#Goals

A few of my friends and I (aka the Independent Women) have a thing we refer to as #Goals.  The concept is simple: #Goals are ideas, accomplishments or things, no matter how crazy or outlandish others may think they are, we want to achieve or own at some point in our lives.  As I was thinking about what to write as my next blog, I realized the only things that exist on my list are things. But when it comes to the fitness game do I have list of ultimate wants?

Nope.

The past three weeks I participated in two different 10k’s with no training – the Giant Race at the end of August and the Disneyland 10k on Labor Day weekend. (Notice I didn’t say run – I ran-walked both, but none the less, I finished).  While I do not condone anyone go from 0 to 60 with their running game (it’s not smart or safe), I’m actually very impressed I was able to complete both races unscathed with absolutely no training.

I’m not sure if I experienced an epiphany after the Disneyland 10k or it was the Happiest Place on Earth talking, but I found myself wanting more.  I want to run faster, go further and cross the finish line knowing that I ran the entire way.  So I thought (and thought and thought and thought) about what I wanted to do and formulated a few running #goals:

• Dumbo Double Dare – September 2016
• First Marathon – late 2017/early 2018 (I’m torn between Rock and Roll Las Vegas, Rock and Roll Arizona, Honolulu Marathon or the Walt Disney World Marathon – (Hello Coast to Coast medal in 2018 if that’s the case))

Before I get too ahead of myself I need to focus on the basics:  sticking to the diet overhaul, gradually building up my mileage and incorporating a healthy mix of strength training.  I’m excited, no thrilled, to start working towards these #goals.  I can already picture myself crossing those finish lines.

Ready, Set, Go!

No Stress

In honor or National Stress Awareness Day I slept in, did not go to the gym as originally planned, ate a not so healthy breakfast and did not stress myself out worrying about why I managed to break all my “rules” before 10am on Monday morning.

Ok the real reason why all those things happened were because I stayed a few extra hours at work last night so I got home [and eventually went to bed] later than usual, thanks to a three hour gym sesh my entire body is sore and I’m just flat out hungry [trust me, you do NOT want to encounter me when I’m starving].

Regardless of why I did what I did, I do feel a rest day is in order.  I can only run on a few hours sleep for so long and my body can only handle so much before I need to take a day or two to recover.  I’ve only just begun week 2 of my mission and it would be a shame to burn out so early in the game.

Next on today’s “stress free” agenda: put on the headphones, crank up the volume and dance around to some music while I get ready for work.  Yay! for Natural Stress Awareness Day!

Pumped Up Kicks

I bought my first pair of Vibrams today.

I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not to purchase a pair since I first read about them in 2010.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and give them a try specifically when it comes to cross training.  Given the rave reviews of the shoes from the staff at the store, I think I might take these babies out for a run once I get used to them.

Snack Attack!

I can already tell that the toughest part of watching my diet is that time period between when I get off of work and when I go to sleep.  It’s not so much that I want to eat when I come home from work, it’s what I want to eat.  Thanks to the incessant cravings of something REALLY sweet or REALLY salty after about 10pm, when I get home I start hunting for things like potato chips or chocolate to satisfy my appetite.  Too make matters worse I’ve noticed I’ve developed the habit of taking said bad food up to my room, power up my laptop and sit on my bed with my snack du jour while I catch up on emails and peruse facebook.

I’m pretty sure I resemble this guy:

Except I probably feel guilty after eating because now I have to go and add it to my food log.  The first week of changing your eating habits is always the most challenging. Oy!

Day 1: Mirror, Mirror

I’m pretty sure the way that I see myself is different from the way that the rest of the world sees me.  Despite the fact that I do have some improvements to make, when I look in the mirror I still think I’m pretty darn fabulous.  I’m not one of those women that will stand there and scrutinize every little imperfection.  Sure there are some things that I’d love to change, but if I spend too much time making myself feel bad then I’m not spending enough time enjoying my life.

I like to document things through photos.  Since I am beginning a lifestyle and weight loss journey I’ve decided to provide a weekly photo update. Since I started this post talking about how I view my reflection, the pictures will be my actual reflection of myself.  Plus I couldn’t get anyone to actually take a picture of me, so I had to make due.

I’m looking forward to seeing lots of improvement in the coming months Here’s to looking even more fabulous!

Mission Possible

I’ve decided that I’m on a self improvement mission.  Why?  Because the reality is that I’ve let myself go:  I barely run/exercise, my diet is terrible and I’ve developed some very, very lazy habits.

For the past few weeks I’ve been looking for someone/something else to blame.  First it was “I spent a couple of weeks in the company of some not so active individuals, if I didn’t associate with them I wouldn’t have broken my good habits” or “geez, this work schedule is crazy, I think sleeping is more of a priority” or even “it’s raining, forget it.”  While it’s true that those events did happen in my life, they’re not the cause of my fitness/health decline.  It’s me.  I let it happen.  I chose to spend a few extra hours in bed instead of hitting the pavement and I made the excuse that I didn’t have time when, with a little effort, I could have fit everything into my schedule. I let myself get lazy despite having access to an amazing support system and tools I need to accomplish my fitness related goals.

In order to break this cycle I’ve been racking my brain thinking of ways to get myself motivated to do more.  Then it hit me:  why not reward myself for sticking to my goals”  I know what you’re thinking: the real reward is accomplishing the goal.  Sure that’s true, but let’s face it, I like nice stuff, nice stuff is expensive and to justify buying such expensive stuff I need to earn it.  Even though I’m still fine tuning my reward system, the possibility of buying things that I’ve been lusting over is exciting (can we say hello fancy new purse & ipad?).

I also plan on using this blog as a way to keep myself accountable.  In addition to my obvious goals (build up  running endurance and speed, keep track of food) and my not so obvious ones (remember to take vitamins everyday, drink at least eight 8oz glasses of water and remember to floss every single day (hey, i got lazy, don’t judge)) I also plan to update my progress here for the whole world to see.

The challenge begins tomorrow.  It’s kind of fitting that I start this overhaul on Easter Sunday, since it’s a time of renewal and rebirth.

Here goes nothing…again.

Growing Pains

Before 2011 came to a close I was given a new career opportunity.  Amazing news?  Of course, but, as is the case with any life change, came a major adjusting period.   I went from a part time, somewhat active swing schedule job to a full time day schedule desk job, then switched back to a “part time” swing schedule desk job, which actually resulted in me working 60+ hours a week.

Oy!

Despite the long hours and the often frustrating moments that come along with adjusting to a new job, I’m enjoying the change.  I love that I now have plenty of room for advancement and, in the short time that I’ve been with the company, I’ve met alot of great people.  If I had to critique something though, I’d have to say that for the past few weeks my life has felt like this:

A part of me feels like I really shouldn’t complain.  The more I work the more money I make.  The more money I make the more I can “feed” my love for shoes/handbags/clothing in general.  But I’ve gotta say, because I’m now so limited on time, my “me time” has fallen to practically zero.  And, yes, that does include the time I spend getting my fitness on.  Gone are the days when I had the luxury to suit up and head outside for a 6+ mi run.  This is proving to be especially problematic because I have a race that is quickly approaching and I’m basically at square one. At least square one looks a hell of a lot better than giving up completely.

A week ago I was complaining that I missed my childhood days when I had virtually no responsibility, but I guess you’ve gotta grow up sometime.

News Updates

The bad news:  I’m not running as far of a distance as I would like.

The good news:  I’m logging in faster miles.

The better news:  It’s time for another Triple Cardio Tuesday.

The BEST news:  It’s time to break in new kicks!

Project: Organization

I’ve been bitten by the “fall cleaning” bug.

This means that I have the need to sort through everything I own, get rid of things that I no longer want/need and reorganize, rearrange the heck out of all that I decide to keep and somewhere in the middle of all that super clean everything.  I have to break up my fall cleaning in pieces though because (1) super cleaning/organizing should seriously count as a workout (especially if you decide to move furniture around) and (2) I’m less prone to an “OMG what did I do” meltdown if I only have to deal with mini piles of mess at a time instead of one big giant one.  Plus it’s Sunday and, as much as I want to clean/organize everything, I do want to go out and enjoy my day too.

Today’s piece of my fall cleaning puzzle dealt with moving my bed and, because I’m a gym clothes whore, my extra “closet.”  Since I had to empty out my extra wardrobe, I had a pretty gnarly pile of clothes going on.  I took one look at it and started laughing mostly because it’s a little absurd to have that many pairs of Nike tempo track shorts (my absolute fave) and knee high socks, but also because of the fact that I realized that I’m going to have deal with putting everything away again.  Fun stuff.

Here’s my mini disaster before:

And a closer look:

TA-DA!! The finished product (not exactly perfect, but that’s as good as it’s going to get):

Triple Cardio Tuesdays

I define the Tuesdays I have off as TCTs (Triple Cardio Tuesdays).  That means that I kick off the day with a quick and dirty run (because it’s always awesome to wake up at 5am on your days off) and end it with hour long U-Jam and Turbo Kick classes.  One other thing to note about TCTs:  I wake up the next day feeling like I got hit by a truck.  You’d think my body would eventually get used it, but no, it hasn’t happened yet.

Today’s run was especially awesome because my times are improving.  I took the same route I ran last Sunday and completed it 3 minutes faster.  So instead of trotting along at penguin pace I’m starting to resemble a real runner again.  I was worried about my turtle status for a bit, because no matter how much I wanted to go faster, my body just wouldn’t cooperate.  But after today’s run, I’m more confident that I can meet or beat my old times.  Next thing you know I’ll be breaking PRs left and right.

Oh and this TCT is extra special because according to the countdown app on my phone there are exactly 200 days left until the Hollywood Half Marathon and 65 days until the Run Against Hunger 5k.

Must find awesome outfits NOW!