The Challenges of October

About a week ago I decided to hop on the challenge bandwagon. This led to a ridiculously tiring, excuse-filled week...
Last Saturday I had a great workout. I did one of my Asylum vids and went for a run. All was happy and fall-ish. Sunday came and I took a rest day. Monday came and I took another rest day...you can see where this is going.
Thursday was the first day I finally worked out via bootcamp ran by a phenom instructor in a local community center. Friday I went for a run...in the morning! Yesterday I participated in an almost 5 mile trail run (with obstacles!).

So- you might ask- what do challenges have to do with this?
1st Challenge: Presented about a week ago--Starting October 1st cut out added sugars. Limit to 25 grams or less per day.
2nd Challenge: Presented a day after the first--Also starting October 1st cut out alcohol for 30 days.
During the time I was pondering these challenges (after agreeing to them) my mindset shifted to a dark, dark place. A place of "when I start this challenge sugar will disappear for.ev.er". DUH. This led to me consuming more junk and sugar in the following days than in a year total beforehand...which led to severe stomach issues (am I getting the flu?)...which led to cranky me in the morning...which led to me failing a challenge presented later that week.
3rd Challenge: Presented by my hubby on Tuesday night at approximately 10 pm---starting the next day we would attempt to get up at 5:30 (yes, in the morning) and go running for half an hour. Due to the darkness of the a.m. that fall brings this means walking to the gym at 5:45 (yes, in the morning). Due to my reaction of the earlier challenges I failed the first two days of this, shamefully. Did I mention that we wagered $5 a day on this. So after day 2, I owed him $10 already. Nice.
4th Challenge: I signed up for this yesterday. I am challenging myself to stay off the scale for 2 months, blog about my clean eating, anti-scale, consistent-exercising self along the way. Goal: a shift of my scale-obsessed, fad-diet hopping, every-day exercise addict mind, to a more self-loving, look in the mirror, feel good on the inside type of person.
5th Challenge: Under Armour is running an outstanding program now called "What's Beautiful". It allows women to post a challenge to themselves and track it using their website through videos and photos. There are challenges posted from UA as well as some you can post yourself. I did it. I am motivating myself even more to meet the 4th challenge by tracking it on UA as well. My hope is to inspire others to do the same...see yourself as beautiful through your strengths, energy, and radiance rather than through some digits on a scale.
6th (and final) Challenge: Complete my challenges.
The short version...
No added sugar (25 g or less) or alcohol.
Get up at 5:30 and to the gym
No scale. Eat Clean. Work-out consistently.

Care to join me in any (or all) of these challenges? Let me know!

Today I Ran into Fall!

     I love fall. I love everything about the season, from the clothes, weather, air, sports, and holidays (Halloween is my fave) to the beautiful colors of the changing leaves and the soup and cocoa that brings to close the shorter days of light.
    So- today I welcomed the new season with spending a little more time in bed (rest is important too!) then time with my hubby and our neighbor watching the football game. I managed to get a little work done after a delish lunch, then cranked out my Insanity Asylum workout- today was Vertical Plyo. Whew! I brought it today!
    After the workout I threw together a new Shakeology mixture and stuck it in the fridge so I would know it awaited me after my run.
    Fall is a time of year when there are tons of running events to partake in and so I am dedicating this post to my love of running. Read on, read on...
    Running is a passion of mine. I loved it when I started because I never thought I could run a mile, let alone THREE! I loved it as I built up my mileage and challenged myself to a 5K, then an 8K, then a 10K, then a half and shortly after a full marathon. I stayed with mary's for a while then pushed on to a 50K (The Northface Endurance Series). I had the most wonderful experience on that run...
    For the past 9-10 years as I have played in the land of the runner, I have had my ups and downs. Ran streaks of over a year, taken breaks for over a month, inspired my sister and mom to run, gotten some friends running, and even injured myself by pushing too hard, too fast...but, I always come back to it. I love it. I follow blogs about runners and read magazines about running...I use it to unwind, challenge myself, spend time with those I love, and it is who I am.
   So, for those of you who love the run as much as I do...or even if you are not a runner but play around with the idea in your head, here are a few Go-To running resources that may suit you.

• Runner's World online.
• Run With Jill (blog)
• Sole to Soul  (blog)
• Run.Dog.Cat. Me  (blog)
• Couch to 5K -plan from coolrunning.com
• Find a race almost every weekend in IOWA!
• Find a run anywhere in the USA!

Let me know if any (or all) of these are helpful...or if I can be of any help finding information on running for you!
As always- I welcome feedback! Thanks for reading!

Motivated

I can proudly say that I have been on track with Shaun T. for the past 8 days. Today I am gearing up for another Back to Core vid with him and looking forward to a few new workouts in the next few days. I had a "rest" day a few days ago and decided to go for a 3 mile run with the hubby instead.
Note to self: when the workout calendar says rest day- take a rest day! My Speed and Agility workout yesterday was haaaaaaaard! I think my legs were furious with me that I hadn't given them the day off they deserved.
I made a Groupon purchase. A photo session with an area company. It is not a fitness shoot and not a regular shoot. It is something I will need to be in best shape for and it is my current motivation to eat clean and work hard when I push PLAY or head out the door for a workout.
Boot Camp starts this week so I am super pumped. Means I will have to get up extra early in order to meet up with Insanity;Asylum. Not too thrilled about that...but said photo shoot is looking!
Next week I will post some stats.

Get out there. Work hard. Eat right. Be your best self!

Getting On Track: September Sacrifices

Been too long...ugh.
So- I have been trying to get into the swing of things with the school year started and for on whole week I was exhausted from morning until night. It took an awesome 5K to kick me back into gear. I cleared the finish line on August 25th at 26 min and 36 seconds.
THEN- I went through another week with a slightly less exhausted outlook. This past weekend I ran another 5K...26:06!!!

I am starting to get into Beachbody coaching. I did a challenge last month (Beachbody workout videos plus Shakeology) and was off to a great start. I am a runner and something was going on with my knee after a while so I figured it could be the twisting and turning I was doing from the videos so I sent it back. I love Shakeology though so that was the easy part of the challenge. I just started Insanity: Asylum and am in on another challenge with my lovely coach. I also got a mixed box of the shakes and am loving a bit of variety in my shakes. If you want more info on this send me a message...
In regards to the vids, I am on day 2 and can definitely feel the effects already! So far, highly recommended!! I will keep you posted. Next post- my beginning measurements (eek).

By the way...I joined a challenge called the 3S September Event. My things I am giving up for the month: The Scale and Snacking.