March Focus: Consistency

We are a week into the new month and I must be honest, I am still struggling with motivation and consistency. I am feeling better about some things and slowly working my way back to finding joy and contentment in things that used to make me happy. They’re baby steps, but steps nonetheless and I hope to look back in a few month’s time and see some changes and how far I’ve come in these baby steps.

I’m excited to be running the Trail Trashed 10K with the hubs this Saturday! We haven’t ran a race together since last January, so this will be fun! I’ll be sure to share a race recap next week! I’ve also signed up for a local half marathon in April to help me get my running groove back and prepare for Zion Ragnar in May!

So, to help this process along, I’ve made a list of 4 things to help me stay consistent this month. Check them out and see if they can help you too! We’re in this journey together!

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1. Put all Workouts in my Calendar

   This is nothing new to me. I have been putting my workouts on my calendar for years. I even color code the workouts/runs in red. However, I’ve also been deleting or ignoring them for awhile now. Just always have some excuse, as to why it doesn’t get done. So, this time, I am being really purposeful and mindful of my days and ensuring that I plan my days out accordingly and that I am realistic of what I can do each day.

2. Get dressed to workout first thing in the morning

   This may not seem like a big deal, but it’s been a huge help to me! My mornings are busy with getting the kiddos off to school and cramming in some work in between, so I don’t get to workout or run first thing in the morning. But, if I just get dressed in my workout clothes first thing, then I’m mentally preparing myself to get out there and take that Body Pump Class or to get out there for my run!

3. Meal Plan + Prep

   I’ve been slacking on this one for awhile. I’m usually pretty good at planning dinners, but I’ve gotten lazy with planning and prepping breakfast and lunches. I tell myself I don’t need to do it because I work from home, but I know that when I don’t plan/prep, I’m more likely to graze and snack.

4. Set Small Attainable Monthly Goals

   I don’t want to get overwhelmed with how far I still have to go, so setting smaller goals to work on throughout the month is supper helpful. By focusing on these reachable “mini goals”, I’ll be one step closer to where I want to be and how I want to feel! For this month, these mini goals are to do 30 burpees a day + drink 64 + oz of water daily!

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I’m certain that if I stay consistent and focused this month, I will see results and those results will help me keep going!! I’m sure it will work for you too! Let’s stay focused and consistent together, shall we!

Ramblings about the New Year + Finding Motivation

Well, hello there 2019! I realize it’s been quite a bit of time since my last blog post. Looking back on 2018, it was a year of growth and trying new things.  It started out a bit rocky and then turned into this frenzy of busy that I struggled with. It’s ben full of adjustments and some figuring things out as we went along.  Hence, why I’ve dropped off the face of the blog world!

I look forward to continuing to grow and learn in 2019.  After 15 years as a photographer and business owner, I’ve learned that you never stop learning.  We must constantly evolve and not get stuck on our old ways because when we we don’t move forward.  If you don’t move forward, you will inevitably move backwards.  Sometimes what works one year or during a particular season, won’t work for the next and that’s ok.  You keep trying, you keep moving, and you will make progress.  I feel this is the same in all aspects of my life. There’s this ebb and flow in life that we must constantly reevaluate and keep adjusting.

Lately I’ve been feeling this a lot when it comes to my running and fitness level. I’ve felt tired and downhearted because I’ve let my life get in the way. I stopped following my own advice of making time for myself and I’ve let all kinds of excuses stop me from doing the things I loved. Rather than being consistent in running and working out, I’ve slowed down (literally) and I’ve been too tired or lazy to do much about it. I’ve cried about it, gotten depressed, and then gotten back up for a few days, just do get back down and fall into the same rut. I’m struggling hard with this and it’s kicking my butt!

I want to end this post on a positive note, because that’s what I do. I realize the problem, I address it, and then I make a plan to fix it. But, if I’m being honest with myself, I can’t seem to find an answer to this problem of mine, to this lack of motivation that is keeping me from enjoying the things I used to do. This lack of caring that is keeping me from meal planning and sticking to a healthy diet. So, although I don’t have a solution just yet, I felt it was important to admit this finally here in my little corner of the internet. Just writing down my struggles is helping me not feel so defeated. Maybe this is just part of that ebb and flow, it’s the part that’s not so flowy, I guess. My question is, how do I get it back? How do I get back that motivation I had for so long? I don’t know the answer, but I sure am going to try to figure it out!

2019 is going to be a year of learning and struggling to move forward, but I do plan to move forward. So far, I’ve signed up for a local trail half marathon that I may end up changing to the 10K because my training has been mediocre. I’m also signed up for a trail Ragnar Trail in Zion, UT for this May. I do want to focus on my nutrition more and get back to boot camps and other forms of exercise besides running. I will always consider myself a runner, but I think adding some other activities will help me find the balance I need and the love for working out again.

Do you have any tips on how to stay motivated? I’d love to read them in the comments below! XO

PS. Come back later this week to catch up on what’s been going on these past few months!

Race Recap: Revel Marathon | Big Bear

On October 14th I ran my 2nd marathon. I said I would never run another marathon after the LA Marathon in 2016 because it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. But, I don’t think anyone believed me. So, this summer while training with my son for his first half marathon, Cedar City Half Marathon, I caught the bug to run another marathon. Mostly, because I felt that my time was so slow, I had to beat it. I decided I’d sign up for a fast downhill marathon and I would be almost guaranteed to finish faster than LA! The good news, I did! I beat my time by almost a full hour! The bad news, marathons are still hard.

Big Bear was my first Revel Race Series race and I gotta tell you, they put on a great event! I had volunteered at packet pickup last year for the Mount Charleston race here in Las Vegas and felt they did a great job with the expo here and I think the expo for Big Bear was also excellent. Everything went smoothly, the volunteers were friendly, and I loved their free photo booth and photo ops! When we got to our hotel room, I went through my bag and I was super impressed with the swag. I really liked that they provided a space blanket and even some gloves since the start line was going to be cold! They also had all kinds of other goodies and coupons!

I had listened to Coach Paul’s videos on their facebook page and those videos were awesome. Coach Paul is the online training coach for Revel Races and he gave a lot of really good and useful information about downhill running, what to expect from the course, nutrition, etc. I highly recommend checking out those videos!

On race morning the weather was perfect for running! Cool and overcast most of the way. The course was as expected, thanks again to Coach Paul’s video! At the expo, I grabbed a pace band and was really impressed that it wasn’t a generic bracelet, but rather the pace was calculated by the actual course. So, the sections towards the beginning of the race that were uphill and had rolling hills were accounted for and the downhill parts too. Now, this is the first time I had used one of these bracelets, so I honestly don’t know if that’s the norm or not, but like I said, I was impressed! I can also say that it was really helpful to me! Thanks to the hubs for insisting I check them out!

Most of the course was beautiful and although I was nervous about there being no spectators cheering us on from the sidelines, I don’t think it affected me too much. I had my curated playlist to help me along and the volunteers at the aid stations were all cheerful and friendly, so that helped too! The first 9 miles were pretty hilly (as expected) and not the fast downhill start I was used to from my training. I stuck to my pace band times and was pretty on track until I had to use the lovely port-a-potty so that was 3 minutes I lost. I tried to make them up and by mile 13 I was back on track. This was also when the course started to get “faster” and downhill! I don’t know if I pushed too hard trying to regain those 3 minutes or what but by mile 18, I started to lose my momentum. By mile 22 I was really struggling! I tried to pull it together and find some inner strength but there just wasn’t much there! I was grateful to my playlist for keeping me going, but it didn’t stop the tears from coming! What is it with me and crying during a marathon!?! Tell me I’m not alone! I managed to pull myself together and thanks to a few friendly runners who cheered me on and the spectators once I reached the finish line area, I finished strong. Or as strong as possible and I even managed to not cry again when I got my medal and saw Jason at the finish line! I came close, though!

One thing I didn’t like about the race was that once we got into the town, the drivers were not too careful of us runners! Although we kept to the right of the cones on the street, some cars still drove on the side that was for us and came super close! We mostly ended up running behind each other on the shoulder to not risk getting run over! No pun intended! I know the race directors can’t control the drivers, so I can’t fault the race itself for that. The town was not scenic either and this is is the end of the race so I could have really used some nice distractions, since I was beat!

All in all, I would recommend this race or any of the Revel Races to anyone looking for a downhill marathon or half marathon course. It’s not a huge race event, like the Rock n Roll events, but it’s not a small bare bones event either. Personally, I think it’s just the right size! You get great support on course, have a fun finish line festival area with music, beer, pizza, and donuts, FREE race photos, and even a video slideshow for you to share on social media!! I’m looking forward to adding another Revel Race to my calendar for 2019, but most likely it will be a half marathon :)