A few days ago, I went to Oscar Scherer State Park in Florida… only a 45-minute drive from my house, which is awesome! One of the main purposes of this little adventure was to test out my new hiking Montara Boots from Ahnu. It was a great day to be outside. Only about 90 degrees, sunny, no wind, and not a cloud in the sky. It felt similar to a desert but all that made the trip!

A hot, sunny day in Florida

There were endless trails to take but I decided with a 2-miler. The path ended up being deep sand, not the best terrain, but it made me really happy I had my boots on. No sand was getting in my shoes and socks! My boots are made by Ahnu and are made for traditional hiking, fast hiking, and all day walking, so basically you can wear them whenever! Don’t forget they are waterproof too!

Found this little guy on the path, you can see it was all sand. However, sand or no sand, the boots are made for the most rugged terrain. They are waterproof and breathable. So believe it or not but by the end of the hike, thunderheads were building and rain clouds quickly swept over the clear skies.

Not all the trails were sand, some were leaves and dirt. These paths ran alongside a river and were shaded, which was a great relief from the heat of the day.

The Montara Boot has features that will keep your feet dry and features that will keep you stable for when the terrain gets rugged. The boot also has Vibram outsoles, which are one of the top outsole companies around and are known for some running shoes as well, such as the Minimus Trail by New Balance.

Oscar Scherer State Park was a lot of fun. I forgot to mention that it is also known for the Florida Scrub Jay. I had no idea people travel  from all over to catch a glimpse of this magnificent bird. It’s known for being tame and really friendly to humans.

I HAD ONE FLY RIGHT AT ME!!!! Basically right at my face, talk about being friendly…

It would have landed on me but I got out of its way (It startled me at first). It was pretty crazy at the time. I had to do a matrix move in order for it to miss me. Then, he decided to land on a tree branch instead and starred at us as we continued on. He was probably mad I didn’t let him land on my head.

I’m sure my new boots would have done great anywhere! They come in many colors such as Astral Aura, Tawny Port, Dark Grey, Black and Smokey Brown colorways. Now they can match all your hiking and outdoor clothes. I came across these boots in the Backpacker Magazine featuring 2013′s best new gear! Make sure to check it out! Hiking is so much fun and remember, you don’t always have to be running. That’s not the only way to get in shape. Hiking is also a great way to get out and moving.

Have a great day everybody!

Summer gives me more time to focus on my fitness goals

I don’t think I’m fat or anything like that but it’s just time for me to be the best I can be. I do want to try to lose 5-10 pounds though. I feel like that will boost my energy significantly while I’m on the tennis court or running or doing anything! I play tennis and will be transferring in the Fall to a new university and I definitely want to show I deserve to be there. Being on a diet is different than trying to be healthy. I love my sweets but I need to cut back on these and eat a lot more of what’s good for my body.

This is so true

This past semester I developed a different outlook on eating. I don’t eat the healthiest but I DO EAT. I realized I was still starving my body. Starving it of nutrients and vitamins. If you don’t eat foods that your body will use and just eat empty calories (like cake, cookies, chips, soda,etc.) your body is still starving. You want to feed your body with vitamin-rich foods that will help you live a better and healthier life.

Eat Clean

You can write to me with questions or ask me for  workout advice. I will try and post more regularly on health topics, workouts, and motivation to keep you moving forward towards whatever goals you have set for yourself.

Best Thing Ever!

Set goals:

Main Goal:  I want to get in top shape for tennis. I’m going to try and play 6 times a week. I want to improve my game to feel confident that I have what it takes to be a top player.

To achieve this:

1. Run a little bit every day. I want to get into the habit of running at least a 2 – 3 mile cool down after every time I play tennis.

2.  Eat clean and eat smart.

3. Lift 3 times a week. Do some free weight workouts.

4. Jump rope and do footwork drills to improve my speed on the court.

5. Standup paddle board more. I finally went yesterday after a 2 month break and I need to do it more. It’s a great workout. It makes every large muscle group work.

Everyone should write their goals down and include a plan on how to achieve them. This is the first step to making it happen.

The sea of people at the start of the race

Once you got to mile 2, the congestion was down and you could run freely so not too shabby. I hadn’t been doing as much running as I had liked because cycling is my new thing! Therefore, I came to the race with dead quads from cycling the day before. That was dumb of me.

The weather wasn’t the best but could have been a lot worse. It was windy, overcast, and extremely humid. At mile 3, my shirt was already drenched. So at mile 9, the sweat was just dripping off of me, I was melting! haha. As you can see in these pictures, it looks like I went swimming.

Just keep running

I wore the race t-shirt because I didn’t really love it, so I don’t know when I would wear it again. I wore my SKORA’s, which are still my favorite shoe I’ve ever run in so far. They still kill my calves, which is great. Working hard! And then my new thing are my INJINJI’s. My new favorite socks. I was a little skeptical at first about wearing toe socks but after my first run in them, my feet don’t like anything else. Being able to move each toe freely is a great feeling. They also come in many different thicknesses and ankle heights. Seriously though, I absolutely love them. It just took a day for my feet to feel the same.

Muscle shot at the end of the race = MUST DO!

Recently, I held a contest for all my followers to win a pair of Injinji’s and the winner sent me some reviews from his running experiences. Overall, we shared the same thoughts! So I’m going to post what he said! Thank you Jeff for participating in the contest and giving feedback!

TOE SOCKS!

The trail 2.0 was my favorite. So comfortable! That is the sock I ran my 15K in and personally, I felt like I just wanted to run in the sock by itself. They’re cushioned and durable. My feet felt great while running and after running. And to make that mean more, my feet blister because I sweat so much but I didn’t experience that this time. Woo! Here’s a picture of me stretching after running and check out those toe socks.

Stretching my calves after the race, wearing my Injinji toe socks!

I recommend giving them a try! And they worked very well with my Skora running shoes. They couple each other very nicely. Happy running everyone!

Today Injinji launched their brand new website at http://www.injinji.com/. A new look, new products, and even the chance for YOU to WIN a pair of their fancy new socks.

All you have to do is this:

1. Go to http://www.injinji.com/

2. Check out the site. Watch the video. Look at the athletes. Do what you want.

3. Come back here and write a comment on this post saying something that you liked about Injinji. Can be anything. Get creative with it. Don’t forget in the comment to include your name and email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Example Comment:

I like Injinji because I can wear their socks with flip flops!

John Smith   jsmith@gmail.com

4. Also, make sure to be a follower of Fit Body Now so you don’t miss anymore of these offers.

Good Luck! And enjoy the website.

Also, I want to thank everyone for their support of Fit Body Now and getting me over a a quarter million views! Today was the day! 250,000!

Happy running!

You are a runner. You are always on the move. You work hard. You live life with no dull moment. Therefore, Injinji socks are perfect for you. You may have had your fair share of blisters, dirt and grime and any other hazardous things you can think of that make your socks get pushed to their limits. And socks often go unnoticed. Many people put all of their thought and focus into their shoes. But what about your little piggly wiggly’s? They need more then just a shoe.

Save those piggies people. 

All the way from San Diego, Injinji is a company with a unique approach: a 5-toe sleeve design. Performance 2.0 will be unleashed on Wednesday, January 23rd, when Injinji’s new website goes live.

But wait! There’s more! 

Injinji plans to unveil their new website on Jan 23rd and you dear reader, get an exclusive sneak peek of what you can expect from this fabulous brand!  Visit my blog on January 23rd for details on how to win a GRIP of these fancy new socks! More details to come about this special giveaway for my followers. Follow FitBodyNow if you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity.

Friends don’t let friends wear crappy socks.

We drove over Saturday, the day before the race, to pick up our packets at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which we got to run all around in and take pictures. So much fun and pretty cool. If you are ever in cocoa beach, stop by there. Make sure you have more than 2 hours though at the complex!

The drive! We were so excited to get our race packets!!

Then time for the hotel… 7 of us in ONE ROOM! haha not smart. We got barely any sleep that night.

Race time was 6:15 am. I do recommend staying at a sponsored hotel because we had a shuttle take us to and from the event, which was so convenient. The day would have been perfect if it would have been a bit warmer… 45 degrees outside was something I was definitely not used to.

A cold morning!

The race started and it was such a beautiful course. We got to see dolphins and the sunrise. Here’s what it looked like.

I was running great, and keeping up with my 1:50 pace group and eventually passing them. Then, at around mile 4, I got the urge to go to the bathroom. It was terrible. I couldn’t hold it much longer so at mile 6 I had to take a bathroom break. It’s the worst feeling seeing people you just passed way ahead of you. I ran as fast as my body would allow and caught back up to the 1:50 pace group… AGAIN! and then passed them! But at mile 8, it hit AGAIN, another bathroom urge. I was so mad, I couldn’t believe I was going to have to stop twice. So at mile 10 I took another break. And once again, I step out to see everyone ahead of me.

I don’t know how I ran that last 3.1 miles of the race as fast as I did. I just didn’t want my bathroom breaks to really ruin my time. I was feeling kind of sick from that last push of the race when I crossed the finish line. My time was 1:45:16. And for having to stop twice to go to the bathroom, I thought that was pretty dang good. I ran in my SKORA’s, which I have to say, are amazing! For a new company, they really know what they are doing. I experienced no pain anywhere during the race. Also, my friends all did so well too. It was a great experience.

I even managed to place 2nd in my age group!! It was amazing and got to meet Bart Yasso! That’s who is with me in the picture below. Check out his website, it’s great for runners!

And since we were in Cocoa Beach, we finished the day with surfing and body boarding at the beach! The experience was well worth it and I am definitely going to be running more half marathons!

Thanks for all the support from everyone!

Here’s an excerpt:

About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 240,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 4 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!

Click here to see the complete report.

All you have to do is pay shipping to receive a box of goodies of your favorite items! It will contain anything from a protein bar to athletic gear to an organic beverage.  Each box is different so I can’t give exact items, but it will have 8-12 items and over $100 in value. This is great for men AND women so everyone can enjoy!

This is a FREE code to help you start the New Year off with a kick! Go to this link:

http://www.klutchclub.com/best-of-box/

And enter:

FITBODY

Choose Men or Women’s and press add to cart. Then, enter the code. It will remove the price of the box and just leave the price of the shipping. It’s as simple as that!

HAPPY HOLIDAY’S EVERYONE!

The end result is titled “LeftOvers” because it’s a lot of leftover footage that hasn’t been used yet from many days of filming. When the hard drive gets full on your computer, you have to do a big clean up to make space so this video was of a bunch of scraps thrown together, hence the name, “LeftOvers.” So in this video, I did a majority of the shooting but he did all the editing. It’s full of action and I’m sure there will be plenty more videos to come in the future. Maybe I will even be in one soon, who knows!

But here it is! All you need is less than 2 minutes to watch.

Also, if you are interested in trying the sport of kiteboarding or you already kiteboard, he’s a good one to ask any questions to about gear or anything kite related. He taught me, so I give him the thumbs up! He definitely is good at what he does. It’s fun, anyone can do it, and it’s a great workout. I recommend giving it a try!

At 6:30 am before the run began! So excited!

Map of the course! Lido Key to Siesta Key

We ran from the Daiquiri Deck Raw Bar on Lido Key to the one on Siesta Key. Hence, the name Deck 2 Deck.

Signs are the best

It also was along the water and over bridges so it was a very scenic route. I enjoyed it and realized that I am more prepared then I thought for my half marathon. I ran in my Skora’s, the shoes I will be running my half marathon in. But let me tell you, they kicked my butt. I am writing this 3 days after and my calves are just now feeling better but the day after, they were SOOOO SORE. But that’s what a minimalist shoe will do to you. Don’t get me wrong though, I still love them. No pain, no gain. Got my sister hooked on them too!

WE DID IT!!

I ended up running the 9 miles in 1:14, which made me feel so accomplished. My second half was faster than my first so that gives me reassurance that something I am doing, has got to be working.