Fit, Fabulous, 40's, Friday

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

Hope you are having a 

FABULOUS week!

I'm feeling so blessed this morning!

I wanted to share what I did this last Sunday!

I ran my 3rd -1/2 Marathon 

to earn the 

Beach Cities Medal!!!

I received the medal on the left for running the OC 1/2, 

then received the medal on the right after completing the 

three Beach Cities 1/2 Marathons in consecutive order, 

the Long Beach,

Huntington Beach

and finally 

the Newport Beach 1/2.

It was beyond great and I'm all about getting a deal!

3 runs and 4 medals,

extra BLING!

My friend Lisa has run with me in all three 1/2 Marathons

and it has been special since neither one of us had ever run a 1/2 Marathon before.

Saturday I went to the Costa Mesa Fair grounds to pick up my bib and t-shirt.

My daughter Kiana has come with me the other two times to pick up my 

bib and it has been tradition.

It was really windy when we got there-

and I ran into my friend Anna, a man who I met years ago at the gym,

got cancer but actually put the very first seed in my mind to run

and that I could possibly do it,

and also ran into a gal that I went to High School with that runs the

full marathons for fun.

Here is a picture of my bib #..

I have to tell you that I was a little unsure of how I would do this time.

I hadn't trained very much and wasn't mentally prepared or focused on it as I had been with the other two, but I did decrease my time in the Surf City (Huntington Beach)

by 10 minutes!

But, I had a goal to do ALL 3 1/2 Marathons and no matter what,

I was going to at least finish!

Lisa drove over on Saturday night and slept over.

We got up around 4:30 so we could leave by 5 to get to the Fair Grounds by 5:30.

We ran a little late, but weren't worried.

Here is a pic of us when we got there.

 There was a long line to the buses that were shuttling everyone down to the starting line 
which was right by Fashion Island.

 As we waited, we walked by the finish line- 

I thought it was great to see people remembering those who ran the Boston Marathon- 

see the thin orange line at the bottom of the banner?

It says, "Run for Boston", and there were many people showing their support through t-shirts, etc.

When we finally got on  then off the bus,

we all walked to the start line.

I must say it was somewhat anti-climactic.

For the first two 1/2 marathons we ran, we were at the starting gate with ALL of the runners,

and they put you in "gates" depending on your finish time.

It's pretty exciting to be with all the runners.

Well, we were so behind everyone else, that when we got there, it was pretty empty.

No announcer,

no crowds, 

no runners waiting.

In fact, it looked like they all had a party and stripped and we got there after everyone had disappeared!

There was trash all over the streets and it was hilarious to see all the sweatshirts, sweaters and shirts that were thrown off and left on the sidewalks!!!

Someone was collecting them in a trash bag- 

I hope they wash them and donate them to the homeless.

So, we got there and saw the start line, looked at each other, smiled and just started jogging.

There were probably about 4 or 5 other buses loaded with runners behind us, so we weren't completely alone, but it was just weird.

As we got into our groove, we began passing more and more runners.

One thing I love is the sheer number of people you are running with, the energy that comes with that, and also a sharing of this special experience.

The run was fabulous.

We ran through streets with beautiful homes,

by the water,

a trail

and finished at the Fair Grounds.

One of the really amazing things about participating in something with so many people involved is you get perspective,

I am a part of something bigger.

You also get inspired!

There are people older, younger, heavier, lighter, more fit, less fit,

faster, slower, walkers, runners.

ANYONE can do this!

I must admit, in my head, I believed anyone who ran 1/2 marathons+ had to look like the runners I've seen in the Olympics.

I don't look like them so I never really saw myself as a runner.

I know this is really an immature and superficial way of thinking, but I'm being honest.

I never SAW myself THAT way-

I still don't but I won't let that stop me!

I'm inspired!

So Lisa and I ran, and ran and ran.

We had a potty break, actually 2 and slowed down at almost every water stop, and I was praying all the way!

And we finished!!

Here we are with my friend Sophia.

She ran it under 2 hours! What a Rock Star!

All said and done, 

Bib: 6088 Name: Janet Hertogh Gender: F Age: 48 Hometown: Mission Viejo, CA	Overall: 4656 out of 10050 Women: 2232 out of 6034 F 45-49: 218 out of 645 Age/Grade: 53.44% Place: 2830 Finish: 2:16:16 Pace: 10:24 Tag Time: 2:16:16 Gun Time: 2:48:42

So I had a 10.2 minute mile and was just a tiny bit over my first 1/2.

Seriously,

I'm just happy I finished it!

Thank you, God, for my Mizunos!

I can't tell you what an amazing feeling of accomplishment I have!

I want to challenge you to step out of your comfort zone TODAY!

Make a decision to do something new.

Yesterday after my bible study, a woman came over to me to me and had some questions about starting a weight training plan.

I wanted to know what HER goals were, what SHE WANTED to do.

She said that she wanted to strengthen her muscles and get into the gym.

After talking a bit,

she confessed that she kind of knew what to do once she was there and then asked,

"how do you get there?"

THIS IS THE BIG QUESTION,

because let's face it, most people KNOW what to do, or at least that they should be exercising- 

the difficult part is the DOing.

I told her that I go for two reasons:

1) because I AM VAIN and I like to see definition on my body,

I like the way my body looks when I'm fit.

(that's just ME)

and

2) I'm over 40 and I want to live a healthy, strong, life and be able to keep up with my children.

I love when one of my sons grabs my hand and tries to take me down and he can't.....yet.

I know that day will arrive soon enough, but right now, I love grabbing them and being strong enough to give them a little challenge!

(again, just ME being honest)

YOU have to find your "WHY".

It will be the reason for almost EVERYTHING you do, 

if you think about it.

The things we DO are a result of our "WHY"s.

I am cooking cleaner- why? So my family will be healthier.

My children are in sports- why? So they can learn discipline, sportsmanship, being part of a team.

We go to church- why? So we can have a strong faith and spiritual connection to GOD.

Yes, it would be easier to not get involved in sports, church and give a hoot about what I cook- 

EVERY single thing I am doing takes some effort,

but each one is worth the effort -

in fact the results are multiplied.

MOVE -forward!

Do something new,

read this and give up something so you can have and do that something new.

Maybe for YOU it isn't something physical,

it could be relational

or spiritual.

I'll admit, I struggle with #3 and #5.

What do you struggle with?

Deciding, Doing, Denial?

Fear?

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

I would love to hear from you!!

Have a stupendous weekend!

That was Quick!

Done so soon?

It's been two weeks of holding fast to my "resolutions" yet this morning I was on auto-pilot.

Eyes opened, realized I was up late, jumped out of bed, changed, fixed the children breakfast, pulled out their sandwiches from the fridge, cut up some fruit for their lunch, let the dog out to poop, kissed the boys goodbye, drove my  high schooler to school 

and

 on my way home I  suddenly realized that I had already forgotten about my goals and my resolutions.

One I made was to write  e v e r y d a y  after I read this article by Jeff Goins.

I'll admit that I know why this morning didn't start out how I wanted it to-

I didn't prepare last night. 

I didn't set the dang alarm to get me up early to have some quiet time with God and to write.
 :-(

I messed up.

Yup, that quick. Snap!

 I began thinking about how I could still do those things,
that I could go to the gym first, 

do my devotional
then write, if I had time.

Just then, a green Honda drove by me. 

I noticed the license plate of the car and the older blonde driving it. 

The license plate had this on in it, " CRE8 APG".

When I read it, ( I LOVE these kinds of things) I said to myself,
 "Create a page,
just

ONE page..."

For all I know, she could have meant entirely something else, 

but I believe that was the message...

from God....

to me.

But why did I need that reinforcement?

I need to write everyday because I know it will help me with this craft.

I'm pretty disciplined, 

but I'll admit that writing was slowly falling d

                                                                                           o

                                                                                               w

                                                                                                    n 

my list of priorities for today.

Epic fail......

I did not give up on the entire rest of the day!

So, I did what every woman who has to regroup does,

I put my Big Girl Panties on
and

 I got back up!

Thank you, God for that message.

It was a promise I made for myself that You want me to keep.

"Keep on beginning and failing.
Each time you fail, start all over again,
and you will grown stronger until you have accomplished a purpose-
not the one you began with perhaps,
but one you'll be glad to remember."
Ben Stein


What about you?
Have you given up on any of your resolutions already? 
( I'm not judging...)

Give yourself some grace and forgiveness 
(God does,so why are we often so hard on ourselves?)

and start all over again,
and again,
and again
and 
again.

Isaiah 43:19 says:

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

So, here it is,
my one page.

When failure knocks you over today,
put on your BIG GIRL panties 
or your
BIG BOY undies
and
get back up!!!

Living The Best of Your Life!

I am so grateful for each new day!

I've been pretty good so far regarding taking small steps each day

towards my goals for the year.

But one question for you -

are the goals that you have set for yourself going to add positively to your life, 

for the rest of your life?

After going to church this weekend,

there was talk about resolutions-

actually

LIFE CHANGES.

One of my favorite words ever:

transformation.

One of my very favorite verses:

Romans 12:1-2

New Living Translation (NLT)

A Living Sacrifice to God

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters,
^[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all 
he has done for you. 
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. 
This is truly the way to worship him.^[b]
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world,
but let God transform you into a new person by 
changing the way you think. 
Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, 
which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Instead of making resolutions for 

this year,

what about making

resolutions that will add to the 

rest of your life?

For some reason, 

I was able to see this differently this year.

 My vision 

E     X     P     A     N     D     E    D. 

As I made my resolutions/goals,

I was able to see how each one of them will benefit my

growth, change 
and 
transformation

to the person God wants me to be.

I am able to see my life in a 

life long

perspective

vs.

year to year.

Here are a couple of my goals and how I'm looking at the lifelong benefits:

 I yearn to grow in the Lord and learn more about and absorb his word and we (as a family)

will be memorizing more verses.

We will be starting with Ann Voskamp's memory practice sheets for 

"The Sermon on the Mount".

I desire to stay fit and increase my running times/speed,

so I'm training for the Huntington Beach 1/2 Marathon 

                                                       and will do the OC 1/2 Marathon.

My goal to write a book....

someday,

(with this guy's guidance)

which will be the result of writing everyday of this year

if I could just win this battle:

I've got to write..

one word or 500, 

or something in the middle!

(I think I had previously posted 500 

which is a lot more than I thought it was!)

and realistically, 
I could do at least one word every day,

right?

:-)

I will focus on loving people

not things,

prioritizing my family and friends.

I've actually purchased note cards and will send at least one card out a week.

Send me your address and I'll write you 

a

hand-written note!

I even signed up for this!

Imagine receiving a letter through snail mail!

Imagine!

What IF God could really transform you this year?

He can

if 

you

let 

Him.

Let him.

Have the best day ever!

Fit, Fabulous 40's Friday!

Friday already?

I don't know about you, but when I'm on vacation, I never know what day it is!

I've got some big plans for 2013, how about you?

I've just signed up for this amazing course by Jeff Goins, called  

Tribe Writers 

and was reading some of his fabulous resources when I noticed the time, 

12:11 am and the day, 

Friday, 

January 4th.

I immediately thought about my "Fitness Friday"(which I have been slacking on)

 and then remembered being surprised by the amount of NEW followers to my 

Pinterest page 

(check it out)

that I titled,

  "Things That Inspire Me to Stay Strong", 

which meant that people are wanting some " Pinspiration"

 regarding fitness for the New Year!

Then, while on Facebook tonight,

I had a semi-conversation on my New Year's Eve pic regarding my arms.

I'm not super buffed, even though one of my friends calls me, "Buff Girl".

I just work hard to stay fit. 

And it is, 

hard work to stay fit!

I've shared my arms workout many, many times, but there is a catch.

You've got to do it....and keep doing it,

for a long,

long time!

  

Persistence...

And by the way, 

you've also got to work out the other parts of your body 

while you are working towards those arms!

But, there will be benefits!

I wish it were easy and quick, 

but nothing worth working for comes easy.

BUT,

 I KNOW 

it is possible- 

I'm just like you.

Really, I am.

And, I KNOW 

that if I can do it, 

you can do it, too!

Here are some things I would suggest before starting any health and nutrition plan:

1. Make sure you are healthy.
 When was the last time you got a thorough physical?
 Don't remember?
 GET ONE!
You will find out where  you are- and what you might have to work on- heart, fat, muscle, strength

2. Realize WHY you want to work out?
What will get you there even when you do not want to go?
I'll be honest. I am vain.
I want to look the best I can possibly look right now.
I want to be happy with who I see in the mirror.
Maybe for you, it's getting off medication, or wanting to feel better, or have more energy?
(do you really think I enjoyed waking up at 4:40 a.m. to get to the gym and shower before work? )

3. What foods do I need to stop placing into my mouth?
YOU feed yourself- not good or bad- just take responsibility and then decide to stop eating one type of food that you shouldn't be- take one food away for a week, then the next week stop eating something else, etc.  You can just tell yourself, "I don't eat that anymore" or "I'm not eating it until I lose "x" amount of weight"
I used to put my Hot Tamales in the freezer, so I knew they were there, but I was simply making a choice to save them for later.

4. Get Support
Who will be your cheerleader outside of ME?
I will cheer you on, for sure, but who else? Who will hold you accountable, encourage you, etc. Research has shown that you will get better results if you are accountable to someone.
Tell a good friend that you want to work on your health this year and I'm sure he/she will support you.

5. Learn how to eat - read/ ask/ research!
Fact: fit/lean people eat differently than overweight, obese people.
I'd be happy to help you- this website can help and there are many more out there!
We learned how/what to eat growing up, and I'll admit that I had to "clean my plate" because "there were starving children in China". I can still clean my plate, but I don't have to  have a man-sized serving!
You can also go here for some ideas/recipes....baby steps!

6. Learn about exercise and fitness- read/ask/research!
I'd be happy to help you here, too! Seriously, just ask!
I also get workout ideas from   :http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com/

What I do is fairly simple, 

I've just kept doing it for a long, long time.

I've also had others help me here and there.

An old friend, gave me my arm workout ( called 21's )

 which came from Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding book!

I had other friends at the gym give me tips here and there that have helped.

I've also read, researched and asked others what they do!

Here is the truth- 

YOU have to decide that YOU are going to change  

your mentality regarding your body 

before your body is going to change. 

It will NOT happen in one day, 

one week 

or 

even one month. 

You have got to be in this for life-

you may be saving YOURS!

Remember,

to just keep going!

What is the most difficult part to starting a new health plan for YOU?