Search Results for: comfort zone

Last Coffee Date of 2015

December 5, 2015 by 17 Comments

The Ultimate Coffee Date

Hello December!

I know I start these posts often with the same declaration, but I have to say that I cannot believe it is December already. These days…this year, really, has flown by! Makes me wish time would slow down just a little…

So today marks the last Ultimate Coffee Date of the year. A huge shout out to our hosts Coco, Lynda and Deborah! So let’s settle in and catch up a little, shall we?

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I joined a group of local moms last night for our town’s Holiday Stroll. We toured some beautifully decorated homes and then enjoyed a great gab-fest over wine and pizza afterwards. Such a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

skis

One of the great ideas I want to copy for my own decorating if I can find our old skis!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m feeling slightly panicked that almost the first full week of December is over and our decorations are still buried in the attic. My boys have been nagging gently prodding us to get started…at a minimum I’m determined to get the lights up today. The tree goes up next weekend.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that thanks to online shopping, I have at least gotten started on my gift list, and already have a few things delivered and awaiting wrapping.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you on the running front, things are progressing slowly, but progress is progress, right? I’m feeling hopeful enough to throw my hat in for the Cherry Blossom lottery again. Fingers crossed I get in and can manage the distance comfortably by then.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you how proud I am of my oldest son for deciding to try out for his school’s winter play. He’s talked about it doing it before, but nerves have won out. But, this time, he threw himself into it…and got a part! Great to see him step out of his comfort zone!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you I have to get ready to brave the crowds this morning in search of toys. My son’s community service project is a huge toy drive with one of the local Headstart programs….now if I can just remember what 2- and 3-year olds like to play with 🙂

So what would you tell me over coffee?  Have you started getting ready for the holidays?

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Filed Under: Cherry Blossom, holiday cheer, Ultimate coffee date

Time to fold ’em

October 30, 2014 by 22 Comments

“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run…”

This is not the training update I wanted to be writing…but, I’ve reached a decision – it is time for me to fold ’em on this training cycle. I have been giving everything I can to try to get through my training plan for Philly but the reality is you can either focus on getting 100% healthy or you can train – you can’t do both. Or at least I know I can not.

When I learned that I’m anemic I was relieved to have an answer to my energy woes. My first thought was “I still have time – just change the diet and I’ll be back on track.” The reality is for me this has not been a quick bounce back and yet I have continued to push my body – push the distances, push the speedwork. There have been some really solid workouts, but they’ve taken a toll on me later in the day. Honestly my comfort zone is 6 – 7 miles…after that things get really hard – like short-of-breath, headache-inducing hard.

Of course, I’m disappointed – Philly was a goal race in a year of very little racing. I’m not interested in going and struggling or worrying about how under-trained I am or if I’ll hold up on the course. Feeling healthy and strong again is so much more important – there will be other races (you should see what I’m planning for 2015!).

walk away

Once I made the decision and discussed it with J and Coach Bennett, I felt a great sense of relief. You see, the other thing that was happening is that running had stopped being my stress release – it had become something to stress about. Oh so no bueno! This is just one race — time to know when to walk away…this is not the time to run.

Have you ever walked away from a goal race?

 

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Filed Under: choices, listening to your body, to race or not

Friday Five: Working with a Running Coach

September 19, 2014 by 16 Comments

It’s Friday and time for another fun link up with Courtney, Mar & Cynthia. Our theme this week? “Five things I love about…”

Lots of things came to mind for this theme, but then I started thinking about a conversation I’d had recently with my youngest son about why I was working with Coach Bennett. His exact words were – “Why don’t you just get out there and run?” Hmm…fair question. So I thought I’d share what I love about working with a running coach.

Coaching roadsign
Customized training plan — A running coach will develop a personalized plan for you taking into account your current fitness level, running history and current goals. It takes all the guess work out of picking a training plan.

Progressing smartly — Closely tied with reason #1, is working with a coach will help you to progress at a pace that will hopefully minimize the risk of injury. Life happens and training runs are missed – I’ve found it very helpful to have someone to help figure out when and how to get the miles in (or, equally importantly, when to let them go!)

Move beyond comfort zone — While progressing smartly, I have also found it very beneficial to have someone to push nudge me out of my comfort zone. (Hill repeats and some of my more aggressive speedwork would never have happened without Coach Bennett!)

Sounding board — A good running coach is definitely part therapist. A coach can help you with the mental side of running – helping to keep you both motivated and focused.

Race strategy — Having someone who can help you objectively review your training, set realistic race goals and map out a strategy for getting there is a huge bonus!

Have you ever worked with a running coach? If not, would you want to?

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Filed Under: Friday Five, running coach

Year in Running – 2013

December 12, 2013 by 9 Comments

yearofrunning-225x300

Amanda aka Miss Zippy recently did her annual post looking back on her year in running and invited us to link up and do the same. So here are my answers to her questions:

Best race experience?

picmonkey_image (4)

Without a doubt running with my son for his first 5K!

Best run?

I always enjoy my long runs with my running buddy E – even the ugliest of runs is better with a friend 🙂

Best new piece of gear?

I bought a couple of YMX’s fabulous tanks and they became instant race favorites!

YMX Collage

Best piece of running advice you received?

To keep a long-term view. In a variety of ways Coach Bennett has reminded me to not let one race define me and the importance of taking a long-term view of both running and racing goals.

Most Inspirational Runner?

I draw inspiration from so many runners I could never pick just one! I am inspired by those who step outside of their comfort zones; by those who dream big and dare to go after those dreams; by those who come up short on their goals, but never give up; by those who are motivated to become a better version of themselves.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” — This was definitely a roller coaster year for my running – challenging in many ways. But I have learned a lot about running and myself and I can’t wait to see what I can do in 2014!

Now it’s your turn – how would answer any of these questions?

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Filed Under: year in review

Finish at the 50 10K Recap

July 5, 2013 by 6 Comments

Finish at 50 logo

On Wednesday,  the whole family once again ventured out to Gillette Stadium to take part in the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50. This was our second year doing this event – my oldest participated in the kids’ races and I ran the 10K. J and my youngest son played chief cheerleaders – which quiet honestly may have been the smarter choice!

OK so how to write this recap without it being a complete whine-fest about the heat?! Let me start by saying it was 88 degrees with a dewpoint of 70 – translation the heat and humidity combination was downright oppressive! Combined with the late day start time (6:30 p.m.), this morning runner was way out of my comfort zone!

The Good Stuff

  • The kids races were a lot of fun and my oldest son did great!

    getting a "Congrats!" from Pat the Patriot

    getting a “Congrats!” from Pat the Patriot

  • They changed the location of the 10K starting line so we started in the shade this year
  • The 5K race started an hour before the 10K to help elevate the crowded start
  • Several wonderful residents of Foxborough took pity on us runners and broke out their hoses for some impromptu misting stations – bless them!
  • Enthusiastic volunteers did a great job at the water stops and generally just being really encouraging
  • Challenging course with the first 4.5 miles on a rolling out and back through residential neighborhoods before coming back into the stadium for 1.5 miles of ramps before the final tunnel run to finish at the 50-yard line

The Ugly Stuff

  • It was HOT people – just ugly, soul-sucking hot!
  • ramps-smallRunning those ramps — surprisingly, going up the ramps wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was running down them that proved a lot more challenging, especially when you threw in the hairpin turns at each level. By this point my quads were just screaming to be done!

IMG_2160Post race was like one big tailgate party as runners and their families hang out and wait for the fireworks. We enjoyed a great picnic dinner and the fireworks display did not disappoint!

Overall this is a really well-run family event and a fun way to kick-off our 4th of July celebration! I did say to J shortly after finishing that I just don’t see myself running this again next year – at least not the 10K. J said he may try it and I think I’ll be happy to swap roles as chief cheerleader 🙂

Do you run a 4th of July race?

 

 

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, family running, Finish at the 50, just having fun, race report

Embracing the Challenge

March 18, 2013 by 3 Comments

Today begins week 6 of half marathon training.

Recently Coach Bennett sent me the next two phases of my training plan. Since I was struggling with my runs due to my cranky ITB, I’d held off reviewing the rest of the plan – until yesterday.  I got a good look at the target paces, hill work, weekly mileage – and took a deep breath.  Time to get out of my comfort zone again 🙂

But I’m looking forward to moving into this next phase of training.  I did the things I needed to do to calm my ITB and am back to pain-free miles. So I’ll continue to do the strength work and exercises necessary to hopefully avoid any hiccups moving forward. And it is time to move forward – I’m ready to embrace the challenge.

“Embrace the challenge”  has really become my mantra for this training cycle – I’m going after each workout with enthusiasm and confidence…maybe it’s time to create a new comfort zone!

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Filed Under: comfort zone, half marathon training, mantras, no excuses, running coach Tagged With: ,

Friday Shout Out: ZOOMA’s Personal Best Challenge

January 25, 2013 by 5 Comments

You know I’m all about getting out of my comfort zone – when you get out of your comfort zone, there’s a chance for growth and great things to happen.

So when I heard about ZOOMA’s Personal Best Challenge – it was just one more reason to love ZOOMA and I had to give them a shout out!

What is the Personal Best Challenge?

ZOOMA is encouraging women runners to push themselves in 2013 to run a Personal Best – either by taking on a new distance or by pushing your training to the next level to go for that PR. Achieve a Personal Best at one of the ZOOMA races this year and ZOOMA will reward you with a special gift during the post-race party! ZOOMA’s also showing their support along the way by providing training care packages, training plans and tips and sponsoring weekly Twitter chats to keep runners motivated.

When I served as a race ambassador at last year’s Cape Cod race, I met a lot of women running their first half marathon, first 10K…and in some cases, their first race ever – the camaraderie of these races is a great backdrop for first timers! And, from personal experience, I can safely say that hitting a PR on one of ZOOMA’s challenging courses requires you to dig deep! So this idea of encouraging women to push themselves beyond their comfort zone to achieve a personal best seems like perfect fit for ZOOMA!

You can learn more about the Personal Best Challenge at www.zoomarun.com/personalbest  
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Filed Under: comfort zone, personal best, PR, ZOOMA

13 in 2013

December 19, 2012 by 9 Comments

Continuing under the theme of getting out of my comfort zone….

I’m doing the 13 in 2013 Challenge! Yeah, 13 races next year? That should keep it interesting!

Want in? Check out the details HERE!

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Filed Under: #13in2013, comfort zone, race shopping

Lessons from Training

December 13, 2012 by 8 Comments

As I make my racing plans for 2013, it seems only fitting that I do so based on lessons I learned during the past training cycle.

Lesson 1 – Get comfortable with  being uncomfortable
Almost from the outset, I remember looking at the workouts, target paces and mileage Coach Bennett had laid out for me and often my thought was – “he wants me to do what?!” But I chose to work with a running coach because I wanted to shake things up, right? So good bye comfort zone!

Lesson 2 – Trust in the training
Despite being uncomfortable, I followed my plan as it was laid out.  This was much more a test of me getting out of my head (fighting the “I can’ts” or “What ifs?”), and just taking each run as it came.

Lesson 3 – Hill work will make you stronger
‘Nuff said here.

Lesson 4 – Listen and be kind to your body
As much as I embraced my plan, I was also careful to listen to my body and cut a run short or take the rest day when I needed it. I was also diligent in what I call “proactive self care” – in the form of lots of foam roller, icing, massages and a lot more yoga. Collectively, I believe this all helped me to stay off the injured-reserve list.

Lesson 5 – Reflect and find the positives
My bi-weekly calls with Coach Bennett were so critical for this. As I mentioned HERE before the ZOOMA Half Marathon, the biggest gift Bennett gave me was to help me to take the time to look back, whether it was the past 2 weeks, the past month or the entire training cycle. To remind yourself of the challenges faced, obstacles overcome and successes all help to put your mind in the right space.

For 19 weeks I worked with Coach Bennett – through the crazy heat of summer, through hill work, through a sometimes cranky ITB, through many, many miles…and the results this fall were 3 races and 3 PRs. But more importantly, I believe I’m a changed runner, which will hopefully serve me well as I get ready for 2013.

 

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Filed Under: lessons learned, running coach, training

Reflections on Training

December 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Since wrapping up my last big race of the fall a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about this past training cycle

Working with a coach was one of the best decisions I could have made. Throughout the 19 week plan that Coach Bennett Cohen designed for me I was pushed well outside my comfort zone

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Filed Under: Uncategorized