Running Thoughts

I can't believe I'm getting to post again and catch up with you guys!!!! Just in time for me to leave for vacation too! Our internet has been down between houses... :( We are in the new (very old) house, but are still moving misc. items from the other house over. It seems like a never-ending process. I have stayed on track with BFL...almost. It hasn't been easy. Yesterday and today, my workout was simply moving heavy boxes around and a couch over the fence and around the house and into the living room...long story. Couch wouldn't fit through any doors that lead into the living room...we had to sort of take it apart and carry the big lug out and over the fence...I'm very tired, but no official workout for 2 days in a row now. Tomorrow, I will lift! I hope! We leave around noon to go catch a plane to the Carribean for 10 days! I am taking my running shoes and elastic bands and jump rope, but no promises! Hoping I will be able to check in while gone! We go...

It's still snowin' and I'm still goin'! It snowed all day yesterday and today! Ah, spring. ???? Oh well, I ran the stairs yesterday, did abs and will do upper body tonight. I only have a minute on the library computer...so more another time!

We are without internet until at least Friday. I am at the library right now because I wanted to let you know I haven't vanished and am still going strong. So far today, I have accomplished lunges and squats. Bis and back are in my plans!! I'll try to check in again before Friday, but I'm not sure.... I miss you guys! Hang in there..I'm still truckin' and I want to know that you are too!!

I had planned to do my upper body workout later in the day, but after reading Ruth's post, I was inspired to do it now, so I just finished! I pushed myself on chest press and flyes. Took it a little easier on shoulders with side raises and press, then finished up with triceps, about a 9 intensity level, I'd say. I had trouble focusing on the tricep extensions, but ended up with a good workout, I think, with Kick-backs. And now, I'm done and can pack boxes and move them over to the new house until I drop. :) It's nice to be able to move in slowly, but I'm about ready to have the entire move over with. DH ripped out the stairs and we have to put the new ones in before carpet people come to lay carpet upstairs on Monday! Yikes! The stairs were steeeeep and had tiny foot plates. I'm notorious for falling down regular stairs. It was inevitable with these stairs, so we took them out and had a guy make new "stringers" to lay a normal stairway. To ma...

I tried to do this exercise with my exercise ball... http://www.bestabs.com/Resources/Exercises/ExerciseDetails.aspx?region=2&exercise=5 I could NOT do it. So, I did it on the floor and will keep trying it. I'll bet I'm sore tomorrow just from trying to get into position. I'm not sure I was ever in the right position because it hurt my back. DH did 10 of them. grrr I did crunches on the ball too. I'm really wiped out from my sprints. The new sprint hill is a tuffy.

Ran 10 sprints this morning...1/2 up my usual hill (my driveway) and 1/2 uP a steeper hill (the rode leading up to my driveway). I still have abs to go and will do those on my exercise ball. I did do more than drink lattes yesterday. I did squats with my exercise ball behind me against the wall. Then lunges. Then bicep curls and more curls and reverse sit-ups on the ball. I got some new exercise bands too and that is what I used for biceps curls. In addition, I packed some more boxes and helped move the new washer and dryer into our new house. Misty, I GOT A NEW WASHING MACHINE!!! That is a picture of it above, and the dryer actually matches it! WOW! They can be stacked and have a large capacity and MORE THAN ONE CYCLE!!!

Latte Lunges... So, I've had a latte every day since Mother's Day. They're legal...skim milk, no sugar, but still...c'mon! I thought it would be funny to do my lunges today with latte in hand, so here is a picture DH took of me in all my glory. Notice the slippers. Don't notice the mess. Here are some pics of the house too.... In the fore-ground of the second pic is the chimney. I painted it with darker tones to set it off. It has been made into a gas heater rather than a fireplace and just takes up space..so I decided that at least it could be decorative. I like it. The wall in the bay window is a solid accent wall.

DD has been after me to do my cardio workout on DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution--XBox game) with her ever since she realized there is a "workout mode." Today was the day! 30 minutes of Dance Craze. It was fun and a good workout. The songs are like a sprint and then there is a moment between the songs to catch your breath. If it was a slow song, I just went berzerk anyway. Then, I did abwork on the exercise ball again even though I'm still sore from last time! Yesterday, I painted and painted and finished the living room. It looks great! I don't know if the pictures will post, but I will try later. My upper body got a workout from that, and I decided to cut myself some slack and do only push-ups for upper body yesterday. I say "slack" but push ups have always been hard for me. I was surprised to do 3 complete sets of 10 military style (done correctly!!) push-ups! Yay, me!

Three posts in a row... More from the BFL site... Expect to stall out slightly.During your program, you may experience a period where nothing seems to be happening. Don't be alarmed! Remember that you are replacing fat weight with healthy, lean muscle! Although your scale weight may not show it, you're probably experiencing substantial progress in your body composition. Women in particular may notice the most dramatic changes occurring after week seven. Again, the best way to determine your progress is through body composition assessments and how your clothes fit. http://www.bodyforlife.com/success/goals/fatloss.asp Notice the scale weight lost as opposed to the dramatic change in body composition.

Print Article Change it UpGet out of your rut with these valuable tips.By Kelly James-EngerI write about health and fitness for a living and frequently interview personal trainers and physiologists about the importance of cross training. Even so, I tend to do the same activity—running—day after day. It’s easy—all I have to do is change into my running gear and hit the treadmill or the road. And nothing gives me a better endorphin buzz..That was until a back injury last year sidelined my regular routine. I could barely walk so running was out of the question. After I got my doctor’s OK, I began easing back into exercise. But I limited my runs to three times a week and started using an elliptical trainer a couple of times a week instead. Guess what? Rather than reducing my fitness, cross-training improved it. I noticed new definition in my arms and shoulders, and my running times dropped—all while strengthening my back. My only regret is that I didn’t try it sooner. Don’t let an injury ...

Happy Mother's Day!! Back in the groove today. Yesterday was a fun free day. Today was also fun, but on track. I jumped rope and did abwork on my new exercise ball. I slept late, DH made me a latte with the expresso drink maker they got me for Mother's Day. He cooked lunch AND (best of all) cleaned the kitchen!!!!

Great day!! DH is home!! Sun is shining!! Worked-out in the great outdoors!! I did walking lunges uphill and side runs. I did lat pull-downs and more lat pull-downs. I did concentrated bicep curls. Summer businesses are opening up in our little town, and summer residents are returning. This is about to be a busy little place. There will be so much to do outside! Yippeeee! Great news: My package from SIL arrived today! I love garage sales! She got me 5 pairs of jeans. One pair is a lightweight kacki. I can wear all but 2 of them! (size 4!!!-snug, but wear-able)

Cardio was jumping rope. Abs--declined twists and hip-ups. I didn't really feel like jumping rope today, so I jumped extra. It felt good and I'm glad I did it! Now, I can concentrate on other things of the day! We are officially crazy. We are getting a new puppy. It is a golden retriever...one of the dark reddish ones. We already have a Bichon in the house, a bunny, and a cat. We wanted a bigger dog in the yard to keep wild things away at the new house. His name is Banjo, and we should be able to bring him home in July. We have soccer games again this Saturday (out of town, of course) and while we are away, we will talk to Home depot about new kitchen cabinets!!! Saturday is free, and there is a Starbucks where we are going! mmmmmmmmmmmm

I haven't worked out yet, but wanted to blog my plan for today's upper body workout so that I will have it in my mind and have your accountability. Chest: flyes and press shoulders: press and side raises triceps: lying extensions and kick-backs Going for a highpoint! I'm excited because I realized that Ruth and I are about to hit week number 8. It seems like every 8th week, a sudden surge in progress occurs. *******************************UPDATE************************** Did my workout and am looking forward to tomorrow's cardio! I hope it's another pretty day! Is it my imagination, or do I feel and look better just anticipating week number 8???

I went out into a perfect day and ran 12 uphill sprints. Still planning to do abwork...haven't done it yet. This is a picture of "home" on a perfect day. **********************UPDATE************************* Did abwork... declined twists and hip ups. I did lots of both at high intensity, holding the moves. Hopefully, I will feel it tomorrow! I wonder how my cyber-healthy friends are doing today? Did you fit in a workout?

Today has been sunny and beautiful! I hope it was where you are too. I did 3 B's (booty, back, biceps) today: Squats and step ups hammer curls and bicep curls lat pull-downs (outside with my elastic band thrown over the top of the swing) and backward rows My Speigel order came today. Everything fits. It's like magic. Two swimsuits didn't come yet, but the white one came and looks...ok...on me. I'm not crazy about it. I might become crazier about it as I become more lean. The legs are cut exactly to show the little bit of fat I'm still working on losing. Unfortunate. The black dress looks great! And I love the black cover-up pants. Maybe soon I can get blogger to allow me to post pics. Guess what??!! My SIL bought me some cool new jeans at a garage sale!!!! She is planning to mail them to me! Just like getting a speigel order! Again!

Now, I have removed both earrings. Very sad and disappointing. My ears are so sore. Poor, pitiful me. I don't know what went wrong to try again with any amount of hope that it will work out right nest time. The earrings were white gold, I cleaned and turned them according to instruction, I kept my hands off them otherwise.... Today, I just felt like a slug...a sad, disappointed slug. I didn't really want to run stairs, so I went out into the cold and jumped rope. That was better, but most slugs don't jump a lot of rope, so I cut it sort of short today.

forgot to mention that we were going on another overnight track-meet trip! We left Friday around 4:30 and got home yesterday evening. Friday was on target food and exercise-wise. Then yesterday was free at the meet. Now, back to it! Today will be cardio/abs. (TOM may slow me down some) Stairs are on tap for the day. My left ear decided it didn't like my new puncture wound, and swelled all around the ear ring. I finally had to take it out last night. :( It still hurts, but isn't throbbing. The other ear is beginning to have trouble too. I don't know what the deal is. I've cleaned them and everything like I'm supposed to... I got gold because I thought that was least likely to cause problems. Anyway, I'm disappointed about that. Gracyn did well in her meet! She shaved some time off her usual run time and passed up a girl in the second lap. Next year, she will be a veteran and will know more what she needs to do. She may run the mile next year. ...

Sorry for the delay... I have continual blogger issues since switching to google... I have pictures of our bird rescue to add to R's Dog rescue, but can't post 'em! Yesterday was a rescue the animals kind of day, I guess. We had a mommy bluebird in our chimney that made its way into our woodstove. Gracyn netted her and we set her free! Now, the daddy is in there...we are hoping he makes his way down so we can rescue him. We are going to call the wildlife people as soon as they are open. As for workout...I ran 12 UPhill sprints, to answer the question, and I did hip-ups and declined twists. Today is upper body, but my shoulders are so tired from painting...I'll take it easy on those. Chest and triceps are in for it, though! I've been so sore from lower body the other day...yay! Eating is on target! Feel good, but overwhelmed from this move thing....will you come help me??? Also for workout, we had an "EXTREME DANCE-O-RAMA" last night with our DDR game...(Da...

Just finished my workout... lunges, squats reverse flyes hammer curls, bicep curls Eats are good. Time for snack right now, so I will go eat it, then go get G, then go p - a - i - n - t !

Hello, bloggin' fitness finatics! The track meet was fun. Gracyn did long jump and the 800 meter long distance. She raced 7th graders. (She's 6th) She didn't place, but she had plenty of 7th graders behind her! She did great. We have another track meet on Saturday. Coach wants her to do the mile. She's nervous about that, but she has a nice easy pace that she keeps throughout the race and then she kicks it in about the last quarter-lap. If she runs a longer race at her pace, she will out-last them all. I'll let you know if she decides to do it. This meet was on Tuesday afternoon. We suddenly decided to leave on Monday evening to spend the night along the way and do some shopping in a real live mall. (we are bumpkins-nearest mall...3 hours away! Ha, ha! I have NEW JEANS!!! Easy size 6. No muffin top, as Sarah would say. :) I've been having trouble keeping my old pants up, and Odell wanted me to shop a little. I got one pair of size 6 jeans, one...