And the winner is... (plus, a fitness test.)

Congrats, Jenny! Random.org selected YOU to be my winner. You will absolutely love your subscription to Oxygen. I can't wait for you to get your first issue! To all of my other readers, don't despair if you didn't win. All things Oxygen can be found online, so you don't have to miss a beat. Or bicep curl. Or healthy recipe. Or cardio blast.

Speaking of cardio. As I tore another page off my calendar this morning, I realized very quickly that in one month I will be running the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago. I'm not worried about the five miles, but I've set a few goals for myself—hello, pressure! To refresh, I wish to either A) run it in my Vibrams, or B) run it in under 40 minutes. Needless to say, I've been crankin' on the treadmill. This past weekend, I ran four miles in my Vibrams in 35 minutes and 30 seconds. That times out to be an 8-minute and 30-second mile. Concerning in terms of my 40-minute goal, but on the other hand, I did add another mile to my FiveFingers fun. So that's good. On Tuesday, back in my regular shoes, I cranked up the speed and ran 3 miles at an 8-minute pace. If I can keep that up for two more miles, we could be good in terms of goal B). We'll see how it goes this weekend. I'm due for a run today, but finally have a window in my schedule that will allow me to spin again, so I'm taking full advantage of this opportunity to cross train.

Now that the weather is starting to cooperate, I am sure that many of you are finding yourself back out on the roads and sidewalks instead of on the treadmill. As a result, you  might be encountering more hills than you're used to. (Although I hope you're playing with the incline a bit on the t-mill.) Just remember to keep your pace consistent up those hills. It sounds tough, but if you shorten your stride a bit, you'll be able to keep on keepin' on. And if it feels like you can't, just remind yourself that every hill is followed by one of two things: flat road, or a downhill.

Of course, you want to keep up with your strength training, too. Cardio combines well with weights, it's really the truth. And it never hurts to see just how strong you've become. For instance, you can test your upper body by performing a pushup test. All you have to do is see how many pushups you can do before your muscles fatigue. Well, you also have to make sure your pushups are done correctly. Otherwise—they don't count! This means that your nose must come close to the ground. And ladies, your test should be performed on your knees per ACE. Yes, even if you can do them like the boys.

Compare your resulting number to the appropriate chart below, originally published in my ACE Manual.

There are a number of other fitness tests you can do, too. But since it isn't finals week, I figured one would be enough for today. Give it a shot! And stay tuned...I've got another quick giveaway lined up for tomorrow! It's still my blog birthday month, after all. Get excited!

Question: How many pushups were you able to do? And if you run in Vibrams, how far can you go? Talk to me! I love hearing from you!