Today for my 44 I did a halo to curtsy lunge – this is another one of those moves that work most of the body!!!
I counted a right and left side as 1 rep – even though I only used 5 pound dumbbells, my upper body got some serious work to complete 44.
Stacy and I are fixing to do a cross-fit style workout – I think she is going kill me!! That’s OK – we are headed out to run after!
Rockin’ the Runner T!!!
My sister-in-law is training for her first marathon so I’m going to log her miles with her while they are here – OUTSIDE!!! The current temp is 17 so I guess I will have to employ my Suck it Up in a big way!!! Her plan is 8 today, 4 tomorrow, 8 Friday and 16 Saturday (that will be her longest run!!).
We have lived here (Kansas) for over 14 years. It is a long drive for any of my family to come up from Texas (especially since Topeka isn’t really a major tourist attraction!). Over the years, we haven’t had a lot of family visitors but Sam (my younger brother) and Stacy come almost every year!!!!
They have been here on Easter (it happened to also be Hunter’s 6th birthday), summer vacation, 4th of July and numerous Thanksgivings!!!
I truly am thankful for Sam, Stacy, Isabel and Hays who got to our house about 10:00 last night (after a very long day of driving for them!!). They will be here until Sunday morning and I plan to enjoy every minute of their time with us!!!
Stacy and I will run and workout then shop and enjoy our wine. Hays can’t wait to play ball and cars with the “big boys!” Isabel is looking forward to our annual “girls night” – special drinks and a movie without any boys invited! There will be plenty of food (already have gumbo going for lunch in my crockpot and an egg casserole ready to put in the oven for breakfast!).
So, for the next few days I plan to do my daily 44s and I will probably still do a post but the rest of the time will be off the computer enjoying time with my family!!!
Today I did a new (to me) move and it was hard. It is a reverse arm raise (you raise your arms behind you).
start positionraise arms behind – squeeze shoulder blades together
This was hard -I just used 5 pound dumbbells and it was still a challenge. The hard part was not just letting my arms fall but trying to control the move on the way back down.
For Garage Boot Camp we did one of my favorites – 25 in 1 Boot Camp. After we did 3 rounds using the full minute (so there was a little break), I challenged the group to do the 4th round with no breaks – just 25 reps of each as quickly as possible. This was a great way to really push hard at the end of the workout!!!
Yesterday I felt a bit like Scooby and Shaggy! I had to go over to our venue (the Governor’s Row House) for just a minute. When I got there and walked up the porch, the front door was wide open!
Now, Chris and I are the only ones who have keys (I know this because I had the locks changed after we bought it) and his car wasn’t in the parking lot (he was at work!) so the door should not have been opened.
Not cool at all!!! Actually pretty scary!
Turns out, 1 of our 3 tenants (there are 3 apartments up above the actual venue) found a way into the house and decided to go through the house instead of the side entrance to move her stuff out. (Hmmm….you think there is a reason we gave her notice at the beginning of the month?!)
A quick call to Chris (who called our lawyer), a dead-bolt installation and now I feel a little safer.
Amazing how violated I felt at the fact that this girl (and several people I had never met) plus the girl’s dog, were all tracking in and out of my place without me knowing about it.
I’m hoping that today is just full of treats – no more tricks (or scares) for me please!!!
Today I did a 44 that was all about the core (and a nice stretch for my back!!). I used my stability ball – and did a roll-over.
Start with the ball between your feet and your legs in the air.
ready to roll
Slowly, without using your hands to push off the floor, lift your hips and roll back.
back
Then, bring your legs back to the start position in a controlled manner – don’t just let them flop back down. Great for the whole core – back included!
And, because it makes me happy, I did Turbo Fire – Fire 45! There is no way to be in a bad mood working out with Chalean. The music is great and her energy is contagious!!!
Last night we went to Hunter’s Parent/Teacher Conference at the middle school. The middle school is set up in teams so the core teachers rotate in and out of the room during your conference time. It’s a great system because in about a 20 minute conference, you are able to meet with all of the teachers!!
Hunter is actually on the same team that Jordan was in 7th grade.Only one of the teachers is new this year so they all remember Jordan.
Last night, every single one of the teachers said such nice things about Hunter and Jordan!!! They complimented Chris and I on how we have raised them.
One teacher said she really wished we had more kids coming through.
The teachers were all happy with how Hunter does in class (he had all A+s or As) but even more pleased with the fine young man he is. Every one of them mentioned the fact that he greets them by name when he walks into their classrooms each day and says “bye” or “have a nice day” or something when he leaves their room for the day.
They also said that both boys seem to be very happy and emotionally stable (which is a big deal in middle school!!!).
Even when you think you are doing a semi-OK job with your kids, it is always nice to hear from their teachers that they think the same thing.
And, just for fun, here is a picture of Hunter last night for his cello group. They all decided to wear costumes since they won’t have group next week on Halloween. See if you can figure out Hunter’s costume.
Happy Fun Friday!!!
Kim
PS – do you get it? Hunter is supposed to be his cello and his cello is “dressed” as him!!!
Today’s 44 was not one of my better ideas!!! In fact, it would have been an idea better left in my head. However, I might be am a little stubborn and once I decided to do the move I just went with it!!!
What was the stupid move? I used my treadmill –
the arm rails are the part I used
I sat sideways under the handles and did a pull-up move. Here is a self picture (which is why I’m only holding on with one hand!!!) since today is a day off school (Parent/Teacher Conferences) and the boys are STILL sleeping!!!
semi-position
From that position (except with both hands on the rail) – I pulled myself up until my chin was above the bar – 44 times!!! See – not a good idea!!!
The main reason it was a bad idea is because now my lower back is killing me – which is why the only picture is the above one. I’m not going to do any more when the boys get up to make a video!!!
I did get in a run after the stupid 44 though – 5 miles at a fast pace and then 2.5 easy (all at 1.5% incline). I’m sure that the hard run did nothing to help my back – oops!!
So my decision to act on a poor choice made me think about something we say in our family a lot – “That should probably be kept right here (point to head).”
We usually just say this to be funny but there really are times that it is true!!! Not everything that pops into your head should be said out-loud for numerous reasons.
Somethings are just flat out rude.
Somethings really don’t make sense and need to be thought through a little more.
Somethings might be inappropriate.
Sometimes silence is the best option.
Jordan is really good about pointing out when Chris or I make a comment that would have been better left unsaid – always makes me laugh but also realize that I really do need to keep some thoughts (and clearly some ideas!!!) in my head!
Do you have thoughts/ideas that are better kept inside your head? (I hope I’m not the only one!!!)
I counted a right/left flutter as 1 rep – another simple move for the 44.
So, Saturday night was my 50 mile race. It didn’t go quite as I had planned. I’m still not sure that I can make a coherent post about it but I’m going to at least put my thoughts down.
hanging out before the race
We got to the race site around 4:45 I think – I picked up my number and ankle chip then we all just stood around for awhile. (over an hour!!) It was nice to chat with some of the other runners and find out who was an experienced ultra runner and who was a newbie. The girl in the pink headband, Lauren, was also running her first ultra. The guy in all black, Scott, (conferring with us next to the cars) is a very experienced ultra runner.
count-down timer start/finish line
There were only 20-25 people in the 50 – most people prefer the 100!! The race started right on time – 6:00pm.
The start – everyone is happy and perky!!! The temperature was nice – about 60 I think.
2 guys took off right from the beginning, then a group of 5 of us stayed together for the first 4 miles (until the 1st unmanned aid station). We were running about 9:50 pace at this point. Mistake #1 (remember the run/walk plan?)
Everyone else stopped at the aid station – I kept going. One of the guys was quick and caught back up with me so we ran together until about 9.5 miles. I was feeling great and running a nice easy pace. When we came to the first manned station, my running partner stopped – I did not. Mistake #2
By this point it was dark so I had to fish out my knuckle lights and I had my headlamp attached to the front of my camel back. The hills were becoming more and more frequent and big!!! I just kept running (ignoring my Garmin every time it went off to say WALK!!). Mistake #3
Around mile 13 something I passed another unmanned aid station (without stopping!!). Mistake #4
By about mile 15, I was freezing (just wearing my shorts and shirt) but I didn’t want to stop and put on my jacket (it was tied around my waist) and fish my gloves out of my camel back. Mistake #5
Mile 17 was the first aid station where we would see our crew so I was holding out for that. I got there and thought I was good – just frozen. Chris helped me get my gloves on since I couldn’t even bend my fingers to do it myself. I put on my jacket (just a light weight one) and took off again. Mistake #6
I was under 3 hours at this point – stupid, stupid, stupid!!! It was almost 9 pm and all I had eaten for the day was 3 pieces of pizza at about 11:00 am. Mistake #7
When I left the aid station, I decided to start utilizing my run/walk plan. My Garmin was set to let me know – 4 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking. I did this for 3 miles (to get to mile 20) and then decided to walk a little more. Every single part of my lower body from my toes up to and including my butt was one solid cramp!
By this point, I had run 10 miles completely by myself in pitch black darkness (except for my little lights) and I was freezing. I knew that I still had 5 miles until the next aid station but that I would see Chris again when I got there.
My new buddy, Scott, caught back up with me around mile 22 – I was walking at this point. He stayed with me a bit and made me eat some nasty ginger thing and take a salt tablet. He asked what I had eaten at the aid stations – I told him nothing. He asked if I had walked up the hills (his words of advice before we started) – of course I hadn’t!!! Mistake #8 & #9
He told me just to hang on until the aid station/turn-around at mile 25 and to eat something there and put on more clothes!!!
I thanked him for hanging with me for a bit but told him to keep going and not fall behind because of me. Around this time, I started seeing runners coming toward me every once in awhile – 100 mile runners. Their course had them run the 25 miles that we had as an out-and back for their last 25 miles. Most of the 100 mile runners had a pacer with them for the last 25 miles!! (50 milers weren’t allowed pacers)
I’m not gonna lie – I felt like a loser walking before I even hit 25 miles when these people had already run 75+!!!!!
Around mile 23, my Garmin battery died!!! Great – now I had no idea how far/long till the aid station. At this point there might have been a few tears.
I don’t know why my feet, knees, hips, butt, legs – everything – was hurting so much! I’ve run further many times so I don’t know what the cramping was all about. I think the cold may have contributed (it was around 42 degrees after the sun went down).
All I could think about was that running should be fun! And I was not enjoying a single thing about the race. In fact, I was hating all of the different aspects of it!!!
gravel roads with lots of large rocks
cattle guards
hill after hill
the complete darkness
the isolation
the freezing cold
RUNNING
knowing that I was going to have to repeat these long lonely 8 miles between the 2 crew stations after I turned around
not having a Garmin to let me know the distance (not sure why my battery died – maybe all those alerts that I wasn’t using)
I finally decided that I was just going to get to the 25 mile station and instead of turning around I was quitting because I was at near melt-down point.
When I finally saw the lights I might have cried again – and then it took me forever to get to them. I saw Chris open the back of the car and went straight over to it without checking in. I told him I was done!!! I let him take my ankle chip off and take it over to the check-in site to withdraw me.
We had put some sleeping bags in the car and he rolled one out for me to lay on and covered me with the other – it took me the entire 2 hours before we were home to stop shivering (I still had on my gloves and everything).
By the time we got home it was around 1:30 – I had peed about 15 minutes before the race started (so around 5:45) and after taking a hot bath, I finally peed around 2 am before going to bed. (I know that y’all want to know how often I pee!!!)
I don’t know if I was dehydrated and that caused the cramping in my entire lower body or if it was the hills and rocks, or the fact that I didn’t utilize my run/walk plan or the lack of any fueling – I just know that I made a decision on that dark and lonely stretch of 8 miles to stop at the half-way mark and I will have to live with that decision.
I know this was a long rambling post – my thoughts are still somewhat jumbled. At this point I have no plans to attempt another ultra – the point at which I hate everything about a race and running is not something I want to experience again.
Happy Monday – I’m going to take one more day to recoup and then get back to my normal routine!!
for over 14 years. It is a long drive for any of my family to come up from Texas (especially since Topeka isn’t really a major tourist attraction!). Over the years, we haven’t had a lot of family visitors but Sam (my younger brother) and Stacy come almost every year!!!!
I truly am thankful for Sam, Stacy, Isabel and Hays who got to our house about 10:00 last night (after a very long day of driving for them!!). They will be here until Sunday morning and I plan to enjoy every minute of their time with us!!! 
