I REFUSE to give up!!

Hi Guys! I know it’s been a long time since I posted anything. I guess there’s a good reason for that. It’s because my whole life has just about taken a 180… I was offered a new position with my current company that has also required a relocation. Since being offered this new job I’ve been in a tailspin trying to figure out what to do with my life. I did decide to accept the new position and I start in two weeks. My hubby and I will be living apart during the week which I’m dreading! And to top that I’m moving to the pit of hell AKA Phoenix. I’m already dreading the heat!!! :(

This new change in my life has really taken a toll on me! I have really let most everything thing else in my life slip a little, including my workouts. The last week or two I’ve really felt the ramifications of that…my jeans are tighter, I’m tired a lot and my tummy is REALLY upset. I’ve decided enough is enough! I cannot expect it to always be easy, I do need to plan to conquer even when it gets hard! So starting this morning…bright and early, I’m back on track! I’m going to do my couch to 5k program again…I don’t think I’ve fallen back that far that I can’t even run a 5k any more (3.1 miles) but I’m afraid that it wouldn’t be as easy as it was before. This program is a great interval program regardless and interval programs always make you faster runner so it’s a win/win, right?

When I start my new position in two weeks I’ll also be re-signing with a gym. My hubby and I actually gave up our gym membership over a year ago when we built our gym in our garage but due to my absence from home Monday – Friday I’m going to need a place to workout. Thankfully my new office is right next to the gym I used to belong to YEARS ago. I’m kind of excited to be going back! Also excited to beat the morning traffic commute with a morning date with the gym!! Since I’m moving to the pit of hell in the summer, I’m going to be doing most of my workouts from a treadmill AKA dreadmill. Thankfully I’ll still be able to do some training in Flagstaff on the weekends. I <3 air="" mountain="" o:p="">

Well that’s about it for now…I just wanted to check in so you didn’t think I’d fallen off the map! We are all human, we all make mistakes. We just need to find the strength to learn from them and move on. Though I may have slipped, I REFUSE to give up! I will be in the best shape of my life whether it takes me 6 months or 2 years! That I promise you!!!

I'm going public!

So you may or may not have read on my Facebook a few days ago that the hubs and I have announced we decided to take the Insanity challenge again! The last time that I decided to take the challenge was in May of 2012. During that 60 days (technically 63 days) my entire journey was a secret. I didn't want to share with anyone because I was very insecure with myself. I wouldn't say that I'm 100% confident in my own skin yet but I'm getting there.

That being said, this go round I've decided to go PUBLIC! I plan to share as many details of my journey as I can. I will be posting on my Facebook page and Instagram daily and I will do a video at the end of each week. If you have any questions along the way please post or message me I'll be sure to answer your questions.

While I'm doing Insanity I will be taking a break from running. I feel as though my body needs a break from the same 'ol thing. I'll still be attending the weekly meet ups at Team Run Flagstaff to keep my muscles in shape but will not be doing any other running besides that.

I'm also going to start a contest. I want you all to guess the amount of pounds I will lose along the way. The one to guess the closest number without going over will win. All entires need to be submitted by January 26th. Entires can be submitted via onetenaciouschic@gmail.com or messaging me on my Facebook page. Good luck!

It's been WAY too long!

Wow! The new year is just around the corner. Can you believe it? I love this time of year because it has us all looking back on the previous year and trying to find ways to make the next year even better! I am also coming up on the 1 year anniversary of my first blog post! It's amazing how time flies!

So I haven't posted in quite a while. Sorry about that. Things got a bit nuts! My hubby and I ran the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on November 17^th. It was the first half my hubby has ran and my 2^nd. It was a TON of fun! If you haven't heard of that race before you run the Las Vegas Strip at night. The race started about 4:30pm on the south end of the strip. You run all the way up towards Fremont Street then head south again down the strip and finish around the Monte Carlo Hotel. I was really happy with my race time. I managed to finish in 2:32:33! My goal was under 2:30 but still I'll take it! That's 8 minutes faster than my first half. I know it's slow progress but any progress is progress!

While training for this last race I have been dealing with some hip pain that was really exaggerated from the half marathon race. I decided to take a bit of time off after the race to just let my body heal. I went to my weekly run group workout on the 2^nd of December and almost couldn't handle the pain as I walked off the track that night after about 2 miles of interval running. I decided that I needed to seek out some help to get this fixed! I visited a Chiropractor a handful of times since then and am happy to say that I feel like I'm on the mend!

The month of December was a bit nuts for me. The hubby and I were traveling almost every weekend including a plane ride to Lake Tahoe for my sister's wedding the weekend before Christmas.

The lack of normal schedule and being sidelined by an injury really caused a slide for me. My eating habits really went out the window. I've consumed way more sugar and beer in the last month or so than probably the whole year put together! NOT GOOD!

I've decided that today is a new day and no better time like the present to get back on track! Today started out with a 5am workout in my garage (Les Mils Pump and Burn) and a Shakeology shake right after! I'm going to continue this routine of 5am every weekday from here on out. If there is an excuse to get out of working out, it seems like I've been able to find it lately, thus the 5am workout. Get up, roll out of bed, get dressed and workout. No time for excuses. The hubby has also promised to help me get my behind out of bed! (I really HATE mornings). This is just one piece of my New Year's resolutions. I'll post more soon! Stay tuned!  

The beginning of a vlog

Ok...for some time now I've been thinking of starting a vlog (video blog). Some days/weeks get away from me and I don't always find the time to post about what's been going on...I think the videos will be a little easier way to relay info when I'm in a time crunch... Here's my first vlog. Please let me know what you think!

Volunteering TRF

So as you may know I recently joined the local running club in Flagstaff. It has been very interesting to start running with a group. I have really liked the people that I have met thus far.

At the Team Run Flagstaff Workout on Tuesday. It was rainy :)

The running group, Team Run Flagstaff (TRF), hosts what they call Step into Running. It is a beginner program that takes someone who’s never ran to a runner in about 6 weeks. Typically they host this program in the spring and fall. They have asked those of us that are members to sign up to help with the group. We are there just to be supporters/encouragers. Not coaches.

I convinced a coworker of mine to sign up for this program. She has wanted to get back into running for a while so I thought this may help. She was really excited about it!  I told her that I would attend a few workouts with her also. 

This last Thursday was their first practice. They had two groups “A” and “B”. I love that they never the words fast and slow! So basically the A group repeats running for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute for a total of 20 minutes and the B group repeats running for 2 minutes and walking for 1 minute for a total of 17 minutes. I signed up to help with the “A” group, as that was the one my coworker wanted to be in. 

The first maybe ½ mile of the workout I ran with my coworker. It was a lot of fun just running and chatting with her but I felt as though I needed to breakaway from my comfort (just chatting with my coworker) and start encouraging the others that were in this group. So I drifted back in the pack…Most of the participants were already chatting with a volunteer. I was looking for someone that possibly was on his or her own. 

I found two girls running together. You could tell they were friends and that they were working quite hard to keep up. I began chatting with those ladies as we were running. They were asking about “why do you run and walk” and “are my calves supposed to be burning”. I felt very honored to know how to respond to their questions and it was very humbling to remember how I used to feel when I started all of this. 

Towards maybe the middle of the workout one of the girls had asked how long I had been running. At this point you could tell that she almost wanted to throw in the towel. I told her that I’d been running for just about a year now but only with the club, TRF, for a few months. I also told her that I had lost about 70 lbs in that year. Immediately, you could see her face light up. I wanted to give her a reason to keep going and thought that might help. 

The questions then started pouring in. it was so awesome that both of them took interest in it. They ended up completing the run and took tired but accomplished. I hope to see them next week! They are going to do awesome if they stick with it!

Some things just touch my heart. I feel so compelled to “pay it forward”. I have been so blessed getting my health and life back and I feel as though I need to help others do the same. I hope that my story can help these ladies and maybe one of you. I consider myself an open book. If you have any questions, please let me know. You don’t have to do something crazy like sign up for a running group to get started you just need to start doing something. 

“The difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline.” – Steve Smith

25 Things You May Not Know About Me

Just a quick post... Most of you know a lot about my fitness and weight loss journey but I thought I would share something a little more personal about me. Here goes...

Things you may not know about me

1. I rarely wear makeup (only a few times a year)
2. I have just enough curl in my hair that if I don’t flat iron it I look like I came straight out of the 80s
3. I cannot stand it when my toes are naked (free of nail polish)
4. I have recently fell in love with junk stores and exchange stores
5. I have always been a brand snob (you can find some awesome stuff at Savers btw)
6. I hate mornings
7. I hate to cook
8. I won’t eat avocadoes
9. I tell people I’m allergic to nuts so they don’t make me eat them
10. I don’t like fish either
11. I am convinced my hubby married me because I love hot wings, beer and football
12. I actually played football (with the boys) in the 8^th grade
13. I refuse to quit anything
14. I’ve always been competitive, I can turn anything into a competition
15. I have a degree in Computer Information Systems
16. I have three hard drives full of music. I’m obsessed with it!
17. If I ever win the lottery, I will quit my job and travel the world and attend every concert and musical I can. Then probably get my teaching degree.
18. I love school! I never faked a sickness as I child I love it that much. (thus the teaching degree above)
19. I was always in trouble in school because I talked too much but now I am a shy adult
20. I am not a good speller. I am always asking my hubby “how do you spell _____?”
21. I would live on pizza and ice cream if I could
22. I love the beach but am afraid of the ocean.
23. I love to travel, by car, by airplane but I do get seasick so I’m afraid of taking a cruise
24. I love German Shepherds
25. I can’t watch scary movies, they terrify me

My Next Half!!

So it’s official! I have signed up for my next race. I will be running the Rock ‘n Roll Las Vegas half marathon on November 17th! I am also pleased to say that my hubby will be running it with me! It’s his first half marathon! WooHoo! Go babe!

I am really excited to run this next one. For my first race my goal was to finish with a smile on my face. As I’m sure you know I accomplished that! My goal for this race is to run the whole darn thing! I don’t really care what my finish time is as long as it is faster than my last half. I just want to make sure my goals are attainable.

It’s been a pretty quiet summer, I know. I have been focused on a few other things while taking a break from racing. This summer I have been using the new program from Shaun T, Focus T25. I’ve really enjoyed this program. This is the first of Shaun T’s programs that uses weights and I’m really starting to see some definition in my upper body! Running really does nothing for my upper body so it is in desperate need of some help!

I can’t wait to start training for this next half marathon. I have really missed my time in my running shoes. The program I am using this go round is from the same guy, Hal Higdon, but I am doing more of an intermediate program now. You can find the program here. The program calls for a once a week runs at your race pace (the speed in which you want to run the half marathon at). I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but I do not run with any music. I really have learned to enjoy the noise in my head as opposed to music. However, it is really amazing what your body does when you listen to music while running. Your feet follow a beat! I am going to make a playlist to listen to once a week (the day that I’m running at race pace). I really want to see if listen to music strategically picked for a certain speed will help me run faster. It’s worth a shot right?

Ok this is already longer than I had planned so I’ll let you go…

This was on my Runner’s World daily calendar the other day and I really liked it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”