Goals For 2015: Re-Do

Good morning friends! 

After reading Jessica's (TheFitSwitch) post about going after your goals now, not waiting for the new year or even taking the entire year to reach certain goals, I wanted to re-do my list of goals for 2015. I want to take a big GULP of life at a time instead of a little SIP. I want to make the most of every day! Without setting anything in stone (besides that half marathon) because life is so unpredictable, I want to create a list of things I want to accomplish in 2015. I'm also loving her slogan for her upcoming fitness apparel: Love the Challenge! (I might be the first to order a shirt :-))

Life is too short to sit back and wonder if I'll be healthy enough, strong enough or good enough to do something amazing. I want to jump into 2015 with both feet and face it head on. If life hands me lemons, I'll make the best lemonade I've ever tasted! 

So here we go! 2015, watch out!

*First and foremost: Run a half marathon by April (depends on how my training goes) and finish in under 2:20. 

*Run a 7 minute mile. My current time for 1 mile is 7:46! I wish I could hold that pace for longer than one mile, but I'm just thrilled I can run a sub 8 minute mile! I'm one of those sick and twisted people that love speed work, so I will get this 7 minute mile! .... Getting butterflies just thinking about it!

*Increase posts on the blog and spruce it up a bit. ;-)

*Trail run! I have yet to do a trail run and I'm just chompin' at the bit! I really want to run up in the mountains and soak up the sun, breathe in the fresh air, and run with nature! ...Just without the mountain lions please. 

*Practice Yoga & gain flexibility. 

*Do Yoga outside more often!

*Spend more quality time with my kids and husband and make happy memories that will last a lifetime. 

*Increase strength in my core and arms, as well as my glutes and legs. So, I guess I want to strengthen my entire body. haha This could mean more personal training sessions..sorry husband. :-D

My motto/slogan for 2015 is:

I spent way too much time fearing, or worrying about the "what if's". What if I get injured, what if I don't finish, what if I can't lift it, what if I just can't do it?.. I'm done worrying. I'm done stressing. I'm just going to take the leap and spread my wings and fly through 2015. Just not too fast. ;-) 

Ready or not, 2015, Here I come!

Ps.

I'm linking up with Jessica & Jill since I happened to finally get this post finished! Join in on the fun and come dish the fit with us with our weekly link-up: The Fit Dish! 

The Fit Dish: Dear Body...

G'day mates! Welcome to another session of The Fit Dish where the fitfam dishes out the good stuff. Today we're gettin' all mushy and writing thank you letters to our bodies. Oh yes, we're goin' there. So sit back, maybe grab a tissue or two and enjoy! 


Dear Body,
     First of all, I need to thank you for putting up with me. I can be so stubborn and push you past your limits just to get that sick satisfaction of "ah, I ran my fastest mile ever and I don't even care that I'm limping now." And you still keep on moving. So thank you for not stopping when my mind kept saying go, go, go! 

Thank you for not giving up when my mind said, "Just one more mile, just one more push up, just one more..." 

Next I'd like to offer you a peace offering. I fully acknowledge that I have abused you in the past by feeding you garbage then expecting you to perform like a champion. I realize that most of my injuries were caused by my stubbornness and not your lack of strength. You're strong and more than capable to perform but it's high time I treat you with the care you deserve in order to keep chuggin' along. I promise I won't keep pushing if you raise your red flag by shooting me a sharp pain here or there. I'll stop, evaluate and reassess the situation. I know that the pain I'm feeling right now behind my knee is because of my own stubborn mind wanting to finish that speed work last week, and for that I'm sorry. I'm calling a truce. I'm promising to work as a team and no longer a slave driver. 

So thanks for all the miles, dear friend. You've treated me so well. You've gotten me through countless workouts, hikes, and runs but you've also created two miracles which is the biggest feat of all. You housed two beautiful, healthy children and withstood 16 hours of hard back labor at one point in your life. For that, I give you huge kudos. YOU ARE AMAZING. 

                                                                                                       Much love Body,
                                                                                                               -Self

Ah, that felt nice. :-) Your turn! Post a little, sweet thank you post-it sized note in the comments to your body. It's rejuvenating! 

Shout Out Sunday #2

Good morning friends! 

I'm back for another Sunday Shout Out! (I know it's Monday, but hey, spending time with my husband yesterday was more important than typing away on my computer.) Here are three more blogs that I love to stalk follow! These blogs are fairly new to me but I always enjoy reading whatever they have to say! I hope you find something you'll like as well!

It looks like I picked three blogs that all have something in common: pure motivation! 

Runner Unleashed
Here is where you'll find posts by Gelcys. She's a mom, wife and runner with Scoliosis. She is incredibly inspirational and I love her determination. I just recently started following her but I absolutely love everything she posts! She's such a strong woman and I always feel pumped after reading her race/run recaps! Go check out her page now!

Tri Hard Mama
This is where you'll find posts by Jennifer. She's a mom, wife, triathlete and fitness enthusiast who helps others get on the right track to leading healthier lives. She motivates me to try new things and step outside my comfort zone. You're sure to find some motivation from her blog just about every day!

Fit Life Wtih E
This is where you'll find posts by Elizabeth. She's a mom, wife, personal trainer and healthy living enthusiast. You'll find anything from posts about being a mom, to how to stay fit and everything in between! She's such a positive woman and I love everything she has to say! This is another blog that is fairly new to me but I'm enjoying everything about her (and her page) so far!

Have an awesome Monday everyone!! 

Am I Still a Runner If I Have to Walk?

Good afternoon friends! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? We're getting lots of rain here in Central California, which we desperately need! 

Today I'd like to talk about something that has been on my mind for some time now: walking while out on a run or during a race.

When I first started running I couldn't even imagine running a whole mile without a walk break. Once I finally pushed myself (thanks to my husband) to run an entire mile without walking, I felt like I had finally become a runner. As time went on I pushed myself and was able to run 5 miles without stopping. I had this weird way of thinking that if I stopped and walked, I couldn't say I ran such & such miles. I had to say I ran 2 miles, walked a quarter mile then ran the rest. Why did I think this way? I'm not exactly sure, but I felt this way up until recently.

Training for my first half has been tough! I'm not going to lie. With a year full of running related injuries caused by my stubbornness, it's been difficult getting my miles back up. Thankfully I'm going about it a lot smarter this time with a personal trainer helping me to strength train and me spending time foam rolling through out the week and most importantly, listening to my body! I have finally broken the 5 mile point and ran 6 miles on Monday! I went in not sure if I'd even do 3 miles but at about 4 miles I decided to take a break and walk for about a quarter of a mile and see how I felt afterwards.

That walk break changed the way I view walking while out on a run or during a race. Giving my body a small break helped give me a boost to finish 6 miles. I didn't stop moving, I didn't go home then run 2 miles later in the day. I ran 6 miles with a quarter mile walk break that didn't hurt my training one bit. It actually helped!

I want to be able to run 13.1 miles nonstop, and I know I am capable, but if I have to walk at some point to retain some energy in order to finish strong, I'll do so without feeling like a failure or "not a runner".

So what makes me a runner?

*The moment I decided to lace up my shoes and head out the door*

*The drive I have inside of me to finish what I started*

*The desire to push myself beyond my limits*

*The wisdom to listen to my body and allow it rest when needed in order to press on*

*The LOVE of the sport*

Side note: I never saw other runners as "non runners" if they chose to do walk/run intervals or have to walk while out running. This was just a weird way of thinking I had set up in my own mind for myself. What matters is that you keep moving forward. :-) 

The Fit Dish: Embarrassing Fitness Moments

Well hello there fitfam! Long time, no talk. I know, I know, I've been MIA again. Life tends to take control sometimes and you have to decide what's more important to spend your time on. I'm still trying to balance being a stay at home mom, taking care of the house, groceries, errands and fit in half marathon training so blogging has come in last these days. Unfortunately my faithful readers miss out, but I know I'll feel in over my head if I try to do it all. 

But, I'm here on this lovely, sunny Tuesday morning! Comin' at ya with another Fit Dish post with the wonderful hosts: Jessica @ Jill! Today's optional topic: Embarrassing Fitness Experiences. Ooh, this should be good! 



It's almost noon and I'm just sitting down to get this post out. I had a brutal, yet satisfying physical training session this morning, came home, showered, had a late breakfast and throughout all of that I was pondering, "what in the world can I write about today?" 

Confession #1: I am THE CLUMSIEST, awkward white girl that ever walked the earth so you'd think I would have some juicy moments to share. But I don't. Boo.. Knowing that I'm super clumsy and awkward causes me to be extra careful so maybe that's why I haven't had any mishaps (knock on wood).

Until today.

I woke up later than usual, rushed to get the kids ready for school. Made it to my physical training session with only a couple minutes to fix my hair in the bathroom. I felt "off" today. Most likely due to the lovely thing called mother nature. First of all, working out while on "that time of the month" is hard enough. But today I felt a little light headed and loopy. I was there, which was half the battle so I trudged on. My trainer had me warm up with the dreaded ropes then we went on to the step up stand or "box jump"... I never told him I was feeling a bit off because I hate sounding like a baby. So he had me jump up (on the lowest level) using one leg! Umm...in my head I knew this was a recipe for disaster! And sure enough, after a few hops up and down on one leg, I jumped up, hit the stand with my toes and fell forward-catching myself with my hands which protected my face from getting smashed into the pole in front of me. I said out loud, "THAT was embarrassing!" We both laughed although he looked terrified every jump afterwards, but I made it through and didn't make a big scene. I was completely off balance throughout the entire session and I felt like a complete idiot. To my surprise he told me I looked great and he can see that I'm much stronger than day one. Phew!

I do have a really embarrassing thing about myself that I can share. What the hay, we're all friends right?

Well, here goes....

My butt tends to sweat a lot. Ah, there I said it! (Not on a regular basis, just when working out.) And although I wear a workout skirt over my leggings (for modesty) sometimes sweat likes to soak through the leggings and appear on the skirt. Well one day at the gym I had an amazing, sweat in your eyes kind of workout (and butt) and afterwards I walked around a bit, got some water, went to the back to stretch then left. Well after going outside I realized my back side had a nice spot at the top of my bum that said, "hey I'm a butt sweater!" 
I was pretty mortified and wondered if anyone noticed! For about a week or two I kept telling my husband, "check my butt". He would either tell me yes or no but either way there's nothing I can do about it. haha pretty gnarly, I know. Don't worry, if you ever visit the gym I go to, I always make sure to disinfect the machines with seats really well. ;-)

So what's something embarrassing that's happened to you during a workout sesh or run? 

Join in on this fun topic and dish the fit with us! 

The Fit Dish: What's Next?

Happy Tuesday friends & fitfam! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll stick around and #dishthefit with us. We're talking about goals for 2015! So sit down, relax and dive right in to this week's The Fit Dish!

Thanks Jessica & Jill for this awesome link-up once again! 

Wow! What a year 2014 turned out to be! I would love to say I wouldn't want to change a thing, but that would be lying. I'd erase the running injuries I had that kept me out of running for 6 months and I sure would've kept my grandpa around a lot longer if it were up to me. But, that's the crazy thing about life: it's unplanned. I've grown so much mentally, physically and spiritually. <----All of which wasn't planned.

So what's next? What are my goals for 2015? 

Physically:

As of right now, I'm hoping to run my first half marathon by the Spring. Now, this depends on my body and if it can handle the mileage. I've never run more than 5 miles and I'm at that point right now, which is pretty scary for me since I'm so injury prone; but my heart and my mind are set on finishing what I started a few months ago. 

I've never been one to plan races for the entire year because you just never know what's going to happen. I'd like to keep increasing my mileage and if a race comes up that I'd like to run, I'll run it. Keepin' it simple folks. ;-)

Mentally: 

I would love to continue on with this positive mindset. Who wouldn't?! 

Spiritually:

I want to spend more time reading and praying, as well as doing yoga and meditation to keep me centered and level headed. It's been some time since I've done yoga to relaxing music, but I haven't forgotten the benefits!

This sums it all up for me :-)

I'm keeping it pretty simple today friends! But that seems to be my thing these days. Before you leave, tell me what is one goal you have for 2015, no matter what it may be! 

Make it a great week everyone!! 

How to Beat Defeat

Hello there ole chums! 
How's life treatin' ya? Good, I hope! 

You may (or may not) be able to tell, but I've been BURNT OUT lately! This past week was just plain hard mentally for me. I was able to get in my 4.5 mile run on Monday, finish an excruciatingly painful personal training session on Tuesday which left me sore for days, but ever since Wednesday my head (and my heart) is just not in the training. I'm mentally wiped out from all the numbers, miles and planning.

So what should I do to kick this burn out to the curb??

I need to reevaluate my goals, my current fitness level and most importantly- take a step back to BREATHE!

Yesterday (Friday) I had 5 miles planned. I'm taking a super safe approach to this half marathon training so I can prevent any injuries from happening. So I only increase my miles half a mile every other week. I know that's not much at all, but this girl is very injury prone! Ok, back to Friday. We had lots of rain this week, which is great, but it left my running route a bit slippery because of all the leaves on the ground. So, I opted to run on the dreadmill at the gym for 5 miles. I had music, tv's and people to watch. These 5 miles should fly by with all this entertainment, right? .... Wrong! I get on the treadmill, warm up for 5 minutes. Stop, stretch, give myself a mental pep talk, then start running. I kept it at a 9:15 pace which is great but I struggled to finish 1 mile! ONE measly mile!! I stopped, wiped a few tears from my eyes (yes, I was quite upset with myself, but I didn't let anyone see) stretched, then told myself to do one more mile. I did another mile, repeated the last couple things, minus the tears, then trudged on for one more mile. This run was the most mentally tough run I've EVER had. I ran 3 miles with walk breaks in between. I felt so defeated but I wanted to finish the 5 miles some how. I decided to finish it outside.. well, my husband was in the car waiting for me so that irritated me because I hate feeling rushed, so I gave up and went home.

I understand we're bound to have "bad" running days, but this was a horrible running day! And it was a different kind of horrible because I've felt mentally tough this whole training period, so why am I crumbling now??

I'm experiencing mental burn out and I need to take a step back...

So in order for me to get back on the right track to training well for my first half marathon, I need to get out of this burn out funk. Here's how I plan on defeating defeat:

*Reevaluate my goals & fitness level* I know my body is capable to run 5 miles right now. I know my body is strong enough to carry me to 13.1-eventually. I'm working on strength training with my personal trainer and also working on flexibility to keep any strains or kinks from occurring. So what's the problem? I'm worried I won't be able to run 13.1 miles by the end of March 2015 with the training I have planned and it's wearing on me. Big time. So, I'm reevaluating and readjusting my plans/goals. I may have to run an April race, and that's okay. I want to cross the finish line feeling strong and if that means extending my training period, then so be it.

*Take a step back to breathe* I'm stepping away from numbers. I will do my runs outside to keep from over analyzing what the treadmill says. I'll listen to my body and tell myself "it's ok" if I have to take a walk break in order to finish the planned miles, no matter what my pace is! I'm going to take it a day at a time and do what I can. My mind needs a break so I'm going to do my best to let it regroup. Running my first half
is supposed to be exciting, not stressful.

*Do more of what I enjoy* If I feel like skipping an intense workout at the gym, I just might do that this week. I know I can't always do that, but for now, while my mind is regrouping, I'll do whatever it takes to clear up the fog looming inside my mind. I'll sit and relax and catch up on my favorite blogs and maybe find time and energy to put up a few of my scheduled posts. I'll get back to doing yoga and coupling it with prayer again-a total mind clearer! Most importantly, I'll use this mental burn out as a time to realize I need to stay mentally fit because if I don't, I could end up quitting when the going gets tough. That's definitely NOT what I want to happen!

Mental burn out is going to happen at some point or another. It's up to us to decide if we let it turn into defeat or use it as a lesson learned and grow from it. I'm choosing to grow and watch for burn out signs in the future so that I can beat it before it turns into defeat!

How do you avoid burn out? 

How do you kick a burn out to the curb?

The Fit Dish: Favorite Fitness Accomplishments

Hello fitfam and friends! Welcome to Tuesday's Fit Dish! Today we're bragging a little (or a lot) so grab a seat and get comfy while we dish the fit!

Per usual, I'm linking up with Jessica @ The Fit Switch and Jill @ Jill Conyers.

Today's topic: Your Favorite Fitness Accomplishments  

As a runner, I've had my share of ups and downs. I've dealt with numerous injuries (most of which were caused by my own stubbornness) had times of burn out, but I've also had many triumphs and victories.

I'd like to share with you all the mile that started it all. 

Finishing my first 5 mile race!
So relieved I finished!

When I first started running almost 3 years ago, I couldn't even run for more than 30 seconds at a time. I remember the pain in my lungs like it was yesterday. I remember how my bouncing, heavy body felt with each step. I hated every second of it but loved it because it didn't take much brain work to put one foot in front of the other. I was bored with working out in my living room, waving my arms and kicking my legs as I watched thin women in tights and leotards prance around as if they weighed nothing. So I laced up my casual Sketchers and went for my first run. By the way, newbies: invest in New running shoes. Do not wear whatever you have laying in your closet!

Our first 5k together. We both placed 2nd in
our age group! This picture shows sheer joy,
despite my broken thumb...

I, like many others, used the couch to 5k training plan. It worked wonderfully to keep me moving but why couldn't I run an entire mile without a walk break?! My husband began running soon after I did but it was much easier for him since he didn't have 50+ lbs to lose.

We started running at the high school track so our kids could play on the field while we ran. (And walked)

I had a couple miles planned but I knew there would be walking. Until my amazing husband gave me some advice: try to run one entire mile without stopping. I was so intimidated by the challenge but I wanted to be able to run a full mile non stop so bad, I said ok.

Then I ran. One glorious, yet painful mile. My lungs felt like they exploded and I'm pretty sure I tasted blood. I will never forget that feeling of accomplishment when I slapped his hand at the end. I get a little choked up thinking about it. That mile changed my life. I felt set free. I did it! I went on to run my first 5k, finishing 4th in my age group and not taking one walk break! Since then I've run several 5k's, a 2 miler, and a 5 miler. I am now training for my first half marathon-which I never even thought would cross my mind!

That day I learned I could do anything if I wanted it badly enough. I also learned I love a good challenge! ;-)

So, what is one of your fitness accomplishments? Go ahead, brag a little. :-D