Race 5...Check!

The Acorn Race took number 5 on the list of 10 races this year.  Halfway done!  What a good feeling.  This race was a lot of fun.  It was at Tall Oaks, a beautiful place for retreats, small group gatherings or family vacations.  As for the race itself, it was challenging.  Sure the distance was only a 5K but it was an out and back.  The out was great but coming back was a different story (wind gusts of up to 30 mph). It was fun participating with Johnna, Keaton and Robin.  A big thanks to Sondra for putting on such a fun race! 

Motivation Monday: Health and Wealth

This weekend we finished up Financial Peace University.  The last DVD was the best one and it's where I came up with today's Motivation Monday.

Don't spend all of your health trying to get your wealth.  You'll end up spending all of your wealth to get your health back.

It's so easy to overwork, overstress and overextend ourselves when we're feeling good.  Maybe almost taking advantage of our healthy body without the notion of self preservation.  Work on self preservation because if we're physically overextended, we're most likely emotionally and spiritually drained.

Sugar. We Need Less.

Movie and Movin' and Munchin'

Beautiful outside, isn't it?! I hope you'll consider joining me this Saturday at 9am for a walk only or a walk-run workout to celebrate the weather and the ability we have to be outside and enjoy it. We'll meet at Pinnacle Physical Therapy to start our workout and then we'll bring it full circle by ending with a yummy stretch.

After the workout think about heading with me to munchin' and movin for Marley, a funderaiser for a 2 year old battling cancer that lives in the Liberty area.

Food Inc. will be on PBS this Wednesday, April 21st at 9pm
It will change the way you think about food. Please, hit the record it and save for later if you don't have time on Wednesday.
"The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000..."

--Michael Pollan

Motivation Monday: Nonaesthetic Progress

It sounds good in theory but tastes magnificent when it happens: lifting a heavier weight, going from 12 push-ups to 68, or the sensation of the palms of my hands touching the floor while keeping my legs straight in a forward fold. Ah, pure sweetness! It happened this weekend, after 2.5 years of yoga averaging one class per week my hands will touch the ground...not just my fingertips. I tell you life is different in that position.

I know we all want to workout and eat better to look slimmer in a pair of shorts but the truth is that the overwhelming empowerment of accomplishing a physical fitness milestone is a rush. It's the feeling that all the little steps worked. I've never had the time to realistically make it to my favorite class more than once per week so I know I have to allow myself years of practice in order to keep having these fun moments of what I call "nonaesthetic progression.

Be on the lookout and pay close attention to the physical fitness progress that's made. Maybe it's being able to complete a mile a little bit faster than previously recorded. It's anything that we're getting better at because we continue to plug along. Sadly many of us have days or weeks where we don't see any progress, it's just realistic to see this happen. The psychology of not seeing any progress when hard work happened over and over again is incredibly common. Unfortunately sometimes we throw in the towel just before our body catches up to what we are doing to give us that shiny result we'd been longing for. Motivation this week is to keep plugging away. It will work.  It has to, its science!  (And yes to answer the question we all are thinking, I do have pants on in this picture, just cropped out the hips and the shorts I had on)

Race 4...Check!

The 2010 Brew to Brew.  A race I won't forget.  It was the most fun I've had at a race to date.  It was a 44 mile relay from downtown KC (boulevard brewery) to downtown Lawrence.  There were 4 of us on this team to complete 44 miles although the original plan was 6.  I was prepared to run 8 miles that day but instead was pleasantly suprised with close to 12.  At the end of the day, I felt what I always love to feel...accomplishment.  I think it's a mix of good endorphines and type-A goodness of checking 12 miles off my list. 

Maybe the best part of the race was the team.  I've known my sweet friend Johnna for almost 4 years but met Courtney and Ivan that day.  I have to say we make a great team and so I think there may be more relays to come in the future!

Motivation Monday: Fitness with Friends

This weekend I was so lucky enough to participate in a race with friends both old and new.  It was the most fun I've ever had at a race.  The thought is simple this week....round up friends (maybe even some people you don't know) and sign up for a fun race to complete together.  After all, it's much more fun working out in a group than by yourself.