Healthy Living Blogs

I'm so excited! I finally got listed on HealthyLivingBlogs.com website!

Everyone should check this site out. There are some other really great blogs out there for good reading and the site gives you really great blogging tips. 

www.HealthyLivingBlogs.com

Some of my other favorite blogs to read include:
Peanut Butter Fingers
Fitness and Fro-Yo
Run Pretty
Mix and Match Mama (The Bachelor, Sean Lowe's, Sister)
Diary of a Health Nut

What blogs do you read?

02/14/2013: Miles run - 106 of 1000. Miles remaining - 894 of 1000 

Reward For Completing My Goal

Happy Hump Day! I haven't run in the past 2 days and I'm feeling antsy. Yesterday I was traveling home from Pittsburgh from 5am until 5pm. Talk about a long day. I can't wait to go for a long run after work. It's much needed. Plus, I'm a tad behind in my mileage since I took the past two days off. 

After my Sunday Run From Hell (kind of kidding), it hit me that I had reached the first 100 mile marker in my 1000 mile goal! A very first important milestone, if I do say so myself. Now that I have only 900 more to go (easy, right?), it got me thinking about how I'd like to celebrate and reward myself at the end of this year. I didn't start this journey with a specific prize in mind at the end...I just felt like doing it, and that feeling hasn't changed. But once the thought popped into my head, I was intrigued. 

What can I buy myself? What can I eat? Where can I go on vacation? 

Honestly, I don't know the answer yet. I'm not extrinsically motivated for this specific goal, but I guess it couldn't hurt! I already feel as if I'm getting so much out of it, I don't know if I even NEED anything else. Along with becoming fit, having energy, and gaining a sense of accomplishment, I don't know if a new purse, a nice meal, or a trip to the beach would even come close to what I have and will continue to gain throughout the year (Ok, so the beach might help). 


Suggestions? What have you done in the past to reward yourself for completing a goal? 

02/13/2013: Miles run - 100 of 1000. Miles remaining - 900 of 1000 

The Hills are Aliiiiive - With the Sound Of Me Complaining

When I made my first trip ever to the east coast to visit Jon in Pittsburgh for New Years, I was shocked to see so many hills in the area. I had no idea. It's actually quite beautiful, and a nice change from flat ol' Texas (even though I do consider Austin to have some "hills"...Jon doesn't). 

This weekend I had my first experience running them. I always thought the slight slope in the road throughout my neighborhood was tough to run, but those minor slants in the pavement are nothing compared to these devils. If those so-called "hills" in my neighborhood are in fact hills, then I must have run some mountains in Pittsburgh this weekend. Now that these are under my belt,  I should breeze thru my normal route when I return to Texas tomorrow. 

Take a look at this monstrosity - 

I took this picture halfway up, so imagine this hill double the length of what you see. 

Needless to say, I did some walking. OH YEAH, it was 30 degrees out. 

This is just ONE example of a hill I encountered. There were many, many more and it definitely put a damper on my pace. I just kept telling myself "Where there is an uphill, there is a downhill." However, even though downhills can be a good time to catch your breath, they can be just as hard as uphills...especially on my knees. You have to change your pace, footing, and breathing, and allow gravity to do it's thing. 

This is only sounds like I'm complaining. After my run was over, I actually felt GREAT and knew I was working out harder than usual and benefiting from these mini-mountains. 

Benefits of Running Hills:

1. Builds strength - Running hills is a type of resistance training which works your upper leg muscles more than running normally would if you were running on flat ground. 

2. Builds speed - By targeting specific areas of your legs and using some of the same muscles used for sprinting, you'll increase your speed on flat terrain. 

3. Boredom beater 

4. Strengths upper body - Uphill running makes you drive your arms harder than you normally do while running on a flat surface

5. Burns more calories - Obviously you're working harder and pushing yourself to overcome the resistance, so you can burn up to 100+ more calories than you would running the same distance on flat ground. 

6. Downhill muscle groups - Running downhill engages your lower abs and works your quads. 

7. Prevents shin splits - Running uphill can alleviate the stress and pressure put on your shinbones that you would normally experience when running on a flat surface. 

If you don't have any hills in your area, you can always crank the treadmill up to a 10+ incline for some fun times! 

Side note: I hit 100 miles on Sunday! 900 to go...

02/11/2013: Miles run - 100 of 1000. Miles remaining - 900 of 1000 

Running Stats

Taking a page out of my Runners World Magazine, I wanted to share some stats they discovered after surveying women runners. 

Morning vs. Evening runs:
38% of people prefer to run in the evening vs. 62% who prefer to run early in the morning
I prefer to run in the afternoon. I'm NOT a morning person, so it'd be hard for me to wake up early to get my run in, and by the time 5:00 rolls around I'm tired from working and just want to relax. Noon is the perfect balance for me. I'm awake by then and I can get it out of the way. 

Favorite day of the week to run:
#1 - Saturday
#2 - Sunday
#3 - Monday
#4 - Wednesday
How about any day ending in "y"? :) I honestly don't have a preference and it makes no difference to me. Obviously, people tend to have more time on the weekends, but it's all about making time during the week as well. 

Most common culprit for skipping a workout: 
#1 - Fatigue
#2 - Work
#3 - Injury
#4 - Kids
#5 - Weather
#4 doesn't apply to me, but I have experienced the others. However, I don't believe weather should ever be an excuse for me. I have a treadmill in my house AND a gym membership. Fatigue and injury are legit reason to skip a workout, especially if it's going to prevent you from running again in the future. You don't want to do any further damage. I'd rather take a day or two off to recover, rather than push myself and be out of commission for a week or more. 

Runs per week:
One - 0%
Two - 5%
Three - 40%
Four - 26%
Five - 20%
Six - 8%
Seven - 1%
I think it's important to have AT LEAST one, if not two, rest days during the week, so I'm glad 7 runs a week has a low percentage. I try to get in 4-5 runs a week, depending on how close I am to my 20 miles per week goal. 

96% of people would work out twice a day if childcare, time and showering were no issue.
That's quite the majority. Check out my post about making time for your workouts, even if you have a busy schedule. 10 minutes is better than nothing, people! We can all make time to watch The Bachelor, right? Showering used to be a pain for me as well...especially as a female. Guys have it easy - no makeup, no styling of the hair, etc. I'm jealous. But now that I am able to work from home, I go days without wearing makeup and always have my hair up in a pony tail...attractive, I know.

Hope y'all found these stats to be as interesting as I did. Sounds like kids put a big ol' damper on your workouts! :) Kidding....kind of. 

02/07/2013: Miles run - 94 of 1000. Miles remaining - 906 of 1000 

Jim Rodgers Hiking Trail

My mom has continued to tell me about this new trail that is about 3 miles from our house. Seeing as how running in our neighborhood is getting a tad boring and monotonous, I took her suggestion and went to check it out. I wasn't sure what to expect because I didn't even know there was a trail that close to our neighborhood, and I'm always a little apprehensive about running in an unknown area alone. But I decided to put my big girl pants on and head out.

I don't know why I worried. It was 12:30 on a Wednesday...who would be out running? No one. I had the trail all to myself and it was awesome! I'm so glad I sucked it up and went. The terrain was a nice change to the constant pavement in my neighborhood, and the scenery wasn't too shabby either. I started off on the trail where the beginning of the terrain was made up of wood chips. I was a little worried at that point because that's not the most comfortable footing to run on. But after a few steps it turned into a nice little dirt trail, with a few rocks and sticks along the way. I didn't mind those obstacles, because it kept my mind on trying to avoid them so I wouldn't bust it and off thinking about how many miles I've traveled or what my time would be (I went into this knowing my time would be slower than normal due to the change in terrain and obstructions that came in my path). 

I love the first time running a new trail. You don't know where the heck you're going and there's always something new to see. I passed some soccer fields, train tracks, a quarry pool, a duck pond, and some wildlife (yes, I'm counting birds and squirrels...this is Texas). After the first mile or so the trail split off into different directions. I took a wild guess, went with Door #2, and just went with it. Thankfully, it turned into a nice 4 mile loop back to my car. Atleast if I would have gone the wrong way, it would have been easy to go back (unlike our adventure in the Rocky Mountains).

I ended up finishing 4.25 miles in 39:45 (9:23/mile). I will definitely go back at least once a week just to shake things up. 

I also remembered to use an app I had downloaded a while back that my friend Kristen told me about. It's called Charity Miles and donates money to a charity of your choice based on your mileage. I wish I would have remembered to start using this back at the beginning of my journey (if I would have, I could have already donated $23)! You can read a little more about in my blog post here about apps for runners. 

02/06/2013: Miles run - 91 of 1000. Miles remaining - 909 of 1000 

Two-A-Days

Yesterday was a first for me. I ran twice in one day. I completed 5 miles at lunch and a little over 2 miles in the evening with my mom and Cobalt. Let's just say my knees are feeling it today! I wasn't tired or out of breath during my 2nd run, but my legs were hurtin'! 

Since I had a few hours to kill at the airport on Sunday, I bought the new monthly edition of Runners World magazine. 

After flipping through some pages, I came across an article that caught my eye. The article was called "Double Down - Run twice in one day?!" EXCLAMATION MARK, QUESTION MARK is right! Who would be crazy enough to do that? Ahem - me. I had to try it out after reading the certain benefits a double dosage could provide.

Running twice a day can be difficult for people with busy schedules, as it's already hard enough finding time in the day to complete one workout. It can also lead to a higher risk of injury if done too frequently and incorrectly. You don't have to be a marathon runner or log high-mileage runs in order to benefit from running twice a day. According to the article "Studies suggest doubling up and running in a depleted state can boost fat-burning, train the body to use glycogen more efficiently, and stimulate mitochondria production (more mitochondria can delay fatigue)." They also say that by shortening the time between your runs, you're challenging your body to recover faster, and faster recovery is a good thing. 

With that being said, you need to make sure to not overdo it. They recommend waiting 4-10 hours between runs and to start off by doubling your runs only once a week. Your 2nd run should be an easy, slower temper run, and no longer than 45-min. Don't worry about pace so much, but rather the fact that this run is helping aid in recovering from your first run by "increasing blood flow to the muscles and flushing out lactic acid and other metabolic waste products." Sometimes it's better to take 2 runs that you feel really good about rather than just one run that you were forced to tread through. 

Here are some guidelines they provide to make sure you don't overdo it

- Build a base - Accrue 18-24 months of running 4-5 times a week before adding doubles into your routine.

- Run by time - Start with a 2nd run of 20 minutes. Over time, build up to no more than 45 minutes.

- Ease into it - Begin with one double. After a week or two, add a second. Build up to no more than 4 doubles a week.

- Space it out - Allow at least 4 hours between doubles, and be sure to hydrate and fuel well between each.

- Stay Alert - If you start to feel sick, run-down, crabby, or achy, back off. You're probably overdoing it.

Seeing as how yesterday was my first time doing a double, I am taking today easy and going to head out for a short 3 mile run this afternoon. 

02/05/2013: Miles run - 87 of 1000. Miles remaining - 913 of 1000 

Weekend in the Rockies

Last week Jon was in Denver for work, so I decided to fly out for the weekend to spend some quality time with him in beautiful Colorado. I flew into Denver where we rented a car to take up to Estes Park for a nice little getaway. Estes Park is absolutely breathtaking. It's such a cozy town with spectacular views. I'm also a dork and love seeing the Stanley Hotel where some scenes from my favorite movie, Dumb and Dumber, were shot. 

"There ya go, There ya go, There ya go"

We woke up Saturday morning with a Rocky Mountain hike on the agenda. I quickly googled some winter trails in the area and we were off! After a 15 minute drive into Rocky Mountain National Park, we bundled up and headed out to Cub Lake Trail. 

A local website said the trail was about 2.1 miles and it would run into another trail that was another 3.2 miles. The first part of the hike wasn't that hard. We actually warmed up rather quickly and started shedding layers. 

 A man and his stick

A recent wildfire wiped out 300 acres of the park

Eventually, we worked our way up the mountain and the altitude hit! It became harder to breathe, the wind was rough, and our layers went right back on. We ran into another couple who was running the opposite way on the trail (I'm all for running as you know, but not on snowy hills), and they told us that once we got up to Cub Lake the trail disappeared due to snow.

 Cub Lake at the top of our hike

Ice skating, anyone?

Seeing as how both Jon and I are pretty stubborn, we decided we'd make our own trail and that a lack of people's footprints wasn't going to stop us from completing our 5+ mile loop. Bad idea. We ended up having to mush through what seemed to be 12 inches of snow (I was in tennis shoes and jeans mind you), battle the intense wind, avoid wild animals, and try not to slip down the hills covered with patches of ice. Since we were making our own trail, we weren't even quite sure we were on the right path. At one point, we were both a little worried and debated going back the 3 miles we'd already completed. We decided against that and plunged through. Thankfully, we were not forced to build fire or shelter and we did not get lost in the Rocky Mountains. Once we saws trail signs and proof of life (AKA people), I felt a sense of relief and we finished the remaining 2 mile downhill trek back to our car. All I wanted after that adventure was a glass of wine and a hot tub...which is exactly what I got :) But not before spotting some elk eating dinner nonchalantly by the side of the road. 

"Excuse me...EXCUSE ME!"

Hiking 5 miles took a lot more out of me compared to walking 5 miles. The trail ended up taking us about 3 hours (with breaks and freak-outs), but it was a GREAT workout and a nice replacement exercise for not being able to run while we were there.

02/04/2013: Miles run - 85 of 1000. Miles remaining - 915 of 1000 
(Note: not counting the 5 mile hike in my numbers)