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Tag: #getafterit

Ready to #getafterit in 2013 (or, But Asian Girls Wear Red)

I may not be as strong as I think,
but I know many tricks and I have resolution.

―Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

I don’t do red.

The last item of red clothing I owned was in 1989 from a store called Deb. It was a slimcut button down shirt that was cut high on the sides. It was part of an outfit on the mannequin in the window, and my mother bought me the cropped black blazer with fringe and paperbag-waist acid wash jeans the mannequin was also sporting.

I’m not sure who could carry that outfit off, other than an optimally proportioned store mannequin with no head and a whole lotta sass. Not the wholesome tween star of a sitcom, but perhaps her wisecracking, fashion-adventurous, morally questionable best friend. It was a hot mess on this 13-year-old gawky, coltish, flat-chested beanpole.

Actually, I wasn’t even a beanpole. I was still really short then.

ANYWAY, I never bought anything red after that. OTHER people used to buy me red all the time, and I wouldn’t wear their gifts, and they would ask why, and I would say, “I don’t do red.”

“What? But Asian girls wear red.”

Sigh. I have no idea where this concept comes from or why people say such things but count me out.

I know red is a power color, it signifies passion and strength and confidence, and fashion mags and well-meaning reality shows are always encouraging red for these reasons. I always saw those same reasons as more evidence I don’t do red. When I think power and passion and strength and confidence I don’t think of me.

And yet.

I’m a big believer in dressing up. I think you alter your movements and your moods to fill the shoes, so to speak. When I’m not feeling well I put on makeup and I feel better. My new thing is when I don’t feel like doing a chore I put on high heels and a party dress. Put on a smile, and studies show you’ll actually feel happier. And changing into badass fitness gear and gathering up my high-tech accessories, I’m ready to be an athlete. Fitness is my sport.

So, admittedly I was a little eh when I pulled the CrossFit Racer Long Bra Top out of the box Reebok sent me. RED. And tops with built-in bras don’t usually work on me since I don’t, strictly speaking, need the support.

You know what? Sometimes it’s really, really nice to get random things to try out. Because I never in a million years would have given this top a second glance, it’s not “my style,” and it’s now one of my absolute favorites.

It’s a flattering length. It holds in what it should. It covers what it needs to. It’s soft and the seams aren’t noticeable. It doesn’t move during a workout. Afterwards I still look pretty neat and fresh, but when I take the shirt off it tends to be soaked on the inside. It does an incredible job of wicking away the sweat so it doesn’t interfere.

It’s like zen in tank top form.

And I think I look pretty damn good in it. Even if my back has gone a little soft these past few months… I’ll get to work on that.

Look at that. Maybe Asian girls do wear red.

And maybe I do feel powerful. And strong. And confident. And passionate.

Some of that is the top. And some of that is just me. I grew up. I grew.

Dang it, why was I letting a 13-year-old girl call the shots?

________________________________________________

You may have noticed I didn’t do any New Year’s Resolution posts.

They’re coming.

I wrote some, and then I had some serious revelations on New Year’s Day, as I ran alone for 8.5 miles, the longest run I’ve ever done (by a lot. Like, 3.5 miles). One of which being the fact that I still make decisions influenced by the fears and insecurities I held as a kid.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, but mainly in 2013 I think I’ll be doing.

I’m ready to get after it this year. You?

Any ideas where the whole “Asian girls wear red” thing comes from?

________________________________________

Update:

I just googled “Asian girls wear red” and I came up with pretty much NADA. So quite possibly this is just a very weird coincidence, as I know at least half a dozen people have said this to me. Possibly just to get my goat after I didn’t wear the gifts they gave me after being scarred by dubious late 80s fashion.

January 5, 2013
Giveaway: #GetAfterIt Reebok Tees (5 winners)

If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else,
it will spread into your work and into your life.

There are no limits.

There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there,

you must go beyond them.

–Bruce Lee

I’m looking back at this year and I’ve done a lot. It doesn’t feel like it, but I have.

I got on a plane. All by myself.

That may not sound like much, but to a girl who has been vaguely agoraphobic all her life it’s the equivalent of backpacking solo around the world.

I ran a fun mud run. And then a timed 5k the day after.

I ran the Color Run with my family. And I talked dozens of friends into joining us (and thousands of other colorful runners).

I ran another mud run that was pretty grueling. I was filled with accomplishment that I had done something that was so hard for me…. and enjoyed every moment of it. I’ve run a bunch more 5ks since then, and plan to run 13 races (stepping out of my 5k comfort zone) next year.

I was recognized by BlogHer as a Voice of the Year, for the most difficult post I’ve ever written. A post that was zero craft, zero technique, but just me trying to understand.

I modeled, for the camera and the runway. I’ve actually done this before, as a kid, and it did such a number on my body image that I’ve avoided mirrors, cameras and trying to look “pretty” ever since. (I have no problem looking like an idiot on camera. You see those shots here all the time.) I admittedly felt dumb and self-conscious and out of place, but I managed to keep the self-loathing to a minimum.

I entered and won a photography contest, and my photo was placed in the Picaboo calendar given to each attendee of the Type A Conference.

I split the driving to Type A, by the way. All the way to Charlotte and back. Have I mentioned I hate driving, especially when I don’t know where I am? I didn’t crash or anything. And then I went and mingled with people I didn’t know. I even captained a team for a danceoff. That’s crazy! Robin pre-2012 would never have done such a thing.

photo credit to Sarah

Hey! I lost a lot of weight. I gained some muscle. And I wrote about it in a place where people would actually see it.

I coached basketball.

I did some videos. I talked about some hard stuff to talk about in a couple of them.

I helped grow FitFluential into the company it is today: with over 800 Ambassadors, 7000 members, 26K Twitter followers, 12K Facebook fans and catapulting into 2013 at breakneck speed. Being part of a startup with only 5 employees is tense work with long hours, and it has been worth it for this moment, looking back and seeing how far we’ve come. (Kelly Olexa is a powerhouse.)

And now I’m learning to swim. The decision to sign up and show up was terrifying; right now it’s very frustrating. But I have no doubt that sometime soon, I will be able to move through the water without touching the bottom. Without drowning.

It has been a year of stepping out of my comfort zone, and as a result I’m stronger in every way: mentally, emotionally, physically. And the best part about that is knowing I’m being a role model to my girl… she knows no limits to her abilities now, and I hope that her age, her gender, her insecurities never get in her way.

2013 better hold on to its hat.

GIVEAWAY!

I want to know how you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone and grown this year! And how you plan to take 2013 by storm.

Reebok sent me a few #getafterit shirts to give away. These tees are emblazoned with the #getafterit logo in Vitamin C orange to give your workouts a shot of energy I get a lot of “I like your shirt!” when I wear mine to the gym. My hope is that maybe some of those people check out the #getafterit hashtag on Twitter and tweet out their own accomplishments after a cathartic sweatfest.

I have 2 of these in size medium, and three in large, so there will be FIVE winners in all.

Just follow the directions in the Rafflecopter widget. Here’s to a fierce December… and a 2013 to remember.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

December 2, 2012
Gonna #GetAfterIt All Year Long, Friends.

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.

–Thomas Edison

Hey, remember when I posted about green issues all the time? I do. And I still want to, but it’s hard for me to discern what people want to read about. I feel like we’ve hit a wall of “as green as we gonna be” without making the investment in solar panels or an electric car, and that I’ve talked those “little steps” to death. As we hurtle into the Christmas season, I can pick up some slack by sharing some eco-friendly gift ideas, but rounding the corner into 2013 I’m going to have to think through where I want this blog to go. Any input is appreciated

Lately, my life mainly revolves around work and my attempts to whip my health into shape. I’m still running; I’ve just started following the training plan for a half marathon. Not that I have a specific half in mind that I’m training toward (although I do have my eye on the Disney World Princess Half), but because it feels easier to have rules and instructions. Week before last, I ran 4.5 miles, and I’m pretty sure that’s the first time in my life I’ve ever done that. This past Sunday I ran five.

I didn’t want to. My knee has been bugging me— just the one, not both like years past. I did it anyway because it was on my schedule. I got about .18 miles before I really wanted to stop; I felt all gimpy, I wasn’t fully extending my right leg and the stride on my left was weird as it compensated. I told myself I’d do a mile.

I felt OK after a mile so I figured I’d go 5k.

At 5k I thought, well, hell, I’m more than halfway there. I’ll go four miles and walk the last mile.

And at four miles my knee finally relaxed and the last mile was cake.

I wasn’t watching the time and I thought I took the whole thing pretty slow. I was wrong, apparently. I finished with an overall pace about the same as my 3 mile runs.

Is this boring? I’m sorry. It’s thrilling to me, the idea that I went out there and did it anyway. I’m winning the mental game. And the knowledge that sticking with it even when I wanted to stop, loosened that knee up so I could run comfortably? Mind blowing.

The next day I went to my second swim class.

The first class was hugely humbling and vaguely humiliating. The instructor has me show her how I would swim “if I could” and afterwards she laughed and said, “Wow. You really have no idea what you’re doing.” Yes, darling. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I said, “I don’t know how to swim. I’ve never really tried and I don’t particularly like being in the water.”

It’s exhausting. I’m working muscles that have been lying dormant, my lower back aches as I try to keep my legs up. I feel like I can only remember one thing at a time: kick, stroke, breathe.

It’s exhilarating. I’ve been afraid my whole life. I’m still afraid, but I’m out there. I’m doing it.

I’ve been mocked for not knowing how to swim my whole life. Sat on the edge of the pool or waited on the beach while everybody else went off without me. Being excluded doesn’t smart any less as you grow older.

Soon I’ll know how to swim, and then I’ll work to do better. Faster. Stronger. I’ll never be as good a swimmer as those who have done it all their lives, who don’t even remember learning, but I’ll always be better than I was just two weeks ago.

Between the five mile run and the swim class my legs were trash Tuesday, so I rested up. Yesterday I tried to get 3 miles in, but my muscles were still way stiff and sore. I hit 1.8 before the sun dipped behind the trees and I called it a day.

This, too, is a huge step forward. I may not have hit my goal distance, but I put the sneaks on and I tried. I was tired and I needed a break— and I took it, going to bed earlier than usual. HUGE STEP FORWARD. I know the sleep will only help me do better next time.

I think I’m going to start adding in more yoga to help build up my core for swimming, and to help me stretch and relax those muscles after.

I want to find something fun to look forward to each week. Tap class, mayhaps? Rock climbing?

I’m going to keep racing through the cold months for objective feedback on my progress. And I’m totally signing up for a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving so I can eat with impunity. Self-help magazines be damned, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I’m gonna eat it up.

I’m taking my vitamins, drinking my protein shakes, eating regularly. It’s dumb that I have to list those as achievements, but they are so I am.

I feel like my health is something I’m transforming instead of something that just happens, that I have to accept and shape my life around.

For the first time since I started blogging in 2008, I’m not dreading the winter ahead. The months of being trapped indoors waiting for fair weather to return. I know I’ll keep running through the cold and it will suck. But it will get me outside. It will keep my spirits alive.

I’m just getting warmed up.

Do Vitamin C shoelaces help?

They sure do. I never thought I’d be that person who wore neon bright sneakers— in fact I would search high and low for plain black kicks that didn’t draw attention to my giantess feet— but these guys make me feel cheerful. See those “sticky” grey treads? They’re great for quick off the line sprints, for the fast changes in direction on the basketball court (I would often slip in my old Pumas, which admittedly were past their prime, but embarrassing all the same when you’re coaching tween boys), for the machines at the gym. Comfy and flexible and crazy light: when they arrived, I had no idea the package had shoes inside, it was so light.

They’re Reebok RealFlex Fusion TRs. Check this video on RealFlex technology, it’s pretty neat:

Fun fact: I first wore these shoes to go vote on Election Day, and Instagrammed a photo with the hashtag #BokTheVote. I thought Jeff was going to wriggle out of his skin in embarrassment for me.

Sweatshirts with thumbholes help too. Grey and black sweatshirts over tank tops are pretty much my standard uniform through the cold months. Most of mine are hand-me-downs from my husband or brother, so they’re big and frumpy. I’ve created my own thumbholes in a lot of them where the sleeve meets the wristband, which is comfy but admittedly looks a little… I don’t know… sloppy. I don’t know what it is that makes thumbholes so satisfying; it’s not like I usually go around marveling at how cold my wrists are. I think I just like the comfort of sleeves that aren’t too short, and it’s nice to have that in a sweatshirt that isn’t also huge and formless.

Thumbholes up!

This is the Reebok Play Dry Jacket (but really it’s a sweatshirt, dangit). It has a lot of flexibility and is surprisingly warm for how streamlined it is. You know how I hate when my clothes are too grabby; this is flatteringly form-fitting without me feeling tight in my man-shoulders. It comes in (modern) blue and pink (excuse me, aubergine) too, for those of you who don’t wear grey like it’s your signature color.

man shoulders

So that’s my big secret to getting out the door. Put the gear on. Hear your husband and kids say, “Oh, going running? To the gym?” It makes it about 1000x harder to wuss out.

Want a chance to win some Reebok gear of your own?

I’m co-hosting a Twitter chat (using the @FitFluential handle) with @Reebok TONIGHT at 9pm EST. We’re going to be talking about ways to #getafterit through the holiday season. And FIVE randomly-drawn, super-lucky chatters will win a $100 Reebok gift card to choose some gear that puts a smile on their face, a spring in their step and their ass out the door.

More details if you need ’em here.

Disclosure: I received the shoes and jacket shown here free of charge for review purposes through my work at FitFluential. All opinions my own.

November 15, 2012