Insanity

To summarize the past month and a half, it's been...winter. All of the stereotypical adjectives one would use to describe this season apply to what this year's winter has been. It's been unbelievably and consistently cold, both in Michigan, as well as in most of the country. Luckily the sun has been out a little more in the past two weeks or so, but otherwise it's been gray on top of all that, so 2014 thus far has certainly been a challenge for many. 

Right around the holidays, Ryan and I started talking about the idea of trying out an extreme at-home workout program, like Insanity. I think we both had our reasons for being interested in doing it, but we didn't discuss them fully. Instead, just after New Year's, we decided to give the first workout a try. We didn't discuss committing to the full 9 weeks, or what our plan of action was. We just wanted to try it out. 

So we did. The first workout we did was while we were snowed in at my parents' in New York, and after flying back to Michigan, we were snowed in/frozen in again...for four days. More or less stuck inside, each day we certainly had the time to workout, so we just did. 

Fast forward 6 weeks. January's work calendar looked a bit like a Picasso painting. Normally, I would have been completely thrown off by the lack of routine and schedule with so many days off from work due to the snow and cold. Having the days off made it a little easier at times to get into a good flow and routine with Insanity, which can be a bit much to do after a long day of work. And while I didn't anticipate many positives of the program in advance of doing it, I'm so appreciative of them now. 

On days when the high was a negative number, it felt really good to workout in the comfort of my living room and it sounds great, but it felt good to be hot and sweaty when it was so cold outside. I don't mind running in "cold" temperatures, but prior to this winter, I defined that as temperatures in the 30's, with a sprinkling of 20's to make me feel extreme. I didn't run at all during this program since it's six days of a week, and I have no idea how I would have. There are days when the sun is out and the cold can feel like refreshing...but most of these days weren't that. Regardless of the type of workout, I know it would have been very challenging to continue to incorporate any regular physical activity into my schedule during these cold weeks without Ryan by my side. It's been so helpful doing it with him, and has really kept me accountable. 

The closer to the end we get, the harder it's becoming for me, but I'm proud of how far we have come and impressed that we somehow got to this point. Here's to finishing it out! 

Extreme Blog Makeover

If revamping my blog was my resolution for the new year, then I can pretty much sit back and relax for the next 362 days. Apparently much has changed since I started, but it was a lot less overwhelming to tweak and edit things than I remember, which is GREAT! I feel like this make-over is exactly what I need to start off the new year, and taking time to add labels/tags after the fact gave me the chance to quickly look back on my journey over the past two years (I decided to go back and add them, thinking it'd be neat to have the whole blog included, opposed to just starting from now). It's a good feeling to lay out goals for the upcoming month/year, while not losing sight of the fact that I've come a long way from where I started.

Speaking of resolutions and goals, I have decided to set running goals for the month, instead of the year, so I can celebrate the small victories (/avoid overloading my list with a moment of excitement!). Scary that they're now in print. Here we goooo:

1. In preparation for Hope Express, choose one day a week to run before AND after work. Woof.

2. Mountains and Hills and Slopes, oh my! Also in preparation for next month, adding straight up repeats into my regime. I'm proud to admit that I have stopped sobbing at the sight of incline/gladly welcome hills into my runs, but certainly adding more intentional repeats into my runs in the upcoming weeks will be crucial.

3. More cow bell. I mean, cross training. Signed up for a class at the gym to help with this one and I'm eager to get more out of my gym membership.

bike ride to...the same place I started.

*Disclaimer: This should go without saying, but I still find it necessary to say: I still find it socially acceptable to give myself public pats on the back, since I'm still accepting titles such as "physically active," "athlete," and "runner."

I decided to head to the gym for a class this morning (since my normal classes were cancelled-woo!), but the streets of Manayunk prevented me from getting there on time. In response to a conversation I just had the other night, when I saw a sign-up for a spin class, I decided I'd give it a shot. It's been a long while since I've cried my way through..I mean, spun my way through a class, and it's certainly overwhelming when so many people in the class are so hard-core. It can be scary, but once I was in there, I was pretty much stuck..which was a good thing!

If my thoughts could've typed a post, it would've been long and intense, but I'll just share the general points:

Overall, I really loved it! I thought it went pretty quick (that was one thing I had remembered disliking about spin in the past..it felt like I was just watching the clock). I was lucky that the music the instructor played was great, including some personal favorites...so that definitely helped. In looking at my training for the National Half, I've definitely been wanting to focus more on cross training, so I think this is something I'm eager to throw into my schedule. I already pay for it...

I like that I had to really push myself. That's not to say that there aren't runs where I want to just stop, but for some reason, it felt different. I was so clearly able to call on the things that motivate me and keep them clearly in my head. When I needed to go fast, I thought about my goals that I want to reach. When I had to push against the resistance, I thought about the challenges in my life that I need to work through. It was actually kind of neat!

Nevertheless, it was hard stuff and don't mind me if I did give myself a few gold stars throughout the class! I'm certain there were people in there working a lot harder than I was, but I did it and I really tried to stick with the resistance when I needed to. In thinking about my training for Hope Express....those who fight battles every day can't turn down the cancer, the pain, the struggle. Instead, they need to push harder, fight tougher. When I think about my running in Hope Express, I want to help inspire others to that they can push harder...that they shouldn't, they CAN'T, give up!

I think this really helped me to bring my reasons for running, especially with Hope Express just THREE WEEKS AWAY!!!!, right back to the forefront of my mind and heart, and it feels great!

You can learn more about Hope Express at www.thehopeexpress.org, and donate at www.thon.org (Organization ---> Hope Express)!

Cross Training

Today, after months of separation, the gym and I were reunited. I decided to take attend a class in honor of the big occasion, Total Body Workout, to begin weaving some cross training into my routine. Wikipedia defines cross training as "training in different ways to improve overall performance." Perhaps more than anything else, this class worked my mental stamina realllll hard. Here are some mental notes from the experience:

• I rarely do any type of weight training using my upper body. Obviously, continuing to not do this type of activity will allow it to continue to be very difficult. Nevertheless, almost the entire class (in MY opinion) focused on the upper body. I actually can't effectively do a "real" push-up normally....so putting myself in that position for such a long period of time was ROUGH! I was proud that I was able to hack it as much as I did (although it didn't look that way...and I did quite a few sets of eye-rolls at the instructor when he continued to rattle of exercises that required me to put myself in said position).
  
• A very important practice stressed to teachers: MODEL. The instructor was just fine listing the ridiculous arm exercises he expected me to do as he walked around the room...with his arms dangling at his sides. WHAT? Validation for the aforementioned eye rolls, I'd say....
  
• Nevertheless, he did say one big thing that really stuck with me: For one exercise, he asked us to grab our weights, and, being far enough into the workout that I was fading, I took my lighter set (notice I will just use comparative words, not give the specific weight amount...). Almost as if he caught me, he reminded us we can always switch to a lighter set if we need to once we start...and surprisingly enough, I listened to his advice and switched to my heavier weights...and I was able to do the exercise with them!

Learned lesson of the day? A larger % of "it" than I'm usually willing to admit is actually mental. That...and sometimes it's much easier to just push through than to stop and try to start again. Surprisingly enough, I may even attend next week!