Sunday, August 21, 2011

96 Days until the Reunion

It has been quite some time since I have posted. We have been quite busy (last hurrah's of summer and all that). We have also been in the midst of getting a new air conditioner, a new heater and even some new carpet. Obviously there is a whole lot of money going out which is causing a bunch of stress. Overall, I think we are over the worst of the stress part and are just excited to start getting some of these projects completed. The AC/Heater project will, hopefully, be completed tomorrow!

We also just got back from our annual trip to Sesame Place. It is always a really fun time but doesn't do much for my nutrition or exercise plans. We obviously do a great deal of walking but other than that there isn't much other exercising going on. So, when I got back for our long run on Saturday, I thought I was going to collapse. We ran an out and back route that started with A LOT of uphills. I realized just how far my conditioning has dropped over the last month or so. I haven't been lifting consistently or doing my Insanity/Asylum workouts. I've been consistently running 3 times per week and they have been good workouts but it isn't enough. Especially, when combined with the poor eating habits I've had lately.

Saturday was a good wake-up call. I've made some nutrition plans for this week (all meals, not just dinner like I have been doing) and have been doing a good job at sticking to them. I am also, when finished here, going to make up this week's exercise plan with as much detail as possible. Tomorrow I will also retake my measurements and try to come up with some short-term and long-term goals!

School is starting for the kids next week which will also help me get back into a more balanced routine. I do better with more structure but don't always keep it myself so having the drop off and pick-up schedules to keep me accountable will really help. I will also be getting back to school which will help. The only thing I need to watch out for there is extra snacking. I will work on my positive self-talk to keep myself away from the "junk".

I'm looking forward to better days and a slimmer and healthier me!!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

106 Days until Reunion

I did it! I took my measurements today and now I just need to sit down and make some specific goals. I need to get some of my books out and figure out was a reasonable drop in % fat could be. I know that a drop in 1-2 pounds per week is reasonable but that doesn't correlate directly to % body fat.

Exercise was great this morning - hard hilly 7 miler with Lori. Nutrition was also pretty good today and I will keep refining it as I go along. Tomorrow I will do a strength routine. I think I may do Back to Core because I really like that workout AND it hits my hamstrings in ways that none of the other workouts do. I've been feeling some weakness in my left hamstring and I really want to try and fix that up. I also plan on going for a bike ride tomorrow - I got a new bike computer tonight and I would like to try it out before I meet up with the group on Sunday.

One more thing before I sign off. I've been listening to Michael Phelp's audio book "No Limits: The Will to Succeed" and it is really good. I love being able to put the stories on in the car and listen as I drive. He has told stories about races and such and it still brings back chills and tears to hear about come from behind wins and Olympic dreams being fulfilled. I think I'm going to be listening to this book often during the time up to the reunion. I get so psyched to listen to stuff like this!!!

Signing off!!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Day 10 of The Beachbody Challenge - Motivation!

Today has been a better day! It started off with some pretty low motivation to exercise but I turned that around by doing a lifting session that I haven't done in years. I did the BFL upper body lifting routine. The intensity was not super high but it got my butt in gear and I'm proud of that fact. I also had a decent eating day - again, not perfect but a whole lot better than it has been.

I think I have also come across some awesome motivation. While on Facebook today, I found a link to a page that showed I have a reunion coming up in November. The last time I dropped a significant amount of weight....was about 5 years ago for my last reunion. I would love to be able to wear a sexy black dress and knock the socks off of everyone there!

I'll be honest, fashion has NEVER been my thing. I am very much into comfort over fashion no matter what the venue but I think there is a tiny part of me that would LOVE to be able to make jaws just drop onto the floor (most importantly my hubby!).

Well there it is - starting tomorrow I have 106 days until the reunion. I will take measurements tomorrow and come up with my goals.

Positive Nutritional Affirmations

Here are some positive statements that I have come up with:
  • I love to eat healthy nutritious foods.
  • Healthy foods taste great!
  • My body is being fueled by healthy foods.
  • I eat every 2-3 hours and my body is healthy and fit.
I'm sure I'll come up with others and will add to this list as I think of more.

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Day 9 of the Beachbody Challenge

I have a confession: my eating has been pretty poor lately. I feel like I have lost some focus and drive with the nutrition part of the equation. My exercising has been consistent but as we all know, performance suffers when you aren't feeding your body well. I think I try to hide behind excuses like: "this run was tough because of the high temperature and humidity" and "my lifting session was light because I'm sore". Now, I'm not saying that these aren't actual factors that can and have impacted my sessions but......my nutrition hasn't helped the matter either.

All of the above is plain and simple fact - the hard part is figuring out how to fix the problem. My husband would say: "so just stop" but I find that much easier said than done. I don't usually have trouble getting myself psyched to exercise and when I have a race that I'm training for, it is that much easier. Food seems to be a totally different subject. Even when I have been training for events, I've struggled with maintaining good nutritional habits even when I KNOW it will help me attain my race goal. So what do I do now????

Lately, I've been trying to listen to motivational audio books as well as read similar books. A common theme in these books is listening to you self-talk. This is what you say to yourself. Keeping in mind that "You are what you think about most" this type of inner conversation is extremely important. I'm often telling people that I'm a stress eater or boy do I struggle with my nutritional habits (see above). This is the wrong type of self-talk. So, I'm trying to change that habit and as you can see it is a huge work in progress. I need to start turning the negative statements around and stating them in positive ways. So my negative nutritional statements may become something like "I eat to fuel my body" or another common one is "I eat to live not live to eat".

These are not new ideas to me. I have heard and tried all this before. I believe that it works but I've never stuck with it long enough. This time my positive self-talk will be productive (see I'm working on it already - LOL). I am going to start my writing some positive statements on some cards and carrying them with me so that I can pull them out throughout the day. I'm taking responsibility for myself and I will not use others as an excuse. Will this be a perfect process? No. I am not a perfect being and I will not be striving for perfection. But, I know I can do a better job than I have been doing and that will be my initial focus.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Day 3 of Beachbody Challenge

Day 3 workout is in the books and boy was it HARD!!

Today was Asylum Strength - I haven't done this workout in a while. I am sometimes amazed just how quickly you can lose conditioning when you don't do something for a while. That is the beauty of cross-training. Our bodies adjust to the stresses that we submit them to so when we are constantly changing things up, our bodies continue to change and progress!

I'm feeling really good about this week has gone so far. I know it is just the first week of this challenge but I am encouraged by how things have gone so far. I know it won't always be easy and that I will face unforeseen challenges but I am confident I can and will make it through!!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

It's been a while and a new challenge!

I haven't been posting recently and I'm not sure why I stopped but I'm going to start back up - starting today (obviously).

I entered The Team Beachbody Challenge today. I'm going to follow my own P90X/Running hybrid for the next 90 days and submit my results. There are daily and monthly awards as well as a $100,000 grand prize. I have done challenges like these before (Body for Life) and haven't really made much progress with them. However, I have learned a lot since the last time I did one. I know what my biggest mistake was with the other program so I'm already a step ahead!!

I have my initial pictures and measurements for the challenge and I will be updating progress here on my blog. My hybrid program will include lifting from P90X and Insanity the Asylum as well as my running. I will also include yoga and plyometrics from P90X. I'm really looking forward to not only completing this challenge but excelling at it as well!!

I've also signed up for Chalene Johnson's Car Smart Program. My hope is that it will help me follow through with this challenge all the way to the end. I received my first installment yesterday and it dealt with confidence and stopping negative self talk. The funny thing is, it isn't anything that I haven't heard before - this time I will actually take it to heart and follow through on the actions.

My exercise sessions have been very good this week. Yesterday I did P90X Shoulders and Arms. I love that workout!! I didn't do Ab Ripper because I was afraid I had strained a muscle the last time I did it so I did a modified ab routine instead. Today was a fartlek workout with my running group. We did a total of 6 miles with about 4 of it being the fartlek section (1 mile warm-up and cool-down). We did the same workout last week but we were a bit faster this time around. I will be upfront right now - exercising usually isn't my problem. Nutrition has been my problem in the past but this time I will be using the concepts outlined in the Car Smart program. I will be using Positive Self-Talk to help change my attitudes about food.

There it is! My plan for the next few months!! Clean eating and intense exercise. I will do my best and not expect perfection. The important part is to commit fully - this was one of my biggest problems with the Body For Life challenges. Sure I told myself that I was committed but I know better now. I did not discipline myself to follow the program and took too many shortcuts. This time nothing will stop this time!!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Reaching Your Goals

Infomercials these days really push getting the body of your dreams in 90 days or getting rich with "X" or technique. However, for some, these dreams are much farther than 90 days a way. I can't vouch for the get rich programs but some (especially the Beachbody products) of the fitness programs are quite good and give great results if you put in the work. But again if you are farther than 60 or 90 days away, it can be discouraging.

I want to encourage you to look for the small steps. If you have 100 pounds to lose, you will never reach that goal if you don't lose the fist 5 pounds. If you want to bench press 200 pounds you will never reach that goal if you don't increase from 150 to 160 pounds. Some goals, like the ones above, are easier to see the progression than others. One of my goals is to be able to do a full pull-up. At least to me, this is a hard one to see progression with - you either make it up or you don't. I will periodically go out to a bar (a chin up bar not a drinking bar - LOL) and try to do a pull-up. I get myself part-way up and still can't quite get my chin over the bar. Have I gotten myself up farther than I could last year? Probably but I don't know that for sure. However, yesterday something pretty cool happened. I have been trying to add some swimming into my routine. It is not an everyday thing but whenever we make it to the pool I like to try and get in a few laps. The pool we belong to has a 50 meter lap lane and last year I would swim a few laps, get tired and need a break. The break didn't need to be a long one but I still needed the break. This summer has been different in that respect. The first time I tried I did 6 laps straight and then stopped. If felt good and I made the decision to try 8 laps the next time which also went well. Yesterday I did 10 without difficulty.

Now here is the cool part! There is a fast lane and a slow lane - I use the fast lane but you never know what the overall speeds are going to be in the lanes. There have been days when really fast swimmers have shown up and days when even the "fast" lane is quite slow. Yesterday was an average day - all the swimmers were able to continuously swim (no one was stopping at the wall) at a nice even pace. This is the part that was really encouraging to me. I was not trying to swim hard - I just wanted to be able to swim 10 consecutive laps - but I found myself catching the swimmers in front of me when I swam freestyle and keeping pace with them when I swam breaststroke. I credit this to my increased back strength (especially with the breaststroke). Then on my last lap, I caught the swimmer in front of me and since there was no one coming at me, I decided to power my way to the end and really surged past the woman and had quite a big gap between us when I hit the wall.

Why bother writing about all this? Last year, I would have never been able to do this after only swimming laps 3 times this summer. I am stronger physically and cardiovascularly. I HAVE made lots of progress. Can I do a pull-up yet? No, but I am getting a lot of satisfaction out of the progress I did make. Look for YOUR progress and enjoy it. Set little goals and celebrate when you reach them. Sometimes we miss the little achievements if we don't look for them - so look for them!! Remember though, once you meet one goal - make another and then another and then another until you reach that big goal. Once you reach that big goal....make another one. There seems to be a pattern here (lol).

What small goals or achievements have you reached lately? I would love to hear about them!

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Asylum: Day 20 Game Day & Overtime

Today was a really tough workout! If I'm being completely honest...I Did Not feel like working out this morning. However, I knew that I needed to do it and I got myself moving. I'm quite proud of that fact!!!

Game Day in and of itself is really hard but I knew that I was adding Overtime and I think this is why I didn't feel like getting going. I was nervous about the session but that is when you need to push through! We all have days when either we are just plain tired or when we just get that "I don't want to workout" feeling. Assuming your body is trying to send you important signals like "I'm exhausted and I need a rest!", push through on the above days. When you make your body exercise when your head is telling you no....that is when we truly grow and get stronger! Just get started and if you can't keep it going then so be it but at least try!

That was where I found myself after the Game Day session. Once I started Game Day, I was loving it but by the time I was finished, I was toast! But, the wanted to try the Overtime workout so I immediately pushed play. After about 3-5 minutes I just knew that my body couldn't do it. I was not happy that I had to stop but I knew it was for the best.

My important take home message today is to just get up and try! It may turn out great and it might turn out to be crap. The important thing is that you get up and do your best. I know that is cheesy but you know what???? It is the truth!!!!

Friday, July 08, 2011

Asylum Day 19

I've been busy lately! This past week I started Chalene's 30 Day Challenge. It is a program on organization and time management. It has been good! I've had to think about things that I haven't really put concrete thought and action to. A lot of us make to do lists, some do so every day and some do so only every once in a while, but this program is forming it into a set program. I've really been enjoying it and encourage everyone to check it out. BTW, it is free.

As for my workouts - they have been pretty good. I had a great run the other day! I think it was especially satisfying because I didn't really want to go fast that day but the group shot out of the gate. I had a decision to make: stay slow and have them run away from me or change my mindset a get on my horse. I chose to go fast but I'll be honest, I was ticked about it at first but I dropped that attitude as fast as it came on. I just focused on doing my best and I was extremely proud at the end! My average pace was 8:39 and we ran 5 miles. This was made especially difficult by the 74 degree and 100% humidity weather.

Tomorrow I have Asylum Game Day and Overtime on the schedule. I've done Game Day once and it was really hard but I've never done the Overtime session yet. I was exhausted the first time I did Game Day so I'm really nervous about adding another 15 minutes of Overtime onto the first session!

I've made some nutritious snacks today. I made a couple of different bars (one from Leanness Lifestyle and one from Precision Nutrition). The one from PN is a bit high in fat but the carbs are pretty low and the one from LL is a bit more balanced between the protein and carbs. I also made some muffins - I hadn't made these muffins in a long time and boy did they taste good today! They too are more of a balance of protein and carbs with lower fat levels. My goal is to make a week's worth of snacks so that I can have lots of variety but I don't have to make it and it isn't highly processed.

This came about because the the 30 Day Challenge. I'm going to make not only 4 weeks of dinner menus (which I do pretty regularly) but I'm also going to create 2 weeks of "daily meals" that have lots of variety but are all put together so I don't have to think about it.

Gotta run - Peace!

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Asylum: Day 16 - Vertical Plyo

It has been a few busy days since my last post. My hubby has been on vacation since Thursday and I love having the family together but it can really throw off my exercise routine (especially on the days I usually run first). I can ask the kids to go up and watch TV or something if I'm doing Asylum later in the day. This is much harder to do when the hubby is home too.

Onto my recap....in my last post I talked about my Game Day session. I have to admit that this workout really wiped me out! However, I did push through on Sunday and I got my Strength session done. I had actually thought about increasing my weights this session but boy am I glad I didn't! It was during this session that I REALLY felt how tired my body was from Game Day. Everything was really hard on Sunday but I did my best and am proud of it. I still struggle with the Progressive D-bell rotation - I can keep up the pace on the first rotation but on the 2nd & 3rd rotations I can't keep up the pace (push-ups really slow me down) and don't get in all 8 reps. I just really try to do as many reps as I can and will continue to work on it until I can get all 8 reps for all 3 rounds!!

On Monday my body rebelled a bit. I woke up to exercise but I could not get moving. My body was totally exhausted....or so I thought. I decided to not do my Asylum Speed & Agility workout but in a couple of hours my body was itching to do some exercise. Monday is one of the days that I usually run with the kids so I decided to do something with them. It turned out that my daughter slept until 10 am so before she woke up my son and I went on a 5 mile bike ride. It was not a very high intensity (I think my son is still a little nervous riding out in other neighborhoods) but I got myself out and that is important! When we got back to the house my daughter was awake so the 2 of us set out for a 5 mile bike ride. The intensity was a bit higher. I'm really proud of how she is riding her bike because as of a couple of months ago she was totally scared to ride a bike. So for me it was a total of 10 miles on the bike - I haven't gone that far in a long time.

Monday night we took our 2nd annual Fireworks Express train ride. We take a nice train ride (about an hour 1 way) and then watch a beautiful fireworks display and then ride the train back. It is a wonderful night but it is also a very late night. Which brings me to this mornings workout. I was supposed to run first thing and then do my Asylum Vertical Plyo session. I did not make my run this morning because of the late night but I did do my Asylum workout! I may also try to get a run in a little later but I'm not going to freak out about it if it doesn't get done. We may also go to the pool today and if we do I may substitute some swimming for my run.

One last thing....I have just started the Chalene Johnson 30-Day Challenge. It is a program to help you set and achieve your goals. One of my assignments is to publicly promise to achieve my Push Goal so here it is: I promise to save $30 per month, track my spending and set a budget for myself. I will incorporate updates on this endeavor in my blog to help keep me accountable.

Have a great Tuesday!

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Asylum: Day 13 Game Day!!!

I got back on track yesterday and had a great day! My eating was good and I got back into my Asylum workouts (Back to Core - absolutely love that one!), got in a 2 mile run with the kids and a 1.6 mile bike ride. I would have liked to bike more but we just rode to the library, got some books and rode home. I'm trying not to push the kids too hard - I want them to think of exercise as fun and not a chore because that is the only way they will continue it for a lifetime. I've always said, my kids don't have to be sport super-stars but I want them to be active. I want them to find something that they enjoy and are willing to continue.

So today was Game Day. I've watched the workout but hadn't done it yet so I was kind of nervous. I was right to be nervous - it was a BEAST!!! The workout is broken up into sport groups: running, swimming, soccer etc. Then you do a few different moves - Shaun T. style - that simulate that sport. I was absolutely dripping with sweat when I was finished and boy was I finished!! LOL! My entire body was exhausted! I will admit to needing breaks - my goal will be to get through the entire workout without any extra stops (there are water breaks built into the session).

I was pleased with my ability to recover AFTER breakfast. My hubby and I took the pup out for a walk (aprox. 1.5 miles) and my legs felt good. In fact I still feel pretty good but I am feeling a bit tired - I may take a nap. Tomorrow will be my strength workout and I'm looking forward to that workout. I'm going to stick with my 10# dumbbells and see how I get through everything - I may try to increase the weights a touch on the next strength session.

The other thing I would like to try is the jump rope that came with my Asylum package. I can't use it in my house for the workouts because my ceiling is too low. However, I think I may try to get the rope out and try some of the moves in the program. I would just do it as something extra to get some more footwork in. Agility has never been my strong suit and I think the rope will be good for helping me with that as well as helping me get more power in my legs.

Until next time - have a great July 4th weekend!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Asylum: Day 11 & Self-Talk

Well, here it is day 11 of this awesome program! I can't believe I'm almost 1/2 way thru!! This was a very busy and strange week for me. I saw, first hand, just how much of an effect my self-talk can have on my actions. Here is how the past week or so has gone:

Last Saturday, during my long run, my legs felt a bit tired and sluggish. During our conversations I was telling everyone what the Asylum sessions were like and how much I liked them. I also stated that I was semi-worried because I wasn't getting many breaks (between my group runs, the runs with the kids & the Asylum workouts). Then this week started: MD appointment on Monday, my parents took the kids Tuesday because I had jury duty (I had to then pick them up in the evening), dentist appointment Wednesday and and my hubby is off the rest of the week.

Monday I had a great workout. Tuesday I had a really good run but couldn't do my Asylum workout because of time crunch. Wednesday I had wanted to make up the Vertical Plyo workout that I missed on Tues and then do the scheduled Relief but I ended up doing the Relief workout and most of the P90X stretching workout. Today I did my long run for the week because most of my group is going away for the holiday weekend so again no Asylum workout. I will adjust my workouts for the rest of the week to make up some of these missed Asylum workouts.

Now here is the interesting part. I know, deep down in my soul, that a fair amount of this stress I've been feeling and the missed workouts has stemmed from that initial conversation on the long run. I got it in my head that I wasn't getting enough rest and then "The Beast" took hold. Up until that time, my eating was spot on and my workouts were great. Then all of a sudden I missed some workouts and my eating started to go downhill. It all started IN MY HEAD with my Negative Self-Talk! I made this happen and now it is time for me to use some Positive Self-Talk and get things turned around!

I think my plan is to switch today's workout with Saturday's workout. So, since my long run was today, I'll do the Game Day & Overtime workouts on Saturday. I'll keep Friday's workout as it should be - Back to Core. That will get me back on track in terms of my exercising. I will also get back into planning my meals. I definitely got off track on that one but not anymore!!!

Take home message here - watch what you tell yourself. Even if you know something isn't true tell yourself good things and positive things. Don't let that "Beast" worm its way into you head and lifestyle. Remember, "You Are What You Think About Most"! So when you tell yourself positive and healthy thoughts your body will find a way to fulfill those thoughts and wishes. Write yourself notes, recite mantras - find what works for you but do it! Without your head and thought processes being in synch with your desires and goals, your body won't follow through and it is HIGHLY unlikely that you will attain those goals.

You and I are worth a healthy body AND a healthy mind!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Asylum: Day 7

I've made it through my first week of Asylum - still loving the workouts! There is no question that they are hard as all get out but they are totally different from anything that I would do at a gym or out running on the roads and trails - I think that is what draws me to them most!

It has been a very busy weekend! Yesterday I went for a 10 mile run on a very hilly course. It is a course that I haven't done in a very long time and I'm happy I got a chance to do it again. I felt sort of heavy in the legs because of all the workouts I've been doing. I'm really going to have to pay attention to how my body feels in the upcoming days because I'm really not taking any days totally off. I'm not getting any days off because I'm combining the Asylum workouts with my running so even if there is a scheduled "off" day for the Asylum, I'm probably running. That is what happened yesterday. I put the Asylum rest days on my long run day - not going to be able to do both! My goal is to keep this going until our week at the beach and then not worry about structured workouts and give my body a rest.

Anyway, the run went well. We averaged a little under 10 minutes per mile and I'm quite pleased with that considering the hills on the course. I also made time to stretch before getting back in my car to come home and it made a BIG difference in how I felt. I usually stretch when I get home but find that I really stiffen up on the drive back (I do spend a few minutes stretching immediately after the run). This time I spent a good 15-20 minutes stretching on the adjacent tennis courts and it felt wonderful! I will make sure to do this whenever we meet in a place that allows me to put down a towel and lay down (not in a parking lot).

Then last night I went to a graduation party. I admit that my eating was spot on but I wasn't trying to hold myself to that standard either. I do think it is important to relax some of the time. I did allow myself a dessert even though I wrote in a previous post that I was doing "No Cheats" this week. To be completely honest, I had kind of forgotten about that until just now. Regardless, it was a great time and I feel good about my night. It did show up on the scale this morning but I knew that would happen.

Speaking of this morning....I got up and did my Asylum Strength workout. Last time I did it, I used 5# weights just to get a feel for the session. Today, I moved that up to 10# and I liked this weight better although it was still light for some of the exercises (but good for others). I love the "different" exercises in this session. During the warm-up you do something called a Halo Deadlift. On this exercise, you squat down, stand up and then twist the dumbbell around your head without moving your head. I love to feel the twist in the core area. During the main portion of the workout you do a series of exercises called Progressive Dumbbell rotations (too long to explain). The circuit is completed 3 times (8 reps in each progression) and each time you add something to the progression and by the 3rd rotation it is REALLY hard! I can't do all 8 reps at the speed they do it on the TV (yet) so I had a decision to make. The exercise includes push-ups and if I do the push-ups on my knees I would be able to go faster and probably keep up. However, I decided to not do all 8 reps but to complete each rotation with full push-ups. My next goal will be to try to get faster and faster (with good form of course) and eventually do all 8 reps on all 3 rotations. Finally, the end of the workout consists of chest exercises with your feet in the air to work on the core. They are really hard on the abs (10# is not enough for the chest press though) and boy was I shaking at the end. I did better than the last time though - my legs are higher than the people on the DVD but I was able to hold my legs straighter this time AND on the last exercise I kept my feet up for the entire minute.

Review of the past week: Nutrition - I did really well at the beginning of the week but faltered a bit at the end. I ordered out 1 day because of a long and tiring day and then there was the party food. It made for an OK week - the scale actually shows me up a pound for the week but I know that is water weight from yesterday. I'm keeping very clean today and I will most likely get a better indication over the next couple of days on my weight.
Training - was very good all week! There was only 1 workout that I missed (a run) and that was during a thunderstorm and I did get my Asylum workout in that day so I'm not worried about that at all! I feel like I'm putting in a great effort, on the Asylum sessions and I'm hoping to see a big difference by the end of this 30 days!

Goals for the week: I'm keeping my nutrition goals the same for this week.
  1. I will reduce my dairy intake to no more than 1 serving per day.
  2. I will avoid ALL fast food (if I go out, I will bring my own food).
  3. I will continue to drink 1 gallon of water each day.
Except for the couple of slips I mentioned earlier it was a good week so I will focus on fixing those slips. I falter with stress so that is where I will really buckle down and do what I know I should even when I'm stressed or tired.

Workout goals: I will continue with my schedule of Asylum every day with group runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and sessions (running or biking) with the kids on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing that scale moving downward!!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Asylum Day 5

This will be a short one but I wanted to make sure to post something.

Yesterday was a tough day - our AC backed up and soaked our carpet so I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees trying to dry out the carpet with our little carpet cleaner. By the end of the day I was totally exhausted, ended up with subs and chips for dinner and topped it off with a small bowl of ice cream. Not my finest hour but it is over and I'm moving on!

I got up this morning to do my Asylum workout but decided to hold off for 2 reasons. One, my neck and upper back were very tight because of the carpet work the day before. The second reason was that I still felt exhausted from yesterday's work (2 workouts and the carpet). I did get out this morning with the kids for a bike ride. It was going pretty well until about the 4.5 mile mark. I heard this strange noise from my front tire. It sounded like a rubbing noise so I tried to move a couple of things to see if they were rubbing. When that didn't work I decided to slow down and take a look. Just as I was coming to a stop......the front tire popped. BANG! It was quite loud. That brought the bike ride to an abrupt halt - luckily we were only about 1/3 of a mile from the house so we walked the rest of the way.

Then, after a few errands, I was finally able to get to my Asylum workout. It was my second time through Speed and Agility. I felt a bit more comfortable with the actual exercises but I'm not sure I did them any better. I did, however, feel like I was able to start most of the exercises more quickly because I didn't have to watch the DVD and figure out what the actual exercise was. It still kicked my butt and I still needed to take breaks but I'm happy with the workout. I've decided to start keeping track of HR so here it is:

Avg. HR: 147 (included warm-up and cool-down)
Max. HR: 175
Calories burned: 657
Workout time: 46 min.

Pretty cool when you can burn over 650 calories in 45 minutes!

Tomorrow is my long run day so I won't be doing any Asylum workouts but I will start again on Sunday with the Strength workout. The one problem that I'm finding with my current program is finding time to work in some yoga. I know it is really important for my body and I need to find a way to work some in - even just 15-20 minutes would be great!

OK, maybe not so short. Off to get cleaned up. Until tomorrow!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Asylum Day 4: Vertical Plyo

This program is definitely living up to its name! Vertical Plyo is a bear and I loved every minute of it (well maybe not EVERY minute - LOL). I have to admit that I was having second thoughts during the "warm-up" because let me tell you it's NO warm-up. It's just plain hard all by itself! It consisted of a lot of bent leg exercises (lunge type position; squatting positions where you are jumping up and down or twisting side to side; squat hops with the ladder where you just don't come up and on and on). Your quads and hamstrings are just on fire before the workout even starts! At one point Shaun T says some thing like: "If you're tired now you should just throw in the towel now because it isn't getting any easier." I was a bit worried at that point because I was tired! It sure did feel good when the stretching started!

This workout is different in that you don't do circuits and then go back and repeat them. You pretty much just keep moving for the entire 40ish minutes. There are only a couple of breaks in the whole workout. Instead of water breaks, Shaun uses active recovery. These exercises are definitely easier but they aren't easy. The other thing I found very difficult with this workout was the fact that I was getting dizzy with some of the jump/twist exercises. You use the ladder and jump with a twist in and out of the boxes (different variations are performed throughout the workout). Usually you would do 1 direction for 30 seconds and then do the other direction for the last 30 seconds. I could not go in the same direction for a full 30 seconds so I changed the exercise just a touch. I ended up altnernating the way I turned and just kept doing that for the full minute. It allowed me to keep moving for the full time without falling down and breaking my nose or some such thing as that.

Speaking of that dreaded, oh I mean wonderful, ladder - this workout incorporated long jumps both forward and laterally. Shaun recommends shortening the ladder until you work up to the point where you can make the entire distance. So I did that! I shortened up the ladder 1 spot for the forward jumps but had to shorten it 2 spots for the lateral jumps. I'm not sure if the lateral jumps were harder because of my lack of strength or because they were at the end of the session (or a combination of the 2).

The session ends with some very high intensity jumping. There are 2 legged tuck jumps and a couple of different 1 legged jumps. Shaun also adds the ladder to these to make it that much more challenging. You would do part of the time out of the ladder and then move it into the ladder, obviously trying not to touch the ladder each time. It is absolutely amazing how much difficulty that ladder adds. Not only are the exercises hard but there is an added focus that you need to incorporate whenever you use the ladder.

In the end, the workout took a touch under 40 minutes and I burned 569 calories. It was an awesome workout - can't say I'm looking forward to doing it again (seriously though I am looking forward to being able to progress this workout). I have found, with all of these workouts, areas that I need improvements in - speed and agility being one of them and that is tomorrow's workout!

I'm also continuing my running both with my running group and with my kids. Yesterday (can't remember if I posted this yesterday) I went out with the kids and I ran 4 miles. The kids combined some running and some bike riding - we do two 2 mile loops and they run/walk the first one and ride the second one. Then this morning I ran with my group. We ran 3 miles and stopped with that because it was VERY hot and humid. I'm thinking about just riding tomorrow with the kids because they really struggled with the heat yesterday and because I want to keep it fun for them.

Last but not least - nutrition is still going really well. I need to start logging my food on MyFitnessPal though because I want to make sure I'm not shorting myself on calories. It can be a very fine line between reducing calorie intake for fat loss and getting too low and causing muscle breakdown. I also find that when I exercise intensely and reduce my calories too much I get sick. So far I've been doing well and I certainly want to keep that going!

Until tomorrow.....

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Asylum Days 2 & 3

Just as I counted down to Baltimore, I'm going to try and blog about each day of Asylum. I will tell you right now that I did have to switch a couple of things to make sure I got my running in as well. I do my long runs on Saturdays and didn't want to do an intense workout and a long run in the same day so those are rest and relief days.

So far, things have been going very well! Day 1 was Speed & Agility, Day 2 was Strength and Day 3 was Back to Core. The Strength workout was very intense - I kept my weight light (only 5#) for the first time through just to get a feel for the workout. It was still a very hard workout and I definitely "felt" the burn.

I completed the Day 3 Back to Core workout this morning and I really think this is going to be one of my favorites. It is still really hard, as are all the Insanity/Asylum workouts, but there isn't the jumping and running around that most of the workouts have. It was very slow and methodical but the burn that your muscles get is fantastic.

As I become more familiar with the workouts I will try to pull out specific parts of the sessions that I found either really challenging or just plain fun and discuss them more. I'll be honest and tell you that I have troubles at times getting started with the exercises because I'm still trying to figure out what they are doing. I found this especially true during Speed & Agility. I don't have the footwork down so I had to figure out what they were doing before I could start.

Nutrition has been awesome as well. I've had 2 days now with super clean plans and I'm feeling really pumped about it. There have definitely been times when I wanted to have that cheat but I've stayed away. I've also read a great post recently about cheating on your nutrition plan. At least for right now I'm going to employ the no cheating strategy. I'm in the process of coming up with some new goals and I know that the better eating strategy will put me over the top. I know deep down that this has been the main thing that has kept me from reaching my goals.

I am looking forward to the next 30 days!Link

Monday, June 20, 2011

Moving On.....

I would be lying if I didn't admit to still being a bit frustrated about this weekend's race. However, there is nothing to be gained by dwelling on things past. On we move!

Today has been AWESOME!!!! I started Insanity: The Asylum today and it was great! The first workout is Speed & Agility (which I have little of btw). It incorporates the agility ladder and boy does that make a huge difference. This workout uses some of the same ab exercises but you have to put your feet into different sections of the ladder. This made an unbelievable difference - really wakes you us to the fact that you were slackin' off as you got tired.

I just thought I sweated with Insanity. I was absolutely drench after this mornings workout. I did have 1 problem though - my room isn't really big enough. I had to move the ladder around in the room for some of the exercises. Like when I had to switch from my hands in the ladder to my feet being in the ladder. I don't have enough room on both side of the ladder to make the switch without stopping - truthfully I'm glad to get a little extra rest (LOL!).

I have also made a promise to myself - I am going to really focus on my nutrition. I'm taking this first week to really focus on a few points:
  1. I will reduce my dairy intake to no more than 1 serving per day.
  2. I will avoid ALL fast food (if I go out, I will bring my own food).
  3. I will continue to drink 1 gallon of water each day.
Today has been spot on! I'm still working on my water but the rest has been perfect. I am hopeful that this will make a huge difference in the progress that I see.

Tomorrow is a running day but I am also going to incorporate the Asylum workout. It is the strength workout. I'm not sure what amount of weight I'll use but I know I'm going to keep it light, at least for the first time through. I know this is going to be a really tough 30 days but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Here's to the next 30 days!!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Baltimore Recap

We (me and 2 friends) left for Baltimore at 5 am and it felt wonderful! There was a slight breeze and there were some clouds in the sky. We were hopeful that the heat and humidity would stay low. There was even some rain in the forecast so things looked really good.

The drive down was good - the traffic was light and we made good time. We got there with plenty of time to spare (a little less than an hour before the start). The sun had come out, even though we drove through some light rain on the way down, but there was a nice little breeze and it felt great in the shade. We made our way to the starting area and the temperature increased dramatically. At that point, my hope of a cooler run disappeared. I knew we were in for a tough morning!

I love this race because the organizers are always trying to make the next one better. Each year they ask for runner feedback and then they actually try to fix the problems!!! This year's big change was a wave start and I was very impressed with how well it went! The race has over 5,000 people and this was the first time I haven't felt like I spent the first 3 miles dodging people that had no business starting so close to the front. Now, don't get me wrong, I want people of all shapes, sizes and abilities taking part in these events (I get a great deal of inspiration from a lot of these runners and walkers). However, if you are a walker or are a runner that needs to walk within the first couple of miles - PLEASE start farther back! Race starts are crazy enough as it is! I also realize that there are people that use the run/walk method recommended by Jeff Galloway and these are good runners who can put up some really good times. But again, when there is a very finite amount of space it is really hard to get into a good rhythm when you have to weave in and out of slower runners (especially when the race uses chip timing).

Sorry - I'm off my soap box now!

Back to the race - this year's start was great! My wave started off well and it was quite easy to find a good pace. They also had pacers which was very helpful! I tried to stay with the 1:20:00 pacer and was doing very well until around mile 5. This happens to be a very sunny area where you run down the hill, around a lake and then go back up the hill. The hill is quite long and really doesn't offer much shade. Between the pace, the sun and the hill I hit a serious wall and had to walk. I felt VERY overheated and I knew that walking was my only option.

The water stations did provide some relief. I carry my own water, so I usually run right through the water stops, but I started grabbing 2 cups of water and dumping them on my head. This would cool me off enough to be able to start running again. The timing, of the stations, was pretty good - I would start to fade pretty close to the water stops, dump more water and start to run again. I used this technique for probably the last 3-4 miles of the race.

I'm proud of the fact that I never gave up - although the thought did cross my mind. I just concentrated on putting 1 foot in front of the other. I knew that I just needed to keep moving and I would get there. The funny thing is that I would look at my watch and knew I was still keeping a descent time. So I just kept pushing and before I knew it I was turning the last corner on the last hill. The finish was right down the road!

My Garmin clicked over to 10 miles a little before the race finish and the time read 1:29:32 - about a 1/4 mile later I crossed the finish line at 1:31:42. It's not the 1:20:00 that I had hoped for but I am happy. I left it all out on the course and that is all I can ask from myself!!

The other thing that really encouraged me was how well I recovered after the race. There were times, during the race, that I felt pretty darn crappy but within 15 to 20 minutes I felt really good! I drank my recovery drink, drank lots of water and had a few chips for the salt. But other than my legs being tight from the exertion, I felt really good. As I sit here Sunday morning, my calves are tight but overall even the stiffness isn't that bad. I can't even say that my legs are "sore" - it really is mostly calf tightness.

What have I learned? I really think the Insanity workouts have helped my ability to recover after an intense workout. I really like this and know that I need to continue with these types of sessions. I also realize that, over the past couple of years, the heat/sun has kicked my butt. I train before the sun comes up so my body really isn't used to running in the other conditions. Also, most of our training runs are done between a 9 and a 9:30 pace (I was shooting for an 8-8:30 pace). When these 2 factors are combined it causes a problem for my body. I can't really change my workout time too much - life always seems to get in the way. But, pace is a factor that I can control. Before my next race, whatever that may be, I will work on training at my race pace. My hope is that if I only have 1 factor (heat/sun) to compensate for, my body will be better able too deal with the situation and I will come out with better results.

Well, there it is.....my day at the Baltimore 10 Miler. Thanks for reading!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Tomorrow is the Big Day!!!

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving bright and early (5 am) for the Baltimore 10 Miler! I still can't believe how fast the time has gone! I have a dry erase board that I've (with my son's help) been counting down the days on and we were just commenting about it starting in the 100's. I've put in a lot of hard work and I'm going to be pleased with however it turns out because I know I have worked hard and progressed in so many ways! There are good days and bad days in running and I don't always have control over that. The best we can do is prepare the best we can and give it all we've got.

I will admit that the nerve have already started which is a good thing! I haven't really felt this way about a race in a long time. For most of last year I was dealing with my foot problem so I didn't go into races with high expectations. This time is different! My training and nutrition wasn't perfect but I'm OK with how things went. Now all I have to do is lay it out there and see where the cards fall. I will be keeping Shawn T. in my head. In the Insanity workouts he is constantly telling you that you can do more than you think you can and when things get tough I will just keep those statements in my head and push through.

Off to finish getting ready - most of my stuff is together but I want to do as much as I can tonight so I don't have to rush around in the morning.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Only 2 days until race day!!

I had planned on doing 4 easy miles today but things didn't really work out that way. We met at our usual place and headed out for our moderately hilly route. The pace was nice and easy until we go to the one hill on the route. My hill attacker buddy (we both love to pick it up on the hills) took off and was running ahead of everybody alone. I decided to pick it up a notch and catch up with her. We kept that pace for the rest of the run and finished the 5 miles (yes 5 not 4) in about 45 minutes (9:12 pace). It felt really good - we were chatting the whole way so I'm confident for Saturday (as long as it isn't too hot).

Tomorrow I think I'll do some stretching or some yoga to help get stretched out for Saturday. My lower legs have been a bit stiff lately, especially when I add in trail running. I also have to keep in mind that I have added a lot more running than I have been doing. Even though it is a walk/run it is added pounding to my legs so I need to be careful. I was actually thinking about asking the kids if they would like to exchange a run for a bike ride tomorrow.

Off to cut the grass!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

3 Days and Insanity: The Asylum

I have been so slacking on my posts!!! I have continued with my workouts and have been running with the kids. Sunday I actually slept in and it was wonderful - I can't tell you the last time I actually rolled back over in bed and stayed there!! So as a result, Sunday was a complete rest day. On Monday, I went for a run/walk with the kids and the dog (covered just shy of 4 miles), Tuesday we had an awesome run that was about 5.5 miles and today I did a modified Asylum workout (more on that in a bit) and went running on the trails with the kids and the dog. The run was about 2.5 miles and we actually did a fair amount of walking because Will was getting tired. I think he is developing some allergies and that isn't helping either. I'm trying really hard not to press because I want it to be fun. The "funny" thing is that I really believe that Ally wants to run more (as long as it is flat) and I never thought that would be the way it would turn out. So, now I'm up to date on the workout report! Almost.....

I got my Asylum program in the mail yesterday and have been watching the different workouts just to get a feel of what will be involved. I've been itching to try one but I'm afraid I'd get too sore this close to the race. However, I couldn't resist so I did a modified rendition of Back to Core. It was modified in that I didn't do all the reps or hold things quite as long as they did on the DVD. I did try everything in the workout and was pleasantly surprised with how I did with a couple of the exercises. The Agility workout looks insane and I can't wait to do Game Day!! I am really glad to see that the Relief workout is all stretching. I think it is 25 minutes which is a nice amount of time. I enjoy the P90X stretching workout but some of the stretches work on areas that I don't really need right now and the Asylum routine looked pretty good.

I think I'm going to start to cut back a bit the rest of this week. I'm planning on doing a flat 4 miles tomorrow and maybe try some of the agility ladder drills - not the workouts just some instructional drills that Shaun T shows on the workouts. They are just to get you used to some of the exercises and to become more comfortable using it without stepping on the ladder. I think I may do a yoga workout on Friday and a run/walk with the kids. Then the race is on Saturday! Depending on how I feel on Sunday, I may do the Fit Test for Asylum but if I'm really sore then I'll so a stretching day and start on Monday.

In the home stretch! I haven't set any other goals yet but it may just be getting through the Asylum program. I think this will be tough with my run on Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday. I have to take a closer look at the schedule and see where I'm going to fit everything in. Have a great day!

Monday, June 13, 2011

5 Days - Short & Sweet

Less than a week before the race! I've printed out the confirmation and a friend is picking up all our packets on Friday! I'm working out carpools!! Where did the time go????

Had a great first day of summer with the kids! We started with a run/walk where we did 2 miles of running and walking. Then the kids got on their scooters and I got the dog and we did another 2ish miles (a little shy of 2). I was really proud of them all! Then after some "down time" we got ready, went to lunch and spent a couple of hours at the pool. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. The only problem was that I allowed myself to get a bit of sunburn.

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I want to go hard on my workouts and then start to taper off for Saturday. Tomorrow is a scheduled run day and Wednesday will be an Insanity day and a run walk with the kids on the trails.

Looking forward to the race on Saturday and for what comes next - still working on that one!

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

10 Days: I am Blessed to have MY life!

Have you ever met someone who complained about everything? It's almost like they aren't "happy" if they aren't complaining. Or maybe your in-laws are a pain in the you-know-what...or maybe your parents are always putting your down....or your spouse doesn't give a rats a$$ about anything but themselves. I do and I am so glad I don't have to live that way.

Sure, there are things in life that we need to complain/vent about but it takes way too much energy to live like that constantly. We shouldn't be door mats but man, would it hurt to try to find the positives in life? Or, if you find yourself in a situation that does warrant some complaining, then do something about it - don't just sit there complaining and watching from afar.

I am definitely lucky in that I loved my in-laws (God rest their souls). They were the sweetest people in the world and would do anything for you. However, I realize that this isn't the case in all situations and the fact is that there isn't an easy solution for this situation.

Again, I am lucky that I have wonderful parents who are supportive to me and my family. They want to spend time with us and are more than willing to watch the kids when we ask them to. Our philosophies are similar so there aren't fights over how the kids are being raised or what they (my parents) let the kids do when they watch them. Many people don't have this type of support either because their parents don't give it or because their parents have passed away.

Finally, I think I have one of the BEST husbands in the world. He supports me in the things I do, he is there for the kids and he even does the laundry and the dishes. What more can someone ask for! LOL!! Seriously though, he is a great person and my best friend!

Is my life perfect - far from it! But there are a lot of positives!! I wish there was a way for all those negative-Nellies to take note. I bet most people could find many positive things in their lives if they just took the time to look! We all have things that happen to us that are "bad", the important thing is how we deal with them. We need to find positive ways to deal with our stress. What are some examples?
  • Exercise
  • Talking to a friend
  • Writing in a diary
What are some poor ways to deal with this stress?
  • Stress eating
  • Drinking
  • Abuse
  • Bad attitude
How will you react the next time something negative pops up? I will definitely think long and hard about how I react. I DO NOT want to be that negative-Nellie. I have a wonderful life with great friends and a family that I love - what more could I ask for?

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

11 Days

I've changed my exercise days this week - running M-W-F and doing my cross-training T-Th-Sat. So on Monday we did our 5.5 mile hilly loop and it was a good run. We averaged about 9:20 per mile and although the hills were hard the overall run felt pretty good. The weather has been really up and down. About 2 weeks ago it was incredibly hot and then this past week was pretty pleasant. Now, it looks like it is about to get really hot and humid again. This always has a huge effect on our runs. Monday's was pleasant but tomorrow's run will probably be tougher just because of hte heat and humidity. We are planning to go 7 tomorrow and then 8 on Friday. This will be our last "long" run before Baltimore.

My plans for cross-training this week is to do my Insanity workouts. Today was Plyo Cardio Circuit and I loved it! I really can't express enough how much I love these workouts! The feeling I get during and after these workouts is like nothing I've ever experienced before. I have worked hard during exercise sessions and have had the feeling of pride and empowerment from those sessions. However, these workouts go way past that. I just feel amped for hours after the session. I am also going to order Insanity the Asylum in the next day or so - I am so psyched to try these workouts! I've been watching a number of YouTube videos that have been reviewing the different sessions and the more I watch the more I want it AND the more it makes me nervous (in a good way). These are really hard workouts and will push me passed anything I've ever done before.

Next week the plan is to keep my intensity high at the beginning of the week but then tail off a bit at the end to make sure my energy stores are high for the race. The wild card here is definitely the weather. If it is as hot an humid on race day as it is going to be the rest of this week, then my goal time is out the window automatically. It just wouldn't be safe to try and run that hard when it is that hot and humid. Add this to the fact that we usually run at 4:45 am so that there is no sun to deal with - and the potential danger rises dramatically. Now if the temperature isn't too bad I am absolutely going for it! We'll just have to wait and see.

I got some great new running shirts for my birthday - I'm looking forward to trying them out this week. I've made some poor choices in clothing over some of my past Baltimore runs so I will try a couple of the new shirts out this week and pick the best one for the race.

The countdown is almost over - I can't believe it! I will definitely need another focus in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping it will be my review of Asylum. Until next time - keep working hard!!

Friday, June 03, 2011

15 Days

Today is Gorgeous!!! The sun is shining, the temperatures are wonderful and there is a nice little breeze. These are the days you truly look forward to....Picture Perfect!

Time is definitely growing short...Baltimore is only 2 weeks away! I know I've put in a lot of training but it is about this time that I usually start getting nervous about my conditioning etc. This time is no different. Every little ache and pain starts my head spinning with....am I getting an injury? Did I do something that I shouldn't have? etc. Then, of course, there is the worry over nutrition.

This past week my main "issue" has been my right heel. Thankfully, it is feeling better today. I still really don't know what caused the issue in the first place but I'm wondering if it was my trail run on Monday. When you change running surfaces, it can be good and bad. I love the fact that you don't get the same type of pounding that you get running on the roads. However, running on surfaces like trails or sand (ie beaches) can be very hard on your feet - working them in ways that you aren't used to. This is, of course a double edged sword - you don't progress if you don't challenge yourself but if the challenge is too much then you run the risk of injury. The only drawback to this conclusion is that it didn't happen to both feet. I would have thought that is 1 foot wasn't used to the surface the other wouldn't have been either...LOL!

On that note I decided to stick with my bike workouts this morning. I'm getting a great workout and no pounding on my foot which I think has helped a lot. I absolutely love my Cardio Coach workouts - they are interval type workouts and use both resistance and speed to get your HR up. You are in control of your speed &/or resistance so anyone can use the sessions and you can use them on just about any type of equipment. I've used them on my bike and on a treadmill and it works great! Speaking of working great, I love my new HR monitor. It is really basic but it allows me to track workout and calories burned while still inside. My Garmin, tracks these things but will only calculate calories burned while utilizing the GPS. That means that I can only get calories burned when I'm outside....doesn't do me much good with my inside workouts!

After my bike workout was over I did a lifting session - legs and shoulders. I've now done this twice this week and I've really enjoyed the change. Over the past year, my lifting sessions have all been P90X workouts. I love those workouts but it does feel good to change things up every once in a while! I changed the exercises from the last time I did the legs and shoulders so I was able to add in even more variety - gotta love that!

The next product I want to get is Insanity Asylum. The videos I've seen have been awesome and intimidating all at the same time! If that program gives me 1/2 the sensation that Insanity did I know I will LOVE IT! I haven't seen 1 bad review about the program other than it is a real butt kicker. But that's what I'm looking for!!!

Few more things to do before the day gets away from me. Have a great day!!

Thursday, June 02, 2011

16 Days

Today was a great day! I had a good run this morning. The heat and humidity finally broke so it was actually really nice to run. We ended up doing our 5.5 mile hilly loop and averaged 8:55 per mile. My heel has been a bit "tight" the past few days - I don't know how else to describe it. It doesn't really hurt (although it has on occasion) but I'm not getting any relief from stretching it either. I've taken anti-inflammatory pills today and iced it this evening. I don't know if it will help but I know it won't hurt. Anyway, my foot felt pretty good during the run and for most of the day. It is just know "flaring up" a bit.

Later in the day, I met a friend at the dog park and our dogs played for hours. Unfortunately, there was a dog there that was aggressive in the water and actually tried to drown our dogs. Chip went under a couple of times because of this dog. He was then a bit scared of the water for a good portion of the day. When those dogs cleared out we were able to get just our dogs together and after a couple of tries he went back in and did some swimming. He is getting much better!

Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day. My son has a field trip which is awesome for him. When my daughter did the same trip a couple of years ago, the weather was awful and they didn't get to eat out in the garden of the museum. She was pretty bummed!

Anyway, I'm planning on taking the day a bit easy. My workout will be a bike workout (keeping pressure off my heel) and some lifting but other than that I'm not planning much for the day. It has been a crazy week and I feel like I need a break. I will do some stuff around the house but not much else. I'm really looking forward to it!!

Have a great night!

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

17 Days & The June 10 Day Challenge

WOW the race is only a little more than 2 weeks away!!! Where has the time gone??

The past couple of days I've been doing some Cardio Coach workouts on my bike. They have been awesome workouts - this morning I added a lifting session (Workout1 of Flex 4). My right heel has been bugging me a bit, more of a tight feeling than a pain but it has been over the heel section and not in my calf or foot. I've been nervous to try an Insanity workout and the bike has been perfect. Yesterday morning it was really tight and after the bike session, it felt great. Today was better before I started and I haven't had any trouble. Tomorrow is a run day so I'll see how it feels before, during and after the run.

Today started another 10 Day Challenge and I feel like I really need it! My eating has been slacking a bit. I think it was in part because of all the schedule changes going on right now. I'm still adjusting to school being over and the kids are having a lot of special functions to go to. It all results in grabbing food on the go and that usually causes me big trouble! Today has been good though - I've been very mindful of the food I've eaten which is a great first step! I also made a big fruit salad today (love the fresh fruit this time of year) which will be a lot of my dessert type food and will save a lot of calories.

Last night we signed Will up for a baseball camp - it's my baby's first camp! He seemed happy about going....I'm never sure how he is going to react to surprises like that. That's his big "gift" for the summer and Ally's will be a new bike. We will get that either this week or next - all depends on the schedule. She too was happy about her "surprise".

Busy rest of the day so I better get to it - have a great day!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

24 Days

Let me start with this morning's workout. It was Max Interval Plyo and it was HARD! I definitely had more motivation than the other day which is a good thing because I think this is one of the hardest workouts in the bunch! I didn't wear a HR monitor so I don't know what my HR was but it felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest! I was also dripping in sweat and could not get it to stop - I love that feeling!

During the first 10 Days of June some friends and I are doing a 10 Day Challenge and Jess gave us an early exercise/assignment to do before we start. The assignment was to come up with 3 goals for the challenge and to think past strictly pounds lost. Yes, that is important but there really does need to be "other" reasons and goals to be truly successful.

So, I started to think about the assignment and about what "other" things I could come up with. The first thought that came to mind was to make sure I could say that I finished all of my scheduled workouts and that I did them to the "best of my ability on that given day". That last section is really important! No one feels awesome every single day of our lives. There are going to be days when we just really DON'T feel like working out. It is on those days that it is even more important that we get up and move - as Tony Horton says "Do your best and forget the rest!". If you are just feeling tired or unmotivated get your butt up off the sofa and at the very least go for a walk...get up and do something to move your body. Chances are, you will feel better for doing it and the sense of accomplishment is huge!!!!

That led me to the next goal - Honor my self-promises! How often do we start off super strong only to wimp out when things get a little uncomfortable? I honestly believe that we "kill" a little part of ourselves each and every time we do it. I know that sounds harsh - I wanted it to!! When we promise somebody that we will do something, how often do we go way out of our way to get that done for them. If we'll do that for someone else, why won't we do it for ourselves???? If you make a promise to yourself that you will eat healthy nutritious foods, honor that promise for 1 day. When that day is finished, be proud of yourself and then make the promise again the next day and then honor it and yourself AGAIN! Keep repeating that day after day and experience that daily success. Only by doing that small exercise will you gain that inner strength and pride that is so important for our everyday life!

I think it is also important to keep in mind that this entire process (eating well and exercising) is much more than fitting into a bikini or weight 120 pounds. Face it, not all of us are cut out to look like that. Look at elite distance runners vs. elite sprinters. Their genetics are different so they look completely different. We don't have to be elite athletes to look better, feel better and be healthier. Keep striving for YOUR best, whatever that may be. You may find an inner competitive athlete or you may find someone who simply loves walking in the woods each day. Just get yourself moving, promise to do your best and honor that promise and keep at it even when it gets tough. If you do all these things you will reach goals that you never thought you'd achieve. It may take 10 days and it my take 10 years. The important thing is that you keep working at being your best!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

25 Days

Today's run was a tough one. It was a pretty hilly course and the heat and humidity were brutal! However, I'm actually glad that I'll get some runs in this type of weather. The Baltimore race has had some really hot sticky weather so it's actually very beneficial to get some time out in it. The run itself was good. We averaged about 9:30 which is decent on the hills.

I bought a new pair of running shoes today. I was trying to wait until my B-day but when I tried them on I realized just how much I needed them. I stayed with the Brooks Adrenaline but it is now the 11 version. There was enough cushion in them that I think I'll try them without the extra cushion insert (staying with the orthotic though). The extra inserts make the shoes very heavy and I will be really glad to get rid of some of the extra weight. Even the owner of the Delaware Running Company, where I bought the shoes, commented on how heavy the shoes were. I think I needed the extra cushion earlier because my foot was still flared up. Now that it is feeling better I don't think I need it! YEAH!!

I was really sore this morning when I woke up. My Insanity workout on Monday really worked me good! I love that feeling! I realize that people that don't workout regularly must think I'm crazy to say that and to be honest I don't know why I like the feeling. Sure it hurts a bit but it isn't like an injury pain and I guess you just know that you have done something really good for your body. Tomorrow is another Insanity workout day (not sure which session) and I'm already looking forward to it!! I hope my energy level and motivation are higher than on Monday. I did the workout but I felt sluggish - I really want to nail the workout tomorrow!

I bought 1 other thing today - a basic HR monitor. I have a HR monitor on my Garmin but the watch is so big it makes it hard to do many of the Insanity floor moves. I used the Amazon gift card that I got from Jess for winning the 10 Day Challenge. It'll probably be 1.5 to 2 weeks before I get it (that way I got free shipping). It doesn't really have lots of bells and whistles but it will tell me HR and calories burned. My Garmin only tells calories burned when I'm outside - it needs distance traveled in order to calculate the calories.

I'm pretty much finished at school - I will stop in tomorrow just to drop something off and I think I'll take Chip with me. I'm getting my hair done tomorrow so if I bring him early it will be one less time locked up in the house.

I'm trying to get back into more planning this summer. Planning the family dinners, my overall nutrition plan, cleaning schedule etc. So on that note, I'm off to plan tomorrow's meals. It makes a huge difference when you take those few minutes and plan your day. If you don't do it already - START TODAY! Schedule time in your day to workout. Plan your meals so you can get them ready and take them with you if you are out of the house. The following quote is so true:

"He who fails to plan is planning to fail" Winston Churchill



Monday, May 23, 2011

26 Days

I had a pretty good workout this morning - the workout itself wasn't all that great from my ability perspective but it was one of the month 2 Insanity workouts so it was good in that I got my butt kicked. I know, I know, that sentence really doesn't make sense but let me explain. I had a really busy weekend and had a good hard 10 miler on Saturday. So, when I got up this morning, I was really tired. Because my energy levels were down, it limited the "fire" I had to put toward my workout. However, as long as you do your best the Insanity workouts will kick your butt and that is exactly what I need!

The workout was Max Interval Circuit. I was absolutely drenched when I was finished! I really do love that feeling - sweat is dripping down into your eyes and you are completely exhausted but at the same time you feel exhilarated because of what you were just able to complete. It's awesome!

This week is clean-up week at school. So, after my workout, I actually got another workout at school. We moved things, cleaned things and generally just moved constantly for about 4 hours. We got a lot done and I'm hoping that there won't be too much more to do toward the end of the week. I would love to have everything finished by early Wednesday at the latest. Then there will only be a couple of weeks until my kids are off school and we can start going to the pool and the trails!

Off to finish some chores!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

28 Days

Things are really coming down to the wire!! I decided that this weeks long run HAD to be at least 10 miles. So we met at 4:45 this morning and set off for our 10 miles. There is someone in the group that is still in post marathon recovery so she wasn't sure if she would make the 10 so we started off with a 5 mile loop. Then completed the 10 miles with an out and back around a local reservoir. It was absolutely beautiful with the sun starting to rise on the water.

Anyway, we all made it the full 10 miles in a time of 1:35:38 (9:30 pace). My hamstring got a little tight after I ran up the steep hill to the reservoir. I rocked the run up but when we stopped to wait for everyone to get up the hill, I could really feel it tighten. I will have to remember that for the future! I'm pleased with the run but I know that I need to get faster if I want to hit my time. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to really focus on hitting all my workouts really hard and keeping my nutrition on track.

My daughter had a soccer game this morning and she did awesome!! She was very aggressive and played very well. She even played goalie and made a few big saves. Her team won 3-2 so her saves were key! The best part is that she was assertive in all areas of her play - she ran hard on offense and challenged the other girls on defense. I'm very proud of her!

My son has a baseball game later today. I'm hoping he too will be a bit more aggressive in his play. He is a very good ball player when he just relaxes and lets his play happen.

Tomorrow is a stretching day which is good because the rest of the day is going to be very busy!

Friday, May 20, 2011

29 Days....Oh My Gosh!!!!!

I truly can't believe that the Baltimore 10 Miler is less than 30 days away!!!! I started this countdown 80 days ago - where has that time gone?????

Today was our school concert and all the kids did a wonderful job. It also means that today was our last day of school for this school year. I have in-service days next week but classes are finished. It is always a happy and sad time. I enjoy having the summer off to be with my kids and to have more time for things like exercise, going to the pool and yes even making dinner. It is very hard to make more involved and yummy dinners for the family when I'm rushing around doing errands and picking up the carpool etc. That being said, it is also a sad time because you miss the kids and their smiling faces. Sure, there are rough days when you are dealing with 2 and 3 year olds but there is NOTHING like the feeling you get when a young child just brightens up the entire room with their smile and laugh....or when they walk into the room see you and run over to give you a great big hug! We had a great group of kids this year and I will miss them.

I am looking forward to having some more time to devote to my exercise sessions - especially getting Chip our for some runs on the trails. Hopefully the rain will actually stop one of these days and the trails will dry up enough to actually get on them again! I love the freedom I have in the mornings - I may only have 20 or so extra minutes but that can mean an extra 2-3 miles of running. Case in point.....yesterday we ran 6.25 miles (instead of our normal 4-5) but it put me 10-15 minutes later (after stretching and such) than normal and my entire morning just felt "off". It will just be nice to have a more relaxed feeling.

Goals for this summer:
I know have have already talked about 2 of my goals (Baltimore and completing the Half-Wit Half marathon again) but I decided that I needed more to focus on to get me through the rest of the summer. Right now, my weight has kind of stalled at around 154 pounds. This isn't an awful weight for me (in fact it is only a few pounds heavier that when I got married and I've had 2 kids since then) but I want better! So, Goal #1: weigh 140 pounds by September 1, 2011.

I'm also very aware of my different aches and pains since my foot problem. To help relieve that issue, I started doing P90X which included a lot more stretching than I was used to and also added yoga. I'll be honest, I'm still nervous that the problems are going to creep back in. Every time I get up off the sofa and my foot feels tight, I'm nervous that the plantar fascitis is coming back. The best was to combat that is to stretch. So, Goal #2: begin a daily stretching program of at least 15 minutes.

I may add more goals as the summer goes on but those are the ones I have right now. I like to watch The Biggest Loser and Olivia said something this week that really struck a chord with me. She talked about being a strong starter and a weak finisher. She finally finished strong and as a result she made it to the final 3 contestants. I can certainly relate to this feeling. I have repeatedly started weight loss plans and challenges and in almost every single case, I finish with a whimper. I have never felt the same fire at the end that I have at the beginning. Ultimately I guess that by default becomes Goal #3: to make healthy eating and living a daily routine or way of living!

This is going to be a great summer!

Monday, May 16, 2011

33 Days: It was a good night!

We took Will to his baseball practice and I asked Ally if she wanted to do a walk/run with me and she said yes. That in an of itself makes it a great night! However, I've got to tell everyone just how proud I am of her. We covered 3.6 miles and our pace was 13:12 average. Now keep in mind that we were walking part of that time. I think that pace is awesome!

I left the whole run up to her. We walked when she wanted to and ran when she wanted to. I just try to keep stressing that it is being out there that is important to me and not how fast we go. Walking is just fine with me!

I think she is also proud of the fact that she was able to cover more than a 5K...and she should be! I'm really hoping that this will turn into something that the kids and I can do for a long time to come!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

34 Days: Great News & an Interesting Philosophy

I had a good P90X yoga workout this morning. I didn't do the entire routine because I have a little cut on the bottom of my toe and it started to hurt. I don't do much in my bare feet so I didn't want to continue the stress on that foot.

Great News
I am also very happy and excited today! I was just reading an article in my Runner's World magazine where the author talked about inviting his son to run with him. Running was apparently an activity that the boy was very good at but didn't have any interest in doing but finally agreed to run with his Dad. Eventually the son joined the cross country team and fell in love with running. But, the whole point to the story was that you should try new things in the spring (i.e. asking someone to run with you). I decided to take the author's advice and ask my son (I didn't think my daughter would have any interest) if he wanted to start running with me. My husband even suggested that we could get him running only shoes if he was interested as an incentive to keep at it. So this morning both my kids were in the room and I threw out the suggestion to both of them, tell them that we would slowly build up (start with a run/walk if necessary) and that we could run both here at home and on the trails. To my surprise, they BOTH said yes!!!! I could have jumped to the moon I was so excited! I then pushed the envelope just a little bit farther and suggested that maybe we could find a 5K race to train for and they were both still interested!! I only had to make one promise......that I wouldn't make them run at 4:30 am (the time I usually run with my running group). THAT'S A DEAL!!

Interesting Philosophy
My husband gets Men's Health Magazine and I was reading an article in it today. It was about Tony Horton and P90X. There was one little section that really jumped out at me: "'externals' such as weight loss and muscle definition, should never be your primary motivators for working out. 'Focus instead on the internals,' he says. Are you less fatigued? Do you have more energy? Are you sleeping better? Do you feel stronger? Are you happier?.....". It started me thinking about whether these are the things I focus on and the answer was NO. Honestly, if we are honest, especially women, we don't focus on these types of internals. We are constantly looking in the mirror and telling ourselves that we aren't thin enough or we aren't pretty enough or our hips and thighs are too big. Men might look in that same mirror and tell themselves that their legs are too thin and the shoulders are too narrow or they are too fat. We all have our "buttons" that we push.

Even when we have had a significant weight loss are we happy? Sometimes, but often times not. We forget about how far we have come and we don't take a moment to be proud of ourselves or to give ourselves a pat on the back. Why? because we aren't "perfect". Here's a secret.....we aren't ever going to be perfect!!! So does it make sense to focus on those external factors? Not really. But, and this is a big but for me - I know deep down that I am going to have a really hard time changing my way of thinking. Truth is, I know that I am probably healthier and stronger than the majority of women in the United States but instead of being pleased with that I focus on my negatives.

I don't want to imply that striving for super fitness is always a bad thing. Being lean and sexy is awesome! I also think that pushing yourself to your limits is a positive thing because we really don't know just how much we can do - Insanity has taught me that lesson well! However, I think it is just as important, if not more so, that we keep a good portion of our focus on those "internals" that Tony talked about. Take a step back routinely and be proud of yourself and all that you have achieved. Is it an easy thing to do? No, I don't think it is - especially for women who are constantly told that others should come first (kids, husbands, work etc). Just as we need to schedule time to get our workouts in, I honestly feel we also need to schedule time for congratulating ourselves and reflecting on life.

Where's my calendar????????????

Saturday, May 14, 2011

35 Days

I got in my 8 miles this morning!! Next week we will bump it up to 10 and then start to increase the speed for those 10 miles.

The group met at a local park and did a loop that incorporated some rolling hills. The hills weren't super steep or super long but they were still a challenge. Enough so that we now know that we have to start getting back into the hill work. The Baltimore course has a lot of hills and there are some real crazy ones toward the end. I am really feeling good at where I'm at right now. Sure the hills were tough but I didn't feel like I couldn't keep up or anything in fact I was in the front of the group. We averaged just over 9 m/mile. As long as I keep my training consistent and keep a nice clean nutrition plan I think I'll have a shot at the 1:20:00!

This week may be a challenge for me in terms of the weather. It is supposed to rain all week. However, I told my friend today a bout yesterday's post and about taking responsibility for my workouts. Even is it is raining on Monday, I still need to get my runs in! So come Tuesday, I will be meeting my group and we will train on the hills!

Off to have some breakfast!

Friday, May 13, 2011

36 Days

The crazy week is OVER! Last night we had an awesome Spring Arts/Picnic at school. All the classrooms looked awesome - the kids did an amazing job! After the families got a chance to look at the classrooms there was a huge food spread in our gym and all the families got a chance to sit down together and enjoy some great food and good company! In addition to having to get all of this together, it is report card time and I can thankfully say.......they are finished too!!!!!! It is a huge burden off my back to know that during this last week or so, I have most of my school responsibilities completed!

Now I can really start to buckle down on that little bit of extra "stuff" that I'm going to need to hit my goal in Baltimore. I haven't been quite as tight on my food over the past day and a half. I will make that change starting right now! I was about to write tomorrow but there is NO REASON TO WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW! I can make better decisions and choices right now!! I still have some water left in my gallon and I will finish that tonight and fill it right back up for tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is going to be a fun but busy day. It will start out with a run with my buds. I am going to run 8 - most of the group is still recovering from their marathons so I'm not sure I'll have company for the last couple of miles. I need to start increasing the miles on my long days regardless of whether there are others with me. It is time for me to take responsibility for myself. I used to run by myself, because I didn't know anybody else running when I did. I will forever be grateful for the Marine Corps Marathon, the Hal Higdon message boards and a friend named Pat who helped me connect with this great group of runners. The group has changed over the years but I am thankful that each and everyone of them. However, because I started running with this great group, I stopped running alone. From a safety standpoint it is great but I stopped taking responsibility for my runs. If others weren't running, I didn't run...or if it was raining, I didn't run etc. I am shifting my thinking. I will run no matter what the weather and I will run the full mileage regardless of who is running or not running with me!

Today's workout was my Insanity Cardio Recovery session. It is definitely easier than most of the Insanity workout but it is not easy! I had originally thought I might get another workout in today but the timing never worked out. My kids had an early dismissal from school and then I had to go to the grocery store. By the time we got home, I had to start making dinner etc. I think it is actually a good thing - I tend to not spend enough time in recovery. I'm hoping it will give me a great run tomorrow!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

38 Days

I am so excited! I got on the scale today and my weight has dropped to 153 so over the past 10 days I have dropped 4.5 pounds. The funny thing is that the only thing I did was cut out some of the extras - the junk! I wasn't perfect and I still dropped the weight - amazing isn't it! The fact is, we don't have to be "perfect" and we are only setting ourselves up for failure if perfection is what we expect of ourselves.

I love Jess' 80% rule - be on target 80% of the time and you will be living a healthy lifestyle. This is truly what the main purpose is all about. I am really striving toward that goal - making it a lifestyle &/or philosophy. I have shown myself that it works and I have to keep reminding myself of that fact. I know it isn't quite there yet so my goal for the next 7 days is is maintain my actions. My mind and body have not committed this to habit yet so that is my next goal!

As for my workout - I completed Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance this morning. I attempted to video the workout - for my purposes only! I need to play with it more so that I get more in the shot and for some reason it stopped taping part way through the session so I didn't get to see my form at the end (I really wanted to look at the push-ups). I'm thinking that it stopped because I left it alone for the entire session. Maybe I need to stop/start it during the water breaks. If anyone has another idea let me know (it records on tape - not digital).

I'm about 1/2 way through my day and my eating has been good. I still haven't decided what to have for dinner. I may have a salad and get fried chicken or something for the rest of the family. We have both soccer and baseball tonight - luckily they are both basically next to each other so I can get both kids where they need to be. Hubby will be at home but has work he must get done.

Speaking of having to get things done - I'm off to get my own work done!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

39 Days

I can not believe that I am under 40 days to the race!!!

I have had an awesome couple of days! Eating has been really good and exercise has been off the charts excellent!! Yesterday was my first day of the Insanity cycle and I felt great all day. After school, I did a 3 mile run at the park. It was really hot and a pretty good portion of the trail was rocky so I had to walk some (didn't want to twist and ankle or worse, fall down). Even with those 2 factors I averaged a 10:45 pace.

Today was a running day and I repeated the 5 mile course that we have covered the past couple of outings. Each time we have done this course we have gotten faster and today was not different. Our pace was 9:04 today and I was talking quite a lot. I'm encouraged by this! This next month or so is my big push toward 1:20:00 and I think I'm in a good place. I realize there is still a lot of work to be done and I am ready to put in that work. School will be out in a couple of weeks and this will give me more time to devote to my training as well. I'm looking forward to the journey!!

Sunday, May 08, 2011

41 Days

Happy Mother's Day to All!

I had a wonderful day with my family! I didn't really workout today but I did spend a lot of time playing with the kids. I helped my son with his baseball skills and then kicked the soccer ball around with my daughter. I love the fact that they are excited about getting out and being active!!

My eating today wasn't great but it was Mother's Day and I decided not to worry about it too much. I'm trying to avoid the snack meals because the actual meals were higher in calories than normal. I'm in day 8 of a 10 day challenge and we aren't checking scale weight until it is over so I don't know where I stand. However, I'm feeling pretty good.

Tomorrow I start my Insanity phase of my program and I'm really looking forward to it! I tweaked the original program and am doing 2 weeks of month 1 and then 2 weeks of month 2. After doing the Pure Cardio on Friday I really think it will be better to take a couple of weeks to get back into it and then try to kick it up that extra notch.

I've recently watched a number of videos of the Asylum program and am really looking forward to doing this program one day. I have a birthday approaching and will wait to see what I get (money etc) because I am also going to need new running shoes very soon. I may only be able to get one at a time and the shoes must come first!

Off to watch the Phillies beat the Braves (I hope!).

Saturday, May 07, 2011

42 Days

It has been an interesting day! It started with a great6.5 mile run at a 9:30 pace and again there was great conversation to be had! The pace felt nice and easy so I'm pleased!

Then we had a soccer game at 9 am. The girls looked great! They are really coming together and working well as a team. They ended in a tie but the progress they have made is amazing!

Then it was lunch with the family - including my parents who game to watch the games.

Then we went to my son's baseball game where I ended up having to be the umpire. Each team is responsible to supply 1 ump for the game and there wasn't any one on our side willing to do it so I did. I've never done it before so I was interested to see how I did. I had fun and I think I did a pretty good job! Unfortunately, our team lost:-(

Then we had company for dinner - a great time was had by all. How will the day end? I now need to prepare for my Sunday School class tomorrow. It has been a fun ride today and I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings!

Friday, May 06, 2011

43 Days

I have officially had enough of this recovery week! I decided this morning that I was going to do an Insanity routine and start the sweat rollin'! I chose a workout from month 1 and boy am I glad I did! It really kicked my butt this morning and I LOVED it! I knew that I had missed that feeling I got after a good Insanity workout but I didn't realize just how much I had missed it!!

I know that I still have to do lifting workouts because I don't want to get in that unbalanced state again but I just don't like the P90X workouts as much as I do the Insanity sessions. The funny thing is that when I got the P90X workouts, I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. Funny how your perceptions change......feel like I've said that before (LOL)!

Tomorrow, I'm doing a 6 mile run with a friend and then we have a day of sports. Soccer first thing and then baseball right after lunch. We are also having company over for dinner. Should make for a very busy, but fun, day!

Thursday, May 05, 2011

44 Days - Recovery Week

This has been a tough week. I really seem to struggle during my recovery weeks. I noticed it during both P90X and Insanity. My workouts are a struggle to get in and my eating is very haphazard. I'm actually glad that it is almost over!

I have been able to get in 2 good runs with Helenann (5 miles each time). That was something else that was hard - Helenann is still in recovery from Boston and everyone else just ran there marathon last Sunday. So, there really hasn't been anyone to run hard with. This weekend will also be light. Helenann doesn't want to do much over 6 miles (it will probably be relatively easy too) and the rest of the group is only doing 4 miles. But, I'm sure we'll start to ramp things up soon.

I only have a couple more weeks of school left (can't wait!) so I think I'll try to get on some trails during the day while the kids are still in school. I want to get Chip on the trails too but I know I won't be able to do any long runs with him. He's run 2 miles but we haven't gone any farther. I'm debating on whether he would be able to go farther on a flat shady trail??????

I'm looking forward to starting back up with Insanity next week. As I posted before, I think I try 1-2 week of the first month and then move to month 2 workouts. I really miss the "high" I got after completing those workouts! I think it is also really going to help me get ready for Baltimore.

That's it for now!

Sunday, May 01, 2011

48 Days!

I didn't get a chance to get on here yesterday but I had an awesome run! I actually got my butt out the door - by myself! - and ran 8 miles!! I was hoping to do 8 on my own and then 2 with Chip but I really burned my legs out by going hard at the end. I thought it was smarter to not push it and then be able to keep going long term (hammy was starting to get cranky). I ran the 8 miles in 1:09:59 which is an 8:44 pace. I'm very pleased with this time. I know it is still far away from my goal of 10 miles in 1:20:00 but I am confident that I will bring that time down as the days move forward!

Then we had my daughter's soccer game and she scored a hat trick AND had 2 assists!! Our coach did a good job and trying not to run up the score (it was VERY lopsided) and had the girls working on passing, working together and staying spread out on the field. It was actually a very fun game to watch because you could see the girls really starting to "get it". Then we got a call from our friend asking us to come down and spend the day. It is always great fun but we also tend to eat way too much food. As a result my weight did pop up a bit. But that changes TODAY!

Today is the start of our 10 Day Challenge that Jess started up. I'm really looking forward to this and I am really going to stick to the plan!! I need to show myself that I can do this!

Well, I started this early in the morning and I was in a very positive mood. Things changed drastically and it turned out to be a very bad and stressful day. I'm ending this now because I really don't have any positive feeling right now!