Travel Workouts Week 12/13- Around the World Running Blog Relay

Sometimes you just need a good kick in the pants to get you through the home stretch.

With 7 weeks to go on this adventure, I find my motivation to work out dwindling a little. There are things to see, pool time to be had, and frankly, most mornings I would rather sleep in then get up and rock a workout.

That is, until I happened upon the Around the world Running Blog Relay 2014 over at Kyla’s Motivation blog

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Kyla, aka Drill Sargent Beattie, lives in my hometown of Victoria, B.C. I actually discovered her blog before I left Canada after reading a post of hers about a local obstacle race. It turned out that not only had we completed the same event, but we were in the same heat, and likely raced right next to each other. We didn’t even realize it until finding each other online. I love blogging for that kind of stuff!

Anyways, as of March 2nd, Kyla launched the Around the World Running Blog Relay. As it stands, 38 bloggers from all over the world have signed up to run as much as they can from March 2nd until April 30th. The goal is to see how far across the world we can make it!

My friend Shannon over at The Birthday Dinner, convinced me to sign up for a Half Marathon, 3 weeks after I get back. Unless I want her to have to drag me across the finish line, I know I’m going to have to stay the course.

Kyla’s blogging relay is exactly the motivation I need to keep up my mileage up for the remainder of the trip. So thanks Kyla, this is such a great thing to do, and I’m so excited to be a part of it.

For those of you who are wondering, I have pledged 100km and as of this morning I have 94km to go.

Better get running!

What motivates you to workout? Competition, goal setting, friends?

Pura Vida

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Travel Workouts Week 10/11- My Travel Fitness Must Haves

Staying on track with my workouts during this adventure has been easier then I expected. Most mornings I get up early, and get a quick and dirty workout in before starting my day.

This process is a lot easier thanks to a couple essential fitness items that I packed with me. So without further ado, here are my travel fitness must haves.

My brightly coloured ladies!

My brightly coloured ladies!

Two Pairs of Runners: I’ll be honest, I remember feeling a little high maintenance when I put these two pairs of shoes inside my backpack. Would I really need two pairs of runners to work out in?

The answer…yes.

Having already committed to a couple Half Marathons when I return, I knew I would have to log some serious miles here in Costa Rica in order to keep up my endurance. Running shoes are extremely important for long distance runners, and before leaving I had just broken in these saucy hot pink Asics. I knew if I was going to be running long distances, these babies were coming with me.

I also knew that I wouldn’t solely be relying on running for my fitness adventures. I knew I would be doing a lot of cross training in my room. My asics just weren’t flexible enough for all the jumping, burpeeing and all around flailing that I planned on doing. It’s also important to save your “running” shoes for running only, as they tend to wear our fast. So I brought along my Vibrams. These shoes are super compact, and are great for my hotel room workouts. I’ve also worn them on a whole bunch of hikes, and on the plane!

Call me high maintenance if you wish, but having two pairs of runners has been a huge help to my travel fitness regime.

SO glad I packed these!

SO glad I packed these!

Workout Bands: I wasn’t sure how much I would use workout bands, as I rarely use them at home. Well my friends, let me tell you, these things are pretty much a part of EVERY workout I do. You can do it all with these babies; Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions, Rows, Chest Press, Abs Crunches, and the list goes on!  Whenever we check into a new hostel I’m instantly on the look out for what things I can wrap my bands around! I was totally expecting to lose a lot of definition in my arms during this trip, but thanks to these bands, I’ve managed to keep up a pretty decent strength training routine.

My little bean makes me smile whenever I look at my phone

My little bean makes me smile whenever I look at my phone

iPhone: Although this magical piece of technology is good for blasting music and podcasts while you are working out, I have found so many amazing apps that have become essential for my routines. I am not going to go into to much detail because I think I’m going to do a whole post about them at a later date.But whether its tracking my steps and runs or timing my Tabata or Intervals, my iPhone always has role in my workouts.

And yes, my iphone cover photo makes makes me smile every single time I see it!

Lots of sweat on these pages!

Lots of sweat on these pages!

Workout Journal: Before I left I took an old journal from home and recorded a whole bunch of workout routines in it. Little did I know that this thing would become my workout bible.

Before each workout I take a glance through the ever growing list of workouts. I either choose an exisiting one, or create something new. I then use the book to keep track of my reps and sets as I go.

Not only does this book keep me organized, but it is a constant motivator to keep my workouts interesting and creative. No workouts plateaus here!

So there ya go!

You certainly don’t need much to workout effectively while travelling, but these couple items have definitely made my life easier!

What do you bring to help you workout while travelling?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter:@caketress

My First Blog Award- The Liebster!!

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What a wonderful way to start my week!! I was so excited to find out that Wendy from Life Unmapped, nominated me for a Liebster award. I’m still grinning to myself as I write this, so thank you so much Wendy. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

So what is the Liebster award? Well it’s an award given to new blogs with under 200 followers by their fellow bloggers. It sounds like such an amazing way to connect with our blogging peers!

Here are the rules for Liebster nominations.

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back up to his/her blog.
  2. Answer the 10 (or 11!) questions which are given to you by the nominator.
  3. Nominate other bloggers for the award who have less than 200 followers.
  4. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer
  5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

So here are the questions I received from Wendy, along with my answers

1). Where is the last place you travelled?

The last place I travelled was Disneyland! Although I haven’t spoken about it much on this blog, I am a Disney fanatic! I got at least once a year. This year was particularly special because I went to run the Disneyland Half Marathon. Words cannot describe how amazing this experience was. I even got to cross the finish line with Shannon from The Birthday Dinner, as she finished her very first Half Marathon. Such an accomplishment!

 2). What is your earliest travel memory?

 When I was very young, my family would travel from Victoria to Vancouver to visit my “Nan”. It was always such an adventure, because we would have to take the ferry. I have very vivid memories of these ferry rides, and the excitement I would feel throughout the whole process. Although my travels would get more extensive as I grew older, these hour and thirty minute ferry rides seemed like huge journey’s to me!

3). Do you prefer to travel with others or on your own?

 My instant reaction is to say with others, but probably because I have never travelled extensively on my own. A few trips here and there, but I’ve always ended up meeting up with people I know at some point. The best trips I have had have been with one or two other people. I find there is often a tipping point with travelling in groups. Suddenly there are too many people to please, and decision making can be difficult. I’ve definitely had more than one occasion where my travel group has spent more time deciding on where to go for dinner, then actually eating dinner!

4). What is your favorite food or drink you’ve found while travelling?

 If you read my must sees post, you’ve already heard about my love affair with Mandarina smoothies in Costa Rica. I could probably extend that to all fresh tropical fruit. There is nothing more amazing then eating freshly picked pineapples and bananas!

5). If you could only complete one item on your bucket list, what would it be?

I’m staring blankly at the screen with this one! Only one item, that seems impossible! Geez, well, seeing that I’m freshly off the Disney run circuit, I would love to complete their coast to coast, and double dare challenges. Runners who complete a Disney race in Disneyland and Disney World in a year, get a special “Coast to Coast” medal. In addition, each race weekend includes a “Double Dare” Challenge. Runners complete a 10km run on Saturday and then the Half Marathon on Sunday.  You get a medal for each of these runs. So, if I all the challenges, I would end up with seven medals! (but whose counting ;))

6). Do you have a favorite travel destination?

 Not surprisingly it’s Costa Rica. That being said, I feel like I have so many places left to explore, the answer will likely change depending on what beach I’m laying on!

7). What is your preferred method of travel (airplane, train, bus, car…)?

When exploring a country, I like the freedom of having a vehicle. It’s nice to have the flexibility of stopping whenever you see something that strikes your fancy. This won’t often be the case for us during our Costa Rican adventure, but we might rent one on the odd occasion.

8). What is the one thing you never leave home without?

No, it’s not hot rollers! This answer was easy, a couple good books. I love reading, and travelling offers the perfect opportunity to sink your teeth into literary adventures. I also like finding books in hostels to swap with. I often end up reading things that I would never have picked up on my own!

 9). What is your favorite travel film or book?

 Hmm, rough one. I think I’m going to stick with the basics, and say my lonely planet books. I often pick one up before going travelling, and gain so much valuable knowledge from them. Reading them prior to departure also gets me so excited for the adventure to come!

 10). What are your three favorite blogs?

 Oh gosh, they change so often, and there are so many! Here are my current faves:

So, with that, I now present to you my nominess for the Liebster Award!!

And here are their questions:

1) Where is the most memorable place that you’ve travelled?
2)What was the biggest adventure you’ve had while travelling?
3)What is your favourite part of Costa Rica?
4)What travelling experience made you feel most outside your comfort zone?
5)What brought you to Costa Rica?
6)If someone came to visit you for the first time, where is the first place you would take them?
7)When travelling, what is the one item you would never leave home without?
8)Plantains or Papaya?
9)How did you feel when you read about your Liebster Nomination?
10) What are your three favourite blogs?

What fun! Can’t wait to hear your answers! Have you ever won an award??

Pura Vida

Kate