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Saturday, April 19, 2014

How to be your best self...

Whether you already consider yourself an athlete, or are just looking to enhance or increase your performance at any level, how you fuel your body is one of the most important components.  I am super excited my friend introduced me to Isagenix a few months ago.  I have seriously never felt better and more than anything, I love how much energy I have, how much less stress I feel, and how that translates into fewer illnesses, a happier mood and higher productivity.  Watch this video...these athletes are amazing - and they are REAL people!  I especially love how they all point out that if you have the drive and passion, you can achieve it.  Our bodies thrive on whole food, powerful nutrition.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Wish some things wouldn't change.

Life seems to be centered around doing the everyday little (and sometimes big) things that will hopefully, eventually bring about positive change.  For example, yesterday I made an attempt at a more 'normal'  (for me) workout routine: I lifted weights first thing in the morning for about an hour, then I did a spin class, and a couple of hours later I did a Muscle Fusion class.  This morning as I forced myself to get in 30 minutes on the treadmill before work, I realized how painful those changes can be!  I like the pain from muscle soreness, though.  That's how you know you are making gains.


On the other hand, I don't like thinking about how much and how quickly our children grow and change.  Tonight I took my 8 year old with me to the park to go for a walk.  That little guy happily and swiftly hung in there with me for 6 miles!  Some of the time we were each listening to our  music, some of the time we were chatting - and believe me, that kid loves to talk.  And I think he told me he loves me about 10 times during the hour and 20 minutes we were walking.  I hope he doesn't change.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Nothing to fear.

Nothing in life is truly constant.  Everyone knows that.  And while my running "career" seemed relatively consistent for a pretty decent stretch (and with that, my blogging!!), changes in the world around me have made it impossible for me to sustain that level of consistency.  I have had to learn to embrace - not fear - the change.

It would be crazy for me to give a full recap of everything that has gone on over the past 8 or 9 months, but I will try to at least catch you up on what is relevant in terms of this blog...

My last full marathon was the Pocatello Marathon last fall.  After doing that race, I re-grouped with my trainer and decided to cut back on running and focus on building muscle and strength.  From the beginning of September through the beginning of November, I did little more than 5 or 6 miles for my longest runs and was really only running once or twice a week.  Instead, I was supplementing with cardio sessions of spinning classes and other forms of cross-training, while mainly focusing on lifting weights.  I was also trying something new with my diet at that time and had incorporated some keto-runs into my routine in an attempt to lose body fat (and I got down to about 17%).

Every November there is a local half-marathon that my husband and I have been involved with for a few years, but since I had not been running as much, I didn't plan to run it in 2013...until about 5 days before the race when my trainer asked if I wanted to run it with her and I said, what the heck?


Riding the bus up to the start with Misty, I had no idea how my body was going to handle running 13.1 miles without having done adequate training, but honestly I wasn't too concerned with time or pace.  I just planned to enjoy it.  Turns out, the break from running must have done my body good - I got my half-marathon PR on that race, finishing with a time of 2:03:29!


After the half-marathon, I continued on with a minimal amount of training runs, especially as the weather turned colder and much less runner-friendly.  For a few weeks in February and March I was able to get in some long runs, 12-15 miles at a time.

Most of the other changes circulating through my little world during this time didn't actually have anything to do with running.  In December, I attended a workshop taught by a dear friend and received my certification to teach indoor cycling.  That was something I had wanted to do for a long time, and am glad to now have that under my belt.

In the meantime, my job at the gym has become increasingly predominant in my life.  I was spending more and more time not only working my own shifts, but covering for other people.  So when the front desk director gave her two-week notice at the beginning of January, I was asked to replace her and have since been working as the director.  That has meant even more hours, hiring and training staff, and doing the schedule for the 7 employees that work under me.  While I enjoy working at the gym, I have struggled somewhat with balancing my time there with time at home with the kids and Chris and keeping up on things around the house, and still having enough time to work out as much as I'd like.

In March I was able to take about a week off from work - not for a vacation, unfortunately - but to have a couple of surgical procedures done to "fix" a few things that have been bothering me since having our four children, losing a significant amount of weight and keeping it off.  Chris took some time off from his job as well and stayed home to take care of me and the kids so I could rest and heal up.  I was back to work full-time the next week and back to working out by the third week post-op.  This past week was my first full week of an almost normal workout schedule and I have been feeling pretty amazing.  Spinning classes, Muscle Fusion X, running stairs at the stadium and even a 5 mile run with Chris yesterday.

So today I sit here, on my rest day, feeling sore and happy.  The weather is starting to turn (warmer) and I am feeling a renewed eagerness to start getting more serious with a training schedule.  After all, I am signed up for a marathon at the end of the summer and I think it's time to start a countdown.  Besides, there are always new things on the horizon for us...and my kids are all healthy, Chris and I are healthy and happy...so life is good. :)