Tag Archives: Cathe

The Legs Feed the Wolf (3/1 – 3/7)

Screen Shot 2015-03-07 at 9.43.45 AMMiracle might be one of my all-time favorite movies!!  When the head coach has the team skating lots of suicide type drills he tells the players, “The legs feed the wolf.”  When it came time for the big games (Olympics), they were better conditioned than any other team on the ice!!!

So, I tell myself the same thing when I’m running high mileage and also when I back off a little to rest my legs for a couple weeks!!!  This week I had much lower mileage but I did a number of workouts and exercises to strengthen my legs, especially my hips.

Sunday 3/1  45 standing crunches – lift one leg straight out and bring hands to foot while holding a medicine ball – crunch on the forward bend.

start position
start position
lift right leg and crunch
lift right leg and crunch
lift left leg and crunch
lift left leg and crunch

I like that this move  works your core and also your hip flexors!

I ran 8 miles in 59:58 followed by 0.6 easy miles.

Monday 3/2  45 push-ups while kneeling on a stability ball (shins rest on the ball and your butt stays down on your heels).

set-up
set-up
down
down

These look a bit awkward but it was a really good move.  You can tell that it was hard for me to keep my butt on my heels during the down part – need to work on that!

I did Cathe – Turbo Barre.  Talk about a workout for your hips and legs – this one is great!!!

Tuesday 3/3  45 side leg abduction while in a semi-squat.

Partial squat with left leg - right leg ready to lift
Partial squat with left leg – right leg ready to lift
stay low and lift right leg - squeeze butt
stay low and lift right leg – squeeze butt

There is a bit of balance involved with this move too!!

ready to squat right and left left
ready to squat right and left left
lift the leg while staing low
lift the leg while staying low

Running day – 10 miles in 75:44 followed by 1 easy mile.

Wednesday 3/4  45 single leg step-up on BOSU then circle opposite leg back-front-back before stepping down.

step up with left leg and start with right leg pushing back
step up with left leg and start with right leg pushing back
sweep leg around to front
sweep leg around to front

From the above position, sweep the right leg back so that it is behind you and then step off the BOSU.

I did all 45 reps stepping up with my left leg and then switched and did another set.

step on with left right leg, left leg squeezes back
step on with left right leg, left leg squeezes back
sweep leg to front
sweep leg to front, then back behind you before stepping off.

The hardest part of this move was staying balanced while sweeping your leg around!!!

I did TaeBo Amped – Rockin’ Buns.  There isn’t a lot of cardio involved in this workout but it is great for strengthening your hips, legs and even your core.

Thursday 3/5  45 BOSU superman lifts.  Nellie (Brooklyn Active Mama) featured this move as one of her Wednesday Workouts.

Place a band under your BOSU with enough slack that you can lift it but still have a challenge.  I decided to add an extra challenge and stay in a partial squat while completing my arm lifts.

ready
ready
lift your arms above your head
lift your arms above your head

After about 25 reps I had to give myself a little more band to work with because this was hard!!!

This was another running day – 8 miles in 60:20 followed by 1.05 miles easy.

Friday 3/6  45 quad/knee raises while pushing foot down with bar.

ready to start
ready to start
lift knee up and push down on the bar at the same time
lift knee up and push down on the bar at the same time

By pushing the bar down it makes the resistance so much harder than just lifting your body weight.

ready to work the other side
ready to work the other side
lift knee and push down on bar
lift knee and push down on bar

This day was the closest to a rest day that I took this week.  I did Caribbean Workout – Core Pilates for an hour.

Saturday 3/7  45 “first position” monkey squats.  (I had to google what the position was called!!!)

stand in first position (heels touching - toes turned out) and touch toes
stand in first position (heels touching – toes turned out) and touch toes
go down into a squat while holding on to your toes
go down into a squat while holding on to your toes

By holding your toes for the entire move this feels different than just doing normal squats!!!  Turning my toes out made the move different from a standard monkey squat.

And, I did one more run for the week.
6 miles – 45:17 followed by 1.75 easy miles.

I think overall it was a good workout week even cutting back on my running.
32 miles of hard running
4.4 easy miles

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

A Sherpa Wife I’m Not

Today I did a single leg power hop with my opposite foot on a stability ball for my 44.  

And, I’m completely aware that I look like a total goof in the video – I had already done 44 reps on each side and that was the 2nd attempt at a video so 20 extra reps!!!! Plus, I’m just not that coordinated!!!  The good news is I still got a major quad burn by the time I was done!!!

I did Cathe – Turbo Barre today.  Yikes!!!  I always forget how challenging that workout is! It is 75 minutes of  high reps – my hips are going to be sore but it’s good with the extra running!!!Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 6.55.43 AM

If you know Lindsay over at Cotter Crunch you know that she is the epitome of a Sherpa wife!!!   Her husband is a professional triathlete and she does everything in her power to help him and make his life and training as successful as possible.  I admire her in many ways!!

However, I don’t think that I will ever be considered a sherpa of any sort.  I want to be supportive and helpful and do OK right up until someone (like my husband) is sick.  And then it’s an epic fail!!!!

Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 7.08.00 AMUmm….yep, this is pretty much my mentality!!!  Rude isn’t it?!  

Especially when you consider the fact that when I’m sick Chris is all about taking care of me!!!Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 7.05.55 AM

I want to be more compassionate and I try but I always end up reverting back to the “suck it up” thing.  I would like to say that it causes me stress when Chris is sick and that is just how I deal with it but I think what it comes down to is I’m more selfish than I should be.

Maybe I should shadow Lindsay for a day or year or so (cause that’s not creepy at all!!!).

Are you a sherpa?  Does your husband wait on you when you are sick?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

PS – after yesterday’s post about clothes and all I thought I would show you a picture of what I wore yesterday to run a ton of errands.  

standard winter attire
standard winter attire – yoga pants and a fleece top

I did wear shoes and not fuzzy socks!!!  Considering that it was about 7 degrees while I was out, I don’t feel at all bad.  And, I was super productive yesterday and made it through my entire “To Do” list!!!

The Best Part of Christmas

Today’s 44 was nearly a fail!!!  Not long ago I did push-ups using my foam roller for the 44 of the day.   The wonderful and super fit Jody suggested trying the same move but with my feet on a stability ball.  Well – I’m always up for a new way to challenge myself so today I tried it!

the set-up
the set-up

I could not even hold the pose with my toes on the ball so I just went with the tops of my feet and still struggled!!!

down
down

This move was beyond HARD!!!  I struggled and by the end my push-ups were barely  going down – I’m going to have to work on this move for sure!!!

My neighbor’s daughter (she is a few years younger than me!) is still in town and she came over to workout again this morning – so much fun!!  Today we did Cathe XTrain – Tabatacise!!!  This is definitely a great workout.  After we were done Erin asked about a challenge move (since we did the plank hold last time) so we did 10 Manmakers.

(This video clearly wasn’t today since I had blond hair!)

Yesterday we hosted our first annual Governor’s Row House Christmas Day Open House.

snacks
snacks

We had no idea if any one would come or if it would be just the 4 of us hanging out over there.

It turned out to be a really fun day.  Some great friends came and hung out most of the day!

kid's playing HeadBandz
kid’s playing HeadBandz
hanging out
hanging out

The boys (Chris, Jordan and Hunter) played trumpet and cello tunes for us!  Plenty of food (lunch and dinner!) and fun!!!

posing on the stairs to nowhere
posing on the stairs to nowhere

Last week I put fliers in our 3 tenants mail boxes and 2 of them came down for awhile (the 3rd, a young couple, had gone home to Chicago!).

Kelvin lives on the 3rd floor by himself (he is going to be 65 next month) and called me around 5 to see if we were still there.  He came down, brought Champagne to share (nice!), ate and visited until we started packing up around 8.

He had been by himself (other than his cat) all day and would have spent the entire day that way if he hadn’t joined us.  After a couple of hours he  said he felt like he had an adopted family!!  That comment made my day because all along, my whole goal had been to help make someone’s Christmas better than it might have been otherwise.  When he got ready to go back up to his apartment he hugged me and said it had turned into a wonderful Christmas for him!

And, the best part – on the way home Jordan rode with me (I had gone earlier to clean since we had an event Christmas Eve, too) and he talked about how glad he was that we had done the Open House!!!  This is big because when I first mentioned it to Jordan he did not want any part in it.  

After seeing how much it meant to Kelvin, he realized that sometimes taking the time to be available to someone is the best gift you can give.  (Plus he had a good time all day!!)

Happy Thursday!!!

Kim

Reality Shows

Today’s 43 was all about balance and working the hips (and outer thigh).  This is a move that I got from TaeBo!

Start with all of you weight on your left leg (don’t worry – we will get to the other side!!) with your left toe turned to the side and your knee slightly bent.

start
start

Lift your right leg (hip height if possible) and get balanced.

get ready
get ready

From this position – extend your leg out straight.

extend
extend

Continue bending and extending your leg for your desired # of reps (43 here!).  Then the real fun begins because you get to switch sides (and the second leg always starts feeling the pain quicker!!).

switch sides
switch sides

Try to do the same # of reps on the second side!!!  Of course that means 43 for me!!

keep going!!
keep going!!

I like this move – it works an area that I try to spend time on (hips/thighs) pretty often to prevent injuries when I’m running.  Plus, the balance challenge helps strengthen my core – always a good thing!!!

The rest of my workout was great!!!  I tried out another Cathe DVD – HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  The DVD has 3 HIIT segments – each about 30 minutes long. I decided (cause I’m a glutton) to do 2 of the segments.  I started with the 30/30 which starts with a warm-up and then has 16 intervals each 30 seconds long followed by 30 seconds rest.  It’s amazing how the same amount of time can feel so different!!!

After that I did the 40/20 which also starts with a nice warm-up followed by 16 intervals. That extra 10 seconds is brutal!!  The nice thing on this section, even though the rest is only 20 seconds, after each 4th interval, you get a 1 minute break!!!

I thought about doing the 3rd section but that just seemed like a bit much on the HIIT action!!  Soon!!

I’ve decided I might be a bit of a reality TV show addict!!  I’m not sure what the draw is but I get totally caught up in a lot of the reality shows on TV.  Some of my favorites:

Celebrity Apprentice – what’s not to love about watching the celebrities go after each other.  Plus, it’s always good to see the Donald!  This season (All Stars) is really entertaining – how long can Gary Busey last?!

Screen shot 2013-04-22 at 9.56.49 AM

I’m not sure why I enjoy Dance Moms so much – I have never danced, my boys don’t dance…I guess it is just watching Abby!!!Screen shot 2013-04-22 at 9.58.35 AM

America’s Next Top Model is another one that entertains me.  My favorite is when the whole season airs in a single day (usually a Saturday!!) – especially if I have a long treadmill run planned!!Screen shot 2013-04-22 at 10.01.09 AMI loved the season with the British included!!

The Real Housewives of New York – I know these shows offer nothing in the way of education or even real life experiences (at least not my life) but I enjoy them!!!  I liked the RH of NY best when Bethany was part of the group!!Screen shot 2013-04-22 at 10.19.33 AM

I taught myself to sew just enough to make curtains – so basically I can make fairly straight lines.  And, I don’t have a creative bone in my body.  But – I love Project Runway!!  Do people really wear the type clothes they make?!Screen shot 2013-04-22 at 10.04.15 AM

My favorite of all the reality shows I watch (and the one I want to be on) – The Amazing Race!!!Screen shot 2013-04-22 at 10.06.21 AMFor years I’ve talked about being on this show.  One night we had friends over and Chris mentioned something about the Amazing Race and the fact that it would be fun but he didn’t know who he would go on it with – WHAT?!  ME! ME!  I’M RIGHT HERE!!!

I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to go on it with me because he thinks knows that I might would definitely yell and probably curse at him on national TV.  I might be am a little insanely competitive!!!  It might not be great for our marriage if we went on the show together!! Plus, Chris is one of those super sweet and caring people and would want to help everyone along the way!  (see why we haven’t signed up yet?)  I guess it is better for us to just continue watching it together and not be contestants.  Maybe I can convince my younger brother, Sam to go on with me!!!  

Do you watch reality shows on TV?  Would you ever go on one?

Happy Monday!!!

Kim

Fun Friday!!!

For my 43 today I did a move that Gina (the Fitnessista) had as part of a really cool 2,4,6,8,10 workout earlier this week.

To do the move, start in plank (arms extended) – lift your right leg and tap it down across your left leg then switch legs to complete 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssXX7WA8Ewc’]

It took me 3:20 minutes (holding plank the whole time) to complete 43 reps!  The hard part was trying not to rock my body or drop my hips (or stick my butt too high).  If you add a boost to a normal plank – try this move!

Because I’ve sort-of slacked on workouts the past couple of days I decided to step it up a bit with  Cathe XTrain – Tabatacise.  I did all 5 Tabatas (killer!) then I did the 100 Rep challenges – 100 flat bench triceps (I used 8 pound dumbbells) & 100 bicep curls (10 pound dumbbells) – UGH!!!  I finished with the Bonus Core #2.

When I finished Jordan said, “That looked hard – I’m never gonna do that!”  (no school today & Chris is off so the gangs all here!!)  OK, Jordan, whatever!!  I did convince him to go for a walk with me yesterday afternoon so there is that!!

I’m looking forward to the weekend!  The weather is supposed to be nice for a few more days (and then maybe snow on April 1 – what is that about?!), the NCAA basketball tournament is going on, Easter – time with all 3 of my boys – what more could anyone ask for?!

Happy Fun Friday – I hope everyone has a great weekend with family and/or friends!

Kim