Sunday Funday - 100s Workout!

What is Sunday Funday you ask? Well, it's the day of the week I will share some new ideas for workouts. Most of you have your RUNday on Sunday. So after your long run, kick back with some carbs and check out the Sunday Funday workout you can use later in the week!

Today's Sunday Funday Workout is a 100s Workout! 100s workouts are quick and fun. They are not easy. I always think they will be easy but they never are! Watch the video below, or read on for more info on how to do a 100s Workout.

Warning: This video is raw. I never like how I look/sound in these videos

but you guys tell me you like them so I keep doing them. One take, that's it.

If it sucks or I look silly, too bad, it's going on THE BLOG!

So the "hook" of the 100s workout is that you do 100 reps of an exercise, then 90 reps of a different exercise, then 80, and so on until you get down to 10 reps of an exercise. If you have enough energy, you do it all again!

Here is a 100s workout you can try!

(From the video)

100 jumping jacks

90 step ups

80 second side plank (40 each side)

70 high knees

60 second wall sit

50 bicycle crunches

40 mountain climbers

30 squats

20 burpees

10 push ups

But you don't have to do mine! You can make up your own! Just make sure you mix up the body parts... You wouldn't want to do 30 kettle bell swings and then 20 jump squats. Your legs would be jelly! Mix it up so you hit different body parts and don't have to take any breaks. It saves times and makes it less boring.

Enjoy!

Any other ideas for exercises that would work great in a 100s Workout?
Have you ever done a 100s workout?

Disclaimer: I am a personal trainer, but I am not YOUR personal trainer. These exercises are not prescriptions. Please check with your doctor before starting any workout program.

Blog Post Ideas For Runners

Somehow I have managed to blog every day for a over a year! Not all of my posts were running related, but a lot of them were! I write 80% of my posts ahead of time (including this one... I wrote it back in May!) and usually have 15-20 just chilling in my draft folder ready to go when I need them. I don't always feel like writing and I don't always have an idea for a post, so I try to write when I am inspired. Once in awhile I have had to comb the internet for blog post ideas. Google “ideas for blog posts” and many websites will pop up to save the day. I decided to compile my own list of ideas directed toward runners. Some of these topics I have already written about and some I will write someday. Go ahead and use any and all of these idea when you are hard up for a post! I know I've been there...

Source

1. Your favorite stretches and how to do them (with pictures)

2. A race re-cap or review

3. Your favorite cross training activities

4. A picture tour of your most recent long run

5. Tips for running through the elements (heat, cold, rain, etc...)

6. What you wish you knew when you started running

7. Your favorite running accomplishments

8. Races you would love to run

9. Your best race

10. Your worst race

11. Current running goal and your plan to accomplish it

12. What you can't run without (gear, clothes, whatever)

13. An honest review of a running product

14. What you eat/drink before and after a run

15. 2 Truths and 1 Lie (running related of course)

16. Your fitness bucket list

17. What running has taught you

18. Why you run

19. Pros and cons of your gym

20. Rest days: discuss

21. How you stay motivated

22. Trail running: discuss

23. Speed work: discuss

24. What kind of strength training you do

25. Do you do any workout DVDs? Tell us about them or write a review.

26. Fitness "sins" you commit

27. Race tips

28. Beginner runner tips

29. Take this Running Survey

30. Share your running playlist

31. Rant about something running related that annoys you

32. What are your favorite running books/movies/etc?

33. Who are your running idols?

34. If you could go on a run with any celebrity, who would you go with?

35. If you could run anywhere in the world, where would you run?

36. Do you run with a running group, friend, or solo?

37. Do the ABCs of Me!

38. Do a compilation post of your favorite running articles

39. Interview one of your running buddies

40. Compile a list of your favorite running blogs

41. Compile a list of your favorite fitness articles

42. What are your hobbies besides running?

43. What made you decide to start running?

44. Do you/did you play any sports?

45. BRAG! Tell us about your PRs!

46. What do you think about when you're running

47. Talk about your training philosophy

48. Healthy eating tips for runners

49. How to fit your workout into a busy day

50. Tell us about an injury that sidelined you from running and how you dealt with it

Am I missing any good ideas?

Have you ever needed Google to help you come up with a blog topic?

A couple random things about the past few days...

1. Well, our week long trip to Baltimore only lasted 9 hours! Boy did Jelly miss us. This is what he does to his blue blanket we keep on our bed if he is feeling emo...

He puts it in his mouth and then turns around in a circle until it is all coiled up. He kneads the blanket as he is doing all of this. 

This is what the blanket looked like when we got home:

Note: It was spread out FLAT when we left.

Don't you think it looks like a dolphin diving through the waves? Jelly creates ART, people!


2. My relationship with Paul has been taken to the next level. We were stuck in traffic foreeeeever on Tuesday and I had to pee so bad. As in, I was going to pee my pants unless I found a bathroom within the next five minutes. Unfortunately, there was no bathroom! So we pulled over in a neighborhood, Paul blocked the view, and I peed in a coffee cup in the car. I HAD NO OTHER CHOICE!!!!!!! Paul says he doesn't judge me. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.


3. I had a cup of Autumn Squash soup from Panera the other day. Oh my gosh, it is so good. Heaven in a bowl! I like to dump the little bag of chips that come with it into the soup. Real healthy, I know.

Source

4. Speaking of health foods, I have determined that small Blizzards from DQ are too big for me. Obviously, America has a skewed vision of what is a "small" because a small Blizzard is actually quite large! I need to start only eating half and then save the rest for the next day. Because if I eat the whole thing, I am past the point of satiation.

Source

A small is huge!

5. On Tuesday morning, I hit the road at 4:15 am and ran five miles. It was pitch dark and there wasn't a single soul out. I didn't even see any cars. About a mile into my run, it started to drizzle ever so slightly. It was warm and peaceful. It sort of felt magical.

6. At work on Thursday, I came back from lunch to see a "surprise" laying on the floor behind my desk...

It looked very realistic. I mean, look at those two little nuggets beside the big turd. Also, I work at an elementary school, so it is not out of the realm of possibility to find puhp laying on the floor.

However, before I flipped out, called a custodian, and put my classroom on lock down, I remembered that I work with quite a lot of jokesters and immediately called out the culprit!

It was pretty funny though!

Have you ever had to find a creative way to pee in traffic?
Tell me something RANDOM!

10k Training - 400s, and now REST!

I had a beautiful training calendar that I designed. It told me exactly what I was supposed to do every single day. However, life started to get in the way. And some stuff in life is a billion times more important than 10k training! So a few things on my schedule had to be altered- and skipped all together.

But I wanted to get one more speed workout in before we headed to Baltimore, so on Monday, I hit the asphalt for some 400s. Man, I freaking hate 400s. There is a relatively flat road behind my house that doesn't have any traffic on it. So what I did was warmed up for a mile, then I just ran back and forth on that flat road. I would sprint for a quarter mile, then turn around and jog for a quarter mile. My training plan said to do that ten times. I managed to do ten, but only by playing mental games with myself- aka telling myself I only had to do eight. Then when I got to eight, doing two more didn't seem like that big of a pain. Thank goodness I had my Big Brother podcast to listen to!

So that was Monday. Then on Tuesday morning, I did an easy 5 mile run. I thought we'd be in the hospital for a week and I'd have a lot of resting ahead of me (my reason for squeezing in so many runs and not a lot of rest), but boy did those plans change! So Wednesday, I made sure to sleep in and REST MY ASS.

When life gets in the way of your workouts, how do you compensate, if at all?
When was the last time you rested yo' ass? (If the number has a "1" in front of it, take a freakin' rest day!)

NO surgery today.

This is going to be a fast and furious post because I need to SLEEP. Sorry if there are typos, I'm only going to proof this once!

Paul is NOT having surgery today. Yes, this is the third time Paul's surgery has been postponed or canceled. I am about to tell you the most I have ever told you about what is going on because I have gotten so many concerned messages from you all that I feel I owe it to you to tell you a little more in detail about what we're dealing with.

About 2 years ago, Paul was diagnosed with a stage two glioma (brain tumor). It is causing seizures. A year ago, he had surgery to take as much of the tumor out as possible. They can't take it all out. He has less seizures than he used to have, but he still has them if he does any sort of physical activity. Unless of course, we are in Colorado and he can use medical cannabis. 

Paul was supposed to have surgery tomorrow due to an enhancement (growth) they found on a June MRI. However, since the MRI he got yesterday morning showed NO CHANGE (HALLELUJAH!!!!) in the growth, his surgeon gave him two options. One option was to go ahead with the surgery, remove the growth, and also remove more of the temporal lobe to try to reduce seizures. The other option was to wait ten weeks, get another MRI to make sure the enhancement hasn't changed, and tweak meds to hopefully reduce seizures. Paul discussed the options at length with his surgeon and decided to take the "watch and wait" approach. This doesn't mean surgery is not in his future, it just means it's not happening today.

We cannot believe this change of plan but we are confident in it. I am always scared to talk to his doctor, because talking to the doctor makes everything real. But our discussion yesterday was very hopeful. He even told us about some new studies that may help Paul in the future.

Believe me, if Paul ever has surgery scheduled again, I am not even going to mention it because the last three times did not even come to fruition! Heck, we canceled a Hawaii trip because we thought he was having surgery. You probably don't even believe all this is happening the way it has unfolded, but believe me, it is. We sure didn't expect our life to be like this but that's the reality.

I hope someday our life isn't a whirlwind like this anymore.

Thank you ALL for your support. I don't want this to be the "my husband has a brain tumor" blog. Tomorrow it will go back to Meg Go Run and I will tell you all about the 400s I ran on Monday! Oh, and I am sure you are missing cat pictures since I haven't posted one since yesterday!

Seriously, I love you all, and thanks for reading!

Signing off for a bit... sort of.

I will sort of be MIA the next couple days. I have blogs written and ready to post, but I may not reply to comments. Or maybe I will. I have no clue! Today we travel to Baltimore fto prepare for Paul's surgery tomorrow. He is my #1 priority for the next several days. But if I need an escape from reality or I can't sleep, I may get online. We'll see.

I just wanted to warn you because I have been blogging and replying to comments every single day come hell or high water and I didn't want you to think the cats ate me or something!

Don't let the picture fool you, they're not that innocent...

Weekend Wrap Up!

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had an enjoyable, relaxing, weekend. I also hope you got some good runs in! 

Many of you are marathon training and you are getting into the really high mileage

 at this point. I can't wait to read about your long run! My "long" run this weekend was 10 miles... which is not that long!

Here's what we were up to this weekend...

Last week was a very long week at school and Friday was particularly crazy. (Which of course I can't tell you about since it is work related, but let's just say it was a whirlwind day!)

We really wanted to "live it up" Friday night since Paul is having surgery next week and we won't be able to do anything too crazy for awhile. Our definition of living it up is heading down to the sushi restaurant near our house for the second weekend in a row. It was so good.

On the way home, we stopped at DQ for Blizzards. This is the second night in a row we got Blizzards! The flavor of the month is Apple Pie, so that is what I got. It even had whipped cream on top. Guys, I am in love.

Dairy Queen

It's upside down because it is advertised as "Upside Down Thick"

Then we went home and watched Seinfeld while we ate our ice cream. It was just what we needed- a homey Friday night. We were in bed and sound asleep before 11:00. That's just how we've been rolling lately!

Due to the extremely early hour we went to bed, Paul and I were both wide awake at 6:30. We laid there for a minute and then Paul said, "I'm getting up." I suddenly craved French toast and suggested we go out for breakfast. (I totally thought Paul would say no.) "I was just thinking we should go out for breakfast!" he exclaimed. Great minds think alike!

He got eggs benedict and I got the French toast I was dreaming of. I also ate four pieces of REAL FATTY BACON. It was so good.

With all those carbs, you'd think I'd have a ton of energy to go for my long run. Not so. I was just feeling lazy and tired! The weather was cool and rainy. I just wanted to stay home.

I procrastinated for a couple hours by running errands and doing some house work, but finally it was time to just go run. It ended up being a really good run! I did ten miles at an 8:18 pace, and I didn't feel like I was pushing myself. It felt like a "La la la" pace. "La la la" pace means the pace you just naturally can run easily. My long run "La la la" pace can be anywhere from an 8:20-8:50. It just depends how I feel.

The night, our friends Bob and Rachel came over to chill. We got our new fire pit going and roasted marshmallows. It was great to just sit and chill with damn good friends. Oh, and I ate at least ten marshmallows. I make them BLACK and then I eat them.

Sunday was GET SHIT DONE day. We are leaving for Baltimore on Tuesday, which means there was so much to be done. The house needed cleaned, I had to do wash, mow the lawn, tend to the garden... Wash the sheets and pillow cases so our house sitter doesn't have to lay in a bed of Christmas and Jelly hair... I packed... I CLEANED THE SHOWER! I even rolled the fridge out and cleaned behind it- the first time in the entire 6 years we lived here. (What I saw back there (and smelled) I will never ever discuss!) I basically did not sit down except for the time it took me to write this post.

Don't worry, I also got a good workout in. I went to Planet Fitness and did a full body strength training workout. I won't be able to lift for a week and a half, so this was my last chance to get jacked.

Paul spends Sundays watching football, but we did reconvene to watch Big Brother later that night. Frankie is so going home and I am EXTREMELY EXCITED!

How do you enjoy your marshmallows?

What's your favorite Blizzard flavor?

What is your "La la la" pace?

Did you ever clean behind your fridge?