Category Archives: starting over

She Believed she Could, so She Did.

Posted on by

0

Running is more than a healthy and cheap way to stay in shape, it has become who I am. When I wandered into my first run group after about six weeks of run/walking (mostly walking), I ran beside a woman who was pushing a baby stroller with a month old baby wrapped up inside. This was several years ago, in another country, and I never saw her again… But she inspired me more than a personal trainer could have. She ran until she was seven months pregnant! And after pushing out a baby a month prior, she was still able to run farther than me.

No, this isn’t a dual announcement of a marathon and a baby… I just thought of her and how she gave me the inspiration to be who I am today.

A runner.

Someone who plans their weekend around the long run. Goes to bed early to get up to run. Packs more running clothes on a weekend getaway than regular clothes. Buys a pair of stretch pants from lululemon in all black so I can wear them with high boots for a dual purpose wear… Sound familiar?

she believed

People ask me how to keep fit through the holidays. It’s easy. Make it your priority. Fit in your work outs, they are non negotiable. Eating clean isn’t debatable. You know how it works in your life… You just need that motivation. Maybe I’m like that new mom was in my life to you or maybe you’re that person to someone else. Be that motivation to someone else.

I pray that there is at least one person out there that is motivated to be fit and decide to honor their bodies because of the motivation from us at Girls Run Faster.

Self-Love

Posted on by

2

Do you ever wake up in the morning, or mess something up, and can’t stop thinking about how you screwed that up? It starts as a healthy reminder to step up your game, and quickly turns into self loathing.

That’s what happened earlier this week. It started out as a healthy reprimand, and quickly turned into the ever familiar self loathing I was quite friendly with when I struggled with my eating disorder. I would hate myself for eating anything and I would expound further but I remember how the comparison game worked:

  • I would compare myself to others who struggle(d) with an eating disorder, and punish myself if I ate more than them, and gloat if I ate less than them.
  • I was jealous of those who got hospitalized, and felt sorry for those who swelled from water retention.

Obviously this was kinda messed up. But the thing is, I thought that that’s all I deserved. I thought I wasn’t worth anything until I was less than 100lbs, and I wouldn’t allow myself to be happy. I was going to make myself miserable until I’d reached my goal. The only problem was, that when I started losing a bunch of weight, I felt miserable so I couldn’t even enjoy my new *skinny*. I was terribly sick and wasn’t able to climb up a flight of stairs without fainting. Where were my hopes and dreams of going to college? Traveling? Moving out? I was so sick I couldn’t function.

I’m so glad I’m in a healthier place now! These are a few things that keep me grounded:

  • A husband who thinks I’m beautiful
  • Daily quiet time, reflecting on things that are true and uplifting
  • An exhilarating amount of running and keeping active
  • Investing in myself (finishing my bachelors degree this fall!!)
  • Learning to love myself
  • Taking time to enjoy the smallest moments. Taking time to be joyful
  • Taking time for myself. Sometimes this means taking my journal to Starbucks and writing for an hour. Other times this means taking 2 hours to run by the beach. And occasionally it means spending an hour on pinterest, pretending to be productive :)

“If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you’ll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren’t even giving to yourself.”

- Barbara De Angelis, author

What helps you guys keep a healthy perspective on life and yourself? How do you keep your emotions steady and enjoy life when it seems crazy?

Get Back At It

Posted on by

1

It can be especially challenging during the summer months to keep a regular exercise routine, and my excuses vary from being on vacation, the overwhelming heat, to too much BBQ last night to get up and get an early run in before work.
But when the break from running is more than a day or two, and grows to weeks or even months, it’s hard to get back in the rhythm.
Here’s how to approach those first runs, no matter how long you’ve been away to avoid injury.

The break -> a week or two
On your first couple runs back in the groove, just take it 2 or 3 minutes slower than usual and run about half of your usual distance. Also include walk breaks.

The break -> about a month
Alternate your workout days with a walking/running routine. On Monday run 15 min and using a ratio of 60 seconds running, 30 seconds walking. Tuesday: Walk 30 minutes. Wednesday run 20 min sing a ratio of 60 seconds running, 30 seconds walking. Use Thursday as a rest day, and Friday repeat Wednesdays workout. Saturday: walk 30 min. Sunday run 25-30 minutes using a ratio of 40 seconds running, 20 seconds walking.

The break -> 60 days or more
It’ll probably take about a month to get back on track. Follow the routine for week one listed above, and on week two run 30 minutes three times a week using a ratio of 40 seconds running/20 seconds walking. For week three use the same running routine, 25 seconds running/35 seconds walking. On week four, go back to week two’s plan, running three times using a ratio of 40 seconds running/20 seconds walking.

If you’ve taken a break from running, I Hope these tips were helpful!

 

Source: Running World, “Back on Your Feet” August 2012 edition.

 

Give me your Tips on Losing Weight!

Posted on by

1


Since I run so much, I basically eat in order to keep weight on… so weight loss hasn’t been much of a concern for me. I also struggle with IBS so I’m forced to eat healthier than I would if I didn’t have this problem (so basically I pay for what I eat sooner than everyone else does ;) )

Anyways, I have a friend who contacted me this week asking me how to lose weight in a healthy way. This friend has knee trouble and recently had to undergo some type of surgery, which limits their ability to work out. Since this isn’t my specialty, I wanted to get some input from my readers and see if they could add anything!

This is the email that I sent my friend:

 

Of course, we are looking for low impact sports since your knee is tender, so jogging/running is out of the question. No need to do that unless being chased ;)

Alternating workouts during the week will be your best bet. Something like insanity would be great for you, taking it easy on the knees when needed. If you are working out three times per week, Let’s say Monday, Wednesday, Friday, you would switch up like this:

Monday 30 min spin (or class), 30 min elliptical. Take music with you and go at your fastest pace

Wednesday 30 min fast walking on treadmill (try for 4mh pace), 30 min spin at your fastest pace

Friday 30 min elliptical, 30 min spin at your fastest pace

The biggest things you need to worry about are keeping your heart rate up, and keep moving at your fastest pace. PUSH THROUGH the cramps and remember, you should be sweaty and gross 15 minutes into your workout.

I’m not sure when you’ll be ready to join your classes again, but I’d suggest taking it easy until you know your knee won’t give you any trouble!

Of course, in order to lose weight, you have to give your diet a lot of attention. Eating healthy salads with minimal dressing, staying away from white flour/sugar and fried food will definitely help you out. I eat oatmeal for breakfast every day and it curbs my appetite, helping me make healthy choices. Keep fruit and nuts on you all the time to eat between meals, which will keep your blood sugar stable.

Hope these tips help; I know you have what it takes to lose this weight :)

I’m all about being healthy and strong, and sometimes that means shaving off a pound or two in order to be your best. I don’t want my friend to drop 30 pounds in 3 weeks, I want them to be stronger and healthier.
Ok- what else would you guys suggest? I know theirs more things we can all implement into our lives to be healthier and we’d love to hear your tips :)

SHAMROCK RACE!

Posted on by

2

 

 

I woke up Sunday morning after about 2.5 hrs of sleep because there were gun shots(yes, gun shots) outside our apartment all night. I almost didn’t run in the race because I woke up feeling miserable, but Tyler was so encoraging and supportive, and helped me decide to run! (thanks hunny!)

My goal was to run the first six miles, and then run/walk the rest of the miles because my training had gone so poorly.

Parking for any Boardwalk race is a mess, and yesterday was no exception. The irony of parking in a bank parking lot in the handicap space while running a half marathon kept me smiling until the start! For the first couple miles, Tyler and I were smiling at each other in sheer happiness of being able to run this race.

Because, exactly one year ago, after the Shamrock race (we were running 8k’s back then) he took me to Fort Story and proposed. It was so precious and one of the happiest days of my life!

Back to the race. It was so glorious to run by Fort Story and remember our proposal exactly one year ago… and we actually ran RIGHT by the Lighthouse (on mile 8) that we visted the day he proposed!  The terrain was wonderful, we consistantly run on the boardwalk, so we were used to the route. While we were on base, running by the lighthouse, there was this mommy with two little kids in her stroller that allowed her kids to get out and RUN along side her! This was the most adorable site ever, and I was laughing for the remainder of the mile :) I was truly inspired to keep running. And I did keep running! At each mile marker, I decided to run that mile, and walk the rest. Until I got to mile 11, and then decided I was going to run the WHOLE thing! I’m so glad I did, and I’m so proud of myself!

I set my all time Personal Record yesterday. Not because I did great time, but because this was the FIRST TIME I’D EVER RUN 13.1 MILES! Setting my next PR is going to be easy since I really took it slow and ran it at 11:21 minute miles (according to my tracker), and 11:49 according to the race timer. They are different because I turned off my tracker during our washroom break… because I wanted to know our exact running time.

Seriously, I’ve never been prouder of myself in my whole life. I never thought I’d be able to run STRAIGHT for 13.1 miles, and I DID! I crossed the finish line, strong and feeling good. I’ve never been happier to stop running!

5 miler weekend

Posted on by

0

So I’m done with my excuses (except for the one about my finals next week… Still holding onto that one) and I’m hitting the road. Hard. Well, hard-ish. Since buying these amazing new running shoes (that are very veeeeery stiff) I’ve been working on breaking them in. And today, after like a month, I’m back up to 5 miles. With two blisters on each arch :( . It felt amazing to be out there for almost an hour, listening to music, and I seriously couldn’t stop smiling. I mean, its been more than a week since an outdoor run… I was free!! At about mile 3.5, a lady in her car gave me the strangest look because I was smiling so big!

Tomorrow, the hubs and I are going to run some trails and hopefully hit that 5 mile mark, again. I figure there is no way I can run 10 at once at this point, I may as well get it in separately.

Goal: 5 miles again tomorrow.

Goal: log 40 miles this month (at 20 miles so far).

This shamrock 1/2 marathon is going to kick my butt, but I’m not going to give up. Not ever going to give up!

20120217-225716.jpg

 

5 weeks in…

Posted on by

1

About five weeks ago I decided that I’d had enough of the sugar, cake, cookies I’d allowed myself to eat over our wedding/honey-moon and was going to focus on getting healthier. I also printed out Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training Program, spread it out over the course of six months instead of three, and have been running according to that.

I honestly don’t know how people can do the Half Marathon Training Plan in three months, I’m finding it exhausting doing it in six! This week I’ve actually replaced several of my Spin (bike) workouts with runs… which I probably shouldn’t do… but working out in a nasty hot gym just wasn’t appealing to me this week. Not when the weather has been this glorious!

Tyler joined me for a three mile run this morning, which I am proud to announce that I did in 27:30min… I was so excited- and ofcourse Tyler was the always and ever proud of me! You might think I’m a little crazy, but I found a little Lulu running group here and we’re gunna try it out tonight; which will be another 3 mile run. I’m reeeeeally excited to break through this mental ceiling… I’ve never run this far twice in one day! We’ll see how this group works out; I really want a local crew to help motivate me. I enjoy running alone, but sometimes I think it would be fun to run with a group. We’ll see how it works out!
Anyways, it’s been five weeks since I started training, and I’m feeling amazing. My knees are feeling great, my endurance is getting so much better, and I’m actually excited to do my weekend run of five miles!

If you’re considering starting a training plan, don’t hesitate to jump into it. I’ve seriously never felt better and happier (which part of that might have to do with being a newly-wed ;) haha!

Do I Like Myself?

Posted on by

0

As I’m writing this, I’m incredibly bored at work. I work in an Admissions office requesting transcripts and there are days when I can hardly cope with the boredom of my job. I love my co-workers, (most of them hahahah) love drinking coffee at my very decorated desk,

managing the 3 GA’s that come in and work with me, all the detailed stuff I have to handle as part of my job… but today, I’m just bored. I can’t even pretend to make up work, because I’ve already done that all week. It’s tuesday, 3:30 pm, and I’m ansty to get off for the night!

I’ve already got my run in for today (3m at 7am) and only that late because it was dark until then. Tonight is biggest loser night, and I know we’ll both be glued to the TV watching the coaches kick the contestants butts! It’s so inspiring to watch people who couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs train for a marathan and sometimes losing up to 100 lbs in the process… it makes me realize that I CAN DO THAT TOO! I’m not allowed to think I can’t train for a half marathon, because if THEY CAN, I CAN! It’s going to take the same amount of dedication and work, and even more discipline because I don’t have a team cheering me on, a coach kicking my butt, and the nation watching… but I know I can do it. What do you find motivating? What inspires you to reach your goals?

I love Lulu’s little quote that I found… and I realized that I based on my outlook on life, I should probably like myself a little more. Actually, I always think I need to do better, perform better (in running and everything else) and the people around me are proud of me for who I am… not what I do. I need to let things roll off my shoulder a little more and let other people take the slack for things I can’t do or control.

So. I decided to make a list of things I like about myself:

1. I love to laugh. A lot. And tickle and cuddle and make jokes and make other people laugh.

2. I like to work hard, whether it’s at work, on my school, cleaning my house… baking… I throw all my energy into whatever I do, and get ‘er done quick!

3. Generally a very optamistic person… I tend to see the good in situations and inspire others to have a better outlook on life.

4. I think I’m an inspiring person. I love seeing the good in people and helping them go further and do more with the gifts I see in them. I love to encourage people when they are down.

What are some things that you love about yourself? What are things that inspire you?

Discipline for training

Posted on by

0

I’m afraid this post isn’t as inspiring as some of my others… I’ve been incrediably lazy all week, and haven’t run since Tuesday. I did the bike for 30 min and then weights on Friday, and by Monday, I was incrediably guilty. So I ran 4.67 miles in 50 minutes. It’s really not a great run, but I’m just proud to be running that distance. It’s going to take some serious work to reach my goal of 45 minutes for my Neptunes Fest on October 1st! I’m hoping to be running with some friends, so that will make me run faster… I hope!

If I’m going to reach my goal of running the half-marathon in March, it’s going to take a lot of work. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or I don’t feel well. I still need to get out there and get my exercise in. I’m still going to take care of my body, but I’m going to start being relentless about working out EVERY DAY. Maybe I’ll get two REST days a week, but none of this FOUR rest days that I took last week. Running isn’t fun for me, and it’s definately not easy, but I feel wonderful when I’m done, and I know that I’m going to reach my goal.

I’m strong, and I know that through Christ I can do anything. He tells us to ”run with patience (endurance, persistence) the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith … For consider Him that endured … lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Heb 12:1-3)

 – the need for endurance is obvious; the focus of our vision; keeping the rules; self-discipline; and the desire and determination to win. If we lack in any of these areas, we will become vulnerable to defeat and failure.

In every area of my life, I want to be disciplined, in my eating, quiet time with God, and maintaining my school… so this training is a glimpse in my overall disciple.
As I’m able to be disciplined in every other area of my life, I  will be able to be disciplined enough to prepare for the Shamrock Half-Marathon in March.

Squats.

Posted on by

0

On Tuesday I went for a nice little 3 mile run and came back to the apartment. Tyler, having just pumped iron (like a REAL man) in the gym, encouraged me to do 50 squats.

Ok, it went more like this…

Tyler : “I used to do 50 squats after every run”.
Amanda : “That’s nice”.
Tyler: “You should do 50 squats after your run”
Amanda: “Haha. You’re kidding. I’m not doing that. That’s dumb”
Tyler: “It’s just because you can’t do them”
Amanda: “50?! Of course I can DO them. I just don’t want to”. <Glare>
Tyler: “hahaha. Whatever”

So, he manipulated me into doing 50 squats after my run. Which was really easy.

Except now it’s Friday and I’m still falling in my chair, seat in the car, toilet… etc because I’m in so much pain. Jerk. I literally can’t even run because I’m in so much pain. If I can’t run my half marathon in March, I’m blaming him ;)