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I didn’t find my love of hiking and walking until I was over the age of 30. Prior to that I was more focused on those flashy activities that required either more money and equipment or an additional level of fitness in order to enter the sport. It was my badge of honor to show that I could still do the intricate plyometric moves or complete an obstacle course style workout faster than my friends. However, as I have gotten older, I have started to fall in love with the simplicity of just taking a walk secluded in nature smelling the clean air and listening to the bird calls high up in the trees. I also got the added benefits of being able to bring my dog along which served as killing 2 birds with one stone (don’t worry they weren’t the pretty song birds we were just listening to) as he would have needed some form of exercise as well. And the more I leaned about why walking was the best exercise the more I felt like the fitness influencers have it wrong.

So, with that let’s dive into I think that, and I’ll see if maybe I can convince you as well to join me on “team walk”.

Check out my blog post on Savage Health LLC's website to learn about some of the amazing benefits walking provides us.

Also, yes I do always cold plunge my feet in the water (when allowed) whenever I hike somewhere with a good opportunity. It's so refreshing and a wonderful way to create a memory on your adventure.

See you out there!

Britt

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Did you know we have started adding some bonus clips from our episodes exclusively on our YouTube channel? In this week's episode we discuss some of the ways to measure physical success with your fitness goals as well as getting a little vulnerable with our own personal experiences with the BMI metric and why we don't like it. But don't worry you'll also learn what the heck we are talking about with rivers, and why this has become such an inside joke with us.

We definitely had fun with this one and we hope you go Check out *Bonus Party Episode 5* available exclusively on our YouTube channel: race to wellness - YouTube

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Working hard to try to get rid of these tan lines while I'm here. But with the weather being over 100 everyday I've been here I haven't really been in a lot of direct sun, mostly just trying to jump between the shade patches in order not to die on every run. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiSlndNrgpD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Anyone else feeling a hot girl summer quite literally? Because of the time difference here I have been able to wake up early quite easily and then go for a run before the weather got too warm. But man I was still a sweaty mess at the end of it. Luckily it was only 81⁰ (27⁰C) during it, but ooph was it a lot of heart rate spikes up in the low 170s. Did you know that when it is hot your heart rate will be even higher when running at the same relative pace? This is because your heart is having to work harder to pump blood to not only your muscles and your lungs but also your skin so that it can attempt to cool you down through heat transfer and evaporation. So when it's hot out make sure you are monitoring yourself and decreasing your effort when you can to ensure you don't overwork yourself. (at Samuel P. Taylor State Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiOFJbkvYJk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Haven't run in more than a month so it felt only fitting to do my first run back on a trail I wanted to run all the time but wasn't allowed to because it doesn't allow dogs. It wasn't a fast run by any means, it was a therapeutic one. I walked some parts and took in my surroundings, I stopped to take pictures of trees and signs, and then I walked the last ½ mile with my mom and her dog. My hip felt quite a bit better, not perfect but I could feel that it was less stressed out and painful than it was 2 months ago. Overall a win. Here's hoping it just keeps feeling better. (at Samuel P. Taylor State Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiMNXRHL4lR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Trying to remind myself of this, day in and day out

There is no comparison between the sun and the moon. They both shine when it is their time.

Bottom line … stop comparing yourself to others.

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I've been seeing a lot of friends posts online about their pregnancies or their new babies. I want to be happy for them all so i comment my congratulations and hoe exciting that is for them, but deep down its really hard. Having been living this scenario for the last year+ I know exactly how it feels to see the negative month after month...

Infertile - J.Q

TW: mentions of miscarriage and infertility please scroll away if those trigger you. might make this a small series, not to sure yet, lmk if i should! enjoy loves <3

you and Joseph had been trying for a baby for a year and a half. it had been the hardest year and a half of your life. seeing each pregnancy test, one after the other being negative, took a massive toll on your mental health. sex felt like a chore instead of being enjoyable, it's not that it wasn't filled with love, it was just the thought that you were trying and nothing was working.

Joseph had just come back from doing an interview with Jamie for Esquire, seeing you sat in the living room watching Orange is the new Black. he hated how this made you feel. he could see the bags under your eyes from the lack of sleep, he could see your bloodshot eyes from all the crying. your whole being just looked defeated. he hated that all this made you feel so bad about yourself.

last year when you both started trying, decided to go to the doctors to discuss IVF treatment which worked for about a month. you were pregnant for one month and then one morning, you woke up to the worst cramps you'd ever felt and Joseph had to rush you to the hospital where you were both informed that you had lost your precious baby.

it had been the worse day of your life after finding that out and it was one thing you'd never be able to forget. the hole in your heart had never been filled and Joseph felt the same. he hated seeing you so down and he felt the same when he lost his beautiful baby. seeing your friends and family having babies made you jealous and you hated the way you felt whenever you found out another one was pregnant. you were then sat on your vanity chair, getting ready for a family dinner for Joseph's mums birthday. after Joseph’s interview, he also got ready and was waiting for you.

you'd taken a pregnancy test earlier that day, it being negative again. you hated the negative thoughts that would come through your mind. what if Joseph left you for someone who could actually give him a baby? would he still love you even if you couldn't have kids? you were pulled out of your thoughts when Joseph shouted your name, luckily you only needed to slip on your shoes so you got up from your vanity, put on your shoes and walked to the front door.

Joseph your handbag in his hand, holding it out for you to take which made your heart melt. it was the little things he did for you which made your love for him grow. you walked hand in hand to his car and he opened the door for you to get in. the whole car ride was silent. you didn't really know what to talk about. Joseph's hand was on your thigh as he drove, your hand on top of his.

you arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes later, not wanting to look moody and upset you put on the best fake smile you could, trying to make it look as genuine as possible. before you walked into the restaurant, Joseph stopped you from entering it. "hey stop a second" he said, making you turn around to him, a confused look on your face.

"i know today was hard, a lot harder than the other times but we seriously don't have to stay here for long" he said, his thumb stroking your hand softly. you sighed. "Joseph, it's your mums birthday, i'll feel bad if we didn't stay till the end" you said, looking up at him. he shook his head and lent in to kiss your cheek. "we can leave whenever you want love. just give me a nudge" he said, making you nod your head.

you both walked into the restaurant, seeing all of Joseph's close family there. his mum, dad, brother and his wife and his sister and her husband. you said your hellos, giving his mum and dad a hug and then sat down next to Joseph. he had his hand on your thigh as you all listened to his mum talk about what she had done that day. "and your dad took me to the beach and then we went home, got dressed and came here" she finished, you had the biggest smile on your face as you listened to her.

his mum and dads relationship was the cutest thing you'd ever seen. "mum we got you something, it's not much but uhh we think you'll like it" Joseph's sister said, the attention now on her. you looked at Joseph who was confused, they'd all put money together to get her a gift and now she'd also gotten her own one for her as well. he watched as his mum opened the small bag, her eyes lighting up when she saw the positive pregnancy test at the bottom.

"oh my god. i'm going to be a grandma" she said, her voice was filled with happiness and her face lit up. your heart sank. you really really wanted to be happy for your sister in law but you couldn't. watching his mums smile widen as she hugged her daughter filled you with hurt and jealousy. any other day you would have been so happy for her but seeing the negative test just this morning made seeing this even more upsetting.

Joseph's hand on your thigh tightened as he watched your face drop from the smile to a frown then back to a small smile, trying to act happy. you looked at Joseph who had a sympathetic smile on his face. everyone got up from the table and hugged his sister, including you, but the more they spoke about it, the more it hurt to listen.

your eyes welled up with tears as his sister showed off her growing bump and scan photos, she spoke about how she was 23 weeks along and how they're finding out the gender in three weeks. your bottom lip started to quiver as you kept listening, the pang of sadness in your heart getting the better of you. "i'm gonna go to the bathroom quickly" you whispered to Joseph, who looked at you with a knowing look on his face. he nodded his head and watched as you walked off to the bathroom.

"y/n has been gone for a while, is she okay?" his brother said, making everyone turn to look at him. he sighed and nodded, standing up from the table to go check you were okay. "she's fine, i'll be back in a second" he replied, tucking his chair in before walking to the bathroom. he lent up against the door and heard your sniffles and hiccups as you tried to calm down. he knocked on the door softly, hearing your sniffles suddenly stop.

"y/n? it's me sweetheart. can you let me in?" Joseph said in a soft tone. he heart you sigh before the bathroom door unlocked. he opened the door and walked in, seeing you sat on the toilet lid, mascara smudged down your cheeks. he closed the door and locked it again before walking towards you. he walked towards you and put his hands out for you to grab, helping you stand up. he pulled you into a hug, your arms falling around his waist as your head rested on his chest.

he held you close as you sobbed into his chest, embarrassed, hurt and jealous of his sister. "i shouldn't be so upset but i am" you said, sobs raking through your body. he nodded his head and kissed your hair, his hand rubbing up and down your back as he tried to comfort you. "i know sweetheart, i know" he replied, his heart clenching as he heard your sobs.

"you wanna leave?" he asked, his hand moving to your hair and ran his fingers through it. you sighed before nodding your head, feeling bad for leaving his mum on her birthday. "do you think you could grab my bag? i feel a bit embarrassed" you said, pulling away from his chest and neck eyes looking up at him. he nodded his head and wiped your cheeks clean of the mascara. "go get into the car and i'll say my goodbyes" he said, leaning in to kiss you. you reciprocated and walked away from him, walking to the car.

Joseph walked out of the bathroom and walked back to the table, hearing them talking about his brothers promotion. “oh Joseph love, where’s y/n?” his mum said, not seeing you with him. he sighed before picking up your bag. “she’s sick, she wasn’t feeling too good earlier and missed work. she was adamant on coming tonight for your birthday” he finished, looking at his mums sympathetic smile. “oh bless her, you could if cancelled i wouldn’t have minded. we could have met up tomorrow” she said, standing up from the table.

he walked around and gave her a hug before saying his goodbyes to the rest of his family. “i’ll pay you later mum” he said before he walked back to the car, seeing you standing picking at the acrylics on your fingers. he unlocked the car and you got in. he got in next to you and grabbed your hand and kissed your knuckle softly. “we’re going to have our own baby one day, it may not be next week, next month or next year but i will one hundred percent give you a baby.” he said, making your head turn to look at him. you knew he’d do anything for you and you would get your baby one day.

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Another week in the books for my 30 days of consistent trainer rides. This week brought with it joy of actually wanting to do these workouts instead of hesitation on if I wanted to do it. Swipe to see what the last 5 minutes of a workout looks like for me. Do you look forward to your workout everyday? Let me know it the comments below what type of workout would cause you to jump out of bed for it. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChiihfBozT4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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8 more 21:30 cycling workouts in the books. I this past week I saw my power to weight ratio increase 0.1 W/Kg (watts per kilogram body weight). My body weight is doing its normal fluctuating thing where it goes up when I eat 🍟🍟and it goes down when my hormones aren't going 🍌🍌 (Can you tell I wrote this post while I was hungry?🤫🤫). So with that said there is cause to believe that both weight loss has occurred and some strength gains are happening simultaneously. I am also now able to maintain more high cadence in my big ring so that is also helping those power numbers 🏋🏼‍♀️ ❓️❔️I'm curious do you train with data numbers or are you solely a "enjoy the time" kind of person? This next week I will try to vary my poses more so the collage is more fun 🤪 https://www.instagram.com/p/ChPtjA4o70v/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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You only see the struggles someone lets you see. And sometimes you have to put on a smile and tell yourself you will be OK because no one else is going to do it for you.

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The photos do not do it justice. The forest floor is just covered with these beautiful blue bell flowers. 💙🔔 There was an area (that I didn't document, just lived in the moment) but the flowers were literally as far as you could see in the forest. 10/10 recommend if you have the chance to go hike through here that you do it. It is towards the end of the season though so soon they will be gone for the season until 2023. (at Hallerbos) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc_FfmCLUTX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Thanks for not asking....

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Another shorts run 🥳🥳 and another 3 miles in the books. I could get used to this weather. 🤞fingers crossed I didn't jinx it. #rungirlrun #runnersofinstagram #runningcommunity #runwithyourdog #runwithasmile #tonguesout #sunsouttonguesout #springtimerunning #springrunning #fridayfeeling #fridayrun #sunnyrun #runtraining #enjoytherun #runningmakesmehappy #runningismytherapy #running2022 #runwithus (at Kessel-Lo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcYlyRfLjtz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Veil of numb

I can feel when it starts to descend upon me. It’s a thin layer of suffocating fog that leisurely creeps in and attaches itself to my being. It’s cloying nature sticks to my eyes and burns away my ability to focus on anything within my gaze. I try to clear the feeling by rubbing my eyes but with each circular motion that fog seeps deeper and deeper inside me. My shoulders start to tighten and close off, pulling my body into itselfMy consciousness doesn’t know how to respond, it’s as if someone has turned off the light switch and I’m stumbling around in the dark. The longer this persists the harder it is to move, to breathe, to be. The only thing I can do is become a spectator of my own life, to dissociate from my consciousness and watch the motion picture back.

It’s a slow, lifeless movie. Just a woman sitting alone on the couch. The same spot she’s been for 4 hours, unable to process decisions, unable to move, just staring at netflix unable to commit to watching anything. Just wanting the clock to tick by faster so it’s socially acceptable to go to bed just to do it all over again tomorrow.

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I wish getting pregnant was as easy as they made it out to be when we were younger.

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