Weekly Goal Plans - Starting March Right :)

 So sadly, the last half of February got away from me.

I personally fell into this place of ...well, lack of motivation. I was sidelined with another sickness as well as injured for a week.

Some job aspects fell apart (again) yet, strangely opened the door for something that I should have been pursuing all along.

Even though it's not the first of March, quite yet, I've decided I'm going to end February on a positive note, looking forward to the things I want to accomplish for next month. :)



Health

1. Continue " adapted Whole 30" plan by focusing on eliminating as much "added in sugar" in my meals
2. Continue " adapted whole 30 plan" by creating meals from scratch and at least processed as possible
3. Continue " adapted whole 30 plan" by making conscious choices for cravings AKA, only eating half the suggested serving sizes on "non kosher" items
4. Continue " adapted whole 30 plan " by always having bananas, Larabars, or an apple available in my bag while out of the house
5. Continue "adapted whole 30 plan" by substituting carb loaded sides for vegetables and or healthier options.
6. Carry hydroflask with me, drinking 2 containers  worth of water a day.

Love

1. Be more purposeful about making larger dinners for leftovers for husbands lunch
2. Evening walks on day's off

Fitness

1. Finish YBB Choreography
2. Rent Studio for YBB Class
3. Teach at least one YBB Class in March
4. Attend at least 5 yoga classes
5. Complete half marathon and be thankful for my time and ability 
6. Work on a Handstand once a week
7. Attend a HUT workout once a week (no matter how much I don't want to go).

Growth

1, Finish books (including "It Starts With food") By the end of March.

2.  Talk less, listen more

3. Be thankful before I start to complain 

4. Take facebook app off of homescreen

Home

1. Sell at least one item, from sell pile, once a week online
2. Organize one room, a week
3. Take two donation trips to Salvation Army
4. Continue couponing

Finances

1. Continue grocery /money envelope program 
2. Pay off Macy's Card  YAY!!!!
3. Continue $50-$100 a week savings
4. Pay $100-$200 in debt towards both accounts
5. Save at least $100 for Boston Trip
6. Swagbuck/Shopkick more to earn free groceries again

Well, there you have it. It's a long list but I plan on breaking these down into more detailed goals week by week once March actually arrives. 

February was a good month . We really have been focused on living under our means , trying to get some financial burdens off our backs. There have been a few "stressful" moments but it's nice to finally see some headway being made and our sacrifices have been worth it.  

What are some goals you plan on making/achieving in the coming months?

Weekly Round Up- Training, Sprint Triathlon, and Funk

Weekly Roundup

Half Marathon Training, a Triathlon, and Some more FUNK

     I had a really awesome training week as we are 5 weeks (4 full training weeks) out from the Hilo Half Marathon. 

  I made some advances in the employment situation but now I'm playing the waiting game to see what step must be taken next. While waiting, I focused my time on running and staying in shape for (Hopefully) my best Half Marathon yet.

I originally set my sites on the full, but just really wasn't motivated to do 16-18 mile runs. So I took a step back and realized what would be best for me, Hilo Half now, Kona full in June. :) 

Monday- Day off from running. Chalene extreme weight video. I also walked 2 miles with my doggy that I exercise 2-3 times a week. It's a hilly route so, it's a good workout for the legs.

Tuesday- Track workout. I originally went it with the idea of doing 6 400's and 800 repeats but I did 1 400 and I was like oh gosh, there is no way my body can handle that. SO, I took it down a notch. 

I did 1 lap around the track (400)...walked for 200, jogged for 200,

sprint for 200, walked for  100, Jog for 100, 

Repeat 6 times

It was kind of humorous. My phone was dying, my arm band didn't want to stay on , and my headphones were going in and out. I was like "are you kidding me?" but, I got my 6 in , I could hardly breath at the end of each lap, and I stunk pretty bad. All and all I chalk it up to a good workout lol

My view of beautiful Hilo Bayfront before my run 

Wednesday - I ran 3 miles with a friend and then joined the Hilo Running Club group to run that evening for almost 4 miles. I've declared Wed as more of a fun run day. Beforehand, this was a Tempo day (trying to run race pace ). But with track day the day before, my legs were just exhausted. So, I pick a friend to run with and just talk story. I still get my miles and exercise without killing my legs.

Beautiful view of  Honoli'i surf park during our run

Thursday- I have my running client whom is also training for the Hilo Half. We've decided each week we meet, we are adding a mile up the Hamakua coast, aka the race course. It was extremely hot that morning (8:30 start). We did 8 miles with some nasty hills included. It made me realize I need to def add more hills into my workouts. I also walked 2 miles with the puppy again .

Friday - My day off from running to gear up for the weekend. I did a weight training video but only did the upper body portion and only 1 set of squats. No sense in trashing my legs the day before my long run.  Doggy walk 1.5 miles

Saturday- 9 mile run on part of the Hilo Half Marathon course. To be honest I was slightly dreading this run. Rolling out of bed at 5:30 am, knowing I had a hard run in front me , gave me more than enough excuse to just roll over or just sit at home and drink coffee. BUT my 2 lovely running partners would be there waiting. Accountability is amazing , but such a pain sometimes LOL

We started out from the store on Hilo's bayfront and ran left up the Hamakua coast. . My friends I ran with set a tough pace, especially with the hills. By the 4.5 mile turn around I was happy for the 2-3 minute breather. The pace going back picked up considering there were less inclines and more declines. Once again I fell back on the inclines but tried to catch up on the declines. 

It was a great run and went by pretty quickly but not painless. By mile 6.5 I had to start my "keep running, keep running" mantra on one slow incline. My brain told me to walk but I told my legs to keep a movin. 

It wasn't a pretty run but it was one of the quickest long runs I have done in probably a year. I've come a long way in my running and I always tell myself anything under a 10 minute pace is something worth celebrating in my book. 

We celebrated by visiting the adjacent farmers market and getting a coconut from a vendor. They cut it open for you and the water is AMAZING. 

lol Not spoiled at all :) I mean where else can you buy a fresh coconut after a run? 

I also did a quick mile around the garden area later that afternoon to even out the 9 to 10 . It was more of a recovery run, but it was too beautiful outside not to. 

 Sunday - Was somewhat of an impromptu sprint triathlon. It was free and so I decided to try it out . ( Haha get it? TRI it out?...oh brother)... ANYWAY...

 I was nervous about the swim and the bike, considering I've been mainly focusing on running lately. A friend of mine was doing it as well so I decided, what the heck, why not. From our bike set up area we could see the huge swells from the beach. I was a bit apprehensive but once the horn went off I jumped in. The swim felt like it was a washing machine and I just could not go anywhere. The swim back was the hardest. The problem with swimming in the ocean , you can see the coral and realize I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE! lol The race coordinator noticed a lot of us were worried about the waves and gave us the option of only doing one lap. So, taking his suggestion, I did LOL. I got out with my friend and jumped on the bike. I haven't biked in a while and forgot how much I loved it. My bike isn't super fancy but she's cute and mine. I love going fast and felt really strong . I pulled into the transition and put my running shoes on. I pushed it a little too hard on the bike and spent the first mile just trying to get my breathing control, legs were fine, stupid small lungs. 

When I finished I caught my breath and turned around to run my friend in. I was so happy to be racing somewhere where I knew someone. All to often the only person I know in races is Josh. :)

It was a fun race and good way to start off Sunday morning.

 I've also been continuing my Uptown Funk Challenge. I haven't done it today yet (letting my second cup of coffee settle) but I will do it. It's part of my routine and I'm def noticing  some new core muscle. The soreness is gone but parts of the video are still difficult. 

So, there is my week. I'm hoping I can continue this momentum and just keep adding on everything to get me in the strongest form for the half marathon.

Thanks for reading

Stay posted

Stay Healthy :)

Uptown Funk Core Challenge-Day 4

Today is day 4 of my Uptown Funk Core Challenge.

So far I haven't really heard from anyone that wanted to jump on with me on this challenge, but that's fine :)

It's been a good challenge for myself so far.

I've been doing this video for 4 days now (on top of my running regiment) and I've ACTUALLY noticed a difference in my stomach. I'm seeing some new definition I've never seen before.

Day 1 was difficult because in order to get the video recording right, I ended up having to do the video 3 times.

Day 2 was probably the hardest because I was SUPER sore. Even laughing hard was rough

Day 3 was easier than 2. I still couldn't sit up right on my towel at the beach (sad day I know). I had to do the whole, roll over on the right side and push up with my arms

Day 4 I'm not near as sore today as I had been. I was able to do more of the pushup section on my toes and I've been really concentrating on getting my legs straight on the V-up section.

It's still not too late to join in, you could start today and make it a 3 day challenge!!!

Can you do an ab workout 3 days in a row?, I think you can :)

Here is the link to the actual video
Uptown Funk Ab workout

And the link to the original challenge :)

Uptown Funk Ab challenge

Uptown Funk-Core Challenge- Are YOU up for it?

Are you up for the Challenge?

   Lately there have been a few video's circulating Facebook and Youtube of these gymnast doing core workouts to pop songs. Now this isn't anything extremely new. Back in the early 2000's (when I was in winterguard/band) we had 8 minutes abs, dance, and numerous strength routines to different songs. The song would come on and instantly we would moan knowing what we were about to do. 

   I've seen one to a Beyonce's song Run the World and now Uptown Funk. Being that corework is my favorite, I wanted to see if I could do this. I realized that this is only a 4-5 minute video. It's not horribly challenging but, I worked up a sweat after trying to follow along during my first attempt. I decided I wanted to do this ( and challenge others as well) to do this video every day for a week. We all have 5 minutes to spare, and most either have a phone or a laptop to play the video on.

So, here is my challenge to you. Can you do this video, 7 days in a row. Here are the rules:

1. You don't have to do the entire video, only do as much as you can
2. You don't have to do everything EXACTLY how they do it. I myself have to modify some things
3. Attempt this video every day for 7 days
4. Comment/respond that you did the video on either my FB or Blog
5. You don't have to record yourself
6. If you chose to record yourself, once you reach Day 7, look back at Day 1 and tell me if there were any improvements.
7. Have FUN with it knowing you're improving your health and having fun

So.. here goes day 1!

Here is the link to the actual video
Uptown Gymnastics Video

Weekly Goals- February 2nd-8th

It's that time of the week again, Monday, Fun day :)

I brewed some coffee this morning and then figured out what I wanted to accomplish this week:

Fitness

- Do 1 speed workout
- Do 2 weight workouts
- Attend 1 yoga class
- Run 8-10 miler

Home

- Deep clean/organize kitchen
- trip to Salvation Army ( every day I've been finding one thing to get rid of and now my pile is pretty big :)

Health
- Drink enough water to fill my Hyrdoflask twice a day

-Utilize my Bodybug calorie band once again when I'm working out


What's one thing you want to accomplish this week?

Flab Attack February

As we say goodbye to January, we may seem a slow down in our resolutions or goals that we set for ourselves 31 days ago...

I feel as if February gets overshadowed. It's the month following the resolution spree, but still not quite spring yet so, no ambush to get "bikini or race ready yet".

This evening wasn't a particularly good one with my fitness evaluation . With some extra padding accumulated over the past month of birthday indulging ( and a few sickness battles) , I stepped on the scale and secretly knew it was going to be bad. Not to my surprise, I was met with a number I had never seen before there. Yes, I know, I know I claim to be one that's not fond of scale numbers (weight doesn't equal strength) . But there have been multiple signs aka clothes fitting tight, poor eating habits (craving things I used to not etc etc) that have presented themselves. Therefore, I have declared this month to be Flab Attack February. My main focus will still be training for this upcoming half marathon I have in March. However, carrying extra weight on a runner's frame is like asking someone to run with a 10lb dumbell for 13.1 miles (who wants to do that? Not me). That all being said , and knowing what works best for my body, I have devised, and soon hope to conqure, a schedule ..

Monday- Weight training/Yoga 
Tuesday- Track workout
Wednesday- Easy group run , 4-5 miles
Thursday- Training run with client (long distance)
Friday- Weight Train/Yoga
Saturday- Group Long run, preparing with race pace
Sunday- Group run (easy long miles)


I have a PR goal for this half marathon and if I want to be in the best shape for it I need to really focus this month to what needs to be done.

The good thing about this schedule is I've already been doing Wed, Sat, and Sunday training, peppering in the track workout as well. I'm ready to prove to myself that I am a faster runner than I was last year .

All this being said, let me emphasize one point. The goal isn't to be skinny, but more so healthy and strong. The strength is coming along. As for the other part, paying attention to proper fueling and food choices are key for the 1st part. Being skinny isn't something, as a runner, I really need, nor want. I want to be strong and able to complete the races I set forth for myself. Skinny is what is pushed on us, as females, for looks. However to be strong and know you can do what you want is more beautiful and powerful than being skinny.