I had a great run today!
I felt so energetic. It was very cold- actual temp was about 30, not sure the wind child, but it was breezy to say the least. I ran for 30 minutes- got in 2.68 miles and felt super.
Tomorrow's plan is for 30+ min of strength training and some cardio- but hoping I'm not thwarted by the snow storm coming in. But I'll get 30 min in one way or another.
#100DayChallenge - it's on.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Day 3- 100 Day challenge
To keep myself honest (and to also keep me blogging more regularly)- I am going to try to post daily what my 30 min (minimum) of activity was for the 100 Day Challenge. On some days- I may not have much to say- so it really may just be a quick post of what I did that day.
While doing some furniture shopping today, I also picked up a pair of YakTrax for my shoes to help me run better on snow/icy conditions- I'm hoping to test them out this week as we are supposed to get some snow.
It was a pretty busy day and I was really hoping to get a more intense workout in- but as the day wore on and so many of our plans swallowed up the hours, I finally settled on doing another On Demand workout at home so that I could quickly get it in and spend max time with my family before the week's craziness begins.
#100DayChallenge - 3 days down.
(as a side note to myself- any day that I do not work out- if sick, or if really truly can't fit it in schedule- will be tacked on to the end; but preference is to do 100 days in a row)
While doing some furniture shopping today, I also picked up a pair of YakTrax for my shoes to help me run better on snow/icy conditions- I'm hoping to test them out this week as we are supposed to get some snow.
It was a pretty busy day and I was really hoping to get a more intense workout in- but as the day wore on and so many of our plans swallowed up the hours, I finally settled on doing another On Demand workout at home so that I could quickly get it in and spend max time with my family before the week's craziness begins.
#100DayChallenge - 3 days down.
(as a side note to myself- any day that I do not work out- if sick, or if really truly can't fit it in schedule- will be tacked on to the end; but preference is to do 100 days in a row)
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Starting on a high note
Back from the dead!
Well- no, not really. I just haven't taken the time to blog a lot lately. I've been kind of frustrated with another plateau I'm now dealing with. I'm still pushing through- but it's irritating.
The good news, though, is that I made it through the holidays (perhaps the first time) without gaining any significant weight. Between Dec 10 and Jan 7- I gained 2.2 lbs (I could put a lot of caveats on this too- but I won't). Considering I ate any/all holiday meals, treats (etc) that I wanted- I think I'll call that success.
I don't have the focus to really map out all of the last couple of weeks- but the highlights?
- The week between Christmas and New Years, I worked out 6 days in a row; ran 2 5ks that week.
- In the first week of the New Year, I've done a couple of things:
- Been frustrated with the scale not moving
- Began to focus back on cleaning up my eating. Need more whole foods, and recheck portions
- Finally went to doctor about foot pain- plantar fasciatis, small heel spur - very treatable without any surgery and I can run during the healing process so no downtime.
- Couldn't make my training appt today due to the gym daycare being closed (again!); so I came home and did a Fitness Bootcamp (Enviga) from our On Demand
I needed to kind of turn things up a little, when - Sara (@SeeSaraRun on Twitter) asked me if I was doing the #100DayChallenge
100 Day Challenge
John "The Penguin" Bingham has started a 100 Day Challenge beginning Jan 1, 2011. (If you're not sure who John Bingham is, check him out here)
This challenge asks that you dedicate 30 minutes everyday for exercise for 100 days. It doesn't have to be hardcore, it can be walking around your neighborhood, just move consistently and intentionally for 30 minutes everyday. The 30 minutes don't even have to all be together- 10 min here, 10 there, etc.
*****************
I didn't hear about the challenge until after it had started, so I began on Friday with a 2.5 mile run in the snow. It was fresh snow- and my footprints were the first tracks. It was awesome.
Today- (as mentioned above) was day 2 and I was thwarted when I got to the gym and the daycare was not open again. But thankfully, it was naptime for my youngest- so I came home and put her down, got my 4 yr old busy- and turned on the video and got to work. I'm talking jumping jacks, tire sprints, squat thrusts and so much more. It was tough, but I got a great sweat going and felt really good after.
Here's to the next 98 days!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Pushing yourself
Today, I wanted to do another interval workout like the workout with Liz last week - so I did the same order, and almost the same exercises as that one. However, my small town gym by where I work: stairmaster is too far from the other equipment and they don't have an AMT. So- for the cardio portions, I went between the elliptical on a high resistance, a recumbant bike and the treadmill- running 30 second sprints at 7mph (I don't think I've ever turned the treadmill that high before- that's about a 8:30mm pace)
Then I did the squat jacks, slow running one leg and spiderman planks - I was able to do 10 on each side. Again- it was an amazing sweat for about 25 minutes of effort. I was on a time crunch because I had to pick up my kids- so I cooled off for 5 minutes on the treadmill and got in the car to go home.
The best part about having kept up my workout routine during Christmas week is that I really don't feel like I missed a step at all- there is no post-holiday slump. Yay!
Looking forward to ending the year on a good fitness note and starting 2011 strong. My goal for the year is to hit my goal weight range by the end of 2011. 365 days and some change. I can do this. No [Lots] Sweat.
Then I did the squat jacks, slow running one leg and spiderman planks - I was able to do 10 on each side. Again- it was an amazing sweat for about 25 minutes of effort. I was on a time crunch because I had to pick up my kids- so I cooled off for 5 minutes on the treadmill and got in the car to go home.
The best part about having kept up my workout routine during Christmas week is that I really don't feel like I missed a step at all- there is no post-holiday slump. Yay!
Looking forward to ending the year on a good fitness note and starting 2011 strong. My goal for the year is to hit my goal weight range by the end of 2011. 365 days and some change. I can do this. No [Lots] Sweat.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Earned Total Exhaustion
I had 2 intense workouts today. One WAY more intense than the other- but both very very good workouts. I wish, on occassions like this, that I had something like a BodyBugg to track how many calories I truly burned. I think it was no less than 800 cals burned with my efforts- but hard to know.
My first session was a focused core workout followed by some light lifting. 45 minutes total and I had a good sweat going. I didn't have time for cardio afterwards- but I knew I'd have another workout coming so I estimate that I burned about 300 calories here.
Later in the day, I met up with my friend Liz from Eternal Lizdom and went to her gym at Fiziques to be a part of a Boot Camp Interval Training session. I had so much fun and it kicked my butt! We started with about 5 minutes warm up jog/walk intervals on the treadmill and then rotating between a StairMaster, a Precor AMT and a recumbant bike for 30 second intervals of high and low intensity on each machine for a total of 2 minutes. Then we went out to the main part of the gym and did what I think were called Squat Jacks: Squat down, pick up weight and stand up. Squat back down, return weight, stand up and clap hands at top. Repeat for 1 minute. The a slow walking lap around the gym to recover. Next was One legged running in place. This is hard to explain but you go into a sort of soft lunge stance- and your front quad is the weight bearing muscle. Then you alternate arms and bring the back leg into a short knee lift and return. The front quad bears the weight the whole time- there is no shift to the back leg. We did one side for 30 seconds and then the other side. Another lap around the gym- and it was time for Spiderman Planks - hold a standard plank position and then from the side- bring one leg up to behind the elbow- as if scaling a wall. The exact count varied- depending on ability- this one was hard for me- I've been working on core strength- but I had not worked planks into it yet- these will be something I do again and work up to greater counts.
Then we repeated the entire circuit again. (I hope Liz will correct me if I left something out in the order- I think I remembered it all, but it's been a long day!). At the end we did a little more core work (My whole middle section will be so sore tomorrow- and I love it!). It was a fantastic workout- I sweat like I hadn't sweat in so long - and it was great to change it up a little. Would be nice to do those types of workouts in my schedule more often. I estimate that in the 40-45 minutes, I burned at least 500 cals.
Thank you Liz and Bridget at Fiziques for letting me join you today and for working me out!
My first session was a focused core workout followed by some light lifting. 45 minutes total and I had a good sweat going. I didn't have time for cardio afterwards- but I knew I'd have another workout coming so I estimate that I burned about 300 calories here.
Later in the day, I met up with my friend Liz from Eternal Lizdom and went to her gym at Fiziques to be a part of a Boot Camp Interval Training session. I had so much fun and it kicked my butt! We started with about 5 minutes warm up jog/walk intervals on the treadmill and then rotating between a StairMaster, a Precor AMT and a recumbant bike for 30 second intervals of high and low intensity on each machine for a total of 2 minutes. Then we went out to the main part of the gym and did what I think were called Squat Jacks: Squat down, pick up weight and stand up. Squat back down, return weight, stand up and clap hands at top. Repeat for 1 minute. The a slow walking lap around the gym to recover. Next was One legged running in place. This is hard to explain but you go into a sort of soft lunge stance- and your front quad is the weight bearing muscle. Then you alternate arms and bring the back leg into a short knee lift and return. The front quad bears the weight the whole time- there is no shift to the back leg. We did one side for 30 seconds and then the other side. Another lap around the gym- and it was time for Spiderman Planks - hold a standard plank position and then from the side- bring one leg up to behind the elbow- as if scaling a wall. The exact count varied- depending on ability- this one was hard for me- I've been working on core strength- but I had not worked planks into it yet- these will be something I do again and work up to greater counts.
Then we repeated the entire circuit again. (I hope Liz will correct me if I left something out in the order- I think I remembered it all, but it's been a long day!). At the end we did a little more core work (My whole middle section will be so sore tomorrow- and I love it!). It was a fantastic workout- I sweat like I hadn't sweat in so long - and it was great to change it up a little. Would be nice to do those types of workouts in my schedule more often. I estimate that in the 40-45 minutes, I burned at least 500 cals.
Thank you Liz and Bridget at Fiziques for letting me join you today and for working me out!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sharing what works
Two posts in a day? What IS this world coming to?
As I'm home all week- cleaning is the name of the game. I'm doing a total house cleaning and purge of clutter. In so doing, I came across something I had long ago posted on my refrigerator to keep me motivated.
I had gone searching on the internet for something inspirational to keep me going- to keep in my head that I CAN do it- and I have to. I came across this post through the Google results of my search- http://www.pinuplifestyle.com/profiles/blogs/fitness-blogmotivating - This was exactly what I needed! I took the list part and printed it out and posted it on my fridge so that it would be a DAILY reminder of what I was doing. I wanted SO badly today to go back to that post and leave a comment for the author- but you have to join the community there, and as I'm not into the Pinup world, I didn't want to join just to comment. I hope someday that she'll see this and know how much it helped. I posted it on my refrigerator in January of 2010 and it is now December 2010 and I'm able to throw the list away- mostly because I followed every piece of advice on it- and now proud to say that I live a (mostly) healthy lifestyle and fitness is not the part I have to tweak now. So Miss Marissa Lily - wherever you are- I hope you know how wonderful you are- your words truly inspired someone.
As I'm home all week- cleaning is the name of the game. I'm doing a total house cleaning and purge of clutter. In so doing, I came across something I had long ago posted on my refrigerator to keep me motivated.
I had gone searching on the internet for something inspirational to keep me going- to keep in my head that I CAN do it- and I have to. I came across this post through the Google results of my search- http://www.pinuplifestyle.com/profiles/blogs/fitness-blogmotivating - This was exactly what I needed! I took the list part and printed it out and posted it on my fridge so that it would be a DAILY reminder of what I was doing. I wanted SO badly today to go back to that post and leave a comment for the author- but you have to join the community there, and as I'm not into the Pinup world, I didn't want to join just to comment. I hope someday that she'll see this and know how much it helped. I posted it on my refrigerator in January of 2010 and it is now December 2010 and I'm able to throw the list away- mostly because I followed every piece of advice on it- and now proud to say that I live a (mostly) healthy lifestyle and fitness is not the part I have to tweak now. So Miss Marissa Lily - wherever you are- I hope you know how wonderful you are- your words truly inspired someone.
Making the treadmill work for you.
I hate the treadmill.
I do.
Hate. It is a strong word- but applicable here.
Mostly because of it's hamster wheel like properties which initiate my "you can't do it" internal dialogue.
However, it's snowy, icy and just not ideal for running outside right now, and I don't wish to risk injury considering my planned race schedule for 2011.
I'm very lucky to have this entire week before Christmas off from work and able to really get a lot of great workouts and cleaning and just ME time in. So after dropping my oldest at preschool this morning, I headed straight for the gym- with a "I'm going to CONQUER the treadmill" mindset.
The funny thing is- I used the treadmill to get into running in the first place. I am lucky enough to have a really nice one here at home- and I was really self-conscious about running in public at first. I started and completed Couch-to-5k on that treadmill. . .but then I converted to outdoor running and found a love like I'd never known.
I had a plan too- and that always helps. Lately, one of my blog friends - Beth at C.Beth Blog or C.Beth Run has been talking about doing interval runs lately where she runs fast for 4 minutes and then walks for 1; she's loving it and able to increase her overall pace because of it. I said "that won't work for me" right away- because when I run OUTSIDE, I prefer to not stop running once I start because I find it difficult to start again. However, considering how difficult I find it to run for even 10 minutes straight (not difficult in effort- but more mental really) on the treadmill- I decided to really give it a go with the intervals. I wanted to give the intervals a shot- I thought maybe mixing it up would keep me focused, challenged and keep the runs to very manageable parts. You know what? It WORKED!
I decided to do 2x1 intervals, starting with a 3 minute warm up walk, then running 2 minutes and walking 1; repeat to finish. I went a total of 45 minutes and ran 3.85 miles at a pace of about 11:40mm; that's: 28 running, 17 walking and I haven't sweat like that in a long time.
The treadmill and I might learn to be winter friends afterall.
I do.
Hate. It is a strong word- but applicable here.
Mostly because of it's hamster wheel like properties which initiate my "you can't do it" internal dialogue.
However, it's snowy, icy and just not ideal for running outside right now, and I don't wish to risk injury considering my planned race schedule for 2011.
I'm very lucky to have this entire week before Christmas off from work and able to really get a lot of great workouts and cleaning and just ME time in. So after dropping my oldest at preschool this morning, I headed straight for the gym- with a "I'm going to CONQUER the treadmill" mindset.
The funny thing is- I used the treadmill to get into running in the first place. I am lucky enough to have a really nice one here at home- and I was really self-conscious about running in public at first. I started and completed Couch-to-5k on that treadmill. . .but then I converted to outdoor running and found a love like I'd never known.
I had a plan too- and that always helps. Lately, one of my blog friends - Beth at C.Beth Blog or C.Beth Run has been talking about doing interval runs lately where she runs fast for 4 minutes and then walks for 1; she's loving it and able to increase her overall pace because of it. I said "that won't work for me" right away- because when I run OUTSIDE, I prefer to not stop running once I start because I find it difficult to start again. However, considering how difficult I find it to run for even 10 minutes straight (not difficult in effort- but more mental really) on the treadmill- I decided to really give it a go with the intervals. I wanted to give the intervals a shot- I thought maybe mixing it up would keep me focused, challenged and keep the runs to very manageable parts. You know what? It WORKED!
I decided to do 2x1 intervals, starting with a 3 minute warm up walk, then running 2 minutes and walking 1; repeat to finish. I went a total of 45 minutes and ran 3.85 miles at a pace of about 11:40mm; that's: 28 running, 17 walking and I haven't sweat like that in a long time.
The treadmill and I might learn to be winter friends afterall.
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