Category: Fitness in the Fall

The First Fall Run {Fitness in the Fall}

Fall is my favorite time of year.

I know. Fall is everyone’s favorite time of year when it is actually Fall. Everyone is drunk on Pumpkin Spice Lattes, busy falling into piles of brilliantly colored leaves, while bundled up in hoodies next to bonfires. I can just see it now.

I love all that too, but I have a few other reasons for counting Fall as my favorite season. For one thing, I’m a November baby and birthdays are awesome! Also, I love Thanksgiving like no other holiday. A holiday where eating is the main affair? Count me in. But honestly, most of my reasons for digging the chill in the air have to do with being outdoors.

I’m a hiker and sometimes trail runner. In the late Spring and all through the hot hot Summer I keep my feet firmly on the pavement. Nice open clean roads where I can spot a snake a mile away. Yep. I might live and breath the outdoors in Arkansas but I am scared of snakes. A hiking pace is leisurely enough to let you watch the trail for those sneaky suckers, but when you are flying along a trail as fast as your legs and reflexes will allow you don’t quite get that chance. I’ve jumped over enough snakes to finally limit my trail running to the appropriate seasons.

My favorite local trails to the North of my home are located at the Visitor’s Center at the base of Rich Mountain in Mena. This spot has a valley of intermingled looping trails along rocky ridges that dip down to cross a small creek. On the upper part is Earthquake Trail that is a 2.75 climb up the side of the mountain. It takes a big engine and some determination to get up that one, but the views through the trees are worth it. If you head further up the mountain you reach Queen Wilhelmina State Park. It has its own trails that are perfect for hiking or running if you are up for it. Mena is getting the running bug. This year alone has has hosted a half-marathon straight up the mountain to the lodge, a wheel-a-thon of either 30miles or 75miles, and three 5K’s. Over Halloween weekend there was a first annual Zombie Run.

To the South lies the Cossatot River State Park. It boasts an extremely technical 13 mile trail and is home to the Cossatot Trail Half-Marathon. This race pulls in over a 100 hardcore trail runners, leisure runners, and hikers. The scenery is unbeatable and the competition is pretty tough too. Even in the tiny towns close to the Cossatot there have been a few 5K races held.

The first run of Fall is a magical experience. It really doesn’t matter whether its on the trail or on the road, the thrill is the same. There is something in the air. A bit of chill burning your lungs. A quiet calm that isn’t there in the thick bug laden air of Summer, or the popping alive greeness of Spring. Just you and the crunchy leaves thick on the path. No sound but your heart and the rythmic pattern of your feet. The first run of Fall is in the books.

Ashley Smith is a mama, wife, homeschooler, and runner who loves the mountains, trails, red wine, homebrew, travel, farmers markets, all things turquoise, her dogs, kids, and husband (not in that order). She obsessively collects cookbooks, shoes, and chalkboards. Ashley has blogged under one name or another for over 6 years. She currently shares her love offitness, nutrition, the outdoors, and family on her blog Ashley In Arkansas You can find her on Instagram @ashleyinarkansas and Facebook.

Fall into Fitness {Fitness in the Fall}

By Lisa Mullis

The morning air is crisp and cool, the leaves are showing their true colors, and the search for gloves lost in the land of mismatched winter gear has begun. Morning coffee tastes a little sweeter and I, for one, am tempted to stay in bed just a little while longer instead of putting on the extra layer of clothes necessary to exercise outdoors. Instead I look forward to the warmth of the afternoon sun when light dances in the lingering leaves and the ones that have already fallen to the ground crunch beneath my feet. Autumn is the perfect time for hiking.

empty trail

There is no shortage of beautiful trails to hike in Arkansas. Short and long, easy and difficult, scenic and secluded, the Natural State has it all. Hiking is a great way to stay fit or to continue working on your fitness level during the cooler months. It is accessible to most fitness levels from easy strolls while taking in the surroundings to speed hiking as quickly as possible and even hiking while wearing a weighted vest or full backpack to increase the intensity. Trails can be found within urban neighborhoods or city parks. Find a trail in an Arkansas State Park. A state park is a great place to start hiking since many parks offer guided hikes that will entertain and educate. Fall is the perfect time for multi-day backpacking trips too. The weather is typically warm during the day with cold nights that make a night time fire not just enjoyable, but necessary.

fire

We are lucky to have several trails that are long enough to spend days hiking out and back. There is always the option of leaving one car at the far end of the section of trail you want to hike and driving another back to your starting point, or hiring a shuttle to drop you at the start with your vehicle waiting at the end. Check the websites for the Ouachita National Forest, the Buffalo National River, or the Ozark Highlands.One of our family favorites is the Eagle Rock Loop near Glenwood in the Ouachita National Forest. Many hikers enjoy a few hours in the scenic Winding Stairs section of the loop without hiking the entire twenty seven miles of trail.

stream crossing

Hiking is great for the whole family. It is an avenue for teaching children about nature, to instill an appreciation for the conservation of natural areas, and to practice good outdoor ethics like Leave No Trace. For families with young children, there are many types of carriers made for hiking. Carrying little one is a great way to get a good workout in for yourself and get the little ones outside. If you find that the young ones aren’t as enamored by the changing leaves as you are, give them a job. Geocaching is hiking with a goal, find the cache, perhaps be able to leave and take a little treasure trinket, or complete a series of cache finds like the Arkansas State Park Geocache Challenge. Kids love to use technology and geocaching will get them using technology outside the house.

geocaching

One of the reasons I love hiking in the autumn and winter months is the views. The lushness of our Arkansas summers can sometimes hinder the view. We have a family tradition for hiking during the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas Day become as much about which trail were are going to hike as what the menu for dinner is. We love to sit and watch the sunsets together.

Take advantage of the cooler weather to get outside and make a few trail memories of your own.

I’m a wife and mom. I’m a microbiologist. I’m a mountain biker, hiker, backpacker, sometime runner, and workout enthusiast all while being addicted to good food. I write about it at http://freneticfitness.wordpress.com. I also write for Arkansas Outside, a site dedicated to people who love to play outside in Arkansas. I’m fueled by pizza, red meat and goat cheese risotto. And sometimes I sleep.

Thanksgiving Fitness {Fitness in the Fall}

Lots of families have traditions around Thanksgiving and one thing that I’m thankful for is that my family’s tradition involves fitness. My family always makes time to start our Thanksgiving morning off with a Turkey Trot.

Thanksgiving Fitness

I remember back to some of my first Thanksgivings as an adult after college. My sister Lindsey and I were living on the east coast about an hour apart from each other. We couldn’t always afford to travel to our parents’ homes so we had some Thanksgivings together and with friends. She belonged to the Chesapeake Bay Running Club based out of Southern Maryland.

That is where our family tradition of Thanksgiving runs started. The CBRC Turkey Trot was a prediction run style race. Every year they changed the course so you never knew the exact distance or course you would get to do. The course and distance were announced on race morning and at packet pickup you made your time prediction. I was fairly new to running races around this time and always thought this was the neatest concept. The winners of the race were those who ran closest to their prediction not necessarily those who were fastest. My sister and I did this race several times with her then boyfriend who became her husband years later.

Fast forward a few years and both of my sisters are married and have children. We have kept up our tradition but have made some adjustments by selecting a Thanksgiving Day run that is non-competitive around a local golf course. There are two distances to choose from the full 18-hole course which is nearly 5 miles or just the first 9 holes which is a little over 2 miles. This has been a perfect fit for our family of all ages…from my parents to my nieces and nephews. It’s nice that all can select their distance and pace.

My nieces and nephews enjoy running but are still building up their endurance. Often the turkey trot includes bouts of walking, sections of sprinting, and lots of fun in between when you run it with a kiddo. We split up into groups based on pace and distance. We make sure to cheer each other on and then after we listen to the kids tell us about their run experience.

This year my nephew has a goal to lower his 5K time so we have sought out a competitive race event on Thanksgiving morning. He’ll run with his dad and try to beat his time goal. The rest of us will enjoy the start to our day of eating by burning some calories and supporting my nephew on his goal

My family is not the only one with a Thanksgiving tradition that involves fitness, family, and fun. Many of my friends are planning on participating in Turkey Trot races with their families this year. I also have friends that honor the tradition even if they can’t find an organized race near them. Just get outside with your family and get your run or walk on to start off your Thanksgiving Day. You know you’ll Gobble til you Wobble so make some room for all that food with a Turkey Trot!

Northwest Arkansas – Turkey Trot 5K

Little Rock – Go Running Gobbler Turkey Trot

Eureka Springs – Don Gammie Turkey Trot

Kansas City – Ward Parkway Turkey Trot

Joplin – Joplin Turkey Trot

Springfield – 20th Annual Turkey Trot

Whitney Sutherland blogs at Running with Whit about the fun and adventure of an everyday athlete. Whitney works full time playing with numbers and products and unwinds by training for races. She loves triathlons and has completed two half ironman distance races. She completes many races each year and initially discovered blogs while researching different races. Whitney spends her free time with Sidney her runner dog and her family where she gets to be the cool aunt to three awesome kiddos. You can find Whitney running through the winter with her trusty headlamp around Northwest Arkansas.

You can follow Whitney on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Fall Fitness: 10 Tips for Staying on Track

By Danielle Kloap

Fall can be a tough time to stay on track with your health and fitness goals. There are holidays, parties, gatherings with family and friends and all of that holiday baking to get you off track when it comes to eating healthy and working some exercise into your busy schedule.

This year will be the first year I’m consciously trying to continue eating healthy and sticking to my fitness schedule through the holidays. Most years, by this point, I’ve long forgotten about my New Year’s resolution to lose weight. If you’ve gotten off track, or need some suggestions on how to stay motivated through a busy fall, there’s still time to get back (or stay) on track!

Here are 10 tips for staying on track during the fall:

1. Write down your plans/goals each month. At the beginning of every month, I make time to sit down and either make or re-evaluate my health and fitness goals. Every time I open my planner, I’m reminded of the goals I made for the month.

2. Schedule out your workouts and plan out your meals. I’m obsessed with planning and lists. Organization and planning is a great thing when it comes to staying on track! I write down all of my workouts each week in my planner so I know that it’s scheduled. I also plan out all of my meals for the week. I write down my meals, make a shopping list and I only shop on Sunday afternoon. I try to limit the number of grocery store trips I need so I won’t buy food I shouldn’t be eating.

3. Get an accountability partner. Find someone you trust who will hold you accountable. Make sure your tell this person your health and fitness goals, and be sure to check in with them periodically. Find someone you feel comfortable going to when you need to confess if you’ve gotten off track, reassess your goals and talk to them about how you plan to get back on track. It really helps me to have a workout buddy, someone who holds me accountable for showing up to workouts. Even though I schedule them, sometimes it’s easy to make excuses about how busy I am and use that as a reason not to keep the promises I made to myself about working out.

4. Mix up your workout routine. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and get bored. Try doing something fun that doesn’t feel like a workout: a Zumba class, yoga, playing a game of football or soccer with a group of friends or another type of exercise class. Motivating myself to get up and go running at the track can be really tough, but when I have something fun to do for exercise, I’m much more likely to do it. If you go to the gym, try getting outside in this beautiful weather! Now that the weather is a lot cooler, it makes taking a walk or going running so much nicer. Plus, there’s pretty scenery like the turning leaves to look at while you work out.

5. Prep all of your meals. Meal prep is a huge part of being successful at staying on track. If you’re going to attend holiday parties or other gatherings where you know you will be tempted by unhealthy food, bring your own! I try to prep all of my meals (I eat five small meals three hours apart) at the beginning of the week, or at least at the beginning of the day, so I know that all of my food is ready to go so I’m not tempted by fast food. Having those meals prepared in advance also helps me stay on track if I know I’ll be somewhere with unhealthy food choices. One of my favorite foods that are easy to take on the go are Quest bars. They have great flavors like Cookies and Cream and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

6. Drink more water. Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces each day. It may sound daunting but my favorite trick is to get a Rt. 44 cup of water from Sonic and refill it throughout the day.

7. Start tracking your food and exercise. You could use an app like MyFitnessPal or try a cute tracking book like this one from May Designs. Tracking my calorie intake was very eye-opening for me. I just didn’t realize how many calories I was actually consuming in a day. Grazing all day and snacking can really add up!

8. Find some health and fitness motivation. I follow several social media accounts that provide tons of motivational tips and tricks: Chris Powell, Heidi Powell, Bruce Pitcher, Georgeanna Johnson, ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss and Kate at Finally Alive after 25. Surrounding yourself with positivity, both on the Internet and in real life, makes a huge difference when you’re trying to stay on track and be healthy.

9. Set yourself up for success. When you make your goals, don’t be unrealistic! If you don’t have time to work out for two hours a day, don’t make that a goal for yourself. You’re only setting yourself up for failure. Instead, start with small changes and make realistic goals. Start off with just changing your water habits and change one meal a day to be healthier. Those small changes will add up to be big changes that will be much easier to maintain as a lifestyle change rather than a “diet.” When you start meeting those goals and keeping the promises you make to yourself, that will motivate you to keep going!

10. Learn to fall without failing. You’re going to mess up. It’s inevitable. All of the planning and preparation in the world won’t stop you from going to a Thanksgiving dinner and overindulging, or skipping a workout when you’re tired from a long day, or grabbing fast food because that’s easier than cooking dinner. In the past, I’ve been the queen of the philosophy that if I mess up and eat poorly at lunch, the whole day is shot. Now I’ve learned that it’s okay if I mess up, I can get back up, keep going and get right back on track.

Danielle started blogging at Dani’s Transformation in May 2014 after being selected as a finalist for ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss as a way to hold herself accountable for losing half her body weight at home this year. She hopes to help motivate others and help pay forward the experience she had during EWL casting week. Danielle lives in Monticello with her husband and two fur babies. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram at @danikloap and Twitter at @danikloap.