What’s your inner voice telling you?

“We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.” – Earl Nightingale

As a movement professional and coach I allow my clients to turn on their own light bulbs.  I’m there as a guide and a facilitator.  I’ll help them until they can do it themselves, but at Mind Body Balance we encourage our clients to be independent (not dependent on us).  There is a whole world for us to inspire to movement.

There is far greater joy and power to watch someone figure it out for themselves; and they do, as long as you create that “place” in which it’s possible that you will be there for them on the other side. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes, hope for the best and push through to the other side.

Fear is only as thick as a Kleenex.
The body is fluid and open to change.  The mind is concrete.
Overcome the concrete mind and the body is ready and willing to be freed.

When it comes to movement, we all have an Angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other. I know I’m being cute, but think about it. We have the Angel saying, “Yes.  Yes.  Buy vegetables, attend your Pilates today.  You’ll feel better for doing so.”  Meanwhile the Devil is saying, “Ice cream, French fries, be a couch potato.   Come on, I’ve been doing this “plates” thing for five minutes it isn’t working.  Let’s leave.”
Okay so this isn’t a perfect situation of what’s in our head, but you get the point I’m trying to make. We each have two voices; one that is trying to demolish our goals and self-esteem and one that promotes our goals and self-esteem.  Some of us might have a whole committee to deal with.

I was fortunate to have a mother that said I could do anything, that I am a survivor.  At Mind Body Balance “Can’t” isn’t a word that is said in our studio.  As a matter of fact, it’s grounds for a stern “Kim talking to.”

I will accept phrases like:

• “If not today, tomorrow.”
• “Every time I try I get stronger.”
• “Yes, I can.”
• “I release and let go.”… Etc.

We all have a negative voice in our head.  My negative voice tells me things like, “I’m not good enough, strong enough or worthy enough to get what I want”, etc.  You have these voices too, maybe a mob of voices.  These whispers are always with us, good and bad.

Starting a yoga practice can help quiet these voices and put them into perspective. There is something to be said for being still, quiet, peaceful and content with our body and mind in this fast paced world. Our life paths take us through light and shadows, we constantly are faced with choices between good and evil, truth and lies, kindness and coldness.  These interior voices face off on the battlefield of the mind daily.

Changing our mind’s thoughts to positive (turning down the volume of those negative voices) takes practice.  They can be changed as easily as changing a channel on the television from Jerry Springer to the Discovery channel.  We are what we “turn on” at the moment.  It requires diligent repetition of positive statements, and constant, consistent, constructive application.

Daily practice.  Daily practice.  Daily practice.  Daily practice.  Did I say “Daily practice?”

Over time you will observe your interior voice change.  Along with this, will come a change in your results. Take charge of your inner voice today.  You can tell it what to tell you.  Choose the positive voice.  You are worth it, and more.

Is your inner dialogue overly critical? You deserve to be spoken to in encouraging ways. You have the power to change your critical inner voice to a loving and supportive one.

Post your most reoccurring negative voice here and then tell us how you are going to turn it into a positive. Feel free to help each other turn that negative voice into a positive.  Remember, we are a community at Mind Body Balance.  Inspire others to movement.

The Fear of Change

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” –Charles Darwin

How much do you fear change?  Are you too afraid of failure, or is it change?

Can you follow that fear? What if “x” happens?  Then what? What if a new “what” or “x” happens?  Then what?

Continue following this pattern working through every “what if” scenario you can come up with.

A person must take a risk, or make a mental change, to overcome a fear.

There is an old saying, “The only thing that likes change is a wet baby.”
Do they really though?  How many babies cry about being changed?  Why would they cry about such a thing? They cry about it, I feel, because they have to be still and they have to change their focus from what they were doing to being in the present moment.  I don’t know about you but I find it hard to slow down, to change my focus or to be still with a big emotion.  I’d like to cry about it to anyone who will listen. I have learned through my years though that this isn’t productive.  It would be hard to keep a support system around for long because they’d get sick of it.

I find it interesting that even though we know a change is better for us, will be good for us (we might already be practicing it and feeling and seeing the results) in a heartbeat we will abandon this change and return to old patterns. We long for the new but are terrified of it.

Sometimes it takes a whisper that knocks us to our knees and if we don’t listen it takes away our legs and if we still don’t listen we start to bleed until we are humbled.  Learn from it and change our patterns, weave a new web (a finer web) of life. We think during this “time of humbling” that our life is over, this “tragedy” will do us in, but as time goes by we realize we are better for it.

We should be allowed to make mistakes, big or small.  This is how we learn. Don’t beat yourself up or judge others that make mistakes because they will do better next time. Our victories in survival create in-depth understanding, compassion and empathy toward ourselves and others.

Love, life, health, experience, learning are on the other side of change. The stinking garbage becomes a nutrient base to grow a rose, a caterpillar becomes a butterfly and a seed becomes a flower. What if a caterpillar was afraid to come out of the cocoon?  We wouldn’t have a butterfly.   What if a seed was afraid to flower?  We’d lose so much of our beautiful world. Every experience is valuable.  What doesn’t kill us makes us better than before.

You are endlessly creative.  Health flows naturally from our creative endeavors. Put yourself out there.  Push through the barrier and become your best self today. Remember the hardest thing sometimes is walking through the door and asking for help. After that, you put one foot in front of the other.  Baby steps add up to something full of change, growth, love, health, etc.

So, I ask one more time and I encourage you to post your answer here: How big is the fear, the risk that you are afraid to take? Don’t be afraid to comment because you’ll be giving others inspiration to have courage too.

How Our Well Being Falls and Why We Should Never Give In

Many health concerns can be avoided!

Many Health concerns can be detected!

Many health concerns can be reversed!

Even Fitness Professionals can stumble badly and recover.

I think this is a good question: How would you know if your health is deteriorating?  To disrespect your body’s needs or worse to neglect your body’s requests because you don’t have time, it’s boring; the arrogance of “I don’t have to.” or “Someday.” is the greatest form of disrespect.  Some of us face an impending demise or disease or injury.  It is still no excuse to just let yourself run on “the autopilot of failing health.”

Really?  If you continue on the course you are on RIGHT NOW! where are you going to be in 10 years? Will it become impossible at that point to remain your best self? Have you lost passion for your own self-care?

Do you think that “quality of life” just comes naturally to you, is your right, so you don’t need to put in any effort? Maybe you think that there is a magic pill out there (or one coming soon) that supplies quality of life, or that a doctor should be able to hand you “good health on a platter” because you deserve it. What about working hard, fighting the odds, believe in your success to good health and partnering with your doctor?  Relationships aren’t one sided.  It takes two to Tango and in this formula, it takes you and your personal health care team.

By team, I mean:

 

• Doctor (GP),
• Fitness professional,
• Dentist
• Doctors (Specialists)
• Nutritionist,
• Body work professional, etc.

 

 

Do you think if I keep doing the same thing that I’ve been doing my health will run on autopilot? Think again.  That is actually Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. You started with this program and saw some results in the beginning but unless you keep renewing it with some creative intensity, you are going to plateau and then digress. Don’t get distracted by extraneous threats, adventures and opportunities.

Make sure that, no matter who you are working with, you understand What you are doing and Why!

You might think: “I’m successful because I exercise 5 times per week.” Not necessarily.

You need to have understanding and insight into why that is.
“I’m successful because I understand why I’m doing yoga 3 times a week, pilates two times a week, cardio four times a week and I am using a personalized eating plan.”
Under what conditions could this no longer work for you?

Yes, the person that I see once, who leaves saying they’ve “Got it.” and all they have to do is hold their belly in or eat more vegetables…..really didn’t get it at all.  You have to constantly be learning about your body and your program.  This is what makes you successful:

• Consistency
• Awareness,
• Learning without judgment, expectations or competition.

Do you have a health care team? Is the team filled with the right people to make you successful in improved quality of life; so that you live with zest? What is your back-up plan in the event that you lose a person on your team? Do you have tools in your tool box and have they taught you self-efficacy so that you can sustain and progress your progress?

We all start out young, thinking our health just “is” no matter what choices we make (or don’t make).   This is usually in the teens and 20’s.  We are undisciplined and pursuing “more of everything.” Then we hit our 30’s.  We are in denial and risk of severe health consequences if we don’t start making better choices concerning our quality of life. We hit our 40’s and we become desperate and grasping for salvation.  What happened?  There should be a joy of being around, being alive, striving for the 20’s vigor for life.  We start asking ourselves questions like, “How did I miss the warning signs?” or looking in the mirror saying “How did I end up looking like this?”  The self-care has been nonexistent for years.

We hit our 50’s and we are facing irrelevance, becoming a burden or death.  You need to remember one word: T-I-M-E.

You can’t change your lifestyle, improve your quality of life, take that trip you dreamed of in your golden years or see that grandbaby’s graduation if you run out of time.

We can save trillions of dollars in health care. We can improve millions of people’s lives if…  If what?

…If we never give in.  Never, never, never, no matter what we are faced with in life.  Never give up your self-care, never give into something big, small, major or petty.  Modify only slightly if an obstacle is placed in your path.  We do this already in everyday life.  If you’re walking and you find a large hole or boulder in your path, you either go through, over or around it.  Never give in to outside forces that challenge or an overwhelming obstacle that has been put in your way.  Never Give In!  You will see darkness on your path, you will suffer a staggering defeat; but to give up on your self-care is entirely out of the question.  Failure to improve your health or to take care of yourself is not so much a physical thing as it is a state of mind.  Success is falling down and getting up one more time and continuing with consistency and without an end in sight.

The Truth About What Motivates us—You May Be Surprised?

This blog is inspired by the book Drive written by Daniel H. Pink, I learned of him during The Global Leadership Summit 2010. I found this book very interesting as he talks about autonomy and motivation. I’m still trying to grasp his theories from a business standpoint to motivate employees.  I follow his concept but am having difficulty with application of it. However, as I read through this book I couldn’t help but put the coloration together on how it related to fitness.  I did understand the application and theory for that because I’ve been teaching and practicing this method since 2007. Frankly, it is the secret to our client’s success!

You see, we start our Fitness Coaching/ Personal Training with Thinking Work.  We talk about the fact that they will fall down at some point during their journey and that at times it stinks, it’s boring, etc. and most importantly we meet our clients “where they are,” allowing them to be in control of their journey, working at a pace that suits them.

Let’s face it; exercise can become really routine and boring.  So we talk about the larger purpose of why we make the lifestyle change and we seek what the true internal motivator really is. We offer a rationale of why the exercise is important to them. We acknowledge that exercise is boring. We allow clients to complete the program with ways that interest them in their own timeline.

Now this doesn’t mean that we allow people to sit and watch TV, wishing for the lifestyle change.  What matters most is consistency, not “race to the finish line, crash and burn.”  Is there a point to running the race if you’re going to crash and burn at the finish?  Don’t even get me started on the brow beating that comes along with the “crashing and burning.”  Brow beating might be the most detrimental part.

Most people are floored when I ask them how starting an exercise program could hurt them.  By “hurt,” I mean their budget, schedule, family time… etc.  Lifestyle change impacts every area of your life, good and bad.

I never agree with financial rewards for accomplishing a plan. For example, “company xyz” will pay each member $100 if they lose weight.  Why?  It is never going to be enough money.  After a while, it won’t work.  More money will be expected.  Money is not a motivator.

I love giving people their lives back. I offer them autonomy. We build a program together that allows clients to do what they want, when they want, how they want it and with whom. I’m lucky that they pick me for “the whom” part because I get to be on their journey as a guide, not a dictator.  When they have these four components (what, when, how, with whom) going in harmony, they emerge as their best self.

Fitness coaching is autonomous! All of our services: Yoga, Pilates, Fitness Coaching, Nutrition workshops… allow you to practice, seeking mastery. It is a practice because you keep at it, you enjoy it, and you move for a greater purpose.  You test your limits by not cheating your body.  We connect you to your intrinsic motivator.  You need to pick modes of activities that keep you striving to improve because over time this gives you energy to keep going.

At Mind Body Balance we don’t have a cookie cutter program.  We do have a system, a system that works.  After sitting and talking to you, we customize the system to your individual needs so that you are successful. We tailor our programs to meet you “where you are” (goals and fitness level).  Together we create visions and goals that have meaning to you, not the trainer. We don’t do short-term goals for extrinsic reasons.  Time and again a person reaches the goal, only to come back later just to have gained back the weight, pain, lowered self-esteem… etc.  We care about our clients and don’t promote this behavior.

Our clients pursue intrinsic goals to improve their quality of life. Yes, it is hard when they are off to a slower start than their friend who is shouting out their “rapid pounds and inches of weight loss” they are experiencing. But that person won’t continue these heroic efforts for long and will be heavier than they’ve ever been in just a short time. Our clients maintain their accomplished goal long term and have significantly better results. I guess you can say they get the last laugh!

Stop doing movement that you hate and start doing movement that you enjoy! We let our clients explore different types of movement to find what best meets their goals and interests. Celebrate the little milestones of your victory. After you’ve accomplished that goal it is okay to treat yourself to a spa service of your choice.

The stick that is used to get you into shape with that carrot dangling in front of it is very passé.  It is time to upgrade your expectations.  Give yourself some self-care and the gift of autonomy, mastery, purpose and self-efficacy.

What you should expect:

• Individualized approach to your program
• The program should match your fitness level and grow with you as you become stronger
• Your program should be efficient, safe, effective to your goal
• You should know the guidelines of your program and why you are doing the things you are doing
• You should be required to provide a health history, Par-Q and a doctors note if you are doing cardio
• You should have felt “heard” and your needs should be met in the program designed for you.  This means it should cover a self-awareness/ discovery piece, physical piece, a nutrition piece, strategy piece to overcome obstacles before they happen, it should build self-efficacy not co-dependence etc.
• You should get some feedback.  This should be a two way conversation

Mind Chatter

Beth Shaw, Founder of YogaFit, first introduced me to affirmations or mantras. I’ve been practicing them ever since. They are powerful and always help me overcome limiting beliefs. I’ve never thought about it until right now, but I guess I’ve used affirmations in my life before without giving them a name.  I’ve used them to overcome health obstacles.  I just always referred to them as my gift for positive thinking and my strong spiritual belief that I could make things happen in my life if I put my mind to it.

“We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light” – Earl Nightingale

Let’s face it, we all have this mind chatter.  Some of the time it’s negative and some of the time it’s positive. Some of us have just one voice while some of us have a mob of voices. I can have conversations in my head.  If we aren’t careful we can get trapped there.

Okay, so now you all are thinking I’m loopy but really, tell me you haven’t been grocery shopping… and you know you should be buying vegetables… but instead you buy chocolate cake and ice cream. This is what I mean by the two different types of voices. Oh! Here is another example for you.  How many times have you come up with every excuse known to man as to why you shouldn’t show up for exercise?  Believe me, I’ve heard a lot.  You can be on the treadmill already and still talk yourself into getting off and leaving.  You know you’ll feel better afterwards and it is good for your health and well-being.

These voices can either promote or demolish us, our goals and our self-esteem.  I can learn something the hard way and pick myself up and be more successful the next time around. She doesn’t understand why I do what I do but knows that because I’m doing it I will be successful at it. When your negative voice creeps in, you can always count on your mom to give you a good kick in the pants. What does your negative voice tell you?  “You aren’t good enough.  Why change now you’ll just fail.  You’ll never be beautiful.  You’re not worth the effort.”   Do you have this voice?  Maybe several voices? I meditate and practice yoga.  It helps me quiet the mind chatter and still my mind; even if for just a moment. I practice Pilates because it gives me inner strength and I love my body for it. I practice fitness coaching because it gives me the grace and patience to see that every step (no matter how small and what time I start) is better than giving in to the negativity that surrounds us. Our lives are always swaying between light and darkness; we face good and evil, truths and lies, kindness and bitterness daily. You can’t escape completely but you can control the volume of certain voices.  It requires perseverance, dedication, self-sacrifice, and hard work daily.

I’m writing this while watching the Stanley Cup playoffs.  I’m reminded of some keys to winning.
Avoid Turnovers. Why, when we are on the path to greater health, do we self-sabotage our efforts?  Every time you use the word “Don’t” you set yourself up for failure? “Don’t eat cake.”  What do you do?  You eat two pieces of cake. “Don’t miss an exercise session this week.”  What do you do?  You miss the whole month.  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away from our goal.
Build Momentum.  It takes both physical and emotional training consistently over lifetime.  You want it overnight.  Well, you are just starting out on your journey to a new you, a new lifestyle.  It doesn’t happen overnight, because if it did we would miss out on the character it builds going from point A to point B and you wouldn’t understand how to celebrate once you got there.
Play like a champion. Workouts should be called “Playouts.” It isn’t about being perfect and your clock hasn’t struck zero yet, so start today in taking steps to becoming your best self.  Let me and the staff at Mind Body Balance help you become the champion I know you already are.

Marathon Blog #7

“There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life. There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that mine. O traveler, if you are in search of that don’t look outside, look inside yourself and seek that”-Rumi

Well, we just finished up our Trail Half Marathon and I have to say I had to dig deep. My practice long runs went much better for me than the race day run did. I was having stomach issues and found that my shoes for the rocky portions weren’t supportive enough. I had many mental struggles after the 10 mile marker and lost the personal pace that I had set.  When Danny Dreyer talks about it being a mental race he isn’t joking. We did a hard 13.1 miles and I think this took us to a new physical and mental level and reminded us that we still have work to do.

Our next race is in Northville on June 25^th. It is a timed 10 mile run of a 12 minute pace. So, you guessed it, we will be working on our speed over the next 6-8 weeks. Don’t let this scare you.  It will come, just as the endurance keeps coming. Remember that the strength of your mind is your driving force through your training. Keep your eye on your long-term goal and remember how far you’ve come.  It’s something to celebrate!

Just as in Pilates, when you hit a certain level of performance you really start to focus on flow and rhythm.  In doing this, it doesn’t mean that the quality of movement is lost; it just means you have to find it quicker and stay centered. As we do speed runs this is also true.  You still must focuses on form.  Good form increases your speed.

Here is a checklist to remember when working on speed:

•  start slow and gradually pick up speed,

•  stay focused on your body sensing,

•  relax your lower body,

•  allow the stride to be long out the back

•  allow the core to be strong,

•  focus on your arm movement as it sets your pace,

•  pick up your feet (not your knees)
•  relax the shoulders, hips, pelvis, calves, ankles

•  remember, effort with ease.

We will be dong interval speed drills and ladder speed drills. Interval speed drills means you’ll pick a pace that you can maintain for a long distance, run this for 1 mile and then take it up a notch for the next mile and then back down a notch for the following mile etc. Remember, to increase speed, just increase your lean. For the ladder drill, start out your first mile slow and then each mile after that pick up the pace slightly. Notice that I say “slightly” and “notch” or maybe even “a gear” I do NOT say to sprint 🙂

Remember this month’s goals are to improve form and learn to use our gears more.

Some additional things to strongly consider: fasting/ detox cleanse & new shoes.

I’ve logged over 160 miles on these shoes. I need to get another pair so that I can have them broken in for the event in October. At this pace I’ll need a new pair in October. I do not want to run on an old pair or a new pair. I will also pick up a pair of trail shoes as well.

I have noticed on the long runs that stuff seems to be coming out of my body through my throat and skin so I will be doing a fast in May and then will continue with one daily fast per week. I used to do this on a regular basis and got away from it. I’ve asked Sherri to talk about this in more detail in May’s Balancing Act Marathon Tip. I really encourage you to give this some thought.

It is time to sign up for your June 25^th, July 8^th and October 16^th race (this one is expensive and goes up in price starting Tuesday) so get signed up you don’t want to be like some of our clients that were shut out of our last race.

Here is a race day schedule:

Month	Training for The Half	Training for The Full	Link to Race
June 25th	10k	10 mile	http://www.solsticerun.org/
July 8th	15k	15k	http://www.moonlitformarrow.com/
August
September 10th	5 mile & 10k	Mellow full	http://www.runwoodstock.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
October 16th	Half Marathon	Full Marathon	http://www.freepmarathon.com/

Here is your training schedule for May: (it is now time that I’ll start dividing the long runs out for Half/ Full Marathon)

Week #	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	Active Rest/ Nap	Yoga	Yoga/ Short Run	Short Run	Breathing Class/ Pilates	Pilates	Long Run
2	Active Rest/ Nap	Short Run/ Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Breathing Class/ Pilates	Pilates	Long Run/ Holistic Health Class
3	Active Rest/ Nap	Short Run/ Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Breathing Class/ Pilates	Pilates	Long Run
4	Active Rest / Nap	Short Run/Yoga	Yoga	Short Run/Holistic Health Class	Breathing Class/ Pilates	Pilates	Long Run

Week One: This is an active rest week for those that just came off the half marathon. This means short runs are about 45 minutes and your long run is 6 miles. (Interval Focuses of Form/ Speed)

Week Two: Short runs are now 50/60. Long Run for FM is 9 miles & HM is 6 miles (Ladder Focus of Form/ Speed)

Week Three: Short runs are now 50/60. Long Run for FM is 10 miles & HM is 7 miles (Interval focuses of Form/ Speed)

Week Four: Short runs are now 50/60. Long Run is for FM is 11 miles & HM is 5 miles (Ladder focus of form/ speed)

Budgeting: Fast Food vs. Wellness Services?

“It’s amazing how fast you can go through $7,000 with beer, pizza and The Gap.” –Ben Affleck

People groan at the words budget, exercise, and healthy food. Why? They relate sinking, depressed, deprived feelings to these words. Well, if you have these feelings you aren’t alone. To the vast majority of us, it denotes scarcity, deprivation and limitations; none of which seem pleasurable. Exercising usually means eliminating fun, pain, boredom, sweat, feelings of inadequacy, something we do when we are stressed out. This is not my idea.

My idea is designing a plan to achieve healthy (not magazine) bodies; reaching all those goals you would like to accomplish over time without the heroic effort. Movement should be an enjoyable process not a bitter, restrictive, fearful pill to swallow.

An action plan for fitness and healthy eating doesn’t have to be written in stone, it should be flexible, adjustable and one that reflects your values and your life. All of these decisions and commitments that you make give you the power to change so you don’t feel trapped.  You aren’t stuck.  It wouldn’t make sense to create a plan that made you feel stuck. You can change things if you are willing. 

The power of a plan is that you can decide at the beginning of every week or month how you will spend your calories burned/ your fuel you use, how much, when and how. Then when you add up your cumulative calories burnt for the week or month you see whether or not you want to change your decisions for the following month or design a plan that works for you.  Then, work your plan.

I happily move spending calories I burn in the wisest of ways!

Add up your last four week’s receipts of eating out. I would bet if you commit to eating just a portion of those meals at home, you could afford a Fitness Coach, yoga or Pilates very easily. Notice I didn’t suggest to stop eating out completely; just slow the pace a little bit so you can find some balance between eating and moving.

Marathon Blog #6:

“Some people think that successful people are born that way. A champion Is someone who has fallen off the horse a dozen times and gotten back on the horse a dozen times. Successful people never give up.” – Jean Driscoll (8 time winner of Boston Marathon, Wheel Chair Division)

The goals this month are to build to a continual running time of 20-30 minutes. It’s all in the pace, folks. Time and patience are required to making it to your first marathon or, for that matter, any marathon.  You need to be at the start line healthy and ready to run. Focus on your form, pace and body sensing; not on measuring.  To establish a strong mental attitude regarding your running: keep track of your midweek runs, plan ahead, space your runs evenly throughout the week and have fun. This is a difficult time in your running program. You must remember what your long term goal is and keep in mind how far you have come!

Congratulations for coming this far.  We are about one third of the way through the training program.  It is time for a celebration.  Treat yourself to something that allows you to reinforce your success (i.e., body work (like a massage), yoga class, pilates, a quality vitamin, new running outfit). Just do anything; something that inspires you and makes you feel great, whatever that may be. Think about it.  For the marathoners, you should be able to comfortably and safely walk/ run about 13.1 miles.  Jump into a half marathon to test yourself.  For the half-marathoners, you should be able to comfortably and safely walk/run about 6.5 miles.  Jump into a 10K to test yourself.   Remember, the events/ races are there to test your hard work and to allow some fun, positive energy in your training.

Trail etiquette:                     
Stay on the trail and follow the marked trail
Leave no trace behind you carry out what you carry in
Run in single file in the middle of the trail
Respect closures/avoid trespassing on private land
Do not disturb or harass wildlife,
no ear pods or ipods please, be in the present moment of nature
Give courteous and audible announcements well in advance of your presence and intention of passing “on our left” and show respect when you pass
Yield to all bikers, hikers, horses, etc. Uphill runners yield to downhill runners, Slower runners yield to faster runners, move over but stay on the trail
Be friendly, let other trail go-ers know they have a friend. “Thank you.” “Hello, how are you?” “Beautiful day.”
Run in smaller groups, it is less intimidating to others
Run with a buddy and let someone know your plan
Thank your volunteers
Familiarize yourself with the course map and have one with you
Be patient with the conga line.  Yell out “Trail—to your left or to your right” the slower runner should stop, step aside and make it easier for the faster runner to overtake.

This is not an all-inclusive list by any means but it should get you in the right mindset come race day to use your social intelligence and to help preserve nature.

Field trip on week two. Start and finish at Silver Lake in Pinckney Recreation Area. From I-94, go to US-23 North, (it jogs in Ann Arbor, and actually joins up with M-14 for a while, but stay on US-23 North), exit on North Territorial Rd.(first exit north of M-14). Head west 10 miles to Dexter Town Hall Rd. Turn Right (north), go one mile and the park is on the left.

Our group run will meet at our Start/ head of our Trail Marathon (running on a softer terrain (such as dirt trails) is easier on our joints, but look out for hard-to-see bumps, holes, tree roots, etc. We will plan to run 5 miles in and 5 miles out.  This will give us just enough of a taste to see what we are up against come race day. This allows us to find the location and see how much time we need to allow to get there. This will also allow us to experience a good portion of the trail ahead of time so that we can practice our hill technique as a group and offer support. This isn’t going to be an easy race, but learning something new keeps our mind vibrant. It gives us zest in life. You are going to face challenges on this run.  Think of it as a new adventure that will help you grow. Remember this whole process of training for such an event was to learn about your body and yourself. Learning can be a stretch goal at times and bring up feelings that are uncomfortable; physically, mentally and emotionally. Allow yourself to evolve as a person and don’t self-deprecate. Remember, I asked Sherri to hold classes at Mind Body Balance for our convenience.  Many of the classes have been outlined to follow the items that will come up in our training. She brings us a holistic way to handle these non-physical aspects of our training.

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” –Albert Einstein

Hills?  In SE Michigan? Yes!  This race in May has a few of them and they will bring a challenge to our race. Why did I pick a race with hills?  Because having them included in our training is a great way to build stamina for the Ambassador Bridge and coming out of the Windsor tunnel, etc. There are several techniques that I encourage you to train with in April. If you are doing long runs with me, then you’ll be doing the Munson hill with me too. You can lean into the hill, hinging from the ankle-joint (ankle will stay down) keeping the stomach strong to support the back. Focus your attention only a few feet in front of you. Don’t over-stride up the hill. Pump your arms and walk up the hill. Be patient, take your time get to the top and then you’ll be going down the hill soon  🙂  Let cresting the hill and looking back be satisfying.  Don’t shy away from the hill because (as the ladies that ran with me last Saturday found out) it isn’t as much work as you think it will be; especially if you use my favorite technique of going up laterally. Here is a key element to remember.  Do not overwork your legs.  Your upper body will need to work harder on the uphill and reduce your lower body effort (70/30). Relax, shorten your stride, and shift your speed down. Think of a car shifting to go up a steep hill, Pump your arms forward (start at the hips and bring the hand up as if you were going to throw an uppercut to your chin) and lean into the hill. Memorize this check list to use when faced with a hill: shorten your stride, lean into the hill, swing the arms up to the face, relax your lower half and keep your heels down.

Okay, so I mentioned that I’m a fan of lateral up the hill. Now you can go half-way up the hill one way and then switch to do the other half or if you have a lot hills in your run just do one hill one way and one hill the other so that you are working your body uniformly. Going up a steep hill is difficult.  If you overstretch your Achilles tendons you will tire out your calves quickly and keep you from moving forward with zest. So, turn your hips into the hill and move laterally up it. It is like a cross step up the hill with your heels down so that your Achilles tendons aren’t overstretched and the calves don’t get over worked. The beauty of it is that you are using lateral muscles of the leg, it is like using a fresh set of muscles. This allows our body to work one set of muscles for running and one set for going up the hill conserving our energy. So, turn into that hill and go up it half-way one way and half-way up the other way.  Others might look at you funny, giggle or call you a newbie, but guaranteed they’ll give it a try out on their next run and start laughing at how easy it is.

Downhill running.  Relax (quads and calves) and surrender to the speed. Let the leg and pelvis rotate as need be.  Come into your 100 curl.  This will protect the lower back and sacrum.  Take smaller steps, zigzag down the hill if there is enough room, relax your shoulders away from your ears, let your body-weight ride softly down on your heels using the back of your legs as brakes and stay off your toes, think of dropping your tail bone down to your heels. This is new terrain for us so be present, do our body sensing

Water, carbs, etc….thanks to our ultra-athlete/ MBB member (Mary Kapp) I’ve been trying out some water devices because it has become the time where we need to start bringing our own water and carb/ electrolyte replacements on our long runs and to our events.  You can’t always count on the supplies at an event, that it agrees with our system or that it is timed when you need it).  So far, I like the Amphipod handheld thermal lite 12 oz.  It retails for about $22.  Here is a link to learn more and/or purchase. http://www.amphipod.com/products/hydration/bottles-handhelds/handhelds/handheld-thermal-lite-12oz

I personally have found a great recovery when I fill it with coconut water (Meijer, Health Matters, Trader Joes, Whole Foods all carry this) and 2 oz. of my Body Balance liquid vitamin (purchase this from Sherri Eby). I’ve been testing this vitamin out at Sherri Eby’s request for about 2 months now. I was sold when I started to include an extra dose during my long runs. The recovery is amazing, no soreness at all :), no deep fatigue the next day (just an hour early to bed and a nap on Sunday and I’m like new). I’d been testing out some Gu (carb/ electrolyte gels) and Mary and Tressa have gone shopping for me as well (thank you ladies for spoiling me). Some of the gels didn’t settle well in my stomach and the ingredient label was a bit scary too. So, once again I went to our resident natural-path and asked her to whip something up.  Sure enough, she took that challenge on and accomplished it. The natural “gu” is superb and we are in the process of just finding a better package for it.  But the important stuff to know is that the stuff that goes in it is better than anything on the market 🙂 Five gold stars for Sherri!  Mind Body Balance will be handing out one container of this mix to each of you at the 10K (so make sure we know you are signed up by commenting on this blog, otherwise you will be left out).  If you like it then Sherri will let you know how to order more from her for future events and long runs. My second choice is Honey Stinger Organic Energy Gel.

Upcoming events to sign up for:   http://www.solsticerun.org/  This is the link for our next race after the half-marathon. This event is on Saturday, June 25, 2011 in Northville, Mi. It is a solstice run to benefit cancer. This is a 10 mile run and it does have a requirement of keeping a twelve minute pace or we will be disqualified at the eight mile mark. This will push us to keep up with our training schedule 🙂 If this is too much pressure, or if you are training for the half in October, then sign up for the 10K. This race will fill up quickly and the deadline to register is May 15 for $40.  After this the rate goes up. This one has a really cool shirt.

http://www.moonlitformarrow.com/ this is a link for our following race which is Friday, July 8^, 2011 in Greenville, MI  It’s a little bit of a drive so we should carpool. This is the moonlit miles for marrow run.  It benefits marrow and stem cell programs. This is a 15K (9.3 miles) trail run in the evening.  Again, this will take one of our training sessions off the pavement and onto a softer surface. The cost for this race is $37.90.

If you hear of other runs in our community or runs that you find that look fun. Please post them on our blog in the comment sections so that others can see it and sign up too. Make sure you include a link to the registration site for the race so that we can find it with ease.

Week #1	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run/ 10K Event
2	Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run/ Field Trip Run
3	Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run
4	Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run/ Happy Easter no Group Run
5	Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run and Sherri’s Class on releasing stress and creating beauty	Pilates	Pilates	Rest and eat right our Event is tomorrow

 

Week One: Short run is 40/50 and a long run is our 10K. Remember to do a five minute warm-up and cool down. Congratulations you are a runner. Body sense and watch your heart-rate monitor to determine when and if you need to walk.

Week Two: Short run is 40/50 and a long run is 10 miles. Remember to do a five minute warm-up and cool down. Congratulations you are a runner. Body sense and watch your heart-rate monitor to determine when and if you need to walk.

Week Three: Short run is 40/50 and a long run is 9 miles. Remember to do a five minute warm-up and cool down. Congratulations you are a runner. Body sense and watch your heart-rate monitor to determine when and if you need to walk.

Week Four:  Short Run is 40/50 and a long run is 4 miles. Remember to do a five minute warm-up and cool down. Congratulations you are a runner. Body sense and watch your heart-rate monitor to determine when and if you need to walk.

Week Five: Short run is 25/35 and a long run is our first half-marathon. Remember to do a five minute warm-up and cool down. Congratulations you are a runner. Body sense and watch your heart-rate monitor to determine when and if you need to walk.

 In Chi Running or Walking by Danny Dreyer read chapters 10 and/or get caught up.

Consistency is Everything!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” –Aristotle.

Wow, I think this is a very powerful statement. Do you know that it takes 21 days to change a habit and 21 months to change a lifestyle? If we are cruising along and we “fall down” on day 15, then the “21 days to a new habit” period starts over again.  The same goes for the 21 months.

Knowing how much fuel you use and how much fuel you put into your body is tangible, concrete. You can count it.  You can calculate your results with a small margin of error. Demonstrate this by keeping a journal for yourself.

Change your thoughts about your body and practice affirmations daily. If you are already doing this, do more of them and use them more often throughout your day.  Maybe even more importantly, stop that negative mind chatter.  Stop having negative thoughts about your body.  You can’t resent those that have mastered the skills of health, or have spiteful opinions of people changing their health for the better.

Give up:

 

• Being a victim,
• Resentfulness,
• Anger,
• Jealousy

 

Appreciate and love the body you have, and other’s bodies.  Once you’ve mastered your positive thoughts about your body, turn them into actions.

 

• Quality movement
• Quality nourishment

 

Start with a couple of  items, like taking a ten minute walk after every meal, then move to eating more vegetables during the week and watch how these small efforts bring joy to your life.  Watch how other health habits flow more easily into your life.  Notice how much easier work becomes.

At the end of the month, count the calories.  Add them up to the cumulative total that you’ve expended.  Have you spent more calories then you did before? If your answer is “Yes!” then congratulations on a job well done!  My movement calories are piled high with treasures for my body and I’m unloading them today!

Here is the secret. Keep doing this! Consistency is everything! A lot of us say “Alright! We made it!” and then we stop moving (after we just had amazing results) and just revert to our old, ingrained habits. Sometimes we think we’ve conquered the “mind thing” and don’t have to work at it any more.  No more affirmations.  Guess what?  We sink.  We “roller-coaster” again with our health and ask ourselves, “How did this happen?” Or we accomplish the thinking part, like the affirmations, and stop moving; like the affirmations will work like some magic dust over our body. Nope.  We need to go back to that tangible, concrete method.

• Fuel in – Fuel out.

Marathon Blog #5

Well our first event (The 5K) is just around the corner. Don’t forget to determine when you can pick up your registrations prior to the race. (You should already be signed up for this race) http://www.runshamrocks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=31

I know we will be driving separately, but as the event gets closer let’s look for a good meet-up place. Make sure that you eat right before the race as well. Our pre- race chicken and veggie pasta would be a good choice to consider. http://mindbodybalance.com/newsletter_articles.php (scroll to the bottom to find many recipes that appear in The Balancing Act).

Also, make sure that you have signed up for your 10K or you will have to pay extra very soon. http://www.martianmarathon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=61

Now that some housekeeping is out of the way, let’s look ahead to the next four weeks of training. It is time to start evaluating your long runs. Some of you may be natural pace setters and some, like me, might struggle with this area of your training.

So here are some things to consider:

• After your long runs…

o do you just want to lie on the couch for a few hours,

o legs are tired or sore for a couple of days following the run,

o winded during the last few miles,

o feel nauseated, irritated at the end of the run.

If you answered yes to any of these questions you are probably running at too fast of a pace for your training right now and should consider slowing down.

• Before your long run you also need to…

o make sure that you are getting enough sleep the day before,

o eating appropriately,

o are you drinking enough fluids before?

• During and after…

o are you mentally preparing for the long run,

o dressing for weather conditions and

o are you running with a partner?

As our long runs increase, factors that can make them more painful are:

o dehydration,

o insufficient fueling of your body,

o walk breaks that were too short or too fast,

o general fatigue because of our hectic American lifestyle,

o maybe your short runs were to close together,

o the pace you were running was too aggressive.

According to the Running USA Website in 2004, the average marathon time for men was 4:24:35 (approx. pace 10:15) and women 4:55:21 (approx. pace 11:15).

Listen to your body! You will hear me say this over and over again. Rest and recovery are very important.
You must allow enough recovery. If you do not, you will not become more fit, you will just become more tired. Your body needs time to rest and recover in order to get stronger and improve.
Don’t be a slave to your program. Be flexible and respond to what your body is telling you. If you went out, were too aggressive with your pace and your legs are feeling sore, allow yourself to put an extra day of rest in-between your runs; or just go out for your run and (instead of running) walk the time or distance instead.
Yes, we need to plan our workouts and not cut corners but we also need to be flexible so that we can listen to what our body is telling us. In case you haven’t noticed a pattern yet in your workouts, let me point out that you always have a recovery week each month. So, if you feel stiff, tired, and sore then allow an extra day of recovery before your next run. If you miss a session or two (I know I have because of weather) then don’t try to “play catch-up” and do extra the following week. This is a recipe for injury.
Don’t go rogue and start running every day because you love the added endorphins and how your body is feeling. Remember your schedule has rest days, recover weeks and progresses for a reason. Stick to it. Spread out your runs to avoid over-training. Have patience, listen and learn. You will not improve your running technique overnight, but you will progress gradually and those baby steps will add up to something great.

Our first race is coming up and you will have some pre-race-day jitters.
The positive energy will get to you.
The competition (even if you aren’t there for the competition but for the fun of it) will get to you.
You’ll get start-line jitters. Running in a crowd can make you want to run faster than your pace, especially when 100’s are passing you,
Learning how to take water from an aid station can be a little unsettling. Rest assured that these events are practice for the marathon event that you choose. After a couple of events, you will feel comfortable, confident and your anxiety will reduce.

Remember, pacing yourself is important. Give yourself the talk test you should be able to speak in sentences without feeling winded. Finding the right pace is difficult, but you should be able to maintain a pace throughout your training run.

“To climb step hills requires a slow pace at first” –Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run
Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run
Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run & Sherri’s Health Class
Active Rest & Nap	Short Run & Yoga	Yoga	Short Run	Pilates	Pilates	Long Run

“The two rules of perseverance: Rule #1 Take one more step. Rule #2 when you don’t think you can take one more strep, refer to Rule #1.” _{-H. Jackson Brown Jr., American Author}

Week One: Short Runs are 40/50, Long Run is 6 miles Your interval times for all runs will be five minute warm ups and cool downs and then six minute jog with a one minute walk.

Week Two: Short Runs are 50/60 No Long Run because we will be at the event running a 5k Your interval times for all runs will be five minute warm ups and cool downs and then six minute jog with a one minute walk.

Week Three: Short Runs are 40/50 Long Run is 7 miles Your interval times for all runs will be five minute warm ups and cool downs and then six minute jog with a one minute walk.

Week Four: Short Runs are 40/50 Long Run is 8 miles Your interval times for all runs will be five minute warm ups and cool downs and then six minute jog with a one minute walk.

In Chi Running or Walking by Danny Dreyer read chapters 7-9.

Here is your third event to sign up for: http://www.trailmarathon.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

You will want to sign up for this race by March 15, 2011; otherwise you will have to pay extra and may not make it into the race. They do have a runners limit for both the full and half of 1,000 runners. You will be signing up for the half. This course is going to be challenging, you will get dirty and you will need to bring your running etiquette with you (I’ll spend more time on this in our next blog). By May 1^st you will have been in 3 races (5k, 10k and half). You’ve come a long way baby!