Fitness Bucket List

I enjoy reading other fitness blogs. I recently spent a lot of time catching up on some, and I saw several posts entitled "Fitness Bucket List". What a great idea! So I decided to make one of my own. A list of fitness goals/activities I want to accomplish before I die.

I'm only including things on my list that I think are at least in the REALM of possibilities. For instance, "Win the Boston Marathon" is not on my list, even though, ummmm, who wouldn't want to do that? I'm only including things that I at least have some sort of chance at actually doing!!!

Here we go...

1. Become a personal trainer and help others 

cross things off their Fitness Bucket List!

2. Lead a marathon pace group.

3. PR in the marathon, half marathon, 5k, and mile.

4. Run all of these races.

5. Run the entire Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania.

6. Do 10 pull ups in a row.

7. Become a Zumba instructor.

8. Learn to take 1 rest day a week.

9. Stretch/foam roll every. damn. day.

10. ?????????????????????????????

I wish I could round this list out to an even ten, but I can't! Although as soon as I hit publish, I am sure I will think of something to finish the list!

How about you, what is on your Fitness Bucket List???

Have you ever done something that's on my list?

Suggestions for my #10!??

The Road To Boston

It's about that time to start thinking about my training for Boston. When coming up with a training plan, I first think about what my goals are.

 Boston 2014 Goals:

1. Run the marathon and enjoy myself. I want to soak it all in! 

I want to take pictures! I want to experience the race.

2. Train smart- NO INJURIES!

3. Take 1 full rest day a week.

4. Continue my weight training program. 

I do not want my weight training to slide due to marathon training.

Since I have run several marathons, ultra marathons, and have a pretty good handle on what it takes to run this distance, I am only hashing out approximate long runs to do in preparation for the race. I am not planning out my mid week runs. I am going to listen to my body and do what feels right. 

I wouldn't recommend this bare bones plan if you are new to distance running or don't feel comfortable not having each and every run planned out. As much as I LOVE a plan, exact numbers, and being anal about things... I feel like I'm at the point where I really just need to be anal about my long runs. I will run during the week, but those runs will be dictated by what I think I need at that time. 

I want to be conservative. I don't want to beat my body down. I want to just run the race, have fun, and come out injury free.

I DON'T EVEN HAVE A TIME RELATED GOAL!!!!

I don't care if it takes me 4 hours to complete the race due to taking pictures and enjoying myself. I have no time goal except to HAVE A GOOD TIME. 

So, here is the long run plan I have hashed out... looks like I will be starting mid January!

I guess it should be noted that I am not starting from scratch and have a base of currently being able to run 13 miles easily.

Are you training for any spring marathons?

How do you go about making a training plan for yourself?

Have you ever made a bare bones training plan like this one?

Why Can't I Take A Rest Day?

I have a problem. I can’t take a rest day. I could tell you all about the benefits of taking a rest day but I can’t seem to do it myself. 

I’ll rest body parts… lift upper one day and lower the next day. And I take lots of days off running by doing something low impact- like the arc trainer. But a complete rest day? That’s very hard for me to do.

The only exception is if it’s before a race. I am able to rest for up to three days before a race in which I want to perform well. I don’t ENJOY the rest, but I know it will help me PR. So I do it! I look at it as part of my preparation.

Lately, I've been really tired on the weekends. I can’t really get anything done because all I have energy to do after the work week is lay on the couch. This weekend, my body was very tired. I thought a rest day was in order. I figured Tuesday would be a great day for a rest because we had in-service… which meant I wouldn’t have to teach… which meant I wouldn’t need energy… which meant I could do without my daily dose of morning endorphins.

The anxiety started Monday night when I realized I wouldn’t be able to work out the next day. I set my alarm for 6am and 7am… I wanted to give myself the chance to work out in the morning. The 6am wake up call would provide me that chance. Or, I could turn it off and go back to sleep for another hour.

When my alarm went off at 6am Tuesday morning, I turned it off and closed my eyes. I was so tired. “I’m going to sleep in!” I told myself. But 20 seconds later I was out of bed and putting on my workout gear.

I know I need to start taking legitimate, full body rest days. And I could do it if I wanted to. I mean, it shouldn’t be that hard to NOT exercise, right? People DON’T exercise all the TIME.

I’ve got some mental stuff to go through before I commit to this, though. I’ll let you know when I make the decision to go balls to the wall and schedule a rest day at least every 10 days. Because if I declare my goal to you all, I will not want to fail!

How often do you take rest days?

Do you schedule them, or do they happen organically?

Strength Training - It does a gal good!

In case you didn't gather it from previous blog posts, strength training has changed my body, it has changed the way I eat, and it has changed my life!

There are so many EXTREMELY beneficial reasons women should train with weights. Let's list some of them...

Reasons to Strength Train:

You will be less injury prone.

It helps runners run longer, faster, and more efficiently.

You continue to burn calories after your workout.

Strength training gives you confidence.

Strength training will change your body composition. 

(More muscle and less fat? Sign me up!)

Strength training stops, prevents, and reverses muscle loss.

Strength training helps prevent diseases like osteoporosis.

Some recommended reading for you!

Here are the excellent articles I used to compile the list. I would definitely suggest reading them, as they explain things better than I ever could!

Women and Strength Training Myths by Joe Cannon.

5 Reasons Weight Training is Better than Cardio by Tara Senic

3 Reasons Strength Training Will Benefit Your Run by Leslie Goldman

Also, I urge you to read Nia Shank's article: 30 Rules to Lift Like a Girl and Look Absolutely Awesome! I'm not big on "rules", but use them more as suggestions and use what works for you and your life.

Last, but not least...

Are you one of those gals that is convinced lifting heavy weights will make you "big" or "bulky"? Then please read this excellent article at Crossfit FMS: The Fear of Bulkiness and Crossfit. (I have never done Crossfit, but I do know they lift heavy weights!)

                         

Why Do I Strength Train?

1. I like feeling physically strong.
2. It gives me confidence.
3. I like the way my muscles look.
4. It has made me a faster runner.
5. I can carry all my groceries in at once. (Hehehehe!)

Why do YOU strength train?

Weekend Wrap Up - No Christmas Tree for us this year. :(

Good Morning Blog Land. There are 16 days until Christmas! Are you ready? I am not. I still have gifts to wrap, cards to send, and cookies to make for my piano students. I am wondering when I am going to get all of this done. And how did I manage to get it all done in years past without being stressed about it? 

Oh well, here's a bit about my weekend...

I had to go into work early on Friday to make up some time when we had off due to a power outage. So I had to get up at 4:45am so I could get my workout in a be at work by 7am. It was a special day because I took my second graders on a field trip to the Scottish Rite Theater to see a performance of The Nutcracker. We go every year and it's always good, but this year I think it was better than usual, for some reason. Field trips are fun, but they're also stressful. Have you ever been on a school bus with 56 seven year olds?

After work I went to PT. You can read my rant about it here.

That night, Paul and I watched Christmas Vacation. What a classic. We noticed the glasses Clark Griswold wears in the beginning of the movie are the same dumb hipster glasses everyone is wearing now. 

Why do people wear these glasses? They are ugly!

I was up bright and early Saturday morning to go grocery shopping. I needed the ingredients to bake cookies for my piano students. I don't know if these cookies are actually going to get baked, but I at least have the ingredients!

My workout was a gorgeous 12 mile run. It was very hilly but I managed an 8 minute pace. 

After that, it was off to the Pennsylvania Christmas Gift show to see my mom and sister-in-law. Christmas is not complete without a trip there!

Mom made me a hat while we were there! Watch out, I will be wearing it every day!

Debby Dabbles                                                               Hats By Peach

  

It was on Saturday that Paul and I came to a sad realization. We cannot get a Christmas Tree this year. Normally, we have 3 trees- a small fake one, a large fake one, and a large real one. But not this year. The reason? Christmas. Not the holiday, the cat. You know he is on a diet, right? Well, he has taken to eating the fake greenery I hang for decoration. 

We covered the end of the greenery with a pillowcase (tied with a string) so he couldn't get to it. But at night, he ripped the pillowcase off. Then Paul used one safety pin the keep the pillowcase on. He ripped that off too. Now Paul finally rigged it with two safety pins and the valance wrapped around it...

He wrapped the valance around the pillow case.

The brown thing is the pillow case.

Double safety pinned.

It doesn't look too bad from afar.

The pillows are there to block as well.

All 'cause of this weirdo.

There's no way for us to keep him away from a real Christmas tree. It is sad. This will be the first year we don't have a real one. I'm bummed because going to buy a Christmas Tree is one of our traditions. We drive to a church up the road and buy it from a boy scout group.

Oh well, it's just more $$$ saved for Hawaii!! MELE KALIKIMAKA!

That night, I had the best dessert ever. While we were at the gift show, we bought a couple whoopee pies from and Amish stand. We got 2 oatmeal cream and 1 shoe fly. I had an oatmeal cream w/ vanilla ice cream for dessert. I ate 2/3 of it, took a half hour break and then had the rest of it!

It was divine.

You know how there are certain foods that are not healthy at ALL and they're laden with calories and sugar, yet they're STILL worth eating??? Yup, that's those whoopee pies. Worth every single graham of sugar. Pure bliss. Food isn't supposed to make you happy, but that whoopee pie made me quite pleased.

This happened on Sunday morning while I was chilling on the couch.

Ah, kitties!

 I got so much done on Sunday! You won't believe how productive I was!!!!

1. I Took my online CPR course. (For my certification I opted for the 

online component and then a short clinical which is next weekend.)

2. I finished my Christmas cards! 

3. I finished decorating for Christmas!

This year, we will only have a tiny tree on the record cabinet

thanks to Christmas' habit of eating fake pine needles.

All the ornaments that didn't fit on the tiny tree went to the bay window greenery.

My favorite ornament from when I was a kid.

All of our cat ornaments! We love ugly cat ornaments!

The uglier, the better!

4. Giant had chicken breast on sale for $1.99 so I snatched up 4 value packs. 

That should last until the new year!

5. I wrapped some presents!

Now, here's hoping for a 2 hours delay tomorrow... Not a snow day, just a delay!

I hope your weekend was wonderful!
Do you send out Christmas cards?
Have you finished decorating?
How many trees do you have!?

Physical Therapy Sucks

I'm going to be real with you. I'm pissed that I have to go to physical therapy. I hate it. I hate carving out an hour three days a week to go do exercises I could do at home. I hate shelling out $60 a week to do exercises I could do at home. I hate waking up, going to the gym, going to work, coming home and teaching piano lessons, and then driving to physical therapy, and then finally coming home with no time to study or relax or do anything I actually want to do. I am not enjoying my schedule right now. Not one bit.

But I'm getting head of myself...

So because of the inflammation in my knee, my doctor recommended physical therapy 3xs a week for a month to see it that could help things.

I went for the first time on Friday after work. I won't mention where I'm going because obviously I'm not going to publicly declare, "I HATE PT!" and then proceed to tell you where I'm having PT done. It's not that I don't like the place I'm going or that I don't like my therapist. I just don't like PT in general.

I'm not against figuring out the cause of my problem. I think it is SUPER important to know what is going on, and I got some answers on Friday.

1. I have major quad dominance in my left leg. My left glute has pretty much shut down and leaves everything to my quad. That's effing up my knee.

2. My hip flexors are really tight. They're 18 degrees off from where "normal" hip flexors should be. So there's another underlying problem.

All good things to know. Definitely worth the co-pay and then some.

I'm not against doing boring exercises and stretches if it will help my knee get better. I do lots of stuff I don't particularly enjoy doing for the greater good of my health. For instance, jump squats. I did 100 of them Friday morning and I guarantee you that while I was doing them, I was not smiling and thinking about how wonderful jump squats are. So I'll do the exercises, however boring they are.

What I AM against, is taking time out of my busy schedule and paying money to go do stretches and exercises somewhere else other than the comfort of my home or after a workout at the gym. And that's what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid I'm going to go back to PT and they're just going to have me do the same stuff they have me doing at home.

If that is the case, I'm not going back. I'll just keep doing what they told me to do, but I'm not going back. I'm gonna give it a week, and if it's a waste of time, I'll quit.

My first appointment wasn't bad. The therapist did a lot of tests and measurements and has most likely correctly figured out what is "wrong" with me. I was happy to have the information. Then the therapist had me warm up on the bike for 8 minutes. Eight horrible minutes of just pedaling on 1.5 resistance level. It was the worst eight minutes of my life. (Not really, but please allow me to be over dramatic, okay???) And after the warm up? I was shown how to do my 5 stretches/exercises. I didn't even go through them in their entirety. I was just shown how to do them, and I demonstrated them back to the therapist to be sure I did them correctly. What was the point of that warm up? I have no clue. So it ate up some time? I don't get it.

Oh, one more thing to complain about. How come it doesn't matter WHAT sort of health related appointment I have, I am always seen at LEAST fifteen minutes later than my scheduled appointment? I seriously rushed from work to get to PT by 4pm, then it turned out I had to wait fifteen minutes anyway. I know, sometimes doctors need extra time with a patient. I get it. But then why does it happen EVERY time I have an appointment somewhere?

Okay, I'm done bitching.

On the drive home from PT I had to blast this so I would at least be in a semi-good mood for Friday night..

Glee's 'Christmas Wrapping'

It almost cheered me up.

Have you ever gone to physical therapy?? Do you think I'm going to go back and make me do the same stuff I do at home?

My Year in Running -2013- (Link up!)

So, I read the blog Snow Cream and Syrup, and she found this cool link up from Shoe Laces & Bibs called "My Year in Running". You can find the rules to the link up over at her site.

This is basically just a way for us bloggers to get to know each other a little better and discover new blogs they may like. I've only been blogging since June, but I'm slowly starting to meet other bloggers and learn a little bit about them. Now you can learn a little bit about me! (If you want!)

1. My main goal for 2013 was: Get leaner, more muscular, and FASTER. (They all go hand in hand!)

2. My Running Shoes: Mizuno Wave Riders... always and forever. Haven't changed running shoes in years.

3. Favorite running gear item of 2013: Well, I got it for Christmas in 2012, but I'm still going to say my Garmin. Paul got me my very first Garmin and it was INSTRUMENTAL in allowing me track my progress and push myself.

4. Playlist screenshot: I don't listen to music while I run. I listen to podcasts. I'm currently bingeing on The Savage Love Podcast. Warning: It's not for the faint of heart!

5. Number of races: 2- The Mile and a 5k.

6. Most difficult race & why: They both didn't suck until the end, so I can't complain! I guess I would have to say The Mile because it wasn't until later on in the evening and I hated waiting around all day for it.

The Mile. I'm in the blue.

5k. In blue again. I must like that outfit!

7. Favorite fun run: I didn't do any in 2013. But I think the 2 Warrior Dashes I did were in 2012...

8. Favorite course: I have a fabulous 9 mile course that it just gorgeous. You can check out pictures here.

9. Race I want to do again next year: Boston- and I shall!

10. Best bling/shirt from a race: I got a gym bag at the Flying Pig Marathon- that was pretty cool, since I didn't even own a gym bag at the time and then POOF I suddenly did! Again, this was not in 2013...

11. PR/PB: Mile: 5:41, 5k: 19:51

12. Longest run: In 2013??? Ummmmm... maybe 18?

13. Out of state runs: I ran in NY and NJ this year. NY was in Central Park! My very first time! NJ was in OC NJ when we were on vacation. Oh, and in Atlantic City.

14. Total miles ran: No clue! A lot less than I used to, though!

15. Favorite motivational/inspirational quote of 2013: "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."

16. Lessons I’ve learned: Run less. Run less. Run less. I do my best when I RUN LESS! (How is that possible!?)

17. Injuries I battled and overcame: OH DEAR!! Well, there was/is my knee. And my groin. And plantar fasciitis. Damn, how am I still standing??

18. 3-5 Most inspiring people: This is going to sound really lame, but I'm really digging my recorder students right now. They are working ahead and basically teaching themselves the music. They're practicing and figuring things out on their own. There's nothing that makes a music teacher happier than students READING MUSIC and learning it themselves. They're cool. (Sorry, that answer had nothing to do with running.)

19. Favorite place on social media to connect with runners: blogs, blogs, blogs!!

20. 2 goals for next year: Run Boston without injuring myself and overcome this knee inflammation.

That's it, my friends!! Go ahead and do the link up to this if you want! Or answer a question in my comments! I hope I am using the term "link up" correctly. I don't totally understand it. I'm a bad blogger... !