I don't stop when I'm tired....

.from here.

Talk about a runner's high.  As soon as I committed (here and on Facebook) to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon I began to experience a real renewal to my fitness program.  After my hiking trip I was kind of going through the motions but not really pumped or excited to go to classes.  I've learned that I do my best work when I am preparing for a specific event rather than just exercising to lose weight.  I think this is why I have made my biggest gains before the Springtime Tallahassee and before my hiking trip up LeConte.  This race is months away but I am already excited to begin training and to take my running more seriously, to do speedwork, to log in the long miles, to do the strength training.

So here are my newer goals and schedule:
Sunday: rest or with an optional hot yoga class
Monday: jog 30-40 minutes, focusing on fartleks, Zumba
Tuesday: Pilates
Wednesday: Hot Yoga
Thursday: 40-40 minute jog or speedwork and an optional Pilates class
Friday: Zumba
Saturday: longer runs that focus on logging in the miles, developing a base, as well as the physical and mental endurance to spend long times running.

The great thing about committing to a race is that it really sparks a new, deeper level of commitment to your fitness.  It requires you to plan, to look for ways to make yourself stronger, to readily challenge yourself because you know that you will have to display that fitness soon in a very public way.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming weeks of training and really seeing what my body is capable of; I'm excited to bring any readers along with me.

First jog of the semester.

Today, for the first time since May, I laced up my shoes and drove to my favorite jogging path and spent 35 minutes putting one foot in front of the other.

Laborous and difficult, I put in the time.  I ran 2.66 miles in 35 minutes.  We are talking slow....even for me.  But that's not the point.  The point is that I went out there and did it.

And I enjoyed it.

It was fresh and sunny and beautiful outside.

There were baby ducks, dogs, and turtles. 

It was 80 degrees with a blue sky; really conditions don't get much better than that.

I am so happy to be back running.  It felt great to put my body on autopilot and just go.

I hope everyone else is getting their own fitness minutes in this week.

Big Announcement!

All, are you ready for a big announcement?

On February 26, 2012 I will be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

My Tallahassee Bestie, Jennifer, will run the race with me and we are already super excited planning our weekend.

The Disney Princess Half is a women's only race that runs thru and around both Disney World and Epcot.

"This race experience is fit for a princess earning her glass running slippers or a woman who runs her kingdom already. Gather your girlfriends for a magical getaway now, so you can all earn your Princess Half Marathon Tiara Finisher Medal!"

I think this will be a lot of fun.  For starters, you can wear a costume, so I'll be spending some time trying to think of who I want to run as.  Also, there are characters and other events and photo ops throughout the race.  My friend Wess, regularly runs the Disney races (he placed sixth in his age group this weekend at the Disneyland Half Marathon in California), and always raves about them as one of the most enjoyable races for runners. 

I am going to commit to the Jeff Galloway run-walk method that I believe will allow me to a)finish 13.1 miles and b) be more consistent in my time and enjoy the experience. 

I think this is a great fresh-start for me to have a new commitment to fitness and weightloss, not unlike I did with my Mt. LeConte trip or my Springtime Tallahassee 10K. 

Anyone want to come with us to Orlando in February?

What to say?

Everything here is kind of static.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I go to Zumba.  I've been skipping Pilates but that changes next week.  I love hot yoga.  My weight has been up just a bit, which is why I've got to get back into a regular pattern of harder exercise.  Zumba isn't enough really.

I'm ready to jog again and I've decided to start back next week.

I think my schedule is going to go something like this:

Sundays, rest
Mondays, hot yoga and zumba
Tuesday, Pilates and jogging?
Wednesday, jogging or zumbaa
Thursday, Pilates and jogging?
Friday, zumba
Saturday, long run

Oh dear.  I am trying to keep up my good habits but the new school semester may undo me, entirely.

Summer's almost over!

..from here..

I cannot believe that I start teaching and my own classes in two weeks.

Le sigh.

What started as in infinity of time is now looking more and more like a giant stop sign in front of my casual, lazy days of knitting, reading, listening to music, and watching Netflix.

Let's see what have I been up to: yoga, hot yoga, knitting, zumba, pilates, mowing my own lawn, eating macaroni and cheese, going to Bible study (the highlight of my week, easily), not jogging, and waiting for my new heart rate monitor to arrive in the mail.

Not jogging?  Yes, because the heat is killer.  A one-mile loop took more out of me than a 90 minute hot yoga class.  Should I jog at night?  I feel like the loop around my block is safe.

I'm just trying to take gentle care of myself.  Trying to care for my body, trying to not eat too much even though there's been a lot of delicious food lately, trying to read the Bible at times and focus on the fruits of the spirit.  I've been praying for gentleness.  It wasn't until a few days ago that maybe the gentleness I need to develop is as much towards myself as it is towards others.

Weight is stable this month.  That's okay.  I'm trying to weigh myself less and just trust that I know when I am and am not eating well, know that I'm exercising, and that those things should work.  Focus on my yoga poses getting stronger, focus on pilates getting better, and if I was jogging I'd think about my times and pace and notice them improving.  Maybe I'll go tonight just to document that fact.

Meanwhile I miss my friends, who have all left for the summer, and I am ready for my fall semester to start so that I can see everyone.

Celebrating a Weightloss

Last week I celebrated my 55 pound weight loss by going to my friend Annie's house and we played my new favorite game, Model and Paparazzi.

What is this game?

It's when I bring over my favorite new clothes and have Annie take pictures of me for my blog!!  So here they are...

Rather sassy in this one, aren't I?

These are just my favoite four and I am very grateful for Annie humoring me by spending her Saturday afternoon taking my pictures.



How I fell in love with Yoga.

::from here::

First there was Power Stretch.  I stumbled onto yoga when I joined my studio.  They had some yoga classes but they looked way too hard for me.  I could not touch my toes.  There was nothing, absolutely nothing, flexible about me.  The studio began to offer a summer  series class called Power Stretch, a 30 minute class designed to promote flexibility and also, as a kind of baby step towards yoga.  I liked it.  It was hard and stressful at first but the payoffs were quick.  I used to say 'Well, I can't really do any of the stretches so all improvement is a milestone.'

Then there was Core Flow.  I began going to yoga classes at the studio, they were designed around Vinyasa Flow, which means that the you would work quickly through the postures and poses in order to keep your heart rate relatively elevated.  They were an hour long and I began to go three or four times a week.  I was really progressing. 

Touch my toes?  You bet?  Hold a crow pose?  Most days, yes.  Inversions?  Not yet, but someday.

::from here::

I loved it and my schedule changed a bit so in addition to going to classes at my studio I started to go to a Sunday evening class at Journeys in Yoga.  This was what I call my introduction to 'real yoga.'  These classes had a real focus on controlling and manipulating, yet always respecting, the body.  90 minutes, pose to pose to pose, ending with inversions and partner yoga.  Partner yoga is when two people do poses together, sometimes holding someone else over your head.  Intense, but amazing.

All of this love was fostered by a great teacher.  Jessa met me at every important point in my yoga journey.  She worked with, instead of against, my body.  She worked within my limitations but still pushed me to new places.  Jess is a magnetic person, drawing energy and people towards her at all times.  Eventually she graduated, moved to NYC, and is teaching Yoga at Equinox Fitness, an elite studio in Manhattan. 

I have found the rest of the yoga community to be just as inviting and supportive.  In general this group of people is not exclusionary, they do not look at my suspiciously as some other in fitness classes sometimes do, they only push me to expect the best from myself, knowing that somedays the best is more or less than other days.

Now I take classes with a young woman named Emily.  Emily, too, is about to move away so I'm sure that my yoga is about to transition as I find a new teacher. Emily is caring, gentle, and in all ways, charming.

I love yoga.  I do.  I love that it always challenges me.  There are always news poses to try or even just trying to get better at ones you're been doing for years.  I love that while it always changes, it is also unchanging and timeless.  It shows me in the most concrete way, other than the scale or my clothes, how my body is changing.  That as my muscles strenghthen and get longer, as my joints open, poses that were once not even approachable become do-able.

Yoga is one of the sincerest ways I show my body love.