My Weak Spot (7/20-7/26)

July 26, 2014 Kim 37 Comments

My hips are probably my weakest area (part of why I have had stress fractures in each one) so I try to work them as often as possible – especially when I’m running a lot!! This week I really focused on them.

Sunday 7/20 – 44 skater squats with band.

This was fun – staying in the squat position the entire time made for a nice quad burn besides working my hips!!!

I got in a good 10 mile run – 76:27 followed by 3.15 easy miles!!!

Monday 7/21 – 44 machine gun kicks.

I should have done a video so you could see that this is actually a quick move. Part of the challenge is keeping balanced!!! And, after the first set – gotta work the other side!!

And – finally a lifting day again!!! Chalean Extreme – Push Circuit 1. I wanted to get some cardio but not run so I did Les Mills Combat Power Kata 45 – super fun way to get in a great workout!!!

Tuesday 7/22 – 44 kneeling leg lifts.

After the first leg is burning then switch and repeat!

Another 10 miles this time a bit faster – 74:44 followed by an easy mile!!!

Wednesday 7/23 – 44 side lying leg lift — point and flex feet.

lift with top leg behind toe pointed down

By turning the foot, I felt this in all parts of my hip!!!

Lifting day – Chalean Extreme — Push Circuit 2. After lifting I pulled out a program I haven’t done in awhile – TaeBo Amped – Rockin’ Abs. This is just over 40 minutes of cardio/core – awesome!!!

Thursday 7/24 – 44 standing hip circles (knee bent).

This was a nice move – not something I do often but I felt it after just a few reps!!

(for the record the pictures weren’t taken until Thursday afternoon after a full day of garage sale prep:)

Another run day – 7 miles at a pretty quick pace – 47:40 followed by 4.2 easy miles.

Friday 7/25 – 44 standing leg circles.

I actually did these during a lull in the garage sale and had Jordan do the video later. And, the video only shows one leg but I did both!!

Even though I didn’t do any other workout I still had plenty of activity working the sale all day!!!

Saturday 7/26 – 44 walking plie squats.

I did 44 leading with my right leg and then another set of 44 with my left leg leading.

Slow start to the garage sale this morning – hopefully it will pick up and we can get rid of the rest of the junk/stuff!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Uncategorized

“It Walked Off”

July 25, 2014 Kim 71 Comments

Sometimes people say things and I don’t even have a suitable response because it is so ridiculous!!!

When we have events at our venue we give the renter a key and then they are supposed to lock up after the event and drop the key in a mail drop box on the door – super easy!!!

Wednesday, late in the afternoon, I met a lady at the venue who had the place booked for the evening.

After a jam packed day, I finally sat down to relax (read blogs!!) about 7:00 pm.

At 8:00 the lady who had rented the venue called me. She said that she had a small problem. “The key walked off.”

What?! How does that even happen???

She said that she had looked everywhere. After telling her there would be a charge if it didn’t turn up by the next day I told her that she could leave and I would head over to lock up (20 minutes each way).

Hunter rode with me to lock up. We did a quick walk-through of the place to look for the key. It was in plain site on the kitchen counter!!!

While I was happy to find the key before I had googled ‘Locksmith Mentone‘ to find someone who could come and change the locks, I was beyond frustrated!!! I had already spent most of the day working over there and then the rest of the day playing “mom taxi” since I’m solo parenting this week!!

Oh, well – at least the key ran back home!!!

Happy Friday!!

Kim

Uncategorized

Does Your Heart Need a Rest?

July 23, 2014 Kim 1 Comment

Monday morning I had an appointment with my DR. She knows that I’m a big runner and she mentioned something that I found very odd.

She said she read an article in Redbook entitled What Cardiologists Tell Their Friends. One of the things was that repeated excessive effort can overstretch the heart muscle causing micro-size tears – damage that is often seen in marathon runners.

She said that the heart is a muscle like any other muscle and shouldn’t be worked every day.

In my mind, this goes against everything I’ve ever heard!!!

I’m not sure how I feel about the article and my DR’s thoughts on this subject – I like to workout at an intense level every day and can’t wrap my head around the fact that this could be damaging the very muscle I’m trying to make stronger.

Have you ever heard anything like this?
What do you think – is running doing more damage than good?

I have no plans to quit running and pushing myself – it makes me feel good to workout hard almost every day!!

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

Uncategorized

Living with Guilt

July 21, 2014 Kim 101 Comments

I don’t know about anyone else but guilt has been a constant part of my life for as long as I can remember!!!No matter how hard I try I feel guilt in pretty much every area of my life – as a

as a

as and even as a

Growing up I carried a lot of guilt for various things and all of the responsibilities that I had while I was in high school.

One thing that I’ve found helps me cope with guilt and even helps prevent it on occasion is making sure that I’m not dumping things off on others.

Last week before I left for my girls trip, I spent a day cleaning the venue and the morning I left ironing the tablecloths. We had an event on Friday and I knew that there wouldn’t be time after I got back to town to do everything.

I know that Chris would have gladly done the work while I was gone but I also know myself – by getting everything done in advance I alleviated at least some of the potential for guilt in my life!!!

I know that pretty much every bit of guilt I feel I bring completely on myself but that doesn’t always prevent the guilt!!!

What are your tips for dealing with guilt?

Happy Monday!

Kim

Back, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Plank, Plyo, Running

Mixing Things Up While On Vacation (7/13-7/19)

July 19, 2014 Kim 59 Comments

Even though I was on a little vacation this past week, I still wanted to get in a good week of workouts. It was fun to just mix things up and do a variety of things using what I had available!!!

Sunday 7/13 – 44 cat-cow with a crunch.

Not sure why I don’t do this move more often – it was nice especially after spending a chunk of the day cleaning the venue!!!

Monday 7/14 – 44 Jumping Jacks with tucks.

This was a great way to get my heart rate way up!!! And, since I had to get a lot done before leaving for my trip, I only did my lifting workout – Chalean Extreme Push Circuit 2.

Tuesday 7/15 – 44 incline sit-ups and 44 incline crunches. The fitness center at the hotel had one of my favorite pieces of equipment from years ago so I made good use of it!!!

all the way up - touch feet — all the way up – touch feet

Personally, I think the full sit-ups are easier than the crunches!!

up just to the point that you can feel your abs contracting — up just to the point that you can still feel your abs contracting

Stacy and I did a nice 7 mile run – LOTS of hills!!! I also did a bunch of push-ups on the incline bench and a long squat series with 2, 30 pound dumbbells.

Wednesday 7/16 – 44 hill repeats. During our run Tuesday, we had to run up this killer hill to get to a gorgeous park. I decided that it would make a great 44 to run up and down it!!

Umm…this was a tough workout!!! (Stacy decided to do her own indoor workout inside of running up and down the hill.)

Not super fast but that’s because there was no possible way to get up that hill fast!!! Even on the downhill part, my heart rate never fully recovered! Not sure I would repeat this exact workout!!!

Thursday 7/17 – 44 decline plank with alternate shoulder taps (right-left = 1 rep).

ready - feet on bench — ready – feet on bench

So, you can tell that I’m sweaty and we are in our hotel room – I actually did this after our run!!

We just did an easy run – both of us were sore from our previous workouts!!! 3 miles up the hill from yesterday and around a gorgeous park followed by 3 miles of walking — it was great to just walk for a change!!!

Friday 7/18 – 44 alternating hamstring curls.

I did these Friday night but Chris took the pictures for me this morning – I figure it still counts as keeping up with my daily moves even if I don’t get it done until 10:00 pm!!!!

Saturday 7/19 – 44 back extensions with ball pass.

bring arms behind and hand ball off to other hand

I only did 44 total but I did reverse the direction of the ball pass so that I did 22 each way. I know my low back is an area I don’t work often enough!!

And, I did my favorite lifting program – Chalean Extreme Push Circuit 3.

Overall it was a decent week of working out – a little lighter than normal in some ways but fun to do some different things!!!

Happy Saturday!!

Kim