Writing on Running for Spright

 I love to run -- and I know a ton about running as a result.

However, like most things fitness-oriented, I know that my first-hand knowledge of any topic is only just a slice of the knowledge out there, especially when it comes to weather-related running info.

Seeing as winter is in full swing (with no sign of spring in sight!) here in DC, I decided to tackle the seasonally relevant topic of winter weather running for my latest Spright.com article.

As part of my research (and to help highlight some awesome runners out there!) I reached out to a few running pros and asked them for their top five running tips. Here's a bit about who I spoke with:

Dorothy Beal: This Washington, D.C. blogger, speaker, mother, and runner has a personal best marathon time of 3:11, appeared on the cover of Women’s Running magazine, and has a great running Instagram feed.

Joshua Holmes: With over 150 marathons and ultras under his belt (including 31 100-milers!), Holmes’s training takes him up and down mountains and through all kinds of climates. The frequent traveler shares his expertise on his site, Run It Fast, as well as on Twitter and Instagram.

Finn Vogler: This Hamburg, Germany-based competitive runner and member of the Asics Frontrunner team once completed four half marathons in four days, and he’s got a great running-inspired Instagram feed currently full of gorgeous snowy scenes.

Monica Olivas: This Southern California runner started her Run Eat Repeat blog six years ago as a way to document her marathon training, diet, and weight-loss journey. She’s a certified personal trainer and chronicles her racing and training on her blog and Instagram.

It was so amazing talking to these pro (or at least serious) runners about their craft. I was totatally blown away with the awesome and practical advice they had to share with me about winter running. So much so that I had a really hard time narrowing down all the amazing tips and tricks!

Here's a sneak peak at part what I did end up including in the story:

What do you do to prepare your body to have a successful run out in the cold?

Dorothy Beal: First thing I do when I plan to run in cold weather is to get my head on straight. If I’m focused on how low the temperature is or how much I don’t want to run in the cold, then the run is miserable before I’ve even started. Instead, I focus on how nice it will be to get fresh air after spending more time indoors, how lovely the sun will feel on my face (don’t forget sunscreen in winter — you can still burn!) or simply how good I will feel when the run is over and I’m back inside warming up in a hot shower. … In the winter I am concerned about pushing myself too hard when I am not warmed up, so I take a little extra time to do some active stretching indoors so I don’t feel tight in that first warm-up mile.

Joshua Holmes: Oftentimes we overcomplicate running, whether it be in the heat or cold, and forget that it’s simply running. Extreme temperatures can punk us out and make the excuse demons pop up, making it easier to skip a run. However, if we always waited for perfect weather to run then we’d rarely run. … I’ve run in temps from 6º all the way up to 122º. It’s all about acclimating and being properly dressed and fueled/hydrated.

Read the full story here!

Kicking off the New Year with a Nerd Fitness Feature for Spright

Happy happy happy new year to you beautiful blogosphere people, you!

Before I do a deep dive into my holiday shenanigans/travels (probably in a separate post), I thought I would share an awesome feature piece I wrote for Spright to help people jump-start their new year's fitness resolutions with a little inspiration.

When looking up amazing fitness industry leaders to write about for Spright a few months ago, I stumbled across Steve Kamb and his site, Nerd Fitness, and was instantly intrigued.

Nerd Fitness was unlike any other fitness site I had ever encountered in my years of writing about the fitness industry. Imagine nerd culture, mixed with bro culture in a subdued, supportive online fitness world -- that is Nerd Fitness.

I knew I had to talk to the creator of this wonderful, strange fitness world.

After several email attempts back and forth, I finally snagged an interview with the brains behind Nerd Fitness, Steve Kamb, and spoke to him about how the entire operation came together. Here's a snippet of my interview:

Steve Kamb is a nerd. Like, a video game-playing, comic book-reading, knows more about Star Wars than your brother kind of nerd. But don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s clueless when it comes to healthy living. The author, entrepreneur, and founder of Nerd Fitness knows his stuff.

A largely self-taught fitness leader, Kamb founded Nerd Fitness in 2009 to help nerds like himself get fit. Once a side project, Nerd Fitness has since exploded into a top online fitness community and has helped thousands of geeks incorporate fitness into their lives.

We chatted with Kamb about Nerd Fitness, favorite workouts, go-to take out orders, and his book, Level Up Your Life, out in January 2016. Here’s what he had to say:

What’s the Nerd Fitness origin story?

SK: I grew up in a town called East Sandwich. I was active as a kid, and I played sports. Growing up in a small town, we all played every sport together as a group of friends. I also spent a significant portion of my childhood playing video games. It wasn’t until high school when I got cut from the basketball team that I signed up for a gym membership. I had no clue what I was doing. But I decided I wanted to get big and strong and spent half of high school and all four years of college — I went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee — strength training and following muscle and fitness magazines and trying to get strong and healthy and big — and failing miserably...

Read the full story on Spright!

That Time I did Artoga for Spright...

Art + Yoga, it's a thing. I know, I had no idea either. It's okay. :)

A few months ago, I stumbled across a listing for an Art + Yoga, aka "Artoga" class right here in Washington, DC and decided that I, as an area fitness writer and yogi, needed to try it out. You know, for professional purposes.

Anyway, I ended up signing up for a class earlier this fall and reviewed the whole experience for Spright and even got a chance to snap some half-decent photos. I won't give you my full review of the creative, bendy expereince, but here's a snippet of my review:

When I first saw an Artoga (art + yoga) workshop pop up on Greg’s List DC (a Washington, D.C. events site), I laughed out loud. It seemed a little bit ridiculous, but I was also curious. I decided to investigate and try it out.

After a bit of digital digging, I discovered that Artoga was co-founded by Nichole Friday and Marta Staudinger in 2014. Staudinger, an artist and yoga instructor, says it all began when she started brainstorming for an innovative activity to feature at her curatorial space, which was scheduled to open soon. Staudinger wanted to find a way to blend her two passions, art and yoga, and reached out to Friday for some creative and logistical help...

Read the full story here!

Spright Interview of Olympic Proportions: Talking with Gold Medalists Meryl Davis & Charlie White

Guys. I had a really fantastic opportunity a few weeks ago that I'm so jazzed to share a little bit with you about today.

See, it all started with a big interview series I was organizing for Spright back in the summer.

I got to talk to a lot of awesome people for this series, but one of the highlights of the series was scoring a conversation with Meryl Davis and Charlie White. A quick 4-1-1 for those who have no idea who they are, Davis and White are champion ice dancers that brought home the U.S.'s first-ever gold medal in the sport during the last Olympics.

Basically, they're kind of a big deal.

Anyway, I reached out to their publicist over the summer with the hopes of chatting to them about their eating, fitness and post-Olympic life routines and was pleased to hear back rather quickly. Within a few days, we set up two interviews and before I knew it I was chatting with Davis and White about their favorite workouts and YOLO meals. They were SUPER nice to talk to and very down to earth.

So cool, right?

It's always so fun to have great interview experiences like this to remind me that even world-class Olympic athletes are normal people, just like me.

November Craziness: Spright Research, Georgetown Grad School, USO blogging & more!

Oh hi, it's me again. The blogger who forgets to write on her blog. Sigh. I really hope this once a month posting thing doesn't turn into a routine.

So, guess what? I'll make this post nice a meaty to make up for my lack of posting.

This past month has been a complete blur. While I haven't been writing a ton for Spright this month (a few of my stories that I wrote awhile ago did go up though!), I've been totally swamped with regular work for the USO and schoolwork for my PR/CC grad program at Georgetown.

I'm not going to lie, I'm really happy that I'm finally finished one of my classes, Introduction to Elements, at Georgetown. Don't get me wrong -- it was a wonderful class with a great professor and I learned a lot -- but it was a TON of work to do on top of a full-time job, a freelance gig, another class and having a social and personal life. Grad school is hard!

However, I did learn a lot of really valuable skills that will help me over the next four semesters I have at Georgetown and as I look forward into my future communications career. Oh, and I had a ton of fun making my final communications plan (responding to an imaginary RFP from CVS Health) look pretty using fun tools like Canva.

What can I say? I'm a creative at heart!

In USO land, things have been busier than ever. I had a few awesome stories I have been working on run over the past month -- in particular a story about historic floorboards at USO SeaTac and another story about the USO's Holiday Boxes program. I just love the way both of these stories turned out and look on the new USO site!

    

I also loved a story that published earlier in November on the USO's new site about a young couple -- Isaac and Jillian Strausbaugh -- that is transitioning out of military life. Isaac recently suffered a training injury, so the couple has been forced to leave the military world earlier than expected, which is what lead them to the USO's recent Caregivers Seminar in Tacoma, Washington (I wrote about this in more detail in an earlier blog).

They were an absolute delight to to talk with and I'm so grateful they shared their story with me so I could share it with others via the USO's outlets.

Anyway, as the holidays approach, I'll be sure to be a bit more judicious about updating my blog. I have so much coming down the pipe, it'll be hard to stay so quiet this month!

Grip the Mat & Spright Collide: My Review of [Silent] Soul & Spirits

A few weeks ago, when I was in full-on crazy mode, I had the chance to attend Grip the Mat's special [Silent] Soul & Spirits happy-hour yoga event at the Carnegie Library in downtown D.C. for Spright.

While I've written about Grip the Mat before for Spright/Fiterazzi and have photographed events exclusively for Grip the Mat, it had been a while since I had attended a Grip the Mat event -- let alone one as big and unique as this one!

I won't spoil too much of my review -- you can read the full thing on Spright -- but I will give you an excerpt from my time there:

In the D.C. yoga world, Grip the Mat is kind of a big deal.

The social yoga company, which was founded in 2014 by Christy Skarulis and Ashley Braun, hosts events that combine an hour of vinyasa flow with an hour (or two!) of nibbles, drinks and socializing at unique venues. Over the past year, GTM has expanded to two other cities — New York and Orlando — and teamed up with big brands like Reebok, KIND Snacks and Verge to create its signature Vinyasa to Vino, Bendy Brunch and Soul & Spirits events. You can read more about GTM and the events it offers in our interview with the founders.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to attend GTM’s [Silent] Soul & Spirits event at the historical Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C. The event, which GTM called its “biggest event to-date,” promised a live DJ, unlimited cocktails and a crowd of millennial yogis looking for a night on the town. As a fan of GTM’s more intimate events, I was skeptical that I would like a large-scale GTM bash. Luckily, that wasn’t the case...

Read more here!

Fall is Here: Georgetown Grad School at SCS, Spright Stories, USO Fun and More!

Guys. I'm so sorry. Its been way to long. Like, over a month too long. What can I say? I'm a busy lady every now and then.

The past four weeks have been full of fun, work and travel for me. Between starting my Public Relations/Corporate Communications part-time graduate program at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies, writing a ton of stories for Spright and working like crazy at my actual full-time job at the USO, its been a little crazy. Oh, and on top of all of that, I traveled to Minnesota for a wedding last weekend with Mr. Boyfriend and came down with an awful cold. So there's that too.

Mr. Boyfriend and I at Surly Brewing Company in Minnesota.

The one good thing about being so busy, however, is that I have plenty of fun stories to share with you -- like how awesome it's been to get back into the swing of going back to school.

Although I'm a die-hard storyteller and journalist to my bones, I've always known that at some point in my future I might want to make a career switch into the PR/corporate communications sphere, meaning, at some point, I might have to go back to school.

Even though my current (awesome!) storytelling job at the USO allows me to dabble in both the journalism and PR, I've often felt like my PR and business skills are lacking or even non-existant.
See, I'm a great photographer. A decent writer. And I know how to write an awesome story. But when it comes to creating a strategic communications plan -- an integral part of a PR professional's role -- I come up empty.

So, after a bit of soul searching (and realizing that I actually have time in my life to attend grad classes part-time), I decided that NOW was the perfect time to go back to school -- even if I wanted to stay in journalism a little longer after graduation before seeking out pure PR positions.

Do my glasses make me look like a grad student?

Now, three weeks into my first semester as a part-time grad student at Georgetown, I'm really happy that I chose to go back to school. Not only is my new program engaging, challenging and interesting, but it also has given me a new-found love for my full-time job and part-time freelance work. School has always had a funny way of invigorating your whole life like that sometimes, doesn't it?

In USO-land, I've been working on a bunch of special projects that are almost ready for you to see. I promise I've been working really hard on photos, videos and stories for weeks! Until then, you should check out my two feature stories I wrote for the USO magazine ON★PATROL that were recently published in the fall WWII commemorative issue.

One of my two pretty spreads in the recent issue of On★Patrol!

As for Spright, I've been churning out different interviews and articles for the past few weeks, including a fun interview with the founder of Broga, my mega almond milk taste test experiment (with original photos!) and my article all about how Wanderlust is shaking up yoga!

Phew, doesn't that sound like a lot? Well, jokes on you -- I've got even more exciting things to come :)

That Time I Wrote About the Fit Bottomed Girls For Spright

You know those websites that you stumble upon and just fall in love with? That was Fit Bottomed Girls for me.

The first time I ended up on their site -- probably because of some fitness hashtag I was scrolling through on Twitter -- I was enamored. Here was this website that was completely devoted to everything I was about: staying active, eating in moderation and still enjoying life.

I couldn't believe something like this excited. I told my friends about it. I kept reading. It was like I struck internet gold.

Flash forward a few years from now, and I'm still a FBG follower -- despite the fact that my online-fitness fan girl love has spread to other healthy-in-moderation-type websites. Some things never change...

Why, do you ask, is any of this important?

Well, a few weeks ago I reached out to the FBG team to see if I could e-interview them for a series that I've been working on for Spright, about how fitfluential people are just normal people looking to find balance in life.

And, to my delight, the FBG said yes to my interview request.

I don't want give away too much of my interview with the ladies, but I will say this: it was very grounding for me to hear that all these wonderful, inspired and influential ladies are really just like you and me. Sometimes, its these kind of stories that help me to remember that everyone is really just trying to do and achieve the exact same thing and, at the end of the day, we're all just trying to be the best versions of ourselves.

Anyway, here's a snippet of my story about them, which you should totally check out on Spright!

If you’ve been around the fitness internet, you may have encountered a site called Fit Bottomed Girls. Yep, the name is inspired Queen song “Fat Bottomed Girls.” The site, which also features the catchy tagline “Keeping a Lid on the Junk in the Trunk,” was launched by friends Jenn Walters and Erin Whitehead in 2008 in order to provide practical fitness and nutrition advice to real women trying to live a balanced, healthy lifestyle.

Now seven years since its start, the FBG empire has grown to include two sister sites (Fit Bottomed Mamas and Fit Bottomed Eats), a newly published book (The Fit Bottomed Girls Anti-Diet), a third member of the FBG core team (contributing editor and writer Kristen Green Seymour), and a tens of thousands of loyal followers and fans. Talk about a busy few years in business!

Despite the FBG brand’s growing popularity, the dedicated trio of Jenn, Erin, and Kristen has managed to find that sweet balance between running a highly successful health and fitness site and achieving their own fitness, eating, and personal goals.

I reached out to Jenn, Erin, and Kristen to hear more about their lives as the Fit Bottomed Girls core team and how they, as everyday women, find the balance between fitness, food, and fun in their lives. Here’s a look at what they had to say:

(Read more!)

Spright Updates on Working Out in the Heat & Summertime Fun

90 degree heat? Check. Watermelon overflowing at the grocery story? Check. Feeling like you live in an oven? Double check.

It's official: the dog days of summer are in full swing here in Washington, D.C. Lucky me.

In all seriousness though, this summer has gone by in a blur. Between traveling to Canada to visit family, visiting with friends, traveling to weddings, its so hard to believe there's only a few more true weeks of summer left before my graduate school classes begin at Georgetown. Sigh.

At least this summer has been very productive for me in terms of Spright.com & USO work -- that's at good thing right?

I'm not going to spoil all the wonderful things I have in the books for you to enjoy on Spright over the next few months (trust me, I have a TON of things coming!), but I will say that one of my stories -- about working out in the heat -- hit the site last week and I couldn't be happier.

I loved that I was able to reach out to my alma mater's own Dr. Todd Miller for advice in writing this story. He really helped me understand all the interesting ways the body adapts to temperature changes without making me feel like I needed to re-take my freshman biology class.

Anyway, here's a little snippet for you to enjoy:

Exercising outside in the summer months can feel a little like self-inflicted torture, especially for those first few workouts. Your face gets red. Your skin gets sweaty. Your breathing gets increasingly labored as you push yourself to finish your final set. Even recovery can seem to be more difficult than it would in cooler months.

However, after a few consecutive days of exercising in the heat, you’ll probably start to notice that dealing with stifling outdoor temperatures while you work out isn’t as difficult for your body as it was a week or two ago — all thanks to process called temperature acclimation. Simply stated, temperature acclimation is an adaptive bodily process the body undergoes to become more tolerant of working, exercising, and living in the heat.

I wanted to learn more about what goes on inside the body during the temperature acclimation process, so I  reached out to Dr. Todd Miller, an associate professor of exercise science at the George Washington University, to talk more about how the body adapts to working out in the heat. Here are the major takeaways from what I found out...

Read more here!

Stay tuned for more fun things to come!

Finding My Balance: SUP Yoga Reviewing for Spright with Ebb + Flow

Okay. You caught me. I haven't updated my blog in a while. I blame laziness and vacation... erm, mostly vacation. But everyone deserves a little break from the interwebs every now and then, right? Anyway, here's a little update, from before I headed off on my wonderful week of vacation in the Canadian Rockies with Mr. Man (I'll talk more about that in another post).

A few weeks ago, I got to spend a wonderful evening reviewing a SUP (stand-up paddleboard) yoga class for Spright.com.

Now, let me be perfectly clear. I had never done regular SUP -- let alone SUP yoga -- before I headed down to the Key Bridge Boathouse to take one of Ebb + Flow's SUP yoga classes a few weeks ago, so I was a little nervous.

Looking back on it now, I probably wouldn't have ever thought to try the class in the first place if it wasn't for the Ebb + Flow founder, Jane Daly. Earlier in 2015, Jane introduced herself to me at a Grip the Mat yoga event, where I was working a Fiterazzi photo-booth. Even though the weather at the time was too chilly for SUP, Jane encouraged me to follow up with her in the summertime and come and try out a class.

So, after a few weeks of seeing all the paddleboarders out on the Potomac, enjoying the warm summer weather, I decided to follow up with Jane and take her up on her offer.

Now, I won't give away too much of my review (you should go read it on Spright!), but I will show you some pictures I took (with just my GoPro 3) and leave you with an excerpt to enjoy.

.... Our class started with stand-up paddleboarding demos to help any SUP newbies in the class (cough, me, cough) feel more comfortable on the water.

Then, once everyone was given their boards, personal floatation devices, anchors, and paddles, we were off, making our way to a small cove of calm water on Theodore Roosevelt Island.

Once we reached the cove, everyone put down their anchors and settled into child’s pose before starting the practice. As the hour passed, we flowed through a series of modified vinyasa moves including downward facing dog, warrior three and, aptly, boat pose....

Read more here!

Side-note: I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed with the quality of my GoPro shots -- for such a little thing, it did a pretty good job. Maybe next time I'll take my Canon out on the water -- or not. It is my non-waterproof baby, after all.

Behind the Scenes of My Spright [solidcore] Story and Shoot

Guys. GUYS. GUYS! New story and photos alert!

Last Friday, when I was stuck at home battling the worst sinus infection of the century (boo!), my fun little piece about DC's [solidcore] -- and its fab CEO/founder Anne Mahlum --  went live on Spright, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

See, I've been wanting to do a story about [solidcore] since the days of Fiterazzi.

Back when I lived near Union Station, I would always walk by the [solidcore] studio near Mass Ave, and would see people popping in and out of the studio drenched in sweat and smiles, and wondered what the workout was all about.

What was that weird machine they used?

Why did everyone say this was the hardest workout ever?

And what was with all the brackets in the branding materials and signage?!?

After a little bit of Googling, and reading about Anne's professional and fitness journey, I knew that the [solidcore] story, and Anne's story, was something that needed to be shared with the larger Spright community.

After getting the go-ahead from my awesome Spright editor, I reached out to the [solidcore] team, set up a time to talk to Anne, take photos of the Cathedral Commons studio and learn about how [solidcore] came to be. I even got to take a class and try out [solidcore] for myself (sidenote, I'm hooked!).

I won't spoil too much of my Spright story here (you should really go read it!), but I thought I would post a little teaser of the piece to spark your interest:

Anne Mahlum knows how to command a room.

As she walks up and down the blue-light-lined walls of a [solidcore] studio near the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, counting down the final few seconds of Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. session with Diplo’s “Express Yourself” blaring through the air, it’s clear to see that the [solidcore] founder and CEO is comfortable with being in charge.

An entrepreneur and athlete at heart, Anne has spent the greater part of the past decade spearheading different ventures with an athletic twist.

Back in 2007, before starting [solidcore], Anne built her leadership and entrepreneurial skills by founding the non-profit organization Back on My Feet, which uses the sport of running to empower homeless people to make lasting changes in their lives.

After five years of working as Back on My Feet’s CEO and helping the organization expand to 11 U.S. cities, the North Dakota native decided, in 2013, to bring a different vision to life and launched [solidcore].

Meet the Brains Behind BaniBands Headbands in My Latest Spright Article!

Oh spring! Full of flowers, sun and ... pollen. Yuck.

This is the first year I've come down with a serious case of the pollen-induced sniffles, and it is NOT fun. Netti pot, here I come!

Anyway, I realized yesterday that I never shared one of my recent Spright articles with you guys. I had been working on this story, featuring the founder of Bani Bands Headbands, since the days of Fiterazzi, but it got put on the backburner with the merger and general life business.

I was a little worried it would never run, but thankfully, the awesome staff at Spright thought it was worth a little attention!

I won't give away too much here, but here's a sneak peak of the story to get you started:

Like many innovators before her, Renee Hanson became a fitness fashion entrepreneur in order to solve a problem.

After years of searching for athletic apparel that to fit her 5’11” frame properly, the veteran and former volleyball player grew tired of the lack of technical garments available for taller women and decided to address the issue herself. In 2008, after beefing up her sewing skills and business plan, Renee created Vertical Athletics, a special athletic apparel line designed exclusively with the taller female athlete in mind.

However, shortly after launching Vertical Athletics, Renee stumbled upon a second athletic apparel problem that would inspire her to create her even more popular headband company, Bani Bands.

...read more here!

Happy Cinco De Mayo & My Photoshoot With The Fabulous Alexi Tetrault!

Happy Cinco de Mayo all you fajita-eating, margarita-drinking kids! Make sure to take an extra sip of that lime-ey goodness or eat a sopapilla (or five) today for me!

Anyway.

In other news, I've been super duper busy the past few weeks. Between regular work for the USO (I'm getting trained in AfterEffects, woo!), side-gigs, writing for Spright, my birthday and social obligations, it's truly been a whirlwind.

In all of my busyness, however, I've had the opportunity to work with some really fantastic people, including the awesome Alexi Tetrault.

After seeing some of my photos of the Grip the Mat girls at one of their events, Alexi, who knows both of the ladies from yoga teacher training, reached out to me to take some photos of her for her new yoga and nutrition busines.

I, of course, jumped at the chance! Shooting health and fitness photos is right up my alley and much more in my comfort zone than shooting posed head shots (although, I'm working on that!).

Because I had a jam-packed schedule, Alexi and did did a double-session split shoot -- half in the morning and half in the afternoon, and it was so much fun!

In the morning, we headed to the OpenCity cafe at the National Cathedral, as well as the Bishop's Garden on the cathedral grounds. You'd never know it was freezing outside by how sunny and gorgeous the photos look though!

In the afternoon, we headed to a few murals round Adams Morgan. Alexi really wanted to incorporate the colorful fruits and vegetables on the mural in her photos, and I think we acheievd a really nice result.

Either way, I had a blast doing this shoot and am totally pleased with the results! What do you think of my shots?

Springing into New Beginnings with Spright!

What a better way to kick off the spring season than with new beginnings at a brand new company?

Yeah, that's what I thought. NOTHING.

After saying farewell to Fiterazzi Magazine last month and watching it transform into Spright over the past few weeks, I'm so happy to announce that I'll finally start writing for Spright as a freelancer later this month. Yay!

Despite all the crazy that was March (moving, traveling, etc.)  I've really missed writing, researching and reporting about all things heatlh and fitness, so I'm really looking forward to kicking things off with a bang with Spright.

(Side note, I still need to write about my trip to San Fransisco to visit the lovely Jackelyn Ho and share some BIG NEWS with you. Yikes! I'll jump on that ASAP guys, sorry!)

When one door closes, another always opens, right?