Zyia Mail and Cherry Blossoms

I love mail days! I ordered some shorts from Zyia and they just arrived. I've never been a very big shorts person. I don't like the way my legs look in them, and since I've got thicker thighs they always ride up. I prefer to wear knee length skirts and capri's during the summer. Well since I've started being a representative for Zyia, I figured I should try out some of their shorts so that I could review them for my customers. I ordered the Sky Blue Club shorts and the Black Canyon shorts. I ordered both pair in my jogger size which is an XL (comparable to a 12-14).

These Sky Blue Club shorts were my favorite of the two. In person they look periwinkle. They are soft and feel like they'd be great near the water. I think they'll be perfect for the beach, hiking, boating. The waist actually fit me (in most clothes I get a gap in the back from having a small waist and big hips).  

The Black Canyon shorts were okay. They fit exactly like my joggers - snug in the butt/hips/thighs, and that's not quite how I was expecting them to fit. Sizing up one more might help them have a looser fit. They were comfortable! Just as comfortable as my joggers. The material reminds me of my cozy joggers and will probably be pet friendly. 

I will probably wear both of these shorts at some point around the house, but I'm not sure if I'll wear them anywhere else. That's just a personal preference thing though. I'd recommend both pairs to anyone who likes shorts. 

Today was my daughters Girls on the Run Heart and Sole run club. I co-coach with two other wonderful ladies. My job is to lead all the runs and cooldown portions. It's a great "job" and I love it. I wish I could get paid to do it! Coaching kids how to run is one of my most favorite things to do. After our run club my family went to Red Wing Park to see the Cherry Blossoms. 

One of the things I miss about Japan is how they embrace and celebrate the changing of the seasons. Everything in Japan right now is covered in cherry blossoms. Every store has it on display, food is shaped like the leaf, it's just everywhere and it's amazing. The park here in Virginia Beach, has a sister city in Japan so they've got a Japanese garden and an area they call Sakura Lane. Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom. I am so glad we found this park! Sakura season is my absolute favorite time of year in Japan, and now I have it here! I thought I'd share some photos from today. Enjoy!

Fri-day Run-Day

Good Morning! Happy Friday! I started my morning off with a run, and now I'm feeling really great. It's been quite some time since I've had a consistent running schedule that I've followed. I hope to change that now!

I know for certain that I'm not a Barre Blend fan on Beachbody. I don't mind the occasional yoga/pilates stretch, but I'm just not a fan of it every day. I had so many people recommend the program, and I'm glad I gave it a go, but I know that if I tried to continue with it I'd lose my momentum that I've created over the last several months. Exercise is not punishment, and Barre Blend, to me, felt like I was punishing myself for tweaking my knee.

I followed the Couch to 5k - C25K - program for my run this morning. I've always been a fan of interval running, and it's especially important for me right now with it being awhile since I've ran and with my knee and foot. Both my knee and foot felt great! However, I know that I need to take care of both of them to prevent an actual injury. So, I followed my run with yoga. Yes, I just got done saying I was done with Barre Blend, but this is different! lol

Beachbody has a yoga section on the Beachbody on Demand app. In it there is a video called "Yoga for Runners." It's led by Ted, and I love Ted! He's fantastic. I wish he had more videos for runners. It's just what my legs needed after todays run. I feel great now! Ready to get this day started!!

Tomorrow I will lead the running portion of my daughters Girls on the Run group, besides that I'm not sure what I'll get into this weekend. I need to pick a new program, but I'm still undecided. I'm leaning towards a strength one and LIIFT 4 looks great. I could do his lifting program four days a week and run on the other days. Although one run day will have to be on a lifting day, as rest days are important and I'll need at least one true day off. I'll keep you posted!

Update Time

 It's been such a long time since I've taken a moment to write down my thoughts. We arrived back in America in August of 2020. We purchased our very first home and are still getting settled into our new area. Over the last few weekends we've been busy digging up the yard planting trees and flowers.

I started selling Zyia Activewear in February 2021. I greatly enjoy representing a brand that I love and wear all the time. It's been a pretty great experience for me so far.

I've started making taking care of myself a priority. I've been doing home workouts on Beachbody on Demand. I'm currently four days into Barre Blend and I absolutely hate it - ha! It's incredibly boring to me. I was on round two of mbf and I tweaked my knee so I had to switch to something more low impact. I do like yoga, pilates, and dancing, but I do not like doing them every. single. day. I need a change.

I haven't ran consistently in a few years. My foot always seems to start acting up once I get into a rhythm. I've been doing several walking challenges. I completed an "I Am Enough" 100 mile challenge already this year and I recently started a 46 mile challenge to hike Mt Fuji.

In February I also signed up for NASM's personal training certification course. I'm a little over halfway through the program and enjoy it immensely. It was a huge step for me, but it's something I've talked about doing for so long. I'm excited to see where this new journey takes me.

With all these changes I figured I should come up with a "brand" name. Something that represents me and that I can carry with me on my journey while I sell Zyia and wherever my training certification takes me. After several days and many names, I settled on Patchworked Sole. It just spoke to me. There is something about it that brings me joy. I imagine a quilt full of the squares of my life. To me it's poetic and beautiful. Ultimately, how it speaks to me is truly what matters.

This image is a photo of a quilt that I made with pieces of my journey "stitched" in:

One more thing I've been up to lately is I started coaching run club again. My daughter wanted to run, so I signed her up for Girls on the Run in our area. They needed coaches so I'm one of three coaches for her team. I lead the run portion of all their runs. I absolutely love teaching kids how to run. It's so much fun! When I signed up for my NASM certification I also signed up for their Sports Performance and Youth Sports certification courses. I'm not sure where it'll all lead, but I'm loving the journey!

That's all for now! I hope to get back into blogging more regular now. Stay tuned!