Challenge Yourself: 100 Push Ups

This weekend I had the pleasure of getting together with my girlfriends. Between drinks, laughs and wild dance moves our friend Ang began doing push ups. After 27 near perfect push ups ( rather impressive for how many cocktails she had) My friend and push up enthusiast, Lauren shared with me her push up app Onehundredpushups. The website offers advice for perfect push ups and a training plan to get you on your way to do 100 consecutive push ups. All you have to do is take an initial push up assessment and then follow the plan. Depending on your fitness level you could be well on your way to 100 push ups in only a few months.You might be asking why push ups? Aside from why not, they are a great over all exercise. When doing push ups you are using not only your arms but also engaging and toning your abs and torso. Some fitness experts even refer to it as "the perfect exercise".  Always one for a good push up, Lauren downloaded the app like many others to test her ability and take the challenge.  She shared with me that she had been following the program for about 3 weeks and was already up to 45! She also said, that it was easy to follow and that so far she was really enjoying it. So, if you are bored or just looking for a challenge, I implore you to take the 100 push up challenge. I am starting tomorrow. I plan on keeping  you posted on my progress and checking in with Lauren to update you on her progress as well. Feel free to join in on the fun. 


Check out the link below for the 100 push up challenge. Once you are there you can download the app to your smart phone. Good Luck! 






ONE HUNDRED PUSH UP CHALLENGE :)

Strength training, cardio and the occasional donut.

During a time not so long ago, I stumbled upon a blog. The Lazy Ultra. A blog dedicated to none other then an ultra marathoner. For those of you who may not know what an ultra is, allow me to enlighten you. Its 100 miles! This particular blogger used her own form of humor to chronicle her training. The draw of course was that she rarely trained completely for her races. When I first started reading her entries, I was training for my first marathon. Among the many thoughts that crossed my mind, above all I was thinking this girl was insane. Who in their right mind would show up for a race without preparing? More importantly, who in the hell would want to run 100 miles?!? Fast forward to today. With March almost over and April on the horizon, I have a 1/2 marathon and a 10 miler coming up. I still cant find the time to run outside and my aversion to the treadmill is hurting my training ( or lack there of). I am beginning to seriously consider rolling the dice and showing up without fully training. Could it be that all of my other cardio training could help me along to finish without training?? Keep you posted. Still looking for motivation for this one. Who I am I kidding, I cant show up unprepared, its just not my Smith style. 

Shamrock Marathon

The month after February leads into many things, Lion like weather that ends like a lamb, the ides of March, and of course St. Patricks day! I would like to give a long over due shout out to three noteworthy runners. This past weekend, the reckless runner herself was showing the city of Philadelphia her Irish roots while a little further south a race of epic proportions was occurring. The Yeungling Shamrock Marathon, 1/2 Marathon and 8K was this past weekend in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Stephanie Hines, Megan Moore and Jacklyn Unzeitig took part in the 8K. I am so proud of each of them and especially for Stephanie who conquered a new long distance and smashed her previous PR. Aside from a few minor set backs, including getting pulled over and forgetting sneakers for the big day, it was a a great event. Congratulations girls! 

A Latta Tabata

Heres a glam shot of me this morning after some spin tabatas that rocked my world. Please note this picture in no way does it any justice. I was dying. 

Recently there has been a lot of buzz around a not so new technique for cardio vascular exercise. Its called Tabatas. Some people think you have to kill yourself at the gym by doing hours of cardio. But alas! There is another way! Jump off of that elliptical trainer and use tabatas to tighten that rump! So what are tabatas and why are they so powerful? Well, this anaerobic training technique allows for you to cut your cardio duration without sacrificing the cardiovascular benefits! Tabatas are a part of high interval exercise or HIIE. You work as hard as you can from 15-45 seconds and then use a short time for recovery and do it again. In 1996 Izumi Tabata set out to prove that you could do interval training and achieve the same results as someone who did cardio activity for a longer duration. By pushing yourself at maximum effort and then taking a shorter recovery period, you could achieve the same results! The general rule is a 3:1 ratio. For example pushing as hard as possible for 30 seconds and recovery for 90. I have heard tabatas come up in a number of classes at my gym and my cousin Amanda just took a class dedicated solely to them! This morning I had the opportunity to do tabatas in my morning spin class. I literally never worked so hard in my life. We did 30 seconds of hard climbing with a maximum resistance followed by 10 measly seconds to recover. Repeat 8 times then do it again! It was literally the hardest thing I did all day and let me tell you, my heart was racing! I hate to admit this, but I almost threw up! Tabatas are no joke! If you are looking to trim down and torch calories, tabatas are the way to go! With growing popularity you may be able to find a class at your local gym, or you can always do it on your own while running or biking :) 

A great body starts in the kitchen

 I am finding that things have been zipping along lately at a lighting speed. Tomorrow is already Wednesday! Where did the time go?! Now, dont get me wrong, I enjoy a speedy week but at some point you just have to stop the madness. Today, I called and scheduled massage, I skipped the gym and had cereal for dinner because I was too lazy to make anything (and because its awesome). During my nightly Pinterest stalking, I came across my best friend Lauren's latest pin. It was a link to a blog. Now, lately I have to say Ive been hitting gold across the board as far as fitness blogs go and this one is no different. Its an entire blog dedicated to eating clean and unprocessed foods. It offers readers the chance to take part in a 100 day pledge to eat non processed foods. If you are non committal you could choose the less intense 10 day version. With recipes, fun tips and healthy facts you really cant go wrong here folks. I think its time to take things back to basics. A wise person once said, a good body starts in the kitchen. It couldnt be more true.What better way to get back to basics then to change what goes in to our bodies on a daily basis? I am willing to give the challenge a whirl. Whose with me?


Check out the link below.


100 days of real food by Lisa Leake

Britney kills it in the MIA

Today, the sun is shining the birds are chirping and while running errands, I happened to pass more then my fair share of power walkers and runners. Thats right folks, spring is coming! Although we had a mild winter here in the North East, I still welcome spring with open arms. To runners and fitness enthusiasts alike, spring really means one thing. RACE SEASON. Whether you run, bike, swim or play sports tis the reason for a racin'. Tomorrow my best friend Luisa will be running a race in Miami. From The Reckless Runner to MIA Best of Luck Lu. I know you will kick ass. Jackie and Stephanie will be participating in the Yuengling 6k in Virginia beach on St. Patricks day weekend. I will be giving you girls your own personal shout outs closer to your big day. Until then keep training. With lots of local races heating up along with the weather its time to unleash your inner animal. Get out there are just do it. If you get a chance today, please send Luisa some love and luck for her big race tomorrow. Even badasses appreciate some well wishes before a big one! xo. 

GET YA PIN ON!

I dont know about you, but I am super pumped that this week is almost over! I thought a little pick me up was in order. I know Pinterest is gaining a lot of interest lately, so I thought I could share some of my favorite fitness and motivational pins! ENJOY :)