I've been seeing a lot of posts from Runner's World about their holiday running streak and people participating in this - some for the first time, some for several years in a row. I've been throwing it back and forth for the last few days about doing this and concurrently doing the Elf For Health holiday challenge concurrently.
I stumbled upon both holiday challenges via Instagram. Elf For Health (#elf4health) is a 4 week long challenge via social media outlets where you are paired with another "elf" for the first two weeks and another the last two weeks. I was paired with Julia from south Texas for my first few weeks and have had fun e-mailing with her. You are to be there for your elf for accountability, new ideas, and for the fun of meeting new people. The challenges range from going meat-less for a day to new circuit workouts, a day of 100 burpees (UGH) and days to unplug, de-clutter your inbox, and treating yourself. I think all of these things are awesome to focus outside of the craziness that the holidays can bring and of course the new workouts will be fun, today's unsubscribing blitz was like a weight off my shoulders, and I have my eye on a special little treat for myself for that specific day. I went meatless yesterday to kick off the challenge and it was a little difficult for me despite my almost year of vegetarianism back in high school. Then it meant eating whole cans of green beans and corn for meals and lots of bread. I did manage to go all day meat-free but I felt very hungry not having enough protein planned for the day. I did a lot of small meals through the day to get me through and was lucky I was home all day yesterday to eat when I felt like it.
I've been tossing around the Runner's World run-streak the last few days but was nervous about fitting in a run EVERY day for 35 days. Then I thought about how easy it is now to go a mile. One single mile even on the longest of days takes 10-12 minutes of my day and I feel like there is certainly time for that on a daily basis. Minutes of my day. Minutes. I have honestly only ran twice since my marathon and I chose a much more difficult training plan for this second time around than the first where I was only hoping to make it across the finish line. I know I have to train better to survive the hills and do pace, hill, and more distance/endurance training than before. The long runs start further from the get go and I need to get ready for this training. What better way than doing the streak with no real plan other than to just go at least a mile and see how I feel from there. My marathon training cycle starts the last week of December and I want to be ready.
Beyond all that, this is the first holiday season I've gone into worrying about. Everyone talks about holiday weight gain and quite honestly the way I'd eat during the holidays was no different than any other day in my previous life so I never worried about what I'd gain, doing extra workouts (ha!) or have any sort of plan to get through. This year is so different for so many reasons but I'm honestly a bit nervous. I'm lusting after some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and pie. I'll have all of these things - I will! BUT, I'm going in with a plan. A portion plan! One piece of one kind of pie. One plate of the things I want. No the plate will not be mounded high with 3 scoops of potatoes. Then, after all is said and done, I will run. I will stay moving and keep track of what I'm eating. You can do the same and walk away not feeling like a busted can of biscuits, happier with yourself, and still enjoy the day and season upon us. I for one am so excited to see my family, especially those who haven't seen me since the holidays last year and the progress I've made. I always dove straight into the rolls and we all have those family members that just ALWAYS have something to say about everything. I was no exception, and I can't count the number of times I heard those rolls were going straight on my hips and thighs. The sad part was that I was probably 9 or 10 when I first remember those comments being said out loud and it makes me sad that #1 I had a food problem even as a child and #2 my family decided rather than make supportive comments or healthier options available they chose to make negative comments to a young girl. I loved food more than I cared about what they said but it's no wonder people have so many body image issues.
Anywho, those are my plans to get me through the holidays and into the new year and new marathon training plan. What are your plans for surviving the holidays? What will you do each day to guarantee your success? 10 sit ups every day? Daily dog walks? Doing healthier versions of your favorite holiday foods? Let me know! Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
It's giveaway time!
I announced on my Training Lindsay page recently that I'd be having a giveaway starting this weekend! Woop woop! I decided on a "choose your prize" type giveaway so whoever the winner is gets a choice of their prize. Since I topped the 200 followers on Facebook and am just a few away from 700 on Instagram (holy moly!) I thought it was worth celebrating! That.. and I chose my training plan this week for marathon #2!
I'll be doing my Advocare 24 day challenge review after I finish this week but all the prizes you have to choose from are components of the challenge as well. I'm planning on doing a group challenge in January to get the year started right so I figured it was a good way to get people excited about it as well with this giveaway! Your choices in prizes are: A box of Spark in the flavor of your choosing, a bottle of Catalyst, or a 10 day cleanse package.
You can enter using the Rafflecopter here on this post or on my Training Lindsay page. Winners will be contacted on 12/2 and the contest runs now through next Sunday, 12/1.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week and GOOD LUCK :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I'll be doing my Advocare 24 day challenge review after I finish this week but all the prizes you have to choose from are components of the challenge as well. I'm planning on doing a group challenge in January to get the year started right so I figured it was a good way to get people excited about it as well with this giveaway! Your choices in prizes are: A box of Spark in the flavor of your choosing, a bottle of Catalyst, or a 10 day cleanse package.
You can enter using the Rafflecopter here on this post or on my Training Lindsay page. Winners will be contacted on 12/2 and the contest runs now through next Sunday, 12/1.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week and GOOD LUCK :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, November 18, 2013
Long time, no blog.
Hello all you wonderful, beautiful readers! Long time, no blog!
The last you heard from me (in this fashion, anyway) I just finished my very first marathon and was looking forward to my Disney Cruise vacation.
Well, the cruise has come and gone, life has begun again, and wedding planning is in full swing!
Firstly, let me just say that I felt every bit a princess on our cruise and I would highly recommend sailing with Disney! We had never been on a cruise before and although we did a short trip it was 1000% magical. Before you ask, yes we went alone, with no kids, and yes there were other couples doing the same! Disney is the top honeymoon destination in the WORLD and at our dining table alone there was another couple 6 months married (Hi Rachel and Resha!) and a newlywed couple who had done a few days at the park followed by the cruise. There is SO MUCH to do, definitely adult only things as well. We enjoyed a little bit of everything, a lot bit of the food, and of course came back with sunburns and happy. When we docked beside two Carnival ships in Nassau our boat was towering the other two and there just really was no comparison. Everything was spotless, the crew was fabulous, and our stateroom was spacious and the veranda view waking up in the morning was the best.
The morning we were leaving we officially booked our wedding ceremony and reception site! We will be married at the Columbus Athenaeum on 12/13/14 with our reception in the ballroom - every one of my fairytale dreams come true! We also booked our photographer - Erica Coffman of Erica Kay Photography. You can check out her work at http://www.ericakayphotography.com and I've been obsessed with her (in a non-weird way) since I saw her work on Instagram. The power of social media! We met the night before our cruise and I felt like we were old friends. I can't wait for our engagement shoot!
So I left off after the last marathon post about how I wasn't sure if I'd ever do it again - well... I am. 9 days after Columbus I registered for the Cincinnati Flying Pig marathon on May 4th, 2014. Yes, I'm a psycho. I couldn't bring myself to ONLY do the half now that I've done a full. I'm a glutton for punishment. It's a hilly course and will be much more challenging than Columbus because it was so flat. I'm utilizing a shorter training cycle this time and incorporating speed/tempo runs with hill drills. We have a great Metro Park close by that has a giant hill that will be perfect for the torture I'm about to inflict on myself. I also signed up for the Heart Mini half marathon in March as part of training.
After the Pig I'll immediately begin training for the Mason Sprint Triathlon that's June 29th and will be doing that with one of the sweetest people I've ever met - my girlfriend Laura that I met via Instagram. She's going to travel down and we'll be first time triathletes together! She's got one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever met and we've been communicating for several months now. I'm so excited to have a Tri buddy! I found an 8 week training plan for that which will fit perfectly just after the marathon. I'll be intermittently biking and swimming as cross training during this marathon training cycle so I won't be completely lost in those areas (hopefully!). I'm so glad to have plans in place through the first 6 months of 2014. I've been attempting Insanity since we got back from the cruise and I'm just not loving it. I'll do it some days, others I won't. It's not like I can't complete the workouts, I'm just not interested in them. I did my first post-marathon run the other night where I just turned on my music with no set distance to go and just let my legs carry me. My average pace was in the 10:40's and on the same route from back in April my average pace was 13:20's. The improvement was mind blowing to me and I was so happy with it. It was nice to just run and to genuinely WANT to be out there, not because a training plan told me that's what I needed to do that day. It's crazy how much endurance I've lost but it will come back. That and the colder weather on my lungs will take some getting used to but I'm excited to train in colder temperatures. I probably won't say that in a few months :)
I also started the Advocare 24 day challenge the Monday after the cruise. I've been on it for the last 16 days now and have lost over 6 of the 8 pounds I gained the week of vacation. I've been about 80-90% on plan and have done well following the program and meal guide. I haven't exercised as much as I had been but I worked or was on call for 10 days in a row so that put a damper on things because I was exhausted. I did it to myself, but I also have a wedding dress to buy! I'm excited to see my final results and my goal was to drop into the 180's by the end of the challenge and if all goes as it has been I should hit that goal! I remember being 175 pounds my sophomore year of high school then 220 the next thing I knew so it's exciting to hit the next mile stone.
Speaking of mile stones... my tattoo. So I didn't expect that we were actually going to *finally* get engaged and start planning and paying for wedding things but that's obviously taking precedent right now. I'm still planning on getting it in the future but it's on hold at the moment. Tattoos are expensive and I know you get what you pay for so I don't want to walk in the cheapest place just to get it done.
I think that's about all I've got for now without blabbing on too much. I've got 8 days left of my 24 day challenge and I'll do a full recap and my results at the end of it.
Have a splendid week!
The last you heard from me (in this fashion, anyway) I just finished my very first marathon and was looking forward to my Disney Cruise vacation.
Well, the cruise has come and gone, life has begun again, and wedding planning is in full swing!
Firstly, let me just say that I felt every bit a princess on our cruise and I would highly recommend sailing with Disney! We had never been on a cruise before and although we did a short trip it was 1000% magical. Before you ask, yes we went alone, with no kids, and yes there were other couples doing the same! Disney is the top honeymoon destination in the WORLD and at our dining table alone there was another couple 6 months married (Hi Rachel and Resha!) and a newlywed couple who had done a few days at the park followed by the cruise. There is SO MUCH to do, definitely adult only things as well. We enjoyed a little bit of everything, a lot bit of the food, and of course came back with sunburns and happy. When we docked beside two Carnival ships in Nassau our boat was towering the other two and there just really was no comparison. Everything was spotless, the crew was fabulous, and our stateroom was spacious and the veranda view waking up in the morning was the best.
The morning we were leaving we officially booked our wedding ceremony and reception site! We will be married at the Columbus Athenaeum on 12/13/14 with our reception in the ballroom - every one of my fairytale dreams come true! We also booked our photographer - Erica Coffman of Erica Kay Photography. You can check out her work at http://www.ericakayphotography.com and I've been obsessed with her (in a non-weird way) since I saw her work on Instagram. The power of social media! We met the night before our cruise and I felt like we were old friends. I can't wait for our engagement shoot!
So I left off after the last marathon post about how I wasn't sure if I'd ever do it again - well... I am. 9 days after Columbus I registered for the Cincinnati Flying Pig marathon on May 4th, 2014. Yes, I'm a psycho. I couldn't bring myself to ONLY do the half now that I've done a full. I'm a glutton for punishment. It's a hilly course and will be much more challenging than Columbus because it was so flat. I'm utilizing a shorter training cycle this time and incorporating speed/tempo runs with hill drills. We have a great Metro Park close by that has a giant hill that will be perfect for the torture I'm about to inflict on myself. I also signed up for the Heart Mini half marathon in March as part of training.
After the Pig I'll immediately begin training for the Mason Sprint Triathlon that's June 29th and will be doing that with one of the sweetest people I've ever met - my girlfriend Laura that I met via Instagram. She's going to travel down and we'll be first time triathletes together! She's got one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever met and we've been communicating for several months now. I'm so excited to have a Tri buddy! I found an 8 week training plan for that which will fit perfectly just after the marathon. I'll be intermittently biking and swimming as cross training during this marathon training cycle so I won't be completely lost in those areas (hopefully!). I'm so glad to have plans in place through the first 6 months of 2014. I've been attempting Insanity since we got back from the cruise and I'm just not loving it. I'll do it some days, others I won't. It's not like I can't complete the workouts, I'm just not interested in them. I did my first post-marathon run the other night where I just turned on my music with no set distance to go and just let my legs carry me. My average pace was in the 10:40's and on the same route from back in April my average pace was 13:20's. The improvement was mind blowing to me and I was so happy with it. It was nice to just run and to genuinely WANT to be out there, not because a training plan told me that's what I needed to do that day. It's crazy how much endurance I've lost but it will come back. That and the colder weather on my lungs will take some getting used to but I'm excited to train in colder temperatures. I probably won't say that in a few months :)
I also started the Advocare 24 day challenge the Monday after the cruise. I've been on it for the last 16 days now and have lost over 6 of the 8 pounds I gained the week of vacation. I've been about 80-90% on plan and have done well following the program and meal guide. I haven't exercised as much as I had been but I worked or was on call for 10 days in a row so that put a damper on things because I was exhausted. I did it to myself, but I also have a wedding dress to buy! I'm excited to see my final results and my goal was to drop into the 180's by the end of the challenge and if all goes as it has been I should hit that goal! I remember being 175 pounds my sophomore year of high school then 220 the next thing I knew so it's exciting to hit the next mile stone.
Speaking of mile stones... my tattoo. So I didn't expect that we were actually going to *finally* get engaged and start planning and paying for wedding things but that's obviously taking precedent right now. I'm still planning on getting it in the future but it's on hold at the moment. Tattoos are expensive and I know you get what you pay for so I don't want to walk in the cheapest place just to get it done.
I think that's about all I've got for now without blabbing on too much. I've got 8 days left of my 24 day challenge and I'll do a full recap and my results at the end of it.
Have a splendid week!
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