Expectations

I have been disappointed a lot lately. I'm not talking little disappoints. I'm talking punched in the gut disappointments. (These disappointments are not in relation to Paul's surgery or our cancelled trip. I realize it is totally normal to be upset about those things.)

It seems like whenever I am disappointed, it is because my expectations have not been met. I'm particularly talking about expectations I set for other people. That is right, I set expectations for others and then when they are not met, I am extremely disappointed. It's ridiculous! I can't control other people, but when they don't act/react the way I expect them to, I feel horrible.

This is a fairly new realization I made, and I feel like it is valid. But it's also kind of harsh. Does this mean I simply can't count on anyone, or maybe I am just counting on the wrong people?

What are your thoughts on this topic? What do you do when people disappoint you? Is it all their fault, or is it your own fault for setting expectations in which you have no control over?

Study Tips for the ACE Personal Trainer Exam.

General Study Tips

When I bought my study materials for ACE, I was completely overwhelmed. There was so much to learn. At first I kicked myself for buying the bare minimum, which was two main books: ACE Personal Trainer Manual 4th Edition and ACE's Essentials of Exercise Science. I had no study guides, flash cards, or practice quizzes. It was simply me reading the books and learning it for myself.

I can't attest to how helpful the other materials may have been, but obviously having study guides, video lectures, and already made flashcards, etc would have helped. It just depends on how much money you are willing to spend and how organized/focused you think you can be without all of that stuff. I would say if you have the money, definitely get the extra items! It couldn't hurt.

Some general tips about studying:

- Work at your own pace. ACE kept sending me emails about what chapters I should be mastering each week and they stuck to a 12 week timeline. It took me almost a year to learn all the materials. Learning it in 12 weeks seems crazy to me. Ignore the emails if they make you feel pressured.

- After purchasing your materials, you have 6 months to schedule the exam, but the exam can be months away. I scheduled mine four months away, so I ended up having 10 months total to study. I could have had longer, if I wanted.

- Sometimes I need math explained to me. I found this great Fitness Math powerpoint. ACE gives you the 8 main formulas you need, but this powerpoint explains them nicely.

- Take the practice exam that comes in your study bundle. Everyone says if you pass the practice exam, you will pass the real exam. I thought the real exam was much more intense- it's over 3 times longer!

Good luck on your exam! It is worth the hard work and effort!

Summer Weekly Workout #1

Week #1 of "Summer Vacation" is in the books, people! Looking back, I really didn't do a whole lot with my first week of freedom. If I had to sum it up, it would go like this:

- staying up really late

- sleeping in really late

- surfing the internet a lot

- reading a lot

- running errands

Super exciting, right? I hope my summer gets a little more lively, but I won't lie- sometimes I enjoy having nothing to do.

Being a teacher, summer is like a whole new world for me. Of course I still teach piano lessons and I still have household and family responsibilities... but not working the normal 40 hours a week has me very refreshed and in a very good mood.

One of the best parts of summer is having much more flexibility in where/when/how I workout.

Things I like about summer workouts:

1. I can do it when I feel like it, not at the ass crack of dawn.

2. I am not usually hungry in the morning during the school year because it is so early. I end up not eating before a workout and I know my workouts suffer. In the summer, I am more likely to wake up hungry, or have time to wait until I am hungry to actually eat breakfast.

3. I don't feel rushed. I have time to stretch afterwards, which is very important for me to get in the habit of doing regularly.

I shared my summer goals last week, but I have to admit, I still feel a little all over the place with my workouts so far this summer. I thought I would share with you my first week of summer workouts. This may become a weekly thing... we'll see!

Summer Weekly Workout #1

(This is a Thurs-Wed re-cap as last Thurs was my first official day of summer!)

Thursday- 8 miles, sub 8 minute per mile pace. (This is pushing the pace for me. It was an effort.)

Friday- 30 min. HIIT on arc trainer, full body lifting

Saturday- 5 easy miles

Sunday- 8 miles- 8:25 pace (For me, this is a comfortable pace for this distance.)

Monday- HIIT circuits w/ a 1 mile warm up and cool down

    

Tuesday- Full body lifting

Wednesday- 6 miles, sub 8 minute per mile pace. (I was trying to beat the storm so my pace got faster as I went along.)

Pros: I got in 2 strength workouts, some HIIT, and kept my mileage to to an average amount- 29 mi total.

Cons: No rest day. I guess that means today is the day.

Is it is good to look back on the week and reflect. I honestly don't feel like taking a rest day tomorrow but it is the right thing to do. Hopefully I will follow through!

How many miles did you run this week?

How many strength workouts do you do in an average week?

Do you keep track of your weekly workouts?

Thinking Out Loud!

Thank you to Amanda @ Running With Spoons for this Thinking Out Loud link up! I have a lot of randomness to share with you today, so let's get started!

1. Yesterday, I passed my personal training exam! We celebrated two ways...

#1 Buying blinds and curtains! 

Doesn't everyone do this to celebrate milestones?

#2 Dairy Queen Blizzard! 

I got 2 of the kiddie sizes so I could try two flavors- S'mores and Reeses.
Look, when it comes to ice cream, I don't mess around.

Thank you all for your kind words, advice, and motivation in the comments yesterday. You are all such positive people and I can't think you enough for your support and sharing in my happiness!

2. My favorite moment of summer so far: Driving home from Dairy Queen at 10pm, windows rolled down, blasting Mika on the stereo and singing/screaming the harmonies with Paul.

3. This is the book I'm reading right now. I think it is the only book about the O.J. Simpson case I have not read yet. It is fascinating. I am learning things I did not know about the case- and I thought I knew everything!

4. Yesterday, I finally got confirmation from United Airlines that we would get a credit for the two airline tickets we had to cancel. It's not a refund, but I'll take it. It was a really tough "process". First of all, you have to talk to 50 robots before you talk to an actual person. Then when you get a person, their accent is so thick that you can't understand them. (They speak perfect English, I am not knocking that, I just cannot understand what they are saying over the phone.) You also get the run around... sent from one department to another department... I sent countless faxes of documentation. It was just a very, very, stressful process, but it was worth it to not completely lose 2/3 of our vacation money.

5. Hey, it's Throwback Thursday! Here is one of my favorite throwback photos of Paul and Christmas circa 2006! They both look like babies!

6. Last year, a mulberry tree suddenly popped up behind our shed. It is even bigger this year, in fact, it probably needs some heavy trimming. But soon the mulberries will be ripe and ready to pick!

7. Last but not least, I won a free entry to the Hit and Run 5k. However, since I do not live near any of the cities it visits, I cannot run it. Check out the website and if you live near one of the cities and want to run it, comment below. I can give you the free registration code!

From the Hit and Run 5k website:

"Hit and Run 5K is the hilariously humongous obstacle course™; it will hit you, bounce you, splash you, flip you, flop you, and catapult you where no 5K participant has ever been hurled."

Tell me something random- Think Out Loud!

Does talking to robots on the phone make you want to smash something?

What do you like in your Blizzard?

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! (Nope, still not pregnant.)

Friends, I have exciting news...

What the WHAT!?? I know, I can hardly believe it! If you're thinking, "Wow, I didn't even know she was taking her test," you are not alone. I didn't tell anyone other than Paul when exactly I was taking it because if I failed... I'll be honest, I didn't want anyone to know. Not because I wouldn't want to admit failure, I just figured it would be bad for business!

But anyway, it doesn't matter because I PASSED!!!

American Council on Exercise

I decided to become a trainer way back in August. There were a couple factors that motivated me to become a trainer. First, I wanted to learn more so I could better myself and not have to rely on someone else. I also wanted to help others. When I worked with a trainer, she changed my life. I was in a vicious cycle of over exercising. I obsessed about food all day long. I needed to make a change but I needed someone to kick me in the right direction . Some people need that! If I can help others the way my trainer helped me, I will be so happy.

Studying was tough. I bought the minimum resources I needed.: two books and an exam voucher. That's it. There were lots of study guides and flashcards that I could have purchased to help me but I decided against it. Everything was expensive and I figured I could just buck up and teach myself. I did my entire Master's program via online college courses, surely I would be self-directed enough to study to become a personal trainer on my own.

I'm not going to lie. It was hard. While I knew a lot about running, a fair amount about nutrition, and a little about the weight room, it was peanuts compared to the information in the book. Interesting, the information I actually already had a grasp of were the many chapters dedicated to teaching styles, learning styles, motivation, and the psychology of behavioral change. With all the educational psychology and teaching courses I took in my undergrad and graduated programs, I was very comfortable with the information in those chapters. But there was so much other stuff I needed to learn. A lot of it was interesting, but a lot of it was boring, too!

Confession: I wasn't confident on test day. I had taken a break from studying for awhile and actually planned on rescheduling my test. I ended up deciding just to go for it. If I failed, it would still be good practice for me and I could take it again.

The test comprised of 150 multiple choice questions. I had 3 hours to take the test and I used all but 7 minutes of my time. I took one bathroom break, which was pretty much a "brain" break for me. I was at a computer in a tiny little room by myself the whole time. There was video surveillance on me and the proctor had to walk through the room once every 15 minutes. That was a little distracting. I read each question carefully.

Some questions were very straightforward...

Example: What four muscles make up the quadriceps?

I like questions like that. There is one clear cut answer.

Then there were some not so straightforward questions...

Example: Your client has confided in you that he has been having trouble staying motivated to adhere to his exercise program. What is the BEST suggestion you can give him?

A. Explain to him how important physical fitness is to his health.

B. Tell him to workout at the same time each day.

C. Encourage him to find a training partner.

D. Let him know he won't reach his goals if he doesn't stick to his plan.

Obviously A and D are out. But I couldn't decide between B and C. B could work because I know when some people exercise at the same time each day, it can become part of your routine and easier to stick to. But then again, some people like having a training partner... and some people don't. I went back and forth a million times and I think I ended up choosing C. I don't know if it was right or not.

There were a lot of questions that I felt had two answers, which of course concerned me at the time. I do tend to over think things though, which is why I always did so poorly on True False tests in high school!

Once I submitted my exam, my score was ready. When it flashed up on the screen, it still took me a few seconds to realize I passed. I got a shitty little grin on my face and felt so relieved. I would never have to take that 3 hour test again! Woohoo! Oh, and I was officially a certified trainer, too!

So now, there is lots to do! First of all, I need to purchase insurance and have a lawyer help me draw up waivers/agreements/informed consent type documents so no one sues my ass. I need to create a website. I need to come up with a business model and decide how much I am going to charge for particular services. I need to decide what sorts of services I'm going to offer. There is still a lot to do before I will officially train anyone. But it is all fun things, and I have Paul to help me!

I do need a name for my business... so if you have any ideas, let me know!

Thanks for listening to my rambles. This post is probably a little disjointed right now, but that's what happens when I get on a high!

Any ideas on what I should call my business?

What is the scariest test you had to take?
Have you ever hired a personal trainer?

A Crazy Summer Workout!

One of my favorite things to do on a hot summer day is go out in the yard and do some sort of crazy circuit workout that involves cardio, core, plyometrics, and anything else I can think of. Half the fun is designing the workout. The other half of the "fun" is powering through with the sun beating down, sweat dripping in my eyes, and grass sticking to the backs of my legs.

I haven't done one of these in a long time. My knee troubles probably seem like ancient history to you, but I am reminded of my wonky knee every time I push myself a little too hard. But yesterday, I just thought, "F&CK IT! I wanted jump and squat and mountain climb- KNEE BE DAMNED!"

**Spoiler Alert!!! My knee actually held up pretty well, but I was totally prepared to suffer any consequences bestowed upon me.**

So I lugged my kettle bell, jump rope, stability ball, beach towel, deck of cards, and the HUGEST glass of water in the world out to my front stoop and got started. I had on my tightest, shortest black shorts and a cut off green camisole that was acting as a sports bra. (My goal was to push myself hard while at the same time getting a tan.)

Here is what I did:

Deck of cards workouts go like this: Each suit represents an exercise. You pick a card from the deck and do the number of the exercises indicated on the card. Example: 9 of hearts would be 9 burpees. Face cards equal 10. Aces normally equal 15 but I made my Aces 150 jump rope rotations. I also assigned a 1 minute plank to the jokers. You go until you get through the entire deck.

The workout above took me 27 minutes.

This is how I did the ladders. I started with 5 burpees. Then I did 10 push ups and 5 burpees. Then I did 15 jump squats, 10 push ups, and 5 burpees... You get the picture.

Both of the Ladder Workouts took about 9 minutes.

As I started my cool down, me knees felt like jelly. "This must be what it feels like to do an Ironman," I thought to myself. Then I laughed because it was probably about 1% of the difficulty of doing an Ironman. When I finally got in the house, and chugged my second glass of water, I felt sort of nauseous. It was the heat. Or the burpees.

So, what does all this random jumping around translate to? Here are the final stats!

Run- 2 miles

Burpees- 115

Squats- 85

Push ups- 135

Sit ups- 85

Jump rope rotations- 800

Planks- 2 min.

Jump squats- 60

Plank w/ knee tuck- 60

Wall sit- 50 sec.

Jumping jacks- 100

Stability ball pull ins- 30

Kettle bell swings- 50

Mountain climbers- 60

Bicycle crunches- 60

Tell me about your craziest circuit workout!

Favorite at home exercises?

Do you enjoy designing workouts as much as I do?

Weekend Wrap Up!

GOOD NEWS: I finally figured out how to schedule my blog posts! If I have my post ready the night before, it will be up at 5:00 am. I can't believe it took me over a year of blogging to figure this out. WELCOME TO 2014, MEG GO RUN!!!

Here's what I was up to this weekend...

I shamelessly slept until 10:30 am. I awoke to the fourth day in a row of cloudy, rainy weather. School is out, so I was officially on Summer Vacation Day #2, but it sure did not feel like summer yet.

I balanced my sleeping with a very tiring workout at Planet Fitness. I was afraid it was going to be crowded with annoying high school and college students, but for some reason it was not! Here is what I did:

A few things to note about this workout:

1. I should not have done the HIIT first. It was an "I feel fat" cardio session. I still have those from time to time.

2. I can't do squats with heavy weights and I can't lunge at all, so I am stuck on the leg extension and hamstring curl machines.

I had to take so much time off of lifting lower body after my surgery so even doing the "easy" machines is a challenge for me. But whenever my quads are burning, I think of this picture as inspiration:

That's me. I'm my own fitspiration.

I think of this picture every time my legs are burning but need to power out 5 more reps.

When I got home, one of the things I refueled with were 2 ingredient cookies, a recipe shared with me by my friend Kristen @ Family, Food and Running. Here is the recipe:

Beware, your house is going to smell like banana bread if you make these!

This picture isn't great, but it gives you an idea.

Friday was one of those nights where Paul and I couldn't figure out what to do. The conversation went something like this:

Megan: What do you want to do today?
Paul: I don't know, what do you want to do?
Megan: Want to go mini golfing?
Paul: Sure!
*Starts to rain*
Megan: Eh, I don't want to risk it.
Paul: Movie?
Megan: There's nothing good out. Want to go out to eat?
Paul: We have so much food here.
Megan: My back hurts anyway and I feel cruddy because I got my period today. Let's just stay home.
Paul: Okay.

So we stayed in, played cards, watched Orange is the New Black, and cuddled the kitties.





My workout Saturday was an easy 5 miler around my neighborhood. The weather finally felt summery!

That afternoon, we celebrated Father's Day with my family at my brother's house. This is what we had for dessert:

That's ice cream in between the cookies.

And you can't tell, but that cookie is as big as a coaster!

I got a whole pack of the  "just the cookie" part of the Oreo from a discount grocery store. They are HUGE- not tiny like a normal Oreo.

I have a few ideas of what to do with these. Most involve ice cream...

My niece was entertainment, as usual!

I didn't get any pictures with my dad! But I wrote about him in yesterday's post and there are lots of pictures there!

I had a wonderfully hot, easy run on Sunday. I call it sports bra weather! I am slowly but surely getting my sports bra tan back.

We celebrated Father's Day by grilling on the back porch with Paul's parents. Of course I didn't take any pictures, so you will just have to imagine us eating grilled salmon, roasted cauliflower, and crazy rice.

That night, I went to see my friend Randy in his improv show. He's in a group called the Oxymorons and they perform in the Harrisburg area. They are hilarious, so if you are ever looking to do something different, check them out!

Oxymorons

I saw this on Facebook this weekend and had to share, especially because I got a huge scratch on my belly, courtesy of Christmas.

Christmas and Jelly hope you had a relaxing weekend!

Did you celebrate Father's Day with your dad this weekend?

What would you do with those giant Oreos!!!???
Ever see an improv show?