Another Challenge Done

With today being the last day of August, that means the completion of another challenge Jeff had me do, in addition to my regular workouts and runs and spin classes. A minute long plank. 15 pushups. 25 squats. I did these three movements every day since the beginning of the challenge earlier this month and I am here to tell you all about it.

Pushups were something I had to really work on and learn how to do them right. Doing a modified pushups where my lower body is on the floor and I have to focus more on the upper body movement…easy peasy lemon squeezey, as Jeff likes to say. Doing a pushup where I am in a plank position and pushing my upper body up and down while working those triceps and shoulders…not quite as easy but something I have learned to work on. Doing 15 of them and doing every single one of them with the same intention and focus…now that is more of a challenge. In regards to the squats, I love doing them and I really appreciate all that they do for my lower body but I have had to pay more attention to how I do them, as Jeff had me do rounds of them during various workout sessions and I might have been a little too quick and hasty with my movement and the form might not have been 100% perfect. Once I knew how to really do them right, I found that it took a little more time and more focus to make sure I was getting the most out of them. I mean…if you’re going to do them, you should do them right! And then there is the one minute plank. Now THAT takes a lot of focus and I’m not talking about just the physical part of holding a plank. Doing it right and doing it for 60 seconds takes mental focus and effort and I am here to tell you that I did the plank and the pushups and the squats with 100% effort and focus every single day.

Onward and forward!

A 10K For Frankie

I had it down on my calendar to do this today and so I did. A 10K run in honor of my good friend Frankie’s birthday.

Back in March, I ran a virtual 10K on March 27, the original date for the Jerusalem Marathon 10K. It wound up being postponed and I wasn’t able to do the race on the new date so I did my own 10K. I ran it in memory of my friend Aliza and in honor of my mother’s birthday, which was that very day. That afternoon, Frankie joked that I should run on her birthday and here I am, August 21 – all sweaty and on an adrenaline high from running outside in honor of my friend,

I looked at my time when I had completed the run and I saw it was 1:09:27. Not bad, considering I had chosen to run up this one street that is an endless climb from one neighborhood to the next. I kept telling myself that I was doing this for Frankie and how she has shown up for me again and again and this run is about celebrating her and all that she means to me. Our Saturday afternoon walks together, the weddings we’ve done our crazy dance together, the races we’ve run together…celebrating the births of our children and grandchildren, the weddings and being together when times were sad or tough.

I cannot and will not make this about the time, not when I can reflect on the meaning of the run. Time no longer played a role. I did this thing to honor her and to celebrate her and it could have taken an hour or it could have taken two hours…doing it for Frankie was the true victory.

Overall…

Overall you’re doing well but lately your running pace is slowing down. Increase your speed to keep your arrow up.

Your arrow looks good but your average cardio fitness is headed down lately. To keep your arrow up, push the pace in your walking and running workouts.

A three mile run this morning mixed with a bunch of hills. A four mile run this past Monday that seemed to go pretty well, considering I hadn’t run outside in a few weeks. The effort was there in both runs. The drive…the motivation…the heart and soul. Overall, I’m doing well.

But then this app on my phone that tracks my fitness and all of the data that goes with it — my cardio fitness, my running pace, my walking pace – tells me it’s okay but…

I can’t allow this data to define me or my success, just like I can’t be defined by my dress size or the number on the scale. It’s data. I know my work is not for nothing. Can I try to push a little harder? Yes but I won’t use this ‘overall’ message as a voice that tells me I’m not enough. As I head towards my 58th birthday in a month of so, I say I am not just doing well. I am doing great.

Remembering What This Is All About

I haven’t been blogging as much lately and I keep telling myself I don’t have as much to share here as I post on my other social media. I have my Facebook running groups to share my actual runs and photos but I haven’t been as active there so note to myself – I really have to get back to that. I get so much out of seeing what my running group friends are doing and there’s no reason why I can’t be posting about my runs. I’ve been more active on IG and Facebook, promoting Embracing My Inner Athlete and doing what I can to spread my message that it’s never too late to start on a goal. I’ve been busy over the last few months, recording podcast interviews, querying social and print and broadcast outlets in hopes of getting more outreach and getting the book out there.

But this blog has been something special since I started it in 2019. You Want Me To Do What?! Has been about sharing the humorous side of my fitness journey, just as much as the deep and serious side. It’s about sharing those moments and those situations where I am faced with something that I question…where I wonder how could I possibly do such a thing…and I write about it as openly and as truthfully as i can.

I’m doing one of Jeff’s challenges this month. I started it a week ago Sunday and it’s a little something — well, not really something — to add to whatever else I am doing fitness wise. I had one monthly challenge where I did pushups everyday and I emphasize the word ‘challenge’ as pushups were not always something I could do properly and then to do a whole bunch of them…huh?! I had another monthly challenge where I did a sixty second plank every day for a month. Another one of those moves that I don’t love and it took me a long time to get comfortable with. So this month is putting the last three monthly challenges together and doing a sixty second plank, 25 squats and 15 pushups, I’ve been doing the challenge every single day since the start and so far, so good, Once upon a time, I would have said ‘you want me to do what?!’ Today, I am okay with it because this whole journey has been and continues to be about one woman’s story of facing hard things…often questioning herself and her abilities…and saying okay, I’ll try that. If Jeff would have told me to do this challenge back when we first met 12 years ago, I would have a totally different post to write and it would be filled with a lot of I can’ts and expressions of self doubt. There are still times when I use the phrase when he instructs my next workout move or suggests a challenge but perhaps there is one less question mark or an inner voice telling me to say, what do you want me to do rather than you want me to do what?!

Runner’s Choice: Walking

I’ve been a little under the weather over the last week with an upper respiratory thing and I haven’t done any running or spinning since last Sunday. For someone who likes to move and get that big calorie burn, it’s hard to not be doing those activities but I have come to the realization that I cannot and more important, will not compromise myself for the sake of that calorie burn.

Maybe I’ve become obsessive compulsive with needing to move. I do like to move and I don’t like it and I feel guilty when I don’t move. But I have also gotten older and wiser enough to realize that moving when I shouldn’t be moving will only result in my not moving for a whole lot longer than I need to. I had two days in the last week where I didn’t move at all and I hated that but I also told myself that taking those days off might just be the medicine I need. I have been feeling a little bit better each day and I’m almost there with my not having that congested feeling that tells me that a spin class or a little run is not in the cards today. Almost but not yet there.

So walking has been my thing. I’ve done some walking outside and I’ve done some walks on the treadmill. It’s movement…which I like. It’s a little calorie burn…not as much as a run or a spin workout but it’s good enough. And good enough is what I can manage these days and there is no shame in managing myself.

Who Is Hildee?

This is a question I was asked by Jonathan Levitt during our recent podcast interview. I’ve been a big fan of For The Long Run and a follower of Jon’s on social media and it really was a please to meet him and share my story with him. So who am I?

I am a wife and mother and grandmother and daughter first and foremost. My family is my everything and they are my why. I am hopefully a better version of myself because I made that decision 12 years ago to make myself a priority so that I can be around longer and enjoy a better quality of life, with them. I want to get on the floor to build Lego houses with my grandchildren and dance around with them to silly songs and run alongside my kids in a race or in the gym and take walks with my husband even if I am going too fast.

I am a runner and an athlete. It’s hard at times to share that and to utter those words or type them but this journey of mine has been two fold. I have become something of a runner and athlete — having taken part in 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and Spartans and trail running. That journey can be seen as an external one where I can be seen running or walking outside and seeing the results of my efforts in my clothing size and measurements. I have also transformed internally and this particular journey is all the more important for me to share because I am that wife and mother (not a grandmother at the beginning of all of this) who started out, so afraid and so lacking that belief in herself to try those things that would ultimately bring her joy and purpose. I was afraid to try running but with the help of someone who believed in me and my potential — Jeff — I learned to open myself up to the possibilities that seemed impossible.

I am Hildee and I am the best version of me in 2026 than I could have ever hoped for.

It’s All So Surreal

Embracing My Inner Athlete came out five weeks ago and I feel like I am living in a dream world. I have been working hard over the last few months, reaching out as much as I can to spread the word about the book and my message that it’s never too late to start on a goal. I have three events coming up in the next two weeks where I will get to meet and greet people and sign the books and well…I can’t believe that this is really happening.

Holding a copy of the book was surreal. Signing my first ‘autograph’ – to my mother – was surreal. Sharing my story and being able to verbalize my message has been surreal. Contacting fitness and running influencers and having them come back to me and say this is an important resource…surreal.

I really didn’t think I had a story to tell until my friend, Caryn, encouraged me to put fingers to iPad and share my story in the hope that it touches people out there and inspires them to set aside their fears about it being too late and get started on that one thing that they want to do. I went into this on a whim..writing the manuscript and enjoying the process of recounting the journey I have taken from that day in 2014, when I made the decision to do something for myself. I didn’t know if this was going to turn into anything but I threw caution to the wind….which is so unlike me…and I gave it a go and here I am, five weeks after my book’s release and I am about to record two podcasts tomorrow with two of my favorite podcast personalities. Surreal….

I Asked For It…

Another month, another challenge. There are two days left in June and I have been doing the 25 squats every day, not counting whatever Jeff adds into my training sets. I’ve had plenty of days where I had done the squats upon waking and then completely forgot and did the 25 in a moment of ‘did I or didn’t I?’ I never really thought of this daily squat thing as something of a challenge since I actually enjoy doing squats and I appreciate all that they do for that ‘problem area.’ If anything, the more I did them, all the better, I say!

So this Wednesday marks a new month and wouldn’t you know…I texted Jeff late last week to check to see what July would bring. I could have sworn I remembered him saying that I would be doing a combination of squats and pushups to sort to bring the last two months together but I was totally off. A 60 second plank.

Planks used to scare me. I especially was scared of planks that I had to do on my own, without Jeff coaching me on FaceTime and making sure my form is right. Doing a plank and counting to 60 out loud had proven to be not quite as effective as using a timer on my phone but that seems to take twice as long. Over time though, I have gotten more comfortable with planks and I don’t do that ‘you want me to do what?!’ thing when Jeff tells me to get into plank position. I know it’s great for my core and it tests my mental endurance for sure but I also know I won’t forget that I did it earlier in the day and feel pumped to do another one ‘just because.’ I’ll embrace that inner athlete of mine and plank it up every day for the next month but I think I might need to hold back from asking Jeff what’s in store for August!

Going The Distance

This morning, I went out for a run with a 10k distance as a goal but not quite so sure that I would be able to get it done. I hadn’t put on my running shoes since last Friday as I was rear ended in a collision this past Monday and I had been dealing with some whiplash/headache symptoms as a result. Running was off the table but I was able to walk and spin and train with Jeff, who once again worked around things to allow me to train safely and effectively. I knew running would be there if I gave myself a few days or however long it would take me to feel back to myself and sure enough, I was feeling well enough yesterday to consider putting on those running shoes again.

So a 10k was a lofty goal and as I said, I wasn’t all that sure that I would be able to do it. I didn’t know if running would trigger the headache pressure I had been having earlier in the week (it didn’t!) and I didn’t know if I would run with the intensity I have been pushing in the last few outdoor runs (I did!). I stuck to my route for the most part, running first through my suburb and then heading into the next to get me to Shaker Blvd where I then began my run through the Beachwood Gorden park. It felt so good to run along the path there and at 7 in the morning, there were a few people walking along the way but I mostly had the path to myself. It gave me a chance to take in my surroundings and acknowledge to myself how fortunate I felt to be out and about again and back on the path that I used to frequent yet have only been on once this past year. I tried not to look at my watch too often but I took a peek now and then just to see how far I’ve gone, rather than how fast I might have been going. I wasn’t thinking at all about my time or my pace….all I wanted to know was how far I had gone at such and such a point. Once I reached four miles, I figured I was feeling good and I had more in me and hey, why not go for that 10k distance and get that virtual 10k badge from Strava?!

As I ran through the next two plus miles, I thought about how lucky I was to be running again. Granted, it had only been a few days that I was off but it could have been so much worse and I am grateful I am feeling back to myself and able to run again. I have had many ‘sideline’ periods over this running journey of mine where I broke my foot or had a calf strain or after a surgery and I learned the phrase ‘running will be there.’ It was always there…not necessarily in the way it had been before that sidelining but it was always there. Sometimes, I got right back into it on day one while other times, it was there for me but I wasn’t there for it and it would take time to find that joy and drive again. This morning’s run provided that joy and drive. It was there when I was ready for it and it was pretty darn great!

Embracing My Inner Athlete

The day has come and I am holding a copy of my book Embracing My Inner Athlete. It was released yesterday and you can find it on Amazon, Library Tales Publishing and in the coming days, on Barnes & Noble. It is a dream come true…well, this whole journey of mine is a dream come true but to be able to share it all — the highs and the lows and everything in between — that is a whole other dream.

The book was originally titled You Want Me To Do What?! — like this blog of mine but it was too common a title when my publisher checked out the market. I came up with the Embracing My Inner Athlete but I wasn’t entirely sold on this as I was still a bit hesitant about referring to myself as an athlete. I mean…me, an athlete?! It sounded a bit bold and even a bit arrogant for me to refer to myself as an athlete.

I’m the girl who caught a softball with her eye instead of her brother’s mitt. I’m the wife and mom who tripped over a step and broke her foot on the way out of a metropark restroom. I’m the same wife and mom who tripped on a sidewalk (notice a pattern???) while taking a leisurely walk. Me? An Athlete? I certainly didn’t think of myself as an athlete when I began this journey in 2014. I had been living this life where I was caught up with everybody else’s goings on and making sure that everything was taken care of for them, yet I wasn’t thinking all that much about what I needed for myself. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have a hobby. I didn’t have a sport. The decision to prioritize myself —- and ultimately work out with Jeff and take up fitness and running —- changed my life for the better. The journey has seen me do things I never thought possible…that I assumed to be too hard….that I thought I was too old…too weak…to whatever. From half marathons to Spartans and from trail running to getting back in the pool after years of sitting on the sidelines, I have learned to embrace my inner athlete.

Embracing My Inner Athlete tells the story of a wife and mother who is proof that it is never too late to change your life and nothing is truly too hard or impossible. From couch potato to athlete, I have embraced it all and I am here to say that you are stronger than you think.