The Little Things
January 14, 2013

Audrey Hepburn quote Present

I was the kind of person who always enjoyed having countdowns to things. “Only 100 more days until spring break” I would announce at breakfast. “Only 43 more days until summer break” I might say at lunch. I would have tear off calendars, count downs in my planner, and I lived life looking forward to the big events. The big events made me excited, and I looked forward to them. I thought that the big things made life exciting and important. Here’s a secret that I’ve learned. While the big things are important and exciting, they aren’t the only things in life. If we only focus on the big things, we miss many of life’s wonderful, beautiful moments. We miss the sunsets, delicious meals, tasty desserts, great runs, laughter with loved ones – all because we’re so focused on chasing down the next big thing.

I realized that once I started to be more present in my day to day life, I started to realize that the little things were just as important to me. I realized that I’m less stressed and more happy when I try to find joy in the little things that are present in my life. You see, when we aren’t present, we miss all those little things that, together, make our life pretty great. When we’re focused on the past or the future too much, we miss actually living our life.

I’m not perfect at this. I try very hard to remain present as often as I can. Of course I look back on the past because there are good memories and lessons to be learned. I plan for the future, dream, and try to reach goals. These things are good and healthy, as long as they are balanced with being focused on the present in which we are living.

So, would you join me in trying to be more present in life this year?

January 13, 2013

Week 2 of 2013 (does anyone else feel that January is flying by at an uncontrollable speed?)! Again, I’m still just maintaining and continuing to move and try to let me nasty IT band rest as much as I can. Half marathon training may just be coming up soon, so like I said, rest and maintenance is the name of my game. Here’s what the week looked like:

Total Miles: 2.6 mi run + 17.85 mi walk = 20.45 miles + 2:00 planks

The weather started out really chilly the first part of the week. I was walking in my thick winter coat and long underwear. By the end of the week it was in the low 60s and I was in a tank top and my running skirt. Crazy weather, but it definitely made being outside a lot more fun!

Now it’s your turn to share! How’s the weather where you’re at right now? What’s your favorite workout outfit? 

January 11, 2013

Today was a really great run. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

In the healthy living world there are a lot of conversations that are held about staying fit over the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Filled with food and busy schedules, it’s an easy time to let our healthy habits go. The thing is, it’s not so true for me, at least at this point in my life. When I got to my parents’ house for holidays, we work out most days and eat balanced, healthy meals (with dessert every evening of course!). It’s naturally built into the structure of how we live our days there, so it’s easy to stay healthy. So what’s the problem?

The problem is returning back to my life in January. I’ve been out of my normal routine here for a few weeks. I came back to a house without groceries, and didn’t end up going shopping for 4 days (i tried to eat the meals I had frozen over the last few months). My January schedule is pretty different from other months, and that means my “normal schedule” doesn’t work in this situation. It also tends to be a bit colder and icy out, making running and biking outside more difficult. So, while it’s easy to stay healthy over the Christmas season, the start of January tends to be more difficult for me.

Over the course of this week I’ve tried to fall into a bit of a routine. I did what I usually do on Sundays and cooked my meals for the week (it’s so nice to be able to come home from work and working out and just be able to warm up a meal!), and this has definitely helped. Most of my work outs this week have been walking. While I love walking, it’s been a little less fun because I’ve needed long underwear as the temperature with windchill has been in the single digits or the teens. Brrrr…

Until today. Today is a random warm day in between two very chilly weeks, and it is in the upper 50’s! I bounced out of bed, changed into a tank top and sparkle skirt (this outfit) and hit the road!

The last time I ran was December 30th (oops! How did I go so long?!), so it was great to be out on the road. The humidity was really high, and it was definitely tough to breathe.  I went 2.6 miles, which is the longest distance I’ve gone since the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot.

Picture 1

I did not do any negative splitting. It’s not as bad as it looks though. I continued to run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute. The 3 minutes of running remained fairly consistent throughout my entire run. However, the pace of my walking periods got slower and slower, leading me to the negative split. Not my best run, but since I’m just getting back into my running routine, I’ll take it.

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s an important part of your “healthy living” routine? Is December or January a more challenging month for you? 

January 8, 2013

Back in June I made a passing comment about a root beer cupcake that I had eaten at a high school graduation party that I attended. I continued to think about this cupcake at least once a week for months, but it took until December 30th for me to do something about it. I finally found a delicious recipe (you can see it here), and decided I needed these cupcakes to help ring in the new year! Let me tell you- they did not disappoint!

Ingredients

** A note on the root beer extract. While the recipe calls for root beer extract, I used root beer concentrate, and this works just as well. I know that you are supposed to use a smaller amount of concentrate than extract (technically), but I used an equivalent amount (meaning I used 1 tablespoon of concentrate when it called for 1 tablespoon of extract). This really gave it an extra punch of flavor, and it wasn’t at all overpowering.

I also used earth balance butter and lactose free Breyer’s vanilla ice cream in this recipe, so I made it lactose free!

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Another word. While I didn’t use cupcake liners, I did grease the inside of the muffin tin and then cut out small pieces of wax paper to fit on the bottom of each little tin.

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When the muffins came out of the oven, I lightly ran a knife around the edge of each little tin, and the cupcake came out easily! Just remember to peel the wax paper off the bottom! After cooling I made the frosting, and then frosted them. They are delicious, and were even more delicious the second day once the flavors had a chance to sit together!

Rootbeer float cupcake Collage

These aren’t that difficult to make, and taste AMAZING! You’ll have to go check out the original recipe (linked above) for the actual quantities for the recipe, but I wanted to give a little preview and shout out here! Oh, and in case you are wondering, these taste exactly like a root beer float. YUM!

Now it’s your turn to share! Are you a cupcake fanatic? (I am– everything in moderation :D) What’s your favorite flavor of cupcake? If you don’t like cupcakes (gasp!), what’s your favorite dessert? 

January 7, 2013

I’m a Type A person, so I enjoy being organized and planning things out; behavior changes are no exception. Part of the reason that behavior changes aren’t successful is that people don’t necessary understand the “why’s” behind their current behaviors. We do what we do for a reason, and it’s important to understand that reason. This idea goes back to the phrase “You can’t change what you don’t know”. So before you rush into changing a behavior (or maybe while you’re rushing if you’ve already started), start figuring out the whys behind what you have been doing. Here are a few steps that may be helpful for you to take!

Tracking Behavior Pic

  1. Track your current behavior each day: Did you engage in the behavior? Why or why not? Determining the “why” will help you figure out what helps you to be successful! Setting up a chart to include time of day, situation, thoughts, etc… might be helpful at this stage.
  2. Track the excuses that you use to avoid doing the healthy behavior! Again, how can you fight against something that you don’t know?  Most of us are excellent at making excuses, and these excuses make it much more difficult to do the behavior (think talking yourself out of a workout or convincing yourself that you DESERVE that 32 ounce soda). Tracking excuses will allow you to alter your language and come up with phrases to help you fight the excuses.
  3. Come up with new language to use when discussing the behavior. Again, replace the excuses with other positive statements (I might want to watch 10 hours of TV today but I don’t need to watch it, I don’t have to  eat that salad with dinner but I’m choosing to because I’m choosing  to be healthy.) Do you see what I mean?
  4. Find support from others for your desired behavior change. In person friends, family members, co-workers, or a counselor can be incredibly important! Finding friends online through different groups and twitter chats (i.e., #runchat, #sweatpink) can also be incredibly important! Not only will you learn quite a bit about your desired behaviors, but you’ll find a group of cheerleaders and people to keep you accountable. It’s fantastic! We aren’t meant to do life alone!

Before you make behavioral changes (or if you’re in the process of trying to but not having much success), track your current behavior, language, and excuses. This will give you a world of insight and help you to better structure your behavior change to what is currently going on in your life!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one of your frequent excuses that you use? Who’s one of your biggest healthy living supporters? 

January 6, 2013

My first workouts of 2013! This week was a bit of an unexciting week. My goal was to just keep moving this week, and I at least accomplished that. Most of my walks have taken place in the 0-20 degree range, with a wind chill of colder than that! It’s been a bit hard to adjust to the cooler temperatures, but I’m still getting outside and moving every day, and right now that’s my goal:) Here’s what the week looked like:

Total miles: 2.0 mile run + 7.32 mile walk= 9.32 total miles and 1.75 hour pilates

Low miles, but I definitely moved, and that’s a hard thing to do with traveling and recovering from the Christmas and New Years holidays! Now that I’m back at my own home my workouts will adjust a bit, but hopefully I’ll fall into a new rhythm quickly enough! With all the pilates I did over Christmas, I didn’t do planks because I was already doing an hour of core work each of those days. Now that my pilates will decrease, I plan to start back up on my plank challenge again!

Now it’s your turn to share! Do your workouts still feel a bit off, or did you keep the same rhythm between Christmas and New Years? What’s a fitness goal you have for yourself this month? 

January 4, 2013

I already did a post on my 2012 running in review, but decided to do a general post as well. 2012 was a truly amazing year, and I couldn’t let time get by without recapping one of the biggest years of growth and excitement I’ve ever had!

January: I announced that I would be training for my first half marathon! January started my first official training period, and I had fun! I also went to The Melting Pot for the first time, and had a delicious 4 course meal! I went to Florida at the end of the month for a long weekend as well!

February: I continued to train for my half marathon until I got shin splints 🙁 I spent Valentine’s Day doing all sorts of things that I love, and had a great day! I also started doing my plank challenge, which I’ve continued to do most months! I did 3 extra speaking events this month as well, which was fun! I also published my first book chapter this month!

March: I lifted for the first time since college! After taking the first part of the month off from running, I finally eased back into running at the end of the month. I also ended the month with a week long vacation in Florida!

April: I kicked off the month with spending an entire weekend reading the Hunger Games. LOVED IT! In the middle of the month I got to spend a long weekend in New York City for work (which I never recapped. oops!). It was the first time I’ve been to NYC, and I had a great time! I set a new PDR when I ran 10 miles, my longest “long run” while training for my first half marathon.

May: I ended April/began May with another long weekend in Florida, and had a great time. I rushed home because I had a half marathon to run! On May 5th I finished my first half marathon. I also had a week long vacation out in Colorado where my brother graduated from college!

June: I kicked off the month with another speaking event! I spent two days playing model for a fitness shoot, and it was lots of fun! I jumped into the pool and swam laps for the first time in half a decade (to start training for a triathlon!). I ran a “welcome to summer” 5k on the beach, which was the longest distance I had run since my race at the beginning of May. I ended the month of June (and began the month of July) with a long vacation with my family in Florida (yes- I went down there A LOT in 2012).  I ended the month by announcing that it was “Time to Tri“, that I would be training for my first triathlon!

July: The first few days were spent in Florida, but then it was back to the real world. I got on the bike for the first time in a decade (part 2 here), which was a terrifying experience for me. The Olympics were also this month, and I talked about celebrating the olympics (and a trip to Olympia, Greece).

August: I started to type up my grandpa’s letters from war, and learned a lot about his life. I celebrated my birthday, and continued my tradition of going on a birthday run! I went to Florida again (for the last time for 2012), and then headed to Chicago for another work event. While there, I found out that a friend died unexpectedly, and I rushed home to say goodbye. The day after the funeral I completed my first triathlon, and had a great time racing!

September: I kicked off September by announcing that I was jumping back into training, this time for my 2nd half marathon! I spent Labor Day weekend with a group of friends from college, and welcomed fall with a bang! I talked about meeting Seth Rogen, and ended the month with the perfect fall run!

October: The month kicked off with another speaking event. My brother flew up to visit for the weekend, and got to listen to me speak! My brother and I also went on a great 8.5 mile run together! I went to Spain for 5 days for work, and had a great time exploring the city; unfortunately I also got food poisoning. I recapped it in three posts: Day 1 & 2, Day 3, Days 4 &5. I finished training for the half and then rested (and completely freaked out about the race!).

November: November kicked off with my 2nd half marathon, where I set a shiny new 22 minute PR! I baked a lot over the month, probably in an attempt to deal with some of the post race blues. I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving (along with some extended family members), and my dad and I ran a 5k turkey gobble.

December: The Christmas season! I spent the month watching Christmas movies, baking, spending time with family and friends, going to concerts and parties, and enjoying other Christmas-y things! I also shared one of my favorite Christmas songs, and discussed celebrating Christmas when life doesn’t seem too joyful. The second half of the month was spent with my family, and having a great time with them!

So that’s a brief year in review. Congratulations if you made it all the way through. One of the nice things about having a blog is being able to have easy access to big events throughout the year. I enjoy going back to other years to see all that happened:)

I truly feel like 2012 was a year that surprised me. I felt like I grew a lot, learned a lot, and realized that I was much stronger in fitness than I thought I was!

And now onto a great 2013…

Now it’s your turn to share! What events stand out to you from 2012? What was one of your biggest accomplishments from the year (this could be in any area of life, not just fitness!). 

January 3, 2013

Happy 2013! I think it’s all together fitting that I start the year off with a thankful post. I’m not setting resolutions per-se, but I definitely plan to continuing working on focusing on the positives in life and not repeating the negatives. These thankful thursday posts help me to do this! So, as a way to kick off the year, here are a few of the things I’m thankful for right now.

I’m thankful for a great year of running. 2012 was a truly great year of running for me (here’s my 2012 running summary). I feel like I finally found a rhythm for myself as a runner. I learned a lot, got injured, healed, injured in a different way, and successfully ran 2 half marathons. 2012 was a great year in running!

I’m thankful for getting to spend Christmas with my family. I’ve become increasingly aware that holidays together are not a promise, especially with a sibling in the military. I tried to enjoy the moments we had together as a family. We baked Christmas cookies, lifted weights, went on runs, did Pilates, watched movies, ate great meals, played games in front of the fire, and laughed a lot. I had a great few weeks with my family, and I miss them already!

I’m thankful that one of my siblings lives close to me. I’ve been at my “current location” for eight years now, and two and a half years ago he followed me down here. We’re 10 hours away from our parents and about 16 from our other brother. It’s nice to have him here, and have a family member that lives close by! After saying goodbye to my other family members yesterday, it was nice to be able to drive home with him and not have to say goodbye to him!

I’m thankful for my mom. Yes, I’m thankful for each one of my family members. I’m listing my mom, however, because she’s listened to all sorts of rants and processing over the weeks that I was home. She’s patient, supportive, and gives great hugs. I’m thankful I have such a nice mom!

I’m thankful for safety in driving. Yes, I do put this one on my list rather often. However, I just drove almost 600 miles yesterday, and in the winter, there’s a lot that can go wrong. I’m thankful I had a great day for driving, and we stayed safe!

I’m thankful for baking! In the last 3 weeks I’ve made huge batches of 6 types of Christmas cookies, lots of batches of peanut brittle, 3 pies, and root beer float cupcakes. I’ve spent so much time in the kitchen, and I’ve loved it! I’ve also loved eating all those delicious treats:) YUMMM.

I’m thankful for a job that has breaks! I seriously feel so spoiled. I still get regular breaks (Christmas break! Spring break! Summer!), and I’m so appreciative of them. It allows me to spend time with family and friends, pursue hobbies and other interests, and also get to help develop another business that have been wonderful! I have a pretty great job situation.

I’m thankful for 2012. This past year was a good year. Yes, moments of it were difficult, of course. But overall, things went incredibly well for me. I feel like everything fell into place this year, and I truly feel blessed and thankful to have had a great 2012.

And here’s to a great 2013:)

Now it’s your turn to share! How did you spend New Years? What are you feeling thankful for this year? How will you attempt to be more positive from this point forward? 

December 31, 2012

I’ll probably do another 2012 update after the New Year, but I decided to do something with running first since that has been probably the biggest thing of my year! Prior to 2012 I hadn’t run more than 5 miles, and only a few months prior to January 1st, I couldn’t even run a 5k straight through. I went from that to running two half marathons and a few other smaller races throughout the year.
  1. Best Race Experience? This I’m really torn about! I debated this in an entire post about the Indy Monumental vs the Indy Mini Marathon, my first two half marathons. The mini was really great because there was high energy, it was my first one, and it’s the biggest half marathon in the country! It was amazing, and I had a huge smile on my face the entire race. The Monumental I was more serious and focused, and I ran through an injury. The reason I love this race was because I set a 22 minute PR, and proved a lot to myself. And I was thrilled to be racing the entire time:) Picture 19
  2. Best Run. I have a few really great runs from the year. One of my favorites was my last long run, a 10 miler, before my first half marathon. This was the first run where I truly believed I could do a half marathon! The perfect fall run and the run where I was paced by my brother were also really wonderful!
  3. Best new piece of gear. My Brooks Adrenalines! They’ve carried me through 2 half marathons, 1 triathlon, and 3 or 4 other 5ks. I love these shoes!
  4. Best piece of running advice received: Before my first half marathon, Briana told me to enjoy every minute of the race because I’d only have one first half marathon! I kept that in mind my entire race! Since then I’ve generalized it- “Only one chance to run this race. Enjoy every minute of it!”
  5. Most Inspirational Runners. I love Ali on the Run! She has Crohns, and fights through this to race! Reading her blog helped convince me that just because I have POTS doesn’t mean I can’t still run too!
  6. If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? Frustrating (injuries!), exhilarating, and realizing that I am so much stronger than I thought I was.
  7. Most exciting running moment of 2012? Crossing the finish line of my first half marathon. I was tearing up on and off the whole last mile, and burst out crying when I crossed the finish line. It was hugely exciting:)

Now it’s your turn to share! What was your favorite running moment of 2012?

December 30, 2012

I just typed this post up, and when i hit publish, it deleted. I’m a little annoyed, so now I’m typing up the abbreviated version-

My last week of workouts in 2012- WOW. 2012 has been my best year of exercise to date, and it’s been fun to track my journey! Here’s what the week looked like:

I’ve been spending lots of time over break doing strength training activities, which has been beneficial for my IT bands healing! I also hope that it helps to set me up well for my next training cycle!

Tomorrow is the last day of 2012! Use it well:)

Now it’s your turn to share! Did you do any activity on Christmas? How are you planning to spend your last day of 2012?