Sitting outside my door...

I’ll be honest: I was a big cranky girl today.  I woke up, went to the gym and felt great.  I got to work and somehow only a couple hours in and I was losing my grip so fast that I had trouble wheeling myself back in.  A few hugs from friends and another viewing of the Jimmy Kimmel Halloween Candy skit and I had smiles on my face, but for whatever reason it couldn’t bring me back in enough and the cranky mood would return.

I got home from work an hour and a half later than I should and any desire to cook dinner was out the door (thank you popcorn!).  But what was sitting by my door was a box with the brand new shoes I ordered from Finish Line only 2 days ago!  This made me so happy.

I have an early morning tomorrow (3 am wake-up call!) so I pulled out my clothes for tomorrow and sat the shoes by my purse ready for when it’s time to leave.  I’m excited to wear them tomorrow and I hope my feet will be as happy as I hope they’ll be.

Sometimes it’s the little things that can pull us out of even the deepest hole.  And tonight, I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Aren't these cute? Nike Free - Livestrong!

**After reading my good friend’s blog the other week, she decided that for the month of November, she’s posting something she’s grateful for; something as simple as a picture or quote or possibly something lengthy.  In the month that we come together and share what we’re grateful and thankful for, there seems to be no better way.  And it’s with that that I have decided to join her.  Will you join us? #gratefulseason

Music Monday - I'm Calling On YOU!

Instead of featuring another band or artist that I’m digging this week, I wanted to look to you.  I’ve been using the same running playlist for quite some time now and while I add a new song every now and then, I’m in need of a real re-vamp.

Here’s my current playlist:

“The Show Goes On” - Lupe Fiasco

“Love the Way You Lie” - Eminem

“Airplanes” - B.o.B

“Just a Dream” - Nelly

“Shake it” - Blue Judy

“Radioactive” - Kings of Leon

“Stubborn Love” - The Lumineers

“Fearless Love” - Melissa Etheridge

“Our War” - Neon Trees

“Break Me Out” - The Rescues

“My Body” - Young the Giant

“AstroSerf” - 6cheek (The Lumineers circa 2007 or so)

“In Regards to Sam” - We Pilot These Machines

Clearly I listen to a wide array of music while working out, my goal is either for something to pump me up and make me want to push harder or run faster, or for some part of the lyrics to catch me and inspire me to push through the harder moments in my workout.

So with that, what are your favorite songs to listen to while working out or running?

What songs get you pumped?

Leave them in the comments or email me and help me build my new playlist!

Endurance

There’s moments when your legs feel like lead; your lungs tight; your feet wobbly.  

There’s moments when you reach your max; you must slow down; you must stop. 

There’s moments when you know that despite a little pain; despite a little discomfort, you can keep pushing forward.

Endurance is a beautiful thing.  

We all have it.  Sometimes we just have to look a little harder to find it.  Sometimes it comes easy.

Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance. - Virgil

Does anybody really think that they didn’t get what they had because they didn’t have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment? - Nelson Mandela

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty. - John Ruskin

Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. - William Barclay

Endurance is patience concentrated. - Thomas Carlyle

Endurance is the crowning quality, And patience all the passion of great hearts. - James Russell Lowell

Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance. - Virgil

(Source)

Source

Sometimes we have to remember to use it in life.  Sometimes you need to remind me of this.

**After reading my good friend’s blog the other evening, she decided that for the month of November, she’s posting something she’s grateful for; something as simple as a picture or quote or possibly something lengthy.  In the month that we come together and share what we’re grateful and thankful for, there seems to be no better way.  And it’s with that that I have decided to join her.  Will you join us? #gratefulseason

Keys to a good run

I have this problem that when I start a new Harry Potter book, I don’t really want to do anything but read.  While this is great for the relaxation aspect and my mom is problem silently cheering that her daughter who hated reading for awhile when she was younger, is thoroughly enjoying herself but I have things to do!  I’m excited to be on book 5 and I know I’m in the stages where everything slows down because the books get larger but I’m still excited to keep moving forward.

I’m working a spit today so after I finished shift #1, I headed to the gym to make up for what should have been yesterday’s run (cancelled by a migraine).  When I got there, I found I wasn’t feeling super inspired so I started with some abs and lifting before heading to the treadmill.

My legs  and lungs felt pretty good so my desire to stop wasn’t because any part of my body was too tired or in pain to keep going, it was because I was mentally having trouble focusing.  I pushed and pushed and tried my best to focus on my run while losing myself in my music.  I kept telling myself “just another mile - that’s like 3 songs” and sometimes it worked.  I would also remind myself that my legs, joints, and lungs felt strong so there really wasn’t a good reason to stop.  I used as many tactics as I could to overcome the mental hurdle in my run.

And 35 minutes later, I had completed a 3.5 mile run.  Keeping me on track with my 10k training program.

Over the years since I’ve started running and as I’ve worked to increase my mileage, here are a few things I’ve noted make my runs better:

-MIZUNOS! 

-Being hydrated - I don’t have the desire to drink while running if I’m properly hydrated - at least for my 2-3 mile runs

-Stretch and Warm-up/Cooldown - 5 minute walk before and after run + stretching

-The less clothing the better!  HA! Don’t go there - shorts, tank top + headband (to soak up some of the sweat)

Post run glow (the crop yoga pants today were too much - missed my shorts - WHAT?)

There are many other things that I find help my runs but they aren’t as consistent as the above points which are almost necessary for a good run.

Fitness Friday

Today was not supposed to be a “rest” day (especially per my 10k training) but as the day progressed, I realized that a workout was not on the agenda.  Between a migraine, ear pain and my chronic pain being more severe today, I knew it was best to just come home after work and rest.  Sadly, the Aleve I took earlier can’t keep up with all of the pain and I have friends on call should I decide to take the strong stuff.  (I’ve never taken it before so obviously I am a bit on the apprehensive side).

Anyway, I’m okay and using tonight to tackle my to-do list (at least what I can do without moving my butt from my bed/couch).  Here’s what my week of exercise looked like:

Sat 10.15

30 mins abs, arms and stretching

30 mins stationary bike

Sun 10.16

30 mins strength and stretching (Jillian Michael’s 20 min workout - level 2 + additional stretching)

Mon 10.17

45 min run w/ warmup & cool down (2.5+ mi run, 3 mi total)

15 mins abs & stretching

Tues 10.18

15 mins abs and stretching

35 mins stationary bike

Wed 10.19

Rest

Thurs 10.20

25-30 mins run w/ warm up & cool down (2 mi run)

10 mins abs and stretching

Fri 10.21

Rest

This was my first week following my training and I definitely didn’t do nearly as well as I would have liked.  I followed the training aside from yesterday (should have also had strength) and today (should have been cross training) but I don’t think the Jillian Michael’s is suitable as my only strength training, especially on weeks when I don’t get to yoga and end up having to miss my second planned strength session.

Overall it was a good week but I’m looking forward to pushing forward with next week.

Time To Start Training

I love to run.  And I love reaching new distances.  I especially love when I hit those new distances without realizing it.  If you remember a few months back when I was doing the Nike+ Cardio Challenge and suddenly, without realizing, ran 6.5 miles.  That was a great moment for me.  It was a new distance record and just an overall amazing run that came with ease.

Ever since that day, I’ve been wanting to hit 6.5 miles again.  I’d even be happy with a 5 miler.  4 has happened but the general 2.5 - 3.5 mile runs have remained.  They are great runs and I’m okay with them being my “normal” distance but I want to push myself and create a forward momentum.

There’s a part of me that would love to some day run a 1/2 or full marathon.  I have bad knees and asthma so I’m not holding my breath that that day will come but a girl can dream, can’t she?  And meanwhile, I can at least keep stretching my boundaries and putting my body to the test.  I’m strong, remember?

Well a couple weeks back, a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she wanted to run the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run 2011 on December 10th and was looking for people to join her.  I’ve never run a race, despite the number of times I’ve said I wanted to, I haven’t.  She wants to run the 10k and it’s a perfect opportunity for me to dive right in to my first race with a friend.  So I figured, why not?

While the initial 6.5 mile run came with ease, I know better than to just wake up on December 10th and hope my body feels like running a 10k.  Instead, I decided to find a training program to help me work into this distance safely (for my joints and lungs).  I decided on Hal Higdon’s 10K Novice Training Program.  I used his program (I think) when I first started running a few years ago and it was the perfect ease.  While I’m sure I will break away from this program a bit to actually fit into my schedule and exercise cravings (like yoga!), I’m most concerned about the run schedule.  It’s a great way to ease into the distance without feeling like you’re moving at a snail’s pace.

With that, today was my first day starting the program (I’m not following the days of the week he has but changed them to work with my race day).  

As always, I welcome you to join me!