Blog Archives
Monday Motivation
A little motivation for marathon training, staying focused, and just getting through Monday in general. (We are just FOUR days away from spring break!)
A couple times a month, I like to take a break from writing my own original post to share amazing finds from around the interwebs that I found especially entertaining/inspirational.
1.) Motivation to push yourself in workouts:
Probably the only reason I was able to power through my 13-mile long run on Saturday was with Kelly Clarkson’s brand new album Piece by Piece (Deluxe Edition). She is the true MVP here. The beats and the lyrics made the miles fly by (except when I ran so far out that my phone lost internet connection and I ran two miles in complete silence. Awkward.) Can’t pick a favorite but Second Wind and Invincible are probably the best workout tracks.
2.) Motivation for Self-Improvement:
The Thought Catalog Article ‘25 Things Every Woman Should Have by the Time She Turns 25′
This article popped up on Pinterest and piqued my interest. As a 22 year old millenial, a lot of the things on this list are considered more traditional than modern. Especially #3, which says we should only have the phone numbers, Facebook contacts and friends that we actually want in our life. So many of the items on this list resonated with me and I think it is a personal goal to accomplish each one in the next three years. (Should probably print it out then, to remind myself!)
3.) Motivation for running:
*Obviously since I am 3 weeks in and 12 weeks out from my next marathon, I had to add something running-related. Blogs from other marathoners are my main source of running inspiration lately (Carrots n’ Cake and The Hungry Runner Girl motivated me to do my first Yasso 800 workout! Both are training for Boston.) I’m not going to lie, food is a huge motivator for running. As ridiculous as it sounds, I’m running to become faster for a marathon, not to lose weight. So I look forward to replacing the calories I burn off… I joked on Instagram about my intense margarita craving during this weekends long run. I’ll blame it on all the salt I lost from sweat! ;)
4.) Motivation to Eat Healthy:
On the complete flip side of that beautiful diagram above, not every meal can be cupcakes and cosmos unfortunately. Nutrition is still extremely important for our everyday energy, brain activity, self-confidence and overall health. I’m definitely guilty of getting in a rut and giving into hormones and cravings. Sometimes we need a little motivation to remind ourselves why its so much better to choose healthy whole ingredients, and this video and post from The Skinny Confidential was pretty helpful –> TSC Grocery Store Haul.
5.) Motivation for blogging:
On Friday night, I was stopped at a cross walk with a friend just chatting. A girl came up behind me and said, “Excuse me? I read your blog…” I’d never met her before. She was a student at my school who Google searched ‘healthy college girl blog’ or something. Her boyfriend recognized our school in the pictures after she clicked on Strong Like My Coffee and so she began following. The very first time someone who randomly found me on the internet found me in person! (If you’re reading, hi!)
Turns out my digital marketing course and work with search engine optimization has made Strong Like My Coffee the #1 search result on Google for “Healthy College Blog”!
6.) Motivation for senioritis:
On Thursday morning, my marketing professor so kindly reminded us that we should start actively seeking out jobs for after graduation. Thanks dude, I’ve been working on that since January! Do you know how many rejection e-mails I’ve now received? I don’t even know. I delete them immediately, so I’m not keeping track. The majority state that they are seeking candidates with 5+ years experience.
I’m motivated to keep looking because of my intense passion for starting a brand new life of my own in the Carolina’s.
I’m motivated because I know my marketing skills and my experience are right for some position out there. I’m motivated to keep applying because every day, a few thousand people visit this site to see what I have to say.
I’m motivated because all of my peers are going through the exact same thing. I’m motivated because I’ve had my heart set on moving to the south and anything less than what I set out to do is not an option.
May your Monday be short and your coffee be strong!
XOXOXO
Surviving 11 Miles on the Treadmill
Not unlike the majority of the country, our little town was hit with massive amounts of snow and freezing temperatures last week. And if you know me, you know my sun-loving-self was not too excited about the winter weather. Aside from moving my marathon-training-long-run indoors, I won’t complain about the blizzard too much because I know so many other people had it much much worse. I will admit, the thick fluffy snow photographs beautifully.
Last week I committed to a marathon and the weekly long runs that come with training. Sunday morning I woke up to at least 8 inches of snow and dark grey skies. I’d like to say I’m hardcore enough to run through the blizzard…..but I’m a snowbird at heart and take full advantage of the gym when temperatures drop below 50. The treadmill awaited my eleven-miler. First of all, I haven’t run in the double-digits since September, so I had a little bit of pre-run nerves. But the first step to surviving 85 minutes on a stationary machine:
I have repeated this to myself for years; it is a helpful mantra for any mental undertaking! When I hit “Start” I knew I would not be stepping off that machine until the screen said 11.0.
How to survive treadmill long runs:
- First of all, set the incline to at least 1.0% grade. This helps mimic running on land rather than a moving belt.
- Play with the speed! I always start out at a comfortable speed, but bump it up depending on what song is playing. Alternating your speed also mimics running outside when a machine is not regulating pace for you. For some reason when Masterpiece by Jessie J comes on, I hit up, up, up to 8.5 mph because that is my jam.
- Speaking of music…Fresh new playlist made the time flyyyyyyy:
- Basically the entire new Florida Georgia Line album Anything Goes
- Invincible and Someone by Kelly Clarkson
- Goodbye from Who is Fancy (<— love that name)
- Centuries from Fall Out Boy (not a huge FOB fan but this is a power song!)
- I’m Gonna Show You Crazy by Bebe Rexha
- Let Go For Tonight by Foxes
- Mid-run fuel in the form of Tangerine Sport Beans from Jelly Belly for caffeine (studies say you should have mid-run fuel for any outting longer than 60 minutes)
- Two nights before I had watched an inspirational running movie, which I pictured the race scenes from (runner-nerd alert).
- A bit of an odd one…I like to do math during my runs! Since the speed on a treadmill is set to “miles per hour” and I like to think in terms of “minutes per mile,” I spend a lot of time converting different paces in my head and estimating what my marathon time would be. Buuuut if mathematics tends to exhaust you, I don’t recommend this one. ;)
- Thinking about breakfast and/or dessert.
- Looking out the window at this view and appreciating my warm little fitness room!
And that is how I got through 85 lonely minutes on a treadmill in a blizzard. Forecasts show 50s for this weekend, hallelujah!
What is the longest you’ve run on a treadmill & what songs do I need to add for this weekend’s playlist?!
Camelback Mountain + 8 Scottsdale restaurants in 24 hours
Tomorrow I have an exam at 8:00am, so naturally I am trying to relive my incredible weekend by sharing pictures with you rather than cram study. ;)
I celebrated my birthday from Thursday night clear through Monday morning and there isn’t any moment that sticks out as my favorite. Friends, family, food, drinks, sunshine, hiking, and good music = one blur of happiness.
Camelback Mountain is the highest point in Phoenix, and my parents and I love to hike! This was described as an intense climb, but only 1.2 miles to the top. We each only brought a small bottle of water, no snacks. Figured we’d be up and down in an hour.
WRONG.
The “intense climb” is no joke, literal climbing up and over large rocks. This is not a dirt trail. It’s a rock-covered obstacle course. Which was kind of a blast! We just should have come prepared with a backpack for more water and snacks.
As soon as we started, sirens came blaring in and a dozen firemen unloaded rescue gear. They started the hike with us, on a mission to assist an injured hiker. We watched as the hiker, who injured his ankle (hmmm that sounds familiar), was helicoptered from the mountain. According to one of the firemen, this is completely typical. An every weekend activity.
We had a clear view of Phoenix from the top, the grid of neighborhoods and downtown buildings. We were suprised by how crowded the mountain was the entire time, considering it was Valentine’s Day.
Time to jump into the pool again! We had clemetines, apple slices and yogurt to tide us over before another dinner and night downtown. I decided to hop on the treadmill for 4 miles and mini core workout too. Help offset all the splurges over our four days. Dinner was at the crazy-crowded and super loud (we take that as a good sign!) restaurant RNR. I ordered the Ahi Tuna tacos which came on jicama instead of a tortilla.
They were delicious…but tiny. Like a baby appetizer. Good thing we were heading to Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, next!
Country-themed bars are my favorite. The atmosphere and the crowds at these bars are typically more relaxed, less formal, plus the music is the best. And I’d rather two-step than bump-and-grind any day. ;)
Also, cocktails taste 67% better when served in a mason jar.
Scottsdale, Arizona is a part of Phoenix. Our hotel was just a block away from Old Town Scottsdale with dozens of restaurants and bars with outdoor seating and adorable decorations. So on Sunday (after another couple hours by the pool…. I told you I was craving the sun!), we decided to make an entire day and night out of walking through all of the shops, restaurants and bars.
We started at Sip, which is an ecclectic mix of coffee and beer.
I would love to say I loved this place. Anywhere with a unique menu or funky mix automatically has my attention. I thought the beer handles next to the espresso maker was hilarious. But I have to admit….I threw away my Americano after two sips. And if you know me, you know it has to be baaaaad to not finish a coffee drink. So our first stop = fail.
Right next door was Brathaus, infinitely better experience than at the previous bar. We got appetizers and enjoyed sitting outside. There was jumbo-sized jenga, cornhole, and other games. It was the type of outdoor area I would love to have as a backyard.
Before long we were walking along again, through the art distict and the jewelry district.
(I wanted to kiss the statue but I’m also afraid of germs.)
Next up – Italian Grotto. We sat outside here again because it was nearly sunset, that perfect golden lighting. This place had great music too and really cool sports memorabilia decorations.
The next bar was my FAVORITE from the weekend. Old Town Tavern. This bar was very small, but it had indoor, outdoor, and upstairs seating. We started at the outdoor bar, moved to the bar inside, then moved back outside to a table. There was a live band playing great covers and the bartender made fantastic cocktails. If I were a local, I’d be here all the time for the atmosphere! We spent the most amount of time here.
Even though my birthday was Thursday, I hadn’t gotten a birthday dessert yet. (Yes, there was banana pudding on Thursday. But I mean, that’s pudding…) I’m an ice cream girl! Sugar Bowl was a 50’s themed diner, decced out in pink. My kinda place! We sat up at the bar and I ordered a banana split with coffee and cookies n’ cream ice cream. This day had already been all about eating and drinking, and I’d spent a month eating healthfully in anticipation of birthday splurges. GO BIG OR GO HOME. (I went big.)
Our 7-hour food fest finally came to an end Sunday night. It was so abnormal for our usual healthy habits and routines, which made it all the more special to me! We were carefree for the weekend, ignoring calories and treadmillls for a few hours which were replaced by so much laughter and fun. Definitely not an every-weekend type of outting but definitely a well-earned treat. Although I’m sure my stomach and my skinny jeans are happy that the weekend is over and normal eating/exercise has returned.
Also I told myself that I would be done blogging and back to studying by 9pm, and it’s now 9:27. So I shall wrap this up.
P.S. This song came on at Whiskey Row, the first time I’ve ever heard of this singer. I like it!
Goodnight XOXO!
