Get along little doggies

Yay!  Jessy is off for Easter break and will join us this week for boot camp.  She had a great introduction as today we once again did our "Get Along Little Doggies" exercise.  This really builds strength and is suppose to build speed.  In this movement, one partner holds the resistance band and the other runs as hard as they can up the hill.  It looks easy, but it really is exhausting.

We missed Cyndi who was still vacationing and allowing her ankle to continue to heal.  But our friend Peggy is back. 

Lots of lunges and more traveling sumo squats.   Rita always keeps it mixed up and keeps us guessing.   

Since we had tested last Friday we also all moved up to the next color and I made 81% for my age group.  I'll keep testing though because I should be able to improve on my speed. 

Timed Mile Time

I knew I should have updated my blog last night. This morning while doing dishes I sliced the end off my finger and now with a big bandage on it, I am not typing well. I really feel bad for Cyndi, though. On the way to boot camp in the morning her foot landed off the sidewalk in a hole in the grass and she twisted her ankle. Although she was sore, she still managed to pull a great 1 mile time about 9:15 but she was also planning to get on a plane for a weekend in the wine country in Sonoma.


I can't believe it's already been 4 weeks! Time really flies when working out is fun. Yes it's very challenging but it's still fun (well, except for maybe the ab work..not sure about that.) Rita has continued to keep it varied and we use all of our muscle groups and she makes sure we incorporate cardio, strength and flexibility training.

Although my cardio is much better I know that my mile time should be much better. I am pleased to be below a 10 minute mile, but Cyndi actually can power walk faster than I can run. As I did a little research for average mile times by age, I did see that percentage of body weight is also going to make a difference. I think I have the endurance to keep going even further than a mile, but I need to refocus on my eating and start loosing some weight again. Carrying less weight should easily decrease my time.

Oh No! The Hill.....

Cyndi and I weren't too sure what we were getting into when we donned the weighted vests and Rita explained to "take everything with you" as we wouldn't be returning to the school site. We were headed to the hill.

After our normal work out (with the weighted vests), we started with walking lunges up a short hill then another short jog to the hill. I didn't have my garmin so I couldn't really figure the distance and grade but I would think it was about 1/8th of a mile and got as steep as a 14% grade. I'll have to check it next time.

We walked it up and down hard and then did a jog at 70% effort. That's when I learned I may have been running wrong all this time as Rita suggested that I don't cross my arms in front of my body but pump them from forward to back on the sides. In between up and down trips alternating backward walking and quicker running we did push ups on the wall.

It was about our third trip up that I decided I was definitely going to take Tuesday off from working out. This morning was my 4th day in a row. Friday was normal boot camp, Saturday was a 3 mile jog with Jessy for her birthday on the Bolsa's trail and Sunday was a 4.4 mile hike up vista trail in O'Neil park.

We ended with over 100 crunches and our normal cool down stretch. Boy it felt light to peel off the weighted vest. I realized that with the weight I had lost over the last year, it really wasn't good to be putting that kind of stressed on the body all the time.

As the day wore on while sitting at my desk, my muscles began to tighten and I would get sorer and sorer. Just glad my girls aren't around to laugh at me as I groan.

Tomorrow, I think I'll sleep in a little so I can rest up for Wild Wednesday.

It's never boring!

Note to self: workout near Cyndi or Julie to avoid mosquito attacks.

Wow, it's really dark when we start now which makes the jog to the school along the sidewalk a little scary. It's hard to remember where the dip for the driveway is and you can't see any debris in the way.

By the time the sun comes up the mosquitoes decide it's breakfast time. I don't know why we look like such a tasty meal to them.

On Wednesday, Rita has has hopping, literally. We did a great circuit with a full agility ladder, plenty of quad and legwork, triceps, biceps.... a full workout!

One of the things I like most about boot camp is that we are never really watching the clock. We aren't usually thinking "When will this be over" (OK, maybe when we are doing the jillions and jillions of crunches). The time goes by so quickly and then we are able to start our day.

I wonder what Rita has in store for us for "Fun" Friday?

over & unders, walking lunges, wall sits...oh my....

Who would have thought we would miss the ab workout? How did Rita know I will be going skiing over Easter break in a couple of weeks. Seems like she was trying to get our quads ski worthy all in one morning workout.

I travelled to Minnesota last week and with good intention packed my work out clothes, but with the stress of long days of work, the time difference and the weather, my running shoes did not even make it out of my suitcase. Although I always took the stairs and never did the elevator, I felt very guilty and added to it with stress eating.

It felt so good to be back at a normal morning workout this morning. What fun Rita had in store for us. We wall sat for quite a while and then added some variations with one leg and then the other. Throw in some walking lunges (uphill) and the quads really start to burn.

We did one partner exercise called over and unders. One partner makes a bridge and the other crawls under. Then the partner goes into a modified push-up and the partner jumps over with two feet. I was so afraid I might accidentally stomp on Julie. She was such a good sport. We also did some "peek a boos" with the fence post. We kind of felt like cuckoo clocks.

We started in the dark due to the time change, but it was great to be outside and moving and sweating again.

Fun Friday!

Let's put on a 20 pound vest and do some Indian runs! I promise I didn't tell her Julie. Besides my daughter told me about the Indian runs they did for High School PE, where it wasn't just running to the front, but off the front and all they way around to lap the squad.

Today was a fun Friday. Lots of lunges and squats, then push ups and abs. What in the heck are Comanche's anyway.

Oh well I guess I better get in some cardio if I'm going to be in shape for the mud run.

Work is so stressful right now, but I'm never tempted to miss a workout. I need it to get my mind off of the pressures of the day. I wish it was 5 days a week again.

What happens when you knock over the cone?

10 push ups! yep.... Got to learn all the new rules.
This week I also learned there are valid excuses for missing boot camp.

1. Blisters (but I think it's only on certain parts of the body...not sure I got that one)

2. Work (Oh my she needed to be there by 10:00 a.m.)

3. Contagious illness

4. On travel for work (me next week off to Minnesota again - ugh treadmill time)

It's a fun group. Last week we did some boxing. It's fun because you think you are playing but are really getting a work out. This week we did some TRX bands. Rita had enough for everyone. The movements didn't seem difficult but by Tuesday evening we could sure feel the results on the muscle groups we had exercised.

I've signed up for the mud run in April. It works out to be a 5K but I guess with stopping for obstacles should be doable. http://www.ecomudruntour.com/

2010 - new year, new boot camp, new trainer

Ok... I guess it's time to start updating the blog again. Although I'm guessing my followers have moved on.

Our trainer, Roy, made other commitments for the 2010 year so it was time to rethink the morning workouts. I was hoping to do it with my husband since that was probably the only thing I wasn't liking about doing the boot camp. I thought I would try one through the city rec department near home for the month of January and perhaps if my husband's shoulder injury got better he could join me in the 2nd month.

The boot camp was Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a park near my home. Only problem was by the time I got home, showered, dressed and got on the road, I hit the huge traffic mess going south and really struggled to make it to my office at a decent time.

The work outs were OK but the trainer wasn't Roy. I mean who wants to do jumping jacks for two minutes straight? It also wasn't the same camaraderie. I was the oldest in the group, the only one who had children and the heaviest. I was able to keep up and it definitely helped me stay fit.

For the month of January my weight didn't go down and my body fat stayed the same but I lost over 2 inches in my waist (thanks to the ab work) and improved my mile time by 30 seconds. I think it was a bit short of a mile (.98) and at least my favorite work out partner, my daughter, Jessy helped paced me on the final test, but I was excited to be under a 10 minutes.

By February, my husband hadn't been signed off by his physical therapist. I hesitated spending the money, but he told me that spending money on boot camp is worth every penny. I joined one back in Lake Forest, even closer to work with my sister-in-law, Cyndi. On the first day as I glanced at the liability release (forgot to read the part about "you may get hurt") I did noticed I had to initial that I had the support of my family.

My new trainer isn't Roy either, but Rita is very encouraging, fit, upbeat and she even does a lot of the workout with us. There are some women in the group who have been doing it for over a year. Rita is able to adjust the workouts to the ability of the camper and is always making sure that we have good form to prevent injury and to ensure we are getting the benefit of the exercise (unless she just wants to make sure we are sore for the next workout.) We get a warm up and a cool down. She even lets us talk a little bit. Roy wasn't too keen on the talking, I'm not sure if it's because he didn't understand women could multi-task or if he really thought it bothered the other women in the class.

So I'm off to a new year with a new group of campers continuing on my journey to get fit.