What are you passionate about?

I love great quotes from people, from songs, movies, books etc. You get the idea. Words move me. I can't help but feel connected to someone simply by reading a simple revelation from their life that I can relate to.   Today I saw this quote and it made me think about what I'm passionate for. Is it true for you as it is for me? Passion IS contagious. One can tell if you are passionate about a hobby, your faith, your family, your life. I'm sure that you have met that one person who exuded "passion" for something. Thank them. Encourage them. Support them. I needed to be reminded about this tonight. Don't let someone damper your passion. 

I certainly hope that all my passions in life are evident. What are you passionate about? 

Let your passion shine on!

 - E

That's where the magic happens.

You know that feeling when you are so spent from giving your all during a run or workout that you can barely move? Remember that feeling? Oh yeah, it feels great! After you catch your breath, your adrenaline kicks in and your body naturally sends out more happy hormones that make you feel like you can conquer the world. Runner's refer to this as the "runner's high". That's the goal of anyone striving to get in shape -to achieve that moment of complete bliss and satisfaction. It means that you didn't hold back and that you definitely earned your shower tonight. I love those workouts. Tonight Lizzie, my Kickboxing guru, put together one killer workout. I could only get to the gym in time for a quick warm up run so I hit the treadmill for 2 miles before class. I was happy with my 17:18 warm up. Kickboxing has sculpted my body in such a different way than running has. It makes me feel strong despite my size and powerful. I finally have "guns" and definition. Highlights from tonight: 100 round house kicks, squats and my personal favorite pyramid push up drills. Those left me dripping with sweat. Basically you do 10 punches above your head and then drop to the floor for 10 push ups. Then you continue on 9, 8, 7, etc. Be brave and try something totally outside of your comfort zone. That's where the magic happens.

So after my "one heck of an ab crunchin' workout", I rushed home to my kids to take care of the final night time routines and now I'm going to seriously enjoy my shower. I may even allow myself a glass of my favorite wine, Francis Coppola's Claret. It was well earned. Have a blessed night.
 - Em

Have you downward dogged lately?

Many runners experience a good and not so good problem. That problem is tight muscles. After turning a certain age this past year, I began to notice that I'm not so flexible anymore. Hmmm... I like to think that maybe it was training for my first marathon that did me in. I'm not sure, but one thing I was certain about is that I needed to do something about my flexibility. So after researching articles about runners and increasing your flexibility, I realized that I needed to try yoga. Yes, yoga. 

I first tried doing some yoga stretches that I found on www.runnersworld.com and Pinterest. While those were helpful, I felt that I was not getting true results. It was then that I decided to buy a Groupon to try out a yoga studio. I've been to Hot Vinyasa twice since joining. Let me say that I was a little nervous at first. I was afraid that it might be a lot of "mother earth" people sweating profusely in the 85 degree room and I wouldn't be able to bear the smell. After my first class I felt pretty good. It was a very intense class, but I felt like I kept up with the more experienced yoga peeps. Tonight I went for the second time and realized that there are some really flexible and serious yoga people out there! In my mind I'm wondering how they move like that and make it look extremely graceful AND strong at the same time? I learned some new poses tonight and really worked up a good sweat. 

I'm told that yoga is about finding peace and happiness in a pose and letting your body "thank you" for your practice. Well... I was trying to be grateful to my body when in the last sequence of flow we assumed the splits position. OUCH! I haven't done the splits (on purpose) since I was in college. I have a feeling that my hip flexors will not be thankful tomorrow. 

The point of my rambling is that I am thankful that I can still walk after putting my body through positions that I didn't think were possible. Typically I'm inclined to running, cardio workouts, and weights. All tighten and firm which is fabulous, but life and I suppose my workout schedule is all about embracing new experiences along the way. My new experience is yoga. And yes, I downward dogged many times tonight and I liked it! 

Here is a morning yoga sequence for you to try. Hope it gets you moving in the right direction.

My friend Kristin is a pilates instructor and this is her blog. I'm sure that she can get you to stretch out your muscles too! I'm going to have to check out pilates next! Please check it out http://coresportstudio.com/blog/

Stay flexible - Em

One thing that I admit has become an addiction of mine is Pinterest. I was skeptical at first when a friend told me to check it out. Great another social network site to waste my time on. The difference with Pinterest is that I actually learn so much from my pins. Thank you to all the crafty, creative, brilliant people out there! So please check out my pins on my fitness-inspiration board. These are little bits of information that I love. So what are you pinning? Here's one of my favorite pins from one of my boards. 


http://pinterest.com/emseltz/fitness-inspiration-go-run-for-it-girl/

Well, I didn't get to run today because I was at a swim meet from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM for my not so little goldfish. This is championship season for short course, so it's been absolutely nuts! The goldfish has 4 Junior Olympic cuts. Whoohoo! Then it was off to met friends at BW3's for some not so good food for a fundraiser. Did I mention that my backside feels bruised from yoga the other day and most likely the countless consecutive hours sitting on my "stadium seat" in the sauna like conditions of the natatorium? Oh the things we do for our children. 

Glad that I got my run in late last night. Many of my friends think I'm crazy for running late at night, but honestly it's the perfect way for me the wrap up the day. I'm trying to become a morning runner, but I need much inspiration to get my tired body moving in the wee hours of the day!! HELP! So how do transform myself into an early riser? 

On your mark, get set, go!

Hello there! It's my first day of winter break, and so I thought I would explore the world of blogging. One particular reason has prompted me to start my own fitness, motivational, running blog: to stop annoying my "friends" on Facebook with all my running/workout posts. I know that it can be annoying for all of my friends to see that I ran x many miles today and that they really don't care. *sigh* Personally I think that seeing my friends posts about fitness or any other subject manner which may seem mundane to most is actually inspirational to me. I admire people who are out there getting it done. It inspires me to get moving too! Always try to find the positive in all posts/people! That being said, I will try my best to use this as my sounding board to my fellow running peeps and those who decide to follow me. I am not an expert runner or fitness guru. I'm just an average runner who strives to put one foot in front of the other for several miles a week. 

Currently I'm on a rest period of running. I will be gearing up for spring races and have signed up for the Detroit Half Marathon www.freepmarathon.com this fall. It will be my third time running this race and I'm hoping for a PR. Best half time is 1:57, my split from my marathon. I've got a lot to work on, but I was happy with that time for my first marathon half time. Right now it's simply maintenance runs for me mixed in with more cross training. My new favorite workout is cardio kickboxing! Lizzie kicks my butt every Monday and Wednesday at the gym. The workout is challenging and extremely invigorating. I feel amazing after class. I try to mix it up with yoga too. It is a good way for me to stretch out all those tight muscles from running. Anyway, who doesn't wish to be more flexible, right? It's actually a really good workout and a great way to sweat it out.

You should try it some time. 
How do you get your yoga on? Here's a good article for runners - http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1578
Here's to a new adventure - Thanks for listening to me ramble on.

 - Emily