Setting Intentions

First off, today is International Yoga Day and I managed to complete my first yoga class yesterday after work.

It's been a long time since I've unrolled a mat at a studio. This was also my first time at this particular studio and I loved it! In all honesty it was the best yoga class I've attended and it was exactly what I needed to help me to let go and set my intentions for myself. The teacher, Kara, was subbing in for someone else and she was absolutely fantastic. She teaches other classes at the studio so I hope to run into her again.

I felt immediately welcomed when I arrived. The studio is small and quaint with no real office area, so I nearly walked into the class that was ahead of me. I decided to wait on the bench outside when Kara approached me and we struck up a conversation right away. She was friendly and made me feel more than welcomed. I borrowed a mat (I need to invest in my own) and stationed myself right in front so I could follow along. It was calming and challenging at the same time. I truly feel this is going to be a great balance for my half marathon training.

Tonight was a little difficult to get motivated to run, but I got it done nonetheless.

Distance Ran: 1.00 miles
Duration of Run: 12:57 minutes
Pace of Run: 12:57 minutes/mile
Goals Crushed: Distance for July 2017

Full List of Monthly Goals

I've been off all day and I wanted nothing more than to just veg on the couch and relax. I did most of the day, but I managed to get going after dinner. The challenge is always getting to the gym, once I'm there I can always get moving.

I hit the treadmill and started up my Pandora. Of course one of my favorite, Lindsey Stirling songs came on and I decided to walk sans music in order to save it for the beginning of my run.

Once I began felt okay for the most part until around 0.30 miles. I tend to get clammy and feel like my skin is suffocating from being to hot. It usually subsides once I catch a breeze or break a sweat, but that feeling is the worst and always makes me want to stop.

I visualized finishing at 1.0 miles and blowing past the 0.75 I completed on Monday, but it wasn't easy and I had to push myself. I was more aware of my breathing, trying to match my inhale and exhale from my yoga class on Tuesday. It seemed to help.

I can now say that I've completed my goals for July already (0.94 mile distance and 10 minute duration). I feel like I can now work on getting my pace down between now and August and hopefully crush those goals as well. My pace is already down from Monday, so I'm confident it'll come down over the next month too.

I'll either be taking Slow Flow Yoga again tomorrow or Hot Vinyasa Yoga depending on what time I leave work

Pandora Playlist that got me through today:

"Crystallize" - Lindsey Stirling
"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" - Skrillex
"Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" - Deadmau5
"Cinema (Feat. Gary Go) (Radio Edit)" - Benny Benassi

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade

Making Changes

1st Run:

Distance Ran: 0.75 miles
Duration of Run: 10:01 minutes
Pace of Run: 13:21 minutes/mile
Goals Crushed: Duration for July 2017

2nd Run:

Distance Ran: 0.25 miles
Duration of Run: 3:15 minutes
Pace of Run: 13:00 minutes/mile

Full List of Monthly Goals

It's been 205 days since my last run and that's not okay, but I made a positive change today apologizing to myself and it sucked.

No really, it was rough.

I walked for 5 minutes to warm up and cued up my Pandora. The first few minutes weren't terrible, but as I approached minutes 7 and 8 I felt like I was going to collapse. I was slow, but I got it done. I had it in my head that I wanted to do a mile and I eventually did with a little help from my playlist.

Once I hit 0.75 miles and 10 minutes I decided to slow down to a walk and then the music changed. Lindsey Sterling's incredible talent motivated me to start back up and after 0.1 miles and I manged to squeak out another 0.25 miles and 3:15 minutes. It was rough and sloppy, but worth it..so worth it.

Now to stick to it.

Looking forward to yoga tomorrow. :)

Pandora Playlist that got me through today:

"Human" - Christina Perri
"Fight Song" - Rachel Platten
"Crystallize Mashup (Remix by Wild Children)" - Lindsey Stirling
"Right In" - Skrillex
"Cinema (Maurizio Gubellini Remix)"- Benny Benassi

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade

A Birthday Present to Myself

I let myself, my health, and my body down in the past half year. I was on such a roll and let myself fall off track because of holidays, being sick, a new role at work, and school and I despise myself for it.

My long term goal is still the same - I'm going to run the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon in November 2018.

I now have a lot less time and I did this to myself. There is no one else to blame, but I do believe I can get myself back on track.

My gift to myself for my 28th birthday this coming Monday:

1. Run a minimum of 12x per month starting in July
I started to run again today.
2. Yoga class 2x a week
I'm planning on going to a yoga place tomorrow near work to check it out. 
3. Drink less
While it's hard to not drink since I help to run Adroit and part of my job is to write up our tasting notes..I'm going to limit myself and only drink when I've already worked out that day.
4. Eat better

Josh is always helpful with this, but I need to stop eating out just because it's convenient.

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade

Breaking Bad Habits

It's not necessarily a "bad" habit, but it's one I want to be rid of.

Run 9/12 Month 1/24

Distance Ran: 1.4 miles
Duration of Run: 16:07 minutes
Pace of Run: 11:31 minutes/mile
Goals Crushed: None today

Full List of Monthly Goals

After Tuesday's spill on the treadmill I've been a little leery of getting back on. I took a few days off for Thanksgiving and to rest. Which means the next few days will be filled with runs, because after  all my hard work there is no way I am missing my 12 runs in a month.

I normally get up 15-20 minutes before I have to be at work, throw on clothes, and run out the door to be at work on time. I've tried waking up beforehand and nothing has worked.

I feel like the time change has been on my side in helping with this. I'm naturally waking up a little bit earlier and going to bed a little bit sooner.

I'm about to go work 10 hours today, but I made sure to get my run in because I want to say I did it. I won't have an excuse not to tonight and that's been a problem for me in the past. I had it beat into my own head that waking up a little earlier would never happen. I proved myself wrong.

Today's run started off a bit rough, my knees were hurting, but I pushed through and for the majority of the run I was okay. I found myself in advertisement hell again though, pushing through the last 0.15 miles while listening to ads for insurance and pizza. Finally, the last song kicked on and helped me beat my previous duration and mileage.

I call today a win.

Pandora Playlist that got me through today:

"Animal I Have Become" - Three Days Grace
"By Myself" - Lincoln Park
"Monster" - Skillet
"I Will Not Bow"- Breaking Benjamin
"Re-Education" - Rise Against
"Headstrong" - Trapt

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade

Overexertion

Boy did I push today and maybe a little too hard.

Run 8/12 Month 1/24

Distance Ran: 1.0 miles & 0.21 miles
Duration of Run: 11:33 & 2:31 minutes
Pace of Run: 11:33 & 11:59 minutes/mile
Goals Crushed: None today

Full List of Monthly Goals

Well today was a bit of a shit show, but first let me tell you about yesterday.

Josh and I hit the woods for the first day of rifle here in West Virginia. We heard some coyotes at first light, but didn't see any deer just squirrels. The hike in and out was a total of 4 miles in some pretty mountainous territory. My legs were killing me from the previous run and this just added to it.

I intended to run this morning before work and even woke up at 6 am to go, but when I awoke I was sore and decided it'd be best to drink water and stretch throughout the day so that I could run this evening.

I was feeling okay when I hit the treadmill, but as the run went on I felt really bogged down and towards the 1 mile mark I was light headed. I have it set in my mind that I won't let myself run less than 1 mile continuously, because this is where I started, so...

I hit that mile and slowed down for 1.5 minutes, drank some water, and started back up at a slower pace. I just wanted to make it past another 0.33 miles so that I was bettering myself from the last run. Unfortunately, my body had other plans.

At 0.21 miles in, my leg gave out and I fell forward.

I caught myself with my arms and managed to hit the "Emergency Stop" bottom as I did.

Not exactly how I thought the night was going to go, but I can happily say that I'm not hurt and I'll be resting tomorrow per Josh's instructions.

I still have 4 more runs to do in 8 days to meet my "monthly goal" for November and I'm going to make that happen one way or another. I just may have to take off a day or two to regain my strength. For some reason your legs will give out if you do push too hard. 😜 I'm proud to say I tested my limits though and don't regret it for a second.

Pandora Playlist that got me through today:

"Kyoto" - Skrillex
"Animals (Victor Niglio Remix)" - Martin Garrix
"Blue Steel" - Exision & Downlink
"Gold Dust (DJ Fresh)"- Flux Pavillion
"Bitch Came Back" - Theory of a Deadman
"Addicted" - Saving Abel

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade

Motivation

I slipped up a little bit and didn't run for over a week until tonight. I was a combination of exhausted and unmotivated, but a friend help to light that fire for me again.

Run 7/12 Month 1/24

Distance Ran: 1.33 miles
Duration of Run: 15:08 minutes
Pace of Run: 11:23 minutes/mile
Goals Crushed: None today

Full List of Monthly Goals

On Friday, I worked with a friend and afterwards we got to talking as we normally do. She expressed that she was inspired by me and that alone was enough to put the fire back in me. She also got me an awesome new hoodie to sport, so that helped to. ;)

I'll admit to making excuses this week from long grueling hours at work to chiropractor appointments, but even though I saved a small amount of time not running I was upset with myself without even knowing it. I'm so much happier knowing I worked today, came home, got ready, fought the cold and wind, and made my way into the gym to get it done.

Did I mention it's cold?

That's the hardest time for me to get motivated so I hope I can keep it up.

Pandora Playlist that got me through today:

"Blowin' Smoke" - Kacey Musgraves
"Mama's Broken Heart" - Miranda Lambert
"I Feel a Sin Comin' On" - Pistol Annies
"Levels"- Avicii
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
"Time of Dying" - Three Days Grace

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade

Work Hard Play Harder

I failed to post 2 Saturday's ago about my sixth run. It was a rather busy and fun day with probably just a tad too much fun. I managed to get up and run in the morning before enjoying my day off with Josh and friends.

Run 6/12 Month 1/24

Distance Ran: 1.3 miles
Duration of Run: 15 minutes
Pace of Run: 11:32 minutes/mile
Goals Crushed: None today

Full List of Monthly Goals

This was a crazy hard run for me, but I'm so proud that I got it done. I had in my head that I wanted to get back on track with my running and I wasn't going to let myself stop at 1 mile again, so I pushed to beat my current record in mileage and duration.

For some reason my normal go to station on Pandora, "Rock Pre-Game Radio", just didn't cut it for me. I could feel myself bog down and it wasn't the motivation I needed. So mid-run I switched over to "Fight Song Radio". I'm glad I did because it was just what I needed to get me to the 1.3.

Though the worst part of the run was the last 30 seconds, when my song changed and I was bombarded with an advertisement. This might just be the worse thing you can possibly run to when you are trying to push yourself to the max, but somehow I got it done.

We then enjoyed ourselves at my work, Adroit Theory Brewing Company's, release party of a limited edition beer. Dia de los Muertos was a 13.6% Milk Stout and was aged in a Maple Rye Whiskey Barrel from Catoctin Creek Distillery. Let me break this down, Rye Whiskey once housed itself in that barrel that then had maple syrup aged in it and then we took our beer and aged it in that for a few months. It was unbelievably good. At the party they had our normal beers on tap plus two guest breweries, Council Brewing Company and Reaver Beach Brewing Company. Let's just say we may have consumed great amounts of alcohol, food (probably not enough), and good company.

Pandora Playlist that got me through:

"Prayer of the Refugee" - Rise Against
"I Bet My Life" - Imagine Dragons
"Titanium" - David Guetta
"Brighter"- Against the Current
"Open Your Eyes (Deep Blue Songspell)" - Bea Miller

Heels up, Bottoms up..
*Ida Jade