Project: I AM ENOUGH

If you read my post Sunday, you'll know that I was in a bit of a funk.

I was beating myself up for missing a few workouts.
I was judging myself for not giving what I considered my all.
I was holding myself to some unreasonable standard.

So, when I checked The Fit Switch for this week's prompt for The Fit Dish, I knew it was the perfect topic.

I know I am not alone in this.

There are days when we just feel fat and not beautiful.

Not good enough.

Not just with our looks, but with our family or friends. Or work. Or housework.

Some days there are just so. many. things.
To do.
To be.

But when it comes right down to it, all we can do is all we can do.

And whatever you do, it is enough.

It really is.

I know. It's difficult to believe and accept at times. I'm right there with you.

Like I said, there are definitely days when I just don't feel like I am enough. And it doesn't matter what anyone else says. My husband. My friends. Strangers on the Internet. :-)

I have to know it and feel it MYSELF.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't continue to encourage each other and compliment each other. And share our stories.

But we -- and I mean I -- need to BE OPEN to actually hearing those people. We need to be willing to accept that we truly are ENOUGH.

We need to keep doing what we're doing, take a step back, and BREATHE.

Now, repeat after me... I am enough. I AM enough! I AM ENOUGH!!

That's all I've got. No answers. No magic pills. No advice on how to get to the point where you can confidently say the above.

I struggle with it. Some days are harder than others. Some days I own it.

Ultimately, I know it's true. Deep down.  Even on those days when I simply don't accept it.
Tweet

How do you Recharge?

Happy Tuesday!! Who else is happy for Monday to be over? :) Actually, it wasn't too bad of a Monday. This week.

It's a short work week for me this week because I've got Ragnar Trail Zion this weekend. It really snuck up on me. I'm not sure I've even mentioned it on the blog at all!

More on that later...

In the meantime, let's Dish the Fit.

This week's topic is HOW DO YOU RECHARGE?

Here are 9 ways I wish I recharged.

Read a book.
Write a blog post.
Go for a Run.
Enjoy a walk.
YOGA!
Bask in the sun on our patio or at the pool.
Soak in the hot tub.
Get a mani/pedi.
Meditate.

While I do enjoy many of these things, I don't necessarily recharge from them.

In reality, I zone out to a LOT of TV and movies.
And I try to get plenty of sleep at night. Or catch-up on sleep on the weekends.
I <3 naps.

This cracked me up!

So, there you have it. I recharge with TV and sleep. :)

How do you recharge?
Tweet

Be sure to check out our hosts Jill Conyers at JillConyers.com and Jessica Joy at TheFitSwitch.org to see how everyone else recharges.

Favorite Quick Workout

No fault but my own, I know, but I've missed the past couple of weeks posting with The Fit Dish link-up.

No excuses this week.

But, I'm still going to kind of cheat on this one. I just looked up the topic last night, and don't have a lot of time to come up with something new.

So, here are two quick workouts that I love.

One, I just shared on Friday, but it's my current go-to workout to get my heart-pumping in the morning. I call it my Morning Wakeup.

Click to go to original post.

I'd suggest a minimum of 10 reps for each exercise. I'm currently doing 25.

Two, I originally shared this back in August. It's a little morning yoga routine you can do without even leaving your bed.

Click to go to original post.

It only takes a few minutes, but feels so good! I need to do it more often. :)

What's your favorite quick workout? Be sure to check out our hosts Jill Conyers at JillConyers.com and Jessica Joy at TheFitSwitch.org to see what everyone else's favorite quick workouts are. I bet there will be some really fun ones!
Tweet

Recipe: Easy Breakfast Lettuce Wraps

Hello, Fit Fam!

You may or may not realize that I used to have a recipe blog with one of my sisters. It kind of fizzled out, as life got in the way.

So, when Jill posted that the topic for this week's Fit Dish link-up was healthy recipes, I knew it was a great time excuse to resurrect one of the recipes I'd posted over there.

As I was surfing through my archives, this breakfast recipe looked so good!

Easy Breakfast Lettuce Wraps

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

• 2 leaves butter lettuce (or any other leaf lettuce)
• 2 slices tomatoes
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• shredded cheese
• Frank's Red Hot (optional)

Directions

1. Rinse and dry lettuce leaves. Chop tomato slices.
2. Scramble eggs over medium heat, season with salt and pepper.
3. Divide scrambled eggs evenly over lettuce leaves. Top with shredded cheese and chopped tomatoes. Shake on Frank's Red Hot, if desired.

I can't wait to get some butter lettuce to eat this again! And it would be super easy to dress this up a little by adding more veggies - onions, peppers, etc. Sky's kinda the limit. :)

Now, it's time to #dishthefit and check out all the other delicious AND healthy recipes that other bloggers are sharing today. Check out our hosts Jill Conyers at JillConyers.com or Jessica Joy at TheFitSwitch.org.
Tweet

Do You Live in the Moment?

Welcome, #fitfam! It's time for the weekly #dishthefit link-up.

This week's {optional} topic is...

Hmmm... Do I live in the moment?

I think the answer is both Yes and No.

I'm a planner, you see. Like that time, 3 years ago, we planned a major travel adventure that could have ended with us living in Belize. We sold most of our possessions, bought a van, planned our route. We had a plan.

Part of the plan included a stop in Las Vegas for a reunion with some of my college girlfriends.

And that is where our travel adventure stopped.

NOW, that is living in the moment. :-)

After our pit stop in Vegas, we reassessed our adventure plans and made the decision to settle in Vegas instead.

And this is not an isolated event. We make plans all. the. time. But we're also cool with changing those plans.

How does this relate to fitness?

I like to think I apply this same make-a-plan, change-the-plan mentality to my workouts.

For example, when I'm training for a marathon, I always start with a training plan, but I don't beat myself up if when I stray from that plan. And, I attempt to enjoy all of the training runs as well. And the actual event, of course.

My blog is called Enjoying the Course, after all, and I do try to remember that in all that I do.

Even right now when I'm trying to focus on speed.

So, maybe the true answer to Do I live in the Moment is more YES than No. I think I'm pretty happy about that. :-)

Do you live in the moment?
Tweet

Let's Run FASTER!

Don't miss out on my giveaway for Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts!

Welcome, #Fitfam!

I'm going a little off topic for today's Fit Dish. Mostly because I somehow missed the topic until this morning. :-/

I wanted to just pop in this morning to talk about speed work.

As you may (or may not) know, one my goals for 2015 (and 2014 and 2013) is to get a sub-25:00 5k. By some miracle, I ran a 26:33 5k back on Feb 1st during the Big Game 5k.

That crazy race made my goal somehow more realistic. I mean, I didn't even feel like I was trying that hard, and had the most difficult time accepting my time after I'd finished.

Even though it seems actually do-able now, I know I've got a lot of work to do to shave off another 1:30+ from my best time.

There are a lot of things that go into running faster - speed work (obvs), but also stretching, strength training, and I love this!

So, I combed through lots of articles that I'd already pinned and created a new board strictly about running faster.

Follow Clarinda's board Run FASTER on Pinterest.

Now, I've just pinned these articles. The next step is to actually READ them. :-)

And then, of course, APPLY them. ;-)

But I feel like this first step was important, so stay tuned for more on which workouts and tips I end up trying and which work and don't seem to work for me.

Now, since today's actual topic isn't too crazy, let me just finish with 5 peeps I'd love to run with one day! AKA my 5 favorite bloggers/runners.

Laura from Mommy, Run Fast
Jill (our Fit Dish host)
Katie from From Ice Cream to Marathon I've actually run with her before! An entire marathon.
Tracy from Instagram
Lea from Running with Ollie

What are you favorite ways to increase your speed? Any advice for me or articles I should pin/read?
If you could run with anyone, who would you choose?
Tweet

In a funk...

I'm linking up for The Fit Dish with Jill Conyers and Jessica Joy today!

This week's topic:

I tried and TRIED to think of fitness-inspiring movies, and all I could come up with was Rocky. Which I don't think I've actually ever seen all the way through.

So, yeah, I'm going to go off topic today.

Hello. I'm Clarinda, and I'm in a funk.

It really hit me on Sunday. Saturday was kind of a busy day, so I decided to push my weekend run to Sunday.

And then I woke up on Sunday, and the weather had turned crappy. It was cold (for Vegas!) and cloudy and dreary with a forecast of rain and continued dreariness.

Plus, I felt like I was coming down with something. My head hurt, and I felt all achy.

So, I skipped my run on Sunday, too. And I skipped my run this morning - to bitch and moan on my blog. :-)

I've also fallen off the #FlabFreeGGH challenge I'd been doing in February. I made it 19 good days, and then I think I got sick of squats. :(

Anyway, I know it's only been a few days for the fitness portion of this slump, BUT I don't want it to get carried away. I don't know about you, but it's SO easy for me to let a few days turn into a few weeks.

This little funk of mine has lasted much longer than just the past few days, actually.

I hate to complain about work (or do I?), but it's been stressful lately and super busy. I'm hoping that today will be much better! There's also some craziness going on at home, but I don't think I want to go into that right now. Maybe other cheery post in the future? lol.

With so much going on, it's just difficult for me to find the motivation I need to MOVE MY BODY! All I want to do is curl up and read or sleep. Some days, it's a real struggle for me to just get to work. Ugh.

OK. Enough wallowing!

Maybe just writing this will help me to get me out of this funk - or at least not let it last too long.

How do you get out of a funk?
What's your favorite fitness-inspiring movie scene?
Tweet

Conversations with Non-Fitness Enthusiasts

This is my first time linking up for #TheFitDish with Jill Conyers and Jessica Joy.

I couldn't resist this week's topic.

We've all had them right?! Conversations when you mention an upcoming race, or a fitness accomplishment you've achieved, and you're met with a blank stare or a ridiculous response.

3 examples:

Me: I think I'm going to start biking into work again.
Co-Worker: Does that mean you won't have to...I mean...get to...I mean...will you not run as much?
Me, laughing: No, it just means I'll do both!

Me: I'm running a 5k this weekend!
Co-Worker: Are you going to win?
Me: Um. No. Probably won't even get a PR. :(

Co-Worker: How was your marathon last weekend?
Me: Marathon? Oh, you mean the 5k. It was really awesome! I ran my fastest one ever.
Co-Worker: Like 20 minutes?
Me: Uh. Not anywhere near that fast. Thanks for making me feel bad about my PR. lol.

These are 3 real life conversations that I had in the past few weeks with 3 separate co-workers.

After each of them, I could only shake my head and laugh.

They just don't it get.

And normally, I really don't mind. Normally, I just laugh it off.

But every once in a while, it's annoying. Every once in awhile, I wish everyone would just know what it means to run a marathon or get a Personal Record.

And share in my triumphs!

I did recently inspire a co-worker to start running again, so I guess all my blabbering about running has paid off. That's the best thing that can happen! When a conversation (or several) helps someone else jump on the running/fitness bandwagon. Now, that makes a girl feel real good. :)

What's the most ridiculous conversation you've had about fitness or running with a non-fitness enthusiast?
Has your enthusiasm inspired someone to join the fun?
Tweet