TOLT #? – If I Could Turn Back Time

It’s been a hot minute since I posted on the blog and even longer since I posted a Think Out Loud Thursday post. I mostly stopped doing those because Amanda at Running With Spoons just suddenly went MIA after my last post. I still haven’t been able to find out where she disappeared to in Canada and if she’s ever coming back. So, on I press with my summer and my blog…..

Training Plan Tuesday #9 – July 2019

The year is halfway gone! Can you believe it?! I have been spending a lot of my summer break lounging at people’s pools and on the beach, but also running, biking, doing yoga and Pilates and a host of other activities. Now it’s July and I’ll be headed back to work part-time for the month which will cut down on my “lounging” time and increase my activity time. I feel like June was my lax month, but…..

Training Plan Tuesday #8 – June 2019

It has felt like it is a MILLION degrees outside lately which has really impacted my training. For much of the month of May temps in Wilmington were over 80F by 8am. I used to be a hot weather runner, but this year I am struggling with it. Therefore, starting on Friday (when my kiddos are finally out of school), my workouts will once again shift to early morning.

Workout Wednesday #17 – Foam Rolling

I am exhausted! And not because I did anything crazy….it’s the HEAT that is pummeling us here in NC. Record temps every day and it’s 80F by 8am. I don’t know how people from far more southern states train in this weather, but it’s kicking my behind! A couple of weeks ago I brought you The Chipper as part of my Workout Wednesday series and my Summer Fitness Plan. I have since made a few modifications to the order of my exercises so as not to aggravate my shoulder when I have it all worked out.

I’m also not trying to flare up any other old injuries, so I’m trying to do more Foam Rolling. I’m not always logging it on my MapMyRun account, but I am doing it almost daily. Here’s a brief video on what you might want to know about foam rolling.

Let me know how your rolling goes and Friend me on my MapMyRun account so we can “workout together”.

Want all the Workout Wednesday videos? Subscribe to my YouTube channel!

While I am a fitness professional with multiple degrees and certifications, this workout is unsolicited, un-sponsored, and not intended as advice for you to use to diagnose your own injuries, treat them, nor rehab anything; nor is it an exercise prescription that will meet your personal needs, likes, and abilities. Please check in with your healthcare professional if you’re having health problems and before starting any new exercise routine.

Workout Wednesday #16 – The Chipper

This is my first Workout Wednesday post of 2019! How can that even be?!

Well, I told you that my Summer Fitness Plan includes me doing Chippers on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, for those of you who have no idea what that looks like, here’s my version:

I actually filmed my WHOLE Chipper, but it was kind of long and no one wants to watch that. You can check out my progress with the Chipper on my MapMyRun account and friend me there so we can “workout together”.

Want all the Workout Wednesday videos? Subscribe to my YouTube channel!

While I am a fitness professional with multiple degrees and certifications, this workout is unsolicited, un-sponsored, and not intended as advice for you to use to diagnose your own injuries, treat them, nor rehab anything; nor is it an exercise prescription that will meet your personal needs, likes, and abilities. Please check in with your healthcare professional if you’re having health problems and before starting any new exercise routine.

Training Plan Tuesday #7 – May 2019

The semester is ending for me this week and that means that my gym access is on hold until Fall. So, I have devised a plan for the summer months to keep myself active daily, not to lose major gains I have made in the formats I teach, play into time constraints and weather challenges, and to conquer a large goal.

But, before I unleash the May plan, let’s play catch up on April.

Training Plan Tuesday #6 – April 2019

Can you believe it’s already April 16th and I’m just now getting to posting about my training plan? I can because I haven’t exactly been training for myself…..

Worried About my Legs

I just sat down to write this and realized it’s been over 11 months since I did a travel post on my blog. I used to LOVE writing about the different places I went to teach…..I’m not sure why I haven’t done more of it this year, but this has been a hard year for me. Even though this isn’t officially a travel post, this weekend I’m in St. Petersburg, Florida teaching a NETA PT workshop at USFSP….which is a MOUTHFUL! It’s going well so far (as usual), but I am sort of sad to be here. See, I LOVE fall and it just started to get fall-like at my house at the end of this week. I know it’s a little late, but I live in the South. So, what did I do? I went further south and it’s like summer here…..or what summer would be like in Iowa and not North Carolina.

One of my birthday presents to myself – CEP Ultralight Compression Socks for Running. Bought on Amazon/Sold by Pike to Peak

I had intended to do a five mile run after teaching today, but the loop I chose was less than 3 miles and the heat and humidity at 5pm was still too much for me to do another loop. I’d been standing all day in my compression socks to try and help out some seriously stiff calves (and they did), but my legs just seemed done while I was out running. My pace wasn’t anything to brag about either. 10:30/mile! I feel like my running has come to a standstill at the moment. I am looking for a way to push it back forward without injuring myself. All this tiredness in my legs and the shin splints etc has me thinking about the care of my legs more.

I keep hearing all of these advertisements on the radio about vein disease. I’m starting to wonder if it’s a real thing for me. See, my grandmother and my mom have these really nasty veins in their legs. They’re all big and blue and knotty looking. My grandmother has even had weepy veins and all kinds of sclerotherapy. A ton of people in my family wear compression socks (and not the sporty kind like I now have). My mom is not yet to that stage, but I think it’s in her future. She’s a nurse and takes care of long-term care patients. She’s practically a wound guru at this point and knows a lot about how to treat the vein issues my grandmother has, so I’m not worried about how she will care for them when it’s her turn. I’m worried that I will also have a turn.

I have been Googling vein disease photos because I have this pretty purple spot on my left outer thigh that’s been there as long as I can remember. It’s spidery veins, but over the years they’ve become more palpable. When you look at the pictures online I’m somewhere between stage 1 (still closer to that end) and stage 2 of the images of vein disease. My legs feel heavier as I run these days and I’m not sure how much of that is psychological and how much is physiological? One of the treatments suggested is compression socks and now that I have a pair I plan to get as much use out of them as possible. Already they’ve helped me get back into running without pain in my shins/ankles and run consistently further than I was before they arrived. I guess part of this will be a wait and see effort on my part.

Do you have leg pain/fatigue?

Do you wear compression socks to run?

Do you have a family history of vein disease?

Wellness Wednesday #1 – Why I Run

Last week I said I wanted to start writing each Wednesday about the 12 Dimensions of Wellness. So, this week we’re going to start with one that is near and dear to my heart: MOVING.

July STREAK

So, Lesson #2 is something that I should have picked up from Gretchen Rubin awhile back…..

anything worth doing is worth doing every day

(or something like that). Anyway, for the month of July I am STREAKING with my runs. Today is Day 11 (which is actually 12 days in a row just because of how my June training ended) of running every day for the month of July. I am building mileage for my fall run and it’s also an excuse to make my kiddos ride their bikes more.

See, I have entered the glorious phase of life in which (most of the time) I no longer have to push a jogging stroller on my runs. My little guy is now 5 and pedals away like a champ for a max of 3 miles. Now, that’s not to say that he doesn’t crash from time to time, or need a little push from behind up a hill, but for the most part I can get all of my low mileage stuff in with the two of them on bikes.

The thing about streaking is that it’s helpful to set a short-term goal for doing something every day and see how long you can maintain it. The bad thing about streaking is that once the short-term time frame is up, it’s always harder to maintain. So, for running I planned out every run from June 9th until Race Day in September. That way I know where I’m going and the streak is not just about the one month of running every day. That’s just a mileage building portion of the overall training plan.

I’m having trouble streaking in other areas of my life. They’re a little less long-term goal focused. For instance…..I’m trying to start doing a Daily 10. Want to know what that is? Come back tomorrow for Lesson #3.

What do you streak at?

What breaks your streaks?

Follow my streak at MapMyRun.com