Happy Friday everyone! What a week. I don’t know how your past seven days have been, but over here in Fit Crasher land…let’s just say I’m ready to shake things off, put my feet up, and raise a glass of something green (grapes are green, right?) to the high holy weekend.
Quite a few fun things came across my radar this week and I thought it’d be fun to give you a little rundown.
Let’s begin!
Welly Bottle //
My friend Amanda introduced me to this awesome Kickstarter campaign – thanks lady!
The Welly Bottle is a water container that filters your hydration on the go. While this concept isn’t new, the sleek canteen design with bamboo accents really caught my eye and made me take a second look.
Another thing to love? The product was created in tribute to the designer’s mother Elly, who passed away from liver cancer a few years ago. After seeing the impact toxins and other contaminants had on his mother’s failing health, he wanted to do something about removing harmful substances from the one thing we all consume daily – water.
And as a tribute to his mother’s love for helping others, $1 from every Welly Bottle sold will be donated to charity:water, where 100% of the donations go directly toward funding clean water projects around the world.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Welly Bottle, you can visit their website or their Kickstarter Campaign here.
fitBallet //
When I fit crashed fitallet in December, I was instantly smitten. It’s a fantastically sweaty mix of classical ballet, barre, and boot camp. Kind of like going to an adult ballet class with burpees and squat jumps thrown in for “fun.”
If your definition of fun includes delayed onset muscle soreness.
Julie and her team have since expanded and set up shop in a studio downtown. It’s a traditional old-school dance studio with a boho-chic feel. There are big beautiful windows looking out over the skyline, potted green plants dotting the windowsills, walls with floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and worn wooden barres lining whitewashed walls. Even with zero dance experience, it’s one of those places you walk into and instantly feel more legit.
So why am I telling you this?
Well dear crashers, in the five months since I took my last class, fitBallet has somehow taken its game from awesome to freaking awesome. The sequences are more fluid. The moves are more diverse. The playlist is more bumping. The roster of instructors is sparkling. And classes now involve weights – because doing plié squats en pointe just wasn’t hard enough.
I’m a huge fan.
Side note: fitBallet is hosting an NYC Fit Week class at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. It’s an awesome way to sweat for a great cause. Check it out!
Brooklyn Half Marathon //
Is next weekend. Holy smokes, how did that sneak up so quickly? I’ll be sure to post a full race recap, but going into taper week, I’ve got a heavy case of the pre-race jitters. It might be the fact that I purchased new shoes and don’t think I love them. Or the fact that I still have not found the perfect pair of running shorts. Or (wait for it) the forecast…which calls for rain on Saturday.
Womp. Womp.
Sweating On The Go //
Knowing that the “studios with no showers” struggle is real here in NYC, the folks at Goodwipes sent me a few samples of their deodorizing body wipes to try. They came in the nick of time, as I had to somehow squeeze four miles of speedwork and a dinner date into the same sweaty evening on Wednesday.
The wipes smell like cooling eucalyptus and are a bit textured to help wipe way any grime and grease. They’re big enough to use over your whole body, and biodegradable so you can toss them without worrying about clogging up the environment.
First impression: they work enormously well. They didn’t stop my projectile sweating, but they made me smell nice and helped cool me off as I sprinted from treadmill to dinner. I am keeping a few in my gym bag and purse for any and all future sweaty emergencies.
Full disclosure: I wasn’t paid to review this product, and there are many similar ones on the market. But the samples I received did the trick, I thought they were great, so I’m sharing to spread the good word!