Why Nike+? My top 4 Reasons.

I use Nike+. I'm a HUGE advocate of Nike+. (And no, not just because I was an Ambassador for their Nike+ Human Race!)

Here my top 4 Reasons why I'm a HUGE advocate:
  1. Motivation - The little Nike+ device is a huge motivation. Just having my SportBand on makes me want to be better! 
  2. Community - Just like "It's Where I Run" and many other sites intend to build a following or a community, Nike+ does so as well. And they are very good at it! Once you are a Nike+ user you can join Challenges (like the ones I've created) and "Trash Talk." It builds your character (as long as your "trash talk" is all in good, competitive fun) and builds the online Nike+ community. You belong. 
  3. Goals - Nike+ gives you a way and a reason to make and achieve goals. You can decide whatever goal you want to achieve and then create a Challenge to work towards/achieve that goal. You'll never want to give up! 
  4. Passion - Nike has Passion. We can see it through Nike+. I believe that if you have Passion anything is possible. When I find something like Nike+ that gives me more passion, I adopt it! It's as simple as that!
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If you are not already a part of the Nike+ Running community, here is how you can be:
  1. Join Nike+
  2. Get the Gear
  3. Sync Your First Run
Then, 

  1. Get Yourself Some Nike+ Friends (My Nike+ Username is: SarahKayHoffman OR jewi0008@yahoo.com - feel free to add me!)
  2. Create a Challenge
  3. "Hire" a Nike+ Coach 
  4. Discuss Nike+ via Forums

Questions, comments, etc? Leave a comment! Happy Running Today!

Holiday Metabolism "Rev"

There are so many days when I could just run and run and run. I'm sure most of you could agree. 

However, did you know that doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) will  burn more calories and help you lose more fat? To learn all about it, click HERE.

Therefore, I have just created a Nike+ Challenge that will help us get more of these workouts in from now until the end of the year. Here is the Nike+ Challenge description: 

Looking to "rev" your metabolism for the Holidays and keep it constantly going to maximize caloric burn? High Intensity Intervals "rev" the metabolism a ton! Let's work on interval training and speed work until the end of the year! How fast can you get your 10K?!

 

Click HERE to join the Challenge! 
 

I hope you have fun with this - I know I will!

It's Where I Run: Central Connecticut

I live in central Connecticut.
 
This run was on Wednesday, November 4th early in the morning.

It's an easy 5K route in our neighborhood.


Early morning start!

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Heading down our street.

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There is an industrial park at the end of our street---pretty crazy.   I can make some loops in all of the parking lots to add a little extra mileage in my runs.

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More industrial park. This is a dead end--one of my favorite roads to get an easy .75 mile added onto any run.

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This is the turn around spot at the dead end road.

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At the end of the dead end looking up the little hill to the street we live on.

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Heading up another small hill to get into our neighborhood.

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Down our street. Beautiful, quiet morning.

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Uh oh! Past our house. We had a big branch fall on Halloween night. Sad for us to be loosing this whole tree next week.

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Past our house and going up another hill at the other end of our block.

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This looks nice now, but watch out! Drivers often speed on this road and is often  the most risky part of my runs.

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Venturing into the next block over. The moon was still up.

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Biggest hill workout I've ever done. It continues around the corner.....uff da.!

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The views from the top of the ridge.

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Sunny view. Good morning, sunshine!

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I was taking in the scenery.

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Gorgeous.

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Finally made it through this block and I get to enjoy the downhill. If you look closely, you can see the windy road that takes me back down to the risky road.

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Turning the corner back onto our street.

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Coasting down the hill to get right around the corner to our home.

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Back home! Looks like we'll be raking leaves this afternoon.....

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Nike+ Username: kkbs15
IT'S WHERE I RUN.

Nike+ Challenge - We'll Get Through the Holidays

I think we are READY! I'm so excited! I have just created a Nike+ Challenge that will take us up through the end of the year. Here's the deal:
Did you know that the average person gains 5-7lbs during the holidays? Let's not be that statistic! Pipers fight on with PASSION from now until the end of the year, when we'll set our NEW YEAR'S GOALS! Get your 80+ miles in.....you can do it! I KNOW IT!
 

Click HERE to join the Challenge!

Have fun!

(Never) Forgetting Sarah Kay

As promised, a little more about me (in case you are new to the Pied Pipers "arena"):

I am happy, healthy and madly in love with my husband, dogs and life.

I am extremely passionate about Social Media and Marketing, and you can typically learn everything you want to know about me through my Social Media utters.

I am on a lifelong journey to inspire, motivate and lead - hopefully all virtually, so that I can reach an infinite amount of people!

I am very passionate about food and fitness and (more importantly) about health through nutrition.

My life in a collage would look similar to this: My wonderful husband, Ryan. Our two "babies" - The Peekepoo, Fiona and The Great Dane, Reagan (or Ms. Rae.). My Mom. My Dad. My Brother, JJ. My entire extended family - because it's so large! My Mother-in-Law. My Father-in-Law. My Brother-in-Law. My Sister-in-Law. My 3 Godchildren. All of my extended in-law family. Running. Weights. Nutrition. Health. Fitness. A great cup of coffee. Simple things. Yoga. Zen. Color. Black & White. The Mountains. The Ocean. Windmills. Rolling Hills. Writing. Work. Marketing. Business. Entrepreneurship. Country Music. Singing Country Music. Minnesota. God. Life. Art. Wine. Flowers. The Sun. Love. Smiling. Words. Travel. Anthropology Candles. PASSION.

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Featured Writer

I hope you are as excited about the endless possibilities of Virtual Running together as I am!

If you would like to be a Featured Writer on this Blog, please do the follow for consideration:

Email me as much of the following information as possible:
  • The actual running route
  • Approximate or exact distance
  • Country, state, city, location of where this run is
  • Pictures of the route - taken while you are running
  • Time of the year
  • Climate
  • Recommendation (s) for route - thumbs up, thumbs down, indifferent, etc.?
  • Suggestion (s) (ex. Not suggested after dark, watch out for deer)
  • Tips
  • Anything else you think is relevant and/or facts about the place/fun things, etc.
  • Pictures - to capture the "setting." (Pictures tell stories!)
If you have something you'd like to contribute other than a Running Route, please email me in detail what you would like to contribute. I will then review it and decide it it's something the entire Community can benefit from.

Thank you and good luck! We look forward to having your great content on the Website!

It's Where I Run

WELCOME!

Chances are you are here because you were either:

a. A Pied Piper for the 2009 Nike+ 10K Human Race OR
b. You decided post-race that you wanted to share in the Pied Piper passion moving forward OR
c. You are ready to make a change for yourself

No matter who you are or how you got here - WELCOME!

My name is Sarah Kay Hoffman. I was the Pied Piper Team Leader for the 2009 Nike+ 10K Human Race, and now I am just someone who isn't ready to let that spirit die or the passion fade! If you are not familiar with who I am, I will share much more about myself in an upcoming posting.

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So what exactly is "It's Where I Run?"

I have connected with so many people worldwide in the past few months with the Nike Human Race. For me, the experience was incredible. It was amazing to see how different we all are & how diverse a group we were. Yet, we all had two things in common: Passion & Running. I was well aware of the running routes I would do daily. I was even well aware of some running routes others did. But 99% of the routes people did, I could not even imagine!

And so I wondered, "What if I had to go to Connecticut for a weekend? Where would I run? What would I see? What would be the most fun route?" And so on and so on - so many things came in and out of my head.

I thus fell onto the idea, "It's Where I Run." Running will virtually connect us all because running and our passion for health/fitness will connect us all, no matter where in the world we are. We can build an online, virtual community where we share our runs with each other and build a database of runs so that if and when I go to Connecticut (or anywhere else in the world for that matter) for a weekend I can come here and find a run and/or runs that others have done in Connecticut.

My hope is that each person's run I "feature" on my Blog, will contain some, most or all of the following:
  • The actual running route
  • Approximate or exact distance
  • Country, state, city, location of where this run is
  • Pictures of the route - taken while you are running
  • Time of the year
  • Climate
  • Recommendation (s) for route - thumbs up, thumbs down, indifferent, etc.?
  • Suggestion (s) (ex. Not suggested after dark, watch out for deer)
  • Tips
  • Anything else you think is relevant and/or facts about the place/fun things, etc.
  • Pictures - to capture the "setting." (Pictures tell stories!)
Finally, this will be a place for INSPIRATION, MOTIVATION and DEDICATION! If you were a Pied Piper, you know that I believe those three words day-in and day-out.

I will set up Nike+ Challenges to get us moving, keep us going and ensure we stay inspired - motivated - dedicated!

I have three keys to success: "One, work hard. Two, be your own person. And three, have a passion for what you're doing."

WELCOME!