Day 3 - challenge

Day 3!

I woke up sore, again.  Candace and I decided to meet at the gym in the afternoon and I was honestly thinking about taking the easy road and doing a light workout instead of the challenge....gasp!!!! Well, she quickly said, you're not doing the challenge??? So, of course I couldn't skip it now! She called me out and I was glad!

I will say it was much more fun doing the challenge with her rather than alone.  We knocked it out in about an hour and surprisingly my legs didn't kill me while doing the work.  We stretched very well when we were done and went our separate ways.

We plan on doing the challenge together tomorrow and then resting on Easter Sunday.  We will pick it up Monday and finish strong middle of next week.

Today, I came across this list of motivational quotes online and thought it was a pretty good list so I decided to share!

I needed a little extra motivation today.  Enjoy!

1. Strive for progress, not perfection. - Unknown
2. You want me to do something...tell me I can't do it. - Maya Angelou
3. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. - Wane Gretzky
4. If you don't make mistakes, you aren't really trying. - Unknown
5. The longer you live you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. - Ruth E. Renkl
6. Motivation will almost always beat mere talent. - Norman R. Augustine
7. I'd rather be a failure at something  enjoy than a success at something I hate. - George Burns
8. Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin
9. Nothing ever great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
10. No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. - Aesop
11. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.- Albert Einstein
12. Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz
13. Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. -Jim Ryan
14.  Fear is what stops you...courage is what keeps you going. -Unknown
15. The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race. -Unknown
16. The difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline. -Steve Smith
17. Just do it - Nike
18. In seeking happiness for others, you find it for yourself. - Anonymous
19. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. -Mark Twain
20. It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.- Anonymous
21. Clear your mind of can't. - Samuel Johnson

 

If you are doing the challenge right along with me, I'd love to hear how it is going!!!

Challenge

A few days ago, a friend of mine posted a challenge on facebook. The challenge was for 7 days and it consist of these exercises every day for the 7 days.

400 Jumping Jacks
300 Squats
200 Crunches
100 Push ups

I eagerly accepted the challenge and quickly shared it with my workout buddy.  She, being a great workout buddy & a little crazy like me, accepted!

I don't think I processed just how many reps of each exercises there were involved here....however....

Yesterday, I completed day 1.  I even got the kiddos involved :) We set smaller goals, of course, for each of them and we began.  Brock flew through his set (he did 20 of everything).  Emma struggled a little but did excellent! She did 200 Jumping Jacks, 100 squats, 50 crunches, and 30 push ups. Whoop - GO EMMA!

I was multi-tasking a little bit in between sets and cooked lunch.  I made Chicken & Wild Rice Soup! YUM!!! Don't get me wrong, I welcomed the short breaks!

I'm happy to say I completed the challenge in full!!!  It took me around an hour with cooking in between the sets.  I won't lie and say it was easy.  It was hard and I definitely struggled toward the end, esp. with the Push ups. I HATE PUSH UPS!!!

I even added a little extra to the challenge and while in the shower, I did 100 calf raises. 

I woke up today SO SORE!!! I love being this kind of sore, it's a productive pain!

I did notice I looked a little pasty white in  my workout shorts. Time to break out the sunless tanner!

Fortunately, one of the products I sell with Rodan + Fields is a Sunless Tanner. So last night I used it on my legs, it was time to get rid of the pasty white! I seriously love this product! It is a foam so it goes on so smoothly and evenly. Yay!!! No more white winter legs!

So, today when I woke up I let out a silent scream when my feet hit the floor. My thighs hurt so bad!!! Luckily as the morning went on the soreness let up a bit.  The last thing I wanted to do was skip day 2. So, I dropped Brock off at school and I had a little over an hour to work out until I had to get ready to go to his Easter party. 

I was literally dreading the first few Jumping Jacks and squats.  I knew it was going to hurt, but I kept saying...no pain...no gain..and got started.  I cranked up Toby Mack on Pandora Radio and had a great workout!

I only thought I was sore before...I can barely move my legs without pain tonight. Haha! Oh well, better rest up for tomorrows sets! Bring it day 3!!!

So, will you join me in this challenge??? I dare ya ;)

Steam

So, you know those days where you just need to blow off some steam? Not even for any particular reason.  Well, that was me yesterday.  Unfortunately, we overslept and missed church, which made me sad and upset! I hate missing church! I love our church family and I love our weekly corporate worship. So when we missed, it automatically put me in a sour mood.  After doing some much needed chores around the house I decided to go to the gym for a serious calorie/stress burn. 

I jumped on the elliptical and tore it up.  I went for 30 minutes on level 7 and didn't let the speed go under 7.5.  There were moments I thought, just slow down a little, nope - that's when I made myself go faster! I did 3.5 miles.  After the elliptical I did weights and hit every major muscle group.  I usually go home after I've done cardio and weights but decided to jump on the 'mill for a mile run. Well, I ended up running 2 miles with an incline of 3 and average speed of 6 aka 10 minute miles.  The last half mile or so I gradually increased the speed and ended in a sprint.  Whew! I was beat but it felt oh so good!!!! I love a good hard workout!

Today, I organized Brock's room! When I was done we had a dance party in his neat clean room! We turned on his disco ball and cranked up the music! Little did he know I was sneaking out a cardio workout! ;)  I'm hitting the gym again tomorrow! Can't wait!



Blessings to you,

I'm back!





 

So, I realize it has been several months since I last updated my blog.  My knee issues were frustrating me so badly that I took a much needed break from running and the blog world.  I tried several times during my time off to run in hopes that the pain would magically not return.  Unfortunately, that was never the case.  I would go a max of 2 miles and have to stop.  SUPER FRUSTRATING!!!

 

Well, about 2 weeks ago, my friend introduced me to KT TAPE.  I had never tried it, but she assured me that it would help.  In fact, it was what enabled her to run a marathon without killer pain in her knee.  So, I went to her house and she taped my outer left knee.  That was 2 weeks ago Wednesday.  I went to my parents house that Thursday evening and was dying to give it a try and see if it would help me be able to run pain free, or at least close to it.  I was skeptical, I'll admit, but hopeful at the same time.  I laced up and was out the door.  It felt so amazing to run outside! The few times I'd run had been inside on the 'mill so it was so refreshing to be in the sunshine! I kept waiting and waiting for the pain to come raging back in my left knee, but it never did.  I ran 3 miles PAIN FREE! Holy cow I was excited!!!  Praying that it wasn't a fluke, I ran another 3 that Saturday and again had no pain. YES YES YES!!! It feels so good to be running again! The past week I've run 2 more times - Friday 3 miles, and Saturday 4 miles.  This morning I did the elliptical, bike, and weights.  Since I don't have any major races on the horizon, as of yet, I won't be running a ton.  I will incorporate the bike and elliptical along with weights to make sure I'm strong strong strong!

 

I got new shoes for my birthday and even though I don't buy running shoes for cuteness, it sure helps when they are cute!  I LOVE the bright colors on the Brooks Ravenna 4s and so far they feel great to run in. 

 

 

New shoes = awesomeness!

Here is a pic of my knee all taped up. If you go to this site, there are videos that walk you through how to tape whatever area is bothering you! BTW, I bought purple and black tape, to match my new shoes!! How fun!