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30 Minute Treadmill Workout and BAMR Band Review

April showers brings May flowers eh? I feel like today was a reverse of that childhood rhyme as most of the April flowers were washed away with today’s heavy rain in New York City.

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As lovely as a speedy run along the East River sounded last night when I went to bed it didn’t quite happen this morning. I’m human and when I hear heavy raindrops on my window sill at 5:30am it makes rolling out of bed and lacing up my shoes 100x harder than normal. I rolled back over and enjoyed an extra hour of sleep along with a relaxing cup of hot coffee while getting ready this morning. It was such a nice treat but that also meant that my run needed to happen tonight after work. I’ve committed to keeping my health and fitness a priority over the next few weeks even when I have long, stressful days. Today was a perfect example. I wanted nothing more than to head home at 7:15 and enjoy a glass of wine. But, as I sip that wine I know it tastes better now than it would have sans workout!

As I’ve mentioned, my Equinox membership will be ending soon but tonight it served as the perfect place to do a quick workout. I only had 30 minutes for my run due to an 8pm work conference call. Therefore I knew I wanted something challenging that would also keep things interesting since I get VERY bored on the treadmill. It was a pretty simple workout but it helped me keep an average pace of 8:54 which is pretty speedy for a 30 minute run. I remember that last year this time I was feeling out of breath and challenged at a 9:40 pace!

Treadmill Progression Workout

I also had the chance to test out a fun, red chevron BAMR band during tonight’s run. Have you heard of BAMR bands? BAMR stands for Bad Ass Mother Runner and her bands are 7/8 inch non-slip headbands that support the Every Mother Counts charity! How cool is that? Katie sent me a band to test earlier this week and I couldn’t wait to try it!  Each headband is lined with velvet with helps keep it in place while the bright patterns keep things fun! Each headband is only $10 which is a great price compared to some other similar headbands on the market.

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How about you? Headband or not when you workout? If you’re on the headband train which one are you sporting these days?

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ashleyd /

Under Armour’s What’s Beautiful 3.0 Challenge

As someone who works in marketing, I am always interested to see how brands decide to build community and interact with their fans and consumers. Therefore, when I followed Under Armour’s launch of their What’s Beautiful campaign last year I was excited and immediately in love with the platform. Their campaign, What’s Beautiful, allows the Under Armour “every woman” serve as the voice of the brand. Through their site women around the world can make their personal challenges public and gain support from friends around the world. I mean heck, check out the last winner, Kacey C! Her story is awesome!

I am partnering with Fitfluential to share the Under Armour message with readers and friends alike. The campaign partnership couldn’t come at a better time. I need something to keep my body strong and help push me a bit harder. The next 2 months leading up to our big move is going to be absolutely insane. In addition to packing, saying goodbye to friends and family and finishing our NYC bucket list (sort of) I’m traveling 25 days!

  • Miami 5/13-5/15 (work)
  • Istanbul 5/21-5/27
  • Geneva 5/28-6/1 (house hunting)
  • Seattle/San Francisco 6/4-6/7 (work)
  • Geneva 6/16-6/19 (work)

My What’s Beautiful Challenge is all about putting your body and health first even when life gets stressful! My team is all about putting your body and health first even when life gets busy! I find that we often let stress get in the way of our progress. As Bo and I prepare to move to Europe I know the months of May and June will be full of stress. For this reason, I’ve partnered with some of my accountability partners to put a weekly goal in place for each of the next 8 weeks. if you want to join in the movement to put yourself first then I’d love for you to join! #IWILL

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Tonight I completed the TICK MARKS challenge which is a list of things I want to check off along the way to help me achieve my goal! You can check it out here and join in the fun!

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The campaign is all about redefining the female athlete and is open to ANY woman! So join in the fun and follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! We’ll be using the #iwill and #whatsbeautiful hashtags on Instagram and Twitter while I’ll also be sharing my journey on this blog. If you’re participating feel free to post your team link in the comments so I can support you!

How do you put YOUR body and fitness first when life gets stressful?

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ashleyd /

Favorite NYC Running Route

There is no denying that New York City is beautiful in the Spring! Tulips abound throughout the cities small parks, fresh air beckons people of all ages outside, sunshine and blue skies tend to outnumber the gray days, and the cooler temperatures allow people to run anytime during the day!

Yesterday Katie and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather by running one of my favorite New York City routes – East River Path around the tip of Manhattan and up West Side Highway! Katie is going to run the Brooklyn Half marathon, her first half marathon, on May 18th! I’m so excited for her as she is a stronger runner than she realizes and I love watching people conquer their goals! Our goal for yesterday’s run was to enjoy gorgeous views, keep a strong pace, start and end in Katie’s Financial District neighborhood, and figure out how we’re each feeling for the upcoming half.

The weather could not have been more gorgeous during yesterday’s run! It was sunny enough for us to each get a bit of color during our hour run but the cool winds kept us cool.

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As we ran I realized that this route is one of my favorite runs in New York City due to the gorgeous views of Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, New Jersey, and Brooklyn along with the soothing water views which remind me of Savannah. While it definitely doesn’t provide you with any hill training, the flat, uninterrupted route can provide the perfect place for a few sprints since you don’t have to worry about stoplights or traffic! The water fountains are turned on for runners and the path is ready and waiting for you!

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If you want to get the specifics on this route or export it just click this link!

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In addition, I rocked some awesome shorts during yesterday’s run! I wasn’t able to make it to one New Balance’s recent events due to work travel so the team was kind enough to send me some of their Spring gear to review. These shorts, which are shorter and brighter than my normal running shorts, were incredible! The New Balance Momentum Short features a lightweight internal brief, a back pocket perfect for keys or fuel, are super lightweight, and has a comfortable, thick waistband. They definitely run a bit large so you may want to order down a size if you’re borderline.

For more of my favorite running routes, check out this post!

How about you? What is your favorite running route? Leave me a link or information along with which city the route is in and I’ll compile these along with links for readers to use as a resource!

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