Getting into strength training

Who is ready for this winter weather to be gone?? I know this girl is. Polar vortexes, winter storms, kids stuck in schools (which I still don't totally understand who let that happen), icicles a mile long, chapped lips, soaring electric bills (hope my dad the engineer at least gets a big bonus this year), let's get this season over with!!!!

On the building at work.

I'm ready for bikini weather!!

Well, sort of.

I'm not totally there yet, (you know, that whole "having a baby" crap) but I'm finally, seriously, ready to be. Like I said before, I needed the motivational kick in the butt to get me jump started on running again. I think I can safely say that the training team has once again done this for me.

Thank you Sports Backers, you ROCK!!

Knowing that I have to crawl out of my warm bed on Saturdays to go run is getting me motivated during the week, and the gym has helped too.

A few weeks ago my husband found this website called Nerd Fitness and sent me a link to a post on there about this chick who can dead lift over 300lbs. Since I had some downtime yesterday I finally read the article and it was such an inspiration! You can check it out here. I'm not really into weight lifting but I do enjoy Body Pump which involves dead lifts and other weight training exercises so I thought I might add this into my Thursday routine which according to my training plan is supposed to be a non-running day anyways.

From there I went on to discover a website with a bunch of smoothie recipes so I wrote a bunch of them down since I want to start having those in the morning again.

At this point, something just clicked. 

Down in my gut I knew it's time to get on track and start eating right and exercising again. Just because you have a child doesn't mean you should totally sacrifice the things you love and the things that make you you. It's time to get back to fit Tori. It makes me feel better and mentally stronger. I'm tried of getting my morning energy from coffee. I want to feel better through and through.

As much as I wish laying in bed with my kid made me skinny, it doesn't.

I also really need to utilize the gym more since I love going and it feels like a spa visit to me. So I sat down and by using what I learned through my research yesterday and the work I did with a personal trainer, I came up with 2 new routines for myself that I can do right after work in about 45 minutes. Just enough time to get my workout in, get the kid from daycare and get home before rush hour begins.

On Thursdays I'm going to do strength training:

Machines:

-10 mins warm up -elliptical

-Lat Pull Down-15 reps x 3

-Inner/Outer Thigh Machine-12 reps x 3 each

Weight Room:

-Deadlifts-12 reps x 3

Upstairs:

-Plank 20 secs x 2

-Push Ups-12 reps x 2

-Ropes-15 secs x 2

I went yesterday and tried this out. It went pretty well, although the weight room is a pretty intimidating place. There were bulky dudes in there spaced out just enough for me to feel annoyed and like I was invading their space. I saw them give me the sideways eye as I tried to find the lightest weights I could since I know how weak I am in the upper body. Unfortunately I did not find the 5 pound weights until after I used the 20 pound barbell...needless to say the dead lifts did not go quite as planned but now I know exactly what muscles they work and they are soooooore today!! Glad I know where the 5 pounders are for next week so I can work my way up without injuring myself. 

The ACAC motto :-)

The rest is pretty self explanatory. Have you ever tried the ropes? Those things always scared the hell out of me till I did them with my trainer. They are actually a lot of fun! If you don't know what I am talking about they are those big heavy ropes attached to the wall or floor that you pick up at the ends and fling around. Trying to just do 20 seconds is a LOT harder than it looks! The trainer made me do 20 but I'm pretty weak so my goal for the next few weeks is just 15 seconds.  

I also jumped into cleaning up my eating habits yesterday but I think I will save that for the next post. :-)

What is your favorite thing to do at the gym or your favorite strength training exercise?

   

10K Training Week 2: How to deal with winter

I hate winter. I really really do. Your skin dries out and itches, your hair is filled with static and is all over the place, you get shocked whenever you open a door or touch someone, you have to wear layers and layers of clothes, not to mention I hate being cold...ugh, I hate it. But the one thing I do enjoy about winter is snow. Particularly snow days since I am a teacher. Last week we had Monday off and then Tuesday night the winter storm came through. We did not get all that much snow but it quickly turned to ice which stuck to the roads and did not melt. And around here, the neighborhood roads are never plowed, just the main ones, therefore we just stay home instead of going to school. So the kids have had off for a week and I had 2 extra work days with no students which I didn't mind at all. :-)

This week has been a little nuts. I did not go to my training run on Saturday because a.) it was 18 degrees outside, b.) it was disturbingly windy which lowered the temp, and c.) we had to go over to my grandfather's house and help him move some items since he is moving to an assisted living place next month. It was kind of a crazy morning. So I decided to skip.

However, I made up for it today and went for my 2 mile run. I'm so glad I waited.

First off, my friend told me about these fleece lined running pants she found at Athleta which just opened at the mall. I went over yesterday and picked up a pair and oh my they are sooooo worth the money!!! I wore them today and for the first time EVER my legs did not get cold on my run!! I layered up on the top and stayed toasty warm. It also was not nearly as cold today as yesterday.

My run was a bit slow, and this is why. This is the path that goes into the park at the end of my street which I run almost every time I go out. It's very shady and since it has been walked all over it is solid ice under the snow. No running to be had here so I just walked up the hill. I could have gone a different way but I don't really care for out and back runs and this path is part of a great one mile loop that begins and ends at my front door. I would rather run this twice than zig zag all over the neighborhood just to avoid some ice.

Despite the fact that I hate winter, I actually enjoyed my run. There was a lot of ice still on the roads and sidewalks that I had to either dodge or run over but I was OK with this because it slowed me down and kept me from running too fast. I still feel really out of shape but I'm only at the beginning of this 10 week journey.

I did some research on runner's knee and I'm wondering if I should try wearing a compression sleeve when I run. I know, I need to go to the doctor...I'll get there. Anyone ever tried a compression sleeve on a knee?

10K Training Week 1 & Meg's Miles

The other week I decided that I needed to join the YMCA 10K training team again this year. Back in 2008 I joined the team because I wanted to run the 10K but had never run more than a mile in my whole life. It was a great way to break into becoming a serious runner and worked out really well for me. I joined it again in 2009 and 2010 and then I decided I was good on my own, which I was.

Now that I have had such a long time off from running, it's time to seriously get back in. Since the team worked for me before, I know that it will work again. Last Saturday was the first team run. It was frigid outside and I sat in my car as long as I could since I got there early. It was not nearly as crowded as I remember it being in the past but that may have been because it was so cold and some people may have decided to run other places that day.

This was more than just a training run. The weekend before, a local runner named Meg had been hit and killed by a drunk driver while she was out on her morning run. It really struck a chord with the Richmond community and runner's across the globe, so people gathered and ran whatever mileage they wanted to for Meg. People in Switzerland were running for Meg and posting pictures on Facebook. Even though it was so sad, it is amazing to see how people come together, especially runners. She was a Tri Sigma, which is my sorority, so I wore a purple Sigma bracelet for her while I ran.

At my training run we spoke about how we all need to be extra alert at all times and do all that we can to be safe. Unfortunately for Meg there wasn't much she could do, but it is good to hear the reminders because sometimes people just don't think and then bad things happen. I was a cautious runner before, but now that I have my son I am even more cautious. We all took a knee and a moment of silence for Meg and then we did what we do best: we ran.

The run was so cold and my knee had had plenty of time to get solidly cold by this point so I ran as fast as I could. I also forgot my headband which totally sucked. I won't make that mistake again. It was supposed to be 1 mile but it turned out to be 1.3 which was OK. My app went off at 1 mile and told me that I had run it in about 10:43 which is good for me considering I haven't been running. I tried to slow it down, but I ended up running the entire thing without walking at all.

On a different note, here I am the night before for our date night-8 months post baby! Still a little fluffy but slowly getting that body back! I hope to be a lot different looking come 10K time!

Weekly Training Runs:
Monday was another run day that was supposed to be easy. Since it was MLK day and C was working on the bathroom, I strapped B in the jogger and headed out. This was the oddest run I've ever had. So this jogger I have was bought used from a friend. I hate the thing. B is about the 4th baby it has been used with and this thing is at the end of it's life. Not only were the tires nearly flat (I could have pumped them up before I went out but I didn't think of it and then was too lazy to go home and try to do it) but the undercarriage shakes like crazy when I tried to go fast. It was the slowest mile I've run since high school, at 16 minutes since it was mostly walking and a little jogging. I was keeping the jogger to trade in at the Babies R Us trade in event this weekend, but then I was at Target and they had the jogger I wanted on clearance for $56!!! That's a savings of $114!!! Seriously when you are having a kid, check Target for the big items on clearance, they have such great deals. I got his dresser there on super sale too. I still need to get rid of this jogger though so I'm going to give it to my mom so she can get a discount on a car seat for her car.

Anyways then we got snow and ice dumped on us and I had to go back to work yesterday but with no students which was nice. I went to the gym after that and warmed up on the elliptical for 15 minutes and then ran around the track 15 times. I don't know how far that is but I figured it would take the place of the run I missed on Wednesday.

Tomorrow starts week 2. I'm not sure how I feel about running tomorrow since there is still ice all over the roads and it is going to be ridiculously cold out, but I might go anyways and just take it slow. I want to make it to as many training runs as I can, and I will be blogging about them every week! Accountability people! ;-)

So that was week one: freezing cold, sunny day, memorial run, sore quads, knee did OK.

Oatmeal Cakes

As a working mom I am always looking for recipes I can eat on the go, particularly in the morning. There has been a lot of cereal consumed these last few months since it is easy and fast in the AM, but it gets boring after awhile and I can't take it with me very easily.

A friend posted a link on Facebook the other night to these oatmeal cakes. (They came from this blog)  I tried them out and they turned out great! Fairly healthy too. Since we only had 3 bananas hanging around, I modified the recipe to make less. I also didn't want 25 of them hanging around.

Ingredients:

Wet-
3 ripe bananas
5 Tbsp agave (or just squirt in as much as you like, that's what I did) you could also use honey
2 cups water
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (could also use vegetable oil)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry-
3 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
3 tsp ground flax seed

1. Preheat Oven to 380 degrees.
2. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately. Stir wet very well.
3. Mix wet into dry, stirring very well.
4. Bake for 21 minutes.

They turn out kind of spongy, not hard, which I liked. It made them easier and faster to eat than a granola bar. You can also add in other things you like-raisins, dried cherries, nuts, etc. The sky is the limit with these yummy breakfast cakes!

Happy baking!

Welcome 2014!

Just a quick update to say hi and that I am still here. Can you believe it is already 2014?? I can't! I must admit that I am a little sad to see 2013 go, it was a great year for us. 2014 has a lot to live up to.

We started off right by ringing in the new year with Chinese food and watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix until it was time for the ball to drop. Sitting on the couch was a good way to finish out the year-together, peaceful.

After being sick with 3 different things the last 2 weeks, I was finally feeling good enough to hit the gym today. It was nice to get a little baby break and exercise for a bit. At the end of my workout, I ran around the track 10 times! I ran the first 5 laps, walked the 6th and ran the final four. It felt GREAT. Now to just continue this into the rest of the year.