Today I did a challenging 43 for sure – single leg burpees!! And since I have 2 legs, I actually had to do 2 sets of 43 for a total of 86 burpees! This was probably one of the most challenging 43s that I have done this year!!
Chris actually filmed this yesterday after my run (that’s why I’m a sweaty mess!!) but I did all 43 x 2 this morning!!!
I realized while I was doing the single leg burpees that my left leg is my weaker leg!!! The move was “easier” with the right side (that easier is relative!!!) but I struggled a lot on the left!!!
I also did Les Mills Combat – Combat 45 which is one of my favorites!!! Lots of great plyo moves. This is a great way to get an awesome workout in under an hour!! And, all the punching and kicking help work my core, too.
The internet/WiFi in my hotel is awful – very slow!! I guess it is a sign that I need to take a small break. Last night after I got checked in I was going to try to catch up on my BlogLovin reads (I think there were about 140 new posts) but the internet was so slow that after trying for 10 minutes to pull up a site I decided it wasn’t meant to be!
THANK YOU to so many of you for the sweet words you left on yesterday’s post. I haven’t been able to reply (see above paragraph) but I read every comment and appreciated all of the kind words, thoughts and “hugs”!!!
Today and tomorrow will be spent with family remembering Poppa. Saturday after the services and everything else I will reverse my 8 hour drive to get back home to my boys. (They didn’t make the trip because it is hard enough for me to do all this driving in 3 days but add in the boys and OY!!! Plus, since they have just been in school a week I hated to have them miss 2 days – that is a lot of makeup work!!!)
Today I used my wobble ball (not really a ball – more of a disk I guess) –
I tried to stay balanced (tried!!) and did some shoulder work.
start
I started with a lateral raise –
raise to the side
From there, I lowered my arms back to the start –
down
Then I raised my arms to the front –
front raise
I tried to keep all of the movements slow and controlled. Even with just 5 pound dumbbells, my shoulders were burning by the time I finished all 43 and the wobble ball really increased the challenge since I had to fight to maintain my balance.
I also did my 2nd round of this week’s challenge with Taylor – Wake Me Up – and trust me, this workout will wake you up!!!
I decided to get in a quick 3 mile run on the treadmill because I might have to cut some workouts in the next couple of days. I ran at 1.5% incline – 7:05, 5:45, 5:03 and then cooled down with 0.5 miles.
Poppa
Yesterday morning I received a phone call that I did not want to get. Tim (my twin) called to tell me that Poppa had passed away.
He was sitting in his chair on the porch at the ranch – one of his favorite places to start the day – yesterday morning and my aunt walked out to check on him and he was gone.
a good day
I’m happy that he was home and spent his final minutes enjoying the view that he loved so much!
Peace
But – I wasn’t ready for this good-bye!!! I wanted to have one more visit.
more of this
I wanted one more Bear Hug because Poppa is the one who taught me how to give Bear Hugs!!!
I wanted one more chance to tell him how much he meant to me and how much I loved him. I very selfishly want more time with my grandpa (Poppa)!!!
I know that at 98+ I was fortunate to have had as much time with him as I have but that doesn’t make it easier to say good-bye.
Today I will drive to Texas and prepare myself for the final good-bye knowing that Poppa has been reunited with Mema (my amazing Grandma) and that they are once again happy together!!!
Mema & Poppa
Take a minute today to give someone you love a Bear Hug and tell them how much you love them!!!
Today I did a whole lotta’ kicking for my 43. I started with 43 x a right side kick and went right into 43 x right front kick, left back kick. Then I started over with 43 x a left side kick followed by 43 x left front kick, right back kick.
(side note – demo was after my workout was completely done – my legs were tired and sort of flailing!!!)
I did an old favorite today – Les Mills Combat – Combat 60, Extreme Cardio Fighter. I love this hour long workout full of punching, kicking and lots of cardio. The last segment (before the cool down) is some core work – always a bonus!!!
Charlotte @ Commitness to Fitness nominated me for the Sunshine Award. We already know that I don’t always participate correctly – I’m going to answer the questions because they are fun but I’m not tagging anyone because I would pick everyone!! Sorry, Charlotte!
1. What is your favorite dessert? I don’t eat desserts often but I LOVE hot brownies that are just a little gooey!
2. If you could only go to one website for the rest of your life, what would it be? Well, if I said BlogLovin is it cheating to clink on links from there?! I’m not sure I can pick one website – and I NEED to go to Amazon on lots of occasions!!
3. If you could live in any time period, when would it be? I think I would have enjoyed a lot of things about living in the early 1900s. I like the work ethic of so many people from long ago – the only thing I would hate is outdoor plumbing!!!
4. What’s your favorite motivational quote(s)? I like lots of quotes (and always pick different ones as my favorite!!) – You don’t have to be great to start, you have to start to be great. (Zig Zagler)
5. What’s your favorite type of food to get when you eat out? Mexican!!!
6. Describe yourself in 2 words. committed & determined
7. How many different states have you lived in? Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Alabama + Philippine Islands (born there) so 7
8. Who is your favorite athlete? Yikes, hard to pick just one!!! Jackie Joyner-Kersee is high on my list.
9. Would you rather read or watch TV? READ!!!
10. What type of shoes do you have on your feet right now? Mizuno Wave Creation 13
Today for my 43 I did incline push-ups. (probably not the best choice because I had already done lots of push-ups in my challenge workout but….)
startdown
Pretty basic today but push-ups are always good!!!!
This is the 6th (and final) week of Taylor’s challenge – and it is a good one for sure!!! I still have 2 more chances to try and lower my time!!!
I decided to run today – my Achilles has been sore for a long time now and I’m trying to make sure that it doesn’t get worse while still training. Anyway, I ran on my treadmill today – 1.5% incline – 6 miles 35:31. I did a progression type run – increasing my time every 30 seconds – a fun way to make the time go quickly and push myself at the same time.
Yesterday I read several articles and posts about the benefits of exercise on your brain. I’ve also read a lot of things about the importance of training your brain. And, since it is back to school (or close) I thought it would be fun to have some brain challenges today!!!
1. o t t f f – What are the next 3 letters in the sequence?
2. d n o s – What are the next 3 letters in this sequence?
3. What’s lighter than a feather but even the strongest person in the world can only hold it for a few minutes?
4. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?
5. I can run but not walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I?
6. What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
7. The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who bought it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?
8. What English word has three consecutive double letters?
9. Say my name and I disappear. What am I?
Can you solve these? Feel free to share a riddle – I love trying to figure them out!!!
Today for my 43 I did a plie squat with a curl to press.
downcurlup
43 of these really got my heart rate up and with 8 pound dumbbells, my shoulders were feeling the last few!!!
I decided to do a Cathe Friederech workout today – Cross Fire. This is an hour of lots of HIIT plus weight thrown in – awesome!!!
Today Chris celebrates his 45th birthday. I don’t think he plans to run 45 miles (weird, I thought everyone did that kind of thing!!!) or do 45 of any other exercise – so I decided that I would do a special 45 today for Chris.
45 Fun Facts about Chris:
1. His name is actually Thomas Christopher. He is the 3rd generation Thomas _______. We thought about naming Jordan – Thomas Jordan but I didn’t want him to do the whole middle name thing.
3 generations
2. He had a full beard in high school.
nice beard
3. When Chris was young he put an un-popped popcorn kernel in his ear. It popped (the kernel) and got stuck – lesson learned!!!
4. Chris has 4 sisters – 3 that are older than him and 1 younger. He always says that his parents tried 4 times to get it “right” and then they pushed their luck!! Of course he is joking because he loves all of his sisters.
5. Chris played football, wrestled and ran track in high school.
6. Chris was in lots of musicals in high school – often with the lead role.
7. He graduated 2nd out of about 77 students.
giving his speech
8. When Chris was 17, he went to San Antonio for Basic Training. He had on white jeans when he got there – big mistake – the instructors called him Don Johnson!!! Thankfully after they all had their heads shaved and had uniforms on he blended in and was no longer Don!!!
9. In 1989, Chris quit drinking soda (he used to drink more soda than anything else) cold turkey and hasn’t had any since.
10. When we first met he only ate chicken and rice – that didn’t last long!!!
11. Chris lived in Korea for a year when he was active duty in the Air Force – he was only 19-20 at the time.
12. He got his degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
13. We don’t run together – we tried it when we first got married and it wasn’t the best plan. Chris is able to run 3 miles at pretty much any given time but he doesn’t really care about running fast or much further than 3 miles.
14. Chris worked as a trash man for awhile in high school!!
15. He taught himself to play the guitar.
16. He also taught himself to play golf.
17. When Chris was in Korea, he was the singer in a band. They mostly did Led Zepplin songs!!!
18. Chris is still best friends with one of his high school buddies – Matt.
Matt and Chris
19. Thanks to his job (pilot in the Air National Guard), he has been to over 50 countries!!!
20. When his mom was still alive he called her every Sunday no matter where he was at the time.
21. At one point he owned 3 Volkswagon Bugs – all old and in need of work.
22. When we buy new cars, Chris is always prepared. He knows what the car is worth and how much the dealer will make. He is good at negotiating and getting the exact price he wants.
23. Chris is a good cook. He will look up recipes (on the internet, for some reason he never uses any of my cookbooks!) and try new things!!!
24. Chris would rather be home with his family than just about anywhere else!!
my boys
25. He graduated from Pilot Training on May 24, 1996 (the day before we got married).
26. Every year when he takes the fitness test he sends me his results – usually prefaced with “I have the body of a 19 year old!”
27. Chris is the kind of guy that will always help out someone in need without them ever having to ask.
28. When we met, Chris didn’t really watch a lot of sports on TV. He started watching sports with me – especially college basketball.
29. He doesn’t say negative things about people – I could really learn a lot here!!!
30. Chris is good at looking at the big picture. He will ask himself, “will this matter in 10 year?”
31. He rarely cusses!!! Or gets mad! (we are sort-of opposites)
32. Chris is super handy – he has made built in shelves, tiled floors, installed wall ovens, built composite decks (2nd story ones!!) – pretty much anything that needs done he can figure out how to do it.
33. He is a very hands-on Dad.
34. An older man gave him some advice when we got married and he has applied it many times and shared it with other young men. The man said, “The 6 most important words in a marriage – You’re right, I’m wrong, I’m sorry!” Chris has always remembered that and he still says it (more often than he really has to but he does it to keep the peace!).
right after we got engaged
35. He sang to me at our wedding! Beautiful in my Eyes by Joshua Kadison
36. When the boys were little babies, Chris was the calm one. He said there are only a few things that could be wrong – hungry, tired, need to burp or need a diaper change.
37. The first few months of each of the boys lives (when they were waking up every few hours), Chris would get them when they cried, change their diapers, hand them to me to feed, then burp them and put them back to bed.
38. He used to hate getting rid of anything – garage sales caused him a bit of stress and he saved every empty box “just in case”. Now, he has gotten much better at getting rid of stuff and he throws away empty boxes.
39. One of his favorite movies is Ben Hur.
40. Chris is pretty much always happy, always whistling or humming or snapping his fingers as he walks around.
41. Chris is a doer and a server! He is always waiting on me or others. He is always willing to get up and wait on others – me, the boys, our friends.
42. The boys have the very best role model possible in Chris. He has taught them that they can do anything and also how to be caring, compassionate men. Things like opening doors, thanking people for a meal, offering to help carry stuff – they have learned many life lessons from Chris. They have also learned that men/dads/boys can cook, clean, do laundry, iron and any other task around the house.
43. Chris is the very best dad ever for our boys!!!
44. Chris is the my best friend!!
45. Chris has made me the luckiest person in the world because he picked me to marry and have a family with. He is the very best person I know!!!
Happy Birthday, Chris!!!! I love you!
Kim
PS – I know Chris will read this because he has read my blog every day since I started and almost always sends me a text after he reads it.
