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By kilax, January 12, 2016 4:44 am

I received this book as a holiday gift from my father-in-law, and liked it so much I want to share my thoughts here. This isn’t a sponsored post.

Yay! I actually finished a book in a normal amount of time (two weeks) – which means I can cohesively comprehend what I read! Ha ha.

How Bad Do You Want It?, by Matt Fitzgerald, is about how endurance athletes can learn to cope with discomfort and stress while performing, to achieve their best results. The book is heavily focused on the psychobiological model of endurance performance – that the mind and body are deeply connected, with the mind being in charge (as opposed to previous models which believed endurance performance was mostly biological, not psychological).

Well, that makes sense, right? Our brain runs everything! But it’s more than that – it’s the concept that in order to become a better endurance athlete, it’s NOT so much actual effort you have to learn to deal with, but perception of effort – how your brain reacts to what you are doing. Only then, can you push yourself further and further to your limits.

IF you want to. I mean, the title of the book is “how bad do you want it?”!!! I know I’ve been in races and given up toward the end, deciding I didn’t want what I was going for (and truly not being upset about it). I’ve been beaten out of first place (in age group and overall) by less than 10 seconds a few times and said to myself – “yeah, she wanted it more than me and she worked for it, good for her!”

But… what about when you DO actually want it bad enough to go for it?! This has happened to me as well (thankfully, ha) where I had my mind so set on something that I pushed for it and got there – and if it’s happened to you, you know it’s one of the best feelings in the world! This book is about how to achieve that.

The book is twelve chapters – an introduction and conclusion, and ten chapters in between, each one going over a different coping (with the pain of working hard) mechanism, using anecdotes about endurance athletes from the past forty or so years.

I like that it was anecdotal. Stories tend to stick with me – I remember the examples from them better than reading straight up research. And each chapter does have a lot of research in it – but sandwiched between the story (each chapter seemed to start with the story build up, then there’d be the research-y/science-y stuff, then you’d get the conclusion to the story, after).

I did NOT like the goofy analogy throughout the whole book of endurance training being like a fire walk – you know, when people walk on hot coals. That’s just not relatable to me. It felt cheesy and forced.

I also thought it was funny that Pre is on the cover, but he is not even brought up until the final chapter! I was getting worried he wasn’t going to be in there at all!

But the book was definitely effective. Since reading it, I’ve already thought to myself during workouts, “how bad do I want this?” to push myself a bit more. I think I’ll review each chapter’s “coping mechanism” and my highlighted notes from time to time, to see if I am retaining what I read… and if I am using it!

Continue reading 'How Bad Do You Want It? Book Review'»

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By kilax, January 11, 2016 6:22 am

I’m signed up for exactly one race (so far) this year. A local 5K at the end of February. And I have a goal for it.

I don’t often set race goals, but I always seem to with this race! I’ve tried to PR on it (bad idea, it’s hilly) and I’m always trying to win my age group (I’ve been in first place 4 of the 7 times, and in second the other 3 times… it’s a small race, ha!).

This year, I am going for a course PR.

I ran it last year in 22:58. My 5K PR is 21:48. Should be a piece of cake, right?!

Ha! Not if I keep eating pieces of cake. Ha. Ha ha. Sigh.

I see three potential things holding me back from a course PR: weather/route conditions (a BIG if in February), hills, and diet. The first one is out of my control. But I can train for hills (I already have my speed and hill work planned out).

And… I can alter my diet?!

Ha!

Since the marathon, I’ve been eating like I am not training for anything (because I’m not!) – healthy, but not as diligent as in marathon training. Maintaining weight loss, but only losing a few pounds since the marathon. It’s time to get back with the program! The race is just under seven weeks away – I could make some major progress before then, and run faster with less effort, if I was lighter!

Or, should I start at six weeks, after my family Christmas?

Or, after the move? Yeah, that will definitely be stressful and mess with my eating. But how many weeks away is that?

Ha ha ha. JUST kidding… er…

I guess it’s really one race, TWO goals: course PR and shed a few pounds to get there. Here we go!

I usually don’t talk about weight loss on here. It’s such a different journey for everyone, and I don’t like people paying attention to what I weigh. But, I bet a lot of people are in the same boat as me after the holidays, so why not share?

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By kilax, January 10, 2016 4:27 pm

Highlight of the Week: Indoor cycling (2x!) with Steven!

Monday | January 4, 2016: 7 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°, Time: 1:04:28, Pace: 9:12 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay, but regretted my afternoon snack choice
Strength: medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | January 5, 2016: 5 m ride (w/Steven!!!) + 20 mins strength
Indoor Ride Time: 19:50, Pace: 15.2 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | January 6, 2016: 11 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 27°/24°, Time: 1:38:59, Pace: 9:00 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great, esp. after I woke up! Ha!
Thursday | January 7, 2016: 6 m run (incl. 6×400)
Loc: hood, Temp: 37°/37°, Time: 52:16, Pace: 8:42 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good, grateful for the warmth 
Friday | January 8, 2016: teaching strength class + 16 m run
Strength: medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake/Gurnee loop, Temp: 39°/38°, Time: 2:33:24, Pace: 9:35, Difficulty: easy, Felt: decent, tired legs after speedwork (per usual)
Saturday | January 9, 2016: 10 m run (incl. hills) + 6.5 m ride (w/Steven) + 20 mins strength  + boxing w/Steven
Loc: Hood to Heather Ridge, Temp: 35°/35°, Time: 1:30:30, Pace: 9:03 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good, gassed at the end
Indoor Cycling Time: 25:32, Pace: 15.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | January 10, 2016: teaching fitness boxing + 5 m run
Strength: body weight w/hand resistance bands and boxing, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: great
Loc: hood, Temp: 13°/13°, Time: 40:22, Pace: 8:04 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great

Notes:

• I’m loving running in our rental neighborhood! The location is similar to my old neighborhood, in that I am mostly locked in to the northeast corner of where two highways intersect (with few opportunities to cross), but the difference here is that there are tons of connecting neighborhoods, so I can run a variety of routes! At the old house, there were just two neighborhoods to run through (and a trail going in two directions, to use when not covered in snow) and that got really old in the winter (it was A LOT of cul-de-sac running…).
• My feet and legs let me know it was time for new running shoes this week. Ugh. I was hoping losing weight would make my shoes last longer – nope – I still wildly supinate to the midfoot on one side, and the rearfoot on the other, and that destroys my shoes.
• And speaking of feet… my entire long run was in the rain this week, and that was NOT good for my toe with the missing toenail. Ouch. For whatever reason, it aggravated it.
• This was my fourth week in a row teaching fitness boxing! I thought I’d be ready for a break next weekend, but I am kind of sad I am not teaching it again until the 23rd.

Link to Training Week 324

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By kilax, January 9, 2016 7:16 am

Gosh, I cannot express how nice it’s been to have some FREE TIME since Christmas! Hallelujah!

From October to December, we were focused on selling our house, moving, unpacking, finishing things up at the old house, traveling to Dallas, then prepping and hosting Christmas. We were constantly on the go. Ha, one night in early December, we set up our DVD player, put in a movie and sat down to watch it, then when the previews were over, said to each other “Do we actually have time to watch a movie?” NOPE! We shut it off and went back to the office to work on things. Ha ha.

But since Christmas, we’ve had free evenings, and weekends again. What a treat! We’ve actually gotten bored at night. I know, whuuuuuut?

(Seriously though, after doing so much in the evenings for so many months, I feel weird sitting down and watching movies again.)

I am deeply cherishing the quiet now, because I know it’s short-lived before we pack up and move again (we still don’t have a close date, but I am getting estimates from moving companies, anyway), then have to unpack again. And begin house projects at the new house. Just in time for some busy days at work, too, if things stick to the made up schedule in our heads. Schweet. Ha.

But anyway! I started writing this whole post to say I’ve had time to read at night, and on the train, and that it’s relaxing and fulfilling for me. I love how reading a book or magazine (as opposed to anything online) makes me slow down and ensure that I fully understand what I am reading. I am almost done with How Bad Do You Want It? and pulled The Rise of Superman out of storage to start next. And I asked for a few books from my family for our late Christmas (which is soon, yay!).

I hope you are having a relaxing start to the year, too!

Data is having a relaxed January… except when he remembers there is a ceiling fan in the office

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By kilax, January 8, 2016 12:45 pm

For the entire year, but especially January:

To all the friends/family/acquaintances/strangers you see beginning or restarting their fitness journey – BE ENCOURAGING. BE KIND. BE PATIENT.

People succeed when they’re part of a supportive group of people sharing a similar goal (in this case, becoming healthier). Be part of that group for them. It’s hard enough to be consistent with a fitness routine. Don’t make it more intimidating for beginners.

If you’re working out for the first time, starting up again, or trying to ramp intensity up – BE ENCOURAGING, BE KIND, BE PATIENT – with yourself.

It will be hard at first. Know that with consistency, it becomes easier. Don’t dwell on what you could do in the past. Life is static and we change. How boring would life be if we didn’t have continual hiccups giving us an opportunity to demonstrate our resilience?!

I’ll never forget the January a few years ago when I decided to redeem a Groupon for a few classes at a local kickboxing studio. I was stoked – I love kickboxing. I ended up being disappointed.

The instructors made a judgment on my abilities before they spoke to me and put me in a group below my abilities and left me there. No effort was made on their part to find out I’d done this before – although I think they quickly realized I had, yet they still didn’t challenge me, reach out to me, or communicate effectively with me. Did they not want to put any effort in me, because they thought I was some “resolutioner” who wouldn’t take classes again? They certainly made me feel that way.

As someone regularly attending fitness classes and on the heavier side, I was frustrated with their judgment, but it encouraged me to work harder (and yeah, I never went back, because the atmosphere was obviously not right for me).

And they can suck it, cause now I teach my own fitness boxing class. Nope, not bitter. Ha!

I doubt it would have that effect (to work harder) on everyone, though. What about the people who were starting out there for the first time, as their first workout, in a long time? How would it make them feel? How about some communication with the new students? How about making people feel welcomed? How about asking them about their goals, strengths, weaknesses and contraindications?

I’m grateful for that experience, because it taught me to never be that way as a personal trainer. To never judge someone new, no matter the time of year.

It also made me realize one of the coolest parts of my personal trainer job – being a cheerleader! I get to see my students work hard, grow, accomplish their goals and set new ones, and I get to cheer them along. How cool is that?! Rah rah!

But you don’t have to be a personal trainer to be a cheerleader. You can CHEER and be ENTHUSIASTIC for anyone and yourself! Remember that friend who mentioned starting a fitness routine? Inquire about it. Feeling frustrated with how hard your workout was? Be enthusiastic that you gave it a go, anyway. It WILL get better.

And please, PLEASE, keep in mind that there is something different for everyone. Don’t brush off the fitness program someone decides to do because it’s never what you’d choose, or because it wouldn’t be challenging for you. Don’t be pushy about what you do, or judge people for not being able to do what you do. How boring would life be if we all did the same thing?!

Ok, preaching over.

But one more time: rah, rah!

Comments (24)

By kilax, January 7, 2016 6:07 am

• We’ve been in total limbo with the new house purchase. We know it’s moving forward, but we’re constantly getting new information as inspections are (now) completed (this week’s: “Hey, you need a new septic tank!”) and we don’t have a close date. All typical home purchase stuff, right? But then throw in the fact that the house we’re renting is under contract to close on February 5th, and things get a little interesting. Ha. Surprisingly, I am very calm about all this. I’m someone who typically struggles with the unknown, but with this, I’ve been okay. Steven and I are working really well together as a team (going through this has brought us closer together), and I know we can get done whatever we need to. We’ll make it work. I have faith in us. (And I hope that by saying we don’t have a close date, the universe will do what it usually does, and provide me one, making me a liar).

Scwheet gate in front of the entry doors to our hopeful home

• When we took Steven’s dad and brother to see the house, I realized that I was wrong about something. There isn’t one ceiling fan… there’s FOUR!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Sorry, Data.

OMG SUPER SCARY FAN IN GUEST BEDROOM!!!!

• And for all my complaining about the rental house kitchen (and other things that I haven’t mentioned here, but you’ve probably heard if you know me in real life, ha), we’re so much happier in the rental than we were in our townhome. We felt on edge in our townhome for many years, because of noise and other disturbances. It’s peaceful where we’re living right now, and it’s wonderful. We’re not stress-free, but THAT stress is gone.
• This post is all house, house, house. And it continues. Our new home is in (the unincorporated part of) a town where ,when we tell people we are moving there, they say “you’re moving WHERE?” with cat making home alone face when you tell them… and not in a good way. Ha. And yesterday, I was buying a train pass to get WAY out there, and the agent was like “All the way to there?” Yep! Ha.
• One more house thing – it’s so weird to think of someone living in our old townhome! I hope they’re liking it!
• Buah ha ha. I spoke too soon when I wrote this post about being back at knitting and remembering everything. I apparently forgot how to read, because I made the hat way too short, despite having made this pattern before! Oops! I am hoping it will fit the head of Bobbi’s youngest daughter. Luckily, I had purchased two skeins of the yarn and finished hat #2, on skein #2, last night. Ha.

Hat #1 – At least the yarn is making it turn out cute!

Hat #2 – this one may be TOO tall. Ha. I will get it right, eventually.

• My older brother is getting married in Alaska in June (!!!!!!), and Steven and I, and most of my immediate family, purchased our flights for the trip on Sunday!!!! YAY!!! There aren’t any races where I will be, but I obviously plan to run there. Big thanks to my parents for covering the flight costs until we can pay them back after we close on our house (because the close costs about a zillion dollars).

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 80

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By kilax, January 6, 2016 6:09 am

I wonder if I should take the mug Kelly gave me to the office to use?

Nah, seems like a bad idea.

Somebody would probably steal it so they could use it.

Ha ha ha.

Comments (17)

By kilax, January 5, 2016 6:12 am

Way to make me feel old, people. Ha.

A few of my Facebook friends from college have been posting about how it’s been ten years since we all started our adventure of living in Rome together (I arrived there January 4, 2006!).

Ten. Years.

Yikes!

That is the main reason I started this blog – to keep in touch with people while living in Rome. Then I stuck with writing  – it turns out I love having this journal of selected parts of my life.

I wonder what it’s like for the students from my university who participate in the Rome program now. Do they live in the same apartments? Is the school in the same place? Is it way easier to keep in touch with people back in the states, because technology is so much better?

I lived in Rome before smart phones. I didn’t even have a cell phone there. I used calling cards to call back home, and wrote LOTS of emails. Skype was just then becoming popular. I wasn’t on Facebook. Craziness! (But maybe all for the better? I would struggle with those distractions, as a student.)

I’ve mentioned this before, but I was NOT a runner when I lived in Rome. Ahh, how I’d love to go back and run in Italy!!! Someday!

Our apartment on Ciambella (that means doughnut!) street

The building where our classes were

And to think, I was b*tching about the kitchen at the rental house…

Cats liked to hang out on the clay tile roof across from our apartment

Me and a random cat at the Colosseo…

Comments (33)

By kilax, January 4, 2016 6:26 am

How to knit! Ha!

After two+ months off, I finally picked knitting back up! And I remembered everything, yay! And knitting is just as relaxing as it was before. Ahhhhhhh.

I’m knitting something for a family member I’ll see when we do my family’s Christmas celebration in mid-January. Technically… this means I DID make a homemade gift for Christmas 2015… even though I am making it in 2016! Right? Right?!?! Ha.

A few people asked me why we aren’t seeing my family until January to celebrate Christmas. Well, geography. And sanity. Most of my family lives in Iowa. Steven’s lives in Missouri. While we could do one big week-long celebration to see everyone (and we have, from time to time), we prefer to spread it out. It’s less stressful that way (hence, the sanity mention above), we don’t have to take huge chunks of time off work (keep in mind Steven runs a retail business that is HELLA busy in December), we get to see family in January and… we get to buy (make?) presents for people after the holiday!

So we* rotate each year. Surely… other people must do this as well? I think of it as fair, to switch who we spend Christmas with each year, but the way some people react… well, they thought the fact that I wasn’t seeing my family meant something was wrong. Nope! That’s just how Steven and I do it!

*Just Steven and I rotate – our families still get together for the holidays even though we aren’t there, ha ha.

Comments (9)

By kilax, January 3, 2016 8:24 pm

Highlight of the Week: Seeing a beautiful sunset / students telling me they enjoyed fitness boxing / a strong finish to 2015 and a strong start to 2016!

Monday | December 28, 2015: 15 m ride
Indoor Bike Time: 1:03:02, Pace: 14.3 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | December 29, 2015: 5 m run + 5 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/29°, Time: 41:34, Pace: 8:18 avg, Difficulty: easy then medium, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/28°, Time: 41:59, Pace: 8:24 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Wednesday | December 30, 2015: teaching strength class + 7 m run
Strength: medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 28°/28°, Time: 1:01:24, Pace: 8:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt:good, getting used to the inclines
Thursday | December 31, 2015: 5 m run
Loc: Gages Lake/Gurnee loop, Temp: 25°/25°, Time: 43:43, Pace: 8:44 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | January 1, 2016: 14 m run + 20 mins strength + 7 m ride
Loc: Gages Lake/Gurnee Loop, Temp: 23°/24°, Time: 2:10:56, Pace: 9:21, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fantastic
Indoor Ride Time: 28:40, Pace: 14.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | January 2, 2016: 6 m run + teaching fitness boxing
Loc: Gages Lake Loop, Temp: 20°/20°, Time: 53:45, Pace: 8:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but a bit tired (leg muscles)
Strength: body weight w/hand resistance bands and boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | January 3, 2016: 10 m run (incl. 10×1:00)
Loc: Gages Lake/Gurnee Loop, Temp: 28°/28°, Time: 1:31:15, Pace: 9:07 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: good, challenged on the inclines

Notes:

• Someone yelled at me “You go girl!” when I ran by them during my Wednesday run. It totally made my run! And, I saw another runner in our rental neighborhood for the first time on Wednesday!
• I’m pleased that our rental neighborhood has some inclines in it. My old neighborhood did too, and regularly running those inclines makes real hills a bit less daunting for me. But gah, they’re hard at the end of a speed session!

• It was nice to have a holiday the last two Fridays, and to not have to wake up at 4:00 am to teach the 5:00 am strength class (I taught them on Wednesday the last two weeks instead). It’s rare I get to sleep in on a Friday!
• My phone decided it had enough of the cold during Saturday’s run and shut down on me (ironically, while I was taking a photo of the sun – which I hadn’t seen during a run in a long time). Oops. I forgot that in previous winters, I put it inside a glove, in my jacket pocket. I did that on Sunday’s run – I don’t feel comfortable running without a functioning phone.
• I’ve thought about this a few times since the marathon but keep forgetting to note it – when I did my long training runs, I turned off the pace view on my watch and used the screen showing overall time only. I did this so that I would run slower and not worry about pace (until I was almost home and then pick up the pace a bit). During the race however, I had pace showing, because I wanted to stay on track for a sub 4:00, and it felt a bit burdensome to look at my watch so much. During training, I did do middle distance at pace training runs showing pace on the watch, but 26.2 miles of it felt like so much longer. Because it was. It all turned out okay, and I became decent at running even-ish splits during training, I just need to find the right balance between running on feel and looking at my watch.
• December recap time! In December I ran 164.4 miles and cycled 55.5 miles. I taught 7 strength classes, 3 fitness boxing classes, and 1 indoor cycling class. On to 2016!

Link to Training Week 323