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Thursday Throwdown: Choose Your Own Adventure!

ByFlecks of Lex

Oh, well hello there! I’m so glad you could join me today, because today is a special day: Today is the first day for the Thursday Throwdown! Woohoo!

If you missed my introductory post about the Thursday Throwdown, you can check it out here.

For today’s theme, we’re talking about spring cleaning, but maybe not in the way that you’re used to talking about spring cleaning. Because Sarah, Tamieka, and I are healthy living/fitness bloggers, we’re putting our own little twists on the topic (or, as I would normally say, putting some stank on it!), and encourage you to do the same. If you decide to write about what spring cleaning means to you, please link up with us! I’ll include the linkup information and image below for all of you bloggers out there. Now, on to the Thursday Throwdown!

Because I’m a ridiculous person, I’m adopting a Choose Your Own Adventure style for this post. Say what? Basically, I’ll let you decide what type of spring cleaning you’re interested in reading about on the blog today! Do you want to read about:

or
or
(C) ALL OF THE ABOVE! (just keep scrolling down)

— Spring Cleaning Up My Training Plan/Diet —

Well, in case you hadn’t already heard, here it is:
I got accepted into the 41st Annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC!
If you’ll recall, I set my intention on running my first marathon this year. I decided to cut down on the number of races I’ll be running this year, focus on weight loss, and train smarter than I have the last two years. Being selected in the Marine Corp Marathon lottery was the first hurdle I had to jump to reach this goal — of course, that is after signing up for the lottery in the first place!
I’ve been working on eating healthier, and I’ve been slimming down a little bit at a time as a result. While the scale hasn’t tipped dramatically, my clothes are starting to fit looser, and I have more energy. I’ve been working on consuming more protein in addition to fruits and veggies. 
My latest challenge has been coming up with a training program that will work for me without causing me too much burnout, and will hopefully lower my risk for injury. I play so much volleyball that it’s hard to strike a good balance, but I just have to do it! I’ve been mapping out a good training program for myself, and now that I don’t have much of an excuse with the weather, I just need to do a better job of implementing it.
Incorporating yoga into my weekly schedule has definitely helped make a tremendous difference! My hips don’t feel tight like they did last year, and my lower back and knees haven’t been giving me as much trouble either. I’ve also gained flexibility, which should help me gain strength. I feel like I’m in a much better place physically this year over last year, which will play a pretty significant role during marathon training.
Finally: Pinterest. I’ve been pinning up a storm with recipes, workout plans, and articles about marathon training. Heck, I may have even pinned some of your pins! I have read some really helpful articles about training, and I’ve been encouraged and inspired by others’ stories about lessons learned while training and/or running a marathon. 
Thanks for choosing this adventure! Scroll down to the bottom to check out the rules, link up with us, and comment!

— Spring Cleaning Up My Home —

There is one thing about me you should know about me if you didn’t figure it out already: I’m a very busy lady! I’m always running around in some way or another at any given time. Maybe I’m at a work event. Maybe I’m en route to a volleyball tournament. Who knows? What I do know is that all of that running around doesn’t leave me much time to do things like stop at Target to pick up some cleaning supplies (because you know you can’t spend just a minute in Target!). Shout out to all of the moms out there, by the way. I have no idea how you can maintain your own schedule and the schedule of somebody (or somebodies) else! You ladies are superheroes!

But I digress. I’m supposed to tell you about how I’m cleaning up my home, spring cleaning style, right? Well, there are currently a couple of things I’m doing as part of my spring cleaning.

For starters, I’ve been going through my closet and gathering up things I no longer need or wear. Over the winter, I donated a bunch of clothes to Purple Heart. My family has been donating to Purple Heart since I was a kid, and they’ve just made it so much easier to do it over the years. All I had to do was put my items in bags, stick a label on the bag, schedule a pickup time online, and leave the bags outside when I left for work. Easy peasy!

I’ll be donating to Purple Heart again this season, but I’m also going to be selling off some of my items to a consignment store near my job. It’s incredible how many things I own but don’t wear! It’s a real shame. 🙁

I’ve also been using a pretty sweet service called Grove Collaborative (formerly ePantry) that ships home cleaning and personal care products to your home. They use natural brands, which I really appreciate not only for my personal health, but also for the environment. You can schedule deliveries for every two months, or however often you want it. You can pick different items, and they’re surprisingly cheap! I like that I haven’t had to pay shipping, PLUS I’ve paid less for the items than I would have if I’d gone into Target to pick them up. Win – win! Bonus: They tape up the products that are at risk of spilling, that way everything stays in its place while it’s headed to your home!

With my first order, my favorite item was the Mrs. Meyer’s Multi-Surface Cleaner. It has this honeysuckle fragrance which just smells so nice! When I was done cleaning my bathroom, I wasn’t choking on fumes like I normally would, so that was definitely a good thing. I also used it to clean the dash in my car. I figured, I spend so many hours in my car each week, shouldn’t I make sure I’m not breathing in any extra chemicals? I don’t know why I’ve been using all of these toxic products to clean the inside of my car all of these years. It’s kind of crazy when I think about it now!

I’m definitely going to continue using this service. It’s convenient, cheap, and better for the environment than what I’ve been doing. If you’re interested in giving it a try, you can receive a $10 credit by using my referral code!

Thanks for choosing this adventure! Now, on to the Thursday Throwdown linkup!

How to Participate:

  1. Post our badge (below) on your participating blog post so others can see what else is going on! 
  2. Leave a comment on each of the 3 blog posts by the hosts: Lex (that’s me!), Sarah, and Tamieka. 
  3. Add your link to the InLinkz at the bottom of Lex, Sarah, or Tamieka’s #ThursdayThrowdown 
  4. Comment on the link-up post before yours! 
  5. Share the love! Make sure to use the #TTLinkUp and #ThursdayThrowdown tags on Instagram and/or Twitter!

Grab Our Thursday Throwdown Button!

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Next Thursday Throwdown: April 21 – Earth Day –  we want to know how you will celebrate Earth Day!

Thanks for stopping by! In the comments, feel free to share how you’re taking care of spring cleaning, any marathon tips you might have, or put your own stank on the spring cleaning theme!

Similar Posts

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What Should Be My First Marathon?

ByFlecks of Lex

I have been on a super wacky schedule lately; however, I have managed to (generally) stick to my modified Mediterranean Diet and lose a few more pounds. Eating more vegetables and lean protein is definitely helping my clothes fit a little looser, and my belly look a little slimmer. I’m not losing crazy amounts of…

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Workout Wednesdays: What’s In Your Gym Bag?

Byflecksoflex

Happy Hump Day! Is is still considered Hump Day, since most people in the States had Monday off…?  I hope you’re having a wonderful first week of September! I know I am! I spent the first day of September (Labor Day) getting my sweat on! Sweatember, I think they call it? My brother and I…

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Finally! Another Race!

Byflecksoflex

You guys, I have been itching to run another race. (Not literally, though, because ew.) I was originally training to do the TCS Annapolis Running Classic Half Marathon, but a knee injury and a shoulder/back/neck weird pinched nerve situation sidelined me from running for a few weeks, which is not a good deal when you’re…

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Thursday Throwdown: Choose Your Own Adventure!

Byflecksoflex

Oh, well hello there! I’m so glad you could join me today, because today is a special day: Today is the first day for the Thursday Throwdown! Woohoo!

If you missed my introductory post about the Thursday Throwdown, you can check it out here.

For today’s theme, we’re talking about spring cleaning, but maybe not in the way that you’re used to talking about spring cleaning. Because Sarah, Tamieka, and I are healthy living/fitness bloggers, we’re putting our own little twists on the topic (or, as I would normally say, putting some stank on it!), and encourage you to do the same. If you decide to write about what spring cleaning means to you, please link up with us! I’ll include the linkup information and image below for all of you bloggers out there. Now, on to the Thursday Throwdown!

Because I’m a ridiculous person, I’m adopting a Choose Your Own Adventure style for this post. Say what? Basically, I’ll let you decide what type of spring cleaning you’re interested in reading about on the blog today! Do you want to read about:

or
or
(C) ALL OF THE ABOVE! (just keep scrolling down)

— Spring Cleaning Up My Training Plan/Diet —

Well, in case you hadn’t already heard, here it is:
I got accepted into the 41st Annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC!
If you’ll recall, I set my intention on running my first marathon this year. I decided to cut down on the number of races I’ll be running this year, focus on weight loss, and train smarter than I have the last two years. Being selected in the Marine Corp Marathon lottery was the first hurdle I had to jump to reach this goal — of course, that is after signing up for the lottery in the first place!
I’ve been working on eating healthier, and I’ve been slimming down a little bit at a time as a result. While the scale hasn’t tipped dramatically, my clothes are starting to fit looser, and I have more energy. I’ve been working on consuming more protein in addition to fruits and veggies. 
My latest challenge has been coming up with a training program that will work for me without causing me too much burnout, and will hopefully lower my risk for injury. I play so much volleyball that it’s hard to strike a good balance, but I just have to do it! I’ve been mapping out a good training program for myself, and now that I don’t have much of an excuse with the weather, I just need to do a better job of implementing it.
Incorporating yoga into my weekly schedule has definitely helped make a tremendous difference! My hips don’t feel tight like they did last year, and my lower back and knees haven’t been giving me as much trouble either. I’ve also gained flexibility, which should help me gain strength. I feel like I’m in a much better place physically this year over last year, which will play a pretty significant role during marathon training.
Finally: Pinterest. I’ve been pinning up a storm with recipes, workout plans, and articles about marathon training. Heck, I may have even pinned some of your pins! I have read some really helpful articles about training, and I’ve been encouraged and inspired by others’ stories about lessons learned while training and/or running a marathon. 
Thanks for choosing this adventure! Scroll down to the bottom to check out the rules, link up with us, and comment!

— Spring Cleaning Up My Home —

There is one thing about me you should know about me if you didn’t figure it out already: I’m a very busy lady! I’m always running around in some way or another at any given time. Maybe I’m at a work event. Maybe I’m en route to a volleyball tournament. Who knows? What I do know is that all of that running around doesn’t leave me much time to do things like stop at Target to pick up some cleaning supplies (because you know you can’t spend just a minute in Target!). Shout out to all of the moms out there, by the way. I have no idea how you can maintain your own schedule and the schedule of somebody (or somebodies) else! You ladies are superheroes!

But I digress. I’m supposed to tell you about how I’m cleaning up my home, spring cleaning style, right? Well, there are currently a couple of things I’m doing as part of my spring cleaning.

For starters, I’ve been going through my closet and gathering up things I no longer need or wear. Over the winter, I donated a bunch of clothes to Purple Heart. My family has been donating to Purple Heart since I was a kid, and they’ve just made it so much easier to do it over the years. All I had to do was put my items in bags, stick a label on the bag, schedule a pickup time online, and leave the bags outside when I left for work. Easy peasy!

I’ll be donating to Purple Heart again this season, but I’m also going to be selling off some of my items to a consignment store near my job. It’s incredible how many things I own but don’t wear! It’s a real shame. 🙁

I’ve also been using a pretty sweet service called Grove Collaborative (formerly ePantry) that ships home cleaning and personal care products to your home. They use natural brands, which I really appreciate not only for my personal health, but also for the environment. You can schedule deliveries for every two months, or however often you want it. You can pick different items, and they’re surprisingly cheap! I like that I haven’t had to pay shipping, PLUS I’ve paid less for the items than I would have if I’d gone into Target to pick them up. Win – win! Bonus: They tape up the products that are at risk of spilling, that way everything stays in its place while it’s headed to your home!

With my first order, my favorite item was the Mrs. Meyer’s Multi-Surface Cleaner. It has this honeysuckle fragrance which just smells so nice! When I was done cleaning my bathroom, I wasn’t choking on fumes like I normally would, so that was definitely a good thing. I also used it to clean the dash in my car. I figured, I spend so many hours in my car each week, shouldn’t I make sure I’m not breathing in any extra chemicals? I don’t know why I’ve been using all of these toxic products to clean the inside of my car all of these years. It’s kind of crazy when I think about it now!

I’m definitely going to continue using this service. It’s convenient, cheap, and better for the environment than what I’ve been doing. If you’re interested in giving it a try, you can receive a $10 credit by using my referral code!

Thanks for choosing this adventure! Now, on to the Thursday Throwdown linkup!

How to Participate:

  1. Post our badge (below) on your participating blog post so others can see what else is going on! 
  2. Leave a comment on each of the 3 blog posts by the hosts: Lex (that’s me!), Sarah, and Tamieka. 
  3. Add your link to the InLinkz at the bottom of Lex, Sarah, or Tamieka’s #ThursdayThrowdown 
  4. Comment on the link-up post before yours! 
  5. Share the love! Make sure to use the #TTLinkUp and #ThursdayThrowdown tags on Instagram and/or Twitter!

Grab Our Thursday Throwdown Button!

grab button for Flecks of Lex

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Next Thursday Throwdown: April 21 – Earth Day –  we want to know how you will celebrate Earth Day!

Thanks for stopping by! In the comments, feel free to share how you’re taking care of spring cleaning, any marathon tips you might have, or put your own stank on the spring cleaning theme!

Similar Posts

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Byflecksoflex

And I couldn’t be happier! One of my 2016 blogging goals is to attend my first conference for my blog, and I have now officially registered for one! I am pumped! The 2016 IDEA World Fitness BlogFest is the third annual conference. This year’s BlogFest will be held in Los Angeles, California. I was selected…

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Yoga, Snow, Snow, Yoga #WBWAlinkup

Byflecksoflex

Greetings from the tail end of our blizzard! Once again, I am hosting my Week Behind, Week Ahead Linkup (#WBWAlinkup). As a reminder, this linkup is to let you know all about the past week’s activities, as well as plans and goals for the upcoming week. Want to join the linkup? Be sure to add…

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Yoga, Snow, Snow, Yoga #WBWAlinkup

ByFlecks of Lex

Greetings from the tail end of our blizzard! Once again, I am hosting my Week Behind, Week Ahead Linkup (#WBWAlinkup). As a reminder, this linkup is to let you know all about the past week’s activities, as well as plans and goals for the upcoming week. Want to join the linkup? Be sure to add…

0 Comments

  1. Congrats on getting in to MCM!! It's one of my all-time fave marathons. I ran it in 2012 right before it went to a lottery thankfully. Yay for spring cleaning. Now if the weather would cooperate already. Thanks for the linkup!

    Reply

  2. Yeah MCM!! I know you will do amazingly. If thing go well I will get into the 10k and I will be there to cheer you on and maybe even run a few miles with you 😉

    Grove Collaborative ..oooh never heard of that….you may have gotten me 😉

    Yes to yoga!!!

    Good job on the workout and the eating clean up…the scale is the devil but pictures and clothes fittings tell the truth 😉

    -Tamieka@fitballingrunningmom

    Reply

  3. Yeah MCM!! I know you will do amazingly. If thing go well I will get into the 10k and I will be there to cheer you on and maybe even run a few miles with you 😉

    Grove Collaborative ..oooh never heard of that….you may have gotten me 😉

    Yes to yoga!!!

    Good job on the workout and the eating clean up…the scale is the devil but pictures and clothes fittings tell the truth 😉

    -Tamieka@fitballingrunningmom

    Reply

  4. MCM is one of my Bucket List events…I came this close (like REALLY close) to entering the lottery. Maybe next year. I chose Route 66 instead (which is a couple weeks later). Happy training for your first 26.2!!

    Reply

  5. MCM is one of my Bucket List events…I came this close (like REALLY close) to entering the lottery. Maybe next year. I chose Route 66 instead (which is a couple weeks later). Happy training for your first 26.2!!

    Reply

  10. MCM is an awesome marathon. This will be my 3rd year, but I had to run the 17.75 to get my entry LOL.

    I need to do some spring cleaning. And spring painting. And spring shopping…

    Reply

  11. MCM is an awesome marathon. This will be my 3rd year, but I had to run the 17.75 to get my entry LOL.

    I need to do some spring cleaning. And spring painting. And spring shopping…

    Reply

  14. Pinterest can be the devil! But I've found soooo much great stuff there too. Even though I have a ton of cookbooks, I seem to be mainly living off of Pinterest lately.

    Thankfully I am not anywhere near as busy as you because no time for shopping would make me sad! Which is why I have to go through my closet on a regular basis too — sometimes I have a really hard time getting rid of stuff, though.

    I still regret getting rid of all those cast iron muffin tins when we moved — because now I do almost all my cooking/baking in cast iron & I had quite the collection!

    Reply

  15. Pinterest can be the devil! But I've found soooo much great stuff there too. Even though I have a ton of cookbooks, I seem to be mainly living off of Pinterest lately.

    Thankfully I am not anywhere near as busy as you because no time for shopping would make me sad! Which is why I have to go through my closet on a regular basis too — sometimes I have a really hard time getting rid of stuff, though.

    I still regret getting rid of all those cast iron muffin tins when we moved — because now I do almost all my cooking/baking in cast iron & I had quite the collection!

    Reply

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