Fitness Friday: An App for That?

Accountability

Motivation

Companionship

Three concepts/words that would help so many of us in our fitness journeys.

This week I got to run with a good friend as part of a group run.  It made me realize how much I miss running with someone.  How it makes the time go faster and how that person can help push you and encourage you to kick it up a notch.  

The problem is finding people in my area with similar fitness goals (and in the case of running, similar abilities).  Sure, we have running groups around here, group exercise classes at the Y, I'm on Daily Mile ... But how do you really connect and find people to help keep you accountable?  How do you do it?

I wish there was an app for that.

Thankful Thursday: Tomorrows

You ever have one of those days where you just wanna call "time out" and ask for a do-over? I think we all have. In fact, several of my friends on twitter were shouting out for do-overs yesterday (and I was wishing right along side them).

Sadly though, do-overs rarely, if ever, happen.

Thankfully, we always have the opportunity for tomorrow. Tomorrow is God's way to give us a do-over. How we choose to play it is entirely up to us.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

LLRB 365: 2012 Week 42

Monday

10-24-11

Bought some fabric for my Halloween costume.

Tuesday

10-25-11

My first post-marathon run. Not too shabby.

Wednesday

10-26-12

Dinner & a movie

Thursday

10-27-11

Added a charm to my necklace!

Friday

10-28-11

Winter arrived, at least for the morning

Saturday

10-29-11

A nice 5 mile run with a stop to visit Nessie

Sunday

10-30-11

A beautiful day in downtown GR. I love the peacefulness of the Fish Ladder.

It felt amazing to get back to running this week.  I still need to "make a plan" and figure out what kind of training I'm going to do for the next few months, but the 8 miles I ran this week are at least a start.

Thankful Thursday: Buds, Brews, & Booze

This week I've been enjoying the occasional adult beverage after work. (It's been a long, stressful week my friends.) I even got to enjoy a brew with a good friend after a nice walk to the brewpub on Saturday.




I am most thankful for my buds, but the brews & booze have been appreciated this week too!

True Confession Tuesday-Post Marathon Blues

So, the past week and 2 days have been really *weird* for me.  You see, I ran this little marathon on 10/16/10 and since then I've felt totally lost.  I've only worked out twice (both times using Nike Training Club and doing strength work) and each workout literally kicked my ass.  I felt so incredibly out of shape that it was sad.  Granted, I really slacked on the strength work near the end of training anyway, so I totally got what I deserved in that respect.  I also did a 4 mile walk on Saturday that left my shins more sore than the marathon - go figure.  Clearly I need to stick to running?  I feel like I have no direction because I don't have any workouts mapped out on my calendar.  My next big race, the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, is in 96 days.  I have plenty of time to train and since I don't plan on running this race for *time* per se, the pressure is off a bit maybe too much.  Also, as Kirsten pointed out, my longest training run for this will be a piece of cake after marathon training.  I'm hoping to do an 8k in November (depending on where we are for Thanksgiving) and a 5k in December (likely in TONS of snow - also NOT a PR type of race).  I haven't run since the marathon, and frankly, I'm a little scared that it won't go well or something.  It sounds completely stupid when I type it out, but there you go.

My eating has been shit and I said I wouldn't step on the scale for at least a couple weeks after the marathon.  Well, I stepped on the scale on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to see a number a couple pounds less than my "danger zone" weight.  Now, with all the shit I ate and drank over the weekend, I'm probably back up over the danger zone, but whatever.  The main thing is needing to get my eating and this marathon gluttony in check. 

My emotions are also all over the place.  I'm better this week, but still feel like I could burst into tears at any moment.  Work was VERY hard last week, with some extremely challenging students and stressful parent meetings, and I even cried in front of another teacher.  Now he keeps asking me if everything is okay.  F*CK.  I so did not want to go there.  KWIM?

I'm sure a lot of what I'm feeling is post-marathon blues.  You train and train and have a goal for 4 months and then *poof* in less than 5 1/2 hours, it's over.  I know I just need to snap out of it, but it's hard.  At least it is for me. 

Have you ever experienced post-race blues?  What did you do to get over it?

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 42

This week has been a bit of a let-down after finishing the Grand Rapids Marathon last Sunday.  (You can read my race report and see video here.  If you want to see my official race photos, you can check them out here.)  I've been trying to lay low and make sure I'm fully recovered before I jump back into training.  Anyhoo....here's a peek at my week.

Monday

10-17-11

Loving my Grand Rapids Marathon bling!

Tuesday

10-18-11

The van got some new bling, too!

Wednesday

10-19-11

A much needed trip to the chiropractor.

Thursday

10-20-11

First post-marathon workout with my Chocolate Milk Refuel swag.  This just in - marathons hurt your abs too, even if you don't realize it at first.

Friday

10-21-11

SQUEEEE

Saturday

10-22-11

Today was the "Run the Hood" virtual 5k and 10k hosted by The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  I didn't sign up (not knowing what condition I'd be in this week) but decided to walk it as a "bandit" with Mel. We had a great time and finished our walk at Bell's Brewery.  Win-Win!

Sunday

10-23-11

Today was the first concert of the 2011-2012 season for the concert band M performs with. They put on a great show today.

I had some rough emotions last week, coming off the marathon and coupled with a very stressful work week. Do you ever have the blues after finishing a major race?  How do you cope?

Thankful Thursday: Support

For the past 4 months or so, I've been preparing to tackle my toughest run to date: the Grand Rapids Marathon.  I completed that goal this past Sunday and could not be more proud of myself.  You can read my race report here (lots of pictures & even some video!).  I even feel pretty much back to "normal" physically (mentally is a subject for another post).

I've talked a lot about how my online community of friends (along with my friends and family here) have been so incredibly supportive of me in this journey.  During the race, I had my phone with me but had turned off the notifications for Twitter and Facebook.  I figured a few people would be encouraging me as I ran and I didn't want it to distract me from the task at hand, which was "left foot, right foot, lather, rinse, repeat".  I tweeted a couple times late in the race and saw lots of mentions but I didn't read them at the time.  When I finished the race and sent a tweet that I was finished and officially a marathoner, I was shocked to see how many mentions I had. 

146 mentions during the course of the race.  That, my friends, is support.  I don't have a clue what the total number was by the end of the day or how many comments I had through Facebook, but it was huge.  This is what having an online community of friends is all about.  Support.  Love.  Encouragement.  For this, I thank you.  MWAH