Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Monthly Archives: February 2012


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Do not look up!

Do not look up!

With our Run for the Seals 4 mile foot race just around the corner, my clients are starting to get a little worried about the “hills” along the course. See, the course description states that the route is “hilly in parts.” Those three small words have evoked large-scale panic in my brave, newbie runners.

Here’s what I have to say about the psychology of hills and words:

  • First – Remember that “hilly” to one person is rolling or flattish to another. Everything is relative. Don’t let someone else’s words get your feathers in a fluff. Remember my “Do not crawl on the stairs” melt down?
  • Second – When the elevation starts to go up, shut everything out of your head, listen to your calm slow breath like it’s music and “focus” on that. If you start gasping then slow the hell down and get your focus and breath back.
  • Third – Do not look up. Look straight ahead just up the road, but do not look up the hill! If you look up and see how far you have to go you’ll freak yourself out, panic and lose your focus. The climb is almost always easier than you think it will be.
  • Forth – Break the task down into small, easy to digest chunks. Think to yourself “let me just get to the first switch-back,” once there, get yourself to the big tree or some other small goal and keep it going, all the way to the top.
  • Lastly – Never anticipate the top. Trust that it’s there and keep going until you find it. Remember, once you’re over the top you get to go down!

And there you have it. Kelley’s hard earned words of climbing mind games and wisdom. Use it wisely…


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Be extra nice day

I love you!

Yippee! Tuesday is Valentine’s Day! Why am I so excited? Well… in my mind Valentine’s Day is an excuse to be nice to someone you like. You don’t have to profess your undying love; you can simply be nice and show some warm-hearted affection. It’s also an excuse to be kind to yourself.

Last year this time I wrote about Valentine’s Day expectations and who Saint Valentine actually was. What I learned was that Saint Valentine was a priest turned saint who did kind things for single soldiers, that is until he pissed off Emperor Claudius II. What happened next, you can read for yourself.

So… again this year, I remind you to use this day to be extra good to yourself and to those who capture your attention. I suggest, luring your sweetie to a heart healthy pillow fight and/or, a long walk up and over some hills to visit your favorite ice cream shop. No sweetheart? Don’t need one, take yourself or a pal. If chocolate’s more your style than how about chocolate dipped strawberries? They’re a tad better for you than a truffle or hunk of Sees. Just sayin’…

Now giddy up and go engineer yourself a hot and healthy Valentine’s Day!

Kisses…


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One step, event, mile or seal at a time!

Sula the seal

Some of us run ultra marathons, some of us ride our bikes for miles and miles, and some of us wonder what people who do those things are thinking. Those of us who push ourselves are not nuts, and we’re not “special,” we just don’t mind making the extra effort so we end up going big. The thing to remember is, we all started with one small step and took off from there.

The people I work with are usually just getting back into working out or have never really been all that into it. They tend to be in various stages of motion starvation, until I get my hands on them anyway. After about a month of working with me, like clock work, every single person has verbalized that they might like to attempt an endurance event. Usually seconds after they make such a statement I notice then cowering as I start listing off events and training ideas to get them started. I guess “training” sounds like a large, painful task at first. Fortunately we trainers and endurance veterans know victory is just within your reach and we salivate at the idea of helping you realize that.

On that note, I’ll say to you as I’ve said to all my clients. If you want to play around with endurance events, then let’s get started. Start small and go from there. Even if you’ve run dozens of marathons in the past but currently need a push to get rolling again, start with one small step. Begin with one small event or one small goal that will lead you to where you want to be.

Here’s what the Motion Starved crew is doing to get started: We’re Running for the Seals. Run for the Seals is a relatively easy 4-mile foot race on mostly paved road. This will be the very first event for 6 of the 10 of us attending. Two of my clients have run half marathons but are using this event to train and motivate to go bigger. The 6 who have never attempted an event before are currently sweating bullets, but in the end, this small step will have taken them miles toward a lifetime of fitness and self-confidence.  They’re starting small but the reward will be huge!

Join us! Run with the Seals is a great cause benefiting The Marine Mammal Center in the gorgeous The Marin Headlands. 100 percent of the money raised goes to the critters. How can you say no to that?


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Stupor Bowl Monday

Super Snackage

Did you watch the Super Bowl? I didn’t, I totally appreciate it but it’s just not my thing. I even got invited to a big party where they trucked in a special cast iron kettle the size of a washing machine to brew up a special Super Stew. Two weeks prior to the event the “chef” emailed a spreadsheet to his friends asking us to sign up for shifts to help chop veggies and stir the Super Stew. I couldn’t open the document but I think the concoction needed to be stirred constantly for something like 24 hours. It’s pretty nuts but after all, the Super Bowl requires super special snackage. Fortunately for me in this case, the kind hostess granted me a pardon recognizing I’d be happier using my time in a different fashion. Thanks Pen!

With the Super Bowl comes bowls of grub. The latest treat is something called Tater-Tot Nachos. Kinda sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. Or, at the very least, an impending need to dig out the “fat jeans” and spend more time than usual on the potty… As much as I like the occasional greasy treat, more than a couple of Tater-Tot sponges would be a bad idea. But seriously, who’s thinking straight in the throes of the “big game” surrounded by hordes of friends, 7 Layer Dip, Buffalo Wings, beer, little hot dogs wrapped in pastry, beer, spinach dip, beer, pizza, and more beer. Even the toughest among us can only keep our hands in our pockets for so long. Eventually we all give in. It’s human nature (for most of us).

Oh well, now what? Rather than giving into Super  Stupor Monday, get right back on the wagon!

Kelley’s Super Stupor Recovery Recipe:

  • #1 Water yourself up like a Pony Express steed. Drink as much as you can manage the second you retain your senses. (Sure you can drink too much water but that’s not likely to happen).
  • #2 First thing in the AM, heave your carcass out of bed and go for a walk, run, ride, anything you can manage for AT LEAST 20 minutes. If you didn’t get out first thing in the morning, then get to it right after work.
  • #3 Eat as clean as you can. If you can manage it, eat nothing that has a label on it. At the very least try for 85% of your foods being whole (nothing processed or labeled). Got it?
  • #4 Wake up and do it again tomorrow. It just gets easier and you feel better and better from here… I swear!

P.s. If you liked this post you should read, “It’s a Gut Bomb!” I wrote it this time last year. Kinda amusing and helpful if you ate stuff that might cause you to “explode.”

P.s.s. When I was researching Tater-Tots I learned that there’s a guy in St. Paul that’s starting a food truck business that serves only Tater-tot stuff. He’s got things like, Nachos and Bacon rapped tots. Yikes! Good thing I don’t live in St. Paul cuz I might have to try the bacon rapped ones. Just once!


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Don’t groundhog yourself!

Punxsutawney Phil

Groundhog day is celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it’s cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day then spring will come early. If it’s sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

Is it me or does that make absolutely no sense? Read it again and think about it. I got the paragraph from Wikipedia. They know their shit, but it’s the logic that has me confused.

From what I can tell there are a few groundhogs around the country that have been coaxed into predicting the weather. There’s Jimmy the groundhog, Wartian Willy the groundhog, Staten Island Chuck and the most famous, Punxsutawney Phil. PP lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and does his work there. Being a person that hates the idea of caged animals I don’t much care for this practice especially after seeing photos of these critters. While they all look well-groomed and “healthy” they’re all extremely chubby and perhaps (although I’m not an animal fat specialist) very over weight. I fear they all could use a bit of exercise and some diversity in their daily routines.

That brings me to the Movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Remember that? Bill plays a TV reporter who finds himself repeating the exact same day over and over again. After indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts, he begins to re-examine his life and priorities and eventually realizes he’d be wise to take advantage of the situation and break out of his patterns. Once he makes some changes to the cycle, his life improves and all is well. Storybook ending so to speak.

Unfortunately Punxsutawney Phil probably doesn’t have the option to change his ways to better his life and health but you and I do. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; change it up, mix it up, challenge yourself, excite yourself and you’ll become a more rounded athlete, happier, flexible, interesting person. Doing the same thing over and over again makes you good at one thing and teaches your body and mind to move only in that one direction, and eventually it will fight back.

Lets start with this: today brush your teeth, your hair and open doors with the opposite hand you normally do.  Just try it!

Happy Groundhog Day!