Tag Archives: morning run

Feeling Sluggish

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Well, it’s been a rough week with all this heat. When the heat waves first started rolling in, I was all eager to prove that it wouldn’t hold me back whatsoever from my running goals. And it didn’t. Two months later however, I’m exhausted from the heat. It’s so humid I can hardly breathe and I’m wet from just walking from my office to my car.
Disgusting.

Anyways, all that to say that I’ve been sluggish lately!

Make a long playlist to stay motivated to keep running!

Last night, however, my husband walked for about 3 miles on the boardwalk and got stuck out in the rain! It got me back in the groove and (thankfully it’s cooled down a wee bit to 79F @ 6am!) I struck out for a little run this morning! It was just under 4 miles, but it felt great to actually get a run in, not a run/ i.can’t.breathe.so.I.must.walk/run.

For those readers who are trying to stalk me by trying to figure out where I run, don’t worry about it. I carry my mace (sold on Amazon for $5.00!), and on a morning like today, there was about 8 cop cars that drove by me. Don’t ask why there are so many cop cars every morning that I run, but there are. Perhaps it’s because I’m on hospital lane? Hmm… either way, it does a lot to make me feel safe. Even though I actually day-dream about the opportunity to use my mace! (does that make me a bad person?)

Motivated to Run

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I had a question from one of my friends on Facebook, and thought I’d tackle it on here!  One of my friends Ashley asked:

How do you stay motivated to run? It seems like I am always starting, run for a few weeks and then I stop.

We are all motivated to run for different reasons. Some of us run to clear our minds or get out of the house and others run to lose weight or other athletic reasons. Many enter races in order to have events to train for, and others are motivated to simply run daily. I can’t tell you how to be motivated or how to fit it in because I don’t know all the details of your life, but I can let you know what works for me.

I love entering races with people. I have a few friends who are runners and they inspire me to keep training, and to get those long runs that must be completed on the weekends. Sometimes we even go out together to make sure we get the 10 miler run done in order to prepare for a race. It’s easy for me to get the long runs in, but a 2 hour run on Saturday with homework crushing me isn’t always the most motivating. So entering races with friends keeps me on track!

My whole life is written out in my planner. I’m not a control freak as much as I can’t remember when and where I’m supposed to be, what’s due, and when I’m supposed to go grocery shopping. So I write in my runs, my mileage, and treat it like everything else in my planner. Mandatory. When I finish, I enter them into my Runkeeper App, and track my total mileage for the month. I’ve been averaging 50 miles of running/month since February, which is great for me! Finally, I celebrate all the small successes and take pride in my runs.

As much as I like running with people, it’s hard for me to match their pace, so I usually run alone. I still go to running groups, and still meet up with my girlfriends, but we usually end up splitting up so we can all meet our running goals. It depends how you like to run, but sharing my running goals with a running community has been the best motivator of all!

I also thought I’d share some of my blogger friends blogs I stalk, since they’ve really motivated me to run: Running in Heels, My Pinky Toes, and of course LuluLemon.

If you have questions for me, feel free to put them in the comments section or post them on my Facebook wall. I’d love to do some research and respond in a blog!

Happy 4th of July AND Goal Setting.

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Happy 4th of July to all my blogger/running friends! I hope you had an amazing break from life and were able to enjoy some serious BBQ and fireworks. We had a great BBQ with tons of food and it was so tempting to eat the the Strawberry Creme Pie because it had white chocolate (?!) in it! OMG. Heavenly.

Amazing 4th of July Pie by Shelby

Back to trying to eat healthy.

I think July is a great time to look back on the year and consider what we’ve accomplished.

Here are a few things that I did; and never thought I could:

If you set goals, you are more likely to achieve what you want, and do even more than you ever thought possible! This can be setting a goal to run a half marathon, or doing a couple in a year. Choose a goal and soon you’ll be crushing your half-marathon, setting a new PR, increasing endurance knowing you are being challenged and growing.


Tips in Goal Setting

Create a Plan.
I usually set a goal for the month for mileage for running, how many times I want to lift weights, and recently (with the gorgeous weather and awful parking situation at the beach) I’ve been adding bike mileage. When I’m training for a race, I have a strict run schedule that I have mapped out in my daily planner, and this forces me to plan around my runs. Typically my long runs are on the weekend, but that’s just because I work full-time. Do whatever day works best for you! I’m careful to add mileage slowly to avoid injury, and to be extremely consistent so I’m building on my past runs.

Join a Run Club.
I have a group of girls that I run trails or on the beach with. Mostly for motivation, but also for safety. We have a flexible schedule, and don’t make it out every week (mostly because I plan them and my schedule isn’t consistent) but they constantly push me… I’m so thankful for my running girls!
Here’s a list of free run clubs & classes in the Virginia Beach Area.

Mix it Up.
When it’s over 100F, I can’t run outside. I can hardly do it in 80F weather (remember, I grew up in Canada?). So I use a treadmill. Or run at 5:30am. Or run on the sand/water at the beach. It really depends what I can do. But I’m constantly switching up my runs. Get some hill training in. Cross training. Biking. Hiking. Speed training. I love getting out of town because there are so many great trails to explore!

While exploring LuluLemons website, I found this awesome little Goal Setting worksheet. There are more to life than running and health goals, and this little worksheet is great about combing all your goals to holistic health!

What are your goals?

Weekend on the Beach

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What a gorgeous weekend! I finally submitted my final paper for my Capstone class, and it was only 35 pages…. but my professor accepted it and gave me a wonderful grade! What a relief! I was spending about 4-5 hours every night studying and writing after working an 8 hour day, 40 hours a week. Pretty often I would fall asleep with my mac on my lap, halfway through a sentence. I was the BORING friend “I’m sorry, I have to work on school and can’t hang out” *whiny voice*.
After that paper was submitted, I was finally free to enjoy my weekend… so I decided to make it epic! I rode my bike down to the beach, and I went running on Saturday with my wonderful group of running girls. On the beach. On the sand. Four miles later my feet were raw and today my calves HURT. In fact, I woke up at 4am this morning and foam rolled them so I’d be able to run this morning (Monday). But it was all worth it because as we were cooling down in the ocean, swimming around… a couple dolphins swam within about 10 feet of us! It was beautiful and we were ecstatic (and started frantically swimming towards them)!!

This was definitely a break from not being able to run for more than 2 miles all last week, since it’s just too hot and humid. Running off the ocean, partly in the water was SO fun :)

Later that morning a group of girls from church had a bible study and hung out at the beach afterwards… and we went ocean kayaking for a little while! (my arms were pretty sore, so I didn’t last long). But all of us had the best time hanging out, getting a tan (aka burn, despite my trusty SPF 30 sunblock!). My friend has a pretty much private beach, so it was great to score some not-so-crowded sand.

Our girls group is going through the book “One Thousand Gifts“, and it’s been so motivating to find gifts going through the everyday motions. From mundane tasks like cleaning to frustrating things like getting stuck in traffic, Ann Voskamp is truly motivating me to see the joy in the little things!

Skinny Dip

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I’m taking some pretty rough classes this summer, and wish I woulda been smart enough to take the summer off. I’m really burnt out as far as school/writing/thinking/saying smart things is concerned, so don’t expect a lot. The only thing that is keeping my sane is my wonderful husband and running!

Sunday morning, before heading out for church I did a wonderful 5 mile run, which is the farthest I’ve run since my 1/2 marathon. When I’m running, I feel like I can do anything. I’m motivated. I feel disciplined. I feel strong.

My school doesn’t make me feel that way right now. So to help me cope, I’ve been eat a lot of chocolate. And drinking hot chocolate.

And skinny dip.

Went to skinny dip. Stalked puppies

On SATURDAY we took Nalla (my friends puppy. We don’t have one. yet.) to skinny dip, and after talking to a staff there who fell in love with Nalla and wanted to talk to her, shake her hand, and just hang out in the general cute puppy vicinity, she informed us that they sell little ‘doggy dips’.

You are kidding me, right?

Nope. I’ve never seen Nalla get so excited! She started chewing that ice cream… it was so cute! Awwww! This diversion was definitely worth skipping an hour of crying-over-algebra-textbooks studying.

Being Intentional

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It’s so easy, for example, to go on vacation and throw your entire diet (of healthy eating) and training schedule out the window, only to have to start back up from square one when you get back (Thank you Christmas break!).

Spring break is coming up for some people (does that mean anything anymore that I’m not in grade 7?) and Easter (the 3rd best chocolate holiday in the WORLD), which is desperately trying to sabatoge my training schedule like Christmas. In case you need a kick in the butt, try out the ever eipc Biggest Loser Trainers Bob’s Vacation Workout.

IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! WE ONLY HAVE EXACTLY 52 DAYS to get in the BEST shape we’ve ever been in and race on the hilly track for 13.1 miles! 

We’ve using Hal Higdons 1/2 marathon training Schedule: Novice 2 as our coach and the most amazing weather =) I’m enjoying this training plan because we just ran a 1/2 marathon last week, and it’s giving us a bit of a break, allowing us time to work back up to 13 miles. I’m working this running thing in-between my work schedule, school, and being around for my husband. It’s a lot, but thankfully he’s running with me =)

It’s about being intentional about your goals. Whether on vacation, or just getting caught up in life, be intentional about getting where you want to be. Dreams without deadlines and plans of actions are just… dreams.

I’m probably going to fall slightly short of my 60 miles/March goal, but I’m proud of all the progress I’ve made AND for setting a new PR: Running 13.1 miles!! I’m still so proud of myself!

Ps. if you are at all enjoying my posts, please leave a little love (aka: comment on my BLOG people! I know your reading it!!)

SHAMROCK RACE!

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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!

Goodbye, Hello

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Ok, so you remember all those great new years resolutions you made back in… January? How are those coming along? I mean, it’s been about 35 days since we carefully carved out all the goals for the new year, some were naturally extremely unrealistic (like getting all A’s), but others were easy (like laugh everyday). Just in case my new years goals weren’t enough pressure, I also set month goals, like eat veggies every day (check) and buy new running shoes (check). Maintianing this blog every week was another January goal (check), but I failed in running 9 miles this month. My excuse is that I purchased new running shoes and needed to break them in! I think I’m good to go because I did almost 5 on Saturday and don’t have any blisters.
I need to catch up and run my goal of 11 miles this month in order to prepare for the Shamrock 1/2 marathon in 6 very short weeks…

In short, my goals are to say good bye to the unhealthy eating, and hello to the trails this month! Wish me luck!  

I sincerely hope I’m offering just a small glimpse of encoragement to those who have extremely busy lives and are struggling with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes things need to be removed from our lives in order to make room for our workouts, and other times we just need to get up earlier, workout instead of watching a TV show, take a walk on our lunch break, or park further from our jobs in order to get some much needed exercise in.

You can do it!

Weekend Run

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Saturday I did a great 3.3m run in about 27 min as I ran to the LuluLemon store for my pilates class. I didn’t use my RunKeeper app because I was using my map to figure out how to find the store, but that’s my rough figure. When I got there, I had to immediantly start my class, and I could hardly sit up straight, my hips were so tight! After some serious stretching and a lot of pain, I was able to FINALLY touch my toes (which is never a big deal to me), and I felt MUCH better!

I LOVED the piliaties class, and will probably sign up for for enough classes to get me to Christmas.

Then on SUNDAY, I went running with a girl from our run club and she matched my slower-I’m-going-to-run-6-miles-pace perfectly! It was a glorious run with the most perfect weather ever, and we just kept running. My goal was to run SEVEN miles, but I started dry heaving at SIX so I did what it took to get back to the car. Safely. And not throw-up in front of the new girl. Unsuccessful. Embarrassing.

I know this is discusting, but it’s not the first time I’ve thrown up from running. This time it was obviously from running too soon after lunch, but I’ve done it before from over exerting myself. What I’ve learned to listen to my body, and walk when it’s telling me to walk.
During a race, yes, I will do what it takes to get the best time I possibly can, but I’m not going to bring myself to throw-up again because of a run. It was horrible. After I got home, I threw up straight for 30 minutes and felt like crap the rest of the night.

But while I was miserable, I basked in the pride that, today, I ran further than I’ve ever run before.

Going to beat my record and run SEVEN miles next weekend!

Morning runs

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Last night we watched the biggest loser, and ran to Skinny Dip before hand so we could eat ice cream (or frozen yogurt) while we watched people lose weight!

I haven’t been consistantly running since our race at the end of October, and since the time change I decided to start running in the mornings. Since marrying Tyler, he’s pretty strict about me not running in the dark, so I was starting to get frustered since it wasn’t light until 7:15am! There was no way I could run, shower, and be even remotely on time for work, so I’m (of course) thrilled to have my morning run back! :) I hit the road this morning at 6:44am and ran for 4 miles in 41:14min. It really isn’t great, but morning runs are always a little slower for me.

My goal is to do it under 39:00 min tomorrow!

The fog this morning was glorious, especially over the lakes I ran by. I was able to rest my mind and really think about the things I’m grateful for… which is a long list!

  •  I’m grateful for Tyler’s really good job. I can’t even tell you how happy I am.
  • Getting to take a class this semester. I’ve got 10 classes to finish once I’m done this semester and I CAN’T WAIT to graduate.
  • The gloriously cool air, esp in the mornings when I run. I love running under the trees and enjoying their magnificent color.  
  • It was our 3 month anniversary last week (Nov.6), and it was so amazing to realize that we’ve been happily married for a whole 1/4 of a year! Tyler pulled me into a hug and informed me, “today is the first day towards 6 months!” A tear rolled down my cheek… it was so precious :)

I love clearing my mind during my runs, getting ready for the day, and not allowing the things that worry me to drag me down. I love running.