Components for a Successful Training Program with Cigna

One of my favorite runDisney race weekends is fast approaching - the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend!

This year the race weekend saw a big change with a Pixar-theme - the medals were just revealed last Monday and the buzz was pretty positive on social media.

Sadly, I won't be participating in this year's Disneyland half marathon race weekend, but I have quite a few friends who are and I look forward to following along on social media that weekend.

The team at Cigna wants everyone who is participating in the Disneyland half marathon weekend to make sure they're prepared for the races and have put together some great tips that will not only help during this race weekend, but for anyone training for a race.

Cross training is a very important part of training for a race.  Getting those runs in is necessary, but you also need to build up your muscle and endurance, and this can be achieved through doing some cross training on your rest days from running.  Once I started working out at Orangetheory Fitness, I noticed a difference in my endurance during my training runs and races.  

Here are a few tips from #CignaHealthCoach Briane Agostinelli, (BS, CEP, CWP, CPPC) about why adding cross training can be beneficial to training for your next race -.

Antonio Williams, (M.S., NASM, P.E.S, Health Engagement Consultant), another #CignaHealthCoach, hits on 3 components that can lead to a successful training program.

I know for me personally, flexibility and speed work are two things I need to get better at doing, especially with my upcoming marathon!

Hopefully with these tips you'll be successful in training for your next race and hit those goals, whether it's to set a PR or finish your first half marathon!

Follow Cigna during the Disneyland Half marathon weekend on social media with the hashtags #CignaRunTogether and #DisneylandHalf.  They'll keep you informed with lots of tips and other fun information!

Until next time,

I'm a Momentum Jewelry Ambassador!

A couple of years back, I entered a fellow blogger's giveaway for a Momentum Jewelry Motivate Wrap, and lucky for me, I won!

Getting that Orange glow at Orangetheory Fitness

Ever since then I've been a fan, but even more than that, I love the messages and motivation that each piece carries for the person wearing it.  The company was started when Amy, the founder, was in a fitness class doing a crazy long plank.  When she looked down at her wrist she knew that she needed something there to push and motivate her.  She's been making jewelry for over 20 years and now she spreads the love with other fitness enthusiasts.

Supporting two small businesses at the same time = WIN!

I know that I looked down at my wrist quite a few times during the Georgia Publix half marathon a couple of weeks ago.

So.....I woke up to an exciting email last Friday...

I was selected to be an ambassador for them!  I love supporting companies that I believe in and use myself, and this one is no exception.  I'm honored and excited to spread the word of Momentum jewelry to my friends and readers.  

Right now they have a campaign going on called "#SharetheSpark" - the goal is to inspire and motivate others to do more and be more in both their personal and athletic lives.

credit: Momentum Jewelry

They have designed two special #sharethespark Motivate Wraps for the campaign - "Never Give Up" and "You Got This!"  I'm excited to #sharethespark with a couple of unsuspecting friends who not only motivate me, but others around them.  You can #sharethespark, too!  Get your own Motivate Wrap bracelet and pass it on.

They have some great products...not only can you get some awesome wrist candy, but check out their Foot Notes!  I couldn't resist getting the "Run Happy" one.

They also have necklaces, headbands, and earrings as well, and you can even have custom pieces made!  I've got a few ideas in mind for some one of a kind wraps and Foot Notes....

What's your "go-to" motto during a tough workout?

Until next time,

Publix Georgia Half Marathon Recap

If you follow me on social media, you might have seen me drop the words "surgery" in a few of my posts.  It's not something that I announced publicly nor was it planned, but it kept me from running and working out for 4 weeks.  Actually, the first thing I asked my doctor when he said I'd have to have the surgery was "Can I run a half marathon on March 20th?"  He said yes, but I wouldn't be able to train for it.  Luckily, I was able to get one Orangetheory workout in before the race, but other than that, I was going in under trained (which I don't necessarily recommend!)

My friend, Stephanie, was going to run with me to keep me company, but she ended up getting super sick the week before and still wasn't feeling up to it that weekend...I missed her but glad she made the decision to take care of herself.  Thankfully she's feeling better now and we plan to sign up for another race to run together soon!

For the first time in 3 months, I laid out my traditional "Flat Jen" and tried to get mentally prepared to run my 15th half marathon.

My alarm went off at 4 am and I very slowly got up and began to get ready.  For only getting about 5 hours of sleep I felt pretty good (nothing like remembering your black sports bra is dirty the night before and staying up to get it washed and dried).  I chose to ride MARTA down because the last thing I wanted to do was stress over finding somewhere to park.  I ran into one of my fellow OTF members so we chatted on our way to the race.

We arrived at Centennial Olympic Park a little before 6 and it was still fairly empty, so we wandered around for a bit.  We eventually made our way over to meet up with some friends and fellow INKnBURN ambassadors for a pre-race photo.

Photo credit: Jill (@mrscrashmattb)

I made the mistake of waiting a little too long to check my bag, so I was a bit rushed, but I made it to my corral with plenty of time to snap a few pictures

Before I knew it, we were off!  I realized the night before that my interval timer was dead, so I was going to run this race simply by how I felt....I ran when I wanted to, and I walked when I felt like it.  

If you've never run this race, it really is a great course.  You run through so many great areas of downtown Atlanta...Georgia State, the MLK center, Old 4th Ward, Little 5 Points, Piedmont Park, Georgia Tech....and the course support is amazing.  I think my favorite groups were in the Old 4th Ward and the Phidippides group...their enthusiasm gave me a great boost of energy as I ran by them.

The past 4 weeks I had not only been recovering physically, but also emotionally.  My goal for this race was simple....to finish.  I just took my time and enjoyed being able to run again. 

If you're a fan of "The Walking Dead", these next couple of pictures should look familiar to you.  It's definitely a popular photo op for runners on the course...and with the sunrise being reflected on the buildings, it's definitely not to be missed.

We then run up into Little 5 Points, a very eclectic and vibrant area of Atlanta.  I'd love to spend more time down here...and I'm still waiting on hubby to take me to eat at the Vortex, but on race day, a photo stop would have to do.

They had a couple of "food stops" along the course...for the half marathon we had two - jelly beans and oranges.  Can you say "yum"??  The jelly beans were a nice change from my usual Huma Gel...it gave me a sweet little sugar rush.

Piedmont Park is also a fun area to run through...the Jeff Galloway 13.1 race group (thanks for the Coca-Cola!) as well as Phidippides was here to greet the half and full marathon runners into the park.  As soon as your exit, you're greeted by a nice, big HILL!  Hey...it's Atlanta...you're bound to eat some hills for breakfast, right?

The last big area you run through is Georgia Tech...and since I'm a UGA girl all the way (Go Dawgs!) I've started to make this a yearly photo stop -

I gotta hand it to the Techies though...they do a great food and water stop!  The music and cheering is always welcome, especially when you're about 2 miles away from the finish!  

I was actually making decent time...much better than I thought I was going to do...and I still felt really good, so in that last mile I pushed myself a little more.  When you make that last turn and you see and hear the spectators cheering, it almost carries you to the finish line (thanks for the shout out to me from Annabel!).

When I looked at my Garmin I was pleasantly surprised...I got a 7 minute course PR!  With my only goal being to finish the race, seeing that I shaved time off of this course time with very little training made me pretty proud of myself.  I received my medal, grabbed a recovery jacket, chugged down a chocolate milk, and headed to gear check to grab some warm clothes...it was a pretty breezy race!

Most of my friends finished before me and headed home (I don't blame them...it was chilly!) so I headed back to MARTA.  As I sat on the train I reflected on my race - not being able to train, still performing well, and finishing with a smile on my face made me extremely proud of myself.  There were a couple of moments during the race where I almost had a breakdown, but i kept looking at my bracelet...Never Give Up...and I took a deep breath and kept moving.  I credit a lot of it to my workouts over the past year at Orangetheory Fitness...they've really helped my endurance during runs.  I'm very happy that I can get back into the gym more as well as pounding some pavement to prepare for my next race!

After a shower and nap, we met some friends for dinner...I thoroughly enjoyed my Pimiento BLT sandwich and fries from the Village Tavern, and then a Snickers milkshake from Cookout!

A big thanks to the Atlanta Track Club, Publix and the other sponsors, and the amazing volunteers and course support groups!  You guys are what makes this race possible as well as makes me want to run it again each year.  I hope to be back in 2017!

Until next time,

Introducing one of the newest INKnBURN ambassadors!

::waves::

I've been out of commission for a few weeks - things have been a crazy roller coaster that seems to finally be slowing down.  As a result, I haven't been able to run or work out (which I miss like crazy!) but I do have my next half marathon in a couple of weeks and I'm so ready to pound some pavement again!

A couple of years ago I bought my first INKnBURN item - a pair of their "denim" shorts.  Over the past year, my adoration,, along with my collection, has grown for this company.  Their unique designs, made in the USA products, and impeccable customer service makes them one of my absolute favorite companies to give my business to.

Well...last week I got some exciting news...

I'm incredibly excited and honored to represent such an awesome brand and company.  If you haven't already, make sure you check them out at www.INKnBURN.com.  I also highly recommend subscribing to their email list as well as liking them on Facebook...their designs tend to sell out quickly and once they're gone, they're gone!  

I look forward to sharing new designs and products with you guys as well as showing them off at races, training runs, Orangetheory Fitness, and maybe even just out and about!  Thanks for this opportunity INKnBURN!

Until next time,

Looking Back at 2015

Whew...this has been a crazy work week for me!  I finally had time to come up for air and write a post I've been thinking a lot about.

2015 has come and gone, and just like every other year, it feels like it flew by!  And just like every year, it was full of ups and downs, but thankfully, mostly ups!

I found a new, fun place to work out!


 
After a friend in Florida told me I needed to check out Orangetheory Fitness, I jumped at it when I found out one was opening close to my house.  I took classes before there was even equipment in the studio and became a founding member, going 4-5 days a week!  Now, I work there part-time and love sharing my experience with others.  The members, staff, and coaches at my studio are seriously amazing and they make it such a fun time to spend an hour working out.  If you've never been to Orangetheory Fitness I highly recommend checking them out.  I've improved my endurance during runs as well as lost close to 30 pounds.  Check to see if there's a location near you! 

Finding my stride again

Toward the end of 2014, I was seriously burned out from running...After the Atlanta half marathon on Thanksgiving day and having a disaster of a race, I decided I needed a small break from running, and that's exactly what I did.  During that break was when I started going to OTF on a regular basis.  After a little peer pressure I signed up for a half in April...I didn't do nearly as much long distance training that I should have, but I could certainly tell a difference in the way I was running...I even got a course PR!  Seeing the improvement made me excited to run again..I even PRed my 5k distance 2 times in 3 weeks!  I'm excited to see where 2016 will take me on the pavement.

A girls weekend/racecation to Disneyland
 
I was very fortunate to be able to travel to Disneyland for the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend this year!  It was such an amazing time with some wonderful friends, both old and new.  You know you have great friends when you can go a couple of years without seeing each other and you're able to pick up like you'd just seen each other yesterday.  We came from both coasts...Georgia, Florida, Washington, and California to The Happiest Place on Earth for what we dubbed as #DiamondGirlsWeekend.  We laughed, we ate, we drank, and we ran - I miss these ladies like crazy and we're already planning our next #DiamondGirlsWeekend.

With those highs also came a couple of lows -

Losing my job
 
Last February, my team at work as well as others were brought into a room and told that our company was in the process of being purchased and, as a result, they would be downsizing.  They couldn't tell us when the sale would be final as there was a lot of red tape they had to go through, so for 6 months we continued to plug along, not sure of when our jobs would come to an end.  As scary as it was to think about ending a job I had been at for close to 9 years, it was also a good thing...I needed to move onto something different and this was the push that forced it.  I wasn't too torn up about it (obviously as you can tell from my picture) but not having a job for 2 months was definitely not glamorous.  Thankfully, the owner at my OTF hired me as a sales associate.  I've started a new full time job but still work at OTF one day a week.  The real kicker?  I found out the sale went through when I was at Disneyland...haha!  So what do I do?  I grab a celebration button and drinks!



Lost friendships



 
We all know that people come and go out of our lives...some we have control over while others we don't.  Nothing necessarily "happened" for these friendship to fizzle - no arguments or anything like that.  We are probably just in two different places in our lives, and I understand that.  It's still a bit sad when you think back on all the fun times you had together, but things change...people change...and all you can do is move forward.  A friend shared this photo with me and it's so very true...I still think highly of them and if our friendships spark back up I'd be happy to have them back in my life, but if not, I wish them well with their lives.  A plus side to this is that some of my existing friendships have grown closer, and I'm excited to see where the new friendships I've started will go.  :)  

As my friend, Justin, would say... #MakingLemonadeOutta

So there you have it...my thoughts on my 2015.  I'm always excited to start a new chapter in my life, and 2016 is shaping up to be an awesome year.  I look forward to taking you guys along for the ride!

Until next time,

River Run for Hope 10k recap

Since I registered for the Disneyland half marathon a little late, I panicked a bit since I hadn't run a 10k race since the 2014 Peachtree Road Race.  When I entered my finish time on the runDisney proof of time page, I was not pleased with my estimated finish time for the half.  I started looking frantically for a 10k race that I was in town for and thought I was out of luck...

...until I saw a post in one of my Facebook running groups.  There was a 10k race on Saturday , May 30th!  Talk about getting one in just in the nick of time!  I immediately signed up, hoping for the best for the race.

Race day came, and I woke up with a very unhappy stomach.  I was not feeling very confident about the race, but I knew it was my last chance, and even if I shaved off a couple of minutes from my proof of time, it would be better than what I already have, right?

The race was in Roswell, GA and started and ended at a Catholic church.  The race benefits the work of the Ghana Friendship Project's work.  It helps to supply medical and health care supplies, educational material and clothing to the people of Ghana.

Getting to the race was super easy.  I arrived at around 6:30 and had plenty of time to grab my bib and shirt, walk back to my car to get ready, and get to the finish line.  I kind of liked that I didn't have a lot of time to stand around.  I went to the race solo so I took some time to give myself a little pep talk (and a couple of pictures)

 

The race started promptly at 7 a.m. and we were off!  The weather was perfect....low 60s and overcast.  The humidity was a little high but the cool temperatures helped.  I wasn't able to find my interval timer the night before so I depended on my Garmin to tell me when to run and walk.  As the race started I skipped over the intervals until I got away from the crowd.  Mile 1 felt pretty good.  During mile 2 I started to struggle mentally and actually considered cutting my race short and making the turnoff for the 5k course.

But I didn't.

I pushed through and kept going.  Mile 2 I slowed down a bit, but really picked it up the rest of the race.  We ran for about a mile on a dirt road, which my knees enjoyed.  At this point in the race I started to make it a goal to pick people off in front of me.  Each time I passed the person in front of me I aimed to pass the next.  During mile 4, I realized that I could actually PR my 10k time.  I kept with my intervals and was shocked at the average pace per mile each time.  As we came up on the finish line I really kicked it into gear.  There was a nice little downhill toward the finish line and I sprinted toward it.  When I stopped my watch, I was at 1:16:55...a new PR!  I haven't PRed a 10k in over 2 years, so I was absolutely ecstatic with myself.

I grabbed a bottle of water and saw runners with freeze pops, so I scoped them out at the refreshment table and snagged an orange one.  So tasty after the race!

I was shocked when I looked at my splits....with the exception of mile 2, I had all negative splits!  Usually I get slower as the race goes on, but to run faster?  Go me!  When I got home I immediately entered my new proof of time into the runDisney website and was much happier with their estimated finish time for me.

I have to give so much credit to my trainers at Orangetheory Fitness.  I haven't run outside much lately...the only runs I've been doing have been on the treadmill during our workouts.  My workouts have really helped build my endurance and got me here.  I really got back my love of running during this race and I am already looking forward to meeting up with some friends on Saturday morning and getting some more miles in.

If you're looking for a great 10k race, I highly recommend the River Run for Hope.  Flat, fast course and it supports a great organization.  I'll definitely put this race on my calendar to run again.

92 days until Disneyland!!

Until next time,