It’s January, a new year, and time for All of the 2019 Things, which includes participating in #RIOTS. #RIOTS is an acronym for “Running Is Our Therapy Sisters” (or “Running is Our Therapy Squad”) and I, along with five strong, amazing bloggers, are throwing #RIOTS every week. You’re totally invited to play. While there isn’t an A in #RIOTS (I leave you to decide what kind of “A” we might want to exclude, ha ha!), the true meaning of #RIOTS is Accountability. #RIOTS was born when Anna Louise of Gracious Warrior Princess reached out to us and proposed some ACCOUNTABILITY for all of the great goals and works we have planned for the 2019 calendar year. We’ve all got goals, and together we have a #SquadGoal which is to band together as a support network so that we each reach our 2019 goals.

Here’s how it works: every Sunday (or whenever afterwards we manage to get the blog posts ready), we share both victories and setbacks. We are counting on each other to keep on track this year and the results are going to be epic!

If you want to play, head over to Jenn’s blog, Runs with Pugs. Grab our graphic, drop your link in the linkup, comment on the host blogs and as many others as you can, and play along!

Next, Meet the Accountability Squad:

Brandi at Funner Runner

Anna Louise at Gracious Warrior Princess

Briana at Mat.Miles.Medals

Meghan at Meghan on the Move

Jenn at Runs With Pugs

Elizabeth (that would be me!) at Train With Bain

One Week Into 2019…

I heart running 2019 poster — My refrigerator mileage poster

This week I’m recapping my running and fitness goals. I have plenty of other goals–dutifully outlined in my 2019 planner–but let’s start with these! I’ll start by saying I am having total FOMO as all of my friends head off to Florida for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. This is my first year NOT running Dopey, and it sort of breaks my heart to lose that “perfect” status. I’m trying not to dwell on it by setting other goals and planning for other cool events.

Running Goals.

Blue Ridge Marathon. I’m returning to the FootLevelers Blue Ridge Mountain as an Ambassador! This is the only race I have taken a HARD “get on the bus” DNF. To be fair, the course was black-flagged (due to lightning), but in all honesty the race was kicking my butt. I’m going to write more about that later. In the meanwhile, plan to join me in Roanoke, Virginia on April 13, 2019. (Psst! There’s a discount code on my deals page. Use AMBASSADORBAIN20 for 20% off!) How it’s going: It’s day 8 of the year as I write this. I have run three of those days (2.1, 6.2, 3.1–not necessarily the distances I had planned!) and not the five days called for in the training plan. On the one hand, I could beat myself up. On the other hand, that’s three more days than I would have run without a training plan.

Chicago Marathon. This year I joined Team Imerman Angels to run my first World Marathon Major: Chicago! I made a pledge to raise at least $100,000 in my lifetime to fight cancer and to help those who are fighting it, in honor of Mom. In 2012 I ran the Detroit Free Press-Talmer Bank International Half for the American Cancer Society and raised almost $25,000. I’ve raised $10,000 for The Susan G. Komen Foundation by participating in the San Francisco Bay Area 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. I raised $2,500 for Noah’s Light Foundation to fund a cure for pediatric brain cancer at the Walt Disney World Princess Glass Slipper Challenge. This year, I’m helping Imerman Angels connect those fighting cancer to an “angel” who knows what they are going through. How it’s going: I set up my fundraising page (though I accidentally deleted the big, long post I wrote so I need to re-do that) and successfully guilted both of my brothers into donating to my fundraiser! Now it’s your turn: Give Money Here. I have raised $170 of my $2,000 goal, which is about 10%. (i will donate $205, the cost of a bib for the race, this fall.) If I can hit 10% every month, I’ll reach my goal.

screen shot from the Vi app — Not REALLY my fastest mile….but Vi doesn’t track on the treadmill

Run The Year 2019. Every year (well, this is the fifth year), Run the Edge has a “Run the Year” challenge. You can choose to run 2019 miles (or kilometers) yourself, or with a team. You also don’t HAVE to hit 2019. There are no prizes for reaching the end–the medals for this year have a spinner where you can insert a special coin when you reach various mileages, and they came out already so they can motivate us!–and no penalties. The entire point is to join a limitless running club where people are helpful and positive. (And “positive” includes things like, “Dude, do NOT trust ‘pixie dust’ to get you through a race you are not trained to run.”) How it’s going: So far, I have just under 12 miles. I am tracking on a poster on my fridge, and the RTY challenge poster is on my wall. I’m also the “Lead FITster” for Portland, so I’m moderating the Facebook group and keeping it positive. It’s not too late to join us, and if you use my affiliate link you get $3 off (how much you spend depends on which swag you choose). My actual goal is 1200+ miles, because the Oregon Road Runners Club has a 1200 mile challenge and if you finish, you get a sweet 1200 miles club jacket. (Every year after that, you get a patch to add to it if you finish another 1200.)

Yoga Goal.

Do More Yoga. This is exactly the type of “not-SMART,” vague goal everyone tells you NOT to set. So don’t follow my lead here. Essentially, I want to do yoga more often. That definitely means taking more classes, and I joined the brand-new PDX Power Yoga studio that just opened near me. It’s a Baptiste-affiliated studio, so the sequencing and the adjustments are solid, and I love the vibe, plus I love supporting a local studio. It doesn’t hurt that I got in on the opening special, either. Yet it also means taking a moment here and there during the day to engage in some of the yoga stretches that my body needs to stay in alignment and balanced. How it’s going: I’ve slept through every 6 a.m. class, which means I need to go to bed earlier! On the bright side, I went to see a new chiropractor (Meghan Bodnar at Luna Wellness–I highly recommend!) and have been incorporating the stretches and yoga poses she prescribed after putting my angry SI joint back into a happy place. I renewed my Yoga Download membership as well as my Yoga International membership, so I have NO excuses–I can stream on demand anywhere I have wifi. Also, I moved a yoga mat into my office!

Challenge Goals.

Blogilates #100AbsChallenge. Cassey Ho, the amazing Blogilates, posts free workouts on her YouTube channel. If you subscribe to her newsletter, every month she posts a new calendar with suggested workouts in rotation. Starting January 1, she has an abs challenge to do 100 reps of an abs move each day. Each day is a new move, and there are no rules about doing them all at once. (In fact, she encouraged people to break them up into sets if necessary.) How it’s going: Basically, it’s not. I haven’t done a single day’s video. I can’t say “I’m too busy,” because we all know what that REALLY means. (“I did not make it a priority.”) I think I mentally opted-in because I have a bunch of friends who were doing it. I may pop in from time to time, but I think I am going to let this one go–my heart is not in it.

Grokker 30-day Be a Better You Challenge. Grokker is an online streaming platform with a ton of fitness content on it. I intend to poke around and write a review one of these days. In the meanwhile, Grokker offered a free month through January 31, after which you can either cancel or pay for a membership ($14.99/month if you pay month-to-month, or 30% cheaper at $9.99/month if you pre-pay for a year). To kick off 2019 they offered four challenge options, and I picked one. How it’s going: I’ll tell you next week. No really, after seeing how last week was going, I decided to start THIS week. Yes, it’s Tuesday. Whatever. I can start today.

Bain selfies with a cow or two — When the run gives you an opportunity to selfie with a cow, I do!

OrangeTheory Fitness Transformation Challenge. This hasn’t started yet–my studio starts January 21–but I’m signing up. The challenge is essentially a weight-loss challenge (which I hate), where the winner is chosen by total % of body weight lost. Sure, I have a few pounds to kick, but six weeks isn’t realistic for long-term success here. Anyway, the real challenge is committing to 3 classes per week during the challenge period. Last year I missed ONE class during the last week due to a work issue. Otherwise, I kept with it, even going out of my way to take classes on a family trip to Florida and a work trip to Rhode Island. Time to return to this and UP MY GAME.

Miscellaneous News and Updates

I joined the ORRC and signed up for the 10k series, so I have plenty more runs on calendar! The first was called the Y2K 10K (there was a half marathon option as well) and I loved it.
After the “Run and Retox” with the W’yeast Pack on New Year’s Day, I introduced myself to some runners and made new friends. They invited me to join their weekly runs, so now I have some extra motivation to get out there.
It’s just over two months until I leave for the Vikara 3-Day Fitness and Yoga Party! I’m excited to spend three days in Arizona with poolside yoga, healthy food, and studio/boutique fitness all over the city. The event takes placeFebruary 28-March 3, 2019 and you can use code Elizabeth10 to save 10% on your registrationl Learn more and register at https://www.vikaraevents.com/

Until next week…

medal and two race bibs — First Medal Monday and both race bibs

I AM HUMAN.
My body needs exercise.
My body will always need exercise.
This will never change.
It’s not negotiable—it’s science.

The world is filled with workouts and meal plans, most of them making promises that in X amount of time you can achieve Y result (and all you have to do is stop being so lazy and commit already). A quick walk through the exercise and fitness section of any bookstore demonstrates just how popular this formula is: 40 Days to Personal Revolution, 8 Minutes in the Morning… The last thing the world needs is another book laying out a rigid plan and making promises that “all you have to do” is follow the plan. So Lyn Lindbergh did NOT write that book.

Couch to Active is a book for anyone who wants to transition from couch-ing to exercising. Though the subtitle is “The Missing Link That Takes You From Sedentary to Active,” I personally hate the term “sedentary” as the starting point. Truthfully, many people who don’t exercise are not sedentary; instead, they are caring for young children or aging parents, working full time at demanding jobs, and otherwise constantly in motion mentally, if not physically. Lyn’s got your back, perfectly normal, average person with a full, busy life, and this book is for you.

The typical fitness book is written with a mixture of tough love (“suck it up, buttercup”) and praise (“you finished today’s workout—see you tomorrow!”) that can leave you feeling bad and discouraged when you can’t follow the plan to a T. Couch to Active is written with compassion and understanding. A big focus of the book is finding self-compassion while creating YOUR exercise plan for life. I can’t really say “it starts with baby steps” because you, the reader, get to decide how big the steps are, but it does start with self-inquiry and the entire program is about tailoring the plan to your actual life (not the hypothetical one where you sleep 8+ hours every night and have a personal Pilates trainer).

The typical fitness book has a plan laid out and orders you to follow it. While this may work for people with an abundance of motivation, energy, and free time, it doesn’t work for the rest of us. Instead of starting with a one-size-fits-most plan, Couch to Active begins with the premise that “We need to actually enjoy the exercise we do.” From there, Lyn skillfully guides you through some basic premises—injury-free is always the goal, social media can be a help or a harm—and then walks you through a step-by-step system to create your active life. Over the span of eight weeks, Couch to Active asks you to think critically and creatively about your life, your needs, and the barriers and obstacles to the active life you want to lead. While the process is broken down into bite-sized pieces distributed over two months, Lyn points out that you can tackle the work at your own speed—take two weeks, take a year—as long as you tackle it in order. If you’re like me and you hate being told what to do, go ahead and read the whole thing before you start—I concluded the process is laid out in a logical fashion that nudges each participant to succeed.

Couch to Active doubles as a workbook and Lyn encourages readers to write in the book. Each chapter is set up as a week with a theme, a worksheet to plan your exercise, and thinking/writing assignments. There is plenty of space to write in the book, including response pages within each chapter. Exercise worksheets, and extra pages for notes, though you may prefer a separate journal for some of the more introspective portions. Each week, the exercise plan is up to you, and Couch to Active is not snobby about what constitutes “exercise,” recognizing that each reader will start in their own place. Instead of formulaic workout grids with 10 reps of each exercise, Lyn has created templates that reflect different circumstances that might parallel a real person. Instead of beginner, intermediate, and advanced, the samples have names like “I Hate Exercise, But My Doctor Is Making Me Do This” and “I’m a Chronic Mess of Health Issues.” Similarly, instead of generic checklists, Couch to Active has the reader create checklists tailored to their exact life circumstances.

Couch to Active is peppered with stories from real people, using their real names, though Lyn has also created two composite characters. These are people you can relate to–with jobs and kids and responsibilities–not celebrities with personal trainers on the payroll and unlimited me-time.

Unlike the typical fitness book, the only promise Couch to Active makes is that if you do the work to design your own active life, tailored to your situation and needs, and then follow your plan, you will end up living an active life. That’s the goal: an Active life.

Need some guidance on how to get to YOUR active life? Win a copy of Couch to Active! I have two to give away. Can’t wait to win one? Buy one here (affiliate link) via Amazon. Want a better price? Go to Lyn’s website, https://www.couchtoactive.com/shop and get the book directly from the author! You can also join the brand new “Couch to Active” club, for just $11/month. More details at Lyn’s website, HERE.

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