Gigabody Review and Giveaway!!!

Disclaimer: I was given a 2-month subscription to Gigabody in exchange for a review and giveaway through my Sweat Pink Ambassadorship. As, always, all opinions are strictly my own.

I began this blog with the idea that I am just like so many active, busy women out there. I, like many of you, have a busy career that I devote a large percentage of time to, relationships that are important, activities that are important and there is just only so much time in the day. Fitness is something many of us do find ourselves, whether we want to admit it or not, scheduling. And there is always something, “It’s too dark now”, “the gym closes in 40 minutes”, “I have to do laundry first”, “I don’t really want to run at the crack of dawn before work” (pssst, that one is all me!). Gigabody has created a platform to access legitimate, challenging, efficient work outs, at home, any time you want. This isn’t your mother’s work-out video.

Gigabody is an online platform hosting virtually endless high quality work out videos for you to access 24/7 from wherever you are. For a monthly membership of  you will have unlimited access to a variety of videos and tools to ensure that you maintain your fitness even if you’re busy or traveling or otherwise unable to get to the gym.

Gigabody Mission: Our mission is to help you form & maintain healthy exercise habits, by giving you easy access to efficient, effective workouts that make you feel great.

One of the things that I find the most useful on the Gigabody site is that you can enter any search criteria you want to begin finding the perfect workout. Want to do a 10 minute work out before getting your day started? You can add the 10 minute filter. Specifically want cardio or strength and sculpt? Add those filters to get the workout that is exactly what you are looking for. Not only is that efficient but it keeps things fresh. You can do a different work out every day (or multiple in a day!). You have the option of using equipment such as free weights or doing a full session of yoga. And it is on-demand, so you can access it when it is the most convenient for you.

I have gravitated towards the dance and barre inspired workouts. That is the one area that I really enjoy that is not widely available at my gym.  The instructors are experts. I know that when I’m doing a workout through Gigabody with Jennifer Galardi, I am getting a high quality workout. And it’s not the same thing over and over (which is definitely a pit fall with workout DVDs or other videos). I have used others in the past and lost interest because I did them over and over again. With Gigabody, they are constantly adding workouts so you can’t beat the variety!

   

Value. IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS. Get unlimited access with your membership at only $8.99 per month!!  When you register with Gigabody you will get a 2-week (14 day), all inclusive free trial. When you register, you will enter your credit card information but Gigabody will NOT charge your card until the end of your 14 day trial. It’s risk free and you can cancel at any time (not that you’ll want to).

There are over 90 different work outs including everything from cardio kick boxing and floor barre to Bombay Jam! There are dozens of workouts no matter what your interests are.

Another great feature of Gigabody is your access to work out plans and challenges.These plans are for a prescribed duration (4 or 6 weeks) and include a schedule of which type of workouts to do when. This is a great way to keep you accountable and challenged, even though you are in the privacy of your home.

Whether you are at an advanced level or want to dip your toes into a variety of workouts to find what works for you, Gigabody has an option right for you. And the price, really cannot be beat. Now, as a special treat for my readers, I am giving away a FREE One-Month subscription to Gigabody for you to try out! You will have to enter a credit card to register but you will be given a code for your free membership and your card WILL NOT be charged until that free one month membership expires.

>>>>>>>CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY!!!<<<<<<<

Thank you Sweat Pink for giving me the opportunity to check out Gigabody. I am likely to keep using it. Thank you Gigabody for really getting what many of us need. And thank you for reading my review!

Run, Fun, Flu.

Well this post was supposed to come out almost a week ago but I was one of the lucky people to get the flu despite getting their flu shot. I got it at the beginning of the season, as I always do. I work in healthcare, so it’s a given (and I have asthma). As we’ve heard, this year didn’t quite hit the target. And this was more accurate:

Last week I started the week with my 2nd running of the Hot Chocolate 15K in San Francisco. My 25th 36th birthday was on Wednesday and that was also the day that I woke up feeling like I was getting sick. 2 sick days, a fever, and a long weekend in bed later, I’m feeling like I might, just might be on the road to recovery. We shall see. So there was no birthday-ing for me. Unless you count the large slice of cake I had for dinner Wednesday, well, because of all of the aforementioned reasons. (That’s the one part about being sick. No one really feels good judging you for having cake for dinner on your birthday).

So let’s talk about Hot Chocolate 15K San Francisco.

The course, is one of my favorites. It’s a beautiful start near Stowe Lake in Golden Gate Park out to Ocean Beach on the Great Highway where we run west and turn around near mile 5 and then head back in to the park and end by the De Young Museum. It’s beautiful, slightly hilly, scenic….I just love this course.

I did this race with several friends/teammates from Team in Training, which makes it that much more fun. It was also perfectly timed to be in line with my training for the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon on February 01. I also have to mention that Golden Gate Park smells DIVINE this time of year. It’s so clean and eucalyptus-y! I just love it. This year, they added a medal to the usual mug-o-chocolately treats. That was a nice addition. I know there had been a lot of feedback about this in the past, so I’m glad they were tuned into the runners. It’s a fun medal too, actually!

Packet pick-up and the expo: (I’ve talked about this so many times, but it still sort of irks me a bit) The expo was in South San Francisco, not San Francisco where the race was held. For anyone that is not from the area, this is a different city entirely, down Highway 101, near the San Francisco International Airport (which is also NOT in San Francisco). Many people in San Francisco don’t drive. To get to that area using public transportation, you’re talking about 3 hours of travel for a bib pick up for a race in the city we live in. I, fortunately,  do drive. But to make it, it meant that I had to do that drive on Friday night during rush hour. This is a huge pain, as anyone from the Bay Area will tell you. The expo itself, was just okay. It was set up in good, organized expo fashion, but I didn’t find anything at it that was worth sticking around for. I ran in, did a quick lap around and then left. Granted, I was also thinking about the long-ass drive I was going to have to get back to the city. I don’t even have any stories from it. It wasn’t bad. Just, okay. Not worth the drive, but what can you do?

(I’m going to just say this was me clearly getting sick hehe. Not really, just bad picture 🙂 )

The last thing I’d like to mention/talk about, was that I heard, sadly more than once, from participants that clearly didn’t know what they had signed up for. I’m not sure why that is. Overheard was one young lady say, “Does anyone know how long 15K is?”. Unfortunately, there seemed to be quite a bit of this this year. I’m not sure why. I encountered several people not dressed safely for the distance (i.e. casual shoes, large purses, soda beverages, etc), larger groups strewn out across the course, one guy…oh yeah this guy. There was this one guy who would run up in front of people and make really obnoxious comments to them (often around the location of the women’s bibs), and then run ahead a little more and start doing push-ups, running in circles, it was bizarre. I know I haven’t done a TON of races, but this was really the first time I felt like I may have actually been in the wrong place.

There was ample water/sports drink. I was very happy with the placement of the stations and the availability of both options. Port-a-potties were actually abundant as well, and the lines didn’t seem to be too long. I wasn’t excited about the candy-only fuel options along the route.  There were chocolate chips, marshmallows, Tootsie Rolls (still wrapped!) and some other kind of chocolate. I think this is personal preference. I had GU with me so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I may be in the minority with this one, but I need something exercise-specific on a run, not just various types of candy. (However if this had been a walk, that would have been perfect!).

The finisher’s party area is quite fun. I did not check my gear in the wrong spot this year, which is a plus! The lines for the snack mug weren’t bad at all. I forgot to take a picture because I was so thirsty. I never can eat very much other than a banana and some pretzels immediately, so that’s what I had and I ditched the fondue. I imagine if you can stomach it that that would be AMAZING. But I have a weak gut and need to stay simple for a few hours after. They have awesome hot cocoa though! In lieu of chocolate milk, you bet I chugged that.

The sweat shirt this year was just okay. It fits well, but I really liked last year’s pull over better. Here’s a pic from their site:

(Photo: http://www.hotchocolate15K.com)

I was expecting this to be more like a jacket than it is. It’s really a zip-up sweatshirt. I definitely used it post-race, but I don’t think I’ll wear it again. Again, this is more a personal preference thing. I would have preferred something I could run in, tech tee, etc. That’s almost all I wear these days.

Another major plus is that they did some excellent photography and your pictures are free. That is a big deal. I’m not sure if many organizations are going that way, but I did find this to be an excellent perk.

This is a large event. It might be worthwhile for the organizers to look into splitting it into a 5K Run/15K Run/ X distance walk. Just a thought.

That said, I am really glad that I did it. If you’re looking for a zero-pressure race and don’t mind spending the money, it’s perfect. I love the distance. A bit of a challenge over a 10K, not quite a half-marathon. Also great for anyone that is thinking about doing their first half. All in all, I love the course. I feel so lucky to live so close to it. I’ve done this event for the past 2 years. I’m not sure I will do it again, though. It’s costly (anywhere between $54-$74, depending on when you register). I just don’t know that I would be able to justify the price for the experience again.

I am curious what the experience is like in other cities. Please share your experience in the comments below. Did you run the Hot Chocolate Race this year and what did you think?

Thanks for reading!

New Year, New Adventures!

Happy New Year everyone!! 

I love starting a new year, not because I can make a list of resolutions, but because I can reset my goals. I don’t consider them resolutions because I’m constantly trying to improve myself. The New Year is a great time to take a pulse on where I’m at in general and make adjustments to move forward.

2014 was what I will now call, “Injury Year”. If it wasn’t one thing, it was something else. But I learned a lot from it, so that’s a plus. I’m hoping not to let any of these issues sideline me for too long in the coming year. Time will tell, but for now I have some races on deck that I need to be preparing for. I have a couple coming up very soon; San Francisco Hot Chocolate 2015 which is on January 11 (um, yeah, in 9 days), followed closely by the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon on February 01. All of those holiday goodies I just consumed for the past 2 weeks…. BE GONE! I have some goals for later in the year, including the Rock and Roll Seattle Half Marathon in June with Team in Training. The last half of the year is still in progress.

What else is new for 2015. I’m REALLY excited to share that I will be a Nuun Ambassador for this year! I’m super excited because Nuun has been my hydration drink of choice for the past few years. I love it and want to share that with other athletes.  I’ve shared this pic before, but as you can see, I have a bit of a collection going:

The collection has grown since this picture was taken.

I also am looking forward to a great work-out video app review. More on that in a separate post. Thanks to Sweat Pink that will come with a giveaway! Woohoo! Free stuff, who doesn’t love that?

It’s going to be an exciting year. I’m looking forward to advancing the blogging a bit. I had a difficult time with that over the past year but hoping to become more active.  Phew! So much going on. Looking forward to it all.

What are some of your goals for the year and what are you looking forward to?? Please share in the comments section!!

Thanks for reading!!