‘Motivation’ Articles at , Page 26

Let’s All Have Cake and Bring Your iPod Too

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Cait — 2 Comments ↓

Today it’s all about Cake. To be more precise, it’s about music, sorry chocolate cake you also deserve a few special days to call your own but today’s not it.

My all time favorite running song is Cake’s ‘The Distance.’ Cut to me looking like a total idiot belting out…”[S]he’s going the distance…[s]he’s going for speeeeeeed…” I almost can’t help myself every time I hear it. It’s got a power over me.

Though I do contain myself if others are around...I do have some shame.

I actually don’t listen to music while I’m outside running, I never have, and I don’t plan on starting. But that’s mostly because I’d rather be able to hear what’s going on around me and lingering accident-issues there.

BUT, if I’m on any kind of stationary machine I’ve got to have a distraction. TV or music help the time pass. So now, can listening to loud, uptempo music make those sweat sessions more productive (along with a lot less boring)? Though, if I can say so myself, I’m going to go with a resounding, duh?!

I’m sure anyone who’s compared doing: a gym cardio session with nothing vs. a gym cardio session when the gym is playing the best of Michael Bolton vs. a loud, invigorating, pump-up song can tell you all you need to know.

But because we like to back stuff up, let’s get all sciency, and put on our lab coats. I was a little surprised that it seems there are mixed results/opinions out there. I found a really great article that sums it all up by Dr. Len Kravitz, PhD. But I’ll paraphrase:

There is probably a gap between lab studies and then actual application. Further, the people they are testing on present a lot of variables: how in shape are they, how ‘hard’ to they perceive hard, etc.
Out of the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, in 1991 Copeland, B.L., & Franks, B.D. found conclusive that people on a treadmill were able to go longer with faster, loud music than the slower easy listening variety.
Again from the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, in 1990 a study published showed that a pulsing beat upped cardio performance; they cited the reasons might be simply because of mental perspective. Obliviously if you’re able to listen up and let the music ‘make you sweat til you bleed’ you might be moved to up the ante.
Finally, further studies indicate that listening to louder, fast music while lifting weights can actually allow you to lift more and improve strength.

So, if you’re still with me: if you’re stuck inside bring along some fast music. I will also say, having a stocked iPod works wonders in terms of motivation to get to the gym in the first place, if you’re having a ‘meh’ day.

1) I now throw it to you, what’s your favorite pump-up song?

2) Do you listen to music when you run outside?

3) Did you race at all this weekend?

The Super-Secret Miracle to Getting Better…

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Cait — 14 Comments ↓

You want to know what it is? I can sum it up in a single word. Eleven little letters…should I continue to taunt you?

Consistency.

Wow, what a shocking and crazy, insane secret, huh? After all that build-up it may sound anti-climactic, but it’s true. If you want to get better at anything the secret is practice; but you can’t just practice ONLY when you want to or feel like it.

There will be days when it will feel like a grind, when your body is sore from past efforts, when it’s too hot, when it’s too cold, when there are gale winds blowing in all directions. When there is a slight breeze blowing slightly north by northwest and there is a hangnail on your right pinkie toe.

If we only ran when it felt like we were walking on clouds we might get in a run or two a month. Scratch that because if you go that long without training those random runs will feel like a slap to the face and feel like junk. That slap to the face is where most people get in trouble; they plan to ‘start running’ and those first few weeks leave them sore and then they just stop. You have to get over the hump. But I digress.

I just finished an article in the July/August Running Times, they profiled a few different coaches/athletes and at the end they asked them all for a piece of advice. Most of them were just reiterations of one thing: consistency is key. I’ll toast to that.

If you’re the kind of person that has to have an actual race you’re shooting for, you can’t only train for a few weeks/months right before a race and then stop cold, only to up that ante when another ‘must do’ event crosses your path. Or you can, but if you want to improve that will be a difficult road to take.

The body works on tearing itself down and building it back up. Muscles get stressed, recover, and then allow you to do more. Get faster, go longer, all that good stuff. Cardiovascularly you want a strong aerobic base, and that is something that only consistency will grant you. The speed and that may come back quicker, but that aerobic capacity isn’t something you can fake.

So put in that pracitce, put in those miles, put in the training. That’s what also makes you strong, separates the wanters from the do-ers. You don’t have to make all of those days running either; in fact you shouldn’t if you’re new or injury prone. That’s where our friend cross-training comes in. But if you want to steal that super-secret, miracle to getting better…it’s getting sweating and getting it done….consistently.

A Century-load of Motivation

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

If you’re feeling tired in a race and cave to sneaking a peek behind you, if you see this man behind you it should act as a swift burst of motivation!
100 year old marathoner
(Image Source)

Fauja Singh, at 100 years old, recently set the World Record for being the oldest person to complete a full marathon. This was done last week in Canada’s Toronto Marathon. (Actually, what’s really cool is you can read a first person account of Singh’s journey because the rocking Christina ran alongside him for a part of it, so go check her story out!)

You see, that’s where I want to be when I’m 100. Actually, let me correct myself; I’ve said many a time in regards to the ever-increasing life-expectancy: “I only want to live as long as I can still be ‘me.'” Read that as: I can still run and relish in snarky, sarcastic humor.

So, IF I make it to 100, I better still be kicking and living in sweating running clothes…just saying. So, to those who feel they can’t do something and set limits on themselves, take a look at Singh. What I find even more incredible about his story is that his FIRST marathon wasn’t run until the spry age of 89. You see, it’s never too late to turn to the ‘running side’ and become one of us crazy masses. It also proves you should keep challenging yourself and setting new goals, step out of your comfort zone.

His time for this century-aged marathon was 8:11:05; interesting to note that in completely the Toronto Marathon he also established the records for 100-agers in the 100 meter, 5000 meter, and five other distances along with the 26.2 miles. His sights are ever looking forward and up next is of course the grand-daddy of them all: The Olympics.

Juuuuuust hold it…he wants to be a member of the torch relay for the London games. 🙂

1) How old do you hope to be?

2) Do you plan on running/being active up until that last sleep?
You bet, if I can’t I may just go senile.

3) Most inspirational thing/person/quote/etc. that you’ve seen or heard of lately?

4) Do you have a current goal you’re working towards right now?

Pillars of Support – Do You Believe it Can Happen?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Cait — 10 Comments ↓

Who do you tell your hopes and dreams to? Who do you feel comfortable putting it all out there, saying something that you know may make you sound totally insane, crazy, off-the-wall, even egocentric?

When there is something niggling in your mind, a far-reach; do you actually voice that little hope, the dim glint that lurks in the back of your brainspace? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, would be my honest answer. Do I sound like a politician or what?

I think in life we always have those things we ‘wish’ would come true, would like to see happen, and they change over time. Along the way the plausability of such things also gets shifted into perspective. This can be a good thing, I mean there is a point where you don’t want every kid to believe they can in fact be president, it’s not possible, and you don’t want Little Jimmy to fall into a fit when he comes to that realization.

Though to another degree you don’t want to live a life where you have built your own glass ceiling. So it’s a matter of deciding just how much a certain goal or thing means to you. Then it’s probably smart to have at least one place of support where you can voice what’s rolling through your brain to; they can then help you decide if it’s worth plunging full bore into. But choose that support system wisely, and also remember that in the end you have to do what’s right for you.

Who is your pillar of support?

I’m seeing this a lot lately with some various training groups; many people don’t think they can actually run. Think they will never cover a 5k distance, never be able to complete a full 10k without walking. But I want to tell them that your mind is often your biggest limiting factor. Don’t look too long at the place you want to end up; instead take one step ahead and focus on taking the next step.

I guess this also is running through my mind lately because I’m now able to hang around and see one of the people who has been one of my biggest pillars of support. She was a person who helped keep me sane and hopeful after my accident and she was also a safe sounding board. I vented, I updated her, I told her all the crazy things that were rolling around in my brain and she didn’t judge. When I told her I’d cut off my leg and get a prosthetic if that’s what it took to get back to running she listened and understood. She didn’t tell me I was an idiot; though she told me that she believed it wouldn’t come down to that, but if it did she’d be right there backing me up.

Pillars of support. We have to believe in ourselves if we are ever able to do anything but I also have lived a lot by the ‘fake it til you make it’ philosopy, and a part of that is finding a person that YOU trust so much and believe in, that if they tell you they think it is true or can happen, then I take it as fact and go forward. That’s how it was in the past with some of my coaches; if they told me I was capable of running such-and-such, even if I may not have had full faith in myself, I had more than full faith in them and so I forced myself to believe. From there it usually happened.

Find those pillars and then never let them go. Finally, make sure to be just as strong for those pillars when their time comes. So, do you voice that crazy, insane, maybe-I’m-loco thought?

Flies Stink and an Epic Length Post on the Benefits of Bad Races

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Cait — 10 Comments ↓

Flies, what are their deal? They are attracted to all things refuse, decaying and dirty then at the same time feel like it’s okay to roll around in said filth and THEN come schmoozing up on me and my food? How wrong and to coin an annoying blonde haired child, “How rude?” (Stephanie was always my least favorite Tanner.)

I know we’ve all heard urban legend that the second a fly lands on anything it throws up, and so I ask, is that true? If so then I’m covered in sh** on top of being annoyed.

There are other ‘flies’ in life, the flies at the office would have to be those people that buzz around eavesdropping and then spread any juicy tidbits they pick up. Pretty much the same people would be flies at high school, only those flies are a hybrid with mosquitoes because they are out for blood. High school is a blood sport.

Being ticketed for a broken taillight could be a life ‘fly’ because unless you get tipped off by a friendly person watching you from the back, how are you to know? Ooooh, this is fun, so I’m going to keep going. Okay, how about going on a first date, you’re walking along on the beach thinking you’re all cool and romantic and BAM seagull poop lands right on your shoulder? True story, happened to my friend who shall remain nameless only a few weeks ago…so sad, he just started dating again and look what happened. 😛

I guess nothing to do but deal with those flies and swat them away the best that we can. Bad races and horrible workouts are obvious flies. Necessary evils that come with the territory. Heck, bad days in general, but when it comes to running and working out we ALL have those fly days…sadly sometimes fly weeks. Fly slumps. Been there, let’s not look back through those scrapbooks.

BUT, fly races can be good things:

*The Learning Tool: After you finish, mop up those tears, or wash out that mouth, and think. Could there be a reason that you had a less than stellar performance? Did you go out too fast in the beginning or make another obvious racing tactic blunder? Did you go too hard, too close to the big day? Did you not really prepare the way you should for the race? Are you overly tired? Races are like check-ins and if something’s not working then find a way to fix it.

*You Underestimated: Did you go in with an off race plan or maybe no race plan at all? Racing on the fly can be sort of liberating, but you still want to go in with at least some clear goal or tactic. If you knew certain people were in the race, or if you are on a cross team and you were hoping to beat a certain team, did you underestimate your competition? On the flip side, did you underestimate yourself? Did you hold back too long, maybe you should have surged on a certain lap, closed a gap sooner, made a decisive move? Planning mistakes happen, again, use them as a learning experience and be better prepared for next time.

*The Off-Taper: When you taper for a race that means you intentionally cut back mileage, the days leading up are easier. Tapering is a tricky science, all about finding the right balance between doing enough so that you are sharp and ready to go and not doing too much. Look and see if maybe your tapering was a little off. Tapering usually leaves people feeling like they have way too much excess energy and sometimes we have to force ourselves to not do any more than we should. On the flip side, you don’t want to do nothing or take out all fast running, which will leave you feeling sluggish and slow.

You got problems if THIS guy is beating you...

*Overdistance, Underdistance: Was this race ‘your’ race? I mean if you’re a miler and you go run a marathon, you may need to go in knowing that, “Hey, this race is going to be more of a challenge for me than the person who genetically is predisposed to running longer, marathon type distances.” The same for the marathoner running a mile race; it’s great to run a range of races but base the results off of you personally as a runner. If our marathoner runs a decent time FOR THEM in a mile race but comes in dead last, they need to be sure to keep things in perspective.

*Training Through: Did you train through this race? That means was this race not exactly ‘a really big race’ in your training program but instead one along the road to your ‘big goal’ race? This happens a lot for high school and college runners who have to go through league or prelim meets. You can’t rest up for everything because you’d never get in a solid block of training, so for many of the smaller meets you’ll go in without tapering and while you still may put forth your best effort, your legs have that extra workload in them and won’t be as fresh as when you eventually do taper for the big day. This is a big mental thing though because for some people these off races put doubts in their mind and they become afraid that come their ‘big goal’ race they will still feel flat. So you have to stay confident and know that come the big day you’ll be rested and ready.

*Something New: Trying something new on a race day isn’t something you should do. The pile of cheesy nachos an hour before the gun will bring you your own just desserts. In times like these, get through the race and let’s hope it’s a lesson learned.

*New Training: Anytime you go with or are transitioning to a new training method, program, or coach expect that to get results you’ll need to wait through the adjustment period. It takes a few months, yes months at least, to fully adjust to something new and see the results you want. Expect that, and if you really believe in the program stick it out and give it time. That said training philosophies and techniques are VERY personal and if something doesn’t click after an acceptable period of adjustment, reassess. Make sure anything you are doing you fully believe in, running and racing is mental, you have to believe in what you’re doing to make it work.

*Gut it Out: Making it to the finish line despite knowing that you’re having a bad race is one of the best ways to improve your mental fortitude. It’s a mind game. If you were to drop out and stop after each bad race, you run the risk of getting into a very bad habit. There are times when the smart thing to do is drop out, you don’t want to risk an injury, but I’d say for the majority of the time you should stick it out to the end. Why? It’s all mental, if you don’t force yourself to finish when it hurts and sucks too many times, you start to give yourself that ‘out’ and that ‘out’ becomes way too appealing any time a race or workout hurts…and running does hurt. 😉

*Test of Character: Lose as gracefully as you can, or if you don’t meet your goals give yourself an hour, maybe a day/night of wallow, but then get sane and productive.

*The Flies Gotcha: Look, sometimes there are just no reasons for bad races or bad days. The clouds align and they are stormy. To be honest, having exceptional races are a rarity, having good races you’d like to be the ‘almost’ majority, most of them are middle of the road or you at least hit some expectations, but there are plenty of fly races. Bad races and bad days come with the game. You do the most you can to swing the odds in your favor, but at the line it’s all in dem legs and dem legs can be moody like a menopausal woman.

1) What are other flies in life?

How about getting maybe 4 miles into a long run and already scoping out a place for a bathroom plot?

2) One good thing about bad races for you?

3) Worst bad race memory?

The one that instantly comes to mind was when I was running a 10k and through about 4 ½ miles stoked that I was underpace and on track to run a time I REALLY wanted. Crazy how much difference a lap or two can make, I CRAWLED in those last 5 laps. That race was one of the times I wanted to DNF soooo bad…but I didn’t. Haha…that last mile was horrendous!

4) Speaking of, did anyone race this weekend, how did it go? I’m hoping that this post didn’t reopen any fresh wounds. 😉

Mary Decker Slaney’s Birthday and Bringing ‘it’ to the Track

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Cait — 5 Comments ↓

So today I think I need to start with a little tribute to one of the most amazing female runners…it’s Mary Decker Slaney’s birthday today and I was reminded of this by a FB friend who posted this AMAZINGLY inspiring 3000 meter race from the 1983 World Championships.

Toonicized 1984 US Olympic Trials 1500m

Now, I’m a bit too young to have been lucky enough to really watch her races when she was the she-fire on the track, but growing up my mom made it clear that Mary was one of ‘those’ people. The people that to us distance runners, are true idols. Who, to the common mainstream public, may be their Kim K’s, Justin B’s, Harrison Fords…you get the picture. I’m also lame because I’m grappling for the ‘right’ kind of celeb to parallel to our distance running idols but am coming up short.

I’d like to think of Mary as more than a few notches above a Kardashian, so maybe a Jennifer Anniston or Reese Witherspoon, you know, more like an American Sweetheart type of thing.

I did this cartoon version of a picture that was taken by my photographer friend, Bill Leung, when he was there to witness the duel between Mary and Ruth Wysoki at the 1984 1500 meter US Olympic Trials. (A duel where Ruth actually made quite the upset for the win!) So in the real picture the photographer on the side wasn’t in it, that’s my little Bill tribute…hehe.

Anyways, Mary was one of those child phenoms that never burned out before hitting the pro circuit. She raced with guts, of course people are always quick to say ‘this and that’ about people, there are no shortage of negative commenters around, but there are no shortage of fans either. Regardless, I don’t think anyone, after watching races like these can argue with the fact that she is an inspiring and amazing athlete.

I did have the very fine pleasure of meeting and dining with Mary and her husband, and it’s so funny how runners have that duel persona. You can be gritty and fierce as heck on the track, but then cross the finish line and in ‘real life’ be the nicest person around. I’d say it’s more of a stark contrast with girls especially…though, don’t get me wrong because girls can be plenty catty if you catch the wrong set of ‘mean girls.’ Haha.

It's GO time...

My point was, even if it’s your best friend in a race, fire the gun and in competitive situations it’s every man for himself. Some people can argue with me there, “You shouldn’t try to beat your friends,” “Be nice,” and things like that. And if you are going into a race planning on just doing it for fun, then that’s fine, and in that instance it’s not necessarily a ‘race’ between you two.

But when you’re putting it all on the line, and in cases where you really are fighting for the win, the place, I don’t think it’s mean or rude to separate life on the track from that off the track. In fact I think you’re only doing a disservice to the sport and your competitors if you don’t give it you all. (There are always exceptions, if you’re there to pace a training partner to their PR or something like that, I’m not a total heartless jerk…lol.)

I’ve been perfectly happy warming up with my friend (it eases my nerves to have them there actually…I know some people are the opposite and don’t like to talk), knowing full well they too want the very same place as I do in the race, and really I’d have been really pi**ed if they played the ‘nice’ card and ‘gave’ me a win. It works both ways, if you beat someone you want to beat them at their best, not some charity case. So when the gun is fired, it’s ‘go’ time.

However, once the line is crossed, that is when the true signs of sportsmanship should be shown. That’s when the ‘nice’ runner emerges and you congratulate people if you did wind up the winner, and you put on a brave face if you weren’t. You hold it together if you had a horrible race and if you’re going to cry or throw a fit try to put a lid on the worst of it until you get somewhere by yourself. Because we all have those days, those disappointments, and in fact that’s where it can be a real blessing to have a friend/training partner that was in the race who you can cool-down with and talk to about it…because they’ll get it.

And here wraps up another long tangent filled post…I started out by wanting to wish a Happy Birthday to one of my running idols. I’d take that meeting with Mary and her husband (Actually that guy is hilarious!! He’s a stellar field event athlete in his own right and can actually rip a phone book in half too…so funny to see them next to each other with Mary being so slight!) over any ‘normal people’ celeb any day.

1) Who is one of your running idols?

2) Who is one of your any kind of idol?

I admire and respect a few people but not necessarily famous ones.

3) Race day, I know people race for many different reasons and so depending on the reason I think the ‘rules’ or protocols are different. When you toe the line do you take your friendships with you, or is it understood that it’s every man/woman for themselves but once you cross the line you’ll happily cool-down with a competitor?

Bummin on no Froyo and Training Logs are A for Awesome

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Do you see it? It’s my curmudgeonly, scowly look of utter disappointment. Why? Well, for reasons that I can’t fully explain (one, because it’s a long backstory and telling it might wind me up with one of those cyber-faux pas where the thing you write about gets back to people you don’t want it to…second, because it’s sort of ridiculous to the amount you might not really believe me) I missed out on a chance for a real, live, in the flesh froyo date with Margs!!

Margs, you may recall has shot to worldwide celebdom for her role in TO YOGURTOPIA WE GO (how many times am I going to link that fairy tale, well for the time it took me I’m gonna milk it for all it’s worth…haha) and I was excited to learn that this SoCal living bunny was bopping around my neck of the woods for the weekend. But thanks to crazy events we weren’t able to make it to froyo bliss. 🙁

Don’t try to get all smart and figure you’ll pester Margs for my lame reason, partly because she’s got WAY cooler things to think/talk about than me, and second I pulled a Men in Black move and her memory is partially erased. I will say I was happy we at least did get to phone chat, and I hope my fast-talking chipmunk voice hasn’t left her deaf in addition to having a memory fugue.

Why so late a post? Sorry folks, internet still wonko on this side but I’m able to mooch a quickie blog post off of the internet at my parents’ house.

Next on the agenda, so I’ve spent quite a lot of time these past few days working on a project for my old high school’s cross-country and track teams. It’s a running log, something I think is not just really fun to have so you can look back on and track your progress, but it really is important to keep. Why you ask? I’ll tell you…

Even if you aren’t necessarily training for any big race, logging what your workouts are and what you’re doing can keep you on track and motivated to actually DO your workouts, you can reference it when you are feeling sore/sluggish/overly tired and look back at previous weeks’ workouts to figure out why. If you wind up injured you can look for signs of overtraining, then later should you come down with another injury you can look back to what you did then and do your best to cross-train and stay in shape.

People write all kinds of things in their logs, to varying degrees of detail, some people write how much sleep they get, when they feel sick, if they changed a workout their reasons, how they felt in their workout, replay a race, of course PR’s…the color of their poop…just kidding, just wondered if you were still with me. But all of this is useful and important info…oh, and making notes of when you switch out for a new pair of shoes so you remember to change them!

Anyways, anything I do I like to try and make it unique or at least a little better than the bare bones, so I have included lots of articles, quotes, and so forth. So I got to thinking, if I were back in high school, what would I have liked to read about, learn, or hear tips on? I put in things about stretching (when to do it/dynamic vs. static), mental ways to trick yourself into believing that it really doesn’t hurt as much as it does, things on goal setting, refueling right and such.

I think one of the best quotes I’ve ever gotten was from a coach whom I respect to no ends is this: “Stay the course.” Ya, there are tons of other quotes that I really like and are classics, you’ve got Pre’s quotes and other words from legends that are longer and more colorful, but I like this simple one because it is so true in running and in life.

In running, there are ups, downs, sideways, and stallouts. But what separates those from quit or lose their love of the sport from the people who are runners into geriatric years are the ones who just simply keep doing it. They know and accept there are going to be tough times that suck, but getting through those makes the sunny periods all the more special.

Sucks to be that dude.

In life, it’s the same thing, and we all get dealt some shiznit, but you just gotta stay the course. I’ve said this to myself tons of times, and not going to even try to lie, usually when I’ve said it I’m: 1) on the verge of a mega-girly-style breakdown and about to cry…one time that comes to mind was when I was on this horrid stair gauntlet climber cross-training and had been injured forever 2) fuming at the mouth because I’m SOOO irate at whatever 3) feeling so hopeless I have nothing else to do but just hope that things will in fact get better. So for me it’s not even about necessarily always believing at first that staying the course is the right thing, but knowing it’s the ONLY thing to do.

Wowza, so didn’t mean to turn this post into a preachy thing, really I tend to just sit down and type and see what spews out. Winding back to the training log I’ll ask you guys some questions:

1) Do you keep one?

I do, and now it’s a habit, I mean I tend to do really the same sorts of things (I know I need to mix-it up, really I do!) but I guess you can’t fight a habit.

2) What is a piece of advice you would have liked to hear about running/working out when you were younger?

3) What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever gotten?

4) Can’t end sappy, what is one the funniest random quotes you’ve heard? And do feel free to take it completely out of context!

This one leaps to mind because it just happened, and I’m blanking at the moment. I didn’t want to post it because I don’t want to seem like I’m a perv, but this was said dead-pan and in total seriousness by my mom: “I don’t know what a cat penis looks like, I’d have to Google it.” Later common sense took over and the realization set in that *duh* if you Googled that you’d definitely regret it!

Sandy Pants, Racing for Your Cookies, and Techie Apps

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

And we’ve worked our way back to a Monday! Well, sorry for being a bit lame with the posts the past two days and I’ll catch you up to speed. Nothing too crazy exciting to report for Saturday, so I’ll use this as a chance to follow up on my mom’s bird story and share a picture of my lovely sis having fun at the lake up in Twain Harte.

Sis and BF at the lake

First off cute pic…oooh, and awww time. PS-she’s with her boyfriend.

The sun...oh how it burns my eyes out

Actually, right about now I’ll use this as a chance to throw up another beach picture (wow, I wish I were at the beach right now!) but this one is from Hawaii back in 2007 I think. That little guy in the front is my youngest bro and he’s doing that ‘hang loose’ sign with his hands not trying to flash some rando gang sign. I’m the one on the far, top right looking like the sun is about ready to burn out my retinas…that’s because it was and my mom was on about take 50 of this photo.

On to the bird story…now, I warn you animal lovers that this one is not a happy ending type thing so you might just want to skip this paragraph. Anyways, the drive between Gramp’s house and my family’s house is about 2 hours and it’s through the woodsy, curvy NorCal district. Well, my mom and bro drove back from their trip later at night and when they got home they just ate and went to bed. The next day my mom went out to run some errands and there was a note pasted to her window shield that read, “You got a dead bird stuck in your car grill :)” (see picture below) Yes, somehow a poor birdie was hit by the car and wound up stuck on the car for probably about 12 hours…how did no one smell that? My dad had to tackle clean up duties for that one. I want to say that I’m NOT saying the actual event is funny, in fact sad for the birdier, but what I found comical was the fact that my mom totally didn’t notice it and had to have some stranger alert her to this nasty display going on on the front of her car…with a smiley at the end no less. I also laugh because it’s something that would totally happen to me. I’ll spare you any visual of said bird.

Bird note

Sunday night was SUPER fun because I paid a visit to one of my all favorite families…I’ll tell you they wind in a very close second. 😉 I actually have begged my way into being a floater adoptee child, thankfully they didn’t turn me away at the door. Mamma Nappy is actually the one for who I made up the little Cookie Race design for the day when she hosts her own race.

Today I got in my tready run, just over 9 miles, hit the core and abs and got nice and sweaty. Now, I have something that I’d like some of your thoughts on. I got to thinking about how the whole social media and digital world has effected fitness, running, and training. There are a plethora of downloadable apps, online training coaches and trackers, iPod workouts, and even Facebook running apps. Not to mention the little sidebar widgets I see on many blogs announcing the latest workouts completed and all that fun stuff.

Now these apps run the gambit, those that can act as GPS trackers for pace, speed, distance, calories burned, the works, but there are also those that tout the ability to actually coach you to a faster PR. So what I’m curious about it just how reliable and for lack of a better term, good, are these things? As with everything you have to consider the source, and certainly some apps are better than others, but I was hoping to hear from anyone who’s used some of these things to share your experiences. I think that some of the apps for Facebook/blogs/etc where you can post your most recent workouts can offer a person up some positive feedback, encouragement, and maybe even a little bragging rights. That’s cool if it keeps them motivated to stick to their training and get er done. I’ve never downloaded one of those iPod workouts, with music and encouragement while you’re on the treadmill or elliptical, I wonder if hearing Jillian Michaels shout at me would be a kick in the tush to work harder or be just plain annoying.

Let’s hear the good, the bad, the ugly, and the cool things you’ve found in all things apps/widget/downloadable! I want to sort of revisit this whole online coaching thing later in another post, so stay tuned as I’ll be wanting to hear from any of you who have done/taken advantage of any sort of online coaching. 🙂 PS-these are all things that I’m writing an article about, so I could really use and would REALLY love any and all kinds of feedback!

Well, that’s that for now. I hope your week is off to a great start!

1) How do you handle sand getting everywhere at the beach?

Not gonna lie, I really don’t like feeling nitty gritty for days after I go to the beach, but I really don’t think there is any way to avoid it. That and a nice butt full of sandypants.

2) Have you ever hit anything (that was living) while driving? If so how did you react?

I’m SO thankful I’ve never (to my knowledge) hit anything, but if I did I think the guilt would just about eat me alive. My aunt once hit an armadillo while in Texas and she swore she had nightmares of its little beady eyes staring back at her.

3) Have you used any of these apps or techie things, if so, which ones? What are you experiences with some of them?