Fitness Update | Major Lack Of Motivation

Count down to worlds.....62 days and counting!

Stress and anxiety are really starting to set in as race season is ramping up and World Champions is now only 62 days away. My training this last month has gone down hill FAST. There has been a serious lack of motivation to do anything in our house recently - mainly due to our 11 month old pup, Bear, getting hurt mid May.

Our poor little guy hurt his leg and has been in a lot of pain since then. He's not sleeping through the night, which means my husband & I are also not sleeping through the night. He's needed a lot of help getting around and it's been a real struggle keeping him on "bed rest" for a month. If you want to hear more about our story check back on Wednesday, I'll be post Bear's 11 month update and I'll share what happen. 

I feel that because of my lack of sleep my whole schedule has been thrown off. I'm tiered all day everyday and the last thing I want to do is train. The few days that I did train I felt very sluggish. Running was near impossible. Every time I put my runners on my legs felt like led. May was probably the toughest month of training to get through. 

Luckily our pup is now on the mend which means we are getting back to our normal day to day schedule. Training is finally starting to pick up but I'm feeling a little out of shape since I missed so much training. This past week I've been working on my tempo runs to bring my legs back. I know it seems like something so small but I find when I've taken a big chuck of time off my endure just fades away - speed I never have any trouble with, I guess that's because I have a background as a sprinter, plus speed training is fun. Endurance I find to be a bit boring and difficult to get through the workouts...especially feeling out of shape. To help me get back on track I've been using a MetroTimer, it's annoying but it helps with how many strides you take per minuet. I find if I focus on something other than my endurance run it helps. I try not think about my pace or how much longer is left, or how far have I gone.....I just run and think about my stride, my running form, the strike of my foot on the pavement, ect. It seems to help take my mind off my endurance run. 

Besides running I have also been using my Beachbody programs as cross training. Right now I've been using 21 Day Fix and focusing on leg fix, upper body fix, cardio fix and Pilates fix. In addition to all that I've finally been able to get my bike back onto the road. I honestly think my biking is going better than my running right now - except my bike computer has decided to stop working. For some reason my cadence on my bike computer decided to crap out so I've been just using my Garmin in the meantime while I shop for a replacement. 

All and all things are going well, you are always going to have set backs in your training because LIFE HAPPENS. There are a lot of things that are outside your control and you just have to juggle those with your training schedule. 

Motivation while training will come and go...it's tough to come back from being unmotivated but sometimes you just have to push through it to get to the other side. 

How motivated have you been this past month?

Fitness Update

Happy Fitness Friday!!!

It's my favorite day of the week.

Yesterday I posted a quick entry about where I've been...if you read it you know I've been BUSY with life events. With that being said I've really let my fitness go. It's been the hardest thing to set aside my workout time in order to move, build furniture and settle into our new place. I love to workout, it makes me feel energized, relaxed, and just overall amazing! When I miss my workouts I basically just feel like crap.

This weekend my husband and I are going to be setting up our fitness studio - FINALLY!!! It wont be anything fancy since it will be in an unfinished basement but it will just be a nice and large space to burn some calories! Then I can buckle down and start workout out again.

Check back next week and I will show you our basement transformation.

Living a Fit & Active Lifestyle

Going to the gym. Losing weight. Following an eating plan. Doing an at home workout. Sounds easy right? Well sometimes it can be easier said than done!

ETB Fitness got in contact with me at the end of July asking some great questions which inspired this blog post! They wanted to know what foods you you eat pre workout? How do you switch up certain routines daily/weekly to stay motivated? What do you eat or do after your workout to make sure you got the most out of your workout? Basically what fuels me for an AWESOME workout and  a GREAT day! So here are some tricks, tips and personal advice on how I stay motivated to continue my fit & active lifestyle.

I've always been a fitness enthusiast....ALAWAYS! I guess I can thank my parents for that. When I was in grade 4 I got my first taste of running by joining the cross country team at school, I begged my parents to let me quit piano and start running. Since then I've NEVER stopped.

It's not easy living an active & fit lifestyle, it takes work, it takes dedication and it will also takes sacrifice. Staying motivated to live this sort of lifestyle can be the biggest challenge some people can face. In my opinion "being fit" isn't something that happens overnight, it isn't something you can do for 10 weeks and then go back to your old habits....this is a lifestyle change! This is something that you need to commit to and work towards every day. I know, I know, it can be a struggle and some days are easier than others.


Let's start at the beginning...getting in gear to do a workout! Most of the time YOU are the only one holding yourself back. I know that on those tough days when I don't want to workout it takes some time to talk myself into getting my butt moving. So what motives me to GET MOVING? I think about my past accomplishments and what I hope to achieve in the future.

Let me explain.....I have competed in 67 running events. Don't believe me? I have kept every completion number to prove it, they are all pinned and displayed on my "race wall". I look at those numbers and it fuels me! I think about every race that I've ever competed in and what it took to get there.

Once you're put yourself in the right mind set you're ready to move onto fueling your body. This is SO important, you don't want to be stopping halfway through your workout because you've run out of gas. You have to find something that works for you, you want to eat enough so your energy lasts for the whole workout but don't eat too much to the point where you feel like there's a rock in your stomach. Your best bet is to look at and try some preworkout energy drinks, bars or other supplements. You'll have to try and test what works best for your body.

Also remember to eat afterwards....it's best to eat within 30 min of completing your workout for recovery. If you've traveled to your workout location grab a bar and eat it in the car on the way home. If you've worked out close to home have something ready in the fridge to grab when you're done.

How do you stick with a fitness lifestyle long term? Mix it up! Do something that interests you. For me...I'm a runner. I love running so that's my main fitness goal, however, running is a high impact sport so I'm big on cross training. How do I do that? I use Beachbody works which can be done at home. I switched from the gym to Beachbody in 2011 because I found they gave WAY better results. My training plans for running usually stay pretty consistent...a marathon training program is a marathon training program BUT I can do my marathon training program+Beachbody Insanity or marathon training program+21 Day Fix. I like to keep it interesting and switch up what I'm doing for my cross training.

I truly feel like if you can find an active that you enjoy participating in you will stick with! But also remember to mix it up and always try new things....who knows you might enjoy it.

So how do you get started towards your new active & fit lifestyle, just go for it! Start small, maybe going out every night for a walk, finding a drop in class near your house, or start following an at home workouts. Only you can take that first step towards your new lifestyle. Are you ready? Get set. Go!