Monday Motivation – Progress Is Progress

Lots of my friends who start running or exercising are often ashamed about where they start. They feel bad about themselves for starting at their own level 1 and not being able to jump right in to where everybody else seems to be.
With all the instant gratification that our world swims in today, it can be discouraging to experience some things (like exercise) where the desired end results are not immediately reached after day one.
Don’t give up! Keep going. I starts small – doing one more pushup than the day before, running half a mile more than the last run, not being as out of breath at the end of the week. I promise though, you’ll get there, wherever “there” is for you. Progress is progress. Don’t short change yourself. Take pride in the achievements you do acquire and use them as motivation for your next goal!
Don’t be afraid or have shame about moving forward slowly. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Instead, have fear for standing still and not wanting or trying to progress.
You got this.
Go punch today in the face.

Training, New Gear and Ultra Motivation

I FINALLY signed up for my very first ultra marathon.

I pressed, “Submit and Pay”

Huge amounts of “This is gonna be SO AMAZING! Super excited!”

And, “What the hell was I thinking?!”

Good news – the ultra is at the beginning of December and the race is at sea level. Totally helped calm my sliver of “I’m an idiot.” Training at home will be great. I live at an elevation of 4,700ft and majority of my trail runs start at 5,000ft and head up to 11,000ft, so I figure that’ll help with my endurance.

Even so, as my piano teacher always said, “perfect practice equals perfect performance.” This past week – training week numero uno – was fun. Really! I like running, especially when I get new gear that I’ve been waiting for!

• Monday – 6mi
• Tuesday – yoga
• Wednesday – 8mi (with my new Ultimate Direction hydration pack-the Wink. Though it wasn’t my first choice from their collection, it’s one of the only ‘women’ packs they’ve got and it’s great! Lots of zip pockets for stashing gels, bars, phones, toilet paper, whatever. The pack stays up on your shoulders/back and does’t bounce around. The S-shaped straps make it a great fit for women. Highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking)
• Thursday – taught bootcamp, circuits and did TRX with some running buddies
• Friday – 12mi at a steady pace (ran with my Wink pack again. New product today was ENERGYbits as an alternative to GU or Clif Blocks for energy. I did the mistake of smelling them before taking them-they’re made with Algae, so they don’t exactly smell appetizing. Once you get past the smell though, they’re a great, natural and healthy boost to be used before/during your runs. Check them out here.
• Saturday – 8mi with the last 2 miles as sprint drills. Followed this one up with yoga for runners. If you don’t do yoga and you run, YOU NEED TO DO YOGA. It’s not just for granolas or women – guys, if you want to improve your game you seriously need to get in on this!
• Sunday – rest day! Woot! Every single athlete needs a day to rest their body to recoup for running the next week. I’ll probably go on a walk, stretch, maybe some yoga, and do mental prep.

It may not seem like I’m doing a ton. Trust me, for where I am now, I’m right where I want to be. Each week I’ll add mileage, hills, sets/drills and change up the elevation that I run at. December is a few months away and though my ultimate goal for the ultra marathon is to survive (when you think about it…I’m pretty sure those who run ultras never ask you what your time was but they just ask you if you finished), I’m doing everything I can now so that when race day comes I can not only survive but kill the course without killing myself 🙂

Every now and then, on long runs or when little thoughts of doubt start to bleed into my mind, I’ll whip out motivational quotes I’ve collected on my phone. They’re not always the pep talk kind of quote, just something that’ll keep me going. Here’s my favorite from this week – so great:

 

8 Running Tips For Beginners

After some encouragement, a few friends have agreed to go for a run with me. I asked them back in March and they’re finally agreeing. Their responses were always:

That’s so cool that you run – I can’t do that.

Ugh, I don’t know how you can stand to run!

I’m not good at it! I don’t even know where to start!

I don’t set track records; I don’t conquer the newest & longest race; my name isn’t known in the running realm. BUT that doesn’t mean that I’m not a runner. It does mean that I know what I want, I know how to work for it and I learn where my limitations are and how much I can push myself past them.

Wanna know the best part of that? YOU TOTALLY CAN, TOO!! I know, I know. Excellent news, right? Right!

Here are the basic tips I followed and loved when I first started to become a “runner.”

1) Just go do it – think Nike. Stop making excuses and stop saying that you need to FIND the time, because if you’re continuously looking for it, it’ll never show up. MAKE the time. Get out there. Walk out that door. Step on that treadmill. Just go.

2) Get fitted for running shoes – have a gait analysis. Learn why you need certain kinds of shoes and how having the wrong shoes & support can lead to injury.

3) When the going gets rough, don’t get frustrated! Everyone has their good and bad days with running. One ‘bad’ day doesn’t mean that you’ll never run more than a mile or that you fail at life so you should stop trying. DON’T STOP. Whatever you do, keep going and trust that it gets better (because it totally does).

4) Pace yourself – don’t start out too fast. Even though you may begin with tons of energy and therefore think you can go crazy at the beginning, you’ll wear yourself out quickly leading to physical defeat and ultimately emotional & mental defeat. Just don’t to it. Start out slow.

5) Know the rules of the road – can’t tell you how many bikers and runners I see who don’t know the basic rules for flow of traffic. If you’re a biker, you ride WITH traffic. If you’re a runner, you run AGAINST traffic. Got it? Good.

6) Find your motivation – quotes, songs, friends, family, your past, the hottie who just moved in next door, the future. Whatever it is, find it and let it help you reach your short term goals AND your long term goals. Sometimes music/quotes loose their luster. If that happens, it’s ok! Just find some new ones 🙂 There are a ton out there! Ask your friends or online sources for good recommendations.

7) Listen to your body – it’s a lot smarter than we give it credit for sometimes. It can tell when it’s “good pain” (the kind that you get when you’re progressing and pushing yourself in strength and stamina) and “bad pain” (the kind you shouldn’t push through). It can tell you if you’ve gone too far or if you can afford to speed up a little. Pay attention to the little signals it gives you along your way and then make sure that you take all the time you need for recovery! Don’t skip out on that goodness.

8) Have fun! It can be hard; it’ll make you sweat; your legs will turn to jello; your lungs will burn. It’s all totally worth it. Run with friends. Change where you go. Change up your music. If all of that looses its magic after a while, buy new workout clothes or shoes. Strange as it sounds, it helps! Especially because you’re more likely to go running if you feel good/attractive in your running clothes 🙂

So go out there and do it! You totally can. And the best part is that every day-every week-it’ll keep getting easier than it was before.

Monday Motivation – liquid awesome

It’s Monday. You either hate that it’s the start of a new week, love that it’s the start of a new week…or you don’t really care at all. The worst thing about a Monday? Finding the motivation for a morning workout. So what happens when you can’t get out of bed to do crossfit? Or your legs are “too tired” to go for a run?

Well, try these –

Remember this:

And this

And how much happier when you find your happy place before work

So put on your favorite workout clothes, brag about mileage, and strut your stuff

When you think you’ve gone far enough because your poor little feet hurt, remember this:

And when you worry about sweating before work, don’t forget:

And who doesn’t need more awesome? Get more awesome – be more awesome.

Wake up, stretch, pull on your running shoes and say:

Lazy Sundays

It’s not exactly what it sounds like. Sundays are my “day off” from exercising – no running; no TRX; no circuits {sometimes a little yoga in the morning}. Still, as every athlete knows,  you never really have a day off. Every day is an opportunity to better yourself and your game in some form – endurance workouts, agility training, core & upper body strengthening. 

With all of that, you DO need to take “time off” or days that you let your body rest so that it can replenish natural energy stores and repair tissue breakdown that happens during your workout. 

Because of that, I totally recommend a “lazy” day…but not lazy as in you lie around and do nothing. Lazy as in you just don’t do 50 sets of stairs each time you drink a glass of water. Instead, allow your body that rest time to recoup and improve your mental tactics for game day or race day. Being mentally and emotionally stable/prepared for races is just as important as being physically prepared.

There will be times when you’ll push yourself a little too hard at first and you’ll need your mind to carry you through the last few miles. If your mind isn’t in the game or you loose it half way though…well, you’re screwed. For real. 

Go for a walk

Appreciate nature

Find the beauty around you

Read uplifting quotes and books

Stretch {roll out your muscles if you need to}

Take deep breaths

Throw any negative thoughts about yourself from the past week into a huge bin of toxic waste that you’ll never pull them back out of again

When you can find yourself – where you are mentally and where your heart truly lies – your training and performance will increase. I guarantee it. 

So, please, take a lazy day. Saturday, Sunday, Thursday – whenever. Take it. Make the absolute most of your time that you can. Because even though you’re not physically working out, you’re still giving yourself a hell of a head start — believe that you will perform well; train with that belief; know that you will perform well because you’ll be more prepared on a wholesome level. Always believe that something amazing is going to happen and that you’re a big part of it. It’ll show when you bring your A-game. 

Thirsty Thursday-Beet the heat

Love me some delicious smoothies. Mmmm! Found this one a few days ago and I really liked it! Super easy to make – the one ingredient that I probably won’t always put in is the greek yogurt. Other than that, this is soooo good 🙂

• 1 small apple
• 1 banana
• 2 cups spinach 
• 1 cup kale
• 1/2 beet
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 8oz water
• fresh lime or lemon juice
• optional – ice (however much you want)
• add-ins – some I’ve used are maca root, honey, chia seeds, salt, coconut oil 

Blend together and then voilà! You’ve got a tasty shake to get you up and runnin’ in the morning, keep you going during the day or nourish your muscles after a good workout! Boom. 

Guess what day it is…

We’ve all see the commercial, right? Clever to have the camel walking through the office, loving the fact that Wednesday is also called ‘Hump Day.’ 

Ever made it to the middle of the week and things just drag? Either things at work take forever, everything feels like it’s going wrong or the clock doesn’t seem to change time AT ALL. 

It’s the worst when that happens! How do you get over it? How do you get past the actual hump of Hump Day? 

What usually really helps me is a good run on a new trail with a new friend, or trying a new activity. Things I’ve done lately to mix things up are kayak, roller blade (yes, yes…the 90’s are comin’ back), paddle board, rock climb and play tag. Tag. Seriously-kids don’t have a hard time realizing that exercise can be (and should be) fun.

BUT what do you do when you’re in a meeting or at work and don’t have hours to spend on new adventures? Well, when I’m at work and I don’t have of time for a huge break, these are my go-to things that help boost my energy and help me make it through one more day at the desk. It literally takes 5 minutes. One of the key things is to disconnect from any/all electronics. Difficult and totally possible! Take a friend, don’t take your phone. Spend 5 minutes NOT looking at any kind of screen – definitely a challenge everyone should take. Harmless, easy and fun 🙂

**if I’m ever feeling stressed about anything, I’ll do these as well. Totally helps put things into focus**

Now get out there and punch today in the face! 

Just say NO to crunches

Crunches aka crunch time. I’ve never liked them. All through jr high I loathed doing the 50+ crunches that we were assigned to do during our physical fitness tests. I probably didn’t like them because I wasn’t very good at them!

Now, years later, I still don’t like them. I can easily do 150+ but that has nothing to do with it – I just don’t support the use of crunches for ab strengthening. If you can do them correctly (and that’s a HUGE if) then I don’t mind them. The problem, though, is that majority of people don’t know how to do them the right way.

{image courtesy of thankyourbody.com}

My friend Robin wrote a post with 10 reasons to not do crunches. I love all of them, and you should TOTALLY read through them here: http://thankyourbody.com/do-not-do-crunches/

Here are 5 of them that I really agree with:

1) They wreak havoc on your spine – many instructors say to flatten your spine against the ground while doing crunches. Understandable, because it can protect you from injury but it can also train the back to stay that way. Your spine has curves for a reason and the absolute best core strengthening takes those curves into account and doesn’t compromise their natural shape.

2) Crunches focus on surface muscles instead of deep core muscles – because of this, your core will in actuality be less strong and stable than if you were to strengthen and develop your deep inner core muscles. It’s true, these are your “six pack” abs. If you want real strength to totally support your body in any form of motion, you’ve gotta go deeper.

3) They create poor posture – along with adding tension and pain in the neck, crunches reinforce the bad habits of tucking your butt under and holding in their abs, leading to slouching or sever kyphosis (hunchback). Crunches can all bring tension to your hips, leading to restriction in movement and possibly leading to hip/lower back injuries.

4) They’re boring – let’s face it, we’ve all thought that. And it’s because it’s true! The repetitiveness of crunches can be mundane, making it easy to not have your mind engaged in the exercise. Good core strengthening workouts keep your mind actively involved in what your body is doing which also aids in liking what you’re doing. And enjoying what you’re doing makes a HUGE difference.

5) Unless you do them right, they can be dangerous – like I said before, since the majority of people I’ve taught/see do them wrong. Though you can learn how to do them the correct way, there are so many other core strengthening workouts that are just as good if not better for you!

Some of my favorite ab strengthening exercises to teach my classes revolve around planks.

Mountain climbers, side planks, up-downs…all are great ways to build up that core strength.  Check out some of my favs here: https://onefoot2foot.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/plank-it-out/

Monday Motivation – Heart & Soul

Running is SO much more than just continuously moving your legs. I totally love this quote that my friend Tim shared with me.

Running or exercising for the sake of exercise is great – it can help manage/maintain your weight, keeps you feeling healthy and gets you outside.

However, the people who really get the most out of each workout are those who understand that running isn’t just about keeping a steady pace, adding miles or doing intervals. They know that for the absolute best results in any workout come from totally implementing your ENTIRE self – heart, mind and soul – into your running. Once you’re able to do that, the task is no longer mundane; the pain isn’t unbearable; the satisfaction upon finishing is so much sweeter…all because you are molding who you are and using that to directly improve your level of performance. If you want to change only your body, exercise. If you want to change your entire life, become a runner.

Thanks, Tim, for today’s motivational tip!

Scrumptious Saturday

One of my favorite dishes for summertime is a fresh salad. This one, in particular, I could eat every single day. I love it! Super easy to make AND it’s healthy 🙂 Win, win – right? Right. My favorite part of this salad? That I can walk into my garden and pick all of the ingredients that I need…everything except the quinoa, of course.

Summer Quinoa Salad
2 C quinoa (cook 2 cups)
green/yellow/red peppers
tomatoes
onion OR green onion
sliced olives
cucumber
yellow squash
zucchini
black beans (drain and rinse in strainer)
cilantro
corn (I don’t always put this in)
sea salt
pepper
oil (about 1/4 C)
rice vinegar (about 1/3 C)
juice from 1 lemon

**IF YOU’RE SOMEONE WHO NEEDS TO MEASURE THINGS, I GUESSTIMATE ON EVERYTHING I PUT IN

Cook the quinoa as directed (hint-tastes a little better when you do half water, half chicken broth). Set aside to cool. Slice or dice all of the veggies – do however many you want. I really like tomatoes, so I add a lot of tomatoes! And I really dice the onion and finely chop the cilantro.
Combine all veggies and quinoa together. Add oil, salt and pepper. Mix together carefully. Once you’ve got the salt and pepper taste that you want, add the vinegar and lemon juice.
Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or more so that the flavors can blend well. Devour and enjoy 🙂