Lululemon Amped Crop Review/Photos

I'm doing something a little different today and reviewing some clothes for you guys! I placed an order with Lululemon recently and was like a little kid on Christmas morning when the package finally arrived. The Amped crop was one of the pieces that I ordered, but is also the only one that I'm returning and I shall tell you why.

I was really impressed with these crops when I first tried them on. The fabric is so much nicer than any other athletic leggings I've ever worn and I love the unique design with the one purple cuff and the white stripe down one side. (Also wearing the Cool Racerback in bold stripe power purple in these pics).

However, they didn't sit right in the front. The dreaded toe of the camel, you know? I figured I could fix it by wearing a longer shirt with these, but I honestly shouldn't have to. This was the first reason why I decided to return these. The second was that I figured I could get a lot more use out of a plain black pair of leggings from Lulu than these. I could wear black ones to work out and even under a dress with boots for work.

For reference, I am 5'2" and weigh 105 pounds. These crops are a size 4 and were just the slightest bit tight in the waist. I'd like to try on a size 6, but my closest Lulu store is about three hours away, so it won't be happening any time soon! Plus, I like my leggings to be skin tight; I hate when they sag in the knee area and I'm afraid that sizing up would make that happen. Ultimately, I would recommend at least going and trying these crops on if you like how they look. They really are adorable and if you wear a lot of longer tanks/shirts, the cam toe problem wouldn't be an issue for you.

Do any of you own these crops or any others from Lulu? What do you think? I'm thinking of replacing these with the Wunder Under pants but I haven't quite decided yet.

Half Marathon Training: Week 4

I'm one third of the way through my training! I can't believe how fast the summer has been flying by... This week was a little crazy and hectic, but it was my last week working the full-time schedule at work so I'm hoping next week will be better!

I didn't want to run at all on Tuesday, so Joe and I decided to take the dogs for a 3 mile walk instead; however, we only made it 1.5 miles since we couldn't figure out where we were going (more on that later). I added the other 1.5 miles onto my 4 mile run that was scheduled for Wednesday morning. I ran my other 3 mile run on Friday instead of Thursday and my long run (7 miles) on Sunday instead of Saturday. I was scared my Garmin was going to die, so I saved my run after 3 miles and used Map My Run to track the rest. I love the long weekend runs, it's so exciting to up my mileage every week!

So in regards to the getting lost, apparently we have a state game land trail for running/biking very close by and I was really excited when I found out about it. It starts out near a quarry, but the trail we were on quickly turned into a swampy area with tall grass over growing the trail. We ended up walking through the quarry and not being able to figure out where we really needed to be. I think next time we're going to try entering from the other end of the trail and see how that goes instead.

On non-running related news, we went to tour the barn again where we are getting married next summer and they built this amazing ceremony space in the woods since we were there last! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about all the stuff we are getting done for the wedding.

Aaaaand back to running. I sold a TON of nail polish to put towards a Lululemon purchase and am so thrilled with the stuff I ordered! These Speed Shorts are so stretchy and comfortable and I love how flattering they are. I'll show the other stuff that I got periodically on the blog! :)

See you next week!

Half Marathon Training: Week 3

This week was just as exhausting as far and balancing work and training goes. I ended up switching my Thursday run to Friday night and my Saturday long run to this morning but I didn't skip anything! It's hard to get home and go out to run after I've been on my feet all day and my legs are already tired. I think I only have one more week of full-time training though and then I will transition to my part-time schedule, yay!

Here's the proof for my runs this week! ;) Not in order, but how much do you really want from me? These runs pretty much all sucked; if I had to pick a "best run" out of the week, it would probably be the 6 miler. I just feel more accomplished after a longer run and it was nice to have a rest day yesterday and be able to run in the morning for once.

 Mal came over to cuddle with me while I was stretching this morning.

His one ear has straightened all the way up and the other one seems like it's on it's way to standing up too. I'm interested to see if they'll both stay standing up or if they will eventually flop forward.

Of course I had to wrap the week up with some s'mores and a campfire. We still haven't had a campfire by the lake at our house this summer and I think it's about time we remedy that!

I made a really exciting purchase this weekend that should hopefully arrive this week or early next week! Want a hint? It starts with "L" and ends with "ululemon." :D I also found a yoga studio pretty close to our house (who knew?) so I'll hopefully be going to a class there this week or next! Stay tuned for next week's recap!

Half Marathon Training: Week 2

Good evening everyone! This week has been kind of crazy in a bunch of different ways. Firstly, it's been ridiculously hot out (like 90º+ all week). I ended up skipping my run on Wednesday because of this; I didn't get up early enough to run before work and it was out of control hot when I got done. 

I did my 3 mile run on Tuesday on the treadmill, figuring it would be better to run inside with a fan blowing on me rather than dying of heat stroke outside. I didn't have the sun beating on me, but I still felt like I was going to die. We had our engagement photo shoot on Thursday, so I was able to get up early and run in the morning, although it was already around 75º by the time I got out the door at 7am. It rained for a few hours before my long run on Saturday, so it wasn't as dreadfully hot as it had been for the rest of the week. I was so unhappy with my runs for the week, but Saturday's run boosted my spirits a bit.

Even though it interferes with my morning runs, I love my new job! All of my coworkers are awesome and I get to dress like a real grown up lady! There's so much more that goes into being a teller than I originally thought, but I feel like I'm catching on pretty quick and it's enjoyable work. 

Joe and I spent most of the weekend in Philly visiting my best friend and her boyfriend. Joe's been wanting to tour the Mint for the longest time, so we finally were able to do that. We went to a small Mexican restaurant for dinner on Saturday night and it was beyond incredible. Suffice it to say, after chips and guac, ceviche, tamarind margaritas, fish tacos, and churros, I was stuffed.

We had planned on going to Dave and Buster's after dinner, but we ended up going back to their apartment and hanging out, which turned out to be totally awesome because we got to watch the coolest lightning storm.

I'll be working a full time schedule for job training for another week or two, so it's going to be busy around here for a bit longer. I'm very excited to transition into my part time schedule and have some free time back! 

Half Marathon Training: Week 1

Well this is exciting! Today I wrapped up my very first week of half marathon training. After looking through many different training programs, I finally settled on Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program. I love that he has a ton of programs for different skill levels and that this level goes up to a 12 mile run for training.

I'm pretty happy with my runs for the week (somehow I lost one of the pictures of my Garmin). I bought those individual packets of Nuun and I love both of them! I wish I could try every flavor this way. 

My long run this Saturday was dull, rainy and not so enjoyable. Unfortunately, I think I'm beginning to get shin splints so I'm going to make sure to be extra careful so I don't lose out on any training time.

I did some Tone It Up yoga and Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred today for my cross training and made a green smoothie afterwards for lunch. I like having a designated day for stuff like this in the training plan, but I think I'm also going to mix it into the week on a rest day or an easy running day too.

I saved the best for last! :) On Sunday, we drove to New Jersey to adopt the newest member of our family, Malcolm. He's an 8 week old Jack Russell/Corgi mix and the most precious little baby I've ever seen. Luna is finally starting to warm up to him too; they were playing most of the afternoon yesterday.

I've got a LOT going on this coming week so I'm interested to see how everything will pan out with my training. I have a feeling I might have to push my runs to the evening instead of morning or even possibly run on the treadmill since it's supposed to be in the 90s this week.

Montrose Race for Independence 10k Recap

I found this race just a couple of days before 4th of July and convinced Joe into registering us. The late registration fee was still only $25 so I figured it was a great deal! It was a little over an hour away from home, which meant we had a reallllly early morning. We got there early and were able to get our packets and use the restroom with some time to spare.

There were tons of people there and everything started exactly on time. The races started with a kid's fun run, then the 5k started and the 10k started ten minutes after the 5k did. The 10k started out with a short run through town and then to this decline. Unfortunately, every downhill has an uphill and the hill after I took this picture was rough. The scenery was gorgeous though, so that helped!

The first two miles were on paved roads, the middle two miles were down a residential dirt road, and most of the final two miles were on wooded trails, with the exception of the finish that looped back through town. I've never run on nice trails like this before and it was really serene and fun! It was also the only completely shaded part of the course.

The course support for this race was the greatest I've experienced so far. There were so many people out cheering and some homeowners on the course even had sprinklers and hoses out to spritz runners as they ran by if they wanted. It really helps having nice people out to cheer you on!

My Garmin said I ran 6.3 miles in 1:06:10, but my official race time was 1:05:59. They had mile markers at each mile and I noticed that my Garmin was going off progressively later after I passed each marker. This race was a little tough with the heat, humidity, and hills, but I'm happy that I was able to hang around a 10:30 average pace. 

There was an Independence Day Festival going on when we got done with a cook out and some craft vendors, but we didn't really stick around too long, as we had our own festivities to attend. It looked like a great place to spend the afternoon. 

We headed to my grandparents' property to get our freedom on with some awesome 'merica shirts that we found at Wal-Mart of course. We had our own personal fireworks show and some homemade pulled pork, which was amazing.

Luna went swimming involuntarily and spent the rest of the day giving us sad eyes about it. Not my fault she has to roll in any disgusting thing she finds.

My legs were pretty sore the next day, but I'm attributing it to the fact that I wore flip flops instead of my compression socks for most of the day after the race and I did a lot of standing around. In other news, I started a structured half marathon training plan yesterday, so I'll be ready for the Pocono Lake Region Half at the end of September! Woot!

How did you spend your 4th of July? Any races or delicious cook outs? :P

A lot of eating and not enough running...

Good evening everyone! I come bearing good news: I finished the 500 nail designs for my book! All I have left to do now is the short captions and I'm totally done. It's such a relief to have that huge amount of work behind me and I'm beyond excited to see the final result.

Besides my stress level being lowered, the other great thing about finishing up the book is that I have time to work out again! Today I had an interview for a local bank teller position in morning, so I came home and did the Bridal Babe Workout from Tone It Up and went for a short run after that. I got really out of control with my meals this week, so I'm working on reeling it in. I'm grazing on some amazing raspberries at the moment!

Yesterday was my birthday, so my fiancé and I went to La Tonalteca for dinner and it was perfect. Their fish tacos are to die for! They come with a delicious cilantro sauce and pico de gallo that is just so fresh and amazing. 

And did you know that Dairy Queen has a new s'mores Blizzard?? It's a limited edition flavor for the summer, so I'm taking that to mean I should grab one every time I have the chance. So yummy!

I'll leave you with this little gem. Luna loves going for car rides but hates when she gets left in the car while we run into the store. She usually just curls up on the driver's seat looking all sad and pouty until we get back.

Do you have a dog? Does he/she loves car rides? What's your stance on fish tacos, love 'em or hate 'em?