Tough Chik Tuesday

As I posted last week, I am going to start featuring other athletes each week to get a new perspective. We all are different and all have our stories, but are connected in one way or another. I am connected to most of you and to my guest posters by running and fitness. Tuesdays I will feature someone from Team Tough Chik, a great group of women that I have been so excited to get to know.

Today’s guest post is from Michelle.  She writes a blog at Carpenter’s Corner.

What Makes Me A Tough Chik

Let’s be honest. I don’t think I’m the poster child for “Tough Chik”.


I consider myself on the training roster. Oh sure. I’ve battled trials and tribulations in life—the loss of my dear friend to cancer, alcoholism, unemployment and depression. But that’s all in the past. I feel fortunate that I’m not fighting for my life, that I have a loving husband, healthy children and a good job; a warm bed, a roof over my head, good friends and a full belly. And through all the bad and good, I’ve got this wonderful body that has carried me many miles through life.


I’m learning to push my body to places I’ve never been. My goal is that at the end of this life, people reflect on me and think “That was one TOUGH CHIK”. I don’t think that I’ve pushed my body to the depths of tough. I keep pushing the envelope and keep watching my potential grow. That’s a pretty cool feeling.
I signed up for Tough Chik because it is what I want to aspire to be. It’s a good reminder of why I work hard. I had no idea when I signed up that I would be welcomed into a community of other women. Really! I thought I was buying cute clothes and supporting a great cause. Instead, I have gained MORE running friends. And what once were taboo words in my vocabulary….swimming and cycling, are becoming a little warmer thanks to many of YOU. Do I hear a TRI in my future? Hmmmm. But first up, is Boston baby!


Training for any marathon, especially Boston reminds me of what makes me need to strive to be a Tough Chik. Balancing a full time job, a husband and two kids, a household and other “big girl” commitments takes up a large part of my day. I’m not an early morning runner because my husband works nights and is just going to bed at 3 a.m. I treasure those few hours we have together. I fit my run in at night, when I can. It is what it is. On the weekends, my family commits to Sunday mornings without me so I can get my long run in. We all make it work…for my sanity and theirs!


In the past, I’ve trained alone or with my dad who bikes with me. As I’ve become more comfortable in my running skin, I’m learning to embrace running with other people. Joining Tough Chik was a good way to help me find enjoyment in running with a group. I’ve learned a lot, been pushed a lot and have encouraged others a lot, too. This is a new place for me and I love it. I recently wrote a post about “Where It All Began” and I can’t believe where I am now!


So thanks for allowing me this opportunity. You ladies continually inspire me with your enthusiasm, honesty and athleticism. I can hardly wait to meet you on the road ahead. Push on, Tough Chiks


Thank you, Tough Chik, Michelle!  Happy Running!

Don't forget to enter to win some fabulous prizes on my favorite things post! If you already entered, you can get more entries by tweeting every day!

Favorite Things AND a couple of giveaways!

2011 was a good year. Here is a list of some of the things that got me through the last year in running.  I originally planned to post this as a Christmas list, but my December hiatus postponed this post.
Some of my favorite things are the same as last year, but I have a few new ones as well.

1. Nuun.—I am a new Nuun convert (a “Nuunie”). I had tried it in the past, but didn’t become loyal until this year. They have lots of yummy flavors, so I will never get bored. I am so spoiled now that I don’t even use water. My kids are hooked as well. They drink it during hockey and soccer practices. It seems to really keep me hydrated—no more calf cramps. Keep reading for giveaway below!

2. iFitness Double Neoprene Pouch—I have already written about this one, but it remains my favorite accessory. I use it for nearly every run. I honestly don’t know what I would do without this accessory. It fits my phone (an HTC Incredible 2, which is not a small phone), camera, cash, lip balm…whatever.  Keep reading for giveaway below!

3. Knee Socks. Fellow Hood to Coast Nuun Plattuuner Tonia (from Racing with Babes) got me hooked on knee socks.  They make a fashion statement AND when they are compression socks, they help my muscles feel better after a run.  In fact, I have enjoyed running in compression socks so much that I ran St. George in my hot pink Recovery Socks. I also have compression socks from Zensah and Bauer (they came free with my husband’s hockey gear).

4. Arbonne Lip Saver lip balm. This little lip balm is awesome. It has SPF 30 and stays on for a long time. It smells nice, but isn't overpowering. It is smoother than chapstick and other lip balms, but stays on longer than most smooth or creamy lip stuff.  You can buy it HERE.

5. Sugoi Versa jacket—I received this for Christmas last year and I love it. The sleeves come off to leave a vest.  The bolero style sleeves stash neatly in the back pocket. I t is great to wear on a chilly morning, especially one that is a little breezy.

6. Arm Warmers—I love my arm warmers. I have four pair and enjoy all of them. They are different brands. The weather around here can get pretty crazy. We have had runs where it is 40 degrees when we start and 70 when we end.  This is when arm warmers really come in handy. When it warms up, I just pull them off and tie them around my iFitness belt.

7. Garmin—This little gadget continues to be a staple in my running. Pacing and split management was key in my success in St. George. I still need to find ways to use it to its fullest potential. I rarely use the heart rate monitor and haven’t learned how to use the virtual partner.

8. Rockmyrun.com—My new source for running music can’t be beat. Have you discovered this site yet? Do yourself a favor while it is still in Beta. Their running mixes are FREE right now!  And they are awesome. They have worked with runners to find some great mixes with the perfect beats per minute.

9. Jamba Juice—I still love my Jamba. I love the smoothies, I love the oatmeal, I love just about everything. I am trying to add more greens to my diet and have recently started having a wheat grass shot every time I go in.  My kids beg me for the frozen yogurt.  Did you know they had frozen yogurt?  disclosure: http://cmp.ly/2/lHtGGa

OK…now the part you were looking for!  The GIVEAWAY!  I am giving away FOUR of my favorite things!  I am giving away one iFitness Double Neoprene Pouch, one tube of Nuun (and a bpa-free plastic bottle to drink it from), a $5 Jamba Juice gift card, and a tube of Arbonne Lip Saver!!!!! I will have a total of four winners--one for each prize.

You must be a follower to win, but other than that, all the entries are optional. You get an entry for leaving a comment saying which prize you want to win, if you have a preference. It is optional, but if you don’t leave a comment, I won't know what you want, so you get what you get. ;-)  If you tweet, please use @momtomarathon so I know you tweeted.  Also, if you like a Facebook page (mine, iFitness or Nuun), can you stop by and leave a comment so I know?  Thanks!

 Please make sure you enter using the Rafflecopter entry form below.  I will use Rafflecopter to pick a winner on January 23.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tough Chik Tuesday

I recently joined a team of women called Team Tough Chik. At first, I did because I liked the singlet and thought it would be cool to say I was on “Team Tough Chik” while I was running my first 50K.

But then I was added to the Team Tough Chik Facebook group and discovered 100+ other athletes that were a lot like me.  There are newbies as well as experienced athletes. It is an extremely active group with great advice and encouragement. I knew several of the women already from the blogging world.  Two of them are Nuun Platuun teammates.

There are so many outstanding women sharing the moniker of “tough chik.” I have decided to dedicate Tuesdays on my blog to featuring women on this team. I am excited to see what these great women have to say about being tough chiks!

My first Tough Chik post is from the owner/founder of Team Tough Chik, Shannon. Thanks for putting together such a great group of women, Shannon!

Hi, my name is Shannon and I am the owner of Tough Chik women’s performance apparel.  I am an amateur athlete who just happened to start a clothing company.  I have never podiumed, I’m not sponsored, and I buy all my equipment just like everyone else.  I am a gal just like you, who started cycling which led to running which led to triathlons.  I am not particularly good or fast, but I love it and I like to look cute when I do it.

I say on the site that Tough Chik is not just a clothing company, it is a way of life and that is very important to me.  Tough Chik, the name, came from my mom and grandmother, who always referred to themselves as “Tough ‘Ol Birds”, referring to their inner strength and courage.

Our tag line is “this is what tough looks like”, because I believe we are all tough in our own ways. That is why I love to ask, “What makes you a Tough Chik?” The answers are as varied as we are.  Some women are cancer survivors, some run in the snow, some have lost over 100 lbs, some women, like me, have just gone through a lot tragedy in life and have come out the other side with increased experience and resolve.

Tough Chiks are proud of who we are, where we came from and, more importantly, where we are going.

I started Team Tough Chik with Angela Meyers with hopes of creating a team that accepts all women from elites to beginners, Ironman triathletes to fun-runners and everyone in between! We are very proud to announce that Team Tough Chik is 171 chiks strong with women from 5 countries and 36 states.

I will be featuring one Tough Chik each week to learn a bit more about what makes tough chicks tick.

Happy Running…

How I do a bowl game

It all started in the year 2000 when the Oregon Ducks played the Texas Longhorns in the Holiday Bowl.  My husband, a die-hard Ducks fan (who I didn’t know at the time), made an elaborate wager with his best friend, a die-hard Texas fan. The bet involved pushups, arm slaps (they all revert to 12 year old boys) and beer.

This year at the Holiday Bowl, Texas played Cal, but my hubby tried to resurrect the wager- this time cheering for the Pac 12 team. However, my dear husband couldn’t back up his trash-talking. He had injured his shoulder a few weeks ago and was unable to do pushups.  So his wonderful wife stepped in. It was actually pretty fun. I did the pushups on the stadium steps in Qualcomm Stadium. I was challenged to do them with my feet up the stairs. By the end of the game, as Texas came close to scoring, all the fans around us would look at me in anticipation.  I think if I wasn’t wearing a Duck jersey, I might have made it up on the jumbotron.

I did 42 pushups for Texas’ 21 points (7 + 14+ 21). It actually made the game more exciting. This year’s Holiday Bowl was a bit boring—it broke the record for the most number of punts. Thank goodness the Texas coach doesn’t like running up the score.  At the end of the game, they could have scored another touchdown, but they chose to take a knee and end the game.

So when I found myself doing a little trash talking on Facebook with Erika, from MCM Mama, about the Rose Bowl on Monday, I decided to take my dear husband’s lead. Erika is a big Badgers fan and, as you know, I love my Ducks. I challenged her to a wager.  Here is what I challenged her to:

Every time the other team scores, we do pushups for every point (when Oregon scores a touchdown, you do seven pushups; when Wisconsin gets a field goal, I'll do three). To make it more interesting, we will do all the points (when Oregon scores the second touchdown, you'll do fourteen pushups).
Every time our team loses yardage (sack, penalty etc.) we will do a sit up for each lost yard (fifteen situps for facemask etc.).
The loser will run the difference in the score in the other team's colors and write about it. Let's hope it isn't a blow out!

She accepted the challenge.  It was ON.

If you watched the game, you can probably guess how things went.  Well, to clue you in, this game was the highest scoring Rose Bowl EVER. You can read her account of the challenge HERE.

I just have to say that Erika is SO cool.  She was such a great sport. I was worried that she was going to dislike me and think I was some sort of sadist.  Our text conversation reassured me that she was taking it all in stride.

I ended up doing 139 pushups.  I’m not going to lie, the last 38 pushups were pretty tough. I also did 30 situps.  I think I would have rather done 139 situps and 30 pushups!  Erika ended up doing 200 pushups! She really only had to do 192, but she rounded up to 200.  That is one tough chick!

To add insult to injury, she had to run seven miles in green and yellow.

And THAT is how tough chicks do bowl games.  How did you celebrate bowl season for college football?  Did you cheer for your favorite team?

Happy Running….

A Break and a New Year

I have taken a break from this blog for a few weeks.  It wasn’t a planned break.  I have several posts in my drafts, but I couldn’t muster the creativity and motivation to finish and post them. I suppose it was a case of writer’s block. I just couldn’t find it in me to complete a blog post. It was a busy, busy December and something had to give.  It was this blog (as well as reading blogs of others—for that I apologize).  I will do my best to make up for it over the next weeks and months.

Here is a little recap of my running life since Thanksgiving.

I was chosen recently as a Fitfluential Ambassador!  While my blogging this past month hasn’t been much help to them, I am hoping to be an active member of the Fitfluential community!  Check out my bio: http://fitfluential.com/family/lisa-roehm-gensel/

My husband and I had our perfect kind of date. The kids were at our friends’ house and we went on a wonderful mountain bike ride. It was a perfect Southern California December morning and we had fun riding a nice mix of technical trails and fire road.

I volunteered for the XTerra Crystal Cove Trail Run for the third year in a row. I enjoy the people organizing the race, I enjoy the trail runners.  This year I was able to talk a friend into coming with me. Shannon and I braved the cold dark, early morning to check in runners and then help the timing crew record everyone as they crossed the finish line.

It is trail running season in Southern California. The weather is perfect, the snakes are long gone and it has been relatively dry. My big race in the spring is a trail race, so I am eager to get out there in the wild. I love our area and hope to explore even more trails in the coming months.

 

 

 

 

 

I finished up a couple of sessions of Body Back. These sessions were small, but they were GREAT. My clients had amazing results. I am learning more and able to provide a lot to these women.  In turn, they inspire me to keep on track with my goals. I am particularly proud of one client’s twenty pound weight loss.  She lost six inches from her waist in eight weeks. That is a noticeable difference.

I joined a challenge on Daily Mile initiated by Mel-Tall Mom.  She challenged her DM friends to run at least a mile every day in December.  I have had trouble with motivation lately and I figured that I needed some extra help. A public challenge is just what I needed.  I ended up December with 133 miles!  That is my second highest mileage month of the year. I don’t own a treadmill, so 100% of the runs were outside. Several of them were with one or both of my kids. At least twice, I had to change out of pajamas to get a late night mile in (having almost forgotten to run with all the Christmas chaos). Toward the end of the month, my kids would check with me, “Mom, did you run your mile?” or “Mom, did you do the streak today?”  I love it!  Are we friends on Daily Mile yet?  http://www.dailymile.com/people/Lisarg#ref=tophd

It is a new year and I am excited to face new challenges.  But more on that later.   I hope you are enjoying a happy new year’s weekend.

In the next few days and weeks, I will be finishing up some posts.  Posts I have waiting to be finished:  Santa Barbara Race Report, Favorite Things (including a giveaway!), Winter Hydration and a “Tell Me About Yourself” Blog Award, Brief Overview of 2011 and my 2012 race schedule.  Stay tuned!!

p.s.  Go Ducks!!

Another great Turkey Trot

I have a Turkey Trot streak going.  Since the year I first started running (2008), I have run a Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving.  My first was rainy. My second helped a friend reach a 10K goal. I saw a PR in my third. And this year was all about my kids.

I have been suffering from a lack of motivation lately. Since St. George, I haven’t done a lot of running (or blogging for that matter).  I did run a half marathon with my friends (race report will be posted soon), but I haven’t done much running beyond my weekend long runs.

So when plans for the local Turkey Trot were being made, I wasn’t super excited to race. I am not in racing shape. It is funny, I am happy to run a half marathon not in “racing shape” but not a 10K. So when my eight-year-old asked about running, I was happy to commit to run with him.During my normal motivation mode, I would have run to the race, raced it, and then run home. This was a bit different for me. I ran with him on 4th of July when I was injured and enjoyed myself immensely. I knew we would have fun again. The difference this year is that his younger sister begged to run as well. Luckily, they were hosting a kids’ run right after the 5K.

We got to the park around 6:45 to register for the event. I saw my friends who were running the 10K. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel the slightest twinge of jealousy at them running it. I was really looking forward to running the 5K with my son.* He was pretty excited!

We lined up at the starting line and were ready to go! 

I forgot to bring my Garmin. It was a good thing. I think if I would have slowed him down. He was running pretty strong and fast.

He was getting very tired in the last mile. I tried to give him encouragement the entire time. I told him how proud I was of him and encouraged him to keep it up. I also let him know that it was ok to take walk breaks. I was pretty sure he was running at a faster pace than he ran in July. I saw something in him I hadn’t seen. Around the second mile he started looking at his watch. He wanted to beat his previous time!  In the last mile, I actually told him to stop looking at his watch.  LOL. Like mother like son.

We merged with the 10K race and ran on the river trail path, one I know very well. He was great.  Whenever he wanted a walk break, he would move over to the dirt so he didn’t get in anyone’s way.  He is learning race etiquette early!

When we saw the finish banner, I encouraged him to finish strong.  And he did! He turned it on and kept it going until the end. I was so, so, so proud of him.

And, yes…he did get a PR. In July, he ran a 36:51. On Thanksgiving, he ran 5K in 33:05!!!!! What an awesome PR! It is hard to describe how proud I feel.

Early in the race, he told me that he wanted to run the 1K Kids’ Run with his little sister. After pushing himself that hard, he asked if it was ok if he didn’t run with his sister. I think he deserved to take a break.

My husband showed up with my five-year-old  She was so excited to run her “very first race.” She wanted to run it with her brother, but when we explained that he was pretty tired, she quickly became excited to run with Mommy.

All the kids lined up.  They yelled “go” and we were off. She looked at me and said “this is so fun!”  Man, how many times can a mom’s heart melt in one day?

In one kilometer, she went through all the emotions runners experience during a race. I wish I would have videotaped the entire thing for her to watch someday. In the beginning, everything was fun and easy and she was carried by adrenaline. The route went up a slight hill and she said “I can’t do it!” “Of course you can,” was my reply. And she pushed her way up that hill. She laughed as we ran down that small incline. There was a water station near the halfway point. She stopped briefly, sipped some water and had a look of renewed determination as she started running again, her body language saying “I can do it!” On the home stretch she was having fun again (second wind?). As we sprinted toward the finish line, she said, “this is easy!” Isn’t that the feeling we all get at the end of a race? LOL.

It was a great morning! We went home and hosted a fabulous dinner** My daughter was overheard saying several times, “this is the best Thanksgiving EVER.” I would have to agree, my love…I definitely agree.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed your own tradition, whether it be a Turkey Trot or something else.

Happy Running…

*In July, he asked me if he could run the 10K on Thanksgiving.  I told him if he trained for it, he could. Since he hadn’t done any real training, he could only run the 5K.

**I had eleven people for dinner and cooked the BEST Thanksgiving turkey I have ever done. I used a fantastic brine from Alton Brown. I did most of my cooking on Wednesday and had a schedule for Thursday that kept my time in the kitchen to a minimum.

My latest workout: Pure Barre

Recently, I went to my very first Pure Barre class (and then again last Tuesday). I was pretty nervous. This was a class different from what I usually do. I expected it to be a little like Power Yoga, but then I heard the Britney Spears music coming from inside the studio. I had heard that it was inspired by ballet. I am not a dancer and am actually a bit of a spaz. I didn’t want to embarrass myself. I am a running and fitness coach, for crying out loud…how bad would it be if I couldn’t hang?

*photo courtesy of purebarre.com

Pure Barre doesn’t use cardio or any impact whatsoever. It uses isometric holds and very small movements.  It turned out to be awesome. It was definitely a challenge, but I was able to keep up and do all the exercises. At one point my leg was shaking quite a bit. Apparently, this is a good thing.  A woman next to me was shaking so much, the bar was shaking.  She must have been doing really well.

When I went on Tuesday, I had the bright idea to run to class. The studio is a little less than two miles from my house. I had blown off running with my friends in the morning and wanted to get a few miles in before last weekend’s race. It wasn’t a particularly difficult run (it is mostly downhill), but I ran it pretty quickly in order to get to the class early enough to cool down, change my socks etc. So I started that class with warmed up, but somewhat tired, muscles. My leg shook a lot more. Let's just say that the run back home, uphill, wasn't nearly as easy.

The website said that they limit the class size so that they are small enough for individual attention.

“we keep our classes small to ensure each clients receives personal attention and hands-on corrections.”

The first class didn’t seem very limited to me. As soon as the preceding class let out, women streamed into the studio. I got into the room and it was nearly full. I am sure there were at least 20 women. By the time everyone was in, I doubt there was much room left at all.  However, we all seemed to have enough room—we weren’t kicking each other. Tuesday’s class was much smaller, which I preferred. The instructor was able to come around and correct form, posture etc. At first, I was self-conscious. The first instructor came over to me once to gently position my body to the proper place.  However, during the second class, it seemed like Kelsey adjusted my form nearly every exercise. I thought maybe I was doing it completely wrong.  However, I looked around and noticed that she went to just about everyone and tweaked and adjusted their positions. To get the most out of Pure Barre, your hips need to be tucked in just right to engage the muscles properly.

The class starts with a warm up, but it didn’t take long for the exercises to feel pretty difficult.  For example, we did a plank. As I started to fatigue, we were instructed to go from forearms to our hands in pushup position and begin pushups.  Thank goodness she told us to do them on our knees; full pushups would have probably wiped me out right there. After regular pushups, we also did pushups targeting different parts of the arm (such as triceps and shoulders). That was all in the first few minutes.

The class was well organized. We went from upper body to thighs to seat to abs and back. The class kept moving and the music was upbeat. This is a consistent format, no matter where you take the class. When I went to my second class, it was nice knowing what to expect.

Pure Barre is a nice contrast to the heavy impact exercising that I do on a regular basis. I truly believe that the strength I will build with this class will enhance my running.  I have been struggling for a couple of years with recurring IT Band issues. I have been told that these issues stem from my hips. Specifically, I have been overusing my TFL (tensor fasciae latae). Pure Barre strengthens the muscles of the hip and seat. I can feel my glute muscles getting stronger, which will help balance the TFL, putting less pressure on my IT Band.

Pure Barre costs a bit more than I like to pay. I tried it out due to a Living Social deal which made it more affordable for me.  At our local studio, a single class is $25. An unlimited one month membership is $225 and a ten-class pass is $210. It is on the high end of fitness classes for this area. I will take advantage of various specials that they offer from time to time. In fact, they have a great special going on now for $165 for one month unlimited or ten classes.

Thinking about trying out Pure Barre? The only thing you need is a pair of socks. They recommend the yoga/Pilates socks with traction on the bottom. I really like the ones that leave my toes open. All the other equipment (weights, bands, balls and mats) is provided. I bring water or Nuun because I like to stay hydrated, but not everyone brings a drink. You should also wear pants or capris. It is important to keep your legs and muscles warm.  In addition, you often hold a rubber ball between your legs, which might not be so comfy on your skin.

Overall, I give Pure Barre a thumbs up.  I will continue to take the classes as long as I can afford it. I probably won’t take it four or five times a week, like they recommend. I still need room in my schedule for teaching my own classes, running and taking care of my kids. I am hoping I can get results by going once or twice a week.

I hope you out there moving your body and loving it.

Coming soon… Santa Barbara Half Marathon race report.