Motivate Yourself

"Your fitness is a personal journey, you may workout with others but others will never workout for you." Remember that.  Just as others will never workout for you, they also will not give you a reason each day to work out.  People around you can be motivational but true motivation and drive comes from within, something you've got to dig deep for.  So what's your motivation?

Monday:

:::Insert big fat excuse here:: Monday was rough. I could lay down every excuse as to why I did not work out-studying for boards, too tired, cramps, headache, blah blah blah.  All of them are the same..total CRAP. Am I mad about it? Eh, kind of. Is there anything I can do about it now? Nope. We all have days like these and I fell victim to "the case of the Monday's".  Only thing to do is move on, work harder the next day.

Tuesday:

I had to step my game up from "Mope around Monday" since my attitude and motivation was less than positive.  Luckily, I have a friend who isn't afraid to shove a few compliments my way, pick me off my feet and kick my butt out the door.  So I ran 6.14 miles, mainly an uphill course around my house with my body kicking and screaming the entire time.  My calves were burning, my butt was aching and my hip flexors were shot, but I clocked in at 59:25. I will take it! Here is some proof for your pudding.





Wednesday:

Never underestimate the power of a spinning class.  I don't know about you, but no matter how good of "shape" I think I am in, spinning gives me a big serving of humble pie.  It was hard and my legs were burning but I survived.  Add 60 minutes of cardio to the workout bank. Cha-ching.

On a side note, anyone who is interested, we will be meeting at Frick Park at 3:30 on Wednesday October 3, 2012 at the Biddle Street tennis courts for anyone who would like to join our hikes!

Thursday:

It is coming down to crunch time before the Great Race! I wanted to do something to get my legs moving at a quicker pace but nothing that would kill them.  Intervals it is.  Similar to last weeks workout, I did 6; half mile repeats. 
     Warm-up: 5 minutes light jog
     Intervals: 0.5 miles at 8.0 mph (based off of my goal time pace), rest for a minute, another 0.5 miles, rest for a minute x6. Rinse and repeat. 
     Cool-down: 5 minutes walk

Hint: Intervals are a great way to add spice to your weekly routine.  It may sound hard and I would be lying if I said it was easy, but it is one of the most beneficial workouts you can do.  For example, if you are realizing that those long runs have made you plateau with your weight loss goals, it is because your body got efficient at working for long periods of time.  Thow it a curve ball! Make it use different muscles and different energy stores.  You will see some kickass results.  Plus, it's a great workout to do if you have time restrictions.  That workout took a total of 39 minutes, 4.36 miles, and according the the treadmill 444 calories (take it with a grain of salt, not always 100% accurate) .  Not bad for a days work!

Friday:

Nothing too crazy, just some abs to keep moving.  T-minus 2 days until race day. 

Hint: If you're in need of quick workouts that you can do in your living room; download the Nike Training Club app.  It gives you 15, 30 and 45 minute workouts for whatever you want to target.  They have " Get Strong, Lean, Focused and Toned".  You pick which one you want and go to town.  Be warned, they WILL kick your butt.

Saturday:

Pre-race day!! Now, I should have done something-a shake out, a nice easy jog, anything really BUT that didn't happen due to life happening.  I just mentally prepared and rested the night so I would be ready to race in the AM.

Sunday:

RACE DAY! The conditions were not ideal (50 some degrees and raining) but that's the fun in racing.  You never know what other factors will play into your race.  You plan, train and prepare for what you're going to do and how you are going to run but sometimes Mother Nature has to interject her 2 cents.  My race went well, I hit my goal of running sub 8:00 min/mile and I clocked in at 48:53 splitting roughly 7:52 min/miles for a total of 6.2 miles. 

Runner's High In Effect

 

Week Summary:

My workout week this week seemed less than par, filled with "I'm too busy, I don't have time, I'm tired, etc, etc".  It's not always about "having" time, it's about making time.  We are each given the same amount of hours, minutes, seconds each day.  It is what we do with that time which makes us different.  If you are falling into a routine where your precious time is being wasted, make a goal (or goals) for yourself- Get friends together and sign up for a race, dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes of physical activity a day to yourself, do 20 pushups after every workout.  Figure out what is important to you and use it as motivation.  Find a way to encorporate into each day and make your time quality time.  As one of my favorite quotes says, "You can't get too much done in life if you only work on the days that you feel good." In other words, you will not feel good everyday, it goes against human nature BUT you can still do something.  You just have to dig a little deeper and look for that motivation to get moving.  Like I always say-Every movment counts.

 

Yours in Health,

Nikki

For information about my nutrition program or any suggestions on what you want to see here, contact me at :
gmail: ncmckeone@gmail.com
twitter: @Nik_Lovin