Running

Fitness Update Feb 9th

February 9, 2017 by Zucchini Runner in Fitness, Running | 2 Comments

If you are looking to be the next Olympian, or place in the top three in your next race, then this post and my updates are probably not for you. However, if you are looking to simply maintain average health through good nutrition and fitness, then by all means, keep reading! I’m not saying this to be discouraging, I’m saying this to be realistic. I promise, I’m not here to stomp on dreams, I’m here to say you have to be smart and also realistic with training. The majority of the population is not super-human. So for us mortals we simply need to maintain good fitness and eat healthy nutrition to achieve overall health. That’s what I’m here to talk about, that’s why I share these updates every Thursday.

A little #tbt Throwback to San Diego Rock n Roll Half Marathon 2013. I ended up running a PERSONAL best on this race!

What do you struggle with more, fitness or nutrition?

Did you have to think about it for a minute, or did one stick out to you immediately?

For me, fitness has always been the easier of the two. As a kid, I loved to run the mile, I was chosen to be part of the President’s Athletic Club (or whatever it was called) and generally considered myself relatively active (not to be confused with athletic — ZERO hand-to-eye coordination right here!) But, the flip side to that was being raised in a family bakery business — as some of you may already know. To say I have a sweet tooth is an understatement… just look at the recipes section of the blog and you can see!

Wether it’s fitness or nutrition you struggle with – the power to control your outcome is ultimately yours. The choices are yours. How you define success is YOURS.

Success is defined differently by every single person, for everything in life, not just fitness and nutrition.

So today I will ask you, what defines success for YOU in relation to nutrition and fitness? Give it some good, hard thought. Once you have defined what success means to you, think about your plan. Do you have a plan? Do you need to refine it? Do you need to make a plan? What does that plan look like?

Below is a super basic breakdown of my schedule. It was a starting point, and then I refined it from there. It allows for flexibility each week, within each workout. Having this guide keeps me on track.

My best advice to you, is to keep it simple and keep it easier than you think you should. Because if you HATE your workouts, if they are TOO hard and taxing you are going to burn out; plain and simple. Wether that burn out comes in the form of illness, injury or simply just quitting from exhaustion. (If you can only give one day a week, schedule that one day.) If you don’t have the proper balance you will hit the wall, so don’t overcommit yourself. Just be sure you show up and do the work. Progress will come if you stick with it. But consistency is KEY. Absolutely crucial.

I learned this the hard way; so that’s why I feel compelled to share with you now.

And I wish I could tell you the exact, specific formula for knowing how much is too much – but EVERY BODY is different. So you have to be the judge. You have to tune into your body, listen to your gut and recognize when you are happy and when you are exhausted. It has taken me almost 3.5 years to find the right balance of cross training workouts and running and yoga and stretching, etc. that is maintainable long-term. That is why it is called a fitness JOURNEY so much of the time. It changes so much along the way, as you grow and change.

Below are the workouts I did over the past week:

Friday
30 minutes of free flow upper body weights, with some weighted lunges + 30 minutes indoor spin (morning)

Saturday
Long Run with 9×800 half marathon goal pace (HMGP) intervals (12 miles total; morning)

Sunday
3 mile recovery run with my friend Jaci (morning)

Monday
30 minutes of core work and weights. 3 mile easy run; listened to the Rich Roll Podcast where he interviews Andy Puddicombe, creator of the meditation app Headspace PLUS, a 53 minute hike (2.3 miles with hills) with my niece at sunset.

Tuesday
PiYo Sculpt (20 minutes of a 30 minute program in the afternoon) + a 42 minute sunset hike (2.1 miles) where I started another podcast.

Wednesday
5 miles at an easy pace, finished the podcast from yesterday’s hike. It was another Rich Roll Podcast; in this episode he interviewed Dr. Rachel Abrams and I HIGHLY recommend this podcast to anyone. “We, ourselves, are an ecosystem and we’re intimately connected to the earth that we live on and everything that we do to it.” – RACHEL CARLTON ABRAMS

Thursday
3.15 mile run 1/2 mile warm-up, 5×400 FASTER than half marathon goal pace intervals, with 5×400 recovery in between, plus a 1/3 mile cool-down. (morning, no music or podcast – super focused on my body, breathing, form, foot strike, etc.)

Below is the snapshot of my Strava calendar to hold me accountable!

Winter running in AZ is pretty brutal. 😉

Here is a little window into my Be Well Fitness Log, which I’m still using daily! It’s a mess, but it makes sense to me. 🙂

Lastly, a little segment on Meditation Monday

Back when I did my survey, I gauged interest in doing Meditation Monday’s on social media, (as well as Shopping List Sunday). I received equal interest in both, so I’ve been doing both since the 3rd week in January. Be sure to check out the latest Meditation Monday posts below, and let me know if these are of interest or value to you. Meditation is a great way to focus our thoughts through workouts. <3

Feb. 6th – Week 3

Jan. 23th  – Week 2

Jan. 16th – Week 1

Until next week!

Sleep hard.
Get moving.
Trust Your Gut.

Fitness Update Feb 2nd

February 2, 2017 by Zucchini Runner in Fitness, Running | 2 Comments

There are 31 days in January, and I somehow managed to workout 27 of them. And guess what? I didn’t feel like I was overexerting or torturing myself either! hahaha I think in our society there is still the whole “no pain, no gain” mentality… but that is just not the case. It’s more about “slow and steady wins the race”. The race, being your own personal goal of course.

In 2017 I started marking the days off the calendar in the bathroom each morning, as I record my weight. In the corner of each square on the calendar day, I put 5/365 or 10/365 or today, I did 33/365. I use it as a reminder to not waste a single day. Not wasting a single day, is going to mean something different to everyone, but for me currently it means; have a positive outlook, get a workout in, and focus on putting good food into my body. That’s really about it. That is my own personal goal/race. I’m plugging away at it slow and steady. I don’t kill myself with each workout, I balance them out so I have mostly moderate effort and one or two hard effort, and a sprinkling of yoga.

Below are the workouts I did over the past week:

Friday – Upper Body Weights + Indoor Spin (morning)
Saturday – Long Run (12 miles; morning)
Sunday – Yoga (evening; 21 Day Yoga Retreat – Stretch Wk. 1)
Monday – 3 mile evening run; joined by family on bikes and roller blades
Tuesday – Fitness Blender – Kettle Bell HIIT (evening)
Wednesday – 5 mile tempo run (morning)
Thursday – Yoga (morning; Ted’s Yoga | Muscle Recovery)

The past 7 days are a total WIN in my book. Not only was I able to stick to 95% of my workouts, despite a somewhat hectic schedule, I also had my weigh-in and measurement day Monday.

Drumroll please…

I lost 4 lbs. and 3.5″ total between my arms, chest, waist and hips. I was STOKED! I mean, I knew about the weight, cause clearly I just mentioned I weigh myself each morning — but I don’t put a whole lot of stock into weight. But the measurements were exciting! That means I’m toning up and turning some of my fatty parts into toned muscle. That was part of my GOAL! Would a smaller number on the scale be nice? Sure, but I’m more interested in tightening up some things. I am not getting any younger people… the big 4-0 is fast approaching!

Also, I hit 102 miles in January, which is about 46 miles more than December — another number that surprised me! I feel really good right now too. I started to feel some twinges here and there, due to the new strain on my body. But I am making a huge effort to get 7 hours minimum of sleep each night; 8 hours if I can. I also try to allow myself one day where I just sleep in, without an alarm. (But, that only adds an additional 20-30 minutes usually!)

I also started seeing Mr. Zucchini Runner’s massage therapist. She is amazing. Every week, I go in for a visit and it helps to loosen up the tight spots I can’t get with stretching alone. (If you are in the Tempe/Chandler/Ahwatukee area, you should give her a try. Just click the link to shoot her an email, let her know I sent ya!) I should also mention, that I see a chiropractor every 2-4 weeks as well. It occurred to me there are things I take for granted in my every day routine, that are second nature to me, so I never think to share them. But the chiro and massages, and good sleep make a huge impact on my ability to workout so regularly — especially at this stage where it is a new routine. It’s important to reward your body with the necessary sleep and extra care when you implement any new physical activity. Which leads us to the nutrition segment.

I am still using my Be Well Fitness Log daily, and it is REALLY helping me to stay on track. Well, almost. haha As you can see, Tuesday night we made some homemade cookies. They were very low sugar (banana, a little honey, a little maple syrup and very little coconut sugar), gluten-free and vegan so I may have had more than a couple. As you can also see, I ate SUCH a huge (and late) lunch, that I only had hummus, crackers and a grapefruit for “dinner” Tuesday. That might explain the cookies later that night. But as I mentioned last week, I do not aim to be “perfect”, just to focus on plants first and eating high nutrition 80% of the time. This is my life. This is real.

Lastly, I wanted to update you on the Garmin 235. It turns out, I can use my old heart rate monitor chest strap, to ensure I have more accurate HR readings on my runs. BOOM! Besides the watch freezing up a couple times since the purchase, and having to do a force restart, I am loving it! I feel like that is par for the course, for all electronics these days… but maybe I’m wrong. Has anyone else experienced that with their Garmin watch — particularly the 235?

Until next week!
Sleep hard.
Get moving.
Trust Your Gut.

 

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