On The Road... Again

Well tomorrow I begin my two day journey north. Unfortunately I will not be able to experience the deliverance from this heat that I was hoping for. It would be nice to not have sweat constantly taking up residence in places where it shouldn't. But alas, it is summer in the great state of Minnesota, and contrary to popular belief, it does actually get really hot up there. The heat is following me. Minnesota, I'm sorry.

Core Dynamics at the Applied Fitness center has a new instructor. I was not aware of this until just before getting to class yesterday, so I wasn't sure what class would be like. The new instructor quite literally just landed here at Fort Hood and she has already been recruited to be an instructor. Pretty neat. Anyways, the class was quite great. It was different than what we have been doing, which is always nice. I don't know about you, but I'm interested in knowing all of the options I can "think" about doing while I veg on the couch.

Time out. I need to share an observation I just made. I'm sure you remember me mentioning my lovely little husky puggle, Theo. Well, if you have never seen him, you need to know that, if you could choose a human body type for Theo, it would have to be beach body builder. They are always sliiiiightly husky, but have these big "peacock" chests, and tiny waists or legs. Anyways, thats Theo. Sometimes I have to slit the neck of his t-shirts because his chest protrudes so much. He's dead sexy. As I was sitting here on the couch typing, he and Lily began their evening "run/wrestle/body slam" session. Our house is not very big, but our couch is located somewhat in the middle of the living room, creating the perfect "oval" track for Theo to get his run on. He goes so fast sometimes I swear he leans in a bit on the corners. You can hear his nails digging desperately into the carpet with each stride, trying to create as much grip as possible, allowing optimal speed and maneuvering.  So, they are chasing each other, and I'm typing. The epiphany took place when I heard the very common sound of Theo's body slamming into the wall as he rounds the kitchen table. Nine out of ten times, he doesn't clear this turn. What I realized tonight though, is that I admire Theo. He has no shame. No shame in his mistakes, his downfalls, his "failures", as some perfectionists might call them. He slams into that wall, gets his butt back up and keeps on running, tongue out, ears flapping. He has no shame. Even when he has to stop and lay down on the cold tile after about two laps, he is still happy.

I want to be more like Theo.

To enjoy being active, no matter how stupid I may look. Do it till I need to lay on the cold tile, and then when I can breath again, get back up and do it all over again.

Here is the difference between Theo and your average Venice Beach meat-head: While the meat-heads, hard as they may try to seem "cool", more than likely know deep down that they look kinda silly. Theo has no clue. He has no clue because he doesn't live his life according to what others think or say about him. (Trust me, if he did we'd all be in a world of hurt.... there are a lot of laughs at his expense in this house. And a lot of (more than likely) inaccurate commentary of his life.)

I wish I could be more like Theo. (With the exception of the big burly chest).


So that's my observation. Let's all be like Theo, ok?

Well, I'm off to finish my packing and hit the hay. After all my packing and spin class this afternoon, my bed is calling my name.


Peace, love & uninhibitedness

So. Very. Tired.

So. Very. Sore.

These workouts this week have been draining me. The weird thing is I'm not doing anything really out of the ordinary, with the exception of some intervals. I guess it's just one of those weeks.

Core Dynamics was HARD today. One would think that after taking a class for months on end you would be able to be a little bit more impressive with your performance.. not the case, my friends. Definitely not the case.

Read about some very interesting different workouts that I'm thinking of adding to my routine. I am enticed by these variations to the plank. I also think that these look kind of fun (call me crazy, I know... I said "fun"). I think it's important to really look into good variations to your usual routine, so that you don't get bored and so that you keep your muscles "on their toes". But, as my wise friend told me, be sure you are taking precautions. You definitely won't be turning into a stud if an injury gets in your way. Only do what you know you are capable of, and maybe work up to the more challenging exercises. Remember, the girls who "demonstrate" in the magazines are completely different beings than us... They get paid to work out and have hot bods. We don't.


Alright, all you little potatoes and pretties, I'm outta here.


Peace, love & a comfortable bed

Intervals

I treated myself yesterday to a lovely coffee/chat date with a friend I haven't seen in quite some time. I suggested meeting at Barnes and Noble so that I could check out some magazines, get what I wanted from them, and leave without spending a dime. After we were through visiting, I went to the magazine racks, picked out four that appealed to me, and went to the comfy chairs to peruse. One of the magazines I picked up was Women's Runner (or something to that effect). There was a ton of wonderful information in there, and I have to say, if you want to get motivated to exercise, try investing in one of the neat "gadgets" they feature in those magazines. I made a mental list of at least five things I want to invest in someday, one of which is a heart rate monitor and watch that works without the use of a chest strap. Sounds fantastic! That would DEFINITELY get me out and increasing my heart rate more often (at least for a little while).  Anyways, I stumbled across this little box that gave guidelines for Interval Training. It goes as follows:

3 min. jog to warm up
15 second sprint (at 8mph and 12% incline)
15 second rest (feet on the sides of the treadmill, with the belt continuing below you at max speed)
15 second on/off intervals for 3-4 minutes
3 min walk to cool down

Now, as you all know, I am not a super athlete, so I adjusted the speed and incline slightly to make it a little more realistic for a woman such as myself. But I'm getting ahead of myself..

Last night I could not sleep... I think it might be because I was SO excited about a couple of things that I just couldn't get myself into "Z" mode, so I fell asleep with the tv on at around 2am. I woke up to infomercials, and I was hooked for a longer-than-necessary amount of time. I partially watched two different informercials selling home workout programs that mostly consisted of high-intensity workouts that didn't last as long as your average hour or so at the gym. So between seeing all those hot abs on tv and remembering my new insight into intervals, I got ready for the gym with a lot of spunk in my step, ready to sweat like a pig with the expectation of someday looking like an infomercial mama.

I actually REALLY enjoyed the intervals. I mean, they were really REALLY hard, but it's crazy how fast you can start to really sweat. I did the ten minutes or so, and then I did about another three minutes of intervals and a cool down. All together I was on the treadmill for fifteen minutes. It felt great. But something funny happened... as I walked to the yoga room to do some strength training, the spunk that seemed to be present before mysteriously began to vanish with every stride. I did do some pikes, some push ups, and some leg lifts, so it didn't completely disappear, but it's pretty safe to assume that my abs look the same as they did when I woke up this morning. I was able to do about twenty minutes of stretching and some yoga postures, so that was definitely beneficial after tightening up my leg muscles on the treadmill.

It was good to start my Saturday off with a bang, and I was so happy to see so many others at the gym doing the same thing! Lots of ladies enjoying some booty shaking bliss at Zumba, too... if you haven't tried that before, you just have to! It's a blast.

Peace, love & bashful abdominals

the UPSIDE of stretching

When I run, walk, jog, spin, crunch, lift (I think you get it) I can safely say that 95% of the time I do so without stretching afterwards. If I do actually stretch, it's usually rather quickly and awkwardly. I-am-not-flexible. I don't think I have ever been able to touch my toes (without bending my knees and enduring a lot of pain). I have a difficult time stretching my arms behind my back... it's just plain sad. Sad sad sad. It is because of this that I give stretching so little of my efforts. It's painful, nothing changes and I lose interest. On July 1st, I began the 30 Day Yoga Challenge, on July 2nd I ran my first 5k and on July 3rd I woke up with really tight, sore hips and glutes. So in keeping with the challenge, I have been doing a lot of slow, relaxing stretches before bed. One of the advantages I've noticed is that I have been sleeping a lot better. For any of you Army spouses or those who experience separation from his or her spouse, it is not uncommon to experience trouble with sleeping. Or even if you are going through a stressful time in your life. I have found that allowing my body to relax and stretch out that tension has given my mind a chance to relax as well. Doing this has also addressed a lot of the pain in my hip. For some reason, since I ran on Saturday, I have had a significant amount of pain when I walk. Due to this, I have found myself stretching multiple times throughout the day. This morning I was doing downward dog, before Core Dynamics I spent a good 10 minutes doing forward bends. I have to say I am pretty excited about my newfound appreciation for stretching. So with all of that said, I encourage you to take 15 minutes before bed and just do five basic stretches. It's pretty safe to say that you will feel really great from doing so.


I know I was going back and forth between Spin and Crossfit for my workout yesterday. I went to Spin. Boy did I get the crap kicked out of me. The instructor yesterday was Jose (whom I've never had as an instructor before) and I sweat so bad in that class you could've rung me out. At points I felt slightly light headed, I am quite sore today (good thing I'm stretching) and it was straight-up awesome! The music was loud, everyone was yelling and sweating and spinning. Good, quality fun right there. If you have never been to a spin class I really encourage you to go. It is the type of workout that can be adjusted to your own personal fitness level while giving you the chance to challenge yourself too. If you don't belong to a gym, find one that has spin classes and does a free week-long membership. That way you could give spin a try for free. There are also some places that are non-membership facilities where you can pay for the classes. It is such a fun workout, and depending on your weight and age, you can burn nearly a thousand calories in a class. It's awesome!


Ok, but seriously, if anyone wants to buy me an hour long massage, I would not mind...


Peace, love & sweaty awesome fun

Core Damn-namics

Abs. I have some. Somewhere in there. My husband and I were talking about "6-packs" today, or any sort of pack for that matter, and I informed him that I will never have a pack, but will always have what I recently coined a "Capri Sun pouch" or a "juice pouch". Basically implying that it will always be squeezable. Always be moveable. And will always be squishy. Thankfully for me, he finds that to be delightful instead of repulsive. He's a good man.
Today is Tuesday and Tuesday is Core Dynamics day. I haven't been in a couple of weeks due to the instructors schedule and mine but today was the day I returned. Last Thursday I had a very mild surgery on my right calf, and it's taken a couple of days to get back and walking normally, since my muscle was hacked into pretty significantly. I am still haunted by what sounded like scissors cutting into raw chicken, knowing that the chicken in the scenario was my precious, perfectly formed calf muscle. Anyways, moving on. Today was my first Core class back, and I figured it would be just fine, considering the core is a mighty long ways away from the calf. And I was fine. There was one exercise (out of many) that slightly hurt, causing me to take it a little slower, but other than that it would have been considered the perfect exercise for a calf cripple such as myself. My little brain, on the other hand, had an entirely different take on the matter. Remember how I said I have mastered the power of persuasion? Yep, even on myself. Crunch after crunch, push up after push up, I kept searching for the slightest twinge of pain as a way out of the exercise. What is the matter with me?! Am I not the one who complains about having a juice pouch! Days like today remind me just how much health and well-being are found almost entirely in the mind. Core Dynamics has been rightfully changed to Core Damn-namics today, because the damn class kicked my derrier. But really, you should try it sometime!

Now I'm off to go make some banana oatmeal cookies. I know, I know. It doesn't make any sense.


Peace, love & compression bras