Category: Motivation (Page 4 of 6)

3 Tips for Motivation using Little Rewards

February 23, 2019 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Keeping focused on healthy eating, working out and being fit is very important to me. It’s both a long term and a short term goal. I know that staying focused and motivated will lead to bigger successes and reaching my goals.

Some days however, I’m just not feeling it, so I have some mental tricks I use. One of the tricks is something I call “Little Rewards” that use tools to finish something to get on to the next thing. It’s like playing a little game with myself.

Maybe everyone does this and it is nothing new or earth shaking. But if not, I thought I’d share what goes in my head when I’m trying to motivate myself. These Little Rewards flip some switch in my brain.

1) Baby Steps: I find it easier to tackle something I don’t want to do by breaking it down into steps. Then after each one of the steps, providing myself a little reward.

Rewards need to match the step. If it’s a big project with lots of steps I don’t particularly enjoy (let’s say doing taxes), I give myself a little reward for each little step. Gathering papers. Printing out reports. Finding a file. Gathering the forms. Making an appointment. I guess it all depends on the task you are doing.

Here are some of the little rewards I might use are: have a cup of coffee after I complete the step, or put on lavender hand cream. or take a 20 minute walk and listen to a podcast, or call a friend to chat. Sometimes the reward is taking a selfie photo of myself after a run or bike ride. Sometimes listening to a favorite song does the trick.

2) Timer: I will set the timer at the kitchen stove or on my phone so that I can reward myself after I complete 20 minutes of something I have been putting off. It’s funny how much I can actually accomplish if take 20 minutes and just focus on that one thing. Procrastination often blows the project into a big thing in my mind, I find that if I set a timer and promise myself that I can stop when the timer goes off, I will get it done!

For the timer to work for me, I have to concentrate on the thing I don’t want to do. Maybe it is cutting up all the vegetables for food prep for the day. It’s not that I don’t like cutting vegetables… I do! But I also tend to procrastinate because I don’t need them right now. Then when I do need them, I’m in a rush and wish I had them ready. Setting a timer helps! Twenty minutes of vegetable chopping goes pretty quickly. I put them into containers in the bottom of the fridge and it’s amazing how much more often vegetables get added to something I’m cooking. Or I find I turn to them when I’m looking for a snack.

3) Gold Star: Although I don’t have the little stickers, I make a star on the pocket calendar that I use to track my various workouts. Two stars is an especially good workout. It’s funny that at my age, the stars still have a little power over me and acts as an incentive.

It must be a hold over from childhood and getting a star on a school paper, because now just a little hand drawn star, somehow feels like a great little reward. (I also remember getting pins with little gold star in Girl Scouts to represent each year of scouting – but I think those were considered awards, not rewards!

Either way, a gold sticker or a hand drawn star — it provides an Atta Girl and there is some switch in my brain that gives me the little oomph that I need to get something done.

Having the timer go off or coveting a little star may seem silly or pointless, but I’m still motivated by it. Looking back at old photos of biking or running activities is definitely motivational for me. Big rewards like a medal after a race are certainly motivating, but it’s the tiny things each day that helps me to make up a daily healthy and fit life.

What tools do you use to get yourself going? Please share below or send me an email at Chris@becomingelli.com. Or leave a voicemail at 330-970-6662.

Building Endurance by Working Out in the Fat Burning Zone

February 16, 2019 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been experimenting with lower heart rate training than I usually do in my workouts. Some people call it the “Fat Burn Zone”, although I’m still not convinced that it is burning “my” fat. I do know, however that it is easy to keep going with exercise. I am not watching the clock. Exercising in this zone, I don’t feel tired or worn out in the least.

The idea is to work out at the level of exertion where your heart rate stays at the aerobic level called the fat burning level. If you exercise just a little harder, you begin to breathe harder, your heart pumps harder and you’ll enter the cardio level. Really push it and you’ll go into the peak level.

Cardio Vs Fat Burn

The vast majority of my running and group exercise workouts over the years have been at cardio/peak levels, which burn a greater percentage of carbs/sugar and less of a percentage of fat. These type of workouts also burn a ton of calories – both carbs/sugar and fat -there is no doubt about that.

While doing workout in the fat burning level feels like I’m not doing enough to be considered working out, I find that I can keep going a very long time and not get at all tired.

The idea of building a strong base by focusing on endurance and working out at the fat burning level is supposed to increase your ability to do more work while still keeping your heart rate at the lower level. Over time, the heart gets stronger and you can do more with your rate in the low level and your speed increases.

If you’re interested in learning more about this type of endurance training, you may want to listen to some of Dr. Phil Maffetone’s work. He has a lot of information about it – videos, podcasts and articles. Besides improving endurance and performance, it has other benefits. More time in the fat burning zone aids recovery from high impact exercise, helps reduce stress and provides protection from metabolic syndrome. I really like this method of exercising because I’m looking for increased endurance.

While doing my indoor cycling classes, I’ve been using my FitBit watch to monitor my heart rate. During most of the classes I find I easily enter into the cardio mode when the fast music comes on. I have to focus and slow down to stay in the fat burn mode. It’s hard to keep it steady, but I’m getting better.

The MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) formula is 180 minus age. Because I’m 61, my goal heart rate number is to workout at around 120 beats per minute. (Dr. Maffetone has you add and subtract numbers based on exercise history and health as well.)

I have found that it is very hard to hold a steady heart number when you’re working out! Good music especially makes me want to go faster and harder, plus going harder is habit. It is what I’ve been doing for years!

Staying in The Fat Burning Zone

Here are some of the ways of thinking that have helped me to stay in the Fat Burn Zone:

Focus on my breathing
Try to keep two counts in and five counts out
When I have to open my mouth to breathe out, slow down
If the music speeds up, keep focus on the breathing
When walking up a hill, slow down
If indoor biking, take off some resistance
Last week I put my phone on the bike so I could monitor the phone instead of my watch and I was able to hold it more steady.

It is not about “no pain, no gain.” On the other hand, it’s not too often that I find my heart rate has dipped too low and I have to speed up, but sometimes that happens when I daydream.

Although it’s only been six weeks, I’ve also found that I am enjoying doing more exercise than I used to at a time. In fact, I am liking two hours rather than 45 minutes or an hour. I feel stronger and am noticing that I can go harder with less effort. I’m interested to see when I get back to biking outside if this experiment has made a difference.

Have you experimented with heart rate training? What has been your experience? Which heart rate monitor do you use? Do you feel like this is all just too analytical for getting exercise? Let me know your thoughts.

Three Ways to Get Motivation in Winter

February 3, 2019 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

The first weekend in February in Ohio is about halfway through the winter. This is the time of year have to I look for ways to find more motivation to stay with my intentions of being fit, strong and healthy throughout the winter.

I guess I blame the weather.

Winter in Northeast Ohio usually means grey, overcast skies that blend into white and grey half melted snow. Most of the winter, my instincts are to get cozy on the couch with a good book/movie, a warm blanket and eat something with high calories, lots of rich food. When I fight that “instinct” and get out in the fresh air, get some exercise and engage some endorphins, I always feel tons better.

If there are warm air and sunny, blue skies, I just feel like getting up and moving. Motivation is not a problem, but I know I can’t wait for blue skies to take care of myself! For most of the winter, I look for ways to psych myself out and get myself motivated.

Here are three ways I am motivating myself this winter to exercise and eat healthy:

1) Exercise Buddy – If I try to go it alone, it’s easy to skip a workout. Finding a partner to work out with gives me accountability. Even if my friend isn’t working out with me, we send emails and texts back and forth for work out motivation. Having a friend in person, either at the gym or going for a walk really helps. Setting an appointment with a personal trainer definitely helps. My gym has a buddy program that started a couple of weeks ago and I am getting to know someone new at my gym while making a point to show up. The last few weeks have really upped my exercise totals for the week and I attribute this to having a buddy.

2) Food Challenge – I’m finding ways to eat more food that is nutrient dense (not calorie dense.) Luckily, I’m in the early stages of a weekly vegetable challenges. Maybe you are too? If not, it’s not to late to join in the fun! The Becoming Elli community veggie challenge is to find one new vegetable a week — or at least prepare a vegetable in a new way — and it challenges me to look more closely at the produce. I had several eggplants in my hands this past week, but didn’t buy one. Here is my “new” way of cooking cabbage with turmeric and thyme.

Turmeric, Thyme, Salt and Pepper. Cabbage cut into slices. Underneath: Mushrooms slices. baby Carrots, coarse chopped Celery, sliced Green Peppers. Cup of water. Pork roast – outside seared before going into the crockpot.

I forgot to take a photo of the final product. Basically it was a mushy stew kind of meal and not especially photogenic, if you know what I mean.

3) Helping others – My personality type is more motivated to help someone else, than to help myself by exercising. I don’t know why. Getting involved in the MS bike ride each summer has really helped to get and keep me in shape. Now I have found another way to contribute called “Charity Miles” which is an app you can download. It tracks your mileage for walking, running or biking (you need your phone with you when you do the activity.) Various corporate donors have pledged to contribute money to the charity of my choice (in this case the MS Society) based on the number of miles I complete. I’m not exactly sure how much they donate for each mile because Charity Miles divides the money between all the charities at the end of every term. I think the corporations are counting on people sharing the images via social media. But my motivation is to help others and I find that doing this helps me to do more miles than I would have otherwise. So its a win/win/win.

How do you motivate yourself? Do you have ways that you struggle with winter workouts? What tricks to you use when you don’t feel like eating right?

Fit Strong Women Over 50 Most Popular Podcast Episodes in 2018

January 5, 2019 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Our Becoming Elli community celebrated a our one-year milestone anniversary at end of 2018 and the beginning of January 2019! In the past year there have been many great episodes of our podcast but the Fit Strong Women Over 50 most popular podcast episodes continue to attract new listeners day after day!

Before announcing our top episode downloads, it is only fitting to let you know this hasn’t happened overnight!

During the past year Jill and I have released 24 podcasts – one podcast twice a month on the second and fourth Tuesday. To create a podcast means figuring out the content, some writing, phone calls, emails, figuring out recording software, actually interviewing, editing it together so that it makes sense, adding music and then distributing out so you all can listen. We absolutely LOVE it when we get reviews and feedback.

Some of our podcast episodes focus on exercise, others on healthy eating and nutrition and still other episodes are about positive mental health. We’ve interviewed a variety of experts. We’ve talked with women over 50 who are doing amazing things like hiking 500 miles, walking marathons, trying new ways of eating like intermitten fasting or keto/NGNS or maintaining a weight loss for years. We’ve talked with many personal trainers, health coaches and a several nutritionists.

We are still working to figure out what YOU our listeners want to hear from a podcast that focuses on women over 50 who are striving to be fit and strong.

Please leave more feedback (emailing is easy: chris@becomingelli.com) or if you’re brave and want to share with other women, leave public feedback on our itunes or on our Facebook page. Or call our voicemail box and leave a message.

Both Jill and I lost a significant amount of weight several years ago and our Fit Strong Women Over 50 podcast was started for the Becoming Elli community as a way to help us to stay inspired and motivated (or at least me, I shouldn’t speak for Jill!) while at the same time we strive to provide valuable information to other women over 50.

For us, 2018 has been an exciting year. Launching the Becoming Elli Community and the Fit Strong Women Over 50 podcast has allowed us to ask experts their opinions on things we’ve wondered about and to really get to know women all over the country (and some outside of the USA as well.) It’s been a learning adventure as in 2018 we’ve created this website, posted over 150 blog posts recorded and launched 24 podcasts and also ran the Akron Half Marathon and Cleveland Half Marathon.

Drum Roll for the Most Fit Strong Women Over 50 Most Popular Podcast Episodes of 2018:

Our top three downloaded podcasts during 2018 were:
Interview with Personal Trainer Maria Stadelman (January)
Diane’s Workout Secrets: An Everyday Woman Shares What She Has Learned (April)
Healthy Eating for Women Over 50 with Nutrition Expert Becca DeVenzio (August)
As Jill and I prepare our list of experts, topics and ideas for our podcast in 2019, please give us a call on our dedicated Becoming Elli Voicemail 330-970-6662 and let us know your thoughts! We love hearing from our readers and our listeners!

Or send an email to me at Chris@becomingelli.com and I’ll get back with you! Looking forward to a great 2019!!

Staying Present while Looking Back and Looking Ahead

December 30, 2018 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Paying attention to what is happening right now is so important. I sometimes find it difficult to stay with it. Mindfulness. Being present. Living in the moment. Focus on today. Focus on this minute. “Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow.” One Day at a Time.

However you choose to describe it, sometimes (often) “staying present” can be difficult. Something about the end/beginning of the year has me thinking back and forward at the same time.

Yesterday is History.
Tomorrow is a Mystery.
Today is a Gift.
That’s why we call it the Present.

– attributed to Alice Morse Earle, Sun Dials and Roses of Yesterday: Garden Delights, 1902

Many new exercise programs will start in the new year. New Year, New You! (Or maybe Jan 2nd after the celebrating has finished and decorations are stored away.)

Staying consistent is more my speed. Something about jumping in both feet, too enthusiastically, has not ever served me well. I know some people have to go “cold turkey” and just “rip the band-aid off” to make a desired change.

I find it more long lasting if I slowly correct course, a bit like a giant ship at sea, one degree at a time, over and over. Last year my goal was consistency over intensity and “Resiliance!”

Looking back at 2018, I’m pleased with my fitness level, my eating habits, and the amount of exercise I did. I think I’m going to keep my motto and word for the year because of the success I had.

During 2018, my starting weight and ending weight were within two pounds. I know I ate better than I did in 2017 and payed more attention.

According to my FitBit, I averaged 80 active minutes per day and in all but two months, I exceeded over my 60 active minute goal. Some of the active days were doing races and rides, but most of these are merely taking the stairs more often, taking the parking spot farthest from the door and doing the outside loop in the grocery store. For 2018, I thought I’d have it worked out, I am still working on creating a standing desk. I know that will make a difference for some of my most sedentary days!

Best of all, exercise has become fun for me and I feel better afterwards. Some of the most enjoyable activities were:

the many, many walks at the dog park from May to September with our 2 dogs and my adult daughter.
the many bike rides followed by potlucks with my friends
the runs and races with my dear friend Jill.

As we end 2018 and begin 2019, I also wanted to say “thank you” to our podcast guests, podcast listeners, social media followers and blog readers. You all provide inspiration, motivation and accountability to me as well! Happy New Year!

Reflections on 2018: Year-End Wrap-Up Podcast

December 24, 2018 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Episode #24 of Fit Strong Women Over 50 Podcast for the Becoming Elli Community

In podcast episode #24, Jill and Chris reflect on 2018. They talk with amazing women from episode 7 Diane Berkley and episode 8 Juel Fitzgerald to find out how their 2018 went and to talk about plans and goals for 2019.

Diane Berkley talked about:

Thyroid issues and how that affected her workout
How she got her running speed back
Participating in the Ultimate Fitness Challenge at her gym with thrusters, the assault bike and push-ups
How her trainer Mike helps her measure her fitness levels
Which measurements she tracks
Different types of dead lifts
What cardio she is does at the gym along with her two days a week strength training
How she maintains her eating plan
Possible new challenges for 2019: swimming and her first time race

We talked with Juel Fitzgerald about her reflections on 2018 and plans for 2019:

How she encouraged 7 other women to accompany her to Las Vegas to walk the Rock N Roll half marathon
How she plans to do the St Jude Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon to add bling to her Rock n Roll Race Series collection.
Her work with GirlTrek and the difference it is making in women’s health
Differences between the Garmin and the FitBit
Seeing Chris and Jill on Abbey Road during the Cleveland Marathon. Did Juel do the half, the 8K, or the 10K this year? She couldn’t remember, but she did the HALF and the 8K in 2018.
Her challenge in 2019: She wants to find women who want to train and walk a 26.2 mile marathon. She will help coach them through it with her! Are you up for it?

Links mentioned during Diane’s and Juel’s interview:

Fishcreek Raccoon Run a 5K fundraiser for an elementary school in Stow Ohio,
Hop for Hope in April, a 5K fundraiser for fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma and/or leukemia in NE Ohio.
Active.com to find 5K races near you
and where to find Upcoming Races by City and State
Volunteering to hand out medals at the Niagra Falls Women’s Half Marathon & 5K where runners and walkers travel past Niagra Falls TWICE! (get your passports ready!)
#girltrek GirlTrek the most inspiring Health movement in the country for Black Women.

Jill and Chris reviewed their 2018 year. We are particularly proud of our completing 24 podcasts and the ongoing growth of the Becoming Elli community. Thank you to everyone who listens to our podcast, reads our articles, belongs to our facebook group and supports our community!

We also talked about our races, the ultimate fitness challenge, and the MS150 Buckey Breakaway bike ride. We discussed Jill winning the age group award for the Firecracker5K race. She had completely forgot and still wasn’t sure until Chris texted her this photo as a reminder.

(Side note from Chris: With Juel forgetting if she did the Half or the 8K at the Cleveland marathon (she did both) and Jill forgetting that she won her age category for the Firecracker Run, I think it is safe to say that most of the races we are doing are not about winning, losing, placing! it really doesn’t matter! What matters is getting out there, being with like minded women and simply just participating – that’s the key to having fun at a race! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!)

Being Grateful at Thanksgiving

November 22, 2018 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

Since this post is being published on Thanksgiving Day, I thought I’d share a few things for which I’m thankful. You know, being grateful at Thanksgiving is what the holiday is about.

Chris wrote last week about her plan for navigating food at Thanksgiving this year and shared her very fun veggie turkey. I loved that photo. Go check it out if you didn’t see it. It’s also a good post if you’re looking for ideas on how to eat or not eat at the holiday table.

Grateful at Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving is really a harvest festival, I think. We’re supposed to express our gratitude for a bountiful harvest and health and our preparation for winter. Since its inception, of course, Thanksgiving is about gratitude but most of us are pretty removed from the actual harvest. Instead, I think we give thanks for other things in our lives. I’ve been mulling over what I’m thankful for, related to my fitness and heath.

So, this year has been a tough one for me. I’ve had injuries and problems with my Achilles tendon, which has led to lack of training. I think it’s important to recognize that we can’t always set records or be super-amazing. Instead, sometimes, we just have to do what we can. I’m thankful that I managed to run two half-marathons this year and, while I didn’t set the world on fire, I completed them.

I’m also thankful that I’ve managed to do enough strength training that I’m able to use my muscles to offset some of the problems I’ve had. When my hip was sore, I had enough upper body strength to lift myself out of the chair. (This is me, trying to see the glass as half-full!)

I am also thankful that I’ve managed to surround myself with people who care about me and have lots of advice on ways to keep myself healthy. A friend ran over late in the evening to bring me a heating pad. Another friend gave me advice on how best to use ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Friends invited me to go to yoga with them or encourage me to attend classes at the gym.

Becoming Elli Community

I’m thankful that Chris and I have created this Becoming Elli blog, podcast, and community. I think I’ve learned a lot about being a fit, strong woman over 50 from both writing and reading the blog and in creating the podcast. Some of the people we’ve interviewed are so inspirational and others have been so informative. As we finish our first year of the podcast, I’m grateful that we’ve had such amazing people join us.

The Becoming Elli community has also provided me with inspiration and support. I’m very grateful for those of you who share your wins and your losses. Having a community of like-minded women is such a gift.

I’m so thankful for my fitness community. Whether the friends are in our hometowns or online, we can support each other in all kinds of ways. While I can’t bring you a heating pad, I’m happy to encourage you and tell you about my experiences with fitness or injury or running or what I eat for breakfast. The more we help each other, the more we can all become like Elli and be fit and strong. So, thank you for being a member of the Becoming Elli community. I’m grateful you’re here.

Three Ways I Maintain Fitness When Motivation Lags

November 3, 2018 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

Do you ever find that the motivation is lagging to keep up with your workouts?

When motivation lags, I try really hard not to slide backwards with my fitness.

This time of year always does it to me. I’ve discovered it is a combination of things.

Partly because race season is in my rear view mirror and spring is feeling pretty far away.
Partly because rainy weather and cooler temperatures always seems to bring on a head cold.
And partly because of the dark mornings and darker evenings of short sunshine days.
Not to mention the time change and the havoc it reeks on my sleep patterns.

When Motivation Lags

Here are three ways that I have found work to help me to maintain my fitness, even when my motivation for the big workouts is lagging.

1) Walking – I try to look for the beauty in nature and go for a long walk several times a week during lunch time. While walking doesn’t necessarily raise my heart rate into cardio levels or more, getting the legs moving helps to burn some calories and release some stress. It doesn’t bother my ankles or require an immediate shower afterwards. I can bring the dog if I want. Even when motivation lags, I find I feel better when I get back from a good walk. While I like music when I run, a good audio book is my go to when I’m walking.

2) Soup – During this time of year, I fall back into old habits. At least a couple nights a week, I try to focus on vegetables for dinner. A good hearty soup that is patterned after the V-9 soup on Aladdin’s menu – one of my favorite restaurants in town. It has nine different vegetables in it and I make mine with what is in the refrigerator. My V-9 usually is comprised of cabbage, spinach, carrots, celery, onions, green/red/yellow peppers, brocolli, cauliflower, mushrooms and squash. I also refer to this as “zero point soup”, which a hold over from when I was working the Weight Watchers points and the vegetables became free. I try to skip potatoes. I find that soup also helps me get more water, since it’s not as hot, I’m not as thirsty, but I will get more liquid if I’ve got the soup. The trick is to keep the rice and pasta out of the soup. And don’t serve with a side of bread or chase it with a pile of popcorn. For best results, focus on the vegetables and don’t cook it to death. Mushy vegetables aren’t as yummy and you don’t want to cook the vitamins right out of them!

3) Basics – When motivation is lacking, it is tough to do strenuous exercise. And with sinus head cold, fore me it’s not even a good idea. That said, I don’t want to lose all of the fitness I’ve developed over the summer or the recovery I’ve made from the physical therapy exercises. To keep a certain level of fitness, I make sure that I do the prerequisite monster walks, heel raises, piriformis and calf foam rolling, walking bridges and a variety of other stretching/yoga type moves every single day with no excuses. Getting my basic routine out of the way every morning and evening will keep me from trouble when I’m ready to go to it again.

I know from my six plus years of maintaining my weight loss, that I can’t keep this up very long. Actually I could keep this up for a long time, but it won’t result in maintaining. It will result in a weight gain and a muscle loss.

Doing these three things do not net me the endorphins of a good workout or burn enough calories to stop the winter weight from creeping back on. But they help me hold things together until my head cold clears up and I can get myself through the disruption of my sleep pattern with the change over from daylight savings time.

Using these three tools gets me through a tough time without too much back sliding.

Soon, I’ll be back at the gym, lifting weights to build strength, working out with group exercise classes and sweating up a storm. But until I’m ready for that I’m focused on walking, soup and the basics.

How about you? How do you get through it when your mojo slips? Do you have a fallback routine that you use to adjust to the time change or when you have a head cold? Let me know! Either share publicly as a comment here or on our social media… or if you’re shy, just send me a private email Chris@becomingelli.com.

I’m looking forward to learning some new tactics and strategies from others in the Becoming Elli Community of fit women over 50. Thanks in advance. (or should I put TIA? I always have to look those initials up to remember what they mean. ha ha.) – Chris

How We Ran a Half Marathon

October 9, 2018 / Chris Brown / 5 Comments

In podcast episode number 19 of Becoming Elli, Jill and Chris discuss how they ran a half marathon. Today’s podcast covers before, during and after the 13.1 challenge.

In this podcast you’ll hear:

Our preparation:

Running plans leading up to it
The expo
Our cross training plans
Shoes
Practice fueling
KT tape

The actual race on Sept 29, 2018 in Akron:

The Course
Waterstations

What we did afterwards:

Fuel: Chocolate milk and banana
ice bath
What didn’t work

Are you planning a challenging race in the near future?

Let us know by sending an email to Jill@becomingelli.com or Chris@becomingelli.com so we can connect with you. Or join our Facebook Group.

It Started with a Treadmill Desk

October 6, 2018 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Last Saturday Jill and I ran just over 13 miles to complete the Akron half marathon. On Tuesday our podcast will reveal how we did it (before, during and after!)

This past week different people have made comments to me like “Wow, I can’t even run a mile.” or “I can’t imagine doing something like that.”

It really got me thinking about how I used to be one of “those” people. My BMI number was well over 30 and I couldn’t even walk without a lot of pain. I never would have imagined running at all, let alone a half marathon.

The experts say that it takes 4 to 6 months to prepare to run a half marathon.

It took me a lot longer.

In a few days, our Becoming Elli podcast will reveal what we did to prepare for the half marathon in the months leading up to it. Today, I thought I would write a little bit about how I gradually I worked up to even wanting to do something like this.

For me, it started years ago when I turned 50 years old. I realized I needed to do something drastic to regain my fitness and confidence in doing physical things. I knew I couldn’t rush into getting fit without giving up. It took me a long time to get out of shape, so I decided to take my time getting back into shape.

Believe me, my mindset didn’t go from “gotta lose weight” to “gotta run a half marathon” without many, many steps in between.

Even after losing a lot of weight, it took a long while before I was even thinking of running.

It started with a treadmill desk

One of the first things I did was set up an old treadmill in the computer room and begin walking while I worked on something. As a marketing consultant, I have a lot of work to complete on the computer.

Some people would rather watch videos or read a book. Either way, you don’t get a lot of cardio with a walking desk, but it is a great way to begin.

As you can see, this is a home made treadmill desk. These photos are from early 2009 when my walking desk was put together with an old computer, monitor and keyboard. I really didn’t know where this was going to take me, so I didn’t want to invest a whole lot of money into it.

Jill has also found that a walking desk on treadmill works during the times you have a lot of work and still need to move. If you are thinking of getting or creating a treadmill desk, maybe this will inspire you too.

My treadmill desk in 2009.

I found I could walk at 2 miles an hour on the treadmill, without losing balance. It is very very slow! I could write blog posts, edit videos, outline marketing plans and put in the hours needed to set up a social media program – and still burn a few calories by staying on my feet. But after three hours of working on the computer, I’d done six miles and found that I could get exercise without getting hurt.

Random thought… Does anyone else blame the obesity epidemic on the internet and computers? I don’t think it is just what you eat but how stationery the technology has made us as a society.

My first few races

The next stage of getting fit was walking 5k’s. I did four of them in the fall of 2009 and then my first turkey trot. I hadn’t realized that the turkey trot was actually 4 miles long. I was jogging by that point and was very happy to finish it in just under an hour.

Yes, by walking the 5ks and that turkey trot, I was often last in the race. But, I was doing it. I still think that by getting out there and doing it, I am beating everyone who is still sleeping or sitting on their couch.

Most of my efforts in 2010 revolved around losing weight, not exercise. And starting to just move, either walks outside – often with the dog – or on the treadmill when the weather didn’t cooperate.

Increasing exercise too fast can be a real problem for me. Too much and it really hurts. But bit by bit I gained confidence and by 2011 was doing some spinning classes at the gym. That led to riding my bike. It took quite a while before I was really comfortable on the bike.

Two half marathons in 2018
I never dreamed that I would have run two half marathons in 2018, Cleveland in May and Akron in September. While I am not at all fast, I am determined not to be discouraged! I don’t keep up with most of the other runners, but I am doing it. And to me, that is one of the keys to becoming fit and strong. I look at it as encouragement. It’s a fine line.

One important thing I have learned over these years is NOT to compare myself to other people. If they are stronger, faster and more fit, I will either be too motivated (and end up straining or hurting myself) or I will be too discouraged (and want to give up, thinking why bother!) Either way, it’s a nasty outcome.

On the other hand, having a plan and working it everyday makes sense to me. Having a rest day. Alternating strength training, running, cycling, yoga keeps me fit without working too much of a good thing. A combination of progressive, but challenging goals, together with recovery methods, is the right exercise recipe for me.

How about you? How did you get back in shape? Are you in recovery mode or challenge mode? What is your current challenge? What do you do for recovery? Leave a comment below or send me an email at Chris@becomingElli.com.