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?