Category Archives: Fitness Friday

Name it and Claim it: 2013 – The Year I Become a Surfer

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Since becoming an Oakley Women’s Brand Ambassador, I have been following Oakley Dispatch on pretty much all social media platforms. Oakley Dispatch is a Surfing and lifestyle documentary based around the world class talent that makes up the Oakley Surf Team.

Following along this incredible journey has made me fall in love with the sport of Surfing. Meeting and spending time with professional Surfer Erica Hosseini during the Oakley Women’s Ambassador retreat in Napa didn’t help matters much… Not only was she one of the most rad and down to earth chicks I’ve ever met, she also had so much passion about the sport that I couldn’t help get the itch to dive into it myself!!

Since then, I have been studying surfing like it’s my job. I just can’t get enough of it!! The Surf Science, Theory and Culture just pulls me in and there is no more denying it.

…my bookshelf has gotten a little full of used surfing books. Who knew there were so many great ones on Amazon?

I have decided 2013 is going to be the year I become a surfer. I know that it’s hard because I live in Central Texas, where I am utterly land-locked. However, in the Spring and/or Summer I am heading to Surf Camp in Hawaii! I’m also heading to South Padre Island in the spring for lessons. I’m not kidding when I say I am going to become a surfer next year.

I have surfed twice in the past. Both times I spent a majority of my time smacking the water and just paddling around on the board. The first time was in the Bahamas in 2009 and the second time was while I was living in Florida during a trip to Miami with my boyfriend at the time. In the Bahama’s we didn’t exactly have a formal lesson. We just kind of had fun with our leashed boards that we rented and played around. In Miami we did take a 2 hour class with a bunch of other tourists and mostly practiced on land and in “white water” next to shore. I don’t think I stood up for more than 15 seconds max. It was still a complete blast, and was incredibly freeing. It’s amazing what the open water can do for your mind. It was a wild feeling…. Even if I wasn’t very far out into the water at all.

I already have a few basic things down that are helpful when starting out as a surfer. I have some endurance in me from the last two years I’ve spent running, I also have pretty decent balance, thanks to the 13 years of gymnastics under my belt… But, those aren’t the only important pre-requisites for surfing.

Over the next five months I will be diligently working on my swimming, yoga, and core work. As well as still running, of course. Getting into surfing, I have no intentions of replacing my running with it. I will always be running.

I can do a mean doggie paddle, I can do the breast stroke.. I can definitely swim, just not very gracefully or fast. Any swimmer with a day of training under his or her belt would be ashamed that I even call my ability to stay above water and move forward, SWIMMING! ;) I will be focusing on the front crawl/freestyle especially. Gotta be able to paddle out and survive the waves if and when you fall off the board! Honestly, THIS is my biggest fear with surfing. I don’t mind the open water, I don’t mind the huge waves. I don’t mind falling off the board and smacking the water hard.. I am worried about being able to make it back to my board and/or shore after being pulled under. It’s a wee bit frightening to think about. Yes, beginners usually surf with a leash.. But, it’s only a convenience factor. It is not a guarantee and one day, the leash will be taken off or broken. So swimming is my #1 priority.

I’m off to my first “Charlotte’s Prep for The Year of Surfing” yoga class this morning at Dharma Yoga. This will also be my first class in Austin!!! I’m really looking forward to it. I miss yoga classes. I do videos frequently at home, but there just isn’t the same buzzing meditative energy at home as there is in a packed class.

Maybe one day I’ll even get to shred some waves with the athletes who live love and train at the Oakley house in the North Shore in Hawaii ;)

Photo Credit: Oakley Dispatch Instagram @Oakley__Dispatch

Have you ever surfed? Have you ever wanted to surf?
Have you ever chased a fitness dream that most people thought made you crazy?

Confession: I’m in a Running “Funk”

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I haven’t been talking about my running much lately… That’s because there hasn’t been much of it, and the runs I have gone on certainly haven’t been note worthy.

I have nothing to blame, really. I’m not injured. I haven’t been sick (though I feel like crud all the time recently, but that’s unrelated I think) I just haven’t made the time. I admit it.. I have let life get in the way. Which, is fine – but I do have a 10k coming up that I had some pretty high hopes for….

I know that I’m not burnt out. That’s not the problem. I still LOVE running and I can tell that a lot of the reason I’ve been feeling so “meh” in my brain is that I’m not running more… I’m just in some sort of funk. I need to shake myself out of it. I’m the ONLY one to blame.

The past couple of weeks I keep wanting to sign up for a 5k, because I think a race will help this, a race that doesn’t matter (goal wise) but will get my blood pumping with adrenaline. Unfortunately for one reason or another I haven’t been able to. Either too pricy, far away, conflicting times with work. Booooo.

So I am super stoked it’s Warrior Dash weekend. I 150% believe this will help LOADS! Getting muddy with some awesome people while running & doing absurd obstacles?! heck yes. I am so excited. Call the mud runs what you will – I think they’re awesome. We should always take time to have FUN with the sports we love!

I have absolutely no time goals for Warrior Dash. I just want to be the muddiest person in my wave. Or at least the muddiest person I see near the finish? haha ;)

Of course, I made the excuse that I don’t want a farmers tan from any of the t-shirts I don’t mind getting muddy and that I “don’t want to get my racerbacks too muddy” (aka I just want to go buy something cute for warrior dash. here’s a list of excuses that aren’t real but sound nice) and picked up a cute outfit for Sunday.

A very Charlotte-esque outfit. Though I have to admit I don’t know what to put on my feet. I am not that girl who owns 10 thousand pair of running shoes. But I think I’ll just wear my white/sea foam green connects since they need to be retired within the next couple of months anyhow.

Anywho — what fun things do y’all have planned this weekend?
Have you ever been in a funk with your running or fitness? What helped you get out of it? 

Keeping Yourself Motivated After Your Goal Race

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I realized these last few days, I am nothing without a training plan. Sad, isn’t it?! I mean, I still have gone out for a couple of runs… But without a schedule to look at and check off days, I just don’t know what I’m supposed to run, and instead just sort of easy run for whatever amount of time I feel like….

That’s perfectly fine, but not when you have races coming up. Even though a 10k is less than half the distance of my last race, I’m trying to speed up this Spring/Summer… So I need to focus somewhat ;)

So I got down to brass tax and pounded out a training plan for the NYRR Mini 10k on June 9th! Something to keep me on track for a nice time Fact, I’ve run several 5ks, a 1 miler, a 10 miler, and a half — never the 10k though! I’m excited to though, because in both my 10 miler and my half marathon I found myself really feeling awesome at the 10k point, so I’m excited to TRY to kick it up a notch during a 10k! :D

For the rest of the weekend I’m going to just keep cruisin to what my body is feelin! :) Monday starts my training with a 3 Mile Easy run! :)

I’ve also learned that I need to have a string of small goals. I’m a race junkie more than a running junkie — haha — so I already signed up for a bunch of races, but I’ve quickly realized this week that’s a GOOD THING! It’s important to have mini goals along the way to the BIG ones. Kicking it back to the FUN at Warrior Dash will refresh my mind, refresh everything then, Having a good (to me) 10k time is a mini goal on the way to my bigger goal of sub 2:30 at RNR San Antonio which leads me to my BIGGEST goal of running my first marathon next spring!

How do you keep yourself motivated after your goal race?

More Powerful Than The Will To Win, Is The Courage To Begin

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If you follow me on Twitter, or have ever read my blog before – you have probably heard me say that once or twice (not like it’s the tag line of my blog or anything… ;) ) It’s more or less my life motto, and I am a firm believer. It speaks to me…. It inspires me.

Here’s the part in my post where I tell it like it is, so if you’re easily offended, this next paragraph may not be for you.

I’m sick and tired of hearing people complain about there not being any jobs, or the people (especially in my home town) who say they can’t leave their surroundings. They “just can’t.” — You CAN! You can do anything you set your minds to. To say otherwise, is to admit laziness. That’s right. You read that correctly. I’m not tip toeing around people’s feelings here…

If you can’t imagine the biggest, best life you can live – if you can’t see it, and believe it… Then of course you aren’t going to achieve it. You have to DARE to DREAM. Your goals are not going to just fall into your lap. You have to DREAM them into being, and then go after them. You have to DARE to go after them.

That’s where “more powerful than the will to win, is the courage to begin” comes into play. It is COURAGOUS, DIFFICULT, SCARY to face the world. But – if you don’t, you can say hello to a mundane lifestyle. Who wants that? Who wants only what is handed to them?

Let me tell you a story;
After high school I moved to the Orlando, FL area. I planned the whole thing out to a T. I lived there for 2 years. Then, during the course of a 5 minute phone call with my father, decided I was moving – THE NEXT DAY to Texas. I had no plan. Only a dream to work in Restaurant Test Kitchens. So, I packed up my belongings and drove to Dallas to chase my dreams.

I had a lot of people tell me this was stupid – that I was throwing away a relationship, home, job for what could easily be nothing. Well, guess what? I got a temporary job at one of the top casual dining restaurant CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS as a guest relations specialist TEMP... It had all but appeared everyone was right. BUT – they weren’t. They were oh so wrong. Within the first 90 days of my time there, I was given a raise, more responsibility, AND I began mentoring under the VP of Research and Development (aka THE HEAD CHEF OF THEIR TEST KITCHEN) My dreams were coming true.

Now – lets fast foward to last Summer. I had a dream to run a half marathon. People told me I would never do it. That only fueled my desire more. So, after moving to Maryland and settling into our new home I just registered. Now, I am 9 days away from completing it, with a 10 mile medal already on my wall. TELL ME I CAN’T.. I’LL ONLY DREAM BIGGER.

Now, lets skip ahead to today. Today I was offered (and of course I accepted) a job that will launch me even further into the career of my dreams. I wrote my good-byes to the two jobs I am currently at – so that I can welcome this new journey into my life. This job DID NOT fall into my lap. I didn’t stumble into it. I WORKED for it. I DREAMED about it. I imagined it happening every day since I moved to Maryland, and today I can finally say it all paid off. Those 50+ hour work weeks where I spent maybe 5 hours TOTAL all week in the same house as Z… Worth it!

THIS is why I get so angry when people say they can’t. No, you just WON’T. I’m walking, breathing, living proof that you can DREAM up just about anything, and make it come true if you’re willing to put in the work.

Today I became a Kitchen Manager for one of the most respected HEALTHY casual dining establishments in the country. Today I am 9 days away from becoming a Half-Marathoner. Today I am 391 days away from becoming a MARATHONER…… None of these things would be true if I stopped dreaming… EVERYTHING starts with a dream. Everything.

So go out there and DREAM. I DARE YOU TO DREAM. Dream as big as you can, then never look back.

Because More powerful than the will to win, is the courage to begin.

Fitness Friday: Tabata Training

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A few months ago (where does the time go?!) I swore to do at least one workout a week that I have never tried before. Well, it didn’t happen at the time I said I was going to start… But it IS happening now. ;) So, welcome to my new Friday Feature – Fitness Friday where I will feature a cool, fun, new workout I tried during the week!

This week, I decided it was time to jump on the Tabata Training bandwagon. I guess in theory, I’ve done a tabata workout before. I’ve done short spurts of high intensity. But never with the goal of performing a Tabata workout.

What IS Tabata Training? - Essentially, it’s a high intensity interval workout. The intimidating name comes from it’s founder, Izumi Tabata. It’s pretty easy, really. A really scary sounding word for a fun (to me. But, I’m a crazy cardio lover) and easy (as in, not complicated. It isn’t very easy to actually do) Tabata can more or less be performed with any exercise method, so long as it can get you to maximum intensity. You typically will do roughly 20 seconds of intense workout, 10 seconds of rest – with as many repetitions as possible during. It is known to quickly show you aerobic, anaerobic, and endurance benefits! (All around win in my opinion) as well as burn fat! CHA-CHING! ;)

I felt it. I laid on the floor on my back in the fitness center, and literally was asked if I was okay. I was…. I was just soaking up that awesome rush/trying to catch my breath. :D

Tabata will certainly be added to my weekly workouts! booooom :)

Have you ever done any tabata training? What is your favorite mash up?