Healthy Life Happy Wife

I know that I am notorious for making goals and not sticking to them so I have decided to set my sights a little bit lower and build from there. Therefore, I only have one goal for the month of November. I plan on posting small weekly goals as well but they will be easier for me to stay accountable for if they are limited to a week. Every Sunday I want to recap the prior weeks’ goals and discuss how my November goal is going.

Although I only plan on following through with 1 main monthly goal, I have a lot of things planned to get me back into the groove of running and training. As you probably can tell, I have been busy with work and transitioning to a new job & because of that, running/fitness has gone by the wayside.

I need to get back to it! To do this, I have brainstormed 5 ways to motivate and persuade me (or you!) to re-spark a fitness routine.

5 Ways to Re-spark Your Fitness Routine

1. Sign up for something fun!
Ideas: A relay with friends, mud run, theme 5k, dance class, color run, dog run, etc.
How I’m going to follow through: I actually just went crazy and signed up for THREE fun races!!

A Thanksgiving Day 5 miler near my parent’s house. I love turkey trots and need to figure what festive outfit I can wear!

New York City Ekiden relay in Central Park with BLC, Megan and another one of my Sweat Pink Sisters, Kasandra!! I’m so excited to run another relay with BLC & Megan…& this one doesn’t include sleeping in a freezing cold van so that makes it even better!! Love relays!!

Hot Chocolate 10k! I’ve read a lot about this race but mainly the one in San Diego. It sounds fun & different so I’m excited!

2. Enroll a friend, spouse or family member.
How I’m going to follow through: Obviously I will be running the relay with BLC and friends plus I have a run date to plan with Angela

3. Expand your fitness world.
Ideas: Try something new!! MMA, Crossfit, Zumba, spin, Pure Barre, hot yoga – anything that you haven’t done before but are intrigued by. You never know, you might find something you love!!
How I’m going to follow through: BLC actually just bought me an awesome deal for 20 classes for $20. I have checked out the classes offered and most of them will be new for me! I’ll be sure to give you some reviews!

4. Create a realistic plan along with mini goals to reach your ultimate goal.
Idea: To keep yourself motivated, figure out your ultimate goal and then smaller, progressive goals that will help you reach that ultimate goal. That bigger goal won’t seem as overwhelming when you concentrate on each smaller goal, one at a time. Also, be sure to be realistic! I always have lofty goals and then I am super disappointed when I don’t reach them. You can always upgrade your goal!
How I’m going to follow through: Coming soon.

5. Reward yourself!
Idea: After sticking to your plan for a month, treat yourself to new running tights, manicure, massage, etc.
How I’m going to follow through: After meeting my November goal, I am going to get myself a new piece of winter running gear (I’m thinking running gloves but we shall see!).

I’ve got my eye on these!

And now for my one and only November goal:

RUN AT LEAST 3X A WEEK

Not a lofty goal in the least but with the past few weeks of no running at all, it will be progress. I will update you next Sunday

How do you motivate yourself?

Is anyone else really excited that summer is almost over? No? Just me?

I feel like all I have been doing this summer is running around, vacationing (not a bad thing, I know), being really hot & dehydrated on my runs and sweating wherever I go. I have also neglected my training like whoa. Something about running in the 100 degree 80% humidity hasn’t appealed to me. Go figure.

Yuck. (yes – I always feel better after the run but getting out there has been tough)

Also, with all the vacationing, I have become gluttonous. Like, all health out the window because I’m on “vacation”. Indulging a little = no biggie but eating like crap for 3 months is not okay.

But on the bright side, fall is upon us!

Guess what’s on the other side of that double rainbow?!

FALL!!

Fall means:

Starbucks Pumpkin Lattes

Jeans & a long sleeved shirt

Playing with my new little niece, Kira

Reach the Beach Relay with my new best running friends!

Halloween

Cool breezed runs at the track

Hot oatmeal every morning

FOOTBALL!!

Colorful leaves (I’ve missed the changing leaves for the past 5 years while I was living in San Diego so I am even more excited this year)

All my fall tv shows coming back on

Tailgating

I could probably go on forever. I love the fall. I even found this on Pinterest & vow to do it all before Christmas…

(from my Pinterest board – follow me!)

But besides all of the fun stuff, I do have some September goals (although I kinda bombed out on my August goals…oopsy).

September Goals:

1. Stop being lazy & RUN! I know the cooler weather will help with this one.

2. Start cross training (BLC & I got a living social deal to NYSC so I really want to consistently take some classes & weight train)

3. Get back into my healthy eating routine. (more veggies, less takeout/processed food, more water, maybe a juice a day?)

4. Plank a day! (last month this was one of my goals – I probably managed 10/31 days. Impressive, I know)

5. Try to do 30 minutes of yoga at least once a week.

6. Complete the fall checklist above!

I know, I know – I’m the worst at goals but hopefully this month my excitement for fall will help me to accomplish at least a few of them

BTW – BLC & I are finally heading back to the east coast after our awesome trip to visit family in SoCal. It was great to see everyone but we are excited to get home after 10 long days…& of course, see our little Freckle monster!

I’ve missed her sooo much!!

What is your favorite thing about Fall?!

YTD: 257/600 miles for 2012

So for the past two weeks, BLC & I have been training at the track around the corner from our apartment for Reach The Beach: NJ.

I have been loving it. I haven’t run on a track since high school & I’m so glad we finally headed over there!

Since I love it so much & now think everyone should find a track to run on – I thought I would give you my top 10 reasons why I love the track!

10 Reasons Why I Love the Track

1. You can run on them at night & feel safe because there are lights!!

BLC & I ran an easy 3 miler at 8pm on Monday at the track. It was perfect because the track was perfectly lit so there was no chance of tripping (which I am really good at) or getting mugged. Important things.

2. Water Fountains. I love not having to bring or buy water during a relatively shorter run or speed work, especially in the summer. Amazing.

3. People watching. I don’t know if this occurs at all tracks but at the track we frequent (for a whole two weeks) there are a lot of interesting people to look at. & I get to look at them over and over again because I get to pass them numerous times. Yesterday there were guys break dancing in the corner & a children’s soccer practice. Pure entertainment.

4. Better for your legs because the track is rubber and gives a bit more than concrete or asphalt. With BLC’s shin splint issues, this is super important.

My legs love you, Mr. Track.

5. You can run with others who run at different speeds than you & not totally lose them. So if you want to do intervals but your run-friend wants to run easy, you can both head to the track together & do your own thing & still be able to leave together. Easy peasy.

6. Speed work is much easier. Yesterday BLC & I did some speed work at the track. I ended up sprinting 1 lap, recovery jog for 2 laps & repeated 3 times. I love speed work & this was so much easier than having to keep looking down at my Garmin over and over again.

7. Passing people. Road kill. I definitely get passed plenty but it’s still kinda fun to pass people on your sprints on the track. Even better if you can lap them

8. Takes me back to high school track. I only ran track for two years & pretty much sucked but still. The track makes me feel a little nostalgic. Kinda. Sorta.

9. I am one of those people who absolutely loves having a tangible distance to run. I will constantly be saying, “Sprint to that post.” or “Slow down till the end of the bridge.” in my head while I’m running. When I’m at the track, I can accurately figure out how much further I need to sprint or recover. I also love knowing when I’m exactly half way done my run or when I only have 1 lap left. But that may just be me.

10. No pot holes or stop lights – and if you do fall – its a little softer than asphalt. I love not having to worry about falling or having to stop at every light.

& that’s why I love the track! I recommend if you’ve never been!

Do you run on a track? If so, what do you love about it?

YTD: 250/600 miles for 2012

Happy Friday!

This past week, BLC & I have done an excellent job following our training schedule!

Monday-

Mile Trial

Tuesday-

4 easy miles @ 10:30 min/mi with 2x400m strides @ 8:30 min/mi

Wednesday-

Strength Training

Thursday-

(Tempo Run) Warmup mile @ 11:25 min/mi; 2×1600 tempo miles @ 9:38 & 9:11 min/mi; cool down mile @ 11:21 min/mi

I got a little over zealous during our tempo run (tempo miles were supposed to be @ 9:45 min/mi…oops) but I felt really, really good during every run this week. I think a big part of it is because I absolutely LOVE running on the track. Love, love, love!

Tomorrow BLC & I are running in the city for Summer Streets which I am pretty stoked about. For those of you who don’t know about Summer Streets, it occurs 3 Saturdays in the summer in Manhattan where Park Avenue is shut down to cars from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park from 7a-1p & there are activities like zip lining, climbing wall & local art. Pretty cool, huh?

Another fabulous Friday tidbit – my wardrobe during my tempo run was amazing!

I received two pairs of Aspaeris compression shorts from our Reach the Beach co-captain Jamie on Thursday morning because Aspaeris has agreed to be a product sponsor for our Reach the Beach relay team, “Better than GTL : RES Repeat”! They have generously provided each of us (women only – poor boys!) with some shorts to use during our training and the relay!

I have honestly been wanting to buy a pair FOREVER so I was super excited to try them out!

They look tiny but fit perfectly! I will admit, they were a little difficult to put on but once they were on – I have no more complaints! I honestly forgot that I was even wearing them.

Overall, I was super impressed with them & would recommend them for sure. & my legs feel fabulous today

I also wore another new item for our tempo run…

My Sweat Pink Ambassador race shirt!!

It was also awesome. I love the material…although I still sweat (pink) quite a bit.

#sweatpink!

Love my newly acquired running gear. & love running. & love the track. & love that it is Friday.

Love is in the air.

Sorry for my absence this weekend but I was busy down the shore with about 13 of my girlfriends from college.  It was a fabulous weekend.

#sorryimnotsorry

My weekend included laughs, alcohol and reminiscing.  I love my girlfriends.

Oh yea – and lots and lots of dancing.

But today we are back to our regularly scheduled programming.  Guess who came out of hiding?!

My running shoes!! Woooooo!

I got all inspired and excited because I created our training schedule for Reach the Beach: New Jersey.

Here it is folks:

As you can see, I do not have paces in our schedule yet because we had our first Mile Trial today!  We will be basing our long run, tempo and easy run paces on our mile trials which we will be doing every two weeks.  I thought it would be fun to track our progress and keep ourselves motivated that way.

Today we headed to McCarren Track which is about 1 mile from our apartment.  We used that mile to warm-up and then we ran an additional 2 laps when we got to the track.

McCarren Track has a soccer field in the center of it which is kinda strange but never really affected our run.  & I have to say… I love the track!  I will definitely be looking forward to our mile trials every two weeks!  I was especially excited because it is rubber and much easier on BLC’s shins.  Don’t want my mans getting injured again

I ran the first mile while BLC timed each lap.  I didn’t want to keep looking down at the Garmin so I just went by feel.  I was definitely quicker than I thought I would be.

Results:

Lap 1 – 2:11

Lap 2 – 2:11

Lap 3 – 2:07

Lap 4 – 2:03

Mile – 8:33

After I was done, I was pretty tired but felt good about my effort.  Next up, BLC!

BLC’s Results:

Lap 1 – 2:07

Lap 2 – 2:11

Lap 3 – 2:10

Lap 4 – 2:02

Mile – 8:32

Pretty ridiculous that our mile times were one second different.  Now, that is love <3

When we were all done, BLC and I walked two laps and then had a nice, easy cool down run home.  All in all, we ran about 3 miles.

We stretched and foam rolled when we got home then I made dinner.

Couscous, broccoli, soy chorizo, diced tomatoes & a little bit of cheese – delish!

Now I am compressing & watching preseason football.  & guess what color my socks are?

Pink, duh!  #sweatpink

Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Well, hello again. Since this is supposed to be a running blog (I have been SLACK-ING on the running front), this is a post about running!

Now, I know I have told you that I will be running the RTB:NJ relay on October 12-13 but it has just been decided that BLC will be running with me, as well!! Woooo hoooo!

So now we will be training together for the next 9 weeks (eek!).

We just got our legs (BLC will be running 16.1 total miles & I will be running 18.23 total miles) so I figured it is about time to start really thinking about our training plan & training schedule. I have yet to create our official training schedule but I do have a nifty training plan to lay out for you fine folks.

Here ya go! (super exciting, I know)

TRAINING PLAN FOR RTB:NJ

- Build base for first 4 weeks (slowly increase mileage each week, running about 3-4 times per week)

- Learn what pace we can comfortably run the total miles so that we can pace ourselves on our first 2 legs. Don’t wanna have dead legs for our last leg!

- Have one tempo paced run per week; one long, slow endurance run; and 2 easy runs per week.

- Add Hill Sprints or Strides at the end of easy runs toward week 3 (I’ve got a few hills in my first leg & BLC has some hills on his second leg)

- Practice fueling & re-fueling to really figure out what works best for us.

- At week 5, add a two a day on Wednesday (with at least 8 hours between runs to stimulate relay conditions) so that it doesn’t interfere with our long run.

So that’s the plan! I will definitely post our training schedule once I have completed it.

Anyone ever run a relay & have some training tips for us?!