Aug 10

Fitness Commitments and Self-Monitoring

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Featured, Goals, Self-Care 0 comments tags: accountability, habits, keeping commitments, patterns, self-monitoring
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can self-monitor our fitness activities, especially in the absence of group accountability, an exercise partner, or a traditional one-on-one coaching relationship. When I was first aiming to build a consistent exercise habit, I spent time exploring different ways to work out and I was meticulous about logging activities into a paper calendar.
Aug 03

Exercise Streaks and Life

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Featured, Goals, Self-Care 0 comments tags: consistency, exercise streaks, habits, identity, must-do items, non-negotiable standards
Ever wonder how someone keeps going with an exercise streak? For that matter, ever wonder how a person gets started with an exercise streak in the first place? I’m a huge fan of rest days, and I’ve never been one to advocate for exercise streaks. Not because I’m against doing an exercise streak, but because life is more important to me than keeping a streak going — and I know that I’m likely to choose warmth and comfort (and sleep!) over exercise, especially when it’s below zero outside and I would have to go outside again when I’ve already suffered through freezing temps once or twice on a given day.
Jul 27

Choose What Fits

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Goals 0 comments tags: adjust the variables, consistency, fitness approach, preferences, values
A week and a half ago, our second freezer decided to give up its fight. It was a good freezer, though I can’t say it had a very long or exciting life. It lived to be 12 and a half years old, which, in the life of a freezer, is probably about average. We can’t complain. It served us well.
Jul 20

Training to Build Resilience

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Goals 0 comments tags: adaptability, execution, make a plan, outdoor training, resilience, running, stay on track, taking action
Do you ever have a day that doesn’t go quite as planned? Of course, right? (It’s a silly question, isn’t it?) Yet, despite knowing that things come up and life doesn’t always go according to plan, we sometimes have trouble accepting these unscheduled adjustments. Other times, we easily make the best of the situation and roll with the changes.
Jul 13

Avocados and Exercise

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Goals 0 comments tags: being human, getting started, goal setting, guacamole, making mistakes, recipes, taking action
Avocados are one of my favorite fruits. For the past few months, I have been making a lot of guacamole. Lately, I’ve been getting better and better at telling when my avocados are ripe. Despite making more guacamole in the past few months than I ever thought I would in such a short time, I still make mistakes and cut into one every so often when it’s not yet ripe. I’ve also missed the prime moment of ripeness and cut into many (many!) avocados that are starting to go bad or are not salvageable. At. All. (Yuck.)
Jul 06

Applied Knowledge Is Power

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Self-Care 0 comments tags: applied knowledge, consistency, identity, strength training, stress management
In a normal year, July 4th always seems to arrive too quickly, and then the rest of the summer is suddenly over. I’m not sure I’ll feel that way about this summer in a few months…but who knows? 2020 feels a bit (okay, more than a bit) surreal, and, as we move forward, we are still adapting to the many changes occurring around us. Regardless of our ability to impact these changes, we each have the opportunity to engage in activities that improve our health and reduce our stress.
Jun 22

Exercise to Manage Stress

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Self-Care 0 comments tags: energy management, stress management
Exercising can serve as a way to center yourself and take a break from the ongoing stressors of the world. Whether you are experiencing stress from personal factors (such as your job or family situation) or you are experiencing stress from things outside of your immediate radius of control (e.g., the pandemic, politics, human rights injustices, environmental concerns, animal abuse, etc.), exercise can serve as a healthy and effective tool to care for yourself and manage your stress level.
Sep 10

Pacing the River Run Half Marathon (Unofficially)

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise 0 comments tags: adaptability, challenge, movement, observable data points, opportunities, pacing, running, support network
Last Sunday, I ran the River Run Half Marathon for the eighth time. Seven years ago when I ran this for the first time, I never would have guessed that I would be (unofficially) pacing the same race for my fellow Fleet Feet Cleveland runners. Then, it was about finishing and not being too sore or too hungry afterwards. Now, it’s about hitting a target pace (and associated finish time) in a doable fashion and, when given the opportunity, being the pacer that I wish I had in some of the many races I’ve run.
Sep 01

Do You Go Through Fitness Phases?

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise, Goals 0 comments tags: fitness approach, fitness phases, movement, ownership, taking action
I go through phases where I’m very much into one activity or another. With a few exceptions, most things capture my interest for at least a little while. From a summer of Zumba classes to five months of boxing lessons to two years of swimming lessons, usually my interest in an activity also wanes when the schedule becomes inconvenient or the friend that I was going to classes with isn’t able to attend consistently.
Aug 25

Tapping into Pure Joy

by Erica McClurkin in Exercise 0 comments tags: being present, happy running place, joy, meditation in motion, movement, running, running downhill, well-being
Gravity-assisted sprints (e.g., running down hills as fast as possible) are the best. There was a time when I used to fly down hills on Rollerblades, semi-protected by the helmet, wrist guards, and knee/elbow pads. My sister and I would blade through the Metroparks, taking the flat curves easily and being careful to stay upright when navigating down hills.
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