Sunrise Exercise

Getting my workouts in, in the morning is my favorite thing!  I've said before that I was a morning person, but, really, I think my body just really likes the sun.  When the sun comes up, I wake up!  When the sun goes down, I turn into a baby and want to go to sleep.

It is sooo refreshing to be out running as the sun comes up!  There is something very energizing about it!  Unfortunately, that's generally not possible this time of year... which would explain why I'm h aving so much trouble getting up in the mornings anymore.  It's cold outside, and it's so much nicer to be snug in a warm bed.

BUT, over the past few weeks, I'm being reminded again and again of how working out in the morning is just what "works" for me.  If I don't do it, I stress about it all day- about whether I'm going to get it in, about how to do it with the kids, about if something is going to prevent me from doing, about if I'm going to have enough ENERGY!  It's an extra ball to juggle through out the day, and it adds so much unneeded stress!

When I DO get my workouts in, I feel awesome, and energized!  It feels great going through the day, knowing I already kicked butt- and I did it without the interference of anybody in my fam-- (cuz they're all still sleeping-- this is MY time!).  It puts me in a good mood, and makes me feel powerful.  And, I don't hold any "grudges" through out the day, making me a much happier Mommy and Wifey!

Suck it up, Amber-- get out of bed.  You'll thank yourself later!

Just do it!

A few Healthy Tipping Point thoughts

A Healthy Tipping Point is when all the small decisions you make add up to something big.  I had a HTP moment this morning.

Confession: I am really bad at getting my fruits and veggies in.  Granted, the smoothies have helped me tremendously, but Joella says  that I need to be spreading my fruits and veggies out throughout the day as well... not just all in one sitting.  Apparently, this is the healthy thing to do  ;-) .  I know she's right, and I've been trying really hard, but it's almost as if my body goes into defiance mode sometimes.  I really do like apples.  But there are times of day when if I see an apple, I'll just want to throw it out the window, yet alone eat it.  


This morning wasn't one of those mornings.  I'm just not hungry, but I need to eat before I go out for a run.  First thought: If I just eat my yogurt, then I'll save some calories!  It's not often that I'm not hungry in the mornings.  Then, my HTP buzzers started going off in my head.  Recognize: this is a chance I have to make a smart choice.  So I ate the apple.  1 F/V down... at least 4 more to go!  It's so ridiculously simple, yet, the small decisions add up.


The thought that eventually pushed me over the edge to just eat the darn apple (with my yogurt) was 'parking lots'.  Yes, parking lots.


See, I've probably mentioned it before, but my head makes sense of things by using metaphors and comparisons.  So I compared the decision of eating the apple, to, when I run Graham Park- it's a basically flat, straight shot out and back.  But, I choose to run around the parking lots sometimes along the way instead of heading straight for the trails.  Those little 'ventures' add up, and make a significant difference in (okay, get this...) "the long run"!  AND, it's kind of a mind trick too, because it doesn't seem like you're adding that much to your run... but little bits add up!  (Since I'm being corny anyway :-)... and with the apple... little 'bites' add up!)  

This is pretty amazing...

Just keep watching the whole thing...  I'm speechless!

Homework

This is how it works:

Training is doing your homework. It's not exciting. More often than not it's tedious. There is certainly no glory in it. But you stick with it, over time, and incrementally through no specific session, your body changes. Your mind becomes calloused to effort. You stop thinking of running as difficult or interesting or magical. It just becomes what you do. It becomes a habit.

Workouts too become like this. Intervals, tempos, strides, hills. You go to the track, to the bottom of a hill, and your body finds the effort. You do your homework. That's training. Repetition--building deep habits, building a runner's body and a runner's mind. You do your homework, not obsessively, just regularly. Over time you grow to realize that the most important workout that you will do is the easy hour run. That's the run that makes everything else possible. You live like a clock.

After weeks of this, you will have a month of it. After months of it, you will have a year of it.

Then, after you have done this for maybe three or four years, you will wake up one morning in a hotel room at about 4:30am and do the things you have always done. You eat some instant oatmeal. Drink some Gatorade. Put on your shorts, socks, shoes, your watch. This time, though, instead of heading out alone for a solitary hour, you will head towards a big crowd of people. A few of them will be like you: they will have a lean, hungry look around their eyes, wooden legs. You will nod in their direction. Most of the rest will be distracted, talking among their friends, smiling like they are at the mall, unaware of the great and magical event that is about to take place.

You'll find your way to a tiny little space of solitude and wait anxiously, feeling the tang of adrenaline in your legs. You'll stand there and take a deep breath, like it's your last. An anthem will play. A gun will sound.

Then you will run.

- Jeff Edmonds (www.TheLogicOfLongDistance.blogspot.com)

MS Wine Tasting Tour

On Saturday, my sister, mother, and I hopped on a bus, and checked out some really amazing wineries on the PA-NY border.

Though it didn't do much for my diet, having to down a gazillion of those little ball cracker thingies to keep standing (I'm generally down after 1 glass), we had a great time- and it was wonderful to spend some time with my family, amid these crazy hectic lives of ours!

Pouring the grapes into the squishing bucket

While we were 'wining' my babies were Geocaching with Daddy!

...at a Frisbee Golf Course!

Ate lunch at the haunted Kelly Hotel

Mom taking a pic of me on the balcony, trying to catch a ghost

See any ghosts?  Me neither...

SOMEone's excited to get her wine!  :-)

We had a fantastic day!  Time to go home and burn it all of... that'll take a week or so....  :-)

Chocolate Pancakes for Breakfast!

Yes, we're running low on the breakfast materials, so the girls requested pancakes.  Again.

I try to make them as healthy as I can, by adding pureed stuff from the magical Vita-Mix.  So, with the Sneaky Chef in mind... today's goal: Chocolate Pancakes.

What goes into Chocolate Pancakes that could possibly make them HEALTHY, you ask?  Spinach and blueberries.  (and cocoa powder and a pinch of instant coffee to bring out the chocolate flavor).  Perhaps I put a little too much spinach in mine, eh?

Yes, I know, green pancakes, yuck, right?  I had the flash on the camera, so they actually look a lot greener here than they did in person.  Rather than keep adding stuff, and totally screwing it up, I just went with it.  (with a few added chocolate chips)  The verdict:  They tasted like warm, buttery chocolate CAKE!  No butter or syrup needed!  SCORE!!  

I know you won't believe ME, so...

Keep Going!

Healthy Tipping Point

I don't carry cash.  It disappears way too quickly.  A dollar here, a dollar there... it adds up SO fast!  iPhone apps and music... don't even get me started.

Calories seem to do the same thing.  WHY?  Why do those little things have to end up causing so much damage?  A few pretzels can't hurt.  A couple goldfish, what's that- 10 calories?  I'll just have a bite of cake... or just one chip.  That's healthier than eating a handful, right?   I am doing the right thing!  Right?  Yet, they all add up anyway... and they cause the scale to do the same.

I came across a website called "Healthy Tipping Point, when everyday decisions add up to something amazing."  For some reason, this revelation hit me like a ton of bricks.  If all the negative things add up, can't the positive decisions/choices add up too?  10 minutes on the elliptical might not seem like much  (a challenge I posed to my husband), but, you could easily cover a mile in 10 minutes... 1 mile = approximately 100 calories.  If he did this 6 days a week... that's 600 calories!

My brain makes sense of things by changing them into pictures/metaphors.  So with this thought in mind, I view this like a scale... FAT on one side, HEALTH on the other.  Each choice is like a tiny bean... I can add it to the FAT side, or I can add it to the HEALTH side.

True, adding one bean to the scale really might not make all that much difference... but, when you're daily adding beans to the HEALTH side, you WILL eventually get to a "Healthy Tipping Point".  Each decision counts.  (Just as adding beans to the FAT side will counteract your progress)  

What kind of choices will you make today?

Mind Games (2)- Carrie's Tricks

For a long run, one thing I do (and I don't even know if I can explain it well!) is I try to maintain the thought that I have just begun the run and still feel fresh. For example, during really, really long runs (including marathon day) I count "up" the miles as each is completed. Rather than thinking "I have 10 more miles to go" I try to think to myself that I'm heading towards mile 17, keeping a forward motion instead of a countdown. Near the end of a run it's difficult to NOT feel a little antsy just to be done. By holding back mentally and feeling like I've just begun, my patience remains in tact and I can enjoy the run better.

And you certainly can't go wrong with good music! I regularly do zumba and have quite a few of our zumba songs on my ipod. Then I can go through the song's zumba routine in my mind and at that point mentally I am in the zumba class...not running in thr pouring rain!


Thank You Carrie!  


What are YOUR tricks?  Click on the "Mind Games" link in the right column to share your secrets!  Thanks!!

Theme Song

Stronger  


This past month has been quite the struggle for me, not being able to run.  Granted, it was only a sprained ankle, and people go through far worse, but it hurt me emotionally much more than it did physically.  While I was out on my run this morning  (3 minute jogging intervals), this song came on.  Looking back, it truly was my theme song.  It always came on at just the right moment on my shuffling playlist, and it was exactly what I needed to hear!


Hey, heard you were up all nightThinking about how your world ain't rightAnd you wonder if things will ever get betterAnd you're asking why is it always raining on youWhen all you want is just a little good newsInstead of standing there stuck out in the weather
Oh, don't hang your headIt's gonna endGod's right thereEven if it's hard to see HimI promise you that He still cares[Chorus]When the waves are taking you underHold on just a little bit longerHe knows that this is gonna make you stronger, strongerThe pain ain't gonna last foreverAnd things can only get betterBelieve meThis is gonna make you strongerGonna make you stronger, stronger, strongerBelieve me, this is gonna make you Stronger
Try and do the best you canHold on and let Him hold your handAnd go on and fall into the arms of JesusOh, lift your head it's gonna endGod's right thereEven when you just can't feel HimI promise you that He still cares
[Chorus]
'Cause if He started this work in your lifeHe will be faithful to complete itIf only you believe itHe knows how much it hurtsAnd I'm sure that He's gonna help you get through this
When the waves are taking you underHold on just a little bit longerHe knows that this is gonna make you stronger, strongerThe pain ain't gonna last foreverIn time it's gonna get betterBelieve meThis is gonna make you stronger

Ouch, that hurts...

Epiphany moment...

Yes, I track my food on myfitnesspal.com.

No, I do not measure everything out- that would make me crazy.

I guesstimate, and I'm pretty sure I give myself the benefit of the doubt... most of the time.  Ouch.  Those few pretzels don't count- they weren't anywhere near a serving!  A couple M&M's (Elena's potty reward) won't make a difference.  Granola?  That only a 1/4 c.  Maybe even 2 tablespoons....

I think I need make this into a poster, and hang it in my kitchen- anyone else?

Mind Games- (1)

A friend once told me that running was as much as a mental exercise as a physical exercise.  That advice has proven itself over and over again in my training and learning how to run!  That's what helped me make it through the C25K program.  Going from an 8 minute run to a 20 minute run was quite the jump for an un-athletic person that could never run more than a 1/4 mile in my life!  And now that advice is going to help me get to the half marathon!  I'm going to need a lot of tricks to get me through that!

A Peek My Bag of Tricks:

• Focus on something other than the run- like planning an event that you are excited about, or listening to music
• Just make it to a certain point nearby- a stop sign, a tree, a car.  When you get there, pick another point- divide your run into managable sections.  
• In a race, pick one person in front of you to pass.  Pass them and pick another.
• Run each mile for a person important to your life.  Example: I read an article, once, about a girl who worked in the Twin Towers when they were destroyed.  She survived but many of her co-workers did not.  She chose to do a half marathon, and run 1 mile for each friend lost.  I have to find the link, it was a great story.
• Feeding your brain with healthy thoughts and VISUALS!  
• I love "Biggest Loser"!  It is so encouraging to me- sometimes, in the last leg of a run, I tell myself, "Come on, Amber- LAST-CHANCE-WORKOUT!
• Blogs!  My favorite running/health blog right now is fANNEtastic Food.  Her visuals, experiences, and recipes get me really motivated-- AND make me want to eat healthy!



Carrie- Pittsburgh Marathon 2011

• Friends.  Family. Workout buddies!  They're a great source of motivation and inspiration... and competition, if you're into that sort of thing ;-)
• Reminding myself that there's an iced mocha waiting for me when I get home!

• To be continued.....

Jen- Miles for Smiles 5 Miler

There are so many mind games that you can use to get you focused!  So I'm going to start a "Mind Games" series of blog entries.  I'm constantly looking for new ideas.  Would you please share some of your ideas so that I could use them in future posts?

My Baby Sister, Taylor- Great Race

Beth- SuperHero Race

Scott- SuperHero Race  

Princess Charm School: Balance

One of my girls' favorite movies is:  "Barbie: Princess Charm School", and I couldn't help but think about it as I was doing by balancing exercises this morning!

According to WiiFit Plus, I learned that Balance training is as important as Cardiovascular and Strength training.  Did I ever focus on it?  Nope!  But, my coach does.  And since all of this stuff happened with my ankle, she's showing me one reason why.  Not only does it help with injury prevention (though it wouldn't have helped this time, darn ditch), it would help with recovery time.  By balancing on one leg, small muscles in my leg, that aren't otherwise used as often in things such as running, would be strengthened.  I would have had more strength to compensate for my sprained ankle.  It wouldn't have had to deal with all of the pressure and strength to keep me upright, because other muscles would have taken over some of the work.

Because I never put much attention to it, my balance abilities are pretty sad!  It's surprisingly hard to stand on one foot with your eyes closed!  Here are my exercises from this morning if you want to give them a try!

Banana Spinach Smoothie- UPDATED

Since I'm on the smoothie kick (and trying to get some veggies into my kids!)- we tried out a new one this morning from one of my favorite health blogs- fANNEtastic foods!

A Banana Spinach Smoothie!  Spinach, Banana, and Milk!  Simple, yet delicious!

I subbed Vanilla Almond Milk for the milk, and added a few ice cubes because I like my smoothies pretty cold- but it turned out great!  I was really skeptical when Anne said that you couldn't taste the spinach at all-- but you truly can't!  It tastes like a banana, vanilla milkshake (depending on how much ice you add).  This is a great Green Starter Smoothie, if you're hesitant about going green.  (cough cough, MOM)

And by the way, the kids did like it, but I may try Chocolate Almond Milk next time.

Note:  I added some Ovaltine to the last few bits of their drinks to get them to finish up.  Although it wasn't a pretty green anymore, it tasted pretty good!

UPDATE 10/12:  I tried this with Dark Chocolate Almond Milk instead of Vanilla, and added 2 tsp of instant coffee---- FANTASTIC!  


Basically, I just combined my Iced Mocha with the Banana Spinach Smoothie.  The reason I did this is because I was reading in my RunnersWorld magazine that bananas are good for fluid transfer within the body, in addition to other things.  (Not the article I read, but a goodie on bananas)  Apparently, I have some trouble with this, as I tend to get dizzy/faint when standing up/ changing positions a lot of the time.  First, the doctor told me to drink more water... which I thought was crazy because I was drinking 8-12 cups a day at that point.  THEN she said to drink LESS water, increase the sodium!  A little contradictory, eh? (Apparently, sodium helps with fluid transfer as well)  So I tried to focus a little more on gatorade, a little less on water.  It helped a little, but not tremendously.


Recently, I've been really bad at getting my water in... maybe 3 cups a day?  Of course, I haven't been doing as much cardio either because of the ankle... but I've been drinking the green smoothies (with added water) - all of which require a banana, in my book.  It occurred to me one day, that the dizziness has really subsided significantly!  Coincidence?  My guess is 'no'.  So, bananas it is!  


Update: 10-15 - Just made it again this morning, this time with nonfat milk and 2T Rich Chocolate Ovaltine... also fantastic, and more protein.  (1g in Almond Milk, 8g in milk)  I still can't get over the fact that I can't taste spinach AT ALL!

My Favorite Recovery Drink!

Amber's Iced Mocha  

• 1c. Silk Vanilla Almond Milk  (or skim milk with with a little bit of vanilla extract added)
• 4T Rich Chocolate Ovaltine
• 2 tsp. Instant Coffee
• 4 Ice Cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender, and blend to the consistency of your liking!  (I prefer small ice chunks in mine!)

So, over this passed year, I've been learning about what kinds of food are best for you to eat, and when to eat them.  My favorite discovery this summer was chocolate milk!  Knowing I had some waiting for me at home when I got back from a run, gave me that extra boost I needed to keep going!  

And then, I found out that  adding caffeine WITH the carbs from the chocolate milk helps to restock your muscle glycogen storage even faster than carbs alone-- so why not add some coffee and ice cubes-- no calories, and it practically DOUBLES my after workout treat!

Yum!  Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Nutritionally Challenged.

So, yesterday was my nutrition meeting with my coach, as she has been looking over my food logs for the past 4-5 weeks.  Um, #FAIL!

She said she couldn't believe how many carbs I eat... and I knew I ate a lot, but I didn't think it was THAT bad!  After all, I cut WAY back from what I used to eat!  Why can't we lose weight on relativity??  Compared to how much I used to eat, or compared to how much others around me eat and I-pass-up??  HUH?

Obviously, I've got to focus on the protein, fruits and vegetables-- consistently through out the day- not just in one meal (my beloved Green Smoothies).  This is WAY hard when it comes to eating with extremely picky, young children.  One really good idea Joella suggested was a "Snack Plate".  She's really big on snacking through out the day, as long as you balance it out-- some proteins, some fruits and veggies,  a little carbs.  Put together a snack plate with things such as: cheese, yogurt, pretzels, baby carrots, hummus, nuts/seeds, fruits, veggies, granola- and when my kids (or myself) get hungry, choose what I want, already prepared, but once the carbs are gone, they're gone.  Having it accessible makes it an easier choice, and keeping my blood sugar stable will keep me from going carb crazy later.  Let's start with that and see how it goes.

Here is a list of Meal Ideas from my coach.

Suck it Up, Amber

Background:  I'm recovering from a sprained ankle- and a torn ligament, as I found out yesterday from the physical therapist.  So, running is out for now.  Between that, and missing my first 10K today, I've been pretty down all week.  (and emotional, and extremely cranky, as my family will quickly attest to).  I've had trouble falling asleep without my daily dose of cardio, to burn up some energy and stress.  Throw in the additional stresses of finances and Christmas coming, and my inability to cook (hence screwing up almost ALL of our meals this week) I guess "down" was an understatement- more like miserable.

Long story short, my coach asked me if I wanted to spin with her on Saturday morning, but didn't get back to me to let me know if there was a bike available. (not being a member, I can only go if there's an opening, and have a guest pass)  Now when I say Saturday morning- this is 5:30am.  Not a huge deal for me to be up that early to exercise, but getting up at 4:30am to arrive and not have an available bike would have been pretty disheartening.  I made the decision in the middle of the night when I woke up (2am... remember, not sleeping well...)- shut my alarm off.   5 minutes later, I said, "Suck it up, Amber.  If you can't spin, deal with it.  If you can, it will make you feel a whole lot better about yourself - especially having to miss the race today."  And I turned the alarm back on.

I got a text from my coach as I was driving there.... we were all go!  Glad I didn't sleep in!

I was feeling good- no ankle pain!  And then I got another surprise... this class was in place of their Saturday morning ride, which tends to be a very long distance.  An hour into the class, having no idea how long I had left to ride, I said, "Suck it up, Amber!"  I was doing well... not dying or anything, I was just nervous about how my ankle was fairing.  Then, 90 minutes in, my coach announced that "this" was her last song, and then Jeremiah would take over, and anyone was welcome to stay.  I chose to leave at this point, but let me tell you, after 90 minutes of spinning, I feel awesome!  It truly was the highlight of my week.

I'm so glad I sucked it up, and didn't stay in bed.