Day 18: Choose Your Thoughts

How do you want to feel today? The choice, in large part, is up to you, based on which thoughts get your attention. This is the message I’ll be reminding myself of all day today…

Morning stats

Yang/firing up:

Yin/cooling down;

  • morning mantra: “I find goodness everywhere I go.”
  • 3 minute meditation
  • 15 minutes of earthing
  • no social media until 10am

Excellent article on getting to know how to work with the thoughts in our head…

Love this quote!

Evening Update

  • One hour strength and mobility work with Higher Ground Athletics
  • 30 minutes of strength work at home, including 3 x 19 pushups (57 total)

Day 17: Calm Confidence

Today I noticed the wonderful fragrance of a tree in the yard of the house I’ve been dogsitting at for two weeks. I walk by it a few times a day but didn’t notice it until just now. Maybe it suddenly bloomed in full today, or maybe…just maybe…meditating consistently for the first time in my life is allowing me to be more present and notice “magic moments” more often. I wonder…

Morning stats

Yang/firing up:

  • high-five in the mirror
  • cold shower
  • stood one leg while brushing teeth, to activate glutes
  • motivational speech https://youtu.be/lNS70QJh4Go
  • one and a half hour interval/sprint running workout

Yin/cooling down:

  • morning mantra: “I welcome this new day with joy and confidence.”
  • 10 minutes of foam rolling and trigger point therapy mobility work
  • 10 minutes of earthing
  • 2 minute meditation
  • 15 minute session in compression pants

Day 14: Celebrate Small Victories

Grateful for my best mountain training run ever (16 miles with nearly 4,000 feet of elevation, in under 3 hours) yesterday, followed by an hour and a half run with hill sprints today. Sometimes setbacks help us appreciate how great things are when there aren’t any setbacks!

Morning stats

Yang/firing up:

  • high-five in the mirror
  • stood on one leg while brushing teeth, to activate glutes
  • cold shower
  • motivational speech https://youtu.be/_u2qggffbYM
  • 90 minute run with hill sprints worked in

Yin/cooling down:

  • morning mantra: “My body is rested and my mind is clear. Today’s going to be a great day.”
  • 3 minute meditation
  • 20 minutes of earthing (while reading – what a wonderful combo to sneak in while my child entertains herself making mudpies!)
  • 20 minutes in compression pants
  • 10 minutes of cupping, gua sha, and trigger point therapy work

Evening update

  • One hour of strength training and Higher Grounds Athletics mobility work, including 3 x 18 pushups (54 total)

Day 8: Feeling Great

“Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina… Grit is living life like it’s a marathon and not a sprint.” ~Dr. Angela Duckworth

Technically, I don’t feel great physically (still combating Montezuma’s Revenge, which adds factors of dehydration and fatigue to my running, along with three months of low-to-moderate heel pain that I figured was plantar fasciitis but seems to actually be Achilles tendonitis), but I DO feel great mentally, (which, aside from a major injury, is more important than the physical), focusing on the things I can, like increasing my pushups and pullups consistently each week, trusting I’ll figure out how to feel physically 100% again soon.

Plus, daily meditation and motivational videos makes for a mentally fantastic way to start the day!

dog yoga warrior mom pose

Morning Stats

Yang/firing up:

  • cold shower
  • stood one leg while brushing teeth, to activate glutes
  • motivational speech compilation from G.OA.T. athletes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn0bZ0hBzCw
  • 3 x 16 pushups (48 total) – just a little bit of working out on my otherwise rest day

Yin/cooling down:

  • morning mantra: “I am rested and ready for the day. I can handle anything it brings.”
  • 2 minute meditation (this is getting easier to remember to do!)
  • 5 minute foam roll
  • no social media until 9am
  • 6 minutes of earthing
  • 4 minutes of yoga

Day 4: Hungry for More

Time to get gritty…

“We humans like gritty hard work, because gritty hard work provides better long-term survival benefits. And if we can tap into that, we can fundamentally change the quality of our life.

While grit requires more energy and emotional fortitude in the short run, it provides a much bigger boost in mood and motivation in the long run.”

The Art of Impossible, a book by Steven Kotler

Morning Stats

Yang/firing up:

  • Cold shower
  • Motivational speech by Oprah https://youtu.be/lRrZiiMT68g
  • pushups 3 x 14 (42 total)
  • 3 x 11, 9, 8 (28 total) My most-ever (strict) pullups in a row is 16, before I had my baby almost five years ago. My new goal, as a fresh 40 year-old, is 20 in a row – hoping this 4-5 days a week consistency will get me there.
  • a bit more strength training and a one hour run with plyometric drills
Getting creative getting those morning pull-ups in

Yin/cooling down:

  • 20 minute yoga/stretch/trigger point therapy work
  • Morning mantra: “I’m grateful for this day. I will use my time wisely.”
  • (Forgot to meditate again – gotta work on that!)

Evening Update

  • One hour mobility/strength combo session with Higher Ground Athletics
  • 2 minute meditation
  • Legs up the wall with cups on them (while playing a giraffe game with my kid!)

Feeling grateful/hopeful that the Achilles tendinitis I’ve had for three months (that I thought was plantar fasciitis) is starting to finally go away!