Look What I Made

Exercise Tips (When You Don't Belong To A Gym)

Right now, I do not belong to a gym. I can't remember the last time I didn't belong to a gym. In Chicago, we were members at an awesome gym and then I decided to try Crossfit. Here in Austin, I never got around to joining a gym because I didn't want to spend the money and was sort of on the fence about a regular gym vs. Crossfit. It was difficult for me in the beginning to make time for workouts and then to actually push myself while doing them. I have been working from home, so I don't have that typical routine that would motivate me to workout before/after work or get to a class at a certain time. It took a little work, but I've found a few ways to trick myself into getting more exercise each day.

Nike Training Club App - This app is great and best of all, free. The app has a ton of different workouts ranging from 15 to 45 minutes at Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels. I like these workouts because I don't have to think about what I'm going to do or what's next. If you're unsure on how to do a move, there are little video tips that show you how. The workouts are tough and since it's in my ear telling me what to do, I usually push myself a little harder.

Walk Everywhere You Can - Well.. confession. I also don't have a car so I have no choice! But, I'm determined to not let that keep me from getting out and about the neighborhood. Walking is a great way to get in extra activity each day. Even if I did have a car, I'd still choose to walk to the CVS that's 0.7 miles away. There and back you've burned approximately 150 calories which is about equal to a glass of wine or a cookie. I'd probably eat that cookie anyway but this way I've given myself a chance to burn it off.

Race Yourself - We live on a really large block that is about 2 miles around. I started to time myself running around the block, and trying to meet or beat my time I each run. The timer keeps the same old route from getting old and motivates me to push a little harder each time I run. I'm also able to determine if I'm getting in better shape by how fast I'm running the 2 mile square.

Nike Fuel Band - This device is something you wear on your wrist as a braclet and it tracks your movement throughout the day. Your movement is calculated into Fuel Points, which is something that Nike made up. I'm not totally sure how it's calculated, but a typical day for someone like me would have a goal of 2000 points. When I was living in Chicago, working out of the home and going to Crossfit, I'd hit anywhere from 2800-3000 each day. Now, I'm barely making it to 1700 each day and that is a problem for me. I'm doing a little more than half of what I used to do. Half! That's crazy to me. Having the Fuel Band puts a number on my movement each day. If I'm running low on points, I'm more inclined to take a walk after work or go for a run around the block.

Pushups & Planks - These are the best, most efficient exercises I have tried. They are quick and work your entire body. They are exercises that you can do at the gym, at home or in a hotel room if you're traveling. 25 pushups and a 1 minute plank a day will make a difference. It may not seem like it, but it does. It's perfectly fine to start out on your knees too. You'll still feel burn!

 

Eventually I'd like to join a gym, but this is working for now and saving me some money!

Just a general disclaimer, I'm not a professionally trained fitness instructor. These are just things that have worked for me. I think the key to anything is figuring out what works for you. If you have bad shoulders, maybe skip out on the planks & pushups. Bad knees? Go for a bike ride instead of a run. :)

New York City Marathon!

Last Sunday, I ran in the ING New York City Marathon! It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I completed my fourth marathon, and definitely the most difficult one yet. Why was it so hard? My training sort of fell off when we got word that we were moving to Austin. I had to make some choices and running 17 miles rarely made the top of my list. But the course was difficult too! There were bridges, and hills and gusty winds. Not good things when you're trying to run 26.2 miles. But, I did it! In 4 hours, 50 minutes and 44 seconds. Not my best time by any means but it was the best I could have done that day.

It was a LONG day too. I left my sister's house in Manhattan at 5:00 in the morning. I hopped in a cab and headed to the Staten Island Ferry. I took the 5:45am Ferry to Staten Island and waited around for 4.5 hours. Yup, four and a half hours. I was avoiding the cold. Then at 9:45am, I took a shuttle bus to the start line, which was about 3-4 miles away from the Ferry. All that and I hadn't even started running yet!

The course awesome. I saw the entire city, and there were people cheering everywhere. There was also police everywhere, on every single block to be exact. Security was tight after the Boston Bombings. The course was tough. I think the worst part was running over the Queensboro Bridge around mile 16. Actually, yes, that was the very worst part.

I was thrilled to see my mom, sister and niece at around mile 22. I was hurting bad at that point. I was in a lot of pain, especially my back, and had been looking forward to seeing them. I stopped for a quick hug (maybe a couple tears) and then I was on my way to the finish. Yay! (Except... I was still very far away from the finish line).

I don't really have any after pictures. I was so dead tired and cold and just wanted to go home to my sister's and eat cheeseburgers. It was a grueling day but so worth it! Even with the seemingly endless inconveniences, I am really happy I did this race. It was a very challenging experience but I made it through. (I think that's the whole point of these crazy things.)

My mom and I celebrated on Monday morning with a big lunch and some afternoon cocktails at Red Rooster.  Then, it was back to Chicago for her and back to Austin for me. THAT was weird. Flying back to Austin... still not used to living in a different state. 

Photos from My Long Run

I did my long run yesterday and it was long. And hot! But I did it. My feet are a little sore today, more so than usual. I'll be massaging them all day with my lacrosse ball. I took a few photos along the way. It was a sunny, beautiful day in Chicago and I am glad I got to spend a few hours outside! I'll be adding these to my minibook next weekend when I update it. Hope you had a great weekend, too!

 

Each Monday, during my 18-week training, I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.     

Simple Running Tips

I wanted to share a few simple running tips today. I am by no means an expert, I'm not a trainer or fitness professional. But, I've been running for several years and have picked up a few things along the way. These are things that have helped me a lot.

1. Intervals – Walk/Run in the beginning. It will help build up your stamina and helps pass the time a little quicker (at least for me). Any variation of running slower, then faster is considered interval training.
2. Patience – It gets better. It will get easier but it's always challenging. One way or another, each run is a challenge. Whether it's just getting your butt out the door, or finding your stride, or wanting to stop a little early - there's always something. 
3. Sign up for a race – Having a training plan is a great place to start and keeps you accountable on those days you don't feel like running. It gives you a focus other than calorie burn. There's something bigger at the end to work for.
4. Cross Training - Make sure you also do cross training. Running is tough on the body so it's important to build strong muscles to support your joints on your runs. It will also help your muscles recover quicker, so you won't be as sore. Changing it up is good mentally as well, at least for me. A few cross training ideas are swimming or biking.
5. Strength Training – Same idea as the cross training. A strong core and muscles will help you become a better runner. Your body becomes more efficient because it's able to carry itself. For example, if your core is strong, you are able to run more upright. This puts less strain on your back because you aren't actively engaging it to stand more upright. Think about you arms when you run. If your arms are strong, it's much less effort to hold them up by your side as you run. I've been doing Crossfit for about 2.5 months and feel like I'm a much stronger runner because of it.
6. Shoes – Get fitted for shoes at a real running store. It doesn't cost any extra and the workers will help you find the right shoe for you. It's important to have good support when running. If you have good support, that means less wear and tear on your body and that means less aches and pains after runs. 
7. Stretch – This one is still hard for me. The last thing I feel like doing after running is sitting and stretching for another 5-10 minutes, but it's important. It keeps your muscles from tightening up, which makes it harder to run the next time. Yoga is an option too!

I hope some or all of these tips will help you! Any other tips I haven't tried yet? (Edited to add in a few more details!)

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.    

Running Favorites

I created this little round up of all my favorite running products. I use each of these every week and love them.

 

Lululemon Cool Racerbacks - The best. I have them in a bunch of colors. They are perfect for running and CrossFit because they are pretty long, and kind of snug so they don't ride up. (But not too tight!) You can wear pretty much any sports bra under them. I am not a fan of the tanks with the sports bras built in. 

Lacrosse Ball - I learned this trick in CrossFit. We use a lacrosse ball to increase mobility. It massages out your muscles to loosen them up and increase your range of motion. Same concept as a foam roller if you're familiar with those. I also use them for massaging my sore feet. Put the ball on the floor and rub your feet over it applying some pressure. It feels really good and helps my achy feet feel better after a long run.

Puma Heart Rate Monitor - This year I am trying to run my long runs at a specific heart rate range, rather than running for time. It's just a different technique that was recommended to me and I thought I'd give it a try. It's really hard... It took me about 3 weeks to get my heart rate under control and consistent when running. I was either running too hard (high heart rate!) or basically walking to keep my heart rate at the 140-160 range. Now, I've leveled out (and am probably in better shape) so I can my heart rate consistent. The idea here is to get faster while keeping my heart rate the same. 

Garmin GPS Watch - On the contrary, I do my short runs for time. I just try to run as fast as possible while keeping my pace for each mile the same. I got this watch a couple years ago and really like it. The Garmin tracks your pace, distance and time. They also have a model with a heart rate monitor, but I didn't need that at the time I got this one. The watch can be pretty pricey, but it's helped me so much in my training. I do my training alone (not with a group or friend) so it really helps keep me motivated and see where I'm at with my training. I can sort of coach myself when I have numbers to back it up.

Black Nike Socks - Nothing too special. I just like black socks. These aren't too tight and the have a little cushion in them.

Nike Free 5.0+ - I bought these after my half marathon in DC mostly because they were cute! But turns out I really like them for running. They are light, comfortable and come in a ton of different colors.

Lululemon Run: Speed Short - These shorts are really comfortable for running. They are light, have a pocket in the back for my stuff and it's almost like you can't even feel them while running. 

 

And there you have it. These are all my tried and true favorites. Today is the beginning of my seventh week of training. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere. My run yesterday was great and I'm not sore today!

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.   

NYC Marathon Minibook: Update

Over the weekend I pulled together some photos from my New York City Marathon training runs to update my minibook. I liked working on a few pages/weeks at a time so I'll probably be updating this minibook once a month. I shared the base of my minibook here.

I found some affordable inkjet transparency pages to execute this idea I had. I really wanted to write my workouts on a clear sheet of transparency and insert it between each of the 18 weeks. It worked out just how I wanted it to work out. Love when that happens.

I kept my photos consistent by making them all squares. Some weeks, like the one above, I had a bunch of photos so I made a grid in Photoshop. I'm sticking to a color sheme of blue, orange and gray with my paper and embellishments to keep all the different weeks cohesive. 

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.  

Photos from My Training Runs.

A run doesn't count unless you take a photo of it (kidding). I try to take a different photo every time I go for a run. Almost all of my training runs are done on the Lakefront Trail. I run by the boats, by the museums, by the fountain - all the sights of Chicago. I sort of feel like I'm sight-seeing in my own hometown. I often use them in my Project Life but for my marathon training, I'll be adding them to my minibook as well.

My long run this weekend was 'eh'. It's been SO hot here in Chicago. The weather said that a 'cool front' was coming in after the rain on Friday night. I took that to heart and completely missed the sarcasm on that one. It was still super hot when I went out for my 9 miler on Saturday...at noon. Not good. I made it through, am only mildly sunburn and enjoyed my Sunday rest day that much more. On to week 4!

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here. 

NYC Marathon: Training Check-In

Photo was edited with VSCO Cam app (new favorite!) and the boats are in Lake Michigan in Chicago, IL

Two weeks down already. Hooray! The first week was a breeze. I didn't change up my routine too much, other than a long run on the weekend.

Week two kind of sucked, if I'm being honest. I slept horrible every night. I am not one of those people that can function on only a few hours of sleep. I've been waking up in the middle of the night for no reason. Then I try to talk myself into going back to bed and worry about how tired I'm going to be the next day. It might be time for a new before-bed routine. I need my sleep.

We went out of town this weekend for a wedding which meant no meals at home. Add on top of that last weekend's wedding and Fourth of July and it's been a while since I've had a steady flow of healthy meals.

I don't really follow a diet or calorie plan. I just eat at the same time (or when I'm hungry) and pay attention to how my body feels after I eat. That sounds super hippy-dippy but it works for me. Right now my body hates me because I've been eating junk food and drinking beer for 2 days. It was a good time though! 

As I mentioned, we were out of town this weekend and I didn't make time to get in my long run. I squeezed in an extra CrossFit class on Friday morning before we left. I'm just going to move on with my training and not dwell on it. I'm also not going to try and make up my missed mileage by running 15 miles on Wednesday instead of 3. And most importantly, I'm not going to feel sorry for myself. It happens, we move on.

There are still 16 weeks left in my training. This won't be the last time I fall off the wagon. But for today, I'm hitting the restart button. Today I have a strength workout, this weekend I'll run 12 miles.

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.

NYC Marathon Minibook

As I mentioned last week, for the next 18, now 17 weeks, Mondays will be dedicated to a running/marathon training related post. This week, I am sharing a 6x6" minibook I created to document my training and, eventually, the race.

I started by gathering up all the orange and navy paper I could find in my stash.  The New York City Marathon colors are orange and navy so I figured I would stick with that. I also added in some kraft, gray and white and a little yellow. And a random blue paper clip.I am keeping all this and my minibook together in a 12x12" plastic paper container from Michael's.

I haven't done too much embellishing yet besides the cover. The page on the left is the inside cover. The page on the right will be a title page of some sort. I wasn't really feeling it this weekend so I decided to leave it blank until I have some real inspiration.

This is how I documented week 1 of my training. I printed two Instagram photos at 6x6". I'll add 'Week 1' in the bottom right corner. Right now, I want to get a few weeks in before I decide on the rest of the design.

My overall plan backfired a little. I wanted to print out my weekly workouts on some inkjet transparencies each week but... do you know how much that stuff costs?!? At Staples it was $70 for 50 sheets. No thank you. I'm rethinking that plan as we speak. I'll also look on Amazon for something cheaper. 

Right now the book is bare bones, but I'll be adding in photos, stories and my workouts as the weeks go by. At the end I'll add in the race, my finishing time and probably some emotional story of triumph I'll write while I'm still on my runner's high. I'm excited to fill this book up! 

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.

New York City Marathon Training Plan

My 18 week New York City Marathon training starts today! There are equal amounts of excitement and dread going through me right now. I, of course, want to do this (or else I wouldn't be) but it's a very large commitment to train for a marathon. I have to make time for my training and do it - even when I'm not really feeling like it. 

This will be my fourth marathon and I'm doing things a little differently this year.

• Monday: CrossFit - Strength
• Tuesday: CrossFit - Aerobic/Conditioning 
• Wednesday: Short Run - Distance ranges from 3-5 miles and I'm going for time.
• Thursday: CrossFit - Strenth + Conditioning
• Friday: Rest, Swim or Yoga - Just something easy on the body. (But let's be honest, I'll probably rest or lay by the pool.)
• Saturday: Long Run - Distance ranges from 8-20 miles. I will try to maintain a specific heart rate. This means that my times will probably be slower but my body will become more efficient over time and I'll get faster. At least, that's the plan.
• Sunday - Rest ! (Yay!)

I've added CrossFit into my training and will only be running 2 days a week. Most programs recommend running 3-5 days a week. I've learned that my (personal) max is 3 days a week. More than that and I start to hate running. I'm going to see how 2 days a week goes for me. I think it will be good for my body since running wears and tears on me after a while. If I feel like I'm not running enough, I'll just re-evaluate my plan. I'm confident that the CrossFit will be enough for me though... it's crazy.

So, here we go! I plan to a running/training related post each Monday until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.