Fitbloggin' 2015 weekend

This past weekend I went to Denver with +Jamie King and +Alyse Mason Brill to represent the +Fit Approach, LLC Sweat Pink team at Fitbloggin', a fitness blogging conference. Such a great weekend!

First, Jamie and I flew into Denver together. This was a bizarre sensation for me since this used to me my home airport (though there used to be a 2 hour drive ahead of me to get up into the mountains). After running into our first Sweat Pinker at the baggage claim, we went straight to the Westin in downtown Denver, where we were staying and where the conference was taking place. I got to finally meet Alyse face-to-face and in-person. After emailing back and forth all day every day for the past 6 weeks, and having multiple video conferences, it felt good to give her a big giant hug! We settled in the room; started the onslaught of Tweeting, Booking, and Gramming that continued all weekend; and worked a bit on the presentation Jamie and Alyse were giving at the conference.

                      Hotel yoga

Then we explored a bit. We were right off of 16th Street Mall, which allowed for some great people-watching. The tummy-rumbling took over. I took them to my favorite part of Denver, Larimer Street. We went for some aps and wine (none for Alyse, don't worry) at Corridor 44 and then to my favorite Denver restaurant for dinner, Rioja. Talk about some yumminess: mushroom, avocado, citrus salad to start, and sugar covered mint leaves to finish. Mmmm.

My Friday started with Jamie planting an iced coffee next to my bed to wake me up in time for 6:30am bootcamp with Erin Kreitz Shirey, the epic inspirator! (Side note, her daughter came up with this name. "Mom, your an inspiration and a motivator. You're an inspirator!" So cute!) Talk about some amazing energy! Erin got our blood moving, sweat flowing, and laugh wheezing (Denver is called the mile-high city for a reason). We bonded with short run bursts, partnered wall sits, mountain climber circuits, push up high fives, and a bootcamp version of a line dance. Great way to start the day and to start to meet some of the Sweat Pink community and other Fitbloggin' attendees.

After a quick (and light) bite, we headed to workout number two with Cathe Fredrich. An hour of using resistance bands and paper plates to move through rhythmic circuits definitely had my muscles quivering.

We attended Sweat Pink ambassador Tasha Edwards and Kelly Espitia's panel on body love. In this discussion session, attendees shared stories from their journeys on the quest for self love and acceptance. Such an inspiring hour! Take away: everyone has their s***, so try for a little compassion and empathy. Everyone then convened for lunch and the Fitbloggin fashion show, featuring workout apparel by Soybu. Then...the presentation!

Jamie and Alyse presented on how to be the blogger brands want to work with! They shared great tips on how to seek out the right brands, follow through on your commitments, and going above and beyond to prove how amazing you are to brands. It's a lot like online dating, which showcased Jamie's (not so secret) secret fascination with Tinder. I probably have an OK Cupid profile out there that she's set up for me. It turned into a wonderful discussion among talented and inquisitive bloggers that addressed key points necessary to be a successful blogging advocate for brands.

            And why aren't I on tinder?...

During the afternoon, Alyse napped while Jamie and I went on a running quest to find a mural a local ambassador had featured in a yoga pose picture. We found ourselves in an industrial part of town, literally on the wrong side of the tracks. After asking two guys for directions (turns out they went to school where I'm from), and getting offered a hit of a joint from the cute one (oh, Colorado), we set out with our goal within reach. (Oh, and we didn't take the hit.) Within steps, I hear, "Liz Wilson! Stop right there!" I look up and see my friend Maggie sticking her head out of a second-floor window. Turns out we were in the Rino district, where her studio is (check out Oxbow Designs on Etsy!). Talk about small world!

Back out on the road, we not only found our mural, but also numerous other art walls that screamed for yoga picture documentation. Our outing turned into a 5-mile art-yoga-run adventure! (Side note: oh my goodness I've lost my altitude acclimation. Whew!)

             The one we were looking for 

The evening was spent at Ignite, where the keynote speakers were Fitbloggin' attendees themselves! Our #sweatpink lady crush Tasha spoke and again wowed everyone with her presence! She's a vegan, and gave tips on how to maintain friendships between vegans and non-vegans. It is possible, y'all! Girl, I love salad, too!

After all the speakers finished, the three of us headed back down to the cute artsy Rino area of Larimer to have dinner at Los Chingones. It was a wonderful evening of girl talk; wine, mojitos and mocktails; brussels, kale salad, and tacos; Liz flirting with the cute server… Standard awesome evening. ;)

We had another early wake-up call the next morning for Jamie to teach Glider Yoga. It is a cardio-intensive style of yoga, incorporating gliders into the flow. Students of mine, you know that move we do in high plank with our feet on blankets and we slide our feet in and out? Just like that, except so much more! So inspiring seeing everyone, including the front row of #sweatpink-ers, work hard and sweat pink!

Jamie took off for the airport to head out to Tahoe. She had a friend's 100-miler to help pace and an anniversary with her hubby to celebrate. Alyse and I had a great meet-up-and-chat session at breakfast with some conference attendees. We then went to a panel on being a successful for-hire blogger held by Gigi, of Gigi Eats, and Nellie, of Brooklyn Active Mama.

We attended inspirator Erin's panel on working out in a 12x12' space. The bootcamp queen showed us we didn't need a huge space, or even a gym, to get a solid, sweaty, and huffing-and-puffing workout! We worked through the circuits, many using Harbinger Fitness's HumanX Fitness bands. Not only do I no longer have an excuse to not be creative with my circuits, but I have great workouts to take with me traveling now! Only a band and a space big enough for a yoga mat needed!

After lunch at Modmarket, where we had yummy kombucha on tap, and Katy Widrick's smart panel on some detailed blogging tips for how to better automate yet remain personal with your blog, Alyse and I walked back over to the Rino Larimer district to attend Denver Flea, where Maggie had a booth. We loaded up on some great jewelry, including a piece for each of us from Maggie's suite mate, Michelle of Union Studio Metals (whom I already knew too! The small world of Colorado continues!).

Closing evening was spent with a presentation from JumpSport trampolines, including talks from three awesome ambassadors and trainers. The kids were LOVING the tramps! Alyse and I then crawled into bed and watched some trashy TV before crashing. 4:30am was quite the early wake-up call for me to ride share with Kylie to the airport. Ah, DIA.

It was a little odd being back "home," but not home, for work and not seeing many people. But luckily I already had a trip planned for next week to see friends, see Neil Young at Red Rocks, and head up to the mountains. Thanks for an amazing weekend, Sweat Pink team, ambassadors, and Fitbloggin' community! See you soon, Denver! 

My staying active "hack"

Life is busy. Seriously busy. I teach at three yoga studios, work from home, take yoga and spin classes, travel on the weekends, go trail running and skiing during the week, go to shows, have tons of dinner/lunch/wine/coffee dates... My days are super packed, and I'm single and with no kids. I can't even imagine how others fit it all in. I LOVE being busy, but it's hard to fit everything in I want to do, especially fitness sometimes.

Sometimes, life things have to be the priority, even if you don't want them to be. Sometimes you have to spend your gym hour for bank and post office errands or that trip to the DMV you've been putting off for a few months (yay, I finally got my Oregon license!). Generally speaking though, I do get some sort of activity in every day. Whether it's an all-day hike or three yoga classes or a 30-minute walk for coffee.

Some of it comes from making fitness a priority too. Ever mean to get to the gym that day, and it just never happens? If it's extra, it'll get pushed off again and again. I remember reading an article by a pro soccer player with fitness tips, and she said you have to put it in your daily schedule with permanent marker. If it's a maybe type of thing, it probably isn't going to happen. Sometimes it sucks to have to turn down that happy hour invite because you have to hit the gym. But it's gotta be a concrete part of your schedule.

That's a big reason why I love working out in the morning. If I get up and hit the gym, go to class, go for a run or a ski, then I can happily be flexible for the rest of the day for those impromptu invites. Plus, then I set myself up for the rest of the day to be happy and relaxed. If I work out later in the day, it's gotta be a set-in-stone thing, like a class I signed up for or a date with a workout buddy.

Another way I'll fit working out into my schedule is by incorporating fitness into my friend dates. I generally have a lot of friends that love being active. So a lot of times we'll go ski or hike together while chatting, or go grab that glass of wine but after a yoga class. It's a great way to not only be active, but to also bond with people.

Fitness is a lifestyle, but it's one you have to work hard for and choose every day. And have fun! ;)

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @lizwilsonyoga 

Go with the flow

At some point, even if you don't want to, you're going to have to go with the flow. There are just things out of our control that we have to deal with. This example is fitness/yoga related, but the concept is widespread across life.

Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of when you have a limited amount of time for a quick run you feel amazing and like you could run three times what your schedule allows but when you want/have to run a long distance your legs feel like lead and your lungs feel like fire? I hate this! It always seems to happen. It's why when I go for a run, I try to have a decent amount of time available in the event that if I'm feeling really good and I can keep running.

Have you ever made time for a fitness or yoga class with your favorite teacher and there's a sub? Yeah, it can be a bummer! You made the time in your busy schedule to get to a specific person's class and that person isn't there! Ok, it happened. You have two options: 1. Leave. 2. Stay.

I've been on the receiving end of someone leaving when they saw I was subbing a yoga class. She really really really wanted the regular teacher and had already expressed that my teaching wasn't really her jam. I get it, but it still kind of hurts. That's her issue though. I've never left a sub's class. Even if it isn't my newfound favorite teacher, style, class, you can always get a little something from the situation. The saying of our childhood still stands: it's good to try new things.

This week I subbed a Power Vinyasa class: some heat, jams, lots of flow, tons of arm balances and inversions. Stoked! The Hatha class in the other room ended up not having a teacher, so we had to combine the classes. We all had to compromise. I expressed that everyone should do what they could and to make decisions based on their bodies and practices, whether it was to amp a pose up or to modify it. The students for the Hatha class showed up expecting a slower paced, more mellow and less flow type class. Power Vinyasa students wanted…more. I think people left not-so-stoked.

But y'all know what? That's the yoga. It's being able to deal with what's in front of you, regardless of your expectations. It's not easy to accept that, but it is what it is. Hatha students had to handle more challenge. Vinyasa students had to handle some longer holds and slower pace. I had to try to walk the fine line between the two. We all had to compromise, let go of our expectations we'd held for the 75 minutes of yoga class, and go with the flow of the situation. And we survived! It may not have been what everyone expected or wanted, but we still practiced 75 minutes of yoga. You push yourself to run, even though it's a lead-leg day. Rather than be disappointed, be liberated!

IG and Twitter: @lizwilsonyoga