Wake up (drink) Pour up (drink) Sit down (drink) Stand up (drink)

Drinking water is important for everyday living but it's especially important when you're an athlete. Staying hydrated helps your body work more efficiently and recover quickly. I'm explaining all of this to you so that means that I follow my own advice, right?! Well not quite. I would drink water but I would sip it throughout the day, not realizing that I wasn't getting the amount I needed every day. Last Thursday I decided to change that and really make drinking more water a priority. So I took my bottle and measured the amount of water it holds (because I didn't know) and started making a plan.

My water bottle holds 24 oz. So I decided that I needed to fill this up (and drink) at least four times a day. I would start first thing in the morning, like right after me feet touch the floor and drink the first 24 ounces. What I discovered is that in order for me to get all of the water that I need I can't sip. With each filled bottle I would essentially chug the water till there was only a quarter of the water left in the bottle. Because otherwise if I sipped the water (like I was doing in the past) I would only drink a full bottle during the day.

The first day was rough because I immediately felt bloated. I went from drinking maybe 26 oz. to drinking 96 oz. Though there was some discomfort I figured that I needed to keep going day after day. Well Thursday was the best time for me to try this experiment because I had a five mile run the next morning. With the humidity and temperatures so high here in south Florida, I really should be drinking more water anyway. Friday morning was humid and muggy just like every other morning for the past six months. But this morning was different in that I didn't feel like I was going to die two miles in! 

I couldn't believe how great I felt and I thought Wow! My wife was right, I wasn't drinking enough water. Today makes four days of drinking 96+ oz. of water and earlier this morning I ran 15 miles. This was the first time in a long time that the end of my run was a faster pace than the beginning. I didn't feel completely exhausted and depleted.

The other day I looked up what percentage of water you should have in your body. I have a scale that measures your fat, water, muscle and bone percentage. I never really paid much attention to the water percentage but I do remember that it was always at 31%. After two days of drinking more and more water, I got back on the scale and checked what my percentage was. Now I was at 51%! Based on this website women should be between 45 and 60 percent. So that means that I'm in the golden zone! 

If you are wondering if you drink enough water take a moment and look at this list to see if you are showing signs of mild to moderate dehydration.

• Dry, sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness
• Thirst
• Less urinating
• Headache

I used to get headaches quite a bit. That is definitely a tell tale sign that I wasn't getting enough water. If any of these symptoms apply to you, try increasing your water intake. Drinking too much water can be very dangerous too and shouldn't be taken lightly. Talk to your doctor first about how much water you are currently drinking and how much water he/she suggests you increase it to. It will take some time to adjust to having more water in your system but you will feel better, run better and look better. And your body will be happier.

Website is up!

The day is here folks! I have finally set up my website! Check it out here. In addition to listing my coaching information my blog will be moving to my site as well. I've already put up some of the posts from here to there. So check it out. 

Late birthday update and reflections

Last Saturday was my birthday. With each passing year I become less and less interested in celebrating. Don't get me wrong, I love my birthday and I am happy that I get to see another year but I really cherish every single day that I wake up. In the weeks leading up to my birthday my family always asks me what I want as a present or what I want to do. Every year I say the same thing, "Nothing". The main thing I want to do on my birthday is relax and just take it easy. Well my birthday (and the entire weekend) didn't go as planned.

My plan for the day was to do some yoga in the morning and run at least six miles. We were expected to have a tropical storm hit us on Sunday and I wasn't sure if I would be able to do my long run. But as usual, my plans got thwarted. On Saturday I woke up to find my oldest daughter on the couch looking not so great. She was sick and vomiting most of the morning so I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for my chicken noodle soup which is the only thing she is able to keep down when she gets sick. I made a HUGE pot of soup so that we could have it for the next couple of days.

I did get a chance to get out of the house for a couple of hours. I met with a friend who wanted to purchase a bracelet that I had made. A couple of days earlier I posted a picture on Facebook showing some bracelets that I made. 

The post was really just to show how proud I was of my new adornments. I didn't expect to actually get orders for them! Within hours I had six people asking me for bracelets. So since Thursday of last week I've been making bracelets and filling orders. :)

Saturday ended with my daughter feeling much better and no longer looking like someone from the Walking Dead. My mother had already cancelled the monthly Sunday dinner we have at her house due to the weather. And with the storm scheduled to hit around Sunday or Monday my running buddies and I decided to play it by ear for our long run on Sunday. But before my alarm went off I heard claps of thunder and the sky looked like it was being lit by strobe lights. We all text each other to say that we would cancel our run. The hilarious thing was that an hour later the weather was absolutely wonderful and it didn't rain for the rest of the day.

Not that I don't think that we need information and need to be prepared for a storm but the forecasters were making it seem like this storm was going to give us some trouble. But as it turns out the weather was no different from any other day during the rainy season in south Florida. 

This year I turned 35 and it feels so good. When I was a little girl I couldn't wait to be thirty and I'm not quite sure why, I just had this sense that thirty meant great things would start happening. Even when I was in my twenties and most women want the clock to slow down, I was still rushing to hit that thirty mark. I started running in my thirties, my youngest daughter was born when I was thirty-two and when I turned thirty-four my oldest daughter became a high school student and is turning into a beautiful and amazing young woman.

I'm not afraid of getting older. With each passing year I become more confident and secure within myself. There's nothing that I can complain about and that's an amazing thing to brag about.