Week 1 of Bikini Body Bootcamp

I'm frustrated right now. I had this whole beautifully written post all done up for you about my first week doing the Bikini Body Boot camp and as I hit submit, my computer crashed and erased it all. FAIL!!

Let me see if I can recap a bit (mind you this won't be as amazing as my original post- now lost forever!).

Week 1 was the 10 Minute Bootcamp Workout by Jeanette Jenkins

I was very sore going into this because I had spent the day before out doing a complete overhaul on my garden (removing stumps, weeding, wheeling rocks, etc). I refuse to kneel when I garden so I always end up in a long-standing squat or just flat out bending over- probably not the smartest, but it works for me.

Anyway, it was only a 10 minute workout, so I decided to give it a shot before I went to work. It may have only been 10 minutes, but boy did I work up a sweat! Love it! The workout consists of 5 moves:

1. Burpee Push Shuffle (this was a challenging one to start off with, especially after having just woken up)
2. Squat Leg Lift Medial Delt
3. Front Kick Two Hand Touch (this was my favorite!!)
4. Back Row Fly with Booty Tap
5. Grand Plie with Overhead Extension (this was my second favorite)

The exercises vary with how many reps you do of each- some are 10, some are 25, so on and so forth.
But, as I said before, I was definitely mopping up some sweat with this routine, and I really like that. I may add this in as one of my cross training days. Who doesn't love a quick fat-blasting, toning session?
Anyway, the link above has the video you can follow along with to do the workout. I am also going to post links to all the workouts on a separate page on my blog.

In the meantime, give this boot camp session a try and feel free to leave me a comment with which exercise was your favorite!

Hippity Hoppity

Who got her new medal in the mail yesterday?

THIS KID!!

Yay! I love shiny things! Mucho thanks to Amy @Pumpkin to Princess for a fun virtual 5k and some snazzy bling to go with it.

I hope everyone had a good Easter (if you celebrate it). We had a big family gathering at my parent's house. I got to hang out with my niece and help her do the egg hunt (she found them all on her own- I swear!), and enjoy a TON of homecooked goodness. We had ham, lasagna, bbq kielbasa, kielbasa and sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, mac and cheese, and rolls. I was pretty good and gave myself small portions (I only did one helping of everything as well). For dessert I made a banana bundt cake with white chocolate drizzle. It was a low cal, low fat cake recipe (no oil or eggs)- it came out super yummy!

Anywho, the day before Easter I did a 2 mile run in 27 minutes. Not too bad. I'm just struggling with trying to hold that pace for longer than 2 miles. Just going to have to push through it, I suppose. Any tips or ideas?

Oh! I also found a website where the writer is doing an 11 week Bikini Body Bootcamp. I actually found it on Pinterest and ended up really liking her blog. I decided I am going to join in and put myself on this 11 week Bikini Body Bootcamp starting this weekend.  On top of the workouts I do throughout the week, I am going to toss this in as an additional circuit training. So, I hope y'all get excited and look forward to my Bikini Body Bootcamp updates. I will fill you in on what I did, which ones I felt worked me hard, which seemed easy slightly less challenging, so on and so forth. Also, if anyone wants to join in with me, please leave a comment and let me know! Maybe we can help each other push through and get all 11 weeks done! Who's with me!?

A Rant and Getting to Know Your Cupcake

Well, it has most definitely been a hectic week. And it's only Wednesday. OY!

I've been kind of down lately because I got on the scale today and I've gained back 15 pounds. UGH! I'm so angry with myself I could spit! Maybe some of it is because I'm suffering a visit from a not-so friendly friend (ladies, you get my drift). Maybe it's because I just haven't been able to find the time to get my lazy butt to the gym. I've been working so many hours that all I do when I get home is try to unwind a bit and then catch some sleep. On the up side, seeing those numbers on the scale has definitely re-motivated me to get up and get back to the gym more often. I refuse to back track all of the hard work I did last year!! So, tomorrow, I am getting myself up early and going for a run BEFORE work. I'm not a morning person, but it's got to be done.  End rant- now to the fun stuff.

Recently, I was tagged in not one, but TWO different blogs for the 11 Random Things post. So, I'm going to apologize in advance for the super long post - prepare to learn WAY too much about me!

Rules of the Post:

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog, FB page, or wherever you can grab their attention and inform them of their obligation to the blogosphere.

11 Random Things About Cupcake:

1. I LOVE baking cupcakes (hence the nickname). Seriously, I delight in coming up with various and sometimes random recipes for people. Apparently my cupcakes are pretty good too because I even got asked to bake them for a wedding in May (Sweet!!) My favorite cupcake to make is my pumpkin spice caramel- sooo yummy and SOOO under 300 calories (as most of my cupcakes are).

2. I am addicted to Bath and Body Works. It probably doesn't help that I work there part-time. But I legit cannot help myself from buying up all of their products! The lotions, the shower creams,soaps, wallflowers, candles... everything!

3. I truly enjoy dancing but have absolutely NO rhythm or dance skills whatsoever. Except when it comes to swing dancing. I took 2 years of swing dance lessons in college and can totally jitterbug with the best of them.

4. My favorite late night snack is a large bowl of mixed fruit (grapes, apples, bananas, berries) topped off with greek yogurt and a handful of gluten free granola and some almonds. YUMM!!

5. I went to an all-women's college and I have never regretted my choice. I loved my school because it was academically challenging and set up in such a way that it helped mold me into the empowered and intelligent woman I am today. It taught me leadership, responsibility, the true value of sisterhood and SO much more.

6. My bedroom is currently painted to look like an ocean. I'm a Pisces- I love water, enough said. One whole wall in my room is a mural (painted by one of my mother's friends) and has dolphins, fish, a beach, a ship, etc all done on it. The opposite wall has the moon and some stars.

7. I love pirates. Not just the Johnny Depp looking ones either, but all kinds of pirates. y family encourages my obsession by gifting me with pirate themed objects. My favorite gift is rolling luggage in the shape of a pirate treasure chest.

8. When I was a young kid (around 9 or 10) I was part of a children's chorus group that was invited to make a cd with Jose Feliciano (the original singer of Feliz Navidad). I went to his house in CT and sang in a sound studio and met his family and everything!

9. I have a candle addiction. At any given time, I have about $250 worth of candles in my bedroom. Totally came in handy during the freak October storm where I was without power for a week.

10. I enjoy painting my nails. It's something I tend to do on my "Me" nights. It makes me feel all girly and pretty. I've gotten much better at doing my own nails also. I don't make nearly as big of a mess as I used to.

11. I have my bartending license. Yup. One of the things I did after I graduated college was get my bartending license. You never know when you may need a second job to help bring in some extra cash. Plus, I love mixing drinks more than I love actually drinking them.


11 Questions I have to Answer:


Questions from Becoming An Ironman

1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?  What do you want to be now that you have grown up?         I remember being in sixth grade and having to write down what I wanted to be when i grew up. We then had to hand in our answers and go around the room trying to guess who answered which job. I wrote that I wanted to be a comedian. I love making people laugh! Now that I am grown up, I still want to be a performer, just not necessarily a stand-up comedian.
2. If you came into a large fortune all of a sudden and were set for life, what is the first thing you would do?     I would pay off all my parents bills and make sure they were financially secure. Then, I would pay off most of my debts, donate a large portion of money to various charities and then put some into my savings. Sensible, right?
3. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?    If we are going original- vanilla. If you mean "out of the box" flavors- peanut brittle.
4. Of all the places you've been - vacation, work, or any other reason - which was your favorite and why?    I LOVED Italy. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my entire life. The way that the past and present is so intermingled in all of the cities is truly astonishing and absolutely breathtaking.
5. What is your favorite time of day to exercise?   Mondays. I feel it usually helps me get my week off to a good start.
6. Everyone has an innate fear.  What are you naturally afraid of?  I am truly afraid of disappointing people. Random, but it's true. I can't stand having people being disappointed or upset with me- it eats away at my heart.
7. Which holiday is your favorite?, and why?   Probably Halloween. Not because of the candy- but because I get to dress up and act silly.
8. It's Friday night and you have the whole weekend ahead of you, what do you do?   I would probably be out performing in a show or watching a live show somewhere.
9. What was the very last meal you ate?   Fish, brussel sprouts and some mashed potatoes.
10. What is your big race this year?, and what is your goal for that race?  My big race is another half marathon- The DIVA half (hopefully). And my goal is 3 hours.
11. What is the toughest aspect of training for you?  How do you overcome it?  My toughest aspect is finding the time and maintaining the motivation to keep running. I'm still working on overcoming it. I feel if I start to set smaller goals for myself I might be more willing to continue.

Questions from BabyWilt

1. When and why did you start to run and if you don't run, why did you start to exercise? I started running in the fall of 2010 because I wanted to cross "finish a race" off my bucket list.
2. Where was you last vacation?  My last "vacation" was to North Carolina for my 5 year college reunion.
3. What phrase or word do you tend to overuse? I say "you're welcome" and "I'm sorry" a lot. (The first one I got from Chelsea)
4. How many hours of sleep do you average a night? I try to get at least 6.
5. How many siblings do you have? Two. One brother, one sister.
6. What is you favourite food and why?  My favorite food is sushi. I love seafood!!
7. What do you like to do most in your "me time"?  I tend to put on either a movie or some music and chill out while I give myself a manicure.
8. Have you ever done something you thought (or were told) you could never do? Yes. I finished a half marathon.
9. What is your favourite post exercise meal or snack?  I love peanut butter and bananas after a run.
10. What is your favourite time of the day?  My favorite time of the day is about 11:30am. At least, that's my favorite time to go work out.
11. I work at home at my computer so check blogs/emails/twitter/facebook regularly; How do YOU organise the social media in your life?   I have an iPhone that helps me keep in touch with social media. However, I have been slacking on a lot of my social media outlets simply because I just don't have the time to respond/post/etc. 

People I am Tagging:

Wells L @My Story... Chapter 2
Amy @Pumpkin to Princess
Suz and Allen @Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between
Carly @Chubby Chicks Run Too

Questions They Must Answer:

1. What is your all-time favorite season and why?
2. If you could run a race anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
3. What is your fondest memory?
4. What is something that you have done in your life that makes you proud?
5. What is something that you are terrifies of?
6. If you were stranded on an island and could only have three things with you, besides a form of travel and food, what would your three things be?
7. What is your favorite animal and why?
8. Have you ever wished upon a star? If so, did it come true?
9. What is the most current book you have read?
10. What is your favorite piece of running gear? Why?
11. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Gluten Free 3

Happy Weekend Everyone!

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Is anyone else glad the work week has finally come to a close? I know I am!
The only small down side is that my long run outside tomorrow will have to be postponed because we are supposed to be getting 6-8inches of snow throughout the day. Yeesh!

Anyway, work has been crazy as usual, but I love it. I got to meet 4 new groups of girls this week and so far, they all seemed to like the activities I had planned out. (Did I mention I work for a non-profit group?) It's been keeping me busy busy busy! But, I still managed to get in 1 night of Zumba and 2 nights of Wii Just Dance 3. Hooray! Sadly, no real running this week, unless you count all of the running around I did for work... *insert drum hit here*. Corny, I know. I can't help myself sometimes.

In other news, week 3 of gluten free is going pretty well. I went out to hibachi/sushi with a group of friends the other night for a birthday dinner and managed to make some very good, gluten-free choices. For those who may not know, I LOVE SUSHI/HIBACHI!! However, going gluten-free means I cannot enjoy terriyaki or soy sauce.. so I had to be smart with my choices. No hibachi for this kid. I did, however, enjoy two very yummy rolls- spicy salmon and an ocean roll that had practically every type of sushi in it rolled in white seaweed with cucumber and avocado.

 SO YUMMY!!

I also passed on the fried ice cream (seriously, I'm SO proud of myself for that- I should get a medal or something).

The other day, I stocked up on some more gluten free foods at Ocean State- some more pasta and crackers, along with some ginger snap cookies and gluten free granola! Holler! Even though I do have some cracker/cookies/granola... most of my snacking has actually been fruits and vegetables/hummus. I've had salad for lunch 3 of the 5 days this week and, overall, I just am feeling healthier. I may extend my gluten-free expirement another 30 days, just to see if there continues to be improvement in energy/digestion/etc.

How is everyone else doing with their goals so far?

First Run of the New Year

I got in a run today!

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SO EXCITED!!

My friend Tina and I got together and went to the gym today (probably not the best idea because it was jam packed with people working on their own New Year's resolutions- but I managed to snag a free treadmill). I was only going to do a short 1.5 mile run, but I hit 1 mile by 12:40 and I felt good, so I decided to keep going. Considering how out of shape my lungs are from this stupid cold-thing that won't leave, I'm actually pretty proud that I made it to 3 miles in 44:32. Not as fast as I would like, but not bad considering I am sick and I haven't really run in a loooooooooooooooooong time.

After my run, I cleaned my machine and headed to the weights. I focused on my back and shoulders today doing back extensions, lat raises and a few others. I decided to up my weights from what I had been doing so I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow. It's all good though- it was nice getting back into my old routine. Tina and I are going to the gym again tomorrow morning. I'm planning on another 3 mile run and then some bicep/tricep work. I'm trying to take advantage of as much running time as I possibly can right now, while at the same time trying to make sure I don't overdo my runs and wear myself down before I can really get started again. I'm still kind of disappointed in myself that I slacked off after I finished the half marathon. Especially because having had so much time off, my endurance (the little I had built up) has suffered. Grrr!

Here is my ideal workout schedule or this month (we will see if I can stick with it):

I am planning it for just one month to see if I need to update/change anything as I progress in it. My goal is also to do my workouts in the morning... which means I'm going to have to start getting up earlier. Boo!! Oh well, if I want to accomplish my fitness goals for this year, it needs to be done, right? Right.

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year everyone!

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I hope y'all had a fun, exciting and safe New Years!

Now, in keeping with the time honored tradition of making resolutions for the upcoming year, I have some goals that I would like to accomplish this year. (And, yes, I am going to share them with you! Aren't you lucky?!)

1. I am, sadly, not going to be able to do the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I'm incredibly upset over this but finance and logistics wise, it wasn't working out. Add onto that the fact that I've been sick for a month now and have fallen so far behind on my training, it would be virtually impossible for me to get on track- it just seems better for my sanity (and stress level) to forego that race this year and save up money for next year.
I am not completely down and out though! Never! Instead of racing that weekend, I will be participating in the Jim Calhoun Cardioraiser! I have joined Kurt's "A-Team" group (which I helped him name), and in keeping with the show, have aptly dubbed myself "HMM" (points if you know which character that is!). It's going to be a great day- the fundraiser is for Autism and I have set a goal of $100 for myself. I feel that is completely easy to reach and hope to go above and beyond. For this $100, I will be doing Zumba! That's right the cardioraiser entails doing your choice of spinning, zumba, or a cardio machine of your choice. I love dancing, so I figured Zumba might be a fun choice. I signed up for only one hour so far but hope to raise enough money to add onto that (I'd really like to be able to do at least 3 hours if not more). So, I need everyone's help! Please go to my donation page HERE and help me start the year off by helping those who need it!

2. According to my DailyMile, last year I ran a total of 251.64 miles. Not too shabby for my first full year of running!! This year, I plan on increasing that total number and hitting 350 miles! Can she do it?! Yes, she can! But, how? Well, that leads me to my next goal....

3. Last year I participated in 4 5k races and 1 half marathon. For 2012, my goal is to do 8 5k races and at least 2 half marathons (with the possibility of some 10k's in there as well, if time and finances allow). Doubling my race schedule means more training miles and overall run miles. I should be able to tack on that additional 100 miles easy!!

4. I plan on saving up money!! Even though I intend on running more races, my goal is to be smart about which races I do and how they affect my finances. I also have to factor in new running shoes, clothes, etc. My new job means better pay so I have to work hard and not blow all of my money on race stuff. I need to save up for Disney and NJ marathons next year (yea, I'm already planning for 2013 too haha).

5. Get healthy. Stay healthy. I'm sooooooo over being sick. It's the first real cold I've had in a long time and it's just lingering in my lungs. It needs to be done. I'm hoping that with more runs and more strength and cross training I can boost my immune system so I won't have to suffer through this sort of thing again. Or, if I do, my immune system will be strong enough to kick it out of me ASAP. I also want to focus on eating healthier again. I'm actually considering going gluten free because lately, whenever I eat pasta or bread, it makes me incredibly bloated and makes me feel sick to my stomach. (Too much info?) Part of this will also include increasing my water and electrolyte intake (especially since I'm going to be running more).

6. Having more "ME" time in my life. One thing I noticed over the past two months was that the busier I got, the more I stopped having my "ME" time nights. I found that I was more stressed because I wasn't allowing myself time to decompress and relax before bed (probably a large reason as to why I got sick). My goal for 2012 is to dedicate one night a week to being by myself- no boyfriend, no work, no running around... just a nice, quiet time to myself. Whether it's a night run, some kettle bell circuits in my room, a self-done mani, etc. It doesn't matter, as long as it's for me.

So, those are my 6 big goals for the year. I think they are incredibly do-able. 

What do you think? What are some of your new year resolutions?

Love Letter to Myself

Dear Cupcake,

It's officially time to get your behind in gear! I know, I know. There was snow on the ground and fallen trees and power lines- quit being a wuss will ya?! Strap on your big girl sneakers, lace em up good and tight and hit the pavement kid! You had almost a week off of your new training, you don't have time to fall behind. You need to buckle down and get serious ASAP.

I have every faith that you will find your motivation again. It's not gone for good. You've just hit a speed bump in your daily routine right now- freak snow storm, loss of power for a week or so, dangerous roads, etc etc. But, everything is getting back to normal now! And I know you've got the sniffles, but keep popping that Vitamin C and before you know it, you're gonna feel 100%!

Afterall,

"There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything"

- Vince Lombardi

Sincerely,

Me.

How Do You Like Them Fins?

I have compression sleeves!!

 

And I'm starting to look like the little mermaid!

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 We are almost like twins, right? HAHA!

Ok... maybe that second part isn't entirely true, but I've got a good start to my outfit for the Disney Princess Half. And, it's all thanks to Kristin @HollyWood Runs. She did a Zensah sleeve give away and I won! Woohoo! Since we live relatively close to each other, she decided to stop by my store to drop off my prize to me. It was nice to catch up with her again as I know she has been too busy to keep up with her blogging. (Which is sad, because her blog is a lot of fun!) As soon as I was on break, I slipped my sleeves on and I felt instant relief and comfort for my legs (feet not so much, retail is a killer, but my legs definitely felt awesome). I cannot wait to use them on my long run tomorrow!!

My entire running schedule has, once again, been thrown out of whack because of work and rehearsal. But, I've stopped worrying over it. I have just enough time to run 13.5 miles before my rest week for the half marathon so I'm not going to stress. Stressing over getting my long runs in makes me not enjoy the actual runs and I don't want that to happen.

On another note, I was reading an article in Runner's World that mentioned how a study was done on athletes who drank chocolate milk after intense workouts. It was quite interesting, so I figured I would share it with you and get y'alls opinions on the matter. The article stated that: "About 30 men and women participated in a four-and-a-half week training program at the University of Texas at Austin that included cycling hard for an hour a day, five days a week. Right after their ride and again an hour later, subjects drank chocolate milk or a carb beverage. The 2011 study found that chocolate milk? drinkers gained more lean muscle and lost more body fat (thanks to milk's protein) than those downing the carb drink.
ACTION: To help shed body fat and boost muscle gains, follow long workouts with a tall glass of chocolate milk." (source)

One of the blogs I follow,  RDM (Running Diva Mom) has used chocolate milk as her refueling beverage of choice for a good long while and she loves it! She was even contacted by Refuel with Chocolate Milk to see if they could sponsor her for a race. How cool is that?! Read all about it on her blog HERE. So, apparently, chocolate milk is the thing to drink after a long run or race. But what about for those of us who can't have chocolate? (Chocolate literally makes me ill. It sucks.) Will regular milk do? How about strawberry? Or should I just stick with a Gotein powder or Gatorade?

I Have a Plan... No, Really

Lately, with the anemia and life getting in the way, I feel like I've fallen backward with my training. Like two gigantic, Godzilla-sized steps backward. GRRRRR! It's frustrating to say the least. I feel as if I should be able to run longer and slightly faster than I have been but as soon as I start running, my body gives up. You heard me, my body literally gives up before it even starts. Damn traitor. It's killing me. I feel like I'm literally trapped in an overwhelming pit of negativity every time I start to run. How does one get past a hurdle like this? My last two 5ks were good, in the sense that I finished them, but I was disappointed with my times (and that did nothing to help my continuous spiral into a pit of self-loathing). The Red Dress Run was 46 minutes and the GE Road Race was 47 minutes. UGH!!!

I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself, but I don't care. I'm disappointed and I have every right to feel so, don't I? *pout* Fine. I will be positive. Positive begets positive, right? So, positivity it shall be. Instead of moping around that my initial training plans have been drawn and quartered like ancient day criminals, I have decided to regroup and reformat a brand new and improved (though how it can be both new and improved at the same time, I will never know) training plan.

This week's plan goes like this:

Monday- Rest day (fancy that)
Tuesday- 3 mile run (easy pace)
Wednesday- Cross Training and Abs
Thursday-1 mile tempo run (shooting for a 13:30 pace to start with)
Friday- Rest day (because I'm still not 100%, otherwise this would be another cross train day)
Saturday- 3 mile run (easy pace)
Sunday- 7.5 mile run

Once this week is done, I will regroup again and see how I am feeling. Then, I will either tweak my new schedule or continue as I have it now.

On another note-  

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY 100th POST GIVE AWAY HERE!!!!

And now, a positive quote (so we can leave on a positive note- I swear, it's not all sarcasm)

"I often hear people say 'I'm not a real runner'. 

We are all runners, some just run faster than others...

I have never met a fake runner"

-Bart Yasso

Endurance Training Induced Anemia

 What's with the blog title?

Sounds crazy right? 

I thought so too.

Apparently, endurance athletes (mostly women) can suffer from anemia during training. So says the doctor, so says numerous websites I've researched. According to an article on About.com, "The symptoms of iron deficiency include loss of endurance, chronic fatigue, high exercise heart rate, low power, frequent injury, recurring illness, and loss of interest in exercise and irritability. Other symptoms include poor appetite, and increased incidence and duration of colds and infections." So far, I've been suffering from loss of endurance, chronic fatigue and loss of interest in exercise. Seriously, I've run like twice in the past two weeks.The other day I slept for about 8 hours through the night, woke up and went to work. In between girl scout programs I napped for 45 minutes in my car (I had 2 hours to kill). I ran my last program and then went home and slept for another hour and a half. When I woke up (again) I was still exhausted.

Normally, I would say this could have been me burning the candle at both ends, having too much on my plate, etc etc. But it's not. I'm actually rather comfy in my schedule, as far as work goes. This wasn't an isolated incident though, it has been going on, daily, for about 2 weeks. And my loss of interest in running is the part that was worrying me the most. So, I went to the doctor. I explained my situation and how this crazy fatigue is interfering with my half marathon training. He said, the half marathon training could be what was causing my fatigue. He basically explained that a large portion of women endurance athletes develop anemia because of their increased altheticism, hard training stimulates an increase in red blood cell and blood vessel production, and increases the demand for iron, and the changes (if any) in their diet.

Needless to say, he put me on iron pills to help take care of the anemia. He said to monitor my diet more closely and make sure I'm sticking to healthy choices, especially ones with higher iron levels in them (fish, lean red meat, etc). I also have to keep a close eye on my fiber levels because iron can wreak havoc on one's digestive system. Oh the fun times I have to look forward too! On the up side, I've been taking the iron pills for 3 days now and I can honestly say that today is the first day I have woken up and not felt completely exhausted. Granted, it's still early in the day, but I have high hopes. I think the iron pills are going to help though.

So, my question to you is, has anyone else ever had anemia because of their training?

A Busy Schedule and A Fond Farewell

It has been a loooooooooong weekend.

(And, yes, I know that it is currently Tuesday, so technically the weekend has already passed.... but work with me here.)

I'm sad to report that due to my work schedule I wasn't able to run at all this past weekend. Nothing, zero, zilch, absolutely-flippin-nothing. (I started getting rather cranky about it as well, which is a new experience for me.) I mean, I had the torch run on Thursday, but that was my first and only run last week. On the up side, my work schedule has opened up for the rest of the week so I can definitely hop back into my training and wrack up some miles.

I did a short tempo run today. I managed to do 0.87 miles in 8:03 and, according to DailyMile, that would have equaled out to a 9:13min/mile. Nice! I'm proud of that run because the second portion of it was uphill...and we all know how much I love them hills! I opted to do a short run today because I called into work earlier than anticipated. Originally, my goal was a nice maintenance 3 mile, but that didn't pan out. It's all good, I was flexible and I decided to really push my speed to make sure I got the most of the tempo run.

It also gave me a chance to use my new watch. Sadly, my S2H Replay passed away over the weekend. It decided to go into the pool and forgot it couldn't swim. It drowned. And even though I tried my hardest to administer CPR, it was DOA.

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It shall be missed.

After I had a small ceremony to say goodbye to my old watch, I headed to Target to check out some new watches. I found a rather nice, inexpensive Casio Phys watch. It has a timer with a lap split, which is awesome (no longer do I have to use my iPod to time myself!). I feel like a professional runner now- Holler! I got to put it to use on my tempo run today. I just have to remember which is the Start/Stop button and which is the Lap Split button (you should see the novel that they call a "manual". I'm pretty sure War and Peace is shorter in length). 

My plan for the rest of the week is this:

Tomorrow- Maintenance Run- 3-4 miles

Thursday- Cross Training

Friday- Long Run- 5.5-6 miles

Saturday- Rest

Sunday- Rest or Possible Recovery Run depending upon how I feel.

Sounds good, right? Right!

Darn You Lance Armstrong!

No, it's not what it seems. 

I love Lance. 

Really. 

 The things he has had to overcome, and the fact that he HAS overcome them, gives me hope and faith that I can do anything- even run a half marathon. "So, why are you dissing on The Boss?" you may be asking yourself. To clarify, I'm not dissing him at all. His exercise equipment, however, almost made my legs fall off! I tried out a new cross training machine today, it was a Live Strong LS13.0 Elliptical, and man did it kick my ass!

Source

Let me tell you a little bit about it: Firstly, the frame it has actually helps keep your body upright while you're working out. This helps lower the stress that is placed on your joints when using an elliptical machine. I noticed this myself when I tried to lean forward a bit and rest my arms through the loops (what? My arms get tired easily! Don't judge me!) and it felt really uncomfortable. Normally, on the elliptical I use at my gym, I can lean forward and rest my upper body and it doesn't bother me at all. Hooray for my own observational powers!  Another thing that rocks about this machine is the fact that it has arch pedals. They are rounded up (as opposed to the bucket ones on other machines) and this aids in stimulating your glutes and other various leg muscles so you get the ultimate workout.

As I've said before, I tend to use the elliptical for my cross training, so I figured this would be a "no sweat" workout for me. I put on an episode of Ghost Whisperer on my laptop and jumped on the machine. I planned on 45 minutes (the length of an episode, minus commercials- thank you Netflix) but made it about 25 minutes before I felt completely spent. I felt like I was running uphill the whole time- my glutes were most definitely engaged (and they turned into some monster Bridezillas! Youch! Get what I did there? Engaged...Bridezillas. Just me? Okay... moving on.)

Anyway, it was a great workout, just much more intense than I anticipated. I know Lance is hardcore and loves a challenge (don't we all?) but that was INSANE! Anyway, I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday weekend! I may or may not be having a bbq tomorrow at my parents house, but either way, I've got the day off and I may try and use this killer machine again. Now that I know what to expect, maybe I can make it 30 minutes!

Who Says Cross Training Can't Be Fun!

 Whoever said cross training is boring never had the cross training day that I just had! And he/she should be jealous!! Originally, my goal was to go to the gym and do the bike and/or elliptical with some weights and core work. But when I woke up today it was all rain and gross and blah out. Makes one not want to drive to the gym... or anywhere, for that matter. So, instead, I decided to pull my Wii console out of my room, bring it down to the living room and pop in my Just Dance 2 game. There is a setting on the game where you can choose how much of a work out you want to do over the course of the day/week, and then you go to it. As you dance, you earn "sweat points"and depending upon what work out level you choose, depends on how many sweat points you want to earn.

I chose to do the "Tough" level, which is actually the middle level, where you have to earn 1000 sweat points in a day/7000 in a week. Easy peasy! My mother and her friend sat down on the couch to watch me embarrass myself on my Wii and I did my first song: It's Raining Men. It took me a bit of time to be able to follow the feet for most of the songs, but my lack of dance experience helped me along. Eventually, my mother and her friend got into it as well and decided to get up and dance the songs with me. Some of the hits we performed were: Proud Mary, Wake Me Up Before You GoGo, Jungle Boogie, It's in His Kiss, TikTok, Hot Stuff, Jump in the Line, and Walk Like an Egyptian.

 As per request, my mother took some photos of my performance for your blog-reading pleasure.

 

This was one part during the Jump in the Line dance

 

(check out that awesome leg pop I've got going on! Chelsea would be SO proud!)

 

Walk Like an Egyptian! (Don't judge my outfit too harshly haha)

Check out all the rocking moves I had going on! (I know, you're beyond impressed. It's okay, I am too.)

We played the Just Dance 2 game for an hour and earned 3,058 sweat points! Take that Wii! We kicked it up not one, not two, but THREE notches for our sweat points! So proud of us and our work out. A few moments after we finished our dancing, my brother came home and decided to bring his Xbox Kinnect downstairs for us to play as well. We did a Kinnect Adventure game which had water sports, a brick-breaker game and an obstacle course. Fun times all around! I'm very happy with all our exercising and I'm impressed that I managed to get my mother, my brother and my mother's friend all up and moving. I fear that a healthy lifestyle is spreading around the house- and I'm LOVING it! Now, I'm off to destroy my abs with one of Chelsea's core workouts. Yay!

Questions of the Day:

1.  What is your favorite activity to do for cross training?

2. Have you ever used a Wii or Xbox Kinnect system for exercise purposes? If so, what games/activities did you do?

Excitement Abounding

Remember on my last post how I was discussing the various types of hydration I was researching? I wasn't sure what method I wanted to use in the upcoming months (I start my official half-marathon training in 2 weeks). Well, it seems fate made the choice for me- I won (Just) Trying is For Little Girls' Nathan Sports Hydration Belt give away! Soon, I will be the very excited owner of a Speed 2 Hydration belt and I cannot wait to strap it on and run!

Also, I was out shopping with my mother the other day and I came across a fantastic pink, short sleeve, Reebok tech shirt. So, I bought it. I intend to wear it this Saturday for my 5k run, depending upon the weather of course. I'm going to be a runner full of awesomeness with my blue shoes, pink socks, gray/green shorts, pink shirt and pink bandana. Yea, be jealous. I will put a picture up of my outfit later because it's going to be just that awesome!

In other, even MORE exciting news (yes, it just keeps getting better) I had to go out to a birthday party Friday night and forgot to bring a change of clothes with me to work. At 8:30, Chelsea, Kurt and I pulled up into a school parking lot to attend a PTA meeting to help promote our latest program. Lo and behold, we were the only ones who showed up for said meeting. We waited for over 30minutes, in a haunted parking lot no less! (The school was built on the same location at the infamous Hartford Circus Fire of 1944). While we were waiting, we heard some strange calliope sounding music playing! We think it might have been a nearby ice cream truck, but the music did play for almost 20 minutes.... FREAKY!

Anyway, after our failed PTA meeting, Chelsea and I dropped Kurt off at home and headed out to our friends birthday dinner. As I said, I had forgotten a change of clothes, so Chelsea said I could borrow some of hers. (Isn't she adorable?!) Let me explain, Chelsea is like a size 6.. I am a size 16. Bit of a difference in clothing, wouldn't you say? But, for some odd reason, Chelsea had some old size 14 things laying around and she threw them at me to try on. I ended up trying on this cute little black dress and it fit! And, IT LOOKED GOOD! It wasn't too tight or anything,  it fit so nicely, so she gave it to me to keep! A SIZE 14 DRESS!! I never thought I would live to see this day! BEYOND EXCITED!!!!! YAY ME!!! WOOT WOOT!!

....Ok, my celebration has died done some... on to the rest of my weekend recap....

I feel bad that I only did a 1 mile run this weekend as I had wanted to run at least 3miles but time constraints and exhaustion overcame me. I suppose it's alright though because I'm supposed to be tapering this week for the 5k. But it's so nice out today, I'm hoping to get in a short 2-2.5 miles. My plan for this week is:

Monday: 2- 2.5 miles

Tuesday: Cross Training

Wednesday: 1.5 mile Tempo

Thursday and Friday: Rest

Saturday: 5k run!

Update: I did complete a 2.55 mile run today. I decided to run to rehearsal again for multiple reasons: it saves me on gas, and it gets my mileage in for the day. Two birds, One stone, Awesomeness abounding! I ran kind of slow, did 2.55 in 46minutes. Blah! Oh well, I will cross train tomorrow, do some ab work, and then run again on Wednesday.

Questions of the Day:

1. Have you ever won a Give Away? If so, what was it?

I just won my first one and I'm thrilled! Can't wait to try it out! 

2. What is your all-time favorite race outfit?

As this will be my first "official" race, I have to say I do like this outfit. Though, the reindeer outfits we wore for the December 5k were rather spectacular, if I do say so myself. Check it out: 

 

It's the antlers, they totally make the look :)

3. Did you watch the Boston Marathon? Were you rooting for anyone in particular?

I did watch it. I was rooting for Ryan Hall for the men, and multiple women! All in all, a fantastic race!

Edit: I'm also super psyched because over the weekend, I surpassed 20 followers! Yay! And a big thank you to everyone who takes time out to read my blog :)

Life Happens

Today was a pretty good day. I didn't get to the gym like I had hoped because I forgot I was working two o my three jobs today (I have an aversion to free time), but I did manage to get some cross training cardio and some weight-lifting in at my retail job (more on that later though).

Firstly, Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman and I met up to go to work. Today we were having an ice cream social for 6-8th graders at school who were going to be coming to our new program (we work for the Girl Scouts, and no, sadly, we do NOT get a discount on cookies). We had the girls play some fun games where they had to work together to get in order by first name, then by last name and then by birthdate. Next, we fed them all ice cream cake, got them all sugared up, and played a hula hoop circle. For those who have never done a hula-hoop circle, it's entertaining to watch. Everyone stands in a circle holding hands, a hula hoop has to be passed around the circle, which means you have to step through it, put it over your head and slide it down your arm to be able to pass it to the next person. This is somewhat difficult for those of us with bad hand-eye coordination as I tend to always manage to somehow trip over the hula hoop and then smack myself in the face with it. Fun times. No, really, fun times. The girls managed to pass the hula hoop all the way around the circle (of about 18 people) in 1:29. Not bad for a first time! We are having them come up with ways to get it around faster for Monday when we try again. I may sit that round out so they will shave off about 30 second of me struggling through the hula hoop.

After our program was over, we realized we had one ice cream cake left, so Kurt and I went back to his place, sat down and promptly devoured it. Kurt put up this handy picture to show everyone just how much damage we did (in about 5 minutes no less).


I do have to say that Kurt ate the end where the smiley face is haha.

After I woke up from my sugar coma, I hopped in my car and drove to my other job. As I was walking in, my manager stopped me to inform me that I would be spending a fair amount of time on a ladder tonight as we are getting ready to launch a new product and have to re-do the store. Yay! I, thankfully, don't have a fear of heights...  Awesome! My job was to get the "toppers" down, switch out the pictures, and then replace said "toppers". Toppers are basically plexi-glass displays that, besides being rather bulky and awkward to take down from the top shelf on the wall, simply sit near the ceiling and look pretty. Anyway, in order to switch out the toppers, I had to climb the ladder, stretch and rock the topper off the shelf (most have weights on them that hold them in place, but there isn't enough room to grab the toppers from the sides, so one has to push up from the bottom and then try and slide your fingers underneath it to pull it out), and carry it back down the ladder. Then, I would switch the picture, climb back up the ladder with the topper and maneuver it back into place. I did this 26 times. I counted.  I also managed to drop a topper on my head. Ouch. I'm pretty sure that this counts as stair-climbing and weights- I'm just saying. If I'm sweating, then I'm burning calories. Burning calories = exercise to me. Therefore, my cross-training and weights were done at work tonight. Hooray for multi-tasking!

I'm feeling kind of antsy because I didn't go for a run today, but my body needs to recover a bit. Tomorrow is supposed to be my rest day, but I may just do another 2 mile run just for the heck of it. And depending upon my work schedule for the weekend, I will decide if I'm doing my long run on Saturday or Sunday. I want to do 5+ miles this weekend. I would really like to do 5.5, but I will settle for 5.

My plan for next week is this:

• Monday- 3 mile run
• Tuesday- 3.5 mile run
• Wednesday- 4 mile run
• Thursday- Cross Training/Weights
• Friday- Rest
• Saturday- 3 mile run
• Sunday- 5+mile run

I figure I will keep it like that for next week. For the following week I have my 5k, on Saturday April 23rd, I won't do as many runs so I can make sure I'm rested properly. (I figure two 1-2 miles runs early in the week will be good.) I'm excited and nervous for the 5k. I want to do it in 40 minutes or less, which is a big deal for me, so I need to let my body rest. Here's hoping I can make my goal!

A Short Burst of Insanity

Yesterday was my cross training day. I did 30minutes on the elliptical, which actually was a piece of cake after having been running so much. Then I did some ab work for a while. Next, I hopped on the bike for 20 minutes (because it starts to bother my knees if I go longer), and I finished up my day with some more ab work and leg work on the machines. In total, I was at the gym for a little under 2 hours. Not bad, self, not bad at all.

Even though my spending two hours at the gym may seem somewhat crazy to people, it didn't feel that way to me. I left the gym feeling limber and excited about my workout. My posture was better, at least for a few minutes anyway, and my energy was up for the day. I even got my brother and his girlfriend to come with me again.

No, dear readers, my bout of insanity didn't hit until much, much later last night- way after I had left the gym. See, almost every Thursday, a few of my friends and I get together for our "Girls Night", which usually consists of us making dinner, having a beer or glass of wine, and just relaxing and chatting for a few hours. Last night, we were watching "He's Just Not That Into You" on television (which is a fantastic movie by the way) when a commercial came on that caught my interest.

It was a commercial for the American Cancer Society and it was promoting their upcoming 3 day/60 mile Walk. I sat there watching all these men and women holding up their shoes, walking happily with each other, doing their part for a great cause and I thought to myself "Self, wouldn't that be fun to do, but instead of walking, you could run it?" I'm pretty sure I could hear the normally tiny voice of sanity in my head fall over in shock, get back up and start screaming at me, "Are you INSANE?! You haven't even done the half marathon yet! You don't know if you can handle 13.1 miles, never mind 60! I think we need to get you checked into a hospital stat."

I mean, my sane side does have a point- I haven't even finished my first week of training! I was having trouble running 40 minutes the other day, how can I expect myself to try and run 60 miles?! However, despite all the rational concerns being leveled at me, the insane side of me, which apparently seems to be becoming more dominant as time goes by, still insists it would be fun to try. Oy.