Best Fitness Accessories

Over the past year, I've really embraced gadgets and accessories to take my fitness to the next level. I thought I would share with you the best accessories and apps that I use - whether it's in training for a 1/2 marathon or just going to the gym everyday.

1. Nike Run App
This app has changed my life! I use it on every run I do and it helped me pace myself during the race. I would love to have a fancy Garbin watch that tells me my milage time, but I am a in debt law student who already has an iPhone, thus making the app free! It's even better than a Garbin watch because it tells you your mile pace as you are running, unlike finding out after each mile. It helps you keep pace better. You can also synch it with your music so when you push pause on your music, it pauses the app. I also love how it automatically pauses when you are stopped, because I don't want that 4 minute stop light factored into my run time! It tells you your elevation and keeps track of your fastest miles, 5ks, 10ks, and longest runs. I could probably go on about this forever. The only complaint that some may have is that it requires that you actually carry your phone with you when you run, but that doesn't bother me.

(And it allows you to put these cool graphics on pictures)

2. Nike Training Club
Nike is doing lots of things right :). I recently started using this again to supplement my strength training regime. You can choose different workouts based on what you want to do - lean, strong, get toned, and target areas. And choose between levels - beginner, intermediate, advanced. Most workouts are 30-45 minutes and are circuit-training type workouts. I usually do 30 minutes of cardio at the gym and then do one of these. Most requires weights, a medicine ball, a mat, and sometimes a resistance band, but some require no equipment at all and you can do them at home! They go by super fast and are a good way to motivate yourself. I, for instance, almost always find myself cutting my strength training workout short because I am always tired from cardio and my motivation level drops. These help me so I don't do that.

3. Spotify
Purchasing a membership to Spotify changed my running game. I love how easy it is to add music to my playlists, how you can listen to playlists "offline" so that the app doesn't eat up your data, and how easy it is to find new songs. You can search other people's playlists so you can get new ideas for workout and running songs. And the best part is that if you are a student, you can get the app for only $4 a month! My iPhone was slowly losing most of my storage space because the songs that I had on my phone were eating up most of that space. So I deleted them all and now only have Spotify. It's also great for studying.

4. Heart Rate Monitor
(pictured above) 

I like my classic polar heart rate monitor. I know lots of fitness trackers have heart rate monitors now, but getting one with a chest strap will make sure that you have the most accurate reading. The fitness trackers only track your heart rate by the pulse in your wrist, so it's not going to be the best reading. Plus, if you are at the gym, the polar heart rate monitor sinks up with the Life Fitness machines, so you can see your heart rate on the machine.

5. Yurbuds
(pictured above)

These. Are. The. Best. They never fall out of your ear!! I have the weirdest shaped ears and running + earphones = bad news bears. But these are the most amazing. I have the older version and the only complaint I have is that the earbud covers sometimes come off so you need to be careful that they don't fall out randomly on the street. Also, there is no built in phone microphone or volume control. If they fixed these problems, I would give them an A++++.

6. Jawbone

I recently jumped on the fitness tracker train. I picked the jawbone initially because 1) it tracks your sleep and wakes you up gradually when you're on the best sleep pattern to wake up and 2) you can set an alarm to remind you to get up and move. I have mine set up so that it buzzes if I haven't moved in 45 min. It's the only fitness tracker that I know of to do that. But I recently had an issue with my jawbone. I called them and they are sending me the newest version of the jawbone for free to fix my problem. Soooo customer service at jawbone for the win! I recommend them to everyone!

7. Brooks Running Shoes 
(pictured above) 

I've been a Brooks fan ever since high school. They have so much support and are perfect for those of us who have knee problems or flat arches. They fit my orthotics nicely.

8. Nike Running Socks

These socks are thick and keep my feet warm in the winter. The extra padding helps with blisters, and the socks are made specifically for your left and right feet.

9. Body Glide

Chafing be gone. I don't really have much else to say about this. It's self explanatory.

10. iPad

Working out at the gym gets boring. Or sometimes I find it's really hard to motivate myself to do anything, let alone work out. All I want to do is curl up and watch Netflix. Ever since I got my iPad, there is really no excuse because I can bring my iPad to the gym and watch Netflix while working out.  It's forced me to go to the gym and it makes my workouts longer and harder, especially if I get into a really good show.

11. Running water bottle

Necessary for long runs with no water fountains. This one is curved so it fits nicely in my hand.

12. Map my run

If you are running in a new city, this app saves you! You can look at routes others have done to get ideas on where to go. 

Stars and Stripes

This year for the fourth, I went back up to Seattle for the weekend. Every year, B's parents have a party at their lake house. Sadly, they decided to sell the house so this was the last party! B has been going up there since he was in middle school, so I think next year will be hard for him and his friends. I've been going for the past 4 years or so. I'm thinkin next year we rent a house in Lake Stevens next to Chris Pratt's family...

Anyways, the weather in Seattle this summer has been absolutely crazy. It's been 90 almost every day and so hot. It hasn't rained in forever.  It's nicer up there than it has been down here in LA (sidenote - what is with this crappy weather, Los Angeles? It's June gloom...in May, June, and July). It was the most relaxing weekend of basking in the sun, drinking beer, celebrating America, and cooling off in the lake.

Life Update.

To get my first official post started (in typical blogger fashion), here is my life update for the past four months.

March

March was full of trips, friends and family visits, and breaks! March flew by so fast and was exhausting. My little brother came to visit for an entire week (which means we went to Disneyland - duh), B's parents came down for a visit, some friends came to L.A. and stayed with us for the weekend, and Brett and I took a trip to New York and Washington, D.C.! It was my first time in NY and DC and it was so amazing, so I'll save that for a whole other post. 

New York was about 20 degrees, FREEZING WIND CHILLS, and rainy! But I sort of loved that. 

We got to take a tour of the white house (before they allowed pics and selfie sticks - boo!!) so here is the only picture we were actually allowed to take. 

 We brought friends from Seattle up to the Ghetty Museum and I practiced my photog skills

My brother and I attempted to take a selfie on each ride. I think we kept that up for 5 rides.

April 

Birthday Month!! Just kidding. While I did celebrate my birthday in April, it was more a one day celebration. B did take me to what I think is the best Italian restaurant in all of Los Angeles - Osteria Mozza. I had the most amazing balsamic pear gorgonzola ravioli that I still think about to this day (yes, three months later). I want to go back so badly, so I'm searching for another special occasion for Brett and I to go.

 Baseball season started and we went to the Mariners v. Dodgers game. The last few weeks of April were unfortunately wasted spent studying for finals so it really wasn't too exciting. Bet you're glad I wasn't on this blog during that time to complain, aren't you :)

May 

In law school life, May also sucks. Finals take over so the first 2 weeks didn't count. But the second two weeks made up for that quick! This picture was taken approximately 5 hours after I finished 2L year! 

We took a trip to Las Vegas for memorial day weekend. I haven't been since college and I was worried nothing was going to live up to that first Vegas trip. I was wrong! I had a blast and spent too much money (and won nothing). I also tagged along on B's work trip to San Francisco and visited my best friend for the weekend. We got a bit too excited, acted like we were never going to live another day and suffered pretty bad hangovers the next day as a result. But it was worth it and SF continues to be one of my favorite cities. My dad also came to visit and bought me a selfie stick. So that has really upped my picture taking game, obviously. We spent lots of time in Griffith Park and I discovered my new favorite cafe - The Trials Cafe.

I think I read 5 books in May just from the time finals were over until June, so prepare yourselves for a book post. I also finished (and started) watching Girls during finals week. How I didn't watch this show before, I will never know. It's amazing, I am obsessed, I can't wait for the new season to come back in fricken January, and I found out today that Mahlia Obama has an internship on Girls this season, so there's that as well.

June 

I started my summer associate position in June! I am working at a private firm and I love it. I feel like a real lawyer, I even have my own office. More on this later. I got to take a trip back to the beautiful PNW for the first time since Christmas. We had a family reunion, I celebrated my brother's 21st birthday, and caught up with old friends. B and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary!! It's crazy to think we've been dating since we were 18 and 19. We celebrated by going to Cliff's Edge in Silverlake (LA). Oh my goodness. This place - it feels like you are eating in a jungle treehouse. When it gets dark, it is only lit up by small string lights and fire pits. I've heard it's a great place for brunch as well. I've been trying to practice my portraits, so excuse the million pictures of my brother. He's a much more willing subject than B.

My little brother slightly resembles to Mackelmore, right?

My one and only cousin who I hadn't seen in 5 years! 

Grandma selfie-stick for the win.

I also got to have brunch with my mom's side of the family as well. We snuck the hair clip on my grandma and she didn't even notice. 

My friend Kelsey came to visit and we went hiking to Escondito Falls finally. Escondito is a great place in Malibu where there is (actually - was) a waterfall. Thanks to the lovely CA drought we are currently in, it was a tiny, miniscule, barely noticeable trickle of water. We decided to hike up past the waterfall in search of more water (what were we thinking? There was no more water) and all of a sudden... A RATTLESNAKE slithers its way right in front of us, stops, and shakes its rattle. I have never been so terrified in my life. We were trapped because we didn't want to go down and pass where the snake was, so we stayed in the same place for a good 20 minutes screaming and physcing ourselves up until another hiker got to us. Then we made him go past first. I think we got down the rest of the hike in record time, not even joking. That same night, we went to a gay bar in West Hollywood and were having a great time singing along to Bad Blood when all of a sudden we found ourselves front row and center to a bar patron pulling out a STEAK KNIFE from her bag and threatening another fellow bar patron. I am not even making this up. I should have bought a lotto ticket that day since I escaped death twice. 

Stay tuned for some really exciting upcoming posts to follow that tale of death (sarcasm, folks). But on the real, I do actually have some ideas for posts in the future. I am going to Portland soon so watch out for a recap (and ideas for what to do in Portland, since I know it like the back of my hand thanks to the long distance relationship B and I were in for 4 years). I signed up for my second half-marathon! I will be running the Nike Women's Half in October. I have hardly been running regularly since the Surf City, so I need to get back into shape. I am also trying to break that 2 hour mark.  B and I are taking a trip to Boston in August for the first time! I have the entire month of August off from work and school, so I will be heading up to Seattle for a bit. B and I are moving to a new place in LA and I am super excited about it. I am providing design guidance for the new house that my dad is remodeling, so I can share some updates for that in a few posts. I am summering at a firm. I am taking the MPRE (ethics portion of the bar) in August and gearing up for the my last year of law school. 

I think that'll last me for a few posts, so take that hiatus bloggers ;) 

Hola, Internet

Recently all the blogs that I follow religiously have all taken summer "hiatuses" and it made me really upset! The blogging world was changing my morning routine and I am not a person who likes change. I found myself getting selfishly angry and these people (who I've never actually met in real life, what the what 21st century). While the blogs that I read every morning have way more readers than this little guy has, I realized I was sort of being a hypocrite. If I can't even keep up with a blog for 6 months, why am I getting mad at these people who have posted every single weekday for the past couple years? And so I'm back here as a challenge to myself. I want to see if I can do this whole blogging thing for real 5 days a week for the next month. And we will see where that takes me. And then hopefully it will grow into many more months.

Take that, all you summer hiatus bloggers. Just kidding. You are way more cool than me.

So stay tuned, tiny miniscule corner of my internet. Here we goooooo!!!

The weekend that never ended

This weekend technically started for me on Wednesday, or at least it felt like it. By the end of the weekend, I was exhausted. On Wednesday night, UW was playing UCLA in basketball so we went to watch the UW mens team beat the bruins fail. Hard. But it was fun to see a game at Pauly Pavilion!

On Thursday after a long day of class, I went wine tasting with my law school friends. If you are ever in need of a wine tasting spot in Santa Monica - go to Wine Expo! It's amazing - you get 20 tastes for $20! And they pour pretty generously. And the food is delish too - we got the cheese plate and a goat cheese flatbread. It looks a bit sketchy from the outside because it is in the back of a liquor store, but the back room is decorated really cute and you don't feel like you are in a strip mall.

By Friday, B and I were already exhausted. We started the real weekend off with dinner and a movie at our fav Mexican restaurant - Don Antonio's. Seriously the best margs and chips I've had in LA. We ended the night with a movie - we watched The Theory of Everything. Oh my goodness I think that was my favorite movie I've seen so far. It was incredible and not predictable either.

Saturday, we decided to play tourist in LA and went to the LACMA. Both of us had never been and I wanted to test out my new camera in preparation of our upcoming trip to NY and DC. We aren't really art people, but it was cool to see all of the different types of art they had. My favorite was probably the Van Gogh paintings, the photography exhibit, and the pipe painting. And of course the light posts :)

Afterwards, we stopped at Sprinkles for cupcakes! Sprinkles is famous in LA and we both had not been yet. I got a peanut butter chocolate and B got Bailey's Irish Cream. His was the best and when my little brother comes to visit in two weeks, I might have to take him so I can get the Irish cupcake :)

Sunday was reserved for studying, cooking, and enjoying the rain. One of my new years resolutions was to cook a new meal every Sunday night and so far I've been pretty good. Last night we had BLT sandwiches, roasted potatoes, and buffalo cauliflower. With a side of girl scout cookies, of course. I also had to start outlining this weekend, because we are halfway through the semester already. WHAT!? Where did the time go? 

I'm a Half Marathon runner!

So one month late (I will get better about this), I finished my first half marathon!!! One of the main reasons I started this was to document my running journey and it's crazy it's over. Here's my Surf City Half Marathon 2015 race recap...

The day before the race.

B and I went down to Huntington Beach the day before the race. His mom and stepdad met us down there because his stepdad was also running! We drove the course on the way up! 

We got to stay at a really cool hotel that was right across the street from the Expo. It was such a nice thing that we were staying at a hotel because we would have had to drive from LA to Orange County two days in a row and on race day it would have been super early in the morning. We went to the Expo, picked up our packets, and looked at all the really awesome (overpriced) running swag that I wanted but didn't need. We stuck to the free samples...

We grabbed some lunch and omgggg the best part of the entire training process was the carbo-loading. I was a swimmer until college and this was the best part of race day and oh how I missed it. After gourging our faces, we went to the pool to relax for a few hours. After the pool we caught the sunset as we sat by a fire pit.

The relaxing led to napping and then I'll give you one guess as to what we did next - carbo-load dinner!! Haha we got spaghetti and it was delish. We walked back to our room, got our gear ready. watched some friends to calm our pre-race jitters and went to bed by 10.

Race day!

My alarm went off at 5:30am. Our wave started at 8:00am but I wanted enough time to get coffee and eat breakfast because I feel sick if I run on a full stomach. 

Oh and our race fell on Super Bowl Sunday so obvi I rocked my 12th man gear. For breakfast I had a muffin and a banana and coffee. 

We went to meet B's parents at their hotel before we had to head to the finish line. I wasn't nervous until about 25 minutes before. But while we waited in line I got a more nervous. 

The Race 

My strategy was to make sure that I didn't start out too strong. I went out at exactly a 10 minute mile. The first couple miles flew by. At mile 3, they had a turn and you went up a hill. I was dreading that part but it ended up being my favorite part of the race because it wasn't just a straightaway and so it added some excitement to the flat, straight course. We got back to the straight part at mile 6. That is where it got difficult. The course just went straight and all you could see for literal miles ahead was runners upon runners. It was really boring and mentally tough because it seemed so never ending. We finally hit the turn around at mile 9 (where I saw a fellow Hawks fan!) and then we went back the exact same way we had just come. And it was a slight uphill the entire time. Those miles were the worst.

At mile 12 I was really hating my life. I thought the last mile would be the easiest because I would be close and there would be people to cheer me on, but it was not the best mile. I just wanted the damn race to be over!!!! And the worst part was the fact that the Nike run app on my phone was saying that I was over when I wasn't!!!! 

All in all, I finished the race in 2.04.45. I was really happy! I definitely want to do another one soon (I'm shooting for the Nike women's half in SF in October) because my next goal is to break 2 hours, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this time off from running right now. I have been going to the gym and swimming more for cardio. I've only been running 3-5 miles. It's been a nice change of pace and I'll keep it up for probably another month before I get back into running again. For next time, I want to add in some more speed/track workouts in addition to my normal training. I also don't want to neglect strength training. 

But for now, I'm really enjoying the break :)