Category Archives: learning

by Heather | February 12, 2013

Ending the “I Know I Should…” Conversation

So, now you know how to be SMART! Let’s keep that conversation going…

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Between my work with Wellness Corporate Solutions and my own clients, I wish I had a dime for every time I hear the words “I know I should…”. And if I had a quarter for every time I’ve said them? Well, I’d send us all on a retreat to shut us up and enjoy some “Do it Now!” moments instead.

Rock-climbing in Thailand? Yoga in Costa Rica? Hiking in Peru?
We have some options!

There is more information “out there” circling the web than any of us need – we can self-diagnose on WebMD, for better or worse, and we can look up nutrition facts and track our intake, exercise, sleep habits and stress levels on a lot of different platforms. There are pages that tell us how much money we should be saving, or where we should be in a career by now, or all the ways that someone else has failed and succeeded in ways that we may never be able, or want, to imagine.

We end up with a lot of “I Know I SHOULD…” thoughts,
and not a lot of action.

Goals usually come from a place of that “should” attitude, and part of the achievement process is getting to that “will”…

Truth be told, you can’t replace that “should” with “will” until you’re ready and prepared and already past the mental point where that change is exciting, not just daunting. Then, you just have to start.

We often tell clients to think ahead –
How do you want to feel one year from now?

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What works for me? Well, I get a great slap of reality every time I coach someone to make a change, and consequently go through the process with them. I’m reminded of the things I’m thinking I should be doing. I’m lucky that my work, life and passions have intertwined themselves like that.

But outside of coaching, the things that go from should –> will are the ones we put out there. TELL SOMEBODY WHAT YOU SHOULD/WANT TO DO.

Clearly I feel pretty strongly about that, but it makes all the difference in the world. Welcome to the Law of Attraction – put your ideas out there, telling as many people as is appropriate as often as you think about it. (Warning: friends and family, repeat conversations to follow.) The ways and means will follow.

“The truth will follow us and poke at us
until we acknowledge it.” -Baron Baptiste

I want to/should/will get a fitness coaching certification, so a friend started sending me updates on workshops available and my coworkers have offered help with the ACSM courses.

I want to/should/will travel abroad this year, so experienced people have offered up tips on places to go, where to stay, and helpful travel sites to bookmark.

I want to/should/will do yoga teacher training – I got called out (ahem, tagged) on Facebook recently as a friend kindly posted that there’s an upcoming info session at our favorite studio.

NOTED, world. I hear you & I’m listening.

—–

End the internal monologue. Know the difference between the shoulds you want and those you don’t – put the good-for-you ones out there, be ready, and watch the world work its magic.

10 Comments

Filed under about me, Goals, learning, motivation, Yoga

Tagged as goals

by Heather | February 8, 2013

Month by Month: Being SMART

Almost exactly two years ago I found myself in an airport looking for a good-read to take on the plane with me. I wanted something thought-provoking, non-fiction (usually my go-to), but a little bit lighter than the Brian Tracy-esque library I had been browsing at lululemon.

My eyes found “The Happiness Project” (Gretchen Rubin), read the first chapter and kept themselves busy with those words for the entire 3-hour flight. A former Supreme Court Justice Clerk, Churchill biographer and working-mom-of-two suddenly realized, “The days a long but the years are short.”

The confession here would be that I have yet to actually read through to the very last page of this book, even though I stand behind its message, approach and lessons. (Yes, I did note that I’d like to finish books. Consider this exhibit A.) But I took something away from those pages that has totally changed my approach to the days the calendar reads “1”: I set goals/focus for every month, all year long. Sometimes the focus-flavor-of-the-month is completely different from the 30 days that preceded it, sometimes it’s a continuation. Regardless, the goals are SMART and keeping me in line.

It’s an old-fashioned approach; I write them with pen & paper, tape it on the fridge and check the box when it’s appropriate! Sure, there are apps for that, but don’t mess with what works, right?

January’s goals seemed to be focused on an attitude, but the measurable stuff included things like this: use the EPIC yoga pass (that had been dormant for a month), cook at least 5 new recipes and run at least 20 miles per week. All boxes were checked, and getting back into that exercise routine helped set me up for February.

This month the mind, motivation and I are all business. I’m looking into a blog redesign, creating a media kit, planning my 2013 races (one confirmation is in!), planning spring travel and trying to learn the acronym language of business.

The idea here is to give yourself some things to work on without completely overloading the list and overwhelming your brain but also putting enough on there that you feel challenged and motivated. The next step is to break down that goal into the steps it will take to get to that check-mark.

Example – my baby-steps: contact blog designers & narrow down options (check!), look into other media kids for an idea of what I’m getting into (check!), look into local & national races to start debating what’s worth all of those dollar bills (check….ish) and reach out to RDs in private practice (check-in-progress).

To get your mind in the right place, remember this:

——

What are you up to this month?

What’s on your bucket-list for this year?

Think about it…

8 Comments

Filed under challenges, Goals, learning, motivation, new things!, things that make you go Hmmmm

Tagged as goals, Happiness, Resolutions

by Heather | February 1, 2013

The First 31 Days: “Off” & Running

There were two pretty simple goals I had set for the first month of this odd-numbered year: detox* and rebuild.

*I don’t use this word too often, and usually try to not get to a point where it’s necessary…but, well, it happens. December, holiday parties, the actual holidays and hello, New Year’s Eve! And so it goes…

January 1, 2013

Aside from needing some extra h2o and sleep that Tuesday morning, all systems finally felt ready to get into a routine-of-sorts again – higher mileage, more yoga, more steps, more out-of-the-comfort-zone things.

No drinks (nope, not even one).

There was none of this:

Food will do, thankyouverymuch.

Just simply a lot of this:

Image source: strongfit.tumblr.com

—-

GOAL 1: take the month of January “off” from drinking, no matter what the function or occasion or night of the week.

GOAL 2: run 25+ miles per week again, consistently, and get back to actually enjoying those Saturday morning long group runs.

—-

Things were pretty simple; I drank a LOT of water this month. We were still social, still went out with friends, and still had a good time.

It’s definitely an adjustment to “just have water” in place of browsing cocktail menus for something fun or enjoying that glass of vino with dinner, and being the only person at a happy-hour-style get-together that didn’t pour myself an IPA from the pitcher. I almost went to a bar-crawl (thinking that could’ve been just as entertaining as the “sober one”), but climbed up a wall instead.

I just had to be a little bit stubborn. You get a few of those looks, a few questions, a few moments to reassure people that no, you don’t care if they enjoy a drink, it’s just that you don’t want one.

—-

31 DAYS LATER – there are no monumental changes to share here, and my clothes fit just the same as they did on December 31. But a few things did become clear throughout the weeks – I’ll direct you here and here for some timely posts that resonated with me on some level. I would never want to discount someone who makes this decision for different reasons, and those posts might be helpful if you’re wavering on the brink of a life-choice that you feel is necessary.

I slept better, woke up earlier and fit more activity into a weekend (run, yoga, climb, walk, etc). I had different conversations at the bars with friends, and realized it doesn’t take much (if anything) to make a night out “more fun”. I took better care of things that needed taking care of, saved a dollar or two and have the peace of mind from knowing I gave a few organs a little break. You’re welcome!

Monday & Tuesday nights are taken over by lululemon group runs (Logan Circle & Georgetown – 6:30 pm start!) and the rest of the week is usually yoga, climb or, I don’t know, read or a book or something? (Something = crack open the laptop and catch up on Suits, Big Bang Theory & Happy Endings.) It can be easy to fill the hours without filling a glass.

And that’s all.

—-

I’m looking at this very short month of February with a new set of goals and a pair of legs that are finally excited to run double-digits again! Mission accomplished.

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What did the first month of 2013 look like for you?

5 Comments

Filed under Goals, learning, new things!

by Heather | January 25, 2013

The Picky Athlete’s Pocket

When an endurance athlete reduces/eliminates gluten and dairy from the diet, there are a lot of things out the window! There are the obvious good-byes – bowls of whole-wheat pasta, peanut-butter & banana sandwiches on whole-wheat bread, most cereals, etc – and then there are the “THAT has gluten/dairy, too?!” moments. The breakups that follow include most* energy bars, gels, sometimes-worth-the-splurge candy, etc. It’s a tough wake-up call, but well worth turning over those bars to glance at an ingredient list or two.

Exhibit A: the CLIF site makes it very easy to see which products fit into your dietary-needs pocket. But click “Gluten Free” & “No Dairy” and your options are instantly diminished. (Kudos for the user-friendly way to find this out, though. Scrolling through an FAQ section isn’t as fun.)

When did fueling on-the-go get so complicated? Wasn’t there a day when these didn’t exist, and people still crossed finish lines riding/running strong?

YES. Yes, those days did exist.

*Being selectively picky might have been quite the chore as few as 5-10 years ago – aside from homemade options and loaves of frozen gluten-free bread, you might have been grazing the sport store aisles & internet pages without much luck. Last Spring, taking on the “Sherpa” role with D’s cycling, I quickly realized that my marathon-fueling tactics didn’t extrapolate to a 100-mile ride, followed by an 80-mile jaunt the next day! (Let’s not get into how they physically do this, in the first place. My lower half aches at the suggestion of that weekend agenda.)

Enter: the Feedzone Cookbook, Picky Bars & Vega protein.

Photo source: Feedzone cookbook.

Sure, we could make our own bars all the time and get really creative with flavors & textures and combinations. When I feel the urge to do so, I’m all for it. We also can, and do, make trail mixes, simply grab hand-fruits, etc. when the kitchen is stocked. But for the quick-fix, somebody-else-has-figured-this-out option?

ALL of these are gold to the picky athlete’s pocket!

The Feedzone cookbook (written by Allen Lim, who has worked with endurance cyclists for years) has recipes for rice-based bars; Picky bars are made by professional endurance athletes (Stephanie Rothstein, Jesse Thomas & Lauren Fleshman) as is Vega (Brendan Brazier). They get it.

If you’re among the “picky” athletes looking for alterative options, these are all waiting for you. If you make your own bars, there are plenty of recipes out there to test out & enjoy! If you’re just looking to clean things up a little bit on-the-run or ride, these products are worth your investment.

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What’s lining your pockets when you’re on-the-go?
Do you have any easy go-to recipes for bars, snacks, drinks, etc?

2 Comments

Filed under bike rides, cycling, food, gluten free, learning, Nutrition, running, what to eat

Tagged as Athletes, dairy-free, Endurance Training, food, Gluten free

by Heather | January 16, 2013

Step Out: Climb UP {Earth Treks Rock Climbing}

Last Saturday afternoon took us a little bit out of the District and way out of my comfort zone. I have been on a rock-climbing wall once in my life, almost ten years ago and without much to show for it. I got approximately 3 ft off the ground (let’s be generous here…) before my body froze and wondered why I was testing gravity. Yeah, it works; you will fall!

“I want actions to come from discomfort (not safety) and experiences to be prioritized over everything else.”

Discomfort is: looking up to the top of a 70 ft. vertical wall that someone can climb using their hands and feet. The Experience: tying my own knots, clipping into the carabiner and climbing the 30 ft. (beginner’s) version without having a complete panic attack.

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Our adventures took place in the largest indoor rock-climbing wall in the country. Who knew that was in Rockville, MD? Staying true to the city’s name, I ‘spose…

Earth Treks offers a great “Intro” package that D snatched up for us both: $75 for an Intro to Climbing/Belaying class, 15-day gym pass & subsequent Intro to Movement class. You get belay-certified and leave that first step with enough confidence to think you just might come back and give that 5.6 wall-route another try.

The Earth Treks facility offers:

Over 38,500 square feet of climbing walls
40 feet tall (although they actually look taller)
Extra, extra large bouldering cave
Over 200 top-rope climbs with lead routes interspersed
Four separate teaching areas
State-of-the-art fitness area
Pro-Shop
Locker rooms
Yoga Room & Yoga classes (alright, fine…I’m in!)

A big-sell for DC’ers is that it’s metro accessible! (This is especially convenient if you’re among those of us in the NW quadrant.) It only took us about 30 min. to get to the gym, though be prepared to come face to face with an enormous furniture store first. Go around the back – bam! Rock climbing central.

We’re heading back this week to get in some more practice and make sure my hands, arms, legs, back and mind all remember to stay on the same page!

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Are you a rock-climber? Indoor or outdoor?
Anyone else find this sport just a little bit insane (in the good way, of course)?

5 Comments

Filed under Goals, learning, new things!, strength train too!, things that make you go Hmmmm

Tagged as goals, Rock climbing

Category Archives: learning

Ending the “I Know I Should…” Conversation

Month by Month: Being SMART

The First 31 Days: “Off” & Running

The Picky Athlete’s Pocket

Step Out: Climb UP {Earth Treks Rock Climbing}

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