Lehmann Laughter: Training Tuesday

Showing posts with label Training Tuesday. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Training Tuesday 8.13.13

My Training

I did Insanity a couple times last week and then Lillie had – get this – a 104.5 fever at daycare and the remainder of my week was focused on nestling her back into her sweet-natured self. You know, the self that chases the cat around, somehow manages to catch her & then force her to lay still underneath a blanket on the recliner. You can just see the love in Smokey’s face.

I started working on marathon plans, but was getting stupid overwhelmed. So I’ve decided that I will just focus on each upcoming race that I have already in the books and base my plan(s) off that. I have a pretty strong base already when it comes to 5ks since I’ve been running fairly consistently for the past year at that distance. So I haven’t created a 5k plan, I just jumped right into the 10k.

Last year when I created a 10k plan I was just focused on the miles to put in. I wasn’t concerning myself with time since no matter what I did I was going to PR (the joy of racing a distance for the first time!) But this year, I want to be faster so I’ve actually incorporated tempo runs. This is totally new to me, so I’m excited to jump in and complain about it all to whoever will listen. (Read: You guys)

You’ll also notice Manic Moj Monday – if you’re new here you’ll hear me talk about Mojgan on occasion. She is a beast in the gym and has been an amazing inspiration to me when it comes to working out and (trying) to eat better. She loves running stairs & I think it will only help me be stronger when it comes to to the hills of the 10k I’m running (and for the half in January that follows a similar course – HILLS & MORE HILLS).

If you have any suggestions on the plan above or just want to say hello, comment below!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Training Tuesday 7/30/13

My Training

7/23: 30 minutes on the elliptical doing interval training. I sweated a lot more than I thought I would.
7/24: Nothing.
7/25: Nothing.
7/26: 2.43 mile run on the ol’ treadmill in 30 minutes. My pace has been pretty steady in the mid 12 minute range per mile and I haven’t really been pushing to be faster lately.
7/27: Toddler chasing. It’s a legit workout I swear.
7/28: I started Jillian Michael’s Killer Abs workout and then the kid woke up, and she was not having me finish any kind of work out.
7/29: Nothing

I’m currently trying to work out a training plan for the fall. Or rather, training plans. (Hopefully I’ll have something in the coming week to bounce off you guys).I have 5ks, 10ks, and one half that I had already registered for before I jumped off into the crazy bin by declaring I wanted to do a marathon. I’m trying to make an overall large plan that incorporates all those, but still has me focusing on the next run. Does that make sense?

Right now, I know I will have at least one cross-training day with Mojgan. And then for sure one of my runs will incorporate some type of speed work up until my half-marathon. Since I’ve ran a handful of shorter distance races, I think I can handle adding that instead of just focusing on the distance. My plan is to only focus on distance/endurance after the half since at that point it will be miles longer than 13.1.

Weird.

I want to say thank you to all of you who have directed me towards plans that you have used or any advice you’re handing out. Keep ‘em coming. Much like my pregnancy I want to know everything. Some people don’t like knowing everything, but I do. I feel more prepared and then when things don’t turn out just right I can say “Well, at least this didn’t happen.”

Optimism. Ha. Let’s see how far that gets me in the coming months.

Tell me what’s going on in your neck of the woods.

Any new distances in your fall schedule??

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Training Tuesday 7.23.13

My Training
I think I only worked out once last week, okay, wait no, I don’t think I did. Unless you count my race I had on Saturday (a 5k). Oh, and I did run 2.4 miles yesterday. So, 5.5 miles this past week – not wonderful, but definitely not horrible (please remember these are my own standards, and have no relation to whether you did 0, 1, or 20 miles. In any case, you’re fucking awesome. ‘nuff said.)

I’m trying to amp up and get ready to increase my mileage for the fall race season. I haven’t ran anything further than 3 miles in months. Which normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’ve got some training schedules to pound out.

Specifically, a marathon training schedule. No, I haven’t signed up for one, but I plan on it. It’s just narrowing down the one I want, waiting for registration to open, and then downing a cold one before I hit “PAY REGISTRATION FEE” to make it official.

I’m trying to figure out the weeks between some of my fun runs & my longer distance runs, so I don’t stray so far off track that I’m dead by mile 15.

Ha, mile 15. Is it weird that I got a little excited when I typed that?

Did you say no? You must be a runner.

Did you say yes? Then it looks like I need to get on the motherfucking ball and sign you up to run with me. :)

Other news

My dear friend, Katie from State of Change, is now a certified personal trainer! She is offering a wonderful special on her facebook page for 50% off online training plans. And yes, I totally already emailed her to see what she could do for me. I trust her that much. You can shoot her an email or better yet, like her FB page. You won’t regret it. I promise. (This is not sponsored in any way, like I said, I just believe in her and what she’s doing.)
I’ve lost 6 lbs! More on how & what I did & how I swear I’m not a sell-out later this week.
I wore pink shorts to work out in today. Nothing special about them other than they’re new and made me feel super good.

Link up and let me know how your training is going!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Training..uh, weeks?

I’ve been a little MIA lately. Like, no new posts in nearly a month. Oops.

I needed a break, or rather, I needed to not feel like I was tied down to having to write something when I didn’t exactly feel like it. Huge thanks to Abbey who kept Training Tuesday alive even while I was off in La-La Land.

My Training

It’s been three weeks, but I don’t really have anything new to report. I haven’t exactly felt like training lately – I’ve been focusing a lot of my time on spending & enjoying my family, so exercise has fallen through the cracks. I’m still running sporadically (Clueless reference, anyone?) but am definitely not hitting the gym 5 days a week like I was at one point.

I think the heat has been part of my lack of motivation and the fact that I’m enjoying sleeping in, or reading a book on my lunch break, or not sweating at 8pm. I refuse to work out while Lillie is awake, my time during the workweek is limited with her – an hour before work, and three hours if I’m lucky before she hits the sack – and I am not willing to cut into it.

Although, I will say she does love to run. We “race” a lot in the hallway of the house & the backyard. I’m not very competitive, but my husband is and I think she may have gotten that from him. So, hopefully at some point running won’t take time away from her but add to it. Fingers crossed.

I do have a 5k this weekend. Yay!

Except it’s July in Texas and hot as fuck. I ran this one last year and it was a horrible, horrible experience. I didn’t hydrate enough and I was a little over confident in my abilities to run in the heat (which was stupid considering I had only ever ran on a treadmill at that point. Sigh.) Lessons learned, so this year my goal is to finish feeling well and with a better time than last year.

And to, you know, not poop myself.

I probably worry about that far more than I should. Or maybe I worry about it just the right amount? I don’t know.

Runner friends, am I alone in this? Totally a legit fear, right?

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Training Tuesday 6.18.13

My Training

6/12 – 3 miles. I don’t know what got into me but this was a beast of a run for me. I did interval training where I actually got up to a 9 minute pace (hey, it was only for a minute, but it counts!) I never would have even attempted that this time last year. I have high hopes for maybe one day actually being able to run a single digit mile. Oh, the dreams of a runner.

6/13 – 2 workouts in one day! I woke up early and did Jillian Michaels Killer Abs DVD at home. Killer abs is definitely an appropriate name. At lunch I created my own circuit training with 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off. Push-ups, Rope Pull, Burpees, Bicep Curls, Sit-ups, Dips, Plank, High Knees and then a Freebie where I chose a machine at random in the gym. I kind of felt like a badass.

6/14 through 6/16 – I was off in the boonies riding four wheelers, so technically I didn’t work out. HOWEVER, I was still stupid sore from it. Probably because we created our own mud run & beat the crap out of each other for fun. Totally worth it.

6/17 – 1.1 miles on the treadmill followed by 1.5 miles on the recumbent bike. I wanted to run longer but I have a nice, fancy gash on my toe from our ‘mud run’ over the weekend and it was throbbing like a mofo, so it was cut short.

I have a 5k this weekend. I’m excited to test out my chub rub loophole outside in the open air, but I am not excited that it’s going to be 80 degrees by the time we start to run. I’d love to PR again (I’m on a roll with the 5k!) but if I don’t, I’m okay with it. Considering I’ll be sweating before we even take off, I’m just going to go into it with my normal hopes – not pooping myself & not being last.

I’m a high-achiever.

Other things going on with me.

I’ve joined Meg from You’re Meaghan Me Crazy (seriously LOVE this girl) for the 7 Day Slim Down challenge from the Tone it Up girls. We started yesterday…it’s going, eh okay. It gives you exactly what to eat for 7 days (where are the freaking Oreos on this damn thing!) and with my increase in activity I’m hoping it will just be at the very least a nice jumpstart into working on my portion sizes again.

I talked about starting a challenge with DietBet last week and after a few conversations here & there, I set one up!

Starting July 1st through July 28th with a bet of $25 you need to lose 4% of your starting body weight to win. If there are multiple winners the pot will be split and monies will be sent to your account. At that point you can either use that money to credit and play another game OR you can cash out and get the money in pocket.

To join our group, Fluff-Be-Gone, please click here - http://diet.bt/14yPq5I

How it will work: 48 hours before the beginning of the game, you will be notified of a ‘code word’. This word will need to be written on an index card and placed in a picture with you and the scale to verify your beginning weight. That photo will be sent to DietBet but will NOT be posted (unless you want to post it yourself). Once DietBet can verify you’re legitimately a sexy beast, you’re IN.

The only other time you will need to send a photo in is at the end of the game. Once everyone submits their photos DietBet declares a winner and money is distributed. There is a game board for us all to communicate and cheer each other on. You’re weight will NOT be posted unless you want it too. The only thing we will see is your percentage lost and where we (other members) stand against you.

If I sent you an email invite, it wasn’t because I think you need to lose weight (let’s be honest, I’d totally tap dat ass) but because the more people involved the higher the potential pot. And the higher the possibility that I actually lose weight.

Please feel free to invite as many people as you’d like, this is an open invitation. If it goes well, I’ll set up another challenge in August for those of you who may not be able to compete this month for whatever reason.

If you have any questions, you can contact me through my email, twitter or facebook.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Training Tuesday 6.11.13

As I was writing this post for Tuesday, my computer went stupid and then I went stupid and forgot to post. So, we have a Training Wednesday, or Work-Out Wednesday if we want to be all alliterate. Bloggers always appreciate an awesome alliteration, amirite?

My Training

I’ve been down in the dumps for the past couple of weeks because of this but I’m happy to say I think I’m out of the slump! I’ve started increasing my running this past week and refocusing my efforts on feeling good rather than only trying to look good (as in focusing on the scale).

Notable workout: I ran 3 miles on Monday doing the run/walk method. Ran 2:30 seconds at an 11:20 pace (5.3 mph) and then walked a minute at 15 minute pace (4.0 mph) until I hit 3 miles (this was on the treadmill). For some reason as I increased the pace for that first 2:30 run I was reminded that a little over a year ago I could barely get the treadmill up to 4.0 without feeling like I was running a full-out sprint and now, I’m speed walking that.

Kind of cool. Wanted to share.

Anyway, have you guys heard of DietBet?

It’s a social dieting game that is designed to help you lose weight with the incentive of getting some moolah at the end of it. A game is created with a bet and lasts for a full month. During this month you must lose 4% of your starting weight.

If you lose the weight, you will win money which you can use for credits by joining another game (there are plenty of games to choose from or you can create your own) OR you can Pay Pal it out to your account. There can be multiple winners as the ‘pot’ is divided up between those.

If you don’t lose the weight, you forfeit that money and curse the gods for making such delicious chocolate chip cookies.

You’re held accountable by posting a picture of you on the scale with a code word written on an index card (they will give you the word to use) and then that picture is approved through DietBet at the beginning. You will post a picture at the end to determine who the winner(s) is. Your weight is never published in a public setting, you’ll only see how much percentage of weight is lost compared to others in the group so you know where you’re sitting without knowing everyone’s magic number.

The more people we get to play, the bigger the pot.

Would you guys be interested in doing this?

We can have the bets be as low as $10 or high as $500 (uh, no), I think the highest I’d be willing to go would be $25. Throw some input my way concerning the amount of cash you’d be willing to bet on yourself and I’ll start a team.

I am wanting do this for the month of July, so that would be our beginning date.

And for those of you who are not bloggers, this absolutely is open to any and all participants.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Training Tuesday 6.4.13

My Training

Uh. Non-existent with the exception of working out pyramid style with Moj yesterday. We did an exercise – 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off – then went to the next one. There were 10 in total. But the thing was we’d do exercise 1 & 2. Then you go back and start at 1, then 2, then 3 THEN go all the way back to one. Until you made it through all 10 exercises.

The first & third exercises on the list were push-ups & burpees. Basically, I hate my life today.

I have a couple of races lined up for the end of the month, one of them is a Color Run – woohoo! If you’re near Temple, TX and want to participate here’s the link, we chose the 9:15 heat. We’d love to have you. I have a couple of girls I graduated HS with doing it too (Hi Lori & Sara!) – actually it was their idea.

Class of ‘02’ in da houuusee.

The other one is the Polish Pickle Run. You guys, I like big races, but I LOVE small ones. Firstly, it has pickle in its name – you can’t beat that shit - and the top prize is your choice of a heifer calf or $500. According to their website, people have actually taken the calf before – I’m not surprised because uh, I live in Texas and that seems normal, but for any of you that aren’t from around here – it’s legit. We like cows and also hay, since 2nd prize is either 30 bales of hay or $100.

Like I said, I love small races.

I don’t really have anything else to add to this. I’m boring in that way.

Tomorrow is National Running Day, so of course, I’ll be running. Will you?

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Training Tuesday 5.28.13

This link-up is just a way to talk about training [in any way, for anything] to help hold ourselves accountable and possibly brag a bit. I mean, you ran 1 mile without stopping – you totally deserve a chance to brag about it! That shit is hard. You did 10 push-ups in a row, HOLLLEERRR.

And even if you’re not training for anything, you’re just putting yourself out there to be healthier, to get slimmer, to whatever you can share it on Training Tuesday. Let’s say you were sitting at home and instead of eating a carton of Oreos you instead ate 20 baby carrots and just imagined they were chocolate-y crèmey goodness [hypothetical situation, of course] – share it here!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

Abbey wasn’t here last week, but thank the sweet baby Jesus she is back! I’ve missed her. But a huge shout-out to all of you who linked up last week with me. (Jaime, Kate, Meg, & Amanda : You guys make me a better blogger. You really do.) I was seriously worried it would just be me by my lonesome.

My Training:

I started Insanity (I’ve done it 3 times this past week – which I’m considering fantastic since it was a 3 day weekend). I had hoped the husband would join me but instead he just comments on how much more sweaty I get with this than I ever did with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.

Thanks Captain Obvious.

I took measurements to start out with Insanity and compared those with what I took when I started the 30 Day Shred. It looks like I’ve lost 1.5 inches from my hips and 1 inch from my waist. That was only doing 20 out of the 30 days. I’ll take it!

So, if you’re in the market for a workout DVD – I would totally recommend it (it’s also much, much cheaper than purchasing Insanity). If I would have done those days consecutively and then, you know, actually make it to the 30 I have no doubt that I would have seen even better results. Maybe I’ll try again in a few months. We shall see.

Lately I’ve felt kind of burnt out with exercise but then I did something awesome this weekend and now I know what the real issue is. For the past couple months I’ve tried branching out to other forms of exercise and in the process I’ve stopped running (with the exception of a couple races). I wanted a break from the constant training I had been doing since August of last year and I was excited about it. It’s been a nice change but I’m over it.

I miss running. Something about it soothes me.

Anyway, this weekend I participated in a mud run (race recap soon!) and it was hard. Not only did we have mud holes, belly crawls, and obstacles of all sorts to go through – we chose to run the entire time (when possible. I mean, running on mud isn’t the easiest thing to do my friends). It wasn’t a timed event and a lot of people were walking from one point to the next, but we didn’t, and I’m glad. My legs felt happy. It’s weird to explain but I’m sure there’s someone out there that understands.

Why yes, that IS Sar from Life of Love on the left, me in the middle (duh) and my friend Christine on the right (who also did this with me last year!)

So what does this mean?

It means I need to start running again. I don’t want to wait for August (my initial plan was to start up again for the fall running schedule I have planned). I’m not giving up Insanity – I just think I’ll cut back to 3-4 days a week for that (the program calls for 6 days a week) and add 1-2 days of running – a happy medium.

A happy medium indeed.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Training Tuesday 5.21.13

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

Abbey’s out for this week, so it’s just little ol’ me today. She’s much better about getting this up sooner than me. She is my better Training Tuesday half and I am not ashamed to say it.

Last week, I talked about how how the scale is the devil and I’ve avoided it since then. Except for this morning. I stepped on it, held my breath (and then quickly let it out for fear it was going to add an extra ounce or two) and well, same as last week. I had every intention of avoiding it like the plague for the remainder of the year but then I decided to start doing Insanity. Like, tonight.

For those that aren’t familiar, Insanity is a 60 day workout program that is, well, nicely put intense.

Last year I made it through a month then stopped to start training for all my fall races. I lost 7 inches in like 2 weeks and finally managed to make into some pre-Lillie jeans. It really is a wonderful workout (although it is expensive). There are a few days that you are required to do a ‘fit test’ where you weigh and measure, those will be the only days that I step on the scale – roughly every two weeks. There are 10 (I think) different DVDs that you work through based on a schedule you’re given. It’s 6 days a week. I highly, highly doubt I’ll do it every day but I’ll give it a try.

But Tamara, weren’t you doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred?

Why yes. Yes I was. I made it 20/30 days and have lost some inches but I forgot those measurements at home – oops. I’ll update next Training Tuesday on that success. I know it could have been better if I would have stuck with it every day instead of bailing out on it during the weekends. I let a friend borrow it, and I imagine I’ll end up doing it again. My plan had always been do the 30 Day Shred as prep for Insanity, so I feel prepped and I’m ready for it.

Once Insanity is over, fall will be here and that means – more running & more races. Yippee!

I’ve already registered for a 5k/Half Marathon in January 2014 already and am seriously considering another half in November. Also, there’s that time I talked about a full-marathon in April. So yeah. In the meantime, Insanity and smaller races.

One of those smaller races is a mud run this Saturday with Sar from Life of Love and I can’t wait. If you’re in the Waco area and need something to do at 9am this Saturday, join us!

www.mudquestrun.com

We aren’t running to compete, we’re just going for the fun of it. I imagine it will be similar to the way I ran last year – we run for a bit, we stop & talk while waiting to cross an obstacle, we wade through mud, we laugh a lot, then maybe we run some more. Good strategy, no?

Alright, don’t let me be the lone ranger for this week since Abbey’s out – link up & tell me about your training!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Training Tuesday 5.14.13

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

Usually I go through day-by-day training but I don’t really want to do that today. I worked out last week. I know I did. I just…felt like I was going through the motions. I’ve really had a hard time lately finding motivation. I even cried at the gym last week. I couldn’t pinpoint what the issue was and it was really frustrating.

Then, I had a conversation with Sara from Maurer Power (she’s wonderful, check her out if you haven’t already!) that led us into talking about the scale. (Mostly with us saying it’s the devil. It is.)

Last year I stopped weighing myself and just focused on being healthier. I was happy and felt ready when this year for a New Year’s Resolution I put out there that I wanted to lose 30 lbs. I wrote in my Weight Hate post at the beginning of this year “…my weight does not define me…” and when I wrote that I felt that. Everything I wrote in that post is true. I was happy because I was healthy. Running was a huge part of that.

And because of that I assumed I was in a healthy place mentally & emotionally to be okay with the scale. To be friends with the scale even.

I am not.

It started out innocent enough, I wanted to see where I was starting so I’d weigh myself every 3-4 days and gauge how I was doing based on that. Then it was every 1-2 days and eventually, at minimum twice a day.

Every time I saw a gain, even by .2 lbs, I felt sad like I failed myself for some reason. At the same time the logical part of me knew this was normal, weight fluctuates daily based on the time of day, what you ate, how much water you are carrying, etc but the emotional part of me said, “FUCK THAT. YOU’RE FAT.”

It’s ridiculously exhausting to be in a constant battle against yourself. And it makes you want to give up.

I caught Lillie ‘weighing’ herself this weekend. It pissed me off. Not that she was doing something wrong, because she was just standing on a piece of metal watching the numbers move, but because it felt like I was failing her. That instead of associating me with running (she tells me to go faster which is adorable) it was like she was associating me with a number. And, like I said earlier, that shouldn’t define me for me and it damn sure shouldn’t define me for her.

Simply put I can’t be friends with the scale. I can’t have her telling me whether or not I’m going to be in a good mood today because I weigh .5 lbs less today than I did yesterday.

So, I’m getting rid of that 30 lb resolution.

Which also means, the scale is going too. Holler bitch.

If I lose weight, so be it. I’ll continue working out & trying to eat better but I just can’t have that scale toxin near me. It does not make me a person I am proud of. And ultimately, that’s what I want. Not to weigh less, not to skinny, but to be happy & to make the people around me happy.

Here’s to being happy.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Training Tuesday 5.7.13

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

4/30 – 30 Day Shred Level 2
5/1 – 30 Day Shred Level 2. I also committed to a couple of challenges for May. A squat challenge (which weirdly enough the husband is participating in as well. My plan to slowly get him into exercise and then into running must be working. Muwahaha.) And an ab Challenge with Meg. If you’ll recall I did a Thigh Challenge for April – I’d say I completed about 25/30 days. So a success. Even on days when I didn’t do a typical workout I still found time to complete it. Seriously, less than 10 minutes a day. I feel good about both of my May challenges.
5/2 – Workout with Moj. She didn’t write anything down since she wanted to keep it as a “surprise”. I don’t know what was going on with me, but it was an off day. Like off in a “Oh my gawd, I am crying. In the gym. For no reason.” It was odd and I have more to say about this in a future post.
5/3 – 30 Day Shred Level 2.
5/4 – Getting Muddy.
5/5 – Recovering from muddiness.
5/6 – Now I’m just being plain lazy. Also, my forehead is burned from the mud & is peeling. I am sexy.

Other things:

A friend of mine who is a personal trainer, Terri DeVore, is the owner of Fit Chick Fitness here in the Waco area. She’s received a few requests for some kind of walking group. This would be a great kick starter for anyone who may want to try a 5k in the future but wants to start out a little tamer than just jumping right in.

If you’re interested or know someone who is – send them to www.fcbootcampwaco.com. She is so knowledgeable and genuinely loves to help people get involved into a healthy lifestyle. Also, I wasn’t compensated in any way for this. I just really believe in Terri and what she’s trying to do.

I now have a Facebook page for the ol’ blog – go check it out & like it if that’s your kind of thing.

https://www.facebook.com/LehmannLaughter

I’ll probably be a little more free there than I am on my personal FB page, since this will be a direct extension of my blog and let’s face it – I’m pretty open with the info you find here. I actually prefer Twitter but I know a lot of my readers are on FB, so I figure this will be a great avenue for any questions/post ideas or bragging about running/fitness for those readers. We’ll see if it flops or not.

Also, tomorrow is the last day to sign up for our Jelly of My Jams CD Swap! You don’t have to have a blog to register – just a valid mailing address and the ability to make/send a kickass CD to your swap partner. Holly & I will send out partners by Friday.

Also, in sincere hopes that you won’t read this far down just in case I change my mind. I’m taking the dive. I’m jumping from the highest cliff. I’m going to fall into an ocean of sweat & self-hate.

What’s that mean?

It means, I’m going to do a full marathon.

26.2 miles. Yep, it’s going to happen. I can’t not do it. I’ve ran this far, I have to know if I can do it. I’ve ignored it for long enough.

So, here’s me telling you – it’ll happen. Right now, I think the plan/hope is Oklahoma City next April-ish (Abbey? Anita? Anyone else who is completely off their rocker and wants to join me? Can you hear me?) You have plenty of time to train! Please be crazy with me. Please.

So yeah.

Pray for me. But mostly, pray for my husband because I can feel him rolling his eyes as I type this. Poor guy.

How I feel after researching marathon training plans.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Training Tuesday 4.30.13

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

4/23 – 30 day Shred Level 2.
4/24 – 30 day Shred Level 2 in the morning. I woke up all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. I fear my body is learning to accept morning workouts. I don’t know how I feel about this. During lunch I did 40 minutes of stairs with Moj for WHY GOD WHY Wednesday. We also used 4 lb hand weights to get some upper body in and ended it with 100 jump squat jacks (basically a jumping jack but lower) and 50 push-ups.
4/25 – I wanted to try something new so I did the two following workouts (I found via PopSugar and/or Women's Running – I can’t remember. Oops.) I’ve never really pushed myself on the recumbent bike, so my quads were way sore afterwards (it probably didn’t help that I did stairs the day before either). I got a really great sweat on with mixing it up. If you’re interested in using either of those, you can download it here.

4/26 – Rest Day.
4/27 – Donkey Dash 5k. I totally killed it. Like, yeah, my first mile was in 11 minutes. Oh, you heard that right. 11. My following two not so much, but eh, you win some, you lose some. Race review will be up in a couple days. 4/28 – Nursing a hangover by eating McDonald’s works out something, right?
4/29 – Nothing. I was actually kind of mad at it all day. Like, I thought I wanted to sleep in and not do anything but then when I didn’t work out with Jillian it just threw my whole day off. But Lillie did come to work with me, so that was pretty adorables.

Okay, I’m curious. What do you guys like to hear about? Or have questions about? I don’t always think I’m “serious” enough to write posts on running products I like, or field questions for newbies. But what do I know? I fall up the stairs for heaven’s sake.

So, I’ll leave it up to you guys. You know I’m an open book. What are you interested in?

PS. Holly & I are hosting a CD swap link-up! Check back here tomorrow for more details. #JellyofmyJams

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Training Tuesday 4.23.13

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

4/16- 30 Day Shred Level 1.
4/17 – 30 Day Shred Level 1.
4/18 – Nada.
4/19 – 5 minutes on step mill. 10 burpees. 5 minutes on step mill. 10 burpees. Yeah, that for 40 minutes. The step mill said I went up 199 flights of stairs though. I feel bad for the girl that used it after me, it was pretty sweaty.
4/20 – I was going to work out while Lillie napped but then I watched TV instead and it was glorious.
4/21 – 30 Day Shred Level 2. (I finally made it to Level 2, what what!) I followed it up by playing Dance Central 2 on the Kinect. I never realized but they have a fitness option where you decide on the level (warm-up, cardio frenzy, sweating it out, blah blah) and get after it. I did about 30 minutes and I was sweating it out for shorty.
4/22 – 30 Day Shred Level 2.

I have a 5k this Saturday and I’ve only ran once since my half in March. I’ve just been focusing on other workouts (mostly Jillian) and haven’t laced up the running shoes. I’m excited for the 5k just to see how cross-training these past few weeks holds up to 3 miles. I don’t anticipate being faster than my last time (however it would be nice!), so I’m just going into this as a fun way to get my exercise in and to hang out with my friend, Sunny, for a bit.

Also, it doesn’t hurt that we get to run through the finish line with a corral of miniature donkeys.

Yeah. You read that. Miniature donkeys.

I’m going to run my ass off. (Pun totally intended)

So, I’ve got a question for you.

The other day I was wearing a shirt (one that is in constant rotation since it’s a Baylor shirt) and the husband asked me if I was sucking in. I wasn’t. I took that as a compliment seeing as I’ve been trying to lose weight & have been fairly diligent with my 30 Day Shredding. For me it meant that the person I’m closest to is seeing a difference and that’s a big deal. When you see the same person every day over and over again, sometimes you forget what they really look like. Which can explain why my husband has stuck it out through all the weight gain/loss I’ve had the past 10 years. God bless him.

Anyway, he told me last night that some of his buddies thought he would have gotten in serious trouble for this comment. Am I weird for taking it as a compliment? I mean, would you?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Training Tuesday [4.16.13]

It's another Training Tuesday, so you know what that means!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button above & link-up below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training
4/9 – 30 Day Shred Level 1.
4/10 –50 minutes of stairs. I wore a shirt I won from #RunMeganRun and Viewsport that is sweat-activated, and yep, it sure was. It’s supposed to say BOOM, but apparently my muffin sides don’t sweat as much as my tramp stamp. Who knew? I’ll do more of a review on it in a later post.

4/11 – 30 Day Shred Level 1.
4/12 – Snooze button Friday. No workout.
4/13 – 30 Day Shred Level 1 in the morning before a niece’s birthday party where I went roller-skating. Yeah, first time in like 15 years so my quads were a little sore the next day. I also got in a gladiator ring for Alfred’s birthday party…so uh, that probably didn’t help any either. I have pictures involved in both of these situations…be patient grasshopper.
4/14 – Sangria hangover workout. I’ll let you use your imagination as to what that entails.
4/15 – 30 Day Shred Level 1.

Ever since hearing the news of Boston yesterday, I’ve been a tad bit emotional. And not just because of the horrible, sad circumstances but also because of the amazing tales of heroism and uplifting spirit that I’ve seen through facebook, news stories, twitter, other blogs, and well, everywhere.

I know, for me personally, that sense of community, of love, I found myself even more determined to lace up my shoes today. To show them (whoever they may be) that we will not be torn down by hate, but instead we will choose to be brought up by love.

..and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1

I held Lillie a little closer last night, I snuggled her a little harder & longer this morning (in fact, my hair is a hot-ass mess since I didn’t take the time to actually do it) because I am grateful for what I have been blessed with. I don’t ever want her to not follow her dreams because of the very few who wish to tear the human spirit apart.

I don’t ever want to not follow my dreams because of those few.

I run for me. I run for her. And I damn sure run for Boston.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Training Tuesday…err Wednesday

It's another ~~Tuesday~~ Workout Wednesday, so you know what that means!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

4/2 – 30 Day Shred Level 1. I decided to be a bad, horrible person and lay in a tanning bed during my lunch break for April (instead of working out like I normally do) so I’m making an effort to wake up and do it in the morning. I am not a fan.
4/3 – 30 Day Shred Level 1. Same deal. Up at the buttfuck crack of dawn to sweat. Why do people do this?
4/4 – 30 Day Shred Level 1. Also, at lunch I didn’t tan but I joined in on a sweat-fest at our stairs in the building. We usually do this on Wednesdays but we changed it to Thursdays to accommodate a friend who wanted to join us. So, yeah, two workouts in one day. Color me badass.
4/5 – I was freaking exhausted, so I did not hang out with Jillian. BUT, I did go to the gym with Mojgan and did a lot of crap that I don’t even want to remember. There were lunges and dead lifts and… a bosu ball? It was a blur of sweat and cursing.
4/6 – I had every intention of waking up to Jillian, but instead I woke up to a wonderful stomach bug. Squatting over & over again over a toilet counts as something though, right?
4/7 – See previous day.
4/8 – I attempted Jillian, but I gave up about 10 minutes into it. I just didn’t have the strength or the will.

Update on Forever Fitness Challenge with Abbey:

I kind of have been sucking at my goal to cook at least 3 healthy meals a week. When I decided to do that I meant it in an INTENTIONAL way. Like, my goal was to cook for both Alfred and I healthy. But the past couple weeks have been crazy and while I’ve still been eating well, it’s mostly because instead of my beloved Velveeta Shells & Cheese that Alfred has been ingesting I’ve been opting to eat a salad instead. I will say that I am finding that more and more I am craving healthier foods rather than junk food. (I can’t lie, when people used to tell me this I thought they were dirty, filthy liars)

I’m actually munching on these bad boys today instead of M&Ms. Weirdness.As far as my goal to lose 10 lbs – I’m on track! When I weighed myself this morning I was down by 6. So, I think mixing it up with Jillian and making an honest effort to eat better is doing the trick. It probably didn’t hurt that I was sick this weekend either…

My plan for the 30 Day Shred is to do each level (there’s 3) for 10 days and at the end of each level do my measurements/weights/etc to see if there’s a difference. Because I’m dorky and love to mark things out/check things off, I made this and then hung it next to my TV as a reminder I need to be shredding.

If you’re interested, you can download it by clicking here. I’d love to have someone else join me. I think I marked off Day 6 today. I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I may double up one day to get closer to being “finished” at the end of April. Eh, we’ll see.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Training Tuesday [4.2.13]

It's another Tuesday, so you know what that means!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

3/26 – Uhm. Nothing. I was still soaking up my victory with laziness. No shame.
3/27 – WHY GOD WHY Wednesday commenced with our usual torture of stairs. We ran up and walked down 4 flights of stairs until I cried for the sweet baby Jesus to take me away. (approximately 40 minutes)
3/28 – Moj suckered me into another workout. We went to the gym and proceeded to do this:

I’m pretty sure my heart stopped beating during the planks, luckily I was revived when my own sweat dripped into my mouth causing me to choke and wake up suddenly.

3/29 – Rest day. (We did walk about 2 miles back to the house from church though. Legit?)
3/30 – Raising my hand to my mouth with a beer can counts as curls, right? If so, the whole family participated in this event. I love holidays.
3/31 – Easter! I walked in high heels during church where I carried a 30 lb toddler. Calves and upper arm workout – I’m counting it.
4/1 – Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.

Since the Bearathon I have not ran. Holiday weeks are always weird for me because my work schedule is usually what keeps me on track because I work out during lunch. (We had Friday and Monday off – what!what!) I have every intention of keeping up some mileage but I think I’m just going to go with the run instead of forcing it. If I feel like one, I’ll do it – otherwise these are my plans for April.

I’ve attempted the 30 Day Shred (#30DS) before but always end up snuffing out before I get to Level 2. I just stop making it a priority because as I’ve mentioned before, sometimes I’m lazy. Or I get distracted by running races but I don’t have anything on the menu really, so, I shouldn’t have an excuse not to complete it. I took my measurements/weight/before pics yesterday and will update you on Training Tuesday as I see changes (provided that I actually do see changes).

Thanks to this tweet from Kaitlyn, I’m also tacking this on the end of the #30DS. We’re both participating in Abbey’s Forever Fitness Challenge and I couldn’t leave her hanging without a partner. (I seriously have a ‘yes!’ problem sometimes.)

In case you were wondering, wall-sits are still the fucking worse thing ever.

Here’s to making April my bitch! Tell me how you’re making April yours below (or link up!)

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Training Tuesday

It's another Tuesday, so you know what that means!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training
3/19 – Nothing. I think I went to the grocery store during lunch? I don’t know.
3/20 – WHY GOD WHY workout with Moj. We did stairs again. I told her though that I wanted to take it easier since I had my half on Saturday. 55 minutes of stairs at our own pace, but we still got our sweat on. And my calves were still sore. Damn stairs.
3/21 – Rest.
3/22 – Moj puppy-dog eyed me into another workout. I told her I only wanted to do upper body because of the half. She said, “Suuuureee thing, friend!” Basically, my arms are STILL on fire from Friday. Generally when we workout we go down to the free weight area, but this time we did a lot of different machines where we would do 20 pushups or plank in between.
3/23 – BEARATHON! I have another post coming up (hopefully this afternoon) and I’ll update this to reflect that. Trust me, it deserves a post on its own. I PRed (Personal Record) on a course that had 5 miles of serious hills. I totally cried. And then I made a video. Yep, I vlogged that shit.
Edit: Bearathon Post!

3/24 – Bitch please. I just ran 13.1 miles I ain’t doing nothing.
3/25 – See 3/24.

For this week, I’m just taking it easy. My hips are still a little sore from the half and to be honest, up until this morning (when I weighed myself, ha!) I had no desire to workout. I’ll do my WHY GOD WHY with Moj tomorrow (stairs!) and Thursday she’s convinced me to join her as well.

And so now, here I am. Trainingless. I don’t have another race to commit too. I’ll keep up shorter distances and continue working on my speed per my New Year’s Resolutions. I can’t not run – 1. I enjoy the shit out the way it makes me feel. & 2. I promised my friend Sunny that I’d run her first 10k with her at some point in the next few months. But I won’t have a specific training plan to follow, so everything will probably just be willy-nilly all over the place.

Ha. Willy-Nilly.

I’m thinking for the month of April, I may focus on my willy-nillyness & doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. Then in May, starting up the Insanity workouts. Insanity is intense, and the 30 Day Shred should be a good pre-cursor for that to prepare my body. By the time I’m finished with that, we should be closer to the fall where more races will definitely be happening. The closer it gets to May/June the less opportunities there are to sign up for a close race. Why? Because it’s Texas. And this shit is hot here.

Here’s to keeping up the motivation even though I’m trainingless (I have to tell you, it feels pretty awesome to not be tied down to a schedule finally!)

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Training Tuesday

And even if you’re not training for anything, you’re just putting yourself out there to be healthier, to get slimmer, to whatever you can share it on Training Tuesday. Let’s say you were sitting at home and instead of eating a carton of Oreos you instead ate 20 baby carrots and just imagined they were chocolate-y crèmey goodness [hypothetical situation, of course] – share it here!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

3/12 – It was Spring Break on campus, so I took the day off to enjoy with Lillie (we did come into work for a bit to visit); I thought I might work out during her afternoon nap but I chose to clean instead. Sometimes I’d rather be clean than fit. Truth.
3/13 – Lunch with Jenna – where I made awesome healthy food choices but no working out.
3/14 – I don’t remember why I didn’t work out, but I didn’t. So, I had 3 rest days.
3/15 – My mind was not feeling any type of workout but because I knew I wasn’t going to do anything this weekend (not because I was too busy, just because I didn’t want too. Yes, ~~sometimes~~ I’m lazy.) so I forced myself to head to the gym. I did some hill training for 2 miles on the dreadmill.
3/16 – 3/17 – I drank too much (no kid, yay! #saidwithloveipromise) All my awesome hard work of eating well throughout the week, totally gone with a 6 pack of Bud Light. I did have a great time bowling & catching up with friends though, so it wasn’t a total loss.
3/18 – 2.25 miles on the dreadmill.

I’m keeping this week “light” because Saturday is the Bearathon. I woke up yesterday morning incredibly nervous. Like more nervous than I was with my first half. I want to think it’s because this is so close to home (only 30 minute drive) and I’m familiar with the turf, but in reality – I think I’m so nervous because I’ve been working towards this half-marathon since last year when I competed in the 5k portion of this race. Which means, not only have I been officially running for a year but I’ve also been enjoying it. I have a lot more to say on this topic, in fact, typing out this little bit is a little emotional for me already, so more on this in a future post.

Wow. Did I just get emotional about running? #whoami

In other topics, I talked yesterday about my relationship with food. Basically, it’s delicious & I have no self-control. Oops. But I’ve been making an honest effort, not just one where I pretend to do good 40% of the time & whine about nothing working, these past three weeks using My Fitness Pal (tracking everything I eat) and eating better per my goals for Abbey’s Forever Fitness Challenge.

After the Bearathon, I don’t really have anything on my race schedule. So, if you’re nearby and want a running buddy (pick me! pick me!), or you’re faraway and want/need an online supporter – let me know. #motivationstation

I love to cheer people on. It’s like my crack.

Haha, I said crack.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Training Tuesday

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for you Training Tuesday (or any day really, link up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

3/5 – Rest Day/Fat Day. I don’t know what was wrong with me but I just didn’t have it in me to go workout on my lunch break. My heart or mind wasn’t in it, so I went and grabbed a few items from the grocery store and took a power nap before heading back to work.

3/6 – Another WHY GOD WHY Wednesday with Moj (pronounced Mow-sh). Again, we did stairs (40 minutes) and much like Tuesday I just struggled. This workout should have been easier than last week’s but my entire body felt like lead. We ran up 4 flights and then walked down, ran up & walked down. We talked a lot about food and why I wasn’t seeing progress in my weight loss endeavors that I thought I should be. Plan on seeing another #weighthate post sometimes this week. Sigh.

3/7 – Another Moj workout on the books. I hadn’t planned on working out with her, but I’m just a girl who can’t say no…

From dailymile:3/8 - I downloaded an app called Charity Miles per Breenah’s recommendation on Twitter last week. Basically, for every mile you run (it also offers walking & biking) you earn 25 cents that goes towards a charity. It works off of GPS, so if you’re dreadmilling running, it won’t work. I figure if I’m going to run outside, I may as well do good by it. You can still listen to your own music too if you own an iPhone. (Not sure how it works with Androids.) I ran 2.51 miles and walked half a mile to make it an even 3 for my charity.

My average pace was at 12:15. I’m getting really excited at the possibility of PRing in the 5k this year. I wasn’t sure if it was even do-able when I mentioned it in my resolutions.

3/9 & 3/10 – I spent more time with Emilie at her house than I did at my own. We finished up our Twilight marathon & watched The Hunger Games again. Seriously, I am in love with J. Lawrence. Oh, wait is this about training? Yeah, none of that happened this weekend.

3/11 – I’m scheduling this post a day ahead, but the plan is to go run 10 miles in oh, about 30 minutes. I’ll be having a mom & Lillie day tomorrow and not exactly sure if I’ll have computer access. If I do, I’ll edit this portion to let you know if I did, indeed, make it the 10 miles or if I died in the middle of it. (It’s about 50/50 at this point).

Edit: I made it 10 miles! What what! I ran the first 5 outside and the second 5 inside on the dreadmill to break it up a bit and work on speed with my already fatigued legs. I figured it would be a good way to mentally work up to those hills in just 11 days. And trust me, I was over it by mile 7.
I’m really proud of my first 5. That’s the fastest I’ve ever ran that far. (Does that make sense?) With the exception of Mile 2, all under 13. I don’t know if I’d be able to sustain that through 13 miles but I think based on this and based on the Zoo Stampede that I did last year that goes through the same hills, I’m going to shoot between 13:00 and 13:30 for each mile. Fingers crossed.

This will be my last long run before the Bearathon on the 24th. Next weekend, I think I’ll knock it down to 5 miles for my long run (in my original training plan I had 9 miles this week and 10 miles next) to keep my legs rested. I know the hills are going to tear me up during it, so I want to go into it as refreshed as I can. Like I’ve mentioned before, my goal for this half-marathon is to not PR but just finish to say “I fucking did it.” It was this time last year when I really started enjoying running & it’s kind of a full-circle thing at this point.

Future Training

Once I’m done with the Bearathon I do not have another half-marathon in my books. I don’t intend to have one either (but who knows with me) since I want to really focus on my shorter distances and building up speed. I’m also planning on jumping into Insanity again. If you’ve been around for a while you may remember that I did Insanity for a month with great results but had to quit early to focus on my running goals during the last half of the year.

Have any of you done Insanity, or a similar program? Would you be interested in posts/vlogs about it?

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Training Tuesday

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for you Training Tuesday (or any day really, link up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

2/26 – 3 miles. 42 minutes. I had absolutely no desire to run. In situations like that when my mind is working against me & I’m having a hard time getting going I count on social media. If I post it out loud, typically I’m going to do it. I walked a lot during these miles, but it helped get my butt in gear for the rest of the week.

2/27 – WHY GOD WHY Wednesday with Moj. Another great way to get going is to have someone to work out with. If I didn’t have Moj, I probably would have avoided it. We did 45 minutes of stairs at our own pace but we either used 4 lbs hand weights or a resistant band at the same time to get an upper body workout. My triceps & shoulders burned like a mofo. We followed it up with a 100 push-ups. YES. You read that right. I did 100 push-ups and not one of them was from my knees. I had to take them 10 at a time, but they were done. BOOM.

2/28 – 2.5 miles. 31 minutes. Just running to shake out my legs from Wednesday’s workout.

3/1 – I had planned on working out with Moj again for a tabata workout, but something came up & she couldn’t do it. I had packed a pair of shorts so I couldn’t run [chub rub!]. Instead I hung out on the stationary bike – 7 miles in 31 minutes. I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I got my heart rate up. Anyone know anything about biking?

3/2 – Gut Pak Run. I’ll do a follow-up post about this tomorrow. It’s 2.2 miles. You run to a BBQ joint, eat food & run back. My friend Sunny & I signed up for it just as something fun to do and to see if we’d poop or puke ourselves. Spoiler Alert: We didn’t.

3/3 – I think I mentioned last week that I kind of suck at doing my long runs on Sunday this training go around. I just don’t want too. So, I didn’t. We went to church, then to My Emilie’s for lunch & a mini-Twilight marathon. We watched the first two movies before I had to suck it up and go back home to do our always multiplying laundry.

3/4 – With the Bearathon only a couple weeks away [eek!] I opted to take off work a little early & head to the gym to make sure I got my miles in. I had planned for 8, but got out of the office a little later than I anticipated. I made it to 7 before I had to pack up and go get the kiddo. My pace was 13:31 for it, which is usually where I sit when it comes to long runs. I’ll take it. With this upcoming half & the hills of death attached to it, my goal is to simply finish it. I’m not going into it with high hopes of a PR. If it happens, YAY! If it doesn’t, YAY!

Okay, link-up and let us know how your training is going!