Going Strong

My girls love arcade style games...anything where they can win tickets in exchange for random trinkets.  This past Sunday we decided to treat them to a family fun day at Dave and Buster's.  What I love about days like this are how good we all feel at the end of them.  Hubby and I have been killing it on our workouts and eating (not to toot our own horns too much), mini me has stepped up her game (quite literally) by taking her Fitbit she inherited from mom almost as seriously as I do :)  and my big girl started in with strength training for high school soccer last week on top of practicing with her club team 2 nights a week and games.  So we needed and deserved a crazy fun day as a family.  I will admit that the game of air hockey got a bit dicey (mini also seems to have inherited momma's fiercely competitive nature), but in the end we left laughing, smiling, and with arm loads of prizes.

It was a great way to end the weekend and recharge our  batteries.  Have you ever noticed how much better you feel and how much more clearly you think after a day like that?  I came home and packed my gym bag for the next day, got the girls lunch snacks picked out for the week (I try and give them a different kind of fruit each day and mic up there "desserts" as much as I can to keep then from getting bored).  Hubby made an amazing corned beef brisket...just a wonderful and grounding way to prepare for the week ahead.

With Monday came the start of my Get Fit for Life challenge at work.  It seems like it will be a fun way to get people to ramp up their current workouts.  Everyone has different goals to meet based on where you were at the start.  Here is the premise, if you currently workout less than 1 time a week, you are challenged to get in 90 minutes/week for 4 weeks (based on 30 minute workouts).  If you currently workout 1-2 times per week, you are challenged to get in 120 minutes/week for 4 weeks.  And if you currently workout 3 or more times per week, you are challenged to complete 150 minutes/week for 4 weeks.  I am in the last group, which I feel good about right out of the gate.  I can't tell you how many years I have spent making resolutions to be better about working out and eating, and here we are half way through April...and my whole family is still going strong!

Six months ago this challenge would of had me worried...how will I fit it all in, we have so much going on already, blah blah blah.   Not today.  We have all reached a point where we realize, accept and encourage each other to make sure we get our workouts in.  The kids are easier, with soccer and dance and gym class and training...but they have been SO awesome about keeping mom and dad on track too.  We even have flip flopped who was taking which kid where to make sure the other could workout.  Like on Monday, I got a nice run in at the gym, and was hoping to do another workout at home...but hubby had to work late and couldn't get to the gym.  So, whereas he usually take our big girl to soccer practice on  Monday nights so mini and I can hang out, I took the big girl so he could get in his MMX workout.  It's great, and I can see the difference in our mentality (and bodies).  We were reaching a point where we were grumpy all the time and tired, so tired...now we have all this energy and we are smiling more and doing more.  It's AWESOME!  I am on track still with my training for a 10K, and have gotten to a point where my runs don't feel like a workout necessarily...I mean, they are for sure, but I still want to do more afterwards.

One of the best things we have done is sign up fr Beachbody on Demand.  It gives us access to SOOOOOOO many amazing workouts, and price wise it's no more than what our 2 gym memberships are combined for the YEAR!!!  It has given us the opportunity to try out SO many different things and find what works best for us.  It has also given me a lot to think about.  I have really taken to these programs and am seeing the proof in the pudding.  My dear friend Kate from The Well Balanced Family is a Beach body coach and has been for a while.  She had talked to me about how she really was only doing it for the discount and she has helped guide me through purchasing some of the workouts.  She even has me in an ongoing challenge group which has been amazing for accountability and support, and she recently decided she wants to take her business to the next level.  So after some thought and consideration I have decided to retire my Thirty-One hat and jump on the Team Beachbody business train!  I mean, I love Thirty-One and it has been very good to me, but you can only have so many purses and bags....you can NEVER have enough good health! 

Now, I do want to be upfront that I am sure I will talk business on this page every once and a while, its inevitable...I mean, I am DOING the beach body workouts...but I will also be staying true to the original idea I had for this page which was personal accountability.  When I was presented with this opportunity though I knew I could not WAIT, and that the results I have seen already from the workouts are in and of themselves a great form of MEASUREMENT(S), and hopefully I can inspire and help more people along the way.

I am a runner

I am a runner.  It has taken a long time for me to feel confident in saying that.  Despite years of track and soccer, despite running on and off over the years, despite completing (finally) my first 5K...it's just been in the last few months that I feel like I have REALLY become a runner.  I make time each week to run, whether it's outside in the cold or sun...or inside on the treadmill...I do it.  It's my time for me.  When I workout at home, I get a cheering section and sometimes even company...and I LOVE that, but sometimes I need to just be on my own.

For me, running has always had a relaxing effect.  I still fall into the same breathing patterns I learned when I first made the track team in 7th grade.  An easy in through the nose out through the mouth rhythm that times out with my footfalls.  I pop in my earbuds, turn on  my audio book and just go.  It's my way of getting back on track mentally.

What I have found since completing my first 5K last year, is that the high that comes from crossing that finish line is addicting.  It keeps poking it's head up and saying "don't you think it's time to do it again?!?!"  And I do.  I really do.  And even though I make sure I make time to run every week...making time for races is a whole different thing.  Our weekends are packed generally with the girls activities and family fun and I wouldn't have it any other way...but still that pull for a medal hanging proudly on my wall is there.

I started to look into virtual races, ones where you can sign up and do your run and they mail you your medal.  I know this lacks the camaraderie of an actual race, but for me...that part isn't as important since running is a solitary thing for me.  As this idea started to take root...fate intervened.

Do you remember how when I kept hinting about a running belt for Christmas and didn't get it how I bought one, and then literally right after was approached about reviewing one?  Well maybe I need to hone this skill more on lottery numbers, but as I started looking into various runs online, I was connected with Brad at Level Up Runs.

Level Up Runs is a company "run" by runners.  They set up various virtual races so that all runners can have that medal earning opportunity.  They know how hard it is to get those races on the calendars sometimes, so they allow for you to do it on your own time!

As a lover of all things Disey, and feeling pretty Bada$$ when I complete a run, I am VERY excited about their upcoming virtual race, The Incredible Virtual Run, I mean check out this awesome medal!

The Incredible Virtual Run is open from April 15-30 for completion, all ages and levels welcome.  You can even chose your race 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon.  You can register online here.  The cost is only $25, and for you, my fine readers, they are offering a 10% off coupon code SAVE10.

I am hoping that since the hubs has started running again that he may even join me on this virtual adventure!  Have you ever done a virtual run?  What do you think of the idea?