Ashley D /

Last Resort Workout

On Friday, when I asked for guest posts, I was lucky enough to have some followers send posts over within minutes! The last thing someone wants to think about after a death is what to blog about. Therefore, over the next four days, you’ll see a mixture of posts such as the ones I wrote yesterday and Saturday, along with guest posts.

Today’s guest post comes from Katie, the creator and blogger of MomsLittleRunningBuddy.com, fitness junkie, former fitness competitor, runner, triathlete and working mom in the healthcare industry.  She’s been blogging since 2009 and has a passion for sharing her experiences and tips for staying fit and healthy while trying to maintain a balance. 

She carries that love of fitness into her extracurricular activities, which include sitting on the planning committee for Celebrate Fitness in St. Louis and motivating anyone who needs it. 

Her motto is “Make it Worth it” and wants everyone to know that it is possible to make time for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Even if its 10 minutes to cook, make sure that 10 minutes is focused and purposeful.

I’m pretty sure I have some attention issues. There are days where I feel like that little kid in the outfield of a little league game who cannot pay attention to anything. It is on those days that I find it hard to have a consistent workout. Running for an hour seems insane and focusing long and hard enough to do a good weight workout is out of the question. So what do I do? I turn my gym into a big obstacle course of sorts.

This workout can take as long or as little time as you want but the goal is to burn calories. Remember, this workout is best used when you didn’t really even want to workout to begin with. Ready?! Let’s go:

Let’s start with a small cardio circuit:

1. Walk for 5 min

2. Jog/Run for 5 min (for me this is about a 6.2 or so)

3. SWITCH…Elliptical for 10 min (every minute increase your resistance)

4. SWITCH…Stair Machine (Every 2 minutes increase your speed)

Wow, that was a quick 30 min huh?! Now we should do some resistance training. Compound movements are the name of the game here. I will not lie; these are a combo of some of my own and favorites from the Nike Training Club App. Repeat these three moves three times resting only for a few seconds between.

1. Pushup/Chaturanga – Starting on the ground in the push up position, push up, then move arms so that your upper arm is sitting right by your rib cage, lower down to just above the floor and hold it for 2 or 3 seconds. Then raise back up, replace your arms in pushup position, execute a pushup and repeat. (I can do about 10 of these and then I’m shaking).

2. Alternating Forward Lunge with Arm Curl – You’ll need some weights for this. I use 10 lb dumbbells. Step one foot out, and drive down through your front heel, bring leg back in and curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders. (15/20 each side)

3. Sumo Squat with Lateral Raises – You’ll need some weights for this. With feet wide and toes out, squat and bring the dumbbells down towards the floor in front of you. Come up and lift your arms out to the side parallel to the ground. (15)

Then it is back to the cardio circuit for a final 20 minutes:

1. Run for 10 minutes. I like to try to be my best 1 mile time here and then some, so in other words…RUN FAST!

2. SWITCH…Elliptical. Cool down by doing a nice easy 10 minutes at your own pace.

Ok, that’s it. Pretty crazy huh? I usually leave the gym on nights where I do this working feeling like I really accomplished something. I have burned some calories and probably got a little extra energy back after a VERY long day. I hope that you will feel the same. Go ahead; try it. Let me know what you think.

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Ashley D /

Getting Through Your First Marathon

Today’s Marathons+Moderation guest post comes from Abby, an inspirational runner and doctoral student. Abby loves sharing her fitness journey with others through personal training, run coaching, and her blog. She shares her workouts with readers while also inspiring even the busiest person, whether they live in Iowa or New York City, to just get out and move! If you’re a local New Yorker, you can find her at the Lululemon East 66th store inspiring others or tagging along with the run club in her spare time. I hope you enjoy this week’s installment as much as I do!

Hi there! I’m Abby from Run Stronger Every Day. I’m a personal trainer, run coach, lululemon Ambassador, 20+ year running veteran, and a doctoral student at NYU’s Steinhardt School for Physical Therapy. Ten years ago, I ran my first marathon in New York City with 30,000 of my closest friends and P. Diddy. Since then, I’ve run eight more in four difference cities and served as a guide for a blind marathon runner. I’m looking forward to hopefully running my best marathon this fall at the Marine Corps Marathon and love the challenge that every training season brings, but I’ve never forgot my first.

Without a doubt, I am always a little nervous (ok, more than a little) at every start line. Along the way, I have learned tricks and tools to get me through the hard miles and to the finish line.

#1. Know why you’re running. For yourself, for a charity, for a family member. Whatever the reason, it had better be a good one that will motivate you when you want to give up. I run for Team Fisher House because my husband was a Marine for ten years and it makes me feel like I’m helping in some small way. I remind myself who I am running for when the miles get hard and it never fails to get me through.

 

 #2. Train smart. Too much and you’ll risk injury. Too little and you may not make it through the big one. Get a coach or a trusted friend who knows their stuff to mentor you and follow your plan.

 #3. Test drive every aspect of your marathon: food, drink, clothes, gear, music, bathroom breaks, everything. Once you figure out what works, stick with it for race day. Practicing takes the guess work out of what to do on race day when you’re too nervous to think straight.

 #4. Tell everyone what you’re doing. You’d be surprised how motivating it is to have people as how training is going. Even better, they’ll be the ones cheering the loudest for you as you take to the road on marathon morning. And everyone needs cheerleaders!

#5. Have a post-marathon plan. A lot of runners experience depression after the marathon. You can avoid this by having something else to look forward to in the weeks and months after the race. A trip, a shorter race, a new goal to conquer, anything to keep you going after the big day.

If you are thinking about running your first marathon, do it now! There’s nothing like crossing the finish line at your first marathon; you will remember that feeling forever. Be smart, train hard, and have fun. Now go out and run!

What are your tips for getting through your first marathon?

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Marathons+Moderation Guest Post #27

Hello Healthy, Happier Bear Readers! When Ashley asked me to be a guest blogger on her awesome blog, I was ecstatic! I am a newbie blogger (just over 3 months) and really love “meeting” other runners through the virtual world.

My name is Michele and I blog at nycrunningmama. I am the mother of a happy 1-year old boy and wife to my best friend. I have been running for most of my life (in order to stay in shape for the sports I was involved in) but didn’t really fall in love with running until I was deployed to Iraq. Running became my “me” time during each of my deployments – although I was pushing my body, I was resting my mind, so I happily looked forward to my daily runs. You can find out more about me and read my bio on my blog!

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If you would have asked me three years ago about Marathon + Moderation, I would have probably told you that those two words do not go together. I was single, living in an apartment two blocks from Central Park and had no real obligations other than a very flexible job. I was able to run whenever I wanted and for however long I wanted. I was comfortable and happy to log upwards of 60-70 miles/week. Life was good. Most days, I would run however long my body felt like running – 8, 10, 12 miles. I very rarely had anything that required me to cut my run short – so if I chose to extend my run to two hours, I could.

Fast forward to today.

I find myself trying to juggle logging the necessary miles with being a stay-at-home mom, blogging, working on my pre/post-natal exercise specialist certification, cleaning, cooking, and other chores around/for the home. My “free” time is limited. I no longer have the luxury of running whenever and however far I feel like.

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What does this mean?

I am no longer able to waste my time running “empty” miles. Nowadays, each mile has to matter and every run has to have a purpose. Every. Single. One.

I’ve been forced to get smarter with my training. It was a necessity – after my son was born, I realized I was lucky to squeeze in a 30-45 min run a few days a week. Whether it was due to my decision to be an on-demand nursing mother or simply because I couldn’t bear to be away from my son for very long, I no longer had the freedom to just run.

In an ideal world, I would be a sponsored elite runner with no obligations preventing me from running twice a day and logging as many miles as my body permits. But, I have no hopes of running even remotely close to a sub-2:30 anytime soon. So, being smart with my *moderated* miles is key for me.

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These days I hope to run 6x days/week. I have three quality runs that are the essential workouts to my training – speed, tempo, and long runs. The other three runs are recovery/easy days to get more miles in while giving my legs and body a rest. Although it’s a training plan, it’s a flexible one that allows me to easily skip a day and rearrange as necessary. But, at a minimum, I make sure that I complete my three quality runs – they will be the runs that affect my pace during the marathon.

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I am currently logging considerably less miles (about 20-30% less) than I was a few years ago. And despite that, I am actually faster than I was. My goal time for my spring marathon (NJ Marathon) is sub-3:10, almost 12 minutes faster than my previous PR. I’ve dropped close to 20 seconds off my mile PR. And I completed my first ultra in November (Knickerbocker 60k). I am proof that you can lower your mileage and improve your times at the same time.

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Regardless of what constraints you have in your life – child/children, work, time – you CAN train for a marathon without logging an obscene number of miles. The secret is ensuring that every mile (and minute) you run is important – don’t waste them!

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