What Are You Training For?

I was out today on a wonderful run with my pavement warrior sister.  I picked her up early (6:30 am) and we were hitting the trails by 7:00 am on the dot.  I run ahead and hit mile marker 4 and on my way back I pass her, show her the 4 sign and stop and wait for her about .75 miles back to mile marker 3.  A woman drives up in a truck, gets out and sparks up a conversation.  I tell her I am out there doing a 7-mile run and then the famous question “What are you training for”?

I get this question a lot.  I think it is because folks may assume if you are out here running distances greater than 2 or 3 miles – it must be for a race.  The fact is, the first and last race I entered until this year was 2005 and was a Susan G. Komen 5K race.  I find races fascinating and I admire anyone who has the discipline and focus to train for MONTHS in preparation of those longer distance races such as  a 10K, 10-miler, 13.1 half or 26.2 full.

The truth is, I don’t know if that is anything I ever really aspire to do.  I enjoy running and that is why I get out there.  I challenge myself all the time to run faster sprints and stronger distances when there is an opportunity.  This year is the first time since 2005 I even paid to run.  I mean, I actually paid an entry fee to get out there and run the Prostate Cancer 10K a few weeks ago.

Here’s my latest walk/run schedule for 2013.

As you can see I did bit the bait and decided to enter a few.  With all of these I am participating with a team which I find much more enjoyable because it isn’t ever a real “race” per se where we are competing with others.  We get out there, raise money for good causes or just want to have fun with the after party.

Have you been asked lately why you do something you enjoy doing?  How do you typically respond?  What races do you have planned for the remainder of the year?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Femme Fitale Fit Club

Motivating you to Firm, Fit and Fabulous!

Follow us on Instagram @Femmefitalefitclub

Have fun with us online at Facebook Facebook

I Am Signing Up For An Iron Girl Half 2014

April 27, 2014

Believe in your strength

Begin your journey

Become an Iron Girl

I have been contemplating, thinking about and finally decided to sign up and register for the Iron Girl Half Marathon in April 2014.  That day is a very special day to me.  Twelve years previously I gave birth to my daughter on that special day at 8 pm.  Who would imagine eleven and a half years later I would be signing up to run a half marathon.

I came to this conclusion for several reason (being crazy isn’t one of them) but close!

1.  I know several inspirational women who are planning to do it – so why not follow their lead?

2.  I can run a 10K easy breezy so I felt like I need to take it to the next level

3.  This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship and possibly move on to bigger races and events – who knows but you must start somewhere

4.  It is a GREAT accomplishment to say you ran and completed/finished a half marathon

I think the following reasons are reason enough.  I’m doing this for me and to add to my repertoire of achievement – not any other reason.  I am competitive but tend to compete with myself to get faster, better and stronger.  This is something I want to prove to myself.  NOW on to the next phase – planning.  I must plan my training, plan my nutrition and plan my strategy of how I am to approach and conquer this goal.

It’s funny because while I was out running with my pavement warriors this past week one of them stated I just need to sign up for a half marathon so that I will NEED to get out there and run in order to properly train for it.  What a profound statement.  All this time I have been running to well…..just to RUN and now I feel the need to move on so to speak.  Run to run because I enjoy it but also run to achieve some goals.  I tend to be task and goal oriented so if I have a goal and a plan, I can achieve it.

Nowwwww about that training – I am a wee bit confused as to which training plan/method to follow.  For ME I want to run the entire distance.  I can foresee myself stopping to gulp a cup of water because I refuse to run and drink (ain’t trying to choke on the course in front of all those folks) but that is about the only time I plan to do that.  I also plan (if they let us) to run with my running apps to collect those miles and track’em in my overall mileage on those apps.  Yeah it is sort of important to me.  Iron Girl has their own training guide/manual but I do not know if that is the best plan or not.

I don’t want to overthink it but I want to make sure I use the best plan FOR ME out there so I am prepared and don’t hit a brick wall.  Anyone out there feel me?  Along with my training I believe I need a special diet to make sure I excel.  Now that I think about it – I want to hit a personal best in this half.  I mean I want my average pace to be better than I perform on my shorter runs.  I can run 6 miles easily in 1 hour but I want a pace better than that for more than double the distance.  Is that too ambitious?  When I get focused there is no stopping me and based on some recent articles I read – hiring and working with athletes is some of the best things  company can do because of the traits that we embody.  Wait – did I just include myself when referencing athletes?  I may be getting ahead of myself but trust – I plan to do my very best now that I have wrapped my brain around the fact I am participating in the Iron Girl Half Columbia.

I want you all to share this experience with me – the good, the bad and the down right atrocious!!!  Yeah sometimes we have to hit BOTTOM to rise to the top.  I will be posting about my training experience once I officially start in January 2014 (perfect time especially since there are so many resolutions being made and folks trying to start the year on the right healthy foot).  I plan now to excel later.  I hope you find my journey interesting – HECK I hope it IS interesting.  I do not know what to expect but my mama always taught me to be the best and do my very best at whatever it is I put my mind to.

I’m excited!!!!!  What goal(s) have you made that you are currently working towards or recently achieved?  Leave a comment – I want to know!

Femme Fitale Fit Club

Motivating you to Firm, Fit and Fabulous!

Follow us on Instagram @Femmefitalefitclub

Have fun with us online at Facebook Facebook

Baltimore Running Festival in Full Effect – Share Best Photo Contest

We here at Femme Fitale Fit Club salute everyone who ran the 5K, half marathon, marathon relay or marathon yesterday in Downtown Baltimore at the Baltimore Running Festival #brf.  We also salute those who ran races in other cities and finished!!!!

We want to celebrate your victories (regardless where you raced) after you crossed the finish line.  Post your best weekend race photo using hashtag #fffcbrf tagging us @FemmeFitaleFitClub so we can locate it either on Instagram or Facebook.  On Wednesday, October 16, 2013 we will randomly select a photo and send the winner our very own FFFC Logo shirt.

Don’t forget to hashtag and tag us!! We can’t wait to see the photos!  #baltimorerunningfestival #runnerscommunity #stravarun #asics #contest

Femme Fitale Fit Club

Motivating you to Firm, Fit and Fabulous!

Follow us on Instagram @Femmefitalefitclub

Have fun with us online at Facebook Facebook

FFFC October Fall Harvest Challenges 2013

What can I say about September?  The kiddies headed back to school and we focused our time getting our miles in the FFFC Fall Fifty Challenge.  We had other challenges going on but they did not take off as much as working to walk/jog/run 50 miles in the month of September.  It’s all good though because in October we are just taking it to the NEXT LEVEL!!!

In October, we have only 2 challenges.  YESSSSS we are pulling it back because quite frankly, we all are busy and participating in too many challenges can actually end up doing more harm than good.  We definitely do not want that so we will concentrate on no more than 2 challenges a month from this point forward.

Do you need help staying focused on your workout or challenge?  Then request to join our online fitness accountability group by clicking “HERE“.  Consistency is KEY – so hang out with us in the private group to stay motivated and encouraged.

Please leave a comment below if you decide to join us in this month’s challenges or tag us on Instagram @Femmefitalefitclub and use hash tag #fffcstrava when posting your  activity daily/weekly.

Challenge #1:  Your New PR challenge:

Post a snapshot of your activity using the Strava app on Instagram daily/weekly: tag @Femmefitalefitclub with hashtag #FFFCSTRAVA OR on our Facebook page @ http://facebook.com/femmefitalefitness

Grand prize: Hitting a new personal record!

Challenge #2:  Push Up Challenge posted on Facebook (click on the photo to see the full challenge)

And there you have it folks.  While we toned down the number of challenges in the month of October, best believe, we did not tone down the intensity!  You have to GO FOR IT to hit a new personal record and we know you can do it!!!!  Who’s with us????   Leave us a comment on our public Facebook page which stays on and POPPIN!

Femme Fitale Fit Club

Motivating you to Firm, Fit and Fabulous!

Follow us on Instagram @Femmefitalefitclub

Have fun with us online at www.facebook.com/femmefitalefitness

Femme Fitale Fit Club & STRAVA Raffle

It doesn’t get any easier than this.  In appreciation for all of your support, we have teamed up with STRAVA to offer a raffle.  No purchase necessary.  To enter the raffle all you need to do is:

1.  Download the STRAVA running and/or cycling app

2.  FOLLOW ME (DIATTA HARRIS, Femme Fitale Fit Club) on STRAVA

3.  Leave a comment HERE on the post in FB once you complete these steps

3.  Wait to see if you have been announced the winner on November 1st

That’s it really!  How easy is that?  VERY EASY!

The two winners will receive a care package (sponsored by STRAVA) containing:

1.  Strava gear

2.  Road ID ($35 value)

3.  GU Energy products

4.  Injinji performance socks

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia (U.S.) and Puerto Rico, age 18 or older at the time of entry. Void outside the U.S.  Once the winner is announced he/she has 48 hours to respond otherwise a new winner will be selected so make sure you LIKE this post https://www.facebook.com/FemmeFitaleFitness/posts/627645740600088 because I will post the winner as an additional comment and you will be notified.

I’m so excited…and appreciative STRAVA agreed to sponsor this giveaway.  Now let’s get to it!

Femme Fitale Fit Club

Motivating you to Firm, Fit, and Fabulous!

Follow us on Instagram @Femmefitalefitclub

Have fun with us online at Facebook at www.facebook.com/FemmeFitaleFitness