March 2017 - A Numbers Game

Today marks day 127 of my current #runstreak. I've been on it since Thanksgiving. It started as a Runner's World challenge to run everyday between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. And it has stuck. So onward I roll with it.

March was a great month. I got a lot of miles in with my running. Still got some walking miles in. And was able to get in a few biking miles with my littles due to some nice days. I also kept up with my yoga practice, and hit the 6am class for CrossFit several times. I also doubled my stair climbing total for the year doing over 6000 steps this month, when January and February combined were just over 6000 steps. Still not my favorite exercise, but I know getting that in a couple times a month is good for me. To top it all off, I'm down almost 4 pounds. I'm attributing that to being on the new IDLife Nutrition supplements that I started taking. I more rested when I wake, and less tired in the afternoons. Plus their Grape Hydrate is a fantastic drink! Let me know if you want more info on that.

My March Madness

Grape Hydrate - My new FAV drink!

I'm still here, still at it, plugging away. I'm on day 117 of my current run streak. It is the longest one I've had so far. Not sure when I'll let it go, but I don't feel the need to any time soon. I've actually been feeling really great so far. I've been taking my IDLife Nutrition vitamins in the morning and afternoon, and just feel great. I love that they are custom to me. And that they are pharmaceutical grade, meaning they don't have all the junk and fillers that you'd find in the grocery store section. I like that I am taking them when my body will get the fullest use out of them. Did you know that you should be taking your Omegas in the evening? Yep. If you want to check out your HealthID Score, and see just what vitamins you should be taking too, head over to www.mrshart.idlife.com and click on the blue button in the top right corner. Fill out the 30ish questions, which your answers are HIPAA protected, and see what you should be taking. It's free, and takes just a few minutes. Let me know what you think!

My vitamin strip pack. They are labeled and easy to read. 

I'm also loving some of the additional products that IDLife offers, like the Hydrate in Grape. It tastes like a Grape Crush soda, but doesn't have any of the extra sugar or chemicals that a soda has. It works as a great pick-me-up in the afternoons, or just when I want something besides water to drink, but I don't want to fill my body with all the extra ick that comes with sugar drinks. And it has just 10 calories! I just mix it with a bottle of water when I'm on the go, or in my blender bottle when I'm at home. Quick and easy!

Grape Hydrate - Yum!

Check out the other flavors - Fruit Punch or Mango Passion, along with Grape, here
https://mrshart.idlife.com/shop/t/categories/hydrate

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ID Life

Hey guys -

So along with stepping up my fitness this year, I'm also trying to improve my nutrition. I cut out extra processed sugar at the beginning of March, and while it has been hard, I feel good about it. I'm still eating fruit and things like crackers that I know contain sugar, but no candy, cookies, flavored coffee, etc. I'll slowly work on cutting out the sugar from other items like crackers, but I'm taking steps in the right direction, so I'm gonna call that a win.

I've also started to work with a nutrition company called Individually Designed Life or IDLife. They make a pharmaceutical grade line of daily vitamins that are customized to each person called IDNutrition. You fill out an online health survey that has been backed by nutrition science and is HIPAA compliant, and based on your answers, IDLife creates a daily strip of vitamins that you take morning and night. I'm pretty excited about this. No more taking "what I hope will work for me products" or products with fillers. These are high quality, good for you vitamins!

What the strip pack looks like

Taking the health assessment is easy and quick. You go to the IDLife website (www.mrshart.idlife.com) and click on the blue button in the top right that says 

"Take your FREE Assessment Now!"

The main IDLife website

Follow the instructions honestly, and see your health score, along with the suggested vitamins. 

Your Health Score will be shown in the blue circle

You also can click WHY? and see just why you should be taking what IDLife suggested. The report is printable and savable, and can be updated at any time as your health and needs change. It is that cool. I encourage everyone to take the Health Assessment just to see where they are at with their health.

  


IDLife also offers some great complimentary products like a protein shake for adults, or even one that is safe for kids! This is huge for me. My boys are active guys, and I want to be able to give them filling and healthy snacks that will keep them going all day long. There are also protein bars for adults, and again, protein bars for kids! The kid bars are nut free so they are safe to take to school. All the bars are Organic, Gluten Free, and Full of Fiber! And they taste great. Both of my boys really liked the Kid Bar.

The full line of kid products - My kids approve!

The Protein Bars - Yum!

There also products for keeping hydrated, sleeping, quick energy boost, skin care, pre & post workout, and more. Check out my for a full line of products.

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February Twenty17 By The Numbers

Sometimes I get distracted by shiny things and forget to post here.
Sometimes I get busy with life and forget to post here.
Sometimes it is a combination of both.

Anyway, I wrapped up February feeling strong. These were the numbers.

 

My running goals were back on track. The walking and biking were up, and I'm adding more stair climbing each month. CrossFit was a little down due to the shoulder strand injury, but things feel good now and are back on track. Overall, I'd say it was a great month. 

Just an update

Since I had my shoulder mishap, I've still been keeping busy with my fitness. I'm running each and every day, and have a 90 day streak going right now. It has been beautiful weather the past 5 days, so I've tried to get outside as much as possible and enjoy the sunshine and soak up some vitamin B. Yesterday I even managed to find a trail and get a few miles in.

Running the trails - outside - in February!

I have been keeping up with my yoga practice, working in Vinyasa and Ashtanga classes. I am happy with the progress of my practice, and feel more flexible with each class. Head stands are becoming easier, and I feel more confident to try some of the bind-poses.

I did make it back to CrossFit this week after taking almost 3 weeks off. My husband was traveling for the first week, and then I hurt my shoulder early in the second week. While the shoulder is still tender and I'm taking it easy, I miss the early mornings and need to get back to it.

What kind of fitness have you been up to?

Head Stands and Shoulder Fails

Wednesday mornings are great. I look forward to them. Specifically, 9:30am when my Vinyasa yoga class starts. I love it so much that it has a standing place on my calendar. Like, I won't schedule a hair appointment on Wednesday mornings. I said I wasn't available that day to volunteer at school. My yoga time is special and valuable to me, and I guard it.

This past Wednesday was no different. I showed up, mat in arms, ready to find my zen. Candy, my yogi, got us going with our Sun Salutations and flowing, and I was feeling great. With about 15 minutes left in class she announced that we were going to spend the rest of time working on inversions, namely head and hand stands. I grinned, and got excited, as I have been wanting to improve my head stands.

We started on the wall, using it to over come our fear of going inverted. I felt great and got some head stands done on the wall. I chickened out on the hand stands, but did get a head stand from the crow position, off the wall.

Head Stands

Head Stand Hair

I ripped up the skin on my toes from doing so many stands

About 4pm I headed back to the gym with my littles for their afternoon class. While there, I thought I'd be a cool kid and work on my head stands a bit more. Turns out, I'm not that cool. I could get up on my head, and dork around a bit, but I always fell. Like, a lot.

Trying to do a lotus on the wall pose

Head Stand

Turns out that when you fall, you can sometimes land hard on your shoulder. Ask me how I know? Oh yeah. Cause I fell hard on my shoulder. It didn't hurt at the time, but about 35 minutes later it started to hurt. Driving wasn't fun. Trying to sleep wasn't fun. Waking up the next day was terrible. You can bet that I was googling why my shoulder hurt. After a day of normal use, it feels better, but I can tell it is going to be sore for a while. Which means no head stand practice for a while. Or CrossFit. Or heavy things. But hey, look at those head stands!

Race Recap - Chocolate Rush Half Marathon 2.4.2017

On Saturday, February 4, 2017 I was the 2:45 pacer for the Chocolate Rush half marathon in Olathe, KS. It was a cold day, 25* but felt more like 18*. It was gray and overcast and the sun was hiding. I had on four tops, two pairs of tights, gloves, and a hat. And that wasn't enough. The wind was bitter and biting, so back to the car I went to dig around and see what else I could find to put on. I ended up with a pink puffy vest, a warm head band, and a neck buff.

We lined up about 7:50am for the 8am start time. I ran into a few people I know in the running community, and several pacers that would also be out in the cold, guiding folks to finish the race.

Ready to go at the start line

SmartPacing team

The race started out well. I had a few folks with me, but after a couple miles they found their stride and pulled ahead of me. I came into a couple of ladies and ran with them for a mile or so. But they hadn't trained as well as they had hoped, and were unable to keep up with me. So on I went. I ran for the most part alone, lost in my head, and enjoying the beautiful Indian Creek Trail system that the race was on. I encouraged each racer I came in contact with, and said "Good morning" to several folks who were just out for their normal Saturday long run on the trails.

I did manage to get in a jump towards the end of the race, around the 11.5 mile mark.

Race Jumpin'

I finished the race right on pace at 2:44:26. I headed inside for some yummy chocolate fondue and fixings, and enjoyed chatted with a few other pacers, comparing our race experiences, talking about upcoming races, and just life in general.

Oh, and I took home this beauty, so yeah me. I think it is a fun medal, and I'm happy to add it to my collection.

Medal Monday

Lifetime half marathon number 53 is in the books.

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Empire State Building Stair Climb

I've been working to vary my fitness this year. I've added more yoga and flexibility classes and also started to work on the stair climber a bit. I've been trying to get 10-12 minutes on the evil machine, which results in 800-900 steps. And I need to relate that to something tangible. How high is 800 steps? So I googled how many stairs are in the Empire State Building, and found out the answer is 1576. I tucked this fact in the back of my head, maybe to be used on Jeopardy some day. And then on 2/3/2017 I got on the stair climber again.

After 15 minutes I was right around 1100 steps. And what the heck - I went for it. It took 21:56 to go 1603 steps - just beyond the top of the Empire State Building! Sweet. Check that off the list of things to not do again.

Finished!

January 2017 Fitness Wrap-Up

January 2017 has come, and is now finished. Wow. That was quick. I had some lofty goals for this month, and while I didn't most of them, I worked hard and feel really good about my stats for the month.

To review, my goals were...

• 112.5 Running miles
• 8.3 Walking miles
• 12.5 Biking miles
• 13+ CrossFit classes
• 4 Yoga classes

Staying sharp and in focus

And my actually numbers looked like this...

• 101.71Running miles - I cruised to over 100 miles which is nothing to be sad about. But I didn't get in as many long runs outside as I would have liked.
• 7.47 Walking miles - Short less than a mile which I can make up easily.
• 0 Biking miles - I'm hoping to get these miles when the weather is warmer and I can be outside.
• 2749 Stairs - The Empire State Building is 1579 stairs, so I climbed that. Go me!
• 10 CrossFit Classes - Yahoo! 10 is great.
• 3 Nia Classes - My gym started offering it 1 x week, and it's fun!
• 14 Yoga Classes - I'm really loving Yoga and the stretching right now. I can see improvements.
•      9 Flexability  - a focus on stretching.
•      3 Vinyasa - my Wednesday morning class that I just love.
•      2 Ashtanga - new to me, and good so far.

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Headstands for Days

Since the beginning of the year I have been working to increase my attendance at yoga classes, and with that work on some poses that I haven't been able to do before.  I've been pretty regular at the Wednesday morning Vinyasa class, and catching a Flexibility class here and there, but this month I have stepped up my game. I've hit up Flex 2-3 times a week, and added Ashtanga yoga to the weekly class mix. I'm feeling pretty good about my progress, and am glad to be adding more variety to my fitness.

Yesterday in class I was able to do a headstand - my first in the Wednesday morning class, and my first really that I can remember. Needless to say, I was a little giddy about the whole thing, and had a huge smile on my face. My instructor was pretty excited for me as well. So last night while my littles were at their karate class, I messed around a bit more with them, and came up with this.

Headstands in INKnBURN Crane tights and Lotus pullover

My legs aren't straight up, and my feet aren't together. And I was a bit wobbly. But practice makes progress, and I'm pretty proud. Ok, and full disclosure, it took several tries to get this. I fell a lot, and have it all tucked away on grainy cell phone video. But it is a start, and I'm going to keep on keepin' on. Cause headstands are fun.

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Race Recap - Hangover Half 1.1.2017

Yeah, I know this race was a few weeks ago, but cut me some slack. I'm trying to get back in the habit of blogging, and sometimes habits take a while to form. <sigh> Anyway...

January 1 - and I woke up bring and early, maybe even too early for a 9am race start, to run the Hangover Half Marathon, a new race put on by KC Running Company at their Leawood, KS store. It was a small race, less than 200 people for the half distance, but that doesn't make it any less fun. I was running with a fellow KC Express member, Courtney, and it promised to be a good morning. Several other KC Express members were there to run the half or 5k option. We got in a selfie as always.

KC Express in a pre-race selfie

As Courtney and I were about to head out, I took just a picture of us. Can you guess which one of us may have still been drunk from the night before?

Humm....

The course was out along the Indian Creek Trail system that runs over a large portion of Johnson County. It is pretty, paved, and well maintained. The course was an out and back route, so we made it to the half way point!

Ohhh. We're halfway there! Ohhh, livin' on a prayer...

After turning around we made the 6.5 mile trip back to the Leawood store. The sky was gray and overcast, but overall it was great weather for a run.

Jumping at the finish line!

We finished the race with a time of 2:33:34. Not the world's best time, but we weren't out there for time. Just a nice, healthy way to start the new year. Thanks for the run Courtney! Let's do that again sometime.

Cheers to our finish!

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2017 Fitness Goals

I posted my 2016 goal review a little late, so I figure it is okay to post my 2017 goals a little late too. I mean, I had them posted in Instagram on time, so that counts for something, right? Okay. Good then.

Anyway, I had a pretty rad fitness year in 2016. It is going to be hard to beat. But I'm going to try. I mean, that's all I can do right? Try? I set some pretty big goals for myself - the biggest I've ever set before. I'm trying hard to stay on track. I hope to check in around June to update and see how the progress is coming. Someone remind me to do that please. And thanks.

So, here are the goals. Written in Sharpie so I can't erase them, and so that I stay sharp and focused. (See what I did there?)

What are your fitness goals for the year?

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Putting my shoes out to pasture

In 2016 I really made an effort to keep track of things. Classes attended, pace times, and miles run just to name a few. I also started to keep track of my shoes, and how many miles I put on them. I found it easy to do with the Garmin Connect software. I entered in my shoe brand and model, and a short description about them i.e. Pink Hoka One One. After each run or walk I would log into the Connect App and give details about the activity like "treadmill run" or "track walk" or "street biking". One can also assign gear to the activity, so I would tell the app I was wearing a particular pair of shoes, riding my bike, or on an elliptical machine. The app would then keep a running total of the miles on each pair of shoes. In early 2016 I made the switch from Newton Running shoes to Hoka One One, and I mainly rotated through three pairs of shoes. It was fun to see the totals on each shoe rise, and also to see which pair I liked the best, or needed to use a it more.

On November 17, 2016 after 89 activities and 384.57 miles, I retired my first pair of Hokas. They were Sunny Lime Clifton 2s, and I really liked that pair. Connect allows one to "retire" the shoes, and they are moved from the Active Gear display to the Retired Gear display page. It's almost like a little scrapbook of shoes past.

The Hoka One One Clifton 2 in Sunny Lime

As a new year approaches, I always make it my goal to use up all the bits and bottles before using something new. I try and cook with what is in my pantry and freezer, clean out cupboards, and use up what I have. I applied that same thought process to running shoes this year, and have been working towards putting the last few miles on some shoes before I open the shiny new pairs.

So, on January 6, 2017 I retired another pair of Hoka One Ones. This time it was a pair of Stinson Lites with 393.2 miles on them. Also a great pair of shoes with lots of good runs.

The Hoka One One Stinson in Acid Aqua White

And on January 21, 2017 I put my last treadmill miles on a pair of pink and white Hoka One Ones. I don't know the style. I purchased them on the internet last winter because they were my size and really inexpensive, like $40ish. Can't say they were my favorite pair, or the most pretty. But they served me for 311.2 miles, and I certainly got my money's worth out of them.

Hoka One One in pink

I'm excited to open a couple boxes of new shoes. I have another couple pairs of Clifton 2s to wear, and I found a pair of Infinites on sale to try. I hope to get around 400 miles per pair...wonder how long that'll take...

 

#shoeporn

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2016 Year in Review

Good-bye 2016. So long, and thanks for all the fish. You've been a great year for fitness goals, and I've had a lot of fun completing them.



For those of you, myself included, who may have forgotten my fitness goals, let's remind ourselves.

I'm happy to report I met 2/3 of my goals!

Let's break down the year.

Races

5k (3.1 miles)    - 3 races

4 miler               - 1 race

10k (6.2 miles)  - 1 race

1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) - 10 races and 4 of those as a Smart Pacer

I PR'd on my 10k time at the Plaza 10k in Kansas City on September 11, shaving 7:03 off my previous time. That brought my pace down to 8:40 per mile.

I PR'd on my half marathon time at the Independence Day race in Independence, MO on May 1, shaving 13:30 off my previous time.

I made some great gains in the CrossFit Box, including

Bench Pressing 100 pounds

Dead Lifting 205 pounds

Power Cleaning 90 pounds

Push Pressing 90 pounds

Back Squatting 135 pounds

And I know what all those terms mean!

I ran my fastest mile - 8:00.1 at the Hospital Hill half marathon, and I hit the 1000 mile running mark on September 20. I ran for 112 days in a row (a run streak) starting on June 6, and ending on September 25 at the Chicago Half Marathon. I was active for 338/365 days of the year.

I kept track of my fitness this year, and here are my stats by the numbers...

1 Surf Fit Class

1 Bootcamp Class

30 Yoga Classes
31 Jazzercise Classes
152 CrossFit Classes


1.61 miles on the Elliptical Machine
28.41 miles on a Bicycle (stationary or road)
87.18 miles Walking (treadmill or road)
1325.2 miles Running (treadmill, gym track loops, or road)

I'm looking forward to moving forward. 2017 will only be as good as I allow it to be, and I'm not planning to let up any time soon.

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