A Gutsy Girl

Heal your gut. Heal your life.

Workouts

The Bigness Project

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Here is how The Bigness Project went down for me.

Jen Sinkler is an old “friend” from the Midwest (I use the term “friend” lightly because it’s not like we were having weekend brunch together or anything, just coffee once, but I’ve known her for a very long time now), and I think she’s brilliant at what she does in the Fitness realm so when I got her email last week about The Bigness Project, I was intrigued. 

I took it to Twitter.

We went back and forth, Kourtney and I, (and I also checked out her website for validation) until I finally decided to join the project.

The Bigness Project

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14-Week The Bigness Project sarahkayhoffman.com

According to the program,

The Bigness Project focuses on growth, on Bigness in both muscles and mindset.

In so few words, mindset growth is what I am currently focused on in both my fitness and personal life. 

It’s hard to image “bigness” in muscles combined with running. Honestly, I’m a little unsure about the training and results, too, but when I asked Kourtney how she adds in her training runs, she responded, “Mmmmhmmm. I’m an endurance runner too 🙂 2 higher intensity runs/week (track + tempo), 1 long on the weekend.”

Finally, someone speaking my language because that is exactly how I “scaled back” running these past few weeks (and feeling the runs stronger because of it).

I read through the program user manual and actual 14-week plan, and then I merged it with current running training.

The way I’ll train these next 14 weeks is via Hybrid Training. 

On page 35 of the user manual, it states,

Hybrid Training is a concept refined by Alex Viada, cofounder of fitness company Complete Human Performance. His concept involves stacking your cardiovascular training strategically throughout your training week to maximize recovery time and allow the best possible training effects of any sport or activity you participate in. In this instance, we’re talking about bodybuilding and endurance sports of any kind: running, cycling, swimming, rowing, etc. This way of training allows you to stay cardiovascularly fit while not impeding or killing your gains.

With hybrid training your workouts have a specific purpose, and you spend your time between very low intensity and fairly high-intensity threshold work. Your volume won’t be high, but you’ll maintain your cardiovascular fitness.

There are 2 phases to the Bigness Project, so I’ll lay out for you how my weeks will look, training-wise, for the next 7 weeks (this is a general guideline, not an absolutely because, well…..life):

Monday: Tempo run
Tuesday: Leg – Quads
Wednesday: Chest and Back
Thursday: Leg – Hamstrings + Intervals
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Long run
Sunday: Arms and Shoulders

And that’s what Hybrid Training looks like.

The best parts of this entire program are three-fold:

  1. I looked at The Bigness Project workouts. Not only do they look sane and doable, but they look fun, interesting, and will have me training my muscles in a way I rarely train them (eccentric emphasis).
  2. The program also focuses on mindset. In fact, I heard Jen say that one of the things she enjoyed most about the program was the meditative factor she noticed. I reviewed some notes from my doctor last night, and he told me he really needed me to start meditating. I still have not, and I’m hoping he would count this:)
  3. I can do it all from our home gym! I only had to grab a few misc. things from Amazon for the program because we have everything else. I’ll share what’s in our home (garage) gym this week because I believe that spending the time, energy, and money building this beast out has been and will continue to be a key to my fitness (and sanity) success.

I may share my Bigness Project updates on my blog (I’ll tuck it under running), but for sure I’ll share things here and there via Paleoishmama, so come follow! 

p.s. the project is now closed so I don’t think you can get it again for awhile.

p.s.s. Jen and Kourtney, if you read this, there is an extra bedroom at our house, in case you ever want to come to Northern California for one of your “in person Bigness Project workout stops.” The garage awaits us. 

Xox,
SKH

Running with a Frown

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Perhaps I am running with a frown, but my heart is happy.

Can I just tell you how much I cringe every time I read an article or listen to a podcast by some fitness guru who says, “Ladies, just stop with all the running! I mean, I’m always driving by ladies who are running with a frown. They look so sad because they hate what they are doing.” The conversation then always moves to how “if you don’t enjoy running, then stop it, because it’s not helping you lose weight or get that perfect body.”

Running with a Frown

This condescending tone must stop.

It’s frustrating. It’s annoying, and quite honestly it’s false.

On Saturday morning, I hit the road for an 11+ mile run. It was my best run yet, and during the long run, I listened to two podcasts (Chris Kresser + Fizzle) and random music here and there.  

I smiled just one time during the run, and that was when I ran past another runner who waved to me. This is because I don’t smile when I run, but it’s not because I’m miserable, sad, or pondering thoughts around, “Will this run get me the perfect body?” 

No, it’s because I am focused….on the run, breathing, foot placement, and many other things like my thoughts and a variation of deep meditation. Oftentimes the same is true when I’m walking, lifting, and doing every other type of workouts I enjoy. I’m not one to smile when I workout. I never have been, and I never will be.  

But I am happy. On the inside, I beam. If I wasn’t, I would not be doing it, and would not have the drive to hit the road, consistently these days, for 10+ miles. (Because there was a time when I hated running.)

Running with a Frown sarahkayhoffman.com

Almost three years ago, I wrote this post called, “Never Judge the Face {By a Frown or Frown-Upside-Down}.” It could not ring truer today.

Do you know how many times I (and you, too, likely) smile and it’s fake? Smiling is an act, and not all acts are genuine. I know this from my life’s experiences, all of them. But I also know it because each time I go to Bikram Yoga they say, “….healthy head, open heart, and a smile on your face.” 

I smile in those moments, to appease the teacher and everyone around me. Rarely am I actually happy. I know I should, but I just do not truly enjoy or appreciate yoga. My smile is fake, and only from an outsider’s perspective, am I happy and loving yoga.

The running community is really amazing, and yet for those not in it, I always feel like I’m defending running with a frown because “surely it’s something no one could truly enjoy.”

I don’t run to achieve some sort of body, and I think we need to stop inferring to women that there is a direct correlation between smiling and going after that “perfect body.” 

There isn’t.

That’s not real.

What is real? Keeping to your own lane, not judging another lane, understanding that looks can be deceiving and that running with a frown might be the happiest thing you see all day.

Running with a Frown sarahkayhoffman.com Quote Quotes

p.s. I’ll hopefully share my recent workouts via the Running category soon. I started running less, making them count more, and sprinkling in other things. It’s really paying off, I think!

Xox,
SKH

Hot Chocolate 15K

Filed Under: Fitness, Inspire, Love, Wellness, Workouts Tagged With: , , ,

Yesterday was the San Francisco Hot Chocolate 15K. It was my first race of 2017, first race “back,” and well, sort of a 15K, but not even close.

I recently shared all my big running goals for 2017.

What I didn’t share is that I have been fairly sick since November 10, so heading into all these lofty goals has been super scary for me to imagine getting through much less with a halfway desirable pace.

Hot Chocolate 15K sarahkayhoffman.com Sarah Kay Hoffman

No, I’m not sick with SIBO, Colitis or anything like that. In fact, as they are concerned, I have been feeling fantastic!

But I got a cold on November 10, and it morphed into a sinus infection. I got antibiotics in Minnesota, and they sort of worked. Once we returned home to California, Ceci got the flu, and then I think I picked up on some version of it plus the sinus stuff returned. I had to get another round of antibiotics late last week, and the doctor said that if it didn’t start subsiding soon, we should run some further tests since it’s been a really long time of illness for me (and up until now, I haven’t taken antibiotics for illness like this in a few years). 

I spent the weekend drinking a ton of water and did zero activity until the race. I felt better almost overnight.

Once the race hit yesterday, and I was freely running, I stumbled upon so many ah-ha moments around health, running, and life. And here they are.

Hot Chocolate 15K

Hot Chocolate 15K sarahkayhoffman.com

  1. Just go with it. So the 15K ended up being a 9.8K, which yes, I think is super weird that they couldn’t at least figure out how to turn into a 10K. Regardless, what happened in San Francisco was that in addition to awful rain, they were expecting up to 50mph winds on the highway, so they had to stop the race at 5.8 miles vs. 9.3. The night before, I thought to myself several times, “I’m just going to stay home and run 9.3 miles to avoid the misery.” But then, “No, just go with it.” In racing, and in life, circumstances are just not always perfect. You just go with it, and then it’s over.  Hot Chocolate 15K sarahkayhoffman.com Runners Golden Gate Park
  2. Too fast. I started way too fast. I think I got frustrated because I could not get around people fast enough, so then to make up for it, I went too fast too soon, and it caught up with me – quickly.
  3. Music. I didn’t even make a playlist for the event. In fact, I forgot my headphones for my phone, but luckily someone I went with borrowed me a pair, and so I just threw on a random playlist and went. The problem with that? Probably 90% of the music was slow, and that did nothing for my motivation levels. When the 10% awesome running music was on, I felt good as ever. There is something to be said for a killer playlist, so I’ll start working on one for the next race ASAP.  Hot Chocolate 15K sarahkayhoffman.com Running
  4. Too hot. I was so paranoid about the wind, rain, and cold, that I overdressed. I wore a tank top, fleece jacket, a hat, one arm warmer, and a poncho. 1-ish mile in and I felt too warm. I know races are cold during those first moments, but they go by so quickly and then you’re left with way too much on. 
  5. Hills. So Golden Gate Park isn’t stacked with hills by any means, but I have done zero incline training during these past couple of months. There were a few times with inclines (combined with the wind), and they kind of did me in. Hill training will be on my new schedule.
  6. Quad Fatigue. My quads fatigued big time around mile 3.5, and I have no idea why, but I’m guessing one of two things: not enough muscle memory in general and/or the hills and wind factor. Either way, I need to work on my leg strength because in no way, shape, or form should I be fatigued at mile 3.5. Ever.  Hot Chocolate 15K sarahkayhoffman.com Results
  7. WP Thyroid. I think it’s working, I think it’s working, I think it’s working. Yesterday was the last day of my female cycle (I thought it had started, in fact, but no), and that’s typically one of the worst days for cramping (mid-cycle to Day 2). I made it all the way through with barely a cramp. In fact, most of my runs these past couple of weeks have been the same. I need to knock on wood immediately, but I still believe that this lingering issue has been all hormone related, and now that I’m almost done with month 2 (I think it’s been that long anyways) of WP Thyroid, I can safely say that I believe the pain is lessening. If ever a month comes and it’s gone, I’ll cry. Like literally. It’s been years.
  8. Kindness. I went with 4 women to the event. Three of them ran the 15K as well, and the 4th just decided she would drive us there, drop us off, and pick us up. Can I just say that what she did for us was incredibly kind! We left at 5:30 am. It rained and poured the whole way there, and she just did it all for us. She made what could have been a much worse experience, simple and great. (Side note: I didn’t know these 4 women very well before yesterday, but learned through conversation that they all love the Lord like I do, so that made me super excited, too, to share faith + running with them!)
  9. Water. I hate water, but towards the end of my 2-month sickness, I had this ah-ha moment. “What if the lingering sickness, body aches, and pains are simply due to my lack of hydration with the amount of running I’m doing?” So the past few days, I infused my system with water. I started aiming for 1/2 gallon to a gallon a day. Like a miracle, all my aches and pains have gone away. I mean, was that really all it was?! Time will tell, but I’ve sparked a new interest in hydration, hydration, and more hydration.
  10. The road ahead. Let me be perfectly honest with you…..those running goals I have set for 2017 are probably way over my head. But I’m not changing them, not now, and not unless I need to. What I’m doing is focusing on one thing, one day, one run at a time. So what’s next? The plan is to run the Livermore 1/2 at the end of March. Next weekend during my wellness retreat(!!) I’ll write the plan. I need to do more runs to build muscle memory, more lifting sessions to build strength and endurance, and more sessions with intervals and hills. I really want to run a great 1/2 marathon. But for today? A light warm up on my new (used) treadmill (!), an upper body workout, high-quality food, a new batch of bone broth, and nothing crazy on the legs. 

The rain never lasts, and after the rain always comes the rainbow. 

Hot Chocolate 15K sarahkayhoffman.com Medal

Upwards and onwards. 

Question: If you’re reading this, and you’re a competitive runner, what do you think have been the things that have helped improve your speed most?

p.s. I might be getting “old,” but for all the battles that made up yesterday, 51st out of 531 females aged 30 – 34 made me very happy. And I still have another year in that age group! 

Xox,
SKH

Unafraid

Filed Under: Inspire, Love, Wellness, Workouts Tagged With: , , , , ,

My one word for 2017 is unafraid. ((I have done the “my one word” now for 5 years. 2013: Life Unprocessed (ummmm….2 words?!). 2014: Unprocessed. 2015: Healing Through Intention (again…..one word?!) 2016: Less.))

I have, almost literally, been paralyzed by fear nearly my entire life.

  • Up until sometime in high school, I was so afraid to stay anywhere but home. I missed out on so many things because of it.
  • I have had massive snake phobia nearly my entire life. When I was really little, I ran over one with my little trike, and in grade school, while jumping on a trampoline, had a friend’s brother throw them at me. To this day, I have a hard time doing a lot of things outside in summer, namely hiking, for fear of a snake encounter. 
  • I was a gymnast for most of my youth, but as I got into junior high, I became massively afraid of “getting hurt” so much so that I did get hurt, and had to stop altogether.
  • Somewhere along the line, I became afraid of food, which trickled down into several years of eating disorder (which I’ve talked about many times on my blog in the past).
  • When “fitness gurus” made it seem like specific workouts wouldn’t work or shouldn’t be done, I became afraid of doing them because surely they knew my body and life better than I did.
  • And on, and on, and on….

Living a fear-based life has affected every single piece of my life, from my daily activities to my relationships and overall health. 

Nelson Mandela has a beautiful quote that says,

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

And The Bible has an even better one,

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifespan? Matthew 6:27

Unafraid

Unafraid sarahkayhoffman.com My One Word 2017

A few months back I began a new journey in my life, one in which I should have begun long ago, but did everything in my power to avoid. 

I finally sought the professional help of someone to address these fears. There is no shame in me telling you this because what I began to accept from the beginning of this journey is that the very act of feeling shame or guilt is only fear creeping into my life and paralyzing me even more.

My book, Gravel Roads will see this through in detail, but how it relates to my one word and 2017 is that I am ready to stop living based on fear, and instead living in a way that says I don’t need to control every single step of every single day out of fear for what could happen.

I can live unafraid, and really live, for all the millions of things that could happen.

It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? We either live with fear or fearless, but either way, something could happen, the possibilities are endless. Seems so much more peaceful to attempt fearless, being unafraid.

I mentioned my 2017 personal goals yesterday, but most of those don’t really take any act of courage. ere are some 2017 goals that 

Here are some 2017 goals that will take courage:

  1. Running. I started running again, and I have been loving it. Sure, the first mile is awful, but such is life. I recently completed a 9-mile run and on New Year’s Day, I will do my longest run to date, 10 miles. My debilitating mid-cycle through the beginning of the following cycle cramps have made me absolutely fearful of running. But I am not dying. There is nothing that is truly holding me back from running, so I’m doing it. Simultaneously, I’m working to figure out the triggers for it so I can get the pain under control because….
    1. Race. Race. Race. Short Distance. I have a packed 2017 calendar full of races I want to run. The first one I’m doing is January 8th, a 15K, in San Francisco. I am not expecting anything phenomenal for this race, other than to get the butterflies out of my stomach for racing again. I was sick from November 10 – December 19 (when I finally got antibiotics for a severe sinus infection), and so my training runs were far below par. But I’m doing it! I plan to sprinkle in many other 5 and 10K’s throughout the year as well.
    2. Race. Race. Race. 1/2 Marathon. The only 1/2 marathon I’m sure I want to race is the Livermore 1/2 Marathon at the end of March (because, obviously, wine at the finish line)! My goal would be to do 2-3 more 1/2 marathons beyond that in 2017.
    3. Race. Race. Race. Marathon. And finally, my top and main 2017 running goal is to run my very first marathon in Sacramento at the California International Marathon in December of 2017. But wait, that’s not even the real goal. The real goal is to run at a pace that would qualify me for the Boston Marathon, which if you don’t know would be a 3-hour and 35-minute marathon (or 8:13/mile for 26.2 miles). Many might say this is super lofty, and it totally is, especially given the female pains and an autoimmune condition. But I won’t let fear hold me back. (Follow my running and paleo-ish journey via paleoishmama on Instagram.)


Additionally….

I have been afraid of heights my entire life, so we are entering the lottery to hike Half Dome. (We = Ryan and I — do you see the things I get him to do with me?! We might also mean the addition of my brother, who is also afraid of heights, and who I would love to have join us!)

I want to do another Spartan Race because I’m trying to get over the fear of that cold water, but currently, the one I want to do is one week after my March 1/2 marathon, so I’m still debating.

Ryan and I have been building out our home gym, so I began creating some lofty strength goals as well (I’ll hopefully share those at some point, too).

And remember those snakes? Well, I’m going to start hiking period to prove that not every single time I step on a trail or anywhere a snake might exist will I see one (and then will it bite me).

This is my start, and I’m praying that 2017 sees me to living a full life, unafraid, in all aspects of my life. 

Ceci’s friend gave her this for Christmas, and I grabbed it from her immediately and took a picture. 

Unafraid Quote sarahkayhoffman.com

Simple. Perfect. And, well, just unafraid. 

What are you afraid of? Now go….make it a part of your 2017 goals!

Xox,
SKH

p.s. What I’m not afraid of anymore? Food! I don’t count calories, fat, carbs or anything any longer. I watch what I eat to the degree that I medically need to, choosing the foods that help me feel my very best (+ fuel me to run, run, run)….AIP Bread anyone?!

p.s.s. Interested in following along with the Pinterest board?!

Mile One

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In running, and in life, mile one is always the hardest. 

Mile One sarahkayhoffman.com Running Life

In high school, I joined the track team for one season. Because I had no endurance and was an awful runner, I thought I’d “just run” sprints, the 50 or 100 and/or be on relay teams where I’d run no more than a 200. 

I wasn’t good, at all, not even a little bit. In fact, towards the end of the season, I thought I’d try a new part of track and compete in the shot put. I’m laughing as I write that. I mean, can you even imagine me doing the shot put? It basically just got worse and worse, and then my track days were over.

Mile One. The Rules of Running sarahkayhoffman.com

I ran about a 12-14 minute mile in high school, and because the mile was so hard for me, I thought I’d never be a runner. I couldn’t sprint, and I also couldn’t do the mile (aka a “long run” for me back then).

I almost quit running altogether. Surely I was not cut out for it.

But then in 2008-ish, I picked it up again. At that time, it was merely just to “lose weight” for my wedding. Nevertheless, I became hooked on running.

And in 2009, as some of you who have read my blog since the beginning, I became a Nike Human Race Ambassador. I lead a worldwide virtual team of over 1,000 people to run a 10k virtually with me in October of 2009. All the while, I had been training for my first half marathon, and this 10K.

My friends who knew me back when always joked that I used to run “like an elephant,” and was the last person they would ever think to be a runner.

But here I am, years later, and I am still a runner, still hooked on it.

Mile One

These past two weeks with getting back into my running groove have reminded me about mile one.

Even at the peak of my running physical fitness, mile one was always hard. Mile two was not much easier, but by the time I hit mile three, four, five and six, I had finally found my stride. 

Yesterday on my 5-mile “long run” (” = because that’s not even long), I thought I might die for the entire first mile. All I kept thinking was, “Is this the day when I start hating running?” But then, like clockwork, I looked down at my watch to see mile 1.40 hit, and in that moment I realized I was back to a 3-3 or 3-2 breathing pattern. 

And every single time I run, my splits show it. (The below splits are from my run yesterday. Make note that it stops at 3.9 miles. It was abrupt, and I was super grumpy. My phone still had 50% battery life but turned off and wouldn’t turn on again. And with that, I immediately ordered my new White Garmin Forerunner 35 Watch. Should be here tomorrow!) Mile One sarahkayhoffman.com Running Splits

The longer I run, the easier it gets. My goal was to stay about a 9-minute mile yesterday (or about 1 minute more than my ultimate race pace). Somehow, my body goes on autopilot and just picks up speed. (Side note: I can’t wait until I’ve trained long enough in 2017 to see that 9-minute marker even greatly reduce!)

Like Life

I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot during this past week. 

I always thought I’d never be able to do anything but sprint because I never got past the parts that were painful. In other words, up until just several years ago, I didn’t allow myself to go past mile one because it was just “too hard.”

Turns out, I’m not made for really anything less than 1.4 miles. 

It has taken me almost 34 years to realize this. 

I think about running so much like life because the parallels are always there. 

How often do we quit too early? How often do we “tire” before we have reaped the real benefits?

We go and go and go because we believe it will be worth it, but for those things that are truly worth it, sometimes we never even get the chance to see them come to fruition.

We give up just shy of where the comfort zone begins.

Motherhood even shares so much of what I’m learning by making it to mile 1.40. Like mile one, the struggle is real, but thinking it’s going to be like that for all 13.1 (or 26.2!) is not reality.

In running, like life, it just might take awhile to find the right stride…..the one where we are soaring vs. struggling. 

The key is just to make it past mile one.

Xox,
SKH