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!)

Chicago Passport to Healthy Skin

Posted on June 6, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

Chicagoan, need a healthy glow after the harsh winter? Well, this is your opportunity to learn simple solution to healthy skin and more at this FREE event!

Date: Saturday, June 7th Location: Millenium Park North Promenade, Chicago, IL Time: 11:00am-3:00pm

One survey showed 75% of Chicago women are aware that what they eat impacts their skin’s health, but 52% don’t feel they can call themselves healthy eaters. So tell your girlfriends and come check out this FREE event which includes the following….

Yoga workout sessions
Stress-relieving massages
Healthy treats and detoxifying teas
Skin-loving beauty samples
. . . Plus, get first-hand tips from our POPSUGAR editors and the Simple® Advisory Board
and FREE goodies!!

RSVP here and you will be showing off your luminous skin just in time for the summer!

Girl’s Fit Night: Exhale and Women’s Health Core Fusion Party

Posted on May 14, 2014 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

We don’t know about ya’ll, but we love spending quality time with our best pals and quality time is even better when you can get fit together! Exhale Spa Chicago, one of our fave luxurious spa and workout joints, is hosting a free event this coming Tuesday.

The event includes complimentary evening Core Fusion classes, lite bites, goodie bags, giveaways, DJ’s and more! The illustrious and well known, Women’s Health magazine, will also be kicking off their “Next Fitness Star” competition with guest star contender, Emily Scrhomm, during the party.

Core Fusion Barre+Cardio, Exhale’s newest class will be one of the featured workouts for attendees to try during FusionFest. If you haven’t tried an Exhale class, their instructors are impeccably skilled at merging ab wrenching exercises with toning Barre tricks and sweat inducing bursts of heart pumping moves.

Anyone who attends the complimentary FusionFest classes will also be the recipient of a free month subscription to WH Fit Club (https://fitclub.womenshealthmag.com/), the online fitness center that gives access to the hottest, most coveted workout studios and leading fitness experts across the country—including exclusive workouts from Exhale co-founders Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp and Exhale’s National Yoga Director Stefanie Eris.

We would love you to join us in a fit and fun girl’s night! Sign up here, grab your sticky grip socks, cute fitness gear and we’ll meet you at the Barre.

Final Details

Date: Exhale FusionFest, Tuesday May 20th

Class times: 5:25pm, 5:45pm, 6:35pm, 7:45pm

Location: 945 N. State, Chicago, IL 60610

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!

A Holly Jolly Holiday Gift Guide

Posted on December 19, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

A Chi Organic Girls Holiday Gift Guide

Is it just us or did the holiday season creep up on us like those giant spiders in the new Hobbit movie? We’ve been feeling the adrenaline of the season, hitting the streets in our snow boots and clicking away with our mouses in a fury of gift giving. OMGS Christmas is only 4 days a way! The biggest dilemma we’ve been facing: How to find that one of a kind perfect gift for the foodie, fit fanatic or Chicago adventurer. Holiday gift guide to the rescue!!

Do you have an artist in your life? How about Grizzclay by Chuck Borchers, a Deaf artist who has been experimenting with clay for several years now at Lillstreet Art Center. These one-of-a-kind bowls can make a great centerpiece for a new home or a fancy fruit bowl to liven up a blah kitchen.

Grizzclay by Chuck Borchers

Grizzclay by Chuck Borchers

Something for your highly caffeinated friends? We recommend Bowtruss Coffee Roasters, located in River North and Lakeview. One of Chicago’s bustling micro-roasters, their bean blends offer complex flavor profiles like cherry or apple undertones. Read more about our experience at Bowtruss here.

For foodies, check out recommendations of Chicago food experts (including ours) in the Chicago Food Bloggers Holiday Gift Guide. For example, We love Vosges Haut-Chocolat, with boutiques located in downtown, Lincoln Park and of all places, O’Hare Airport. Pick up a custom box of regional truffles (think Mexican coco dusted in chili) or an exotic chocolate bar, like the newly released Coconut Ash and Banana Dark chocolate bar. For your veggie and vegan peeps, try Chicago Diner with a gift card for a tasty “I can’t believe it’s vegan” shake or have your friends rep their veg style with a Chicago Diner t-shirt. Click here for more food gift ideas.

Fit Fanatics: For a yoga lover or to help someone get off their asana (haha) and get fit, gift them one week of unlimited classes at Zen Yoga Garage (plus first-timers automatically get one week free pass with a coupon). Learn more about this 2013 new hotspot here.

Zen Yoga Garage

And for a more one-on-one fitness focus, how about some serious calorie crushing sessions with our fave certified personal trainer, Sabri Xhaferi, NASM CPT. Sabri offers nutritional counseling, myofascial (muscular relaxation) techniques, and one-on-one highly individualized personal training with flexible payment arrangements. Email sabriCPT@gmail.com and find more background info here. You can also grab some healthy tips on his Facebook page.

Sabri Xhaferi, CPT
Photo courtesy Ela Miszczyszyn

Oh and for fun fun fun person in your life: The Chicago donut scene has been rolling (like a rolling pin, get it?) this year. For the fun chasing type, how about tickets to the first ever batter-y, deep-fried Donut Fest in Chicago on Jan 26th! Tickets are on sale Monday, Dec 23rd at noon. For more info http://donutfest.com

Glazed & Infused Donuts and Firecakes Donuts

Whew! It’s time to break our the tape, scissors, and wrapping paper and get these gifts in the sleigh!

What are your recs for Chicago’s best gifts? Where do you eat, sweat and play?

Lincoln Park for Thrifty Types

Posted on September 30, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

Although Lincoln Park has that uppercrusty feel, there a hidden diamonds for anyone, including those with empty pockets, to enjoy. Soooo come and check out some of the LP hood spots for fitness, food, and good times.

Where to tone

Lululemon on Halsted: Join the Lulu staff for a free one hour yoga class every Sunday at 10am at their Sunday Salutations series. Different instructors from various LP studios are featured each month. All levels are welcome and they share their mats.

Flirty Girl Fitness: The most recent addition to the Flirty Girl family is still just as pink and flirty. Even if you aren’t the pink purse dog carrying type, Flirty Girl offers not only pole dancing but hardcore strength workouts, Zumba and stretch classes.

i.d. gym: We desperately want to go back and try Fly Yoga with Brent Holten again. The freeing feeling of being wrapped in a stretchy hammock while you practice your asanas a few feet above the ground can’t be replicated anywhere else.

Where to taste

Peeled: Take a short jaunt down the sunny streets of LP after your downward facing dogs and try a freshly pressed juice or smoothie. Try a seasonal smoothie flavor, like Girl and the Fig, while you can. Our recent rave was raw organic truffles! We keep dreaming about the smooth cocoa dusted flavors.

Dawali Kitchen: is Kate’s go to for fresh creamy hummus (Mon is sadly allergic to the chickpea) and crispy falafels. Their falafels are one of the best in Chicago area! Non chickpea offerings include shwarma, spinach and feta pies, and other middle eastern inspired dishes.

All that working out makes us hungry anddd you probably noticed we like sweets (in moderation, of course).

Molly’s Cupcakes: lies in a people watching and shopping strip on Clark street. Molly’s distinguishes itself with filled cupcakes (how about a Chocolate Lava Cupcake with a dark rich pudding center), aptly named cupcakes (Ron Bennington anyone?) and whimsical swings at the front counter.

Molly’s Cupcakes Peanut Butter Nutella and Mixed Berry

Where to explore

With the Lakefront as LP’s backyard, you couldn’t ask for a better location. A bevy of fitness enthusiasts head to the lakefront path daily for biking, running, skating and relaxed meandering. Bike rental options abound with a Divvy station right by the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Bike and Roll at North Ave Beach and Lakeshore bikes further north on the path. For your more animal nature, walk through Lincoln Park Zoo for free and stop by their nature path to the south for a gorgeous Chi skyline view.

Lincoln Park Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

FREE YOGA and National Yoga Month: Get it to get Hawt!

Posted on September 22, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

September is not only the start of fabulous fall in Chicago but also National Yoga Month. As the hustle and bustle of school and work picks back up, yoga can bring the chill feel of summer back into your life. Read about the 10 benefits of Yoga at alignyo.com.

The Yoga Health Foundation is a major player in this push to inspire people to practice yoga and create a more balanced lifestyle. They also offer one free week at a variety of participating yoga studios – click here to find one near you.

We signed up to try Bend Yoga Studio, which just moved to a new West Town location, and will be offering a full relaxed report soon! Many other Chi Town Yoga studios get into the action of celebrating National Yoga Month as well.

For the past two years, we’ve clamored to attend Exhale Spa‘s NamasDay event. Exhale is a high end combo spa/studio that offers traditional yoga as well as barre and fusion classes. For NamasDay, Exhale goes all out for guests with mini spa treatments, healthy treats, and cutting edge classes.

NamasDay @ Exhale Spa

So where can you get your Yoga hook up?

Which category do you fit in?

A) Are you wearing fitness clothes and ready to socialize?

B) Are you wearing PJs and can barely drag yourself towards the TV?

If you’re an A, Try:

1) Corepower Yoga offers a free week to all new students. You must like it hot as they are heated classes.

2) Zen Yoga Garage, one of our favsies, gives a free week to newbies as well. Check out our previous blog for more info.

3) Lululemon and Athleta stores are a go to for the once in awhile yogi. Search for your local store for exact classes and hours. They give your weekend a boost with Saturday/Sunday classes.

If you’re a B, Try:

…Not drooling on yourself! Get up and exercise that booty!

Free online yoga in those cute cow pajamas:

1) doyogawithme.com-There is a huge library of classes for beginners to advanced students. You also have the option to buy a class for repeat views if you like it.

2) Alignyo turns a homebody into an “ohmbody” with featured classes from celebrity teachers. They surround you with other yogic interests such as interviews, yoga digs, and health tips.

3) Youtube, baby! Just search for yoga. Jillian Michael’s butt kicking yoga classes are on there as well as anything from Kudalini to Vinyasa style yoga. Tickle your fancy for whatever works in those monkey slippers you’re wearing.

Of course, we will keep the yoga party going long after September is over. Where is your secret place to score some free yoga? We are a community, after all!

Acro A Go Go

Posted on September 3, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

Sometimes you are feeling adventurous. Sometimes you are willing to ignore personal boundaries and risk that your butt may fall on some stranger’s head.

This…is one of those times.

We had been talking for months about going to Acroyoga and shied away. Did we know enough yoga? Were we pretzely enough? Finally, we mustered the courage to go to the Trapeze School of New York in Chicago hidden at the Broadway Armory.

Our teacher, Jenny Melnick, and a fellow student guided us through the fine art (or in our case, the fine line) of counterbalancing, using your body weight to support poses and each other.

Mon: As we learned the basic poses, it was a challenge to communicate and listen to my body and my partner. Some poses were easy and fun while other poses push your limit. I had to learn to trust myself and my partner as we relied on each other in poses such as the High Flying Whale.

Kat: I was meant to be a base. (Don’t be dirty! A base is the pyramid person that the pose is built on). Although it was weird at times finding the right balance, as I am short and everyone else was so gazelle like, I embraced being the rock of the formation. Jenny took more care with us as we were new which made a challenging experience more comfortable.

We both highly recommend the experience. It would be worthwhile to go with a bestie or a man friend you trust as you are often in twister-like compromising positions.

Fit Trip: Regina, SK

Posted on August 8, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

We know you’re looking at the title and thinking one of three things.

1) Where the bleep is Regina, SK?

2) What would anyone be doing in Regina, SK?

3) I’m from Regina, SK and I love it! Keep our location a secret please.

Or maybe some of you had to keep reading the word Regina to make sure this post was child friendly…

Regina, SK is a city in our lovely neighbor to the north (eh), Canada! The capital city of Saskatchewan sits above North Dakota in between Manitoba and Alberta. It has a small town feel yet still a plethora of fitness (there’s even a Lulu Lemon) and healthy food options, making it a fit trip destination.

Victoria Square is one major area of activity. Every Wednesday and Saturday, local vendors come out to the weekly farmers’ markets in the square. Fresh saskatoons (little dark berries akin to blueberries) and alpaca yarn gloves abound as well as food trucks with up north delicacies like bison poutine (definitely not healthy, but worth a try!) and stands with green tea mint ice cream sandwiches.

Zero calorie poutine…fruitless wishes

Victoria Square also hosts free yoga classes on their meticulously lady scaped lawn. As I snooped around the market, I noticed that there was Bollywood Yoga the next day. The experience pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Sponsored by Bodhi Tree Yoga, Bollywood Yoga Groove was led by teacher, Colin Hall with beats provided by DJ Dev. The best and worst part was the mix of yoga and bollywood dancing. In between poses, the class would bust out some dance moves and my sometimes shy self was made to prance around the park with fellow yogis in a free style dance session (shudder!). When you do let yourself go, it can be quite freeing or…it can be like the painful look I saw in a pale Canadian man wearing a flannel.

To this I say: “Yoga isn’t meant for the weak, flannel man. Buck up and prance like everyone else.”

Oh yoga bottoms…not even aware of what will come next.

For you non-prancers, Regina also hosts a series of pathways at Wascana Lake. Visitors can kayak, canoe, run, walk or skip if they so choose throughout the 9.3 square kilometer park (darn metric system). There is also an island that can be rented for private partying, P. Diddy style.

For more information on the wonders of Regina, check out http://www.sasktourism.com/places-to-go/regions/regina.

New to the Mat: Zen Yoga Garage

Posted on August 8, 2013 by CHIORGANICGIRLS

With a multitude if yoga studios in Chicago, how does a brand new yoga business set itself apart?

Zen Yoga Garage is unassumingly tucked on Milwaukee avenue in between Western and Leavitt. The stand out feature? It is literally housed in a garage space.

The studio features 2 pristine studios; one which maintained the garage door format that can be cracked open during classes to allow the summer sun and breezes in, and the other which has windows that peek into the alley way.

The most attractive feature of the studio were teaching staff. Each class that we took during our free week was delivered with care and attention. The teachers were were quick to correct form and helped challenge yet also relax members. Class offerings range from the traditional vinyasa classes to the heated weight bearing Yoga Buddha Burn class to a barre yoga class. Owner, Piper Parker, also teaches and provides a welcoming and warm vibe, making it accessible for those new to yoga.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

A Chi Organic Girls Holiday Gift Guide

Share this:

Where to tone

Where to taste

Where to explore

Share this:

NamasDay @ Exhale Spa

So where can you get your Yoga hook up?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: