Giveaway winner

Dear many women on the Hudson River Greenway,  I wish you had seen my giveaway because your sports bras were not supporting you.  I wince when I see women in sports bras that are not supportive... it looks painful!  And I feel like you're just encouraging gravity (even though I'm pretty sure that those are just my feelings and not actuality)

So... the winner of the discount code is Carly!  Congratulations Carly and I hope you enjoy your CW-X products as much as I enjoy mine.  Please email me at exerciseadd@gmail.com to get the code and instructions on how to claim it.

Thanks so much!

Discount Code Giveaway!

CW-X is a subsidiary of Wacoal, which makes athletic wear... specifically support and compression gear.

I am a woman who needs a lot of support, if you catch my drift.  At some point this year, Cameron and I trotted off to Paragon Sports in Union Square and I bought 2 new sports bras.  One is by Moving Comfort and is pretty good, but I don't usually run in it for some reason.  The other is by CW-X and is AMAZING.  Its the CW-X VersaTX in Raspberry.

The bra provides a lot of support, has a triple clasp in the back and easily adjustable straps (with velcro). It comes in sizes 32-36 B/C and 32-36D.

But CW-X makes way more than just sports bras.  They make support tops, compression gear, compression socks, etc.   Just looking at their website, you can tell that they really work hard to make clothing that is supportive and provides athletes what they are looking for, whether its dry fabric for warm weather clothing, or additional support meshed in to support crabby knees.

To take from their facebook page and give you some more information

About

CW-X® Conditioning Wear® is a new generation of revolutionary athletic performance apparel. Combining science with technology, products are anatomically designed to provide targeted support and accelerated recovery.

Mission

Wacoal Sports Science Corporation, headquartered in New York City, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wacoal International. The company's mission is to meet the sports performance needs of the active US consumer through the CW-X brand, the world's first truly anatomically-engineered high performance sports apparel.

Company Overview

Wacoal Sports Science dedicates CW-X® to people everywhere in the world who love the exhilaration and challenge of sports. To celebrate sports is to celebrate what's best in human beings.

So, CW-X has offered me a promotion code of 30-40% off a one time purchase.  It was incredibly tempting for me to use this code myself to stock up on bras, but I resisted.

How to enter:  Leave a comment below telling me your favorite accessory or piece of clothing to exercise in.  Bonus entry: Like CW-X on Facebook and post a comment telling me that you did that.

The giveaway ends on July 1st at Midnight.  One winner will be randomly chosen on July 2nd.

Good luck!

Seattle!

Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to Seattle for a work-related conference.  It was very exciting as it was the first time I was presenting a poster of my own research.  I also have never been to Seattle and I've heard it's great.

On Thursday afternoon, my two co-workers and I get to Newark airport and we're faced with a few hours of delays.  We ate SmashBurger, which we would not recommend, and then hung out near the gate.  While we were sitting around waiting, it suddenly occurred to me, "I didn't pack my running capris".  Since I carry a duffle bag, it's pretty easy to go through, and I rummaged through and definitely did not see my running capris.  But I'm wearing my sneakers, which means I had to bring an extra pair of shoes... for nothing?? Oh no.

While the three of us had been planning on going for a run early on Friday morning, I had no pants to run in, and as I mentioned earlier, I can't go pantsless.  Fortunately, the hotels in Seattle are mostly downtown right in the heart of the shopping area, so I decided to head out at 10am to buy a pair of running capris.

After discovering that NikeTown is a "premier" store and does not put anything on clearance or sale, I went to The Gap... my favorite store.  They were having a nice sale and I picked up a pair of sweet capris for 30% off.  I wanted to buy a pair of shorts that were also 30% off, but I resisted because I really just don't need them right now.  Yay self control!

The gap capris I bought - only needed for the weekend, but a nice addition to my wardrobe!

On Friday, I ran a couple of miles on the treadmill, which went very well given my back, and then did some ab work.  Nothing crazy.  Then we went to lunch and walked around Pike's Place Market for like 4 hours.  Pike's Place Market might be my new favorite place in the world.  There is fresh fruit everywhere, gorgeous flowers, and TONS of free samples.  Everyone is giving out samples of everything.  You can try whatever you like.  We ate our way through Seattle and loved it.  It was a great way to experience the city and it also made me feel like Seattle was so fresh and healthy.

On Saturday, I decided I wanted to run a 5K in Seattle to the Space Needle.  The three of us set out, and I was able to keep up with them for about 1.75 miles.  My right leg started to feel a little odd, so I stopped running and immediately went back to normal.  I kept running and then settled that when I turned onto Broad Street to go to from the sound to the Space Needle, I would walk for 30 seconds.  

Well... Broad Street is a massive hill.  I turned and was just blown away by how steep this hill was between me and the Space Needle.  I basically resolved to make it up to the Space Needle however I could.

Map of my run - the turn to the 3 mile mark is where it goes all UPHILL 

I made it to the Space Needle in 31.30 - it was 3.10 miles, so its my usual pace.  I was still impressed given the giant hill. Generally, I try to be positive about my runs... a year ago, I couldn't run for more than 2-3 minutes without feeling like I was uncomfortable.  The fact that I could keep up with my co-workers (who are both experienced runners) for almost 2 miles was good enough for me.  I really just have to keep it in perspective - I have made amazing progress.
The Space Needle was awesome.  I didn't go up it, but it was cool to go to it and know I RAN there.  I actually think there is something more rewarding about making it somewhere on your feet.  While all those other people were driving cars up Mt. Washington, we were climbing it.  It's the same as running to the Space Needle.  There is a monorail from the hotel to the Space Needle, but I did it on my feet.
Of course, after I ran the 5K, I then had to get back to the hotel.  I had no desire to keep running, so I leisurely strolled through Seattle down 5th Ave.  Seattle is very up and coming... there are a lot of brand new apartment buildings and its very clean.

Me at the Space Needle.  The woman who took the picture wasn't sure how to use a smart phone camera... 

While I was walking down 5th Ave, I found a donut place - Top Pot Doughnuts, that my co-worker had wanted to go to.  I decided to go and buy 5 donuts.  5.  What the hell was I thinking?? 5 donuts!!  Well they were all delicious, but we never finished all of them before we had to go back, whoops.
The rest of Saturday and most of Sunday was spent at the conference learning lots of professional development things.  Monday morning we flew back from Seattle on a plane that was likely older than I am.  The wallpaper in the bathroom was very... 80's-tacular and there was a nice little CRT TV mounted to the ceiling like old times.  Also, the seats were TINY!
All in all, it was a fantastic trip!

Do you run/exercise when you go on vacation?  Have you been to Seattle?  How do you keep perspective? 

Crunch! Body Web TRX

Did not happen.
Got to crunch... class was full... except the list was full... the actual room was not.  Until 11:03.  Then I got the boot for people who had signed up on the paper but hadn't bothered to show up on time. Strike 1.

So I went to Paragon Sports instead.  I want to buy shirts that are not my $6 Target tank tops to exercise in.  I love my $6 Target tank tops, but they ride up and they also are cotton so I sweat through them easily.  Unfortunately, my shape is not conducive to most shirts and my sensory issues (I like to wear tighter clothing - I almost always wear a tanktop underneath everything because I hate the feeling of loose fabric on my stomach) ruled out the rest of the shirts.  I need a shirt that does not have a built in bra, as I wear a sports bra anyway, but that is form fitting.  Apparently they don't make those.  Strike two.
Instead, I bought new shorts and a new pair of running capris. The shorts were on sale, and then the capris were 20% off! I definitely have enough pants to run in now, so I need to start concentrating on tops now.

New running capris by Adidas + running shorts by Brooks

To make up for not being able to go to a class today, I am going to try out Hot Pilates on Friday evening.  I did want to try this Body Web TRX, but I would have had to go back to Union Square at 6:15 and I had a 6:00 phone appointment with our wedding band.
I do have to say this is a definite drawback of that Crunch.  It is a 20 minute walk from me, which isn't that far, but if I walk there for a specific class, I want to take that class.  So it sucks that it's not first come first serve based on who shows up to the class on time.  That makes more sense to me, but that's also how I've seen it almost everywhere else.
In other news, I bought my veil for my wedding yesterday!  No details here because Cameron can't know anything about it, but I'm pumped that everything is coming together!

Have you ever wanted to try something only to hit a setback?  Do you have any recommendations for shirts that I might like for running in?