Motivation Monday | Be The Best Version of You

Hello loves! Happy New Week & Happy April!! How was everyones weekend!?
Confession: I haven’t done the best job of keeping up with my workouts lately…ya know, what I did & on what days, so I’m sharing a “Best Of”, if you will. This post is appropriate tho, because I really have had some awesome workouts and “personal bests” over the last 2 weeks – running, namely – that I wanted to share with you all! If you’ve followed along for a while, you know that running – outside especially – is like my ultimate fitness challenge! Its just so hard [for me]
If your a treadmill only kinda gal (or guy) I encourage you to get outside and hit the pavement – its a totally different experience and workout….

Two Mondays ago, {3.20} I had the day off – Adam and I headed outside for a run/walk. This was the first time I’ve attempted to run outside since last Spring/Summer and since I worked on my running so much all throughout 2016, I was anxious to see how this would go…
Over the last couple years, running outside has been pretty fucking miserable, if I can just keep it real here. Since Adam and I have been dating, {almost 3 years} I’ve attempted to get outside and run with him here & there and it hasn’t always been the happiest or easiest experience for me. FYI: Adam is like a gazelle, a natural runner & soccer player and can so effortlessly run for miles. {don’t you just hate those people!?} LOL

Any way, we did 4.5 miles {as you can see on my Apple Watch over there on the left} and much to my surprise, it felt really good and I was so proud of myself! We did do a run/walk but ran most of the way. One of the most noticeable differences, other than the actually ease in running part, was my recovery. A year+ ago, after something like this my legs would be killing me & my cortisol levels would have been way up causing my entire body to swell/bloat. In case your not aware of this, your cortisol level {depending on the person & the workout} can spike after a [really] intense workout because you are putting stress on your body and for a few days after, your body will kinda puff out…at least this is my experience. Does this happen to you?

Last Friday, {3.31} I ran the Greenway with one of my best girls!! She actually ran her first 8k two weekends ago & ran the entire way! {Super proud of her!} We did 4.75 miles {kinda sad we didn’t hit the 5 mile mark – my Apple Watch died and saw our distance later after I charged it} on the trail and ran about 3 of it! This was after an intense boxing sesh @ East Coast Fighter on Thursday night and my legs were definitely talking to me after all the squats, burpees, lunges & such that we did in class! Despite the fatigue, I pushed thru and felt pretty good, albeit tired, afterwards! It definitely was helpful to have Missy running alongside of me! My TFL + Hip Flexors were pretty shot after my back-to-back workouts {boxing + this run} so I took the day off on Saturday. My mind was telling me I needed to workout but my body was definitely saying the complete opposite!

What’s something that’s always been a challenge for you? Food and/or Fitness related? I set my mind to improving my running in 2016 and through consistent leg days + logging the miles, I have made tremendous progress that I’m pretty freaking proud of! I challenge you to push a little harder and reach some of those goals you’ve been wanting to achieve!!

The Rest of the Best was full of yoga, a couple more boxing classes as well as strength + cardio workouts at the gym that you usually find in my Workouts this Week posts. Sharing some food snaps below from the past 10 days-ish. xx

Much Love,

{ We’ve been hitting up Kid Cashew at least 1x a week these days – I just love their food!! }

{ First time trying out Pop Bar in NoDA
I got the Pineapple Sorbet to keep things dairy free – so YUM!!! }

{ Just picked up these Lundbery ‘Red Rice & Quinoa’ Rice Cakes and I’m obsessed with them. Four squares is just 100 calories. I’ve been eating these with a smear of Peanut Butter – so addicting! }