run

February the new May?

/ Sloan / 3 Comments

I’m not sure what’s happening. I look at a calendar and it says it February but then I look and walk outside and it feels like May. 65 degrees, sunny, birds chirping—pure bliss if you ask me! So what do I decide to do on a 65 degree February morning? My friend and I thought it would be appropriate to go up the mountain and find snow!!

Just a 20-minute drive from town and the temperature dropped a bit but it was still gloriously (is that a word?) warm, sunny and snow covered! We only had an hour and half so the plan was to hike/run around, but our plans were bosched when we realized we didn’t have a parking permit and everywhere on the mountain you need one so that your car doesn’t get towed or get a ridiculously huge ticket. But we didn’t give up!

Instead of hanging up at Mount A, we cruised on over to the base of Pilot Rock and just hiked up and up for a solid 30 minutes, didn’t really make it to any destination, but we were both over dressed and sweaty by the time we decided to soak in the view and head back down to town. We both kept shouting “THIS IS WHY WE LIVE HERE”

Moutains

Be jealous

Not having got my cardio fix in at altitude I threw on some shorts, (yes, shorts and a t-shirt) and headed out for a run/core workout. The core workout consisted of me laying in a grassy field doing a few planks, a few crunches, but more so slowing down and basking in the sun, soaking up the free vitamin D mother nature was handing out yesterday.

My legs felt heavy and the hill never seemed to stop, but being outside and just enjoying the day was exactly what I needed on my day off from work. Being able to slow down and just be is something I’ve struggled with and I think living in the mountains is helping me learn to take a deep breath and appreciate what I have right now.

So, whether you’re in a town that’s covered in snow, a sunny beach, or some weird mix like my winter has been, figure out how to breathe. Live and love each moment that you have right now. It’s hard, but that deep breath is worth it, I promise.

RICE

/ Sloan / Leave a comment

RICE: who knew it actually worked?

 

Thursday last week was my only day to get in a long run. Needing to go somewhere new, my running partner and I set out to climb to Ostrich Peak. If you know me at all you know that I have my dads sense of direction: AKA I’m always lost, always getting myself more lost, not afraid to ask for directions but usually mess them up anyway. In my running life this has become more of a blessing in disguise. My runs are usually longer than I anticipate with even knowing it!

So when I told my partner that we had to turn right on Strawberry, then right again on Hitt Road I figured she knew where Strawberry was… a few miles later we figured out where we needed to go—basically we just needed to up, up and up higher! So needless to say our run turned into more of a five-mile hike, which is fine, the trail was great, the day was perfect—until we reached the top and started back down.

The view was great. I could see Mnt Shasta (I think) and some other mountain in the distance…I’m horrible at identifying them! On our run back down it was just a straight shot down hill, rocky terrain, and with my awesomely weak ankles I stepped on a rock in just the right spot to feel like I tore all the ligaments and broke the bone. (DON’T WORRY, NEITHER OF THOSE HAPPENED. They were just my first thoughts that entered my brain.)

Sweet View

Beatuful View

I limped along for a while and when I decided nothing horrible actually happened we started running again. But when I got home I used the RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) method to get better as soon as humanly possible. Along with taking fist fulls of ibprofen it was feeling better soon. Who knew that by actually doing what all those running magazines tell you to do you can actually reduce the time it takes to get better? CRAZY!

Roommates frozen peas

My roommates frozen peas

I haven’t run yet, it’s still tender, but I did elipt my heart out today and plan to run tomorrow morning. Still icing it to keep the swelling down, and not doing anything too crazy this week. I’d rather be hurt a bit now then totally injured later!

 

Had any injuries lately? How long did they last?

 

What did you do instead of run or impact?

I actually started doing some of my work out DVDs at home. Friday I did a Denise Austin pilates total body thing…it was good! Denise is super annoying, but I got a good work out in. On Saturday I did a yoga burn DVD with my friend–we opened all the windows and doors in her house so it felt like we were outside, SO GREAT!

Two A Days (get your mind out of the gutter!)

/ Sloan / Leave a comment

Two a days are probably my favorite. Right? I mean, how can you go wrong when you give yourself two killer workouts in one day? I’m realizing that though it’s really nice to have someone else kick your butt on a workout, it’s just (if not more) awesome to kick your own ass.

When all you have is yourself then all you have to depend on is yourself, right? (DUH)  I worked all morning yesterday (by all morning I mean I rode my bike to open the gym at 4:30am and worked until noon…) then some how I continued to keep myself motivated until after the noon hour and do a killer leg work out and intervals on the elliptical.

Holy shit this girl is ripped and this is nowhere near what I do for my leg work out, but whoa. Don’t mess with her!

Then I bike home and laid around until 5:30 and had my friend pick me up for my FIRST SPIN CLASS EVER. I know, how have I been missing out on spin? The class/instructor was just okay, but what I liked/hated about it was that I was in control of my workout. Sure the instructor was there to try and motivate me, but in reality once the music got pumping and I was warmed up it was all on me to get it done and feel the burn. I kind of like knowing that I can push myself hard enough to be wobbly on my legs today. (and I sure am.)

When it comes down to it, we have to realize that fitness isn’t comfortable. We have to push ourselves to hurt and work hard on our own, because, you know what? No one else is going to do it for us.

 

“The only lack or limitation is in your own mind”

NH. Moos

 

The entire spin class I was yelling at myself (other people yell in their head, right?) to work harder, it’s only going to last a bit longer, keep going, you CAN do this, you’ll be mad at yourself if you don’t work as hard as you can NOW!!

In other words, don’t get in your own way. I’m learning to re-motivate myself, and I think that that is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves, not only with running or fitness, but in life itself.

 

How do you motivate yourself?

Ever done spin?