Now You Can Train With the CoachRunnerFitmom

It's pretty obvious from my blogging and InstaLife that I love me some running and fitness.  My daily posts about my training are not only there for me to reflect on and keep me accountable, but also hopefully serve as inspiration and motivation to some of my InstaFriends.

But what many may not know is that fitness is not just my passion, it is also my livelihood and has been for over a decade!  I have been a part of a wide variety of fitness endeavors from personal training to clinical exercise physiology to gym management.   Today, my husband (Hunter) and I own and operate a performance training facility here in Central Florida called The Athlete Factory.  In our facility, we train competitive athletes from youth to professional, as well as "weekend warriors."  This had been a dream of ours since we met back in our college day and has been such a crazy ride to make it come true!

Being involved in sports my whole life, I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in the filed.  I attended East Carolina University, where I received a degree in Exercise Physiology.  While there, I obtained my first ever certification as an aerobics instructor and began teaching classes my Junior year, and my senior year, I interned as an exercise physiologist (which is where I met my husband).  After college, I moved to Orlando to pursue a career in sports and fitness, and soon became a fitness manager at one of the area's premier health clubs.  Hunter, who was working at the same club, built an impressive clientele of many of the area's most elite athletes and soon landed a job in management as the sport performance team leader.

When our first son was born, I took some time off to stay home with my him, and worked part time with a few clients and taught group exercise classes.  About a year after our second son was born, Hunter, and I decided to open our own facility and I returned to work full time with him.  Already certified in personal training and a variety of group fitness genres from yoga to spinning, I added a Strength and Conditioning coach certification to my repertoire and began coaching athletes of all ages, sports and skill level.

I absolutely love getting to work with a wide variety of athletes in our facility, helping them achieve their performance goals, but I have also wanted to reach even more people, specifically in the running community where I feel most at home.  So I began blogging and posting about my own personal journey, as well as share some knowledge and expertise in hopes to educate, motivate and inspire others.  Over the past year or so, it has been brought to my attention by friends, followers and former colleagues, how much I could truly help fellow runners by combining my passion for running with my strength coaching background.

So I am pleased to announce, I am currently working on a program that will do just that!  A strength and conditioning program designed specifically for the needs and demands of runners.  And unlike other programs where you just download a cookie-cutter collection of exercises and left to your own demise, you will receive personalized program design (based on your goals, needs and current level of fitness), as well as coaching and accountability from yours truly.

And guess what, you do not even have to live anywhere near me to be able to train with me!  This program will all be done through an easy to use app that can be downloaded right to your mobile device.  Through the app, I will provide you with all the programming, a workout schedule, videos of all the exercises, 24/7 access to me through mobile messaging, accountability and much more!  In addition to the app, there will be an initial phone call to discuss your goals, availability, medical history and any other information that helps me set up the most effective plan for you.  Then there will be a monthly follow up call to ensure we are on the right path to get you where you want to go.

Program launch is projected for later this month and more information on program details, pricing and how to sign up will be coming in the very near future.  I will only have limited space, so if this is something you may be interested in, contact me ASAP so you will be the first to know when you can get started training with me!

Strength Training For Runners

Running is such a great form of exercise.  Not only does running offer many great physical benefits, but it has many great mental and emotional benefits as well.  Whether you’re a novice runner, a seasoned runner or even a competitive runner, there is no greater feeling than hitting the trail, treadmill and of course, crossing the finish line.  Running, however, because of its singular plane motion and repetition, can eventually start to take a toll on your body if you are not properly cross training.  Strength training is an often neglected form of cross training but one of the most crucial forms of exercises for runners.  Finding time to get runs and other forms of cardio in each week isn’t always easy, so runners often skip out on the weights, thinking they do not have enough time or it is not necessary.  But strength training, because of its many benefits, should be a part of every runner’s training regimen.  To understand the importance of strength training for runners, here are some key benefits to keep in mind:

1.    Increased Endurance: Strength training helps your body better deal with the stresses of running. Your muscles will be able to perform longer before getting fatigued, which will help you maintain proper running form, improving efficiency and endurance.

2.    Injury Prevention:  Many running injuries, especially knee and hip-related issues, are a result of muscle imbalances or weaknesses.  When muscles get tight, they become weak and are more susceptible to injury.  Strengthening your muscles, especially the muscles of the core and lower body, will help correct these imbalances leading to less aches and pains and more importantly, less injuries.

3.    Increased Speed:  Strength training is an excellent way to get faster.  Strength training will, of course, improve your overall strength, but also improve your body’s efficiency to use energy and oxygen.  By becoming more conditioned, you will be able to improve your overall pace..

4.    Weight Management: Strength training builds lean muscle mass and lean muscle mass boosts metabolism.  Our bodies adapt quickly to steady state cardiovascular training, causing us to plateau.  Including strength training along with cardio in your workout routine is essential for weight loss as well as weight management.

Below is a list of exercises that are very beneficial for runners.  These exercises offer a great foundation to any strength training program because they improve core and functional strength for total body conditioning.  Most of these exercises can be done with little to no equipment in the comfort of your own home.  Keep in mind as your body becomes stronger, you will need to progress these exercises to continually challenge yourself.  To see the benefits of strength training, you will need to do these and other strength exercises 2-3 times per week.  Alternating running days with strength training days is the best way to allow your muscles time to rebuild between strength training sessions while keeping up with your running schedule.  As a reminder, never begin an exercise program without first consulting your physician.  If you feel any pain during these or any other exercises, be sure to stop the exercise and talk to your doctor.

Plank

To perform a plank, begin in a prone position with your legs straight and your elbows tucked underneath your body.  Lift your body up to hover over the ground, evenly distributing your weight from your elbows to your toes.  Pull your belly button into your spine and keep your back flat.  Begin by holding 20-30 seconds for 2-3 sets and progress to longer holds as you become stronger.

Bird Dog

Start in an all-fours position with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees below your hips.  Inhale and lift your right arm parallel to the floor and extend your left leg behind you, also parallel to the floor.  Pull your abs in to keep your back flat.  Exhale and lower arm and leg to start position, inhale and perform on opposite side.  Do 10 repetitions (5 per side alternating) for 2-3 sets.

Push Up

Begin on all-fours, then straighten your legs out coming on to your toes and place your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.  Contract your abs to keep your back flat and slowly lower your chest down towards the floor, bending your elbows to 90 degrees.  Avoid modifying the push up by coming onto your knees because that will recruit less core muscles making it a less effective exercise.  If this movement is difficult to execute on the floor, incline your upper body by using a stair, low table or even a counter top or the wall.  Do 10 repetitions for 2-3 sets.

Bridge

Lying flat on your back, place your feet hip distance apart.  Lift your toes up so that just your heels are on the ground.  Press your low back firmly into the floor, contract your glutes and lift your hips up.  Hold at the top of the bridge for a 3 second count, lower glutes back down and repeat.  Engage your inner thigh muscles so that your legs can remain parallel to one another throughout the entire exercise.  Do 10 repetitions, 2-3 sets.

Sagittal Lunge (Front Lunge)

Begin in a standing position with your feet together.  Step your right foot out in front of you, reaching your arms forward.  Bend both knees to 90 degrees, lowing your back knee as close to if not all the way to the ground.  Be sure to keep your front knee above your ankle, driving your knee too far forward puts stress on the knee joint.  Step right foot back together with your left foot.  Perform 10 repetitions per leg, 2-3 sets.

Frontal Lunge (Side Lunge)

Begin in the standing position.  Step your right foot out wider than your hips, with feet parallel to one another, toes facing forward.  Bend just your right knee, driving your right hip down and back.  Reach your arms in front of you.  Again, be sure to keep your knee above your ankle.  Push off the right foot and bring the feet back together.  Perform 10 repetitions per leg, 2-3 sets.

Transverse Lunge

Begin with feet together.  Step your right foot out and back, making a perpendicular line with your heels.  Bend your right knee only, driving your right hip down and back.  Reach your hands in front of you, above your right thigh.  Rotate your right foot back forward bring your feet back together.  Perform 10 repetitions per leg, 2-3 sets.

Body Weight Row with TRX

Using a TRX or similar suspension system, grab a hold of the hand grip and align your body at an angle (the lower your body is to the floor, the more challenging the exercise becomes).  Begin with our arms straight in front of your chest and pull your body up towards the handles, bending your elbows close to your sides.  Keep your back flat, abs engaged and hold for 3 seconds, squeezing your shoulder blades together.  Release back to start position and repeat for 10 repetitions, 2-3 sets.

Roll Out with TRX

Begin in a standing position with your hands on the grips at in front of your body.  Contract your abs, extend your arms in front of you and lean your body forward, all while keeping your back flat.  Slowly draw your straight arms back towards your body, returning to your start position standing up tall.  Do 10 repetitions, 2-3 sets.

For information on how to take your runner to the next level through strength and conditioning, contact Coach Christina at 407-960-4705 or visit www.CWSCPerformance.com.  Be sure to like CWSC Performance on Facebook for upcoming events and promotions and follow Coach Christina on her Instagram page.

Let the Tapering Begin

Less than 2 weeks out from marathon number 5...

The realization that my next marathon is just days a way is really starting to sink in.  Waves of emotions crash over me periodically throughout the day.  One moment I am fired up, excited and ready to attack the race to see what I can do out there.  Other emotions drown me in my own fears and anxiety.  This was supposed to be my "make up race" since I had gotten hurt and couldn't reach my goal at my last race (and the one before that one I got sick).  But when I had to jump right back into 20 mile runs two weeks after my last marathon, I quickly realized my body and mind could have used a break.  Luckily, despite my continuous training I have managed to completely heal from my injury and even build my pace (that had taken a huge hit) back up.  Unfortunately though my pace is not back to what it was nor is my desire to push as hard as I know I could if I were not so over trained.  Of course, we never know what race day brings, maybe things will click for me and I will crush it.  Or then again maybe I will be reminded why I don't run back to back marathons.  Either way, I would be lying if I said I am not excited to get out there give it my all and have some fun in the process.  I will never give up on my dream to BQ, nor do I have any plans to permanently give up the full distance any time soon, but I think a little break from marathon training will certainly do me some good.

Here is a recap of this past week...

Monday: There is a new stereo system in our group fitness studios at the gym I teach at.  For the 10+ years I have been teaching aerobics, I have always been able to pre-choreograph my classes to either music I choose or the music I am provided with in advance.  Now, with the new system, I'm having to wing it each week.  (I could go in and make a couple of playlists but ain't nobody got time for that).  So I have to admit, I'm a little anxious each time I go to teach spinning now.  But this week, the list I selected was great, the class was full with my regulars and some new folks, and we had a blast!  After class, I wanted to do my last official leg day, so I headed over to the weight area.  Knowing it would probably be the last time I lift legs (heavy) for up to two weeks, I figured why not go hard.  Kinda wishing I hadn't lol, but it was a fun. 

Tuesday: It was GORGEOUS outside.  Temps in the low 80's, humidity not too high and plenty of sunshine.  Decided go on a device-free 5 miler on a different part of the trail I typically run on.  I drove a little bit further up the road to run this portion of the trail because of it's "hills" (they're not too impressive here in Central Florida so we gotta go looking for some) and because of it's curves and changes in direction.  I figured it would be some good practice for next Sunday.  I enjoy going device free occasionally.  I feel old school and I also feel I am able to enjoy and appreciate my surroundings more.  I do, however, find it difficult to pace myself and miss that measuring tool when I do not have it with me.  But it's probably a good thing because it will teach me to listen to my body better rather than staring at my watch the whole run.

Later Tuesday evening, I attended Hot Yoga.  The class was packed, the energy was through the rough and it was probably one of the best Yoga practices I've had!  Before leaving for class, Nolan, my oldest, asked me to do some poses with him.  He is so awesome.  He just loves to learn and has really taken a liking to what Hunter and I do.  I'm sure there are not very many four year olds who can do 18 inch box jumps and know how to properly execute a clean and press.  I know he's so young and will come into his own, but seeing him eagerly want to learn everything we love and do makes us so proud!

 

Wednesday: Hunter had one of his NFL clients coming in at the time I was planning to workout, so I figured I wouldn't bother them (actually them bother me by talking my head off lol) at our gym and headed over to LA Fitness to get a quick lift in.  Since it's all upper body for here on out, I hit my back, chest and shoulders pretty hard.  Walking out of the gym, I could barely feel my arms.  I was excited and scared at the same time!  Went back to work for a little bit then headed back to LA to teach my night time Yoga class.  I had a couple of new students that evening and they did great.  I love having new people in class, it's so awesome to see people try new things.  It's a great reminder what it's like to be a beginner at something, how intimidating it can be at first, how frustrating it can be when you can't do what everyone else is doing.  The first time is always the hardest but sticking with it can be so rewarding.  You just never know what you're capable of until you try!

Thursday: All of my ambitious workouts of the week were finally catching up to me and by this day, I.Was.Sore!  Thursday was humbling.  Realizing yet again I am not superwoman, I was really needing some foam rolling in my life.  I needed to run a couple of miles but almost talked myself out of it, almost.  I figured I had 3 options.  1. Not run at all (which I knew I would regret). 2. Suck it up and go kill myself with some speed work. OR 3. Just lace up and head on an easy run from the gym (our work).  I chose 3, figured it was a good compromise of the two.  Storms were expected later that day and the wind and sky were certainly indicative of that.  It was warm and a little humid, but the wind helped cool things down somewhat.  It also made running a little difficult, but again, I need to prepare myself for anything and everything on Sunday, so I was grateful for it.  I ended up having a solid 5 miler with an average pace of around 7:40.  I started off without my watch, only because it wouldn't pick up satellite, and just focused on my breathing and strides.  I felt I had settled in to a good easy pace that I figured was around 8:30ish.  My watch finally popped on and I was running a 7:35 minute mile.  I was pretty pleased with what I thought to be a nice easy, slower pace was actually back to my typical 5 miler pace pre-injury.  My body is really beginning to cooperate but my confidence needs to catch up.  I know that sounds silly, but my mental game took a way bigger hit when I got hurt than my body did.  It really messed me up and I'm struggling to get my confidence back.  I haven't raced in so long, and I think going out and having a great race will really help start building that back up.

Oh, and also on Thursday, I figured I could use another place to run (when the weather is bad) and throw some weights around on my lunch break, so I took advantage of the Planet Fitness "Join for $1" deal that was expiring that day.  It took about 5 minutes to sign up, I didn't want the tour, and I am now an official PF member, hehe!  This shall be interesting.

Friday: Hunter left super early this morning so it was just me and the babies this morning then me running the show at the gym.  It's definitely a little hectic getting the kiddos off to school and then rushing back to get to work.  But I managed and we had a killer MetCon this morning, our ladies always bring it and I love it!  I had a ton of work to do but wanted to knock out some upper body.  Now that I have so many options as to where to work out, it was hard to chose.  But with the work that needed to get done at the gym, it was an obvious choice just to stay here.  So I quickly changed into my workout gear, put some Juicy J on Pandora and went to work.  My shoulders are super sore and my legs kinda hate me, so I figured I should just focus on core.  I did about 45 minutes focusing mostly on core but threw in some things to really get the heart rate up, including kettlebell swings and ropes.  I usually like to push it a little harder on Fridays since I won't lift again until Monday, but with the race coming up, I decided to hold back a little bit.

Friday night was our Moms Run This Town Winter virtual event.  I always love these events since I am not able to make much of the group runs and this is a great opportunity to catch up with the ladies.  Since I had the kiddos, I was able to run, but because our gym was a sponsor, I really wanted to go for a little bit.  The swag for the event was sick!  We got our medals of course and a bunch of samples and info in the bag, but we also got a headlamp, wine glass and jacket!  And Nolan even got to be a happy helper and hand out a couple of finishers medals to some of the ladies, which pretty much made his day.

Saturday: Since Hunter was out of town, it was just me and the munchkins until later that night.  That meant it would be another treadmill Saturday at LA Fitness. 

I have actually grown to like my 8-10 mile treadmill runs.  I am able to get into a great zone on there with some awesome people watching.  And some times I even have someone running next to me to chat with.  I got to chat with someone on Saturday for about 4 miles and I was keeping a 7:45ish pace, so that felt pretty good.  With the race next weekend and my body still pretty sore from the week, I figured 8 miles would do it for my last mid-distance run.  I did them in a little under an hour and was ready to spend the day with my babies.  I was pretty excited about my new Asics outfit so I snuck into the spinning room to take on of those obnoxious gym mirror selfies. 

Walking out to my car from the gym, I noticed I had been "flipped."  My MRTT car magnet was upside down meaning fellow MRTT mama had come across my car.  I figured it was form the event the night before and I didn't see it because it was dark.  But I was still excited to see I was flipped.  So of course the boys and I had to take a selfie with it.  Please excuse my youngest, Lincoln, he's my wild child!

Sunday: Hunter got back Saturday night so Sunday was our typical family day.  Grocery shopping, food prepping, soccer and of course the Super Bowl!  Nolan scored his teams only 3 goals at his game and Lincoln actually participated in his game for the first time this season and scored a goal too, so the boys were on fire!  We were so proud of them and went to Froggers to celebrate.  They enjoyed playing video games and coloring but had no interest in the funnel fries we ordered so guess who ate those!?!  Oh well, cheat day.  We had some time to kill before the Super Bowl so we went down to the pound in front of our house to throw rocks in the lake and feed the ducks.  I also wanted to get a shot of the Pose of the Day for the Runners Love Yoga Instagram challenge I have been participating in. 

 
I got a great shot of the pose but more importantly, I got a beautiful shot of all four of us at the pound.  Moments like these mean that absolute world to me.  There is nothing extraordinary about setting at a retention pound throwing rocks in it, but to our sons it was one of the most exciting things they got to do.  Hearing their laughter, seeing their smiles and experience the world through them is a feeling like no other!

This coming week will be full out Taper Madness!  Easing off the heavy lifting, lighter and shorter runs and a lot of focus on sleep an nutrition for me this week.  No risk taking not to injury myself, lol, and just trying to relax, stay positive and focused.  I have no idea what to expect on Sunday.  I will have no control over the weather, the course or the competition.  But I do know that I am prepared, I am a strong runner, I am confident in my ability to finish and I will be proud of my for crossing that finish line, regardless of the outcome.  So marathon number 5, I'm coming for you!