Workout Wednesday #5

Good morning!!

We're halfway there!!  Happy Wednesday!! I hope that you're having a great week so far!

I love Wednesday because it means that we're halfway through the work week! Another reason I love Wednesday is because it's Workout Wednesday when I share some of my favorite workouts with you.

Today is day #3 of the Move, Nourish, Believe challenge and today we're planking!!  The challenge today is to do a 5 minute plank. You can split that up into increments if you want/need to. I love planks because I think that they are wildly effective. And, because I like to shake things up, I will be doing this plank workout after my spin class tonight:

Or another option would be:

Ok, so let's get up and get planking today!!

Make it a Wonderful Wednesday!!

What is on your workout agenda today??
What's the longest plank you can hold?

Tuesday-itis

Does anyone else think that Tuesday is the worst day of the week? Or is it just me??

Good morning and Happy Tuesday!!

I just popped in for a quickie....I don't know what the weather is like outside, but I'm listening to the news and it might be frightful. So I guess I need to get an early start for work. Or, I might wait till its daylight so that I can see what I'm dealing with. So far, it just looks like maybe a little bit of freezing rain and a light dusting of snow. Either way, I'm usually nervous about driving in it. It's not so much me that I don't trust (well, yes it is) but the all the other people out there trying to drive the normal speed limit or like there is no tomorrow. And, if they keep it up, there may not be one for them!!

It was a busy day at work yesterday with some challenging patient situations to deal with. I'm hoping that today will be a little bit better.

I got in a great run with Pathways AP2b after work last night. It was cold and there were some black ice patches, but everyone was careful and cautious. No one fell or got injured in any way, so that is a good thing. We increased our pace last night too and they handled it like champs. I'm really proud of them! I was going to keep the pace down to 11:00 because of the icy conditions, but they wanted to run.....so we did!! I haven't had any Achilles pain for about a week now then BAM! It was bothering me last night. I'm not sure if it was the increased pace or the high heels that I wore to work yesterday or a combination of the two but I sure didn't appreciate it! I did planks for the #corecommit challenge when I got home.

This was the sure the case last night!
 

Well, that's all I've got for you today. Have a terrific Tuesday!!

Workout Wednesday #13

Good morning folks!! I'm back up and online at home.....finally!! Woohoo!! Today is Wednesday, which means we're halfway through this work week.....thankfully!! Monday, my Pathways group was scheduled for speedwork at the track. I used to be intimidated by speedwork, so I gave my group a little peptalk before the run. I told them that we didn't expect them to be Olympic athletes but we did expect them to do the best that they could do. I challenged them to step out of their comfort zone and push themselves just a little bit to see what they were capable of. They were AMAZING!! It was hot and humid but there was very little complaining! I was so impressed with them and I think some of them even surprised themselves! After the run, I went was scheduled to do Focus T25 cardio. Since we had done speedwork, I opted to do Insanity upper body strength training instead. Recently, I posted my thoughts about my Insanity workout. I was asked by a reader to post pics. I have been a little hesitant to do so because I'm not where I want to be, but I've come to the realization that "progress is progress, no matter how small" So, here ya go! Before and after Insanity:

So, today is Workout Wednesday!! I've been trying to incorporate more strength training to my workout regimen lately. One thing that I've been doing and really find effective is a kettlebell workout. I don't have a kettlebell at home, so I use a 20 lb dumb bell. So, that's what I have for you today. Try it out and let me know what you think! I'm also doing a 30 day plank challenge. It's not too late to get in on that! That's all I've got for now! Have a wonderful day!!

Manic Monday/Plank Challenge

Whew! Where did the weekend go? It seems like I blinked and it was gone :( Other than being too short, it was a great weekend. It started with a fun 4.5 mile run with my Pathways group. It was a large group, about 30 runners. We started at our Fleet Feet Tulsa Blue Dome location and ran to Swan Lake via the trail. For some in the group, it was a distance PR. It was a little bit hilly and the humidity was insane, but everyone was able to finish the run without any difficulties. After the run, my husband and I were en route to our happy place at the lake. I know that summer is winding down and that makes me very sad. I'm looking forward to fall, but I'm determined to eke out every last little drop of summer that I can!! We enjoyed soaking up some sun and visiting with friends. I'm still blogging from my phone app which is beyond annoying and inconvenient. They are scheduled to come out and upgrade my service, so hopefully I'll be back to normal as far as that is concerned. Tonight, we're taking the Pathways group to the track for the first time this session. I remember when I was in Pathways. I despised the track!! It was probably because I got a groin strain one night and I think that was the beginning of my IT band issues. But, the more I run, the more I find that I really don't mind track night. Then, I'm scheduled to do Focus T25 alpha cardio, but I'm thinking that I might do Insanity strength training instead. And, my plank challenge starts today!! Whatever workout I decide to do, I'm going to add my 20 second plank to the end of it. Gotta get it in when/where I can!! There's still time to join the plank challenge!! Have an awesome Monday!! Be-YOU-tiful today!! Are you joining the plank challenge??

Catching up

Howdy y'all!! TGIF!! I'm so glad it's Friday!! It's been a good week with the exception of not having internet access at my house. That's been a tad inconvenient! Wednesday evening, I ran with my Pathways group. It was our first hill night. We ran all of the bridges in downtown Tulsa. It was pretty hot that night, but we made 2 stops by water stop and that helped some. We also made a pass through the splash pad at Guthrie Green, which was fun!! The group did a great job and handled the hills readily! I was very proud of them. I think this is going to be a great session and a fun group to work with. I tried something new last night. I did my Focus T25 cardio workout as scheduled but I added on a kettlebell swing/weighted burpee drop set workout. I used a 20# dumb bell, as I don't have a kettlebell and I used 10# dumb bells for the burpees. I did 21-15-9. It was a sweatfest!! Then I proceeded to plank while I waited for my pulse and breathing to return to normal. That seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like a minute. I plan to tack the kettlebells/burpees on to the end of my workouts for at least the next couple of weeks. And I've decided to try a planking challenge that starts on Monday. I would love to have you join me!! See below for details. I've been a little more consistent with the clean eating this week too. Hopefully I'll start to see some real results soon!! Tomorrow I'm running 4.5 miles with my Pathways group then I'm heading to the lake for some fun in sun!! I'm going to try to eke out every moment of the summer that I can!! Have you ever tried kettlebells or weighted burpees?? Who's going to do the plank challenge with me?