One Month to Race Day….. Crap

Post by Whitney
As I was filling out my calendar this morning, it hit me. Tomorrow is March. That means one month to April. That means one month to my next half marathon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m prepping and will be ready, but WOW! Where did that come from?! I have a 10 mile run tomorrow which will be my second during this training, and even though my pace is planned to be slow and steady, I’m excited to see how comfortable I feel. If an easy 10 feels good a month out, there’s a good chance the 13.1 at a faster pace will be great on April 5th. Now, if I can just get my dad to quit saying “that’s what you keep telling me” when I mention how he’s running it with me, we’ll be set. I am running the half in Garden City, and chose it partially because that part of Kansas is mostly flat. I know the race director and told her I was participating. Of course with my luck, she responded “it’s a surprisingly hilly course for western Kansas so train accordingly.” Sweet. Plan demolished.

If you look hard in this picture, you can see “Sandhills” in the distance. We may not have much elevation in the big KS but we do have mound after giant mound of sand. When it hasn’t been leveled for ag purposes, it creates a roller coaster of small hills, hence a hilly race course. Oh well, such is life. I will do it still!

The husband and I went to Alan Jackson in Dodge last night. It was his surprise Christmas present that I kept a secret for a month and 20 some days. He said it was awesome and Alan Jackson knows how to jam. I have a packed exciting weekend ahead with travel, birthday and bachelorette parties and a 10 miler thrown in between. I hope you have a phenomenal weekend!
Until next time, Whitney
What are your plans this weekend?

Workouts I Did (lately)

Post by Whitney 🙂
Two elements of my new training plan are core workouts and cross training days. I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t intentionally worked my core much in the past. Now, I have two 20 min sessions planned into my training. Dave suggested a few workouts that I have been doing. The first is called 8 Minute Abs and has the corniest instructor I have ever watched in my life. Be prepared to hear “ok, gang!” about a thousand times. It is an awesome abs workout though, and can be watched and easily followed on mute.

The second I like to call “planks of death”. It’s 5 minutes of 20 plank moves held for 15 seconds each. I have yet to do it through without collapsing.

For cross days, I’ve been switching it up. Our local Greensburg Rec Center has a class called Express Fit four days a week where they watch (and complete, duh) different 25-30 minute workout videos. Since I’ve started attending, we have done one Jillian Michaels (she is so scary) and two from T25. I really likeT25 because it’s hard, but there’s a timer on the screen so you know exactly how long you have left to die. You may have caught on by now, but I’m a bit of an exaggerator when it comes to workouts.
Today I worked out from home and got creative. I found a HIIT workout from Livestrong.com then two from Toneitup.com.
http://www.livestrong.com/stronger-videos/fire/
http://toneitup.com/2012/06/bikini-series-sunset-workout/
http://toneitup.com/2011/09/tone-it-up-tuesday-new-shredmill-workout-a-stretchingrelease-video/
Even though some of you may live in the middle of nowhere, with technology today, you have no excuse. You could workout until the day you die (not to be confused with the number of times I die while working out) and still have thousands of FREE online videos yet to be tried. So, pick a couple and get with it!
Until next time, Whitney

Outdoor Running…. Good for the soul.

Post by Whitney 🙂
I officially finished my first week of training with Coach Dave! Five workouts totaling 19 miles, an hour of cross and an hour of core. It was a good week. The best part though? Three outdoor runs in BEAUTIFUL weather. Though I had to risk my life (a bit if an exaggeration) hurdling dips full of melted snow, it was a nice relief after so long on the ol’ ‘mill. Today even reached 60 degrees!

Also this week, we celebrated Valentine’s Day! I bought myself a hot fudge sundae of awesomeness, and received my annual pair of valentines socks from my mommy. I wore a different pair each day this week from past years. Also in my collection from that lady are Christmas, St. Patricks, Easter, and 4th of July. I like the tradition. Not only is it fun, but it fills my sock drawer. Thanks, mom.


Not to forget my main man, Luke treated me to TWO Valentine’s dinners this year. Both also happened to be with Cody and Emily. We like them. My daddy very thoughtfully gave me lilies which are my favorite. With five daughters and 7 granddaughters, the fact that he not only gives us each flowers for the day but knows my fav is incredible. Moral of this short story? My family rocks. You should meet them.
Until next time, Whitney.

First Outdoor Run of 2014

Week 1 with Coach Dave

Post by Whitney

Not sure what your weather has been like, but ours has been snow, then some snow and some more snow. I didn’t leave my house for 60 hours last week due to snow, but some work and organization happened.

I also found this gem. What was that thing living on my head? Also, no, I did not attend a catholic school.

After digging out of my house not once, but three times (including locking myself out of my office while shoveling) I got to this week and my first workouts from Coach Dave! He lives in Florida where it’s 75 degrees btw so he uses an online database to give me workouts. It’s called Training Peaks and is really easy to use! He loads the workouts, I open them and see what he wants me to do, then post how it went.

As you can see, today I had a ten minute warmup, a four mile progressive run and 20 minutes of abs. My run started at 6:15 and I’m about to do the abs. Nothing like spreading your workout over 15 hours. All in all, I’m really looking forward to advice on my training, not having to think about what to do, and improving!! Still left this week: cross training, 4 mile progressive thirds, a 5k recovery and a long 8. I will try to recap on Saturday! At least the snow is beautiful!

Until next time, and have a great week! Whitney

“Winning” a Coach, and Chicago!

Post by Whitney
Lots has happened over the last few weeks! First off, I’m bursting with excitement after “winning” the opportunity to work with an awesome running coach! Several weeks ago, Janae over at Hungry Runner Girl said her running coach was taking on two new clients and would be picking from her blog followers! I have never had a formal running coach and have wanted to try it, so I emailed in my running story and why I would benefit. A few weeks later while sitting in Sunday school I got the email that I was one of five finalists!! To say I was excited is a gross understatement. Here is the link for the announcement on the HRG blog! Tuesday of that week I had the incredible opportunity of speaking on the phone with Janae and Dave Deschenes from Peak Performance Multisport out of Tampa, Florida. They were most intrigued by the fact that I live in the middle of nowhere which I appreciated since that’s the whole premise for Fitness on the Prairie! After assuring them that I did indeed run past hay bales, they asked more about my running history and goals. Long story short, I must have said something right because upon landing in Chicago a week later, I learned that I WON!!! The poor man next to me on the plane had to hear all about it, along with at least 15 friends and family that I immediately texted. So, what does this mean? After some paperwork and research on the virtual coaching database, I will be coached by Dave for a minimum of six months with the major goals of improving my half marathon and conquering a full marathon. I am beyond excited to see how I will improve and to discover what a running coach is all about! Janae will also be covering my progress on her blog!
Since I have already said so much, I will recap my Chicago trip that included a YFC Midwinter conference and a partial family reunion in photos.

Until next time, Whitney