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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

3 hours of sweat.

Today I enjoyed a nice, quiet morning with only two things on my mind: exercise and laundry.  So, in between switching loads, I got in a great workout and also got caught up on a couple of my favorite shows.  I started things off with 10 minutes of Pilates, then I got on the elliptical.  I did a total of 45 minutes straight on there, and as a side note...at some point while I was doing it, I decided to go backwards for a while.  I noticed that when I go backwards on the elliptical, the stupid bolt doesn't come out so I don't have to keep getting off to screw it back in.  After 45 minutes, I got out my step stool and 5 pound hand weights and did a circuit, alternating 5 minutes on the elliptical (backwards!), with various cv exercises: step-ups, lunges, punches, etc.  When I had been at that for another 45 minutes, I got on the treadmill and did an "easy" paced 5.5 mile run and some additional walking as well.  Three hours later...stick a fork in me, I'm done!  (Well, except for that laundry. :)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

3 miles and some other stuff.

This morning I started out on the elliptical for 30 minutes.  After that, I got on the treadmill and jogged for 20 minutes then did 3 miles of sprint intervals.  I know it's good for me to do sprints, but for sure it is the hardest workout for me by far.  I don't know why, I'm starting to think I have some kind of mental block about making my feet turn over faster.  I love doing long, slow runs.  I'd almost rather go out and do an 8 or 9 mile run than 3 miles of speed work.  It hurts, but it's a different kind of hurt.  Maybe it's because when I do the speed work, I'm hurting and out of breath.  Actually, I really think it's just a mental issue.  I'll just keep at it, I guess.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Reality bites.

We're back home after a long weekend away visiting family and eating lots of food.  I actually made a very valiant effort to stay in control of my eating and exercise while we were out on the road.  It's definitely a lot harder than when you're at home following a schedule and regiment.  For a couple of the days we stayed in a hotel, so I made good use of the exercise room each morning spending an hour or more on the stationary bike or elliptical.  We also spent a fair amount of time swimming and I tried to stay as mobile as possible, to counteract all the sitting while driving we were also doing.  I even worked up a sweat shooting hoops with my husband at his childhood home.

Today it's back to reality and back to some sort of schedule.  I did a mixed workout this morning, starting out with an hour on the elliptical.  Then I did a "circuit" workout alternating 5 minutes on the elliptical with 5 minutes of step-ups with weights, sit-ups, punches, lunges, etc.  After that I did 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill, and I imagine I will get in more walking later today as I try to catch up on some of the shows I've missed the past week or two.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

9 miles.

Just wanted to do a quick post about this morning's run before we head out of town for Thanksgiving.  Chris and I went on a 9 mile run.  The first few miles were really tough for me since I was still a little sore from yesterday.  By the end I felt better and we actually finished with a much better overall pace than I had yesterday (11:30 min./mile).

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

15.5 Miles.

I missed my running partner (husband) today as I did my long run.  He had to work, so I ventured out on my own.  It's been a while since I've done a run that long by myself.  I actually got to listen to my music and only worry about my own pace.  On the other hand, it was kind of lonely, and I didn't have anyone to carry the hydration belt or to complain to about the crazy, cold wind.  Remember how last week I said I hadn't felt so good on a long run as when I ran that 12+ miles on Thursday?  Well today was almost the exact opposite.  I was all there mentally, ready to hit the road and go long, but only a couple of miles in and my legs started to feel achy and tired already.  I'm blaming it on the fact that it's my "time" of the month and therefore I'm probably a little iron deficient.  Still, I was determined to make it worth my while, so I did a 3:1 min. run/walk ratio and I did every single interval right on cue.  Particularly during the last couple of miles I really wanted to take additional walking breaks, but I shuffled my way through and finished the 15.5 miles.  I only averaged a 12/min. mile pace, but I don't care.  It's all time on my feet, right?

As I was running and hurting, I was thinking a lot about a friend of mine who was powering her way through her second (full - that's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride followed with a full marathon) Ironman in Tempe, AZ on Sunday when she was in an unfortunate wreck during the biking portion.  She needed surgery last night to repair a broken collar bone.  She is one of the most driven, fit women I know - at 39 and with 4 kids, you could bounce a quarter off pretty much any part of her body.  What an inspiration she is of dedication and hard work.  I'm sure that not being able to finish was the toughest part for her.  Here's to her quick recovery and speedy healing, because I'm certain she'll be back at it in no time. :)

Monday, November 21, 2011

What can I say? Another Monday...

I did cross training for my workout this morning, starting out with a 20 minute Pilates warm-up.  After that I did an hour on the elliptical, and 45 minutes of circuit training that included sit-ups, step-ups, lunges and punches using 5 pound hand weights.  I hope to get in some decent runs the next couple of days before we head out of town for Thanksgiving.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Miscellaneous workouts.

I've had a couple of good days, yesterday and today, with my workouts.  Yesterday I did some cross training using the elliptical for 30 minutes, walking on the treadmill for a half an hour and then doing 20 minutes of jogging.  Today I started out on the treadmill with an hour of running intervals, followed by 40 minutes on the elliptical and 100 sit-ups.  I can't say as much for my eating the past couple of days, with lunch out with my family yesterday and a pot-luck dinner at our cub scout pack meeting last night.  Luckily I like working out.  It works in my favor.  After a sampling of some apple pie at dinner, I'm starting to get excited for Thanksgiving! :)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

12.8 miles!

Gobble ~ Gobble! Okay, it's me standing by a bunch of wild turkeys we saw around mile 8 that you can't see in the picture because it was taken with my phone.  You also can't see (very well) my super cool new Under Armour shirt/jacket thingy that my sneaky husband bought me at Dick's as a peace offering!  Long story. :)
I talked my reluctant husband into going on another long run with me today.  He was still feeling a tad sore from our run on Tuesday, but I convinced him that there is no better way for us to spend our "kid-free" time together than by going on a run...or a hike, but there's too much snow in the mountains now for that.  :)

We did a 12.8 mile loop and today we used the run/walk/run method doing a 3 minute run to 1 minute walk ratio.  I'm telling you, I haven't felt so good on a run in a long time.  Even as it started to snow a little bit, it felt refreshing and peaceful.  By the time we got back to the house, I felt like I could have kept on going.  Chris, on the other hand, was ready to be done at that point.  I'm actually pretty impressed with him, since he normally only does a couple of runs a week, one longer and one shorter, sometimes one more, but two 9+ mile runs within a couple of days?  Awesome!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

XT and some fun news!

This morning I began my cross-training workout by doing 15 minutes of Pilates.  After that, I got busy on the elliptical for a little over an hour, and then did 25 minutes of step aerobics using 5 pound weights.  I finished up with 100 sit-ups.

I was also excited to find out this morning that I won a blog giveaway!  Thank you to Rebecca @ Running On Stilts for the $100 gift card to Everyday Endurance.  Should be some fun online shopping ahead for me!! :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

9 Miles.

After doing a half an hour on the elliptical this morning, my husband and I headed out for a run.  It was cold, but that wasn't the least of it.  The frickin' wind was SO annoying!  It's a good thing we were together because if I had been out running alone and my husband was at home, I probably would have called him to come get me!  Not really, but it was a thought.  Thankfully the wind was only a major nuisance during the first 4 to 5 miles.  After that we turned, following the loop back home and the wind seemed to swirl around us instead of hitting us head-on.  By the time we got home we had gone a little over 9 miles.  Have I mentioned how nice it is to have someone (convenient) to go running with?  Have I also mentioned that my HUSBAND and I are officially signed up to do the Ogden Marathon in May?  He has no idea what he's getting himself into...;)

Monday, November 14, 2011

All cross, no run.

Today's workout began with a 10 minute Pilates warm up.  Then I got out my step-stool and 5 pound hand weights and did intervals alternating every 5 minutes between the elliptical and step-ups.  I did that until I had reached a total time of an hour and 15 minutes.  Then I did another 35 minutes on the elliptical and ended with 200 sit-ups.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

18 miles.


It's Saturday, which means long run day.  Unfortunately, right now my husband is working weekends and I didn't want to leave the kids at home alone for as long as it would take me to run a decently long run.  Besides, we woke up this morning to snow falling and a severe wind advisory.  So guess what?  I did my long run on the treadmill!  I sweated my way through several episodes (of Season 1) of the Biggest Loser.  My goal was to run for 3 hours.  With the treadmill, I don't go the same pace as when I run outside, I go slower on the treadmill because, well, it's just plain harder for me.  I wanted to feel good and still be running at the end of the 3 hours, and that's what I accomplished.  So 204 minutes and approximately 18 miles later, I'm ready to take on some of my daughter's birthday cake! ;)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

6.5 mile hike...in the COLD!


I am loving Thursdays right now!  My husband's current work schedule has him off on Thursdays, and it's also a school day for our Kindergartner, so that means...adults' play day!  Also, hiking has become my new favorite mode of cross-training.  There are so many trail heads within a 10-15 minute drive from our house, that we'll probably never run out of places to explore.  Today we did a 6.5 mile hike.  We left the house a little after 8, and as we pulled into the trail head parking area, our car thermometer said 21 degrees!  The first 2 miles of the hike were all uphill, steep uphill.  Excellent CV workout, not to mention I'm pretty sure I gained an ounce or two of muscle in my calves just today! ;)

After those first couple of miles, the higher we got on the mountain, the more snow there was on the ground. Our feet got a little wet and cold, but we stopped for a picnic lunch and made a fire to warm up.  It was so fun!  As we hiked, we were noticing some huge moose tracks along the trail.  At some point we had stopped to take a couple of photos, and as I looked up at the mountain side, I saw something big and black.  There were two bull moose up there!  We took a bunch of pictures and couple of videos, hiked another mile or so on the trail, then turned around and headed back the way we came.  Despite the wind and the cold, we had a great time, and probably burned a fierce amount of calories! ☺




Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Mid-week workout.

This morning I started my workout with 20 minutes of Pilates.  Just as I predicted, my arms are feeling quite sore today from doing that JM Yoga yesterday.  I guess that means I should do it more often.  After doing some Pilates, I got on the elliptical and did my new circuit training routine of 5 minutes on, then 5 minutes doing step-ups using 5 pound hand weights.  I did that for a total of an hour on the elliptical and 35 minutes worth of the step-ups.  When I finished with that, I got on the treadmill and did 30 minutes of speed work.  Lately I've been feeling like my workouts have been more productive than usual.  It's a good feeling.  I think it might be due to the fact that because there are all the seasons of The Biggest Loser on Netflix, plus I've been watching the current season once a week on Hulu, I've been watching at least an episode or two a day while doing other things and "getting in my burn" is constantly on my mind!  I don't even have a BodyBugg to track my calories burned, like they use on that show, but using MyFitnessPal.com has helped a lot.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Bonus run ~ 4 miles!

This afternoon after my husband and I came home from running errands, he asked me if I wanted to join him for a run in the park.  Well I'm not one to turn down a fun run in the park, let alone a little one on one time with my hubby, so even though I'd already done 9.5 miles this morning, to the park we went.  Even though it was midday, we still had to gear up in our cold weather attire - 30 something degrees and a bit of wind today.  The mountains are covered in snow surrounding our little town.  It makes for a beautiful view from the park while we're running, but I'm still not sure I'm ready for this winter thing yet.  Anyway, we did an "easy" 4 miles.  It was nice. :)

9.5 miles.

This morning I pulled out an old favorite DVD - Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown.  It's 30 minutes of bendy, stretchy deliciousness.  It's been a while since I've done that one, so I'm sure I'm going to feel it in my arms, especially, come tomorrow morning.  Then, since I had last night's episode of The Sing Off to watch online, I got on the treadmill and did a "long" run of 9.5 miles.  When I finished with that I did 50 sit-ups and called it good.  Now excuse me while I go wring out my clothes...☺

Monday, November 7, 2011

Keeping busy!

This morning I started my workout by doing 30 minutes of Pilates before taking the kids to school.  Then I came back and did 45 minutes on the elliptical, but I broke it up into intervals by getting off every 5 minutes and doing 5 minutes straight of either running up and down the stairs, or step-ups using hand weights.  When I finished with all of that, I got on the treadmill for a 30 minute speed interval run, then topped it all off with 100 sit-ups.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Just 'Cuz Half Marathon!

No, I didn't run this time, but the kids and I went to support my husband as he ran the 13.1 miles!  Oh, but for working an aid station I got this sweet shirt...

...which is what most people do the run for anyway, so I'm good! ;)

Just joking.  We really had a fun time helping out and getting to watch Chris as he pushed through this one.  Just as we were driving up to the parking area where he was to catch the shuttle to the start, we realized he had put on his old and crappy pair of running shoes instead of his good Asics.  Bummer.  I was feeling for him when  I knew he was going to have to run so far in those things.  He didn't seem to mind too much, though.  He's tough.  He didn't mind the 20 degree temperatures, the blowing wind or the snow, either.  Good sport.  On the other hand, working at an aid station in that weather was much less pleasurable.  I'm pretty sure I would have rather been running!  As several of my friends passed during the race, we all agreed I should have been running with them.  I think it was good for the kids to get to help out and support the runners, too though.  They seemed to have a good time, anyway.


I was excited that we were able to finish our portion of "aiding" the race in time to drive down to the finish line area and see Chris end his race.  He said he felt really good for most of the time, except the last couple of miles when his knees started to hurt.






And where else but in beautiful southeastern Idaho could you run a race alongside this big guy:


Awesome job, honey!



Friday, November 4, 2011

Misc. Friday.

I actually got to sleep in (a little) this morning...8am!  Then I had cub scout meetings, so I wasn't able to get to my workout until after lunch time.  I felt very blah today, too, with stuffiness and congestion still lingering from the cold I've had for over a week now.  I wasn't sure I'd get much of a workout done, as cruddy as I felt.  Funny thing about exercise, though - it usually makes me feel better.  I started out with 40 minutes on the elliptical, then I got on the treadmill and put the incline as high as it would go and walked for almost 4 miles.  When I finished with that, I bundled up the kids and we went to the park where I spent an hour and walked another 4 miles.  So, all in all a good workout day.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

4 mile hike.


Last night I brought up the idea to my husband that we should go on a hike today, since all the kids are in school and he has the day off.  He agreed, though not as whole-heartedly as he normally would.  He is doing a half-marathon on Saturday and he was worried about getting worn out or sore.  I assured him we wouldn't go too far and he seemed fine with that.


So, I started out my morning by doing 20 minutes of Pilates, followed by 40 minutes on the elliptical.  Then I packed a bag with a couple of PB&J's and some water and we headed out for our hike.  Today's trail destination was called Porcelain Pot Trail...I'm not sure why.  It was beautiful, of course, but very windy and cold (around 34 degrees).  There were lots of hills, which I like.  Hills are natures best CV workout, for sure.  In the end we went almost 4 miles in about an hour and 45 minutes.  It was fun to just be out there enjoying the cool, fresh air and fall scenery.  I know it's not going to last much longer.





Wednesday, November 2, 2011

12 miles.

It's another cold day here in southeastern Idaho...24 degrees.  With that in mind,  I continued with my "indoor workout" theme.  I started out with 20 minutes of Pilates, then I got right on the treadmill.  I wanted to do a long run today, so I immediately set it to a comfortable pace and started going.  Of course, since it's my day to watch The Biggest Loser, I had about an hour and a half of showtime to fill.  I kept a steady pace the whole time, stopping only when the show finished and I had to switch it to an episode of Dancing With The Stars.  At a little over 2 hours of running, I decided to start a walking cool down.  Now that I'm done, I feel great and I'm very happy with myself that I was able to run that long and steady on the treadmill...without going crazy! :)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Post-Halloween workout.

Nothing too exciting to report this morning.  My workout consisted of 20 minutes of Pilates followed by 75 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes of running the stairs.  I did succumb to the temptation last night and ate a few pieces of candy...but not too much.  Now to get the rest of it out of the house without my kids knowing... ;)