Bodyrock 30 Day Challenge and a long run

I just finished Bodyrock.tv's January 30 Day Challenge (clearly I'm a little behind). After spending January coming back from my stress fracture and dealing with ITBS, I finially decided I really needed to spend some time on non-cardio related exercise. Aside from a random stint in college, I haven't worked on gaining muscle since my high school weight room days and after taking years off of serious working out and surgery, my muscles were more pathetic than usual. So, on January 30th I started the 30 Day Challenge one month after it was posted on the website.

It started with a fit test consisting of 7 exercises. You repeated the exercises as many times as possible for 50 seconds. After a 10 second break, you start the next exercise. The test was repeated halfway through the challenge and on the final day. Here are my results:

I want to note that the fit test calls for "straight abs" instead of crunches. When I first started I did not know what a straight ab was so I did crunches. I later realized they are just regular sit ups. One of the trainers is British and has different names for a few things (like press ups instead of push ups). I also want to note that the second fit test was after a run where I hurt my knee. Any bending of my knee was pretty painful and I think the results of the test reflect that more than anything.

Overall I am SO pleased with the results of these 30 days. Not only do I feel stronger but my legs are almost the same size!!! Even John noticed that my right quad is catching up with my left in a big way. I plan to keep doing bodyrock 5 days a week. I really think it has enabled me to start running again.

Speaking of running again, I'm hoping to have my first real long run tomorrow since the beginning of November. I'm a little nervous but I'm just going to focus on covering the distance-NOT on pace, although that will be difficult.

Well I found a new thing to obsess over...



Melody!

How cute is that face??? We've had her for a week now and its been awesome. She is so cute, obviously, and pretty good. She's definitely come out of her shell a little bit in the past week.



She lays like this a lot...weirdo.

 

Loves that hedgehog toy.

She does a lot more than just sleep, don't worry. We are working on sit, stay, and lay down right now. She has sit 95% of the time but she is very easily distracted. She will stay as long as she's not too disctracted and she can see us. Working on staying when we're out of sight. Lay down is very sketchy right now and we probably wouldn't bother with it until she completely has sit and stay but there are times we need her to lay down...like when we're eating or when she's going after Hamlet.

She is also very clingly and hates when John and I aren't both home and in the same room. If we're in different rooms she'll pace between us. During a workout over the weekend she laid down right next to me if I held still for more than 2 seconds.




Scooted in while I tried to do situps.



Elevated side plank with a leg lift...she tried to get right on my leg.

You can thank the last two years of working with preschool children for giving me the multitasking skills that allowed me to take a picture while working out.

Also, my camera is kinda messed up so all these pics are from my phone, my bad.

Anyway, best dog ever, she is awesome and I'm sorry if i talk about her all the time now the way I talk about running.


Life is Good

Please excuse my lack of a creative title. Actually I don't think I've ever come up with a creative title for these. Anyway. In the car this morning I was thinking about how my life was a year ago. To sum it up in one world; awful. Or, as awful as it can be for someone who has a roof over her head and never goes hungry. You get my point. Fortunately it was one of the worst points in my life (I have a pretty good track record). A large part of my unhappiness was my job. I know everyone has to work a job they hate at some point but I worked with kids and it was extremely hard for me to work in a place that didn't provide the best for them. I felt helpless and picked up some bad habits that I am still trying to get rid of eight months later.

Anyway, I am BEYOND thankful that I am out of that place and working in a school that I absolutely love. I love all my co-workers and my kids and their parents. So there's that. Also, a year ago, John and I were trying to pay for part of our wedding. We had help from my parents but we still had a decent chunk that we had to cover. Can you believe I'm 24 and not rich yet?? Me neither. Now that's all over and paid for so we feel a little less strapped.

Running! Like I could go an entire post without mentioning running. A year ago I was only able to run about two miles. Now...well right NOW I can't run anything because of my dang ITBS but normally I can churn out about eight miles with little effort.



Planned an 8mi run but my knee decided I
only needed to run one. I look like a duck when I pout.

 I'm also loving everything else about my fitness right now. I have found forms of cross and strenght training that I love and soccer will be starting up again soon!

Finally, Lana Del Rey. She is gorgeous. Fact.

Off to squeeze in an episode of Heros before bed. John bugged me to watch this show probably since we first me and I finally caved. Should've listened to him sooner, its one of those shows I could probably lose a weekend to!

Sunday Seven

What a "run." Typically I do all of my long runs on the B&A Trail, which is a 13 mile trail running from Annapolis to Glen Burnie. I start in Glen Burnie around mile 11.5 and head toward Annapolis, although I never get there since the farthest I've made it before turning around is 5 miles. On Sunday, my typical starting point was closed due to some kind of construction. John and I decided to find the actual trail head in Glen Burnie and go from there.

We ran the short bit of the B&A that wasn't closed and then headed onto the BWI Trail for the first time. As we hit four miles my knee pain that I've been having showed up. And then we hit this:



Running in the snow to avoid the ice on the trail.

I'll spare you the gory details but between the ice, COLD, and knee pain that got exponentially worse, this was not the best 3 miles of my life. I have to admit though, if I take out the pain and cold, and the fact that God seems to have decided I will never have a good seven mile run in my life (1st time I puked. A lot. 2nd time I had shin splints), it was a pretty fun time.


Please excuse my voice and sniffles.

We finally finished 7 miles in 1 hour and 22 minutes, which is slower than it takes me to run 8 miles. As we exited the trail we saw two dudes all over John's car, looking in the windows, clearly up to no good and making trouble in the neighborhood (I hope someone appreciates that reference). John scared them away with his manliness and I have decided to invest in pepper spray.

After this "run" I obviously deserved Chipotle.


Is this not the most beautiful picture you have ever seen???

Chipotle should thank me for inspiring anyone who looks at this to immediately go out and purchase a burrito bowl.

Things I am Liking Lately...

1. SPIN. Oh my goodness. I cannot believe I didn't try it sooner. It makes Thursday one of my favorite days of the week. It is just so. much. fun. The loud music, the darkness, Ricky*, and the sweat (now that it is winter, sweat is very valuble to me)...good times. I think I like it as much as I like running. Yeah, I just said that.

2. Work. I'm one of those (lucky) people who actually like the career field they're in.** I'm happy that I'm actually doing what I went to school for (kinda) and that I work with an amazing, although very set in her ways, teacher who is teaching me a lot. Also, it gives me an excuse to listen to Raffi at the age of 24 and not seem like a nut.

3. Bodyrock. I had been staying away from Bodyrock for a while because they started incorporating all sorts of equipment that I don't own or want to own. They've really stepped their game up with the new trainers who show modifications for people who don't have the equipment. I also found this online interval timer which is easier to use than the stopwatch on my phone. Finally, although I miss working out "with" Zuzana, I like that she's putting up a lot of recipes on the site.

4. Winter. HA! Just kidding, that goes on the list of things I am hating. Replace winter with "reading." I felt like I was in a reading slump after reading The Hunger Games series (you had better believe I will be at the midnight showing when the movie opens).

I like for a book to inspire me in some way or at least make me so invested in the characters to the point that they're almost real. The books I read after the Hunget Games just didn't do it for me. At the beginning of the year I started reading Big Machine by Victor LaValle. Most of the book was kind of disturbing and just...strange. And when I say most I mean all but the last ten pages or so. The last ten pages completely changed my opinion of the book and made me excited to read again. I'm currently reading Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo and while I'm not completely sold on it yet, I have high hopes.

5. Pigeon Pose. Dr. Google has diognosed me with runner's knee and this pose feels FANTASTIC on my hip. The other day I just had to drop to the floor in the middle of the hallway to get some pigeon.

Bonus! Chipotle. Really, this is something I'm loving all the time. I don't think there's ever been food that I like as much as I like my Chipotle. I could literally eat it all the time, and no, I'm not even close to exaggerating. I keep waiting for it to get old but it never does. I would not be surprised if they put some chemical in that spicy salsa that makes it addicting.

*The yoga class I used to go to on Mondays was preceded by a step class. I would watch class while I waited for my own to start. There was a guy in the class named Ricky who yelled a lot and had a ton of engery and made me tempted to start going to step class too. Now he's in my spin class!

**Preposition at the end of a sentence, AH!

New Year's Resolutions

Yes I realize I'm about a week late with this one. I'm going to blame that on the fact that I've never actually made New Year's Resolutions before. I thought (and still think) that it's silly to make a resolution just because the calendar changes. However, looking at everything I accomplished last year, I'm finding myself wanting to take things up a notch. So I have decided to make goals in lieu of resolutions.

1. Run 600 miles. In 2011 I ran 328 miles and was on track to run over 400 until I took almost two months off after fracturing my foot. Last year I also couldn't run 3 miles until March, which means I spent two months running very low milage. I think I can definitely put out 600 this year (assuming there are no injuries that keep me from running for an extended amount of time) giving that I can run much farther and I will be marathon training in a few months. Which leads me to my next goal...

2. Run a full 26.2. I've finished two halves and I'll be making it three by March. It's time to conquer the full.

3. Strength train. "The workout you enjoy the least is probably what you need to do the most." John heard that somewhere from someone (aren't you glad I paid attention when he told me about it?) and it is completely true for me. I do not have the attention span to work on specific muscles but I'm going to try. Next time you see me I plan on looking like Lisa-Marie:

Just kidding. (I wish I wasn't).

4. Go to the DENTIST. It's been an ebarrassingly long time since I was at the dentist. I'm one of those weird people who like the dentist, although when I finally get in there this year I don't think it's going to be so fun. As long as I don't have any cavities, I'll be happy.

5. Go to the dermatologist. I went a while back because I had a random mole pop up, which turned out to be fine but it was recommended that I come in at another time to get a full body screening. I'm sure they didn't mean to wait almost two years but at least I didn't forget about it, right? Plus I want to get a few moles removed that I think are ugly. Apparently I'm fine going under the knife for vanity, who knew? And aren't you glad you just read a paragraph about my moles?

So that's all for now. Nothing earth shattering and I'll definitely make more goals over the course of the year but this is my start. I'm off to eat chips and salsa because that is the best food in all creation.

The World Spins Madly On

Today, my alarm went off at 4:30 am. I cannot remember the last time I got up that early. Maybe for the Richmond half, but I think I got up at 4:45 for that.

I got up that early because I had to leave the house by 4:50. Thankfully it was 32 degrees this morning instead of 14 degrees like yesterday. I HATE the fact that I just said I was thankful for it being in the 30s. As John said, "This feels like a heatwave compared to yesterday."

I had to leave by 4:50 because I had to be at my very first SPIN CLASS by 5:30. All the biking I did while I was sidelined from running made my knee feel almost completely normal. Sometimes I still can't believe it, I never thought it would be this good again. So, now that I can run, I didn't want to let the biking go to the wayside and thought a class would be a great way to make myself stick to it since group fitness is usually (usually) way more fun than going solo.

I wanted to get there a bit early to talk to the instructer since I had no idea how to adjust the bike or what I was doing. Her name is Amber and she is pretty cool (although how can you not be cool if you're that peppy at 5:30am in the middle of winter?).

We got started and I thought I was about to die. I was embarrassed to call myself any kind of athlete and worried that I would have to walk out of class. Then Amber said it was just the warm up and I decided I was in way over my head. Maybe it just took my a while to wake up find my groove because after a while, I got the hang of everything and had a lot of fun. The hour flew by, especially the last 30 minutes. I can't wait until 5:30 next Thursday.

PS-Next time you make oatmeal, put blueberries in it. You can thank me later.