This week’s Fit Five Friday topic: 5 self-care ways to show love for yourself.  You can write about this topic or any fitness-related post.  We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida so be sure to link up with us. 

We all love self-care right?  What it is and how we do it is different for each one of us.  Let me tell you what I do.

💟 Exercise.  I run and sometimes I walk.  I know, I know, I need to do more.  My Peloton misses me.

💟 Watch what I eat.  It may not be perfect but I do what I can.  However, there are days when I get too stressed and I go for what I want to eat.  Hello Big Mac and french fries!

💟 Get enough sleep.  I am usually in bed by 9 pm and wake up between 4-5 am.  Sometimes I do OK and other times I wake up in the middle of the night and it takes me a while to go back to sleep.  Melatonin does make me sleepy but I need it to last longer.  

💟 Do things I enjoy. To me, that is either watching TV or reading a book.  On Monday I finished reading my 4th book this year.  I also like to meet up with friends for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

💟 Drink less coffee and drink more water.  As much as I love coffee, I have cut down on it.  I drink one cup in the morning and that’s it.   Sometimes, I will stop for coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, but I don’t do it as often as I used to. I bought a Brita pitcher to have in my room and fill it up in the morning.  My goal is to finish it at school.

The topic for next week – It is Runfessions with Marcia!  We hope you will link up. 

This week’s Fit Five Friday topic: 5 struggles you face to reaching your fitness goals.  You can write about this topic or any fitness-related post.  We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida so be sure to link up with us. 

Last week I wrote about the things that motivate me.  Now, we know that not everything is perfect and there are times when I am not motivated or something holds me back from doing a workout or a run.  Then this in turn will cause me to struggle to reach my goals.

Let me tell you about some of the struggles:

🌟 Excuses.  Sometimes I have many of them – it is too cold or too hot, I am too tired, or I don’t feel like running today.  

🌟 Procrastination.  Because of the excuses listed above,  there have been times when I say that I would do my run after work.  Then something happens and I don’t end up doing it.  That is one reason why I’d instead like to get it done in the morning.  

🌟 Unrealistic goals.  Can I really PR by 1 hour in this race?  Instead, should I make it my goal to PR by 5 or 10 minutes?

🌟 An injury.  Like many runners, I’ve had a few injuries – ITBS, runner’s knee, calf strain, and plantar fasciitis.  They’ve left me out of the running game for a few months.  One year I wanted to do one of those running series to run 3 half marathons in the Summer (for my 50 states goal) but was in the beginning stages of plantar fasciitis.  I knew I should take time off from running and rest up.

🌟 Feeling burned out.  I have experienced this a few times.  Once it was during marathon training.  I finished my long run, called my coach, and started crying.  I told her I didn’t want to run anymore.  I wasn’t feeling the excitement of running or the marathon anymore.  She listened to me.  I can’t remember what she told me but that year I ended up not running the marathon.  I looked up my races for that year and saw that I ran 18 races (one being a 50k) that year and 24 the year before.  

The topic for next week – It is Runfessions with Marcia!  We hope you will link up. 

This week’s Fit Five Friday topic: 5 things that motivate you.  You can write about this topic or any fitness-related post.  We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida so be sure to link up with us. 

Happy Friday!  I am so happy it is Friday.  It would be even better if it was also payday.  Oh well, at least I am off on Monday.  I am taking Tuesday off to take my mother to the doctor so next week will be a short work week.  

Let me tell you about some of the things that motivate me:

🌟 Having to follow a schedule.  I like to know what I am doing for the week or for two, three, etc. weeks.  There is something about having it visible that gets me excited.

🌟 Gear and weather.  I like my gear to be nice and comfortable.  In the warmer weather, I love running in a short sleeve top and shorts.  During the colder weather, I prefer to wear less bulky clothes.  We’ve had some decent weather for January, making it much more enjoyable for me to get out for a run.

🌟 A goal.  It can be a race, a PR, a specific number of classes/miles, etc.  That is something that will also get me up and training in the morning during the hot days of Summer and the cold days of Winter.

🌟 Be healthy and active.  I turned 50 not too long ago and intend on being around for a few more decades.  I am hoping I can retire in 10-12 years and want to enjoy my retirement.  I have worked too hard not to enjoy it.

🌟 Fun workouts.  I enjoy running and look forward to it.  I’ve worked with many wonderful coaches and have been excited and looked forward to my workouts.  Some may have seemed daunting to me but coaches know what is best for me and I’ve had to let go of my fear and trust them.

 Topic for next week – 5 struggles you face reaching your fitness goals.  Feel free to write about this topic or any fitness-related topic.  We hope you’ll link up with us!