Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Personal training’ Category

Aug 13

Pre-30 miles
9 Comments

30 Mile Adventure

About 6 months ago, JD told me that he wanted to run 30 miles on his 30th birthday. Yesterday, we made it a reality.

It was the Exercise Trifecta. At 6am, I worked out with my personal trainer. It was a frustrating day there and I left almost in tears. I don’t really want to talk about it but needless to say, I came home feeling a lack of confidence which was not what I needed given what faced me.

But at 7:30am, JD and I started running. He was going 30, and I was going to run 20 and then bike alongside him for the last 10 miles. Perfectly normal right?

Pre-30 miles

The weather was amazing. 60 degrees. Low humidity. My hands were cold. MY HANDS WERE COLD! It was just plain lovely out. So off we started. My pace is significantly slower than JD’s but he did a good job of letting me lead. The one thing I was concerned about was conversation. Neither of us brought our iPods so we relied on each other for entertainment. And after 3 weeks of running with many girls, I knew it was going to be a different animal with JD. It was mile 4 when I first snapped. “I just had a full on conversation with myself. You didn’t respond to a single thing I just said! I should have brought my iPod!” Easy girl. That was the only argument we had throughout the entire run, which is pretty impressive given the fact that we spent 4 hours together under physical stress.

We took multiple water breaks and kept a solid pace around 9:30-9:45/mile. We turned around at mile 9 after both taking down some nourishment (me eating “Cars” fruit snacks and he doing Gu). I felt really good until mile 12. Only 8 miles left to go but I was tired. My legs hurt. My hips were tight. My body just lethargic. One guy on a bike called us assholes because he apparently didn’t like how we passed a fellow runner. A 60-year old woman stopped to talk with us at a water stop. We were making friends and enemies and I kept trying to find long, deep conversation topics so that I didn’t focus on my tired legs.

But the last 4 miles were pretty much silent. Each mile marker we’d pass I would exclaim “Only 3 more miles!” “Only 2.5 more miles!” But then I realized it was a jerk move given that my hubby still had 10 miles to go after I quit running. When we finally hit mile 20, I was ecstatic. I knew I still had 10 more miles to ride, but being off my screaming, burning feet was amazing.

20 miles complete

Now normally after a 20-mile run, I am immediately in the shower, then do my favorite post-run routine. I curl up in bed, naked, lots of covers, lights out and I take a nap. This time? I changed into shorts and hopped on a bike. JD was feeling pretty good and I was shocked when he started running. I guess I just thought I would be easily riding alongside him. But I forgot how fast he is. The minute he started running his fast pace rather than my slower one, I started pedaling. This wasn’t going to be the lazy ride I expected.

water girl

Neither of us knew how far north the Monon went but we found out today. For the record? It’s about 13 miles north of Broadripple. We found gravel roads. And hills. And a crane flew across the trail right in front of us. The sun was beating down and JD had taken his shirt off long before because of nipple chaffing (One benefit of being a girl, no bloody nipples!) I held onto the water and encouraged him to stop when needed. But he was a rockstar. I felt like someone manning the video camera at the NYC Marathon, following the elite runners. He was running fast, and I was trailing behind. I was just in awe of him.

When we get to end of the Monon, JD turned to me and said “We’re almost at the distance we need to turn around and no, we aren’t stopping. We are going off-roading.” So that’s what we did. Grass. Parking lots. Busy roads. We found the distance, and then we soon found this:

dancing in water

It was a mini water park for kids. And JD ran around the water with such glee, he emerged a new man. Five more miles to go.

At mile 26.29, we stopped to take a picture of JD at the longest distance he had ever run.

26.29

From there on, I did my best to entertain him. I asked him if he wanted me to sing “No.” So I continued talking about the most random things. On the occasion, he would turn to me and say “Mile 25. At age 25, we got married…” He looked at every mile as a reflection of his age and walked through the best times of each year. It was fun reminiscing. He seemed grateful for my company as he was clearly getting tired. The sun was out. Every part of him hurt. Me on the other hand? Despite still moving my legs and being exhausted, I actually felt ok. The only issue I had was the fact that I don’t ride enough to have strengthened those “seat” muscles. In fact, it was mile 27 when I told JD that I am surely barren after sitting on that bike for this long.

With one mile to go, JD turned to me and said “Let’s open this up.” And then he started running faster. A 6:11/mile pace to be exact. I pedaled fast to keep up and took pictures along the way. This was a big day for us both. I am so proud of him for doing 30 miles. And I am proud of myself for completing my first 20-mile run in training, and adding on not just 10 miles of biking, but a personal training session to boot.

6:11 pace

Some people go into 30 with nerves and anxiety. I turned 30 and wanted to spend my night wearing sequins and drinking cocktails with my closest friends. JD? He wanted to prove to himself that he could run 30 miles. And prove it he did.

JD on the Monon

Aug 10

6 Comments

A funny little four miler…

Yesterday I ran 4 miles. And it was kind of a funny little run. First of all, I was certain I had pulled a muscle that morning with my personal trainer. I was doing the leg press and on the last set, she increased the weight. Right afterwords, when doing walking lunges, my, um….well, left bum hurt. Something wasn’t right. And the rest of the day, while walking up stairs or crossing my legs, that same muscle seemed tense and achy.

So off I start on my run and my legs felt stiff. I felt like I was running very clunky – not at all like the graceful gazelle I tried to emulate. (Cue the Friends episode where Rachel was embarrassed to run with Phoebe because of her flailing arms. Rachel probably wouldn’t have run with me yesterday either.) And though it wasn’t as hot as it has been, when running at 5pm in the sun, it was still pretty toasty.

I was wearing a whole new outfit from Lululemon (which just recently opened in Keystone Mall). The shorts were quite short, but comfy. And the top wasn’t the right size. It fit in some parts, seemed to constrict my lung capacity in others. But whatever. It was cute and seemed to work out just fine for a 4-miler. But when I stopped at McDonalds for a bathroom break, I noticed that the new top did nothing to hide the massive amounts of sweat pouring off my body. Delightful.

you nasty.

Accessorized with my new iPhone on my arm for music, I realized that none of my playlists synced. So before I started running, I hit “shuffle” on my entire music library. Now this is a very dangerous move when your music taste is as varied as mine. Check out this line up…it cracks me up.

Kate Nash – Mouthwash

Braveheart Soundtrack – Secret Wedding (yep, real uplifting tune to get your feet moving)

Rhianna – Disturbia

MIA – Paper Planes

Chicago Soundtrack – All That Jazz (a little secret, this is my go-to song when I am singing alone in the car and in the shower)

Toto – Africa

Matt & Kim – Daylight

TI- Whatever You Like

Spice Girls – Wannabe

One minute I am running to the classical Scottish sounds of a warrior marrying his forbidden love and the next I am rocking out to gunshots with M.I.A. Perfectly normal.

And to top off this eventful run? I came home to find that my 2nd toenail on my right foot was finally ready to come off. Now I know this sounds gross, but they don’t rip off the way you might think. It’s a bit more surgical than that and can be quite painless when you get good at it. Mine always happen because a blister forms underneath the toenail. When that pops, there is nothing for the nail to hold onto. And I am becoming quite the toenail-extraction specialist over here….so it ain’t no thing.

Ahh…the adventures of marathon training.

Jul 28

9 Comments

Transformations.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, or pay attention to my 5:41am FourSquare check-ins at Transformation Fitness, you are well aware that since late March, I have been seeing a personal trainer. Her name is Sarah and I adore her. I’ve talked about my sessions before (here and here). But today… I am opening the kimono (as Jim Kreller might say) into what actually happens at 6am, 3 times a week.

Come along with me…

I start every session out with a 1/2 mile run on the treadmill to get warmed up. Then Sarah spends the next 30 minutes with me (and yes, she uses every.single.second). Each day is something different – some new combination of arms, legs, back, abs. We’ve done TRX bands. We’ve done intervals on the treadmill. Agility exercises on a ladder. She never bores me.

Today, with only 4 hours of sleep, I arrived at 5:54am to get started. And we kept with basic exercises. (Please note: basic does not mean easy!)

We started with squats.

Squats

Abs in. Hips out.

Still smiling.

Then we moved on to walking lunges. Does anyone actually like lunges? Doubt it. But man do they completely transform your bum. They’re worth it.

Why not add some weights to the mix?

Repeat this 3x. Get some water. Next!

And now to the bench press. Before Sarah, the only time I benched was when I was throwing discus. And I was never very good at it. This morning I grunted. True story.

Yes, I realize it would be much more impressive if there were big weights on the bar.

PUSH!

From there, we did triceps. Mine were already killing me from 2 days ago. So this was a bit difficult. Can you tell by my face?

Already sweating.

Focus.

Repeat that set 3x.

Then, for the first time ever, she had me do assisted pull-ups. I stood on this very unstable bar that was attached to weights and then lifted myself. I haven’t done something like this since the flexed-arm hang in high school. Holy moly it was hard!

Pull!!!

So tall...

And then to biceps.

curl it girl

I love bicep curls. For some reason they make me feel like a badass.

Repeat 3x. By this time, she had distracted me by talking about So You Think You Can Dance. I can’t imagine what these 90 minutes/week would be like if we didn’t get along. I love our chats!

We always end with abs…and this time, it was my turn with the camera.

Ladies & gentlemen – please meet Sarah.

Sarah demonstrating my next move

Even when she makes me do things I hate, could I ever be mad at her? Doubt it. She’s too cute.

So that’s what 30 minutes look like. It’s hard. But you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing. Having a scheduled, personalized training session makes me get out of bed early. Gets my heart rate up and my body sweating. I am a faster runner because of it! And, my strength is definitely improving, I have lost 4 lbs and decreased my body fat by 3%. So continue I will.

 

Jul 4

17 Comments

A revelation.

I had a revelation on Saturday as I was walking through the Broadripple Farmer’s Market.  There was gorgeous produce everywhere I looked. Tomatoes. Cherries. Blueberries. Rhubarb. But I chose a soft pretzel from Taste of Philly. As I meandered around the booths, dipping my salty, pretzel goodness into a cup of cheese, a monumental thought came to me: Skinny girls don’t eat processed liquid cheese.

Let’s back up. I love nachos. And queso. And pretzels dipped in cheese. We have handi-snacks at work and before I started going to my personal trainer, I ate one daily. I love all kinds of cheese and don’t discriminate if it comes in liquid, orange form. But if I want to be skinny…I have to give it up.

I’m never going to be someone who has protein shakes for breakfast and licks tea leaves for dinner. I like food. And the food I eat is never the most nutritious. But if I am going to run 30+ miles and spend hours with my personal trainer each week, capping it off by dipping things into cheese sauce seems counter productive.

I can’t give up cupcakes. Ice cream. Or cheese in general. But I can probably live a life without processed liquid cheese. Or I can certainly try.

Right?

May 30

8 Comments

Running, push-ups and cake balls.

I am currently not training for a darn thing. The Chicago Marathon is months away. I have no other races on the calendar. And though I have flirted with the idea of doing the Carmel Half-Marathon on June 11th, I’ve yet to actually sign up. In the past when I have been “not training” I tend to run less. Go out for happy hour more. Pack my gym bag often and leave it in the back of my car for days at a time. My weight goes up a few pounds and though I love the mental break from marathon training, I don’t feel as good physically.

Not this time. I am not training, but I am still running. Last week I ran 21 miles. That total isn’t earth shattering but it represents 5 days of running. Add in 3 days with my personal trainer…I had a lot of laundry to do! But it’s summertime which means more skin, shorts and bikinis.

So, I am working pretty hard. Not just because I want to look good in a summer wardrobe, but because I am paying $300+/month for my personal trainer. That’s a lot of money to be spending on personal fitness if I am not going to take it all quite seriously. And I am starting to see results. I have lost 1.5% of my body fat by working with Sarah. It doesn’t sound like very much to me but she tells me it’s good. And the other day, I saw a picture of me with a bicep. I wasn’t even flexing and I had a bicep!!! Somehow, this woman gets me out of bed at 5:30am three times a week so she can kick my bum and make me sweat. Lunges. Squats. Planks. Man-push-ups. Suspension training. And lots of quality time with a medicine ball. I am sore almost every day of the week and I love her for it.

But I’m no supermodel and have plenty of soft parts. You see…nutrition is always going to be a challenge and Sarah is experiencing that first hand. I have the palate of a 7 year-old! When I sent her my food diary last week she wrote me back with “What are cake balls doing in there?” My response: “They’re delicious.” Her response “Yes, but why did you have 3 of them yesterday?” My response, “Why didn’t you?” And so far today, the only thing I have eaten is ice cream.

Double-Fudge Cookie Dough

She has her work cut out for her.

 

 

 

 

Mar 23

2 Comments

Shape Ups are a scam.

Last week I told you that I signed up for a personal trainer. And after two sessions this week, I’m confident that a series of posts will develop about my time spent at Transformation Fitness and Wellness.

It started with an assessment. Sarah, my trainer, asked me some questions, weighed me and pinched my fat. Yep…measuring body fat the old school way by pinching it. Might as well circle it with a permanent marker while you’re at it.

Then we did a push-up test. Girl push-ups until I failed (which was 25, for the record). Then sit-and-reach. Then a cardio test. Heart rate monitor strapped on and I hit the treadmill. Every two minutes she amped up the speed and incline. And I had to read aloud at each interval so she could test how I was doing. It was actually kind of fun.

So now for my first session. Squats and lunges. I hate lunges! Honestly…did Satan himself invent them? I know they work, but they are hard as hell. And if lunges are what it takes to have an awesome ass and great legs, then I am 100% confident Shape Ups are a scam.

Next I did some chest and back exercises. Then this weird “dead leg” balance thing that was hard and hurt and made me giggle each time I fell over. Some shoulder presses. Abs. And boom – our 30 minutes were up. During my reps, Sarah asked about my nutrition and you guys know that I am not a good eater. Here’s how that went.

S: So do you eat pretty heathily?

M: Well not really. I have a lot of OCD issues with food. And I’m picky. I don’t always eat every meal. And, I really don’t like most vegetables.

S: Oh, you sound like me! I don’t like veggies either.

M: Good. So you aren’t judging me.

S: Of course not.

M: Well sometimes I eat candy for dinner.

S: Oh.

Judged.

As we were scheduling the next session, I watched a man who had his feet suspended in some stirrups that were attached to the ceiling. He was doing some crazy push-ups or something. Sarah tells me I will get there. Great. Because there’s nothing I like more than putting my feet in stirrups.

Session two this morning was more of the same exercises. She wants to get my body used to some of the motions, which would have been fine if my legs and ass weren’t completely on fire from lunges two days ago. I got in bed last night and said to JD “Why would anyone torture me like this? What kind of evil person makes someone feel this way?” (Yes, I am a drama queen)

But in truth, I love it. I am getting my money’s worth and it’s not just what Sarah is doing for me in the gym…it’s what happens outside as well. I am still running. And drinking more water and documenting what I eat. And after 6 months, if I have done everything she tells me to do and I haven’t hit my goals, I get my money back. I’m totally game.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to reapply my Icy Hot.