Just wanted to give a shout out to Fitness Dojo member Kristen H.
She will be completing her first triathlon tomorrow!
She is particpating in the Philly Olympic Distance Triathlon and has been training her butt off for it!
Good luck girl! Get out there & kill out!
Let us know how you do!
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One word to recap this weekend: congrats!
This post goes out to anyone who accomplished one of their goals this weekend!
I have three specific people that I’d like to congratulate for working hard and accomplishing their goals this past weekend:
Chelsea, Ann and Amanda.
Let me preface this with the following. I had the amazing privilege to run with all three of these people. It was so great to see how excited they were to be reaching their goals. Two of them I was able to cross the finish line with & the expression on their faces were priceless.
First to my great friend Chelsea who ran her first 5k on Friday night. A couple months back Chelsea began to readjust her eating habits and start running using the Couch to 5k Program (C25k). Chelsea never viewed herself as a runner, she’s a ballerina, and still sometimes I have to remind her that she is in fact a runner! This 5k was her first race ever and alls she wanted to do was to complete the run without stopping. Well she did exactly that! She killed her 5k and is now talking about signing up for her first 10k! I look forward to running with her again and can’t wait to hear more running stories.
Second shout out to a new friend Ann. I know Ann through a Facebook group for a GORUCK challenge that we will be completing at the end of July in AC. She had posted in the group asking if anyone was doing this specific half marathon this past Saturday and I immediately said I was. I told her I’d run it with her despite her telling me on numerous occasions that I didn’t need to. She didn’t want to hold me back knowing that this wasn’t my first 1/2 marathon but I told her to stop talking like that. Here at Fitness Dojo we are here to motivate and be motivated. She’ll tell you that I motivated her on Saturday to run faster, but she was just as much of a motivation to me as she says I was to her. She wanted to run the 1/2 marathon in under 3 hours and that is exactly what she did. Not only was this her first 1/2 marathon but her first road race. She has only completed mud runs and nothing as long as a 13.1 miles. She was excited to not just have finished her first half marathon but to come in well under her goal time!
The last person I’d like to congratulate is Amanda. No, I am not speaking of myself here. While on the course I happened to meet another girl named Amanda. We found ourselves connecting over the beer that I was drinking– yes I was drinking a beer in the middle of my half marathon… but thats a story for another time. Come to find out Amanda was from Pittsburgh, she had only ran one 1/2 marathon before (in Pittsburgh, which is a rather difficult course) and on Saturday she was running her first full marathon… WHAT?! This girl seriously amazed me. This was my 4th 1/2 marathon and I still don’t feel ready for a full marathon– however after running a mile or so with Amanda I am definitely inspired and motivated to sign up for one sooner rather then later. The last time I saw Amanda was when she was turning back at mile 13 to finish the 2nd half of her run. Although I didn’t see her cross the finish line I know she kicked butt! She had a fantastic attitude while running and it was great running with her. Thankfully I had on my Fitness Dojo bracelet and was able to give that to her in hopes of hearing about her accomplishments and staying connected with another runner.
So ladies, CONGRATULATIONS! You all kicked butt this weekend and definitely helped to make my weekend a great one! You should all be proud of what you accomplished this weekend and let it serve as a reminder of what you can accomplish. To anyone who is reading this and doubting your ability to succeed… you can do it too! Thats the great thing about running, weight lifting and life goals in general. If we put our minds to it and give it our best efforts then we will see the rewards of our efforts. You can accomplish your goals as long as you choose to work towards them. All of the ladies mentioned above put in their time running in order to accomplish their goal of running a 5k, 1/2 mara and full mara. In the end they all accomplished their goals and kicked butt while doing so.
So come on Fitness Dojo members.. let us know what your goals are… If you accomplished one of them this past week or weekend we want to know about it! If you need help accomplishing one of your goals don’t be afraid to ask for help.. and don’t forget to help each other!
GORUCK go what? GORUCK is an 8-10 hour challenge that includes a ruck (backpack) with bricks in it. 4 bricks if you are under 150lbs and 6 if you are over 150lbs. The teams max out at 30 people and usually have one cadre (leader) that is former military (Green Berets or Marines). The challenge takes you through major cities and usually covers approximately 15-20 miles during the challenge. Throughout the challenge the cadre gives you various physical and mental challenges that must be completed. It is just as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge & one if completed will most certainly change you.
I have yet to participate in a GORUCK—but my time is coming. My first challenge is July 4th in Washington DC and the next at the end of July in Atlantic City. I had the distinct privilege to shadow a fellow Fitness Dojo member’s first GORUCK in Annapolis serving as their photographer. It was amazing to be able to see Fran (FDM) push himself beyond his limits and be welcomed into the GORUCK family as GORUCK Tough Alum. The first 20 minutes into his challenge I wondered what I had signed up for however as the challenge continued I was able to take away a few things from this challenge despite my participation as a mere witness.
About halfway through their challenge the “Crazy 8’s” as they would be nicknamed was given the mission to carry a log from one point to another. There was only 8 of them in a team and this was a rather large log. Despite its size it would’ve been much more difficult to have all 8 of them carry the log so instead they would put approximately 4 of them on the log and then switch out when one would get tired. When they first began the log carry they had to stop and drop the log on numerous occasions before they had worked out an effective solution to carrying this log. Witnessing the log carry taught me something about failures and success. Many people fail at something and they give up. They give it one try, maybe two if we are lucky and say to the hell with it. Rather then giving up they used their mini-failures as opportunities to succeed. Failure is only a complete fail depending upon our perspective. If we look at a situation in which we’ve failed and given up then yes, we have failed. However if we look at our failure as an opportunity to succeed and as a means of measurement then we can use our “failure” as an opportunity for success. In the beginning of the log carry every time they dropped it they figured out another way to carry the log until they figured out the most efficient method. We can do the same with our failures. If we look at each moment of failure we can evaluate the situation, evaluate our actions and refocus. We need to look at our failures and figure out how we can shift our actions to achieve our goals—and that is exactly what they did. Did it take them a little while? Yes. Did they drop the log more then once? Yes, they dropped it a lot. However in the end they were able to come together as a team and take their failures and turn it into a success. Moving the log through the streets, into the woods and dumping it at its final destination.
Something else the challenge taught me, or rather reinforced is the idea that we don’t really know our strength until we are pushed to our limits and succeed beyond them. Many times we think that we can get from Point A to Point B but reaching Point C is nearly impossible. I myself am guilty of this all the time. In the beginning of their challenge one of their teammates—the team leader at that point had had enough. The person wanted to quit and was done—but thankfully her teammates encouraged her and told her not to give up, to keep pushing. At that point she had lacked confidence in her ability to complete the challenge and thought she had been pushed to the max—as they would come to learn later that was only the beginning of what she could achieve. They started out with 8 team members and they finished with 8 team members. Had she given up in the beginning she would have never known what she really could accomplish. In the moment she was spent, she wanted to quit however she kept pushing and completed the long, exhausting challenge and was made stronger because of it. If we give up when we think we can’t go any further then we won’t, we’ll stop there and that’ll be the end of it. However if we push through then we will find success. Next time you want to give up keep going and you’ll be surprised at just how far you can go. You’ll achieve much more then what you could imagine– but you’ll only see the success if you keep pushing, keep trying.
As I said I am training for my first GORUCK so be on the lookout for more GORUCK updates. I am excited for what the challenge holds and am anticipating being pushed past my limits. Am I scared? Hell yea. Am I ready for the suck? As ready as I’ll ever be. But I am also ready to grow as an individual and to grow as a team player. I am ready to push myself past my “limits” and to truly learn what it means to succeed from my failures.
If you are interested in joining us a few Fitness Dojo Members will be participating in the July 27th GORUCK challenge. Please email me at amanda@fitnessdojo.org for more details! We’d love to have you as a part of the team!
Featured below: “Crazy 8′s”
This morning I ran in a 5k for Wounded in Action/Killed in Action (WIA-KIA) soldiers. This is the 2nd year I’ve participated in this particular run & my 2nd run honoring our military for the 2012 running season. I run in various road races & most of them are chosen with the following factors in mind: cost, date, location & cause. I am not very good with fundraising so I usually don’t participate in runs that require you to raise a certain amount of money, however I still like to raise awareness for a cause. Whenever I see a race that honors & benefits our military I do my best to participate in the race. Back in 2006 a very close friend of mine was killed in Afghanistan in December just weeks after his baby girl was born. He died fighting for his country—he gave his life for you, his daughter, complete strangers & me. He died doing what he loved—putting others first. He grew up in a military family (his 3 younger brothers joined the military) & also grew up as a firefighter. He even became a local firefighter when he was stationed at Fort Bragg.
When I started running again two years ago I found the WIA-KIA 5k that I ran in this morning & couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Memorial Day & honor my friend Jason. As I said I am not the best with raising money however I know that in doing these races I am able to help raise awareness for the cause. Running in races serves a dual purpose for me—it helps to keep me accountable in regards to working out & helps me to be able to give back & say thanks. Just by telling people about the runs you participate in you are bringing awareness to the cause. Fitness Dojo is a great platform to inspire each other to do the same. Last week fellow Fitness Dojo member Bryan ran a 5k with me honoring a local fallen Marine. This week a friend of mine who is new into running ran the WIA-KIA 5k with me & even brought a friend. Simply by sharing your activities with us you can get others involved and help to remember why we are here.
Today I ran for my friend Jason & all of his fallen military brothers & sisters. Today I ran for all of our brave military personnel who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Today I ran for those who can’t run because of injuries sustained while fighting for our country. Today I ran to say thank you to their family—for supporting their sons & daughters on their courageous decision to fight for our country.
I ran to honor the men & women of our military—who or what did you run for? To raise awareness for cancer? To remember a loved one who passed away too soon? To raise awareness for autism or MS? Share with us your story & go run, walk or lift for someone who can’t.
I have participated in Tough Mudder & they sponsor Wounded Warrior Project.
I am going to be completing two GORUCK challenges this July and they support the Green Beret Foundation. If you’d like to say thanks to our troops this Memorial Day weekend here are two awesome organizations you can donate to. Check out the links for more information about the organization & how to donate.
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://greenberetfoundation.org/
Have a Happy & Safe Memorial Day with your family & friends. Please don’t forget to thank our troops this Memorial Day weekend.
Hey Fitness Dojo Members! People are always asking me about different races so I figured I’d post some of the races that I am doing.
Lately I have been running by myself but the more the merrier! I’ll post the names & dates of the races. You can google them for more information or send me an email at amanda@fitnessdojo.org for more information!
Also if you want to start running or keep running but don’t want to run by yourself let me know! I am always down to run with someone. We can run at whatever pace works for the both of us & I know some decent runs in the area of varying lengths. Again email me at amanda@fitnessdojo.org if you’d like to run with someone.
Additionally if you are participating in any races don’t forget to post about them on Fitness Dojo or the Fitness Dojo Facebook page. We’d love to come out & support you guys if we can or give you a shout out on Facebook the day of your event! Plus hearing about the events you guys are participating in always keeps me motivated! 
Upcoming Runs:
Paws & Feet 5k- May 19th at Cooper River Park, 9am. Its not too late to jump in! I know its tomorrow but they have race day reg!
Jeremy Kane 5k-May 20th at Cherry Hill East High School, 9am. Also, not too late to sign up for this! You can sign up online & race day! This benefits a local Marine (Cherry Hill grad & Rutgers-Camden University Alum) who was KIA a couple years ago.
WIA-KIA 5k-May 26th in Medford, NJ, 8:30am. This will be my second year running this race & its a great way to honor our troops on Memorial Day weekend. Also a nice scenic course as well!
Badges of Honor 5k-June 8th in Philadelpia, PA, 9am. This will also be me second year running this race. Its a nice course in Philly & honors public safety workers. John Bolaris helps coordinate this race every year.
1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut-June 16th in Philadelphia, PA, 7:30am. This is a half mara & a full mara in Pennypack Park. It runs mainly on a bike path through the park but has a small section of trail running. This will be my first time running in this but it should be a fun one. I already have a couple friends signed up for this race & I might even be wearing a costume for this one.
Also if anyone likes to run & drink beer there is the Fishtown Running Company in Philly. They run every Thursday night & they end their runs at a bar in the area. Their runs vary in distance– suitable for any level of running! I have yet to go to one of their runs but would love to go soon! Its a great way to include a fun run & meet other runners! If anyone is interested they have a Facebook page you can check out. & like I said, if you’d like to go out for one of their runs, please let me know!
I will also be participating in two GORUCK challenges as of current, both in July. If you are interested in participating in those they are 15-20 miles, 8-10 hour challenges that you wear a weighted rucksack for. Myself & a few other Fitness Dojo members will be participating in the GORCUK challenges– again the more the merrier!
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested in running in any of these or need a running partner. Additionally if you have any upcoming events please let us know! We’d love to participate with you or cheer you on!
Have a great weekend & kill your work outs!
Daily reminders…
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves daily why we do what we do.
Why do you run?
Why do you work out?
Why do you make healthy eating choices?
The past couple weeks I haven’t been able to work out & run like usual mainly due to physical restrictions (sick & small injury) and also due to work. When I don’t work out and run my eating habits aren’t in check as much either.
I am more then ready to get back into working out and running—and as much as I have missed it I am lacking the same motivation I had before—and discipline in regards to my eating. As I was driving to the gym tonight I was trying to figure out why…
What is different from the circumstances just a few months ago when I planned out my race calendar? That’s exactly it—I had goals & a plan; they were my races. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t canceled the races that I had planned for the next month but things have changed a bit.
Due to being sick and then hurting my leg I haven’t been able to work out and run like I had been. Now Broad Street is this weekend—one of my big races that I was really looking forward to & due to the circumstances of the past couple of weeks I am nowhere near where I’d like to be for Broad Street. At this point there isn’t much I can do about Broad Street other then go out there & just run it and enjoy it for what it is. However I want to get back into my groove & I am having a hard time.
I am struggling because I need to remind myself of my goals—I have lost sight of why I am doing what I do. I didn’t start running just so I could place in a race or win some title. I did it because I really enjoy running, I did it for the positive physical benefits (and later to learn mental benefits as well). In turn my eating changed because I knew that in order for all of this physical activity to truly benefit me my eating needed to change. I avoid sugars not just because of the negative impact it will have on the results of my physical body (i.e. weight and muscle composition) but also because diabetes runs rampant in my family.
Some of the goals I established when I first began blogging with Fitness Dojo I have seen come to fruition. I have lowered my times for distance runs but am still working on getting my 5k times down. I have begun to drink more water and get more sleep however I am still working on getting a pull up.
I’ve added two new goals to my hopefully never-ending list:
-Short-term: get my groove back and kick some major butt this summer!
-Long-term: run my first marathon & qualify for Boston at the same time. Running a marathon is something I have been considering for awhile now and I think I am ready for it… Over the next few weeks I am going to look at the logistics of attempting to achieve this goal this year or next… so stay tuned.
Ultimately what I have learned over the past few weeks is that without vision my decisions might be paved with good intentions but are not directed by my goals. As a result there is an imbalance of positive choices which leads to the yo-yo effect that far too many of us are familiar with. In the next couple of weeks I look forward to getting back on track and seeing the positive results of choosing to work towards my goals.
Hey Fitness Dojo Members!!!
This Sunday, May 6th at 8:30am the 2012 Broad Street 10-miler will kick off.
The event is sold out, however I had someone approach me today to tell me they had a bib they were looking to get rid of. As far as I know they are only asking face value for this.
If you want the bib please respond back to me ASAP at
amanda@fitnessdojo.org
It’ll be first come first serve for requests. He offered it to me this morning & I’d told him I’d talk to some people I know.
So whos in for the challenge? Its a great run & I’ll be there running it as well!
Running is Running is the name of an article that I just read touching on the semantics of running. Below I’ve highlighted what I thought to be the most important parts, but here’s the link. Make sure to check it out; it’s a great read!
http://running.competitor.com/2012/04/out-there/out-there-running-is-running_51457
“Most importantly, I never would have had the drive to keep going had my friends not celebrated my victories along the way.”
“They simply celebrated my accomplishment with me. I was suddenly a part of this community of athletes, and that felt incredible. It’s because of this feeling of community that I was motivated to do more, to improve.”
“That camaraderie – that’s what it means to be a runner.”
This is what Fitness Dojo is about. We are here to help each other in our journeys to living a healthier lifestyle. Encourage each other daily—share in your triumphs & your setbacks. Go to each other’s races or competitions holding funny signs or taking pictures. Post about your accomplishments on the Fitness Dojo page & don’t forget to tell us how your friends are doing! I’m sure if we really wanted to we could do this on our own–but how much more enjoyable is it to do it with others?
At the GORUCK Annapolis challenge their Cadre (leader) said upon completion of the challenge they’d be a new person with a new birthday. Would you want to celebrate your birthday by yourself, dwelling on your struggles more then your accomplishments? Or would you rather celebrate with a great group of friends, looking back on how far you’ve come & looking forward to where you are going?
So lets hear it! Tell us how you’ve been doing! We want to know it all, the good, the bad & anything in between! I know Mud Runs (Tough Mudder) & Road Runs (Broad Street) are coming up & I know we have participating Fitness Dojo members. Lets see some pictures & get some feedback!
**Stay tuned! I had the privilege to witness firsthand a GORUCK challenge that Fitness Dojo Member Fran completed & will be sharing my experience as a spectator with you guys!
Are you training to quit?
If you quit during training then you are training to quit.
This post is inspired by a text from a running buddy that helped me get through a recent run. He had just completed a run that was filled with hills. He had sent me a text telling me that his motivation to get through his run was to remember the following: “If you quit during training then you are training to quit.”
On Friday I went on a 7.7 mile run in the afternoon after lunch with a friend. The timing wasn’t right but I needed to run & if I didn’t do it when I got home I knew I wouldn’t run at all. The beginning of the run started with the overwhelming feeling that I was going to vomit—oh joy. I pushed through remembering that the worst that could happen is that I’d puke. At least then the feeling would actually go away. Awesome right? Ha, well good thing I kept going—I didn’t puke & I actually got in a long run.
It seemed that no quicker did I say bye to the puke feeling that I said hello to my tired legs. I had already ran 13 miles this week, completed a hill work out & had just PR’d on a 10-miler the weekend before. Add the running to a bruised knee from training & power yoga… needless to say my legs felt like they consisted more of jello then muscle. I was close enough to be able to turn around, go home & still say that I ran. At this point I began to remind myself that if I quit now I’d only be setting myself up for failure with future races. I know some people who can get through runs by stopping & walking for a minute or so—I can’t do that & honestly I don’t want to. So I kept running & I kept reminding myself, “If you quit during training then you are training to quit.” Despite how much that run sucked & trust me it sucked big time I kept running. I ultimately completed just less than 8 miles. It was a grueling 7.7 miles to be exact; however it was worth every terrible moment. At many points during the run I wanted to stop, I wanted to give up—but I knew that it wouldn’t help my running & would certainly serve as a poor reminder for my upcoming half marathon. What we allow in training we will allow in our daily performances. When we give up during training we steal moments of future motivation from ourselves.
For all you non-runners this applies as well. When you are in the gym—are you challenging yourself? Are you training to be a mediocre athlete? You know what I am talking about—you’ve been lifting the same size weights for weeks & you still haven’t seen improvement. That’s because you haven’t challenged yourself during training. If you don’t push yourself in the gym then you won’t see results. I am trying my hardest to be able to do an unassisted pull up. Bryan & I have discussed that one problem with the assisted machine is that its easy to handicap yourself by not changing the weight plates. TODAY I finally was able to take off a plate. I considered keeping it at the same assist that I had been using but I knew that I could do better then that. I’ve been training so logically there was no reason to keep it where it was. If I continued to use the same assist then I’ll always need an assist to complete a pull up. I might not be plate free yet– but with time & serious training I know I’ll get there. If you aren’t willing to constantly challenge yourself at the gym then you won’t see results—you won’t achieve your goals.
So remember the next time you are training—whether it’s running, weight lifting or in your favorite work out class—keep going. Training provides you with the choice to succeed. You can either prepare for success or you can prepare for failure.
March Madness Challenge:
This post was inspired by two various elements.
A conversation with Bryan—owner of Martial Arts Fitness Center and co-founder of Fitness Dojo.
After training this past week we had been asking Bryan about his routine & how often he worked out. He proceeded to tell us that he makes sure to try to get a work out in every day, or as much as he can—even if its just a quick 20 minute visit to the gym to lift. This amazed me (he’s quite a busy man) & increased the respect I already have for Bryan.
The biggest thing that I took away from this conversation was that no matter how big or how small a work out is, its important & will have an impact on your life & overall health. Of course its important to stick to a schedule & stay committed to your workout—however if your time is limited don’t skip a work out or a run just because you only have 20 minutes to dedicate to it. Remember something is better then nothing—& giving the effort helps to build a daily habit of working out.
A post by fellow Mudder—a friend who runs the Facebook page Mud Run Maniac.
He posted that he was going to do 5,000 burpees in the month of March. YES! You read that correctly, 5,000 in one month. I don’t care if March has 31 days or not, that is a large number of burpees—way more then I’d like to do in two months let alone one month.
This however challenged me in another instance. For me this wasn’t about devising some huge challenge for myself & trying to push through the challenge while entertaining the idea of failure. It was about creating a challenge that was attainable but still pushed me to go beyond my limits–& most importantly one that I completed.
This challenge is about committing to a goal & making sure I achieve said goal. Sometimes the challenge comes in just finishing what you started. My challenge is to create a goal, devise a plan & commit to seeing it all the way through. Again, sometimes the challenge comes in just finishing what you started. For me I see this daily in my life, whether it’s in a run or when I am more then exhausted & want to quit halfway through my work out. Don’t sell yourself short by giving up before you have achieved your goals.
My March Madness Challenge: 310 burpees in the month of March—here’s why:
I chose this number for 2 reasons. 310 is my birthday, so it’s to be automatically assumed that it’s a great number. It also happens to come out to 10 burpees a day for the entire month of March—something that on some days may be easy but on other days would be the last possible thing I would want to do.
What’s your challenge?
Push yourself till you fail… then push yourself a little further…then recognize that you didn’t fail but rather in that moment when you wanted to give up you pushed beyond where you thought you could go & found success. Commit to a goal & see it all the way through!
Don’t forget to post your progress–good or bad on the website or at the Fitness Dojo Facebook page!
