2016 favorite activewear/ Lululemon

These were my favorite pieces of the year—the things that I wore over and over and brought me JOY to wear. And I want more of that—clothes that I'm happy to put on in the morning, that are comfortable and make me feel like a million bucks. (And less cheap pieces that make me feel lumpy.) *Most of these aren't available anymore, so I'll link if it still is.

Fitting room. Insta love.

Business class on a plane. 

At the office trying to stay warm

1. Lululemon Down for a Run Vest
My absolute favorite piece of activewear for 2016 was my Down for a Run Vest. Because the Lulu educator old me to, I tried the inkwell vest on and LOVED it. I had no intention of buying it. But it was warm, functional and really well cut. It made me look skinny. But I did not want to pay $138 for it. So I left the store without it, only to go back a few days later and buy it. I had to have it. And I don't regret the purchase at all. I've lived in the vest since I bought it. I wear it every weekend. To work when I can get away with it. It's a great piece of clothing. It's not bulky like other vests. And it has all sorts of pockets, to stash my keys so I don't need to carry a purse. It's GREAT for traveling because it has so many pockets. This was a lifesaver for me. I bought another vest in purple, and I'd buy more if I could find more

Work clothes
This year I tried to wear Lululemon to work as much as I could and I got some great pieces

2. &Go Where-To Dress
I have this dress in black and blue. It is SO COMFORTABLE. I always get compliments when I wear the black one. It's a T-shirt dress I wear to work. When it's cooler I wear it with black tights and a black sweater. I have a boyish figure—no curves, so this style works for me. It's probably not for everyone. The blue one isn't as dressy, so I wear it on weekends.

3. &GO Til Dawn dress
Again I have this in black and a blue print. It's a fit and flare dress which looks AMAZING ON ME. I always gets compliments when I wear it. It's looks so chic. Super dressy for work. I wear the black one with a black blazer. I wear the printed one with a navy blazer and look like a boss. These dresses are well made, they have pockets, and are super comfy. In the summer, I wear these dresses once a week, since I love them so much.

4. City Trek Trouser Ponte
These are trouser pants made of a stretchy material. They're soft and comfortable and completely great for work. My one gripe is they run a little big. The 6 I have stretched out. So I got a pair of 4's in the blue. I wear these to work all the time.

After a race. Too tired to straighten my leg.

5. Lululemon Pace Rival Crop in Hounds Camo Emperor Blue Black
These have been my go-to Saturday running crop. I like the way they feel. They have plenty of pockets. They don't REALLY show sweat. They're just comfortable and I like the colors. I wear black, navy or purple tanks with this. They're also longer than my other crops, which is nice for when it's colder since I don't like to wear tights. Always crops.

I should say the first time I tried the Pace Rival crop on, I tried it on in black and found them sheer. I'd really like another pair of dark Pace Rivals.

6. Sweaty Betty Navasana Reversible 3/4 Yoga Leggings in SunsetInRio Print
I bought these reversible crops for my birthday. I love the colors. I wear these to yoga all the time.

Warehouse sale favorites
I LOVED the Lululemon warehouse sale in Atlanta. It was cool to see so much lulu in one place. The stores are so small. And I spent way too much but got some of my favorite pieces of the year there.

7. Lululemon Race to Place Hat
I picked this blue hat up because it was $4. (I bought a bunch for gifts.) I ended up wearing this hat at least once a week. (I have SO many selfies in this hat!) I hadn't been a hat person until this hat, but I wanted a hat for trail runs (so I don't have to worry about ticks or spiders falling into my hair.) I ended up wearing it on almost all my runs because it keeps sweat from getting in my eyes. It's great for the pool too.  Or just hiding a bad or dirty hair day on a grocery store run. I've since purchased more colors and become a hat person (also great because no one recognizes me when I'm shopping. An introvert's dream! Not having to talk to people I don't want to!)

8. Lululemon Mantra tote bag.
This has become my every day bag.

9. Lululemon Palm Stripe Roll Down Wunder Under Crops
$29. And I wear these once a week to yoga. They're cottony soft and I just like the way they feel.

I took this picture because I had a NEW car
and dirty trail shoes. Haha.

10. Balega run socks.
My favorite socks this year were a pair of Balega Hidden Contour run socks. Can I have five more pair? These are comfortable and have just the right amount of padding and support. They held up well in the wash and I always reached for these when they were clean.

Honorable mention: Athleta longsleeve
Super soft and warm, and I'd buy more if I could find more.


It's probably too early to tell, but I'm loving some recent purchases too

• Lululemon Fast Track Pant
It's sweatpants  that don't look frumpy. They're super comfortable and I've been living in them. GREAT for running errands. I think they are going to be my new weekend pants.

• Sit in Lotus Sweater
Super soft and something that works for work and weekends.

Family road trip. 

• Restless 1/4 zip pullover.
I got this in a  fair isle print in get and have been wear it every weekend.

2017 fitness goals

Time to set fitness goals for 2017.

#1 Stay Healthy. Do what I love while avoiding injury as best I can.

Classes to try
1.  Try an Orange Theory class
2. Try a Fuel yoga class.
3. Try more classes at Ramsey
4. Maybe try swimming (not necessarily a class
5. Take a yoga workshop on something, like hand balancing or inversions.

Running goals.
1. Run a 10k or half the Chick Fil-A half marathon.
2. Still would like to run a 5k under 23 minutes.
3. Look into group work or morning speed work.
More 5ks? Can I run on the road?

Tumbling goals.
7. Connect fly springs. Getting there. Better than last year, but not quite.
8. Walk overs. Not there yet. Oh well.
9. Touch my feet to my head. Stopped working on this.
10. 10 second handstand. Maybe? Definitely can do 7 seconds.
11. Practice handstands at home. (Daily?) Haha. Didn't do this.

General goals
12. Conquer the Ninja course at Rush. I got to the third ring or so. And then they got a whole new ninja course.
13. Try another flying trapeze place. Bonus: Get my cutaway! Tried trapeze at two new rigs!
14. Get a body composition test done. 
15. Stay on budget with fitness clothes. (Spend less money at Lululemon).

2016 fitness goal REVIEWED

How did I do with my fitness goals. I couldn't remember what they were. So that's not a good start.

Looks like I accomplished 5 of my goals. I made progress. And my goals changed over the year.


Classes to try. (3/4 accomplished)
1. Try a class at Blast.  (Interval training with treadmills) I lost interest in this A LONG TIME AGO.
2. Take a yoga class. DONE. Took tons of yoga classes. Hooray.
3. Try a barre class at Ramsey. DONE. Took a few of these. Didn't like the teacher. Found classes I liked better.
4. Try a SUP yoga class.  DONE

Running goals. (1/2 accomplished)
5. Run a 5k. DONE. Ran a trail 5K in August.
6. 7 minute mile. I stopped doing speed work in the fall. Didn't get any faster this year :(

Tumbling goals. (Progress made.)
7. Connect fly springs. Getting there. Better than last year, but not quite.
8. Walk overs. Not there yet. Oh well.
9. Touch my feet to my head. Stopped working on this.
10. 10 second handstand. Maybe? Definitely can do 7 seconds.
11. Practice handstands at home. (Daily?) Haha. Didn't do this.

General goals
12. Conquer the Ninja course at Rush. I got to the third ring or so. And then they got a whole new ninja course.
13. Try another flying trapeze place. Bonus: Get my cutaway! Tried trapeze at two new rigs!
14. Get a body composition test done. Never had time.
15. Stay on budget with fitness clothes. (Spend less money at Lululemon). Haha. Not spending money on barre really helped me not spend as much money in general. So if I take cheaper classes I can buy more lulu.
16. Active wear brands to try: Goldsheep, Alala, Sweaty Betty, Heroine Sport, Michi, Koral Activewear, Albion Fit. Tried Sweaty Betty to mixed results.

Workouts this week: Nov. 27

What I did this week.

Nov. 27: 5 mile trail run. It was 59 degrees and a little colder than I'd like. I wore my favorite purple came Lulu crops and a grey long sleeve. My plan was to run 4 miles, but I was feeling okay and the name of my Lulu shirt was the 5-mile long sleeve so I took that as a sign to run 5 miles. So I did. I got warm enough around mile 3 to shed the long sleeve and run in a tank. I saw a coworker taking pictures out on the trail during my third mile. Sadly, no action shots from him.

Nov. 28: BodyPump strength workout

Nov. 29: Yoga

Nov. 30: Gymnastics

Dec. 1: Off. (I skipped a run this week. I just wasn't feeling it)

Dec. 2: Yoga class

Dec. 3: Fried food plus running do not mix.

I went to lunch with my family and I was so excited about fish tacos and french fries.

I went to run this off a few hours later and it was an absolutely awful run. I had two things going against me.

First: the cold.
I have asthma. And cold weather triggers it (constricts the vessels in my lungs so I get less air in.) I take my inhaler before I run, but I never run well in the cold. (I'm also super cold natured and just plain hate the cold. (Anything lower than 70 is cold, lower than 60 is freezing, lower than 50 is arctic). Running in the 70s (or 80s without humidity) is fine for me. 60s is okay. Anything lower than 60 and I struggle. For this run, it was supposed to be about 58. It was 55. I wore crops and a long sleeve running shirt and a hat. I never warmed up enough to shed the long sleeve shirt like a did last week. And my breathing was more labored than usual. I hate running in the cold.

I was absolutely freezing when I finished the run. I just wanted soup and a hot bath. Matt on the other hand thrives on running in cold weather and was burning up hot after the run. He runs better in the cold. And he was faster than me. Which is fine.

Two: fried food
I seldom eat fried food. I probably have french fries once a month (or less). I had two fried fish tacos for lunch and french fries. It was awesome. Unfortunately, the tacos stayed near my collar bone for the entire run. I didn't know if it was heart burn or I was going to barf, but I was miserable. I was making the worst faces during the run. Fried food (especially when you seldom eat it) does not mix with running.

I ran. And that's what matters. Matt came along and was faster than me on this run. He can have the edge because he loves cold weather running and he didn't have fried food for lunch. He was a few seconds faster than me. Maybe he had a minute or me towards the end. I let him lead since I usually rabbit the first mile and he's usually pretty consistent. He ran a 7:37 first mile (or that's what I ran. He ran a 7:26) and then probably low 8's. I ran my usual times (despite wanting to barf the entire time) and always slower on the miles climbing hills. I ran almost 5 miles. My watch said I ran 4.65, but I did the exact same route last week and it said 4.75.