StaywellMA

It's averaging 100+ degree every day and I've had to adjust my routine to take the heat into account.  Sometimes it means settling for an indoor workout in the AC or scheduling an evening walk much later at night when it's cooler. After a month of hiatus and sporadic workouts, am craving a routine with a target goal. My Fall fitness goals are; #1. Flexibility : So we are getting back into yoga and stretches #2. Cardio : because the weight meeehhn...the weight needs to GO #3. Back and Core strength to look cute in a 2 piece swim suite. C'est tous mes amies. No self righteous plans or intentions. Join me on the Nike app and let's motivate each other.

I didn't realize how much the tragic story of Ahmaud Arbery affected me. At first, it felt like another black man getting murdered story that we have sadly gotten accustomed to seeing in the news. The New York times did an article on it called " The condition of Black life is one of mourning" . But this one was different for me. As an avid walker + runner, I go everywhere. Even when I travel, which is something I do frequently for work and play. You will catch me on the first day of any hotel stay, asking for running routes recommendations from the concierge. Even now with the pandemic, I've been evacuated to a new city and all I do is run/walk on most evenings around my new  neighborhood as part of my mental health. For a while I will get anxious when I stepped out for my regular routine. I started turning down my headphones or having them completely off just to make sure I was more alert to my surroundings. This isn't to say I wasn't already...

I am on an agenda to spend as much time outdoors as possibly before we get hit with the first snow storm in Boston. For me, no indoor exercise class beats a morning trail run. And as usual, every time I need to make a decision, I hit the trails. Yup, am that girl running in the woods, talking to myself or to trees, squirrels and any other animal that would listen to me list off pros and cons of a given decision. Sometimes I get an answer Other times I discover new questions and dimensions to the issue* If you live on the side of the world that actually gets cold during winter (side eye to California), what are you doing to keep exercising outdoors?

This year am taking part in the 4th edition of Marathon Sport's Winter Warrior Challenge. I'm running under our Black Girls Run Boston group for this January fitness challenge. My goal is to let it serve as a training platform for the 5 mile Super Sunday race I will be participating in alongside many Boston Brunch/ November Project members on February 1st.     Picture from http://www.marathonsports.com/ We are team   #28 and are currently ranked in the 31st position in this challenge of 125 teams. Am so proud of our girls!!!! I do  have to mention that one of the disadvantages of participating in this challenge is the inability to log in miles that are more than a day old. Therefor you have to consistently/daily log in your miles. However, am enjoying doing the challenge and leading run meetups with members of our BGR-Boston community. I know it sounds crazy to run outside in this extreme temperat...

As part of my summer vacation, I planned a trip to Atlanta for the Black Girls Run 2014 Sweat with Your Sole Conference. I also registered for the 5k instead of the 10k because I was running with friends who were not good runners.  This was my first time attending a BGR conference.  I felt a little bit overwhelmed in a positive way at the sheer amount of black women who turned UP! for this conference. This validates that the message of health and fitness is being spread out  and people are listening to us.  I was also surprised by how popular ALL the fitness classes offered where. Every class was filled up with people like me trying to get into them There was a lot of networking opportunities to meet other members from different states. I took a day off from BGR events and headed south of Atlanta to do a 5k at my former school Clayton State in preparation of the Sweat with Your Sole race. I never forgot ...