Did you know today is International Women’s Day? I first became aware of International Women’s Day when I was a child living in Turkey. To mark this year’s International Women’s Day I thought I’d give a shout out to the women that have inspired me fitness and health-wise:

• The first one is an easy one for me. My Mom. Over the last few years she has constantly inspired me with her ability to become an incredibly healthy and fit woman. 
• Ms. Run Shorts – an incredible running coach and friend.
• All of Team Green – I could not have run a marathon without any of you. 
• My childhood friends who I went to the Hillside Club with. You name it we did it. 
• The entire team at Core Studio – because of all of you I love Pilates.
• Carla and Myrna Saliba – both have played key roles in introducing running to me.

My muscles and throat ache. Ironically the best I felt all weekend was when I was out running 13 km this morning. Boyfriend attempted to stop me from going as I have been sick, but I stubbornly told him to mind his own beeswax. Sunday’s run is sacred. It is my church – my time to think and digest all that happened in the week, the good and the bad. 

What I always neglect to do after most runs is stretching. I tend to rely on my one yoga class per week to keep me limber, but today I felt that I needed to stretch. As I didn’t feel like popping out for a full yoga class I decided to do a workout from Booty Camp’s DVD – Seaside Serenity Stretch.

The 26 minute stretching segment on the DVD was good and definitely stretched out parts of my body. The location was beautiful and the voiceover soothing. The one thing I would say is that if you have no knowledge of yoga you should watch the segment before doing it (as many of the moves are yoga inspired), so that you understand what the moves are and how to do them. 

After wrapping up the serenity stretch I took a peek at the Booty Booster workout (15 minutes) and after watching a minute or two I decided to do that one as well. A little bit of a backwards workout – stretching followed by a glute workout. Oh well. Loved this one and mid-way though was muttering all sorts of unmentionable words at the TV. But I know my booty will thank me in about a month when I slink my way into a great pair of jeans. Definitely motivating. Only question is how often do I have to do this to have this happen!? 

PS: Thanks to Lisa @BootyCampFit for sending me a copy! Much appreciated!

For other Booty Camp  DVD reviews check out:

Embracing Balance

Life, Health and Fitness

In an earlier entry I wrote about Quad Spin’s 3 hour spinning class for Haiti. A great initiative and just after finding out about this I discovered that even more studios were organizing events in support of Haiti. Many of them a part of the Toronto Fitness for Haiti effort – something I just happened to stumble upon.

This morning I attended one of these classes at Core Studio and in just that one hour class over $900 was raised and will be donated to Doctors without Borders. Amazing. Just think of what would happen if even more studios offered their time and space. 

To find out more on events happening go to Fitness for Haiti’s Facebook page (or if you own a studio think about how you can help!)

So, like many of you do I make resolutions as the new year begins. Although slightly unoriginal to be sharing them online, but here are some of them:

1. Exercise my brain more – I recently did a few brain age tests and judging from my score I am in dire need of help. I am now a Lumosity addict.

2. Be open to trying new things – This is a takeaway from reading Paul Auster’s book It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be. 

3. Resisting the urge to do a spring marathon, but rather focus on achieving a sub 2 hour half marathon. First attempt to do this will be next month in Austin, Texas. 

4. Really trying to cook more and avoid delivery. I know I have said this before but…I have failed at this.

5. Once a week Pilates and Yoga. 

6. Nourishing my creative side by taking a photography course. 

7. Spending more time with the people that mean the most to me and reaching out to the people who mean a lot to me but don’t live near.

8. No salt and vinegar chips for 365 days. This is the big one and there will be no cheating with the “Crispy minis” alternative. 

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2010!

Christmas 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa

After a 13 hour hour flight on this I have officially arrived at my destination. Definitely looking forward to a bit of sun and relaxation. I’ll still be trying to fit in some workouts while I’m here (swimming outside being one of them), but am also going to use the week to think about the coming year and what my fitness goals will be. I have a few new goals in mind and once I’m back in Toronto I’m going to get started on making them come true.