Friday, February 12th, 2010
by Joanna Sutter
Instead of claiming to be part of the Lonely Hearts Club like I do every Valentine’s Day, this year I’m going to declare myself part of the Healthy Hearts Club instead. In fact, today the MP4 team and I are joining a network of heart healthy bloggers in the Blog Your Heart Out campaign. Today we join the American Heart Association and other writers around the globe to SPEAK UP for heart disease.
Because we love you, we’d like to challenge you to:
Ok, the meeting of the Healthy Hearts Club is adjourned. Now let’s show some love for….
The MP4 Athlete of the Week: Rachel Wilkerson
If we asked your coach or training partner to list three words that describe you they would be: Hilarious, energetic, and completely straightforward.
What are you training 4? Since I just finished training for a marathon in January, I’m not training for any events for a little while. Instead, I’m focusing on strength training to get stronger; when I start to train for a race again, I want to be able train harder and run faster.
What is the best nutrition or training tip you’ve ever been given? For training — “Don’t let your body get desperate.” I’ve really become aware of good form in the past couple years, and now as a trainer and teacher, I’m even more aware of it. It’s so important to focus on your body first, and your intensity second. Doing a tough workout with bad form is going to get you an injury.
For food — “Put down the fork.” I mean, I LOVE food, but sometimes I just need to put down the fork!! You can’t eat every meal like it’s your last meal on Earth!
Tell us about your most memorable athletic achievement. Running the Disney World marathon in Jan 2010! It was my first and crossing the finish line wasn’t even the best part…it was the entire five hour experience. It was really more enjoyable than I ever could have expected…and everything I could have asked for! Running through the park, thinking about how hard I had worked to get there, seeing my family at 26.1…it was all so exciting!
Describe your perfect workout. I love a hard, sweaty ride — on a bike, that is! I don’t always feel like an athlete, but I can tear the hell out of a spin class. A perfect workout would be a class first thing in the morning, in the summer, so it’s already sunny as you’re getting there! A great 45-minute ride with amazing music and lots of jumps and fast songs, followed by push-ups. I really have fallen in love with push-ups! When I can’t do anything else, I can at least drop and give 20!
How do you achieve workout/life balance? I am a total planner! Right now I have a lot going on professionally, and I have to plan my schedule carefully to fit it all in! Balancing working out and a social life is harder; I learned that the hard way in college. But now that I’ve learned to enjoy two drinks instead of, um, eight, it makes balancing it easier! And morning workouts are great for not interfering with social plans. I also give myself some flexibility when I’m planning my workouts. I might say, “FOR SURE working out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but you have a choice to do Tuesday OR Thursday depending on how you feel.”
What motivates you on days you don’t feel like working out? GOALS! I set weekly goals, monthly goals, resolutions! I also have found that blogging makes me seriously accountable, so that’s been great. And I wrote about this recently, but Twitter helps too! There’s an awesome support community on Twitter. They’ll get you to the gym.
If you could workout with anyone in the world who would it be and why? Oprah! But not with Bob Greene, I’d want her to come to my spin class and I’d make her work it and have a great time! And then there’d be a surprise visit from Dr. Oz…and I’d cook lunch for everyone and she’d say, “This is AMAAAAAZING!” in her Oprah voice.
What is your favorite workout accessory? It’s a tie…I love my ipod more than pretty much anything, but my custom Nike Shox are too fun. Crazy colors…one shoe says “Holla” and the other says “Back.” Both items keep me super motivated.
What kitchen gadget can you not live without? MAGIC BULLET! Beyond obsessed. It really is as good as the infomercial makes it seem. I’ve worn this one out; I’m probably going to need a new one soon!
What was the last thing you’ve had to eat today? A green apple, which is one of my favorite foods of all time! I eat at least one every day.
What book or magazine is on your bed side table? “Linchpin,” the new book by Seth Godin…his books have really inspired me this past year to take more professional risks. They are so exciting!
What beauty product is always in your purse or gym bag? Lipstick! I look washed out without it. Not gloss, though. Stick.
What is the most played song on your iPod? “Go Girl” by Pitbull. It’s fast, hot, and dirty and always makes me feel ready for anything.
The first place you go when you log on to your computer is….The mailbox on my desk top, just because I hate having the little icon up with unread mail. After that, probably TweetDeck. I ADORE Twitter!
When you’re not working out where can we find you? At my desk! I work at home so I’ve set up a nice little office…I’m always on my MacBook or Blackberry working on some new project!
What’s your motto? I don’t have a particular motto, but right before I ran the Disney marathon, I got a tattoo with the Latin words for health, beauty, passion, and pleasure. Those are the driving forces behind everything I do!
