My First 15K

Hot Chocolate 15K

I picked up my runner's goodie bag yesterday. I was getting ready for my first 15K. My very first race was the HC5K so it's only fitting my first 15K would be this one. It was challenging but I pushed myself and did my very best and nothing less. It has been a couple of years since I was in even a 5K so the 15K seemed a bit much to me but I was excited to do it anyway. How do you challenge yourself? Do you? You have to push yourself past your comfort zone in order to grow and get better. 

I got up super early and didn't stop going for most of the day. It was a very busy morning! 

Here are just a few things you might like to know.

*This was my first 15K

*It was also my first race of any kind in almost 2 years...yikes!

*My very first race was the HC5K 

*It was in the 30s this morning and the sun never came out to warm things up.

*My feet didn't hurt until mile 9.

*I took sips of my Hydrate during the race to keep me going but at the end I drank most of it. I didn't want to have to potty during the race.

*I would pick a light or a tree and run until I got to it. Often times I was able to keep running past that once I got going. Giving myself goals to shoot for helped.

*I took it one mile at a time. Once I got to 6 miles I knew I was only a 5k away from finishing. 

*When I did a 10K 2 years ago my feet hurt between mile 4 and 5 so they were hurting badly by the time I finished. Today I passed mile 6 feeling great!

*Having family or friends waiting for you at the finish line makes all the difference in the world. 

*Hearing them call my name as I came towards the finish line and them saying what a great job I did brought tears to my eyes. It was pretty cool. 

*Getting the finisher's metal was awesome!

*Getting a cup of hot chocolate and a bowl of fondue hit the spot. I ate it all but the marshmallows and rice crispy treat.

*Going to eat breakfast after I make them stand out in the cold is a tradition. Old West is a new venue. It was delicious. 

*Normally I can't fall asleep after a race, any size race. Today I fell asleep shortly afterwards and slept for a couple of hours.

*Stretching and "rolling" my feet and legs is a must in my recovery. Plus a hot bath and a cup of Recharge at bedtime. 

*Will I do it again? Yep, next year and every year after as long as I can. I am sad I missed last year. 

**I forgot to turn off my Nike app at the finish line and turned it off after I walked all the way to get my finisher's mug of fondue.

**I forgot to turn off my Polar watch until I was almost to the car! 

There you have it. My day. What did yours look like?

~Helping transform lives one day at a time

Thoughts Are Powerful...Use Them Wisely

I am on week three of my new workout plan. I have combined two different workouts, Turbo Fire and ChaLEAN Extreme. I love, love, love my Turbo Fire, but I wanted to add some weight exercises to my daily routine. Why? Because muscle burns fat! I am building muscle so I can burn more fat. I am becoming lean and strong! 

I've had a few set backs the past two weeks, mostly weekends. But I just keep picking myself up and moving forward. I found a great article that addresses that by Chalene that I feel is going to help me succeed this coming weekend. You can check it out here. 

I changed my workouts back to late afternoons. I know I changed them from that to early mornings but it just wasn't working for me. I was dead tired by 10 a.m. and I can't afford that when I have children to teach. I found I started sleeping better so I really needed that extra 2 hours of sleep in the mornings since I tend to stay up just a bit late with reading or personal stuff. I don't get a lot of me time during the day. I'm doing my best to make time for me. My workouts are part of that. 

Last week was kinda crazy. We had a fun 4th of July weekend but during the night on Sunday someone let out dogs out of the back yard. One of them was hit by a car and killed. The other was lost. We spent all day Monday looking for her and the whole week was filled with looking for her or getting people to share pictures of her, etc. And like I said, I didn't work out that weekend or the past weekend. Yesterday, Monday, a week from the time she went missing, our lost dog showed up on the front porch before sunrise. So Monday was filled with excitement and joy over her return but not so much of a workout. 

Today I got back on track and hit PLAY on my videos. I felt wonderful! I remembered WHY I work out. I feel so good after I complete my workout. I know I am making healthy choices for my body and my life. I remembered WHY I do the videos I do. I do my CE first, the free weight workout. Each time I do one I know I am building more muscle. I have been able to increase the amount of weight I am using with each exercise. At some point I will have to get some more weights since I only have 20's. She uses 25's on some of her exercises. My coach tells me to push myself because I am stronger than I think I am. I found out today that is true. I pushed myself to harder weights than I did before. I know I am going to be sore tomorrow! And that is totally OK with me. That means I actually did it right. Next, I get my Turbo Fire on. Turbo Fire is what is called my soul-mate workout. I love it. It is fun and I just enjoy doing it. I have never fallen in love with a workout like this. Every time I do it I try a little harder to get the form correct and to put just a bit more effort into each move. Let me encourage you to do the same. Whatever workout you are doing, no matter what it is, go a little extra each time. Put forth a bit more effort to get more results. You can do it!

My eating is better most of the time. I am having my Shakeo every morning, even weekends now. I prepped my food this weekend so there is fruit salad and tossed salad in the fridge to eat on daily. We grilled Monday so there is different kinds of meat ready to add to any meal without the hassle of cooking it for long periods of time. I hard boiled half a dozen eggs to add to my salad or just to have one as a snack with a touch of cracked pepper and sea salt. It helps me provide healthy meals quick for my family on days when I need to be in and out of the kitchen quickly so I make the right choices. I have juice sometimes at dinner so having most of the meal ready for my family makes it easier on me to say no to a meal and just have my freshly made juice. Any amount of prep time you can accomplish at the start of your week will help you succeed in the area of food. You can workout every day but if you do not change your eating habits it isn't going to do much good. As long as you are putting junk IN your body it will NOT function properly. It will be like a car that has water in the tank. Let me encourage you in this way, too. Each day change one thing to get to healthier food choices. Cut out sodas and alcoholic beverages and replace them with water with a touch of lemon or other citrus fruit. Stop smoking. Cut out processed foods and replace them with healthier, fresh food choices. The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. What you put into your body will determine what your body looks like on the outside and how it performs for you on a daily basis. 

A big part of your fitness journey is how you talk to yourself and the goals you set. You have to tell yourself you are going to do it. You can't use the words try or maybe or whatever else falls into that group. You have to set real goals and tell yourself every day you are going to do it. You are going to eat a healthy lunch. you are going to work out. You ARE strong. You are going to finish your challenge for the month, etc. Don't allow any negative words to get inside your head because what your mind hears is what your going to believe. Tell yourself you are going to meet those goals. Even give yourself a date. But believe it. The more you say it will help it become a reality. The positive can push out the negative from your mind. Then you will see results. 

I turn 50 in 4 1/2 months. I am going to be so amazingly strong by then after doing these awesome workouts during that time. After I finish the 18 week program I am seriously considering doing the Body Beast, I hear tell there is going to be a new addition later this year. Can't wait. I might partner that with the new CIZE workout since that is a fun dance series. I have to keep this in my mind at all times because I can let my everyday life get me so busy I forget that I have some series fitness goals for ME. One of the things I AM going to do for my 50th birthday is a photo shoot. I can't wait to document what an amazingly strong body I am going to have to show for all this hard work. 

My coach and I are starting a new free challenge next Monday. A Summer of Salads is going to be a great way to make summer healthier and easier without turning on the stove to have a delicious meal. If you are interested in this new group, visit my fb page and look for more details. I would love to have you join us. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

New Workout Program Schedule

I have five months until I turn fifty...the BIG 5.0. I've been "planning" to "get in better shape" before that BIG day. So many times I have let other things distract me from what is important to me, things that are for me, personal wants and needs. I put myself on the back burner so much of the time. But I have kept in my mind that I need to do SOMETHING every day that is a better choice than the day before. That is why I picked up the tagline "Changing My Life One Day At A Time". I am taking it one day at a time and doing something to change it for the better. 

I started drinking Shakeology a few months ago. I got consistent this past month, I have one for breakfast every morning. Even when the other stuff I did wasn't great, that was in place.  Build your routine one day at a time. For the past month this was mine: Get up, brush teeth, get dressed, fill my water bottle up, make my Shakeo, and start my work day. I got that down so that it became second nature. I don't even think about it anymore because it is my routine. The only thing I added to my routine that was already in place was the Shakeo. I already have the habit of doing those others things right when I get up, have for years.

Monday I added to my routine, again. I had been doing my workouts in the evening after a long day and it was keeping me up at night. I wasn't sleeping and some people had suggested that one reason might be my working out so late in the day. Let me just say this, just in case you don't know it already. Some of you may not know me well enough yet. I am NOT an early riser on MOST days. I like to sleep in the mornings because I tend to fall asleep after 3 in the morning, sometimes closer to 4 or even 5. I had to make some hard choices in order to meet my goals. Goals that I don't want to miss...again. I can't let myself down this time. This is just too big of a milestone year for me not to do it right.

When I signed up to be a BeachBodyCoach I got to choose my challenge pack. I decided what would serve me best would be the On Demand. I get so many great programs on there, including the extras for the programs I already own on DVD. I used to run but my feet started to hurt a great deal so I backed off of that. My favorite workouts are the Turbo Fire. They are super fun and really work it. I've been doing that routine in the late afternoons for a month. I decided to ADD a weight workout to my daily routine. Since I have this super On Demand filled with so many GREAT workout programs I picked ChaLEAN Extreme for my weight workout. The great thing about Beach Body is you can go on the website on your personal profile, you don't have to be a coach to have this, and you can put in what programs you use. Then PICK a Program Schedule. No more guessing what workout to do what day. I printed off one for Turbo Fire and one for ChaLEAN Extreme. The rest days fall on different days. That means that some days I do both and some days I do just one workout. There is a stretch class that I do after my Turbo Fire workout, too. These schedules are 18 and 20 weeks long. Not all of them are that long. I picked these because they will keep me focused for a longer period of time while advancing in intensity as the weeks go along.

I added these workouts to my MORNING routine. I took my workouts off my late afternoon routine to leave more time for family and personal time so I could wind down and sleep at night. I set my alarm for 5 a.m. That is super early for me and I tend to get pretty sleepy mid morning. It takes me about 15 minutes to get dressed and awake enough to walk in the den and push play. But once I do I feel great. I know that by the end of this year I will be used to it and even crave getting up that early to get my workout done to start my day positively. After finishing these two workout schedules I plan on doing the soon to be released Body Beast 2. I can't wait for that. What a great birthday gift to myself.

My food has been a bit tricky and isn't quite what I want yet but each day I am working to make changes. I still have my Shakeo for breakfast made with unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon, and a banana. I have some fresh fruit for a snack mid morning and mid afternoon. For lunch I have a portion of meat, either beef/chicken/fish/pork with a tossed salad filled with lots of fresh veggies and a cooked vegetable or some more fresh fruit. I am doing my best to eat as little bread or grains as possible for now. My goal for dinner is to juice. I juice a ton of different veggies with a bit of fruit. I add a half an avocado for the natural and good fats that my body needs. The last two days I didn't had that for dinner and haven't made the best choices. I still need to get on track with my entire plan. But remember, don't beat yourself up if you don't do everything just the way you planned. Just do better tomorrow or the next meal. As long as you are taking steps forward you are going the right direction and you will get there. We don't get out of shape in one day and it will take more than one day to get back in shape. I have to keep telling myself that when I allow myself to get down about how far I am from my goals. I have to look at the positive things I am doing every day and tell myself "I am amazing! I am doing this!" You have to be your #1 cheerleader because your going to listen to yourself more than anyone else.

If you are interested in finding out more about the workouts I do or the free support I offer, check out my website or my fb page for more details. I would love to help you by giving you encouragement and helping you find the tools that are just right for you.

Changing my life one day at a time. 

Desires Of Your Heart

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Do you know the verse? What do you think it means? What has it come to mean to you? I would love to share the insight the Lord gave me this morning on my daily run in the park. I have said many times that running has never been my thing. Whenever anyone mentioned running my automatic response has always been "I can't run". I honestly believed I couldn't. I was terrible at it in school and never realized that I could take it slowly and get better at it or even want to run.

Here is where this verse comes in. The Lord has created in me a desire to run. He has shown me that it is something I want to do and can get better at. Eleven weeks ago, God placed a new desire in my heart. It started as a little glimmer of an idea from a friend who said she was going to run in a 5K in February. All of a sudden, it sounded like an awesome idea. I wanted to do that. I looked up the Couch to 5K and found a treadmill version. I spend the next 9 weeks running on that treadmill at the pace they set forth for each of the three days a week. I even added a day or two each week from time to time. I didn't JUST run the three days a week that I had to on the plan but I even chose to run MORE than required. ME. Running. WOW! 

I have to say that running outside has really changed things in another way. I don't just want to run because it is what I am supposed to do because I signed up for the 5K already. It is something I get up extra early to do and even WANT to do. I have even added to the amount of time and distance that I am running. I use a new app that helps me keep up with it and I push myself because I know I can do it and feel wonderful afterwards. I have been running outside for two weeks now. 

Can I picture myself running a 10K? Before today, I couldn't. But since I ran 4 miles today, who says I can't up that and actually run 6 miles at some point? I CAN do it! I know if I keep running each week and increase my time little by little I can also add to my distance in the hour that I have to run. It has become a desire of my heart. 

As I was running this morning, a joy filled my heart as I listened to my worship music (I spend my run time worshiping the Lord every step of the way). I realized that HE put the joy in my heart to run, the desire. And I realized that when I decide ahead of time what I am going to do, I do it. On Wednesday, I decided before my run that I would run the whole 3 miles without stopping. Today, I decided before my run that I could run the extra two laps and run the 4 miles. I didn't let myself quit because I made the choice before I got out there. I even got up five minutes earlier so I would have extra time to run if I ran at a slower pace. I actually ran at a faster pace than the other times so I was able to complete the 4 miles in under an hour. 

It is my desire to become stronger and healthier so I can live a longer and better life with my family. I have changed the way I eat and changed the way I move. I am making small but long term changes in the way I live and how my body looks. I can't wait to get to the weight I am going to stay at. But that will not be the end of the road on this running journey. It will only be the beginning. Thanks for coming along on the ride with me and cheering me on. It means a lot. 

Changing my life, one day at a time. 

Our First Day of School 2008

Today we took longer than I had hoped to do school, in fact, we are still working on it right now and it is after 4 in the afternoon. But we took a long break, so that is fine. I am happy working with my kids a little here and there throughout their day.

My children have been working on memory verses throughout the summer. We decided that since they learned the Lords Prayer and the 23rd Psalm we needed to learn the Beatitudes. So they are taking one verse a week and they recite it everyday. Then the next week we add the next verse so they do two verses. It will keep going until they learn the whole thing. We also talk about what those verses mean as we go along. I love it! They are doing a great job. We are on the third verse this week.

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

Because the kingdom of heaven is their.

Blessed are those who mourn,

Because they will be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle,

Because they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

Because they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

Because they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

Because they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

Because they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness,

Because the kingdom of heaven is their.

Matthew 5:3-10

I was not trying to take pictures of the kids while they were working, we were too busy working! I don't know how many pictures I will take but will try to take them when we have something special going on, like a field trip or project. Please pray for our little school. God is showing me all sorts of things today and I am trying to be very still and know that He is God! I am getting more and more excited about this school year and where it will take us. Stay tuned for more home school details!!!

That is our progress report for today. Thanks for stopping by.