Where's the Beach?

TGIF everyone! Don't know about you guys, but I am definitely looking forward to the is long weekend. I have plans to be both very productive, but also very lazy at the same time. My pool is calling to me ;-) This morning Jason and I woke up dark and early for a run. He's been running about 1.5 miles with me then he will finish up his prescribed miles on his own. Yep, I've got him on an official training plan. In fact, I think I heard him uttering curse words at and about me on our bike ride yesterday evening. Something about lunges and quads. When Jason and I split, I met up with Amy. Her plan was 5 miles, my plan was 6-8 leaning heavily towards the 8. But my legs were crazy heavy at first, so I thought it may end up 6 after all. It was hot and really humid. Summer has returned to us once again. But, we fell into conversation and a good pace and my legs loosened up. In the end, she got in 7 miles and I finished out at 9. So much for 5 and 6-ish huh? So that was my TG...

It's Thursday, and I've had some random thoughts, so we'll go with the theme of Thursday Thoughts - also known as "What's on My Mind." It's funny how many random, fleeting thoughts you have flitting around your brain constantly. Sometimes you remember them, most of the time you don't. And it's funny that it's usually the lesser important thoughts that somehow stick around. During my morning run on Wednesday, I took a route that put me close to the river for this spectacular sunrise. It made me question why more people don't get up early to enjoy this beauty. We only have so many sunrises to see in a lifetime. Speaking of, even though I was looking forward to "sleeping in" this morning, I felt like I had really missed out by not getting up earlier to run again. I often wonder why people are just so ugly to each other or feel the need to say something ugly for no reason. I saw a post shared on Facebook with the kids of ...

13 years ago I made one of the most sound decisions I've ever made. I said, " I Do " to the person I truly believe completes me. I won't pretend it's been 13 years of rainbows and glitter. But it's been a wonderful journey, one I wouldn't trade for the world. He's been patient beyond imagination, encouraging, supportive, and kind. I couldn't ask for much more than that.

I guess today I can't complain too much about it being Monday. I took the day off ;-) I knew I was going to be completely exhausted after a long weekend of training. Somehow, sitting for 8+ hours and learning is harder than getting out and running a half marathon. It's mentally exhausting and then your body is revolting for sitting so long. In case you missed it, this weekend I took the two-day RRCA Running Coach Certification course. It's definitely a very intense course. Basically, it was about three days (or more) of material crammed into two days. You'd think that runners would know all there is to know about running right? Not hardly. We might put together crazy training plans for ourselves and maybe for friends, but there's really so much more to know when it comes to coaching someone else. When it comes to really introducing them to the sport itself. The instructor, Randy Accetta, was fantastic. He kept everyone engaged even when our brains were runn...

Happy Friday! While I'm super excited that it's Friday, it doesn't really feel that way for me. My weekend will be spent indoors attending the Road Runners of America (RRCA) Running Coach Classes both Saturday and Sunday. I'm trying not to stress out about not being able to get in a run or my usual bike ride over the weekend. Breathe.... But, it IS Friday so let's get on with Fun For Friday shall we? My inspiration was waning a bit, so I am cheating a little and using the 5 for Friday theme. Hope you don't mind ;-) 1. While I really didn't want to get up early this morning, I peeled myself out of bed wishing it could be a rest day. But knowing that once I got moving it'd be worth it. And as I was coming up on 6 miles, this was my reward. 2. Speaking of rewards, yesterday I found 9 bucks during my run. I guess that's a dollar for every mile I did. Too bad I can't get a dollar for every mile all the time. 3. I signed up for another Virt...

I haven't talked much about my weight workouts lately. Since I have been running and biking more, I've been keeping my weight workouts split up and on the shorter side. This allows me to fit them in during lunch or right after work fairly easily. This loose plan goes along nicely with my 7 tips for fitting in workouts . I know I am going to do them, but not always exactly when. But having them thought out and ready to go makes it easier to fit into my schedule. Last night I went with biceps and triceps. Because I was trying to fit in the workout in a specified timeframe, I went with supersets. Supersets are when you perform two exercises in a row without rest. They can make for a quick, efficient workout. And if you want to take it one step further, add in a bonus burn at the end, which is what I did last night for a Biceps Triceps Supersets plus Bonus Burn (ouchie). *21’s explained – 7 reps starting at bottom and curling halfway up. 7 reps starting at to...

Happy Tuesday! One day closer to the weekend right ;-) This morning I managed to knock out a really good 10-mile run. I am loving getting the long runs done during the week. Jason started off with me for about 3.5 miles then I met up with Amy. The weather was fairly pleasant, definitely getting used to this unseasonably cool weather we're having. I also got in 6 solo miles yesterday morning. And while I wasn't just jumping out of bed ready to go, I know that it's a great way to start the day and to ensure that I get my workout done. People often question how I fit in all of my workouts. It's not always easy. I don't have any more extra time than anyone else. Granted, I don't have children, but it's not like I sit around idle. I work full time and am also now working a second job as a fitness trainer. I still have to maintain the house (or attempt to do so), usually I make dinner, and at some point catch up with my husband. So, how do I fit it in? Som...

I've been lucky enough to have been fairly active the majority of my life. And over the years, my activities have definitely changed. Sometimes it's out of necessity, sometimes out of inspiration. I thought it would be fun to share my fitness journey and inspirations. Gymnastics - I started this when I was maybe 4th grade, mostly because my sister was a rough-and-tumble kid and we kind of did everything together. I hated it though. I am NOT a daredevil.  Ballet - Near the end of 5th grade my dear friend (who is no longer with us) did nothing but talk about ballet. She convinced me to try a class. I was literally in love the moment I placed my hand on the barre. That was it. It was my everything. It was were I went to escape, to just be me, to feel beautiful.  Weight Lifting - I credit my sister and Cathe Friedrich for my love of lifting. Sarah had started doing tapes (yep good old VHS tapes) like The Firm. I could wield those 3 pounders like nobody's busin...

Happy Hump Day! I wanted to thank everyone for their comments on yesterday's post: Be Kinder to Your Body. Calories are Not the Enemy . It sounds like it resonated with many of you. Today I wanted to share a new workout with you. I've been working on interval workouts for some of my clients. I try to give them the most bang for their buck (time). I know that in an ideal world, we would all have time to do longer workouts. There would never be scheduling conflicts, sick husbands or kids, or sick us. In reality, workouts need to be effective and efficient. And they don't have to be lengthy to be effective and efficient either. There's no need to spend hours in a gym to get in a good workout. Interval workouts like HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) or tabata, or even interval running are great ways to get in a fantastic workout in a short amount of time and have many benefits. You can read more about Tabata workouts  here . The benefits of this...

I wish I had some fantastic new recipe to share on Tasty Tuesday. But, I don't. However, I thought we might talk a bit about calories. That's still food related right? It's important to remember that food and calories are not the enemy. We need calories for energy, we need food to fuel our bodies. However, quite often, when people decide they want or need to lose weight, the first thing they tend to do is slash the calories. I mean, it makes sense right? You hear it time and time again, to lose weight you need to cut x number of calories from your diet. But what you don't often hear is that not all calories are created equal. And that you can eat too few calories and actually undermine your weight loss goals.  In fact, I'm going to suggest that it's not about losing weight so much as it is losing the fat. Losing the fat by increasing lean body mass to be more exact. And the only way this can be done is if you're eating properly along with res...

You often see Motivation Monday posts. I wanted to talk about motivation today, but maybe not quite what most people would expect.  I was thinking about motivation a lot over the weekend. Where it comes from, how it inspires, and also how it can be taken too far. Just take a quick gander over on Pinterest and you'll find more motivational quotes and images than you could use in a lifetime. Then check out your Twitter or Facebook feed. Again, posts about PRs, crushing workouts, miles run, weights and reps lifted. Now visit Instagram and tell me what you see. Yep, more of the same. That's all well and good. It's inspiring to see others out there pushing hard, achieving goals, hitting PRs. It's great to see an image or quote urging us to not quit, to keep going, to push on through the pain.  However, at what cost? One of my least favorite images/quotes I see is the one about never regretting a workout. I'm sorry, but I've regretted a workout before. W...

I posted this picture on Instagram after our 21-mile ride last night. And it sort of got me to thinking about how lucky I am that my spouse does exercise and we can work out together. Poor Jason had to duck down to take this so I didn't cut his head off When we belonged to a gym, we would sometimes go up there together. Maybe do spin class together. We never did weights together though. When I first started running outside, we always ran together. But now? Maybe once a week for 3-4 miles. We do ride together. I'm not brave enough to venture out on my own yet. And, I enjoy the time we do spend together biking. Even though we don't talk much, it's just nice being together, enjoying the outdoors, enjoying life really.  I know that many people don't have the luxury of working out with their significant others. So, I try not to take it for granted that Jason will get out there with me, sometimes begrudgingly mind you ;-) He's not usually so eager to ju...

Here's a new tip for everyone: If you run 6.4 miles in the morning then do legs in the evening (even light legs) then decide to get up and run 10 miles the next morning, you will regret it. Just sayin' Clearly I don't always make the brightest choices when I work out. I definitely didn't plan that out very well. In fact, I hadn't planned on legs at all on Monday evening. I was just going to do biceps, triceps and some abs.  But, I got going and thought, "Hey, why not toss in legs for fun." Because, you know, leg workouts are oh so fun right? So, I did so without really thinking about the next morning's run. Apparently it was a better workout than I had though, either that or I've been such a slacker about leg work that any little bit bites now.  Let's just say this run was on the tougher side. It was around 80 degrees (yes, at 5:30 am), and the humidity and dew point were nice and high. You know, that kind of muggy, thick, war...

Show of hands if your weekend went by too quickly!!! I know mine sure did. It was busy, but good. Saturday morning I laced up my new kicks - Mizuno Wave Rider 16's - and set out for a run. I'll admit that I ran a mile more than I had planned. It was mostly because I miscalculated the distance on the route I chose. I quickly got cleaned up and we headed to the lake to spend time with the family. It wasn't a super sunny day, but sometimes that's ok. It definitely helped keep the temperatures down. The rest of the day was fairly lazy. That's not a bad thing at all. We made up for it on Sunday though. We went for a short bike ride than what we've been doing. We had to meet up with a friend, so time was a little restricted. We had errands to run then a late lunch before heading home and tackling the home office. We found a table on the side of the road Friday morning, so we set that up and started clearing out TONS of crap that's just accumulated ...

I usually try to keep Fun for Friday posts light and fun. Today, I saw this pin and it sort of changed my thought process. This past year I vowed to live fuller, to take risks, make changes. I would say go big or go home, but I'm taking baby steps on that. I typically let fear hold me back. Fear of failure is a big one; fear of the unknown is then next one for me. My dreams of being a personal trainer elicit both of those fears in a major way. What if I fail my client? I'm not just putting together meals and workouts for myself. This is someone's life, their goals, their health. There's also the unknown about starting a new venture. Will it work, will it be too mush stress and pressure ( I'm not quitting my day job ). Is this just too much to take on. All unknowns until I try right? If I keep letting fear hold me back, then I'll never have the future I want. So, today, I'm officially announcing that I've started my own personal training busin...