As we all know, 2020 has been a mess. There are cancellations galore, ranging from birthday parties, graduations, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and more. Up until recently, in some parts of our country, we could not eat inside a restaurant. This past spring, my son graduated high school, and it was nothing like we have imagined. This fall, his campus is not opening, and he will be attending classes from home. It is all a cluster! It has been stressful, and I have needed an outlet. That outlet is running.
Running is what has gotten me through the hard times. There is nothing more satisfying than completing a training plan and celebrating with a race. A race, hmmm… there certainly has not been a lot of those in the past six months.
Like most other things in my life in 2020, road races have been canceled. My race weekends in Disney World were canceled, as have two local 10ks, three local half marathons, and a half marathon in Vancouver, BC. I know I am not the only one. A lot of my friends are runners and are experiencing the same disappointment. So what do we do now? Call it a day, sit on the couch, and eat cookies? NO! We are runners. We figure it out. Here are four suggestions to get us through these challenging times.
Rediscover your Love of Running
Training is hard. Always training for a race is even more challenging. There is no downtime, and it is day after day of speedwork, drills, hill repeats, intervals, and the long run. Sometimes the love of running disappears in the midst of it all. However, with no races on the horizon, you can take a day, a week, or even a month to run just because you want to and not because you have to check off a box in a training plan. To me, this has been the best part. I am running more now because I love it, and it makes me feel good. These days it is more of I want to run than I have to run.
Do Something that will Improve your Running
Often when I am deep into a training program, other forms of exercise fall by the wayside. I skip out on my strength training. Yoga?? What is that? This is the perfect time to incorporate these things into your routine. Instead of an hour-long run, run 30 mins and then complete 30 mins of strength training. I promise, once you see the benefits of strength training, you will never exclude it from your training plan again.
Try Something New
Perhaps with all the cancellations, the motivation to run is not there. That is okay. Take this opportunity to try something new. I started shadow boxing and loved it.
Challenge Yourself
The race is the reward for a long training cycle. Without that, many people might not see the point in continuing with their training. Instead of throwing that training plan out the window, why not continue and see what goals you can crush despite not having the reward at the end.
Remember, though it may seem like it, this is not forever. Eventually, the virus will pass, and races will resume once again. Until then, eat healthily, move 30 mins a day, stay hydrated, and get plenty of sleep.
I am a runner. Running is what I love to do. However, running alone can not get me to my goals. Running alone, for me, leads to injury. All runners need to incorporate cross-training and strength training. It makes us stronger and helps prevent injuries.
So then, why the heck was I not doing it? Time, laziness, boredom, or possibly all three? When COVID-19 hit back in March, and we were told to work from home and to shelter in place, I thought I would have all the time in the world. Well, I did, and I decided to prioritize other things. Well, no more!
For me to be a stronger runner and overall in better shape, I needed to do something other than running. A few friends of mine had been working out to a boxing program, and it looked pretty fun. After 100 days of working from home, wearing a mask when out, graduations, and travel plans canceled, it would feel good to punch something.
The program is six weeks long. Joel (the trainer) leads you through 3 days of boxing training and two days of strength-building workouts with weights for a total of 5 days a week. There are no bags or people to hit; it is shadowboxing.
The boxing workouts with conditioning drills are broken up into ten rounds, 3 minutes each, and progress over the six weeks. The two days of weightlifting workouts include one day of the upper body and lower bodywork.
I am finishing up week two tomorrow, and I am sore! I can already feel the difference in my shorts. I can feel my core getting stronger, as is my running. The most important thing, it keeps me engaged, and I do not dread the workouts. I actually found something, besides running, that I like.
If you are interested in 10 Rounds, you can access on Beachbody on Demand. Beachbody on Demand (BOD) is a streaming service that provides hundreds of workouts to help people achieve their health and fitness goals. BOD can be streamed on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Members can also stream BOD through a TV using Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast, or via the Beachbody On Demand app for iOS and Android. Apple Watch users can stream their workouts on their iPhone or iPad, and Apple Watch will project real-time heart rate and caloric burn on those screens. Take a peek.
10 Rounds for the knockout win!
In mid-March, life as we know it came to a screeching halt. Schools were closed, non -essential businesses shut down. Many of us were asked to work from home, homeschool our kids for the first time and social distance from everyone we know and love. These are stressful times.
So how do you release your stress? A significant stress reliever for me is exercise. Exercise lifts my mood and helps me keep a clear head. Running is my anti-depressant of choice for the reasons I just described and many more. If you would like to read more about the mental benefits of exercise, you can do so here.
Perhaps you are not a runner. Or maybe you like the gym and desperately missing it right now. Even though I run, I have to incorporate strength training in my routine to prevent injury. How do I do this? From the comfort of my own home.
Beachbody on Demand (BOD) is a streaming service that provides hundreds of workouts to assist people in achieving their health and fitness goals. BOD can be streamed on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Members can also stream BOD through a TV using Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast, or via the Beachbody On Demand app for iOS and Android. Apple Watch users can stream their workouts on their iPhone or iPad, and Apple Watch will project real-time heart rate and caloric burn on those screens. Take a peek.
This is the perfect alternative to the gym, and I feel I have not skipped a beat in my fitness journey. Also, for those of you looking for help with nutrition, BOD includes easy to follow nutrition plans. Click here to get started. I love my membership, hence why it is my love of the week!
Not every week, but a couple times a month, I will share with you a tip related to productivity, goals, health & fitness, travel or just life in general. We could all use more tips in our life. Today’s tip has to do with working out and scheduling in that time. I am going to share what works for me.
I am a pen to paper girl. I am not a fan of electronic calendars, scheduling apps, etc . There is nothing wrong with them, it is just not my thing. However, this tip can be incorporated into your life, whether you are put it on paper or in your phone. I am often asked how I find the time to workout. I am a full time attorney, raising two busy teenage boys, with a husband, a dog and two cats. I also run this blog as a side hustle and do online health and fitness coaching. I have a full plate. Which is why it is so important for me to schedule my workouts, like I would any other appointment. I don’t just schedule them a week in advance, I schedule them a month out. Take a look.
As you can see above, I schedule out each of my cross-training days and each of my run days. I do take into account everything else on the calendar, but didn’t want to publish my every move, so left it off for today’s purpose. As you can see, I even schedule in my rest days. You will notice, there is not a time associated with each workout. That gets put down on the daily page in my planner. For example, April 2nd is a lifting day. On the page for April 2nd, I will put next to 5:00am- Liift4. Again, you make it like any other appointment on your calendar. By doing so, you are making it a priority and more likely that not, you will not cancel on yourself. Makes sense? So there you go.. your first Tip Thursday. I hope it helps!
