Run, Selfie, Repeat

So awhile back, I began following a woman known as "Run, Selfie, Repeat" on facebook. The more I saw her post, the more I felt like we had a ton in common.Over the weeks, I've really enjoyed reading what she had to say and I love her confidence and reasoning behind it. She's definitely someone who inspires me and she loves selfies, so there's that! Then on my run today I was thinking about this post and her determination. It was 8 miles in the 15 degree cold, but I finished strong. This week she posted a picture with a caption on Facebook and I have to share her words instead of my own because they resonated with me so much.

She credits Banga Studios for the photo

"Why am I doing this." Honestly, it's a question I've been asking myself more than I'd like to admit these past few weeks. 

I'm not a professional athlete, I'm just a really vulnerable lady who runs for her life. I keep thinking back to how scared I was when I started BQ or Bust. How afraid I was to have to eventually admit that I was too afraid to stick with it because I'm a quitter. The more I go back and watch My BQ or Bust daily vlogs, the more I'm reminded of everything I learned about myself last year.

How no regrets, no excuses changed my life and forced me to stop playing it safe. Or that failure isn't an option if you give 100% of yourself to whatever it is your doing. Life is too short not to pursue the strongest version of yourself. And there isn't a damn thing pretty or picture perfect about that path. It's full of pit falls, grit, doubt, breakthroughs, setbacks, tears and sleepless nights.

Taking risks is what I love to do. Running keeps me moving forward whenever I try to pump the breaks. I'm remembering to trust myself. And to lean into the discomfort again. We all hold ourselves back or listen to the voice in our heads that tells us we're not good enough. F*** that. I want to go to bed every single night knowing that I didn't hold back. That if something horrible happened tomorrow, I gave everything I had to both myself and the people around me. Because life is too short.

Be brave. Be bold. And be vulnerable

As I'm reading this now, it has been exactly what I have been feeling for the last few weeks. Taking a risk like starting this training for a full marathon will test me, and it won't always be pretty. I am pushing myself to my limits right now, which is exactly what I thought I was doing this time last year. This year provides a whole new set of challenges. I'm doing something harder, I'm doing something different, I'm working harder than I ever have to be the best version of myself. I hope next year I look back at this challenge and can again be proud of my past, but taking risks to move forward.

Your time is now. Excuses are easy. You owe it to yourself to push the voice aside in your head and give it everything you've got.

"Life is too short not to pursue the strongest version of yourself."

Run, Selfie, Repeat

Some Food I Ate This Week

So I said I would share some recipes and throughout the week I've also been taking photos of some of the things I've eaten. First up, early mornings:

The first picture is a Quest bar. I wake up at 5:00 a.m. and hit the snooze several times while still trying to make it to my 5:30 workout. Since I don't want to go on an empty stomach, I usually grab a Quest bar and eat it in the car. My favorite are double chocolate and chocolate chip cookie dough. My husband cooks breakfast for me a lot right before I leave for work, which is typically what you see above-an egg over easy on a light whole wheat English muffin. If the yolk doesn't run everywhere, it was an unsuccessful morning. On weekends after a long run, I usually have this with turkey bacon and cheese. Oh and by the way, I get happier by the time I'm actually working out!

Lunchy Lunch:

This is pretty typical for me. I meal plan these out on Sunday. I steam the broccoli and just put a little salt on it. The chicken is always seasoned with Colonel De's Seasonings. This is their pork and poultry rub. We also use Old Smoky Bourbon Trail. I try to do half and half every week so it tastes differently. Find a Location

 If I don't end up having time to make chicken I get the Boar's Head low sodium turkey breast with avocado and Triscuits. I usually end up having a side of fruit as well. 

Snacks:

First off, I get into fruit obsessions and right now it's oranges so I've been consuming a lot of oranges. I like the Sargento Balanced Breaks packs because they are so easy to grab if I am running in between classes. This is my favorite one and it has white cheddar cheese cubes, almonds, and dried cranberries. They are delicious! Fresh Thyme has fresh honey roasted peanut butter and it's my favorite peanut butter in all the land. For a snack I typically will eat this on a rice cake. If I feel like  I need more protein, I will mix it with some lowfat Greek Yogurt and then spread it on a rice cake. It's good topped with a banana as well. I did learn that the organic rice cakes don't taste very good and fall apart when you try to spread anything on them. I'll stick with Quaker from now on. 

Dinner Recipes:

Okay, I thought I would just share recipes that we use regularly. Skinnytaste is my favorite website to get recipes from. She's not afraid to use spices, etc so the food doesn't taste bland. 

My favorite: Korean Beef Rice Bowl

Hearty Soup for a cold night baked potato soup

A way to cook chicken so it's not so boring. chicken and green beans

We probably have turkey tacos once a week. We use ground turkey instead of beef, use the taco spice from Colonel De's. I load mine with pico de gallo from Kroger (or I stop at Chipotle and get theirs,) spicy black beans, and a little bit of cheese. We serve it over rice or cauliflower rice. If you've never tried to make cauliflower rice you should! We replace regular rice with it in a lot of meals and it's so very easy.

Cauliflower Rice

T.J. has an electric smoker that we also have weeknight meals from. He uses the "Dadgum That's Good and Healthy" recipe book. I couldn't find any recipes online though, but we enjoy a pork loin cooked with sweet potatoes. 

What did you eat this week? 

Saturday

Saturday brought another long training run. It was a 9 mile run. I believe I've commented on this before, but I could not believe how easy a 9 mile run was this week compared to what it was in March of 2016. I'm actually going to go back and read my blogpost about the Heart Mini after this. I remember it being insanely hard and I was in utter shock that I ran 9 miles. Yesterday, I just went out and did it like it was no big deal. This is 100% the biggest mark of progress to me. The scale, photos, etc. are good, but doing things that my body physically struggled through before, now with ease, is the best sense of pride I get.

I also had some great conversation with 2 members from my group. I really feel the need to chat on long runs because they can get so redundant. Especially this one, which was at Lunken Airport and it was an out and back 2 times. The course is extremely boring. After feeling disconnected from my old group, it was good to see some new friendships forming. We also discussed travel quite a bit, which I love to talk about and hear stories of where others have  been.

Really flattering pictures of me this time.... lol

In the afternoon, I went to see my friend Megan in a Crossfit tournament that was being held at the gym where I work out. It was a crazy environment and I had no idea it was possible to pack that many people inside of that gym. It was a very odd smell of sweat and chili. I'm not sure I understood everything that was going on, but I liked that it was a team based competition. I think a lot of times it's just more fun to work with other people than to to work by yourself.

This particular challenge looked really fun. I love deadlifting!

Anyways, physical fitness can look so different based on who you are and what you enjoy. I've found that I love lifting weights and running. Others hate both of these things. I'm not sure that Crossfit would be something that interests me, but it interested a lot of people that were there. I don't like doing the treadmill or elliptical, but some people find these machines relaxing. The point is there are so many different ways to make your body healthier. Try different things out and see what you like, but don't give up just because you didn't like something the first time you tried it.

I'm going to post some recipes this week.

A Goal

One of the things I wrote on my vision board for 2017 was that I would help 4 people in running their first 5k. Many people expressed interest via facebook, but then one of my coworkers approached me at school. She said she was very interested and asked when we could start running. She talked another coworker into it, then apparently when they were talking about it at school, two more coworkers wanted in on the action. So far we have run twice after school, both times for 10 minutes. I really love doing it. It's fun to get to be in a position to "coach" people and help them accomplish something that they want to do and that makes them feel good about themselves.

Our target race is Bockfest at the beginning of March. Right now, these four women are getting used to breathing correctly and the ten minutes has been challenging for them. However, I think they are surprising themselves each day and I know they will only continue to grow and get stronger. The best part for me was when one of them finished on our first day and said, "I had no idea I could do that." It's so neat to see someone have that moment.

Running has changed my life drastically. I want people to feel the same confidence that I feel after a great run. I want people to realize the therapy that running can be for the body and mind. While I know that many people hate running and will not run, I'm glad that these four women have signed on for the challenge. If they give me permission, I hope to post more about them in the future.

Wish Sarah, Susan, Tina, and Abby luck!

A New Training Season in Full Swing

I've only done 2 previous training seasons, but this has to be the worst start weather-wise that I can remember. Our first run brought rain. Our first long run brought temperatures between 2 and 5 degrees. Our second Tuesday brought fierce winds and for the last mile, downpours, and this Saturday brought MORE rain. The Cincinnati weather has been so unusual. We keep getting down into freezing temperatures but quickly coming back out of them into 60 degree temperatures with so much rain that it's like April. The rain has been hard because I don't like running when it's raining so it's hard to get motivated to get out there on "off" days. Not only this, but the constant grey skies have been taxing on my mood. Even cold weather is better if there's a little sunshine.

This Saturday I tried out a new product that I got for Christmas. It's a hand water bottle. I've suffered from dehydration from some long runs and races. The water stops just aren't always enough. I had a hydration belt, but it flopped up and down frequently which sometimes made it uncomfortable to run. Many of my running partners have a hand water bottle, so I thought I would try one out. This is the one my mom bought me.

PROS: It's easy to carry and holds quite a bit of water. It also has pouch for your phone and there's enough space to put some nutrition in there as well. The clear front allows you to use the functions of your phone, even when it is in the pouch. There is a strap on the back for adjusting how tight or loose it is on your hand.  It will stay on your hand even if you completely open your hand, so you aren't having to constantly grip it.

CONS: My wrist started to cramp up a little bit and I ended up having to switch hands. You just squeeze the water into your mouth, which is a pro, but sometimes the water would not come out and it was just a puff of air. When it did end up coming out, I got drenched a few times. I think this could be abolished with more practice.

Overall, I liked it better than the belt just because it felt like I had less weighing me down. I hate to carry extra junk with me on a run, but if this could help my hydration situation, especially on warm days, I think it's worth it.

I promised to share some goals from my vision board for 2017. I've been working on writing down 100 things that I want to accomplish in 2017. I won't lie, it has not been the easiest start to year. We've already had multiple car troubles and had someone steal our credit card numbers. The weather has brought a ton of sinus issues for both of us, and I've been on the phone with Anthem several times trying to figure out insurance issues. I've also had some conflicting feelings about the change in presidency, but alas, I will try to keep politics out of this blog. However, looking at my vision board makes me excited for the things that can be possible this year and how I still have plenty of time for good things to happen. I encourage each of you to make one for yourself.

Here's one of my goals: How did I run 1,000 miles in 2017?
So I'm trying to run 1,000 miles. I haven't been off to the best start considering I'm only doing our group runs right now. I hope to push my feelings about weather to the side and get out there. Strength training has been easy to keep up with in a warm gym. I'm going to work to push myself to run more, no matter what the circumstances are.

As it is MLK day, I'll leave you with this....

It's A Cold Day in Cincinnati

First off, I apologize for the pictures not showing up in my last blog post. I was working with limited technology resources, and apparently the Ipad doesn't play well with blogger-it took me forever too! Next, I have to let everyone know that this morning when I woke up it was 5 degrees outside and it also happened to be my first long run of the season, which was 6 miles. Being so cold, it was really hard to get excited about going for a run. As we were running, several people's eyelashes and eyebrows were freezing...like literally. I saw so many icy white faces and I myself had a tear roll down my cheek that froze to my face. That's a first for me.

As you can see, there is snow on the ground, which made it difficult to run. You can see that I have sweat stains around my elbow pits (that's a medical term.) This has never happened to me before, but after I finished I noticed my elbows hurting to. I came to the conclusion that it's because I was so tight trying to keep warm. I was subconsciously trying to keep in as much warmth as possible and apparently that meant clenching my arms, fists, and shoulders. I realized I was even clenching my jaw because when we got back to the store, it was hard for me to talk. Maybe that had to do with my face being numb. I was freaking sore after I finished! Although it was cold, it was possible. Although the last hill where wind was blowing directly on us was miserable, it was possible. Although it took me 3 hours, a hot shower, 2 blankets, slippers and a nap to feel warm again, it was possible. I even made it without any hypothermia or frostbite...I think. I have to say, I even thought about the mileage way less because I was thinking about how cold I was. Could being cold be the key to getting rid of self doubt? Not sure if it's a trade off I will take.

I'm now home with coffee from one of my favorite local spots-Press on Monmouth, and I'm reflecting on why I felt a little sadness this morning. I made the choice to run a full marathon this year because it has been something on my mind since I completed my first Flying Pig. By making this commitment, I had to join a new training team. The friends that I had made were all going out together with the half training group this morning and I was with a new group where I hadn't formed any relationships. I had such an amazing and encouraging group before so I feel like it will be hard to top. I got to know each of them individually and felt like they really got to know who I was, and hopefully appreciated my loud mouth self being on their team as well. Beyond that, it was hard to look around and feel like all the people my age were running with much faster pace groups (including my friend, Liz.) I know this shouldn't bother me because it's like I'm doing a flipping marathon for God's sake, but sometimes we can't help the thoughts that sneak into our heads! I'm trying to keep an open mind moving forward and be positive because I know that's the only way to move forward, but I know will continue to miss my old friends and how much I loved running with them.

Today was 6 miles in the books, a very small mileage amount for what I know will be coming up. I know there will be several hardships, but I have to keep my determination. I started this for me and I will finish it for me.

Through the next several weeks, I am hoping to incorporate some video blogs. I'm calling on T.J. to help me get this up and going because I think it would be interesting. I also made a vision board for the year so I'll share those goals with you.

Until next time!

2016....What A Year

I recently was encouraged by my trainer to reflect on things of accomplished since 2016. While the year may have been a bummer for humanity in general, it was arguably one of my best years to date. If you know me or followed my blog earlier this year, you know that January started out with me training for the Flying Pig Half Marathon. In May, I completed that race and became somewhat of a running addict. I immediately knew I wanted to keep doing it so I signed up for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon. I met the finish line in November shaving off 16 minutes from my first half. I earned quite a collection of other medals along the way, my least favorite race being the Heart Mini and my most favorite being the beer series runs-still a beer and coney lover at heart! I made incredible and motivational running buddies with several people along the way. A runner's heart has been instilled in me!

My physical strength increased. I started weight training and quickly built up more strength than I knew I had. I climbed a rope and deadlifted 300 pounds, which would have seeemed completely unimaginable in 2015.

Other than physical goals, I achieved tenure status at my job. I traveled to St. Augustine, Las Vegas, LA, New Orleans, Red River Gorge, and Dallas. Traveling is such a passion of mine. Although it wasn't the prettiest of years to do so, TJ and I became season ticket holders to Paul Brown Stadium. I still say Go Bengals! As TJ was still trying to get his business off the ground, these things would have once been completely illogical.

2016 was a year of goals and visions. It was a year of challenging myself to be a new and better person. It was the year I turned my life around and started caring about being healthy and active.

It feels like 2017 has big shoes to fill. I don't want to become stagnant. I never want to be in a place where I'm not challenging myself or pushing myself to new limits. I'm not sure what 2017 will hold, but as of today I am signed up for full marathon training for The Flying Pig. Although it scares me, I remember when one year ago 13 miles did the exact same thing. Facing fears creates a great sense of accomplishment that I wasn't used to knowing before this year. On that note, the blog is back in action. Hope you'll watch the journey unfold with me and be convinced that you can do anything!