Yesterday was Magic

hey Jen!  

  Yesterday was one of those GREAT days!!  Motivation was endless and everything seemed beautiful and blessed. I woke up early and despite the pouring rain took Roscoe for a 2 mile walk.  I ate only REAL food and plenty of it (I actually cooked dinner- a rarity for me). I finished my application for a job I really want but was too nervous to apply for and then went to the gym where I pushed my workout harder than I have in years!!

So, where did this motivation come from?  Well for a year and a half I have been admiring Tone It Up. Do you know about these gals??  They are beautiful and positive and brilliant. They have a nutrition plan that breaks down all the aspects of nutrition that I could never wrap my brain around. Lately, and maybe it's because turning 30 is only a month and a half away... I've become so much more aware of my body and that I am lucky to have my health- but despite all my exercise, I don't really treat it right. "You can't out exercise a bad diet". So I decided to make some changes and bite the bullet and join the Tone It Up community. Yesterday I treated life as a gift and I felt so lucky and joyful. We have organic produce and meat at our disposal year round- how privileged are we?!?!  I know I'm no fast food junkie- eating organic has always been second nature to me but I sure do allow daily over-endulgances and when life gets busy grab for cookies instead of a real meal far too often.  I know I burn a lot of calories during my long runs but I never thought to replenish with whole foods, rather than an entire box of "organic cookies/ice cream"....

  So this is it, our last 45 days before turning 30.... Let's value ourselves and our bodies and feel special and lucky to have them and now let's treat them right!!  Isn't true health the best gift we could receive?!  And we have the power to gift it to ourselves!!!!

  Let's love our bodies and our progress (just like you did the other morning on your walk/run... I'm proud of you for being positive!!)

Xo

jeni

Family Time

Hey Jen!

  Girl I am so proud of your success and determination over the last few weeks!!  I always get so much more out of early morning workouts than night time workouts. I feel like you get a totally different view of the world and of people and boy sunrise sure is a sight to see!!  Are you going to classes or just doing workouts from your arsenel? 

I've been keeping up with activity the last week but have actually taken a break from running and decided to delay to a half marathon at the beginning of March. My knee has been in more pain than ever and as it turns out, I'm suffering from an overly tight IT band and need to focus on crosstraining and stretching.  This is NOT a set back, although I really wanted to do the half in January...  I'll restart my running plan Dec 15th. So until then it will be lots of kettle bells, yoga and cycling. 

  Last Sunday Ev, Roscoe and I went to the land conservation area for some outside active family time. I gotta say, those are my favorite dates!!  We really live a environmentally rich area and I love being able to experience it as a family!!

So now we are a week away from Thanks Giving... How do you plan to stay active and combat endless desserts and third helpings?!?!

Look forward to hearing from you. 

Xo

jeni

Small successes

Hey Jeni! 

How has your week been? How is training going for your half marathon? I admire your will to try winter running.  As I go to the gym each morning, I see a lot of runners that's are out in the 5am hour with all of their gear. It sends a shiver down my spine when I see that the temperature is in the 30s! 

This week was week 2 of my morning workout routine. I can say that I am still going strong in waking up and getting to the gym before work. I had some sleep glitches towards the end of the week, but I am hoping to continue to work on my sleep hygiene with at least 7 hours per night. 

Overall I have been enjoying the morning workout. It is difficult to want to go to bed between 9-10 pm because I am such a night owl! I have been able to become pretty organized and able to stay committed. The feeling is wonderful. I am starting to feel better that I am working out more frequently. I find that when I am working out I have a desire to eat better and treat my body better. 

On Tuesday, we had a really warm day! At some point in the day I believe that I saw 70 degrees outside! I chose to do an outside 3 miler. I will say, I had some difficulty! I had a hard time breathing and I felt really heavy. On the second half of the run, I cooled down to interval speed walking and running. Overall, I finished with about an 11:00 minute pace, which is interesting because when I first started running my pace was between 11:00-12:00. I think that even though I walked some, it shows how my pace has improved since I decided to try this running thing.  

My response to the workout was the highlight. Generally if I have a less than successful workout, I tend to get frustrated! However, this time around I tried to remain grounded and reminded myself that it's ok that this workout wasn't perfect! If I am always hard on myself it can certainly lead to more stress and frustration, which isn't good! 

Hope you've had a stellar week! 

Xoxo

Jenne

Mixing it up

Hey Jeni! 

Glad we are back on track here. I can tell you for the past few months I haven't been focusing much on fitness. It's been a side bar to my life, and I haven't liked it! 

I've been doing some things that haven't been too healthy- not enough sleep, not enough exercise and eating a lot of processed foods. Overall, this has contributed to some weight gain (ugh!) 

So I sat down and re-evaluated my priorities recently and realized that the reason I haven't been working out as much is because I am too tired after work. I've been working a lot recently so it's been difficult to balance my workout plan. When I am working out and feeling good, I tend to want to match appropriate eating behaviors with that. In the end, I decided that I needed to make a change to ensure that I have proper balance in my life and can resume consistent workouts.

I am going to work out in the morning! Woah! Now, to ensure I accomplish this, I have to get up between 5am and 5:30am to get to the gym by 6am so that I get in a proper workout and am able to make it to work on time. What a rush! 

I'm happy to report that I was able to follow through on this plan four out of five workdays! I am now on track to have a five day workout week, which is not bad while I am getting back on track! 

On the weekends I am going to do what I can for workouts at whatever time I want. 

We'll see how next week goes. What do you think?

Xoxo

Jenne 

Double Header

Jen, Jen, Jen, 

  I am loving this week!  I am in such an incredible mood since Monday!!  It's because of all my running! Tuesday was my intense NY day filled with interviews and tutoring and I set a goal of waking up at 5:30 to get in 5 miles before getting on the train...  I did it!  It was a beautiful sunrise- as you see in Picture 1. Then when I came home Wednesday, I sewed all day and despite how much work I had yet to do, I laced up, threw on my headlamp and hit the road for another 5 miles- as you see in picture 2.  I have such a feeling of calm the latt few days and I am sleeping soooo much better!!  5 runs in one week sure makes a positive difference in who I am!!!  Check out photo #3- after glow- the only time in life I ever feel truly beautiful is after a run when my skin is glowing from sweat and I'm not wearing a stitch of makeup. (Gotta keep this up!!)

Tomorrow is another busy day. I plan to be up by 7, hit the road for a 4 mile run, eat a super protien packed breakfast and then get back to sewing.  

Now you fill me in... I'm dying to hear everything. 

Xoxo

Jeni 

Training Plan

Hey Girl,

 This past weekend was rainy, blustery and darn right cold!  I find "nasty" elements to be so utterly inspiring- and before I knew it, I was picking out a January half marathon. Why I have this reaction I have no idea!  I guess it's better than wanting to hibernate.

  Since last year I have been using the Nike+ app to record my runs- yesterday I set myself up with a 12 week Nike+ intermediate coaching plan. Today was training run #1. Just a gentle 3 miler. Boy was it beautiful out.  Because of how cold it was the last few days I expected it to be the same today, despite the blue skies- so I layered up in all my best "cold weather gear". A few minutes in it was clear I was WAY overdressed and had to ditch my hat, gloves and neckwarmer along the route.  I was on an absolute runners high afterwards!!  

Tomorrow I have a long day in the City and an early train to catch. I have two job interviews and am tutoring a middle schooler.  It's also voting day!!  The plan has a 5 mile run scheduled for me and I refuse to let a busy day get in the way- i need this run for so many reasons. My mental health, a reminder that things that are important to me are infact valuable things and to relieve some of this major stress I'm barely managing... So I have decided to set my alarm for 5:30am and hit the pavement before the sun comes up!!  I am hoping that when my alarm goes off knowing that I have stated this all to you will help insure that I don't snooze myself outta a good run. 

What are your voting day plans?!  

Look forward to reading all about em.

Xo

jeni

And just like "that", it's November

Hey Jen!

  November- my goodness it's November!! Gosh I am so excited!!  Cold weather running is my favorite!  Maybe because it's invigorating or maybe because it signals the start of such a beautiful and magical season and the closing of yet another year.  The last few days I have been daydreaming about a Turkey Trot and wondering which to do this year?!  And making plans to finish this year off strong. I have so many things to catch you up on and I'm sure you do too!    I'll start with recaping my first cold weather run and over the next few days will fill you in on the rest. 

 Check the picture- it was crisp!!  My ears were cold and my cheeks were rosy!  I purchased new kicks on Thursday and broke them in this weekend by going slow and steady. I was short on time and it was great to get outside. I am always so proud of myself when I choose to use a half hour to get in a few miles rather than cruise pintrest. 

What's your favorite "short on time" workout?  

What is going on with your fitness?  

Can't wait to catch up. 

Xoxo

jeni