It was my first time!

...that's what she said. Oh wait, I really did.

That's because I tried two new products (well, sort of, I'll explain later) this week.

First if you haven't yet discovered this website, I think it's about time you take a peek on over there. Essentially, companies send you trial sizes of new products they're coming out with or reinventing. I've received a few samples already and some flat out suck (I'm talking to you, Lacoste, with your cheap "free sample" of your new perfume. I think the samples that come in magazines are larger. And it smelled horrible, btw), while some have been homeruns!

Enter the new South Beach Living bar: the Fiber Fit S'mores Bar.

Not only did they send me a free bar, but I also got a coupon for a free box at the grocery store! And, I know, I've had protein bars and fiber, cereal bars from South Beach before that either taste like cardboard or are loaded with yucky sugar alcohols. This one - as far as I can tell - fell into neither category.

For starters, it was DELICIOUS! The marshmallow coating on the top was so airy and light it made me want to smile for a ridiculously long period of time. Well, maybe not, but it was like a yummy party in my mouth. I'd definitely go and buy these again for a post-run snack (or maybe I should be eating fruit or something.....). Give them a try if you haven't already!

The other "new product" in my life as of this weekend is my Map My Run iPhone application. Yes, the one I've had a few weeks now. Turns out there's a feature on it I hadn't yet discovered. While you're running and tracking your run via GPS, you have the option of audio enhancement. You can decide how frequently a woman's voice will play over your iPod and tell you your current time, distance, speed, minutes per mile and miles per hour.

WHY HAD I NEVER PLAYED WITH THIS BEFORE?!?!?!

I am not a Garmin user (mostly, because I'm cheap and can't really afford one right now), so I've been playing with the iPhone GPS tracking to determine my pace/total distance. It's kind of like running blindly and checking my pace with fingers crossed at the end of every run.

Now that I'm in my final week of training for a 5K next Sunday, this is like a GODSEND. Every 0.5 miles, which today was about every new song that would play in my earbuds, the woman would tell me how fast or slow I was going. Kind of like a kick in the pants to pick up my pace! With this feature, I've run my fastest 5K pace since I've been back to running this year! I don't remember the exact time (so you math people can figure this out), but I finished just under a 7-minute mile!! My total run for the morning ended up being 4.56 miles which I ran in 35:09 - a 7:41-minute mile total pace!!

So I think for the next week I'll be training with this application and then I'm going to use it in Sunday's race. Wish me luck :) And happy free sample hunting!

Why does this amaze me?!

I know that this shouldn't, since I watch and do most of my yoga off of AT&T's On Demand programing, but I am AMAZED at how technology and workouts can be so seamlessly intertwined nowadays.

For example, today we pulled into our hotel in Bakersfield at about 5:30 p.m. I haven't had a whole lot of time to run lately, and I've been taking it kind of easy since my knees really hurt after that seven-mile run earlier this week. I'd done a tiny bit of yoga and lots of walking just fine, so I felt like today was a good time to get back into my running routine.

Once I checked into my room, I got dressed for a run and went to check out the workout room (since the weather in Bakersfield is mid-80s and super dry... I don't plan on running much outside here). There, I did a 5K on a treadmill in about 27:37 - which is a good mark to be at after less than three weeks of training from zero activity! I'm still pushing for that 22-minute mark goal. Still hoping I'll be able to do the 5K at the beginning of June, but if not, I'll find another one not long after.

Well, post-run, I felt ready to tackle some stretches. And then I remembered lots of people talk about how yoga is good for post-run stretching.

With that tip in mind, I whipped out my iPhone (which has been providing me music and GPS tracking on my runs, and is also helping me keep track of my calories taken in and my calories burned from workouts). I opened the Youtube application and did a search for "post-run yoga.

That's when I found, and followed, this video:

Yeah, it's a bit cheesy, but it worked! And I think I'm going to continue looking up post-run yoga stretches every time I run now. Oh yeah, I was also a good girl and iced the heck out of my knees when I came back up to my room :) Hopefully, this helps them calm down a bit more after running long distances.

Either way, I'm going to give them a break tomorrow when I've got spare time and head down to the gym for a good cycle or elliptical sesh. I'll be tweeting about it!

Why do I find it so fascinating that we have access to ALL of this technology within seconds at our fingertips?? It really is changing the way people work out!

I can't wait to play with it!

....The new iPhone I will be purchasing tonight that is!!!

Two years ago, I purchased my very first smart phone - the Blackberry Curve. I had always wanted an iPhone but at the time could not afford it. The Blackberry, as it turns out, was a horrible purchase. It was a neat phone but kept crapping out on me and finally one day refused to turn on any longer. Great purchase for only a six-month old product.

So for my 24th birthday, J.D. gave me his old iPhone, which was part of the first generation of iPhone sales (ie, currently it's THREE years old - dinosaur in phone years). His dad bought him a new one for his birthday, so I got the old guy. It was so great to finally get one!!

But now, as the phone nears the three-year mark, it's starting to die like my ill-fated Blackberry did last year. I must have bad phone luck in April, eh?! Well, this year J.D. got me a gift card to AT&T in the same amount the new iPhone will cost me on the date of my contract renewal.

And guess what.... I'm up for a contract renewal/phone upgrade TODAY!!!!!!

So not only will I have a fully functional phone that doesn't shut off on calls made or refuse to play sounds 75 percent of the time, but I will be skipping up two generations from the "OG" to the 3GS! So excited :) I can't wait for my new birthday present (13 days later). I'm really super excited and am patiently awaiting 5 p.m. so I can go home, back up my phone and the nstand in line to purchase the new one!!!! My old one is silver and since then they've come out with a white and a black case, so I'm going to see if the white one's available.

Oh yeah and being the AWESOME boyfriend (orrrrrr my most dedicated blog reader) that he is, he even got me the sweet phone case I wanted too :) Love him!!

EEEEEEEEEE!!!&@&#&@&#%&^%&*!!!!!!!!!!! (that was a squeal of anticipation, in case you didn't catch that)

Happy Early Birthday!!

As an early birthday celebration while all of our families were together for Easter yesterday, J.D.'s mom gave me Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking. She knew I loved Julie & Julia and had read Child's My Life in France last summer. Also knowing I like cookbooks, she purchased me the first bible of French cuisine.
So tonight, we chose to make something from the book! I selected the recipe for Suprêmes de Volaille à l'Écossaise (Chicken breast with diced aromatic vegetables and cream). I promised I wouldn't blog about it like the Julie/Julia project, but I just wanted to make a minor comment. It really is as rich as everyone says in the movies and book! It was chicken cooked in butter with onions and then later a sauce of dessert wine, chicken broth, and our tweak - light (not full fat!!) - whipping cream. I only ate about half but it was soooo delicious!! Alongside it I made roasted Rosemary potatoes and a leftover croissant from Easter dinner.

What'd we have to drink with such a heavy meal?!? Imported apple Belgian beer in special pint glasses, an Easter gift from my parents!! Yummy :)
Hey, if I can cook from this (with J.D.'s help) anyone can! Oh yeah, he also got me that sweet pink zebra iPhone cover and guess what - a gift card to AT&T so I can upgrade to the 3GS in two weeks :)

Hopefully tomorrow's not a letdown with all the early celebrating already :) oh yeah, we're also going to the A's/Mariners game on Wednesday night because I have to work broadcasting baseball at Santa Clara tomorrow night.

Happy 25th to me :) no quarter-life crisis fears yet!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Birthday Wish List!

With my birthday coming up in19 days, I've started thinking about another wish list! Actually, what's really driving this post is my cell phone contract's upgrade on April 14.

My current iPhone was a gently-used gift about a year ago. Currently the phone has reached the two-year life span and craps out on me nearly every day. Whenever it freezes, I can't receive/send calls/texts/e-mails and there is zero function on it. The battery drains hecka fast and it's essentially dying.

So in April, I'm hoping for an iPhone 3GS! Unless purchased for my birthday, looks like I'm going to suck it up and buy one when the contract expires. I like the white one and I really like this phone cover:

And hey, if I don't end up getting a new phone, I have a back up wish:

LASIK!!! Pay me for half of it, I don't care!! But my glasses give me massive headaches and now that we're approaching the spring my eye allergies are affecting my contacts and subsequently, vision. I think I'm limited to wearing contacts for less than five hours a day, and glasses for no more than two. In the evenings, I've resorted to stumbling around or creating more face wrinkles by severely squinting to see things sans corrective lenses.

What should I do?!? If I had some financial assistance, I'd sign up for LASIK in the summer ;) They can do it without the use of knives now, so it's purely laser-driven.

.....That, or I'm ready to have a quarter-life crisis in a few weeks! :)

iExpensive.

Ok, so I take back my iPhone post. It's going to end up costing me way more than I want, and I'll have to break off the family plan.

But I did, however, order myself a new phone since my two year contract is up for renewal! And it's the Blackberry Curve Titanium 8310:


I'm quite excited about it. When it comes I just have to take it to AT&T and get the newest 3G SIM card (clearly it's been a long time since I've changed anything in my wireless plan), see how much more it's going to cost to pay for Internet service which I can upgrade/downgrade at any point, and then perhaps purchase some new headphones/bluetooth system so I can legally drive and quit with the whole "speaker phone" deal. It's getting old, fast. Sorry if I'm ignoring people's calls, usually means I'm en route.

And the coolest thing about this phone is its GPS capabilities, which is a big reason I wanted the iPhone anyways. So yay for finally owning an up-to-date cell phone, because frankly I always have the cheapest, lamest models :)

iAnticipation

In two weeks, I believe I will be the owner of one of these bad boys:


Hopefully.

Supposedly, iPhones are super reduced to promote the 2G model and are under $200 if you get a new two-year contract. Well, my two years are up on August 18th, and you can bet your britches the instant I get off work I will be making my way to the AT&T store to ask about getting me the latest in cellular technology.

So this is why being a responsible adult with a full-time job is exciting and way better than going to school on your parents' dime.