I’ve been working in my Believe I Am Journal for a month now, and it’s time to check-in with myself and all of you to see how it has been going. In my first post about Goals and Believing, I talked about my goal of an Olympic Trials qualifier and the smaller steps I’m focusing on to get there.
2013-2015 Marathon goal planning
The goal I chose to focus on was hip/glute/hamstring strength to set myself up for less chance of injury on my way to a super speedy marathon. The Journal has given me an easy way to record my strength and stay accountable. My Sisters in Sport have kept me motivated every week with their posts and encouragement. It has been wonderful. Here’s what I’ve been doing.
First two strength sessions of the month. I would like to claim the title of “worst handwriting of all sisters-in-sport bloggers”.
Twice a week, I’ve been focusing on strength exercises. One day, I do between 120-130 lunges (between 60-65 per leg, per session). Another day I do specific glute strengthening exercises – a few exercises from the following Coach Jay Johnson video. I really recommend incorporating a few of these exercises into your strength routine. (Just don’t add too many at once, you WILL be sore!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrKr54yA0&feature=player_embedded
Like everyone else, I have little free time to throw in extra workout-related-stuff, so I knew I’d have to get creative. My first lunge session was completed in the hallway of Currie’s dance studio. In this outfit:
I got the feeling that if I waited to do lunges after Currie went to bed, they wouldn’t get done so I went ahead and did them in my “street clothes”.
My next session was done 2 days later when Currie (thankfully) decided to take a nap. Boom – just like that “week one strength” was done. Each week’s strength workouts followed a similar pattern. I found a way to get the stuff done without adding stress to my life or rushing through the exercises. Seeing my progress in the journal motivates me to keep it up. Hearing that others are doing well helps me even more.
A few days ago, right before I drifted into dreamland, I noticed something and jotted it down in the blank pages in the back of the journal. Check out 10/29 below:
No idea why I was flexing my booty in bed (dirty jokes aside), but glad I did. I felt so strong and wonderful!
A positive I didn’t expect from the Journal is it’s helped me keep track of little quotes, sayings, etc that I pass throughout the day and want to remember in my racing. Anytime I see something inspirational, something I want to think about during the marathon, something I need to remember during training, etc, I pull out my journal and write it in the blank pages in the back of the journal. I visit that space often, reread it, etch it in my mind.
Digging these quotes this week.
So what’s next? I’m training for my marathon for the next few weeks. As far as my strength goals go, for the month of November, I’m going to continue the current routine, but add some core (think planks), some drills and some additional hip exercises. Adding slowly, staying consistent, enjoying the process.
Do you have a Believe I Am journal? How are you doing in terms of goals this Fall?
I am still working on trying to find out the best way to use this journal. It looks like you have it all figured out and are just chugging along with your goals!!
I HATE lunges.. and avoid them whenever possible 😉 Add some dumbbells to your lunges! Or have you ever tried jumping lunges? Eeek!
You and your running goals are so inspiring to me!! Keep it up, chica!!
I thought about adding dumbbells to my lunges… but jumping lunges are more likely for me at this point in my running cycle. thanks for the recs! Gonna hurt!
HA! I notice myself trying to print extra neat when I use my journal! I too need to work on my strength so starting to explore ways to cross train. Thinking I will do a few lunges this morning!
Thanks for the reminder to use the lined pages too! I really should jot down things at least on the days I run!
Keep it up!
haha, no point in me trying to be neat. When I do that I either write the wrong thing or spell something different or who knows what. It’s like my brain can’t handle writing neatly. 😉
This is a great post… very motivating! I don’t have a Believe I Am journal, but I definitely want to start one. I do believe I’ve been hitting my goals so far this fall (I just hit 1,000 miles for the first time in my 2 years of running!) but I want to work on strength more consistently. I think I’ll try adding in more squats…reading about you doing them in the hall while Curry was in dance class was so funny and so smart!
1,000 miles is awesome! Great work! Yes, the strength is great. It’s actually making me want to get in the gym and lift… REAL WEIGHTS! 😉
I do have the journal and started using is November 1st. I was a little lost on how to utilize parts of it but your post it has helped me tremendously! Thanks Jen!
No problem, Regina! I use the journal slightly different than most people, but it’s very similar to others’ I’ve seen and it really works for me. It’s always good to see what other people do, then figure out how to use that to work best for you! Have fun!
Yes I do have a BIA journal and I’m a fellow sister! I’m a little late commenting on your #sistersinsport update, but love the strength training goal you accomplished and are continuing! I’m sure you will do great on marathon day!!!
And I use my journal to track my workouts/injury recovery
Its awesome!