#Wellness Wednesday: National Running Day

Happy Wellness Wednesday! Since today is  National Running Day, I've decided to share my 5W's and 1H about my running journey:

Who: Well me of course! As for running groups, I am a proud member of Black Girl RUN!, W.E. Run!, Baltimore Road Runners, and I'm also Half Fanatic #7854.


What I like/dislike about running: What I enjoy most about running is the endorphin release I get from it. Trust there are plenty of days where I don't feel like it, but I get out there anyway. I also like being around like-minded people, making new friends, and pushing my body to limits that my mind didn't think I could pass.

What I dislike about running is a tough one! I guess I dislike running when I lose my "mojo." This has happened two or three times, and I think it correlates to overtraining. After my first half marathon and after my half-fanactic status (3 races in less than 40 days) I disliked running. Nothing a few days of rest and spending time with the family can't cure.

When do I run: I'm an earlier riser so I prefer to run first thing in the morning. That always is not the case. Although yesterday I had about 30-40 minutes while my husband was in between jobs so I ran my neighborhood for the first time since we moved here in November. Aside from that, I try to run two short runs a week (normally mid-day after dropping off the kids or at work) and one longer weekend run (normally either saturday or sundays sometimes both if I'm half marathon training).

Where do I run: I run wherever the winds blows me! In my neighborhood, at a local park/ lake, in the city, and sometimes out of town if I'm racing. Oh and let me not forget the dreaded track and treadmill runs; both of which I ran quite frequently this winter.

Why do I run: I run for a number of reasons: my sanity, to de-stress, to be a better wife & mother, for weight loss/ maintenance, preventative diseases, because it feels good, to get my sexy back….the list goes on!


How do I run: I run like a turtle stampeding through peanut butter, but I run! How I run varies. Some runs are better than others. Some days my focus is time, other days my focus is distance but I run. Somedays I run intervals (Jeff Galloway method), somedays I run until I can't run anymore.

When I first started running I was averaging 16+ min/miles and could barely run 30 seconds with the C25k app. Now I'm averaging 12-13 min/miles.

Here's a few quick facts about me & running:

• First Run: August or September 2012
• First Race: October 2012 Junior League of Baltimore Commit to Fit 5k
• First Running Shoes: Just some cute Nike's my mom brought from Kohl's
• Favorite Race Distance: 10k
• First Half-Marathon: Zooma Annapolis 2013
• Favorite Running Shoes: Asicis Gel Tri-Noosa
• Must Have Run Items: Lipgloss and my Nike featherweight cap

My advice to beginners or those thinking about running:

Like the Nike slogan "JUST DO IT!" Seriously though! Give it a shot, you'll be surprised how it will change your life. Give it 30 days. If you enjoy it get fitted for shoes, buy a good sports bra, continue to lace up!

June Goals

Alright it's the start of a new month! May was a really good month for me, and I'm hoping to have bigger & better results in June!

May Recap: 

The month of May was record breaking for me! I ended the month with over 50 miles; the most miles I've ever logged since I started my running journey in October 2012. As you can tell I'm super excited. My original goal was to complete 60 miles, and I as look back on my history that may have been a little far stretched. Before hitting my 51.64 the most I've ever run was somewhere between 40-45 miles. I normally only achieve those numbers when I'm training or racing. So having only completed one race last month (Frederick Running Festival 1/2 marathon), I am very proud of myself for keeping up with my miles when I wasn't training for a race. Yes I felt short of my goal, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad and for that I'm very glad! Progress not perfection is something I always strive for.

Special shout out to Black Girls RUN! DC for keeping me accountable with their May 30-60-90 challenge! Always great networking with like-minded folks.

June Goals: 

Moving on to June, here are my goals for their month! Overall I plan is to maintain my current level of activity (4-5 workouts a week), and clean up my eating.

• My weight goal is to reach 160. At my last weigh-in I was 166, so that's about 1.5 pounds per week. 

• My monthly mileage goal is to 30. I'm not racing this month, and there's no since in setting the bar too high when it's the summer. I respect those that can train/race all year long, but June-August is my time to enjoy with family & friends.

• My nutrition goal is to eat clean 80% of the team. I've been consistently using My Fitness Pal since the start of the year, and will continue to do so. Ideally, I would like to never exceed my calorie intake goal, but the reality of that happening is slim to none. So my plan this month is to track daily, and stick within my calorie six out of seven days a week. 

• My activity goal is to mix things up a bit. Last week I ordered the P90x3, so I'm looking forward to that arriving, and getting started. Since the workouts are marketed as 30 minutes, I hoping to get in at least two 30-minute runs in addition to following the program. 

I could use a little motivation and accountability for meeting these goals, so feel free to comment & leave me some encouragement.

Run, Rest, Repeat!

I've been in a bit of a run funk over the last week or so, and after taking some much needed family time I feel great! Let's back track a little bit....at the beginning of the year, I set out to become a Half Fanatic. For those that aren't famiailar with what that entails, it's a large group of runners who are fanatical about running half marathons, and the group has a series of levels in which you have to meet said criteria. For me to be accepted into the "asylum", I needed to finish either 3 half marathons in 90 days OR 2 half marathons in 16 days. If you've followed some of my other posts, you know I completed the Philly Love Run, Iron Girl, and Frederick Running Festival in a span of 35 days. Before completing these races, I was selected to be a 2014 race ambassador for the St. Michael's Running Festival. St. Michael's should have been my fourth (fifth overall) half marathon in 48 days. After the Frederick Half and becoming an offical Half fanatic my motivation started to dwindle, and I had very little motivation to run. Luckily (or so I thought)I signed-up for two monthly challenges with my local BGR! groups. My goal for May was to complete a minimum of 50, not to exceed 60 miles. Very doable and since I wanted to keep up my long runs in between races, I thought ok why not. I did a solo 10 miles, and was on cloud 9, because I was at top of the BGR! leaderboard (well fourth place). Somehow, I started looking at all these numbers, miles, days, etc, and said oh no there is no way in hell I'm doing another 13.1 anytime soon, I'll just run the 10k. Nonetheless after a few hiccups at home, my only option to take the 1.5 hour trip to St. Michael's was get up at 4 a.m. Saturday morning. Even that didn't seem like a long-shot, since I'm a morning person BUT I just didn't have a desire to do anything and was just tired. So I took the weekend off, not doing a single movement of physical activty. Spent some time with family & friends, stuffed my face, and I feel so refresehed today. I'm back on track with both my eating choices and did over 50 minutes on the ellipitical this morning. I'm looking forward to getting in some short runs with my BGR! and W.E. Run! groups this week, and we'll take it from there. So the moral of the story is so listen to your body. The running community is superb, and it's so easy to put up money for race fees because you wan't to keep up with the joneses. Truthly, that may not always work for everybody. Trust your gut. There will always be more races, but you only have one body and one family. If that mean's taking an extra rest day or two, so be it. Besides, proper rest and recovery are just as essential to running as hill training and tempo runs. Never neglect allowing your body time to rest. In fact, if you don't do so already, incorporate at least one full day of rest into your training plan. Depending on the week, mine typically has two; one for active-rest (light actvity usually yoga, pilates, or walking) and one day for complete rest. Also, remember if you are a first-time half or full marathoner, most experts recommend taking a day of rest for every mile. With time you're recovery will diminish.