Katie O'Grady

04/26/2021

04/24/2021

Learning how to breathe while running is super important ! 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️

Especially, in the early days of getting back into running or if your a beginner, breathing 🌬will be very important.

Try these tips while on an easy or recovery day walk or jog. I would focus especially on the last one.

People with chronic lung issues 🫁 don’t tend to take belly breaths, we are “lazy” ... JK. What happens is we end up using our back, chest and neck muscles and not the very important diaphragm muscle which is located under our lungs.

This is why running 🏃, biking 🚴🏻‍♀️ or anything cardio related is so important for us with asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, COPD, etc because it helps us strengthen 💪 our diaphragm and we get all that stale air out and clean oxygenated air in 🍃!

👍 if you liked these breathing tips give a thumbs up in the comments!
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04/20/2021

The most beautiful things often times are the most dangerous ⚠️!
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I love spring 🌸 for all it’s beautiful colors, the pretty flowers brightening up all the side walks and the air 🌹 smells sweet.

Its an amazing time of year unless u have pollen allergies that especially affect your lungs. The past few days have been frustrating 💀.

My running 🏃‍♀️ feels awful and it’s crazy because two weeks ago I was out running 18miles with little to no problem. Thats how quickly things have changed once the trees decided to really shoot the pollen into the air.

Despite have difficulty with my lungs 🫁 and breathing, I have been trying to think and stay positive because the pollen is out of my control.

But there are a few things that are in my control, like what I think about and how I react to it,

💜 Try to think positive- I’m trying not to assume this will only get worse. Anything can happen!

💜Identify a positive amongst the negative- it’s beautiful outside, nature is coming alive!

💜Attitude of Gratitude- I CAN still run despite it being very uncomfortable but I’m doing it!

It’s definitely easier said than done, but I’m trying and taking each day as it comes!

👋Does anyone have any tricks or tips they use to fight the pollen allergies, please let me know because your girl needs it! ⤵️
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04/15/2021

💕Short and sweet!!!
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It was time for a change! My hair has been so gross and ratty and it was honestly effecting my mood. I just felt and looked tired 😴 ALLL THEEE TIMEE, there was no fun to my hair anymore.💇🏼‍♀️

But now I’m feeling perky and so light. I chopped around 5inches off, talk about weightless! 💁🏼‍♀️

➡️Swipe over to see the before, you can just see the improvement in my hair and my facial expression haha.

💜On top of my fun new hair, I have some really fun and exciting events taking place REALLY soon! It’s going to be BIG and a FIRST for me, so be on the look out!
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04/14/2021

What a beast!!!
I loved her when she almost won the NYC marathon, loved her when she won Boston in ice pelting freezing conditions and I love her even more now!

In her first race longer than a marathon, she averaged 5:47 pace for more than 31 miles.

04/08/2021

What a great 5min video! Jenny Simpson is once the THE best runners here in the US and even she has struggled, to the extent that she thought her running career was over. It makes you realize that everyone goes through things, as a pro athlete, as a healthy individual and even someone with a chronic illness. But I think the biggest lesson learned from these struggles is the mindset that your in. Jenny struggled because she believed her days of being a talent runner were over. However, she reached out and got the support she needed, maybe because she did have a glimpse of hope left. I think this is something we can all learn from, that if you want something bad enough, then u can over come it by getting help and changing that mindset you put yourself in. Jenny went on to win gold, something she never thought she would do again and she continued to be a beast from there on.

04/08/2021

I have calves of steel thanks to these new calf compression sleeves! 🏃🏼‍♀️
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I use to slack pretty bad on recovery but as I got older I have realized how important it is to stretch, roll out, eat protein after a run, etc.

I usually wear compression leggings to help stimulate recovery but sometimes my calves need some extra love especially after long runs or hill workouts.

So thank you for the awesome blue calf compression sleeves. They have definitely helped my calves and also make me feel super cool when I’m on my runs haha.
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04/05/2021

Miles don’t seem quite as long when your friends are by your side! 🏃‍♀️🚴🏻‍♀️
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I officially completed my 16 mile long run! I was nervous about how my body was going to react since a week earlier I didn’t think I would finish 14miles.

However, I felt pretty good and I think it’s all because my roommate Eileen was with me. Recently, I have been getting pretty mental on my runs and it has been affecting my motivation to keep running.

But after persuading Eileen to wake up early on her day off to ride her bike next to me, I have realized that all I need was a little motivation from a friend.

Thank you again Eileen for tagging along for a long windy and chilly ride!

💜Does anyone else have a partner in crime who u train with?
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03/29/2021

Mission Breathe Again is the Forrest Gump’s of the Rock CF’s Big Weekend! 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️
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🥇If you have not heard, Mission Breathe Again won by running the most miles in the 25 plus team category!

(I posted a collage of just some of our amazing supporters)

We ran a total of 540 miles... woah. However, we also completed a 🏆total of 1,006.274 miles with the help of you all running, biking, and walking!

I’m blown away by our results and the turn out that our team had. I’m so happy. Not only did we accumulate a lot of miles but we also fundraised a total of $919 for the Rock CF Foundation! 🎉

🎁and we all won an awesome mug in the process too... I have had my eyes 👀 on these mugs for so long haha

I know I have said this a few times but I just wanted to say thank you again for your support this past weekend. I had so much fun and it felt good to get back into the competitive spirit.

💜 If you loved this past weekend and would like to do more challenges like this, than I have the one for you. If you have not already, come register for the 65 roses run! Message Megan or go to her Instagram .salty.cf.artisan for more details.
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03/22/2021

“People with disabilities were brought here for a purpose, to show the rest of us what you can overcome. Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it” - Dave McGillivray
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This quote resonated with me so much! I heard it the other day on the news when the director of the Boston Marathon spoke out about the death of Dick Hoyt. 🦄 💙

It gave me chills, because it’s so true. If you put your mind 🧠 into something you love ❤️ I believe you can do some miraculous things.

This holds for even people with a chronic illness or disability.

I kept this quote with me as I ran my 12mile long run 🏃‍♀️this past weekend.

It was by far from my best, I was still recovering from having a very mild case of COVID 🦠, but in the end it was a much needed long run.

It helped me remember how to be tough when running just isn’t going the way I wanted.

I hit a wall during the last few miles of my run and I had to rely on being mentally tough to push through a little longer, even if that meant slowing down and easing it back.

🥇 I’m happy to have finished what I set out to accomplish and I’m now even more hungry to set some big mileage goals this coming weekend for the Rock CF’s Big Weekend!

I have some BIG plans so keep tuning back here to follow along.

⬆️You may even join in on the journey yourself by registering for the BIG event through the link in my bio. Join during registration.
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03/10/2021

I’m glad that is 60 degrees and sunny and not snowing or freezing here in Boston🥶!

🌺 What’s your favorite season?
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03/08/2021

Running is about finding your inner ✌️, and so is a life well lived- Dean Karnazes
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Last week I was pretty tired 😴 and sore leading up to my 10 mile run. I had to do a lot of stretching and rolling out because I was nervous this run would end in failure since it was going to be my longest run in a while.

Surprisingly, it ended up being a pretty great run 😊. I zoned out for most of it just thinking of all my goals for the next few months. I have some pretty big ones and just thinking about them helped push me along.

I ended up running 🏃‍♀️ some pretty quick miles by the end! I believe my training is starting to come together and I am super excited about that 👊.

➡️When you are out running, biking or doing any type of physical activity, what do you think about?
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