Random Act of Fitness # 19: 100 Pushups!

Little show-off.

Why should the lower body have all the fun?  I thought I'd try doing some upper bod exercises 100 times today to give my legs a break from yesterday's 100 lunges.  Yep, I'm already feeling it in the ol' pecs.  It's, of course, a delightful sensation!

I did 5 sets of 20 throughout the day and did a mixture of kitchen counter pushups and wall  push-aways.  You may think:  Wall pushups, those are nuthin'!  But, au contraire, mon ami.  If you lean into them and make it a plyometric-type move by explosively pushing yourself away from the wall, they're not nuthin'.  They're something!  Especially for an RAF!

Now I'm off to go do some corner chest stretches!

RAF #18: 100 Lunges



Lunges keep me and Spidey in
tip-top shape. 
We could be twins...
except I'm not such a leotard fan.



Yikes, I'm falling behind a bit on my RAF schedule.  But today I worked in a total of 100 lunges. 

I broke them into 5 sets of 20 and did a mixture of front and back lunges with each set. 

So easy to fit in periodically during the day!  I think I'll shoot for 200 next time!

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: Really? I'm Complaining About This?





Anyone who spends time around me knows that I’m a complainer.  To me, that’s a lazy state of mind.  It’s like you are too lazy to think positively, shift your perception and come up with a solution for the problem so you just sit there and wallow in your self-pity.  I have to say, I don’t think I’m too much of a whiner, nor am I a complete Negative Nancy, but I do my fair share of griping.

Some of my current sources of complaint:  I am always tired lately because our girls make us play musical beds almost every night!  My chronic exhaustion has made it hard to be motivated to get my workouts in; especially when trying to train for my half marathon.  My house is always a wreck.  I can’t keep it clean for longer than half a day, if that.  There will never be enough money to obliterate and perfectly solve all of our financial woes the way I want them to be.

I’ll stop there because this list could go on and on.

Yep, poor me.  Poor, poor me.

Poor me that my sleep is disrupted frequently by two of my most favorite, beloved people in my life because they trust me to provide the love and comfort that only I can provide them in the middle of the night.  Poor me that the source of my tossing and turning is caused by the elbow pokes and covers-hogging of two of the most precious beings ever known to me.

Poor me that I have to sometimes force my healthy, strong, capable body to lace up my comfortable shoes and head outside into the glorious outdoors to pursue the satisfying challenge of keeping myself fit and better suited to live my life to the fullest.

Poor me that I have a comfortable home that is often cluttered because I just don’t seem to have the time to keep up with it all.  Poor me that I keep losing that time to other stuff like playing and reading and doing homework with my daughters; heading out to do both planned and impromptu activities with my family; I even lose precious hours taking the occasional nap to make up for a horrible night’s sleep.

Poor me that I only have one car, which has compelled my husband to ride his bike to work resulting in his losing over 50 pounds and becoming the fittest he’s ever been.  Poor us that we don’t have more income to end up wasting on things we don’t need.  Poor us that we’ve been forced to be smarter about budgeting, saving and appreciating our money.

Yes, I know.  Pathetic.  THIS is the life I often complain about.  No, I don’t complain about a homeless, disease-laden, persecution-filled existence rife with crime, disasters, health problems and/or constant family tragedies.  I get to complain about an often challenging, frustrating, and – at times - disappointing existence that still manages to be a blessed, rewarding and very happy life.

Lucky me.  Lucky, lucky me!

(But I’m sure I’ll still complain a little.)

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: Oh, I Just Ran a Half-Marathon, That's All!

The following is my report on my first ever half-marathon race (which is a whopping 13.1 miles in case you didn’t know!):



Pre-race.  Fresh, smiling.... naive.

I think last night I ran more than I ever want to have to run again in my life. 

Okay, I’m gonna drop a bomb here:  Running a half-marathon is WORK!  Who’da thunk!?!

Especially on the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Byway, which has an elevation increase of 1031 feet within the first 5.3 miles.  There are some nice downhills after that but the terrain continues to roll and includes a few more good uphill climbs.

Though the first hilly miles were tough, what really got to me was the sheer distance.  Somewhere between mile 8 and 9 I was starting to get annoyed that I was still running.  I mean, come on, just end already!  The fact that it was very dark and I couldn’t see the course ahead of me at all probably didn’t help with my impatience.

It was an interesting experience to run at night.  This was a twilight run that started at 8pm on a road with no lights.  We were required to wear headlamps but other than the lanterns they had at the water stations, there was nothing lighting our way except the stars (the moon didn’t show up until about mile 11).

I’d done a night run before while running one of my Ragnar Relay legs but that was only about 4.5 miles and had streetlights along part of the course.  I have to say, this time it was a bit lonely running in the dark.  I could see headlamps bobbing from the runners ahead of me and then as we’d switchback, I would see the long trail of lights from those behind me, but it was a strangely anonymous race.  I didn’t really see anyone’s face.  Even the people I chatted with before and after the race were just shadowy strangers to me.

As strange as the darkness was, it was uniquely marvelous, as well.  When you’re that far from the city and Strip lights, you’re reminded how many stars there are in the sky!  The first 6 or so miles, I was running straight toward the big dipper, which was brilliant and low on the horizon – a perfect set of guiding stars for me.  When the trail finally had us switch back to head east, there was the unmistakable glow of the Las Vegas Strip in the distance with the Luxor beam serving as the new beacon for us to follow.

The first few miles, I listened to the constant whirring and chirping of the bugs and howling of the coyotes… (Okay, no coyotes, but that would’ve been cool!).  But once that become monotonous and I got tired of listening to my own gasping breaths, I was happy to stick my ear plugs in and listen to my music.

I was disappointed that the moon hadn’t been out there with us during the race, but somewhere around mile 11, I glanced up to see it starting to peek up behind the distant hills.  And what an entrance it made!  It was 2/3 of a harvest moon and I swear it cast my shadow onto the rocky calico hills behind me, it was so bright! 



At the finish line:  Stilling smiling, or is it grimacing!
That clock said 2:05 when I crossed the the tape.
Uh oh, I think I'm gonna have to see if I
can break 2 hours!



So I’ll drop another bomb on you:  Despite all my griping, I have to say that running a half marathon was a spectacular and satisfying accomplishment.  (I know, I know, you’ve never heard THAT before.)

But, if you’ve done one, you know what I mean.  If you haven’t, you should find out for yourself.

Oh, and, don’t worry:  no desert tortoises were harmed during the running of this race.

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: Deliberate Acts Of Fitness

Subtitle:  Accountability, Thy Name Is Half-Marathon.

I have been so stinkin' busy lately.  Anyone else out there, by chance, been running around like a chicken with its' head cut off?  The start of school, extra-curricular activities, two birthdays... oh yeah, and a freakin' half-marathon to train for (!!!) have all kinda got my head spinning.  Oh wait, I'm a headless chicken... well, you know what I mean!

You'd think this would be the perfect time to take advantage of some quick random acts of fitness squeezed into all the chaos, but, actually, my DELIBERATE acts of fitness haven't left any time for the random ones!  I don't even know how I'm doing it, but since I've decided that I'm doing a half-marathon on Sept. 17, I've managed to get most of my training workouts in!  These include my long 8-10 mile runs. 



Just gorgeous, huh?  Oh and the mountains
are pretty nice too.

 I've had to get creative with the scheduling.  I get some workouts in early in the day, and some late, but these past few weeks, they've amazingly been getting done.  I've been surprising myself with my own consistency because it's busy times like these that I go from being the Lazy Personal Trainer to the LAY-ZEE Personal Trainer. 

But two things have prevented my layzeeness:  this half-marathon looming over me and my motivator of the moment:  FEAR!  I mean you don't just jump into a half-marathon.  A 5K?  Sure, piece o' cake!  I've done many of those.  But to cover the accustomed 3.1 miles and then add 10 more onto it....  Let's just say I'm feeling a little insane for even considering it.  And to think at the beginning of the year I expected to run a FULL marathon.  Nutz-o.  Kooky.  Loopy.

But it sure is motivating to be crazy!

Wish me luck!

Girl Power Playlist

Music is so powerful.  When I blast some kickin’ tunes during the day, the girls and I can’t help but MOVE with the energy of the music.  Countless times, just the right song has made all the difference for me in a critical “throw-in-the-towel” moment during a tough workout. 

I have been having so much fun lately making playlists from my library of music and recent song downloads.  I’ve been grouping them according to mood, mostly.  Some examples:  Ultimate Feel-Good, Anger Management, Brooding, etc.

Music is also very personal.  I choose some songs for their powerful message, some for the memories they conjure, and some simply because they just plain ROCK!  I consider myself quite eclectic in my taste and find songs in almost every genre that motivate me.

In my opinion, this Girl Power playlist is just what you need to rouse your kick-arse mojo… whether it’s for a killer workout or just a killer bathtub scrubbin’!

GIRL POWER!



Girls Rule, Boys Drool!



Wind It Up – Gwen Stefani

Trouble – Pink

Black Cat – Janet Jackson

Hit Me With Your Best Shot – Pat Benatar

Maneater – Nelly Furtado

Fighter – Christina Aguilera

Bang bang bang – Christina Perri

Bulletproof – La Roux

California Gurls – Katy Perry

Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper

Would I Lie To You? – Eurythmics

Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne

Raise Your Glass – Pink

Rich Girl – Eve; Gwen Stefani

Your Love Is My Drug – Ke$ha

Don’t Stop The Music – Rihanna

Heart and Soul – T’Pau

Note:  I’m a good girl (excuse me while I adjust my halo… there) and prefer my music cleaned-up.  I download most of my songs from walmart.com because they usually have an edited version of the edgy songs.

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: With Random Acts of Fitness, Of Course!

I didn't manage to get a "workout" in today.  But I'm OK with that because it was an active day regardless, thanks to two Random Acts of Fitness.  An "active" day and a "busy" day are different things for me.  Busy days often mean that it will not be an active day because there just won't be the time to fit in a workout. 

But since I've been focusing on these RAFs, I've been pleased to note that - though not always the case - my busy days no longer guarantee an absence of exercise.  I'm still able to make even my busiest days "active" with just a few minutes of short exercise bursts in all kinds of different ways.


Funny...I almost wore that EXACT outfit
to the playground today.


Take today, for example.  It was full of the school practice walk (R starts kindergarten next week and we’ve been preparing by walking to school in the mornings this week), dropping the car off to get fixed, grocery and school supply shopping, baking refreshments for a church activity, taking the kids swimming to give my sister-in-law some much needed peace while recovering from her C-section, and then going to the church activity.  My to-do list actually had even more on it… but the rest will be put off till tomorrow, including my workout.

But here’s the magic of the RAFs:  I don’t lament my missed workout because I squeezed in some activity anyway! On the way home from the school walk, we swung by the playground so the girls could  run amok for a few minutes; and instead of taking shelter in the nearby shade like I wanted to (it’s been blazing hot lately!), I joined them for some “fun” of my own with some step-ups and plyo push-ups and pull-ups.  This only added a few extra minutes to our routine but it was fun and beneficial to us all.  We definitely got sweaty but thank goodness the sprinklers were on for us to run through on the way home!

Then later at the pool, I did some more of the pool exercises that I’ve been so fond of lately.

I acknowledge that not all busy days easily allow for even a quick RAF.  BUT, since I’ve been focused on them more, I’m finding that they’re not as hard to incorporate as you’d think. 

In this crazy life that we ping pong around in, we often have to get creative and non-traditional in our approach to getting things done.  Well, this includes fitness as well!  Start thinking more “outside the box.” 

Start thinking “randomly!”