The Power of Intention

“All great acts are ruled by intention. What you mean is what you get.” - Brenna Yovanoff

Always the mantra of a race...

I have been thinking very hard lately of what my intention for 2013 will be.  It finally came to me in a yoga class at Santosha Yoga a couple of weeks ago.  We had a class on arm balances.  I hate arm balances.  No, I LOATHE arm balances.  I can't do them.  I get frustrated and mad.  Yoga sucks when arm balances are involved.  Yes, arm balances elicit a very violent response from me.

So, there I was- struggling to get my legs on my arms, ass in the air, sucking in the abs, clenching the *sshole and of course BREATHING.  God, I hate arm balances.  When Page, the yoga instructor, paused in front of my mat and said, "You can do this.  You are strong enough.  You just don't trust yourself."

It was a revelation.  No, I don't trust myself and I especially do not trust my hands to support me.  This is my problem and I need to work on this.

Drumroll please.....the 2013 intention is to trust myself.  Trust the little voice inside me.  Be confident. Shoot for the stars without abandon and don't hold back.  Believe.

I start my 2013 journey tomorrow by embarking on a 40-day headstand challenge.  Every day, I am going to do a headstand for 3 minutes.  This practice will help me condition my abs, my balance and see the world with a different perspective- upside down.  Hopefully, being upside down will get rid of a couple of wrinkles too... hey, one can hope!

Next week's blog: Why I still hate the bike.

Grateful- In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

“A grateful mindset can set you free from the prison of disempowerment and the shackles of misery.”- Steve Mariboli

The two things I am most grateful for in my life- X-t and Bakon.

Last year at this time, I wasn't in a very good place.  I was in a job that made me miserable.  I just turned 45, which meant I was now middle aged.  I still mourned my golden retriever, Otto.  I was in a real bad funk. I acknowledged this and knew I needed to do something to get me out of it.  I worked with Tiara Coaching on a women's leadership initiative at another job.  Tiara Coaching is a place where women rediscover and refresh their sense of purpose and direction in the company of bright, successful, interesting women.  It is a place where you can reclaim your life.  I needed to do some reclaiming, so I contacted them.

My life coach was Ellen Burton.  She asked the hard questions, demanded the true answers and opened doors.  She changed the way I thought about myself, situations and other people. 

One of my homework assignments was to write down five things that I am grateful for each day.  I am not a writer- as you can tell from this blog. I don't keep a journal of thoughts or ideas.  Writing five sentences each day about something that I was thankful for was going to be a stretch.  Writing five unique things every day seemed nearly impossible.  

I started my journal on Tuesday, January 17th.  The first entry was pretty big.  Here it is:

1) I am grateful for my husband.

2) I am grateful for my family.

3) I am grateful for my friends

4) I am grateful for my health.

5) I am grateful for wine.

There!  Not too bad.  In fact, this is all (or so I thought) that I am grateful for- it sums it up!  Even though I thought this is all to be grateful for, I kept at it every day.  I still write in my gratitude journal.  

After a couple of weeks of writing, I started to notice something.  Life wasn't so bad after all.  In fact, there is a lot of good that was happening to me.  Someone complemented me on my outfit.  I got an adjustment in yoga class. Someone opened a door for me. I got a postcard in the mail from a friend.  I got $10 off coupon.  My dream job became available and I got the offer!

Where I am in my life is light years from where I was last year, or is it?  Did I just need to open my heart and my eyes to see all around me with a sense of gratitude?  As Mr. Mariboli said, "A grateful mindset can set you free from the prison of disempowerment and the shackles of misery."  

It certainly set me free. 

Finding the Sturdy Girl Voice Part Deux

Definition of Sturdy:

Adjective: (of a person or their body) Strongly and solidly build.

Synonym: strong-robust-firm-stout-stalwart-lusty-tough

My sturdy self in a sturdy pose.

Lately, I have been hesitant on what to write in this blog.  Do I write about training for races? Do I write about my neurotic, random thoughts?  Do I write something my struggles with what to eat and my weight (boring topic, personally)?  What type of format should I put my thoughts- list, story, conversation?

What I have been doing is over thinking this whole blog.  It took a week's vacation of parking my butt on a beach in Florida and three yoga classes to figure out that I don't need to have a plan on what to write.  Just write!  Instead of pushing, it is sometimes better to just be patient and let things go the course to develop into something beautiful (Thank you Mary for this revelation in this morning's yoga practice!).

So there is going to be a bit of everything in the coming weeks, especially now that the holidays are upon us.  The holidays for me means too much pressure to get the perfect gift, losing some of the most important people in my life and the darkest days of the year.

Now, I am not going to get all depressed on you.  This time of year is also an exciting time for me.  This is the time that I plan the races that I am going to participate in next year and set goals for those races. I set my 5 intentions for the year.  Intentions are very powerful and should be seriously considered.  I will share these intentions with you along with the logic.

This Sturdy Girl Blog isn't going to be about about weigh loss struggles and the quest of being a physically fit person.  This Sturdy Girl Blog is about creating yourself to being a stronger physically, spiritually and emotionally person.   Sturdy means that you are someone (including yourself) that people can depend on.

So, fasten your seat belts and hang on.  We are getting ready to go for a ride together.  Please feel free to bring your thoughts, comments, perceptions to this blog about being a sturdy person.

Here we go!

Chronicles of Sturdy Girl Lisa!: Why I love Marathons...

Chronicles of Sturdy Girl Lisa!: Why I love Marathons...: "The difference between the mile and the marathon is the difference between burning your fingers with a match and being slowly roasted over ...

Why I love Marathons...

"The difference between the mile and the marathon is the difference between burning your fingers with a match and being slowly roasted over hot coals."- Hal Higdon

Medal from the last marathon I ran- Carmel (like carmel apple) NOT Car-MEL marathon in Indiana in April, 2012.

Ah October, marathon season- my favorite time of year.  Congratulations to all who ran and completed the Chicago and Milwaukee marathons yesterday.  The day after always hurts, but it is so rewarding!

I love running marathons.  My first marathon was Chicago in 2001.  Since then, I have managed to run a marathon every year- give or take.  Next year I will be running my 13th and perhaps 14th marathon.  I am already signed up for the Kentucky Derby Marathon in April and I might run Chicago for the 3rd time with some friends.

So, why do I love marathons?  Let me count the ways:

1)  You cannot 'cram' for a marathon.

2)  A marathon takes commitment and dedication.

3) You must respect the distance.

4) Not everyone is crazy enough to attempt a marathon, although the sport is getting more popular.

5) You face adversity.

6) You learn about what you are made of.

7) If you are a back of the packer such as myself, you meet a lot of interesting people.

8) You learn about your body and how it reacts to training.

9) You realize that you are tougher than you thought you were.

10) You believe (and rightfully so) that you can do anything you set your mind to do.

I love standing at the starting line knowing that there is a story about to unfold in front of you.  All of the training will get you to the finish, but what is going to happen during the race?  Will it be a good day or will it be a bad day?  How will you adjust your strategy?  Do you have a strategy?  My common strategies:

• Negative split the second half of the race (this never happens by the way)
• Finish the same day that I start
• One mile at a time 
• And my all-time favorite- oh, let's just wing it.

As you can tell, I don't take myself too seriously when it comes to marathons.

Three marathons I have gotten the same time (which is my PR)- Chicago Marathon in 2004, Indianapolis Marathon in 2006 and Green Bay Marathon in 2008.  My worst time marathon was Milwaukee Marathon in 2007.  That was the 'hot' marathon.

I don't think I will give up doing marathons for a while yet.  There are so many good marathons I would like to run.  Here is some on my bucket list:

Hatfield and McCoy Reunion Festival Marathon

Vancouver Marathon

London Marathon on the docket for 2014

Des Plaines Trail Marathon- it's so close to my house it would be a travesty not to run it!

LA Marathon- I don't know why, but I have an attraction to it...
Quebec City Marathon- I did my PR in the 1/2 marathon in 2003.  I would love to do the entire race.

Marathons made me believe in what could be possible.  Because of marathons, I had the courage to go back to school and get my master's degree.  I adopted a healthier lifestyle.  I found a new career.  I made lasting friendships.  I had to courage to try triathons.  Training for marathons deepened my relationship with my husband (he trains with me).

I will never qualify for Boston.  I will always be a back of the packer runner.  I am ok with that.  The reason why I run marathons is because I can!

Powersongs and other Motivational Music

"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." - Bob Marley

Happiness is running with music!

I am getting my playlist together for the upcoming International Detroit Half Marathon on October 21st.  I have been 'kind of' training for this 1/2 marathon, but not a serious training for a 1/2 marathon.  This is going to be a fun 1/2 marathon, not a record-breaking 1/2 marathon.  Because of my low-key training schedule, music will be playing a big part in running this race.

I always have a 'theme song' for a big event.  Here are some examples of theme songs:

2012 Racine Half Ironman-Theme from Mission Impossible- Sound-A-Like As Made Famous By: Adam Clayton/Larry Mullen

2012 Carmel Marathon- "This Head I Hold"- Electric Guest

2011 Steelhead Half Ironman- "Ladies and Gentlemen"- Saliva

2011 New Orleans Marathon- "No More Tears"- Ozzy Osborne

My theme song for Detroit is going to be: "Too Close"- Alex Clare

So, let me share my first 10 songs of the Detroit Playlist:

1) "Losers"- The Belle Brigade- This song reminds me to run my own race.  It starts out nice and slow. This is good to navigate through the crowd at the beginning of the race.

2) "Paradise"- Coldplay- The tempo is a little bit faster, but controlled- this reminds me that I am still warming up.

3) Theme from Mission: Impossible- Now that I am warmed up, it is time to get funky and get in the groove.

4) "Moves Like Jagger"- Maroon 5- Established pace and away we go!  This song lets me figure out how my body is feeling for the day.  Is it going to be a good day or a challenging day?

5) "Tongue Tied"- Grouplove- My new favorite song!

6) "This Head I Hold"- Electric Guest- another reminder to run my own race.

7) "Eminence Front"- The Who- this song is always playing on Saturday mornings in the winter on the Weather Channel at 5AM when I am figuring out what to wear for my run.  A reminder that this race could be colder...

8) "Vogue"- Madonna- I just saw her in concert.  My favorite Madonna song.

9) "Rain in the Summertime"- The Alarm- This song was my 'powersong' for my very first marathon- 2001 Chicago Marathon.  I ran a lot that summer in the rain- brings back good rookie marathon memories of chafing.

10) "Dead Man's Party"-Oingo Boingo- Come on!  It's October!  You gotta play "Dead Man's Party"!  Also brings back good, hazy memories of college parties...

BONUS!  Here are the last 3 songs on every playlist.

"Amazing"- One eskimO- this plays on the last mile. So inspirational- makes me cry every time.

"#9 Dream"- John Lennon- This plays as I cross the finish line.  It is so surreal to hear this song as you get your medal.

The final song is "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy.  Such a beautiful song- a good song to collect yourself, stretch out and take stock in all of the hard work and training that you dedicated to the race and to yourself.

What are your powersongs?

I. Hate. Shopping. For. Clothes.

Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions. - Coco Chanel

Posted on Facebook this morning by Trek Women

This weekend, I went down to Indy to visit my sister and my mother to celebrate my mom's birthday.  It  was a lovely weekend, except for one thing.  My Mom and my Sis love to shop.  I, on the other hand, HATE to shop.  More specifically, they LOVE to shop for clothes.  I decidedly HATE to shop for clothes.  

My sister is a petite size zero.  My mother is a true size eight.  Me, on the other hand, my size vacillates between a 10 or a 12 or sometimes a petite 10 or a petite 12 or sometimes an extra-large men's.  It all depends on the situation.  I would much rather mail order a frock from a catalog, try it in the privacy of my own home, be horrified and then return it only to swear not to shop for another six months.  

You see, I work out.  I have large shoulders from swimming, a pouch for a belly(too much wine drinking) a big ass and thighs from running and biking.  Usually nothing fits in the shoulders.  If it does fit, then the sleeves are a country mile long.  Same situation happens with the pants.  Something will fit in the butt and thighs and then the legs will be a country mile long.  When I do find things that fit, I wear it for a LONG time. I still have clothes from 1998 that I still wear, which I celebrate as a small victory.  

I melted down this weekend in the Nordstorm's changing room.  We were shopping for jeans (I don't own a pair of jeans because NONE fit.)  This nice lady who was helping me gives me a pair of Jag Jeans to try. Nice jeans, don't get me wrong, but they were, shall we say, HUSKY jeans.  For those who were overweight in the 70's, you know what HUSKY means.  For those of you who were normal sized it was Sears version of 'plus' size for children.  I am still not over the emotional trauma of wearing HUSKY clothes in second grade.

Why can't anyone make nice clothes for active women over 40?  I don't want to look like I am 20 with the really short skirts from Title 9 or Athleta. Nor, do I want to wear an Omega on my ass from Lululemon.  I would like some nice, tasteful, fitting clothes to wear to work and play.

I am just frustrated.  I work out at least 2 hours a day and document every morsel I place in my mouth with my LIVESTRONG app on my iPhone.  I have stayed the same weight now for 3 years.  

I am tired of blaming myself.  I don't know what else to do.  

I guess I should take Coco's quote to heart.  Fashion is about architecture- I just have the wrong type of architecture to wear fashionable, fitting clothes.  It is hard to ignore the "haters"(the fashion designers) who don't make clothes for your body type.  It hurts enough to make you cry.