I'm going to start a new weekly post on my blog called Fitness Friday. Basically I will be introducing a new way to work out every week. I will list the pros and cons of each that way you can decide if you want to try it out. It seemed like a fun way to find out about a variety of ways to work out!
Now, let's get started with our first Fitness Friday! It's my favorite form of exercise...running!
Pros:
-Relieves Stress: Running is one of the top forms of exercise that relieves the most stress. Running gets rid of the stress-causing compounds in your body. It's also a great time to get outside and clear your head. This is truly one of my number one stress relievers.
-Helps Prevent Heart Disease: Dr. Peter Schnohr says that running increases oxygen intake that improves cardiac function. It also lowers your blood pressure. Plus, Schnohr and his team calculated that runners live up to 5-7 years longer than non runners do. If that doesn't get you out the door, I don't know what will!!!
-Helps With Weight Loss: Many cardio exercises help with weight loss, but running seems to be the one that hits a home run. The increase of activity just burns and burns all of those calories. Depending on your speed and weight, you could burn about 100 calories per mile. During my half marathon, I burned more than 1,200 calories! Running can be used for weight loss or just to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Either way, it's a great calorie burner.
Cons:
-Joint Problems: Osteoarthritis can be caused by running, but recent research shows that the number of people getting Osteoarthritis has gone down. Usually, joint problems come from running if you've already had a pre-existing condition.
-Injury: Running can cause injuries out of nowhere. You could be having the best run of your life and them BAM! you pull something or get a cramp. It's awful and it happens sometimes. But this doesn't mean that you should stop running forever. The benefits of running are too great to think about getting hurt ;)
-Time: Depending on your distance, running can take a huge chunk of time out of your day. Especially if your training for a long distance such as a half marathon or full marathon. Those 11 mile runs take lots of time and energy out of your day. But it also feels so good afterwards right?!
I hope that you guys enjoyed this first Fitness Friday post. Now why don't you go out there and try to go for a run? As Hercules says, "I know every mile will be worth my while." And it will! So get out there this weekend and rake in those miles. Have a great weekend :)
*Remember to follow me on Instagram @runningemily1
QOTD: Have you ever tried running? What are your pros and cons for the sport?
So, yes. It is about two and a half months late but who's counting? Today I am finally giving my Disneyland Half Marathon race recap! This race was the most fun race I think I will ever encounter in life. The joy that Disneyland brings truly lifts your spirits even though you're running 13.1 miles.
The day started at 4 AM. Fun.... I had set out my race outfit the night before that way I wouldn't have to rush in the morning. As my alarm clock went off that morning, I went into race mode. I'm pretty sure I was half asleep while throwing my hair up in a ponytail thinking "Wait, why did I do this again? Am I really about to run 13.1 miles?" Besides the fact of my thoughts, I kept getting ready. I went out into the living room area of our hotel room and opened the fridge. I had purchased a peanut butter strawberry granola type breakfast from the Jamba Juice in Downtown Disney the night before. I tried to eat a few bites and then me and my brothers were out the door!
Our hotel was about 10-15 minutes walking distance from the start line. But that morning it truly only felt like a three minute walk. I was so nervous! They were rushing people into corrals so we followed the sign to corral E and got there smoothly.
Our corral was on the free-way part. As the time got closer and closer, our corral kept scooching forward. Soon enough, corral A was off! I think after this happened, that was the worst part. It truly meant that this was happening. But the waiting and waiting for each corral to start was killing me and my brothers! Can we just start already?
Once it was corral E's turn, we went up to the starting line. Butterflies were going crazy in my stomach right about now. We were actually near the very front of our corral so we were right next to Mickey! As quickly as we got there, we were gone! It happened so fast. It was time to run...
Mile one felt like it took forever! I wanted to get into the parks already. As we were in the backlots behind Cars Land, we hit mile marker 1. One road took you to mile 2 and another road (which was blocked off ta the time) took you to mile 12! Me and Brad started laughing and each wished that we were at that point. we had lost AJ right before this point. He went ahead, but we could still see him. We were dodging runners and then all of a sudden we turned a corner and we were in California Adventure!
After passing Tower of Terror, awful cramps came to my side. These same cramps had come only a week prior to the race every time I ran. I prayed before the race that they would not come, but sadly they did. While exiting CA Adventure, I wanted to walk so bad! It was killing me, and I could hardly breath! I told Brad to leave me because I wanted to walk but he wouldn't let me. He gave me a few encouraging words and told me to run it out. So, basically crying and wincing with pain in every breath, I continued to run. Tons of people were in the area between CA Adventure and Disneyland. If I were in a better mood, I might've high-fived some of them or given them a smile, but instead I was crying.
As you can see, I was trying to put pressure on the cramps...it didn't help. I must've prayed about a thousand times while running through Disneyland. At one point I even said a quick prayer out loud! Brad promised me that if I still had pain, we would walk at mile 3. Well, as we were going by Adventureland, my cramps vanished. This had never happened in my training. I had always had to walk it off and rest. I thanked God a thousand more times and kept praying that the cramps wouldn't come back. When we reached mile 3, Brad asked me if I wanted to stop. Uhhh no!! I was feeling awesome!
Soon after, we ran through the castle and it was so awesome! I will never forget that moment. We then went on to Tomorrowland and then into Toontown. This is where we went into another backlot to exit the park. This backlot was soooooo cool. Did you know that Disneyland has a full on farm back there? Ya. They had horses, goats, and even a mini horse on display for us to see. It was awesome.
Next, we were onto the streets of Anaheim. Brad tripped on the overpass. Ha. We walked a little bit throughout mile 7. Then we got to mile 8 which was all of the cool, old cars. After that, we headed onto a trail and then into Angel Stadium! I was kind of lagging behind Brad every once and a while, so a few steps before the trail I told him he could go ahead.
After the trail, I was in Angel Stadium! The crowd was so awesome and crazy! My mom and Lex were screaming at me, but I had my headphones in so I didn't even see them. In the video you can actually hear them yelling my name. Lol.
After Angel Stadium was the hardest part for me. Mile 10 felt like it lasted 30 minutes. It took forever. I just wanted to get back to the Disney areas and be done at this point. Miles 10-13 were rough and involved lots of water stops and pain in my legs. Finally I saw the mile 13 sign and I was ready to be done! I ran through the finish line, grabbed my medal, snack box, and water and powerade. I downed that powerade like no other. It's all I wanted in that moment.
After searching for my family for the next 45 minutes, I finally found them and we took many pictures before heading back to the hotel.
One of my favorite pictures.
My precious
After we got back to the hotel, we showered and took a very, very long nap. We headed into the parks that night and I wore my medal! I tried to take a good castle/medal picture but the lighting didn't work out.
Crazy eyes from the flash
My first dole whip!
It was really nice to go into the parks and have everyone congratulate you! Every single Disney cast member told me congrats! I felt awesome. Thank you runDisney for putting on such an amazing event. I will definitely return.... :)
When I first started running, I wanted to find the perfect app where it could tell how many miles I've gone, know my pace for every mile, calculate my average pace...etc. I thought about doing those Couch to Half Marathon apps but those are walk/run. I didn't want to tell people that I walked/ran a half marathon, I wanted to tell people I ran a half marathon! After searching for many days, yes I searched for days, I'm pretty sure I found the best running app ever. The Nike Running App. It fits every single expectation I had for a running app. I usually need music when I run (see my music playlist HERE) so I wanted an app that would allow me to play music while I ran. You would think that would be a common thing in a running app but most of the running apps I looked at didn't allow you to play music. Anyways, this app lets me do so many things and I will give you a little tour of how this amazing app works...
So this is your "home" page. It tells you how many miles you have ran total, your average pace, how many runs you have been on, and how many Nike Fuel points you have. It also has little facts and different goals that you have conquered. For example, the one on my screen today said that I ran .15 miles more and 0"22/mi slower than the average of all of my past runs. Pretty neat. It was also tell you your fastest mile, 5k, 10k, or your longest run.
When you want to go on a run, all you do is click the "run" button in the top right hand corner. Then you get to the "Run Setup" page (left). This is when you make your options for your run. It lets you choose your music, location, and how you are holding your device. The one thing that I recently discovered is the "Run Type" option. At the very top, you tap on whatever setting it is on already (in my case, time run) and then it will bring you to this screen (right). Now it know exactly was run you are running and how to track it! It amazes me.
When you click the options tab, it tells you all of your past runs. If you turn your device horizontally, you see the picture below which is a graph chart about all of your runs.
The last thing to mention is the end of the run. Once you are finished running, this screen pops up. It shows your progress throughout the run. After your run you get to choose how you felt, where you ran, and if you have Nike+ shoes you get to tag your shoes. It's really cool to see that when I first started running 2 miles, I felt sick and horrible after. But now, I always choose the "I felt great!" happy face.
As you can see, I would definitely recommend this app. It's pretty amazing. Hopefully you can give it a try!
Happy hump day! I hope everyone celebrates today because we are so much closer to summer! I can see it. Today I thought I would share my fitness goals for the month of June. I'm hoping this post will keep me accountable for these goals and really make me realize if I'm staying on track with half marathon training.
1. Run at least 4 days a week. This sounds dreadful to me but I know I need to make it happen in order for me to get on track with training.
2. Run 5 miles. This also seems very dreadful. The most I've run while training is 2 miles. I just need to remind myself that September 1st is not that far away. Crunch time!
3. Stretch. I admit, I am horrible at this. You think being a dancer and a new runner I would be very good about stretching, but sadly I am not. I really hope I can learn to stretch before my workouts as well as after my workouts.
4. Eat healthier. This one will be very tough since summer is just calling my name to sodas, candy, chips, and chocolate. I'm telling myself I can still have those things, I just need to have them in minimal amounts.
Hopefully at the end of the month I can say I did all of these things. Have a great day everyone!
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