Getting Back into Shape

Posted in Goals, Run by chicken nugget girl

As you know, I’ve been trying to make some healthier changes lately in the spirit of spring. Meaning…. I really need to get back into shape after taking the winter off.

Who would have thought that it is HARD to get back into shape!? Makes me wish I had put a little more effort in during the winter. But whatever, I’ll just have to put the effort in now.

In pursuit of training with more effort – I also want to trainsmarter. I have been constantly re-evaluating my training priorities of what works – but what is also realistic (for me).

The Gym Sitch:

For starters, I haven’t been to the gym in months. (When I run, I have been running outside.)

When my outdoor run last week was nixed due to a crazy downpour, I decided I needed a better plan B to outside. Though I could drive to my gym before, it was still about a 10-15 minute drive away – and let’s be honest, that can seem like a pretty big hurdle when on the couch. 😉

I moved in November and now in my new neighborhood there is a gym right down the street from me. So last week, I finally bit the bullet: quit my old gym and joined the new one! And it’s $10 bucks cheaper than my old gym, so that’s not another pro! I’m already so glad I joined the new gym because I can walk right to it and there’s tons of cool classes. Plus, outdoor runs may be coming to a close soon as the pollen reveals its evil self…

The Goal Sitch:

I say goal instead of race…because I get weirded out about races. I am a slow-ass-runner, and races stress me out. As far as running goes, I still have a lot to learn after the handful of races I’ve done in the past two years. After my last half marathon, I was beginning to lose sight of why I started running in the first place: for my health (both physical AND mental).

When I started to resent training on an exact schedule and beating myself up for not being an Olympian speedster, I swore to zen running. I needed to stop obsessing over the lap times on my Garmin and just have fun. I thought that would happen when I took races out of the equation.

The problem is – when I take races out of the equation, I don’t have a goal. And when I don’t have a goal, I don’t run.

Luckily, my friend Stephy reminded me that the Capitol Hill 10K is coming up next month.

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I loved running it last year and am thinking it is the perf ~~race~~ goal to get me back into the running groove. My goal is the usual: run the whole thing and don’t die!

In the meantime, I have been running 3 miles several times a week and and plan bumping up the mileage each week according to Hal Higdon’s novice 10K training plan.

Here’s to getting back into shape this spring!

Do you have any races coming up?

Is your gym close by to where you live?

5Mar2014

I’m Going to Be a FitFluential Ambassador!

Posted in FitFluential, Goals, Health by chicken nugget girl

Ahhhhhhhh!

I was BEYOND excited to open up my e-mail on Friday and see this:

When I first started blogging almost two years ago, I kept seeing this hashtag everywhere – it would pop up on Twitter and Instagram, and all of my favorite bloggers would reference it. #FitFluential #fitfam #FFcheckin

I wasn’t fluent in fitness speak at the time.

So…what is FitFluential?

FitFluential is a “nationwide network of highly influential fitness enthusiasts sharing their journey both online and offline through multiple social media platforms….FitFluential was designed to connect health and wellness brands with their ideal target market through customized, long-term experiential and contextual marketing campaigns.”

Not only is it a network for bloggers, FitFluential is an inspiring community that encourages everyone to live a balanced lifestyle to the best of their ability.

Here’s a few stats from their website:

I started to realize how much of an influence FitFluential has on on the fitness and healthy living blogging community and that I wanted to be a part of it.

I am so honored to be part of the FitFluential team and can’t wait to be participate in such an amazing program.

I’m going to be a FitFluential Ambassador! 🙂

7Jan2013

Not Feelin’ So Hot and A New Food

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Goals by chicken nugget girl

Ugh. I have not been feelin’ so hot the past few days.

I caught the mid-winter cold that everyone else has, with a stuffy nose, low fever, and achy joints. But instead of being concerned about where to find my misplaced Airborne, I spent my Saturday morning stressing about skipping my long run.

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Last week was only the second week of half marathon training, and I really really wanted to stick to my very important New Year’s resolution.

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A 5 mile run was on the agenda, and my brand-new Garmin was still desperately begging to be played with.

I was good though, and didn’t try force my sickly self through a long run in the cold.

Yes, I felt guilty, and my mind really wanted to get the run in.

But my body most certainly did not. So I came up with a new theory to make myself feel better about missing my run.

A training schedule is a guide to prepare yourself for a race.

Um, duh?

Hold on, I’m going somewhere with this.

So is that schedule about successfully executing each individual run or rest according to the plan? Well, maybe. But not if you’re sick, or injured – that would actually make your body less prepared for a race because you’d be hurting it!

Sticking to a training plan is exactly what you should do if you are healthy – and not because you HAVE to write in the exact mileage that is on the spreadsheet to make your chart look pretty. I’m going to get through this training cycle by looking at the big picture.

I want to best prepare my body for 13.1 miles which means taking care of its needs first. And sometimes those needs are hot cocoa and sitting on your ass.

I’ll be back to making my chart look pretty tomorrow, when I’m feeling 100% back to normal.

*****

In other exciting news, I tried grapefruit for the first time this weekend.

I was hoping the vitamin C content would fix me right up.

After two bites, grapefruit is now on my: “Food I Have Actually Tried and Do Not Like” List. I figured I would treat you with this lovely video of me eating a grapefruit:

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Do you skip or push through runs when you’re sick?

5Jan2013

New Year’s Resolutions

Posted in Goals by chicken nugget girl

Yes, yes, I know everyone is probably sick of hearing about New Year’s resolutions by now. But I still have to tell you mine!

Every year I always make tons of resolutions – some I keep, some I don’t.

Let’s take a moment to think about what a resolution really is.

I had to go elementary and break out Webster’s.

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The act of resolving. Ok…so to resolve:

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Found it!

To me, New Year’s resolutions are #5: “to reach a firm decision about.” Resolutions aren’t about just doing good things for yourself and others because you feel like you have to keep them just to keep them, or about feeling bad when you break them.

I think resolutions are just about making a firm decision in the moment toward something better. To really think about what you’re doing and try to live the best way you can.

Cheers to our aspirations of 2013.

A few of mine are: