Checking out The Oprah & Deepak 21 Day Meditation Experience

My first time doing Yoga 2011 with Cynthia 

There are a few things I've been saying to myself I need to do for years and kind of never achieve for one reason or another. As annoying as it is to keep trying and failing at some of these things, I'm a big believer in never giving up.

The "I should will do list" includes:

1. Strength train more.

2. Consistently drink 8 glasses of water a day.

3. Take daily vitamin.

4. Yoga

5. Meditation

Just writing this list out has just made me refill my glass of water and pop a vitamin so there's that - so far so good!

The one thing I've never actually have given a good try to though is meditation. I've read in many a self-help book how powerful and transformative meditating can be but just never knew where to start.

About a week ago, my friend Cynthia sent me this link. (Cynthia is also the first person to teach me some yoga moves.) The link is for "The Oprah & Deepak 21-Day Meditation Experience." I didn't even think twice about it at first. I knew I should try meditation but, really, who has time? And like yoga and strength training, I would probably not really follow through on it anyway. But still, something about it made me click the link and I signed up. (It's free, so why not?)

Today was day one. Today's centering thought was: "My struggle has ended. I am in harmony with myself" and the mantra was: Om Laghu Bhavam. Of course half way through, my mind wandered for all of 5 seconds and I couldn't quite remember the mantra or the centering thought but I did my best. By the way,"Om Laghu Bhavam" means "I am lightness itself" which I forgot as soon as Deepak said it and just had to re-look it up for this blog post. Oy. I mean, Om. 

The centering thought really resonated with me. "My struggle has ended. I am in harmony with myself." I've been struggling with the scale. Ironically, I feel strong, healthy and a recent physical has proven that my healthy eating and consistent running has me in optimal health. But. I'm still up about 13 pounds from my goal weight and the A student in me is on fire about it. And I've been frustrated because I've been following the Weight Watchers Program to the "T." Dutifully weighing and measuring my food and logging it. I actually enjoy the process of all of that. I adore the women in my meeting and my leader, and I personally do much better when I'm following a regiment vs just "winging it." Yet the scale barely budges. If the scale didn't matter I'd be very happy, but the scale does matter in a way, and I've allowed it to get the best of me lately.

The centering thought has me rethinking the scale though. I am happy. I am in harmony with myself. I am strong and healthy, I have so much to be grateful for and everyday I want to wake up and thank the universe for my strong healthy body. It's such a blessing to be able to run! To move! To not be on medication to not face disease because of poor habits. So I'm ending my struggle with the scale. My body might want to be healthy at this weight or something will kick in at some point but either way, I am going to believe that I am in harmony with myself.  I will continue to go to WW because I love the friendship and it provides me the tools and balance I need to keep moving forward but I'm truly going to work at letting go of the numbers. 

This 21 day meditation journey is literally about "shedding weight" in every sense of the word. Most importantly the heavy stuff weighing on your heart, soul and mind. Who can't use a little lightening up? 

By the way, shortly after my first time meditating this morning, as if to confirm that I am on the right path, I saw this NY Times Article, Meditation Plus Running as a Treatment for Depression pop up on my FB newsfeed. Running has definitely helped to ease my depression so this was a particularly interesting read for me. 

I'm pretty sure you can still sign up for The Oprah & Deepak 21-Day Meditation Experience if you want to give it a shot. If you do, let me know what you think!

Have you ever meditated before? What are your thoughts? 

XO 

Jen

PS: I'm still raising money for Autism by running the NYC Marathon this November. I have a goal of $3000 and it's going to take a lot of help to get there! If you are so moved, please consider supporting the cause - You can donate here: https://www.crowdrise.com/OrgforAutismResearchNYC2016/fundraiser/jenniferroe2

PSS: If you want to check out the cool, FREE From Fat to Finish Line Running App click here to sign up to get on the list! I promise it's not going to be your average running app :) 

The best run ever and a little more yoga

I was going thru my blog and revisited my goals and races page to check something out when a comment caught my eye. I'm sure I saw it when it came in but paid no mind. Today it made me look twice. It literally read:

Whoa. Seriously. Out of all the runners out there, you Google "Worst Run ever" and I come up!? Way to put out the good vibes into the universe - eh?

So I was curious. And I googled "worst run ever."

And sure as shit - there I am in the number two spot.

I couldn't even remember why it was The Worst Run Ever but then I looked it up. It actually was a pretty bad run - I remember the day now, I was supposed to run 10 miles and could barely do six. I walked a bunch during that run (something I almost never do) and couldn't find my groove. Oh well. Anyway if you want to go back in time, here is the post. 

So what about the best run ever? 

Well, it probably wasn't my best ever but I'm determined to turn what I'm putting out in the universe around and today I had a great run. It wasn't my furthest or fastest but it felt good.

It was only 3 miles but lately I've been really sitting in my comfort zone when it comes to pace. I've been running a 10'30 to a 11 min mile lately. Now don't get me wrong. It's still an effort, I don't feel like I'm crawling at that pace but I am fairly comfortable. So today I decided to dial it up just a bit. I wound up running an avg. of 9'48 - but really, my first mile was at an 11' (warm up mile) and the last 2 were around an avg. of 9'12 each. I was out of my comfort zone for five minutes at a time (alternating between 6.5 - 7.0 for five minute and returning to a 6.0 / 6.1 for 'recovery' - slightly speedier 'recovery' than usual too). It was tough but I loved eyeing the dude on the tread next to me who was 20 years old and never went above a 5.8 and was dying. hee hee.

I finished feeling exhilarated.

And in other fitness news, my journey to yoga continues. I went this morning and I still suck at it. I still feel awkward and inflexible and struggle to come anywhere close but it's a work in progress. But I have to say that the instructor is very encouraging and patient with me. She takes a lot of time modifying moves and demonstrating the way I should attempt poses and that's really cool.

I was thrilled to meet a future runner in class. She is in the midst of her weight loss journey and has already lost a lot of weight thru yoga. She is plus sized but she was awesome at yoga and very inspiring to me. She randomly mentioned to the girl next to her that she was thinking of signing up for a 5K and the couch to 5K program. Well I lit up like a Christmas tree, I was so excited for her! She said that she ran for one minute the day before and it was significant for her. I told her that was exactly how I started! I hope to run in to her again and that she really starts the running thing. She has no idea how it can change your life. It completely changed mine.

How are you doing? Yoga? What was your best run ever? Worst?

XO
Jen

Yoga sucks. Sign me up!

So today I moseyed to my fifth attempt at yoga.  I have been trying Vinyasa yoga. I think. Except for the one time I did Bikram.

My conclusion is that yoga is very f'ing hard for me. This comes as natural to me as resting my knees on my elbows and trying to lift my feet in the ground to the left (or right) while breathing - I know. They wanted me to try to do that. Everyone else in the class could. Not me. Insane. Right?

You want me to do what?
credit

The story usually goes like this:

I promptly let the instructor know that I'm a runner with tight hamstrings and a beginner. This is always a good/bad move - good because the expectation of my ability has been lowered, bad because I usually become the pet project of the class causing me further pose anxiety. Still. That is better than not giving an explanation of my limited abilities.

Then I peel my socks off and note my busted runner's feet and curse myself for being too lazy to get a mid-winter pedicure. I'm mortified that strangers might glimpse these ugly feet of mine but not enough to actually get a pedicure.

We begin by sitting in the lotus position. I'm already uncomfortable. I cheat by placing blocks under my knees. Off to a great start. Ohmmmm and we're off.

We begin with 1 of about 800 downward dog/plank type shit moves poses that just keep leading into other poses that I struggle with.

When everything starts to shake and I'm about to cry, I unyogaily drop to my knees and child's pose all the while trying to breathe as I silently curse myself for coming to another class. I pull it together and go back into downward dog and then transition into as close as I can to whatever is going on.

When everyone else has their palms on the floor and straight legs - I'm reaching with all my might for my shins.

My flexibility has always been bad. I remember as a kid practicing for months to try to touch my toes or do a split. It just never happened.

And then just as I'm about to swear off yoga forever it's time to lay flat and breathe and Ohmmmm out. Then I think to myself, "that wasn't so bad."

The thing is, and the thing I'm most proud of myself is, I'm not giving up. Oh I (kind of) hate it and I suck at it and if there were a hidden camera in this class it would make for mighty funny YouTube viewing but I'm not quitting. The old me would try it for five minutes and walk out. "I tried, I suck, I'm done." But now-a-days I try, I suck, I keep trying again - hoping to eventually suck less. (I don't know if this is stubborn stupidity or noble - but whatever.)

I choose to believe this is a good new quality I've cultivated.

That's a lesson from losing weight and running that I have learned. I mean I sucked at both of those things for a loooong time too. It took me a long time to get pretty good (and even liking running) and I'm still improving at that.

Took 40 years to figure out losing weight/healthy eating/maintaining -- and I'm still working at that.

I believe that yoga is going to help my calf and hamstring issues - they are very tight. Something has to give. So I owe it (at least to my running self) to keep trying. I would think it'll take 10 or more classes for me to get into a groove.

Yoga doesn't come easy for me. It's frustrating because my competitiveness and A-student mentality makes me want to be good at this and I'm not even close. But I won't give up. Thanks to being cheap (I have groupons of classes to use) and thanks to the new "don't give up and give it a chance" attitude, I'm going to just keep trying.

Do you do yoga?  If not, have you tried it? Hate it or love it? Any others out there as inflexible as me?

XO
Jen

PS: Funnily, As hard as Bikram was - I liked that best. Unfortunately, i don't have one of those close to me in Jersey and I'm too broke right now to hop my ass into NYC to pay for class and the $15 commute fee - I do have a gift from Angela for 10 classes in Los Angeles! So I have something to look forward to when i get out that way.

Yoga, foam rolling, Surf City and Lance Armstrong

So this is what we all get when Jen doesn't blog for more than a week.

A whole bunch of stuff crammed into one blog posting.

This post will be much like the rest of my day, an A.D.D. cocktail of different thoughts on different subjects...

Anyway.

Where to start?

I took the plunge on Jan. 10th and signed up for the Surf City half marathon - which happens on Feb. 3.  Trained? Eh. Not as much as I would like to be. With less than a month to go at sign-up time, I started to cram/train immediately. My first week was a  3 - 2 - 8 mile week of miles. (um.) and last week I did 4 - 2- 4 - 10.  A twenty mile week. And it felt pretty good. I made sure to take my 10 miles slowly, hydrate tremendously and even stopped to stretch around five miles in. It all paid off. I managed to do it with no cramping. I will not be PR'ing this half but I am looking forward to enjoying it.

I'm coming back! 

This past week's ten mile long run was important and significant for me. The last time I attempted 10 miles it wasn't a good experience at all - as you might remember from this Ragnar Race report. Conquering those miles felt really good. I will do another 8 - 10 miles this weekend and then use the rest of the week to taper with smaller 2 or 3 milers.

It sucks that I'm traveling the day before the race - 8 hours of travel with my layover. I'm going to really have to super hydrate somehow and try to remember to wear compression socks on the plane.

BTW did you catch this? I was voted some sort of "Top Health and Fitness blogger!" -->

In other news -- I've been taking a very serious approach to trying to fix my leg issues. I suffer from tight hamstrings and frequent cramping on runs over 6 miles and it's starting to bum me out. So I've been playing with hydration/potassium/magnesium and other nutrition approaches.

I've also invested (freaking $40 bucks!) in a foam roller (they say it's a great way to work those muscles) and am attempting yoga and strength training. Anything to become a better runner. I swear - who is this person I've become?

Kinda liking this thing

As a person who's pretty impatient, sort of has trouble with balance and is the most unflexible person on the planet, yoga is (haha) kind of a stretch for me. I mean it's uncomfortable for me to even sit cross legged and when bending, my hands go just below the knees when trying to touch my toes. It's really bad. It's probably also why I really need yoga.

Yoga was kind of annoying. I didn't care for the instructor who just kept telling the newbies to "look at others if you don't know what you're doing." and I didn't get a nice zen vibe there. I didn't love it but I'm going to give it a few shots before I give up. I didn't like coffee, beer or running at first either and now I am a fan of all three of those things. So there you go. Maybe it's an acquired taste! I'm trying a different studio this Friday.

And then there's Lance.

Oh Lance.

I think doing Oprah was a mistake. I felt zero sincerity from him and I felt so much like the only reason why he was doing it was because his big ego made him believe that it was all he would need to do to win back some affection from fans and possibly pave the way to be eligible to compete. Uh. I don't think so. I think I liked him even less after the interview. The whole thing just seemed pathetic to me.

So... Any races coming up? Do you do yoga? Do you foam roll? Do you have thoughts about Lance?

Inquiring minds!!

XO
Jen

Goals for 2013

Happy New Year!

So I've been looking at other people's goals all day and trying to mull over some of my own. Coming up with some worthy goals has been tough this year for some reason.

But, I do believe in kicking off the New Year with some goals so here are a few:

2012 miles at a glance

1. Run more miles this year. In 2012 I ran 721 miles - my goal for 2013 is to run 722.

2. Run faster? Maybe. I found myself having a hard time running faster last year. I would have to beat a 2:19:58 half and a 26:46 5K. Might be tough but if I train for it, I could possibly get there. Lately I've been getting slower rather than faster so we'll see.

3. Cross train seriously. I will be taking yoga, boot camp and incorporating more strength training into my regime.

More of this kinda thing

4. Maintain my goal weight.

5. DRINK MORE WATER! Seriously. I have such a hard time with this but in 2013, hydration will be my bitch.

6. Keep this blog going.

7. Eat even cleaner.

8. Track my food at least one week a month (will help me with #4 and #7 and keep me on my game)

9. Run 4 half marathons and at least 2 5k races - to keep training for stuff.

Wishy-Washy goals:

Here are a few things I would like to (maybe) do. I know this is an all-wrong approach but I'm still trying to figure out how to accomplish:

9. Run another full marathon? Maybe. Once again I will throw my hat in the ring for NYC marathon. If I get in, I will train. I have no other plans to run a full right now - with a new TV show in the works and the film -- I don't want to fully commit yet… (I know that's lame.)

26.2 if I'm in

10. And I know this is lame too. I still really want to try a tri. I am still struggling to figure out a bike and pool solution. The gyms with pools are literally 3 and 4 times more expensive than my gym and way out of my budget. Now if some of these projects we are working on generate some money, maybe I can afford to take that plunge - sometime. We'll see. Still putting it out there in the universe just in case I can make something happen.

So that's what I got so far.

What are your goals for the New Year?

XO
Jen

Taking control of my messy world

I apologize for the very sporadic posts of late.  My whole world feels messy lately.

My house? A mess.

My food choices? A craptastic mess.

Even my email needs to be cleaned out.

This mess has led me to feeling a bit out of control in many areas of my life, weight included.

It's not without good excuse. I've been traveling and working my tail off and my time management skills have been sucking an egg.

But still. I hate this feeling.

I got on the scale this morning and I'm up close to four pounds. It's OK. I'm staying calm and carrying on (and counting calories and trying to get my groove back.) But still. I feel those pounds. I felt like I was running a super speedy 2 miles today and the four pounds proved I wasn't terribly speedy, just carrying around more weight and thus, exerting more effort.

So this week I will un-mess myself. And get in control over some of the stuff in my life.

Goals for my week:

• Super duper clean the house. I'm a happier person when things in my house gets in order. The home chaos just spills into everything else.
• Track all of my food at Spark People.
• Hydrate. My friend Angela told me about this free App "Idrated" it's kind of dumb but for some reason it is making me drink my water. It beeps at you and reminds you to drink water and gives you little rewards for getting it in. I was skeptical I'd use it but I have. So there you go.
• 15 miles running.
• 30 minutes of strength training (starting slow -- new goal to strength train.)
• Bonus: I have a groupon for a gym that does boot camp, pilates, yoga, spin and Zumba classes. The groupon is for five classes. I will try to use one this week. Maybe yoga - I thought I hated Yoga (because I'm so gawky and non-flexible) but I tried it once (remember?) and want to really give it a fair shot. I am looking to truly start to cross-train, I think it'll ultimately make me a better runner.

My first not sucky yoga experience - dare I say
I actually almost liked it?

In other news, I ran a 5K last Sunday - not my fastest, not my slowest -- did Giralda Farms in Madison, NJ, placed 10th in my age group - yippee.  There was a massive hill and I wasn't even sure I was running this until the day before so I'm happy with it overall.

I'm starting to get nervous about Ragnar! With all my focus on trying to raise the money and produce the filming of it, I somehow forgot - I'm actually running this thing!! Well, hopefully my above goals will be a good kickoff to training for it. :-) It's coming quick!! 

What mess do you have to work on cleaning up?

XO

Jen