Week 2, Day 9 LFT

Hit the gym with my hubby again last night. It was back/biceps day. The workout went really well until halfway through when we switched to biceps. My wrist started hurting again. It's been feeling really good since Chris has been home and I've been off the computer, but now he's back at work and I find myself on it a bit more again. I wasn't able to lift as heavy as I wanted; which I'd rather have a healthy wrist then hurt it further, so I wasn't too upset. Here is my comparison from last week:
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
Week 1: 30lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12; 45lbs - 12
Week 2: 40lbs - 12, 12; 45lbs  - 12
One Arm Dumbbell Row
Week 1: 17.5lbs - 12; 20lbs - 12, 12
Week 2: 20lbs - 12; 25lbs - 12, 12
Seated Cable Row
Week 1: 30lbs - 12; 35lbs - 12, 12
Week 2: 35lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12, 12
Underhand Cable Pulldown
Week 1: 30lbs - 3; 40lbs - 9, 12, 12
Week 2: 35lbs - 12, 12, 12
** I totally forgot how to do this one. I should've double checked the routines before we left. Thankfully Chris remembered. We ended up doing the last exercise then this one since I got confused on which one was which...no biggie though we got them both in. This is also when my wrist started hurting. I tried to do 40lbs and immediately jumped down to 20. I was seriously really confused at this point. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't do 40 when I did it last week, so thankful Chris was there since he realized I was doing the wrong exercise.
Dumbbell Alternating Bicep Curl
Week 1: 15lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 12lbs - 12, 12, 12
One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl
Week 1: 10lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 10lbs - 12, 12, 12
Standing Bicep Cable Curl
Week 1: 20lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 20lbs - 12, 12, 12

Overall, the workout went really well. Did a mile warmup and 1.6 cool down (walking both). Were not going to the gym tonight - I'm meeting my Sister and going shopping for an outfit for our family photos, and then later tonight I'm meeting some running friends for a 4-5 mile run.
I'm super excited to run tonight! It's been ages. I'm hoping to get another run in on Sunday afternoon too. I've got my Jingle All the Way 8k next week and haven't been running as much as I should. Good thing is Chris will be running it with me. It'll be such a fun race...I ordered some super cute socks to race in!!!!!

Aren't they awesome?! I LOVE them!!!! Now I have to go shopping and find the material to make that cute skirt I saw.

Turkey Trot 10k on Nov 18th

Me and my biggest fan! Well, I did it! I ran my first 10k - the Columbia Turkey Chase 10k and relay race. It was an awesome race and great day to run. It was downright cold to start, but warmed up real quick. Holly, one of my friends from the running page, ran as well.

Grabbed a few photos before the start. Waited inline for the porta potties too (there were only 6)...the line was quite long.

 Here we go!!

 My husband kept the kids busy while I ran.

They made an awesome sign for me to see as I crossed the finish line and in their excitement to hold it up my camera dropped. I got my finish photo from my cell phone, and for once it took a good picture!

They said the course would be a flat out and back course. It was certainly not what I would call flat - nice decent size hill around mile 2.5 which wasn't so bad the first go around, but not so fun after the turn around.   Overall the race went really well! I finished in 1:02:48 - 263 out of 511 overall and 26 out of 50 for female age group. Right in the middle of the pack; not bad for my first 10k. I started off at the 8:30/9min pace and settled in around 9:30/10min pace and finished the last mile around 11min pace. Averaged out to a 10minute pace for the whole thing - I'll take it!!! I will definitely do this race again next year especially if the swag is the same!!!!

Dazzle Dash on Nov 17th

I was transferring files to my external hard drive this morning and for some reason I realized that I forgot to blog about the Dazzle Dash and my first 10k!!!!! How in the world did that happen?! You'd think my husband just got home from being deployed or something!
The Dazzle Dash was not really a 'race.' We got bib numbers, but it was for families and fun, and it was AWESOME!!! We got to run through Christmas lights. My little girl LOVED it!!

Chris, Me, our two kids, Patti and her daughter, Tabitha, her husband, and their 3 kids all joined us. It was such a fun time. Really looking forward to doing this again next year. It was dark out, so some of our photos didn't turn out as nice as they could've...
Here is Tabitha and her crew

 My little guy

 The kids with Health Hound

My crew getting excited to go and run

 Can you see her excitement?!

 There's a smile

 The girls (the girls were 'patiently' waiting for Tabitha and her clan to arrive).

We're going!

 HA!HA!HA! I LOVE this photo! Makes me laugh every time I see it.

 And here we go into the lights.

 

 

 Me and my little girls first race together!

 

 

 

 

 Who put this hill here?!

 Made it!!

Running with my little guy

 He didn't last long!

We did the 1.4 loop twice. It was a lot of fun and a great evening with friends. Afterwards when we got back to the car we realized that my son had lost his blanket, so I ran back to the course and thankfully found it right at the end. While I was waiting for Chris to come and get me they shut off the lights - whew! So glad he dropped it at the end and not while I was trying to find his blanket on the course. Next year I think all 4 of us will be 'running' it!!

LFT, Day 8

Last night Chris and I went to the gym and did Day 8 of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer (LFT). We started with a 15 minute warmup on the treadmill (one mile) and then just went for it. I had many improvements from last week - more push-ups done regular style instead of on my knees; heavier weights used for some of the moves. Here is a comparison:

Wide Push ups
Week1: 12 reg, 6 reg/6 knees, 12 knees
Week 2: 12 reg, 12 reg, 6 reg/6 knees
Dumbbell Bench Press
Week 1/2: 20lbs - 12, 12, 12
Last week I needed Chris to help me with these, this week I did them all by myself; however still pretty shaky so I didn't risk going up to 25lbs.
Flat Bench Flyes
Week 1: 10lbs -12; 12lbs - 12, 12
Week 2: 12lbs - 12, 12, 12
Those last couple of reps on the third set were tough!
Narrow Push-ups = OH MY!
Week 1: 12 knees, 12 knees, 10 knees (all very pathetic)
Week 2: 1 reg/11knees, 2 reg/10knees, 2 reg/10knees (still pretty pathetic, but better)
These make me want to cry every time I see them listed. I feel so weak doing them in the gym in front of everyone (not that they're really paying any attention to me).
Standing Dumbbell Tricep Extension
Week 1: 15lbs - 12, 12, 12
Week 2: 17.5lbs - 12, 12, 12
I couldn't find the 15's so I just went up. I thought about going to 20lbs for the last set, but didn't...thankfully, cause they were tough to push out.
Triceps Pushdown
Week 1: #2-12, #3-12, 12
Week 2: #3-12, #4-3 (ha, ha, ha), #3+5lbs - 8
Jumped from 30 to 40 lbs and had to laugh at myself, went back down by 5lbs and it went better - hard, but better.
I was pretty impressed with myself last night! I'm also very glad that I lug my notebook with me so I can see the changes I make - I have no idea how people remember from week to week without writing it down! Last week I was so sore after this workout, today I feel great!!! I finished the workout with another 15 minutes on the treadmill (1 mile), so I got 2 miles towards my POTM challenge - yea!
And guess what was sitting on my porch when we got home from our workout!!!

Yep! Bodybuilding.com box full of the LFT supplements!! I got a free t-shirt and gym bag too. Crappy photo quality is due to my cell (my camera broke at the Turkey Trot 10k...new one is on the way though). I'm super excited to start trying them! I've got 3 more multi-vitamins in my jar at home...debating on just finishing those off or starting with these; I'll probably just finish those off. Won't hurt anything - they're both pretty similar. Chris started taking them this morning.
I was cooking up a storm yesterday! I've got a weeks worth of chicken cooked and prepped, some sweet potatoes cooked, and the turkey meatballs (which Chris has devoured so I need to make another batch....seriously serving size for a guy - 4, serving size for me - 2...it makes 12). I think I'll have to make another batch of quinoa too. Makes for great last minute meal options. Tonight it'll probably be pizza because my little girl is turns 4 today and it's her favorite food!

I'm pretty sure she thought the Bodybuilding.com box was a present! Special Delivery!!!!

Update: Pile on the Miles 2012

Remember the challenge I'm doing this month?! Well, I sort of do - ha, ha. Pile on the Miles. I did create a training plan to help stick with the miles and up until my husband came home I was doing great with it! Unfortunately, I have been really bad since Thanksgiving - not food wise, but running/walking wise. Since I need to figure out where I am and how much further I need to do to reach my goal, figured I'd just blog about it.
Update on my training plan to get to 85 miles for the month of November:
Week 1 goal - 6.1 miles; actual - 6.9
Week 2 goal - 22 miles; actual - 22.4
Week 3 goal - 21.1 miles; actual - 17.7
Week 4 goal - 21.2 miles; actual - 16.5
Week 5 goal - 18.5 miles;
It was really weird logging into Dailymile and seeing 0 miles for my training report. I have been going to the gym; it's just that I've been lifting and not focusing on walking/running. We're supposed to be going to the gym tonight so I plan on getting on that treadmill for awhile - at least a couple of miles anyway.
I set up the training plan to come in over my goal since I thought I might slide off track when Chris came home...I just slid off more then I thought I would. I'm at 63.5 miles for the month. I need 21.5 more miles to reach my goal in 3 days. That's not going to happen. I'm just going to do as much as I can for the rest of the month and be happy with my results.

Update - LiveFit Trainer Week 1

Turning my body into one lean, mean fat burning machine!! Week one of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer is now finished, and so far I really like this program. My arms were super sore on day one and day two and even today - almost 5 days later - they are still a little sore. I went heavy on day 3 and day 4 routines too, but they didn't make me as sore - thankfully!

Day 3 - Legs and Calves
Leg Press(110lbs - 12; 130lbs - 12; 140lbs - 12)
Leg Extension (30lbs - 12; 35lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12)
Wide Stance Barbell Squat (Bar + 10 (one on each side) - 12; Bar + 15's - 12; Bar + 20's - 12)
Seated Leg Curl (15lbs - 12; 30lbs - 12, 12)
Standing Calf Raises (20lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12; 45lbs - 12)
Seated Calf Raises (20lbs - 12; 30lbs - 12, 12) **my favorite one**

The seated calf raises were a new exercise for me...never done them before - ever. They were great!! I definitely felt the burn. Leg curls are my least favorite. I don't know why but every time I do those I get leg cramps. I made sure to lift light on that one and to stretch while Chris did his leg curls. Must be a really weak muscle for me.

Day 4 - Shoulders and Abs
Seated Dumbbell Press (15lbs - 12, 12, 12) - no idea how I got all 12 out on these - tough!
Standing Dumbbell Straight-arm Front Delt Raise to a 'T' (5lbs - 12; 8lbs - 12, 10) - Chris made me look these up because he heard that taking the dumbbells over your head was bad for you. We double checked it in his Arnold Bodybuilding encyclopedia book and it's Arnold approved, so he did it with me.
Side Lateral Raise (5lbs - 12; 8lbs - 12, 12)
Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise (8lbs - 8; 5lbs - 12, 12) **least favorite exercise** Chris actually really disliked this one so he's going to find an alternate exercise for it.
Exercise Ball Crunch (24, 24, 24) - I wasn't paying attention at first, so I did too many...then I figured I might as well keep it equal.
Air Bike (12, 12, 12)

We did the Day 4 workout yesterday and while my shoulders are a little sore, I feel it more at my breast bone area. Not sure why, must be the way I was lifting. I'm not a fan of shoulder and ab day. It's definitely my weakest link though - very light weights for these routines. I think I'll add another two crunches to the mix also.
I'm a huge fan of Jamie Eason, and I'm so excited that I'm finally getting a chance to do this program. I've got turkey thawing in the fridge and Chris is getting eggs on his way home so I can make her turkey meatloaf muffins recipe. We ordered the supplement stack they recommend for men and women while doing the program - it should be here this week. Chris and I figured it'd be a good place to start since we're not really sure about supplements...might as well go with what she recommends and then tweak it from there.

Looking forward to starting week 2 tomorrow!! I know I'll be telling myself to push through the pain on those darn push-ups. Hoping they'll be a little 'easier' to get through.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!! I have so much to be thankful for this year - my husband is home; I get to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family - my sister and her husband, my brother and his wife with her family, and my Mom and Dad; my health - I ran 5 miles this morning!; great running friends - I ran this morning with my friend Miranda; workout buddies who consistently motivate and inspire me - Patti, Tabitha S., and Tabitha F.!!! I feel truly blessed today and every day to have so many wonderful people in my life. May all of my friends, and those of you reading this who I might not know, have a joyous and wonderfully blessed day!

Jamie Eason LiveFit Trainer

My husband wanted to go to the gym with me on Tuesday. He likes to lift weights. I haven't lifted in ages and once he started explaining his routine, I thought, well if we're going to do this then I want to do the Jamie Eason LiveFit workout that I've been wanting to try. He's actually been doing it with me and pushing me to go heavier then I normally would - I appreciate him doing that!
You do every exercise 3 times with 12 reps and one minute rest. Here is what I've been doing -
Day 1 (Chest/Triceps):
1) Wide Push-ups (12 regular; 6 reg, 6 knees; 12 knees)
2) Dumbbell Bench Press (20lbs - 12, 12, 12) - and I needed his help on the last few of these (those push-ups wore my arms out!!)
3) Flat Bench Cable Flyes - cable machine was full, so we used hand weights (10lbs - 12; 12lbs - 12, 12)
4) Narrow Push-ups - OH NO! (12 knees, 12 knees, 10 knees - and none of them were pretty, my arms were shaking so bad even with only being on my knees)
5) Standing Dumbbell Tricep Extension (15lbs - 12, 12, 12)
6) Tricep Pushdown (20lbs -12; 30lbs - 12, 12)

My arms were so sore that I could barely wash my hair when we got home. I had to laugh, I can't remember the last time my body has been this sore. I'm so happy to have a workout buddy too! I've missed having someone to laugh with while working out. We actually went back for more today...with my sore arms and all!

Day 2 (Back/Biceps):
Chris started with pull-ups (not on the plan); I just stood there and watched him - ha, ha.
1) Wide Grip Lat Pulldown (30lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12; 45lbs - 12)
2) One Arm Dumbbell Row (17.5lbs - 12; 20lbs - 12, 12)
3) Seated Cable Row (30lbs - 12; 35lbs - 12, 12)
4) Underhand Cable Pulldown (40lbs - 12, 12, 12) - my favorite one!
5) Alternating Dumbbell Curl (15lbs - 12, 12, 12) - these were extremely tough for me
6) One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl (10lbs - 12, 12, 12) - my arms were so weak, I tried the 12lbs, but quickly switched to the 10's.
7) Standing Bicep Cable Curl (20lbs - 12, 12, 12)
And then Chris wanted to do back extensions which weren't on here; however I did them with him...3 sets of 12.

That's it. Two days down. I feel awesome!! We've been helping each other with eating well too. In fact, we met up with friends for dinner last night and before going we looked at the menu online. The 'healthiest' thing I could find was their fish tacos followed by chicken or steak faijitas (even better then their salads). I ended up getting the fish tacos (they were good, but so salty) and Chris got the chicken faijitas. No dessert.
I've been doing okay with my miles. I was supposed to run 3 miles on Tuesday, but didn't get it in. I have gotten my walks with Tabitha in though. Tomorrow I plan on getting a 4 mile run in the morning before Turkey day!! I'm behind on my Pile on the Miles challenge by a 5k (the one I missed on Saturday). I'll have to get a run in on Friday and Saturday to catch up...good thing I was ahead on miles. I thought I might slip up a little when Chris came home. Still a week and a half to go to reach my goals! The LiveFit trainer says to avoid cardio during Phase 1, so I might not run, but we'll see. I want to make this challenge. It'll all really depend on how my body feels.

Barby - Taking a week off from meetings

This week was really stressful for me. I had a major project due for school and I had finals and a paper due also. I found this class really hard to keep up with so it consumed a lot of my time and left very little for myself. I have been trying to stay active and cope as best I could and have been doing ok. I am in a challenge to lose 10 lbs by Thanksgiving and I want my scale to show I have left the 230's. I don't care if it's 229.9, that's still good. As of friday morning my home scale said I had about 4lbs to go and I was so disappointed. If my scale was correct that meant I had not lost any weight this week. I tracked every day, I didn't skip a meal or go over points and even had weekly points left. I was so proud of myself for staying on program while going through such a hard time in class. And 30 seconds undid all of my positive mindset. I had finals to take on Saturday and I didn't want my official weigh in to put me in a bad place mentally. I decided to see what my home scale said in the morning. I got up Saturday and weighed myself. Still no change. I took a deep breath and made a decision. I wasn't going to the meeting. I knew that if I went and the scale was showing a gain or even maintaining, it would crush me. I had worked to hard and know from experience that I would not handle that well. I needed to be positive and focused for my final. I stayed home, completed all my assignments and took my final. By 7pm I was exhausted. I also had no regrets for not weighing in this week. I could put the frustration of a stagnant week and a class from hell behind me and focus on the week ahead with no pressure from school. Sunday morning I woke up and got on my scale. I could not believe what I saw, my scale shows me within 1 lb of my Thanksgiving goal! The odds are pretty good that I will make it and finally, all the hard work of the week before was showing up. I realized that while I need the meetings to help me succeed at weight loss, sometimes I just need a week off. Not from tracking or from doing the right thing, but from the pressure of the scale. It doesn't mean I don't believe in the program or that I am giving up, just that every once in awhile I need to step back from what I am doing to appreciate how far I have come.

Update

Sorry about disappearing for a few days, but I've got a very good excuse - MY HUSBAND IS HOME!!!!!

 

For anyone who didn't know, he has been gone for about 17 weeks now. He arrived on Tuesday morning at 1am. I didn't sleep much on Sunday night because I knew he was coming home, didn't sleep Monday night since I was at the airport until 230am, and then Tuesday night I passed out but got up early to meet my friend Erika for a run. It's been a whirlwind of days, and I couldn't be any happier!!!!! Every thing suddenly feels right again in my little family.
Right now I'm enjoying some apple caramel oatmeal for breakfast with some coffee hubby brought back from his deployment...

while he's off playing at the gym. We were up late last night talking about our fitness goals and ways to budget next year for races, shoes, and other fitness gear we'd like. I love that he and I are on the same page when it comes to our journey to a healthy lifestyle.

Barby - life after accounting 2

The past 4 weeks have been such a challenge trying to juggle school, work, and life. I made a promise to myself that this time I would manage my time better. I only have 9 classes to go, just hang in there a little longer and it will all be worth it. And I was doing so well. I wasn't stressed - too much - I was attending meetings, tracking - I had it under control. Then along comes accounting 2. The workload of this class is unlike any of my others. I spend almost every night working on it and all the plans I had for managing my time without spreading myself too thin went right out the window. I am lucky if I have had more than two days a week for exercise and that is really starting to bother me. Despite all this extra work I have managed to do well. I am losing about a pound a week which is a little below my average but at least I'm losing. I manage to track almost every day, and I'm making smarter choices too. I am even starting to cook so I don't have to eat takeout. I take a 10 minute walk twice a day at work to get away from my desk and clear my head. And instead of driving myself crazy trying to do everything myself I am putting myself at the mercy of my team in class. I offer what I can, do my part, and trust in them to do theirs. Despite how hard this class has been, I am finding ways to cope, and doing well with it. I have just one more week of this class and then I am hoping to be able to get back to my old routine!

Veteran's Day Virtual 11k

I met two of my running friends for the Veteran's Day Virtual 11k run today. It was absolutely gorgeous outside!!! We really couldn't have asked for nicer weather.
I was super excited earlier this week when my bib arrived. I have no idea why it keeps flipping my photo. It looks normal until I try and enter it here. Aw well, you get the point!

 I feel so honored to run this race. It's a cause that's very close to home for me. My Dad was in the Army, my brother a Marine, I was in the Navy, my husband is still in the Navy, his Dad was Air Force, my brother-in-law is Air Force - I know so many wonderful people who have chosen to serve our great Nation. They make so many sacrifices so we can enjoy our freedoms. It was truly an honor to be able to run a race as a thank you to them for all they do.

We meet at a park about 15 minutes from post and set off. We held a decent pace and made one wrong turn. At 4 miles, we turned around and headed back. We stopped running at 7.5 and walked back to the car to stretch out our legs. We were all grinning ear to ear. What a wonderful day for a race!!

The trail we ran...

And do you remember me saying that my toe hurt? Well, I'm pretty sure I might lose a toenail. Oh my! Ha, ha. I read that it happens to runners, but I thought it was for those who ran marathons and other great distances. It's a really ugly purple color...doesn't look so bad in the photo. When I took my sock off yesterday I could see it from way up above...ew! Sorry, but looks like I'm leaving you with a photo of my toenail today!