Motivation Monday

Good Morning! Christmas week is upon us, believe it or not!! So far, my weight has not fluctuated since Thanksgiving which is good as I think I read once that the average American gains like 5-10 pounds during this time of year! I will say, since I don't eat gluten, I avoid a lot of calories that I'd consume if I could have gluten since there have been a plethora of cookies and treats around the office!

While this is a fun and celebratory time of year, it's also a season that seems to heighten people's stress levels. In the past, I will say that I would give into bad eating habits when I was stressed. I've gotten better at choosing healthy activities when stressed as I've gotten older.

I was reminded of this last Monday when I had the most frustrating day that I've had in months. Traffic was ridiculous backed up as not all the lanes of the roads in the city have been plowed. It was so bad, it took me over 90 minutes just to get out of the parking garage at work. I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind. Because of the traffic delays, I had to miss out on meeting my friends baby and missed a class I should have attended with my sister-in-law.

I was FUMING.

My initial thought was to go home and eat some comfort food. But instead, I went to the gym and ran off some of my frustration. It helped immensely. I left the gym feeling a little bit more calm. I was still far from being in a jolly mood, but I wasn't fuming anymore. As a result, I probably slept better than I would have if I hadn't ran.

If the last couple of weeks of winter are any indication of what is to come, I have many more nights of terrible traffic ahead of me. My goal is to choose exercise over other unhealthy habits on those nights!

*****
Hi: Getting some good runs in on the treadmill with no pain in my knees (I had some pain after the marathon).

Lo: I attempted to do some 'real' push-ups. Total fail. I really need to work on my core strength!

PS: I'd like to wish a very happy 41st Wedding Anniversary to my parents! AND a very Happy Birthday to my cousin Suzanne!

Motivation Monday

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. I spent much of it snowed in. The snow they predicted arrived with a vengeance so driving was out of the question. We got around 17" of snow so it was quite the dumping! I was so bummed as I am not sure when I will meet my friends baby's and I won't be home for Christmas so it was my only opportunity to see my Grandma. But safety comes first!

Winter is definitely upon us. We have basically had snow or freezing rain every weekend for the last 5 weekends. We certainly did not ease into winter this year! Every year, I get sort of down this time of year. It's tough to get out and about and I am not a fan of running in these conditions.

This year, though, I really want to try to take advantage of the winter weather and find ways to be active. I am sort of a klutz by nature, so running on snow covered paths is a recipe for disaster, but there are other ways to get my sweat on! Here's what I plan on doing this winter:

• Ice skating - When the Barrister and I ice skated a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to find that I was sore the next day. I had so much fun doing it - and was so focused on staying up right - I didn't realize I was getting a work out. I felt it the next day in my glutes and ham strings so I know those muscles were engaged. Those are my weak areas, so I am hoping to skate more this winter - and the best part is that it's totally free!
• Snow shoeing - I want to look into getting some used snow shoes so that I can go for walks on the trails in my neighborhood. I live close to a nature preserve with lots of trails. I think it would be fun to go snow shoeing on a winter day!
• Cross country skiing - I plan on renting cross country skis and hitting some of the local trails with one of my best friends that lives here. She will have a baby any day and wants to find ways to be active in the winter so we are going to try this out in January. I haven't x-country skied since I was in Colorado so I am looking forward to doing it again!

I figure by focusing on the FUN activities I CAN do, instead of the activities I can't do, maybe I won't get as down/frustrated by the cold and snow.

Hi: Weighing myself and discovering that my weight has not changed, post-marathon. I was a bit shocked as I am not working out nearly as much... but I am also not eating nearly as much so I guess it is all balanced out!

Lo: I didn't get as many workouts in this week as I would have liked - and this coming week is going to be even worse since I have plans on Mon, Wed, Thur, and Fri nights...

Motivation Monday - Week 3

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was fabulous! It didn't feature much of anything in the working out department but I sure had a lot of fun!

As I mentioned last week, fitting my work outs in each week has been a bit of a challenge lately. This week was no different. My past schedule of working out after work 3-4 nights/week just isn't going to cut it as there seems to be no end to the evening social commitments. I am not complaining, I just need to make some adjustments!

So my plan going forward will be to work out before work 2-3 times/week. Some mornings I will do a short 3-4 mile run, but one morning a week I would like to do some core work. I know myself well enough to know that going to the gym in the morning to do core work is just not going to work out for me. I can not stomach the idea of getting ready at the ghetto Y...

So I want to come up with a routine that I can do at home. From my Body Pump class, I have some core moves that I will do, but I am wondering if any of you can suggest a DVD that would be good for core work.

One thing to keep in mind - the video can't really feature any 'hopping around'. You see, I live in an apartment-style condo with neighbors above and below me. My neighbors are nice but dear God, they are a bit persnickety. I would like to avoid snarky notes and comments directed towards me at HOA monthly meetings, so for a exercise video to work, it has to be mostly 'stationary' type of moves.

Any suggestions?

Last week's high: I didn't have any work out highs, but I did make a new, healthy recipe on Friday that turned out fabulously!

Last week's low: Ufda. Let's not talk about how much I didn't work out last week... *hangs head in shame* Must turn this around this week!

Motivation Monday - Week 2

Happy Monday, everyone! Did you have a great Halloween? The day came and went like any other day of the year for me. I am just not a Halloween person to be quite honest... If I actually got trick-or-treaters, I'd enjoy it. But I don't since I live in a condo building with a bunch of retired peeps.

Anywho. Last week was not my best week, work-out wise. I am not doing such a great job of having a social life + exercising. Things aren't going to slow down this week or anytime soon since the holidays are fast approaching, so I need to work on fitting work outs in.

This summer it was so much easier to fit in work out since I could get up and run at 5 before going to work. That's not such a great option for me anymore because a) it's way way way dark now at 5 am, b) soon there will be snow on the ground and I just can't do snow + dark weather.

I could go to the gym before work, but that would mean getting ready at the ghetto YMCA I belong to. Oddly, it is located in one of the wealthiest suburbs but that doesn't seem to matter. Yes, I could change gyms, but the other gym close to my house is so busy, I couldn't get a parking spot when I went to check it out. So I will take the ghetto Y over a really nice but ridiculously busy gym.

So for now, I am trying to say yes to only one social obligation during the week. We'll see how that goes.

How do you fit your work outs in? Do you work out before or after work?

Last week's high: Running outside in beautiful fall weather on Sunday morning.

Last week's low: Only running twice... Hence the reason for the 'how am I going to fit my work out in' post...

Motivation Monday - Week 1

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was quite full, but also very fun so I can not complain. I could use another day off, but couldn't we all?

Thank you for your kind, supportive comments last week regarding my post-marathon blues. I am already starting to feel better. I went to the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday and the endorphin release from working out again really helped.

As I said in my marathon recap posts, I think my marathon days are behind me. Instead I want to focus on improving my 1/2 marathon time. My PR from last October is 2:04 and I would really like to run a sub-2 hour marathon. I know I can do it, I just need to train for it and add in some hills/speed work.

As much as I want to register for another race, I know that I need some time away from a training schedule. So my next half won't be until next May when I will run the Fargo 1/2 marathon.

So what will I do between now and late February when I will start training for that race?

Well, I took a body pump class last week, which is a class hosted by the Y that works all of your major muscle groups.

It was an eye opening experience.

By taking that class, I realize how weak my core and upper body muscles have become. I shouldn't be surprised as all I have done for the last 4.5 months is run. Taking that class showed me that while I am in shape, especially cardiovascularly, I have some areas to work on. One of the things on my 30 before 30 list is to be able to do 20 real push-ups. My birthday is just over 3 months away; I am hoping shifting towards a mix of cardio and strength training will help me achieve this goal.

Posting about my marathon training each week worked well for me. It kept me honest and was a great way to track my progress week by week. So from now until 1/2 marathon training starts, I'll be blogging each Monday about how this shift away from just running is going. I figure it will keep me motivated! I'm borrowing Becky's Hi/Low approach and will leave you each Monday with my exercising hi/low. I'd love it if you would also leave your hi/low in the comments - whether it's in regards to exercising or life in general!

Last week's high: Running for the first time since the marathon with no pain whatsoever.

Last week's low: Feeling pain in my knee cap when doing lunges during Body Pump. Clearly I have not completely recovered from the femoral patella issues I had last spring.