Yea, Yea, We're Sick of Hearing About Your Morning Routine

There's a LOT of talk about "morning routines" in the health and fitness world.

My guess is you’re sick of hearing about it, and I don’t blame you.

People are made to believe they need an hour to journal, meditate, play some mystical instrument, journal some more, chant, drink 300 oz of lemon water, and drink their bullet coffee before they do one lick of anything else with their day.

You don’t need to do any of this.

The purpose of a morning routine is for you to have time at the start of your day that fills YOU up.

So if you don’t like journaling or yoga, don’t do it. If you’ve been wondering what it’s like to journal, then give it a try. See how it makes YOU feel. Don’t rely on anyone else to prove to you that “it works,” because the only thing that works, is what works for you.

Here are some tips if you'd like to start a new routine or fine tune your morning habits: 

1. Start small - pick one or two things that take just 5-15 minutes. Yes, even just 5 minutes counts as a morning routine!

2. Pick something that makes you feel happy, at ease, and excited to be awake. Looking for ideas? 

3. Schedule this into your day or put a note up somewhere so you remember. Give yourself a cue, such as, “After I brush my teeth/After I start the coffee machine, then I do (my morning routine).”

4. Make sure you enjoy the routine and it's something that leaves you feeling happy to start the day! Give one routine a try for at least 2 weeks, ideally 3-4, before deciding to make big changes to it.

Let us know in the comments what kinds of things you start doing in the morning, it will be inspiration for the rest of us!

How to Stay Active when Working from Home

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Does this sound familiar? You dreamed of working on the beach, in a cabin, at your favorite cafe. Setting your own hours, shifting effortlessly from work to relaxation.

Working remotely was once a pipeline dream for many, until it became an unexpected reality overnight. Of course, your dream to work remotely didn’t involve a global pandemic, shut down, and having all your family home with you!

Nonetheless here we are. We’re all trying to maximize “dealing” with all of the many facets of living and working alongside this pandemic.

Enter Remote Hustle: A community-fueled space of curated resources and advice to help people harness the power of online tools and strategies while working remotely. They’ve been pros at working remotely long before coronavirus showed up, so they know their stuff.

I recently talked with their editor Molly Mulroy about staying active while working from home.

We talked about managing stress and exercise, how to start a fitness routine, and the gifts you can take from this experience if you know where to look for them.

Read my full conversation with Remote Hustle here!

Why Five Minutes of Yoga Might Be Better Than Sixty

Here at Tend Athletics, we offer custom yoga videos … and you may be thinking, “What is that and why would I need a custom yoga video when there are thousands of free yoga videos online?”

That’s a great question.

I wanted to take you behind the scenes to see how one of our athletes, Phoebe, is using her custom yoga videos to write her dissertation (Almost Dr. Phoebe!).

I made six videos for Phoebe, each about 5 minutes long, that she can use as movement breaks throughout her day.

Why just 5 minutes each?

People think, “If I don’t have an hour or 45 minutes for yoga, it’s not even worth it.”

Try practicing yoga for just 5 minutes a day, and you’ll see why they’re wrong.

You can experience all of the physical and mental benefits of yoga in just a few minutes, and we all need breaks from work anyways, so why not make that short break a yoga break?

Keep reading to hear what Phoebe is getting out of her 5 minute yoga breaks with our custom yoga videos…

Why did you want custom yoga videos?

“I’m writing my dissertation right now and spend most of my time sitting at a computer. I have to make sure that I get up frequently to move and stretch or I end up in a lot of pain by the end of the day. I do a lot of regular yoga classes which are helpful for my back, hips etc, but I wanted some quick 5-minute sequences I could do between writing sessions. I realized that with custom videos, I could be addressing my specific issues a lot more efficiently. I could maybe have tried to cobble together my own routine, but I knew I would be a lot more likely to actually get up and move with someone telling me what to do!”

What will you be using your videos for?

I’ll be using my videos to reset between writing sessions, because sitting all day really messes with my back and hips. I try to use one of my videos for a writing break twice a day. I also asked Caitlin for a standing video that I could do while supervising my cats during their meal times. I used to stand around and do random stretches but now I have a more focused sequence.

What have you gotten out of using your custom yoga videos?

They’re an amazing mental and physical break from writing, and they help me end the day feeling a lot better. I like that I don’t have to think about what to do, and after 5 minutes I’m totally reset.

Now you can take a 5 minute break with a sample of one of Phoebe’s videos above. We hope you will also finish feeling totally reset!

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Is This A Good Time for Reflection and Goal Setting?

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Most of us have put all plans “on hold” right now.

But what if this was actually an excellent time to reflect and set some goals - for your running, business, relationships, or life?

I can hear you starting to say, “Why set goals right now when the future is so unknown?”

really, the future is always unknown.

When you make a goal to run a race, you never know if you will get injured, have a work project come up that will change your plans, get the opportunity to go on a cool trip, or any other number of changes that could happen.

Right now athletes everywhere are asking themselves, “If not for the competition, why bother?”

If you haven’t already, ask yourself this question. Underneath the finish lines, PRs, and post-race celebrations, why do you really run?

With that, we invite you to use our go-to practices for reflecting on your past year of training and setting goals for the year ahead with our free workbook below.

Remember, goal setting isn’t just for January 1st. We have the opportunity to reset any month, day, time, and place that we choose.

Join Us For Weekly Virtual Workouts!

Every week our founder and head coach Caitlin is hosting live strength and cardio workouts, for free!

Having fun through movement is more important than it’s ever been! We promise every class will be different, and that you’ll be engaged and working the whole time.

All workouts will include a mix of full body strength and high intensity cardio work. Modifications will be offered, so all levels are welcome.

You can do these workouts with no equipment, or you can use dumbbells or household objects like cans of food, wine bottles, laundry detergent, or small children (kidding!)

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS

7:30-8:15AM PDT

See a recording of a previous class here.

Why Run? To Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro!

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Tend Athletics athlete Anna has been competing in marathons and Ironmans for ten years. In between her workouts, she works to help families build and improve places to call home at Habitat for Humanity. This winter, she had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia and Tanzania for work, where she and her team were building latrines and communal kitchens in Addis Ababa. 

Anna has long wanted to climb to the Everett base camp, so when a friend suggested they extend their work trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, she was all in! 

They hired Kandoo Adventures to lead them through the 7-day climb, with a group of 8 climbers, 2 lead guides, and a team of about 20 porters and cooks. To hear Anna tell it, the porters were a constant source of inspiration, grit, and awe! 

Tell us about the climb! What was it like? Walk us through a “day in the life.” 

We started at the Machame Base Camp (5,000’) and chose the “medium” amount of time for our climb - 7 days, in hopes of having more time to acclimate to the altitude. Luckily we had already been living at about 8,500’ in Ethiopia for two weeks before the climb. 

We were on our feet for about 5-6 hours a day, usually hiking 4-6 miles, except summit day! We spent five days going up, and just two coming down. 

We went at the beginning of the dry season in Tanzania, so we still saw quite a bit of rain. The temperatures were about 70-80*F at the base camp, and got about 10* colder every day, until at the summit temps were in the teens. 

On summit day, we went “to bed” at 8pm, only to be woken up at 10:30pm to start the climb. It’s best to hike at night because the snow is safest when it is packed down, and then you get to the summit at sunrise! We reached the summit in 7 hours, just in time to see the sun come up at 6am. For as joyous and amazing as it is to be at the summit, it’s important to not spend too much time there because there is so little oxygen at 19,341 feet, so after about 30 minutes, we started our descent. 

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What were the biggest challenges and how did you respond to those harder times? 

Coming down was definitely the hardest part, as we were already so tired, and the terrain was quite muddy and rocky so you had to be really focused on your footing. We had two long days of descending.   

In challenging times, I can pull from my mental toolkit as an endurance athlete to get myself through. I know that oftentimes when I’m feeling low I need to refuel, and after a snack, it helps if I pick up the pace a little bit to get my momentum going. Usually a guide would notice when we seemed to not look well and they did a great job of helping to distract us with a friendly conversation and help us remember to appreciate the beautiful scenery around us. 

What were the best parts of the climb? 

On the first day of the climb, we saw a type of monkey I’d never seen before - it was black and white with a tail like a skunk. The beauty of the trip continued to be a highlight. We started in a rainforest and then as we climbed the landscape became more arid and sparse. I think we passed through a total of five different microclimates. On one day, the trail was like a river bed surrounded by trees that looked like big Joshua trees, and as we walked the sun was coming out and then suddenly we got our first glimpse of the top of the mountain. It was so big, so grand, and that was a really special moment. 

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What did you eat on the climb? 

We were so lucky to have amazing cooks and fresh food, because many of the porters make daily trips up and down from different base camps. For breakfasts, we had oatmeal, toast, eggs, fruit, and a favorite among the American climbers - PBJ! Our Irish counterparts were very perplexed with this obsession of ours. For lunches and dinners we had things like tilapia, soup, rice, pasta, ramen, and a variety of meats. The highlight of our climbing food was definitely the cake that our crew somehow managed to bake on summit day!

What were the highlights of being in Tanzania? 

The crisp, fresh, tropical air was incredible! The only thing that may have been better than that were the mangoes. I knew when my friend from Hawaii confirmed they were the best mangoes she’d ever tasted, that they really were the best.

We went on a safari for two days after the climb, so that was of course also very special. And I can’t forget to mention the joys of seeing monkeys and baboons walking around everywhere, even in the city. We woke up one morning to the sound of monkeys on our roof! 

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How has this experience affected your life at home, in work, and in sport?

I’ve pushed my endurance to extremes before, but this was definitely the coolest and most exciting way in which I’ve done that. Managing the elevation gain felt like a big accomplishment. I’ll always remember the people I met, the views, and daily experience of the climb as a life highlight. Each time I accomplish a new mental and physical feat, it strengthens my confidence in my abilities and reminds me I’m capable of more than I think. 

What advice would you give to people interested in climbing Kilimanjaro? 

First, bring extra toilet paper! You’ll also want extra hiking socks and your favorite snacks for when you’re feeling sick. Second, always listen to the guides! They know best, always. I appreciated that our guides made us drink at least 3 liters of water each day, and did twice daily health checks on us - checking our oxygen levels, pulse, and appetite. Our guide had summited at least 100 times in their life, so they really are the experts. 

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What’s next? 

I still want to hike to the base camp of Everett, and I have a new goal of also hiking Mt. Fuji. 

As far as my running - I’m running the Eugene Marathon in April, and have a long term goal of running a Boston Qualifier! 

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Runner's News Round Up

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This week, we’ve been thinking about the mental side of athletics, how we (do or do not) structure our days, and impending shifts in the sport of track and field. 

Mindset & Sport 

Why Optimism doesn’t mean “not being realistic,” and how you can start to change some of your pessimistic thought patterns. 

How a Growth Mindset can enhance your experience and performance as a runner. 

Chamique Holdsclaw, Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer, is hosting a new podcast called Tremendous Upside, where she interviews athletes about their challenges with mental health.   

Life Design 

Why does it seem every piece of advice is contradictory? And what you can do when you have no idea which voice is the right one to listen to. 

Deep down I think we all know it’s true, but often need to be reminded that life is not meant to be optimized or perfected. The human experience is messy and that’s okay.  

Speaking of messy, Madeleine Dore is a podcast host, writer, and creative community builder, and she shared some refreshing thoughts on creative routines in this interview. 

Mindset & Nutrition 

What is Intuitive Eating and How Runners Can Try It

Running Culture 

Sally Bergeson, Sarah Lesko, and Lauren Fleshman (pictured above) recorded a conversation about sponsorships in track and field - discussing the realities of it and their hopes for seeing it evolve. 

This article about how Love Languages Can Apply in the Workplace got us thinking about how coaches could use these “languages” to look at their team dynamics. 

 

 

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