Category Archives: Running +

Tuesday Tunes!

I heard this song on my way home from work tonight (8:00 p.m.), and it got me very pumped and in the mood for Insanity Day 9!!!!! Leave it to Britney to get me going! Her songs usually do. I probably turned this song up to a 22 or 23 in my car. It was awesome! Insanity workouts are still going strong despite me not posting anything since Saturday. Tonight was Pure Cardio!

So, I did have a little “slack” dinner tonight since I had pizza [Domino’s no less…] for a work meeting, but I’ve been eating really clean lately, so I’m not going to feel too bad about it, plus Shaun T whooped my A tonight. Not just saying it either…. It was so hard, at one point I said screamed out loud, I’d rather be running a marathon right now!!!!!!! I DEFINITELY paid my dues!
Rewind back to Saturday… Jason surprised me by taking me out to Zelo in downtown Minneapolis. It was really nice! We even did Valet parking! I had Basil crusted Sea Bass, and Jason had steak. We each had a glass of wine. It was super nummy!!!! Afterwards we swung into the place that he normally plays poker, and I even got in on a round. It was really fun! We were going to go to a movie but I was tired, and not feeling super well, so we called it a night and went home.
Sunday was rest day from our workout which was good since I had come down with something beginning on Friday after I left work… I feel 100% better now (Tuesday), but was scared I wasn’t going to make my workout yesterday, but I did. We did switch it over to evenings/late afternoons however, which I actually like better, despite my earlier post saying I liked getting up at 5:50 a.m.
Well, I’m off to bed, since I’m up way past my bedtime!
Happy Tuesday Tunes everyone! I hope you like this song as much as I do, and have it on repeat!

Insanity Day 6

I’m so glad we get a break tomorrow! Today was Cardio Plyometrics so it was the same workout as day 2. Last night I was feeling a bit under the weather, and quite woozy. I’m not sure if it was doing the double workout, or something I ate, or low blood sugar…but I was just exhausted!

Today we did our workout around 9:30/10Am,so it was GREAT to sleep in! The workout was just as hard as it was on Tuesday, but I at least have the moves down now. While super exhausting, it wasn’t quite as tremulous.
Today Jason is in stalling a railing for Kirra and others to hang on to going down the basement. We pretty much camp out down here now. Jason did such a great job on it! I’ll have to take some photos of what it looks like with the furniture, and toys down here.
Later on, Jason has a surprise dinner for us to go to at a fancy restaurant. My in-laws are coming over to watch Kirra, so I’m very excited for this surprise date! Well time to take a soak in the tub, and try to get my heart rate down which is still in the 90’s despite being done with our workout for about an hour now! (which might be why i was feeling woozy?)

Insanity, Days 4 & 5

Well, the past few days have gone really good, except the waking up part! I royally hate waking up at 6AM to do these workouts, but I do have so much more energy every day despite quitting coffee two weeks ago!

Insanity day 4 was amazing! It was called cardio recovery and was basically a yoga class. This so far was my favorite. We still worked our muscles to death, but not our hearts. We had whole wheat spaghetti for dinner! Yum Yum.
Workout day 5 was INSANITY! Today was pure hell, while my legs are finally not crazy sore, the movements of today had me struggling to keep up. They were going so fast I thought I was going to puke! I just kept telling myself Abs baby Abs! I made it though!
Later in the day I was reading some running stories at work for a college scholarship we give out, and was feeling rather inspired to start running again! Scholarship application after scholarship application I felt the butterflies of nostalgia well up and decided I want to be a runner again!
So…. tonight,once I got home I laced up my shoes, bundled Kirra up and went for a tiny 1/2 mile loop in my neighborhood. I know…. 1/2 mile isn’t much, but I have to re-start somewhere. My problem is that I’m always so tweaked every time I start running again I do too much too fast. I think because I’m doing this insanity workout, I don’t have to feel bad anymore that I’m only running for 8-10 minutes around the block. (I didn’t officially time myself)….Plus I’m planning on running with Kirra… and normally when I go to push the jogger I’m already at 3 miles, when I try to push her. No… this time I’m starting from scratch!
Also… to motivate me, because running solo is obviously not working for me I joined Moms on the Run tonight! I’m very very excited. We start at the end of April for 18 weeks of running bliss. There were two options…. a one day per week option, or a two day per week option. The price difference was about 40 bucks, so I went with the two times per week. I’m super excited! I’m a mom on the run!

Insanity Day 3

Ugh!!!! I didn’t want to get out of bed today!!! I was so nice and warm and cozy! I went downstairs to meet Jason, and thought my legs were going to give out going down the stairs. How the heck was I going to make it through the workout!!!!

I did somehow. It went alright. Either I’m getting slightly stronger, or because there was a little less cardio it seemed a little better today. Its probably just to mess with my head. Anyways, here is a little video clip of today’s workout. It was nuts. I was collapsing and Jason was collapsing just like the gal in the video.

Kirra and I were playing hide & go-seek tonight so I hid in the downstairs bathroom behind the door…. and she couldn’t find me, so I kept telling her I was in the bathroom… so she was looking and looking, and looked for me in the drawers, and the cupboard… and even stuck her head down the toilet asking me if I was in the toilet… so I told her I shrunk and was stuck in the toilet
she said, don’t worry mama, i’ll save you… so then I quick told her I was on the couch so she wouldn’t shove her hand down the toilet,but she finally found me.
Time for a little American Idol, a little Off the Map, and then off to bed before Insanity Day 4 starts. Time to hydrate!

Insanity Day 2

Today was completely nuts. It was called “Cardio Plyometrics“… and it was insane! Our warm-up was 10 minutes long of super fast cardio, and I honestly thought i was going to die, and i thought for sure my heart was going to explode. I couldn’t believe that that… was just the warm up! Today’s workout was 42 minutes long.

The workout involved lots of squats, and push ups,and all kinds of things. I now hate butt kicks, and the Heisman, or worse yet, 1-2-3 Heisman’s. Here is a video clip of some girl doing Cardio Plyometrics. I see I get to do this again on Saturday!!!
Jason,Kirra and i have been eating really good, and have completely cut out all junk food, soda, coffee etc. All we drink is water and tea, and most of our food is unprocessed! My goal is -10 pounds, and Jason’s is -20.
I’ll post more tomorrow!

Insanity Day 1

Well today was Day 1 of Insanity! We did the “FIT Test” today, which was a series of 8 or so exercises that we did for 1 minute each, although the whole workout was about 28 minutes long.

They really weren’t kidding that it was high intensity cardio! My heart was racing faster than when I was actively running 8 minute miles! But then again, I’m pretty out of shape right now.
Just now at 9:50 p.m. my legs are getting sore, and we have a major workout tomorrow! 40 minutes tomorrow! Phew. We’re working out at 6 a.m. tomorrow, which I actually like! I had so much more energy today, and was happy that I could devote the night to playing with Kirra and relaxing!
I’ll let you know how tomorrow goes!

To Tri or not to Tri

That… is the question!

Well this past weekend Jason, Kirra and I were able to get our downstairs living room furniture, so I decided since I wasn’t going to compete competitively I’ll not do that indoor Tri. It would have been really fun… but again… was it “worth” it? I can still do the one in April.
Tomorrow [Monday] begins our Insanity workout at 6 a.m. sharp! I’m nervous and excited at the same time. Since last week we began to implement our new healthier eating regime. Of course we slipped up here and there, but it was a start. Jason lost 2 pounds by greatly increasing his water intake, and lack of sodas, and I lost 1 pound, by starting to eat healthier, and continue to drink more water. I also quit coffee last Wednesday, with actually no drawbacks or withdrawals, unless of course I smell it. I LOVE the smell of Coffee!!!
We’re pretty much moved down the basement now… so its been nice to hang out in the downstairs. It looks like a whole new house down here! Kirra was pretty crabby today with no nap, so after dinner we read her library books, and it was off to bed! And before we even came back downstairs she was asleep!!!
I’ll give a full report on the Insanity workout, but I have a feeling its going to be similar to the calisthenics I did in FMSS, only tweaked a little harder, and more encouraging, and not someone yelling at us calling us “dog-gone-freaking-heinous“

Luck ‘O the Irish!

Is what I am going to need!!! Jason and I are on this healthy eating kick, so today when I went grocery shopping I filled up the cart with fresh veggies, fruits, whole grain cereals, and chicken… lots and lots of chicken!

Tonight Kirra and I had friends over so we were late to eating dinner, so I needed something STAT! I decided to try brown rice, black beans, chopped green onions, and edamame, topped with a little EVOO. The whole meal took 10 minutes!
I had tried edamame at work a few weeks ago… one of my co-workers is in love with the stuff, and has talked about it for years, so when she passed around the raw soybeans I had to have a taste… and then I had to have a puke bag! I told my co-workers if I never ate edamame again i’d probably die a happy woman…
So here I am… a few weeks later buying a whole bag. Thing is.. i’m not a big fan of raw vegetables… except sweet peppers. I hate sugar snap peas, and broccoli raw, but I LOVE them cooked/steamed… so i though what the hell… I’ll give it another go. Worst case, i’m out $2.99.
And boy was I delightfully surprised!!! Not only was it edible, but it tasted really really good! Plus it has 9g of protein per serving!
So! for a 10 minute meal I got super fresh, amazing, non-processed foods that were not laden with sugar and partially hydrogenated oils! Yahooooo!
Also….. dah-dah-dah-dah!!!! Basement is DONE! Carpet is IN!!!!!!!



Every basement needs a bar right?


A big descision!

After trying to jog it out, I feel way out of shape! Now I had just started training for my Half Marathon in February, and have only gotten up to around 4-6 miles. That is really sort of pushing it. Then we had all of that snow at the end of February, and then everything melted and made a muddy mess, so I really haven’t been running as much as I would like to for my training with my Half Marathon.

I’ve talked to friends, and relatives, and even a doctor friend, if she suggests running, and they all say, if you’re already running, there is no reason why you shouldn’t keep running, but trying to increase my millage in 4 weeks seems a little strenuous to me. SO I am going to gracefully bow out of both of my Half Marathons, and take up walking. It really comes down to what do I feel most comfortable with? So far, since Saturday, I have walked a total of 4 miles. 2 miles each day. I took Monday off, as well as tonight I am sure, since I have other plans but I just wanted to verbally, put it out there on paper, or the screen in my case, that I have chosen not to push anything!

During the next few months I will have a lot of things going on with the Marathon that I work for, and I want to be at the top of my game for that, so that I am not on bedrest during the last few months, when we’re the busiest. I would rather take it easy now, so that I have the energy to perform my daily tasks… Perhaps next year I will sign up for a half marathon again, or maybe even a full one, to get back in shape 🙂