Um, Friday & Saturday

I can't remember when I posted last, but I ran 6 miles on Friday. Saturday I biked for 20 minutes on the trainer, average speed 17.7 mph, then I quick changed shoes and ran 7 miles.

Thursday & Saturday

Kajukenbo on Thursday- 1 hour of working on forms w/ the other black belt candidate and a junior black belt. (Also found out that I have to write a 10 page paper on the five founders of Kajukenbo and the brother of the main guy. This should be a challenge as there is not much in print about them.)

Walking Saturday- 1 hour round trip to Quick Trip to get milk.

Friday Walking 90 minutes

I think it was about 4 miles with two kids in the double stroller. Blah tired.

Wednesday Mowing the Lawn Workout 90 minutes

I made sure to drink plenty of water beforehand so that I could mow the lawn without stopping and get the full "aerobic effect". I also did 2 hours of gardening.

Wednesday

I only had 40 minutes to run, so I did my all hills run. I ran about 4.5 miles, I think.

Vacation?

We went to my grandparents' to clear their land of the debris from a major storm a couple of weeks ago. I didn't do a lot (any) yard work, but I did run a ton of errands and chase kids over 2 1/2 acres, and keep every one fed and watered. Does that count?
The Almighty Liz

Monday Walking in the Rain 1 Hour

As far as I can tell, my sister and I covered about 3 miles, 2 1/2 of which was in the rain. I have not gotten that soaked from rain since I was a kid. Fun stuff with my sister to share it with me. Lots of laughing ;)

I Came, I Saw, I Whooped it's Booty

5 mile run followed by a 15 mile bike.What this doesn't tell you is that I was the only one in my age division. Totally takes the thunder off of winning your division. However, I looked it up, and I would have won the 35-40 division too. If I were in my 20's (the largest women's age group at this race), I'd have come in 4th. If I were 40-44, I'd have taken 3rd. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this race.

My brother's Todd & Trent also competed, as well as my FIL, Terry. Terry won his division. Trent did just the run portion, but he whooped some hiney! He came in 3rd OVERALL, with a time of 31:05 for 5 miles! Rock on Trent!!

Saturday

I biked 14 miles then ran ...?... 2.5ish?

Walking

So since I really went above and beyond physically trying to destroy my house, I thought that I would take it easy this week! Besides shop vaccing some water off and on from 12:30 to 2 AM Tuesday morning, extra special laundry later that day and stress, I've done nada.

Tonight I escaped slug mode and took a walk. My normal 30 minute trip to the local Shop N Save took 37 minutes and then there was the 10 minute walk home after shopping.

Black belt test may be the 6th of June, incidentally the date that I started my mission oh so long ago and 3 days after my wife and I were marriaged.

Saturday Running Walking 3 miles (50 minutes)

Running Report- I could only run 1/2 mile because my right leg and foot were hurting so bad. I'm guessing that was from being on my feet all day Wednesday. I also jammed a stick into the top of my foot and that spot hurts as well.

Anyone Been Wondering Where I've Been?

Well, training season is upon us. Two weeks ago I decided it was time to turn up the training thing, and really get serious. Consequently, I had a pretty good week last week. This week was another story though. I came down sick sick sick on Sunday. I ran a fever of 101-102 for two days straight. I felt horrible. I don't know which thing caused which thing, or if it was just a coincidence that they happened together. But, I also had a raging case of mastitis (an infection in my boobie). Anyway, I was improved by Tuesday, but not all better yet. Wednesday, I probably could have worked out, but I was busy, lazy... I don't know, but I didn't.

Thursday I finally went for a run: 5 miles SLOWLY and painfully. I don't know what took a bigger toll on me: the heat (it was bad), the fact that I hadn't worked out in 5 days, or if I was still weakened from having been so sick. Anyway, it was not my best run. It was bad. I'm doing a biathlon on Monday, so I hope I get my groove back soon!

Thursday Walking 1+ Hour

It was more than an hour, but I'm not sure how much more. I'm also exhausted from my husband flooding the house while I was on vacation. He turned on the bath in the upstairs bathroom, and then left the house for 6 hours. It's been two days of cleaning up (12 hour day on Wednesday).

I also had to put together our shed which blew apart last week, and I replaced the distributor in my husband's car. That all took about 3 hours.

Who knew water could cause so much damage and be such hard work to clean up? Who knew how much stuff could happen in 5 days while I was on vacation?

Minneapolis Vacation Report

Friday- Driving all day, no exercise

Saturday - Running for 15 minutes, walking 45 minutes.

Sunday-Hiking in the woods, hills, trails around Minnehaha Falls for 2 hours

Monday- Running 30 minutes. Walking around Lake Calhoun 2 hours.

Tuesday- Driving all day, but I still came home and took my sister's dog for a walk for 30 minutes. I wish I had a dog like that to walk every day! I sprinted too a few times and he loved it ;)

More Illness

So, I've been a little sick again, but I'm on an upswing, so I went for a very brisk, ten minute walk around the block yesterday. John was nervous about letting me go, so I took my cell and my pepper gel gun, lol! I felt like a big hoosier, but it made him feel better, so I'll gladly do it every time. ;) When I got home, my legs were all wobbly, my knees hurt, and I was gasping for air like a fish on land, but I did it! I've only got a little less then two months to get my body beach worth for a road trip I'm taking, so it's time to work through illnesses!! Or, try anyway. Lol!
The Almighty Liz

Friday & Saturday

I lifted weights on Friday, and rode my bike on Saturday with Bruce and Terry. I don't know how far we went, but we rode hard for about an hour. I might run later today.

And I wondered what I would do for today...

Be careful what you wonder!

So, I was wondering what I was going to motivate myself to do today. It was going to be "rough." Friday night, Pooh is on vacation and I would watching the kids. That is usually a recipe for me doing nothing.

Luckily ;| the near tornado stepped in to help out. Specifically it stepped in- better said- on our shed. We- mostly the wife- have had to prop this poor shed up a few times now. Last time, it went down on a Sat. night, maybe Sunday in the AM. In the PM the next day, while we were napping, people were claiming things from the wreckage.

Anyway, I spent 25 minutes stacking the things we don't want unintentionally scavenged and covering them with the wall panels. Fun.

Thursday

40 minutes on trainer 16.6 mph avg.

Kajukenbo 5/14

I was asked to help out the other black belt- he reappeared- with his forms. That was most of class. I love forms.

Our instructor chided us for not being a bit more diligent in our class attendance over the years- I could have probably been a black belt two years ago- but that we were both basically, in his mind, black belts. We just need to go through the 3+ hour formalities of boot camp like fun plus "whackings and smackings on poor Gurgi's head!" (Can anybody guess the quoted reference?)

Thursday Pilates Ab Workout & Bollywood Dance Workout 1 hour

I mixed together two DVDs since the Pilates was only 25 minutes, and while the Bollywood Dance DVD was 50 minutes, I wanted to skip the parts where I turned in circles and flipped my head for 10 minutes since I'm still feeling sick to my stomach etc.

I will try both these DVDs when I feel better to give the reviews.

Also, I'm going out of town tomorrow, but I'm taking my running stuff so hopefully I will be able to squeeze in a run this weekend even though I'm technically on (mini) vacation.

Hoping!

Walking to Del Taco in hundred degree heat counts right? Even if it was followed by a Veggie works burrito! I'm still trying to find some good (and fun) workouts to do that don't involve dying in the heat... will return with a report when I do!

Wednesday Swimming 1 hour

I also did 2 hours of "big shovel" landscaping type work. This was the last big shovel push for the yard. It was hard work, and I almost did not go swimming, but I pushed on through. Everything else is downhill from here as far as gardening goes ;)

Okay....Ugh.

So, I've been sick some more. Headaches, nausea, dizziness...so I went to see the doctor today. She thinks it's the new birth control she put me on a couple of months ago, so she's changing my cocktail to a muuuuuuuch lower dosage. (She put me on it in the first place because my hormones were all totally out of whack from the stress of the R. Fever for the past year or so. They needed a jump-start) We are giving it a couple of months to resolve itself, and if it doesn't work, we will chuck it out and John and I will just have to work with other, non-oral contraceptive alternatives. This will be safe for me, because my hormones are now all back to pretty much normal.
So yesterday I cleaned my house, and went to the park with Erik. Today I went for a walk for twenty minutes with John and the kids. I'm exhausted, and I feel like hooey. Hooray!
The Almighty Liz

Wednesday

I ran 4.5 miles pushing J & C in the buggy. I was going to do more, but it started to rain.

Tuesday Walking 1 Hour

I felt sick yesterday, and I still did not feel super good today so I opted for walking. I'm hoping to feel well enough to go swimming tomorrow.

Monday

I lifted weights with Bruce this morning. I ran 3 miles with J & C in the stroller avg. speed 6.2 mph, then I rode the trainer for 20 minutes avg. speed 16.8.

A new size

Ok, I haven't been super consistent with my posts... but I have been pretty consistent with my exercise. In fact, yesterday, I wore a pair of jeans that were 2 sizes smaller than I normally wear. And, the best part is, I COULD BREATHE!!! Now, they still tend to push excess skin places that I wish it wouldn't go... but hey I was in them! Comfortably. So, while shopping with my friend, I bought a pair of "goal" jeans. I'm pretty excited about it! Who knew getting off that horrendous medication could make such a difference!

Walking- through sheer force of will

We took my mom (and Rick) to the Golden Corral in Alton for Mother's day. Needless to say, I at copious amounts of food. We came back and sedimentarily watched a movie. My mom and Rick left at 8ish.
At some point after that, I started feeling like I really should do something workout-wise. I asked the wife if we needed anything from the store and off I went.
I did not want to go. All I had was the inkling that it would be better to do it or I would continue in the sediment vein. After receiving two supportive remarks from the wife, I was out the door. It was really hard.
I walked for 35 minutes, plus time in the store- read an MMA mag and separate fitness mag's article about Filipino stick fighting exercises - and 10 minutes to get home.
(On a side note, time or its perception is weird. It seemed like that I thought about so much stuff or about particular things in a lot of depth in a 10 minute period. Like it should have been longer ,based on content, but wasn't.)

Saturday Running/ Walking 45 minutes 3 1/4 miles

Running Report- I ran one mile of that 3 1/4 miles.

More Saturday

Bruce, Terry & I rode 19 miles on the bikes, then Bruce and I ran 2 miles. So all in all that's 5.2 miles run & 19 miles biked today.

Saturday

Man I need to get more consistency going. Bruce's dad's friend signed up for a 5 k today, one that was run by one of my running group buddies. However, he couldn't make it today, so I got to run in his place. It's been a long time since I did a 5k run. I usually run about twice that, so I didn't know how to pace myself for that. I was soooooo close to placing in my age group. I am totally kicking myself! The girls that took second and third (fellow Team Alton gals) were just a few yards behind me the whole race. We ended on a hill and they passed me up right there at the very very end. DARN, DARN, DARN!!! I need to work on having a ending kick. DARN!!!!!! Oh well, I did pretty well, I think. For not having prepared whatsoever other than my usual routine, on a hilly 5k, 25:22 is not too bad. That's 7.9 minute miles, I can live with that. DARN!!!! I ran with Kara and Michael last Saturday (the two girls who beat me -DARN!-), but I don't see them out there during the week. I wonder when they do their during the week running. They would make great running buddies. That's twice that Michael's got me at the very end of a race like that. DARN!!!!!!!!~!!!

I'm hoping to get out and do some run / bike / running later on today. I'll need a sitter for that, so we'll see. I just signed up for a biathlon later in this month, and I've got the triathlon in August, plus maybe another biathlon in July. Time to get serious and start burning the pavement.

Wednesday Thursday Friday Hammering Sawing Digging Painting

I've been so busy with some labor intensive yard work that I have not had time to do any cardio for days! Plus, my sister got the bright idea to paint my mother's hallway for Mother's Day (since she's been whining about wanting it painted for ages). Plus, I went off the diet this week.

Bad! Bad fat girl! Not the way to lose weight! I'm going to try and run tomorrow!

Perfect 6 week

Meaning a decent work out everyday of the week, with rest on Sunday. These weeks are elusive for me. 4 is average, 5 good, 3 poor. The weather has turned so excellent though, that it is easy to be in the mood for working out lately.

Moonday: Ran a 5K or so. Tricep work out.
Tyr's day: 10 minute Pilates ab work out. 15 minutes katas and kicks (martial arts). 5 minutes swinging sticks (sorta martial arts) Another 5-10 minutes on the stationary bike
Wodin's day: Sprints. 20 minutes of running 150-200 yard dashes with walks in between. !0 minutes on the bike. Bench press.
Thor's day: another 5k. Shoulders.
Frey's day: 20minutes worth of running, 10 minutes on the bike. Curls.
Saturday (tomorrow) (is it Saturn's day? If so we have switched pantheons....): Mt Olympus run. (appropriate for the pantheon switch.) This is what I guess to be about 5 miles or so with the turn around point being at the top of this big hill in a richy subdivision. I'm guessing this hill is nearly a quarter mile long? And its high up. At the top I can turn a 360 circle and there is nothing above me. Hardee's extra high flag pole height Hardee's sign is a pointy speck far beneath my feet. Its pretty. And there's cows. They don't get me. Triceps, if I feel like it, later.

On the downside, I have been eating brownies, pizza, hotdogs, french fries and icecream.

Kajukenbo 5/7/09 and 5/30- THE DAY (maybe)

Good class, mostly helped people w/forms. Did a little bit of shadowboxing, a wrist lock vs. a grab and a knife disarm that involved pinning someone to the wall.

My black belt test will probably be Sat. 5/30. More time to prepare. :) I am supposed to be there at 5:00 and do some preliminary working out w/ some black belts. Then Sifu will get there at 6:30. Egads!

Thursday

I ran 6 miles with the group today.

Slacking on the Posts

Sorry I've been slacking again on posting. I've just been really busy.
I was sick for most of last week, so I didn't really do anything.
So John and I got rid of our kids for three days last weekend because it was our anniversary. Saturday, we went for a 2 mile hike covering an elevation of 200 miles. It took us an hour and a half, and many breaks for me. But I did it!!!
Monday, we went to the zoo. Lots of vigorous walking.
Tuesday and yesterday I haven't done anything because I'm not feeling super great. Not sure what's going on, dizziness and nausea, so I haven't really been doing anything. Just taking it easy. I have a doctor's appointment next Wednesday, so maybe we can figure out what's going on then. I'm feeling okay so far today, (pretty tired though), so I'm going to try to do a light workout on my bike, or maybe do a dance video. (which I love, btw. I even love the slutty ones; spices up the love life, lol!!)
The Almighty Liz

Weed- whacking and mowing

I weed-whacked Sat. for about 30 minutes.

Yesterday, I mowed for an hour.

Gotta do something tonight. :P

Keep it up ladies. You're an inspiration.

Tuesday

I went biking with Team Godzilla. 19 miles (my bike doesn't have a computer on it yet, so I don't know my speed) as hard as I could go. I don't know what it is about biking with a group, but it seems to bring out a fierce competitive nature in me that I never knew I had. Bruce and I also ran a mile after it was over. We are getting ready for the triathlon in August. (Timpani, you should consider it. It's a great time. The entry fee is about $40, but they give you a lot for it. They have a big meal afterward for the participants and their families, and then you and your family get into the Aquatic Center free for the rest of the day.) The hardest thing about it by FAR is getting off the bike and running. Your legs don't want to do that transition. It feels like running with bricks for legs.

So, I worked out good. However, the bad thing about working out in the evening is that I didn't eat much before -not wanting to have a full stomach- so I was starving afterward and I pigged out a bit. I did the same thing last time I went on the Tuesday night ride. I'll have to figure out a way around that one. I weigh 148 this morning, which is down, so maybe my pigging out didn't hurt me too bad.

Tuesday Running 45 minutes Abs 15 minutes

Running Report- I ran lots of big hills and some straight parts for 1 3/4 miles, and then walked 1/2 mile. So 2 1/4 miles total.

I also worked with the "big shovel" digging up a new flower bed for an hour and then I put together a DVD shelf for an hour as well.

Monday Walking 1 Hour Yoga 1 Hour

Plus two hours of gardening. I tired now ;)

Weekend Review

I ran 8.75 miles on Saturday with the group, average speed 6.5 mph. (A lot more people show up on Saturdays, so I actually had people to run with who were the right pace. YAY!)

I let the counting go for the weekend, and I weighed 149 this morning. That's 1.5 lbs down from my low flux weigh-ins a week or two ago, and Monday weigh-ins are usually high flux.

Friday Aerobics DVD 50 minutes (Dance & Be Fit Abs Burn)

This DVD was definitely a great ab workout, which was what I wanted when I ordered it from blockbuster.com. I'm going to try out an aerobic DVD every other week or so and I will post my review here.

My DVD Review of Dance & Be Fit Abs Burn (which came out in 2009)--My arms got sore from all the overhead dance moves, but I think that was more because of the chainsaw workout on Wednesday than the difficulty of the moves. You were basically working out your abs for the whole 50 minute DVD, and that felt great. The leg workout was ok, and I felt it in my arms, but it really targets your "core". It would also be a great DVD for beginners since they break it down into two 20 minutes segments (with 5 minutes warm up & cool down, so either way, you get 30 minutes of exercise). Or you could do both workouts with the warm up and cool down and make it 50 minutes of exercise.

Problem- I'm a prude so some of the dance moves made me uncomfortable (even in the privacy of my own home). They seemed like they took the moves from latin type dances (and the background music seemed to back up that theory). The stretches were taken from Yoga moves.