Running outside and Waffles

Whew! I'm pretty spent. I've done alot this week and wrapped it up with a 4 mile run. I got to go outside! It's been a LONG time since I ran outside, just with snow/ice/15 degree weather.. the treadmill has been my companion. So I'm back outside, hopefully for good, and building mileage back up slowly once again. I will probably max out at 8 miles for long runs, and if there's a longer distance race I'm training for I will step it up to 10. I didn't run much over the last 6 months and it definitely shows. I have some new shin/ankle pain (shankle?) happening and I figure it can be 1 of 3 things

- Getting used to running again (probably the issue)
- Shoes. Mine have 200 miles on them so I don't think it's the shoes
- Insoles. I didn't use them last year but kept the same shoe and had no issues.

It's probably getting used to running regularly after some time off... but with any running related pain you have to keep an eye on things - Are your shoes too old? In my case, probably not. I feel I could get at least another 100 miles out of them. Have you changed anything? Yes - my insoles. I used them during the last half of the year but I was maybe running once a week whereas now I'm running 2-3 times a week consistently, and increasing mileage too. So it's something to consider. If the pain doesn't subside I'll experiment with different options. That's always what I tell my customers to do - I give them homework. Try a new shoe, try not using an insole, etc.

My husband made amazing waffles for breakfast and I told him to save some batter for after I got back from my run. I ate them with some coffee about an hour afterwards and it was just awesome

Now for some much deserved rest

Soldierfit Day 2

It's been a super active week for me following the visiting of my parents. I've been non stop since Tuesday and plan on running 4 miles tomorrow, then taking a rest day. This will probably be the new norm, 1 maybe 2 rest days a week.

I did my second ever Soldierfit class on Thursday. This was led by a different instructor and I found I really liked his style vs the first instructor's. My first class was "do wall balls for 2 minutes straight, do donkey kicks for 2 minutes straight," etc. which caused me to fatigue quickly.

This class was 6 people / 2 squads of 3 and the 5 stations went something like this

5 donkey kicks, run to the middle, then broad jump back (repeat)

10 wall ball squats, then get on the floor and medicine ball pass/chest throw into the wall 10 times (repeat)

Butt scoots to the middle, 20 bicycles, bear crawl back, 20 bicycles (repeat)

With 2 dumbbells get into a plank - push up, renegade row with each arm, then pop up into an overhead press (repeat)

Dead leg slide w/sliders to the middle, 15 crunches, then slide backwards, 15 crunches (repeat)

There were other things thrown into the mix too, which I've forgotten now

But it was far less monotonous... and it was enough to make me work hard, but not exhaust my muscles from repetition. I did well in this class, in the top 1-3 (What, I have to get competitive sometimes!) but everyone worked really hard and we all celebrated with high 5's at the end

I am also experimenting with shoe choices for these classes, as I have an ungodly amount of shoes. These Saucony Kinvara 5's worked very well. They are light, but cushioned just enough for the impact of all the jumping, and they are not constricting in any way.

Other shoes on my list to try are my Under Armor Apollo's and my Brooks Launch 3


Today was lifting (legs, chest/shoulders) and it was one of those days where I lifted more weight than I thought I was lifting - always a good thing. I haven't squatted heavy since my injury yet managed to do 165 for 5 reps, 2 sets. My max is 185 for 2 reps. Also benched with the 40's again, and did some sick farmers walks with 35 in each hand, among other things

And that's about all for today's update. I've been quite tired from all the exertion (but my sleep has been AMAZING!)

Parents!

This past weekend my regularly scheduled program was interrupted by.. LIFE! In the form of.. Parents!

Parents and 1 brother to be exact. I took Friday off for lifting/my massage/getting the house clean for them to arrive on Saturday. Once they got here we had lunch then went to my work. I did our stride analysis for my brother (which felt really weird while not in uniform) and come to find out we have a similar gait. Not surprising since I see this in families, a child and parent will sometimes have identical running/walking gait. I'm blaming the parents for my crappy overpronator ankles. We bought the insoles I made for my brother and he seems to really like them - his arches are way high, unlike mine which are semi-high. After that we tried to show them my gym but it was closed - I'm still learning the hours at the new gym. Had some dinner at a bar cause my dad wanted to watch the Kentucky basketball game.

On Sunday we had breakfast at a little diner, during which we decided to go to DC for the day for some sightseeing. 2 Smithsonians - American History and then Natural History. I absolutely loved Natural History, I could have stayed there all day especially in the rock and gem exhibit. I just find it amazing that the earth created all those intricately detailed rocks. The mummy exhibit was cool, and then we went into a live butterfly garden! Like 15 butterflies landed on me! It was so cool. After that we walked to the White House, my brother was obsessed with getting his picture taken in front of it. By then we didnt' have time for much else so we headed back.

They were also here Monday so I took them around Baltimore and Annapolis. We wanted to go to the aquarium in Baltimore but it was like $40 per person, so we just walked around the harbor. They had a sub that you could tour so we did that, it was really cool. Monday we pretty much just walked around and looked at stuff.

I took all kinds of pictures of stuff in DC, important things like historical artifacts and monuments.. but here I'm only going to share silly things like a butterfly landing on me, and finding a statue of Bumblebee

The butterfly is on my arm!

And I found Bumblebee!

So the past few days have been spent unwinding from all of that. My family can be quite stressful. But it was a good time and I'm glad we had the experience. Now it's been a matter of getting back into a regular routine ... Ran 3 miles, and back workout yesterday. In a couple hours I'm going to a Soldierfit class... then in the coming days there will be legs/chest/shoulders, and a 4 mile run and that will be it for the week!

Goodbye Gold's, Hello Soldierfit

So last weekend  I worked the open house at Soldierfit and represented my store. I had always heard about it through my coworkers and my customers but never witnessed it myself. I loved the open space in the gym - a giant turf for bootcamp workouts, sprints, tire flips, pushing/pulling weights around, you name it. The weight area - tons of racks, benches, free weights, ropes, rings, and there's even a pulley rig for cable work. This place has everything I need besides maybe a treadmill. There's also a martial arts center which is cool but not something I personally need. Simply put, I was in a pretty serious gym!

The manager is a good friend/business partner of our store and she offered me a free workout so I could come try it myself.

I went on Thursday evening.... kind of had to drag myself there really, because it was after a pretty awful day and I was totally not feeling it. But I went anyway because I knew I'd feel way better afterwards.

Soldierfit offers 1 hour bootcamp style classes - kind of like military training meets functional fitness. They all start with a warm up and stretch, but beyong that each class is different. The particular class I did went something like this

Station 1 - Stand on the rim of a tire, then simultaneously squat and tricep press a kettlebell

Station 2 - Donkey kicks onto the wall

Station 3 - Wall balls

Station 4 - 10 Box jumps, then put a weight plate on the box and push it down the field and back. Rinse/repeat

Station 5 - Those circular slider things... put your hands on them and bear crawl down the field, then put your feet on them and donkey kick 10 times. Rinse, repeat

Stations 2 and 5 were hardest for me. I took 5 second breaks as needed. 

We did this 3 times. We also did relay sprints down the field and then hold a plank until the next person relieved us.

It was a good workout and very different from how I normally train. I didn't do terribly for my first class but it definitely showed me where I need to improve (Power and speed) It left me feeling pretty spent, but not sore in the traditional sense. I slept really well that night! 

So anyway - I'm going to be leaving Gold's and going to Soldierfit. How could I not? I mean look at this!

I will probably lift 2-3 x a week, do the class 2x a week, and run 2-3 x a week. We'll see how it goes. I think it's something good to incorporate into my training. I have another month at Gold's which is good cause I can use their treadmills.. March weather is unpredictable

Bye bye Gold's - it was fun but it's time for me to move on!

Going back home

Finally... I'm excited to say that we got some good news last night. We're moving back home to Georgia sometime in the summer! No exact details just yet but apparently a position came up that's perfect for my husband. Hopefully soon we get the exact specs and we can start planning for our move.

We're both excited to get back to our house

Athletically... there's so much promise... many more easily accessible running trails, better weather for year round running, Crossfit, events with RWB..

But mostly just feeling like we're home again.

And... there's a possibility of me going back to school, but more on that later.


Right now I'm just happy

Fitness expo/Metcons/Rambling!

I'm sitting here on a snow day just hanging out.... regret not going for a run because the snow isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but oh well.

Saturday I got to work an expo at Soldierfit and it was really cool. My store has kind of a partnership thing going on with them. It's a gym that does bootcamp style classes, martial arts, and has tons of lifting equipment. The coworker that accompanied me was the other weightlifter at our store. We walked into the gym and our jaws dropped ...

I'm in heaven!

I might seriously start coming here instead of Gold's

The expo was alot of fun... talked to a bunch of people about our store, met some of the other vendors, and got to watch the classes in action. There was a family class and it was fun to see the little kids moving around and getting into it.

This was our setup for the expo

I don't normally work Saturdays and was called in to do the expo with a couple days notice, so my boss gave me a free shoe.

Boom. Metcon 2's are mine!
We just got them in my store and only had like 4 pairs, so of course I had to get my size while we had it. I used them for a kettlebell complex yesterday - 5 exercises, 10 reps, 11 sets.. 12 lb kettlebells in each hand. So no heavy weights but a fair amount of squatting and such. They were really awesome and I know they'll be great for heavy lifting because the heel is so firm and stable.

Now on to other stuff

So it's well known that I ate way too much and did way too little in Dec/Jan, dealing with my injury and holiday nonsense... and I felt bad so I'm now exercising consistently and trying to eat halfway decent. I know I'm not the best/most in shape looking person in the world.. and I know I will never be simply because I enjoy food too much. I just like to do what I can. I spent Saturday at that expo with my super fit coworker, this guy lifts and sprints twice a day, muscles, flat stomach, etc. I know we're not supposed to compare ourselves to others but sometimes it just happens.

So I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday when I introduced myself to a new customer to take her through our stride analysis. Her family was there and her husband came up to me and said "So are you a Crossfitter, Triathlete, or what? You look like you're in really good shape"  O_O  "Oh, well thank you.. I'm a weightlifter, runner.." Apparently this guy was an Olympic lifter back in the day so we chatted a tiny bit. But that really made me feel better about myself. I mean he's right, I am in decent shape. I can endure tough workouts that most people can't. Like that kettlebell workout, 11 sets? 550 reps? I have a ways to go, there is much more I want to be able to do training wise... physically I really just want my arms and belly to be a bit less fat. There's muscles under there, and I guess they show sometimes. I'm at the point lately where people notice them, even if I myself don't always


Every now and then when I'm feeling a little down I get a nice compliment like that. And now I don't feel so bad

Start now

I'm pretty tired and sore this morning. I took a hot bath and it helped me feel better but I'm about to go to work... and moving around all day + sore muscles = not fun.

I had this conversation with my husband as I was making dinner ... he was complaining about his weight and I told him to go to the gym. He was like "yeah I dunno... I'll start Monday" Why? If you don't feel good about yourself then start right away. Last week I was getting over a bad cold, after being snowed in for 5 days, after being injured for a month - and I said that's enough, I have got to change something. I ate way too much crap and was inactive for far too long. So last Friday I went back to eating the way I used to - not perfect, but decently healthy. I stopped eating whatever I wanted and began talking myself out of cravings and mindless eating. Eating more protein. Eating more real and home cooked foods vs convenience foods. I'm eating a couple pieces of candy at night vs gorging on sweets all day. I have been exercising with a passion. And I feel pretty damn good so far.

For me it's about being better. This is not so much a diet and more of just being mindful of what I eat. I'm trying to use my intuition and eat when I need to, not eat when I want something. I'm not gonna be perfect and that's ok, because I do love food. I just want to do better

I am taking a rest day today because I'm uncommonly sore. Done a barbell complex and a really intense upper body day this week and I'm feeling it. Tomorrow I'll be running and maybe on Sunday too.

PSA - I can now do burpees with full range of motion and no pain. I'd say at this point I'm nearly 100% over my back injury. Sometimes I still feel a twinge but it's minor and not even related to exercise.

zzzZZZzzz..

So I've been really active lately and I'm super tired because of it

Lifting Thursday... Ran 3 Saturday, did sprint intervals Sunday, lifted today...

I did the intervals and today I did a complex because both of them are good fat burning exercises. Right now I'd like to trim off some of the pudge I've accumulated lately. My calves are super tight and I know I'll have more sore muscles in the morning. That complex had me covered in sweat and shaking

I have been running on treadmills lately because there's tons of snow and ice around here. Going to the gym every day + work uniform + at home clothes = so much laundry!

I'm also trying not to eat so much crap. Protein, fruits, veggies, some bread/rice, and a couple pieces of chocolate at night. So far it's going well and I feel pretty good. I don't eat perfectly healthy but I am at least trying not to eat so much convenience/fast food, snacks, sweets... etc.

So yeah, I'm super tired. But to me this feels better than having too much energy at night, I like feeling like I have exerted myself at the end of the day.