Walking in the Snow

Walking in the Snow from Kristen Kirk on Vimeo.

Struggling Today, but I Am a Princess

I'm really struggling today reading all the tweets and posts from the girls down at Walt Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend. I went last year and had such a fantastic time. We were supposed to be down there this year again, this time running the Half. Instead I'm at home sitting on the couch thinking about how much I don't want to go clean the snow off of the car. Sucks.

Realistically I know that life in general got in my way and I couldn't do a race this weekend even if I had the money for the trip.  I've just started back to the gym, and my foot has not healed enough yet to put any sort of real distance down.  Traci is still recovering from an injury that occurred last year.  Becks is going crazy with work and Wedding planning.  There's no way that it would have worked out for any of us us.  None the less, I really really wish that I was there.

I need to take this angst and turn it into motivation to keep going, train hard, train safe, get healthy and really rock out at the 2014 race next year.  That being said, I need to get my butt off of the couch and get to the gym today.  I need to remember that I am a tenacious Pirate Princess.


I'm sending all my love and pixie dust down to the 2013 Princess Half Marathon Weekend participants.  I wish I were there with you celebrating the strength and vibrancy of women. I'll be online Saturday and Sunday morning cheering you on through texts and tweets.  Next year... next year I'm coming to party with you.

Excuses excuses excuses

I really, really didn't want to go to the gym today.  I woke up exhausted, I had a lot of work to do, and it just seemed like a good day to blow it all off.  I was successfully chillin' on the couch tweeting with the Princess Party Crew looking for support in my laziness when I get the following from my dear best friend Becks.

 

Okay, so really, I knew that gross hair was not a good excuse to not go to the gym, but it was the one I was going with.  Yes, yes I did think it would work and I would get some sympathy.  It didn't out work that way and I had to fess up.

 
It was.. the last walk was super rough and had be doubting myself so much. I felt horrible afterwards and I didn't want to deal with that again. Then, there it was... "Jeff says so!" She really did it, she went all coach on me. 

The "Jeff" in question is Jeff Galloway, who is the official runDisney Training Consultant.  But even before he took on that role, he was someone that I really looked up to for his years of experience, and most importantly Jeff Galloway gives props to walkers.  It's not always easy to find people in the running community that give walkers their due, but Jeff... Jeff actually wrote the book on walking.   He also developed the Run/Walk training style that so many athletes today use to get themselves to the point they want to be at.  As a walker vs. a 'legit' runner I still have to give up the props to what Jeff says. 

I got off the couch, got dressed (wearing compression shorts for some extra back support) and headed to the gym.  I walked 1.5 miles in 35 minutes, the pace was slow (23 minute mile) but I felt pretty good.  I need to work on strengthening my hips some because about 20 minutes into the walk they were feeling fairly weak.

My entertainment while walking today included Travel with Rick Episode #189, which takes you along on the Castaway Cay 5K.  Check it out below!



Hopefully I will continue to feel strong throughout the day.  We'll see. 

So tell me, what stupid excuses have you come up with in the past to talk yourself out of a work out?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

I went back to the gym today

I did it!  I actually went back to the gym today!  It's been almost an entire year, I've got a broken toe, the freezing weather plays havoc with my fibro, but I did it!

I decided that I need to get some baselines, because without them I won't know when I make improvements.  I'm probably going to wait a few weeks before I get on the treadmill though.  I don't want to stress my foot too much while that toe is healing.   Today I worked on the recumbent bike.  I figured that even with my broken toe I would be able to handle that, and I was right!  I just took it easy, and rode nice and steady.  I did 6 miles in 35 minutes.

The best part was that it felt pretty dern good.  That's right, I said it, I worked out and it felt good.

While I was on the bike I was browsing facebook and my friend John posted this fantastic video, which he was passing on from our friend Rick.  It was a fantastic motivator!


Be awesome my friends!

The President's Bling

I took a few pictures of pretty spring flowers coming up in the forest where we walk, so that I could share them with you. There's so much in bloom that you miss unless you're looking for it. I've considered harvesting some of the violets to make violet sugar.




Here's that link that I mentioned in the video for the President's Challenge. It's super easy to sign up, and lets be honest, you're doing the work anyway! Why not bring home some bling just for training too!

https://www.presidentschallenge.org

Extra Bling is always fun!  I signed up, why don't you?

Feeling good...

Tori and I had a great walk yesterday out on the Midway Village museum path. I even ran/walked the last quarter miles about 30 seconds of each the whole 1/4 mile. Though I felt really great that I was able to do that, Tori can walk as fast as I run.


I am a slow little penguin, but I'm getting it done!   I do hope to do more run/walk training, I think it's going to be the best way for me to make some real progress to my goals.  Even if I'm going slow right now, I'm just at the beginning and I know that I'll be better the more that I try.

Today we hit the bikes at the YMCA and had a good 45 minute ride. It's so wonderful even to have just these two days of feeling motivated and energetic. I can only hope that it continues. Coming up latter this week I've got some training tips to share with you, suggestions for motivating podcasts (Disney style) and a recipe for some yummy snacks that are fairly healthy too!

Stuggling w/ My Workouts

I'm not sure why my past few training days have been so truly miserable. It's probably because I'm so stressed out right now with Geordon losing his job, and me picking up more hours at work. We've got a lot of very basic lifestyle changes coming about, even the way the house runs is taking more effort because it's simply different than it has been for the past 14 years.

I thought that I was going to have to give up my gym members, but I'm going to keep it for at least another month. I really want to be able to get back into the routine of working out. I have no idea if I'll even have enough money to fly to Florida and run the Princess Half Marathon next year, but it's a goal that I want to work towards anyway.

Right now, I just need to make sure that I get out and do something. Even if I don't go as far or as fast as I originally planned on, what counts is that I'm up and off the couch moving forward.

Have you ever gone through a training rut that made it that much harder for you to get out there and do it? What did you do to combat the malaise? Leave me a comment and let me know!

A Rough Morning Walk

This turned out to be a great walk a couple of days ago. Even though it started out pretty rough we ended up with our best pace in about 2 years with two miles at 18:15 a mile! I love it when we can see the progress!

Back on the Horse

Spring has sprung! Are you out walking?

Back to it!

I had considered just letting this blog go, however several people mentioned to me that they rreally miss it.  Apparently watching and listening to me moan and groan as I waddle my way down the path is not only entertaining, but has made many of you feel better about your own work outs.  It *IS* okay to to hate being out there doing it, as long as you keep getting out there to do it.

It's not that I've been ignoring you all... I just haven't worked out since November!  Oh my god... 49 days until the race and I'm just now getting my rear in gear.  The holidays really kicked me in the teeth this year and I'm only now starting to recover. 

So... here's another video of me saying "so" way too much, and giving my all on the museum loop. My camera was flip flopping back and forth, sorry about that. I hope you enjoy!!

Training Day 13

I'm really happy with how our workout went today! We keep going farther and our pace just gets quicker and quicker.  I'm so proud of us!  Mental training still sucks, but I can see little improvements every day and that makes me so happy.

I wanted to give you a link to these great polar fleece jackets that I bought at Target.  When I got to the site online, they were even more on sale!  $13 online for fantastic plus size fleece jackets.  Perfect for your Princess Training!

Training Day 11 - Doom & Gloom

  This video is where I bitch and moan for 1.41 miles down the river path. Apologies in advance, but the nice thing is that I've warned you. So... have you noticed yet how much I say "so"? Thanks to @RNawaymama for getting me out the door.

Training Day 8

What a great walk!  It's taken almost two weeks (we started walking a week before I decided I was "training") but I'm finally feeling good after being out there walking.  That is instead of feeling like I'm going to die after walking.  I knew that if I just kept at it eventually it would be okay, I'm thrilled that it came after only two weeks instead of a month or more.


We decided that we would do another week at 1.3 miles since we're feeling good with that distance there's no reason to stay at just 1 mile. We'll do 1.3 for a bit and then by the end of next week I think we'll move up to 1.5 miles for our regular walk. We'll probably be doing 2 miles by mid-November if the weather holds out and we can keep walking outside.

After our walk Tori and I stopped at Target and got some more work out gear, long sleeves so that we can keep training outside as the weather continues to get colder.  I'm hoping that we have at least another month before the snow hits and we have to move to the treadmill in the Y. I am dreading the move inside, walking on the treadmill just isn't the same as being outside. Are you training? How has it been going for you?

Training Day 6

7:55AM -- Today was a hard day to get motivated.  I hurt and it's dark and rainy outside, not motivating.  I'm just not hard core enough to go walk out in the rain.  So, I took some Advil (who I think should sponsor my life let alone this blog), I ate a little breakfast (frozen waffles for the win), and now I'm sipping some coffee.  Motivation will come, I'll make it.

Training Day 4

I thought that put up a link to the Hal Higdon 5K Walking Training Plan in case any of my fellow beginner Princesses are looking for a place to start.  It's a great if you're looking to do you're first 5K as a walker.  Hal Higdon is a highly respected name in the running and race walking community.

http://www.halhigdon.com/5K%20Training/5-Kwalk.htm

I also recommend Jeff Galloway's book "Walking:The Complete Book".

 

Jeff has teamed up with Disney as the official runDisney Training Consultant. Most of his runDisney training focuses on running, but this book is a fantastic place to start for walkers too! It will give you a better idea of not only what happens in your body when walking, but talks about how to better burn calories, offers training plans, advice on gear and offers suggestions as to what may be going wrong when you get those aches and pains. I notice that my copy is well worn as I pull it out once again to get moving.