The Lemon-Face Challenge; Cancer Can Suck It!

August 12, 2015 by Jennifer

If you’ve been following us for a while, you are well aware of the fact that we hate cancer, pediatric cancer, in particular. You also know that we are big supporters of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a foundation dedicated to raising funds for research to eradicate childhood cancers. Because seriously, who doesn’t hate cancer?

September kicks off their annual Alex’s Million Mile (#AMM) Event where we run, walk, and bike while raising money for cancer research.

We LOVE this event because we get to raise money and awareness while running. It makes running fun.

No, that’s a lie.Running will never be FUN.

But #AMM does make routine runs more meaningful. Us Chicks are eager to get started, so we’re launching our team today by telling cancer to go suck the big fat (yellow) one.

Everyone is doing it! Jenn’s mileage goal is 80 miles in September.

Kyle hopes her miles hit 70 for #AMM

Bec’s mileage goal is a firm 50.

Cam going for 25 and her daughter, Sophie, is shooting for 10!

Jess is down for 30. Go Jess, go Jess, go, go, go, Jess!

Jess is down for a firm 30. Go Jess, go Jess, go, go, go, Jess!

Meri’s looking to log 40 miles!

Vic’s shooting for the triple digits at 100!

If you hate cancer too and like to win cool stuff, take the Lemon-face Challenge and Join Team Scootadoot!

After you join the Team, Facebook, Tweet or Instagram a photo or video of your best lemon-sucking face, let us know your mileage goal, and tag it with #Journey2aMillion and #lemonfacechallenge , we’ll enter you in a drawing for a great prize!

We’ve got goodies from FitBit, iTunes, Another Mother Runner, SkirtSports, and RaceDots (to name a few), and we’ll be giving out prizes to Team Members throughout September!

Recruit your friends to join the team with this QR code which links to our team fundraising page. How slick is that?

Let’s show cancer what us running folk can accomplish. Go suck a lemon and help us fight back!

Why Fitbit is My Boyfriend

August 5, 2015 by Jennifer

It’s SO RARE that you encounter a company that takes customer service seriously. Seriously, right? When I’m fortunate enough to find that in a company, they can guarantee they have a customer for life. I know I’m sounding sales-y, but let me say that I am receiving nothing in the way of compensation for this post. This is all just pure fangirling over Fitbit, because they treated me so well when I lost my One recently that had we been on a date, we might have gone to third base.

So July 4th weekend, I lost my Fitbit One somewhere in this red circle:

Kiss that baby goodbye!

I tweeted my heartbreak and tagged Fitbit. I’d gotten that One right before my trip to Paris and had it on through my first half marathon; we’d been through a lot together. Fitbit Support tweeted me back, offering to help me find my One. Since I lost it in an area likely the size of Rhode Island, I knew my One and I would never be reunited.

Fitbit reached out and asked me for some proof my One purchase and said that they’d review my case to see if they could replace my One as a “gesture of goodwill”. A GESTURE OF GOODWILL. I could not believe it! I sent them a copy of my online purchase invoice, and a new One was in the mail the SAME DAY, Y’ALL. When it arrived just in time for last weekend’s half marathon! I was legit like this:

Fitbit, you are the BOMB. That is all!!

Do you have a Fitbit? Do you love it and why? Let’s dish in the comments!!

Marathon Training: Hiking Edition

July 31, 2015 by kpjenn

So, sometimes, marathon training can get tedious. I mean, think about it, running miles on miles on miles, week in and week out, trying to find new routes, trying to avoid others, battling heat and humidity… It has a tendency to wear a runner down. Literally and figuratively.

How does one fix that kind of nonsense?

Find a fun way to cross train.

Typically, my cross training is cycling, but I usually do spin classes at my gym, and while that’s a great workout, it’s inside. Being inside all the time when it’s gorgeous outside is stupid. And I’m a little crunchy granola child who needs her trees and water and alive things to be happy.

Fortunately, my training partner Sarah feels the same way. Sarah is also the friend who will go backpacking with me for days on end, so it should be no surprise that the two of us decided that despite our very busy summer schedules, we needed to get at least one hike in before the fall.

Great Falls Park. Gorgeous.

Due to the aforementioned summer schedule craziness, an overnight backpacking trip wasn’t in the cards (poo), so we determined that a day hike would be the next best alternative. Living in Northern Virginia, we’re fortunate to have a lot of hiking trails relatively close – a fact that is a little surreal when you also consider the fact that the nation’s capital is also a stone’s throw away.

We got a date on the calendar, invited some friends and last weekend took a short jaunt up to Great Falls Park to get our hike on. Mind you, we did this the day after running a very hot and sweaty 9 miles. Sarah, myself and my friend Courtney are all training for the Baltimore Marathon in October – and we all needed a little bit of a break from the monotonous mileage.

Though the morning was very warm, it was a beautiful day to be outside. The park was pretty busy – lots of folks hit these trails because of their proximity to the city – and we saw everyone from families out for a walk in the woods, to people running with their dogs.

The trails in the park run along side the Potomac River and offer some beautiful vistas. It’s such a nice change of pace to surround oneself with nature after days on end of office buildings and city streets.

Sarah and the Hon Monster.

It’s also nice to get to play with Sarah’s dog, Honey, since I don’t have a pup. I’ll use any excuse to get puppy time – and hiking is always a good option!

While our hike wasn’t super long, we were all pretty beat by the time we stopped to eat the lunches we packed with us. It was a hot day and our legs we pretty tired from our run the day before. We tried (unsuccessfully) to map our mileage for the hike, but gave up after Courtney’s Garmin kept losing the satellite. Oops.

Training Partners. Hiking Partners.

Sarah and determined that we might be heading back up to the park to do a trail run or two before training season is over – the hills alone would be good for us, and the scenery can’t be beat. Mostly, it’d be something different than the bike paths and streets that we run on every other day.

Mostly, I just want another excuse to go run around in the woods and see things like this:

I seriously can never get enough. Give me all the nature. Always.

What is Periscope?

July 15, 2015 by Jennifer

When I attended Fitbloggin15 in Denver a few weeks back, I heard about something new and fun and exciting. Something, it is rumored, that will soon be ALL the rage. Of course it was something I’d never heard of until that weekend. Likely because it’s really, really rare that I’m on the cutting edge of anything, much less technology and anything app-y. Let it be known that I have no teenage children from which to learn these vital things from. So, really and truly, thank goodness for the savvy bloggers at Fitbloggin, without whom I may never have found my new favorite social media app. It’s called Periscope, and it’s basically like having your own live T.V. station.

What: If you’ve heard of or used Meerkat, Periscope is the same concept but it’s owned by Twitter. Periscope is a live broadcasting app that allows you to broadcast whatever you’re doing (as long as it’s within their use agreement) to all of your followers, and interact with them in real time. It’s a powerful tool, and I imagine that it will revolutionize the way news is delivered. The possibilities are only limited by you and your feelings on voyeurism. You could “scope” the protest unfolding in the streets right in front of you, or you could scope your adorable cat getting its belly rubbed. Your choice. Just know that scopes are only active for 24 hours. After that the spell is broken, and not even the Fairy Godmother can bring them back.

Who: Periscope was purchased by Twitter and launched in March of this year. Since the two are connected, you can create a Periscope account using your Twitter login. Doing so will let you see all of the people you follow on Twitter who also have a Periscope account. When you follow them on Periscope, you get a notification every time they are live broadcasting. News organizations, business, celebrities, and industry are getting on board, too. Like it or not, this app is likely here to stay. The nice thing is since it’s so new, your preferred user name might still be available! HURRY! RUN NOW!

Why: The app has so much potential, I cannot even begin to touch on its power. Not only does it let you broadcast whatever, but your viewers can comment and interact with you in real time as you’re broadcasting. I watched a scope of Bill Nye the Science Guy being interviewed by USA Today after the Pluto fly-by yesterday and IT. WAS. AWESOME. Viewers commented and asked Bill questions as the scope filmed, and viewers showed their love by tapping the screen to give the broadcast hearts, the indisputable social media currency.

Bill Nye!

This is a fantastic tool for bloggers who want to do a social media chat, give a talk, and/or have a live Q&A. You could scope a live workout sesh. You could scope seeing a cute dog at the dog park. You could scope your trail run, or tips for foam rolling, or your favorite smoothie recipe. You can scope just about anything! Not to mention this is a fantastic medium to get to know people and to build real relationships.

Bill Nye actually answers this viewer’s question! HOW COOL.

When: Whenever! I told Meri it would have been fun to scope our finish at the BolderBOULDER as we ran into the stadium, and us Chicks intend to use the app quite a bit in the future. You can scope from the corral with friends as you wait for the race to start. You could scope the race expo, or the beer drinking afterward, or you hit a moment of doubt and you need some motivation/inspiration; your fellow Scopers will be there for you. Sharing unique live events (that aren’t copyrighted) is a perfect use for Periscope, and a sure fire way to get a lot of those adoring hearts from viewers. Just be sure to respond to people as they comment on your scope. It’s considered bad form to not respond to your viewers, and it’s the real-time interaction that sets Periscope apart from YouTube.

The map view shows you who’s scoping all around the globe.

Where: You can watch scopes happening all over the world on a huge variety of topics, and that variety is only going to expand. One night, my husband and I watched three guys scoping from their living room in Belgrade. One of them was oil painting a unicorn. It was randomly awesome. A common genre is the travel scope where people scope while on vacation and share the sights with their followers. The iOS version of the app has this nifty map feature which lets you see where people are scoping all over the world. This is my husband’s favorite feature of Periscope, and sadly it’s not available on the Droid version of the app yet. You can see a list of all the scopes happening everywhere, but without the map you can’t tell where they are broadcasting from.

Beware, be VERY Aware: Two big no-nos I’ve seen on Periscope so far is people broadcasting live events such as live concerts and the like, and X rated broadcasts. I watched an entire Rush concert and a U2 concert. I have not yet, nor do I plan to, watch anything with X in the title as I’m scared. Very scared, and that’s…just not my thing. No judging here, but I would be very careful with this aspect of the app, especially with kids. The folks in charge say they have staff keeping an eye out for inappropriate material, but I’ve seen a few titles that read XXX, and really, that only means one thing. Usually anyway.

Aside from that, it’s way neat and can be a lot of fun. I think it will get to be more fun when more people are broadcasting meaningful content. People like you. People like us. I’m hoping Meri will scope the ice cream at the Jog-n-Hog this weekend because I KNOW we all want to see that!

Do you scope? Do you have questions about scoping? Did you think (at first) that I was referring to mouthwash? We are on Periscope at @Scootadoot and hope to see you there! Share your handle in the comments!

A Doozy for Dimity – Question Contest #scootdimity

June 29, 2015 by Jennifer

In a few weeks, SkirtSports is kicking off their new Speaker Series with none other than Dimity McDowell. I was excited immediately because, well…who wouldn’t want to meet Dimity if given the chance? AND maybe, just maybe, I could get Dimity’s thoughts on your most burning running and mothering questions. Such as does she have any toenails left? Or when is it appropriate to to use your BOB to mow down the walkers in the way? According to retired Chick Brooke, Dimity is very funny and gracious, so I’m sure she would be more than willing to give us some insight into these, and your, burning questions.

Retired Chick Brooke (center) with Sarah Bowen Shea & Dimity McDowell 3/2014

The Contest Scoop:

1. Tweet us your questions for Dimity using the hashtag #scootdimity. Tweet as many questions as you like, but tweet them by 7/10/15. After that, the contest ends!

2. We will select the top three questions and announce winners on 7/13/15. I will ask as many of those three as I can at the event.

3. If your question is selected, you’ll win a prize! A fun and awesome prize, no less! Even if I don’t get to ask your question, you’ll still win a prize!

So start thinking and tweeting! The crazier and the funnier, the better. The more genuine and authentic, the better, too.

Let’s show Dimity who the Scoot community is and come up with some doozies for her!

This post and contest are not sponsored by SkirtSports or Dimity McDowell. All prizes are provided by Scootadoot.

Costume Tutorial: Running Skirt with Pocket Waistband

June 22, 2015 by Jennifer

Ever since I started running, I’ve sort of become obsessed with running clothes. The sewist in me wants to understand their construction, function, and style, and then I make them for myself with my own twists. I always have to carry a lot of crap with me on the course. My car key, phone, earbuds, license, cash, and most annoyingly, my stupid, goofy-shaped inhaler that fits into no running waist belt I’ve found yet. I needed something custom made for all my stuff.

Then there’s the costume races where you are making your outfit top to bottom and need to hold a hotel key and extra pixie dust in your Tinkerbell tutu. The struggles are so real, especially as I begin to plan my costumes for the Rebel Challenge. I mean, where/how am I going to attach my lightsaber to my adorable outfit? I know the solution is to craft my own running skirt with a waistband pocket built into it. I practiced this idea with the Flintstones costumes I made for Meri and I, and now I’m sharing the technique with all of you.

YES. MY. FRIENDS. Are you excited? Please say yes because I am SO STOKED to show you this easy pattern. This will take you one afternoon. No joke. Heck, you can even skip adding the skirt and you’ll have a pocket belt that you can wear with anything.

alldone2

Alldone1
Now, if you’ve sewn before, don’t let the word zipper send you screaming from your computer right now. If you’ve never sewn in your life, don’t let the word zipper send you screaming from your computer right now. This is simple stuff, friends, and if you have to do a zipper, this is the kind of easy zipper install you want to do. Trust. The trick is basting and using an invisible zipper foot, and I’ll get to that in a sec.

What to Expect: After you’re done with this project, you will have a running skirt with a 4 inch pocket that goes all the way around the waist for maximum storage. I have not yet mastered building in a sport panty, but I will master that for a future tutorial, promise!

Here is what you need for this project:

Stretchy Athletic fabric of your choice. Follow the yardage guidelines on your skirt pattern, and add 1/3 of a yard for the waistband.
Color Coordinating thread
Color Coordinating Invisible Zipper, minimum of 7-9 inches long (you can shorten a zipper very easily if you can’t find one the right length in the right color. Youtube how to, yo!)
Skirt Pattern
Stretch Sewing Machine needles, these are ball point needles made for sewing stretchy fabrics
Invisible Zipper Foot
Standard Presser Foot
Zig-Zag Presser Foot
Straight Pins
Tape Measure

Tools that make any sewing job easier: Cutting mat, rotary cutter, large plastic ruler, fabric marking pen or tailor’s chalk

**These instructions include ½ inch seam allowances.

And here we go!!

Step 1: Read these instructions all the way through at least once before beginning.

Step 2: Measure your waist in inches. Take that number, divide it in half, then add 2 inches. This is your width measurement for cutting your fabric.

Step 3: Fold the fabric lengthwise right sides facing together, so that the selvage ends meet. Cut two pieces, 9* inches x the width measurement you got in step 1.

(*Note: This 4 inch waistband will accommodate an iPhone 5. If you have a larger phone or need a wider waistband, simply increase the number from 9 inches to whatever you need. Just remember that there is one inch built into this pattern for 1/2 inch seam allowances. Example, if you want a 5 inch waistband, 5 x 2 = 10 inches plus 1 for seam allowance, therefore, you would cut your two pieces 11 inches x the width measurement from step 1.)

Step 4: Set one of the two pieces you just cut aside. Lay the remaining piece flat and measure 2 ½ inches from the bottom edge. Mark this line with your fabric pen or chalk. Cut all the way across lengthwise.

Step 5: Position your zipper in the center top edge of the smaller section. Baste the zipper in place with the right side of the zipper facing the right side of the fabric.

Step 6: Next, you’ll need to use an invisible zipper foot. You can usually find universal versions of the invisible zipper foot at stores like Joann Fabrics or Hancock Fabrics. Notice the two grooves in the bottom center of the foot.You’ll also notice the hole in the center, that is for needle to pass through.

Position your work under the foot so that the zipper fits into the groove on the left. Make sure the zipper is open, and stitch using a straight stitch.

And when you’re done it should look something like this!

That wasn’t so bad, right?

Step 7: Close zipper, remove basting stitches, and repeat Steps 4 and 5 the other side. Make sure to line up your pieces along the zipper edge and the short sides.

Basting ( big, chunky temporary stitches) is the secret to professional looking zippers. Take the time for this step!

Step 8: Repeat step 5, stitching until the zipper’s pull gets in the way and you can’t stitch any further. When you’re done it will look like this:Don’t worry about the gaps on each end, we’re going to fix that next.

Step 9: Matching right sides of fabric together, pin from each end of the zipper to the edge of the fabric, being sure to match up the edges, too.

This is the trickiest part of this project; first, change your press foot back to a standard foot and stitch from where your zipper ends to the edge, thereby completing the seam and joining the two pieces of fabric all the way across. It may be a little bumpy and jagged around the ends of the zipper, but that’s okay. It will still work just fine!

Mine was far from perfect but it’s all good.

When you’re done, it should something look like this when you look at it from the right side.

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve completed the hardest part of this project! You fricken ROCK! We are seriously SO CLOSE to being done!

Step 10: Remember that other piece of fabric that you cut and I told you to set it aside? Well bust that puppy out and let’s do this! Line it up with the zippered piece right sides together, and pin it along the short sides.

Change your foot to a zig-zag foot and adjust the settings on your machine as appropriate. Zig-zag stitch the pinned sides.

Step 11: Turn the waistband right side out and try it on! Woot woot! If it’s too loose, now is the time to take it in. Simply turn it inside out again and stitch the side seams in a little further from the edges. Repeat that process until the band fits over your hips but also fits your waist. Because you’ve been using a zig-zag stitch where needed, the skirt will stretch. Once you have it fitted, trim off any excess seams/fabric on the inside and turn it right side out.

Pocket Belt Option: If you want to make a pocket belt instead of a running skirt, then this is is your last step. Tuck the two touching raw edges to the inside of the band, making a seam. Essentially, you’re making a tube. Once you tuck the edges and pin in place all the way around the bottom edge of the band, top stitch using a zig-zag stitch. When you’re done, you should have a fabric tube, like a bicycle tire, with a zipper. (Oh my goodness, I hope that makes sense).

Step 12: Using a skirt pattern, cut the front and back skirt pieces following the layout instructions that come with the pattern. Pin the front and back of the skirt together, right sides facing each other. Using a straight stitch, stitch the two sides together.

Step 13: For a pleated skirt look, baste along top edge of skirt. Gather the skirt fabric until it is the same circumference as your waistband, making sure the pleats are evenly distributed all the way around the skirt.

If you want an a-line style skirt, use an a-line skirt pattern or simply skip the gathering step above and adjust the skirt until its waist is the same size as your waistband.

Step 14: Pin the raw edge of the waistband to the raw edge of the skirt with the right sides together. Make sure to match the side seams of the skirt with the side seams of the waistband.

Step 15: Using a zig-zag stitch, attach the skirt to the waistband.

Step 16: Shorten the skirt to desired length and trim off excess. Athletic fabric typically doesn’t fray and won’t need hemming, but if your fabric is fraying you’ll need to hem your skirt. To do that, fold the raw edge to the inside of the skirt 1/4 to 1/2 inch all the way around, and then another 1/4 to 1/2 inch all the way around. Pin in place as you go. Then, top-stitch using a straight stitch.

YOU ARE DONE! HIIIIIIGH FIVE, YOU! You now have a cute, functional running skirt that you made YOURSELF. I’m so proud of you!

Now, I want to see YOUR skirts. So go forth, dust off your sewing machine or rescue one at your local Goodwill, and send me your pics! I’m excited to see what you guys come up with! Share your pics on our Facebook page or tweet me at @Scootadoot or @jenniferspen

I’ve never written out my patterns before. If I’ve utterly confused you, I’m sorry, and I want to fix it! Please email me your questions at Scootadoot@gmail.com with the subject “Skirt Tut” and I will respond to you as soon as I’m able.

**This design did come out of my head, and any resemblances to patterns currently for sale in the market place is coincidental. No copyright infringements were intended.

Fangirling at the BolderBOULDER

June 8, 2015 by Jennifer

When Meridith was in Colorado visiting me for the BolderBOULDER, we had the chance to attend the race press conference the day before the race. We weren’t told who would be there, only that it was with the elite athletes. We did our research and assumed it would be with the elite runners who were making up the international teams at this year’s event. Excited to hear these pros speak and share their training and racing wisdom, we jetted off to the conference with notepad and very giant, press-like camera in hand.

After arriving and finding the person who could give us our press pass, we stood near the food, feeling in the way and wondering what to do next. That’s when we heard someone speak into the microphone to say that Meb would be coming into speak shortly. Meri and I looked at each other with eyes as big as saucers. Meb?! Meb Keflezighi would be speaking in this tiny room to a handful of people which included us?! Needless to say, we were fangirling hard. But we kept it on the inside and remained calm and professional. I think.

Abdi Abdirahman in yellow, Meb Keflezighi in navy, and Frank Shorter in blue.

Not only did Meb come in to talk to the press, but so did Abdi Abdirahman and the legendary Frank Shorter. They offered some advice on training and achieving goals as well as what makes the BolderBOULDER special. Here, Meb and Abdi comment on how they train for the big races and win, and how the BolderBOULDER has helped them in their careers.

When asked what makes the BolderBOULDER special, Meb remarked on the stadium finish and how it feels similar to an Olympic finish. He noted the race’s rich history and traditions (this was the 37th year of the race). He enjoys how exciting it is to see the elite runners race at the end and how inspiring it is for young runners and said “we’ll see those kids grow up and become the next running stars.”

Abdi reminded us that the race was special because of its Memorial Day significance. For him, it’s about freedom, liberty, and those who sacrificed so that we can have those privileges.

Both athletes are looking forward to the next Olympic trials and hoping to get one of the coveted top three spots. When asked about what time he was hoping for at the trials, Abdi laughed and said it made no difference, as long as it was one of the best three times. As they said in the first video, age isn’t holding either one of them back.

All three athletes said that it was important to surround yourself with people who love, support, and push you to be your best. Both Meb and Abdi have been with their coaches for many years and feel that their long standing relationship and the familiarity that brings is an advantage for training and racing. Meb commented briefly on his former sponsor and how they dropped him once he reached an age that they felt was too old to be competitive. Meb found a new sponsor in Skechers, who went out of their way to support his goals and give him what he needed. He went on to win Boston. It’s all about who’s on your team and what you want to accomplish.

The last special guest to speak was renowned coach Joe Vigil. He said what made the BolderBOULDER so special was is that the stadium finish makes everyone feel like an athlete, and gives each participant an immense sense of accomplishment, whether you’re a beginner or a life-long runner. No other race makes everyone feel like a star athlete. It was truly an honor to hear his perspective on this event.

Having the opportunity to see these gentleman speak was really fantastic. One of my favorite things about the #BB10K is that it’s for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned pro or you’ve never run before, this race is for anyone who is a fan of running. It’s clear that these guys feel the same way!

Coffee Talk (hold the coffee)

June 1, 2015 by Meridith

Yeah, I gave coffee up a few months ago. But you go ahead and grab a cup! I’ll wait.

Okay! So a few weeks ago I was talking to my ten year old kiddo and he said, “I’m so excited!” When I asked him “About what?” He responded, “LIFE!”

What a refreshing and honest answer from him! I mean, isn’t life pretty gosh darn exciting sometimes? I’ve been feeling that way, too, and with good reason.

Why? Well, we’ve got a lot of good going on in our lives. Some meh too, but the good far outweighs the bad. And I feel like I haven’t had a chance to chat with you all in so long, you don’t know a couple of the mundane things (like the fact that I gave up coffee) and the not so mundane things. I’ve blogged about races and products, but not about life.

So here’s a LIFE update!

1. Health

In the past few months I’ve turned up the running because I had four races in May.

What you might not know is that during my last eight mile training run for the Broad Street 10 Miler, I felt the very annoying twingle (that’s a twinge and a tingle, all mixed up together) of my plantar fascia.

Again.

This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with this stupid pain in the foot so I know all the things that can help heal the heel.

Rest, ice, massage, stretching.

You might notice that running isn’t on the list. But I did the Broad Street Run, a Mother’s Day 5k, and Bolder Boulder.

Smile, though your heel is aching.

I had a 5k scheduled for this past weekend but wisely I decided to skip it. See, I did something smart! Yay me!

My poor foot just needs a break from the constant beating it takes when I run. It’s pissed off and I am well aware of that. So I am going to cool it with the running for the month of June (which does not excite me, I’ll have you know, but I’m aware it’s necessary) and focus on cross training and… food.

2. Food

Food, you are my life now. (Yes, I just Twilight quoted you. I hope you still respect me.)

Let’s talk about this. You might have noticed I’ve been sharing some yummy looking pics on our Instagram lately.

Eggs and fruit, anyone?

Chipotle Lime Shrimp Tacos with Strawberry Salsa – I would push people out of the way for this.

Fish taco bowl (mine’s without the cilantro because ew).

Y’all, this is stuff we are making at home. We haven’t done take out in over a week. This is a big deal!

So what the heck is going on here? Well, I was fairly certain that I would never, ever, ever do a product challenge. I mean, just call me Taylor Swift because that’s how adamant I was about not doing a product challenge.

And yet… here I am, doing a product challenge.

That will teach me. Folks at my gym are participating in the 24 day AdvoCare challenge and that includes my husband and yours truly. I’m drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid, or should I say Spark, and (prepare yourselves)… I’m actually loving it.

You see, I wasn’t too sure what we were getting into when we originally signed up. It’s a 10 day “cleanse” and then 14 day “max” phase. When I heard “cleanse” I envisioned rabbit food and not a whole lot else. But as you can see from the pics, we are eating. Eating like kings and queens, even!

It’s a lot of prep work and planning but I’ve got to tell you, I’m on day 6 as I’m writing this 5/31, and I’m down 5.2 pounds. But more importantly, I’ve got a ton of energy and a renewed sense of accomplishment. Doing the healthy living/eating thing can get sort of rut-like after awhile and this has helped snapped me out of that! I’m hopping up and down (on one foot, to give my left one a rest).

I’ll keep you posted with the final results. We finish the 24 days on the 18th of June.

3. June

First day of June, holla at me! June is really exciting, right? I mean, end of school (for us Jersey folks), long days, sunshine. I love it!

Me with my dear friend Bernadette, 20 years ago.

My 20th high school reunion is this month. If you’d have told me in high school that not only I would be going but I’d be paying over $100 to attend, I probably would not have believed you.

Actually, I would have laughed in your face.

Yet, I’m going. And not only that, but I’m actually looking forward to it. Life is weird. And exciting.

Just as exciting, I’ve been invited to the Disney Social Media Moms event in New York City!

I was very appreciative to be invited to last year’s Philly event and although timing didn’t work out for me to make it to this year’s Florida conference, I’m thrilled that I’ll be at the NYC On the Road celebration.

Disney is very good at bringing the magic along with them and paired with awesome speakers and great attendees, it makes for a party-like atmosphere that cannot be compared.

The new business cards are on their way and I’m hard at work figuring out what I’m going to wear. I’m thinking Disneybounding might just be in order. Zip a dee doo dah!

And don’t even get me started about July!

But enough about me. Now it’s your turn! Tell me about your life. What exciting things do you have on the horizon for June? Will I be seeing you at the Disney Social Media Moms NYC? Or perhaps at my house for dinner (open invite!)?

Megaxe on the Mall

May 18, 2015 by kpjenn

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of Kazaxe.

Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?

Well. according to the team at Azuka-Bom, it’s this:

Axe means “positive vibes”, and it is exactly what our whole philosophy at Azuka-Bom is. We want you to have a place where you can feel great and have fun! “CASA DE AXE” = “House of Positive Vibes”.

Kazaxe is a party workout! We use international music you can FEEL rush through you. Dancehall, Reggae, Hip Hop, Soca, Samba, Axe, Brazilian Funk, Southern Line dances, even some Tinikling, haha. And we do not widdle waddle around, we get you moving. If you think “dancing” can’t be a hard workout, I say, you should just try.

Basically, it’s a super crazy-amazing dance workout. Every time I go, I sweat a ridiculous amount and have so much fun. I mean, just check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqGNYpjVxE.

This weekend, the gals at Kazaxe held a MEGAXE – a giant dance sesh on the National Mall – to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Saturday was a beautiful day in DC, which also meant that it was hot and muggy. Seems like a perfect day to dance our butts off. In crazy rave-hippie neon colors. #logic

My girlfriends and I met up at the foot of the Washington Monument to get our dance on. We decked ourselves out in our best warrior paint and neon and glitter – I felt like Ke$ha. It was amazing.

All of the neon. All over. Everything.

We got things started with a warm-up dance – and while warming up the muscles is important, we were already plenty warm. Needless to say, after one dance, the sweat? It was er’rywhere. Which meant that the neon warpaint was also everywhere.

This Megaxe was amazing – I’ve never been to any other workout class where I’m actively encouraged to twerk. Where twerking is part of the routine. The combination of so many styles of dance is probably my favorite part – and let me tell you, the quads? They get one helluva workout.

I also love Kaza because you don’t have to be a dancer to enjoy it. Yes, the moves look kind of hard and things move really quickly, but you just jump in and do the moves the best you can. All that matters is that you’re moving and having fun. It’s nearly impossible not too. The instructors love what they do and they want to make you work.

All of that dancing in the hot, hot sun meant that in about 45 minutes, I’d downed about 4 bottles of water. So necessary. I could only stay for an hour of this two-hour class, but I wore my heart rate monitor and in an hour had burned something like 900 calories. This workout is no joke. Consequently, I also wanted to eat all the things by the time I got home.

Kaza is for everyone! It’s always so awesome to see so many different people get together to dance, get a good workout in, and have a ridiculous amount of fun. I don’t think we could have been smiling harder, even though we were exhausted and nearly dead. I can’t wait to get back to my next class… one of these days I’ll be able to dance like Beyonce. Some day.

We’re Coming for You, BolderBOULDER.

April 29, 2015 by Jennifer

Now that the AC half is over for 2015 and I’ve recovered from the gruesome death of a flu that I caught on my way home from New England, I can look ahead to the next fun, fitness-y related things on the horizon. In other words, we here at Scoot a Doot have NEWS, people. And news is always fun, yes? Yes!

A few weeks back, we got an email from the sweet folks over at the BolderBOULDER asking if we wanted to blog about our race experience this year. Seeing as this is my hometown race and we’re almost the same age, (this is the 37^th year of the race), there was no question I’d be running it. Blogging about it ‘officially’ was just icing!

The absolute best part of this event is the fact the Meridith is coming to run it with me. She’s never been to Colorado before, and when she saw this, she had questions.

Mainly, “will I die?” Secondly, “we’re sticking together for this one, right?”

After much reassurance that she won’t pass out from the altitude, I promised her that the map was deceiving and the course wasn’t that bad. Then we talked about costumes because of course we were sticking together and we need to look cute doing it.

The other best thing about this year’s event is that the BolderBOULDER is sending over some nifty stuff from Skechers Performance, TomTom, and Helly Hansen for me to try out and tell you guys about. Here’s a sneak peak!

Skechers GoRun4

Then, as if that wasn’t awesome enough, I found out that in June I’ll be volunteering at Fitbloggin2015. We are super excited about this as I’ll get an opportunity to meet amazing and inspiring fellow bloggers as well as learn more about many topics driving and inspiring the fitness community now. Topics that I can learn about and come back and share with you all. Because sharing is good. And making new friends is the best! Plus, it’s in Denver this year, so I can go to the conference and still sleep in my bed. That’s my cake and I’m eating it. Check out the topics and let’s talk about what speaks to you.

So stay tuned because Scootadoot news never stops. Or something.

Scootadoot

fitness, food, friends, fun

Category Archives: Fun stuff