Wild West Relay

As I sit here thinking about the last 48 hours I can't help but feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment for having completed the Wild West Relay. For those of you who are not familiar with the wild west relay it is a 195 mile relay that goes from Fort Collins to Steamboat. The relay goes from an elevation of 4800 feet to 10000 feet, from flat grassy meadows to forested mountain passes.

Over the course of 22 miles I can not tell you how many times I said to myself "Just do it." Having just read my wife's post on the ever so popular Nike slogan. The power of positive thinking can definitely help us to overcome what some may deem impossible.

Friday morning we left the Budweiser plant to begin our 29 hour 195 mile journey. At left is the starting line of the Wild West relay. I was the first runner in the second van which meant that I had to be up at five o'clock in the morning to register with the rest of the team, but would not run until 1:20 in the afternoon. Good thing I am an early riser :)

The course meandered through tons of beautiful scenery including: Roosevelt National Forest, Red Feather Lakes and Wind River range to name a few. This picture was taken at the top of the summit in Roosevelt National Forest midday on Friday. I would not run my second leg for several hours following this picture. Anticipated start time 11:45pm! Remember I said I was an early riser!?!



With several hours to spare between our last legs and the up coming ones we headed for our hotel room in Walden. Some Veterans of the Wild West Relay said that a hotel room was a little piece of Heaven one that we took their sound advice on. It was nice to relax, eat and shower outside of our already stale smelling van (6 sweating men, shoes, socks and all!).



11:00pm- Found us packing the van to head out to our checkpoint where we would pick up to run our team through the night. Our anticipated connecting point was slightly off. We arrived at the checkpoint only to find out that our teammates came through at 11:22pm! Our team captain made the call deciding that I should take off on my leg and that we would take the time penalty for missing our transition. I willingly agreed feeling bummed that we missed them and started out on my second leg 8.8 miles with a 2000 feet vertical ascent. Six miles into it, my van pulled up beside me to inform me that one of the other runners from van 1 had already ran my leg, and that I should take it easy and get back in the van. No biggie we all make mistakes so I got in knowing that I had just ran six miles that I did not need to run.





I took the opportunity to rest in the back of the van knowing that I would have to pick up one additional leg. My second leg would leave from Walden High School around 5:30am 6.5 miles to just outside Walden on HWY 125. This being my easiest leg of the course with an overall elevation change of 67 feet. The third leg would take us from the bottom of Rabbit ears pass to the top over 800+ vertical feet having already ran 16 miles. Trying? Yes, in fact very much so. Impossible? NO WAY! Here's the picture to prove it. 5.6 miles 800+ vertical feet in 49 mins! Pretty proud of that one :)


All in all it was a great race! I will certainly participate again next year. Maybe a 6 man team, who knows! I finished feeling satisfied that I gave it my all, fueled my body well and trained adequately. Several of the things that I have mentioned on this blog played into the success of this race. Including setting goals, nutrition, believing in yourself and looking to conquer the impossible. Take heart you can accomplish anything you set your mind to! The most important part however is setting the mind to it!


Happy trails for now,
Josh

Just Do It?

Hi all, this is Kristin, Josh's wife. As some of you know, and I think Josh has mentioned in previous posts, I am training for a half marathon. Friday morning I was on my long run for the week - 10 miles. It was my first double digit run week and I was excited to get it over with. While I was running I was thinking about this Nike slogan - Just Do It. I decided that whomever thought of that slogan was more than just a marketing GENIUS, he or she must have also been an avid athlete.

Are you trying to get in shape? Have you heard all of the cliche sayings that are suppose to motivate you: the first step is the hardest, if you just get started you will be so glad, and yes, just do it. The thing of it is, these are all the TRUTH! When I was out there running 10 miles I wanted to stop and walk quite a bit, in fact, I didn't necessarily want to get started but I convinced myself to take the first step, to get started and along the way several times I said to myself, "you can do this, half way done" or "one more mile, I've already run 9 what is one more!"

I think Just Do It seems too simple for most folks, in fact, I even argue to myself it isn't that simple. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I have a headache, I could run an errand instead, my son needs me at home, I need to get dinner ready, my knee hurts, etc. There are a million excuses but the truth of the matter is when it comes down to it every person on a fitness endeavor must JUST DO IT and while its not that simple, it is as simple as that.

No one can do it for you. The only person that can get me from that start line, across 13 miles to the finish line, is me. The only way to accomplish that is to do it one step, one workout, one spinning class, one run at a time. There are no magic pills. A strong and able body is attained by cultivating a disciplined and patient mind. A disciplined mind will lead to good habits and even when you have formed some good habits many workouts simply come down to, you guessed it - just doing it. You CAN do it, so what are you letting stop you?

Thanks for letting me take up a bit of your time today. All my best, Kristin

3' vertical leap anyone

Not sure if any of you follow the UFC or mixed martial arts, but I have been know to watch a few myself. I came across this video the other day on the yahoo homepage and thought it was quite impressive. Take a peek for yourself, then let me know when you want to get started on your three foot vertical leap!

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5569338?fr=yvmtf

best option is probably to cut and paste the link I am new to this and could not figure out how to add the hyperlink.

What Motivates me?

Sorry for my delayed response on this particular posting. Somehow between working two jobs and taking organic chemistry the promise was forgotten. Enough for excuses however, here it is.

My motivation to a healthy lifestyle started as most do. Desiring to look like the latest men's health model, you know the guy with the airbrushed abs and pec implants! However, while trying to attain these worldly standards I found what motivates me to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Life throws us all sorts of stumbling blocks, some we have no control over and others we do, but I think a lot comes down to how we look at things. If you always view challenges as stumbling blocks instead of seeing their potential as stepping stones to take you higher, you are missing out on a great deal of the best stuff life has to offer. The stuff that is accomplished through trials, blood, sweat and tears. That's where we learn who we are. That's how we know what we are really made of. If you haven't pushed yourself to that limit, how will you ever really know? Here's the question...WHAT ARE YOU MADE OF? If you need help thinking of a challenge that will help you figure this out, feel free to let me know!!

The decision to lead a healthy lifestyle with the foods that we eat and the exercises that we perform are examples of these stepping stones. The more I learn about the human body the more I am impressed by the amazing feats that we can accomplish if we refuse to let stepping stones become stumbling blocks. Feel free to comment...What motivates you?

What does it mean to "get fit"?

I was just reading an article in my ACE Fitness magazine that brought up an interesting question: What does it mean to get or be fit? I wanted to talk about this for a minute because I think its an important question.

Over the course of my life my answer to this question has changed. When I was younger I wanted to have bigger muscles so I spent much of my time in the gym lifting weights. Then I wanted to gain weight because steer wrestling isn't for tiny guys so I lifted weights and even tried to gain weight, which I was successful doing. Then I wanted to slim down for my wedding so I started running, and I was also able to do that as well. Next came the triathlon and then yoga. So, you can see that I have been all over the continuum.

However, only lately have I begun to think about fitness as a mind and WHOLE body state of being. I want to be (and I want my training clients to be) fit 360 degrees. So, what does "get fit" mean? Well according to this article, and I would agree, it contains several components:

1. Aerobic fitness aka cardio
2. Strength
3. Flexibility/Balance
4. Body Composition

This is to say nothing of the nutrition element! Do you find yourself focusing on all cardio at the gym thinking that it will help you lose weight the fastest? How about all weights or even all upper body? If so, think about this...fitness in its truest form allows you to run, jump, lift, touch your toes and fit in to those jeans.

Maybe we are paying a little too much attention to the jeans and most, if not all of us are probably certainly neglecting the flexibility piece. Just food for thought...

New Posts Below!!

Hi everyone! Glad to see that someone is reading my blog ;) I noticed that some of my last few posts have gotten lost somewhere in the middle of the blog. So, I just posted two awesome recipes that you will have to scroll down to see. Since I am a new blogger I guess I just don't know how to fix it yet!

Anyway, check them out and enjoy, they are delicious! More soon.

Happy Monday!

It's SMART to set goals

I'm a big believer in setting goals. I think the best way to see your progress is to set a goal that you can see yourself working toward and eventually accomplishing. If you do this, there is no doubt of your progress. Also, working from couch potato to 5K with a plan in mind is a lot more gratifying than saying I'd like to lose 10 pounds over and over again. Imagine the energy of a race and all of your hard work coming to fruition as you cross the finish line. Let me tell you, its quite exhilarating.

SMART is a goal setting acronym that's often used and is very useful:

SPECIFIC - You need to set a specific goal, for example, my wife is training for a half marathon on September 20th (Bolder Backroads, great race if anyone is interested). She has set a specific goal. I want to get fit isn't specific.

MEASURABLE - You have to know when and if you have reached your goal. So, you might want to say I'd like to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks (then get specific, how are you going to accomplish that goal).

ACHIEVABLE - Be honest with yourself about your abilities. There are also other things to take in to consideration like your schedule and family time. For example, I would like to complete an Ironman Triathlon, but given my school schedule and family this isn't an option for me right now. It's not outside of my ability but its also not a goal that will work with my life.

REWARD-ORIENTED - This is a Pavlov's dog kind of experiment. When you do something that you have planned to do to make the next step towards your goal treat yourself to something. My wife might get a facial for every mile she increases towards her 13 mile goal, for example. This just gives you a positive reinforcement and another reason to strap on your gym shoes.

TIME-FRAMED - You need to give yourself a deadline to provide a sense of urgency. If you give yourself a year to lose 10 pounds you will probably be doing the same thing for the same 10 pounds next year. Be realistic but don't be too generous.

I would add to this acronym ACCOUNTABILITY. If you are accountable to someone (preferably not your husband or wife) you are more likely to meet your goals. Sometimes we just need some encouragement.

To that end, please respond with some of the goals you have for yourself in the coming months.