January - what the ruck?!?

What exactly is rucking? Simply put it's when you put weight on your back and go for a walk. A "ruck sack" in the military is the backpack soldiers wear to carry their gear; in training scenarios soldiers can carry upwards of 200 pounds for over 25 miles. Well as I'm no longer in the military I'm not trying to carry 200 lbs around. The personal reasons I ruck are to honor our military and for fitness.
My really good friend, Alyssa, is a fan of rucking and has gotten me hooked. It's helped fill in the void of running. I carry 20 lbs in my little ruck. The weight I use is individually wrapped bricks and they sit on a yoga block to help distribute the weight.
Alyssa and I were in the middle of a ruck back in November and we stopped for a coffee break. She jokingly mentioned doing a 24 hour ruck at the Destin Ultra in February. Well she joked with the wrong person because now we are all signed up to do it! I've been loosely following a half marathon training plan during January to prepare for the ultra.
I met another good friend, Rebecca, at the Big Lagoon State Park for a ruck on Saturday, January 9th. We ended up doing 6 miles that morning.

It's a really nice place to hike. The boardwalks are great and take you across the lagoon. The worst part of hiking here is the amount of sand on the trails (but that's a common thing for Florida trails in this area). A good portion of the trail is actually just thick sand that's hard to walk through which just adds to the fitness aspect of this hike.

 It also has a nice overlook that has great views of the gulf.

On Thursday morning's I meet some mom friends at the seawall on NAS Pensacola. Most of my mom friends push their little ones, but since mine are in school I just wear my ruck. The seawall is a great little path that follows the water. Round trip it's 2 miles. One Thursday this month is was eerily foggy, and it was awesome! I've never seen fog like that and it made for such an enjoyable morning.

The ship looked so cool out there!

 

 Just such a neat view.

 

 I know my photos just don't do it justice...

 

 The ship docked at the turnaround.

 

With the Destin Ultra coming up I knew I had to get a few rucks on the actual beach in (the ultra takes place entirely in sand). I did most of them at the beach on NAS Pensacola. Here's a shot of my ruck:

 Always little treasures along the way

 I had some pretty great weather for my beach rucks

 

 

Seawall ruck's are enjoyable because of the view. It's just so pretty along the water. It's probably one of my favorite spots in Pensacola.

 

You also never know what you'll see along the seawall. Herons are a common site as are dolphins and pelicans.

At the end of January I met another good friend, who also happens to be a veteran, at the Naval Live Oaks Preserve for a ruck. If you want to learn about what it means to ruck this is your guy! His stories and his motivation will inspire you. It was a beautiful morning for a 3.3 mile ruck.

 Sand for trails...

 A few minor water crossings

 Pretty

 A hidden gem

I really enjoy rucking, but it's definitely a lot more fun when you ruck with friends...especially my friends!

Family Shoe Challenge - January Update

We started off January with a family challenge. We are going to do the 2016 in 2016 as a family, or, we're going to try! My husband is not much of a runner, but he started off really strong. I've been rucking or walking the majority of my miles as I wait, not so patiently, for my heel to heal properly. Katelynn has been doing just great! I'm so proud of her for asking to go for runs so she can fill in her shoe. My only problem I've run into is her eagerness to fill in her entire shoe and she ends up coloring in too many blocks! I've lost track of how many miles she's actually done.

On mine and Chris's shoes one block = one mile. For Katelynn one block = .25 mile (or one lap on the track). 

 

 

 

I love the excitement she's gotten for running over this little challenge. She enjoyed watching me fill in my shoe last year and really wanted to do it as well, so I'm excited to have her along for the challenge this year.
January Totals:
Mom: 70.4 miles
Katelynn: 17.5 miles
Chris: 13 miles

January Yoga

One of my 2016 goals was to try new things. The last few months of 2015 were full of negativity and feelings of hopelessness, so with a healing foot and a more positive attitude I am removing negative people and branching out. I tackled flow yoga. It was relaxing, therapeutic, and overall amazing.
The instructor was interesting for sure with a somewhat annoying "innnnnn" "oooouuuuttttt" that she screeched; it made me chuckle. After awhile I didn't notice it since we were constantly moving and I ended up drenched at the end of each class. I was 3 for 4 this month with attending classes. That's a win in my book!

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the class. I really didn't think yoga would be my thing, but I feel like it really helps me overall. I'm looking forward to continuing these classes and seeing how it helps me heal and improve my fitness overall.

Cycling

I got a group ride in for the first time in months. It was fun, but very slow going, and no where close to the speed I was at before my foot injury. I didn't stick with the group the entire time, I turned around after about 7 miles because my foot started to pull and I didn't want to push my luck.

The main reason I went to the ride was because of my friend Christine. She asked, so I figured why not. I'm really glad that I decided to go.

The girl that lead our group talked to me for awhile about my foot issues. She said it was good that I was wearing inserts because it keeps my foot from flexing. If I'm going to keep riding I really should consider getting those clip in shoes. Right now I'm just riding for fun though so I don't think it's worth the investment just yet. Hopefully there will be more fun rides in my future!

2015 in 2015 Stats

I finished 2015 with 668 miles. That's not so bad for spending the last six months unable to run (or even walk for part of that time). I have big running goals for 2016, but I'm starting simple with walk/run intervals and a slow build.

New Year, New Goals

The last six months of 2015 did not go as planned, so I'm hoping 2016 goes in a more positive direction. I've been working on some goals for the new year. It always helps me to write them down and share them. 2016 is going to be all about getting back on track and learning to love myself.

1. Complete 2,106 in 2016 with my husband.

I love this goal! I'm really excited to being doing this challenge with my husband this year. His support of my running and wanting to run with me means so much to me. Our goal will be:

 - 21 miles/week

 - 84 miles/month

 - 1,008 miles/year

 - 10 sneakers on my wall

* this image is my running shoe. I will color one square for every mile walked or ran towards my 2016 challenge. In 2015 I was upset when I had to walk miles, then I ended up getting plantar fasciitis in my right foot. It took 6 months to heal and is still not quite right, so I will be happy to get my miles in however I can in 2016!

2. Make better food choices

 - 80/20 is my main goal. 80% good, 20% okay

 - focus on more veggies and fruit (minimum of 2 cups each every day)

 - eat less boxed goods

 - drink more water and less coffee. By less coffee I mean 1-2 cups a day not 5-6

 - NO SODA (wow! I never, ever, thought this would be on my goal list, but alas here it is)

 - log my food on myfitnesspal at least 4 times a week

3. Yoga once a week

 - I found the base fitness schedule and found they have a Flow Yoga class on Wednesday's at 9. If that doesn't work they have Monday's at 1000 and 1800. I want to work on stretching and being more flexible this year.

4. Lose the 20 pounds I've put on over the last two years.

 - sticking to the first two goals for 2016 should make this one happen. I would like to drop 3 lbs in January, 5 more by March, 5 more by July, the last 2 by September, and then maintain for the rest of the year and on. I really just want to feel comfortable again! My clothes are tight and I had to go up a size in jeans; I feel frumpy and fat. I just want my confidence back!

This year instead of just saying I want to lose weight, I'm putting a timeline too it. In my mind I can drop the 20 pounds in 3 to 4 months however knowing me I'm giving myself a longer timeline and working on making small choices every day that lead to big changes down the road. No shortcuts and gimmicks, just positive changes and smart choices.

5. Start back to school.

 - I'm in the process of making this happen. I applied to the University of West Florida (UWF) to their BS in Exercise Science. I'm still waiting on one of my transcripts to arrive (I had 6 of them to send!). School starts on the 5th, but I have until the 15th to get enrolled. I'm hoping the last transcript showed up over break! I won't know until the 5th when the admissions office opens again.

6. Take care of myself.

 - I don't want anymore injuries. My big focus this year will be on saying no and realizing that it's not the missed workouts that are affecting my mood/fitness/figure, but my eating habits. It starts in the kitchen and that is going to be my motto for 2016!

So here is to a positive attitude, small changes, big goals, and a healthier, happier, New Year - Bring on 2016!

Getting Back on Track

This is the story of my week! I completely killed my legs. I met Coach Michael at the track on Saturday and we did a 2 mile warm up then got down to business with 4 miles worth of speed drills. It felt really good to be at the track working on speed again.

We meet at 630am and do 30 minutes worth of warm up work that often looks like this:
2 mile warm up
10 striders
striders - 100 meter repeats at fresh pace (run down one side of the track turn around and come back)
Then the real work begins. This week we did:
160m, 6 times = 3 laps
1 slow lap around the track
8 striders
300m, 3 times = almost 3 laps (the recovery is across the field instead of around the curve)
1 slow lap around the track
10 striders
Total distance: 4.5 miles in 49:58. Doesn't sound fast, but that's overall time and includes walking, stretching, recovery. All the actual run segments I maintain a 7:15-7:30 pace (according to my Garmin).

Sunday I swam. Monday morning I went to bootcamp and this is where the real fun began. Apparently Troy decided to do heavy leg work at the start of the week. Ah, Goblet Tabata.

Do 4 minutes of one exercise (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) then do 4 flying 90's. One to two minutes rest, move on to next exercise. Basically we did 2 miles worth of speed drills. Flying 90's - jog 30 yards, sprint 30 yards, jog 30 yards and repeat that 4 times.
Troy took a photo during the lunges - that's my knee way down at the very end. The other picture is of the split squats (not me in that one, but I was doing the same thing, just different tire).

It was an excellent workout! I love speed drills. My legs were definitely done when it was over; however I wasn't done for the day.
Monday night's I meet a group of cyclist's at Truly Spokin' for their weekly beginner group ride. I'm actually the only beginner; the rest of the group are guys recovering from their long rides over the weekend. Still, they are very helpful and give me lots of great pointers. We do a 7-mile loop around the airport. Normally we do 3 loops and average around 14 mph. This week we had an average pace of 13.8 with a max pace of 19.4. There were a few new ladies this week so it was a really nice group.
My first triathlon is coming up in July, so I need to start throwing brick workouts into my schedule. No better time then after my Monday night rides. I was tired from all the heavy leg work I've been doing, but decided to do a short run anyway. I went with just 2 miles and it was tough going.

Top photo: bike
Bottom photo: run splits

I was surprised with the first mile. It was tough going, but not terrible. I imagine if I hadn't done a heavy leg workout in bootcamp I could've gotten more in. We'll see what I can crank out next week!

Tuesday morning it was REALLY hard to get up and go to bootcamp, but I did it. I wanted to cry though when I saw the board. 

I was put in group #2, so I started with 2 then did 3 and began 4 before I had to leave. #2 ab work wasn't so bad and even #3 upper body was a good workout. It was #4 that I was hurting on. 15 Tuck jumps. Good times. Then prisoner squats. Ouch, oh yea, my quads hurt. I started in on the 25 pendulum lunges and barely finished those before it was time to go. I'm not sure my quads could've handled the step ups. I felt every step on the way home.
Wednesday I headed to my weekly World of Beer run. I wanted to do more then the 5k, but I wasn't quite sure I was up to the 10k since my quads were still quite achy. I ended up with 4.51 (plus about .25 that I did before my watch located signal) in 46:31.

It wasn't too hot, but it was certainly humid. There wasn't a dry spot on my when I was done!

My first two miles were consistent, but then in mile three I started to hurt and had to take some walk breaks. Mile four went a little better as I told myself I was almost done and just to slow down and run it out. I could literally feel every step pounding in my quads. I did not want to cause an injury so I just played it safe and walk/jogged. I also knew this would be waiting for me when I got home...

Today is Thursday and I'm enjoying a rest day. I was supposed to do bootcamp this morning, but Chris had duty which was really a blessing in disguise. I'm feeling better after my epsom soak last night, but a day off is certainly helping my quads heal.