My frist 5K!

On Saturday, Steve, Jessy, Jake and I did the Orange County ECO mud run.  It was a fun 5 K with muddy obstacles along the way.  I planned to pace myself because I wanted to run the whole 3.1 miles.   But I also knew that Steve would want me to run with him.  So I kept and eye on him and slowed down when I thought he needed me to.  I know that I could have pushed a little harder because I don't think my heart rate went up very high and my recovery seemed like nothing.  

Jessy made us matching shirts and we got a lot of comments on them.  Thanks to Brittany for the idea.

At each of the obstacles we had to slow down a bit and almost stop.  I really didn't want to get mud in my face, ears, mouth or eyes.   Jessy crawled through every one and Jake actually rolled around in the last one.   Jessy ended up with very abraised knees that will take a little while to heal.  I walked through the obstacles or went around.

Everyone was dressed in costume and having a lot of fun.  There were very few of us taking it seriously.  About half way through were some inner tubes we were suppose to hop through.  I did hop and came down very hard on my right foot.  I could feel my plantar fasciitis stretch and crack.  I was very disappointed because it was just a little sore after I had warmed it up.  I was in a lot of pain.  Steve said I should just walk but it felt better to jog.  I think because I was running more on my toes then using the heel.  

I only stopped where needed because of the crowds at the obstacles and then would grab water at the water stations, but other than that I kept jogging the whole 3.1 miles.    I think at the pace I was doing I could have done a 10K.  My finish time was 42:40, better than I though it would be, but I know I could do even better.

Weekend workouts are best outdoors...

This last weekend Steve and I did a 17 mile bike ride on Saturday and Cyndi and I bagged another Orange County Peak on Sunday.  What we thought would be a little over 6 mile hike ended up 10 miles as we decided to make the trip all the way up to Sitton Peak.  It was well worth the trek and we have another peak completed on our list.  Top elevation was about 3200 feet.  The last 1/4 mile was 300 feet of elevation gain but provided us with a 360 degree view of the So Cal area - Ontario to Orange County.

This week work took me to Baltimore, Maryland.  The hotel did not have a gym but with the room key we were allowed access to Bally Fitness.  I did pack workout clothes but wasn't sure I would be able to do any true workouts with the time change.  But the first day I put in a one mile run around the Maryland DMV campus next door to our hotel.  As I am still nursing a sore heel and walked in heels on Tuesday, on Wednesday I headed to Ballys for cardio on a stationery bike and some assisted pull-ups.  Tomorrow is an early morning flight, but I'll try to get my ab work in.


Saturday is the mud run...not looking foward to getting dirty.

Rita is back and raring to go...

Sounds like over her Easter vacation she only got one run in, so she decided we need to kick it up a notch. Lots of cardio and different moves. On Wednesday we did reverse suicides. This is a modification of interval training. Cones are placed along the parking lot going up hill. You run as hard as you can to the farthest cone, then jog back to the start. Then you run hard to the 2nd cone and back and so on. In between sets we would work on other strength areas with the bands.

On Friday we did speed training with parachutes. You place the parachute strap around your waist and run up the hill as fast you can trying to "inflate" the parachute. Then an easy jog back and do it again. We did a circuit with different stations including throwing a bag of weights up the hill, one-legged squats and rope wiggling including squats.

Cyndi wore her garmin on Wednesday and Friday and we seem to get in a total of 1.5 to 2 miles with each morning work our.

Next Saturday is the mud run. I really am not looking forward to getting muddy and definitely not looking forward to getting mud in my ears, nose, mouth or eyes. I know with Steve and Jessy there they will make sure I don't get away clean. My plantar fasciitis is flaring up again. I am a bit concerned, but as long as it warms up I should be OK.

Today Steve and I went for a 17 plus mile bike ride our normal beach route. It felt good to be back on the bike. Funny though, I kept thinking we had a head wind, but then realized going 15 miles an hour when you are use to running at about 4.5 miles per hour would seem like a head wind. I just don't remember that from before. It was a good workout and being fitter, my heart rate came down very fast when we stopped at lights and at the end of the ride.

Going to Baltimore this week for work. Let's see if I can fit in some workouts, but I'm not sure the early morning thing is going to work for me because of the time difference. I have to keep making good food choices.

Cardio in the Snow

Today Steve and I rented snowshoes and went to the closed area over by Baby Thunder lift.   We saw lots of animal tracks and lots of untouched snow to play around in.  Within 10 steps, we stripped off our sweatshirts and tied them around our waists.  We took off our gloves.  It was great getting a workout and having the whole area to ourselves.   Just wish we had brought a picnic lunch but was glad we brought water for drinking.

Snowshoeing is suppose to burn over 500 calories per hour.  We found that uphill is very tough, expecially with the deep snow.  We were out over 3 hours.  I was very sad to take my snowshoes back to the rental place.

Videos of workouts in Snowbird Utah

Snowed In!

No skiing for exercise today. Within the last 48 hours we have had 35 inches of snow. The lifts are not working and they have restricted travel. Most of the workers were stuck up here for the night.

I certainly don't want to take a week off of training. I have still been doing my push ups and crunches every morning, although I still don't do the best push ups and I can't seem to do the triceps ones. But I'll keep practicing. Most of you know how much I really dislike working out in a gym, which is why I chose an outdoor boot camp.


The resort here does have a small gym with a fairly comprehensive weight machine, a treadmill, a stationery bike, an elliptical, a stair climber and a cross ramp (older version of an elliptical.) http://www.ellipticaltrainers.com/brands/precor_elliptical.htm

My father-in-law suggested the cross ramp. Steve wanted to get in a little weight work, so I thought I'd try it. I did a mile and 1/4 with an incline. It wasn't so bad. Then we decided to do the floors. There are 11 floors and walking/running each floor would give us a total of about 1/2 mile.

I brought my bands and did monster walks one floor, ran a flight of stairs, jog the next floor, flight of stairs, then side swipe the next, then jog, then walking lunches, then jog, then sumo squats plus grape vines. Then we finished with running the 10 flights of stairs together in one well.

Snow and more Snow

This is a week off of boot camp. Rita's children have Easter break as well as many of the other campers.  Steve and I are up at Snowbird, Utah for some spring skiing.   Being more fit has definitely made it easier on the mountain.  We went out yesterday and the snow was perfect (10 inches the night before) and there were no lines at any of the lifts.   

At the beginning of the day while I was still warming up, Steve would be waiting for me, but after a couple of runs, I had to wait for him.  He even waited out a few runs.

Before I got dressed in the layers of warm clothing, I did do my crunches and push ups in the room.  I just don't want to loose that conditioning when we go back to boot camp next week.   So far we have taken the stairs up and down unless we had our ski boots on.  I'm a little concerned about keeping up with the cardio, but it's still early in the week.

We are really training now.

Today was that last week day of Jessy's Easter break. We didn't do boxing, but we did a fun new partners exercise Rita use to call Rifle Drills. I don't have a photo, but will try to describe. You and a partner hold a broom stick (the kind that screws into a broom head) above your head lined up with the first set of cones. The bar has 4 disc type cones on it. Together with your partner you do leg only jumping jacks 5 times and then one of the partners takes a disc off the bar, squats and sets the disc on top of the cone on the ground. Then you run to the next set of cones and repeat. All the way through 4 sets of cones and back to the start picking up the discs, on the way back.

The winner of each group gets to sit out or do a lesser rep of the consequence for not being first. And last place has to do double. Once it was push ups, then inch worms, then burpees, then triceps push ups.

We kept moving the whole time. One partner would move down the line until you were matched up with 1/2 of the group. Quite the cardio work out. Cyndi, even with a bum ankle with her competitive spirit was 1st place at least 4 times. I really think those long legs have something to do with it.

So Rita is training us for real military work out. She shared with me the plans for the coming weeks so we will really be ready.


Hmmmm... I think we should definitely be ready for the mud run by the time we conquer these.