Lately, I'm struggling to find something.

Well, that's ambiguous. 

Can I start over? Sure, it's my blog.  We're going with it.  Who is we?

OH my gosh. If I really write even half of what is going through my mind, this is going to be a shit show.  Also, I originally started this blog with 'Well, that's ambiguous as hell," but I don't really understand where 'as hell' comes from as a comparator.  And I don't think that is the right use of the word comparator, but it sounds right and I like it.

P.S. I just 'googled' shit show and laughed right out loud. Also, when I'm honest with myself and not trying to filter so much, I do use cuss words - in my head and in real life - and sometimes those words just plain fit the bill.  They cut the mustard.

P.P.S. Now I 'googled' cut the mustard because I want to know where that phrase came from.

I digress. Naturally. Do any of you often have 427 open tabs on your computer browser because you start reading one article and have to look something up, which leads to you another article you want to read and reminds you to add something to your Amazon cart and suddenly you realize you're watching puppy videos and you're late for (whatever is supposedly more important than puppy videos) and have now successfully distracted yourself from whichever task you were ardently attempting to complete an hour and a half ago?

Me neither. 👀

Have any of you read, 'Furiously Happy' by Jenny Lawson?  I laughed so hard out loud reading that book and was recommending it to others before I even completed reading it. I felt a kinship with The Bloggess through her writing style and some of her experiences.  I have to say 'some' of her experiences because, thank you dear God, I have never been sent dead animals in the mail.  Hallelujah, #amiright? Praise Jesus.

And when I say, 'Praise Jesus', I say - er, type, and say in my head - with complete sincerity.  I am thankful to my Lord and Savior that I have never been sent animals in the mail, dead or alive.

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, yeah.  I'm struggling to find something. Though the more I consider what it may be, and listen to/watch coaching videos (enter: Allegra Stein, who may or may not know she is now a role model of mine) and chat with people who support and encourage me to balance contentment with experimentation and growth, the more I realize how much I stifle and stymie my own creativity with fear and expectation.

Whoa. Okay, so when I sat down to write this morning, I had no idea what to write about because - guess what? What I am put on the spot, or put myself on the spot, my creativity says, "PEACE OUT." and I'm left with thoughts and feelings of fear, inadequacy, shame (yep), and the list goes on but I don't want to feel depressed because I'm writing about feelings of feeling 'less than'.

So I decided to take some action this week (thanks for the encouragement, Allegra!) and brought some of this up in conversation with friends during 1:1 hangout time.  One of my friends is also a coworker and a wellness coach asked me what my action items were based on our conversation. I said I was going to 1) practice my new brush stroke pens and 2) write something. Anything.

Uh-oh.  Now I have accountability (which I need when it comes to the scary-exciting stuff that will push my out of my creative rut) and I am going to decide whether to start a whole new blog space or if I am going to pivot the current platform to be a space that can house and hold my philosophical and academic wisdom, share travel and engaging experiences, and be strong enough to hold my morning ramblings and less filtered spoutings.

1) Here's the practice - imperfect, yet done.

Here we go...this blog is taking a turn it from which it may never recover . . . in other words, here is a pivot point.  As my awesome friend-coworker-coach says, press publish.  Oh dear.

Hey, folks.  Wellness coaches are real people.  We have a lot going on in our heads, too.  Time to calm the chitter-chatter.  Or at least get some of it out to make space for creativity and growth.

2) publish.

#wellnesscoach #presspublish #writersblock #creativity #accountability

Workout buddies ROCK!

My fantastic friend Stacy is visiting from North Carolina this weekend and she practiced Day 4: Peak Pose Pincha Mayurasana with me and then joined me for a 4-mile training run! What a pal!

I cut our yoga practice short at 30 minutes because neither of us were going to make it into a forearm stand today AND we wanted to get a good run in before heading up to Bayfield, WI, to kayak around the Apostle Islands :) 

Having friends that have values and interests similar to one's own is such a boost to confidence, mood, motivation, and accountability.  Thank you, Stace!

@CoachBurow #accountability #yoga #trainingrun #workoutpartner #apostleislands 

Conquering the ECOTRI - sort of. . .

Sort of, meaning, it TOTALLY brutalized my mind and body, and I considered quitting many times, but I got 'er done.

Shall I begin at the beginning?

Several months ago, at the Expo of another event, I came across a booth with information about a local Eco-Tri. 

"Sweet!" I thought to myself. "I wanted to get back into triathlons this year. This would be a great start." Bonus: Proceeds go to raise money for camp scholarships at Camp Victory.

Okay, sounds great. I'm hooked. I bring the pamphlet home and literally TAPE it to the fridge.

Meanwhile, I participate in the Med City Marathon Relay (have I mentioned that I'm "not a runner"?) and my first long-course triathlon (for which my race buddy and I drove 5 hours for my finish time not to be recorded . . .). 

Time for the EcoTri. Payday comes around and I register.  My race buddy doesn't have the day off work, so he waits to register.  And waits. And waits. . .and pretty soon, we realize he probably isn't going to be attending this event.  (Lesson 1: If you REALLY want a race buddy, be sure you both have the day off work AND register together!) I start to have reservations about participating the week leading up to the event; then run into minor hurdles in picking up the kayak I'm borrowing for the event.  Even the day before the race, I am only about 65% sure I'm going in the morning.

5:15am alarm - okay, okay, FINE! I'm going. I already told people I was doing this (Lesson two: Accountability. When people know you are planning to do something, they ask about it. You can take away whichever lesson you want from this . . .!)

5:20am - Start COFFEE, eat breakfast (made a hearty from-scratch whole wheat pancake last night, toast it and slather with peanut butter and jam. YUM.)

6:03am - In the car and hitting the road. Drinking COFFEE and listening to devotionals (Joyce Meyer series about Priorities and Pursuits, for those of you who are interested.)

6:37am - Find kayak drop-off site, fear that I've messed up the day of event because NO ONE is around.  No worries, just drive around the corner and find a nice man unlocking kayaks - people have either dropped of their gear the night before, are renting the kayaks, or aren't even here yet (opened at 6:30am).

6:55ish am - Arrive at Camp Victory, park, pick up race packet.  Have an ankle timer but not race bib. Apparently, this has happened to a couple other racers, too - the volunteers find our MIA race bibs (as seen in image below).  Also realize that my kayak wave is #7 and doesn't start until 9:24am. I've got PLENTY of time.

Still oblivious. (Smiling) 

7am-7:50am - Ride bike to corral (an outdoor ice rink), walk back to car to carry the rest of my transition gear/stuff/crap.

7:50am - Race Meeting. Find out my shuttle bus to kayak site leave at 8:45am. I've still got PLENTY of time.

7:53am-8:42am - Sit in shade (there's going to be a LOT of sun today), take a few pictures, start dynamic warmups, do some yoga, drink water, eat a pear.

8:43am - Board bus, road trip with some fun people to the starting line/kayak drop-off.  Meet a really neat lady who owns Field of Yoga in Iowa and one of her friends, Dr. Suzanne, an Integrative Medicine MD in Iowa. AWESOME!

9:05am - arrive at Fisherman's Inn, wait in potty line, get 'Tri-Tatted' (number marking on arm and leg), and get my kayak gear set up in the right wave.



Fisherman's Inn: EcoTri Starting Point

Wave 5

9:24am - My wave is off and paddling! 3.5 miles on Lake Zumbro. At the dam, hop out and portage the kayak up a muddy hill, over a 3ft concrete barrier (they didn't say this was a Tough Mudder!), and down the other side of the hill into the Zumbro River.  A nice 1mile paddle on the river with much easier paddling, although I did bottom out once and scraped bottom on two other occasions.

Time? About an hour later, abort kayak, walk/jog through mowed down weeds, share part of narrow bike path with bikers for short trek, up and down a hill too steep for sea legs, and into the transition area. 



Damage not too bad.

Biking underway. Some grassy and sandy bumps give me the naive hope that this is the extent of the 'exciting terrain' and elevation changes. BOOOOOY, would that be wrong. The one 'hill' I came to and walked my bike partway up was a fraction of a millimeter compared to the giant slolem that was to come. Trudging up the mountain took a looooong time. Coming back down was okay (after trudging up another mini-mountain halfway down the big mountain). Oh, and did I mention? Halfway up the mountain the first time, one of the kind volunteers tells me we get to do this loop TWICE.  What did I sign up for?!?!  On through the woods. Scenic and nice, I would hope. Welllll, yes. Aside from the fact that one bike barely fits on this path and a person cannot miscalculate or misguide steering without careening down the rocky/stumpy edge. Which I, of course, did.  Photos show some of the damage.  My left knee hurts pretty badly from hitting a rock and my shins are bashed in; thankfully, a nice lady behind me on the trail aided my disentanglement from my bike, lest I fall any further down into the abyss.  At this point, I'm thinking, 'just finish the bike ride. It is okay if you want to be done. You had no idea what you were getting into."

Wait, what? Lest my brain's ears deceive me? Did I just give myself permission to quit? Um, no. Not acceptable, at least not yet.  Get closer to the finish line.

Time to start loop two. Again with the easy-peasy grassy/sandy/tree-rooty path. I get to the bottom of the monster hill and stop for a considerable amount of time at the aid station. Water, jabber with the staff, convince myself to trudge up this hill again. Even if I just make it through the bike course again so I am not allowing my mental angst of falling again prevent me from completion.  As I start trekking my bike up the minimum-of-a-10-minute climb with my heart rate racing around 176-180bpm (honest, as reflected on my heart rate monitor), I watch a young man come flying down the hill on his bike and take a big fall. I holler down the hill to the volunteers and one starts running up the hill. I set my bike aside and go to help her with him until the EMT's arrive (he's okay, a little banged up and taken with a neck brace as a precaution - thank you to the fire and rescue team!). At this point, I'm walking back to my bike and that devil mind comes back: "Just ride your bike to the bottom of the hill and go back to camp. Be done. You are already exhausted, in pain, and have now stopped for not only your own crash but to assist with someone else's." 

Um, no. Not acceptable, at least not yet.  Get closer to the finish line.  Even if I just make it through the bike course again, right?  Okay. Stumble, grumble, modest amount of foul language (whoops). Walk down part of the hill past EMTs and young man in neck brace. Eek.  Through the woods - trying not to psych myself out. No crashing - WOOHOO! Body scan as I hit the gravel road toward the transition zone. Everything seems to be working fine (particularly the left knee) and I think, "What is 3 miles? I can do this. Even if I walk it."

Walk I did, for a large portion. Please don't misunderstand, I ran the straightaways and the downhills, but there were some UPHILL CLIMBS on the run that could have used a climbing kit, or at least some cleated shoes. My GOODNESS, what in the world did I sign up for?!?!?!?!?

Glorious water and Gatorade at the halfway point. Took a moment to grab a couple of photos on the way down (these do NOT show the tough uphills nor are they the same path as the bike):

FINISH LINE. MEDAL. WATER. FOOD.



Not smiling anymore. Haha!

And don't forget . . . go back to the kayak drop point to portage your gear back to transition site, load the car with kayak and bike after torturing your body and mind for the last 3 hours in the beautiful-but-unforgiving sun.

My goals? Since I had a very misguided perception as to what the event would entail, I had predicted a 1hr20min kayak(and portage), a 40 minute bike ride, and a 35min run.  About 2.5-2.75hours.  My kayak time was about an hour, I think. The bike and run were WAY longer. I think. I haven't seen the results, all I have is my crude polar timing.  I'll add my finish time when I find out (if I remember). And the results are in.

Eiyiyi. Nuts. Could have been worse (i.e. DNC). I estimate perhaps my own crash and stopping for the other guy added about 7-10 minutes, so I'm still quite happy. Especially considering had I known what the bike ride entailed, I would NOT have registered! Having now completed it, I'm so glad I did. And I'm particularly happy with my 'run' time after the bike "adventures" and realizing that it could have been a 'tough mudder' in disguise


Average heart rate was 157, max was 185. Estimated 2228 calories burned at 30% fat. Really? I guess that justifies the two huge slices of Casey's pizza I ate post-race :)


If you want to see more - here is a video that was created of the Eco-Tri.
KTTC news coverage: http://www.kttc.com/story/26244655/2014/08/10/dozens-cross-the-finish-line-at-rochester-eco-triathlon , note terminology "grueling adventure." Yep.

Life Goes On

As the calendar year comes to an end, I find myself looking forward to many new adventures in the next 3, 6, and 12 months (and, of course, beyond).  

What a whirlwind of change 2012 has proven to be in this lady's life; for better or worse in the immediate sense, all things work together for good.  I have laughed hard, cried, trained, quit training, started training again, achieved goals, fallen short of goals, gotten angry, given forgiveness, taken lots of naps, gone for periods of time with too little sleep, been injured and healed, learned a lot, dated, winery-toured, snuggled my nephew, counseled friends, received support, frustrated many, confused a lot more, and still - here I am.  I am a child of God, a daughter, a sister, and a damn good friend.  Everything that has happened in my life, whether by my choice or by indirect consequence of my choice(s), I am remembering that a heart of gratitude and love not only feels best, a heart that full will bless others.

I am in great company and although many, many, many circumstances did not turn out as I anticipated, I am slowing down and taking a breath . . . counting to 10 . . . and moving forward.

Good health to you - be safe, and be well!
 

Health Coach in the Workplace

Good day to you!

Wanted to share this gem promoting the use of 'yours truly' as a resource and service in the workplace!

Health Coaches in the Workplace is an article that I came across today and wanted to share with readers and anyone else with whom you would like to share!  Get the word out - find a health coach and propel your personal and professional life in the direction of your goals!

Health and Wellness Coaching

Check it out! 

 

> Nicole Burow, MS, CHES, CPT, Health and Wellness Coach <

 

Call to schedule your consultation (30-minutes) today! 

 

Coaching can be facilitated in person, over the phone, and/or via skype. 

 

How do you want to improve your life? 

Timing - it is NOT a coincidence!

Ran this morning with great friends. Haven't run in over a week.  My hips are YELLING AT ME.  Note to self: Do not wait so long to run - even if it is only a 15-minute jaunt or 2 mile "trudge".

Then, I read this lovely article this afternoon (great timing) :-) Enjoy! (And, pick a few mantras for yourself!)

RUNNING TIPS <<<click on 'running tips'

Get to it!

Holy Catsmoke, Batman!

Don't even ask me where that post title came from - there is not an ounce of relevance within this post!


Hi there!  Where have you been? 


What? Me?  Where have I  been? Well, lets see, I've been working, quitting jobs, re-situating my life, entertaining guests from Florida, going to music concerts, riding bike, and running!  Yep, running!  I can kinda do it!


Last Saturday, I ran with a group of friends in a nearby 5-mile 'race'.  I haven't run over 4 miles in a couple of years, so that was a feat to begin with - then, I challenged myself to try to get it done in less than an hour.


Ready for this? Drum roll, pleeeease . . .


59:04! Woot, woot!  I did it!  Less than an hour!  A couple of accomplishments throughout the run include 1) not stopping to walk until around 18minutes into the race, 2) keeping a close eye on the friends who were running just ahead of me and sticking with them, 3) when a song came on the Ipod that was really motivating, I kept replaying (and replaying) to keep my body movin'!

Loved having a great group of strong, kind women to be active and outdoors with!  Thank you, ladies! (And friend's fiance's brother!)

5-Mile Run (about to commence!)

A few of us went for a 12-mile "easy" bikeride on Tuesday.  Planned to do a 3-mile run this morning but this lady was super-duper tired and opted to gain some more rest.  (Not sure it did any good!) I've been tracking runs and bike rides on www.mapmyrun.com and www.mapmyride.com which, as long as my phone is receiving a decent GPS signal, gives distance and pace (as well as the map)!  Cool!

Paralyzed by "Too Much To Do"?!

Does anyone else ever feel a strange sense of "paralyzation" by having too many things that you want to do/accomplish/learn/etc?  I sometimes get overwhelmed by my own eagerness to "do everything" that I end up stagnant. . .not doing ANY of it!!!!!!  Boo.  This sillyness cannot go on! 

Must.
Utilize.
Wellness Coach Training.
On myself!

The best way for me to get tasks done is to just start them; however, this greatly conflicts with my innate desire to create a plan, a list, and go over pros and cons or consider consequences.  Good grief, Charlie Brown! 

I'm very thankful that I woke up at what for me is early on a Sunday morning.  I felt quite accomplished in that I put ALL of my laundry away (about 3 loads worth that have been in baskets for over a week . . .), worked on cleaning my room while re-listening to Wellness Coach training audios, swept and mopped kitchen floor (no matter how easy the task, still a *task*), cooked a delicious lunch, watched a couple episodes of Brothers & Sisters on DVR (took a break to eat lunch and continued to watch another couple of episodes!). . .and just now, sat down to work on work stuffs and was immediately distracted by Pintrest [followed by facebook . . . followed by blogging!].  Oh jeez.  And I used a lot of elipses in this paragraph.  My 10th/12th grade english teacher would not be impressed.

What I am SUPPOSED to be doing is figuring out logistics of a new job offer.  I'm SUPERDUPER excited about the opportunity to put to use a TON of my education, experience, enthusiasm, and recent Wellness Coach training!  Now, to use it in my OWN life - ready, GO! :-)


P.S. Ran a 5k training run yesterday, have a 5 mile race in 6 days - eek! I haven't run that far at one time in years!  I've let myself down a little in the last couple of weeks having not been teaching classes, I haven't been holding myself accountable for doing my own workouts.  I have really only been running/working out when I have a workout buddy.  Perhaps that is a significant realization on my part.  Maybe I will work on finding people 3-4 days per week to schedule workouts with; or, maybe it won't be a problem once I begin my new job!  :-)

no title because my brain won't come up with one

Hidey-Ho! Thanks for swingin' by to read my blog!  For the loyal 3 fans that read when I post regularly, my apologies for being so absent lately!  I have honestly been wrapped up in my new jobS and reading and prepping for work and working out! 

As for the New Year, New Ideas post (followed by Beets and Avocados) - those ideas are still on track!  Just on hold, for right now.  The beets, as a matter of fact, are in the veggie drawer in my fridge and I have a recipe picked out . . . just haven't made it yet! 

Perhaps more importantly, I haven't been writing to hold myself accountable for exercise!  I have been working out daily (with perhaps one lazy day) for the last two weeks!!!!  My body feels stronger and more flexible and I am sleeping so soundly.  *(Sleeping has been amazing since I moved back to Minnesota . . . my DIStress level has been nearly non-existent and my mind and body have felt very peaceful.)  Back to exercise, I've been able to attend one or two group exercise classes per week, leading an exercise class once per week in which I partake (soon to be two), walk dogs daily (anywhere from 10-40 minutes) and yesterday, I did yoga in my living room before work!  I've been more mindful about why I am exercising and how my body feels both before and after activit[ies].  My 'plan' and hope is that if I am more intrinsically motivated to move than I am extrinsically motivated (because lets be real, external motivators will never be nonexistent!), I will remember to be mindful, patient, and persistent in how/how often/when I exercise.

Of course, I have goals of completing another sprint triathlon, completing a half-marathon, and participating in a Tough Mudder and a Warrior Dash, I know my body and mind - if I try to do too much to quickly, my body reacts with pain and my mind becomes discouraged when I miss workouts or "don't feel" like exercise. 

As I am writing, my words don't seem to me like they flow - like I am forcing this post.  I'm not!  But I wanted to get back into writing more regularly . . . both to work on my writing, chronicle my thoughts, hold myself accountable for exercise, & provide some motivation and reality for my clients and readers -- all of those things.  I hope :)

Until next time (hopefully within a week!) - Be Well !!! :-)