Friday, September 7, 2018

My Top 3 Moments of the Summer and a Momentum Wraps Giveaway!

Disclaimer: I was given the Momentum Wraps fall collection in exchange for this blog post. All opinions and content are mine.

Summer is winding down and fall is creeping in. It feels too soon, doesn't it? The arrival of Pumpkin Spice Lattes is a sure sign that fall is just around the corner. On our most recent trip to Wisconsin, we spied some trees with the leaves changing colors. Say it isn't so!

I had a great summer. I traveled, I ran, I spent a lot of time on the water. I made a lot of memories this summer. As I get older, collecting moments and memories means a lot more to me than collecting things. During our predictably cold, endless winter, I'll have a lot of warm weather fun to look back on!

For this post, I stopped by the water to do some yoga and reflect on what were my top 3 moments of the summer. It wasn't easy to narrow it down to just 3!



I love mantras. I am motivated by mantras. I wear at least one Momentum wrap on my wrist every day. The mantra that I choose for the day helps me reflect on my goals and stay on track. Some days, it's enough just to stay positive. Other days, I need a reminder to just breathe.

For fall, Momentum is launching a new collection of wraps. The theme for the fall collection is: "This is your moment". Since I am all about collecting moments instead of things, this concept resonated deeply with me. In the spirit of this theme, I wanted to use each of the new mantras to share my favorite moments from the summer.


Get up and Go
I struggled with running this summer. A lot. Was it the heat? The humidity? RA? There were many days that I had to push myself out of bed and out the door. Once I started moving, I never regretted it. My moment? A steady, strong half marathon in July, along with an absolutely wonderful weekend filled with some of my favorite bloggers. The rain had nothing on any of us.



Today is Your Day
In August, I spent a fun water-filled weekend with my Weekly Wrap co-host and pal Holly. We had a lot of laughs and along with running and kayaking, did what we love most, waterskiing. Holly has rekindled my love for an activity I learned as a child in northern Wisconsin. She also talked me out of my comfort zone into skiing tandem while slaloming. We did it last year and this year, it was much easier for us.


Progress not perfection
As running becomes more difficult for me, I've shifted my focus from the road to the box. I've been working on upper body strength and this summer, I finally met 2 of my 3 upper body goals. I landed and held a handstand and I scaled the rope to the top. Never say never. While it took me over a year and a half to achieve these goals, I didn't give up. There were a lot of fails, bruises, and some rope burn along the way. I continue towards my final goal to do a pull-up, which is still a work in progress.


Now it's your turn to tell me: what was your favorite fitness moment of the summer? 

I'm linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five.






33 comments :

  1. I love momentum jewelry! You had a lot of highlights this summer even though it wasn't always great -- isn't that life! I'm torn between the moment I stood up to SUP for the first time and the moment I pulled into an unassisted handstand for the first time!

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    1. The best part about achieving both of these is that you'll always be able to do them now! Nice job!

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  2. Progress not perfection is a great mantra. I love it! I just bought my first Momentum wrap last week, after giving some of them for gifts. They are so cute!

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  3. You’ve had such a fun summer! My highlight was staying with a girlfriend in San Diego and running the R ‘n’ Roll half with her, her first half marathon.

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  4. Similar to the "Get up & go" mantra, my favorite hash tag from the summer was #upandoutthedoor. Literally, I was up and out the door most mornings before 5:30, even on the non-running days. I"m a huge advocate for starting each day with a smile and a sunrise, preferably outdoors ;-)

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  5. For as much as you say that you have struggled this summer, I've seen you pushing through and being determined. You had a great summer.

    I have one momentum wrap that I love. My favorite moment this summer was completing my first tri.

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    1. It has been an absolutely wonderful summer. I'm trying to make the most of every day!

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  6. I'm glad you had a great summer, and I know it was bittersweet seeing your youngest off to school -- although of course that means you did your job "right", whatever that means.

    Running was actually good to me this summer. It definitely wasn't easy, but I had some great races. I'll have to go with completing my first (and probably only) 18 mile race as the high point. I'd do it again, probably . . . if it weren't in summer!

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    1. You know who really misses Matthew the most? Cocoa. She's so sad!

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  7. I think we need wraps that say #Cheers and #Clinks. Just sayin'...

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  8. The heat definitely made it hard to get up and go. This summer was tough for me, and the cruise was something really exciting to look forward to. I get back and it felt like fall! I know summer is ready to leave yet, and we'll have a hot week next week.

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    1. September is really my favorite month. It's such a great time to wind down from summer.

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  9. I had a tough summer of running as well between the humidity and my nagging achilles. I did not get in nearly as many miles as I had planned. I am way behind on my fall running training already. Despite that, I had a pretty fun and jam packed summer myself. Gotta "keep moving forward" and "just show up" are 2 of my current faves

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    1. I think I'm going to borrow "just show up" for next week's ZOOMA race. My training hasn't been very focused!

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  10. "Progress not perfection" has been my mantra on a number of occasions this year - especially dealing with the nagging hip thing that is just now going away. So glad you had a great summer and that I got to be a part of your summer memories :)

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    1. I'm so glad we finally got to meet! When is it going to happen again?

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  11. LOVE Progress Not Perfection. And it's so dang cool that you can do a handstand and climb that rope! I can do neither but I hope to get there one day! :)

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    1. I love all of these mantras! Today I wore "today is your day". Not sure if that really happened, but it helped me dive into a crazy work day.

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  12. I'm still working on my handstands. I can't only stay up for a few seconds at a time but a few seconds is getting longer and longer so I'll take it! My goal is also to do an unassisted pull-up. Those are so hard!!

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    1. I am with you on the handstands. That one in the photo, I think I held for about 10 seconds. I haven't been able to do that since. But I'm continuing to work on it!

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  13. Were you ladies channeling the GoGos in that photo? :) I'm glad you had a great summer. My favorite athletic moment was probably hiking in VT with Paul.

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  14. I love those wraps.I still wear the one that you gave me in Panama city - Never Give up.

    Glad you had a great summer.

    I am in awe of your hand stands and FOMO about skiing with HoHo.

    Top 3 for me:
    running over the Brooklyn Bridge with my Russian friend.
    playing tennis with my friends in CT
    hiking with a friend

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    1. I'd love to run over the Brooklyn Bridge! What a wonderful experience.

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  15. I love my momentum wrap, but I have actually been forgetting to wear it! I used to wear it all the time when I was marathon training but then with all the injury drama I stopped wearing it. This summer was a different one for me but definitely a good one! I feel like I finally had some redemption after 2 summers of not running much, even though there weren't any races.

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    1. You've been running like a champ. I guess you are training for something--the birth of your baby!

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  16. Love those wraps! I had a good summer changing my perspective from racing to running for fun and accepting I needed to jeff it when it was boiling hot. A great moment was running with Cari just a few weeks ago, and also running the Canal Canter with dear Bernice. Also getting to start my journey to being a track and field official was very exciting!

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    1. I love that you and Cari got to run together! That's one thing I love about blogging--getting to actually meet other bloggers IRL.

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  17. Love the wraps and definitely agree with the power of positive thinking and mantras. Have you read "How Bad do you want it?" It's talks a lot about the power of your mind as an athlete. Just started it but really enjoying it.

    Anyways, you had a wonderful summer, so sad that its coming to an end!

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