I've decided to combine a bunch of posts in to one so that I can eliminate lots of posts with similar information.
Mean Green Boot Camp
Thursday night, I endured the legs workout at Hermann Park. I'm not sure what I was getting in to, but I certainly didn't think it would be as hard as it was. Boy, was I ever wrong. We stretched and then warmed up by running around the area for 2 laps. Then, it was time for abs. Thankfully, we only did150 total (I think...I did so much, I can't remember). Yes, no, it was 150. We started out in the crunch position and then moved to bicycle crunches. We couldn't really relax, because we had to hold in the front crunch position.
Then, we moved to legs. At this point, I'm fuzzy on what all we did. There were lots of jumping squats (sooooo many), running, knee highs, quick steps, more running, sets of all of that combined in to 1 exercise, etc. After all of that, my clock said 6:56. Oh my, we still have more than 15 minutes of pain to go. We then grabbed a partner and headed for the tables. I hold a hand and step up, kneeing the air for 45 seconds. That was probably the longest 45 seconds of my life. But wait, we had to do the other leg. Unfortunately, my right leg was jelly and I could barely step up. So, I had to grab the table with my other hand just to help. Then, we switched. Everyone was so motivating and yelling out you got this. We turned the shout out for sexy legs to sexier legs. I liked it. Then, Chris wanted to introduce us to his mean ex named Hilly. Yup, that's right, it was time to run up the hill. We had to run up as fast as we can and then control jog down 4 times. The first one that shouted, "Results," meant that we were done. If he called our name, we had to do 5 jumping squats (at this point, they were just squats) in place. When I completed my third set, I heard the best sounding word in the universe, "RESULTS!" We could finally stop, although, now, we had to finish our ab workout. This time, it was Hulu Hoop abs and the opposite toe touches. The first person to complete the opposite toe touches finished for all of us. Chris said a quote that I just loved, unfortunately, I don't remember all of it since I was doing jumping squats when he said it. "A vision without an action is not a plan (or something). An action without a vision is a nightmare." Very cool words.
Friday Running
I tried to take Remington up to Hermann Park, but they were having some kind of event. It was so packed and lots of traffic. I decided to just head home, because I knew I could use the running/exercise trail (surrounds 2 large soccer fields) that just opened up by my apartment. I am not sure how long this trail is, because it only gives you warmup/cooldown exercises on the signs at each station. We walked up there and started the run as soon as we got through the gate, but I was having issues with the bag and bag holder. Plus, Remington wanted to stop every 2 ft to sniff and chew. But finally, we got on a pace albeit slow, but a pace nonetheless. I love Hermann Park for the shade it offers me. This trail didn't have any shade whatsoever. Remi was getting slower and slower and sometimes, I had to walk, because he didn't want to jog anymore. I ran 2 laps around before deciding to end it due to my dog's lack of desire to run with his mommy. He was hot (and I have to admit that I was alittle hot, too) and just done. So, we walked home. What I do love about this place is that I can easily walk home, but I think I will keep this run for early mornings. I just wished I knew how long it was. My Nike + ipod said it was 2.25 milesm but I doubt that seriously.
Saturday Running
Once again, Remi and I head to Hermann Park in the evening for a quick 1.5 short run. We had luck this time since it wasn't as packed and we were there after the zoo crowd. I have a feeling that Friday's event was something to do with Miller Outdoor Theater. They had an event Thursday night, too. We walked a bit so that I could get his bathroom breaks out of the way (less stops). I started out with Beyonce Crazy in Love when I picked up the run. There wasn't anything special about this run, except maybe that Remi and I ran up and down the stairs again. I was still pretty sore from Thursday's boot camp. I ran for 3 songs and walked for 2 songs. Remi tripped me and I almost wiped out pretty bad, but I caught myself just in time. Ninja skills come in handy!
Sunday Running
I have only completed 1-2 mile runs since I got back to exercising after my surgery. With the Sprint for Life 5K coming this Saturday, I was really needing to run a 3.1 mile run to get ready or make sure that I won't die. So, for Sunday's run, I wanted to go back to my old faithful, Memorial Park. I love this run, because 1 lap is 3 miles long. The more laps I have to do, the more I get discouraged from running. I hate seeing the same things over and over and over again. When I finish a lap at Memorial Park, I feel like I accomplished something. When I run 2 laps, I feel like Wonder Woman. When I run 3 laps (happened once), I felt unstoppable. But today, I just wanted to finish 1 lap and 1 lap only.
It's been awhile since I've been here and I missed the hustle and bustle of the runners and walkers of this oftentimes packed park. And this day was no different. In fact, I parked somewhere between the 2 and 3 mile markers, because there were already a lot of people at 11 a.m. Normally, I don't run during the middle of the day, because it's just too hot. However, in April, we get days that are nice...bearable in fact. So, I wasn't worried about the heat. I didn't take in to account the lack of shade. Due to the extreme drought we experienced last summer, at least a third of the trees died (probably more like half). They are making progress by planting some new ones, but they are still short. Consequently, the run was almost entirely in the sun.
On a side note, the Memorial Park Conservancy is holding a big campaign called Re:plant Houston. They had signs at almost every marker asking for donations or volunteering to help replant the trees. To be honest, it was weird seeing inside the forest and not seeing a thick wall of trees. I will help where I can.
I didn't have Remi with me, because this run is too long for him and there are way more dogs at this park. It would be too difficult to control him and have a decent run. So, it was just me getting back to the peace of running. I plugged in my ipod (no Nike + ipod), stretched, and walked to Ke$ha's Tik Tok for my warmup. As soon as the song was done, I started running. I kept a pretty good pace for 1.5 miles without stopping. WOW! I haven't done that in such a LONG time. It felt good. I actually ran a little more, but then stopped. I didn't want to push myself so quickly even though I think I could have made it to the next marker. My plan was to pick up the run at the next quarter mile, but I missed it as usual. When I could see the 1 1/2 mile marker, I started running. I ran for awhile wanting to make it to the 2 mile marker so I could have a good walk cooldown right to my car. However, I got hit with some nausea and then headaches. Being in the sun for that long was starting to hit me and unfortunately, the edge of the trees didn't provide help. I walked the rest of the way, except for a quick jog when I felt better. I stretched before I got in my car to head home.
There were 2 songs that just hit me on this run: B52s' Juliet of the Spirits (change out for Kristi or KW, of course) and Elton Johns' I'm still standing. These songs just inspired me to keep going when I felt tired. And it certainly, helped my personal life mood.
On another side note, I should have ran the other way so that I could end with a workout at the adult playground. Once I saw my car, there was no way that I was walking over there.
After I got done with the run, I felt confident about my 5K on Saturday. Will I run it all without stopping? Probably not, but that's more likely because of Kate Scaife and her first 5K ever. I'm going to have to pull out every trick in the book to get her to run more than she ever expected (oh...I will, I will Kate. Muhhahaahhaa). Anyhoo.
Oh and big news for me, I lost weight. I bought a scale finally and I lost 3lbs. YAY!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
A Mean Way to Exercise
Last night, I used my Living Social deal for a month of unlimited boot camp training with Mean Green Training & Bootcamp. I have had this scheduled since before my surgery, but I was unsure of how my ankle would do in bootcamp since it's still weak. Plus, I've been dealing with this horrible week long vertigo sickness and the strain of roughly 10 hours of testing on Monday. Naturally, I was nervous about my energy level, about getting dizzy, about my ankle popping open, etc., etc. I even wrote them an email to maybe postpone it just in case so I get the full value of my workout. Thankfully, they didn't reply back to me.
In all actuality, I was having a rough day yesterday and I was more than happy to get my stress out with some hardcore training. By the end of the day, I noticed that I didn't have any dizzy attacks and felt confident to go. If something happened, I would just take a break or go home.
What I liked about this bootcamp compared to the other one that I have attended at Elite FX Studio is it's on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When Elite FX removed those days from their schedule, it made it harder for me to get there. Plus, Mean Green is outside at Hermann Park in the evening. So, it's closer to home. Right now with the weather all beautiful and nice, it's great to be outside doing boot camp. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about being outside exercising in a couple of weeks. But whatever.
I got there a little early, early enough to realize that I didn't know exactly where to meet and I didn't bring anything I was supposed to bring (i.e., towel/mat, dumb bells, living social certificate, and certificate of registration). Yup, I was a big failure on that part, but my only excuse is that I've been really sick lately. At least I had a towel in my trunk. So, I got some stretching in before the class all met and of course, two girls (first boot camp ever) and I were in the wrong area waiting. I forgot about the concrete slab meeting area at the bottom of the Miller Outdoor Theater hill (can't they bring back 80s movies night like last year already?).
Finally, everyone showed up and of course my name was not on the list. It was okay since I forgot all my paperwork. They still let me play. The regular members were really nice and encouraging. The Instructor, Chris was pretty cool and gathered us around for more stretching. I can't have too much stretching! He told us that we are working on arms today (which didn't mean it was ALL arms), to breathe, and don't be afraid to take a break or get water. I like that, because sometimes you feel bad when you take a break. It's like the instructors are staring at you thinking she's the big whiney wuss with her wittle water bweaks.
Now, it was time to exercise, burn some calories, and feel like a jelly mess. He asked the 2 Candices to pick a number between 1 and 10. Our numbers were 7 and 6 or maybe it was 9. I don't really know, but it basically boiled down to we were doing 630 ab crunches. You read that correctly, 630 AB CRUNCHES. Thankfully, we weren't doing them all then, but we did do 330. We were told that the remaining 300 would be done at the end of the boot camp. The first 330 were fluctuating between bicycle crunches (already do...well, before I got sick) and scissor crunches. And I did them all. I might not have gotten all 330, because I missed some on the switch. But I still did freaking over 300 and that's alot.
We then moved to running/jumping jacks and dumb bell workout. I grabbed someone else's dumb bells (10lb...sheesh, I had to stand next to a guy). You do shoulder presses and out in fronts until someone tags you out to run and do jumping jacks. Of course, nobody grabbed me or the other guy, Jeff since we had the heavier weights. Finally, he was tagged and then he tagged me when he came back. After that, Chris gave us numbers from 1 to 5. We had to run down, do 4 knee highs, and then return for 4 more knee highs. If our number was called, we had to go over to the circle and do 10 jumping jacks. I missed the first time 4 was called. Oh well, I made it up in the 3. Chris encouraged us to hi-five anyone that you can and we did. I'm all about the hi-five. In fact, after each exercise, we were told to tell eachother that we were awesome. I mean, I know I am, but it's nice to hear from strangers. HA! I keed I keed. I really did like that about the boot camp. You think of boot camp as hard and something to make you cry, but this was pretty encouraging, while losing some lbs.
There were more exercises, team exercising with lots of arm dips and pushups off a table, while your partner did 100 quicksteps. Anytime you finished counting, you shouted, "RESULTS!" At the end, we had to hold the dumb bell over our head, while we high kneed. When he called our number, we went to him. When we got to the last part, he had this other guy (also named Chris) to do a 100 high knees. We were not allowed to stop until he said the magic word. I didn't make it.
Now, it was time for the last set of ab crunches...300 to be exact. That's right, 3 freaking 00. Bajeebus. We did Russian Dips (sitting up and twisting your torso) first and the girl next to me let me use her weight. The switch crunch was the Opposite Touch or something like that where you lay down, lift your legs up straight (as straight as you can), and touch your toes. You wouldn't think it was hard, but it is. Trust me.
All in all, I really enjoyed the class and will be back for the leg workouts on Thursday. And since this is unlimited for a month, I'm going to attend the Saturday class, as well. I have to get in shape for my trip to France in 3 weeks. WEEEE!
On a side note, I biked a couple of miles on Saturday. The wind was up and it was a workout. I cut the bike ride short due to my body's weakness from being sick. On Sunday, I ran/mostly walked the short 1.5 mile loop with Remington at Hermann Park. I was feeling real bad all day, but the weather was so nice. I just had to get out there to enjoy it. I only ran for 2 songs total and walked the rest.
As a reminder, I'm running in the Sprint for Life 5K for MD Anderson on May 5, 2012. If you can, please donate with just a $1 or come join our team. Go to http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kristiwiley/organizedgroups for more information.
In all actuality, I was having a rough day yesterday and I was more than happy to get my stress out with some hardcore training. By the end of the day, I noticed that I didn't have any dizzy attacks and felt confident to go. If something happened, I would just take a break or go home.
What I liked about this bootcamp compared to the other one that I have attended at Elite FX Studio is it's on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When Elite FX removed those days from their schedule, it made it harder for me to get there. Plus, Mean Green is outside at Hermann Park in the evening. So, it's closer to home. Right now with the weather all beautiful and nice, it's great to be outside doing boot camp. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about being outside exercising in a couple of weeks. But whatever.
I got there a little early, early enough to realize that I didn't know exactly where to meet and I didn't bring anything I was supposed to bring (i.e., towel/mat, dumb bells, living social certificate, and certificate of registration). Yup, I was a big failure on that part, but my only excuse is that I've been really sick lately. At least I had a towel in my trunk. So, I got some stretching in before the class all met and of course, two girls (first boot camp ever) and I were in the wrong area waiting. I forgot about the concrete slab meeting area at the bottom of the Miller Outdoor Theater hill (can't they bring back 80s movies night like last year already?).
Finally, everyone showed up and of course my name was not on the list. It was okay since I forgot all my paperwork. They still let me play. The regular members were really nice and encouraging. The Instructor, Chris was pretty cool and gathered us around for more stretching. I can't have too much stretching! He told us that we are working on arms today (which didn't mean it was ALL arms), to breathe, and don't be afraid to take a break or get water. I like that, because sometimes you feel bad when you take a break. It's like the instructors are staring at you thinking she's the big whiney wuss with her wittle water bweaks.
Now, it was time to exercise, burn some calories, and feel like a jelly mess. He asked the 2 Candices to pick a number between 1 and 10. Our numbers were 7 and 6 or maybe it was 9. I don't really know, but it basically boiled down to we were doing 630 ab crunches. You read that correctly, 630 AB CRUNCHES. Thankfully, we weren't doing them all then, but we did do 330. We were told that the remaining 300 would be done at the end of the boot camp. The first 330 were fluctuating between bicycle crunches (already do...well, before I got sick) and scissor crunches. And I did them all. I might not have gotten all 330, because I missed some on the switch. But I still did freaking over 300 and that's alot.
We then moved to running/jumping jacks and dumb bell workout. I grabbed someone else's dumb bells (10lb...sheesh, I had to stand next to a guy). You do shoulder presses and out in fronts until someone tags you out to run and do jumping jacks. Of course, nobody grabbed me or the other guy, Jeff since we had the heavier weights. Finally, he was tagged and then he tagged me when he came back. After that, Chris gave us numbers from 1 to 5. We had to run down, do 4 knee highs, and then return for 4 more knee highs. If our number was called, we had to go over to the circle and do 10 jumping jacks. I missed the first time 4 was called. Oh well, I made it up in the 3. Chris encouraged us to hi-five anyone that you can and we did. I'm all about the hi-five. In fact, after each exercise, we were told to tell eachother that we were awesome. I mean, I know I am, but it's nice to hear from strangers. HA! I keed I keed. I really did like that about the boot camp. You think of boot camp as hard and something to make you cry, but this was pretty encouraging, while losing some lbs.
There were more exercises, team exercising with lots of arm dips and pushups off a table, while your partner did 100 quicksteps. Anytime you finished counting, you shouted, "RESULTS!" At the end, we had to hold the dumb bell over our head, while we high kneed. When he called our number, we went to him. When we got to the last part, he had this other guy (also named Chris) to do a 100 high knees. We were not allowed to stop until he said the magic word. I didn't make it.
Now, it was time for the last set of ab crunches...300 to be exact. That's right, 3 freaking 00. Bajeebus. We did Russian Dips (sitting up and twisting your torso) first and the girl next to me let me use her weight. The switch crunch was the Opposite Touch or something like that where you lay down, lift your legs up straight (as straight as you can), and touch your toes. You wouldn't think it was hard, but it is. Trust me.
All in all, I really enjoyed the class and will be back for the leg workouts on Thursday. And since this is unlimited for a month, I'm going to attend the Saturday class, as well. I have to get in shape for my trip to France in 3 weeks. WEEEE!
On a side note, I biked a couple of miles on Saturday. The wind was up and it was a workout. I cut the bike ride short due to my body's weakness from being sick. On Sunday, I ran/mostly walked the short 1.5 mile loop with Remington at Hermann Park. I was feeling real bad all day, but the weather was so nice. I just had to get out there to enjoy it. I only ran for 2 songs total and walked the rest.
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| Remington and I taking a break. |
Friday, April 20, 2012
Tour de Force
With my ankle taking a beating so to speak, I haven't been up to my full capacity of running. I had to come up with something new and Jim had the key...biking. I think he just wants me to ditch running so I quit asking him to join me. So, I begged my parents to give me their bike since they don't use it anymore and they obliged.
My parents finally delivered the bike last weekend. At first, I was intimidated to ride the bike. It has gears. It has devices. It's not the hot pink Lady BMX I had as a kid. It was a complicated machine ready to train athletes on how to win the Tour de France. I mean, it expected you to wear a helmet. The boys that I grew up with would have laughed at me if I wore a helmet on our biking adventures.
It was really windy weather all weekend long, which further helped my procrastination. But finally on Sunday, I went for it. I put on my yellow helmet and matching sunglasses and set off.
The plan was to start in the parking lot of my apartment to get a feel of the bike before I set off on the roads with the cars and traffic. After a few spins around (is it fair to call it spinning?), I rode out of the apartment and on to the main roads.
Thankfully, our area is bike friendly. We may have roads with craters in it, but we have a bike path.
I wasn't sure about the gears. I just kept fiddling with them until I felt like I had a gear that worked for me. I picked the lower, heavier one instead of the higher one that felt like I was biking fast without actually going anywhere. I didn't know really where to ride, but I ended up at the Reliant Stadium.
My parents finally delivered the bike last weekend. At first, I was intimidated to ride the bike. It has gears. It has devices. It's not the hot pink Lady BMX I had as a kid. It was a complicated machine ready to train athletes on how to win the Tour de France. I mean, it expected you to wear a helmet. The boys that I grew up with would have laughed at me if I wore a helmet on our biking adventures.
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| My new bike...what should I name him? |
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| Lance Armstrong, eat your heart out! |
Thankfully, our area is bike friendly. We may have roads with craters in it, but we have a bike path.
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| I'm so used to the laws where the bikers share the road with the cars, but they created bike paths on the sidewalks. Very nice and big. |
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| Really cool picture. |
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| Actually, thats the old Astrodome...the 8th Wonder of the World. |
I turned around and rode all the way to the freeway. Then, I rode home. I'm not sure how many miles I biked, but it seemed like a lot. I remembered thinking how this biking thing is not really working for me, but then towards the end, my legs felt it.
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| After the bike ride. |
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| Proof I was on a bike. |
I haven't decided yet if I like it better than running, but I did enjoy it. I liked looking around and seeing the houses. I haven't mastered taking a picture while biking like Sheryl Yvette, because I managed to take a lot of pictures of my chest area. I'm still learning.
I haven't been able to bike or run or exercise all week due to this weird vertigo illness. So, hopefully, I can get out for something this weekend.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Remington Needs Some More Running
It's weird, because usually I don't run or workout as much on a Friday. However, I really needed the exercise. I needed to feel the wind against my face and just think about how this week is finally over. I'm 5 weeks closer to getting away for awhile and I couldn't be more excited. So, I need to focus on The Cause Competition and lose my 20 lbs.
I loaded my very impatient running partner, Remington (Lady went out first for some ball throwing in which Remi was not happy) in the car and headed to Hermann Park. I decided to just hit shuffle on my running playlist and start with something new this time for my warmup walk (sorry TikTok). This time, it was The City.
This is a great song and something I may use in my new blog (coming soon); however, the song came on twice in a row. The first time was the normal one and the second one was the remix version. I guess it was good to have the faster version when I started running, but too much of the same song is not a good thing. Oh well, I let it play.
So, why the title of my post? Well, Remi was not good. In fact, I gave him enough time to sniff and take bathroom breaks. However, when we got to the tree shaded area by the Pagoda, Remi just decided that he was done. He stopped A LOT. He sat down at one point. I kept trying to tell him that we haven't even run that much, but this is the farthest we have ran together. At one point, he saw another dog (dogs all over and I had him controlled for the most part) about 30 ft ahead of us. He pulled to get to the puppy. I guess I screamed out, "No" really loud, because the group with the dog turned around and had the puppy laid down until we passed. I thanked them.
After seeing my baby boy's struggles, I ran 1 song and walked 1 song. I did run down and up the stairs with Remi and felt good about it. When I reached the top, I must have yelled out "Wooooo!" The golfers were all looking at me when I started to run on the path again. I laughed. I kept up my run/walk scheme until I got to the stopping point for my final cool down walk.
This wasn't my best run mainly due to my dog. But it was also due to my music. It seemed like every song on my playlist was the slower songs, the more mellow songs. There was no real pump, get your heart racing music. I think Remi didn't really care about the run; he was just glad it was over with and is now passed out. Tomorrow, I get a scale so that Jim and I can do an official weigh in for The Cause. We shall see if I've lost any pounds so that I can be well on my way to winning.
Again, I have to mention that I'm running in the MD Anderson Sprint for Life 5k on May 5, 2012. It's my first real race back. I'm doing this in honor of the Allen sisters' mother who died of Ovarian Cancer. I also found out that my Great Aunt Betty died of Ovarian Cancer, which means that I'm also running for her. If you can, please donate on my page or you can join our team in the run/walk.
I loaded my very impatient running partner, Remington (Lady went out first for some ball throwing in which Remi was not happy) in the car and headed to Hermann Park. I decided to just hit shuffle on my running playlist and start with something new this time for my warmup walk (sorry TikTok). This time, it was The City.
This is a great song and something I may use in my new blog (coming soon); however, the song came on twice in a row. The first time was the normal one and the second one was the remix version. I guess it was good to have the faster version when I started running, but too much of the same song is not a good thing. Oh well, I let it play.
So, why the title of my post? Well, Remi was not good. In fact, I gave him enough time to sniff and take bathroom breaks. However, when we got to the tree shaded area by the Pagoda, Remi just decided that he was done. He stopped A LOT. He sat down at one point. I kept trying to tell him that we haven't even run that much, but this is the farthest we have ran together. At one point, he saw another dog (dogs all over and I had him controlled for the most part) about 30 ft ahead of us. He pulled to get to the puppy. I guess I screamed out, "No" really loud, because the group with the dog turned around and had the puppy laid down until we passed. I thanked them.
After seeing my baby boy's struggles, I ran 1 song and walked 1 song. I did run down and up the stairs with Remi and felt good about it. When I reached the top, I must have yelled out "Wooooo!" The golfers were all looking at me when I started to run on the path again. I laughed. I kept up my run/walk scheme until I got to the stopping point for my final cool down walk.
This wasn't my best run mainly due to my dog. But it was also due to my music. It seemed like every song on my playlist was the slower songs, the more mellow songs. There was no real pump, get your heart racing music. I think Remi didn't really care about the run; he was just glad it was over with and is now passed out. Tomorrow, I get a scale so that Jim and I can do an official weigh in for The Cause. We shall see if I've lost any pounds so that I can be well on my way to winning.
Again, I have to mention that I'm running in the MD Anderson Sprint for Life 5k on May 5, 2012. It's my first real race back. I'm doing this in honor of the Allen sisters' mother who died of Ovarian Cancer. I also found out that my Great Aunt Betty died of Ovarian Cancer, which means that I'm also running for her. If you can, please donate on my page or you can join our team in the run/walk.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Running with The Cause in Mind
On Monday afternoon, I landed upon a horoscope site and this is what I read.
This was seriously spooky. Earlier that morning, Jim and I decided to do a transatlantic competition to lose 20 lbs (although, he loses 25 lbs with his height and weight). The first one to lose, wins. For some reason, we don't win an actual prize, but the competition is ON like DONKEY KONG.
My starter weight is 154 lbs...yes, I know. I'm just waddling through life trying to figure out what went wrong. Oh wait....I know what went wrong. I had surgery on my foot and instead of being responsible about my nutrition, I said, "Screw it! I want me some cookays." Okay, it wasn't that bad, but you get my point.
So, we immediately got started. Jim braved the cold, miserable, and rainy English weather to ride around 13 miles on his bike twice this week already. I ate 2 cookies on Tuesday and a cupcake on Wednesday. Things are looking up for me.
Okay, it wasn't THAT bad. I actually really took an effort on what I ate since I knew that I wasn't going to be able to exercise until Wednesday. I even deliberately put brown rice on my plate instead of white rice. This is a first time for me. Go me. Also, I have done 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks (4 sets of 25 second planks on Tuesday only). But yeah, that's pretty much it.
And then today happened. I've had one of those days where you feel like everyone is speaking really good Russian, while you are trying to speak Swahili really bad. I got home and just wanted a beer. A beer is what I had and felt just a smidge better. However, I needed to do more. I mean, Jim is really trying and I'm just sitting on the chair drinking a beer and munching on some bon bons. Okay, not really bons bons.
I put on my shoes and headed to Hermann Park for a run sans Remington. When I got there, I noticed that I put on my Columbia walking shoes that look like sneakers instead of my running shoes. Well, wouldn't you know it. My first thought, "This is okay. Don't freak out. You were going to run in these shoes in England. So, maybe this is a good thing to try it out." Plus, it seemed to give me more support on my ankle. So, I got my ipod ready and started walking in the direction of the 1.98 mile loop to TikTok. I decided to walk the whole song since I wasn't sure how these shoes were going to do once I started running.
The next song came on and I picked up the pace. I immediately noticed that my calves hurt, because these shoes aren't made for running. I ran all the way around and stopped somewhere after the Pagoda. I didn't really want to stop, but the shoes didn't give me the ankle support that I liked. It actually made my ankle really hurt. I walked for one song and then picked up the pace when the next song came blasting through the earphones. I ran the entire way around and when LMFAO's I'm sexy and I know it came, I smiled. This is Haley and I's running song. I pushed thoughts of my ankle aside and picked up the pace to finish out my run. I love that song...wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle. I walked back to the car and headed home. Soon, I will be able to bike up there on my new bike. Yeah, that's right, I got a bike. Ok, really. I begged my parents over and over again to lend me their bike for awhile since they didn't use it. They obliged.
Anyways, that was my run. I was disappointed that nobody seemed to notice my really cool HOU DAT Texans shirt, but I still ran. I also have to decide whether I'm going to actually run in England and France or just bike for my exercise. I won't be able to bring both pairs of tennis shoes and obviously, the Columbia's are not for running. Any thoughts?
Also, tomorrow, I am going to run...with Remi. And I'm not taking it easy on him. He's running the full loop and he will like it!
Sharing your warm, sunny nature will bring you better health. With a focus on your relationship zone, it's time to work in tandem with your partner to create a routine you can do together. You may also decide to buy some exercise equipment for the home. Do what works for you and be happy.
My starter weight is 154 lbs...yes, I know. I'm just waddling through life trying to figure out what went wrong. Oh wait....I know what went wrong. I had surgery on my foot and instead of being responsible about my nutrition, I said, "Screw it! I want me some cookays." Okay, it wasn't that bad, but you get my point.
So, we immediately got started. Jim braved the cold, miserable, and rainy English weather to ride around 13 miles on his bike twice this week already. I ate 2 cookies on Tuesday and a cupcake on Wednesday. Things are looking up for me.
Okay, it wasn't THAT bad. I actually really took an effort on what I ate since I knew that I wasn't going to be able to exercise until Wednesday. I even deliberately put brown rice on my plate instead of white rice. This is a first time for me. Go me. Also, I have done 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks (4 sets of 25 second planks on Tuesday only). But yeah, that's pretty much it.
And then today happened. I've had one of those days where you feel like everyone is speaking really good Russian, while you are trying to speak Swahili really bad. I got home and just wanted a beer. A beer is what I had and felt just a smidge better. However, I needed to do more. I mean, Jim is really trying and I'm just sitting on the chair drinking a beer and munching on some bon bons. Okay, not really bons bons.
I put on my shoes and headed to Hermann Park for a run sans Remington. When I got there, I noticed that I put on my Columbia walking shoes that look like sneakers instead of my running shoes. Well, wouldn't you know it. My first thought, "This is okay. Don't freak out. You were going to run in these shoes in England. So, maybe this is a good thing to try it out." Plus, it seemed to give me more support on my ankle. So, I got my ipod ready and started walking in the direction of the 1.98 mile loop to TikTok. I decided to walk the whole song since I wasn't sure how these shoes were going to do once I started running.
The next song came on and I picked up the pace. I immediately noticed that my calves hurt, because these shoes aren't made for running. I ran all the way around and stopped somewhere after the Pagoda. I didn't really want to stop, but the shoes didn't give me the ankle support that I liked. It actually made my ankle really hurt. I walked for one song and then picked up the pace when the next song came blasting through the earphones. I ran the entire way around and when LMFAO's I'm sexy and I know it came, I smiled. This is Haley and I's running song. I pushed thoughts of my ankle aside and picked up the pace to finish out my run. I love that song...wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle. I walked back to the car and headed home. Soon, I will be able to bike up there on my new bike. Yeah, that's right, I got a bike. Ok, really. I begged my parents over and over again to lend me their bike for awhile since they didn't use it. They obliged.
Anyways, that was my run. I was disappointed that nobody seemed to notice my really cool HOU DAT Texans shirt, but I still ran. I also have to decide whether I'm going to actually run in England and France or just bike for my exercise. I won't be able to bring both pairs of tennis shoes and obviously, the Columbia's are not for running. Any thoughts?
Also, tomorrow, I am going to run...with Remi. And I'm not taking it easy on him. He's running the full loop and he will like it!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
It's Been a Week of Running
I'm finally back to my running self albeit much bigger and slower, but back. So, to celebrate, I spent the week running (not everyday, of course).
It started on Monday when I got some horrible news and needed to basically run it out. And run it out I did at Hermann Park. It felt so good do just do that for a change. I plugged in my ipod and went for it...very slowly. I did the short loop (1.5 miles). It was more or less a walk to warmup, run slowly, and walk again. I couldn't do the full mile without stopping, but at least I was running. When Florence and The Machine's No Light, No Light came on, I felt rejuvenated. The lyrics stirred something inside me, matching my mood perfectly. I started running faster on the last stretch all the way to the stopping point by my car. I roughly burned 167 calories (still working on fixing this Nike + ipod app). I didn't even feel my ankle; I didn't feel anything, but better. And that's how running should be for everyone.
On a side note: This song should have been in the Hunger Games movie. It is so right for Katniss and Peta, especially in the cave. I mean one of the lyrics is "I never knew daylight could be so violent." Is that not perfect for when they get let off the platforms for the first time and there is a lot of death right away? Yeah, I thought so, too.
This week, I headed back to Grand Junction for work. I was determined to exercise at the hotel even though I was run down, because I really needed it. Thursday morning, I did 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks (yay! my ankle is strong enough to support the plank). After work, I headed to the hotel gym. I wanted to take a break on my ankle by riding the stationary bike, but someone beat me to the only bike in the gym. So, I got on the treadmill. I set the incline to 1, powered on the TV, and just started walking to 0.10 miles at 2.5 speed. I bumped it up to 4 and ran until I reached 0.60. From then on, I don't really remember where I stopped and started. I did stop running around 1.5 miles and walked until I reached 2 miles. I was pretty happy with going longer than I have before since I started exercising again. I burned almost 200 calories (wished I had walked a little bit more so that I did actually reach 200). Afterwards, I did 25 arm dip thingys behind my head (15 lb dumbbell), 3 sets of 10 butterfly arm raises (5 lb dumbbell), and 3 sets of 10 shoulder curls (same weight). This was a whole day of exercising. Go me!
On Saturday, I woke up early and headed to Hermann Park, but this time, I brought along Remington. It's been awhile since my baby boy and I had a good run together. I walked more than usual at the start to get his bathroom and initial smelling out of the way. I didn't want to take a risk of having him stop and yank me back, which could cause injury to my already weak ankle. We ran the short 1.5 mile loop and I'm proud to say that I mostly ran it. There were 4 stops total: 3 for Remi and 1 for me to fix the music. I swear, if anyone is using the Nike + ipod app and knows how to turn on the music shuffle, please let me know. It's killing me. I don't want to listen to the same order of songs every single time I run. I could tell that Remi wasn't used to the running. He dragged towards the end, but that's okay. I will get him back in shape just like me. I burned roughly 210 calories. After I got home, I played catch with Lady (arm workout). I also did 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks. However, that night, I went to the Astros Opening Weekend Saturday game. We had box seats behind homeplate, which included free desserts...lots of desserts. Everything I lost running was put back on in full force. But it was worth it! Great game, great night with Jules, Susan, and Dan, great drinks. Thanks y'all!
Then, Sunday came. I thought I wasn't going to run this morning, but I did. It's a holy day. I woke up earlier than expected, grabbed Remi, and headed back to Hermann Park. I love running at this park. I decided against using the Nike + ipod app, because I wanted to shuffle my songs. We started the 1.5 mile short loop with walking the entire Ke$ha's Tik Tok song (I'm aware this is not Grammy worthy). I don't know why, but this song is my favorite warmup walk song, especially in the morning after a great night. I let Remi get his business done before I picked up the run. I also increased the speed a skoch and tried to focus on my breathing. My runs have been somewhat sloppy and full of fast, heavy breathing. So, I made a mental note to breathe in 1, 2, 3, and breathe out 1, 2, 3. I stopped 2 or 3 times for Remi, but I pretty much ran the entire way. I felt good, real good. And I have decided to step up my next run to the entire 1.98 loop instead of just doing the short 1.5 mile loop. Soon, I will be riding up there on my new bike, running, and then biking back home. I so need to lose this weight and get in shape! Also, I did 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks.
If you haven't heard, I'm running in the MD Anderson Sprint for Life 5k on May 5, 2012. It's my first real race back. I'm doing this in honor of the Allen sisters' mother who died of Ovarian Cancer. I also found out that my Great Aunt Betty died of Ovarian Cancer, which means that I'm also running for her. If you can, please donate on my page or you can join our team in the run/walk.
It started on Monday when I got some horrible news and needed to basically run it out. And run it out I did at Hermann Park. It felt so good do just do that for a change. I plugged in my ipod and went for it...very slowly. I did the short loop (1.5 miles). It was more or less a walk to warmup, run slowly, and walk again. I couldn't do the full mile without stopping, but at least I was running. When Florence and The Machine's No Light, No Light came on, I felt rejuvenated. The lyrics stirred something inside me, matching my mood perfectly. I started running faster on the last stretch all the way to the stopping point by my car. I roughly burned 167 calories (still working on fixing this Nike + ipod app). I didn't even feel my ankle; I didn't feel anything, but better. And that's how running should be for everyone.
On a side note: This song should have been in the Hunger Games movie. It is so right for Katniss and Peta, especially in the cave. I mean one of the lyrics is "I never knew daylight could be so violent." Is that not perfect for when they get let off the platforms for the first time and there is a lot of death right away? Yeah, I thought so, too.
This week, I headed back to Grand Junction for work. I was determined to exercise at the hotel even though I was run down, because I really needed it. Thursday morning, I did 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks (yay! my ankle is strong enough to support the plank). After work, I headed to the hotel gym. I wanted to take a break on my ankle by riding the stationary bike, but someone beat me to the only bike in the gym. So, I got on the treadmill. I set the incline to 1, powered on the TV, and just started walking to 0.10 miles at 2.5 speed. I bumped it up to 4 and ran until I reached 0.60. From then on, I don't really remember where I stopped and started. I did stop running around 1.5 miles and walked until I reached 2 miles. I was pretty happy with going longer than I have before since I started exercising again. I burned almost 200 calories (wished I had walked a little bit more so that I did actually reach 200). Afterwards, I did 25 arm dip thingys behind my head (15 lb dumbbell), 3 sets of 10 butterfly arm raises (5 lb dumbbell), and 3 sets of 10 shoulder curls (same weight). This was a whole day of exercising. Go me!
On Saturday, I woke up early and headed to Hermann Park, but this time, I brought along Remington. It's been awhile since my baby boy and I had a good run together. I walked more than usual at the start to get his bathroom and initial smelling out of the way. I didn't want to take a risk of having him stop and yank me back, which could cause injury to my already weak ankle. We ran the short 1.5 mile loop and I'm proud to say that I mostly ran it. There were 4 stops total: 3 for Remi and 1 for me to fix the music. I swear, if anyone is using the Nike + ipod app and knows how to turn on the music shuffle, please let me know. It's killing me. I don't want to listen to the same order of songs every single time I run. I could tell that Remi wasn't used to the running. He dragged towards the end, but that's okay. I will get him back in shape just like me. I burned roughly 210 calories. After I got home, I played catch with Lady (arm workout). I also did 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks. However, that night, I went to the Astros Opening Weekend Saturday game. We had box seats behind homeplate, which included free desserts...lots of desserts. Everything I lost running was put back on in full force. But it was worth it! Great game, great night with Jules, Susan, and Dan, great drinks. Thanks y'all!
Then, Sunday came. I thought I wasn't going to run this morning, but I did. It's a holy day. I woke up earlier than expected, grabbed Remi, and headed back to Hermann Park. I love running at this park. I decided against using the Nike + ipod app, because I wanted to shuffle my songs. We started the 1.5 mile short loop with walking the entire Ke$ha's Tik Tok song (I'm aware this is not Grammy worthy). I don't know why, but this song is my favorite warmup walk song, especially in the morning after a great night. I let Remi get his business done before I picked up the run. I also increased the speed a skoch and tried to focus on my breathing. My runs have been somewhat sloppy and full of fast, heavy breathing. So, I made a mental note to breathe in 1, 2, 3, and breathe out 1, 2, 3. I stopped 2 or 3 times for Remi, but I pretty much ran the entire way. I felt good, real good. And I have decided to step up my next run to the entire 1.98 loop instead of just doing the short 1.5 mile loop. Soon, I will be riding up there on my new bike, running, and then biking back home. I so need to lose this weight and get in shape! Also, I did 50 crunches, 2 sets of 30 second bicycle crunches, and 2 sets of 30 second planks.
By the way, HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!
Monday, April 2, 2012
First Run Back...OK...Jog.
I finally felt strong enough to run last Friday. I finished Physical Therapy the previous Wednesday and she said I could start light running as soon as I felt comfortable. Well, I did feel comfortable.
I took Remi up to Hermann Park. At least I could use him as an excuse for my slow running and constant stopping. With my dog in tow, we headed for the short 1.5 loop in the park. I walked for awhile until I got to the caged area. I picked up the run...light light lighter jog. I took small steps and paid attention to my ankle. I tried to focus on breathing since my exercise inactivity has my endurance in a nose dive. I was already huffing and puffing like a dying woman...and I had only gone a 100 ft or so. We passed by a little Labrador mix puppy that just wanted to play with Remi; Remi didn't return the feelings, but he didn't growl at the dog. We kept on moving. We would stop, start, stop stop and then kept going on the last turn until we reached the car. I did notice my ankle hurting a bit halfway through and it didn't feel good all weekend.
However, all in all, I think I did okay. I wished it could be more, but I'm patient...I think. I wanted to run all weekend long, but my body gave out. I'm not sure what is going on, but I'm really rundown right now. I barely left my apartment all weekend and for no more than 2 hours at a time. I'm headed to the doctor to figure out what is going on with me.
I do plan to run again, but I'm also supposed to get my mother's bike this weekend. I might have to have this as an alternative if I can't get my ankle to be good.
And I know Remi was happy to have his mommy time at the park.
I took Remi up to Hermann Park. At least I could use him as an excuse for my slow running and constant stopping. With my dog in tow, we headed for the short 1.5 loop in the park. I walked for awhile until I got to the caged area. I picked up the run...light light lighter jog. I took small steps and paid attention to my ankle. I tried to focus on breathing since my exercise inactivity has my endurance in a nose dive. I was already huffing and puffing like a dying woman...and I had only gone a 100 ft or so. We passed by a little Labrador mix puppy that just wanted to play with Remi; Remi didn't return the feelings, but he didn't growl at the dog. We kept on moving. We would stop, start, stop stop and then kept going on the last turn until we reached the car. I did notice my ankle hurting a bit halfway through and it didn't feel good all weekend.
However, all in all, I think I did okay. I wished it could be more, but I'm patient...I think. I wanted to run all weekend long, but my body gave out. I'm not sure what is going on, but I'm really rundown right now. I barely left my apartment all weekend and for no more than 2 hours at a time. I'm headed to the doctor to figure out what is going on with me.
I do plan to run again, but I'm also supposed to get my mother's bike this weekend. I might have to have this as an alternative if I can't get my ankle to be good.
And I know Remi was happy to have his mommy time at the park.
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