A Gutsy Girl

Heal your gut. Heal your life.

fitness

The Repercussions of Overexercising and Under Eating on the Gut

Filed Under: Gut Healing, IBS IBD, Inspire, Love, Wellness Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

One of the most incredible parts of growing a large community that focuses on women and “gutsy” women’s topics is connecting with these women from all over the world. It’s been very humbling to receive daily messages filled with gratitude, but one of my favorite parts is when someone comes to me and asks if I’d share pieces of my story and the journey on their own platform. Kendall Strampel connected with me quite some time back, and we finally had the chance to sit down and record an episode for her podcast that she titled, “The Repercussions of Overexercising and Under Eating on the Gut.”

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I Run 4 LilliAnne

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

After waiting almost 2 years, yesterday I was matched – I Run 4 LilliAnne.

Almost 2 years ago I applied to be part of the I Run 4 Michael program. I never forgot about it, but honestly thought maybe my information had gotten lost somewhere in their massive pile of people wanting to participate in the program. 

And then about a month ago I got an email that I would be matched soon. 

Yesterday was the day.

It has all come at the perfect time.

I Run 4 Michael

What is I Run 4 Michael? Their mission sums it up well,

Here at IR4, we foster relationships. We want to see runners and buddies alike experience the profound power of encouraging and being supported by people who were once perfect strangers. Running can just be about health. Or it can be about dedicating our miles to and creating awareness for our buddies with special needs whose conditions span the spectrum from total physical disability to developmental delays to autism spectrum disorders, as well as myriad rare conditions we’re only now learning about thanks to our participation in IR4.

Today the group is over 22,000 members and nearly 7,000 matches, with 3,500 athletes waiting, within 18 months. (That timeline is pretty accurate based on my wait.) (I actually think those numbers are much higher than what’s stated on their website because the Facebook group is over 43,0000 people.)

I Run 4 LilliAnne www.sarahkayhoffman.com #run #running #irun4 #irun4michael

I Run 4 LilliAnne

The girl I was matched with is almost 10 (next month), and her name is – you guessed it – LilliAnne. She is high functioning autistic, and has femoral anteversion in both legs.

According to her mom, Amanda, (who has raised her on her own, even though she has milk cerebral palsy), 

She loves people, and she will talk to anyone. She is always the first to try to get the smaller kids involved, but just because she has an outgoing personality doesn’t mean she doesn’t struggle. I’ve had to take her out of public school twice because she gets stressed out, breaks down, and refuses to go.

Here is a picture of Amanda and LilliAnne.

I Run 4 LilliAnne www.sarahkayhoffman.com I Run 4 Michael #run #running #irun4 #irun4michael

About the picture, Amanda said, 

This was taken while we were waiting for her to be seen at the ER the other day. We were there for six hours because of chest pain she was having while breathing. This picture captures her silly and sweet side perfectly.

(And YES, yes Amanda gave me full permission to share this and their picture here. I would never, ever do it otherwise.)

What Does it Mean? 

So what does it mean anyways when you are matched?

It’s very simple. The idea is just that we are forming encouraging relationships between buddies and runners. 

Each week, I will post (in the private Facebook group) a minimum of three (3) times weekly whether or not I have run so LilliAnne knows I’m still around.

They aren’t picky about the workout – running, walking, cross fit, yoga, or strength training – as long as it’s done in honor of your buddy. Many choose to devote races to their buddies, too. 

In other words, you run for someone who can’t to help inspire them while realizing that they will ultimately inspire you as well.

So Why Did I Do It?

Everyone says that running is “so hard.” Or that working out, in general, is “so hard.” I love that there is an organization that celebrates children who could only wish for the so hard that we are afforded the luxury to do each and every single day.

Running (<– if you click that link you can see all the posts I have written on running and my journey with it) has never come easy for me, and yet I have accomplished things through it I never thought I would. 

Originally, I wanted to do it for accountability (that was around the time when I started getting really consistent with running again). 

Like everything else in life I live and breathe by Ecclesiastes 3:11, 

Everything is beautiful in its time.

Being matched wasn’t supposed to happen until now.

I’ve been in my own drenches for a couple months now, but this has (once again) opened my eyes to, “…..but I still can – run, lift, all of it.” There is nothing so great in my life that limits what I can do. The only thing limiting is myself. Which brings me to the second reason this was supposed to happen now….

Matt Fitgerald published this post on Monday, “The Goal of Becoming a Better Runner is Highly Compatible with the Goal of Becoming a Better Person.” In it, he states,

Because the mind truly is the athlete, the goal of becoming a better runner is highly compatible with the goal of becoming a better person. Addressing the weaknesses that limit your success in running will make you happier and more effectual in other parts of life. Likewise, becoming a stronger person through crises outside of running will pay dividends on the racecourse.

Running is a metaphor for life. I have so many things to work on in my own life. Now I get to work through them, while dedicating all those miles and hours to a girl, somewhere in Texas, who might hang on to my messages and activity daily.

When we learn to get out of ourselves, out of our own heads, and lean in towards something and someone else is the point at which healing (for us and them) happens. Helping is healing.

Summer and Fall Race Schedule

I figured I’d end this post with my planned summer and fall race schedule. I’ve been working with Michelle to set these races, so they have been intentional. I wanted to wait to share them until I had my match.

  1. August 18, 2018: Mendota Bottoms – 10 miler (we have a wedding that afternoon, but I really wanted to do this one, so I’ll make it all happen)
  2. September 22, 2018: Surley Trail Loppet – half marathon (this is kind of set as my “A” race – the one I’m most excited for!)
  3. October 20, 2018: Surf the Murph – 25K (this will be my longest race yet)

These are all trail races, and I’m so excited to experience them in Minnesota. I’m not opposed to 5-10K road races along the way (or even an awesome half marathon) so if you’re in Minnesota and know of some, let me know, mmmmmkay?! (By the way, this image makes me miss my friend Tami so dang much.)

Brazen Trail Racing sarahkayhoffman.com Motivation Wraps with Tami Inspire

I hope you love sharing the journey with me, LilliAnne!

Xox,
SKH

Studio Run App Review

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

Awhile back on Facebook an ad for Studio Run popped up (go figure – Facebook knows everything about us 🙂 ). I asked if anyone had tried it. It’s new, so no one had, but people commented that if I tried it to let them know what I thought. I did the free trial immediately, and 7 days later purchased it. I’m ready to share my Studio Run App review.

Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com runner running fit

Studio Run App Review

Click HERE to save this post for later.

Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com

Simply stated, in case you don’t care to read the full details, I love the app, and I’ve been using it at least 2-3 times per week. But in case you do want all the details, here they are:

What is Studio Run App?

It’s an app that allows you to take running classes from the comfort of your own home, on your own treadmill. 

How do you use it?

When you open the app, you start by choosing, “Go Run.” Then, you are able to drill down by the type of workout you want to do for the day: 

  • Difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
  • Length (20, 30, or 45-minutes)
  • Workout Type (endurance, intervals, hills, sprints, walks)
  • Music Genre (top 40, hip hop, rock, Edm, artist theme, holiday, 2000s, 1990s, 1980s, 1970s)
  • Instructor (currently there are 13 to choose from)

I typically only choose the difficulty and length each day and based on the results, make a decision at that point. Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com runner running difficulty

What is a class like?

It depends which workout and instructor you choose, but immediately upon choosing the workout, their voice + music will come on. Simultaneously a countdown timer begins for whatever length you chose. And then they guide you through the entire workout, telling you when to increase/decrease speed, increase/decrease incline, and foreshadow for what’s coming up next. 

Music

Many times I’ll choose a workout based on the type of music I’m interested in listening to that day. I’ve listened to all the genres so far, and yesterday I saw a country one for the first time. 

Instructors

If you scroll to the bottom of the Studio Run App homepage, you’ll see a list of trainers. Once you’ve taken enough classes and tried a variety of instructors, you’ll get a sense for whose style you like best. I’ve never taken a bad class yet, but I love Veezy. Not only are the workouts awesome, but he has all sorts of motivational thoughts throughout the workout.

Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com runner running instructors

Fitcoin + Leaderboard

Fitcoin is their virtual currency. You earn it after every single class based upon how long you’ve run for and how far you’ve run. Your Fitcoin allows you to rank up and show your status off on the leaderboard. Every user starts out as a ???? Basic Bear. I only need 1537 more Fitcoin until I become a Carefree Chick. Ha. Love it.  Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com runner running fitness

How much does it cost?

FREE trial for the first 7 days. Seriously, just try it if you’re on the fence and then decide. After that it’s $14.99 if you pay by the month (which is what I do currently) or you can pay up front (about $100) and it ends up being $8.33 per month.

Is it easy/hard enough?

Easy? Yes. There is an option to walk. If you’ve never run before, just start there. Y’all know my running history by now, yes? If I need to remind you….I ran about a 13-14-minute mile in high school. I was NOT a runner. I never thought I’d be running like I can today. In 2008-ish, I just started. Run, walk, run, walk. 

Hard? Yes. One of the first workouts I did was with Adam Wasserman. We trained for 6-minute miles, and I thought I might die. 

FAQ

After I used the app awhile, I connected with Lisa (another instructor), to ask a series of questions for this post. Here were the questions and answers.

When can we expect an iPad version of the app?

As soon as we can make that available, we will – so the answer is at some point, hopefully soon. The issue is that iPad does not have health kit (the apple program) and health kit is required for tracking within Studio!

What is the “upcoming” feature?

Upcoming is upcoming classes. That may change to schedule moving forward but just a list of what classes are upcoming and at what times. Usually it is for a week out, but as our process becomes more streamlined anticipate being able to see more than 1 week out on the schedule.

SKH note: on the main screen is where you see this “Upcoming” option.  Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com runner running upcoming schedule

How come you can’t hit “pause” on a workout?

If you could hit pause, then the leaderboard would stop and essentially you could do better – right? Rest, recover, and keep going. From the standpoint of our real-time and asynchronous leaderboard it only makes sense to have it not pause. However, we just released a feature that if you receive a call mid-workout we understand as busy professionals, parents etc. you may have to pause or stop a workout. Although we would love you to have uninterrupted time for fitness, we understand and now if you receive a call and MUST take it your workout can pause. That being said, you can imagine this might be a Segway to a future pause button. STAY TUNED! …

Anything new and exciting coming up next?

LOTS of exciting new features, workouts and classes coming up – you have to stay tuned to find out. This is only the beginning. Providing you the best content, instructors, constantly varied workouts and functional training movements is of the utmost importance. For us, the name of the game is accessibility so imagine the possibilities with us being even more readily available to you in many ways. For now, keep earning that FITCOIN – you are going to want to have a LOT of it!

Final Thoughts on the Studio Run App Review

So the final question is, “Would you recommend this app?” The answer is a very clear “Yes.” Moving back to Minnesota this winter meant that I had to get creative with workouts. I don’t want to go to the gym every single day because…..time (this is why I can’t wait to have my home gym back again), but there is no way I’m about to head outside for a run when it’s freezing cold. 

If you have a treadmill at home and it’s been collecting dust, this is the perfect way to dust it off and get moving! The workouts go by so fast, and they are effective. In fact, I even do these workouts at the gym on the treadmill and I’ll continue doing them through summer because I love that I don’t have to think about a workout – what to do, what speed, incline, etc. I make approximately 8 million decisions a day, and I’m grateful that someone else makes this one for me.

Even if you only used it one time per week each month and paid month-to-month ($14.99), that’s a little less than $4.00 per class, which is so worth it!

Studio Run App Review www.sarahkayhoffman.com runner running Veezy

Click HERE to learn more. Alternatively, if you want me to shoot you an email and/or text with a direct link to it, simply email me HERE your email address or number and I’ll send immediately. 

Xox,
SKH

 

Pain is Not Weakness Leaving the Body

Filed Under: 101 Days of Blogging, Inspire, Love, Wellness Tagged With: , , ,

Pain is not weakness leaving the body, and I completely, 1,000% loathe that saying, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

The strongest, hardest-working man I have ever known is my Father. 

Until this whole Cancer thing came about, I didn’t know that in his life – his whole life, he had not taken more than a couple Advil at a time.

I saw him in pain each summer after working in the heat (he’s a mason) and being completely depleted of electrolytes and dehydrated.

Until now, my dad rarely went to the doctor because when he was sick or in any kind of pain, he just dealt with it.

All day, every day, for as far back as I can remember, my dad has worked hard each day – physical labor, with barely a peep out of him on the complaint train. 

If you want my honest opinion, it’s one of his greatest strengths, but also a weakness.

Pain is Not Weakness Leaving the Body

Pain is Not Weakness Leaving the Body www.sarahkayhoffman.com

I was working out one day early in January. It was a hard workout, and I almost threw up. While in the thick of it, I heard that phrase run through my thoughts, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

I told my mind to shut up because that was the dumbest saying ever associated with fitness. It was painful, not weak. 

Shortly after that day, I spent a day at the VA with my mom and dad. It was the day in January when my dad was supposed to start chemo, but couldn’t due to dehydration. The first thing they had to do that day was to hook him up to an IV to get him hydrated. The problem was that they couldn’t find any veins. I sat with him in the room for about 4 rounds of them poking and prodding his arm with a long needle for several minutes at a time. 

Pain is Not Weakness Leaving the Body www.sarahkayhoffman.com

The look on his face was one filled with pure pain. I could hardly stand to watch it because it looked excruciatingly painful. The Ultrasound team had to be called in, and ultimately a vein was found, but the experience prior to was miserable.

I started thinking more about that awful line about pain and weakness, and now I knew for sure how horrible it really is.

It wasn’t weakness leaving my dad’s body. It was just simply pain. 

The idea of connecting pain and weakness, or even pain and strength, is an odd correlation. 

The pain inflicted on my dad throughout this whole journey has nothing to do with any weakness being omitted from his body. There is no weakness in my dad. 

Round Two Chemo

Today Dad starts his second round of chemo. Based on the first round, we know that the first several days are not good. I have zero clues about how Dad really feels because, no matter what, even at his worst, he rarely says a thing or complains. 

He is incredible, and I mean that in every way possible!

On Friday of last week (last week was his chemo “off” week), this was a 2-second conversation I had with him,

Gotta keep out of the house today. – Dad

You’re not tired? – Me

Not on my good week. I gotta do shit. – Dad

He helped my uncle, went with Ryan to the dump, played cards with us on Saturday night, and even went to 8 am mass on Sunday. 

And today that all changes again.

Pain is Not Weakness Leaving the Body www.sarahkayhoffman.com Amiya Isaiah

The IV will go in, and chemo will continue for the next two weeks.

Pain, but absolutely not weakness.

p.s. Amelia Boone also agrees with these thoughts. 

p.s.s. Pictures + colorings compliments of Katie. She’s the best.

Xox,
SKH

If you don’t have time to read these posts daily, but don’t want to miss them, be sure to follow via Bloglovin’ and/or join my personal e-newsletter HERE. I am doing my best to send a once per week email recap of prior week’s posts.

These posts will all live under “Wellness+Lifestyle” and also tagged with “101 Days of Blogging.” The 101-day series runs from Monday, January 8, 2018, through Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

If there is a topic surrounding change that you would love for me to include in this series, please just CONTACT ME.

Previous 101-Day Change Series Posts

  1. Beginnings are Scary
  2. Change Pain Point
  3. Making Sense of Change
  4. Gratitude Journal
  5. Love Your Baby Girl
  6. Little Things Add Up
  7. House and Home
  8. Sunday Reflections
  9. Two
  10. Chocolate Shake
  11. 3-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake
  12. Chaos is a Temporary State
  13. Thirsty Thursday
  14. Month One
  15. The Nudge to Connect
  16. 11 Favorites from 11 Years in California
  17. One Box at a Time
  18. Good Enough is Enough
  19. There is No Dishwasher
  20. WWDW Number 8
  21. Move Initiated
  22. Sharing My Journey
  23. Back with the Tribe
  24. Small Town Grocery Shopping Part One
  25. January 2018 Catch Up Over Bone Broth
  26. Patsy Clairmont is My Spirit Animal
  27. Let There Be Light
  28. Forgot About Rae
  29. Smiles
  30. Coconut Oil Makeup Remover How To
  31. 9 Ways to Embrace Winter
  32. Escaping People
  33. Coming Home
  34. 105 in 1,095
  35. 40 Before 40
  36. When Change Was Coming
  37. Behavior Correction
  38. Embracing Motherhood
  39. Two Things for Lent
  40. Gluten Free Recipe Roundup Six
  41. Breakdown to Breakthrough
  42. 18 Things About Me
  43. Still Hope
  44. Month Two

Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan Review

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

I just finished Jess Allen’s Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan, and I promised to put together this Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan Review post for y’all.

First, upon completing the program, you’d think that maybe I took “before and after” photos to share. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. My goal had nothing to do with aesthetics, though I do feel that some of my muscles got more defined (shoulders, quads, and upper back namely). However, all I wanted was to feel stronger (and be able to run trails/hills better). Overall, I accomplished that. If you follow my Instagram Stories, you can see any “progress” you’d be looking for, since I share a lot of these workouts daily there. 

Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan Review

Click HERE to save this post for later.

Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan Review sarahkayhoffman.com Blondeponytail Jess Allen WOD

The program breaks down as such:

  • 6 weeks
  • nothing but bodyweight and dumbbells required
  • 5 workouts a week with no repeats
  • 20-30 minute workouts, max

Jess says, 

Train Like an Athlete uses functional movements with minimal equipment to help you create an athletic physique and perform to your potential. You will complete 6 weeks of constantly varied programming using only a set of dumbbells. One of the best features of this plan is that you can repeat it and continue to challenge yourself by increasing the weights or the speed that you complete the workouts.

Although workouts are only 20-30 minutes in length, they require focus and intensity. While the workouts are intense, be sure to scale to your ability. Remember, there is so much variety in the program that you will be able to repeat workouts later to measure progress. Workouts will target different training goals like metabolic conditioning, HIIT (high intensity interval training), strength/balance, and overall conditioning to maximize your time.

You are prescribed 5 workouts per week. This allows you to insert rest days or optional training when it works best for you. Work hard, but listen to your body!

What I Liked

  • Variety. You know the feeling. You start a new 6-12-week workout program, but by the 3rd week, you’re bored to death because it’s the same workout week after week. For some goals, you might need a program like that, but not for my current goals. There is never a workout during the 6 weeks that is repeated, which meant that I looked forward to every single one.
  • Minimal Equipment. I used 3 things the entire time: these dumbbells, my own body weight, and our treadmill. That said, you could get by with even less. Review the program to see the size dumbbells you’d mostly use. For me, I typically always used 20, 22.5, 25, and 30 pounds (I could have stuck with just 2 of those weights, though, if needed). You could also run outside for the days she has the 400m sprints included in the workouts. Or if that wouldn’t even work, then maybe just swap it for something else like jump roping or another high intensity (short duration) activity.
  • Minimal Space. The only thing that took up any kind of space for this program was the treadmill, which, again wouldn’t be critical to have. I did these workouts in small spaces sometimes, and it didn’t affect the quality at all. 
  • Minimal Time Requirement. I think the shortest workout I did was around 10 minutes, and the longest was about 35 minutes. Barely any are 35 minutes, and on average, I spent 20’ish minutes per workout.
  • Plenty of workouts. Do the math. 6 weeks of 5-per-week workouts. That’s 30 different workouts for $67, which means that each workout cost me $2.23 (but that doesn’t include doing multiple rounds of it). I don’t have a gym membership (we spent our time, energy, and money building a home gym). I work out, currently, 100% at home, so $2.23 is nothing.
  • Full Explanations. Each move has a direct clickable link to Jess showing how to do it on YouTube. Once you click the link there are no long, drawn-out demonstrations. She just gets right to it so you can understand the exercise in 10 seconds or less.

Here is an example of a workout. You can save this workout for later by clicking HERE. 

Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan Review sarahkayhoffman.com WOD What I Didn’t Like

Nothing. Honestly, there was nothing about the program I did not like. I wanted to find something I didn’t like, but I couldn’t come up with anything so I won’t even pretend there is something I didn’t like.

Would I recommend it?

100% YES! How can you be certain that I’m legit on that? Actions speak louder than words. I have already started the program over, ready for round 2! (Math again, friends. This means that each workout has now been reduced to about $1.12 per workout.)

I kept track of what weight I used for each workout and how long each took me to complete during round one.

This time, the goal is to see if I’ve improved. My plan is to (mostly) keep the weights the same, but see if the reps in prescribed time or time on the whole improves.

After just the first 3 workouts, I will say that everything has improved from round one. I have shaved minutes off from the first round, and no before/after picture could be more proof in the pudding. Stonger, friends, stronger.

Questions? Let me know! Happy to answer. 

p.s. Jess did not pay me to write this. She did not gift me the program – I bought it on my own, and I would recommend it over-and-over again. And here she is – meet Jess!

Train Like an Athlete 6 Week Training Plan Review sarahkayhoffman.com Blondeponytail Jess Allen

Xox,
SKH