Wednesday/Thursday Leg Challenge

I kicked some serious leg butt last night! I found a 7 inch step in our house and DID 296 step ups! Holy moly, my thighs were on FIRE when I was done!! Here's my complete tally of the challenge

Lunges  10 

Squats 15

Calf raises 29

Step ups 295

Front Kicks 52

Back Kicks 160

Side kicks 60

In addition I was able to make it to the aerobic class at the gym as well! I even had couple people come up to me after class and told me that for being in the class only 2 weeks, that Iam catching on well :) Good, I think?? 

One Pound

I lost one pound this morning. :( I was kind of sad, until someone posted this on the BL camp boards.

One Pound of Fat 

Hello! Do you know me? If you don't, you should. 

I am ONE POUND OF FAT, and I am the happiest pound of FAT that you would ever want to meet!

Want to know why? It's because no one ever wants to lose me! After all, I am only ONE POUND OF FAT. Just ONE POUND. Everyone wants to lose 3 or 5 or 15 pounds, but never ONLY one.

So, I just stick around and happily keep you. Then I am free to add to myself, ever so slyly, so that you never seem to notice...

That is, until I have grown to 10, 20 or even 30 pounds in weight... 

YES... it is fun being ONLY ONE POUND OF FAT... left to do just as I please. 

So, when you weigh in, go ahead... just keep on saying, "Oh I only lost one pound." (As if that is so terrible.) For you see, if you do this, you will encourage others to hang around me because they will think that I am not worth losing.

And I LOVE being around you... your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips, and every other part of you. HAPPY DAYS! After all, I am ONLY ONE POUND OF FAT!!!

---author unknown---

I felt a bit better after this! 

Back to Running!

Foot was still feeling good after class on Tuesday  so I thought I'd give running a try. I must admit, I hate when your mind plays negative head games with you. And does it ever. 

I decided that since Caden had religion that I would drive him there at 6:30, leave the car parked there, then run, and be back at the car by 7:30 when his class was over. So I got all winterized prior too. It was 24 and windy outside. I wore a pair of wicking shorts under a pair of cotton pants. I had a wicking long sleeve shirt on, under a t-shirt and on top of that my windbreaker. I also had on my gloves, and head wrap for my ears. Of course, I had my blinking red light wrapped around my arm, since it's BLACK outside at this hour. 

So I got Pandora started (which sucks the hell out of my battery, can anymore recommended a music site??) NIKE + gps going and started week 2 day 2 of Zero to 10K. I started my 5 minute warm up walk, and froze to death. It was SO cold and that wind was horribly brutal. It was killing my face. Even with my ears covered I was so cold. Then the first 90 sec run started and I struggled. Struggled with my breathing, and with the run in general. My foot felt Ok, my legs were heavy. Enter negative thought. What business do I have thinking I can run 13 miles in 7 months? None at all! Really Kym, Do you really think you can do this? You can't even do this. I ignored and kept pushing on. By the 2nd run, I was warmer and by the 3rd run I was more confident. My legs were entering the "numb" stage, which I love. It's at that point  where I don't have to tel them to keep going, they do it on their own. Negative thoughts go away, because my mind see's that my body IS doing it no matter what it tells it. The longest I ran in 90 was .15 miles which was fine. I completed day 2 in the cold and wind, in the dark, alone. Moving along. And it was all done in 31 mins total. I was back at the car by 7:06 and had my heart rate back to normal by 7:25 when I went to wait for him. Worked out well and I think it's my new Wednesday night plan! Even after my time was up, I did another intervael run and I ended up going .21 miles. that was longer then any of my 90 second intervals. I was determinded to get to the end of the road I was one!! Here's the picture of that one. 

 Here's the rest of my stats. 

From the running app: 

And since this is only on during the period it needs to be on, here is my Nike app:

Hoping that hubby gets home in time tonight so I can get to aerobics! if not i'll run again, BUT on the track at the gym, way to cold today.

AND tomorrow is Boot Camp weigh in! Gosh, I HOPE I lost something!! 

Tuesday's workout

Ok, Ok, Couple days behind. Tuesday, since my foot was finally feeling the best it has yet, I decided to head back to the gym for the Aerobics class. Holy crap, I worked my butt off, however, gently. I could still feel the weakness in my foot, so knew i had to be careful with it. Which I was. A friend of mine also let me borrow her pedometer until I am able to get one of my own. She brought it over tonight, about 8pm, and I started using it right away. By the time I went to bed at 9:30 I already had in 796 steps! I was pretty impressed! 

Survival Tips for running a 1/2

I found this article on a blog I stumbled across when I was goggling tips for training. I wanted to post it here so I can remember it 5 months from now, when I may need it most. Written by Megan @ Technically Running 

My First Half-Marathon: 5 Survival Tips

 Posted by Meagan on October 12, 2012 Add comments

 

Three months of training have finally come to an end and Steve and I are now less than 24 hours from our first half-marathon. While I know I’ve done (most of) the training, I can’t say that I feel completely prepared to run 13.1 miles. We’ve been a bit schedule-challenged the past 2-3 weeks, so I’m nervous about having missed a few of our shorter training runs. However, I’m finally at peace with the idea that I wouldn’t be doing it in the first place if it wasn’t a challenge and, one way or another, I am determined to finish. The training process has taught me a lot about myself as a runner, so, before we pick up our race packets and stock up on gels and energy jelly beans for the big day tomorrow, I wanted to share my five big ones for making it through (hopefully) unscathed.

1. Don’t think. For me, this race will likely be more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I am remarkably good at getting in my own head and filling it with doubts about whether I can “make it”, even if I’m not feeling particularly tired at the time. My excessive whining on a recent 11-mile-run is a great testament to this. One of the greatest pieces of advice I got lately was to “Run the mile you’re in.” That is, don’t stress out about all the miles you have left or how tired you are right now, just make it through this mile and then move on!

2. Don’t be afraid to push yourself. Another important thing I’ve learned about myself as a runner during training for the half-marathon is that I’m also very adept at underestimating my own abilities. Often, I will go slower than I need to because I am nervous about running out of energy later in the run. This is not such a big deal on my long training runs, but a race is about pushing yourself and seeing what your body can do. So, for the half, I’m going to remember that it’s OK to go a little beyond my perceived limits. I used this strategy when we ran a 10k as part of our half-marathon training a few weeks ago, and I was amazed that I was able to maintain and stay relatively comfortable at a pace of about 30 seconds/mile faster than I thought I would be able to.

3. Body Glide. Body Glide. Body Glide. I’ve mentioned the fact that I have sensitive feet several times on the blog, and Body Glide is one of the best solutions I’ve found for saving the balls of my feet from getting too sore and/or torn up on long runs. Coupled with this is the importance of maintaining a quick cadence, light footfalls, and overall good form.

4. Imodium. No one likes to talk about digestive issues, but, let’s face it, no one wants to get halfway through a race and realize they need to make an emergency porta-potty stop. While some people have medication-free ways to deal with this, as the owner of a sometimes troublesome tummy, I will be taking precautionary measures on race day.

5. “Sometimes, you just do things.” -Scott Jurek, Eat and Run. When the going gets tough, it is these words that I hope will keep me going. I might be tired, I might want to walk, I might want to quit, but as long as I can still put one foot in front of the other, I’m just going to do it!

The goal!

Now that you’ve seen my strategy, what are your top tips for making it through a big race?

Workouts

Well, with the foot being injured, I wasn't able to get ANY running in at all! So sad. I am hoping to get out there and complete day 2 this evening.

For my BL boot camp, we had a core challenge to complete this weekend. We had various core exercises we had to complete on both days. I am going to log it here, as well as on the challenge page.

Crunches 20/25

Dumbbell Crunches 10/25

Bike Crunch 5/31

Pelvic tilt 0/10

Side bends 0/15

Side bends w/dumbbells 15/15

Torso twist 10/0

Banana 2/5

Back Extension 0/13

Plank 0/5

Hip Bridge 0/20

T stand 0/4

In addition to that, On Saturday Mike and I took a 2.34 mile walk. I am still logging it, even if it wasn't running. We completed it in 51:38 mins at a pace of 21:10  Burned 345 cals.

Sunday - In addition to my core (which occasionally aches today, which means I did good!) I challenged my daughter to some Just Dance 4! I've never done Just Dance ever, and holy crap! that is an amazing FUN workout! So, I am happy to know, that if I can't get out running, or I can't get to the gym, that I CAN put a wii game in, and have just as much fun and burn some calories at the same time. I really wish I knew what I was burning. Gr.. And I REALLY need a pedometer as well. Hopefully Friday.

Races!!

I can't begin to tell you how freaking excited I am that the Color Me Rad 5K is FINALLY Coming to Buffalo!! 

I've actually been wanting to do this race since last year, but the closest place was in Albany, which is quite a drive. A bunch of us went on line and voted for it to come to our city, and I guess it worked!! You can click on the link above to get more info on it. Registration isn't open yet, but we are planing on forming a team, SO if you'd like to run with us, Please let me know! The more the merrier is how i look at it!

Beside this run: My must do runs are: 

The Corporate Challenge on June 6th (Delware Park, Buffalo, NY)

Color Me Rad on June 22nd (Darien Lake, Corfu, NY)

Biggest Loser walk/run 1/2 Marathon August 17th  (Presque Isle State Park, Erie PA)

Dirty Girl Mud Run on September 7th (Kissing Bridge Ski Resort, Boston, NY)

Those are my must do upcoming runs. I am sure I'll be adding more as I go along!