Beat the Bus!

The run was a lot more of a challenge than I was expecting. The humidity and heat was something this midwestern girl forgot about over the winter. So when I walked off the plane and that 90 degree temperature hit me in the face, I knew I was in trouble.

I maintained a healthy diet the day before the race, making sure to hydrate and eat lightly. I personally don't "carbo load" prior to races. I'm not running marathons, so it's really not necessary. I stuck to my fruits, veggies, and chicken. I also stayed away from the alcohol. Which proved to be a good decision come race day, given all the people who were dropping on the course due to the dehydration.

The morning of the race started off great. I had gotten a complete nights sleep in paradise and I was only feeling slightly nervous. I had everything laying out, including my shoes, running shorts, shirt, etc. Everything I needed to run this race. I was so ready!

We called a taxi to take us the start of the bridge, since our condo was 7 miles away from the start line. My friend Chad was already there and waiting on me, so I was feeling a little anxious. As the fiancee and I are getting out of the cab, he says, "don't forget your bib". And that is when everything stopped. I HAD FORGOTTEN MY RACE BIB IN THE CONDO!!! The race was going to start in 20 minutes, the security was intense, they didn't let anyone without a bib even look at the start line. Of course, the anxiety I was feeling from pre race jitters caught up to me and then the melt down began. And since it seemed like the problem solving thing to do, I just cried....

Kit says, "can you please take us back to the condo, she doesn't have her race number and she can't run without it". To which point the cab driver says, "are you serious?!". Kit points to me and says, "does this look like the face of someone who is kidding?". 

The cab driver busts a U turn, and drives 70 mph back to the condo. Kit grabs the bib and jumps into the cab, which had started driving away before the door was even closed. I arrived at the start line with 2 minutes to spare. 

The gun goes off and the race begins. I set a pretty even pace, but with the humidity and the sun beating directly on me, mile 2 started to catch up to me. This is a lag that I don't start feeling until mile 4 or 5. Then I hit the hill....

It's as terrible as it looks, and for the first time, I walked during a race. So yes, I walked up that hill, but I made up time on the way down, don't worry. I'm not a complete newb! At mile 3, that's when the migraine started. The heat was beating me and I just wanted to stop. But right after mile 3, they set up ice cold sponge stations. Say WHAT?!
That is correct, ice water soaked sponges!
I put that thing on top of my head and soaked the top of my head. It was great! Probably the best thing I have ever done...at least in my mind at the time, it seemed that way.

That sponge helped me keep going, literally. Not long after, I noticed that there was a finish line in the distance. I couldn't have been more excited and decided that I was going to finish strong, so I kicked. Got to the finish line, only to realize that I had only made it to mile 5! It was just a water misting system that they placed on the course to cool down the runners. Made by a fire man's ladder that had a sign that said, "keep truckin" and not "FINISH". I didn't find the humor in the word play and to say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was so emotional about it, I wanted to break down, I just wanted to stop. But that is what makes a runner different from other people, a runner just keeps going.

The last 2 miles were the hardest and I'm sure a lot of it was due to the heat, since I managed to run a 6 mile in 60 minutes in 50 degree weather the week before. I crossed over the finish line at 1:17:36. I couldn't have asked for anything better. They had several buses at the finish line to pick up anyone who didn't make it in the qualifying time, and I'm proud to say, I beat the bus.
And I have a medal to prove it.

All in all, even with the strained hamstring, the heat rash, and the emotional roller coaster, it was an amazing race and I was so happy to finish. What an experience!

Now, to add 3 more miles before November's Perfect 10 Mile Race. And only 4 more miles to that half marathon goal. Look out!

Happy running!
Susan

Finish Line

It's getting to be about that time. I am going to be running the farthest distance I have ran to date. On Saturday, I will be running a 7 mile race across the 7 mile bridge in Key West. 7 miles never seems very long until you look at it from this point of view.

Then you start to think, "what am I thinking?"

I started having issues with my hamstring about a month ago, making me miss runs and making me think the race might not be a possibility. I ran 6 miles last Saturday morning and felt like I could've really pushed myself for that last mile. And I'm sure that's what will happen, as I get through that 6 mile mark, I'm going to really be struggling and have to pull deep from inside to finish. But isn't that the point of it all?
Push yourself to do things you wouldn't normally do? Get better, faster, & stronger?

Maybe that's just me. Pushing myself all the time.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be on the track team with my friends. But my asthma and heart condition kept me from it. Like most things, I outgrew the physical issues I was having and they became something that I could manage while being physically active. Now at 31 years old, I find myself trying to live that dream of running track, just like I wanted to in high school. Maybe that's why, during most years, I will run up to 10+ races. Seems a bit extreme, but to me, it's just my adult track meet. Surrounded by my peers and competitors, who may be stepping on that course for the same reason I am.

I may not be the first person to step over the finish line on Saturday, but I know I'm going to finish. And let's be real, because of that runner high, I'm going to feel like this...

Who cares if I actually look like this....

Happy running!
~Susan

Warm ups are important!

The hammy is still being a bit of a nuisance, but luckily, it seems like it's just a strain. Took the week off from lifting & exercising. Something I haven't done in several months. So even though it's killing me to not be hitting the gym, I know that my body was giving me a warning that I may have been doing too much.
After talking to a dear friend, with a knowledge of physical therapy, it made sense to share the things that I neglected and push for my clients and followers to head my words.

As most know, I'm super busy, so to fit in 2 hour workouts like I was, I started slacking in the warm up department. I even went to the weight room cold. Can you believe that I was pretending like I could get a warm up from walking up the stairs?! So dumb!! So not only did running cause my strained hamstring, but I probably deadlifted when I wasn't quit warm enough. What was I thinking?! I could've hurt myself so much worse, I am very lucky!

So it's back to the grind. Doing a 10 minute warm up before I do any activity, a habit I so easily found myself getting out of.

Here is/was my general warm up routine:
Strength Days
-start with a slow 2 min warm up on the elliptical
-at a slow pace bump up the resistance from 0 to 3 for another 2 minutes
-at a slow bump up the resistance from 3 to 5 for another 2 minutes
-take the resistance down to 0 and bump up the exertion for the next 4 mins
Nothing should hurt or feel too intense when doing this cardio. Good rule of thumb, if you have started sweating, you are warm.

Run Days
-run days require a lot more dynamic stretching, which is crucial to warming up before runs

http://www.runnersworld.com/the-starting-line/how-and-why-you-should-warm-up-before-a-run
-This is a great reference and is primarily the moves I do when warming up for my runs.

I can't stress to you how important it is to warm up. Even I have been lazy and skipped it, it was all just, "to bite my nose to spite my face". I'm 3 weeks out from my big race day and I'm injured and resting. Not exactly great timing for something you have spent months training for.

I know I am beating a dead horse, especially to my online clients who I have beat them over the head about warming up. I get it, believe me, I get the pressure of time restraints, but it's something everyone must do. Don't work hard just to lose it all by being lazy. Learn from me....also, do as I say, not as I do? HA!

Happy Friday!
Susan

3/25/15

So every time I start one of these I have to say, "it's been a while and I'm going to keep up with this from now on". As usual, time gets away from me and I can't keep everything clear enough to write about. BUT....since I've been doing a lot of online clients and that part of my schedule is really picking up, I decided that it really is something that people might depend on or get motivation from.

So here goes...my newly updated & more often blog entries:

Clients:
Online clients are taking off and the results are starting to show. There have been a few set backs, as with anything, life gets in the way and you start to forget about the things like nutrition and exercise, but it only takes a little pep talk to get people going again. Teaching people about nutrition has been the most fulfilling part of having clients online, since it's one of the things that tend to get over looked when you are working out in the gym with a trainer one on one. It's just a whole different way to do personal training and I'm really enjoying the the work I put in and the results that people are getting from it.

School:
I'm slowly but surely chugging away on my graduate capstone project. After much procrastination and whining, I have started the writing process. It's hard to imagine that you are going to work on something for a complete year and a half of your life. And it will dictate so much of your graduate school success. Yeah...no pressure.

Training:
As some of my clients and friends know, I have been lifting heavier and really kicking my workouts into gear since September. I was never unsatisfied with my appearance, but I wanted to be stronger and I wanted to build my endurance. Since February, I have lost 14 pounds and 10 inches. I didn't really have a goal weight when I started this but I decided that I'm going to try to lose another 10 pounds (which is still in my healthy weight range) and then try to pack on 5 pounds of muscle. See where that leads me. My upper body is getting more defined and my shoulders are just popping. I hope to continue the process and see where I am a year from now.
I'm still training for races. I decided at the first of the year, that I would train to run a half marathon in 2016. Having said that, it's been hard to find a great balance between heavy lifting and staying slim to maximize my running times. I run 6 miles 2 times a week at this point, with a 7 mile race in 3 weeks. I unfortunately hit a snag this week with a hamstring pull. Working on that, will give updates later but hoping for a speedy recovery.

That's about the cut and dry of it all. I want to start posting a lot more about my own fitness journey to help motivate others and let them know that it's not really easy for me every day and that I work hard for what I've accomplished.

Big move of the week for me? Deadlifts. I'm rocking 70 pound deadlifts, 2 sets of 10. I'm focusing really hard on form as to not train myself into any bad habits before I really move onto lifting heavier.

Jam of the week that got me to push a little harder?
Paul Simon - Call Me Al
-try not to have a good workout when that song is on!

Step Challenge

I usually don't jump on the band wagon of fitness trends, but I started a step challenge for the new year. On January 1st, people from a few different cities and states are going to compete against each other for the most steps in a single month.
After seeing people join the step challenges around me, I couldn't deny that it was motivating people and was causing people to lose weight. I opted the challenge to my clients, then decided I would step it up a bit (no pun intended), and get all the people I knew to join in on the fun. So now there are people from all over communicating to each other about the progress they want to make.

I purchased a pedometer because I don't like the idea of having to wear a bracelet while I type at work and I also don't want to have to keep my phone near me for certain apps. Below is the amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HJ-321-Tri-Axis-Pedometer-Black/dp/B007ZWIJR2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419266279&sr=8-1&keywords=pedometer

For $14 and many customer reviews and consumer reports saying this device was one of the easiest and best, I thought it couldn't hurt. So I'm going to get involved with my clients and see if I can make my step count higher.

I'm pretty excited to see where this takes myself and the other who have joined. The month of January is going to be interesting!!

The holiday updates.....

It's been a while since I have been able to blog. To say I have been busy is an understatement.
Since I will have a few weeks of down time before I start classes again, I'm going to pick right back where I left off. I had several people ask me, why aren't you blogging anymore, and where are the newsletters? But I sadly had to make sacrifices to get as much done as possible & writing and promoting my training business was one of the first and few things to go.
To give you an idea, here is what a typical schedule looked like for me.
5:00AM - rise & shine
5:30AM - 1st and only client of the morning
6:30AM - off to work
7-3:30AM - work, work, work
4-5:30PM - workout (run/strength training)
6-7:30PM - training clients
8-9:00PM - homework, shower, dinner
REPEAT

There were days when clients would cancel and I would just enjoy the down time & I would usually nap, but that was usually few and far between. So when friends got frustrated because I couldn't join them for drinks or dinner and they started "fit shaming" me, maybe now, they feel just a little bad for giving me so much grief.

I just finished my first semester of grad school and it was not easy. Workout full time while going to school is always a challenge, but working full time and training clients part time while going to school is probably the worst. But I prevailed and managed to pass my first semester of grad school with A's.

I have completed three 5K races since my last blog, one of which was an obstacle course run. And I just recently completed a 5 mile race, my furthest distance to date. I'm training over the winter for my first ever 7 mile race in April . Some people ask me where all this running is going to take me. I have already said, I am about 90% sure I am not going to run farther than a half marathon. But I have heard more than one friend say that before and then follow it up by running a marathon, so who knows.

I wish I could say I have some really great and exciting new stuff that has happened since my last blog, but besides putting in the work and helping others do the same, I have not been too exciting. I look forward to starting my blog again!

I'm still taking new clients, so if you are in the Rogers Park area and would like to discuss sessions, please feel free to follow up with me.
www.susanwilsoncpt.com or facebook.com/Susan Wilson CPT

Tech Tuesday

Since childhood obesity seems to be a constant topic, I researched some different "get moving" gear that might make it easier for children to be drawn to activity & came across the Striiv Play. Geared more for children, but can be used by anyone, it's a fancy pedometer that tracks steps, stairs, and calories burned. This device syncs to the iPhone via bluetooth, but it appears that there may not be an android app for the device.

Below is the link to the website:

http://www.striiv.com/striiv-play/

I like the concept because it connects the ever constant child who is on their cell phone, to the world of exercise. There are games and daily challenges & it's relatively inexpensive. Now, it's obvious that you can get a pedometer that is significantly cheaper, but that might not hold the short attention span of a 10 year old. This device isn't exactly geared toward the type of person who takes fitness seriously, but it may help in getting some children active and moving.

Below is an article from PC magazine that reviews the device:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416961,00.asp

I'm not against giving this device a go, but I wouldn't use it to define my fitness routine. Hence some of the hesitation for some people.

Happy Workouts!
Susan