It is an incredibly effective way for me to REACH people and HELP them become the BEST VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES.
It’s what makes me HAPPY.
I am so insanely passionate about it.
If you are ready to make a CHANGE and improve your health, kick up your nutrient intake, give purpose to your workouts, and have a support system and coach to help you get there, JOIN my next Challenge Group.
Benefits to YOU…
Unlimited access to your personal Coach (yours truly)!
24/7 Support Group
Accountability & Motivation from your Coach and other Challengers
The BEST Nutrition Around (Shakeology)
Fitness tips and guidance
RESULTS!!! With the best nutrition at your fingertips, tools and guidance to help you succeed, and the support and accountability to stick to your goals, you will see results.
“For a goal to be more than a wish, it must have a deadline”
To Participate in my Challenge Groups, there are a few simple requirements (all in place to help you be SUCCESSFUL):
Set 30-day goals (with my help if needed)
Drink Shakeology every day
Commit to working out 4 x / week
Participate in the virtual challenge group (you can do it from ANYWHERE!)
Sounds awesome, right? Right! And all you have to do is CLAIM YOUR SPOT and let me coach you to reaching your goals!
Questions? Shoot me an email – I am more than happy to answer them for you!
A year ago, I stood on the sidelines of the 500 Festival Mini Marathon, cheering for both friends and strangers as they crossed the finish line that over 30,000 other runners and walkers would cross that morning. As much as I LOVE cheering on the runners and walkers, it’s a difficult and emotional experience to not be out there RUNNING when you’re a runner who loves to race. Even though I raced the 5K that morning, I was sad I wasn’t running in one of my very favorite half marathons. Two weeks earlier (April 21, 2012), I ran my second full marathon and had decided I should “take it easy” at the Mini, and run the 5K instead. As I stood by the finish line talking to one of my running buddies, I caught the bug….again. It was time to set a new PR. And next year’s Mini was where I was going to do it.
A lot changed over the last year for me. Back in May 2012, I was working for an Orthopaedic company, living in Indy, personal training and running outdoor boot camps on the side, and was taking care of a home I had just recently purchased. When I made that goal to PR in the 2013 Mini Marathon, I had no idea I would be quitting my job, selling my home later that summer, moving to Maryland, starting a full time career as a personal trainer and group finess instructor, and virtually starting a new life without my friends and family around me.
My goal stuck with me, but I never trained the way I had planned.My work schedule took a while to adjust to, and my group fitness schedule left me with little energy to bang out speedwork and long runs, and the few long runs I did fit in were at a much slower pace than I like to run during training runs.
While this sounds like I’m complaining, I ASSURE you I am not. I LOVE my job, am super-passionate about
helping others to improve their health via the route of fitness and nutrition. But with the many unplanned changes I experienced over a year’s time, I just didn’t train the way I would have typically trained to reach that goal. And if you know me, you know that when I set a goal… I reach it, dammit.
So as this year’s Mini Marathon rolled around, I knew I wasn’t trained to PR. While I was disappointed in myself for not preparing the way I would have liked to, I also “forgave” myself and decided it wasn’t the end of the world, and that I physically just wasn’t able to put in the training. And that was OK. I was still going to run. I was going to enjoy myself and take in all the bands, spectators and cheerleaders along the course, focus on a nice pace that I knew I could maintain, and (most importantly) see all of my friends in Indy!!!
I met up with two of my awesome running buddies, Brian & Adam, as the race started that morning. We had decided we’d run about a 1:40. Fair enough, I thought. I could keep that up.
Mile 1… 7:30.
Mile 2… 7:15.
Mile 3… 7:16. And so on…
We had a good pace going!! Between miles 6 and 7 (somewhere on the Indy 500 Track), it occurred to us that if we picked it up a little bit, and maintained until the finish line, that there was a good chance I would PR.
That’s all they needed to say for me to agree to pushing my limits and working for that PR goal!
Somehow, someway… I got it. Final time of 1:34:06 beat my previous PR by 1 minute, 9 seconds. I couldn’t believe it!!! And thanked Brian and Adam a million times for pushing me, and hanging alongside me until the finish.
***IMPORTANT INFO BELOW***
We are all roped into the ruminating thoughts of “I haven’t done my best” sometimes. If you’re a runner, it’s not getting in “enough mileage,” or a “good enough” pace per mile. If you’re an athlete playing on the field, maybe you didn’t put in “enough” hours of practice. If you’re someone who has been trying to lean out before summer, maybe you feel you didn’t eat clean “enough” or exercise “enough.”
If you’re a competitive person, there’s lots of ways you can beat yourself up about not doing ENOUGH to reach your goals.
I know everyone has heard of cross-training. I have always been a big advocate of cross-training simply because my body tends to get injured, as a runner, if I am to push beyond about 40 miles a week. In the past, building in TurboKick, the Stepmill, Ellipticals and other low-impact machines, and strength training has been super-important to keeping injuries at bay while staying in good shape. This year, the majority of my “training” was what would be considered “cross-training,” and much less of the running mileage. So why is this important?
Training your body in multiple modes of exercise is vital to full-body, balanced strength, right? Right! So while I wasn’t in my best “running” shape, I was still able to push by body to run quicker than I expected, and set a new PR. I’m not saying this will work for everyone, but it is certainly something worth thinking about for your own physical (and mental) health. Applying this to my professional life is easy… people get into ruts of just wanting to run, run, run on the treadmill and burn as many calories as they can that way, thinking that will get their bodies to optimal bikini shape. And for some, this may work. But not for most. It’s so important to have varied training – a combination of cardio, strength, balance and flexibility – to get real visible RESULTS. You don’t get that lean muscle look just by running! You have to strength train to develop those muscles. You don’t develop the longest and leanest of muscles, and go without injury, by forgetting to stretch… which is just one of many reasons flexibility is important.
I know this post is long. And I know I’ve used the PR I set this weekend to feed into some other fitness advice… but I hope I was clear on WHY it is so important to train your body for LIFE… via multiple modes of exercise. Please post comments and questions if you have them! I wanted to share with all of you how varied training modes, focusing on a goal, and physically pushing yourself into the uncomfortable can help you reach the goals you set for yourself.It’s not easy, but it’s simple…and totally possible. Set a goal and get out there and reach it.
Me, Mom & Colleen
Colleeny & I in our race shirts!
Have a fantastic Tuesday!!! Ummm random, but TOMORROW, May 8th, is National No Socks Day. However, if you’ll be heading to the gym, let’s keep the socks on!!!
You’re in the middle of a busy week with lots going on when… BOOM! You get sick. Who has time for being sick?!
While none of us “have time” for it, it happens. And when shit happens that’s out of your control… you have no choice but to make timefor it. One of the biggest obstacles for me when I’m sick is my mental state with my inability to move around and do things. I’m not really someone who is entertained for long periods of time by TV or movies. And my back, hips or legs will start hurting if I lay around too long. However, this particular illness kept me in bed for 2 days straight because it had me in so much pain. And I had no problem with it. I slept, and slept, and slept. Tried to stay awake for movies. Failed. Tried to rehydrate myself. Failed (other than lots of soup intake!). Thankfully, the third day was spent slowly moving about, but still no energy to get to the gym.
I couldn’t resist… they’re adorable, right?!
Sunday morning (day 4), I woke up and prayed I was ready to instruct my 90-minute Cycle class. I warned my class that I wouldn’t be yelling quite as much, and thanked them ahead of time for bearing with me not knowing how I would feel. Class was TOUGH for my lungs, but my body felt surprisingly good. I’m sure all the rest helped my body feel strong and ready to release some energy, but my lungs felt shocked and restricted. Because I’m a little nutty, I had planned on running outside after instructing (since I’ve missed so many days), but with my lungs feeling the way they did (and a little crazy-talk from a friend and client!), I decided against it. My dogs thanked me for the long walk through the park I took them on instead.
Even though I struggle with my inability to exercise while I’m sick, I also sometimes struggle with feeling motivated to get back at it once I’m over whatever sickness finally removed itself from my body. A little odd? Maybe. But it is what it is, and I know I’m not alone with these struggles.
If I hadn’t had to teach Sunday morning, I would have just gone outside to run. Who knows how I would have felt, but it would have been just as much of a mental battle as it was to gear myself up with confidence to teach class that morning. Going into class, I take on the responsibility of motivating my class, getting them excited to give 100% effort for an hour and a half of their morning, to make sure the music is energizing, and to try to make them smile…when possible (Sometimes it’s just not possible! Haha. But I love them anyway ). Those “responsibilities” are nothing but joyful for me on any typical day, but coming out of being in bed for the majority of the previous 3 days, they gave me a little anxiety. If I were to just go for a run that morning, the mental struggles would have been a little different. I would have been more concerned with my route, how the wind would be, if I was wearing too little or too much clothing, would I feel like dying at my turnaround point, etc.
The outcome of either situation? SUCCESS. Even if I hadn’t felt my best, I still overcame the mental battle to get it done, which is often the most difficult first step when you’re getting over being ill (or coming back from vacation, or an injury, or any other kind of hiatus that kept you from exercising!). And the bonus? I got to spend 90-minutes of my morning working hard and sweating with some AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL and MOTIVATING members who make me smile every day. AND had an amazing Shakeology lunch to fuel my recovery when I got home which was incredible! QUADRUPLE-SUCCESS.
Remember: so much of what we do is MIND OVER MATTER. Our bodies can accomplish infinite tasks of incredible difficulties. It is usually our minds that limit us in accomplishing those tasks. Change your thoughts and your body will follow.
Have a wonderful week and don’t forget to SMILE!!!
