Training Programs

~Me with 2 of my running buddies and Sarge. T (rainbow skirt) one of the pink ladies in the Women's 4 Miler Training Program~

I am so excited to begin my next training program. It gives me the drive and push to actually run, and to run during the week. I have fallen off the wagon a little this past month. I didn't run at all this past week but I was taken it easy. I did do 3 miles today out on the road with a friend and it went fairly well (especially for slacking this past week.) But there are going to be weeks where we don't run all that much, and weeks that we just kill it! It is OK! The point is to KEEP ON RUNNING! 

Ok back to topic, training programs. The Women's 4 miler training program was awesome. Had running buddies every Saturday morning. We all suffered through the heat and humidity together and got through it. 

In about a month from now is my next training program for the 10 miler. I am excited but slightly nervous as it is going to be frigid in the morning runs. (it was fairly cool this morning too and I was shivering until my body warmed up at about mile 1.) 

Look for a training program or group near you. They help you with your form, keep you motivated and just help encourage you to keep on moving. Do not worry if you can't run very well. Most TP will will have different running groups. The super speedy Gonzales' and even the groups where people are just getting back into running or learning to run for the first time. 

If you can't find one, make one with you and some other friends that have wanted to go running, or would like to go running but just don't know where to run or where to start. Be the leader. It really does make the time go by nice and fast too! 

Just the key to running, keep on moving! You can do this!

QOTD: Have you been part of a track club or training program?

Premieres All Around

Off normal exercise topic and this topic is what can lead to much inactivity in a week...you have been warned!

I LOVE THIS SEASON where all of my favorite show come back and I can get back into my regular TV viewing schedule. I know, this is putting me in front of the TV on my extremely comfortable couch but come on you know you have 1 or 2 shows that you love and are totally looking forward to their return. Shows that I am looking forward to the most:

Bones
Revolution
Once Upon A Time and OUAT Wonderland
Glee
Nashville
Totally enjoying Sleepy Hallow too!
Vampire Diaries (Oct)
Originals (really looking forward to this too! Oct.)

I Hulu everything since we don't have cable in our house so my viewing is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during "mommy quiet time". (best thing ever. Lock the kid in the room with his tablet and he will play for awhile then nap for another while. It is amazing! He loves it, I need it, BEST THING EVER!)

My goal is to exercise first in the day then rest and relax watching my favorite shows. So excited for all the new season!

QOTD: Has your favorite show returned this season? 

Picture borrowed from Once Upon A Time Facebook Page. Visit hyperlink on picture to visit the ABC Website for the show.

SAHM In Home Exercise- DVD's

I'm a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM). And there are just some days that I can not make it to the gym. So what is a Mommy to do??? I would love to just sit down and watch TV all day and eat bon-bons but my bum bum would grow to outrageous proportions! Thankfully, I have an energetic little guy around to keep my butt in gear and getting me moving around the house. So here are things I try to do if I just can't make it to the gym.

1. Clean house- I do a top to bottom clean of my house. I have 3 levels if you include my basement which is a very, very large area to vacuum. So I pick up all the toys, clothes and whatever will accumulate around the house and then just vacuum away (chasing and playing with Mason the whole time too). Normal weeks where I do go to the gym, I try to clean one room a day so this is definitely different for me.

2. Chase my kid- around said clean house. Now that there are no obstacles for him or me for that matter, to trip over we run, spin, or push him in his car. Lots of giggling will ensue!

3. Hike the stairs- over and over and over and over! 3 levels means lots of stairs. I try to avoid the stairs, stay in one level if I can because it is a lot of stairs, but nope Mace and I will go up and down as much as possible on no gym days.

4. Take a Hike- go for a walk. The dog and the kids will love it.

5. Pop in a video- AN EXERCISE VIDEO, not the 6 hours long BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. ( I do like to watch this often but maybe after an actual gym day or else I might not do anything else!) There are plenty of exercise videos out there. I know you have at least 1. Most moms or women have at least 1. Try it out. Push yourself. You can do it! **Hulu and Amazon have them on their sites too!**

Couple of things, look how many things I am doing with my son that day. I am the one wearing him out. He loves to go to the gym day care because all he does is play and play and it is good for him to socialize with other people. Some days it is just fun to just go crazy with him. Then after all the crazy time we "try" (meaning me mostly) to pick up the toys and "try" (like totally not working most days) teach him to keep the house clean.

So next time you just can't make it have some fun in your own home! Go on I dare you!

QOTD: What is your favorite activity to do at home to work out?

I Can Do IT!

~Cute pix of Mason playing in the rain this evening! AZ baby at heart!~

I am doing it! I ran 5.5 miles today, again on the treadmill. I ran a comfy 15 min mile. Well actually I did more walking today than running but I am keeping my walking at a faster pace. I am currently in the process of getting a more comfortable cruising speed for running. It is hard but it is totally worth it.

I have now lost 8 lbs from my heaviest in the last 2 months. I have lost an inch from my waist, tummy and hips. My thighs are more toned with less "stuff" on them that I have been trying to get off since I had Mace 2 years ago.

I have more energy most of the day, I do crash a little later in the day but that is ok. I feel better overall. I am recovering faster after my runs and I AM DOING IT!

~Me after my 5.5 miles. Sorry for the bad lighting but I AM STILL SMILING!~

Forget About It

Great thing I have finally found with exercise is that I can drop all the things that are weighing heavily on my mind and just focus on what I want to accomplish that day during my run or exercise of choice.

I have never truly been able to experience this freeing feeling before where I just forget about all the stuff that just bog me down. And have actually been able to solve some of the problems through clearer thinking.

I am so excited for this new experience I am having with my exercise to help me have a healthier body and state of mind!

QOTD: Do you leave everything at the door of the gym?

Feeling The Burn!

OOOO! Don't you just love it when you feel the burn in your muscles that tells you that you are working, and working it hard! Firing up your muscles! I LOVE IT! That is the point I know that if I push just a little longer it will make me stronger! I felt it today with my run as I upped the speed on the treadmill for my run. So when I was running, I was running faster than usual and forced myself to just go a little farther.

Burn is different than hurt! Don't hurt yourselves but it is ok to get a little burn going. So excited that my training is going well and that I am still running even after the 4 miler. I have new goals and will keep going!

Speaking of being on FIRE, GO SUN DEVILS (my alma matter) on their win this past weekend!

QOTD: When you weight train do you feel the burn there too? 

Rest Day

So Sundays are my rest day. No blogging, no exercising, just rest and relaxation (after church and after the kid goes down for a nap of course.) Today things have been a little crazy with visiting with friends and grocery shopping. My body feels fine after my run last Saturday, but it is just...tired. It feels tired. I am happy that I don't hurt, or too stiff, or anything but my body definitely noticed the upgrade in mileage this past week. So I will still keep up the mileage but I decided to take an extra rest day today. (Nap time for the kid and then I have a full schedule of teaching this afternoon.)

So here is to rest day for me and to keep on going! Tomorrow is 4.25 miles run. I'm loving it!

QOTD: Do you let your body rest an extra day when it needs it?

5 Miles

My first 5 miles post baby! YEA ME! I took it really easy so that I didn't overdo it at all. I am still doing a walk/run style of training which is great for me! Today though I increased the amount of running time compared to walking time. My goal was just to do a nice steady 15 min/mile pace which is what I did. I actually went just a hair faster than that due to the warm up which was nice and slow and I took the whole 5 min for that. At the end of the 5 miles I continued to do a long cool down giving me a total of 5.5 miles walked/ran. I normally don't include my warmup and cool down in the timing but since I new I was going to be on the machine for a long time I included the warm up and did the cool down as extra.

Findings for running my first 5 miles in 3 years:

IT IS A LONG TIME TO SPEND ON A TREADMILL! Even doing it in just an hour is still a long time. Today was a nice day out too and I should have run outside but I didn't and opted for indoors. At least I knew exact mileage though and I could time myself on the walk/run intervals.

Find a good show or have good music! Thankfully the machine I used had a TV and I could watch the food network, but I downloaded Pandora on my phone for next time just in case.

Use the bathroom. It is a long time on the machine or out and about.

Need more energy. Time to start using gel things or energy beans to keep me boosted up on energy. I got super tired and just felt like I was limping in my energy at about 4.25 miles.

Listen to your body. I realized that my breathing is amazing, now! I had a steady breathing pattern. I was taking full breaths not short little spurts that I used to. I would have been able to run and talk. I finally didn't sound like I was dying. I sounded like a runner. My thighs were burning which is great! They were really working it. NO SHIN SPLINTS OR CALF CRAMPS AT ALL!

I am so proud of my mind and body for doing what I asked it to do today. 5 miles is a long time, but every Saturday it just keeps going up by 1/2 a mile for the next few weeks in preparation for the 10k coming up. And honestly today I thought, "ok next week I am running 5.5 miles and the 10k is only 1.2 miles more, I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS! It isn't that much further!!!" And I felt like I was in a good groove and pace and one that I could sustain longer. Would I like to be fast, heck yes! But, I want to be injury free and cross every finish line with a smile on my face and as I proved with my 4 miler, I will get faster. This was just my starting point!

Total walk/run mileage this week alone: 16.4 miles!
Elliptical mileage: 11.75 miles
Spin Class: 21.4 miles

My legs have done a lot this week! 6 days out of 6 days! GO ME!

QOTD: Do you prefer indoor or outdoor long runs?

Needs Improvement

My needs improvement this week is to stretch much better than I usually do. Honestly, I admit it that I don't stretch as much as I should. I am usually pouring sweat and just want to get home and relax and take a shower. So I just rush through what is probably the most important part of the workout.

Yesterday after my second cycling class, we did awesome stretching. I felt my hamstrings actually loosen up while stretching and relax just a little more than they usually do. And because of the stretch yesterday, my thighs do no hurt today, which I was anticipating they would because of all the "hill" intervals we did and the amount of burn I felt during the workout. Today they felt strong, supportive and great which in turn made my short 2 mile run strong and it just felt great!

After my run today, I took the time to stretch, stretch and stretch some more. I have my long run tomorrow so I want to be nice and relaxed for that! If you couldn't tell, I am a little excited about my long run, because the last time I ran 5 miles straight was 3 years ago, but 3 years ago I did run it straight, currently, I still walk run but still power through it. This week has been a really great workout week for me! I did cross training instead of just running and I went everyday. I haven't done that in a while. I am super proud of what I have accomplished this week! Come back tomorrow for my highlights on my long run!

QOTD: What is your favorite cool down stretch? 
~Mine is the threading the needle where you are lying on your back and place one ankle on the opposite knee and grab the straight leg and it stretches the bent leg! LOVE IT!

Second Timer

Today I completed my second spinning class. Second class was not as hard as the first. It was much better. But don't get me wrong, THE CLASS IS HARD! Today we had a sub and SHE LOVES HER HILLS! It felt like ever song was a hill and almost was. BUT I really, really, really like this class! Thankfully my butt doesn't hurt as much and I still took it easier than some of the ladies in the class. Like the lady next to me, SHE IS A SUPER WOMAN! She was insane and amazing! One day I will be like her. Just getting warmed up!

Enjoying my cross training days! Tomorrow I run. Saturday I run. Saturday is my long run for the week and looking forward to seeing how well I will do with it. My first 5 miles in 3 years. EXCITED! Yes. NERVOUS? Yes!

QOTD: Have you tried a spinning class? Do you like the standing portion or sitting more?