Where's the Beach?

Not only is it Friday, but we're actually above freezing! And of course this is my rest day, go figure right? Today I thought I would just share 5 Things from the Week for Fun for Friday . 1. Book Anatomy for Runners : Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention by Jay Dicharry (apologizing in advance for not giving a review that does this book justice) This book is fantastic. It's not a book telling you to rest and do prescribed exercises to  overcome an injury. No, it delves into the causes, the root of injuries. So that piriformis pain or knee pain, it's not just about strengthening your hips and glutes, it's about understanding the full connection of the body and also strengthening, say, the multifidi and deep core muscles. This, of course, is just one little example that I thought many runners might relate to. He talks about the various types of tissues and how they are supposed to align. When there are weaknesses and d...

It was another weekend of productivity and relaxation. I love that balance. We had a cool down Friday night. Jason and I decided to take advantage of that and put our run off just a bit. He went to go watch his nephew's last football game, and I scrubbed and cleaned around the house. It felt good to be productive right off the bat. When he got back, around 11, we headed out for a run. I was planning on 10 miles for the Fall 5 or 10 Miles Virtual Race Series . Jason was planning on more like 8. It was gorgeous out, low 60s, but crazy windy. At first I thought it was coming from the north, but then realized it was also coming from the west. Actually, it seemed to be swirling. It definitely made it more challenging. Jason dropped around 7-ish miles and I continued on. I decided to head north towards a park. I stopped and took a picture when I hit my 10-mile mark for the race. My watch picture didn't turn out at all (1:24:24), but I did get a nice picture of the park at leas...

HIIT IT I found some kickbutt workouts from  the Blonde Ponytail's GNC Lean Legs: Workout 2 and Workout 3 . I knew right away I wanted to try out the workouts, especially a few of the exercises she used. I will definitely do these workouts as prescribed, but on Friday, I ended up doing a little mix of a workouts to incorporate the bike trainer along with compound moves and some of her exercise for a full-body, cardio crazy circuit that took just under 35 minutes with the cool down. While I used my bike trainer, you could definitely do this same workout using a spin bike at the gym, treadmill, or even an elliptical. It's probably not a true HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout, but it's pretty darn close. There are 3 Rounds Each round includes 2 minutes of full-speed cycling (with decent amount of tension) followed up by 2 different exercises to incorporate both upper and lower body (with the exception of the last round), followed up by a cardio move.  ...

I've had some really random thoughts and ideas going on as well as things to share. So I thought this would be perfect for a Thursday Thoughts and Things post. This is my "I'm thinking" look also showing how I look when I don't dress myself up & put on makeup.  (and wow, am I really leaving that picture for all to see?) Thin Blood/Oxygen Relationship?  I've been running crazy fast times lately with my running partner. This hasn't been intentional by any means. I have honestly been trying to just get comfortable with running again and slowly trying to add distance in. I've been learning about the training effect and how exercise can increase your capillaries as well as improve your overall cardio function. In other words, more oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood to your hard-working muscles. This got me to thinking, could the blood thinners, in other words, thinner blood mean even easier blood flow? Greater output of this oxygen-rich blood?...

Work it Out Wednesday I hope you don't mind, I have yet another spin/bike trainer workout to share. Clearly I've been enjoying my bike trainer. Obviously this means I was missing my spin classes since my gym closed wayyyyy back in May. I know that this technically doesn't count as a leg workout, but since I'm not supposed to be lifting heavy weights...ok, any weights...this is going to have to suffice for now. I did this workout on Monday and my legs were wobbly heading down the stairs. This is definitely all about the hills. You want to keep tension higher, but still trying your best to maintain a fast turnover. The first section is a rolling hill with very little back off. Each climb should begin at a higher tension than the previous one - in other words, you never go downhill until the end. The second section is still about the hills with a faster, steeper climb, meaning increasing tension 2 and 3 times each minute, but you get a little reprieve with downhil...

Work it Out Wednesday Ok, so I didn't do this particular work out today, but I thought I'd share today just the same. I actually opted for a yoga workout during lunch today for an active recovery day. Plus, the yoga helped to quieten my mind so a win-win for me. On Sunday, Jason and I ran 3.5 miles together. While he went on for another 4 miles, I went inside and hopped on my bike trainer. I didn't want anything really hard like the previous Quad Killer workout though. I decided to do a Chase and Race sequence to help me practice with my turnover pedaling. Just because it wasn't all about hills didn't make it any easier mind you. You do still need a certain amount of tension on your bike so that you're not just free spinning. For the Chase part (first half), I used slight inclines (tension increases) to add a level of difficulty so that you know you're working but you can still keep a pretty swift turnover, then you you plane out, ease off the tensio...

Working it Out Yesterday I ended up going for a run after work. I wasn't feeling the best. Not sure how to explain it, almost nauseous but not quite, upper tummy area hurting. I was going to just play any workout by ear (or tummy as the case was). My plan was just to see what I could do. I thought the fresh air might help make me feel better. And it actually did. It was a little chilly at the start, my thumbs were frozen, but the air felt great on my face. I did right at 3 miles. I was feeling so much better after the run, endorphins I'm sure, so I decided to take a little spin on my bike (on the trainer mind you). I cranked up the music and got to it. I wasn't sure what my plan was going to be, just spin and play around with the gears or try out a trainer workout from Angela at Happy Fit Mama . I didn't write it down though, and ended up sort of making up my own workout. I think it was a pretty darn good one too and was happy to have her inspiration to make up my ...