Friday, June 17, 2011

I Need Your Help

I'm thinking about changing the name of my blog...

What do y'all think?

1) Should I change it?
2) What do you think of the current one?
3) Does it relate to what my actual blog is?
4) What should I change it to?

Coming up with a name is so hard but I want to do something about the fact that I love yoga, running, maybe the south... I don't know...

Help Help

What do you thinK???

Flashback Friday and some news...

So......


you're waiting....

I.....

SIGNED UP FOR A TRIATHLON!! Woot Woot! This is my first, and maybe only, one :)
It's very small and I think there will be some grandma's there so I thought I could hang in that scenario. I still can't swim, so we'll see how that goes...

250m swim
10 mile bike ride
2.5 mile run

Yay!!

Now on to flashback friday... For this post, I am choosing the early 2000's.... it seems odd that would be a flashback but it is, especially for all you youngins' out there.

Movie:


*sorry it's in german - i'm retarded
I know, I know. I'm a dork. I don't usually like comic book, hero type movies BUT I LOVE THIS SERIES! And the first one was released in 2000. How appropriate since we now have a new one, X-Men: First Class - I will be seeing it... even if it is by myself

Tv Show:


I used to love this show. I watched it religiously until the end of the season, mainly because I got rid of HBO

Song:



I ain't notin', y'all ain't frontin', shorty comin' with me...

that's what I sing anyways. This is like our office theme song simply because we know all the words and we like to sing them.


and lastly: fashion statement from the early 2000's




Thanks to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, we had MIDRIFF TANK TOPS!!



Thanks Ladies. thanks....

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Marathon WTF?

Today was the second day of marathon training since I slept in yesterday morning and skipped my cycling class... whoops...

On the agenda:
warm up mile
6 sets of 2 minute intervals getting further with each set
cool down stretch

total distance: 4.13 miles

I started off slow because I wanted to make sure I could increase distance each rep. By the 6th set, I was pushing it pretty hard. I don't know what my distances are yet because I haven't looked at my Garmin so I'll look that tonight.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about balancing marathon training. There is so much to try to fit in and so little time. First what I will say is that I work from 8-6 every day, so that seriously cramps by working out time. It's hard to juggle marathon training with work and family time and cooking and resting and blah blah blah so this is why I struggle. My goal is to do 3 days of running, 2 days of cross training, and 1-2 days of strength training. But, how can I implement that? Especially because my cross training right now is swimming and biking so it's hard to get that in at lunch.

My goal this week was:
run monday, wednesday, friday
bike tuesday evening
swim thursday morning and strength train at lunch

Then I realized I had a dinner meeting to discuss an event I'm doing downtown so I set my alarm to do spin class tuesday morning AND THEN I SLEPT IN... AAAUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

The other issue is that I want to make sure I'm fresh for the 3 running days a week because I want those to be QUALITY runs. I really just need an extra day please.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open. And with that, I will leave you with a video my brother in law posted on my FB wall



How do you handle the balance of marathon training and life?
do you strength train?
Any other suggestions??

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Authenticity in Relationships

That sounds so deep :). Actually this is something I've been struggling with for a long time and it seems to have come to a head recently.

One thing that is pretty consistent with me is that I have a STRONG... very strong personality. I'm loud, I'm opinionated, and I want everyone else to know it. It's not that I really want to bother other people, but sometimes, I feel this urge to tell everyone what I am thinking. I don't know what the purpose is, but if I feel strongly about something - um, and I do, about everything - I want people to know it. Because of that, I've gotten in a lot of arguments throughout the years. And I can get very emotional becuase if someone attacks the opinion I have, I think they're attacking me as a person.

crazy right? Yes, I know.

And I hate having that conflict, so over the years, I have learned to be a little quieter about my opinions, a little less insistent that you believe what I believe. Part of that is because I can feel very strongly about one thing, experience something in life that changes that point of view, and then feel very strongly about the very opposite of what it was that I felt before... A lot, yes I'm aware. So I'm realizing that life isn't always black and white... sometimes, there is a grey area and what works for some, may not work for others. And I'm learning (not learned but still in the process of learning) to be quiet and allow people to believe/feel what they want. It's hard, but sometimes, I need to remember, why is it that I think I know everything and I know the answer? Why do I feel like I need to solve the world's problems? I mean, if everyone just listened to me, the world would be right, right?

Another fault of mine is that I am a people pleaser. It seems to be the opposite of what I just said, and yes, it is. But, I want everyone to like me. Even when I get mad at someone on the highway, if they look at me, then I feel bad because I don't want to hurt their feelings. This is different from what I used to be, but as I've gotten older, the idea of hurting someone's feelings really bothers me. And how this translates into the topic is that many times, I don't say anything even if I know whatever is happening isn't right, just because I don't want to rock the boat.

So my question is: Where do you find the balance of being too nice and too mean? Not being mean, but where do you find the balance between completely letting go of all of your beliefs just to be accomodating verses being too stuck in your own way? How do I know that I'm saying too much or not saying enough? This is especially difficult in leadership or group settings where everyone is focused on a common goal, but there are differences on how one gets there.

What I've noticed about myself lately is that I'm busy creating a version of me that I think you will like. I try to find something that we have in common and then shape my thoughts and actions into what I think fits the mold of what we have in common. That may not make any sense, but it's a form of manipulation and self defense. I do that so that I'm not making myself vulnerable. It's a way to insure that I'm always liked because if everyone likes me, then that makes me good.

So, how do I find my authentic self and then, allow that person to be present in every moment? Even if that means that someone doesn't like me? I'm assuming (just because people have told me) that as one matures, one understands how to have that balance. I hope it comes sooner rather than later because I'm kind of tired of all the work it takes.

Monday, June 13, 2011

MIdnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

Marathon training has officially started. Just so you can get my title, I'm training for the Rock'n'Roll Savannah full marathon This will be my first full so I'm excited and a little nervous. I have said over and over and over, I do NOT want to run a full. But, after seeing Al Roker do it on the Today show, I thought, I could totally do this.

I'm using a training plan developed by Holly Di Giovine that is geared towards beginner marathoners. I'm also training with a group so that should make it fun!

This week's plan:

Monday: 4-6 sets of 30 second sprints with a warm up and cool down mile (done)
Tuesday: cross training 30 minutes: my plan is to bike after work
Wednesday: 4-6 sets of 2 minute repeats, recover 2-3 minutes, with a warm up, cool down mile
Thursday: cross training 30 minutes - i plan on swimming thursday morning
 *I may do a strength workout at lunch just to keeping building strength - only functional body weight movements - nothing heavy
Friday: long run (sometimes these will be saturdays, but because I'm going to cheer my friend, Lori, on at the Caine Halter Triathlon, I'm doing it friday) 45-60 minutes steady pace, yoga at night
Saturday: I'm going to try to swim for 30 minutes
Sunday: rest

Monday's workout should consist (and did) of high intensity running. This is helping increase my anaerobic threshold. On a scale of 1-10, my exertion should be a level 8-9... and it was... (faster than my 5k pace)

Wednesday's workout should consist of medium intensity running. This is pushing my aerobic threshold to a point that I could not sustain for long periods of time, say 6 miles, but could sustain for longer than 30 seconds... this is a level 7... (10k pace)

Friday long run: this is pretty self explanatory but here's where my training will probably differ from most. What I've found in my running is that I'm more comfortable running at about a 9 minute mile, but that is not something I can hold for 13 or 26 miles. I honestly can't even hold it for 3.1 miles, but we're working on that. I think my 5k is probably more like a 9:30 mile... So, when I try to slow down, it feels really uncomfortable and my hips are all crazy, I can't get in a rhythm and it just feels bleh.. SO.. i use a run-walk method that helps me keep that pace and then rest so that I can pick it up again. It's appalling to people that anyone would use this as opposed to just running the whole time but here's my experience and why I am fine with it...

first half marathon: I finished in 2:26
second half marathon using this method, i finished in 2:17

So, with a 9 minute improvement and the fact that I stayed injury free, never hit a wall once, and could still walk after the half, I'm going with the run/walk.

*if you're interested in learning more about this, check out Jeff Galloway and his method...

Normally, I use a run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute ratio but I think I want to change things up a bit. So my early long runs are going to be experiements. My goal is to train the first 10 miles at an 8/2 ratio, then change it up to see which one I like best. Either way, it'll probably even out, but what I don't want to do is start out with an 8/2, then bonk out the last 10k of the marathon, so we'll see how it goes during training. What I'd like to do at the race is the first 10 miles - 8/2, the second 10 miles - 4/1, and the last 10k - we'll see how I feel. It may end up being 3/1 or something worse!!

I'll keep you posted as I train.

The first time I used this method, I felt like an idiot running race and stopping while everyone was running. But I ended up passing the people that whizzed by me in the beginning and my final time was a 9:48 mile which was the best I'd ever done in a race (8k)...

so.... that's what's going on.

Are you training for any big races ?
What training plan do you use?
Do you have to walk in big races?