Weekend Wrap Up!

 

It was a weekend FULL of FRIENDS!

Thank you Lauren, Cat, Bree, Randy, and Maren! I needed it!

My second night in a row of 4-5 hours sleep. I woke up at 3:00am again. I even caught the emergency alert test on the TV for the second time in two weeks. Woohoo. Just kidding. This really started my day off on a bad foot. I have an appointment in two weeks to hopefully get my sleep situation figured out.

Jelly spent the morning helping me download podcasts and then watched me start a puzzle.

I went for a run. My back felt fine but my hammy felt a little jacked. This happens from time to time. I ran two miles and then did an epic deck of cards workout that included kettle bell swings! On my run I saw a fox in my neighborhood! He took one look at me and ran away.

Just a couple days ago I was in tights, long sleeves, and I fleece vest. Welcome to fall in PA.

It was a rainy morning...

Susan suggested I paint my nails to help myself from biting them. They look pathetic, don't they?

Work was crazy because it was one of my days with double instrument lessons, which means I taught from 8:40-1:15 STRAIGHT. Yeah, I have to teach through my lunch a couple days a week. It's worth it though. Then I eat my chicken and veggies during kindergarten music class. It's alright, it gives us a few minutes to talk about what vegetables we like and why it's important to eat them.

Needless to say, I was pretty tuckered out by the time my 8th class of the day came in around 2:00. I was messing students' names up left and right and the kids were calling me out on it... because heaven forbid you call someone by the wrong name.

"I have to remember the names of over 500 kids!" I said to the class. "From now on, I'm just calling you all 'Hey You'."

That made the kids laugh. Two minutes later, I called on a kid and called him 'You'.

"I thought it was 'HEY You'?" the kid said.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

The best part of my day was doing the Sasha folk dance with my 4th graders. It was my first time teaching it and the kids loved it right away. If you ever want to see the cool stuff I do in my music room, "like" my classroom's Facebook page called EP Music Kids. I have a video of the Sasha dance on there.

After work, Paul and I watched Survivor. Then I headed over to a Better Beauty Ladies Night hosted by my friend Lauren. The purpose of the Better Beauty presentation was to educate women about the ingredients in make up and skincare products. Lauren is very passionate about health and taking care of her body. I would urge you to read about the story of Better Beauty and their mission statement.

The party was hosted by Lauren's friend, Karen. The first thing I noticed when I entered Karen's kitchen was the Hillary magnet on her fridge and the Hillary pin on her windowsill by the sink. I thought I was the only person with Hillary paraphernalia around my house! (Fun fact: I just learned how to spell paraphernalia!)

On the way to and from the party, there was some major aerial flooding going on. It was scary! I never drove in water like that before!

I met my friend Cat bright and early for a Zumba class. I really needed Zumba. The dancing and music was so good for my soul!

When I got home, I did a deck of cards workout and then another circuit in my carport. Then I was a good girl and did my PT exercises. It was an ADD exercise kind of day.

That afternoon, I met my friend Bree for a walk. I haven't hung out with Bree in a long time. We sort of lost our connection for awhile and I blame myself. But I finally decided to reach out to her and I'm so glad I did. We walked over three miles, I got to see her new place, and most importantly we got to talk. I'm so glad we shared the afternoon together!

That evening, I went out to Cork and Fork in downtown Harrisburg with Randy. We had the best dirty martinis ever and it was great to catch up with him!

When I walked to the car, the capitol building looked so beautiful that I had to take a picture!

Daylight savings time! What did you do with your extra hour? I laid awake from Midnight to 3am. Woot.

That morning, I parked at Trindle Road and did 7 miles on the AT. I thought it would be really muddy from all the rain we got a couple days ago, but it was actually pretty dry. Except for one "stream" that wasn't really a stream...

Then I headed to Baltimore to hang out with my friend Maren. We took her BEAUTIFUL doggies to Lake Roland to go for a walk. Then we grabbed some lunch to take home to eat with her husband Max. I don't get to see Maren and Max often because they live an hour and fifteen minutes away... which really isn't that far! It was so great to hang with them.

Huxley and Ruby Sue!!!!!!!!!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!
Do you like dirty martinis?
Do you want to eat Maren's dogs? I want to eat them they are so freaking cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My New Gym Routine!

Thanks to some fun new exercises I learned at PT and some shoulder pain that has subsided, I feel like my gym routine has been invigorated! I wanted to show you what I've been up to at Planet Fitness lately, as some things have changed.

I still do my lifting in circuits because I don't like downtime or rest time. I always want to be moving.

Circuit 1

Dumbbell Chest Press- 3x10x25lb, 3x10x30lb

Seated Cable Row- 6x10x70lb

Thrusters- 3x10x10lb

I am finally back up to 30lb for dumbbell chest press. I can do 8-10 reps and 6 sets, which means I could probably move up in weights. The problem is, anything higher than 30lb is super awkward and dangerous for me to pick up and then lay back on the bench with. I would need a spotter or two to hand me the weights. What I could do if I wanted to up the weight on my chest exercises is bench press on the Smith Machine. I just haven't done that yet.

For seated cable row, I am up to 70lb. I love seated cable row as it just feels so smooth on my muscles.

Thrusters are like glute bridges on steroids! It's an exercise my PT gave me. The kicker is you HOLD for 3 SECONDS at the top and squeeze your glutes as tight as you can. Very exhausting! I only do 3 sets.

Circuit 2

Push Ups- 4x15

Inverted Row on TRX Cables- 4x15

PT Exercises

I use to do 6 sets of 10 push ups, but 10 is too easy for me, so I decided to do less sets but more reps. I use The Perfect Push Up and have been for several years as it helps me really focus on my chest when I use them.

I once read inverted row is one of the best back exercises to do, so I replaced dumbbell row with this exercise several years ago.

Between sets, I sprinkle in some of my "easier" PT exercises, such as ab braces, bird dog, leg raises, hip flexor stretches, supermans, and hydrants. These could be argued as "boring" exercises, so I mix them in with my lifting to soften the blow! Whether I find the exercises boring or not, I know they are important and that I must focus to be sure when I do them, I do them correctly.

Circuit 3

Dumbbell Shoulder Press- 6x10x22.5lb

Split Squats- 3x10

I am beyond thrilled I can do split squats again! I can't believe they don't hurt my knee or ITB! I only do them 2-3 times per week as I don't want to overdo it.

Circuit 4

Dumbbell Bicep Curls- 6x8x20lb

Dead Lifts- 3x10x20lb

Planks

I know biceps are "show" muscles, so if I am pressed for time, this is the exercise I skip.

My PT taught me to do dead lifts, and while I don't really like them because I feel awkward and not good at them, I trust the process and I will do what my PT says!

As far as planks, I do side planks and then forearm planks with one arm and one leg. Then I do them with one arm and one leg. It took a couple weeks to work up to that but I can do it now.

At my very last PT session, he showed me some more cool things I can do at the gym, but I am going to slowly incorporate them because I don't want to overdo it. For the next 2-3 weeks, I'm going to stick to this. Then I'm going to do some lunges, kettle bell swings, and some chops using the cables. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

GUYS, I WILL FINALLY BE DOING KETTLE BELL SWINGS AGAIN!!!!!

So that's what's going on at the gym with me lately!

Tell me about your gym routine!

Weekly Workouts!

I had a great week of workouts!

Saturday- Lifting and PT exercises at Planet Fitness. It was a cold, rainy day... the perfect day to go to the gym!

Sunday- 8 miles on the AT and PT exercises. I could have run with a group but I did not feel like having an agenda or setting my alarm. Late morning, I parked at Trindle Road and ran 8 miles on the AT. The trail was gorgeous!

Monday- 25 minutes on the stair climber and a deck of cards workout. I wanted to do something low impact but I needed endorphins! No PT exercises today because I forgot to do them later.

Tuesday- 6 miles on the road. I felt great during my run but my back hurt a bit later on. I'm not concerned. I went from back pain every. freaking. day. to once in the past 1.5 weeks! I woke Jelly up for post run cuddles.

Wednesday- Deck of cards workout and 3 road miles. My back did not hurt during my run but it hurt a little bit later in the day. I did all my bend overs and that alleviated it for the most part. I had PT later, which was a workout. It was also my last session! Yay! More on that soon...

When I got home from my run, Jelly plopped down in front of me. He either missed me, or just the thought of running made him tired!

Thursday- 6 treadmill miles. Boy did I go back and forth on what I wanted to do this morning. It was 54 degrees out, so my heart said run outside. But my brain said TREADMILL. I'm glad I did the treadmill because I didn't have any back pain after. I messed with the speed and even busted out some sub 8 and sub 7 paces! It was one of those days where I felt like the old Megan! (Aka, young Megan!)

Friday- 2 road miles and a deck of cards workout with kettle bell swings mixed in. My back felt fine, but my hammy was feeling jacked so I stopped at 2 miles. It was WARM OUT and I saw a fox in my neighborhood! He was about to run across the street but he saw me and turned right back around!

Just Tuesday I was all bundled up!

How were your workouts this week?

5 Random Things!

It's the most magical day of the week... Friday! And it's November 2nd, which means only 20 days until I can put up all of my outdoor Christmas decorations!

Today, I'm going to share 5 Random Things about the week.

1. I decided I want to stop biting my nails. On the way to work on Wednesday, I decided now would be as good of time as any to stop. So I made the decision. October 31, 2018... the end of an era... 

BUT THEN 10 MINUTES LATER I ACCIDENTALLY BIT A NAIL! 

SHIT!!!

Guys, this is going to be harder than I thought. I bite my nails without even thinking, especially in the car. I think I need to wear gloves for the next two weeks. Seriously.

2. On Halloween, I wore a cat mask to school and the kids loved it! Sure, it riled them up a bit for music class, but I decided to be Zen and just roll with it. It's Halloween after all. Let them have some fun!

Can we talk about why there is still a TV and VCR in my classroom? I have not used them in YEARS.

3. After school on Wednesday, I popped into Ross to kill time before my PT appointment. All the Christmas Yankee Candles were on display and it was very hard not to buy any. 

4. After a couple months break from puzzles (the beginning of the school year was super busy), I finally started busting them out again. Chrissy is happy.

5. This weekend is going to be full of friends! I have plans on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to hang out with various friends. I can't wait! I need girl time.

I am linking up with Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5!

Did you dress up for Halloween?
Tell me something random about your week!

Exercise Ideas for Deck of Cards Workouts

You may have noticed that during the past several months I have been doing a couple Deck of Cards Workouts (DOC) each week. Here's what a Deck of Cards Workout is:

Get out a deck of cards and assign one exercise to each suit. Shuffle the cards and flip one over. If it's the 3 of hearts, you do 3 of whatever exercise you chose for hearts. If it's the 10 of diamonds, it's 10 of the diamonds exercise. Face cards are 10 and aces are 15. Go through the whole deck!

DOC Workouts are awesome for several reasons:

1. DOC workouts are an efficient way to get an intense workout.

2. You can do a DOC workout anywhere. (Inside, outside, hotel room, gym, park...)

3. DOC workouts can be done with minimal or no equipment.

4. DOC workouts are versatile. You design the workout so it's exactly what you want it to be.

That being said, if you want some direction, I would suggest picking an exercise for upper body, lower body, core, and full body/cardio. Here are some suggestions for you!

Upper Body

Push Ups

Plank w/ Shoulder Tap

Tricep Dips

Lower body

Squats

Lunges

Squat w/ kick

Donkey Kicks

Hydrants

Glute Briges

Core

Bicycle Crunches

Sit ups

Standing Knee Tuck

Cardio/Full Body

Jump Rope

Burpees

Kettlebell Swings

Jumping Jacks

But honestly, there is no wrong way to design your workout!

When I do DOC workouts, this is my go to:

Hearts- Burpees

Spades- Jump Rope (x10... so 3 of spades is 30 rotations)

Clubs- Mountain Climbers

Diamonds- Bicycle crunches or Push Ups

Do you have any other suggestions for exercises? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!