ashleyd /

Greetings from the Rail

Greetings from somewhere between Providence and Boston!

This afternoon I was supposed to take the 3pm Acela from Penn Station to Boston. I was looking forward to the fast trip, soft chairs, reliable Internet, and relaxing three hour train ride. Instead, my train was delayed 3 hours due to an unfortunate track mortality. But, Amtrak was amazing and squeezed me onto the Regional Rail train leaving at 3:15! Amazing!

20120517-191850.jpg

While I waited for the train I munched on a delicious salad filled to the brim with beets, cranberries, mushrooms, chicken, and mixed greens! I also picked up a dozen fresh New York City bagels while at Zarro’s because let’s get real, Team Off Balance runs on bagels, iced coffee and bananas!

During the four hour trip I worked, blogged, read this month’s People and Runner’s World magazines, and sipped on this beauty!

20120517-191827.jpg

Until later, I’m feasting with the team in the wonderful, quiet town of Wachusett where the bears roam free and out number humans. 🙂

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

Five Bamboo Giveaway

As promised, it’s time for another giveaway!

While I’m not necessarily enjoying views like this anymore, I’m definitely digging one of my favorite items from last month’s Hawaii vacation.

001

My friends at Five Bamboo shipped me their Elusive dress in a beautiful, bright watermelon color as soon as they heard I was heading on vacation. The perfect dress for traveling on vacation or a day in the city, it is comfortable, long enough for my 5’9 1/2 frame, and quite flattering. I ended up wearing this out to dinner two nights and one day on a city excursion.

 003 002

Luckily, the gang at Five Bamboo is super generous! They are not only willing to give all Healthy, Happier Bear readers 20% off any purchase using the code (healthyhappybamboo) until 5/31/12; but also giving away one Elusive dress to a lucky winner!

There are a few ways to enter:

1) Follow me on twitter if you aren’t already, then tweet about this contest (include a link to this post and @healthyhappier). Leave another comment telling me you tweeted.

2) Head over to Five Bamboo’s website and let me know what your favorite item is on their site and why.

*US & Canadian residents only. The giveaway ends Friday at midnight and I will announce a winner Sunday when I return from Reach the Beach!

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

So Much to Say

Wow, I have so much to say and so little time! I have lots on my mind and only a bit of time to share with you guys as the bed is screaming my name. So much for 8 hours of sleep each night, eh? Oops!

Reach the Beach

Over the next few days, this blog will become dedicated to Reach the Beach posts and updates. Therefore, I won’t inundate you with too much right now accept to share a bit of an update with you. I’m really excited about this weekend not only for the race itself, but also because of my teammates. While some of them I know quite well like Theodora and Melissa, others I’ve never met before even though I’ve read their blog for years, ahem Bridget! In addition, New Balance has taken the role of sponsor to a whole new level. Each day they are getting me more excited for the race thanks to a million emails, packages in the mail and packing lists! If you want to REALLY keep up with the madness, I’ll be tweeting using our hash tag, #teamoffbalance. I’ll also share pictures on Instagram all weekend long so if you’re not following, please do!

Last night, I was greeted with more awesome gear featuring our team name, Off Balance!

001

While I’m not as organized as some of my teammates, I did start throwing things in a pile as I thought about them. I still have to buy a few key items like new compression socks, blinking safety lights, NYC bagels, and coconut water but at least I’m making headway!

002

Clearly I’m worried about having power, music, no blisters, smelling fresh, and not getting a sunburn.

My goals for my legs are to enjoy each one for it’s uniqueness and win the mental game. I know I’m going to power through some tough hills and some lonely runs, especially at night. Like I said earlier, everything between now and November is a form of training for the marathon.  In case you were wondering, my legs for the weekend are below:

Runner 12 (16.74 miles): Ashley

Leg 12:P Brent Trottier School to Hopkinton State Park: 6.01 miles: easy

Leg 24 (QUIET ZONE): Borderland State Park to Oliver Ames High School: 3.61 miles: easy

Leg 36: Demarest Lloyd Memorial State Park to Horseneck Beach State Reservation: 7.12 miles: moderate

I love that I’m the last runner and will get to run through the finish with the rest of the ladies! So stinking fun!!

Staying Healthy While Traveling

A few readers have emailed me over the past few weeks asking how I keep from getting sick when I travel. Well, I clearly don’t have the art perfected as I came down with bronchitis after my trip to Hawaii, but considering that’s the first illness I’ve had after traveling over 72,000 miles in the last year, I’d say that’s pretty good. While I wish I could share my answers to this, along with world peace, I can’t. But, I’ll share the few things I do that seem to help.

  • Wash your hands constantly. Yes, I know it seems silly to even mention but many people forget to wash their hands. I wash mine multiple times a day when traveling.
  • Vitamins I take my vitamins (multi, vit D, hair & nail) daily while traveling along with Ester C powder in my afternoon water for an extra dose of protection.
  • Sleep I love taking advantage of huge hotel king size beds while I travel and find that catching up on sleep can help keep me going strong through the long hours and jet lag.
  • Be smart Your body likes nutritious food and workouts. Sweat any germs out with a daily workout and give your body the fuel it needs to go strong. I do my best to have a healthy breakfast, lunch and snack so that dinner can be a bit more fun.

001 001 011 IMG_1875 (640x480)

Trainer Bob

009

Thanks to Fitfluential, I was able to attend Bob Harper’s book release party tonight down in SoHo. It was a great chance to meet other New York City area bloggers and catch some amazing people watching. But, the best moment was when Trainer Bob spent more than 5 minutes with us chatting, posing, and encouraging each of us on our path to a healthier life. He could have easily struck one pose with us and moved on but instead he seemed truly interested.

004 005 007  010 Well gang, that’s all she wrote! Check back tomorrow for this week’s Marathons+Moderation guest post!

Question: Are you a Biggest Loser fan? Why or why not? I’ve actually never watched an entire episode.

Share Button
Follow: