April Book Club: The Run-Walk-Run Method

Happy Thursday! I hope your April Fools Day was good and there were only funny pranks involved ;) Every year the hubs plays some kind of April Fool's prank on me, and this year my phone was the weapon of choice. As a joke, he made the home screen a picture only and moved all the other icons to different pages. I feel so ridiculous saying it now, but I seriously thought my phone was broken. None of my apps would open and when I tried to change pages, they all just overlapped onto each other.

After showing said trickster and him not being able to fix it (ha!) I resigned to visiting the Apple store for help. Thankfully, the hubs let me know it was a joke before I drove over got talking to a Genius about my wallpaper issues.

But, today is a new day and there should be no pranks involved, fingers crossed! Last night I started reading a new book to get a better understanding on running, and thought some of you may like to read it as well. So, for April, we will resurrect the book club for Jeff Galloway's book, The Run-Walk-Run Method.

This book goes into further detail about Galloway's run-walk-run method and how it can work for newbie runners and veterans alike. Although I am interested in all the perks of this method, the main reason I am reading it is to better understand this Magic Mile and the interval time I should be using.

If you have not read the book yet, or even if you have, you can read it along with me in hard copy or kindle version, found here. Then, we will have a nice review of the book, the insights, and all the little details towards the end of April. So far, it is a very easy read and seems quite short, so it should not take long at all!

runDisney Running Guides

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First off, I am sorry for the lack of posts over the past few weeks. There have been some very exciting, but very time consuming changes/projects over here, and sadly, the blog has taken the biggest hit. My hope, however, is to start back up on the whole writing thing and slowly return back to normal, weekday articles. It may take some time, but my plan is to get 3-5 articles out weekly for the next few weeks. Then, resume all as normal!

Now, for the more exciting and way more important news- today is sign-up day for the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon!!!!! Oh my goodness, I can hardly contain my excitement for this. It is going to be absolutely fantastic!! Are you going to be running it?

Right now, we have a group of about twelve teacups running this together. Some are girls, some are guys, but all of us will be dressed up! My only hope is that all of us get registered in time!

As for what I have been doing to corral this excitement, well, I have been listening to massive Disney running podcasts (more about that another time) and I have been going Pin crazy. Here are a few of the articles, pictures, and items I found to be the most helpful or just plain entertaining!

A mile-by-mile rundown on what you should be doing and how you should feel for a runDisney half.

A great Wine and Dine recap!

Race recap for the Disney Princess half.

Lacing patterns for foot types.

Runspiration of the Disney sort. Do you know what song this is?

All about that foot strike.

Get mental toughness to complete your race.

What a runner's diet should look like, does look like, and what people think it looks like. Love this!

I get side stitches all. the. time. Maybe this will help!

So, are you running your first Disney race or have you run one in the past? I would absolutely love to hear what you are most excited for and what you loved best!!

Pay it Forward Challenge

I love our weekly challenges, but this week's takes the cake! Instead of doing something health and fitness related that is difficult, pushes us, and makes us healthier; let's do something that makes our world a little better! This challenge is all about helping someone else with no interests of help back, or even, a thank you.

This week, the challenge is a random act of kindness. It can be anything from a nice note at the gym, to paying for the guy's latte behind you in the drive through, to anything else you want!

When we are able to give of ourselves, we tend to feel better, have a more positive outlook, and take our attentions off whatever problems we may have. If you have ever had some random person pay your way for something, or, paid some random person's tab, you know just how good this can feel on both ends!

So, how will you be paying it forward?

Slim Down, Clean Up Challenge

Goodness, I am so excited to announce the first health and fitness challenge for P+K! We have teamed up with a few local health and fitness advisers and one or two other bloggers for a new year's challenge that everyone can be a part of, no matter where you live! This challenge will help all of us start the new year feeling healthier and happier! It will also get us meeting new people and being freshly inspired to live a healthier life! Oh, and did I mention prizes?! Yes, lots and lots of prizes! But, before we get to that, let's talk about what this challenge entails, how long it is, and what you need to do to get started.

The Challenge

The goal of the Slim Down challenge is to help give our bodies a restart after the holidays and possibly, days, weeks, months, or years of eating less than healthy. This is a six week challenge that will start next Thursday, January 15th and end the first of March. In order to complete the challenge you will need to:

Buddies

Every challenge participant will be paired with a buddy. If you have a friend who would like to do this with you, they can be your buddy. If not, we can pair a buddy for you! Either way, let me know so we can count you as participating.

You will check in with your buddy each day. It does not have to be much, just a quick idea for a workout or something that might encourage them. The buddies are meant to be quick encouragers, nothing more :)

Eating

Eat 5 small meals per day. Two of these meals should be a meal bar or meal replacement shake. These are the bars and shakes that I take and what I STRONGLY recommend you taking yourself since they are filled with all the right proteins, low in carbs and fat, and high in vitamins and nutrients. All the vitamins in these are organic (something no other brand can boast!). If you, however, would prefer to take your own, that is no problem.

Drinking

Drink 128 oz of water per day (If you weigh less than 140 pounds, you can drop those ounces down to something closer to 100 per day if you like)

Vitamins

A big part of this challenge is making sure you get all the proper nutrients. For this, you must be taking a multivitamin each day.

Again, I highly, highly recommend these vitamins since they are 100% organic, all parts are grown instead of synthesized, and this company handles every part of the product from growth to packaging. These are simply the best vitamins I have ever seen. They have never had a recall on any product and boast an absorption rate 3x higher than any other vitamin on the market.

Exercise

Simply enough, increase your physical activity. This could be anything from trying a new workout or running a bit farther than you usually do. We will be having weekly challenges on the blog to help with this part of the challenge so as long as you are doing the challenges, you will be set for exercise!

Side note: I would recommend increasing your average daily steps as part of this challenge. Walking more is so good for our joints and helps decrease the dreaded bloat!

Get Started

1. There are one or two simple steps to get started on this challenge. The first would be to e-mail me at PandK.contact@gmail.com and let me know you are wanting in! Also let me know if you have a buddy already or if you need one. I will add you to our Facebook group and make sure you are in for all the prizes- this is what you will get for simply following the program for the six weeks!
2. Next, you will either need to order the products, or make sure that you have your own in stock. I can say from experience that these products will make a difference in your results. But, again, purchase of anything is not necessary. Here is everything you may need:

• Multivitamin $85.90 for a 30-day supply
• Glucosamine for joints $63.80 for a 2-month supply
• Meal Replacement Shakes $51.48 for twelve
• Meal Replacement Bars $40.15 for fifteen bars

1. Start encouraging your buddy! Again, the challenge goes from January 15th to March 1st. In this time you should loose weight, gain muscle, and feel refreshed and renewed by the end!