1/2 Marathon Finish Line

So how did it all end...

It was a beautiful day for a run.  The day started off foggy and cool at 59' but the temperature was upper 60's by the end of the race.

I woke up dark and early at 5:30 and got to Turner Field at about 6:15AM plenty of parking , got a great space right near the exit.  I met up with my running buddy Tashawn and we jogged around dropping stuff at each others cars before the race.  Then about 10 minutes before race time we decided we might need to make a porta stop b4 the run. Porta spot 1, no entry these are for kids only, porta stop 2 OMG why is the line soooo long. National Anthem starts, 7 minutes til start time. Porta stop 3, okay this looks promising, 5 minutes later we obviously picked the WRONG line.  I finally get in and here the announcer say...1 minute to start time, I dash out just as she is making the 30 second countdown!

Ready - Set - and we are off!

Mile 1 - okay my pace is a little to fast, our goal is 10 min miles so we can finish at 2hrs and 10mins. If we start to fast we'll burn out. Feeling good tho, the crowd is thick but the first mile is pretty much downhill.

Mile 3 - okay i've completed a 5k, still ahead of my pace, averaging about 9:30 miles. But geeze this rout is hilly, we've gone up at least 3 hills already.

Mile 6 - We've just hit piedmont park! Okay i've completed a 10k, still ahead of pace, I am feeling it tho a bit in my calves. We just finished a hill and flattened out, i feel like I am getting a second wind. I think a pebble got in my shoe?

Mile 8 - Somewhere between mile 8 and 9. Me and my run buddy part ways.  Now the pace is evening out about 10 minute miles.  There is definitely a pebble in my shoe.

Mile 9 - another incline, must keep going, i can see that it keeps going uphill just looking at the crowd ahead of me.

Mile 10 - Phew okay , Oakland cemetery, another incline, i love you calves, please make it, just 3 more miles

Mile 11 - Okay coming into the home stretch, and another hill. 

Mile 12 - And another incline, everyone is looking for the mile 12 marker, whoohoo there it is.  Just one more sharp incline, oooh man, hello quads. At this rate I will probably finish right at the 2:10 mark.

Mile 13 - Finally, I am almost there. 0.1 mile to go... i didn't know .1 mile could feel so long. Up the hill to the olympic rings and it's all downhill from here. I try to sprint but I barely have anything left in the reserve.  But, then I see the actual finish sign so i open up my stride and finish as strong as I can.

Unofficial Finish time: 2:09:46 about 10 minute miles

kcal: 1769

HRR: Avg 181 BPM, Max HR 191 BPM

I was actually faster last year.  I feel like this course was a lot more challenging than last year.  But so far I am really sore but I do not think it is a stress fracture this time...I guess we'll know for sure in about a week.  And yes it is confirmed some how a piece of gravel got in my shoe? but no blister - I saw a guy with a heinous blister on his foot at the end of the race owwwww.

I will definitely post pictures as they get sent to me.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Health and Happiness

L

1/2 Marathon TOMORROW

The Pre-Game Plan

Weather: Weather is looking good for tomorrow morning. Partly cloudy and a cool 55'. Considering I have trained in 40' weather, I am looking forward to the 10' boost, it will probably feel like 60' once I get moving. I probably won't even need gloves or earwarmers yaaay!

Hydration: I will get in 12 glasses of water before 8pm tonight. I don't want to be up all night, and I don't want to need to make a stop during the race. Then I plan to grab a sip of powerade/water at each hydration station.

Fuel: Last night I had a Publix sub for dinner got my carb and protein storage started. I had oatmeal for breakfast and chick-fil-a chicken noodle soup and small fry for lunch. For our course run practice I had salmon and mashed potatoes and I felt great after the run, so I ate the same meal again this evening. I have not been training with breakfast in my stomach so I don't plan to change that in the AM but I will have a Larabar in my car for post race fuel.

Gear: I'll be sporting my adidas supernova's. They are light as a feather and mold to my foot perfectly, this will be their less long run before they are retired to casual walking shoe. I'll be wearing my Atlanta Half Marathon in Training shirt and my C9 Champion sportsbra, running capris, and light weight running jacket. The ploar visor and FT7 will be in place. New headband/earwarmer and running gloves will be in car just in case. And, this year I will be wearing my pink cancer awareness expandable running pouch. It is about the size of a pack of gum but expands large enough to hold keys, id, phone, map, snacks, and lip gloss .

Now I just need to pin my number on my shirt, lace in my D-tag, and get a good nights sleep at least 5 hours, 7 would be best, but I am not asleep yet and I want to be at Turner Field by 6am to find parking.

Health and Happiness

L

Super Natural Body Building and Fitness Pro & Amateur Event

(from the competition November 6th)


The SNBF competition was soooo much fun !!!

I spent the majority of my weekend post competition imagining myself standing on stage with rippling muscles striking various poses.  Oh yeah I walked around my friends striking poses ;-)  I can't help it I am a fitness geek!  I will most definitely be in attendance at the Mr/Ms Olympia in Vegas next year.  Bodybuilding competitions are like dragoncon for fitness geeks!

I was so in awe by all of the competitors.  There definition and symmetry was amazing.  One of the female competitors had lost over 100 pounds.  The age of the competitors ranged from teens to 75.  It was just so empowering seeing all these competitors who look so phenomenal and it was all natural.  One of the guys bios included how he did not water or carb restrict and  he was soo defined. 

I was expecting each person to just walk out and strike a couple of poses , but this was much more than a pose off, it was a production.  First all the contestants walk out and line up together.  Then they each strike their mandatory poses.  Then the real fun begins, the individual displays.  The MC reads a short bio and then the contestant does a 60 to 90 second choreographed demonstration of poise and strength to music that reflects their personality and style.  The figure competitors get to wear costumes! And some of the bodybuilders wore costumes as well.  It is sooooo much more than posing and soooo entertaining from the figure contestant dressed as wonder woman and the other dressed as iron man (my 2 favorites) and the male body builder performing as a jabbawockeez dancer.

I was also really impressed with the female body builders, they were not as manly as I had assumed, they were very feminine looking, basically more muscularly defined than figure.  So that made me think, that maybe, I could do bodybuilding?...novice bodybuilding. 

If you are a fitness professional or enthusiast and you have never been to one of these shows you are missing out! I definitely plan to make catching a show an annual thing.  It really inspired me to get back on track , maybe one day I can be on stage posing and rippling.  ;-)

Check out this link to see photos from the November 6th show : SNBF

If anyone knows of any other shows going on in Atlanta let me know, this was my first one, and it was sooo much fun.

Health and Happiness

L

1/2 Marathon Training: Week 12

Wednesday
Mode: Participant Back to Abs Class
Time: 40 minutes
Calories: 158

Mode: Teach Sweat and Burn
Time: 49:34
Calories: 436

Friday
Mode: Teach Cardio Kickboxing
Time: 40:12
Calories: 423

Saturday
Mode: Course Run
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 2:18:20
MPH:
Calories: 1813

Sunday
Mode: GRAVITY Personal Training Class
Time: 7 hours

Course Run:
So this weekend was a big weekend.  It was course run time.  Towards the end of our training we do one last long run as a group, and we run the actual course! I was excited and nervous.  Looking back over my logs I can see my training intensity was tapering off the past 2 weeks, and this week I was sick so I only cross trained and did not do any running training.  So I contacted one of my running buddies and we decided we would help pace each other through the run.  Last year I got my first stress fracture and could not do any training for a month after the run. I was on complete impact rest, even walking was painful. So yes, I was nervous about doing a course run and injuring myself before the run.

So we met up in the gold lot at turner field and the run coaches informed us about last minute route changes and encouraged us to run in pairs or small groups for safety.  In my head I just keep thinking did I wear enough layers, too many layers, is my ankle gonna be okay, is my run partner gonna be a whole lot faster than me and have to leave me, will I get lost? We make our way to the start line and my run partner decides I can set the pace - I am cold, I hope I don't get lost, I hope I don't hurt myself. And off we go. Mile 1 to 6 no problem for us, nice steady pace, actually quicker than I anticipated, about 6 MPH/10:00. We nearly missed the sign to mile 5, luckily the run coach was only a few paces ahead of us, and then we hit Piedmont park.  So we decided to take an extended water/powerade stop to check out our course map - if you have never been to Piedmont park it is HUGE and this is not a place you want to make a wrong turn.  Now there is a group of about 15 of us trying to decide where to go next, then our run coach saved us and guided us through the park.

After Piedmont it was pretty smooth sailing,for the next 2miles except all the stopping.  It was killing my momentum, plus all the sudden stops were causing all the blood to rush from my muscles to my digestive track and kept causing me pain.  Then we turned down boulevard and had to make another decision, high road or low road, at this point we also passed the walk for peace going on in town,  an onlooker pointed out the directions the previous runners went. Once we hit Oakland cemetery we hit our 10 mile marker, and amazingly I was feeling really good but, I decided I should pull my pace back just in case.

Now I feel it. Luckily not in the ankles but the feet and muscles of the leg are just getting fatigued. Mile 11 through 12 are pretty much an incline and I don't like it.  My arms are sore, my abs are sore, and my feet are sore.  I pull back even more, I don't want to injure my ankles or muscles. I pull it back to just quicker than a walk. It is mile 13 and on a race day I would absolutely book it and sprint down the hill pass the Olympic rings, so I have to block that out and ease it on in. 2:18:20

Yaaaay I survived my course run!!! No limp, general muscle soreness but nothing horrible. I guzzle down as much powerade and and water as I can and dive into the samples of larabars. MMMmmm Powerade never tasted so good.  I feel confident I will do great at the actual race and I am thinking I can safely finish in 2:10 minutes and take off 5 minutes from my time last year.

1/2 marathon goal: 13.1 miles in 2:10

Health and Happiness

L

1/2 Marathon Training : Week 11

Runner's Training Journal

Monday
Distance: 3.5
Speed: 6.0, 6.3, 6.5, 6.8 MPH
Mode: Treadmill, Increased speed to meet HR requirements
Calories: 384

Wednesday
Mode: Cross Train - Taught Strength and Cardio Class
Time: 46 minutes
Stretch: 5 minutes, Full Body, 10 seconds each
Calories: 394

Distance: 2.75
Speed: 4.0 to 6.5 MPH
Mode: Treadmill, Hills (3.0%, 6.0%), 30:60 work recovery split
Stretch: Shoulder stretch, Tricep stretch, Biceps stretch (10 seconds Rt and Lt), Quad, Calf, Hamstring, Leg Swing (10 seconds ea, Rt then Lt), Bent over bi-lateral hamstring stretch, Rt hamstring, Lt Hamstring, Inner Thigh Stretch (10 seconds each, repeat 3 times)
Calories: 409

Distance: 0.75
Speed: 3.5 MPH
Mode: Treadmill, Hill(3.0%,6.0%, 9.0%), 30:60 work recovery split
Calories: 94

Friday
Mode: Cross-Training, Taught - Cardio Kickboxing
Time: 45 minutes
Calories: 378

Saturday
Distance: 10 miles
Speed: 5.6 MPH
Mode: Treadmill 4 miles, Outdoor 6 miles
Calories: 1251

November To Do List

So here is what I have going on this month:

+ Nov 6th attend SNBF Competition
+ Nov 14th GRAVITY Personal Training
+ Nov 20th - 21st potential ACE Training Opportunity
+ Nov 25th Half Marathon Race DAY!!!
+ Nov 29th Budget and Finance in Sports Presentation
+ Nov 30th Biomechanics Presentation

+ Nov 6th attend SNBF Competition
This will be my first visit to a bodybuilding competition.  I am really looking forward to watching how everything works.  This is a brand new world to me.  If they seem like a positive organization I may finally come out to their training workshop in Febuary.  I would love to compete in at least 1 figure or bikini competition before my 30th birthday.

+ Nov 14th GRAVITY Personal Training
I am already a GRAVITY Group instructor and now I am going for certification number 2.  One of my goals is to be a master trainer in some fitness technique.  Being a master trainer means that you have shown depth of knowledge in your art and demostrated an ability to teach, then you are allowed to certify others in your field.  I just think that would be one of the coolest jobs!  Travel and Train that's all I need.

+ Nov 25th Half Marathon Race DAY!!!
I have skipped quite a few training runs.  Trips out of town, fatigue, pains.  We only have 3 more training runs until the race.  Next weekend is our course run and then I will really know where I stand.  But, I am still looking forward to it, even tho I will have to miss a family trip to Florida.

+ Nov 29th Budget and Finance in Sports Presentation
Currently in construction

+ Nov 30th Biomechanics Presentation
Currently in construction

In other words...November is a very busy month, whoohoo I like being busy!

Health and Happiness
- L -

Atlanta Streets Alive October 17th: Recap!

Atlanta Streets Alive was last week.

Me and my volunteer crew of 2 headed down shortly after kickoff.
Sporting our new T-shirts from vistaprint.com we started in Woodruff Park with the engineers without borders booth where we attempted to dunk an engineer.  My little cousin was much closer to that than I was.  Then we made our way up Edgewood to Hurt Park to check out the space for my workouts.

I really enjoyed working out in the park.  I spend 8 hours a day indoors at a desk job with a little window for sunlight.  After that, I usually go inside the gym and spend 1 hour either teaching or training and spend about 2 hours training myself.  Then it is dark out.  To spend the afternoon outside in the sunlight felt so freeing. Using the grass as my work out mat, the wind was my fan, and my participants were my mirror and I was theirs.  It was so nice to roam free. It made me more excited about starting my fitness business and take advantage of the great weather we have hear in Atlanta.

After the workout we roamed around the entire area.   I learned that my mom is an excellent hula hooper.  We made a pit stop at one of the Hula Hoop action points about the route, apparently Hula Hoop is a hot fitness trend and sooooo fun.  We spent about 10 minutes Hooping it up!  Til the little 8 year old showed us all up by whipping around like 8 at once.  Then we hit up Urban Relay and did a quick relay race, I won !We walked about 3 miles all the way up Edgewood and back. 

It was a lot of fun, and I hope they invite me out again next time!

Health and Happiness

-L-

Stuff I Love: Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor

This is my newest toy.  Last year my FT1 battery finally died, right at the end of my Thanksgiving Half Marathon, and rather than replace it, I decided it was time to upgrade.  Hello Polar FT7!!!

The FT1 was a great starter monitor.  it has one touch button and tracks your max heart rate and allows you to program your heart rate range.  It allows you a recent workout recall but does not have long term data memory storage.

Why I LOVE my FT7

Heart Rate Ranges:  I have the ability to set my target Heart Rate Zone and I get a visual reminder where my heart rate is throughout my session.  Visual fat burn(low intensity) and fitness zone markers.  Fat burn on the FT7 is anything les than the HR required to get into your cardio conditioning zone (60% to 90% THRR).

Coded Monitor: Less cross talk between my monitor and other devices.  i used to run into the problem of picking up someone else's heart rate on my receiver with the old device.  This happens a lot less often with the new device.  also the newer monitor devices use a cloth strap so they are much more comfortable than the old school hard plastic polar.

Calorie Track:  This was my main motivator for buying the device.  Sure there are formulas to estimate your caloric burn, but they rely heavily on your heart rate.  So if your heart rate or the intensity you are working continually varies it makes it hard to calculate the calories you burn.  you can enter your age, weight, sex, and height, for the most accurate calorie tracking.

Data Storage: The FT7 can hold up to 99 files!  As well as weekly training data.  This way you can have a record of all your workouts within a given micro cycle (4 to 6 week training session)

Data Transfer:  This is the feature I am looking forward to investing in next.  The FT7 has a transfer device.  With the polar flow link you can upload all your data to polarpersonaltrainer.com and get a visual depiction of how your workouts have progressed.

Are you currently using a device to track your workout?
What kind of device do you use?
What do you love about it?

Post to the comment section

Health and Happiness

L

1/2 Marathon Training: Week 8

This week was a cold one. The temperature was a chilly 43 degrees to start our run. Our running coach, Tina, has a great blog entry about choosing clothing for different temperatures, Whatever Shall I Wear. Our long run took us from Dick's Sporting Goods to Oglethorpe University and back. I was very glad I opted to sport the running gloves, cold hands are completely distracting. Within the 1st 2 miles a silver fire hydrant tried to jump up and trip me, but I won that battle. I felt I had a good solid tempo and I was even able to chat up some fellow runners and several of the running coaches. At the end of the run my legs were sore but overall I felt really good.

This weeks speaker was Dr. Perry H. Julien, a sport podiatrist's in Atlanta that has been working with the Atlanta Track Club for several years. Dr. Julien was great, he had lots of really graphic pictures and great practical advice. He talked about all the different sports injuries runner's can suffer and how about 90% of those injuries are preventable. He gave us all a copy of his book Sure Footing: A Sports Podiatrist's Perspective on Running-and Exercise-Related Injuries, it is filled with pictures and is a fairly easy read. One of the coaches said it is a great reference/diagnostic guide for any injury below the waist. This will be a great help to me as I continue my runner's journey as well as guide me in assisting a client who suffers an injury.

Runner's Log Week 8

Pre Run Rest: 6 hours

Temperature: 43'
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:37:08
Pace: ~5.6 MPH
Calories Used: 1162
Average HR: 168 BPM
Max HR: 191 BPM

Post Run Stretch: 10 Leg Swings, 10s alt unilateral quad stretch, 10s unilateral hamstring stretch, 10s unilateral calf stretch - Repeat 2x, bilateral hamstring stretch, unilateral hipflexor stretch, abductor hip push - Repeat 2x

Post Run Rest: Midnight to 9am, 9 hours, yaaay sleep

Health and Happiness

L

1/2 Marathon Runner's Log: Week 7

As part of the training program we attend seminars.
This weekend's seminar was on injury prevention.
Dr. Josh H. Glass from Georgia Sports Chiropractic suggested we keep a runner's log of distance, stretch routine, and recovery so that we can diagnose overtraining or any cause of injury.

So I'll be posting at least 3 times a week with training updates.

Date: 10/12/2010

Distance: 5.26 miles
Speed: Varied 4.0, 6.0, 6.3, 6.5, 7.0
Time: 55:08, 3 minute warmup, 3 minute cool down
Calories Burned: 618 kcal (P FT7)

Stretch: Leg Swings (5x), Unilateral(one sided) Standing Hamstring Stretch (10s), Unilat Stand Quad Stretch (10 s), Unilat Stand Calf Stretch Gastrocnemius (10 s) Soleus (10s) - Alternate right and left 2x at 10 seconds each, Alternating Unilateral Leg Swings (5x), Alt Unilat Stand Quad Stretch (15s), Bilateral (2 sided) hamstring stretch, Downward facing dog /Bilat calf stretch (15s), Cross over hamstring Stretch (15s ea side)

Post Shower Stretch Routine: Foam Roller(FR) Abductors R/L, Standing Hip Push R/L (15 s), FR Hamstring, Seated Hamstring Reach (15 s), FR Quads, Standing Quad Stretch (15 s) R/L, FR Calf Stetch, and Downward Dog/Bilateral Calf Stretch (15 s)

Sleep/Recovery: 5:45 AM, 5 hours and 45 minutes

So overall a pretty good training night I really need to do better on the sleep/recovery and get at least 7 hours. Sleep is the time that our body can fully recover from all the wear and tear on our bodies. Recently a study was published in the IDEA Fitness journal about rest and it's connection to obesity.

So look forward to a post reviewing that article and discussing the importance of recovery time!

Health and Happiness

L

Atlanta Streets Alive! Fundraiser

More big things are coming.

I was asked by one of the organizers of Atlanta streets alive to volunteer my time to teach a few classes at their event this year. And of course I said YES! She and I have danced together several semesters and I was flattered that she thought of me as a good fit for the program and I am so excited to take my fitness classes to the streets of ATLANTA! I will be teaching a boot camp and kickboxing class between 3pm and 6pm, more updates soon, once everything is finalized!

So tonight is the big fundraiser and kick-off for the event, below is all the info for tonight's event, hope to see you there!

from: Atlanta Streets Alive! An Evening at the Curb Market

In celebration of the upcoming Fall 2010 Atlanta Streets Alive! (mark your calendars: it's happening Sunday, Oct 17th from 1 to 6pm!) the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, in partnership with City Councilman Kwanza Hall and the Atlanta Street Food Coalition will be hosting an evening of music, dance, drink, food, & shopping at the historic Sweet Auburn Curb market on Friday, Sep 24th from 6:30-9:00pm.

You'll be treated to a sneak preview of our fall event with performances from select ASA activities partners (dancing, hooping, martial arts & other surprise), music from Jules and the Gents and DJ Brian Poust, free drinks (beer/wine/etc), a wealth of dinner options from favorite Curb Market restaurants (open late to serve) and some of the city's best street food vendors. We'll also have ciclovia film & photography on display, as well as a silent auction benefiting the Oct 17th Atlanta Streets Alive! The even is free to attend, however donations are always welcome.

Come celebrate with us, show your support for the neighborhood, and learn more about one of the most exciting new projects happening within the city of Atlanta & the livable streets movement taking place across the US.

Atlanta Streets Alive! An Evening at the Curb Market

Health and Happiness

L

Will They Be Back?

Last week was the 1st full week back of fitness classes.

I feel like the cardio kickboxing class went great. The class was a little quiet, but I think that was just newbie nerves, 1/2 of the participants were new to the fitness program and new to me, I had my 1 lunch time regular but I don't think I had taught the rest of them before. I have found a formula that works great for this class with this population so I plan to stick with what works.

Now for SWEAT and Burn, this is the strength cardio hi-brid I developed based on a class I took at an SCW conference. It is designed to be an intense class and I believe this is the 3rd time I have taught it, each time tweaking it a little. The first time I taught it the combos were too complicated for me to remember so I always had to use a cue card and it was too easy, the time for each exercise was too short - by the end of the session the class was still requesting more cardio and more toning. The second time I taught it I lengthened the strengthen segment and I had a group of returning clients - but they were still requesting more core exercises and cardio at the end.

So for this go round I decided to extend the core segment and add a 5 minute cardio blast at the end. After the 1st day the class was looking at me like I was an insane person. The description of the class reads "This is not your average toning class! Develop strength and power through explosive plyometric, stability, and strength intervals. Experience a challenging full body workout and achieve a new level of fitness. Bring water and a towel - you will need it!".

So the test will be...will they be back?
Will post later to let you know.
UPDATE - They came back, as a matter of fact, they doubled!!! Largest class so far!

Have you ever been turned off by a class?
Why did you not come back?

let me know in the comments section.

L

Health and Happiness

Stuff I Love: BPA free Nalgene Bottle

OMG so excited about my brand new Nalgene Bottle. I was so excited I had to go show one of my co-workers, they were not as excited as me ;-)

Sometime I forget that fitness people get excited about things that most people don't. Which brings me to a new piece to my blog - Stuff I love! I'll just breifly talk about the products that I actually use and love and can't live without :-D

I love you new Nalgene Bottle:

I am so very sorry I left you for your aluminum brother, but now I am back, and I will never leave you again ... or at least not until a new warning comes out about a health danger you impose... thanks for being BPA free, I promise to keep you in a cool dry place, I promise to handwash you nightly to prevent the growth of bacteria and that nasty mold stench, I promise to promptly replace you if you are cracked, warped, or destroyed by my own clumsiness, and lastly I promise to use you for good and not for evil ;-) (good - hydration, evil - hitting my fiance' when he doesn't do his push ups to true fatigue).

So I tried the environmentally friendly aluminium bottle. But, it just is not for me. They are very heavy and it did not fit comfortabley in most fitness equipment I used. Plus, I am a visual person, so I need to see the water to gauge my intake for the day and encourage my consumption (now that i think of it i prefer glasses, jars, and bottles to cans in all things). I was not consuming enough water, if any, utilizing my aluminum bottle. Plus I am not really a fan of the metallic taste or the fact that I try to workout and drink and tend to clip my teeth with the bottle, in which case, metal is not my friend.

BPA free Nalgene Bottle

Okay so now that we have thoroughly examined my emotional connection to my new bottle lets get to the stats that make me love my new bottle:

- wide mouth opening : easier to clean and easy access for ice and pouing in or emptying out smoothies and other thick beverages

- easy to read oz and ml notches: makes tracking your water intake easy, and allows for easy measuring and mixing of smoothies and performance shakes

- thick, durable, plastic : i can drop it on most surfaces (not concrete) and it can survive

- light weight: I can comfortabley run with it in my hand or in a bag without feeling weighed down

- sheer: I can see what I am drinking and how much I am drinking. I make a game out of it. 32oz in 4hrs or the 1st half of the day and 32 oz b4 the end of the work day and complete at least 1 bottle through pre-workout-post training session.

To sum it up, I love my new BPA free Nalgene Bottle because, it is see thorough, light weight, durable, easy to read, and is big enough for my multipurpose needs and is the only way I have been successful at getting the amount of water I need in a day and during workouts.

How do you like to carry your water or fitness drinks?

Do you love the new aluminum bottles?

Tell me about the stuff you love in the comments section below.

For more on Nalgene follow this link.

Health and Happiness

L

1 year to go!!!

July Recap

100 Push Ups - got through week 3 this time whoohoo

Bikini Workout - got through week 3 of this workout, dropped 4lbs, and reeeeally toned my calves and hamstrings.

$2 a day - OMG I was starving most days, and relied on free food at work functions, lunch and dinner visits with my family, and fiance feedings.

So what's going on this month

Bridal FitCamp!
It is the 1 year countdown!!!
Gotta stay in shape and be shapely and toned by August 2011.
I am into my 2nd micro-cycle which includes INSANITY round 2!!!

1/2 Marathon Training
First run was this past weekend.
4 miles: 11 miles per hour

Starting My Business
I will be competing in a local business plan competition in October.



Health and Happiness

L

SCW Mania 2010

Today's adventure in Fitness...

Flirty Girl Fitness Professional Instructor Certification
flirtification.com

SCW Outdoor Boot Camp Certification

Countdown to training...

Just completed my Flirty Girl Fitness Certification. It was amaaaazing. Flitry Girl Fitness: Booty Beat is NOT striptease, it is fitness based choreography from the creators of Flirty Girl. Fun Flirty dance moves, with cardio intervals that got me up to 180 BPM and kept me between 130 and 170 most other times. That is pretty amazing for a choreography based class!!! The moves were fun and fairly easy taking moves from all genres of popular dance. With moves like "flash dance", "the old school" - similar to the carlton dance, "the cow girl", "pulp fiction" - haha yeah like the moves John Travolta busted out . I am looking forward to trying to get some things running.

Got my next certification in about an hour, time to fuel up and head out.

The last certification was brutal , just got some dinner into me a few minutes ago. But, I am now also a Certified Outdoor Boot Camp Instructor. Yaaaaaay!!! I learned some really great body weight combos that I can not wait to start implementing with clients.

So I am only 1 certification away from being ready to Launch my business. I will probally be doing a few teaser classes at various studios until I am ready to launch.

I am very excited!!!

Health and Happiness

-L-

Shopping Trial #1

So attempt number 1 was not an epic fail, but I know I can do better.

From store #1 I bought:
- 2 bags of Spring mix salad (sale)
- 2 pints of fresh blueberries (sale)(this should get me thru 2 weeks if I freeze the 2nd pint)
- less than a pound of georgia peaches(sale)
- 3 plain chobani greek yogurts (sale)(I should try and buy bulk yogurt if I can, i like to eat yogurt daily and I only have 3 in stock, that won't last all week)
total = $13.11

From store #2 I bought:
- Organic Cage Free Eggs (sale)(this was a mistake, I'll stick to store brand next time)
- Frozen veggies (sale)
- 2 cartons silk vanilla soy milk (sale)
- fresh grape tomatoes
- fresh broccoli
- 1 pint fresh strawberries (sale)
- rotisserie chicken deli prepared ( impulse buy, soooo hungry)
- 2 boxes Special Kay Protein Plus cereal (sale)
total = $31.67

GRAND TOTAL = $44.78

My budget was $42 but I wound up spending $45, :-( that's what happens when you shop at 2 different stores and don't keep the receipts with you I also got over charged by $2 on organic eggs, which I only purchased because onsale they were only $1 more than regular eggs. I also bought some fresh tomatoes and a rotisserie chicken that weren't on my list, the chicken was an impulse buy because I was so hungry after eating oatmeal all day.

As you can tell from my list that is really not enough food to last me a month.
Luckily I have a cabinet of pasta, rice, and canned goods as well as a freezer stocked with frozen chicken. This should still help me not overspend. Now that I look at it, I have plenty of food in my home and have no real excuse for how much I have been spending out.

So what I have learned for next go around:
- coupons
- I have heard fruit at the farmer's market is a whole lot cheaper
- stick to my list
- do not shop hungry

We'll see how I do next month.

Health and Happiness

L

Summer Tiiiiime = Skin, Skin, Skin

Hey All,

In todays Post:

June Wrap Up
- Bride to Be
- 100 Push Up Update
- Peachtree Road Race Update

What's Coming
- 100 Push Ups Revisited
- the $2 a day healthy diet challenge
- HERS 4 Week Bikini Challenge

June Wrap Up
So it is time to Transition from Spring to Summer and lets take a Look Back at June
Bride to Be: Well top of the list, as of June 13th I am newly engaged. The gentleman in my life sometimes refered to here as my "male workout partner" popped the question at the end of a business trip in Savannah, and he is looking forward to free personal training for life ... I think I can get him at least a reduced fee ;-)
100 Push Up Challenege: I try not to look at this as an epic fail. I like to think of it as more of a speed bump, and every time I repeat it I am getting a little bit closer to over coming it. I will defeat you 100 Push Ups - just you wait , this month is the MONTH!!!
Peachtree Road Race: This year it became a family affair. Me, the finace', my mother, and sister all completed the peachtree road race. My sister is fast for a newbie - she completed in 1:09!!! My mom shave 10 minutes off her practice time. The fiance' took 12 minutes off his previous time. And I gained 3 minutes :-[ . So generally, ok all the time, I am a very competitive person. I run my pace, eat my dust, and I'll see you at the end. But, at the start of the race I had a change of heart, I decided I will run this race with my fiance'. For him this was a great decision it put him at a much quicker pace, and I got to coach him over cardiac hill. For me it felt great to actually be able to run with him (he used to be soooo much faster than me). Then at 10th Street we sprinted it out to the finish-I win, and that was enough for me- this year ;-). Next year I am going for a personal best ! Under 1 hour! besides, I can't let him and my little sister beat me :-D

For JULY
Check in for updates on:

100 Push Ups...Again: This is the Month folks, I know it is, I can feel it in my pectoralis muscles.

$2 a day healthy diet challenge: This is based on a modification of the $1 a day challenge that 2 highschool teachers embarked on. They enetered in to the challenge based on the statistic that impoverished americans have to live off $1 a day and they're recognition that they were spending a large chunk of their income on food. In their plan they actually break down cost by ingredients and only allow themselves to consume a $1 worth of food a day.
So why woul I consider taking a similar challenge, because I have been spending a ridiculous amount of money on food the past 2 months. I stopped preparing food at home and began relying on take out and fast food. Paying an obscene amount of money on salads, steamed veggies, smoothies, and breakfast foods. With my wedding coming I need to start saving as much money as possible and cutting back my nearly $25 a day habit of convenience food would be a HUGE help.
I am going to make my life a lot easier and move up to $2 a day and just multiply that by the remaining days of the month, minus a pre-planned trip to New York for 5 days - so minus $10. My grocery budget is $40 for the month of June. I go grocery shopping tonight for at least half the months food - will post my grocery list and the price break down.
For mor info on the $1 a day challenge check out http://www.dollaradaybook.com/

HERS 4 Week Bikini Challenge: Simple. With my convenience food diet I gained some extra pounds I had not intended to. I figure as long as I am restructuring my diet, i should restructure my workouts too. There are several parties coming in August, and I would like to look like I am a personal trainer - your body can be your best business card. 4 to 8 pounds in 4 weeks should have everything bikini ready I will try to update my progress weekly on this as well.
This workout was featured in the March/April 2010 issues of Hers Muscle & Fitness, for more info on Hers and this workout you can visit: http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com/

So it should be a very busy very eventful month,

Health and Happiness

L

100 Push Up Challenge - Revisited

sooo yeah, I kind of fell off the push up band wagon.

When I first started the challenge I was at 25 Push Ups in a row.

Then I did virtually no upper body work and retested 2 weeks ago and I was at 16 in a row.

Not good at all!

So one of my clients mentioned reading about my 100 Push Up goal...uh oh I have been called out! We all need someone to hold us accountable - that is why people hire trainers. Sooo I would like to be able to do my 100 push ups before I finish my sessions with my client.

So I have reapplied myself and after 2 weeks I am back up to my 25 in a row.

I am 1/4 the way to my goal. I am sure I will be able to break 30 by the end of the week.
I mean come one, you have to admit there is nothing cooler than watching a female pump out multiple, perfectly formed, push ups!

Or maybe that is just me ;-)

I am always impressed by women with superior upper body strength,

1 day I will be that woman - look out 100 push ups, here I come.

In other news

- I just broke 20lbs for my biceps curls!

- 4 more weeks til the Peachtree, I want to finish in about 58 minutes, current pace is about 9:31:00/ 6.3MPH/61:54, my goal is 6.7 MPH/8:55:00/58 minutes, I know I can get to 6.5MPH or a finsh time of about 58:50, but training is going well and looking forward to the race

- 4 weeks til the culmunation of 6 weeks to 6 pack, I wanted to see if my body were capable of displaying a 6 pack in 6 weeks, my diet has been less than perfect, and I have not done my ab exercises as consistently as I should have, but we'll see

Health and Happiness

Biggest Loser - GOLD Team WINS!!!

My very competitive team won! Not only did they win, but they won:
- Team Weight Loss: 1st Place, 9%, 117 pounds
- Team Competition: Overall Winner
-> Swimming 1st, Running 3rd, Cycling 1st, and Rock Climbing 2nd
- Biggest Loser: Greatest percentage of weight loss, 1st Place (40 lbs) and 2nd place (46 lbs)

Honestly, I just got blessed with an amazing team!
They were all so competitive, and it helped them to drive and motivate each other. I think I was just the catalyst for them loosing the weight All some peole need is accountability.

It was a great experience for me, I learned a lot about myself and training techniques along the way:
- each person needs to have an individualized program, even in a group setting
- the heart rate monitor is king in a cardio program
- an injury does not mean you get to quit, it means we have to get creative
- a good stretch is just as important as a good workout
- always acknowledge any accomplishments because when it comes to fitness and weightloss, all accomplishments, are huge accomplishments!

Health and Happiness
- L -

April Showers

When it Rains it Pours - But Rain is Good Right

This month is a very busy, very productive month.

Biggest Loser Finale!
I have spent the past 11 weeks, 22 mornings, working with a group of amazing students and staff at Georgia Institute of Technology. They have been working hard at increasing their fitness levels and modifying their caloric intake and I am sooo proud of them. Our team is currently still in 1st place with a team weight loss of 7.2% and 2 of my group members are in 1st and 2nd place for individual weight loss at 15% and 12.8%. They have progressed from 30 mins of cardio a day to 90 minutes a day. There have been injuries and setbacks, but they continue to amaze me every week with their determination and commitment. They are training for their final competitions and we will know the final results on April 19th - Who will be the Biggest Loser?

Entrepreneurship Seminars
I have already proved myself to be a competent group fitness instructor and personal trainer. So now I need to make sure I am a competent business woman. I am attending a 5 week business seminar to help take my business from the "fruit stand to the factory".

12 Week Fitness Program
I am currently designing a comprehensive cardiovascular and muscular strength and endurance program for a client. This has been a lot of fun and a challenge. Usually I design a program based on 4 to 6 week progression and I meet with the client and we progress from their. This time I have to predict when my client will progress and anticipate that in the program design. So it's challenging but definitely a good skill, because as much as I would love to keep clients over their lifetime, things happen and people can not always commit long term, but you do not want them to loose all of the progress they have made when they leave you.

Belly Dance Show
Performance coming up. Practice, practice, practice for the summer show. Hopefully a solo this year, I am auditioning this week. Got to get back on the abdominal routine and tummy friendly nutrtion.

NFL Yet Center
My group has been working with the NFL YET center Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta to renovate their facility. At the beginning of May we will be presenting our ideas to the director and staff of the facility. It has been a long process. But, we are almost done and if our project is complete and concise they might use our plan to renovate their facility. How amazing would that be!

Anyway, that's what April looks like - see you in MAY!!

100 Push Ups - not even close - totally lost motivation, restarting this weekend.

Health and Happiness

- L -

The HundredPushUp Challenge

Why do a Hundred Push Ups?
Why not?!?!
Haha, so one of my friends turned me on to this website http://hundredpushups.com/.
When they first showed it to me I thought the same thing, why would I want to do that?
But, INSANITY gave me a whole other level of upper body strength and tone, and I really don't want to loose it. So I figure what better way than with another phsyical challenge.

Sooo I begin today!!!
My starting number is 26 full push ups before my arms buckled.
I'll be doing 3 days a week for about 6 weeks, with a retest at the start of the 3rd week.

So I'll be back in 3 weeks to tell you about all the push ups I can do.
I am challenging anyone who happens to pass by my blog to try it out.
How many can you do? Post a comment let me know how you are doing!

For more on the challenge visit http://hundredpushups.com/.

INSANITY Wrap Up

Insanity - 60 Days Later

Wow!!!

It was a long hard 60 days!!!
But, it was well worth it.

I have never sweated so hard.
I have never been so sore.

And I have never looked sooo good ;-)

My shoulders, biceps, and tricpes are well defined without leaving the house or lifting a single weight. My butt is lifted and perky and my legs are the smallest they've ever been. And my stomach is actuall flat.

Overall : I lost 3% body fat and 9 pounds and a total of 8.75 inches, i dropped about 3 pants sizes, and 3 inches from my waist!!!

So if you are serious about loosing weight, and can commit to about an hour a day for 6 days a week, and you enjoy the idea of eating 5 meals a day and looking and feeling your fittest ... I definately reccommend INSANITY! It is well worth the investment!

Health and Happiness!

Larissa

Biggest Loser on Campus - Kick Off

BL Week 1

So it has finally happened.
I have my "Biggest Loser" Team!!! Yay!!!

Last week was kick-off week. I got to meet my team of 6.
I have a really great group speaking with them I see they all have several things in common:
- All know the benefit that weightloss can have on there over all health
- All are looking for someone to motivate them and guide them
- All are extremely motivated and excited to start this journey!

That last one is what is really great for me.
They are all here because they want to be!

So my strategy:
- figure out what level everyone is currently at
- determine just how hard I can safely push each of them physically
- pre set a 12 week progressive program so they don't get bored, hurt, or hit a plateau
- modify the program as I get feedback

The biggest challenge I can see is trying to learn, motivate, and physically push each individual to their full potential while they are in a group.

The biggest strength I think I and my group have are the fact that I have experience teaching small group exercise classes. I can hopefully modify some of my group programs to fit my new clients.

I am really looking forward to this week to see how much weight they managed to loose this week, virtually on their own. They only do 2 workouts a week with me and they have not recieved a whole lot of nutrition information yet. So any thing they loose this week is all about them and the effort they put in on their own.

Team Weight Loss:

Insanity - 4 weeks

Week 5: Recovery Week

These past 4 weeks have been brutal.
Sweat dripping all over the place. Pain in all my muscles.
The exercises I love to hate: push up jacks, walking push ups, and level 2 drills(also push up oriented). But...definately feeling so much stronger and powerful. Hips, quads, and glutes are looking toned. Waist line looking smaller and abs getting flatter.

The hardest part has been the meal plan.
Not because the meals were super complicated, but it does take a little planning

This week I am doing the recovery week workouts with 1200 calorie meal plan.

Next week, I jump into a whole other level.



Loss: 7lbs, 2.2% Bodyfat, __ inches

Insanity Tracker

Have you seen the infomercials for the newest fittness DVD from BeachBody?

Heres the link: http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do?code=BBHOME_CONTROL_INS

Summary, fitness professional Shaun T, the face behind Hip Hop Abs ( my lil sisters favorite beach body workout series), has put together a group of cardio and strength exercises and organized them into high intensity cardio intervals.

What is the benefit to Interval Training?

Interval training is training the emphasize progression between work and rest ratios to allow you to work at your highest maximal rate and burn the highest amount of calories at a given time.

With a standard cardio program you would generally have a warm up and then maintain a certain heart rate level througout... for examples sake we'll say 145 ( 220 - age * 75%).

Interval training will send that heartrate way above 145, and bring you back around 145 or lower during the recovery. The higher your heart rate - the more oxygen your muscle use - the more calories you burn. Plus you get the added benefit of EPOC (excess post oxygen consumption) or "after burn", the calories your body continues to burn trying to return your body to homeostasis or baseline, the harder you work the longer this takes, and the more energy or calories are used.

Still with me?

Exercise hard and vigorous - burn more calories during and after your workout.


Insanity Week 1:

The Fitness Test - so the first thing you do before you begin your workouts is take the fitness test. I did decent on the strength test but the cardio/plyo test were pretty brutal.

OMG I have never been so sweaty doing an at home workout. I am dripping sweat in the warm up. By the end of the workout my chest is heaving my entire body is covered in sweat, but I feel amazing. Energized! And I feel this way during every workout during the week, I am so thankful for the "recovery workout" midweek, cuz my muscles are kinda hating me by day 3.

After one week I am already feeling stronger and more confident about the workouts. The workouts themselves aren't that complex its the sequencing and the speed that are really challenging. I am sweating buckets every workout. One of the things that I love about the DVD is that the people in the video are in really good shape but they as well as the instructor have to take frequent breaks during the exercise, which makes you feel comfortable when you need to take a break yourself, frequently.

I have also been following their "elite nutrition plan" that reccommends you eat 5 small meals a day with 10 options for each meal that include tasty options like cream of wheat and sushi. It gives you areound 1700 kcals a day , based on your current weight.

I am just so proud of myself for making the commitment to do this for the next 60 days.

I'll post an update on my progress week 4, and week 8.


After week 1: - 2 lbs, - 1% body fat

1/2 Marathon: The Finish Line

So how did it all end...

It was a gorgeous fall day, sunny but cold, I got to start in the first corral.
I was nervous but excited, mostly nervous that I would need to pee and there would be no where for me to go. I remember every beautiful mile like it was yesterday...

Ready - Set - Go
A lot of the men dart off to the sidelines - apparently they forgot to go pee.
Mile 1 - okay my pace is a little to fast, my goal is 10 min miles so I can finish at 2hrs and 10mins. If i start to fast I'll burn out. Feeling good tho, the crowd is thick and people are cheering me on...the faster runners dart by me.

Mile 3 - okay i've completed a 5k, still ahead of my pace, averaging about 9:30 miles.
Feeling good feeling great.

Mile 6 - Okay i've completed a 10k, still ahead of pace, feeling great tho! starting to get a little warm, wondering if I wore to much clothing.

Mile 10 - Okay just 3 more miles to go! I am feeling so good. And there is my boyfriend wait at the corner, he gives me a smile and a wave, I skip by blowing kisses - I wonder if the skipping was a bit much.

Mile 11 - Oww my ankle hurts Everything else feels fine but what is up with my right ankle.
And where did all these hills come from.

Mile 12 - I guess the seritonin kicked in I am feeling great again. Can't feel any pain in my ankle anymore. Still ahead of pace. Legs feel strong, heart feels strong, and look, yaaay another hill.

Mile 13 - Finally, I am almost there. .1 mile to go... i didn't know .1 mile could feel so long. Up the hill to the olympic rings and it's all downhill from here. I take a deep breath and sprint it out!

Finish time: 2:06:50 about 3mins 10secs ahead of schedule!

Oh yeah, I did it, kicked butt.

An hour later...I felt my ankle... rest-ice-compress-elevate!

Haha and I haven't run since - can we say burnout.
I went to crosstraining on the eliptical and bike to keep up the cardio.
I plan to start running again to pre-qualify for the peachtree.

But my new venture is the 60 day workout - INSANITY!

Stay posted for that.

Health and Happiness

L