Chest, Core, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Some Friday Favorites

January 24, 2014 Kim 81 Comments

For my 44 today I went with a move that Debbie @ Live from La Quinta had in a post the other day about balance. I figure I might not have balance in all areas of my life but I can work on my actual balance!!!

I did a 1 arm chest press on the stability ball.

I did all 44 reps on the right side and then switched and did 44 more because it’s all about balance!!!

It might seem like it is easier to do 1 arm at a time but you really do have to work on the balance and hold tighter with your core so you don’t roll off the ball. I used 15 pounds and that was just enough to make the last 5 reps or so really difficult!!!

And, I did another run (4 in 1 week!!!) – 1.5% incline for 8 miles at 7:30 pace then an easy cool down mile.

The Sound of Music is one of my all time favorite movies and like Julie Andrews says, “I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad!!!”

I love our new dishwasher!!

The fact that the buttons are on the top of it is nice because our old one had them right on the front and people were always leaning against it and turning it on!!! Plus – check out the 3 racks –

Look how cool the top rack is – it holds all of those big utensils – I love it!!!

Another kitchen appliance that I love is my Ninja Crock Pot!!! (I actually love all of my crock pots and use them often.)

The really cool thing about this one is that you can use it in other ways besides just a slow cooker. The feature I love is the stove-top cooking one.

So, I don’t have to use a skillet to sauté onions or brown meat – I just do it in the Ninja – it’s genius!!!

And, I haven’t watched as much college basketball as I normally do but the other night my favorite team did this –

Pretty big deal for Texas to beat Kansas since I actually live in Kansas!!!

My final favorite today is this cool YouTube video that Jordan put together for me.

I wanted to have some kind of picture display for the Bridal Fair this weekend and Jordan took care of it for me!!!

What is one of your favorites today?

Happy Friday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Running, Treadmill

Sinking

January 23, 2014 Kim 1 Comment

Today I used my small band –

small - tons of resistance — small – tons of resistance

and worked my hamstrings for the 44. I started with the band around my ankles and moved it to cover one foot –

From the start position, I pushed my foot (keeping it flexed) straight back –

As you can see, it is hard to stay straight up but part of the work was a balance challenge!!! And, I don’t want my hamstrings to be unbalanced so I had to do the left side, too!!

I love small moves like this that are so effective!!!

And, today was another running day!!! Of course, I’m a wimp and don’t bundle up and hit the streets like so many hard-core runners (it is currently 3 degrees!!!) and I needed to catch up on Dance Moms anyway!!!
1.5% incline – 8 miles in 61:37 + 0.75 miles super easy

Currently, I feel like that ship represents me!!! I feel like I have toppled over and am just barely staying above the surface!!!

I’ve talked about the fact that I have sleep issues (meaning I rarely sleep more than 2 hours at a time) and lately I have been averaging around 4 hours of sleep a night.

Last night I woke up at 2 and never fully went back to sleep before my 5:00am alarm!

My mind is constantly spinning these days!

I have a booth this weekend at the local Bridal Fair and I feel like I’ve put a lot of energy into this and still don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Lately, we haven’t had a lot of bookings at our venue but the expenses (thanks to numerous issues with the apartments) are out of control!

I’ve made several commitments involving other things (some guest posts, personal stuff……) and I’m excited about all of them but they churn around in my brain during the night, too.

Factor in the extreme cold and my complete dislike (hate) of winter and I just feel myself sinking more and more.

Maybe I will just imagine myself right here –

for the next few days (months – whatever!!!).

Or, I will just go back to my mantra –

Happy Thursday!! I will be at the beach (if only in my mind!)!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Power Moves, Quad

A Sherpa Wife I’m Not

January 22, 2014 Kim 86 Comments

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!!!

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!!!!

Umm….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!!!

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 – 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!!!

Fitness, Quad, Running, Shoulders, Thighs, Treadmill

Do Clothes “Make” Us?

January 21, 2014 Kim 104 Comments

Today’s 44 was a combo move (my favorite kind of exercise!). The lower body was just a plie hold and the upper body was a lateral raise.

Lateral raises are hard for me (shoulders are my weakest area!!!) so I only used 5 pound dumbbells. I felt the burn in my quads and inner thighs by the time I finished all 44 reps.

Today I did something I rarely do – I ran for the 2nd day in a row!!! There really is a lot to be said for running easier!!! Yesterday I ended up running 13.1 miles (1:46.20) with 1.3 easy to finish it off. Today I did 7 miles (59:36) with an easy cool down mile.

I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase – “Clothes make the man/woman/child.” Is this really true?

I think that I’m the same person no matter what I have on – a formal dress, jeans, or sweaty running stuff. But I do wonder if unconsciously we act different in different types of clothes.

Are we more confident when we are all dressed up? I think that I actually feel the most confident when I’m in my workout clothes!!! Of course, that could just be what I tell myself since that is my normal dress code these days!!!

I also started wondering if we are more productive based on how we dress.

In the winter I pretty much live in fleece!!!

OK - maybe a little nicer than this stuff but still - yoga pants and fleece tops!! — OK – maybe a little nicer than this stuff but still – yoga pants and fleece tops!!

Does being so comfortable make me less productive? Or am I more productive because I’m comfortable?

I used to dress up every day and I still have a closet full of nice clothes and shoes and all the accessories required to pull it all together. Maybe I should try a test since a lot of days I can get my work done from home and see if dressing up makes me more productive!!!

Besides running things in our home, I work semi-full time with our business – cleaning, doing set-ups, showing the venue, paperwork, marketing, etc. All of those tasks require different attire – I can’t wear my cleaning clothes (workout gear) when I do showings and vice-versa. Since a lot of the work is done at home it really doesn’t matter what I look like – or does it?!

Do you think that there is anything to the saying – Clothes make the woman?
What about – Dress for success?
Do you dress up even if you are just going to be home most of the day?

Happy Tuesday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Today We Honor a True American Hero

January 20, 2014 Kim 84 Comments

Today’s 44 was a reverse crunch on the bench. Hunter wanted me to do some Rocky style crunches where you go up on your head – ummmm…..I’m too old to try anything that crazy!!!

And it was a good day for a longer run since every one is off and it is a low key day anyway!

Martin Luther King Jr is a man who played a major role in the Civil Rights Act and I think that every American should be grateful for the effort he made to make our country a place where all people are equal!!!

Over the weekend, there were several TV stations paying tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and movies aired that show the changes that have come about over the past 40-50 years.

Some of my very favorite movies portray the trials and extreme racism that used to mark our country.Yesterday I watched Men of Honor with Cuba Gooding Jr and Robert De Niro. I forgot how incredible this movie is. This movie is the story of Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver and the man who trained him.

If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. At the end when Cuba Gooding Jr as Carl Brashear has to take 12 steps in the dive gear that weighs 290+ pounds to be reinstated as a Navy Diver with 1 leg – that scene brings me to tears every single time I see it!

Remember the Titans might be one of my favorite movies ever. There are so many phenomenal parts of the movie. The fact that this movie is based on a true life happening from a school in 1971 has always shocked me since that was after I was born (I was 2 then!!).

(some of the most inspirational parts of the movie!!)

When Gerry Bertier is in the hospital and Julius comes in I love the line, “He’s my brother. Can’t you see the resemblance?”

This is another great movie based on the actual events leading up to the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship. Texas Western College became the first team to have a starting line-up that was all-black. The coach later said that he didn’t so much think about the color of the starters – he just wanted his top 5 on the court – as it should be!!!

Because this film is from a much earlier time period (the 1947 baseball season) there is some pretty extreme racism evident throughout the entire movie. It is so amazing to look at pro baseball today compared to that year when Jackie Robinson became the first black man to play professionally.

The Express is another story about the first black man to achieve a mile stone. Ernie Davis is the first black man to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. Sadly after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns he died of leukemia in 1963 at the age of 23.

Look a movie that doesn’t have a sports theme!!! In the movie Wiley College (a historically black university) takes a team of debaters to competitions in the 1930s. Besides the fact that the competitors were black, there was also a 14 year-old and a female which wasn’t the norm. The movie shows them beating the Harvard debate team but in real life it was a team from the University of Southern California. It shows how much theses kids had to endure and deal with just to participate with other schools.

This movie is another favorite – in fact I need to watch it again. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black military pilots to deploy overseas. These men flew many dangerous missions in World War II while also dealing with very rough treatment from their own country.

I know that there are other movies that depict the difference from how our country is today to what it used to be but these are some that I have seen and love. They never fail to remind me how lucky we are to live in a world where people are treated equally.

I truly believe that we owe a lot of the freedoms today to Martin Luther King Jr and his efforts to stand up and fight for equality for all people.

Have you seen any of these movies? Do you have others to add to this list?

Happy Monday!!!

Kim

Day With KT

Some Friday Favorites

Sinking

A Sherpa Wife I’m Not

Do Clothes “Make” Us?

Today We Honor a True American Hero

Fitness – Food – Fun