Best Body Bootcamp Week 2

Don't think you missed something...I never did a week 1 post since that week ended in a flu coma!  I started Ms. Tina's bootcamp last week and instantly knew it was just what I needed!  Not only does she provide butt kicking workouts that have left me sore every time, but it showed me how much fitness I have gained since the last time I did her bootcamp!!!  Here is just some thoughts from last week and this week!

• I need to get a measuring tape but so far I am down 2lbs...psyched about this one!!!
• The cardio workouts are a challenge...like have I been phoning it in lately!  I can't believe how much I can sweat in just 20 minutes!!
• I have always considered myself to have a strong lower body (13 years as a catcher will do that) but her lower body workouts leave my butt burning!!!  I love it!
• This week I completed all the workouts and I'm excited to see my strength increase over this 8 week journey!
• The support from fellow bootcampers gives you the boost you need!

Have you ever done a Best Body Bootcamp?  Did you see Tina yesterday featured on the AMR blog?  What's on tap this weekend?  I have my last long run before ZOOMA!!!

Fitness Friday...What a Difference a Week Makes

Last week I posted about hitting the reset button...about realizing that vacation week, even though we didn't go away anywhere, was a deviation from the norm and thus my workouts were too.  I started this week with a fresh outlook and decided to redo Week 7 of the Best Body Bootcamp.  I'm so thankful I did that because this week has been great!  I've hit my workouts both cardio and weights and I feel much better about the week!  Am I sore?  Oh yes but it is one of those good sores...the ones you have after a great workout!

I'm ready to take on next week and end this bootcamp on a high note! 

Do you ever hit reset on your workouts?  How did your week go?  Any victories?  Any struggles?

Hitting the Reset Buton

There are times in life and in my training plans where no matter how hard I try, life always seems to step in and take me from the direction I want to be heading.  You would think that I would learn from this and learn to stop fighting the tide but this week was proof that I have in fact not!  I was thinking that school vacation week would equal lots of miles logged and a perfect Best Body Bootcamp week since I had more than enough time to get workouts in.  Yeah not so much!  I got them in but in pieces and each workout made me feel more and more frustrated.  I would wake up early in order to get a long run in mid week and then the baby would wake up only to be joined by her big sister.  I would be finally starting to sweat and I would see Em scooting around the corner yelling above my music "Can I get on the treadmill?"  This week just left this running mama frustrated and thus there were days where my family, namely my hubby (sorry babe) would pay the price. 

That would explain a lot then!

Do you have times like this?  Where everything is perfectly planned but never seems to go quite right?  Where the walls seem to close in and you want to run (literally) out the door until you don't feel like ripping your hair out?  Well I have learned that this week is what it is and I do love my family...so there is always next week...always another week to get it right...

So today I'm hitting the reset button...a redo of this week knowing that I tried my best but that a great workout is just around the corner!!

Fitness Friday....Best Body Bootcamp Week 4

At the beginning of this week I was geared up to have the best week yet.  I was pumped and ready to not only lose weight but gain strength and run the most miles in a week since I had Aubrey....then Monday afternoon came and life changed.  We got a call that the next day our 3 1/2 month old would be going in for surgery to remove a hemangioma from her eye.  Immediately we all sprang into action making plans for our Em, booking a hotel (since there was a snow storm outside), and packing everything we could think of.  Within an hour we were on our way to Boston before reality could set in!  Tuesday was beyond rough but Aubrey is doing amazing and we are forever in awe of God's faithfulness and the support of so many! 

Some weeks we have the best laid plans before life steps in.  While the surgery only took one day, emotionally I'm spent.  I've kept up with my workouts for the most part but my heart is just not there.  I went for a run Wednesday seeking that feeling you get after a great run...you know like every step you take is stripping off another layer of stress but it just didn't happen.  Last week's bootcamp rocked and this one is no different....I can feel myself getting stronger and I'm looking forward to doing the fit test to see how far I've come!  I'm looking forward to next week....you know when I plan it all out again!!

Moral of the story....life throws you curves, it always does but you don't need to stay there.  When your plans go off track, take another track to where you're going!!!

Fitness Friday....Best Body Bootcamp Week 2

Well week 2 is just about coming to a close and Ms. Tina Reale has yet to not hand me my @ss with these workouts!  This week was similar to last but just bumped up a notch with intensity.  I've made some changes with my half marathon training and eating so that I am not so exhausted ALL. THE. TIME!  I was starting to feel like I was not only mentally worn but with all this flu going around, I was making myself a prime target for the flu's next victim!  It's one thing to work hard...it's another to be stupid and be laid up in bed for a week!  Here are some reflections from this past week:

• No idea if there has been any pounds lost because my scale is being cranky and not working.  Could be that it Em thinks it's a trampoline or that the batteries are on the way out...it's really a toss-up.  I will work on that one though!
• I am feeling stronger and getting closer (very important descriptor there....closer) to feeling like my old self.  I'm aiming high though...not just to feel like my old self but an even BETTER version!
• I am still on the hunt for higher weights...I went to Target and they stopped at 12lbs.  This weekend I'll probably head over to Sports Authority for some. 
• Some of the days' workouts are just cardio and so I am counting that as a run for my training as well.  Last week I was running twice a day...and apparently begging for an injury!  This has helped a lot physically and mentally!
• I've hit my goals too of tracking my meals and drinking at least 100oz of water a day...Like I said yesterday, I am testing the Paleo Kool-Aid and I'm really liking it thus far.  I will be honest here and say though that I had cake on my birthday (I know...calories don't count on your birthday).  I am planning after this weekend to really take a chunk of time to test it out.  I'll keep you posted!

On tap for today is our last weight workout tonight(woke up to a blanket of white but no school delay so I had to get out the door much earlier).  Tomorrow is my long run (10 miler) and the longest run I've had since I was about 25 weeks pregnant so I am taking it slow.

What's on your fitness tap for this weekend?

Fitness Friday...Best Body Bootcamp Week 1

These next 8 weeks....

I joined Tina Reale's Best Body Bootcamp for the next 8 weeks and this past week was my first.  Like I explained yesterday, I am running myself a little ragged with 2-a-days but I figured it was the best way for me to get results quickly...plus I am able to fit in weights and cardio in one day without taking 2 hours at a clip away from my family.  I'm following the training plan from "Train Like a Mother" for my upcoming half marathon for my running but I was so excited to start in with Tina's Bootcamp this week!

To start the process and to give myself a way to measure my progress besides what it says on the scale, I took before pictures which I am not really comfortable showing just yet...I just keep telling myself they'll make amazing before pictures!!!  Tina also had us do a fit test with several different areas.  I was not surprised to find out that my core was my weakest part of my body...then again I have always bit the big one when it comes to planks!  I set two additional goals to track my food each day for the week and to drink at least 80oz of water. 

Week one is done (except my long run tomorrow which I'm hoping my BRF will want to join me in the wee hours of the morning so I can get it in before I teach my course all day...hint hint!) and here is my thoughts so far...

• Boy do I need to work on my core!!!  I love that she incorporates core work in each workout! As much as I am so not friends with the plank I am looking forward to getting better.  Maybe one day I'll be able to do those crazy 4 minute planks like I see all over!
• By the end of the workouts I am toast and I love it!!!  The days we do weights we are working it in intervals.  I have been trying to really push my pace on the cardio portions of these and I'm hoping it will pay off!
• I need to bump up the weights.  I have my 10lb dumbbells but I definitely need to get at least 15lb ones.  Carrying around the baby and the carrier and 9000 bags is making my arms very strong (which is great knowing that once this body fat is gone I'm going to have jacked arms!!!
• I'm loving the interval workouts!!  They kick my butt but they are awesome!!
• I'm wondering if I can keep this intensity for the whole 8 weeks...2-a-days don't usually last 8 weeks so I am going to have to listen to my body on this one!  I'm icing a lot and making sure I am listening to my body
• So far I am down 2lbs...so 6lbs since January 1st!!  Oh yeah I can see those gloves on my hands now!!

Three Things Thursday

It's been a while since I have done an edition of Three Things Thursday and I honest am having a hard time finding just three random things to talk about...but I will do my best!

Worn....This first full week back to work is honestly kicking my butt!!  I don't know how I did it before but wowzer I'm worn!  I get up at 4am (today I totally slept right through my alarm...ugh!) to run in the basement for as long as I can before I fly upstairs to take the world's fastest shower.  Then I throw my clothes on (not too much to choose from in the closet lately) and out the door I go!  At the tail end of the day, after the girls go to bed, I am back to my basement for my Best Body Bootcamp workouts (which I LOVE...tune in tomorrow for details) and then I crash into bed!  Seriously if that scale doesn't move this week you will see me dropping it off the top of the Bourne Bridge!

Perspective...Yesterday our sweet Aub went to a specialist about a lump in the corner of her eye.  We have been talking with our pediatrician about it for weeks but they thought it was a blocked duct....well it is now diagnosed as a hemangioma.  Don't google it...trust me those pictures are far worse than hers and if your like me it will freak you the F out!  Either way they are sending us to Boston for a course of action so that we can make sure it doesn't effect her eyesight.  I was so thankful to have my friend Cindy to talk to and breathe relief and details to me about it.  Her son had one as well when he was born.  At the end of the day, I know that I need to have perspective on this.  I have so many friends who's load to bear with their children's illnesses are far heavier than this.  It gave me a whole other level of respect for them and what they do each day.  This is so minor in comparison and they handle it so gracefully.

Race race baby...I'm closing in on a finalize schedule for this year for my 13 in 2013. 

I still have yet to solve the race pamphlet mystery!  All the people I work with that I thought would have put it there have said nothing.  I was already going to sign up for one of the races (I ran it last year to celebrate being 20 weeks pregnant!) and the other one I am working at the expo for ZOOMA (which can I tell you am SOOO excited for!).  I would love to run that one too but I just don't think I'll be in half mary shape in just 4 weeks even though I am well on my way!  I'll add a tab here on what my races I'm hoping to do this year and maybe I'll see one of you out there!!  There are so many awesome virtual runs out there too and keep your eyes pealed this Spring because yours truly may be hosting one of her own!!!!

Fitness Friday...To Gym or Not to Gym

That is the million dollar question it seems....well the $20 question since that is what my gym membership is costing me these days!  When I first joined my gym it was minutes from my house which made it super convenient to go before work.  I ignored the fact that they didn't have any classes really that I could take and the equipment was well...not super because I have always belonged to a gym and loved going.  Now that it is no longer convenient to get there...and the whole baby thing...I've been basically donating $20 for the last two months!  I'm thinking I need to cancel and save that money each month to go towards a gym that is closer but more expensive...or these bad boys...

or a race entry or two!

That leaves me with one bump in the road....weights.  The cardio I can handle but baby left me with well...some loose areas!  I have hand weights but need to get one higher weight like a 20lbs or so.  I also need to find ways to mix things up minus the gym atmosphere or an instructor leading the way.  My first solution...

 I have heard so many amazing things about Tina and Best Body Bootcamp and I can't wait to start my year off right with 8 weeks of butt kickings!!!

Had any good butt kickings lately??  Share away!!