Serena Williams Core Power - 30 Day NTC Challenge

As you probably already know by now Nike Women have released an updated to their Nike Training Club app with a few new bonus content workouts. The feature this month is beautiful and amazing Serena Williams. All this workout requires is a stability ball and resistance bands and no you don’t have to do so many minutes to unlock the workout.

As a runner I try to work on my core as much as possible – however, sometimes I get lazy and I figure what I do is enough. My core strength is what helps me maintain my pace through those long miles. As a runner when I saw this workout open up I got beyond excited to see it was a core focused workout and it only takes 15 minutes.

I always love a good challenge and I always love to challenge myself. In the Month of April I have a challenge for you!!

April is 30 days of Serena Williams Core Power workout.

Here are the rules: You do Serena Williams Core Power workout once a day for 30 days and hashtag your workout with #CorePower. This will encourage those who are also involved in the challenge. 

Not only will this help improve your core strength but you will gain yourself some mad NTC minutes. 450 minutes to be exact, on top of what you already do on your own.

Who is in this challenge with me!? Tweet me at @TiaraBeth or comment below.

I want to make sure I hold all of you accountable. Also you can hold me accountable. With my first marathon 68 days away I need more core power.

Ready, set, let’s go! 

Exclusive Serena Williams Content

I have teamed up with Nike Women to bring you exclusive content from Nike Training Club. 

Those of you Nike Training Club enthusiast probably already know that Nike Training Club has teamed up with Serena Williams to bring you an exclusive Serena Williams workout. 

What I adore most about Nike Training Club app is that all the workouts are created by Nike trainers themselves or Nike athelets. These workouts are tried and tested and they work. 

I have been using the NTC app since 2009 and I am well over 14,000 minutes. This app has motivated me to keep pushing through my workouts. With each workout you do you can open more and more exclusive workouts from different trainers and athletes. 

This month the focus is Serena Williams and the workout is AMAZING!! If you want to work your core this is the workout is for you. Grab your iPhone,open your NTC app and download this workout. Get your stability ball and resistance bands ready because this workout is GREAT!!

The Nike Training Club app has helped me get through a marathon and is assisting me through a second. The app has made me stronger, faster and an overall better runner.I hope it does the same for you. 

Day 18 - 30 Day Challenge

Have you ever followed any sort of training plan? Which ones and how did you like them?

I personally think if you are preparing for a marathon or a half marathon you should follow a training plan especially if it is your first one.

My first marathon I used a plan designed by Marie Purvis. It was amazing!! It incorporated NTC, running and yoga and yes also rest days. I believe that all three aspects plus rest days are very crucial in training for a marathon.

Nike Training Club helps me stay strong. My biggest fear is going from being fat to being skinny fat. Incorporating weight training into your plan really helps your body not get skinny fat and helps you build muscle. I love Nike Training Club and used it long before I started training for a marathon. It incorporates a full body workout using all of your muscles. I really enjoy using it because it has various workouts in various time increments of 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes. It allows me to turn on my music and not have to think about what I am going to do next because it calls it out to me. It also has directional video if you are not sure about how to do an exercise. You really should try NTC if you haven’t already.

Yoga is so important for a runner and I didn't realize the importance until I started doing it on a regular basis. I love Bikram yoga mainly because it is 90 minute of pure stretching in different poses. I am not going to lie Bikram is tough especially if you don’t like heat or repetition but the workout is amazing. You are in a 32 degree C room and you do the same 26 poses each class. For me I enjoy repetition because I can see improvement or know where I need to work on. Any type of yoga is great for a runner because it allows you to get deep into stretch and hold your pose. I recommend yoga for any runner or for people in their daily life. If you can't get to a class or if you can't afford one youtube has lots of yoga video's and if you downloaded the NTC app you can also get Leah Kim's yoga workouts. I have incorporated some of Leah's workouts into my own training and they are amazing!! Another reason to get the NTC app so you can workout with Leah.

Running – when training for a marathon running is important. Different type of running is also important not just running. For me my focus is Boston so I need to focus on speed – tempo runs and track workouts. I also need to focus on distance because 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles you can’t shorten the distance.

I am currently using a plan that is speed and distance focused. That incorporates NTC, yoga and Kinect into it. I added the Kinect workouts. I have also given myself rest days and swim days. 

I am a swimmer by nature and want to desperately get back into the pool. I have added a few swim days into my schedule to mix it up and help with my on land breathing while running.

Rest days, they don't seem important but believe me they are. Your body needs the break it needs the time to just rest and not be pushed. I believe in active rest days but when my mileage gets high I sometimes like renting a good movie or finding a good TV series on Netflix the day after a long run and doing NOTHING!! Your body will reward you for the rest

What do you add into your training to help you push the limit?

My Decision to Run Calgary Marathon

Yesterday I made the decision to run the Calgary Marathon and not the BMO Marathon in Vancouver. I was kind of sad but had to make the decision.

One reason I decided on this is because Calgary in also a Boston Qualifying run and it is where I live. I figure if I can BQ anywhere it is going to be at my home. I’ll have my friends and family to cheer me on. Support is important. Also I tend to get stomach issues when I go away, I think it is from the change in water and I learned in San Fran that you can drink bottled water all you want but you cannot control what type of water is on the course and sadly for me it was tap water on the course and it turned out to be disasters for me at mile 15. I am used to the tap water in Calgary so I shouldn't end up with the same stomach issues as last time.

I was really looking forward to running the BMO marathon but maybe next year. I was looking forward to running in the crisp ocean air and having that feeling of my lungs opening right up but I think I will do amazing here in Calgary.

Since I don’t actually start training until the 9^th of February now I have created a calendar in word to hold myself accountable to my workouts. As a group of #SistersInNike along with Brandi and The Nike San Fran Runway Crew we are aiming for 23,000 NTC minutes in 2013 and I have 22,835 more to go, but the year has just started. Since I don’t have a whole lot of NTC incorporated into my marathon training schedule I have decided that I need to get a good head start this month. After I am done my Calgary Marathon I start training for the Nike Women’s Marathon shortly after. I would really like to make my goal. Hopefully this can hold me accountable and be able to track the minutes I am doing each month.

What is your favorite part of training? What is your favorite marathon? I am creating a bucket list of marathons I want to do. Leave them in my comments I’ll look them up and consider them.

Remember to keep rolling out your muscles, especially those IT bands!! They will keep your muscles and knees healthy. I found this and have printed it and put it at home to remind me to roll my muscles out often. The foam roller should be your best friend when training.

Happy Training!

16 Days Until I Start Training for Boston Qualifier

In 16 days I start chasing my Boston Marathon Dream. Some say it isn't a dream until you have thought about it for a long period of time. 

I say it is a dream as long as you are determined to reach it.

I am not one of those people that have dreamed of running Boston their entire lives. I have only dreamed of running Boston since I realized I could run a marathon, but Boston is a race I want to run more than any race out there. Boston is the elite races of races, my idols have all ran Boston and I want to push to be like those I look up to.

I start chasing my Boston goals in 16 days. In 16 days I start training for the first of at least 2 marathons maybe 3. How do I feel? Excited!! I love running, I get a rush of endorphin from it and it makes me feel AMAZING, but I am also super nervous too because I know I am putting myself under a lot of pressure to perform. I know where I went wrong in my first marathon and so I am going to take those weaknesses and turn them into strengths I need to work on my pace and on focusing not on the distance I have left but rather making each mile count.

Will I be unhappy with myself if I don’t make it, of course, but knowing that I don’t like to be disappointed it gives me even more of a reason to push harder in my training, so I can push harder in my marathon.

I have given myself two qualifying courses to go off of, the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May and the Nike Women’s Marathon in October. Hopefully if I don’t make one I can make the other.

I found a great plan on the Nike Running Facebook page and plan to use this, incorporate NTC for weights and keep up with my Kinect Training. I also have a pretty strict diet that I am sticking too along the way and not allowing cheat days until my marathons are over. Hopefully all of this combined will help me reach my Boston goal. 

With Nike's new Make it Count Campaign it is really getting me out there to push and make this year count. 

Bring in 2013

Today is December 31^st, 2012. This is the time of year that everyone makes resolutions and usually they break them three months into the year, for that reason I don’t like to make resolutions, rather I like to look back on the year and look at what I did and look towards a new year with new goals.

This time last year I decided that it was time to start feeling better about myself. I challenged myself to do Jeanette Jenkins ab blast workout on the NTC app for the whole month of January; it was rough but totally worth it, for the first time in a very long time I saw changes in my body. Honestly, there were a few times in January that I wanted to give up, but I kept telling myself it is only 15 minutes, you can do anything for 15 minutes. With each week it got easier and easier. I felt my core getting stronger and stronger.

I also said I wanted to run a marathon before my 27^th birthday and I kept putting off looking into running one, until Nike Women contacted me in May and asked me to run the Nike Women’s Marathon. A week before my 27^th birthday I finished my very first marathon. Thanks to the help of Nike Women and Marie Purvis, through Marie's amazing training plan and Nike Women's encouragement I crossed the finish line and at the same time I caught the running bug. Much to my surprise I actually really love running marathons and can't wait to run my next one.

The year brought many wonderful challenges. I saw changes in my body as I learned to push myself beyond limits that I never thought I could push myself beyond. It brought changes to my way of thinking, I no longer thought of myself as weak and unable to push forward I realized I am strong and I can do anything I put my mind to.

As I sit here reflecting on the past year I am so thankful for the opportunities that have come my way, for the wonderful people I have met and for the friendships that I have made, I am esepcially thankful for the friendships I have found in my Sisters In Nike - Karen, Elizabeth, Nerissa and Renisha. Each one of you have taught me to love myself, to believe in myself and to love and challenge my body. I am so happy I have met each of you and I hope to run the Nike Women's Marathon with you each year, until we are old and grey. 

This 2013 I want to #MakeItCount as Nike’s ad campaign states. I will return to San Fran with my Sisters In Nike and run the 2013 Nike Women’s Marathon with my crew, I will also qualify for Boston. I plan on running the BMO marathon in May and I will be running the Calgary Half Marathon.

Don't get my wrong, I don't just have running goals set for myself. I want to be able to do pull-up's and I want to work towards becoming certified as a running coach. I also want to teach myself how to speak french again. 

What are your upcoming goals in 2013? How are you going to make them come true? 

Pushing to Hit my November Goal.

Last week did not go as planned, at all. The whole week I felt tired and beat up. The only day I actually got out of bed was on Friday morning. I am kind of very disappointed with myself because  I should have been at my NTC goal by now and just working on my running goal and now I am not sure if I am going to make either.

I am sitting at 1,095 NTC minutes for the month of November. Not bad but not the best. I am still 305 minutes short. With 4 days left in the month I need to push big time!! 76 minutes each day for the next 4 days, doable if I can get my butt out of bed. Who wants to hold me accountable?!?!?! I know I can do it, I just need to push myself. I should have gotten out of bed this morning, but I was being a baby because my knee was sore, but I need to suck it up and get out there or I won’t make my goal.

As far as running goes, I am in the same boat as NTC. I have 74.4 miles covered right now but that still leaves me with 25.4 miles to cover in 5 days. So that is 5.08 miles each day. It is 100% doable, but again I have an issue with my knee and I am really worried to push it, but I keep telling myself to get through this month and you can rest for a few days in December. I might have to run twice on Friday to make my goal, since my half hour at lunch only allows me a 4 hour run, but we shall see what happens. Maybe I can make both my goals.

I am doing well with my Nike Kinect. I just finished my first round of my program. I love the Nike kinect system and I am so happy I got it. I was at a TRX class on Saturday and realized why I love Kinect training so much, I can’t cheat. When I am at TRX my form can get lazy, when I do NTC I can skip out on a few reps, nobody is watching I need water it is ok. But with Nike Kinect you can’t do that. Your body is being tracked and the program knows what your personal best are and it is pushing you to hit those personal best and break them. It tells you when your form needs to be corrected. You are always getting better and better. I love this training platform and I don’t think there is anything out there like it. If you haven’t tried it yet you need to because it is honestly the greatest program you can use. Every 4 weeks it has you re-do your fuel print and as you can see I have improved. I can’t wait to see what other improvements will happen in this next round and what changes my body will go through during these next 4 weeks.

The no sugar challenge it a pothole this week, but it was a small one and I am back on track. I had three cookies by George. Nothing serious but I felt kind of guilty. I am back on the no sugar train. I know I said for the month of November but I am bringing this into December. What I am realizing is that I don’t need that refined sugar in my body. I am happy without it. Day 3 was the hardest and after that it just got easier and easier, with the expectation of a friend coming to visit me. Lucky for me this friend only arrives once every 2-3 months.

Holidays are around the corner and the parties start so I am going to need lots of will power to make it through my no sugar challenge, but I am up for it. 

November Challenge is not going the way I would have hoped.

 My challenge isn’t going the way I wanted it to be going. I was hoping I would have racked up way more mileage buy this point and be over 1,000 NTC minutes right now, but sadly I am not.

Right now I am sitting at 870 Nike Training Club minutes. I mean that isn’t horrible and I will still hit my goal if I can do 49 minutes a day but I really wanted to be closing in on 1,000 minutes at this point. I have been putting a lot of focus on the Nike Kinect Training.

Nike Kinect is amazing. I only ever came this close to pushing myself this hard when I swam. The Nike Kinect platform is a platform like no other. You are constantly pushing yourself to be your best. I am in the last week of my Get Lean training plan and I have lost 6.6 pounds and a total of 3 inches off my waist. My torso is my trouble area and weight doesn’t come off easy there. This is making me really happy. I think I might do another 4 weeks of the Get Lean and then try out the Get Toned section of the program. Are you using the Nike Kinect? How do you like it?

Changes that are happening from month to month.

My running is slacking in a big way!!! I am only at 49.4miles. I have been working on my speed rather than my distance as of late. I have been doing a lot of HIIT Training and I have been pushing my pace. Right now I have an average pace of 7’11”/mile as opposed to last month when I had an average pace of 8’04”/mile. If I can keep pushing my pace and doing HIIT I will be happy. I am not in training mode for a marathon or anything right now and I am happy to be working on my speed. I am constantly running intervals whether I am on a treadmill or I am running in the trails. I will start at an comfortably hard pace and at the beginning of a new song I will look for a marker and I will sprint full out until I hit that marker and I will go back to my comfortably hard pace again. If I am on the treadmill I will put the treadmill to an incline of 2 and a pace of 7.5mp, I will run at that pace for 1 minute and a half and then I will put the treadmill up to 10mph for a minute. This gives me a good burn and really goods the blood pumping. I am enjoying doing this and it really helps me get my speed up. What do you do to change up your running?

Remember how people say squats gives you a nice bum, well I am starting to lose my bum. Maybe I am squatting wrong. I sure hope so because I really liked my bum in October, my November bum is getting too small.

Happy Training!!

My Issue with Calorie Tracking Apps

I am using a calorie tracking app right now to make sure I am eating enough. There is a fine line between eating for fuel and over eating or under eating, both under and over eating can cause you to gain weight. Over eating because your body will store it as fat and under because your body enters into starvation mode and starts to hold onto everything you put into it. I  want to make sure I am not sabotaging my body. Because I generally eat the same thing most days (creature of habit) I know if I do this for a full week I can understand what I am eating.

Yesterday I did Nike Training Club in the morning, 95 minutes worth, at lunch I ran 4 miles and after work I did a quick Nike Kinect training. I ate a total of 2,640 calories!! Yep I apparently ate a lot. It was all clean food. However, My Fitness Pal doesn't account for your Resting Metabolic Rate and it doesn't properly track calories burned.

Last January I had my RMR tested by my dietitian. She came to my house in the morning, I had to fast for 12 hours before I did this and she plugged my nose and had me breath into this machine for 10 minutes. It told me that I have a RMR of 2,300. At rest, if I stayed in bed all day I would burn 2,300 calories doing absolutely nothing. 

Also I did a lot of activity yesterday and needed to refeed my muscles after my workouts therefore needed more food. I looked at the workout tracker on my fitness pal and I feel that is grossly over estimates how much you actually are burning. The only proper way to know exactly what you are burning calorie wise is to get your V02 max tested and wear a heart rate monitor. I refuse to use the workout tracker on there.

At the end of the night I clicked the button to end my day and it told me if I continued to eat like this every day in 5 weeks I would weight 165 pounds. I am lucky that I am at a pretty secure place with myself because if I read that before I would have freaked out and attempted to purge myself. 

People remember these are generalized trackers. They do not understand your body, your RMR or how much you are burning. No calorie tracker can tell you what to eat. Please if you eat over your calories one day, look at what you ate. Is it clean and healthy? Do you feel satisfied? Ignore what it says.

Week 2 of My November Challenge

Last week was week 2 of my November 1400 NTC minute challenge and my 100 miles of Nike Running.

Two weeks into my challenge and I am 510 NTC minutes into my challenge. This makes me happy as usually I am only like 300 minutes into a challenge at this point. NTC is going really great and I have found my love for it once again. I find if a do something too much I get tired of it, but while I was training for my marathon I did very little NTC so now I love it all over again. This makes me happy. Nike Women has created a few more workouts. I am loving the new Alex Morgan workout, it really works me. Also the one that comes in the reward section of 5,500 NTC minutes, if you try it out let me know what you think of it, I love it.

The running side of things isn’t going as well as planned. I am only 32.45 miles into my 100 mile challenge and was really hoping to be at or over the 40 mile mark by this point. However, I still have tons of month left to get myself back on track. It shouldn’t be a problem to make my goal. The only thing holding me back is it has been so dang cold!! Like seriously all weekend was -20 and a wind chill, like what the heck is up with that, it isn’t even December yet.

If you have yet to go out and purchase your Nike Kinect game you are missing out big time. It is seriously awesome. I am heading into week 3 of using the game and I am down 6 pounds and 1 ½ inches in my waist section. This program incorporates cardio with strength skills. It is much like NTC but will give you feedback as you are doing it. So if your body is not in proper form while doing the plank it will tell you this. I really like this feature because it is helping me correct my form and in turn is helping me correct my form in everything I do.

How is your November month coming along?

November Challenge Start

My November challenge began on Thursday and the first week, I must say went pretty well.

Thursday morning I accidently slept in and only had a chance to do Better Butt at lunch, but I also did a 4.35 miles run with an average pace of 7’07”/mile, I am managing to keep me speed up and that is important to me, after my run I did the sculpted arms workout on NTC. When I got home I did my Nike+ Kinect, however, to my sadness I wasn’t using Xbox live and therefore needed to re-do my assessment. I managed to do better this time so I was happy about that.

Friday morning Meho and I rolled out of bed at 4:15am and went to Goodlife and I started my day off with NTC, Endurance Master and Slim Effect. I find when I do a workout in the morning I make better food choices throughout the day. I tend to reach for fruit and veggies rather than salty or sweet snacks, so this also motivates me to get up when my first alarm goes off. At lunch I did a 4.78mile run with an average pace of 7’25”/mile and finished my workout off with Sculpted Arms and Leaner Legs also from NTC. When I got home that night, I did a Nike Kinect cardio workout with Marie. She is killing me and I love it!! Seriously, this game is the best investment I have ever made. Marie pushes you and forces you to want to work harder.

Saturday I had a really hard time getting out of bed, but I was involved in the Twitter Road Race and knew I had to get lace up my running shoes sooner or later or I would spend my day in my cozy bed. I looked at my twitter Nike Running had tweeted me and sent me a picture with a person running in Calgary in the cold, so I knew even though it was cold I couldn’t let it beat me. This pushed me to get out of the door. I started my day off at the gym doing NTC, Worth the Weight and Fighter Fit than I hit the pavement. I ran 6.22 miles in 6’47”.mile finishing my 10km in my best time yet of 42:09. I was so happy about my pace I wanted to cry. Maries training plan for my marathon has really helped me push myself to limits I never knew I had in me. I got home from my run and did my cardio session with Marie. Doing the most burpess I have done yet. If you don’t have this game you need to get it ASAP, believe me you won’t regret getting it, but you will regret not getting it.

To round up week one that was three days I ran 15.3miles with an average pace of 7’04”/mile and did 195 NTC minutes. Leaving me with 84.7 miles left to run in November and 1205 NTC minutes left to get. Totally doable!!

The month is still young so if you would leave to join me in this challenge drop me a tweet or leave me a comment. Hash tags your runs/NTC with #NTC1400Nov and #Run100.

How was your weekend of working out?