Salcido Sisters

My Bestie's were all here last weekend, well most of them. We had a baptism and a mission farewell all in one weekend so it was a great reason for my Salcido Sister's to come into town. We had a ton of fun. We went to our favorite places together, practiced yoga together and just hung out together... we really like to be together.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Fitnessing!

Getting Back to It.

I'm getting back into running consistantly in preparation for the Zion's Half Marathon. My work is sponsoring a group of us to go down and run it together. I'm pretty excited about it, but I feel like I'm starting all over again and running more than a mile is hard. I feel pretty darn pathetic. It's especially been hard to run on a treadmill but it's not worth running outside on the ice and in terrible air quality that will give you lung cancer so I have to endure the torture. 

I started really slow the other day but finished strong at 3 miles. Did you hear? 3 miles is the new long run. I'll try and attempt a "long run" of 5 miles this week sometime and report back. P.S. I had to hold on to the treadmill because I was experiencing some random vertigo, it's weird but it happens to me occasionally. I'll just wake up with it and it will last a few hours and mysteriously disappear.

A typical lazy dinner = tuna straight from the can. :/ my poor husband. Also, the yoga studio I practice at recently opened an organic raw cafe. After class on Friday I got the goji chia lemonade and it was a dream after a sweaty class. So yummy and refreshing. I'm excited to try the whole menu!

This weekend we caught up with Naomi and Anthony, our friends who moved to New Mexico a couple years ago. We've been missing them lots and want them to move back! We took several photos but these were only decent two. Our husbands don't know how to take a normal picture, haha.

Baby Wesley! I haven't yet introduced blog world to him. He is my little baby bear. Technically he is my sister Larissa's baby but I claim him as my own. There is nothing better than a yummy newborn in furry, footsie pajamas! I bought these PJs for him and you can't see but they have ears on the hood and a little tail on the bum. Too cute!

One thing I am trying to do in 2014 is practice more yoga. Since 2013 was spent running marathons and a number of other races I decided this year will be spent exploring yoga. I learn so much every time I practice and I truly believe yoga makes me want to be a better person in every aspect of life. If you follow me on Instagram @chelshope I'll be participating in monthly yoga challenges and posting photos. The challenge for January is #NewYouYoga. I don't post every day but I've been practicing every day and it's been wonderful! I'm also going to start teaching again at Real Foods Market Orem every Tuesday night at 7pm. If you're in the area and want to try it out, do it! You won't regret it :)

(Photo credit Paul Malan)

Happy Fitnessing!

Two Links.

Hey Friends,

Hope you had a great Halloween! We had a ton of fun eating sugar and dressing up (pics coming soon).

Today I wanted to share with you two links. Two of my favorite blogs that I want you to visit today. First go to thankyourbody.com and visit their Fitness Friday post where I was interviewed about the benefits of yoga. It was a lot of fun to be involved with that. I love yoga!

Also, visit one of my other favorite blogs runeatrepeat.com and sign up for the 2013 Pile on the Miles November contest. All you do is comment with what your goal is and check in with that blog on how you're doing and you'll be entered to win a bunch of cool prizes! It is a great way to motivate you to move during the month of November when all we really wanna do is eat turkey and sit around with family. I'm going to try to get my family to run a Thanksgiving 5k with me. Wish me luck!

Happy Fitnessing!

What are your workout plans this weekend? Yoga, 5 mile run and a power pumped class for me!

Happy National Chocolate Day and a Great Yoga Class.

Today is National Chocolate Day! Any excuse to eat chocolate is good for me. Eric and I celebrated with our favorite dark chocolate peanut butter cups after we made tacos for dinner, which is our go to dinner. Easy and delicious!

Did you know I used to hate chocolate? Well I thought I hated it but then I discovered real, dark chocolate and I changed my mind. Now I'm obsessed. I crave it way too much. I crave it almost as much as I do kombucha. :)

This morning I woke up early to get a short run in before work. I hate waking up early these days but I always have a better day when I exercise first thing, so it's worth it. Even if it's a short sesh. This morning I ran for 25 minutes and finished off with some stretching, planking, and foam rolling. After a busy Monday at work, I was able to make it to my favorite primary series yoga class. I was 10 minutes late but it was still was a great hour and 20 minutes and I totally fell asleep in savasana. Sigh...

I felt very tight in my legs in the class. I even had to use a yoga block and modify a few postures. Usually when I feel weak in a yoga class, I don't have as good of an experience when I'm feeling strong but today's practice was awesome! I think it was because I was feeling mentally strong and focused on the breath and postures instead of what I was gonna eat for dinner or what I was gonna be for Halloween (which I still can't decide) and that focus allowed for me to get closer to the purpose of yoga - unite mind, body and spirit, and that's the whole reason I practice!

Oh hey pretty red tree! This is my view each morning when I make my protein shake or eggs. The fall colors this year are amazing!

Happy Fitnessing!

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Dark or milk chocolate? 

What is your go to dinner? 

Plane Rides in Lake Powell + A Training Update

Happy Monday! 

We were in Lake Powell with Redmond a couple weeks ago. Other than running a 6:56 mile before we left (woot woot), I pretty much took that whole week off of running. It was a nice break.
               
I love Lake Powell. The water, the rock and the serenity... sigh. It was so needed! I had a lot of fun teaching yoga to several of the 50 other friends down there. I even spent some time teaching (and showing off) how to do a headstand on the paddle boards. So cool!

Eric with our friend Kama at the Luau -- Eric's shirt was very appropriate.

One of our friends from Colorado was there with his plane and he was giving rides. It was an absolute blast flying high above the lake and landing on the beach next to our house boats. He was so nice and it was so cool of him to give everyone rides. Watch a little clip of my plane ride adventure here.


As far as training for the St. George marathon is going... I feel like I'm kind of over the training and I'm ready for the race, at least mentally. I just want to be done with my Saturday morning early long run. Each week it just gets harder to gather up the motivation to make it out the door when all I want to do is sleep in and go to a Zumba and/or Power pump class instead. Maybe I should savor this training time though, come January I'll probably be missing the warm morning runs.

Happy Fitnessing!

Tuesday Tip :: How to Have a Great Yoga Practice

Lake Powell 2013... dying to go back.

Yesterday I had a great yoga practice and I want to share with you why and how to experience the same...

Starting from the beginning :: The past few weeks my yoga practice had been off. I don't know why exactly, but I think it's because I've been traveling and my other workouts had gotten more intense so my yoga practice was put on the back burner. Yoga is so important to me and I know and understand the benefits but I had gotten to the point where practicing yoga was just another thing that needed to be crossed off my list. When I did make it to a class I wasn't going to experience the flow and peace but instead I was going because I knew it needed to happen. Yes, initially when you first start practicing yoga it may be something you do because you know it's good for you and that may be the only way to get you to a class. However, the relationship I have with yoga has developed into a way of life and I wasn't respecting it.

I'd been thinking about this disrespect I've had for yoga a lot (even though the term "disrespect" is something I just narrowed down to today) and yesterday on my drive to the studio I turned off my radio and thought about my practice and what my purpose and goal is. In yoga we call this the drishti and it's what you're focused or concentrating on. In the prior weeks my drishti was non existent but in the car yesterday I grabbed a simple one for my practice last night... to breathe deep and enjoy the class. During the 90 minute class I would refer my thoughts frequently back to my drishti and in turn I had a wonderful practice and I feel like my love for yoga has been refreshed.

So if you are wanting to have a great experience practicing yoga refer to the list below...

1. Make sure you have proper yoga clothing
2. Take a class with an awesome teacher
3. Don't forget your yoga mat
4. Practice with a friend
5. Bring a water bottle
6. Practice with a clear drishti

Happy Fitnessing!

Monday Monday...

Happy Monday! Try not to hate it too much! Monday can be as fun as you want it to be. Go do something fun! I have a little dinner/Dancing with the Stars party every Monday night which always makes me happy. I also do running speed work and go to a traditional yoga class which is the same every week. Doing this each Monday keeps me in routine (which I love) and sets me up for a great week. What do you do to start the week off right?

Happy Fitnessing!

Anniversary Re-cap

I did a great thing Wednesday. I took a day off work! Eric and I decided for our 4 year wedding anniversary we were going to keep it low key. He worked and I slept in. First thing I did once I woke up was dressed in my running clothes and gear (minus my running watch) and headed out the door for a 4 mile pace run. It was great taking a break from my Garmin. I just ran at a pace that felt "fast but not too fast." The weather was gorgeous too. *sigh* After a sunny run I headed to a 12pm yoga class.   

This place makes me so happy.

That yoga class was just what I needed. After the class Eric met me for lunch at Noodles where I got the whole grain Tuscan Linguini (my favorite) and Eric got the Truffle Mac n' Cheese (my 2nd favorite). Lunch was not enough for our special anniversary day, we had to get dessert, and it had to be our favorites. Eric took me to Red Mango (ohmygosh the White Peach yogurt with white chocolate chips - Heaven), and I took Eric to Chili's for the Chocolate Molten cake... oh boy. Sometimes, you just gotta enjoy life!

Later that night Eric was feeling a little bit of a cold come on so the plan was to grab some food to bring home and just hang out, but then our spontaneous friends Joe and Olivia decided they were going to pick us up and take us to dinner. We went to Cubby's because Eric and I were both totally craving they're sweet potato fries. But then guess what? They didn't even have any fries! It was so sad, but then the whole night turned around because the dinner date was a set up in order to sit me down and surprise me with the idea of taking a friend trip to NYC in May! I was surprised and excited. We bought our tickets after dinner and set some plans in stone. I can't wait for Eric to see New York for the first time. Yay! I'm also so excited to run in Central Park!

Happy Fitnessing!