shanny aka wheezy

This month has been very busy with my sons both starting baseball, which of course are at the same time at two different locations. My daughter started training for a May 5k and the hubby's work schedule is more confusing than the new health care bill.

The weather here has been hit or miss but on two occasions ash and I have been able to head to the park for a little bike/run. Since moving here she has not ran much so I wanted to get her a few good rides on her bike to get her ready to start her training program. In FL she was part of a great little running group at the Y. Even though I know I'm not as fun as coach Kathryn and the girls I've really enjoyed the one-on-one time with my girl. The last two times I ran while she biked along side. Both times she often asked if I was o.k. and even told me I didn't sound too good. The park is pretty flat and I didn't feel fatigued but felt like I was breathing harder than I should be. Matt and the boys were there too having Devlin spring training. On the ride home they kept telling me I didn't look or sound very good. Gotta love the fam! They keep it real.

At my initial visit with our new family physician she diagnosed me with exercise induced asthma and told me that my lungs sounded "pretty good". She also told me not to be surprised if my new cardiologist orders a stress test. Great, 30 yrs old and falling apart. All of this just tells me I need to train harder!

I am happy to report that my first run with the new puffer shaved a minute off my mile! woohoo It's amazing how actually being able to breathe improves your running ;)

I've been successful in making my 10miles a week goal but have been slacking with the weights. Before I increase my mileage goal I need to get strong again. It's amazing how quickly you can lose your strength, thank god for muscle memory!

This week I did three quality strength work-outs. The most challenging being a cable cross series. I did my entire body working largest to smallest muscles. The narrow and wide reverse fly's were killers. 30min on the cable cross had me sweating worse than an hr of spin!

march

The beginning of March marked the start of my new and improved work-out regimen. I set a goal for 10-15 miles per week, I admit I was 3 shy of that goal this first week. Instead of dwelling on that or punishing myself by adding 3 to next week I'm going to keep with the same goals and not beat myself up over it. In the past I've been very rigid and down right guilt ridden from work-outs missed. Often, to the point of masochism. I'm just "training for life" right now and not a race so the only real pressure is to feel good...and I do! Since hitting the gym/pavement 5 days this week I've slept better, ate better and bitched less!

Mon- 3mi run
Tues- 2mi run, 2mi on the elliptical
Wed- off
Thurs- 30min of weighted squats, bosu deadlifts, bosu push ups
1hr "all-terrain" spin class
Fri- 2mi hilly, windy run
Sat- taught 1hr yogalates
Sun- off

February Flop

Despite my lack of posting I did in fact exercise during the month of February. However, it was nothing to really blog about. With the back to back snow storms keeping me trapped inside like a caged animal it was difficult to do anything consistently. I did ride my bike a few times on the trainer followed by kettle bell work outs. One or two trips to the treadmill but that's about it.

Last week I got back into the groove. Monday I treated myself to a THAS work-out and cardio. I do 3x10 of everything on each leg...single leg squats, bosu deadlifts and step-ups on the tallest bench I could fine. I do them in a circuit style sequence, a total of 3 rounds. I then wobbled over to the pull up machine and did pull ups, chin ups and dips until I couldn't do anymore. For cardio I did 40 mins on the new elliptical. I've never been a fan of ellipticals but these bad boys are awesome! I make myself go at a 10min mi pace and increase the resistance every 5 min. Thursday I decided to give spin at the gym another chance and I'm glad I did. The instructor was awesome and so was her music! It was an "endurance" ride and despite my sore ankle I rode hard and it felt good! It's hard to get "into" a ride staring at the wall in my basement. Saturday I had a few young girls show up for yoga and I decided to teach a yogalates class. They seemed to really enjoy it and my abs were feeling it Sunday morning.

This week I'll be back to running. I've been nursing a very sore ankle and wrist after gracefully stumbling down my steps.

My goals for March are to get some type of work-out in 5 days a week and to run between 10-15
miles a week.

Windy City!

The weather today was a high of 53 and sunny. Just beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. I knew I HAD to run outside today since a winter storm is approaching for the weekend. This meaning I have at least one treadmill run in my near future.

I headed over to the local park. Since I now have the proper apparel to run in I really don't mind the cooler temperatures. The wind however, I mind. Holy balls was it windy! The weatherman didn't mention this little tid bit. My mojo was squashed by this whipping wind and I decided to cut my work-out in half but run only in the grass and deep gravel then follow up with an hour of yoga at home. I don't know if my soreness is from the grassy knolls or the Dhanurasana(bow) pose. Either way, my hamstrings are tight baby!

p.s: I decided to add my local weather to my blog so that my whining about the weather will be justified.hehehe

Gloria Estefan? You gotta be kidding me

I've attended three spin classes at my new gym and I've yet to be impressed. In FL I took and taught spin often and I can say that it makes a huge difference when the instructors are actually cyclists.

Class was supposed to start at 6:30. The instructor didn't show up until 6:40 and when she arrived she told us to warm up. Warm up?! What do you think we've been doing. I figured since we started more than 15min late she'd just have class go to 7:45. I was wrong.

After the instructor talks to the newbies, gets all her stuff organized, shoes on and eventually mounts the bike she finally cranks the tunes. song #1 Gloria Estefan! I almost jumped off my bike right then. I knew right away I was going to have to make the most of this on my own.

It wasn't ALL bad. The music did improve, a little something for everyone. The instructor was really sweet and had a great personality but the ride was all over the place. We did tons of jumps and when I tried to stay in sync with the instructor she had more rotations in the saddle than out. Explain that one to me?? I just pushed as hard a gear as I could the entire time, took 1/2 as much recovery time as most of the class and made the most out of the climbs. I can say with 100% certainty that as tri season gets closer and I get in better shape classes like this will not be in my schedule. We will have a workout room in our new house with a treadmill, trainer, etc and I will most likely cancel my gym membership.

As I've said before. I miss the Y!!!

She wears short shorts

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in southern MD. Sunny, high 40's and perfect for running. The best part was that for the first time in months it was warm enough to wear SHORTS!!!! Whoohoooo!

Obviously, I'm adapting to my new surroundings. If I were still in FL and it was in the 40's I probably would of been wearing a snowsuit. Anywho, it felt great to leave the running tights at home and finally get some sun on my pasty legs. I also threw on a light sweatshirt but that wasn't worn for long.

My schedule called for a 45 min run. My Garmin is still out of commission so I'm not sure of my distance. I ran loops around the county park near my house. It's a beautiful area and the gravel parking lots add a bit of a challenge but it's still better than running on concrete. I can feel it in my calves today!

I've decided to give spin class a second chance today. Hopefully this time I'll break a sweat. If not, I'll come home and let my bike on the trainer kick my butt.

Myth Buster

There is a myth in the exercise world that running makes you lose weight. It does not. Running alone will NOT make you lose weight and in fact adding miles causes a increase in appetite, which can actually make you gain weight! I agree that this is unfair and a total injustice. The truth hurts people.

After years of working out, running and triathlon training I know that in order to slim down a bit I'm going to have to watch what I eat and increase my cardio. As obnoxious as it sounds my problem is that I often don't eat enough. I'm not a big eater by nature and even though this probably doesn't sound like a problem to you it is most definitely a problem when it comes to training. Food equals fuel and fuel equals energy. To help improve my eating habits as well as consume my alloted daily calories I've decided to follow the Flat Belly Diet.

This diet includes a 4-day "cleanse". I am omitting that from my plan. Drinking nothing but ginger water is not only unrealistic but let's face it, that's not exactly optimum fuel for runners. I am also starting the intermediate 5k program from my "Run Less, Run Faster" book, at least one spin class or tour on the trainer and two kettle bell/weight lifting work-outs for my weekly work-outs.