE a great refreshing drink you can enjoy anytime of day.  They are light and sweet, almost like a lemonade or ice tea drink.   Cheribundi Refresh comes in Fruit Refresh flavors and Tea Refresh flavors.  What I can definitely tell you is that they did not last long in my house at all.  In only a matter of a few days, they were gone.  I was eyeing up the Cherry Pomegranate Drink and before I new it, it wa

Looking at the weather forecast last night - calling for temperatures downpours all day long with a low of 17 and high of 47, I thought that maybe we would have a 1 or 2 hour delay this morning.  Maybe.  But I wasn't going to hold my breath.  But when my alarm went off at 5:20 and I had a text waiting for me saying NO SCHOOL.  I was shocked!  I didn't believe it at first.  I thought for sure it was a misprint.  So I went to the local news channel website to check the closings.  Then it was confirmed.  No school!!! rather stylish - don't you think?   This great gift gave me a whole day to hang out with the kids, spend time with the husband who actually had the day off, and get in a great workout! we made some cake pops to celebrate another snow day I wasn't quite sure what today's run was going to be like.  I knew I was going to run.  That's a no brainier.   I wanted SO badly to run outside.  Around noon it was 47F out there and it was misting.