#RUN10FEED10: Help End Hunger AND Shape Your Booty

Posted on October 6, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

It’s not hard to love such a beautiful city like Chicago in fall. The leaves are changing and the weather is cooling. Not everyone gets to stay cozy warm, however. The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless estimates there was about 138,575 Chicagoans who were homeless in August of this year. It can be overwhelming to figure out how we can best help people who are in need. One way, however, is very simple! Stretch your legs and run to provide meals to people who are hungry. Join Kate as she tests her speed at the RUN10, FEED10 race on October 19th, 2014.

Women’s Health and FEED are partnering for the RUN10 FEED10 10K race series to motivate consumers nationwide to help fight domestic hunger. RUN10 FEED10 has raised over 2.5 million meals to support the cause, and in 2014 the bar is set even higher. The concept behind RUN10 FEED10 is simple: run a 10K and feed 10 hungry people in your community. Timed 10K races will take place in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Those living in Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C. can participate in one of the Women’s Health “Fun Runs,” and if runners don’t live in one of the RUN10 FEED10 host cities, they can still participate by registering at RUN10FEED10.com to run a 10K in their hometown.

The series kicked off in New York City on September 21, 2014 with thousands of participants running down the West Side Highway for the timed race ending at Pier 84 at Hudson River Park. In the Chi, we will jaunt down Belmont harbor along our gorgeous lakefront and be greeted at the end with a post-race wellness festival. This post race celebration will feature yoga sessions, nutrition, beauty consultations and great giveaways from sponsors.

Feeling intimidated? Kate has only run 2 5Ks before so she googled to figure out if she could make it through the entire race without yelling uncle and lying down on the pavement. Self.com has an awesome 4 week training plan to get your booty in gear or you can sign up for training plans with Women’s Health and Run10 Feed10. Doing a 10k will also flex those glute muscles and burn an odd 600+ calories (about 9 snack size Halloween packs of M&Ms, yup!). Good prep to don that sexy Pumpkin Spice Latte costume (or sexy wizard or sexy sexy…whatevs your wearing).

Not ready to run? You can still help by donating or even shopping at popular retailers like Nike and Gap from the comfort of your sexy couch.

Ready to join Kate and register or share your cash?

Image from Run10 Feed10 Website

Be Healthful Retreat: A Holistic Health and Wellness Retreat

Posted on September 12, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

The Healthful Guide Presents:

The Be Healthful Retreat: A Holistic Health and Wellness Retreat

Event: Be Healthful: A Health & Wellness One Day Retreat

Hosted By: The Healthful Guide and In Good Taste Magazine

http://behealthfulretreat.eventbrite.com/?aff=IndustryAffiliates&afu=87145668223

http://behealthfulretreat.eventbrite.com/?aff=IndustryAffiliates&afu=87145668223

Oh DANG! Workout classes all day, mini spa treatments, juicy samples

#BeHealthful will partner with In Good Taste Magazine, Whole Foods, Karyn’s Raw, and other health and wellness leaders in Chicago for an all day wellness retreat and holistic health industry event at Moonlight Studios. Get ready to be educated, entertained, and inspired!

Be Healthful will offer a series of pop up fitness classes, workshops given by wellness professionals, healthy eats, and over 20 health conscious vendors. The retreat will provide an oasis for guests to recharge and reset for the week ahead. All will leave pampered and energized.

Thirty percent of ticket sales will be donated to the official charity beneficiary of the event, Charity4LIFE.

The one day retreat is an “open house” meaning guests can come and go throughout the day and can build their own itinerary. Upon registration, guests can reserve their spot in what workshops/yoga classes they want to attend, and also the times that they want to visit each vendor for their spa services and wellness consultations.

What is included in the registration fee ($39.00) and $10 OFF code: CHIORGANICGIRLS

10 yoga and pilates classes (you can take as many as you like throughout the day) Moksha Yoga, Exhale Spa, Pilates Pro Works, Abigail Simon of Joffrey Ballet, Yoga Six, Tru Body Yoga, Yoga Loft, Flex Pilates, and more.
7 workshops including Ayurvedic detoxes, reflexology workshops, nutrition and motivational talks, cooking demos, and more.
Spa services including: full body spray tans, facials, oxygen treatments, light therapy sessions, scalp and shoulder massages; mini makeovers including makeup consultations and hair styling, and more.
Wellness consultations including: detoxing consults, posture examinations, tongue examinations, mind and body consultations, and more.
Food and Beverage tastings including juices, a variety of plant based cuisine, vegan and paleo baked goods, artisan teas, and herbed popcorn. (guests have the option to purchase goods from vendors at guests discretion)

Oh DANG! Workout classes all day, mini spa treatments, juicy samples…what are you waiting for? Come join us because we all need a chance to recharge and pamper ourselves.

About The Healthful Guide:

The Healthful Guide is a plant based dining and healthy living directory for the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Healthful is dedicated to bringing more awareness to living a nourishing and holistic lifestyle. Their core belief? That life is all about being Healthful. To learn more visit http://eathealthful.com

Running towards Labor Day: 1st time (or 2nd or 3rd) 5k Tips for Success

Posted on August 28, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

We have a confession to make. It’s been 2 weeks since our last post…and quite awhile since our last good run and yet, we have decided to run a 5K this weekend! AHHHH the agony. We have every intention of getting up at 5:30 am and running to prep but then our beds call us back loving and tenderly. Maybe tomorrow we will start again.

For those of you who want to stretch your runnin’ legs with us and challenge yourself anyways, the Magnificent Mile Chicago Women’s Half Marathon and 5K this Sunday has super fun pre and post race events that may convince you to jump out of your bed!

The Magnificent Mile® Fitness Meets Fashion Market

Schedule of Pre Race Events

Where: Fleet Feet Sports – South Loop

What: Sneak peeks into fall apparel from trendy fitness brands, live music and giveaways!

Friday

10:00-8:00 pm: Fitness Meets Fashion Market hours

4:00-7:00 pm: Q+A, chat with running coach and Runner’s World columnist, Jenny Hadfield.

Mag-Mile-Shakeout-Run-Header-2014

Saturday

10:00-7:00 pm: Fitness Meets Fashion Market Hours

9:15 am: Official Magnificent Shakeout Run led by Professional Oiselle Runner Lauren Fleshman and Jenny Hadfield.

10:30-11:30 am: Complimentary Yoga for Runners class presented by Yoga Six Studio.

4:00-6:00 pm: Meet Professional Oiselle Runner, Lauren Fleshman for a Q+A, photo opportunities, mingling and more!

Race Day! Sunday

Register here and get a high quality racerback top to wear while traveling along the fab Mag Mile, a sexy finisher medal and access to a crazy post race party at the historic Buckingham Fountain. Keep an eye out for delicious LUNA treats at all pre and post race activities. What a good way to tighten up before Labor day!! And to really prepare…check out the following pre-race tips for newbies like us from Terra Castro, recently retired professional triathlete and LUNA Chix Pro fitanista!!

Morning of the Race

Warm-up: remember this is short speedy distance. Warm-ups are essential to get the muscles ready to push at the faster speeds. No need to hurt a hamstring! Make sure to get in 10-15 min of light running and pick ups (strides- increased speed and leg turnover).
Seed yourself: This means make sure you pick the right corral or group to start with. If you are ready to rock- go to the front and be aggressive. If you are middle of the pack,steady approach, place yourself mid group but be ready because it will be a little crowded. It is OK to be aggressive and seed yourself a little faster than you think as it will give you more room to get moving.
Breakfast: Make sure you eat your pre-race breakfast 2 hours or more before because you don’t want the food to cause GI distress. Coffee, bagel with PB and banana is always a great starting point to try. If needed you could use a clif shot right before with some water. Keep it simple.
NO NEW THINGS: don’t get excited and try any new product, shoes, socks, or routine on race morning. Do what you did in training.
Race plan: I always have my athletes write out a simple race plan (strategy) of how they will approach the race. Not only is this good for the race splits (knowing your mile splits to go for) but I also have them write out the mental side of things to process nerves and know how they will handle the WHAT IFS etc.

Terra Castro is a recently retired Professional Triathlete who works as an Elite Sports Massage Therapist and Endurance Coach at Detroit Tough. Terra works with age group athletes of all levels, and has a specialization in Youth/Junior Triathlon Coaching. Her passion to BE BOLD is something she shares with all her athletes and within her community. (Head Coach/owner of Be Bold Crew LLC). You can follow Terra and up your run quotient @terracastro (Twitter & Instagram).

Her tips and tricks will be featured in our next few running blog posts to improve your run game (and ours for sure sure!)

Post Run Recap: Running the Night with Energizer

Posted on August 13, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

This year has brought a lot of awesome first for us, including our first 5K run together! A few weeks ago, we headed to Chicago’s gorgeous lakefront to complete the Energizer 5k Night Race and had a blast in our efforts to help raise funds for solar lighting for people with unsafe lighting conditions. We prepped a few weeks before by building up our stamina in Humboldt Park. Later we picked up our race packets the week of and found our snazzy Energizer race shirts. Our race bag also included our Energizer headlamps and some race prep samples like Dove clinical deodorant and Schick razors (hey gotta look and smell good for those other competitors, right?).

The race had validated parking set up at the Radisson Blu hotel….which was the terrible thing!! The lot was small, maze-like and confusing, thus we were late for the race :). So late that the starting line was being dismantled as we started. Some helpful bunny ear bedecked spectators pointed us in the right direction, we set our timer and began our jaunt down the shore. The packs of headlamp runners gave us the energy to push through swarms of fruit flies and humidity to the finish line.

Our time was 11.30 minutes a mile!!! A personal best. Afterwards, we kicked back some Gatorade and water and then enjoyed the post race party. We jammed to live music, snacked on free KIND bars (wooohoo!!) and grabbed gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches from Cheesie’s Pub & Grub food truck, all with a huge blow up Energizer bunny swaying in the evening breeze. We would definitely love to participate in the Night Run next year.

There are still runs going on internationally until the end of the year in places like South Korea, Belgium and Germany. Anyone wanna hop on a plane?!

Run Life: Must Have Gear for Newbie Runners

Posted on August 2, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

Chiorganicgirls may have briefly fallen off the face of the earth due to Kate’s wedding festivities but we are back…and better than ever due to the lack of wedding stress! How did we survive and de-stress during all the bride and maid of honor hub bub this summer? Exercise, of course!

We took it to the mild weathered streets of Chicago and stretched our running legs along park and lake paths. One of the big problems we face with outdoor running is where the hell to put your keys, wallet, run jams, snacks, mace and so forth. Your sports bra is an option for hiding stuff but, dang, it sure gets sweaty in there.

Then comes a product that frees your arms, and bra and shoes (guys you know what I’m saying) from the burden of keeping your stuff secure while you bounce about.

The DBelt! Okay so the name is funny but what it does is D-liteful!

Kate snagged the DBelt and never let go (as Monica didn’t want to wear Kate’s sweat anyways). The DBelt is a wide cotton-spandex blended belt that sits comfortably around your hips or waist (depending on your preference). Includes 2 zip front pockets, and a velcro closure, there is plenty of room for multiple credit cards, keys and your phone. Not only did the DBelt travel around Kate’s waist to multiple 5k practices and the big show, the Energizer Night Run, but it also made it’s way to her honeymoon in Costa Rica and on the EL train to yoga class. Quite the world traveler! The DBelt is a must have fitness fashion item but also makes a nice purse alternative and a sneaky way to hide your valuables from robbers!

And care is quite D-simple…ok we stretched on that one.

Handwash
Do not dry in heat
Do not dry clean
Do not iron

See! You don’t have to use that stupid iron…and we kinda perm press washed it on accident and it came out ok (shhh…).

Is your interested Deepened? Well Dive in! (Sorry about all the D jokes…we had to do it).

You can purchase your DBelt online here!

Or if you are a lucky person who lives in Florida, then you can get it at POWER HOUSE gym, 6900 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach FL 33411.

So let’s go lie on the beach in Florida with our Dbelts!! Who wants to buy our flights?

Mastering the Chaturanga

Posted on January 10, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

2014 has already been a whirlwind of activity. So much so, we didn’t even have time to sketch out some resolutions to ditch after January. One thing that we consider a continued necessity in the big ’14 and not a temporary resolution is practicing yoga. Both of us initially connected over our interest in not only getting some exercise at yoga class, but also reaping the relaxing benefits of being on the mat. As relaxing as it can be,the dreaded asana, chaturanga, has never been the yoga move that made us swoon. In fact, it has been of particular frustration at times, especially after 12 Sun Salutations in a row (*shaking fist at yoga teachers!!).

Chaturanga (chah-tuur-ANGH-uh) Dandasana (dahn-DAHS-uh-nuh) means “four limbs staff pose” and is part of the sun salutation sequence. Corepower Yoga in Oak Park/River Forest recently put on a Chaturanga workshop and we were intrigued as well as afraid. Mon ended up welcoming a new family into the world the eve of the workshop (YAAAY!), so I was left on my own to brave the unknown.

Julia and Laura were the fearless yoga leaders who walked the class through a crazy amount of variations of chatarungas. Some of the most important points they made were*:

1) No need to do chaturangas every day. This could lead to a possible tennis elbow injury or overuse of the shoulder (aka dang my rotator cuff is jacked).

2) A strap could be your best yoga bud for this pose. If you wrap it around your forearms, when you go down to the bottom of the chaturanga pose with your 90% elbows at the sides of your ribcage, it gently pushes on the front of the rib cage and shows you if you’re in the right position.

*Since I am not a personal trainer or yoga teacher, do not take my advice and start slugging it out as I don’t have to money to pay for your urgent care bills. Here’s Mind Body Yoga’s step-by-step how-to on correct form or watch the video by Lululemon.

I was surprised because we actually got a full workout during the workshop and talked through all these variations of chaturanga.

Basic chaturanga – Got it down!
1 legged chaturanga – A little harder
Crow to chaturanga – Umm I flopped around like an injured crow. Best advice was use your core not your legs to propel yourself out. At least the girl in front of me was flopping too.
Forward fold to chaturanga – Somehow managed to fake it
Standing splits to chaturanga – Yeah I just watched and admired the class at this point.

Even if you’ve been practicing yoga for a long time, I think it’s pretty essential to get some walk through on proper form and in my yoga class on Sunday, I felt more confident and comfortable when completing my chaturangas. Want to get your own yoga scholar time on? Corepower Yoga is being awesome to the community and offering another free workshop on February 8th for back bends. Contact the studio for more details.

Reverse Warrior sequence with Corepower Yoga OPRF Julia (left) and Laura (right).

Thanks to Julia, Laura and Morgan, studio owner of Corepower Yoga OPRF, for hosting me. See y’all on the mat!

Bound 2 Get Fit 4 NYE

Posted on December 27, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

Not sure if your family baked you 3 tins full of holiday cookies and marble cakes, but ours did. We are so over sugared from this past week that a fridge full of carrots seems like a refuge. Luckily, you don’t need to wait til the new year to strengthen your resolve and boost your healthy habits. Chicago seems to know we all probably overdid it (in true Midwestern style) and has some limited time hot deals to get you back on track even before you even squeeze into your NYE digs.

Addicted to Glazed and Infused Donuts?

Groupon is offering a limited time only deal of a 3 or 7 day juice cleanse for our fave freshy-fresh juice bar, Peeled. Info on the efficacy of juicing research is mixed but proponents say it clears toxins from the body, delivers vitamins instantly and eliminates cravings. We haven’t tried the cleanse but love their made-to-order smoothies, juices and raw foods. Try the Bright Pink juice, with dazzling pear, pineapple and ginger, for a first taste. Must haves: Motivation to say goodbye to solid foods!

Peeled Juice “Bright Pink”

Are you a Challenge Hound?

Bar Method may look like a dance in the park but we have seen our male friends quiver in the class. If you have never stepped up to the Barre, you can join the Bar-lution Challenge. Take 21 classes in 30 days from January 6th through February 4th to win! Prizes during last year’s competition included Bar Method socks, tanks, DVDs and a membership for one faithful attendee. Beyond the goodies, your body will look fantastic. We lost inches, gained flexibility and strength during our challenge foray last year. Must haves: grippy socks, knee length pants and a steely determination. Hot tip: The Wicker Park Bar Method has free parking for you driving folks.

Looking to Beat the Treadmill Blahs?

Consistently voted as one of the best gyms in Chicago, i.d. gym has a small personalized environment and a schedule chock full of original exercise classes. Ever flown in the air in a hammock during yoga? How about pushing a tire around to get a pre industrial revolution physique? Classes like Fly Yoga and the Caveman Workout may renew your fitness fire. I.d. gym is running a membership special until the end of December so hurry up and lunge in to the deal.

For those who want to get back in touch with their naughty side now that Christmas is over, Flirty Girl Fitness, an all women’s gym with a focus on bringing sexy back, has class packs on sale as well that could mix up the boring basics of gym rat life. Getting a mani pedi with your package ain’t half bad either!

i.d. gym fly yoga

Overwhelmed by Health and Fitness info?

Personal training may be a way to wade through the mass of fitness trends out there. Score a deal on a free consultation with our North side trainer extraordinaire, Sabri Xhaferi, to get the feel for it or jump right in with a package deal.

Sabri Xhaferi, certified personal trainer

With all this sweating, what about a swell new workout outfit to make you feel footloose at the gym!? We just discovered a cut and affordable spot for just such a task, vfish. What else do we wanna try in 2014? TRX, HIIT, Bollywood Groove, Pure Barre, Cheerobix and more to test out just for you!

vfish designs gripsocks!

All we want for Xmas is Pilates bodies!

Posted on December 13, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

We have to confess…it’s been almost a week since our last workout and our abs still hurt! Last Saturday, we kicked another Chi style birthday off right with our next Lululemon “12 Days of OM” event at Superior Pilates. Before we got started, we shared a nervous conversation with a fellow classmate about the reformers and their semi torturous facades. Our fears were soon assuaged by Kristen Wolf, our teacher, owner and founder of Superior Pilates as she explained that we wouldn’t tackle the machines until we had the basics down.

Finally, we snuggled into the mats and tightened our tummies in anticipation.

So what’s the hype about this workout? Pilates (pronounced puh-LAH-teez) helps build flexibility, muscle strength, and body awareness and involves the legs, abdomen, arms, hips, buttocks and lower back. This workout strengthens and stretches bulky muscles as well as tones and balances the smaller muscle groups. Need more info? Click here on Wikipedia.

During our 1 hour class, Kristen worked out every part of the body. We tried our hand at the more traditional moves like “the hundred” exercise and adventured into some new territory with the use of spring-and-pulley apparatus that pushed our triceps and calves to the sculpting limits.

The small class size allowed Kristen to give personal attention to each student. After we had exhausted every muscle fiber, we chatted it up with Kristen about her journey into pilates. Kristen suffered whiplash from a car accident and began pilates as a tool for rehabilitation. She ended up loving it so much that she followed up with professional pilates training and eventually purchased the cozy and sunny studio space.

At the end of our class, Molly from Lululemon raffled off a sweet black tank with watercolor style flowers…and guess who won? The bday girl!!

Hurry up and get in on the holiday fun at the next 12 Days of OM or take the Pilates Plunge with Kristen at Superior Pilates.