Fit RA Chick

Back on Track

2012-02-27T07:28:00.001-05:00

After a few weeks lacking motivation, I’m feeling like I’m back on track.

Last week’s workouts:

Sunday

Spent 40 minutes in the condo gym. Started with 10 minutes of elliptical trainer then moved onto weights.

I also went to a 90 minute Intro to Moksha Yoga class with my Passport to Prana. I say this after every yoga class – I need to do more yoga! I feel so good afterwards.

Monday – Family Day

My long run from the previous week. This was supposed to be 10km, but I didn’t really map out a route so ended up being just over 11km. This round of half marathon training I’m trying to incorporate more hills (and running up them, not walking). I’m also making a point to run more on pavement. Last fall I did all of my long runs on a trail and I was limping by kilometre 7 – I’m pretty sure it was the change from soft packed dirt to unforgiving concrete.

Tuesday

More condo gym time.

Wednesday

Treadmill. I was going for 5km but the treadmill doesn’t do metric so I stopped at 3.1 miles which turned out to be 4.99km. So close.

Thursday & Friday

Rest days.

Saturday

LSR – 12.05 km. This run felt really good.

On tap for this week – 14km LSR, maybe another yoga class.

Spring 2012 – Race Plans

2012-02-19T07:49:00.001-05:00

My current plan for the spring is 4 races in 6 weeks. I am registered for all of these so I’m committed.

Toronto Yonge Street 10K on April 22nd.
This is the former Sporting Life 10K, but Canada Running Series and Sporting Life are no longer working together on the race. I registered for this way back in May when the registration was pretty cheap.

Goodlife Fitness Half Marathon on May 6th.
I went back and forth a lot on this race. I wasn’t going to do it because I didn’t want to do 10K, 12K etc in the cold and snow. However, I set a goal last month to take every possible opportunity to enrich my life and decided that this fell into that category. I don’t have high expectations, but I’ll be able to finish. Also, it’s on my 32nd birthday!

Sporting Life 10K on May 13th.
Again, another race I wasn’t going to do, but they were offering a $50 gift card to Sporting Life and registering was $45 so I pretty much made $5! Also, it will be interesting to compare the two 10K’s. They’re both following the same route so the organization will be different.

And finally Toronto Women's Half Marathon on May 27th.
Running Jennie convinced me. I love the Toronto Women’s Runs and will already be through half marathon training so why not?

So that’s the plan for the spring. I was thinking of adding Harry's Spring Run Off into the mix, but maybe not.
Very much looking forward to being done with the cold!

First Post of 2012???

2012-02-18T17:20:00.001-05:00

This is pretty lame that my first post of 2012 is up on February 18th!!

So what have I been up to?

Spent a great week in Puerto Plata

Experienced a death in the family that made me think a lot about how I live my life.

Signed up for a bunch of races (more on that later).
Started half marathon training.
Completely lost all motivation.
So I’m recommitting. Made a meal plan for next week, did some healthy grocery shopping. And back to the blog.

2011 in Review

2011-12-31T13:16:00.001-05:00

2011 was a good year. I don’t think I ever blogged about my goals for the year, but we’ll look at them now. I’ve had them saved on my iPod since last January so I can regularly review them.
Improve 5K Time
In 2010, my best 5K time was 40:17. I really wanted to break 38 minutes and with the help of Running Jennie, I crushed that in October finishing in 36:23.

Weigh Less
I’m down 9 pounds and 9% body fat from the beginning of the year.I did see my weight watchers goal weight a couple of weeks back but then Christmas happened. Ah well.
Workout 5+ Days Per Week
2008 and 2009 were the years I stopped working out because of my arthritis. 2010, I started working out but not regularly. 2011 was the year that I embraced fitness. 6 workouts a week is my standard now and I love it.
Apply for New Jobs
This didn’t happen because my position at my current job changed for the better so I’m happy again where I am.
Run a 10K Race
Not only did I run two 10K races, I ran my first half marathon.

Races run: 5 (2 5K’s, 2 10K’s, 1 Half Marathon)
Fitness Minutes (according to Spark People) 13,192
Kilometres Run: 576

Looking forward to a fabulous 2012!

Crazy in the Spring?

2011-12-30T07:52:00.002-05:00

I’m contemplating spring races and this is my newest plan:

April 22nd	Yonge Street 10K
May 6th	Goodlife Half Marathon
May 13th	Sporting Life 10K
May 27th	Toronto Women's Half Marathon

I’m already registered for the Yonge Street 10K so that one has been set for a long time.
My original plan was to run the Goodlife Half (which is on my birthday!) then the 5K portion of the May Toronto Women’s Race.
Then I found out that the Sporting Life 10K is offering a $50 gift card for Sporting Life if you register before January 15th. Who can pass up a free gift card?? Plus it will be interesting to compare the two 10K’s since they’re on the same course. So that went onto my list.
But lately I’ve been thinking that I might not be ready for a half marathon at the beginning of May, so I started thinking about Toronto Women’s Half Marathon and adjusted the training plan I had created accordingly.
After adjusting my training plan, my 20Km LSR falls conveniently on May 6th. So if I’m going to run 20Km anyways, why not just run the Goodlife half?
Is this nuts?? Its a lot of race fees but I already paid for the Yonge Street 10K last May. And I have a new pair of shoes stashed away that I bought at the outlets in Vegas last summer so I shouldn’t need any new shoes for a while.
I’m happy to hear any opinions.

Goals Check In

2011-12-10T11:20:00.001-05:00

1. Increase run time
I've done 10/1 run/walk intervals twice now. The first time was easy, the second time not so much. My pace is slower than normal, but its a start.

2. Keep running over the winter
I was going to run this morning but it was -6, feels like -13 and I chickened out. I'm hoping to get some near (warmer) gear for Christmas which will make a big difference. Right now I'm running in a long sleeved top and a windbreaker which is good when the weather is around 0. There is a couple of treadmills in the condo gym, so I might have to break down to use those.

3. Strength Training 3 Times a Week
This is going very well. I just finished week 2 of the Push Circuit which is the second phase of Chalean Extreme. I'm feeling stronger and my push ups are getting better. Plus I have actually have some definition in my arms now.

4. Yoga
Fail. I haven't been to any yoga classes and have only done my DVD once. Maybe I'll get to a class tomorrow.

5. Loose the last 5 pounds to get back to my Weight Watchers goal weight.
I'm at my Weight Watchers goal weight. Very happy about that.

Weigh In Day

2011-12-02T16:36:00.001-05:00

May 2005
Started weight watchers at 198 pounds

February 2006
Hit goal weight of 147 pounds

January 2007
Slowly started putting the weight back on

January 2010
Hit 173 pounds and decided enough was enough. Time to loose it again.

Dec 2 2011
I'm back at my goal weight!!!!!!!!!

My Running Bucket List

2011-11-11T17:30:00.001-05:00

A Mid Summer Night's Run
Running in the evening by the lake with fairy wings? Yes please.

Ottawa Marathon or Half Marathon
I've heard good things about this race. Again, running by water is right up my alley.

New York City Marathon
Looks like a ton of fun and amazing crowd support. Also, I want to run through Central Park.

Las Vegas Half Marathon
Running up the strip at night.

London Marathon
London is my favourite city so any excuse to go is a good excuse.

Goofy's Race and a Half
This is my ultimate racing goal. I have a 7 year plan that works up to this race (half marathon on Saturday followed by full marathon on Sunday). My goal is to run Goofy in 2018, which will mark 10 years since my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.

New Gear

2011-11-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

I picked up a couple of new running related items today.

Old Navy Compressions Crops

The pair I got is slightly different then the pair posted (they have some pink at the waist and around the leg). I quite like them. They're about mid calf length, have a small zip pocket on the back. Best of all - super cheap! The regular price is around $27, but they were reduced to $15 and I had a 30% off coupon so they came to $10.50!

Lululemon Brisk Earwarmer

This is super soft and feels very warm. Looking forward to wearing this when it's chilly.

New Goals

2011-11-05T17:14:00.000-04:00

Racing is done for the year. Time for some new goals.

1. Increase run time.
I want to be able to maintain 10/1 run/walk intervals. Right now, I'm working on 4/1. I think that I run faster then I should which is why I need frequent walk breaks. So I'm focusing on slowing down my run pace so that I can keep at it longer. Right now, this is considerably dropping my overall pace, but I figure it will even out in the long run.

2. Keep running over the winter.
Last year, I stopped running sometime in December and pretty much had to start over again in March. This year, I'm planning to invest in some winter running gear or spend some time on the dreadmill and keep running.

3. Strength training 3 times a week.
Next week, I'm starting another round of Chalean Extreme.

Charlene is less chatty then Tony Horton and the workouts are a bit shorter which will work better with my schedule. I'm going to Puerto Plata in January so need to get buffed for the beach!

4. Yoga
Time to make use of my Passport to Prana and get some more yoga in.

5. Loose the last 5 pounds to get back to my Weight Watchers goal weight.
It took me 8 months to loose 55 pounds, 3 years to put back on 28, 2 years to loose 23. I want the last 5 gone by the end of the year.

Toronto Women's 5K Recap - October Edition

2011-11-01T07:32:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday was the final race of the year for me - The Toronto Women's 5K and 8K.

My original plan for the year was to run the 8K. But I ended up signing up for the 5K for two reasons - It was two week's after the half marathon and I wanted an opportunity to improve my 5K PR.

Saturday morning was quite chilly but Sunnybrook park was lovely with fall colours. I met up with Running Jennie who was also running the 5K. We've been blog/daily mile friends for a while so it was great to meet in person. Jennie contacted me the week before and asked if I wanted to run for her and she would help me get to my goal of running a 5K in the 38 minute range. I've never run with anyone else (other then my husband who is much faster then me and we both end up annoyed) but thought this would be fun so we meet up.

Racing with a buddy was super fun. We chatted the whole way and kept up a decent pace. Having someone to chat with made the race go by fast.

We did 3-1 run/walk intervals most of the time and had enough energy left at the end to finish strong. Completely crushed my goal of running a 38 minute 5K.

New 5K PR

36 minutes 23 seconds

I'm flying! Weee!

This was pretty huge for me. Let's look at my previous 5K times, shall we?

August 2010 (first race) - 41:26

September 2010 - 40:31

October 2010 - 40:17

May 2011 - 39:36

I'm pretty happy with cutting over 3 minutes off my previous 5K time.

Thank you Jennie for pushing me out of my comfort zone!

Running Jennie's Photo

I learned a couple of things at this last race. First, that I'm not pushing myself hard enough. I've been coasting in my 8min/km zone so I need to work more on my speed. Also, running with other people is fun! I'm going to look into a running room clinic for the spring.

Week So Far

2011-10-26T07:18:00.000-04:00

After the half marathon on the 16th, I took things easy the rest of the week. I did a couple of short runs but my hip was bothering me. I ended up going out of town on the week-end to visit my parents and purposely didn't bring any workout gear with me so I would take a rest break.

That seemed to be exactly what I needed. Sunday I came home and went out for a run. One of my goals for the year is to lower my 5K PR to 38 minutes. I did run/walk intervals of 3/1. My run intervals were between 6.26min/km and 7.25min/km and I hit 5km at 37 minutes and 59 seconds. Hopefully I can repeat this at Saturday's race.

When I got home, I did 40 minutes of stretching which seemed to help work out all of the lingering kinks.

Monday evening, I went back to my buddy Tony Horton and did P90X Back & Biceps and followed up with Ab Ripper X. Ouch. I've been neglecting my weight training in the final weeks of half marathon training so I was quite sore afterwards.

Pouring rain when I got home last night so I hung out with my other Beach Body friend Charlene and did Fire 30 followed by more stretching.

So back into regular workout routine and feeling good.

Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon 2011 Recap

2011-10-20T09:22:00.000-04:00

3 days later and I'm still collecting my thoughts on my first half marathon. Its kind of a blur.

Pre Race

I got up at 5:30 which ended up being about 20 minutes too early. Had a shower to wake up, ate a bagel with jam and juice for breakfast. Headed off for the blue line buses to get downtown. Noticed other runners on the bus which was fun.

Conveniently, the start line was directly outside of one of the locations I work at so I hung out inside. No porta potties or bag check for me (thank goodness cause the bag check situation turned into a two hour nightmare for a lot of people). Filled my water belt, called my husband to say hello, ate a cliff bar.

I headed out to the start corrals twenty minutes before the start and thankfully I allowed myself a bit of time as I went completely the wrong way and ended up walking around for 15 minutes to get to my proper corral.

I hate being in start corrals by myself, but I just took the time to take in the whole atmosphere. I was chilly in my t-shirt. Next time I need to bring a throwaway sweater.

Race

Being in the slowest corral, it was 15 minutes after the official start that I finally crossed the start line. There was a good crowd along the first stretch which was fun.

I was super pumped up and on a bit of a adrenaline high for the first three kilometres. I loved running down front street as I normally walk that route to go to work.

I hit the 5km mark in 40 minutes so I knew I was on my 8min/km pace.

Around 8km, my left hip starting hurting during my walk breaks.

I was super happy to reach the turnaround point around 12km at Windermere. Turns out one of my staff was around there but I didn't see her.

The volunteers and spectators were great. I enjoyed the signs along the course and the encouragement from random people at the side of the road.

I walked up every hill to conserve energy and I walked between kilometre 19 and 21. My hip was hurting, my feet hurt, my right knee felt wonky. I had a cup of Gatorade at the last water stop and that gave me a bit of energy.

When I turned onto Bay street, I was determined the run the rest of the way. I took out my earphones so I could hear the crowds and get the full experience. I saw my parents and my husband around the 300 metres to go mark. They were yelling and waving.

This is when I started to get emotional. I started thinking how when I started running in March 2010, 3 km was super tough and all I wanted to do was get to my first 5km race. I remembered limping the 10 minute walk to the subway station in 2008 when my arthritis was at its worse. I thought about how happy I was when I got the okay to start working out again in 2009 and I was able to get on an exercise bike for 15 minutes at a time. And here I am now, about to finish my first half marathon.

I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 2hrs 50 minutes and 45 seconds. Not a great time for most people but I'm super proud of it. Got my medal, picked up a bottle of water, a bagel and a bottle of Gatorade. Saw the ridiculous crowds at bag check and snuck out through an opening in the fence. Found my family and headed home.

I loved every minute of this race. It was tough, the food selection at the finish line was lame and the weather wasn't ideal but it's always going to be one of the highlights of my life.

Did it!

2011-10-16T16:52:00.001-04:00

2hrs 50 min

8:03 min/km

I'm on a high.

Race recap to come.

Day Before

2011-10-15T15:59:00.002-04:00

Saturday = rest day. I did all of my errands and running around yesterday afternoon so today I'm going to relax, eat properly and get ready for Sunday morning. I have pasta for dinner, Downton Abbey and Spirit of the Marathon on DVD.

After my MRI yesterday, I hit up race kit pick up and the expo.

Besides the shirt and bag, the race kit wasn't too exciting. A juice box, a mini cliff bar and the usual flyers. I like the shirt though. Fits alright and I like that there is a different shirt for each distance (the marathon shirt looks the best. As it should).

I wandered around the expo for a bit. I didn't end up buying anything except for a renewal on Canadian Running magazine. I did stop by the Run Disney booth and picked up a brochure. They did have all of their medals out including the goofy medal. I felt kind of emotional holding it. Sigh. Someday.

Race Goals

My goal tomorrow is to finish strong. I'm expecting to finish in about 3 hours which is slow yes, but its realistic for me. Signing up for this half marathon was (and still is) so far out of my comfort zone. This is the first of what will hopefully be many half marathons so there's lots of time to work on speed and times later. First one is always a PR!

Almost There

2011-10-13T22:06:00.000-04:00

This evening I did my last pre-race run. 3 km at 5/1 run/walk intervals. I decided to do a shorter distance so I could push it a bit.

I'm focusing on healthy eats, lots of water, rest. I've upped my calories for the week. The focus is on fueling for Sunday, not weight loss.

I'm hoping to get to the race expo tomorrow afternoon but I had a last minute MRI scheduled. My rheumy has sent me for an ultrasound and an MRI for my feet and hands to see if I have any inflammation that she can't see in my x-rays. My hands have been feeling good but my feet hurt on and off. I am concerned that she'll tell me to lay off the running but I'm not going to dwell on that.

4 days

2011-10-12T21:58:00.000-04:00

I'm getting super nervous.

My last long run was two and a half weeks ago. What if I can't run further then 10 km??
Everyone at work is coughing. I don't want to get sick!!
My feet have been achy. What if my arthritis flares up??
I skipped my run today!! Because of rain!! I'm a wimpy runner!!

I had two different marathon anxiety dreams last night. One I was late to the race and the other I lost my shoes and had to run in my socks.

At the same time, I'm super pumped. I'm looking forward to the race expo and picking up my race kit. I'm excited about being in the start corrals with a ton of other people. Really excited for the finish line and getting a medal. Its the in between start line and finish line that's more of an unknown.

7 Days

2011-10-09T15:18:00.001-04:00

I'm on a bit of a countdown to the half marathon. Its pretty much all I can think about right now.

Yesterday - ran 10 km. I started out too quick which came back to bite me later. At one point I looked down at my garmin and realized I was at a 5:30m/km pace. Um, no. My overall pace wound up at 8:02/km which is where I want to be right now for longer distances. I'm expecting to be more around 8:30m/km at the actual race.

When I got home, I stretched a bit. I have a pain in the muscle of my left leg which is a bit worrisome but it only seems to hurt if I put pressure on it.

I picked up a couple of books for motivation.

"No Need for Speed" and "Accidental Athlete" both by John "The Penguin" Bingham. I think of myself as a bit of penguin so these are both right up my alley.

On today's agenda - rest and pie baking. Yum yum. Pie won't get eaten though until tomorrow night at my parents' house.

8 days….

2011-10-08T07:32:00.001-04:00

8 days left until my first half marathon.

Eeeek!!

I’ve been taking things easy this week. I ran 5K on Tuesday then 6ish on Thursday. I have a 10K planned for later today.

I am kind of freaking out a bit and really want to do another 20K run to cement in my mind that I can do this, but I’ve read enough magazine articles to trust the taper that’s in my training plan.

September in Review

2011-10-01T09:10:00.001-04:00

Total Distance Ran: 115.99 km

Longest Distance: 19.74 km

Best pace: 7.47/km

September was a monumental month for me, running wise. I pushed myself both in terms of distance and in terms of speed. While 7.47/km is slow for most people, its heading in the right direction for me.

What’s Ahead in October:

Thanksgiving (yay!)
Half Marathon
Last 5K of the year

Update

2011-09-26T08:14:00.001-04:00

Arthritis

Still pain free! My rheumatologist is sending me for an MRI to see if there’s any inflammation in my joints that she can’t detect. If everything comes back clear, then we’re going to start scaling back my medications!

Half Marathon Training

Half marathon is in three weeks!! I’ve gone from being nervous to being super pumped. I did 19.75K yesterday and felt good for about 90% of the run. The last 2 kilometres were tough. I was able to keep a decent pace (8:20min/km). I’d prefer to be around 8min/km but most likely I’ll speed up a bit at the actual race.

I added a new leg to my usual running trail to get the extra distance in and it’s beautiful. Meandering paths through a forest, by little creeks. The ground is pretty uneven and there’s some brutal hills but it keeps me motivated.

I’m focusing on keeping my diet relatively clean and I’ve cut out alcohol until the race is done. A cold beer with be a nice reward once I’m done with the race.

13K

2011-09-05T18:02:00.001-04:00

This morning I did a 13K run.

The weather was pretty much perfect for running – slightly chilly, overcast. I was comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts.

I felt good throughout the entire run. I did 2:30/2 run/walk intervals. I think I’m going to move to 3/2 to improve my pace a bit.

6 weeks to the half marathon. EEK!

Passport to Prana: Yoga Sanctuary Danforth

2011-09-05T07:41:00.001-04:00

A few months back, I picked up a Passport to Prana

Passport to Prana gives you access to one class at a bunch of different yoga studios. It’s available in a bunch of different cities in both Canada and the U.S. Basically the cost ($35 for Toronto) works out to be about 2 classes. It expires one year after activation.
Yesterday, I took my passport to The Yoga Sanctuary – Danforth.
I used to live up the street from this studio and it’s where I first discovered yoga.
I went to a 90 minute Hatha level 1 class on Sunday afternoon.

The studio itself is beautiful. Very large with wood floors and brick walls. I always liked to position myself by the windows to get the occasional view of the busy street. Being right at a busy intersection, you do hear the streetcars and traffic below, but that doesn’t bother me.
The class itself was very relaxing. The last yoga class I attended was a bikram class so this was the complete opposite. The instructor kept telling us to do what feels the most comfortable and offered a lot of options for poses.
I would come back to the yoga sanctuary however I think that a different class would work better for me. Something with a bit more of quicker pace that’s a bit challenging.
My plan for September is to either attend one yoga class a week or do a yoga DVD. My muscles have been very tight after my runs lately so I think this should help.

Week So Far

2011-08-31T19:28:00.001-04:00

Had a good run yesterday. The weather is starting to change so even though it was still 30 degrees with the humidity, it didn’t feel as hot as it has been the last couple of weeks. Or maybe I’m just used to it now.
Just finished P90X Legs & Back and Ab Ripper. I’ve been doing Ab Ripper on and off (mostly off) for about a month now and its slowly getting less hard. Not easier, just less hard.
Pictures from Saturday’s race are up. There’s a bunch of pictures of me grinning like a maniac.

Toronto Women’s 10K

2011-08-28T19:11:00.002-04:00

Today marks 1 year since my first 5K and yesterday, I ran my second 10K.

The race kit consisted of the usual flyers, a luna bar and the brightest yellow t-shirt.
I got to the park just after 7. Race time was 8. Had a good amount of time to drink some water, visit the porta potties repeatedly and get ready.
The 10K was divided up better than May’s 5K. I positioned myself in the 60 minutes + group but once we started, it was clear that some there were some people who should have been in faster starting positions. Bit annoying. Also, I saw a couple of 5K people turning around and heading back so they started at the wrong time (5K’s started 15 minutes earlier). The announcements were pretty clear – if you have a yellow bib, get out of the starting line. That really sucks though for them. I’d be very annoyed at myself if I had started at the wrong time and already run half the race.
The 10K course starts off following the usual TO Women’s 5K course which after 3 times running it, I’m pretty familiar with. Than we turn off and run through part of the park that I hadn’t seen before. It was very pretty – over little bridges and along streams. Over to the expressway. Up a hill, down a hill (stupid hills).
I felt good throughout the entire race. I was doing 2:30/1:30 run/walk intervals and kept pretty much dead on my 8 min/km pace throughout the race. That was one of my main problems with the Sporting Life 10K – I went out too fast than struggled later. There were 3 water stops along the way plus I had my fuel belt and some sport beans. I was at the back, but wasn’t concerned about it. I was running the race that I wanted to run and feeling good.
My husband came out to the park to see me finish and he was about 50 metres ahead of the finish line. I was very happy to see him!

I had enough energy left at the end to pick up the pace and finished strong.
Official Time: 1 hr 20m 22s
Chip Time: 1hr 19m 50s
So I beat my Sporting Life 10K time by 48 seconds which I am very happy amount. 1hr 20 minutes was my goal, and I’m 10 seconds under it. I felt good covering the longer distance which makes me feel better about October’s half marathon. And I got a medal and a shirt! Yay for swag!!

Things I liked about this race:

Course was pretty
Shirt & medal
3 water stations
The volunteers were great – really supportive and encouraging.
Post race food – bananas, breakfast pita, chocolate bar, water and bag of chips
General energy of the racers. I like women’s races.

Things I didn’t like:

People not positioning themselves properly at start
There’s a parking lot that we run through at the beginning and end of the race. I hate that parking lot for some reason. Rest of the course is fine.
Course is open to the public which worked out fine but is a bit annoying.

Week Plan Aug 22 - 27

2011-08-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

Monday:
Run 44 minutes

Tuesday:
P90X Legs & Back, Ab Ripper

Wednesday:
Run 44 minutes

Thursday:
P90X Shoulders & Arms. Ab Ripper

Friday:
Rest day. Pick up race kit.

Saturday:
Toronto Women's 10K

Goals for week:
Track food Monday to Friday
Pack lunch the night before (Monday morning = fail)

Thanks for the recent comments! I'm trying to change my set up so I can actually reply to them.

Relaxing Sunday

2011-08-21T19:49:00.002-04:00

I’m back to work tomorrow after 12 days off. Blah.
Today consisted of laundry, cleaning, bit of organizing, some cooking.
Getting tortured by this guy

Back to P90X. Today’s workout: chest & back.
I’m doing most of the push ups from my knees and using a resistance band looped over the husband’s pull up bar rather than attempting pull ups. Pull ups and RA wrists do not mix, at least not right now. Maybe soon.

I did three weeks of P90X in July than took some time off from it. I’m doing three P90X workouts (skipping the cardio) in combination of half marathon training.
Think I’ll be sore tomorrow.

11K’s

2011-08-20T22:19:00.002-04:00

Spent 5 hot sweaty days in Vegas. We came home on a red eye flight, getting in early on Tuesday morning. Completely put me out of commission for the entire day.

5 days of eating not so nutritious food and no exercise other than walking up and down the strip. Last year’s Vegas trip, I came home with an extra 6 pounds.

This year – stayed the same! Yay!
However it’s back at it now. Half marathon is coming up quick.
Thursday’s 5K run was painful. It was my first run in a week and I was moving rather slow. Than the 5K turned into “hunt for the missing fuel belt bottle”. While looking for missing bottle #1, bottle #2 fell off. I found bottle #2 and gave up on #1. I’ve been thinking about getting a new belt anyways, so this was a sign. My old belt was too big and I wanted one with 4 bottles instead of just two. Came home to find a 20% coupon for the running store in my e-mail. Score!
I set off with my new size smaller, 4 bottle fuel belt this morning. 11 kilometres later, I was home. Tired, hot, moving really really slow but pumped. This was my longest run yet. This time last year when I was prepping for my first 5K, I would never have thought 11K would be possible. Yes I’m still slow. Yes I still walk 50% of the time. I’m constantly reminding myself that I’m a slightly overweight 31 year old with rheumatoid arthritis that doesn’t have an athletic bone in my body and avoided the 100 metre dash at track and field days. The fact that I’m even doing this is enough.

Bikram Yoga

2011-06-12T20:42:00.002-04:00

I bought a 25 class pass to a Bikram Yoga studio a couple of months ago from a groupon-like website. I’ve always avoided hot yoga, didn’t seem very pleasant. I don’t want to drown in my own sweat. It was kind of a whim that I bought the pass.
Than I put off using it for 6 months because I was convinced that I was going to hate Bikram yoga. Or pass out. Or vomit. Or both.
So what is Bikram yoga?
From Wikipedia:
Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s.^[1]^[2] Bikram's classes run exactly 90 minutes and consist of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F (≈ 40.6°C) with a humidity of 40%, and is the most popular form of hot yoga.
So it’s hot, extremely structured yoga for an hour and a half.
I took my first class today. Brought my yoga mat, my towel to place over the mat (to catch the sweat), bottle of water. Wore as little clothes as possible. Stepped into the room and immediately rerated this decision.
But I stuck it out and I liked it.

[source]

Pros:

The heat made me super bendy.
Most of the poses aren’t very difficult and because you’re holding the pose for quite some time, it’s easy to follow.

Cons:

Wasn’t the most relaxing yoga class I’ve been to. The instructor talks throughout the class the entire time and at a rapid pace. It was like being at an auction.
There’s no variation so I can see getting bored of Bikram quickly.
I like sun salutations and vinyasas. Felt odd to do a yoga class without downward facing dog.
I was drenched in sweat.

I’ll go back again, maybe next week. I really want to do more yoga. It’s a nice break from running and weight lifting.

CLX Lean Circuit

2011-06-09T19:05:00.001-04:00

I just finished Lean Circuit 3.

Oh my god.

My chest muscles are shaking.

I'm having mixed feelings about Lean Circuit.
I like that it's very challenging and a good change from Push Circuit. But its very hard on my wrists, especially Lean Circuit 2 and Lean Circuit 3. I think I'm going to have to come up with some modifications. Exercises like one arm row while in plank and push ups to side plank are not what my poor slightly arthritis damaged wrists need.

Back to It

2011-06-05T10:56:00.002-04:00

Back to work tomorrow. And I seriously need to get back to eating properly.
My vacation week eats went out with a bang last night – late night out with friends at Boston Pizza that included two massive pitchers of beer. Which is good in a way cause I felt kind of gross afterwards so am happy to make a massive salad for lunch.
Today’s agenda:

Chalean Extreme – Lean Circuit 1
Hair cut
Laundry
5K afternoon run

Toronto Women’s 5K May 2011 Recap

2011-06-04T10:51:00.002-04:00

This was my third time doing this race – I did the 5K portions on August and October of last year.
I picked up my race kit from the Running Room on Saturday. A couple of good samples in the kit – a mini luna bar, chap stick, Immunity FX (I keep getting this in race kits and I can’t use it – my immune system wants to attack my joints so it’s not getting any support!).
Fabulous blue long sleeved shirt. I requested a medium but the shirts ran a bit small. Luckily I was able to exchange it after the race.

Sunday morning, I was up early and left my place around 6:45. Had no issues with Sunday morning buses and got to the park by 7:30 (half marathon started at 8, the 5K at 8:20).
The half marathoners went out first in 3 waves. Than all of the 5K’ers were clumped together. There were around 1500 doing the half and 700ish doing the 5K. So not a huge race, but I wish that there were at least signs saying “under 30 minutes”, “35+ minutes”, “walkers”, etc to split everyone up properly. I tried to position myself further back, but there were lots of faster runners dodging people to get ahead and lots of walkers ahead of me that I had to get around.
The race runs through Sunnybrook park which is pretty and green with winding paths. Only problem with this is that you have a ton of people all on a smallish path plus whoever else is in the park that day. There were narrow sections where it was really hard to pass people. This didn’t bother me last year but after running down Yonge Street in the Sporting Life 10K, I appreciate having some space.

The course is and out and back. It was great seeing the leaders coming back. Everyone on the other side of the path cheered for them.
Just before the water station, volunteers were handing out Cadbury Thins chocolate. As much as I like chocolate, it was so not appealing while running. Some people just took them to carry, but I didn’t particularly want to carry a chocolate bar for the rest of the race.
I was slowing down on the way back, feeling kind of tired. As I was approaching the finish line, I looked at my Garmin. I was at 39 minutes – I just wanted to break 40. So I sprinted to the end. Looking at my Garmin splits, the last 500 metres I was running between a 4.5 to a 5 min/km pace. I hit the mat, looked at my watch, saw it was under 40 minutes and leapt into the air. I may have yelled something.

Got my medal and a brown bag full of snacks (more chocolate, a banana, bottle of water, a breakfast pita and a bag of chips) than headed home.

Overall, I really like the Toronto Women’s Races. They’re well organized, not too big and the post race area is always well laid out. The volunteers were great, the energy was fantastic. I’m planning on doing the 10K and either the 5K or 8K in October.
Thinks I liked:

Shirt (and easy size exchanges)
Medal
Beautiful park setting
Post race food

Things I didn’t like:

No start corrals for the 5K
Narrow paths

Week Off – Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

2011-06-03T15:45:00.002-04:00

My week off is almost over. Very sad.

Monday was our wedding anniversary but the husband had to work so we didn’t do anything until Wednesday. We decided to spend the day at Canada’s Wonderland, a big theme park just north of Toronto.

I hadn’t been to Wonderland or on a roller coaster for about 6 years. We went on some of the big coasters, ate some bad for us food (including funnel cake) and got a lot of sun.

Thursday, we went to see Thor.

I enjoyed it, but I’m really into all of the movies leading up to The Avengers. We saw it in 3D – I’d recommend saving the extra $5 and seeing it in 2D. We only went to a 3D screening because it was all they had a the theatre closest to us.
I haven’t been eating great this week, but am keeping up with my workouts.
Wednesday – Chalean Extreme Push Circuit 2 & Abs
Thursday – Ran 5K
Today, I was going to do my long run for the week (6K) but I’m taking a rest day instead. I’m really trying to aim to get in one rest day a week, but I want to do strength training 3 times a week, running 4 times and some yoga thrown in so it’s difficult. But I’ve been feeling kind of off and sluggish all day so I figure that it’s good to take a rest.

Technorati Tags: vacation,movies

Week Off: Tuesday

2011-05-31T07:00:00.002-04:00

Another fabulous vacation week day.
The temperature hit 30 degrees Celsius today, with humidex up to 40! Bit crazy considering that it rained for pretty much the last two months and I seem to remember wearing pants and a jacket to work last week.
The husband is still thinking of doing his crazy Spartan race and has been meaning to do some running. He went out last week and borrowed my Garmin - he's fast. Much faster than me.
I was going for a run today so I dragged him out with me. We left together, but no way were we going to run together. He's been athletic his whole life, played numerous sports. I found every possible excuse to get out of gym class and mocked things like pep rallies and athletic award banquets in high school. I trekked off on my 25 minutes at my usual slow pace and he did 5K in half an hour. Still, it was nice to be out together.
I puttered around Yorkville which is a swanky shopping district in Toronto. Shops in the area include such stores as Gucci, Prada, Chanel. I skipped those and headed to the Gap and Lululemon. I had a wonderful facial (courtesy of a group buy coupon that I got a few months ago) and took my first trip to Whole Foods - I completely understand now why people refer to it as Whole Paycheck!
Came home and have had another relaxing evening.

Week Off: Monday

2011-05-30T07:17:00.001-04:00

My vacation time needs to be used up by the end of July and I had two weeks left. So I'm off this week and I'm taking a week off in July as well.
It's fabulous having a week off with nothing planned. Usually when I take time off work it's to do something specific like see my parents or go on a trip (which I would prefer to be doing but hey).
I started today with Chalean Extreme - Push Circuit 1. I'm in the last week of the Push phase and as much as I've enjoyed it, I'm ready to move on. Feeling a bit bored with the same moves.
For the afternoon, I debated between going to the mall and hot yoga. The mall won out.
Stopped to get groceries on the way home. Had a nice dinner of baked tofu, asparagus and some random vegetables that I had in the fridge.
The husband is at work this evening so it's a quiet night. I decided to head downstairs to the condo pool (its indoors). We've lived in our condo for a year and a half and I think I've used the pool 3 times. I keep meaning to use it more.
I only spent about 15 minutes swimming, but it was so nice. No one else was down there so I just floated around on my back, did some breaststroke. I'm not a very strong swimmer, so no crazy laps for me. Sat in the sauna for a bit afterwards. It was a lovely way to finish the day.

May

2011-05-29T07:01:00.001-04:00

I completely dropped off the radar. So what have I been up to?
Had my 31st birthday!
My parents gave me a fabulous Garmin 405 for my birthday! I love it.
The husband took me on a post-birthday trip to Niagara Falls. We did touristy things, some outlet shopping, lost some money at the casino.

I registered for my first half marathon! Happening October 16th.
I'm starting my training next week.
I went to a fabulous Astanga Yoga class last Monday. Since moving to my condo, I haven’t done much in the way of group classes – I either work out in the condo gym, run or do videos. It was great to be with a group of people and I loved the class! Challenging, but not too much so.
In terms of my running, I decided to go back to basics - Couch to 5K. When I first started running last year, this is what I started with. I got to week 5, gave up after not being able to run 5 minutes straight and started doing my own thing. I did complete three 5K’s just kind of winging it, but between my first 5K last August and my last 5K of the year in October, I didn’t improve at all.
So I started at week 5 (run 5, walk 3) the other week. I just finished week 6 (run 25 minutes with no walking) the other day. This is definitely making a difference – when I go back to run/walk intervals, I don’t loose steam. I’m able to watch my heart rate on my Garmin and slow down when it starts getting too high.
Proof of the training working – ran my 2nd race, first 5K of the year.

Previous 5K PR – 40:17
New 5K PR – 39:36

Difference of 40 seconds but I just wanted to get under 40 minutes and I did!
I’ll write a longer 5K recap later.

Sporting Life 10K Recap

2011-05-10T07:02:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday was my first 10K race, the Sporting Life 10K.

Bag check closed at 7:40 and as this was a big race with a lot of people, I wanted to get there early.
I completely overestimated how long it would take me to get there - I was at the race by 6:15 (race time = 8 a.m.) They were still setting up.
It was chilly, overcast, still dark so I went to sit in a coffee shop for a bit. I didn't fully warm up though for the entire day.
This was by far the largest race I've participated in (15,000 people). It didn't seem crowded though on the course as we were running on the street so there was a lot of room.
I was doing alright for the first 6k. Looking at my nike+ after the race, I apparently hit 5:55/km for a bit which is a bit ridiculous for me. Around the 7K mark, I hit a wall. I switched from run/walk intervals of 4m/1m to run 2 minutes/walk 2 minutes. I was tired, cold, thirsty - there were two water stations on the course which wasn't enough for me. I hadn't brought my fuel belt either.
My main goal for my first 10K was just to finish, but I was hoping to finish in 1hour, 20 minutes. I made it in at 1 hr, 20 minutes, 39 seconds so not too far off.
Things I like about this race:

Few bands along the route.
Running down Yonge Street.
Great t-shirt
Medal!
Lots of people – so many people running = great energy.

Things I didn’t like about this race:

Lots of people – was very crowded. Especially at the post race party.
Post Race Area – crowded. Really spread out so it was hard to find where to pick up my bag. The food selection was lacking (bananas, apples and bagels).
Lack of water stations – there were 2 along the course. Probably fine for the speedy people, but being out there for over an hour, I needed more water.

My husband came to meet me at the finish line. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it down there until after I had finished. Ah well. He took a picture of me anyways.

Afterwards, I was a bit sore. I didn’t stretch which didn’t help matters and I was still cold! I came home and dove under the covers for a much needed nap.
My next 10K will be at the end of August. I’m hoping to improve my time a bit, finish feeling stronger and I’m going to wear my fuel belt!

Week Recap May 2 - 7

2011-05-10T06:03:00.001-04:00

Busy week! Haven't had time or energy to blog.
Last Week:
Monday: Push Circuit 1 & Ab Burner Done.
Tuesday: Run 5K Was raining and chilly so did Fire 45 instead.
Wednesday: Push Circuit 2 & Ab Burner Done but started Extreme Abs instead of Ab Burner
Thursday: Yoga Ran 5K
Friday: Run 5K My birthday! I did Push Circuit 3 & Extreme abs instead of running (raining - again).
Saturday: Push Circuit 3 & Ab Burner I had to work and forgot I was going to a stag n doe in the evening, so no workout.
Sunday: Run 6K Did 5 instead.
I'm loving Push Circuit. I prefer doing one move at a time rather than say bicep curls with squats. I can focus more on the movement. And I love lifting heavier weights. I have a bit of joint damage in my wrists, so I need to be careful but so far, so good.
This week's plan:

Monday: Push Circuit 1 & Extreme Abs
Tuesday: Fire 55 EZ
Wednesday: Push Circuit 2 & Extreme Abs
Thursday: Run 5K
Friday: Push Circuit 3 & Extreme Abs
Saturday: rest
Sunday: run 6K

Week Recap (Apr 25 - May 1)

2011-05-02T07:03:00.001-04:00

Been a bit of a crazy week.
Found out I'm getting a promotion in July. Busiest week of the year at work. Royal Wedding on Friday (loved every moment of it - may have watched it twice on PVR).
Ran my first 10k!!
I'll write more about this later. My goal was to finish at 1hr20 (8min/km pace) and I finished at 1:20:39! Super close! This was the biggest race I've run (15,000 runners). I'm super proud of myself for completing this.
Last Week's Workouts:
Monday: TF Sculpt 30 & Core 20 Check
Tuesday: Rest Done
Wednesday: Run 5K Did Fire 45 instead
Thursday: Fire 55 EZ Did Tone 30 & Core 20 instead
Friday: TF Tone 30 & Core 20 (this might be skipped though to watch the royal wedding) Actual: Completely skipped for royal wedding watching.
Saturday: Some form of yoga Rested. My joints were a bit flared up so wanted to rest them.
Sunday: My first 10K!!
On tap for this week:

Voting! (Federal election time in Canada - we seem to do this every 2 years).
My 31st Birthday! (on Friday)

Workout Plan:

Monday: Push Circuit 1 & Ab Burner
Tuesday: Run 5K
Wednesday: Push Circuit 2 & Ab Burner
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Run 5K
Saturday: Push Circuit 3 & Ab Burner
Sunday: Run 6K

Feels Like Spring (Finally)

2011-04-24T07:04:00.001-04:00

Feels like spring!! Yay! Hopefully no more snow.
I lost two pounds this week so maybe I've broken through my plateau. Eating a bit more seems to have helped.
I finished the Burn phase of Chalean Extreme. I'm looking forward to moving onto the Push phase. I might write a bit more about my experience with the Burn phase later.
My 10K is coming up next Sunday so I'm going to take things a bit easy this week. I won't be starting Push phase until the first week of May as I don't want to try anything new prior to my race.
Last week:
Monday: Burn Circuit 1 & Ab Burner
Done
Tuesday: Rest
Took the rest day - I was feeling antsy, but rest is good.
Wednesday: Run 10K
Ran 9.5K. So close.
Thursday: Burn Circuit 2 & Ab Burner
Check
Friday: Run 6K
Did 5 instead
Saturday: Burn Circuit 3 & Ab Burner
Check
Sunday: Run 5K
Ran 6 instead.
Next Week's Plan:Monday: TF Sculpt 30 & Core 20
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Run 5K
Thursday: Fire 55 EZ
Friday: TF Tone 30 & Core 20 (this might be skipped though to watch the royal wedding)
Saturday: Some form of yoga
Sunday: My first 10K!!

Practice 10K

2011-04-21T07:05:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was cold, very windy, overcast, muddy - not exactly ideal conditions for a run, but I wanted to get in a practice 10K before my race next Saturday.
I set off going at a decent pace, but since this was my first time doing this distance, I slowed down a fair deal and took quite a few walk breaks.
I completed 9.5K in an hour, 25 minutes (I am a turtle). I was going for 10, but my route didn't work out that way. I had mapped it out on map my run but hadn't realized that there was a staircase at the end of the trail. Ah well.
I felt pretty good. My legs were a bit achey when I got in but I stretched for 20 minutes which helped.
Hopefully the weather is better next week.

Week-End

2011-04-17T07:06:00.001-04:00

- Had a non-tracking food day yesterday. I ate whatever I wanted all day and didn't track anything. Surprisingly, I didn't eat anything horrible other than 4 butter tarts (so good) and more cheese than I would normally eat.
- Attended a yoga show that's happening here. Nothing too exciting - if I go next year, I'd bring my yoga mat and do some of the included classes. I did pick up a Passport to Prana card which gives me access to a lot of yoga studios for a year. I need more yoga in my life.
- Did Fire 55 EZ today which was such a nice break from long runs.
Last week's Plan:
Sunday: Fire 30 EZ and Stretch 30
check
Monday: Burn Circuit 1 & Ab Burner
check
Tuesday: Rest?
Actual: 43 minutes of running.
Wednesday: Burn Circuit 2 & Ab Burner
Actual: did Burn Circuit 2 but didn't have time for Ab Burner. Ran for 43ish minutes after work (calibrating my nike+)
Thursday: Fire 55 EZ
Actual: Rest Day
Friday: Run 10K
Actual: Ran 8K
Saturday: Burn Circuit 3 & Ab Burner
Actual: Burn Circuit 3 & Core 20 to mix things up a bit.
This week's plan:
Sunday - just finished Fire 55 EZ and a bit of yoga
Monday: Burn Circuit 1 & Ab Burner
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Run 10K (dependent on weather - it snowed again today so who knows what'll happen later in the week)
Thursday: Burn Circuit 2 & Ab Burner
Friday: Run 6K
Saturday: Burn Circuit 3 & Ab Burner
Sunday: Run 5K

8K and A Plateu

2011-04-16T07:08:00.001-04:00

I went out yesterday and did my 8K run - for real this time! I mapped it out before I went. Nike+ is now overestimating the distance. According to mapmyrun.com, the route was 8.05K and Nike+ says it was 8.15k. Ah well, better than running 7K instead of 8k.
Yesterday's run was super slow, but I really need to focus on adding distance rather than my speed. I kept thinking how this time last year, I was running 2 - 3 km so I've come a long way.
Today was my weigh in day - I seem to be stuck at 153 pounds. The scale has been hovering between 153 to 153.8 for the past 5 weeks. My food tracking has been good, but I'm thinking that I might not be eating enough. I usually finish the day having ate between 1560 - 1590 calories, but maybe I should aim more for 1600 - 1700. I am exercising 6 days a week, so maybe my body is hanging onto the weight. I'll increase it a bit next week and see what happens.

Frustrated (Nike+ Fail)

2011-04-14T07:08:00.001-04:00

I'm feeling rather frustrated today.

I've been wondering how accurate my nike+ shoe pod is. I run the same route all of the time and every time I do 5K, I seem to turn around at a different point. So I headed off to a nearby track to calibrate my nike+. Going there, Nike+ says I've gone 2.03K at a pace of 7:26min/km. I run around the track once, walk around the track once to calibrate. Coming back following the same route - distance = 1.73km at a pace of 8:23min/km. I'm thinking nike+ is on crack. So I pull up mapmyrun.com to check the distance =1.79km. So calibrated run is more accurate, ok.

I check a couple of websites where you enter in the distance and the time it took - pace is 8:04min/km. So its quite possible that my wonderful running breakthrough from last week was just my nike+ being inaccurate. And the 8K run I did on the week-end was really 7km.

I'm feeling pretty frustrated as I thought I had made all sorts of progress. I'm glad that I found this out now and not at my 10K in two weeks. Would have been an unwelcome surprise that A - I'm running slower than I think and B - that 10K is further than any of my training runs.

I'm trying to tell myself that I shouldn't be concerned with how fast I'm going. That three years ago I was in so much pain from my arthritis that I could barely walk. That when I started last year, I could barely do 3km. But its still frustrating that I haven't improved my time at all since last year. Ah well, at least I have a more accurate start point now.

Week Plan April 10-16

2011-04-10T07:08:00.001-04:00

Last week:
Sunday: Run 6K
Check
Monday: Burn Circuit 1 & Extreme Abs
Yes, but I've realized that its Ab Burner I'm doing, not Extreme Abs. I'll save Extreme Abs for next month.
Tuesday: Run 5K
Actual: Fire 45 & Stretch 10
Wednesday: Burn Circuit 2 & Extreme Abs
Yes, than did 20 minutes of yoga after work.
Thursday: rest
Ran 5K.
Friday: Burn Circuit 3
Check
Saturday: Run 8K
Yep.
Upcoming Week:
Sunday: Fire 30 EZ and Stretch 30
Monday: Burn Circuit 1 & Ab Burner
Tuesday: Rest?
Wednesday: Burn Circuit 2 & Ab Burner
Thursday: Fire 55 EZ
Friday: Run 10K
Saturday: Burn Circuit 3 & Ab Burner

Saturday

2011-04-10T06:10:00.002-04:00

I was too tired out to blog much yesterday.

Saturday morning, the husband and I trekked out to go to a race & event expo. I was hoping that some of the races would be offering discounts to register, but no such luck. I didn't find anything that I didn't already know about.

The husband, however, is pretty keen now to do a Spartan Race which looks a bit insane. It's a 5K but with the added fun of crawling through mud, jumping over hot coals, gladiator style fighting. I wanted him to do a race with me at some point, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind.

I came home than set out on my long run for the week - 8K. Weather was absolutely perfect, 15C, sunny, tiny bit of a breeze. It was my first time out this year in a t-shirt so my arms got a bit of sun.
I kept up 4-1 run/walk intervals for most of the run with a slightly longer walk break around 6K and then picked it up a bit at the end. The whole run took about an hour which is pretty much what I expected. I finished off both water bottles from my fuel belt and ate some sport beans as I went.

I spent 20 minutes stretching when I got home but I was still sore last night. I'm feeling better now as I had an amazing sleep. Cure for insomnia - run for a long time.

8K

2011-04-09T07:19:00.000-04:00

Beautiful sunny day out. Spring is finally here!
(I'm touching wood - don't want it to snow over night like it did last Sunday).
Just back from an 8K run - my longest run ever!

Running Break Through

2011-04-07T07:19:00.000-04:00

I had a bit of a running break through today.
Two things lead to this:
1. I mentioned to someone at work that I’m considering a half marathon. He said something about “its all about watching your pace”.
2. I was sitting in the waiting room for my annual x-rays, reading a running book. The beginning program leads up to running 5 minutes and walking 1. I started thinking that I’ve been running for a year now, why am I still not even able to complete a beginners program??
So on today’s 5K run I decided to try two things:
- slow my running pace down for the majority of the run
- try doing 5-1 intervals instead of the 3-1 I had planned
The results? I ran 5 kilometres in just under 37 minutes at a 7:15min/km average pace. I normally finish in 40 minutes at an 8 min/km pace.
Best. Run. Ever.
This really proofed to me that the only thing that’s been holding me back with running is myself and feeling like I can’t do this. I’m 30 years old, carrying an extra 10 pounds, I have rheumatoid arthritis so why should I be able to do anything less than an 8 minute kilometre.
Well I can.
Score 1 for me.
In your face arthritis.

Tuesday

2011-04-06T07:20:00.000-04:00

You ever have one of those days when your workout is exactly what you needed?
I was supposed to run last night, but the weather was a bit wonky all day. It was sunny, it was cold, it hailed, it was super windy. So I decided to stay inside and did Turbo Fire instead.
I haven't done a regular (non HIIT) TF workout in about two weeks and it was so what I needed. Chalean Extreme is tough, running is great but also hard work. Fire 45 was challenging but just so much fun. It was a good break from weight lifting and running.
After Fire 45, I did Stretch 10 - again, exactly what my body needed. Felt very zen like afterwards.

Goals for April

2011-04-01T07:21:00.000-04:00

Chalean Extreme - 3 times per week
Do an abs workout 3 times per week
Cardio workout - 3 times per week
Focus on eating fruits and veggies
Cook dinner twice a week
Keep running! Increase distance gradually so 10K race on May 1st isn't painful
Stretch 4 times a week

Burn Circuit 2

2011-03-30T07:21:00.000-04:00

Tuesday:
I'm trying to keep my diet very clean this week. But what do I do on my lunch break? Buy a package of wine gums. Gah! Could have been worse as they're only 150 calories, but still! I had all sorts of healthy snacks with me.
Finished the day with Burn Circuit 2 from Chalean Extreme and Extreme Abs. The schedule only has Extreme Abs once a week, but my core is really weak so I'm thinking I'll add this on to every CLX workout. Feeling rather sore today. I'm finding the Chalean Extreme workouts difficult right now which isn't surprising as I've been doing very little weight training since I started Turbo Fire back in January. So its good, but I'm missing intense cardio.
This morning, did HIIT 25 from Turbo Fire. So tough but I felt good afterwards. Followed that with 15 minutes of yoga, just doing whatever moves I felt like doing. Great way to start the day.

Long Week-end!

2011-03-28T07:23:00.001-04:00

And it’s not done yet! Yay!
I took Thursday & Friday off work so I could go visit my parents for a couple of days. I’m also off on Monday as I’ll be working next Saturday. My cat was upset and didn’t want me to go.

Friday, I went to Curves with my step-mother for Zumba. This was my first time at a Curves location. The workout was a lot of fun, and I got to try all of the strength training stations in between dancing away. It was an alright workout – nothing strenuous, but I can see how women who aren’t up for a more challenging workout would like it.
Saturday, I did Fire 55 EZ in my parents’ basement. Doing tuck jumps on carpet = very different from doing tuck jumps on hardwood. I felt more cushioned, so was jumping higher.
I came back home Saturday night and started Sunday off with some Chalean Extreme – Burn Circuit 1.

As I mentioned, the other week, I don’t think that Turbo Fire will fit in well with my running. So to mix things up, I’m going to do Chalean Extreme three times a week and than 3 days a week of cardio, either running or Turbo Fire.
I really like Chalean Extreme – same trainer. Music isn’t as good as Turbo Fire, but I’m concentrating on the moves, so that’s all right. Burn Circuit 1 is 36 minutes but I added an extra 5 onto that having to pause to adjust my weights. I really want some Select Tech dumb bells, but so not in the budget right now.

Last week’s plan:

Monday – TF Fire 45 EZ check
Tuesday – rest day check
Wednesday – Fire 45 check
Thursday – 4K run, 3-1 intervals didn’t happen – I rested instead
Friday – Fire 55EZ Zumba at curves
Saturday – either Zumba or Fire 45 EZ Fire 55 EZ

This week’s plan:

Sunday: CLX Burn Circuit 1
Monday: Run 5K
Tuesday: CLX Burn Circuit 2
Wednesday: Run 5K
Thursday: CLX Burn Circuit 3
Friday: HITT 20 + CLX Abs
Saturday: Fire 45

Test Drives

2011-03-28T07:23:00.000-04:00

Last day of my mini break – boo.
Scheduled workout today was a 40 minute run. I was going to head outside, but there’s still snow on the ground and its rather chilly so I headed to the treadmill instead. It was a good opportunity to test out my new running shoes:

I bought these on Friday. They’re Nike Air Pegasus 27. They felt great in the store and worked fine for Turbo Fire, but within 10 minutes on the treadmill, the bottom of both feet started hurting. Luckily, Running Room allows exchanges if they haven’t been worn outside so back to the store they go. I’ll probably end up with the updated version of my current shoes.
The other thing I picked up was a new sports bra.

The Fiona bra from Moving Comfort. Really happy with this. Very comfortable, good for running and the straps adjust from the front! What a fabulous idea! Kind of want a couple more.

Snow??

2011-03-24T07:24:00.000-04:00

This is what I woke up to -

And it snowed all day long. Joy. There goes my running path. I was in my spring jacket on Monday. Today its back to puffy coat, hat and winter boots. Boo snow!
Came home from work and did Fire 45 and realized that I need new running shoes.

I normally wear my running shoes for Turbo Fire as I find they give the right amount of support. But after Sunday’s run, they were covered in mud. So I tried first my cross trainers (that I bought in 2007) and my first pair of running shoes (which the above shoes replaced in March 2010) and no go. My feet were achy and I was getting a pain in my shin. So on went the runners and than my living room floor needed a good cleaning when I was done. My plan is to get a new pair of running shoes to wear for outdoor runs and than I’ll keep these for Turbo Fire and treadmill running.
Speaking of treadmills (dreadmills) that’s where I’ll be tomorrow. Running outside in –10C and 10cm of snow = not my idea of a good time.

Unhappy Body

2011-03-21T07:26:00.000-04:00

Whole lot of ups and downs this week-end.
Saturday, I had to work during the day but came home and went out for a run. I was only going to do 3K but once I was out, I noticed that my favourite running path was clear of snow! Yay!! So off I went.
I ended up doing 5.03K in 39 minutes at a 7:48/km pace. Pretty good. My goal is to be able to keep up a 7:30/km pace. As I increase my run intervals, my time goes down.

Sunday was not so good. I was feeling off most of the day. I did drag myself out for a run, just wanted to do 3K since I did 5 the day before. 3 was a struggle. It was harder than any run I had done in the past week. My pace was alright (7:47/km) but I felt wiped out.
When I got home, I pretty much lay in bed for 20 minutes. I didn’t stretch, which probably didn’t help matters. Just lay down gulping down water (note to self – take fuel belt no matter how short the run).
As the evening went on, my joints starting hurting – my hands, my knees, my feet, my hips. I was dizzy and feverish – a fabulous flare up. Not fun. I haven’t had one in a while. Went to bed at 9:30 and slept solidly to 7 this morning. I’m feeling much better now, but maybe I need to take it easy for a bit.

Week Plan

2011-03-21T07:25:00.000-04:00

Feeling much better this morning. I took inventory of my joints before getting out of bed - no pain or stiffness so I sprung up and did Fire 45 EZ. Just what I needed. Fire 45 EZ is (as the title says) 45 minutes long. The main difference between this video and other Turbo Fire classes, is that there's no fire drills. While I normally like sumo burpies and "air jacks", it was nice to just do some kicks and punches.
Week Plan:

Monday - TF Fire 45 EZ
Tuesday - rest day
Wednesday - Fire 45
Thursday - 4K run, 3-1 intervals
Friday - Fire 55EZ
Saturday - either Zumba or Fire 45 EZ

2011 Races

2011-03-15T20:00:00.000-04:00

Just back from a run. Its a lovely spring like day. 6 degrees Celsius and sunny. I really want the last of the snow to melt.
Today’s run:
Distance: 4.52K
Time: 35 minutes
Pace: 7:44 min/Km
Intervals: 2 min run/1 min walk
My goal is to increase my run interval by one minute every week. Was feeling good with the 2/1.
The last 500 metres of my run, I decided to just run, no walking, no looking at my heart rate monitor. I ran 5 minutes straight and didn’t keel over at the end. So I know that I can handle more than 2 minutes of running at a time, just not sure if I can maintain that though for an extended period of time.
I love running.
2011 Racing Plan:

Sporting Life 10K on May 1st. I registered for this after coming back from Sunday’s run.

Toronto Women’s on May 29th. I am clearly doing the 5K and not the half marathon (not yet, maybe next year).

Toronto Women’s 10K on August 27th. This was my first 5K last year and this year, I’m moving up to the 10K.

Toronto Women’s 8K. Again, I did the 5K portion last year. I really like this series.

And a marathon! Ha – just kidding. I’ll do the 5K portion. I’m trying to convince my husband to do this one with me.
Of course, this is all dependent on my RA staying in check, but I’ve been pretty much pain free for a year, so I’m sure it’ll be fine (touch wood).

Ouch

2011-03-15T07:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I went for my first outdoor run of the year. I’ve been craving a run but I don’t want to run on ice (I don’t like walking ice so running on ice = no way) so I’ve taken the last 3 months off.
I just wanted to see where I’m at. So I didn’t plan any set run/walk intervals, didn’t worry about my pace. I just set my nike+ for 5K and went.
Happy to say I maintained a 8min/km pace and finished 5K in 40 minutes which is where all 3 of last year’s races were.
So the bad news – I didn’t improve at all in 2010.
The good news – I haven’t gotten worse after 3 months of no running. I really think my intense Turbo Fire workouts have helped.
Little sore around the hips and shins today. I guess my body needs to get used to running again.
I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate running with my turbo fire schedule. I’m in week 7 of 12. I was supposed to do Fire 55 EZ which is a 55 minute rather intense workout but I got 15 minutes in and my body wasn’t having it. My shins hurt, the bottom of my feet hurt, my knees. I really wanted to do the video (I love it!) but my body said no. Rather than pushing through it and possibly injuring myself, I turned it off and did a toning video instead.
I want to run 3 times a week, do yoga once a week, strength training and turbo fire. Unfortunately, I also need to work full time, sleep and give my body a rest once in a while.
I’ll have to think on this.

MIA

2011-03-14T07:28:00.000-04:00

So what have I been up to for the past month??
Tracking food and exercise on Spark People.

Waiting for the snow to melt and spring to start.
Doing Turbo Fire 6 times a week.
Participated in The Power of Movement (loved this! Going to do it again next year).
Buying smaller clothes.
Harassing the husband while he's doing P90X.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ-jhsOFCdY]

Post Yoga Bliss

2011-02-06T07:29:00.000-05:00

Just finished my Turbo Fire workouts - Core 20 and Stretch 40.
I love the way my body feels after yoga. All of the knots in my shoulders from hunching over a computer all week are gone. My hips don't feel tight. My back feels relaxed.
I'm in a state of body bliss.

Turbo Fire Month 1

2011-02-03T07:29:00.000-05:00

Loving Turbo Fire!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGTuvoEgdA]
I finished week 5 of the prep schedule on Sunday and decided that rather than continuing on with another 4 weeks of prep, to move onto the regular schedule. I have the advanced program with comes with a few extra workouts, so the entire schedule is 20 weeks. So I’m good for workouts until the end of June.
The workouts are definitely tough but I can keep up with some modifications. Lots of punches, kicks, bit of dancing (as Charlene says - “SHAKE IT!!”). Than you throw in the fire drills – 30 seconds to a minute long ultra high intensity cardio. Burpies, “jacks with air”, high knees, jumps. I’m sweating and completely out of breath when its over.
After give weeks, I’m down 5 pounds and 3.5 inches. I’m also pumped up and ready for more!

Quick 2010 Recap

2011-01-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

I've been on a good streak of fabulous years. 2008 - went on a fabulous two-week trip to England, my husband proposed. 2009 - got married, went to Jamaica on honeymoon, bought our first condo. 2010 was pretty wonderful too. My highlights:

2nd trip to Jamaica for my 30th birthday.

Vegas in August

Running my first, second and third 5K's.

2011

2011-01-02T07:30:00.000-05:00

Christmas is all done and back to work tomorrow after 12 wonderful days off. It was great having a long break. I had nothing scheduled except for Christmas related visiting with family and nothing I particularly wanted to get done. Fabulous.
Food choices have not been great for the past 3 weeks or so but I’ve been working out consistently 4 or more times per week which I’m happy with. Curious to what the scale says, but I’ll leave that until tomorrow. I started doing yoga once a week which I’ve loving. Feeling more flexible and less stiff around the knees.
My husband gave me a bunch of fitness related Christmas gifts – work out gloves (I was getting calluses from weight training), some Lululemon gear and this:

Turbo Fire!
Very excited about this.
I decided to start with the prep schedule before getting into the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) DVD’s. So this week I did the following:

Fire 30 & Stretch 10 (fun and maybe a wee bit too difficult for my current fitness level)
Stretch 40 twice (love it!!)
Fire 45 (was supposed to do Fire 45 EZ but did Fire 45 by mistake – sweating like crazy but tons of fun!)
Tone 30
Core 20 (did this with husband who is almost done 90 days of P90X – he liked most of the moves and found it challenging)

I’ll do more in depth reviews as I go. So far though, its harder than my beloved Turbo Jam but has some of the same moves and the music is fantastic.

Goals for December

2010-12-04T07:31:00.000-05:00

Ah December… time for bundling up, Christmas lights, lots of tasty treats and weight gain! Nooo!! I’m finally getting to a happy weight (currently 156ish), I don’t want to undo all of my hard work.
So my goals for December:

Strength workouts 3 X’s per week
Indulge on Christmas treats only at holiday parties – this means no bringing home a bag of Christmas candy and having Starbucks baked goods everyday (the mint brownies did me in last year – they don’t have them this year). And if I do indulge, move on and get back on track as soon as possible (not waiting until January 1st).
Keep spending in check
At least 1 good sweaty cardio session a week.
Don’t beat myself up if I don’t work out 5 or 6 times a week.
Relax.

My Marathons

2010-11-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

Spoke to my father on the phone this morning. He asked me if I've done any more marathons lately. By marathons he means races, in my case 5K's. I told him that are nowhere near a marathon. And he said "to most people they are".
Gave me something to think about.
I work out 5 - 7 days a week. My husband works out 5 - 7 days a week. I read fitness and weight loss blogs daily, listen to weight loss and running podcasts, read books and magazines on fitness, weight loss and running. So in my world, working out 5 - 7 days a week is normal.
But to most people, it's not. Not everyone gets up early to hit the gym before work or come home from work and do 40 minutes of cardio before making dinner at 7 p.m. Most people don't get excited about sweating, work out DVD's and running races (that they have no chance in winning). Most people don't look forward to the week-end so that they can get in a good 40 minute run.
I should be aware of this. Fall 2008, I'd get out of bed and every joint in my body was stiff. I had to stand in the shower for 20 minutes to allow the hot water to loosen up my joints. I limped to work. I was given a special elevator key so that I wouldn't have to take one flight of stairs down to my office. My physiotherapist recommended that I try swimming twice of week, but not to push myself, so limit my pool time to 20 minutes. I was overjoyed when she gave me the okay to try using an exercise bike - but only on the lowest setting and only for 10 - 15 minutes at a time.
I need to keep this in mind every time that I go out for one of my "marathons". No matter how hard it is, how slow I am, it's an accomplishment.

Recap

2010-11-12T07:32:00.000-05:00

Out of the 160’s!! Only took 9 months but I’ll take it. Currently hovering between 156 and 158. I haven’t seen 156 on the scale since 2007.
Loving Turbo Jam Cardio Party and Booty Camp Fitness's Intermediate workout DVD.
Husband is still P90X’ing and looking buff.
I’m finally following a good running plan and improving my stamina. However, its getting chilly. Either need to invest in winter running gear or hibernate on the treadmill for a couple of months.
October 5K was good – time was exactly the same as Island Girl 5K in September but had lots of fun! And the husband is considering starting racing too! (he’s already faster than me). Did not run the 10K which I think was a good decision.
Eek! It’s November already. How’d that happen???

October 5K – wearing my new favourite running top.

Monday

2010-10-05T07:34:00.000-04:00

So dark and dreary outside today. Cold, rainy.
My plan for today was to go for a run after work, but by the time I got home, I was slightly soggy and just felt like staying in. So instead, I dug out an old favourite:

Turbo Jam!
I did the 20 minute workout which was perfect for me today. Tons of fun. The music in Turbo Jam is great, not the usual non descript techno music that’s in most videos.

Week-End Over

2010-10-04T07:35:00.000-04:00

Sigh… I need more week-end.
I’ve been on a money saving kick so part of that means limiting my week-end activities to things that won’t lead to spending money (i.e.. walking around the mall to browse = not good). This past week-end, I decided to just veg at home. The husband is at work during the day so good opportunity to get some stuff done.
Saturday morning, after spending an hour watching Gossip Girl and knitting, I set off on a run. I set the nike+ for the basic setting as I just wanted to see how far I would go. I’d turn around once I felt like it.
I ended up running 7.5km in 58 minutes. This is the furthest I’ve run, my pace wasn’t too bad (8ish minute/km – combo of running and walking). I was pretty beat for the last 2km though. Hopefully this will make 5K seem like a walk in the park.
Note to self – when its 10 degrees Celsius outside, a t-shirt doesn’t cut it. I was chilly for the first 20 minutes of my run. Time to bring out the long sleeve shirts.
Saturday evening I did half of the husband’s P90X Kenpo video with him but my legs were pretty tired out, so I left him to go read a book.
Sunday morning I did half of Jillian Michaels’ No More Trouble Zones with my 3 pound weights. I like the moves in that video and it feels challenging, but I’m not feeling it at all today. Maybe need to move onto the 5 pounders.
Sunday evening did another P90X video with the husband – Stretch X. Exactly what I needed! Felt wonderful. It’s really a good full body stretch – you even stretch out your fingers. I was jelly afterwards.
Eating is on track (I’m targeting 1700 calories per day), joints don’t hurt. Overall a good week-end.

Rainy than Sunny Day?

2010-09-28T07:35:00.000-04:00

Weird weather today. It was just pouring cats and dogs and now sunny and lovely outside. Weird.
As expected, I didn't work out last night. Got home from work around 7 than just wanted to veg. It was raining too so not the best weather for running.
Woke up early this morning and hit the gym for a shoulders/chest/triceps/quad workout.
The husband started P90X yesterday. He was doing the plyometrics DVD today when I got back from the gym and yesterday he did the Chest/Shoulders dvd. I asked him how it went and he said he felt like he was going to throw up. I think I'll skip that.
Having doubts about the 10K race in October. I'm definitely not going to be ready for it and two races in one week-end is a bit much. But I get a shirt! (I run for swag). I don't know. I'll see how I'm feeling in a couple of weeks.

Island Girl 5K

2010-09-25T07:37:00.000-04:00

Couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Island Girl 5K on Toronto Island.
Morning was pretty chilly. Took the ferry over around 7:30. The race didn’t get underway until 8:45.

(Yes, that’s me. Looking very incognito).
There was only 75 people or so doing the 5K. The Island Girl half marathon was starting after the 5K was done.
As per normal, I was pretty slow and near the back of the pack. It was fun running on the island. I didn’t feel like I was moving very quick though. I wasn’t feeling great for the entire run but I just wanted to do it and finish.
One thing I didn’t like about this race is that the route was open to the public. Which is fine when you’re getting passed by bikers and other runners, but at one point I had a truck behind me. Good incentive to run faster.
The finish line of this race was pretty cool. The half marathoners were lining the chute and cheering and clapping. I know they were cheering were everyone but it was a great push at the end. I saw the clock just over 40 minutes and thought “there’s no way I’m not finishing this race faster than the last” and booted it.

Results:
Time: 40:31
Chip time: n/a (not sure why I didn’t get a chip time but it didn’t take me long to cross the start line)
Pace: 8:07
Place: 60/75

My time for my first race was 41:26 and my pace was 8:22 so I’ve improved! Yay!

Oops

2010-09-25T07:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I signed up for another 5K - Toronto Women's 5 miler/5K on October 23rd. It's the same course I ran on August 28th so I figure it'll be a good opportunity to see how much (if any) I've improved.
Than after work I stopped by the Waterfront Marathon expo . I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some info on other races (which I did).
The booth for an upcoming 10K had a wheel to spin and you could win a discount off the registration fee or free registration. I won the free registration so now I'm registered to run the Audi Best Buddies 10K on October 24th. Oops.
Back to back races in October? And a 10K????? EEEKK!!!

Week-End Recap

2010-09-07T07:37:00.000-04:00

Started Sunday morning with a great 5.5km run. At least 5.5k according to my nike+ which I think is off a bit. The 5K race I did the other week came out to 5.2 according to the Nano.
My speed has improved since my race and the first 3K were a breeze. The last two and a bit, bit harder and I have to walk more. Need to work on that. The weather though was perfect – bit cool, sunny.
Only other thing I did on Sunday was pop up to the mall to pick up a new under armour t-shirt and try on some longer bottoms. I’ve built up a summer running wardrobe, but my little shorts and sleeveless shirts won’t cut it once it starts getting cooler.

I tried on the Run Fast Crop at Lululemon and quite like them, but I can’t justify spending Lululemon prices right now.

Saturday, the husband and I went to the CNE to walk around.

We avoided the chocolate covered bacon and the deep fried butter. I did come home with a slice of Irish Cream Fudge though (yummy).

Long Week-End!

2010-09-05T07:38:00.000-04:00

Actually just a regular week-end for me, I had to work yesterday.

(random cat photo)

Technorati Tags: random

Went to the market yesterday and got local strawberries and wild blueberries!! The husband doesn’t understand the point of paying more to buy local berries. He complains that they’re too small (that’s cause they weren’t pumped full of crap to make them grow to the size of small apples – strawberries are not supposed to be hand fruit) and he doesn’t find a difference in the taste, but I disagree. We’ve gotten California strawberries from the grocery store that taste like nothing. These berries are full of flavour and the strawberries are actually red inside, not white.
It’s pretty cool here today, 19 degree high and sunny so perfect day for a run!

Toronto Women's 5K 2010

2010-09-03T07:38:00.000-04:00

I had my first race on August 28th, 2010.

I wasn't feeling overly prepared. I did one 3K run the week prior and two weeks prior, I was in Vegas drinking too much and not excercising. Also, I didn't sleep very well the night before.
I followed some good advice from the web, and prepped all of my stuff the night before. The husband rented a car for the morning, so we didn't have to take the bus which was fantastic.
We got there nice and early. Was a bit chilly which makes for good running weather.
I brought my ipod with me so I could use my nike+ but I hadn't brought my ear phones as it was "strongly discouraged". But lots of people had earphones in so the husband was nice enough to let me borrow his. Need my tunes!

I was flipping nervous and stayed near the rear of the pack (36 minute+ category).

Once we got started, I got into a bit of a zone. I ran better than I ever have. I had no issues with my pacing, I wasn't panting. I wasn't concerned about the other runners. I ran more than I walked. I did get tired out on the last kilometre, but once I saw the finish line, I picked up the speed.

My overall goal was just to finish and I did. I was on such a high afterwards.
How'd I do?
Time: 41:48
Chip time: 41:26
Pace: 8:22
Category Pace (Women 30 - 39): 72/81
Gender Place: 236/263
I didn't come in last! Not a fast run, but not bad for a chick who was limping everywhere this time two years ago.
I thought about it later, and this was the first time that I voluntarily participated in a sporting event in my entire life!
Bring on the next race!!

Vegas!

2010-09-01T07:39:00.000-04:00

The husband and I were in Vegas from the 12th - 20th. Bit long for a Vegas trip perhaps, but he was playing in a dodgeball tournament for 2 days.
We drank too much, ate too much, got too much sun.
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We walked from the Mirage to Mandalay Bay and back (if you've been to Vegas - you know that's pretty far! And in 41 degree heat! My camera melted!).

Went to the Grand Canyon, saw Cirque de Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio.

Worked out once (boo), won $200 on slots (yay!), came back 4 pounds heavier (boo) and had a great time (yay!!)

Bad Blogger...

2010-07-12T07:40:00.000-04:00

So what have I been up to?

Went to Vegas!
Ran my first 5K!
Up 4 pounds (boo)
Living relatively pain free!

More on all of these things later. I'm on my lunch break at the moment so not much time to blog.

Week-End Recap

2010-07-09T08:04:00.000-04:00

More Holiday

2010-07-02T07:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Canada Day and I was very lucky to also get today off work. Yay!
I convinced Hubby to come shopping with me. I got an unexpected bonus at work and while I'm going to save most of it, I wanted to buy a bit of a treat.

Astro crops from Lululemon. I tried on a bunch of pants, but I really like the length on these. They're shorter than my other lulu crops and have a tiny pocket.
This evening, I went to my condo's fitness class. Only 4 people tonight, but that was alright. I burned off the veggie burger I had for lunch.

Insights

2010-07-01T07:42:00.000-04:00

I've struggled with my weight my entire life. I've counted points on and off for years. I'm a lifetime member at Weight Watchers, but I'm currently 20 pounds over my goal weight.
I recently gave up on the whole counting points thing and started counting calories instead. I use Live Strong's Daily Plate to track my food.
On Live Strong, you enter your weight and whether you want to maintain your weight, lose 1 pound a week, etc along with your activity level. Live Strong gave me a calorie goal of 2088 calories.
As someone who has dieted on and off for years and was eating 22 points (about 1300 calories), this seems absolutely ridiculous. 2000 calories??? I set my own goal of 1250, figuring that my BMR is between 1500-1600 calories.
Yes, I lost some weight. But 1250 calories when I work out every day? Bit insane.
I recently started listening to Fat 2 Fit Radio podcast and they advocate eating the amount of calories necessary to maintain your goal weight. For me, it would be between 1740 - 2500 calories, depending on activity level.
After listening to back to back episodes for the past two weeks, I'm comfortable now to increase my daily calories. I'm aiming for 1750 daily, adding in 200-300 more on days that I work out.
We'll see how this goes.

Arthritis Walk and Lazy Sunday

2010-06-06T20:07:00.000-04:00

I'm not doing too well with this whole blogging thing.
So let's review my week, shall we?
Last Sunday, hubby and I participated in the Walk to Fight Arthritis. As someone who has arthritis, I was pretty gung-ho to do this and so this is how we spent the morning of our 1 year anniversary!
It was kind of odd. Odd in that I really encounter other people with arthritis in my day-to-day life. But at the arthritis walk, I saw people who are clearly not doing as well as I am. Younger kids walking with canes, women in their 30's and 40's with crutches. I'm damn lucky to be doing as well as I am.
They had a table set up where you could fill in a "I'm walking for..." sticker. I crossed out the 'for' and wrote in "So I can keep walking". It was a pretty emotional day for me - surrounded by people who are struggling with similar conditions, and here I am, plowing through a 5K walk in 45 minutes. We got in before some of the people doing the 1K.
This Sunday, started my day lazing on the couch with some coffee. Work out didn't happen until 10ish - 20 minute Zumba DVD (love Zumba), 20 minute ab workout, 15 minute booty booster and 20 minutes of yoga (all on Booty Camp Ultimate Home Edition DVD ). Food has been on track today. Bought some plants (basil, cilantro and Gerber daisies - my favourite!) and re-potted them. Going to make some healthy hamburgers for dinner tonight and chill out.

Down

2010-06-03T07:41:00.000-04:00

I lost 2 pounds this past week! Yay!
What I'm doing:
- eating between 1500 - 2100 calories daily
- lots of clean, whole foods. Little bit of treats thrown in now and then (Starbucks, banana Popsicles)
excercise, excercise, excercise. I got in 5 workouts last week with 2 rest days. I've usually done 6 or 7 work outs. Maybe rest days are good.
- Weighing myself every day. This might be obsessive, but I'm finding that it desensitizes the scale . I hated when I was weight once a week, and I'd think I worked really hard and then the scale haven't budged and then I'd wait another week to weigh again. This way, I'm watching all week and tweaking things as needed.
On an unrelated note - DH painted our entry way the other day.

It's rather bright, but we both really like it.

Back on Track

2010-06-01T00:08:00.000-04:00

Or trying to be at least.
I was so on track in April. I was eating clean, working out 5 days a week.
Than I went on vacation.
One week at an all-inclusive in Jamaica and I up 5 pounds. Buffets, drink, lounging on the beach. We did try to be active - we climbed Dunn's River Falls and I participated in some crazy resort activities. Got in one proper workout but the gym was so hot, it was difficult.

It was fabulous though. Love Jamaica.
So one week of vacation turned into 3 weeks of half assed calorie counting. I haven't gained anything, but I haven't lost anything either.
June is a very quiet month at work (not working any strange hours) so I'm going to track everything I eat and work out at least 5 times a week (maybe more if I can work it in). Hubby and I are headed to Las Vegas in August which is about ten weeks away so I'm setting a goal to lose 10 pounds by than.
Bring it on.

C25K

2010-05-20T11:27:00.000-04:00

Slept sooo well last night. To the point that I didn't want to get up this morning.
I find that on days that I work out, I sleep better which is good motivation to work out most days.
Yesterday morning, I did the dreaded Week 5 workout 3 of the Couch to 5K program - warm up walk for 5 minutes, run 20 minutes, cool down walk for 5 minutes.
I started up with the C25K program early in April. I've never been a runner. Even back in elementary school - I hated tag cause I hated running. Now running a race seems like the ultimate marker of being fit.
Every time I complete another run, it feels like an accomplishment. Fall of 2008, I could barely walk. My knees were stiff, my feet were in pain. I was doing physiotherapy at the time and my work outs than were try to do the stationary bike for 15 minutes. So when I think of how far I've come, I'm really happy.
So yesterday I managed to run for 20 minutes in one go, no stopping. It wasn't a fast run - I had the treadmill set for 4.8 with no incline. But I still did it.

Why Fit RA Chick?

2010-05-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

I'm 30 years old and have struggled with my weight for my entire life. After being a slightly chubby teenager, I gained a bunch of weight in my early 20's until I hit my heaviest point at 198 pounds. I joined Weight Watchers in 2005, started exercising and lost 60 pounds in 10 months.
I kept the weight off for about a year and a half than 20 pounds slowly crept back on. Than in 2008, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis which just completely complicated matters. I was in constant pain. Walking was difficult. I'd get out of bed in the morning and my joints would be stiff for 2 hours. Needles to say - exercise wasn't happening. I gained another 15 more pounds.
So now - my RA is pretty much under control thanks to a crazy combination of medications. I'm back into exercising, lost 10 of the 35 extra pounds and gradually increasing my fitness level. Figured a blog would help keep me on track.
Being a fit chick with Rheumatoid Arthritis is my ultimate goal.