Over the past year, and especially the last three months, I have two often used Edith as an excuse for not working out.
I’m too tired because Edith was up all night. I’m too dehydrated because Edith nursed all night. It’s too hot to take Edith out in the BOB. It’s too rainy to take Edith out in the BOB. Edith needs to nap. Edith needs to eat. Edith…
You get the point.
As I read all these excuses I realize just how lame them really are.
The reality is I have been making excuses because I’ve been lazy. Since mid-May I have lost my workout motivation and although all of the above were true at the time, I was tired, dehydrated and it was hot or rainy but it really is no excuse. And the absolute truth of the matter is that I SHOULD be using Edith as a reason TO WORKOUT.
I want to be a good example for Edith. I know she is watching everything I do and I have to show her the importance of working out, taking care of yourself and living a healthy lifestyle. I need to lead her by example to make healthy choices as she grows up. So I am making the choice today and from this day forward to use Edith as a reason to workout and not an excuse not to.
Q: What is your biggest not going to workout excuse?
The following post is sponsored by Fitfluential LLC on behalf of Polar. As always all opinions are my own.
Can you believe I have lived in Portland for seven months now and I had yet to take advantage of the great hiking trails until today? I know I think it’s pretty crazy too. Actually not only had I not been hiking in Portland yet but I hadn’t been hiking since the summer before getting pregnant. Yeah count’em that was was TWO years ago!! Crazy right?
I actually haven’t always been all that into hiking and I honestly wouldn’t say that I’m all that into it now but I do enjoy getting out once in awhile. Neil is the real lover of hiking and most of the time I go because he wants to. I tend to go out a little begrudgingly but always end up having an amazing time – hmm maybe I should take a mental note of that.
Anyways a few weeks ago Neil got out for his first hike in Portland with Edith while I stayed home and cleaned the house (wahoo for cleaning…umm not.) So this weekend we decided to get out together and hit up the same trail but in the opposite direction which led us from the Audubon Society up to Pittock Mansion.Let me tell you this hike wasn’t really that challenging but when you haven’t worked out consistently for a few weeks…err months… it was a bit more challenging than it should have been. To add to my challenge I decided to be the one to carry Edith on my back and holy sweaty mess was I by the time we got to the top.I have to say it was worth it though; I mean check out that view!!So now I have one hike in the books and I’m back on track to keep up on my weekly workouts. I have to say that it’s also a little more motivating when you take the time to track your workouts like I did with my new Polar RC3 GPS watch. I loved that I could track the elevation gain, the distance, my heart rate and how many calories I burned. Now I’m ready to conquer all 70 miles of Forest Park trails!
Are you a hiker or wannabe hiker? Where is your favorite spot to hike?
If you’d like to buy this great running GPS click ::here:: and use code: “fitfluential” during checkout for a 25% discount! This discount is valid only on the RC3 GPS and will expire on 8/10
I am the type of person who loves to workout on vacation. I don’t know why but I love to head to the hotel gym or get outside for a run around our destination. I actually enjoy working out MORE on vacation than I do at home. It’s weird, I know.
However, this mini-vacation I didn’t workout at all. Not one bit. I didn’t even bring workout gear with me! I felt a little guilty as I packed up our bags, leaving behind our running shoes and workout clothes but ultimately I knew we probably wouldn’t even use them. We headed out last Thursday for on a cross country flight to Virginia for the wedding of our dear friends Catherine and Andy. Knowing that Thursday we would be traveling all day and Sunday we would as well It seemed the probability that we would workout was slim to Friday morning.
This brings me to m question how do you decide whether or not to bring workout gear with you on a trip? For me if the trip is drive-able I will bring workout gear regardless of the length of our stay because a pair of shoes and a few workout outfits doesn’t take up that much space. Most of the time I will use them as well! If thetrip is longer than five days. A trip lasting more than five days means that I am going to have to pack our bigger suitcases which means that I have more room to bring workout gear. Plus I really don’t want to put a workout off for five days either. Lastly, regardless of length or mode of transportation if we are headed somewhere that we plan to be active ie. the forest or the beach (basically not the city) then I bring workout gear.
So I do not bring workout gear with me if the trip is less than five days and we are flying (one exception is a active trip). If we are headed to a city I know I am going to get my walk on and will only be there for a few days then I just make sure at least bring a pair of good walking shoes.
So tell me do you enjoy working out on vacation? What are your “rules” for vacation workout packing?
So we may not have worked out on this trip but we got a lot of walking done around Charlottesville on Friday (a good four miles). We also got a little dancing on at the wedding on Saturday and did a good amount of walking on Sunday in DC before we headed to the airport for our flight.
I also feel like I have lost my running mojo. I was doing an amazing job running 3-5x per week and I even trained and ran my first quarter marathon back in May. Now May has come and gone and it’s nearly August and I can count on two hands how many runs I have been on. I honestly have been feeling burnt out. I kind of dipped my toe into postpartum running back in November but didn’t really take the plunge until January and then I was in full force. Rookie mistake? I’d say so.
I had grand plans of running a number of races this summer and early fall and honestly I don’t see it happening. I haven’t been running or training and I am surely not ready to run a race in two or three weeks. I do have one in late September that I am planning on getting myself together and actual train for. I had planned to run the 10k but am thinking of dropping down to the 5k to avoid another burn out.
I love running but I am having a hard time making time for training. We move to a new home in a new area in October and I am hoping this will be a place we stay for awhile. It will be closer to Neil’s work so I will actually have the ability and time to run before or after he goes to/gets out of work. We will also be in an area where I can join a gym and make time to go during the week so this winter on days when I don’t want to go outside and run I can make time to run on the dreadmill and keep it up. I am hoping that next year will be my year to run my first half.
So until October comes I’m going to work on training for my 5k in September and I am going to do my own RWT Healthy Challenge which is to run one mile per day in August. I need to get back into things but don’t want to over do it. I want to crave running rather than dread it. Has anyone else gone through this? What are your tips? How did you get your running mojo back?
They’re BAAAAACK! Yes the RWT Healthy Challenges are back! After two months off I have to say I have missed them and they needed to make a come back a month earlier than planned. I can’t be the only one who felt like these really helped with keeping up the motivation to workout regularly, right?
Cheers to an awesome month of running! Now let’s do this!
Well anyways here we are at the end of July and after the Fourth of July BBQ’s and too many s’mores camping it’s really time to get back at it. For me it’s time to get back to running, seriously. I know I have been super quiet on the running front lately and that’s because I just haven’t been. There I said it. I haven’t been running. Not one mile this entire month. So that’s where this challenge got it’s inspiration, I need to run so I am challenging myself and you to get out and run too.
So remember when I wrote about creating mini running goals last month? Well we are going to focus on the most basic of them all, the GET OUT AND RUN! This August I want you to join me in running one mile every day. Now you might be saying um but I can’t even run one mile right now and that’s okay! You can start off with run/walk intervals try 30sec/30sec and gradually increase your run and decrease your walk time. So really anyone can do this challenge!
How it will work:
August 1st–> this is the start date of this challenge. I also want you to go ahead and just for fun see how fast you can run one mile. Make sure to record this in a spreadsheet that you will be sending me at the end of this challenge as proof of completion.
August 2nd-30th–> get out there and run AT LEAST one mile every day in August. You can run more miles if you’d like but your minimum goal is to run or run/walk one mile everyday. Make sure to record it in your spreadsheet! You don’t have to record a time but if you’d like to feel free!
August 31st–> This is the last day of the challenge so get out there and just like on August 1st see how fast you can run one mile. How did you do? Were you faster? Do you feel stronger? Record it!
September 1-4th–> Send me your spreadsheet! All of you who complete the challenge will be entered to win an awesome prize pack from Bob’s Red Mill. Why Bob’s Red Mill? I know it has nothing to do with fitness or running but I went to the factory last week and picked up some awesome items for a giveaway and so I decided to use them for this giveaway!
Social Media:
Not required but if you’d like to Instagram or Tweet while you do this challenge you can use the hash tag #RWTRUNAMILE and my IG and Twitter are both @runwithtongs
I’m back! I know I have been a little MIA lately but things have been a little crazy with week before Fitbloggin followed by two weeks of house guests but I’m back! I have a an overflowing inbox and lots of house work to catch up on but first I wanted to tell you all about something I did two weeks ago. I did CrossFit!
Okay so lets break this all down. I was at Fitbloggin and I was supposed to get up and go to 6am yoga and well that never happened. then I was supposed to get up for 8am trampoline workout and well that didn’t happen. Let’s just say we had a really rough night with the baby and sleep took over. finally I was up at 8:30 and decided that well I since I didn’t go to my first two workouts that I should go to the CrossFit one at 9am. Now I hadn’t planned to do this one and frankly I was petrified to do it but since Reebok had nicely provided us with some Nano 2.0 CrossFit shoes that I should probably go try them out.
I headed downstairs for a small cup of coffee and fruit and chatted with some of the other ladies. At this point I was really psyching myself out when it came to this CrossFit workout but instead of scurrying to back upstairs to my bed and my baby I headed to CrossFit. Luckily I found a few other ladies who were just as nervous as I was, this made me feel better! I also was feeling much better when I knew i wouldn’t be doing pullups or flipping tires.
We got started by lining up behind various local CrossFit instructors who would be there to help give us any necessary direction and support. We first had a bit of a pep talk and brief orientation to CrossFit and I instantly started to feel more relaxed. We did a warm up and then it was time to get down to the real workout. We were to do 5 push-ups, 7 sit-ups and 9 air squats, as many as we could in 4-minutes. We were walked through the routine with modifications and then it was go time. As soon as everyone started going I almost forgot anyone else was in the room; I was so focused on doing the workout that I didn’t even notice anyone else, which really made things easier.
By the end of the CrossFit workout I was feeling pretty humbled since I honestly struggled through the whole workout, doing most of the modifications, however I also felt really accomplished for actually going there and doing the workout. It wasn’t as intimidating as I had created in my mind. I don’t think I’ll be joining a CrossFit gym anytime soon but I do have to say I enjoyed it. I also wish I had read this post before doing my first CrossFit WOD.
Have you ever done CrossFit? Where you nervous? Are you nervous?
Being a busy mom it is often hard to commit to a rigid training/fitness plan. Lately, I have been doing the Best Body Bootcamp workout plan and it is great because basically it’s five workouts per week and right now that’s what works for me. I decided to start with a modified version of beginner plan, I added a third round for my strength training, and the cardio part follows what I was planning for my race training. Although I am (attempting) to follow a plan right now I have made sure there is some flexibility and I have also created some mini running goals for myself.
Goal One: Get out and run. Basic right? Often it’s easier said than done. I can come up with a million excuses not to run so my first mini goal is to stop making excuses and get out even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Tip: Set yourself up for success by setting out your running gear the night before and make sure to carve out time to run in your day even if it is only 15 minutes.
Goal Two: Run three days per week. I’d like to run four but there have been weeks lately that I have only been out twice or even once, so this month my goal is three times per week. On my runs I have been focusing on two 20-40 minute runs per week and one mileage run, anywhere from 3-6 miles. Did you know? Three workouts per week is the minimum you need to maintain your fitness.
Goal Three: This is my goal for the entire month. My goal for this month it is to run before 9am at least 50% of the time. Other monthly goal ideas: Run specific number of miles or distance, try a new running route, sign up for a race, find a running buddy (and run with them) or go to a group run.
What are your running or fitness mini goals? Think of a basic goal, weekly goal and monthly goal.
