My Passion, My Dream, My Time-Gobbler, & My Nemesis

Hey, all!  It's been too long, I know.  Every waking moment (and every sleeping moment, too) is occupied with the advancement of my dream to start a business helping people train for running/cycling races, lose weight in bootcamps & support groups, & do one-on-one personal training & nutrition counseling.  I've decided on the non-profit format (thanks to LOTS of assistance in the planning stages from my sis-in-law Erianne), offering the race training groups for free, just an unitimidating setting for the average Joe and Jane to train for amazing accomlishments in a friendly and supportive environment w/ yoga warm up pre-run/ride and cool downs post-run/ride.  Then I will charge for the strength training bootcamps, one-on-one personal training, one-on-one nutrition counseling, and restorative yoga for athletes classes, hot yoga classes, & strength training yoga classes.  It will start initially being all outdoors on the trails & in the parks around Denver.  If the first and maybe second years go well, then that third year will involve building an actual year-round facility inside a downtown industrial space for yoga classes to be held, for the support groups to meet & lounge around, for the meeting location for rides/runs, and for indoor running/cycling when the weather is harsh in the winter.  After that point, triathlon training will start up w/ open water swimming for all tri distances, add in a wetsuit rental portion of the biz, a small retail section, and epanding our health/fitness/training library for participants to check out books for free.  After that point, I'd add in hypnobirthing/doula classes taught by outside licensed professionals to be held at the studio, and massage therapy, accupuncture, healthy cooking demos, etc.  Everything at every level will be very minimalistic, very low-expense, very approachable and unitimidating for the average person, and teaching a healthy holistic lifestyle to last a lifetime, that you don't need to be a gym rat, but that you can get fit and stay fit with very little equipment. 
I am in week 7 of my 9 week Hot Yoga & Hot Power Fusion yoga teacher training program w/ Corepower Yoga.  That's 7 1/2 hours a week of just learning in a group setting, not to mention the TONS of classes, a cadaver lab, outside documentaries, outside books, etc. to get me up to the 200 hours to get my Registered Yoga Teacher certificate w/ Yoga Alliance.  Pretty much I'm on track w/ my 30+ hours a  week of yoga-related stuff I am involved in.
Then I get to do my 2 evening Red Cross CPR/AED/First Aid training class.
Then I wrap up studying for & I take my ACSM Personal Trainer exam.
Interspersed with all of that is my continued business plan tweaking, website development (the 10 in 6 blog will move to be a part of this site w/ hopefully RSS feed capablity), legal liability waiver fine-tuning, continued processing of my non-profit set up ppwk (3-6 months for it to be recognized by the IRS).
The $$ aspect of it will be a slowing factor that I have to deal with, but my excitement about this is so huge, that hopefully things will all work out just fine due to optimism & dreaming big :)

Home Sweet Home- Our Chic Shoebox- Sprint Tri

Ignore my obnoxious commentary :)  But here's our new home sweet home!

So besides loving our place, I also love the common areas and courtyard at our building.  I grilled last week while Frank watched the game & asked for another root brewski....

And I love that a block away from us is the Platte River Trail that goes along the river on both sides, is paved, and avoids traffic.  It goes 12ish miles north from our place, and really far south from our place, but I just haven't gotten to its southern end yet :)  Frank and I have an hour long walk loop that we like, that has a midway relaxation spot on the rocks at the tiny sandy beach at a fork in the river.  Lots of parks along the trail. 

I just feel right here.  It's the perfect place not only for the Rover and my Chacos.  It's the perfect place for someone who loves to run, someone who loves to bike, someone who can't stand commutes, someone who likes adventures, and someone who likes clean modernity. The ward is a perfect small little ward with lots of wonderful young couples -an extremely supportive, diverse, & friendly group of urbanites.  Memorial Day weekend was fun.  I went over to a new friend's house Sunday night for a BBQ- I had met Jamieson at a boxing class I took.  She & her husband moved here almost a year ago from Michigan.  Had a great time, met more people, the California Turkey Burgers were a hit, sunned a bit, hung out & relaxed. 

Monday mid-day I went with two couples from my ward Brandon & Stephanie and Rick & Rachel to Stephanie's parents' house in Castle Rock for a BBQ and pool party then hike in Castlewood Canyon.  I got to chill poolside in my SPF 100 :)

Monday night Frank and I went to a friend Molly's house, a girl I who used to be in our ward but just moved out of the ward boundaries and who teaches yoga at the studio I go to.  Frank & their viszla puppy Penny had a play date, but Frank mostly spent the evening running from her while she (she's only a few months old) flopped and pounced around trying to get him to play.  Sadly, this is the only picture I took of the awesome weekend- oops- but it happened, I promise.

Miss you, Doug!!!!  Can't wait til you're out here & we get to do fun adventures, hikes, parties, & BBQs together!  Until then, Frank still struts around claiming to be man of the house.  He needs some humbling.... I apologize if this post seems a big discombobulated, but it was composed as various drafts over the last few weeks.  On Saturday June 5th I completed my first sprint triathlon, the Boulder Sunrise!  It was sad b/c Doug wasn't there to support me, but it was still a lot of fun.  Friends Joe & Tiffany came out to cheer for me and I met a new friend Morgan there, with whom we've planned to do more races.  I completed the sprint tri in 2 hours 6 minutes.  Middle of the pack-ish.  I'm cool with that.  I didn't do too well on the swim portion (open water swim in the Boulder Reservoir) but I made up for it by passing tons of people in the bike portion (even passing some men who had a 5 minute head start over all the women b/c of the different heats).  It was a fun new adventure!  Tagline of my life this year, right? :)

Here's a link to more pictures, of which I'll probably order one of the running ones.  I'm sad I can't find any of me on my bike!

The last session of the Ten in Six ended on Monday June 7th & the next one will begin on Monday June 14th.  All you ladies who want to jump on are more than welcome!  Check it out.  The last month or so, I've had a small but persistent little pain in my right foot, towards the outside middle.  It has gotten worse and kills when I twist or stretch my foot, but is ok when I'm just relaxing or moving around without much foot flex.  Therefore, running will be on a backburner for me for probably a month while that heals (probably a tiny little fracture), but stiff-soled bike shoes & biking don't hurt it at all, so I'll be hitting that workout up a lot more in the coming months!  Speaking of which, Doug's riding in the Trek 100 century bike ride tomorrow in Waterloo, Wisconsin.  Wish him good luck on Facebook!!  Good luck, Doug! 

And in the news department.....I have a new business in the works- hopefully I'll be posting more annoucements, website, etc. soon!  It's all I can think about. It's so awesome having a little spark of something to daydream about, watching that spark consume you in a huge blaze.  It's a personal training, boot camp, and race training business.  But yeah, details being worked out.  I mean, more details than my pages and pages of sketches, and 4 year business plan all typed out :)  But wait & be patient!  It'll be awesome......

Feedback & Feedforward

2009 was pretty darn good to me.  I changed a lot for the better!  I lost 43 lbs, ran my first marathon, and finished my CLU journey.    According to Dr. Cooper, a neuroscientist turned Fortune-500 business coach, successful people are supposed to only do 10% of feedback (what went right or wrong?) and 90% of feedforward (what are we going to do from here on out?).  Focus forward.  Bring it on, 2010!  Show me whatcha workin' with!

Most of my goals for 2010 are pretty personal {much more so than usual :) }, and I created a lot fewer goals for this coming year than I did for 2009.  I've already posted my running and cycling race goals, as well as my P90X goal.  But one of the goals from my personal list, though, that I will share with you all, is pretty exciting.  I want to, on the side, start the training for becomming a certified Personal Trainer and then Life & Weight Management Consultant.  I figure I can get it accomplished by fall 2010.  There are some physiology, sports injury, & personal training courses I'm going to take, some certificiation training to take (CPR/AED), and then two big ACE exams to sit for.  It will be good motivation for me to keep active and sculpt more!  Then in the fall/winter, maybe I could have one or two clients who I work out with a couple nights a week & Saturdays...we'll have to see how it goes!   Shay from Biggest Loser was my inspiration on that one.  She has a personal trainer that she works out with for 4 hours every evening when she gets done working and 7 hours on Saturdays.  She likes the 6 different trainers (one for each day) because they all have a different style of working out that really pushes her.  And Abrey, Jen, & the Ten in Six girls planted the seed, too :)  I get such a high and personal fulfillment from helping others hit their goals and catch fire!

Challenges for You to Join Me In!

The next Ten in Six women's weight loss support group blog that I moderate is starting on Monday, January 11th.  All ladies are welcome to join!  The goal is to lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks (or really any fitness goal that you have).  It's free- just consists of blogging, posting, commenting, supporting each other, getting tips & tricks, etc.

Doug's brother Matt is running a spin off support group blog for those starting P90X on Monday, January 4th.  Doug & I will be doing that January through March!  Doug's other brother Jeff is doing it, too, and so is Jason one of Doug's friends and two of Erianne's sisters (who did it last year, along w/ Matt & Erianne).  I may not be able to raise my arms or walk straight, but hopefully it will get me some ripped shoulders & abs!  It will be fun to be led by somebody who's been through it successfully, and to have lots of people who won't let me quit it when I can't move after the first day.  Again, it's free- just consists of blogging, posting, commenting, supporting each other, getting tips & tricks, etc

Slackerrific Blogger

Hmmm, so how do you catch up on over a month of not posting updates for friends/family?  You bullet point and slack on creativity/humor:

• I passed my 7th CLU exam on Monday, the "Planning for Business Owners" course. I am so estatic!  Only one more left and this particular journey is done- I'll have achieved my Chartered Life Underwriter designation :)  I will test on the "Income Taxation" course around Dec 14th.  Then to finish pursuing the ChFC designation, I will do two courses/exams in February & March- I will have then achieved my Chartered Financial Consultant designation.  Yippee! Still working my way gingerly off the no-sleep-study-a-thon from Sunday night/Monday morning, though. Here are my completed courses, lined up in my office- sounds like riveting reading, eh?:

• Doug and Frank have been working their tails off running this past month.  They now can consistently do 4 mile runs out on the trail.  They're following the Hal Higdon half marathon training guide that I did for my first half.  I'm doing his intermediate II marathon training guide right now (modified the days, though, and I'm doing much longer, relaxed Saturday runs than specified).  It's just a schedule that helps you make great strides in improving your distance and keeping workouts mixed up.  Except this is how we feel most nights:

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  My thyroid biopsy turned out just fine, which was a relief. Doug was a supportive champ w/ me during it.  The Prolactinoma & Hashimoto's are under control, hormones leveled out, things going great.  Thanks to my personal nurse, my friend Carly, for always being my sounding board throughout everything this past year.  Makes me even more proud of my hard work & accomplishments in the weight loss department knowing I did it all despite a mild hypothyroid.  I have lost 39 lbs since the end of February!  Have to toot my own horn- isn't that what blogs are all about? Just working out really hard and couting calories, staying at a low-calorie, healthy, wholesome diet.  I am hoping to hit the final goal of 50 lbs total lost by December 31st.  I'll be at my goal weight then & plan on rewarding myself w/ a new pair of jeans from my sis-in-law's store.  It's all thanks to my wonderful group of friends on the 10 in 6 blog who I absolutely adore adore ADORE!  The most recent 10 in 6 challenge started up yesterday.  It's my 5th one participating in and my 3rd one running.  If you want to try and lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks (ladies only), then check it out.  Free support group of superheros.  It's pretty all-encompassing for my blogging outlet- so that's why I haven't been on this family blog very much lately.
  
  
  

• I have been caffeine free for 2 weeks
• All I can think about right now is a wonderful Thanksgiving break a head of me.  I can't wait to get in extra naps, extra workouts, & exra fun :)  We'll be with my family for a big Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night, then with Doug's family for the rest of the weekend.  Dear wonderful weekend, please carry me through the next two days!

The Prologue

May 2003, on a flight from Mexico City to Virginia follwing the conclusion of our SVU study abroad, my friend Jamie who had run a marathon, doodled a little running Sarah cartoon in the back of my journal, along w/ tips and training info for running my own 26.2 and the words "YOU CAN DO IT."  I always wanted to be a "runner."  Whatever that meant.  Just to have a good routine and run a couple miles every morning- be fit, trim, and in shape.  But I never did a thing about it b/c I was swamped and exhausted- new marriage, lots of moves and college transfers, taking 22 credit hour semesters and working 3 part time jobs, starting my career- always one excuse after another until the goal wasn't even a goal.  The gradual weight gain was rationalized.  Then two angels came into my life.
First was Valerie.  {Warning- this is cheesy}  We moved into Mad 4th the same summer I think.  She got up in RS on Sunday and her one sentence introduction of herself was "My name is Valerie and I like to run."  I sat the first year not participating in the running group but wanting to.  Then the next year I believed Valerie when she announced that this little relief society running group that she wanted to get together on Saturdays mornings really did welcome beginners and no experience necessary.  So I got out and gave it a shot.  I couldn't even run a quarter mile.  I did a run walk run walk canter.  And Valerie was patient.  I worked up to more and more over the summer.  Last October the group of us ran the Aldo Leopold Half Marathon trail run at Devil's Lake State Park in Baraboo.  It was insane.  Valerie ran the half marathon, then after she crossed the finish line, she turned around and started running back up the trail to find each of us and make sure we were ok.  She ran with some of us for a little bit.  As much as I called her crazy for being in such great shape and being able to batt an eyelid at 20 miles like it was nothing, Valerie, you inspired me to be better and to push harder and to become healthy.  You really cared about us all.  You are such a sweetheart and you will never know what you have meant for me.  This summer I pushed harder and I actually ran during the week on my own, which I hadn't done the previous year.  Valerie believed in me that I could do a marathon, I believed in myself, I stuck to a running schedule, and I did it.  And Valerie announced it in Church the follwing Sunday (yesterday) :) I hope Valerie got the pat on the back she deserved.  The is an AMAZING friend.
Second angel is Marin.  { WARNING- this is equally as cheesy} Marin started posting in January and February these huge weight loss successes on FaceBook, part of her hard work as a participant in this Thin in Six challenge.  Then luckily for me, she decided to start her own six week challenge.  She built the 10 in 6, the free women's weight loss support blog to help women make the lifestyle changes they want to make, just throwing this little idea out there to her friends and family.  I jumped on it the last week of February 2009.  Now let me preface this by saying that no one will lose weight until they decide to.  No one will stick to a workout plan or make lifestyle food changes, until they're good and ready to and until they've decided deep within themselves that they're ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen.  I guess the timing was right- I was at that point for the most part- the heaviest I'd ever been in my life- feeling very frumpy and unhappy with myself- just blah in every way possible.  The first six weeks of the challenge I didn't hit my goal, but I hit it in the two weeks off afterwards.  The second six weeks of the challenge, same thing, I didn't hit my goal, but I hit it in the two weeks off afterwards.  I felt like I was in control for once of where my body was headed- I wasn't a runaway train anymore.  Marin, that was because of you.  You put the tools in front of me and provided so much support and motivation, positive encouragement and love, that I finally changed the direction I was headed and fell in love with fitness and being healthy.  Thank you so much for putting me on the right path to the real me.
All summer I stayed at the same weight for the most part.  Then I decided this August to start up my own Ten in Six after Marin's model and invite my friends to join.  And as the moderator/writer of that, I exceeded my goal for the six weeks and was surprised to find a huge amount of satisfaction and fulfillment in it.  I LOVE doing it.  It makes me feel so motivated and I look forward to it every morning.  I'm in the second week now of my second Ten in Six and I am loving how incredibly awesome everyone is, how much it builds me up while I help build others up.  It's amazing.  And it makes me so happy :)  To date since Feb, I've lost 35 lbs and I've never felt better. 
And I have two angels to thank for their beautiful roles in my life. 
{THANK YOU!}

New Ten in Six

Ladies, check out www.teninsix.blogspot.com!  Next free weight loss support group blog I run starts on Monday 10/5!  Guaranteed to make someone pregnant during the 6 week challenge!  Haha.....Congrats, Jen, then Marin, and now Linds!

New Ten In Six Blog

New session of the Ten in Six Challenge starts Monday Aug 17th for a group of ladies who want to lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks. This will be my 3rd challenge! Thanks for helping me motivate myself into action in February, Marin! I owe you big! Who's in for this newest session?

New Ten in Six Starts Soon

My friend Marin's next 10 in 6 Weight Loss Challenge blog starts w/ a weigh in of this Friday or this coming Monday, you choose. It's free, just a forum of other ladies working on achieving a healthier lifestyle, most aiming for losing 10 lbs in 6 weeks. This will be my third challenge. It's all about the comraderie, support, accountability, & encouragement. New enhancements: 10 in 6 just moved from a blogspot format to a proboards forum format, so I'm still getting used to that, but it will allow for more topic threads, and also allow for the biggest enhancement, a new healthy bellies forum for pregnant gals (now that Marin's expecting :)). Check it out if you want or ask me questions if you can't decide if you want to try it out. No pressure- just tossin' it out there!

Bikram

Last night was my first time trying Bikram Yoga, which is Hatha-style yoga in a heated room. It was like a sauna. 105 degrees! Wow! I don't think I have ever sweat so much in my entire life. The guy in front of me was sweating so much it looked like he was peeing :) You have to put towels over your yoga mat. I downed a whole liter of water during the 90 minute class. It was hard, the hardest yoga class I've been to yet, but also I did the deepest positions I've ever done yet thanks to the heat enabling tendons and muscles to stretch more. After the experience, every fiber of my being had been worked. I felt like a limp noodle :) But it felt great! Detoxifying for sure. Went home, took a long relaxing bath, and today every muscle in my body feels like it got a great workout yesterday (not painful but firm). Awesome! So I decided after my class last night that I was definitely going to try Bikram again. Then this morning I was entering in my workout session into my MyFitnessPal.com profile (free & WONDERFUL calorie/workout counter- I recommend it to EVERYONE!) and did an online search to find out how many calories one burns in a typical Bikram session, and holy crap! I am DEFINITELY trying it a lot more :) Check it out here for what it would be tailored to your specific weight. I guess it's pretty good for weight loss...yay!

And here are some Q & A from the Inner Fire Yoga Center's website, which is the studio I practiced at last night and am doing their unlimited yoga for 2 weeks for $20 intro offer:

Q. Why the heat?
A.: Muscles, fascia, and connective tissue become elastic, allowing for greater flexibility with less chance of injury. It also promotes sweating which assists the detoxification process, thins the blood which clears the circulatory system, and elevates the heart rate which improves the cardiovascular system...This type of heat is a “safe, effective way to help the body rid itself of toxins like mercury and lead,” says Alan Clark, M.D., online medical director of St. John’s Health System in Springfield, Missouri. Some research has shown that this form of “sweat therapy” benefits people with heart conditions or MS, both of which, many alternative health-care providers believe, are aggravated by environmental toxins(Taken from Breathe Magazine, January/February 2005).

Q: Why did I feel dizzy and nauseous during my first class? Is this normal?
A.: This is not unusual. Practicing yoga in a heated room reveals to us our present condition, and inspires us to take much better care of ourselves. In the heated yoga room, your body needs an adequate fund of water to allow perspiration to release heat from the body as you practice. We estimate you need another 64-80 ounces sometime during the day to allow for your 90 minutes in the room. Once you are drinking enough water your body will tolerate the heat better and you will actually start to enjoy the heat.

Yoga Adventures

After playing with the yoga trainer on Wii Fit, I found in an online search that Bliss Flow Yoga Studio in Fitchburg has this beginner special of $10 for unlimited yoga for a week, a complete bargain aimed at just letting you check out their studio and see if you want to join more permanently. The studio is right behind Great Dane on Cahill Main. Very nice place! I took 4 classes- Yoga Essentials w/ Ali, Candlelight Yoga w/ Ruthie, Happy Hour Flow w/ Andrea, and Slow Flow w/ Alicia. First of all, Yoga is different than I had anticipated, and although I haven't quite worked out all my opinions of it, it's pretty neat. Some of the classes are all out sweating, muscles trembling, workouts that involve fast moves from position to position very repetitively. Some of the classes were very relaxing and meditative. Since I work out so much at the gym, I think I prefer the latter- a more meditative yoga class. I do understand the awakening and flowing of energy from every spec of your body into your core, and I really am fascinated how that enables a deeper relaxation afterwards. I am starting next week another beginner special of $10 for unlimited yoga for two weeks at Inner Fire Yoga Studio in Madison. After this experimenting and learning ends, I'll know more what style of yoga I want to practice regularly. Anyone's welcome to join me :)