Saturday, September 29, 2012

Workout 185

Being sick really makes it hard to workout.  While I firmly believe working out can help you heal faster, sometimes you just have to give in and accept that it's not possible to do it for a few days.

The last 3 weeks have been sluggish for me in the workout department.  I have this nagging cough and fun upper-respiratory stuff that made me hesitant to do the JDRF Walk for the Cure event today in the rain.  I'm typing from home because I did not go--I just can't risk getting sicker.

So, today, I knew I needed to take advantage of being stuck inside for most of the day.  Having not worked out diligently lately, I found myself lacking motivation to get off the couch.  Naturally, I turned to Pinterest for some in-you-face workout inspirational posters.  While I found those, I also found an intriguing workout by Tracy Anderson that required no equipment.  SOLD!

How did it go?  Well it kicked my butt so badly that I only did it once all the way through and then did the first 3 moves a second time before stopping.  I found it difficult to figure out the proper form but pushed through regardless.  I feel pretty out of shape and obviously need to do some Jillian Michaels and Chris Freytag circuit training to get my arms back into shape.

I decided to hop on the treadmill for a 10-minute mile and 5-minute cooldown to complete my workout.

Despite coughing up a storm the instant I stopped running, I now feel pretty awesome.  15 workouts left until I achieve my goal! :)

XOXO,

Monday, September 24, 2012

Workout 184 - House Work

Tonight, I decided to be smart and clean up the house for the maids a night early.  Why?  Well, Kailee has dance tomorrow after school, meaning we don't get home until 7:30pm.  At that point, we still need to eat dinner and bathe.

Having put off a lot, I spent two hours doing dishes (pretty much just coffee cups and cooking utensils--thanks, Cassidi!), laundry, picking up toys, picking up my stuff, going through stacks of mail and papers from school.  I went up and down the stairs more times that I care to recall and then ended up with some low bloodsugar.  If that's not a natural workout, I don't know what is.

XOXO,

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Workout 183 ~ 1-mile Fun Run!

Before the Family Fun Run
Yesterday, my parents, Gavin, Kailee and I did a fun run/walk at Oktoberfest in Addison to Wipe Out Kids Cancer.

My job was to stay with Gavin, who took off at a sprint!  I am very good at pacing myself, but it should come as no shock that my 6-year-old is not.  He would sprint for a minute, then jog a bit, then sprint some more.  I am not a sprinter--at least not for as long as he can sprint--so my lungs were on fire the whole time.  It did not help that I have an upper-respiratory infection.

I am so unbelievably proud of Gavin!  He ran the ENTIRE mile and then wanted to sign up for the 5K.  I promised him that next Saturday we would start training him for a 5K (we have to work on pacing since he just wants to run as fast as he can at first) and after two more mile fun runs, I would sign him up for a 5K.  The reality is, for me, pacing is crucial for my endurance.  I could not run a 5K alternating between sprints and jogs.  I need to go a steady pace and there's no way I would have lasted yesterday following his pattern.  He might, but I could not.  I already downloaded some Kidz Bop CDs for us to run to--I got a belt phone holder for running that will fit the phone in it inside even a bulky case like an otter box.

So today I signed us up for the next fun run on October 28th.  We'll see how that goes and go from there :).

XOXO,

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Workout 182 ~ Running!

It has to be said, I was nervous before I began.  After Sunday's attempt and major fail, I worried that my success 2 weeks ago was a fluke, that I wasn't really able to run 3 miles.  Tonight proved that I am able to do it :).  Sure I had two distractions--Gavin making Kailee scream, Kailee making several requests for various things--and then I skipped too many songs on the playlist, ended up on random and kept getting classical songs to come up, forcing me to unlock the phone (where I was then able to see how much time was left, something that really throws me off my mental game), but I pushed through!!!!  And now I'm kind of wired and probably should do some PM yoga or something.

I heard on the radio this morning that you should not workout unless you have 3-4 hours to calm down before bedtime.  Well... It's either workout at this time of night or don't workout.  With the diabetes, I need to wake up in the 80s, but I cannot workout unless my bloodsugar is around 175, thus eliminating the AM workouts during the week.  I can easily manage getting my bloodsugar to 175 when working out after dinner by going easy on my dinner insulin.  I'm thinking working out late is better than not working out at all :).  Unfortunately, it may explain my sleep problems (though I feel those have more to do with Brady being gone and children waking up).

XOXO,

Monday, September 17, 2012

Workout 181 ~ 10 Pound Slimdown Total Body

I plan to attempt to run again on Wednesday--I coughed a ton for two hours last night, then awoke today almost cured.  It's soooo strange!  I really do think working out this weekend is what made me quickly improve (though I still have a little cough).  Anyways, as I was saying, I plan to run again on Wednesday so I decided to work on the leg strength tonight to make it easier.  This workout really works your thighs and butt.  I know I will be very sore tomorrow and will hopefully be thanking myself on Wednesday night when I attempt another 3 mile run!

XOXO,

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Workout 179 & 180 - 90% done!

179 - So... After a 1.5 week hiatus, I attempted to run for 30 minutes.  20 minutes in (5-minute warmup, 15-min run), I felt like my lungs could not get enough air.  I had to stop :(.  Immediately, the coughing and insane amounts of drainage started flowing down my throat.  I have been sick this week with a sore throat and cough (though the drainage typically only occurs during the night).  I was extremely disappointed, but I had to listen to my body.

180 - I waited a few hours and decided to at least do something that would help strengthen my legs.  I decided to do Stiletto Strength since I have noticed my heel-wearing endurance has increased significantly since I started doing this workout.  As workout #180 is now completed, I am 90% of the way to my goal of 200 workouts in 2012!

I'm feeling pretty proud right now and am hoping I get in some workouts during the week this week!!!!

XOXO,

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Workout #178 ~ Total Body Pilates

Gearing up for my first run in a week and a half tomorrow, today I decided to do Total Body Pilates to help my leg strength.  While the workout I did earlier somewhat worked my legs, it mostly strengthened my arms.  Now my whole body feels thoroughly exercised :).

XOXO,

Workout #177 ~ Balance and Body Sculpt

So... My arms feel like shaking deadweights right now thanks to this ridiculous workout: Balance and Body Sculpt.  It's one of the ExerciseTV workouts for sale on iTunes and it is worth way more than I paid for it.  I was sweating and my heart rate was up from a few minutes in.  My 22 minutes were well-spent here.

XOXO,

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Woohoo! C25K Grad!!!! Workout #176

I cannot believe this post is happening tonight.  I have completed the couch-to-5K program--or well, really the Ease-into-5K program which was obviously based on the C25K program.

The next workout was supposed to be a 27-minute run.  I decided I was ready to do all 30 minutes and I did it!!!!


It's so funny to see my journey into running.  In high school, we ran at least 3 miles everyday in cross country.  I never thought I'd have to fight my way to back into running.  I never imagined that at 27 my knees and ankles would not allow me to run when I was finally eager to do it again.  Thank God for my Aunt Karen who recommended Glucosamine Chondroitin.  I know I sound like a commercial, but it seriously made it possible for me to get back into running.

I think I'm in shock.  I did not think this day would come so soon.  Now I know I'll be ready for my first 5K on October 13th!  Now the question is, who's coming with me?!?!

XOXO,

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Workout #175 ~ Sexy Stretch

I am very sore from my workouts this weekend, but for whatever reason, I had a lot of energy tonight.  I did not want to do anything that would completely wake me up so I went with Crunch: Sexy Stretch.  Back when ExerciseTV was on-demand, I did this workout and remembered that it felt really good (as in relaxing and stretchy) until the end when it stopped being easy.  What I had forgotten was that it involved a lot of plank-ish moves at the end.  Needless to say, my arms and abs are a little wobbly right now.

I'm just glad I actually worked out during the work week :).

XOXO,

Monday, September 3, 2012

Workout #174 ~ Stiletto Strength

My cousin is getting married this weekend which means lots of heel wearing!  In preparation, I just did Stiletto Strength.  It is a very good leg workout though I still get a little nervous in the heels at the end.

XOXO,

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Workout #173 ~ Yoga

Just did 10 Pound Slimdown: Yoga and am feeling very zen now, LOL.  Actually, I'm feeling quite sweaty because this is not a soothing, relaxing workout.  It keeps you moving the entire time with "a constant stream of poses."  It's still by far my favorite yoga workout :).

XOXO,

Workout #172 of 2012 ~ C25K

Guess who only has 3 more C25K workouts left... This girl!  Today was a 26-minute run so I did my normal "You have to listen to __ number of songs before checking the time."  Today I chose 10, but after 5, was dragging so I checked and I had already been running over 18 minutes.  I guess the 5 songs were longer than I thought.  The last 7.5 minutes weren't easy, but I pushed through and even bumped the pace up to 6.5mph for the last 30 seconds.

On a side note, In the last 12 months, I have done 208 workouts.  THAT IS AMAZING!!!!  I think it's safe to say that I am going to meet my goal of 200 workouts in a calendar year this year :).

XOXO,

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Workout #171 of 2012

I have high bloodsugar but I need to get two workouts in today so I pushed through.  It was very difficult--high bloodsugar makes me extremely thirsty so I drank 24 ounces during a 24-minute workout.  By the end I had side stitches.

Regardless, I completed Ripped in 30 Week 1 and hopefully will get in some yoga or pilates later.  I have to take advantage of my free time on the weekend since I only managed to fit in one workout this week.

XOXO,