RUN Your Happy Life

Ashley, a mom of 2 overcomes her self-doubt and anxiety around Running after a long history of negative experiences... including faking injuries to get out of "the mile" in PE. She always thought that running could never be for her. When she saw this program that advertised turning "non-runners" into runners, she told her husband it was something she needed to do. She needed to finally see that she actually COULD be a runner... OR confirm that it would never be for her, and put those ideas to bed, for good. She initially apologized to Tina in the first weeks of the program, truly believing that she would be the first "non-runner" to finally break Tina. Fast forward 8 months later, Ashley has accomplished some BIG running goals and has plans to even go BIGGER with her running journey! You're not going to want to miss this.

From Ashley:

"Hi everyone! I’m Ashley from Virginia Beach and a mom to two amazing kids a wife to my best friend Zach! I am a former teacher and math coach turned a stay at home mom and I am a part of the Winter Warriors session of Tina’s running program.  I started this journey as a leap of faith because she said that it was her mission to turn non-runners into runners and I felt like I had nothing to lose.  I was either going to reinforce the fact that running sucks and I could finally hush that little part of me that always wanted to be a runner or I would find a new passion- it would be a win either way. I even told Tina that I would be her biggest challenge because of my deep hatred for running- stemming back to having to run “the mile” in elementary school. Fast forward about three months and here I am, just two weeks away from running a 5k without stopping to walk! I can’t even believe it.  This journey has taught me so much about myself that goes so far beyond exercise.  I’m so excited to be on this journey with you and to cheer you on to reaching your goals."

Tina shares a question from a current runner wanting to know this... "How do you know if you are pushing yourself enough?  I know you know I’m a huge critic of myself and sometimes I think I go too easy on my runs or pace (even if my tracking device disagrees).   I think it stems back to this one exercise class I took years ago     I was doing the dang thing and I ended up gassing out and literally could not continue    I sneaked out and hid in the bathroom until it was over.  Like I had zero left and I will never forget that.  This was probably like 8 years ago too. I remember feeling so embarrassed. I want to feel proud after my runs and even though I should, sometimes I start thinking “did I push hard enough?” “Could I have gone faster?” “Did you really need to walk?"   - Join Tina while she dives in to where these feelings are coming from and how to become aware of what your effort level IS and should be.

Tina shares about her battles with weight and how she uses her thoughts to change her feelings and behaviors. Tina has shared before that looking at Running as a weight loss tool is a quick way to hate running, but also shares how it can be used as a healthy coping strategy for stress and confidence building which in turn has you loving yourself and treating yourself with kindness.

Tina takes weeks off after her marathon and feels the stress and concern with the lack of motivation after a break. It's real and it's NORMAL! Often times new runners say to Tina that they can't miss one workout or they'll "quit like they always do." Tina shares how taking a break from her training cycle is leaving her less motivated than usual. Take a listen to learn why that is and what you can do about it!

In this episode, Tina dives in to how Running gets a bad rap. If you're having trouble fitting running into your lifestyle, it may actually have little to do with Running. See how LIFE satisfaction plays a HUGE role in our success in starting a new running habit and what you can do to actually ENJOY your runs.

Tina has talked about it before... how to simplify running to achieve your running goals, but today's episode is all about how to simplify other things in your life to make more time in your life for RUNNING! Tina shares her 3 steps to simplifying her home and her calendar to create more time for running and more time for family.

Have you ever wondered how Ultra Runners are able to mentally run for hours... sometimes 100 miles or beyond? Certainly some of it is physical training but the most important part of training to run for hours has everything to do with mindset. Join Tina while she talks about how she developed an Ultra Marathon mindset over the course of 10 years and how she is training her new runners to have that mindset straight out of the gate as they journey from zero to 3.1 miles!

Join Mike and I while we revisit our journey to 26.2 miles. Mike's first Marathon ever and my first Marathon training cycle in 10 years! We talk about how we got Mike to fall in love with running, how we lowered his blood pressure and took him from 1,200 steps a day to 26.2 Miles in less than one year. We'll share how we trained for this race with only 3 days of workouts per week and how we had to get creative to fit all the miles in while also working full time, starting a running program and being parents! We also talk about how running together ended up being one of the best things we could do to connect this past year. Join us as we take you through our journey to 26.2 miles!

Sometimes we get injured, sometimes life events take place like marriage, buying a new home, starting a new job and sometimes showing up for your 3 workouts a week seems insurmountable! Do these 3 things to stay on track even if you can’t show up 100% in a given week!

I’ll take you on my journey of how I fell in love with Running and then how I lost myself when I became a mom. Learn from my mindset mistakes so that you can reclaim who you once were through realistic expectations and grace for all that you are taking on as an adult.