Over the past year or so I’ve been creating a “40 Before 40″ list-a bucket list of things I’d like to accomplish before I turn 40. There are several things on that list that I’ve been able to check off, others that may or may not happen, and several that I am determined to make happen because they are important to me. I haven’t published the list, I’ve mentioned it but haven’t been able to bring myself to put it out there. If you are wondering why, you can read about that in a post from early this year, here.

This August I will turn 39 and one of the items on my bucket list is “Train for and complete a full marathon”. Since training for a marathon is a fairly time consuming process I have just over a year to get this sucker done. This spring I started to take my race training more seriously and even joined a group training for the Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon in October.  When I finished my very first half-marathon about 7 years ago I felt fantastic and in my mind didn’t think I’d ever have the desire to train for a full marathon. I also wasn’t sure my body would ever stand up to the distances required during training, never mind running fast enough to finish within the course time limits of most marathons. In those 7 years I’ve gotten stronger, started practicing yoga regularly and then last summer while I was running up the ski mountain at Beaver Creek (for fun), I realized that my body can do amazing things and if I really wanted to I absolutely could finish a marathon. So, friends…. I did it, I am officially registered for the Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon on October 9, 2011!!!!

There’s no backing out now-it’s on the blog, it’s a done deal….

What is on your bucket list? What are you doing to reach your goals?

Over the past year or so I’ve been creating a “40 Before 40″ list-a bucket list of things I’d like to accomplish before I turn 40. There are several things on that list that I’ve been able to check off, others that may or may not happen, and several that I am determined to make happen because they are important to me. I haven’t published the list, I’ve mentioned it but haven’t been able to bring myself to put it out there. If you are wondering why, you can read about that in a post from early this year, here.

This August I will turn 39 and one of the items on my bucket list is “Train for and complete a full marathon”. Since training for a marathon is a fairly time consuming process I have just over a year to get this sucker done. This spring I started to take my race training more seriously and even joined a group training for the Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon in October.  When I finished my very first half-marathon about 7 years ago I felt fantastic and in my mind didn’t think I’d ever have the desire to train for a full marathon. I also wasn’t sure my body would ever stand up to the distances required during training, never mind running fast enough to finish within the course time limits of most marathons. In those 7 years I’ve gotten stronger, started practicing yoga regularly and then last summer while I was running up the ski mountain at Beaver Creek (for fun), I realized that my body can do amazing things and if I really wanted to I absolutely could finish a marathon. So, friends…. I did it, I am officially registered for the Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon on October 9, 2011!!!!

There’s no backing out now-it’s on the blog, it’s a done deal….

What is on your bucket list? What are you doing to reach your goals?

My days are spent in workout gear. I head to yoga right after dropping my kids off, so I start my days in yoga pants. I typically run before picking up my kids in the afternoon, so I’m sure there are folks out there that wonder if I just spend my life in workout clothes. I was recently asked to review the capri from Fila’s new Body Toning System (BTS).  The double layered panels and compression design are intended to make you look a full size smaller and make your muscles work 50% harder.

I’m a runner at heart. I train to run half marathons and will likely train for my first marathon after the new year. On my longest runs I wear compression pants to aid in muscle recovery.  The descriptions of the Fila BTS seem similar to the way I understand traditional sport compression pants work. Fila BTS uses double-layered panels of INVISTA’s LYCRA® SPORT fabric and retail for $50, a significantly less expensive product compared to the $100 plus I have paid in the past for compression pants.

These pants are definitely flattering and they are the first ones I grab when I know I’ll be running around in public before a workout.  The double layer fabric system is pretty hardcore, very thick, but it didn’t bother me very much until I was in a yoga class. I am a power-yoga-in-a-heated-room kind of gal and I’m not sure these are my favorite for that type of activity. I sweat to the point of soaking in these classes and I think I prefer more of a wicking fabric for this activity. For regular light yoga, this would be an ideal pant, and you would most definitely enjoy looking at your fabulously shaped boot-ay in all of the mirrors!

I found the Fila pants to be much better suited for light workouts, weight training, and shorter runs. While these pants don’t compare to the amount of compression I experience with my more expensive pants, designed specifically for runners, they did provide a good bit of support. I’m not sure that I experienced any more or less benefit in terms of muscle recovery or effort, but the flattering cut was a big plus.

I would love to see Fila try to make the seams in these pants less detectable. I wouldn’t say they rubbed or felt overly uncomfortable but I was definitely aware of them. I understand that they are part of the strategic design but if it were possible to minimize them at least on the inside of the pant, I think I’d be more likely to choose them as my “go to” pant for both long and short workouts. (Note: shortly after this review was published, Fila responded to let me know they are addressing this seaming issue in next season’s line!) OH, and one more thing…. Fila friends, please, please, PLEASE come out with a petite length for your longer pants! We petite gals would love you for it!

For those women who want to benefit from the 50% increase in muscle exercise, do the math. If you want to work your muscles hard you’ll still need to push your body through the motions. A 50% increase in the muscle work while sitting on your ass isn’t going to get you down a jeans size. On the other hand, I work out pretty hard so I won’t “poo-poo” a little boost in workout efficiency!

Overall, I think the Fila Body Toning pant is a good value. We active moms run around in active wear for a good portion of our day, we might as well look HAWT doing it!

Would you like to make your boot-ay sing? The good folks at Fila will give away a pair of BTS pants to one lucky BB reader!

Congratulations #73 Amber G.

ENTER TO WIN!

*Leave a comment telling me what you think about the new Body Toning System.

Bonus Entries (leave one comment for each):

1. Subscribe to Bantering Blonde

2. Like FilaToning on Facebook and tell them I sent you!

3. Follow @banteringblonde on twitter

4. Tweet this, a few times a day if you like! :

I just entered to win New Body Toning Pants from @filatoning and @banteringblonde http://bit.ly/cBBG65

Winner will be chosen at 12am November 23, 2010

As I sit here in my hotel room in Atalanta, my heart is filled with happiness, gratitude, and … I’m hearing a beautiful sound.  I think they call it “silence”.  It isn’t something I hear all that often at home in Denver. My precious, yet vociferous, children are far away from me right now and I’m missing them, a lot. So much that I decided to awaken at the crack of dawn to simulate and early morning with them.  At 6am EST this morning I was up and about getting ready to run the Virginia Highlands Summer Fest 5k Road Race as part of The Blogrollers’ Race & Relax Weekend.

When I entered  this unbelievable trip in a contest on The Blogrollers website, I really wanted to win.  I wanted to win for so many different reasons.  First, I love @theblogrollers (Lorraine @askwifey and Christie @chatterboxcgc), second, I had just committed to running The Inaugural Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon and was looking to run a 5k race on this very weekend, Third, well, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to win an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta for an event with the words “Race & Relax” in the title… and did I mention the part about hangin’ with the fabulous social media divas that call this city home?  Winning the contest was so exciting, I NEVER win anything!!   I didn’t realize that I was in a bit of a running rut at the time, but when I started to train to a faster 5k I was definitely recharged and excited. I’ll be posting my race details on MomActive with my weekly “Running for MY Life” post.

I should have guessed that The Blogrollers would pull out all the stops but I had NO idea just how much until I arrived at the airport yesterday and was greeted by Stephen … my driver for the weekend!!!  Stephen drove me to The Hyatt Place in Buckhead, and he arrived bright and early at 7am this morning to drive me to the race start.  He’ll be coming for me at 11am tomorrow morning when I head back home to Denver.  I could TOTALLY get used to having a driver, I think I’ll just bring Stephen home with me!

TWEET-UP! Last night we headed to The Buckhead Pizza Co. where we met up with a bunch of the divas for a little pre-race carbo loading.  We were in the perfect private party room and @keyinfluencer even stopped in and brought #fridaynightmix DJ awesomeness directly to us!  The two hour time difference eventually caught up with me and I was happy to crawl into my king sized and sprawl into a good night’s sleep.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day!  I’ve had so much fun being able to spend more IRL time with my Twiend @krystalgrant – she just acracks me up!  This is her warming up her personality for the 5k race.  She is 24/7 sunshine lady! Take note of the very awesome sporty shirts sponsored by The Cherry Marketing Institute (@choosecherries)!

We headed over to the start and this picture of the crew furiously tweeting and texing probably explains why none of us realized that the race had started until we were swallowed up by a wave of runners!

How social media divas approach the starting line….

The Virginia Highland Summer Fest 5k is a nice course through a really cute Atlanta neighborhood.  I am so thankful for all the trees that provided shade along the way because I was sweating buckets from the minute I stepped out of the car. The HILLS, oh my goodness, I knew that Denver was flat and that I’d likely feel the hills… yes, I felt them, and my hips are still screaming!  I’m pretty pleased with my time 30:33 (was hoping for sub 30 but I’ll take it!) considering I missed the starting gun.  I’ll just say that those hills definitely made it an interesting run!

We were treated to an amazingly yummy brunch sponsored by Walt Disney World Resorts, at a place called Einstein’s Atlanta (@einsteinsatl).  Thank you Disney for inspiring and refueling us! I love how Disney just “gets” moms and social media, fun, families, you name it! Every event I’ve ever attended where Disney was involved, whether it was the lunch at Blogalicious ’09 or the Disney Social Media Moms Conference, they’ve  always been tastefully done and we moms definitely recognize the support they show us.

And what race could ever be complete without a TROPHY?!!  Yes, my very own trophy!  I love it and I shall sleep with it put it on my desk at the base of my vision board … that I haven’t completed or even started yet.  Now I actually have a vision – I know exactly what my vision board will look like and I can’t wait to get started!

The swag bags were off the hook.  The Wine Sisterhood (@winesisterhood sponsored those fabulous canvas bags!! Hello, pool/summer bag for all my summery things!  I have to confess – I stole this picture off of @krystalgrant – I did tweet her and ask her if I could use it, but she hasn’t tweeted me back yet so if I go missing y’all need to go look up a green gremlin with really big red lips, cause she probably went all gremliny on me for rudely stealing her pictures…. In any case, I’ve already taken a bath with the spa goodies from Pampered by Adrienne (@PBAdrienne) and am chillin in my room thinking about washing my hair.  Did you read that?  I’ve been chillin’!  I had time to take a bath AND I’m going to wash my hair – in the SAME DAY!

This really has been an amazing experience and I’m so very grateful for what has turned out to be a very fun and very relaxing trip!  I can’t wait to run with these gals again soon.  Hmmm I wonder if @chatterboxcgc and @askwifey will just get on with and just say they’ll join us when MomActive heads to Disney in Ocober?  Hmmmm….

This week I switched my focus from training endurance for the half marathon to training speed for my trip to Atlanta for the 5k #RaceRelax weekend in just 3 weeks.  They sent confirmation of my plane ticket and hotel reservation this week so it wasn’t just a dream!   

Read about my training and what I learned this week over on MomActive HERE …..