As most of you know, I went back into corporate life and I’m currently loving it as Marketing Manager at Sun Life where we launched GoWell, a new wellness community focused on healthy eating, working out, and living a balance life. We’re having our 3rd Community Workout and I’d like to invite you to join.  It’s free and all you need to sign up at our website.  Super excited to do yoga and run and then yoga again (lol) with you!  Read on for full event details below… (more…)

I’m always reviewing running shoes and gadgets, but, this time, I’ve put on my mommy hat and, in partnership with HP, we’re throwing a contest on this blog this month. (Stay tuned!) In the meantime, the kids and I have been enjoying our new HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 3635 All-in-One Printer. Here’s an unbiased (yes, promise!) review of the product in case you’re looking for a new printer this new year: (more…)

“Consider goals as launching pads to something far greater.”
– Cyndi Laurin

It’s been a tradition for me to start each year with goals instead of resolutions. I find that setting goals gives me something specific and attainable to work for, while resolutions…well, we know most of those are forgotten before the end of January.

So, here we go go go for my 2017 goals: (more…)

– Cinque Terre, Nov 2016 –

2016, you were a breath of fresh air.  After the past few years of tears, troubles, and trying my best to remain strong, I finally felt that, this year, I didn’t have to try as hard.  As my wise 12-year-old daughter put it: “This year, there was less drama.”  That’s her referring to the oh-so tumultuous life of a 5 Seconds of Summer fan, but it was just the same with me.

This year, there was more time to focus on work (I went back to full time corporate life after over a decade), nurture old and new friendships (I’m antisocial but, hey, I expanded my world and that’s an achievement lol), care for my kids (they’re both mini adults now that I can engage in smart and witty conversations with), and, last but not the least, there was more time to nourish my soul. (more…)

– Would’ve been a great pic of me holding my 16th marathon medal at Firenze Marathon had I only held the medal facing the front *eye roll* –

Firenze Marathon (or Florence Marathon) is the second largest marathon in Italy, only second to its capital, Rome. I had heard about how beautiful Florence is and, having never visited Italy before, I was simply over the moon about this trip where our itinerary included Cinque Terre (a place in my bucket list! Woohoo!), Venice, and Pisa too. At the same time though, I had never been more anxious for any marathon than this one.

You see, I’m a forward-looking, obsessive, control-freak who always plans ahead for anything, especially my marathons. I always have a program to follow and I stick to it as if my life depended on it. Doing so gives me confidence that not only will I finish the race but I’ll do so without bonking, crawling, or cursing myself the entire time and, most importantly, I’ll cross the finish line with a smile.

For this training period though, I had three bouts with the flu and/or fever, which completely messed up my training schedule. By the time I discovered that all my illnesses were actually due to allergic rhinitis, it was too late. I had missed my 32k run. My longest run was a back-to-back 24k on Sunday and 13k on Monday just 2 weeks before race day. Lord, heeeeelp me. (more…)