TrainingTruths: What's Beautiful: You Can Count on Me

Last week the attention I've been giving my legs started to pay off. The yoga, the stretching, and the strength exercises have eased the pain and strains I've been dealing with for a while.

Tuesday - I started the day with a leg strength workout that I found posted by Laura. After school I ran 4 awesome miles with mr.C and as Katie would say, the #magicmilefairy blessed my legs. They felt so light! Afterwards I did my trusty yoga for runners post-run stretching sequence.

Wednesday - It was a rest day, but I did the leg strength workout after school before heading out to the theater to see Spirit of the Marathon II. What an awesome movie!

Thursday - I decided to repeat what I did on Tuesday since I felt so good, so I did the leg strength workout in the morning again. After school I ran 4 fun, rainy miles with mr. C followed with the post-run yoga stretching sequence. It worked. The legs felt amazing.

Friday - Trying to keep consistent even on rest days, I did the leg strength workout after school.

Saturday - I had put 6 miles on my step daughter's training plan and we signed up for the local annual 5K, so we got creative. We ran 3 miles to the 5K, and then ran the 5K. Even though I ran the first 3 miles faster than the race, I'm still happy because my legs were happy.

Last week I learned that if you take the time to take care of yourself, you will feel the reward. My legs have been very happy since I started consistently stretching and strength training.

I'm also excited that I'm able to start building my weekly mileage back up and continue working toward my goal of 1000 miles for the year - which also will help my FitFluential and Under Armour What's Beautiful team goal. Although we have logged over 1300 miles, we are still pushing toward our team goal of 5000. If you like to rack up the miles, head over to Under Armour and sign up with Team Escapades.

What body part is your biggest ally?

Fitness Friday: Yoga & Running

Athleta has been hosting a yoga pose-a-day contest on Instagram that couldn't have come at a better time. I mentioned that I had to re-focus after a recent injury, and yoga has been a source of inspiration.

So in addition to using the Yoga for Runners app that I love, I have been trying to replicate Athleta's Insta-Pose of the Day. From the different poses, I have learned a lot about myself.

I'm pretty good a planks. I used to do them after every run. I've even done a monthly plank challenge. Since they're so good for the core, I should probably do them more often. I wish I knew why I lose interest.

My hamstrings and quads are VERY tight, which of course makes me realize that they are the root of all my running injuries. Then after seeing the pictures, I noticed my poor stretching form. So not only do I not stretch enough, but when I do it's relatively ineffective. Ugh!

Some poses are brand new to me and I've been having fun experimenting. Even though I've never heard of them and need assistance getting my hands, feet, body in the right position, I'm happy that I'm trying and learning more each time.

Athleta's contest has inspired me to learn more about yoga. Since I'm new to it, I figured I'd better start with the basics. I found a great source of basic poses on the Fitness Magazine website, so I have somewhere to start.

Do you yoga? What is your favorite pose?

Spirit of the Marathon II

Happy Hump Day!

Tonight I am joining a small of group of running friends at the Cinemagic Theater in Hooksett, NH to watch the US screening of Spirit of the Marathon II presented by NCM Fathom Events and Competitor Group. The movie follows seven inspiring runners as they prepare for the 2012 Rome Marathon and includes motivational interviews with running legends such as Paula Radcliffe, Frank Shorter, and Katherine Switizer.

I took one look at the trailer that accompanied my invitation from Fathom Events and knew that I had to see this movie.

So after immediately adding Rome to my bucket list of places that I want to run, I looked up the 2008 award-winning original documentary Spirit of the Marathon and found it on HULU and Netflix. Saturday evening you could've found mr. C and I cheering for the runners of the 2005 Chicago Marathon as they trained and competed. This movie is about more than running marathons. It's about passion, motivation, inspiration, and celebration. It's a must see for all runners and anyone who loves a runner.

Tonight I will be watching the much anticipated sequel and cheering on a new set of runners as they embark on their journey to the finish line of the Rome Marathon. To find a select theater near you, visit the Fathom Events website. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the One Fund Boston to assist the families affected by the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Many thanks to NCM Fathom Events, Competitor Group, AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings Inc., and Regal Entertainment Group for the complimentary tickets to the event.

TrainingTruths: Pack Mentality

Last week I was spoiled and enjoyed several workouts with family, friends, and co-workers. It was fun to mix things up and organize a fun event.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my stepdaughter will be running the BAA 10K with me. I wrote up a training plan for her that she has been great to follow. On Monday we went on a bike ride to keep her company on her training run since it was a rest day for us. She ran 4 miles and made it look so easy! I tried out my new shoes from Under Armour as part of my participation in the What's Beautiful campaign with FitFluential and it's nice that you can slide them right on.

Tuesday - A normal run day 4 miler with mr. C on the same route that we biked on Monday.

In celebration of National Running Day on Wednesday, I convinced my co-workers to wear a running shirt to school, donate old running shoes and go for a group run on the local trail. The group ran anywhere between 3-5 miles depending upon how speedy you were.

Thursday - A 4 miler with my regular running partner miss daisy through the local neighborhood.

The weekend started off nice and rainy thanks to Tropical Storm Andrea, so we delayed our run to Sunday when the best weather would arrive. Mother Nature did not disappoint! It was gorgeous blue skies for the entire 5 miles with mr. C.

I'm still building my mileage back up after my strained ab muscle, but overall it was a good week with some short easy running and lots of yoga for focused stretching.

Do you prefer to workout alone or with buddies?

Fitness Friday: #GoalGetter 2013 May Update

Happy Friday! It is hard to believe that it is already June. I wish I could say that it was summer vacation already too (like my Ohio peeps!), but that will not come until the end of the month (thanks to all those hurricane/snow days).

For now I will happily say goodbye to the month of May, although I did have some seriously fun adventures.

Here's a look back at some memorable moments and my running goals:

I started the month with a crazy, unexpected two day trip to Atlanta courtesy of Mizuno to participate in the Mezamashii Run Project. The project launched this month, but my role in it has yet to be revealed. Stay tuned!

Immediately following my trip to Atlanta, I headed to Cincinnati to get a quick family visit and run the Flying Pig Half Marathon with mr C. I wasn't into running when I lived in Ohio the way I am now, so this was my first time running this race. It was one of the best race weekends I've ever experienced. 

I began working on a sponsored campaign with Under Armour and FitFluential. What's Beautiful is a competition that focuses on inspiring women to set goals and conquer them together. My goal is to work on adding up the miles to reach my running goal for the year. May was not my best month with 56.76 miles, but I'm not giving up on hitting 1000 for the year. 

Another one of my goals for the year is to improve my overall core strength, so I jumped at the chance to try SurfSet at TI Fitness Training in Manchester with New Hampshire Bloggers & Tweeters. This all-in-one workout was the hardest thing I've done in a long time, but so fun I went back for more! This is going to be my summer core workout plan. 

Even though May was filled with amazing running adventures, I'm disappointed that I didn't meet my monthly mileage goal to keep me on track to reach 1000 for the year. What's Beautiful is that I will keep pushing through the obstacles. I will not give up.

How was your May? Any achievements or setbacks?