Feeling Old and Creaky

August 8, 2013 Kim 46 Comments

Today for my 43 I did a straight leg dead lift (one of my favorite moves!!) and a front raise (one of my least favorite moves!!).

For the dead lift, keep your back flat (stick your butt out) and slide the weights down your legs –

Slowly come back up while pulling your weights up your legs – then lift arms up in front of you to shoulder height.

I can tell my shoulders are getting stronger (finally!!) because I did all 43 with 8 pound dumbbells – I thought that I would have to switch to 5s at some point but I made it!!!

Today is a much needed rest day – mostly because I can barely walk!!!

On Tuesday, I decided that 43 x 200 meters would be a good 43 as well as a great speed workout!! And it was a really good workout – I felt strong running the entire time. And then, yesterday came along –

I worked out yesterday morning thinking that would help the residual soreness from Tuesday. WRONG!!! As the day went on, I think I got more and more sore – mostly my quads. Going down stairs was not pretty – Hunter kept asking if I was OK – NO!!! I can barely walk!!

Yesterday, I absolutely did not look like a runner!!!! This morning when I ~~jumped~~
crawled out of bed, I realized that my legs were even worse today – Good Times!!! I’m pretty sure that back in high school and college I bounced back from speed work a ~~little~~ lot quicker. The day after speed work should look more like this – I’m usually completely happy with my age but yesterday and today are one of those rare occasions when I wish I were a little younger (or at least still had the same recovery ability of someone half my age)!!!

I guess today is one of those days were I just need to – Suck it up!!!!I’m not sure that I’m smiling about the pain right now but I’m going to pretend!!

I’m happy and thankful that I can still push myself as hard as I did when I was younger, I just wish that I could recover the way I used to – I guess 1 out of 2 isn’t bad!

Ever have those days where you feel much older than your age?

Happy Thursday – I will be in my rocking chair!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Doctor Appointments – How Long Is Too Long in the Waiting Room?

August 7, 2013 Kim 54 Comments

Today’s 43 was another move from Nellie at Brooklyn Active Mama. This was last week’s Wednesday Workout – the dumbbell jackknife. A regular jackknife is a hard move for me and adding the dumbbell just made it crazy!!!

From the start position – fold your hands and legs together in the middle.

I only used a 5 pound dumbbell and even with that I struggled to finish all 43. This move could definitely be done very effectively without a weight!!!

Today was Boot Camp!!! However, we did it in the garage because it had been storming and I didn’t want to take a chance with lightening. It was like being back in Florida because it was so muggy!!! Today we did the resistance band boot camp – I figured it had been awhile on the boot camp thing so we eased back in with more toning and just a few cardio bursts!

I also did my 2nd round of the weekly challenge with Taylor. This week is Tabata and I like it but the tuck jumps were brutal after my 12 miles of speed work yesterday!!! I was happy to improve my reps on all of the moves -hopefully I can still improve when I do round #3!!

Yesterday I took Jordan for his well-check. We had to rush to get there because I picked him and a friend up at 10:00 from Band Camp, dropped the friend at his house and was supposed to be at the DR’s office by 10:15 for a 10:30 appointment. Well, we made it but….

Then we sat and waited and waited and waited! We watched other people come in, check in, get called back, check out and leave. Finally at about 11:15 (45 minutes past our appointment), I went up to the desk and nicely (I was still trying to be pleasant) asked how far behind our DR was running.

The ladies at the desk were a bit rude in their response and said she was just running a little behind – DUH!!!! I said, I realized she was behind (she is always behind but this was getting excessive) I just wondered how much longer.

I actually got a response similar to the one above because they didn’t want to deal with me. Jordan and I continued to wait and finally at 11:55 (1 hour and 25 minutes late) the nurse came out to get us.

I said something about how far behind they were and asked how much longer we were going to have to wait in the little room – she said it would be awhile and that they had “had a morning.” I told her we would wait about 5 minutes and then we were done! I also said that when they are running that far behind they really should let people with appointments know what’s going on – she said they would never do that!!!

The nurse actually got quite snippy with me and said that if patients knew they were behind and then came late it would throw everything off. Basically she told me that my time was not nearly as important as their time!!!

The only reason we haven’t switched doctors (we have always had to wait – but yesterday was excessive – 2 hours for a visit that took less than 15 minutes!!) is because I really like our DR (when we finally get in to see her). She is very personable and knowledgeable.

However, yesterday might have been the last straw. The fact that I tried to be very polite in asking “how much longer” and both the desk people and the nurse were extremely rude after we were the ones who had been waiting FOREVER did not go over well with me!!!

What are your thoughts? How long after a scheduled appointment are you willing to wait? Would you switch DRs if your’s was always running behind?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

Fitness, Running, Treadmill

What Does a Runner Look Like?

August 6, 2013 Kim 51 Comments

Today’s 43 was a throw-back to my track career!!! I did 43 200 meter sprint repeats (@ 6mph) with a 200 meter recovery jog (@ 9:13mph) between each. Not gonna lie – this was hard but reminded me how much I loved track workouts!!!

I started with an easy warm-up of 0.5 miles. The 43 counting the recover jogs was 10.75 miles. I did an easy 0.75 mile cool down to finish for a total of 12:00 miles in 92:50.

My legs are tired but in the best way!!!

What does a runner look like?

Have you ever tried to explain what you think a runner looks like? Truthfully, there have been a couple of times that I have said something about a recent run to someone that I don’t know well and they kind of do the sly “once-over” thing like they are trying to decide if I’m really a runner.

Those little glances sort-of make me stop and think – do I look like a runner when I’m just walking through the grocery store (on the rare occasion when I have on “real” clothes)?

Can you look at a group of people and single one person out as a runner?

I think it is hard to look at a picture like the one above and pick out 1 or 2 as runners! In the picture above we all have on jeans (which we would never wear to run!!!) so is there a give-away? I don’t think there is!!

Do you have to look like the people below to be a runner?

I don’t think so!! Very few people are ever going to fall into the elite runner category but we are still runners!!!

Every single person in the picture above is a runner – because they are RUNNING!!!

Even the little cuties above are runners!!!

So, what does a runner look like? Anyone who laces up a pair of running shoes, puts on their favorite running attire and hits the pavement (or treadmill!) putting one foot in front of the other over and over again is a RUNNER!!!

all runners - different paces & different distances but all runner — all runners – different paces & different distances but all runner

I could list 100s of runners just from all the blogs I read!! Some run marathons, some run 5Ks, some don’t race, some run with their kids, some run every day, some run once a week, some are super speedy, some run a mile at a time, some run hours at a time but all are RUNNERS!!!

Some of the runners I know are as young as 4 some are much older, some are male, some are female, some are short, some are tall – there is no set formula or description of a RUNNER!

The quote above is NOT one I like – because what is a runner’s body? I will never look like one of the Olympic runners but I’m still a RUNNER because I run!!!

If you run, you are a RUNNER!! It doesn’t matter what you look like because all RUNNERS have a great gift in their body!!!

Happy Tuesday and Happy Running!!!

Kim

Fitness, Thighs

Based on a True Story

August 5, 2013 Kim 51 Comments

Today’s 43 was a new to me move and one that I don’t think I will repeat. It is supposed to work your inner thighs but mostly it was just kind of weird and awkward!!

Start on all 4s with your right leg between your left hand and left knee –

From the start position, lift your right leg (it’s a really small lift!) and lower it (x43).

And, of course, I had to switch sides and do the whole thing again!!

It is hard to tell in the pictures how high the lift is – it is only about 2 inches. Amazing how very heavy your leg can feel when you do an awkward lift like this!!

I decided that I haven’t been getting enough weight work in lately so I’m going to start Chalean Extreme back up!! Today I did Burn Circuit 1 – lots of lunges, oblique work and lat work!! I have a feeling that I will be a little sore tomorrow – not a problem since my chest is still sore from the commando push-ups I did last week!!

And, since it’s Monday, we started a new workout of the week with Taylor’s challenge. This week’s workout is a Tabata one (love it!!) – 4 different Tabatas plus a finale of 2 minutes worth of planks!

My favorite movies are the ones based on a true story (usually about a sports team or sports hero)!

Over the weekend we finally watched 42 – The Jackie Robinson Story. I loved it!! There were so many great lines in the movie. One of my favorite lines was when PeeWee said, “Maybe tomorrow we’ll all wear #42, that way they can’t tell us apart.” Sadly, it took awhile for some of Jackie’s teammates to come around and accept him but there were some truly great moments in the story when they did!

Another one of my all time favorite movies is Miracle! We have probably watched that movie 20 times (or more!).

I love the part in the movie where the team has to take the ice right after a game (because they weren’t focused during the game!) and start skating and skating and skating…. My favorite line is when Eruzione says –

“Mike Eruzione! Winthrop, Massachusetts! I play for the United States of America!”

Classic line!!! And, I sometimes remind myself when I’m logging lots of miles on my treadmill, “the legs feed the wolf!”

Another family favorite is Remember the Titans. I think that we watch at least part of it every time it comes on TV (which is probably at least once every couple of weeks!). There are so many great quotes and scenes from this movie but I think my favorite is the relationship that developed between Julius and Gary.When Gary is in the hospital and tells the nurse that Julius is his brother (can’t you see the family resemblance?) – I always get goose bumps!

And the team warm-up is awesome!!

Rudy is another movie that just makes you feel good! A story showing the ultimate success of a true underdog with an amazing attitude!!I could go on and on with movies based on true stories that I love. I find them so inspiring and I like movies that we can watch and enjoy as a family!!!

* 8 Seconds
* Prefontaine
* October Sky (not sports but an incredible story!)
* A League of Their Own – “There’s no crying in baseball!”
* Radio
* Friday Night Lights (my old stomping grounds during my high school years!!)
* Cinderella Man
* Glory Road
* The Blind Side
* Secretariat
* Soul Surfer

Do you like movies based on a true story? What is your favorite?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Thighs

Early, On Time, Late – Which Are You?

August 4, 2013 Kim 35 Comments

Today I used a stability ball again for my 43 –

I decided to really work my hips because any time I add in more running, my hips need some extra strength work!!

I started off on one knee while leaning on the ball. I raised my other leg straight out to the side –

Then, I pulled my leg in so that my knee hit the ball and extended it again for 1 rep.

After finishing 43 my hip was feeling a good burn for sure and I still had to switch sides. The other side was much harder because the first hip was on fire!!!

My 50 mile race is just over 2 months away and in addition to running to prepare, I need to make sure that my joints (especially my hips) are as strong as possible!!!

For the rest of my workout, I did Turbo Jam – Fat Blaster. This is an interval based workout and is great for really getting a great workout in a short amount of time (30 minutes). The funny thing is that because the Turbo Jam DVDs came out in 2007, they just refer to the workout as intervals instead of HIIT which it is. I can’t remember when everyone started talking about HIIT workouts but they have been around for much longer than the actual name has!!!

“To be early is to be on time,
To be on time is to be late,
To be late is to be left.”

I saw the quote above in the band handbook yesterday when Jordan and I were going through it – I love it!!!

I have always been one of those people who likes to be a few minutes early to events. When I met Chris, he liked to be WAY early to places. Between us, we are rarely ever late because we are super anal like that!!!

Chris is one of those people who hardly ever gets stressed or upset but I saw it happen on our recent Florida trip. The day we were going to Daryl’s retirement ceremony we had to drive across the bay to McDill Air Force Base. We knew that it was about an hour drive so we planned to leave 1.5 hours before it started. Well, we left a few minutes late – no big deal since we had a cushion. Then, 10 minutes into the drive Chris realized he didn’t have his military ID with him – even in his uniform we wouldn’t have been able to get on base without the ID. We went back to get it and just like that we were down to 1 hour.

It was a long stressful hour because Chris was freaking out (for him, not really the same as a freak-out by me!!) the whole time and mad at himself for being in the situation to begin with. We ended up getting into the building where the ceremony was taking place about 5 minutes late – BUT…..they hadn’t started!!! There were some problems at the gate with several people that were trying to get on base for the retirement so they were waiting!!! Everything worked out and Chris’ stress disappeared!!!

So, the big lesson for me out of that experience – always build a bigger time cushion ~~so that Chris doesn’t get stressed!!!~~ to prevent stress and allow for all unforeseen events and mistakes that might occur!!

Does being late cause you stress? Do you like to get places early or right on time?

And, just for fun, you can see how completely different my boys are!!