Daily Mile & Lift

This morning it was fairly warm out, so I walked the kids to school in my running gear and then went for a quick jaunt around the neighborhood before heading to the gym for back, shoulders and biceps day.  I haven't run for four days in a row in a while, so I was feeling a little beat up.  I decided to do my other three miler and save my five mile run for Thursday when I can (hopefully) go hit up a trail on fresh legs!

Deadlifts + shrugs

Close grip cable rows

Lat pull downs

Military press

Close grip upright rows

Barbell biceps curls

Lat raise machine

Hanging leg raise

SHORTS!  

3.54 miles

41:14

11:38 pace

A day in the life of...

People often ask me how I do it all.  Well, sometimes I don't.  Sometimes there are dirty dishes, and laundry, and general chaos.  Usually, I run around like a bat out of hell trying to get stuff done so that I can get my run in, or get to the gym.  Today, I documented my mania.

6:15am wake up and lay in bed until my alarm beeps at 6:30am

6:30 make breakfast for myself and the kids

7:00 wake girls, get them dressed, fed and ready for school

8:00 get dressed

8:10 take girls to school

8:20 come home and do some crazy fast house cleaning & start a load of laundry from the pile from hell

9:15 drop off Lila's lunch

9:20 Gym

11:00 pick up Clarissa

11:15 make & eat snack #1

11:30 shower

12:15pm eat lunch and pack snack for Clarissa

12:20 run errands- Bank, Costco, Wal Mart

2:30 unload groceries

2:40 eat snack #2

2:50 Pick up Lila from school

3:00 make Lila snack, orchestrate homework, finish putting groceries away, finally switch that load of laundry to drier 

4:30 sit on arse and fool around on the computer

5:25 make dinner, eat dinner, clean up 

7:00 take Kurtis to craft store to buy him origami paper so he can make sweet paper roses for his girlfriend for Valentine's day (what a guy!)

8:00 make snack for girls, help them get ready for bed

8:15 read stories

9:00 snack #3, more computer time 

It is now 9:53 and I have to finish up this computer nonsense so I can finish cleaning the kitchen and change the laundry over & get ready for bed!  So, there you go.  That's how I "do it all."  Not really very impressive, just busy!

Transformation Tuesday! 

9:15 head back to the girl's school because someone forgot her lunch box

9:20 gym time!

135# straight leg dead lifts

20 minutes elliptical

Straight leg dead lifts

Barbell shrugs

Dumbbell bench press

Overhead dumbbell press

Machine biceps curls

Wide grip lat pull down

Overhead rope cable triceps extensions

Donkey calf raises

Hanging leg lifts & oblique twist lifts

Daily Mile & Lift

Thursday I got in a great back, shoulders and biceps workout.  Plus, I ran on the treadmill for four whole miles!  That's marathon distance to me when we're talking treadmill.  I can run in the mountains for four hours and feel fantastic, but four miles on the treadmill, well that is a chore! 

Wide grip lat pull downs

Machine lat raises

Narrow seated cable rows

Military barbell press

Barbell upright rows

Barbell biceps curls

Dumbbell hammer curls

4 treadmill miles 

44:37

11:09 average pace

I like the toilet in the background.  It reminds me of my friend Paula.  Paula, this pot's for you!

How to not squash yourself with a barbell

Two notable things happened on Monday. One is that I almost don't need assistance on tricep dips anymore.  I'm down to the 6 pin, which is really cool.  The other is that for the first time ever while doing a bench press, I had to set the barbell on it's end and sit up because I couldn't get the bar back up after my last rep.  I just calmly set the barbell on it's end, sat up and put it back on the rack. This was actually not nearly as embarrassing as I had always envisioned it.  I was nearing the end of my routine and had pushed myself to failure.  That is a good thing.  At least I didn't drop it on myself, which would have been highly embarrassing!  

Bench press

Narrow grip triceps dips

Dumbbell press

Dumbbell seated overhead tricep extension

Decline bench press 

Triceps cable pull down

2 mile (long slow and agonizing two mile) dreadmill run 

I can almost do triceps dips without assistance!

Triceps are filling out!  That's worth a smile!

Hooray for Leg Day!

I'll just say it.  I'm a glutton for punishment.  Saturday I climbed to the top of Lake Mountain, came home and collapsed on the couch for the afternoon before gearing up to go to the gym.  Why would I do this, you ask.  Well, I'd already agreed to go do leg day with Jeff and it seemed the thing to do.  I was tired and so was he, after working a 60 hour work week.  But we headed over to the gym at about 6:30p on Saturday night to party it up!  

1 mile walk- treadmill

Leg extensions

Leg curls

Box squats

Leg press

Donkey calf raise

Gaining strength and shape!

Jeff is a beast!  His legs make mine look like tooth picks.

First time doing box squats.  I think I aggravated my knee with deep and heavy squats, so I'm going to try these for a while.  They felt good and my knee is feeling 100% this weekend, so that is fantastic, all the way around.  Plus, I squatted 115#!

We get to the calf raise machine and I do my set.  Jeff asks me in surprise, "Did you just lift that!?"  The pin was on 136lbs (so I thought) but turns out it was actually 136kg or 300lbs! However, I usually do what I thought was 145lbs but is actually 320lbs.  Surprise!  I have stronger calves than I thought!  Shameless selfie time!

New Lifting Friend

Remember last week when I went to that crazy Powerflex class with Courtney, who I met at the girls' school?  Well, I talked her into lifting with me on Thursday.  It was great!  We did a whole body routine and this girl is seriously strong!  She goes to the gym a lot, but had never lifted free weights before.  She put up 65# on the bench press, her first time ever!  Go Courtney!  We had a great time sweating and chatting and sounds like she wants to go with me again next week!  I'm super pumped to have another lifting buddy, especially another woman!  I really hope she continues to join me.

Our routine:
13 min elliptical
Deadlifts
Bench Press
Wide grip cable lat pull downs
Military barbell press
Barbell bicep curl
Back extensions
Hanging leg raises
17 min elliptical


Then Friday I was planning on going to yoga, but felt the overwhelming urge to stay in my jammies and watch scandalous television and drink tea.  So I did!

Fabulous Flex Friday

Back and shoulder day rocked my world! I have gotten so much stronger. I actually lifted (just over) my body weight today.  I did two sets of 135# dead lifts! I also tried two new moves, military press and wide grip upright rows. I loved the military press! That one will definitely be added to my weekly routine!

Dead lifts

Pull ups

Barbell shrugs

Close grip seated cable rows

Machine lat raises

Standing barbell military press 

Wide grip upright rows

Back extensions with 30# kettle bell

Hanging leg lift

20 minutes elliptical

There it is! 135# of total body strength!

And no gym session would be complete without me flexing it up in the locker room afterward!  

Happy flex Friday all!

Time to rest up for a nice morning trail run!  

Daily Mile & Lift (And it's Throwback Thursday!)

Hey!  Hey!  Hey!  It's leg daaaay!  I worked it pretty hard, too.  Then for a little run on the treadmill.  My knee was hurting a little, so I did a super short walk/run.  I'm hoping the sore knee is just because I pushed legs so hard, but I suppose I'd better baby it anyhow.

Today's routine:
Leg extensions
Hamstring curls
Sumo barbell squats
Straight leg dead lifts
Angled leg press
Glute machine
Seated hip abductors & adductors

2 treadmill miles
22:56
11:28 average pace

And!  I've been reminiscing about all our (Speedy K and I, of course) fun snowy adventures last winter.  Remember these posts!?

Snow Run December 2012

Guest Blogger, January 2013

Long run cut short, February 2013

Don't stop the party run! February 2013

Daily Snow Hike, December 2012

Now that's what I call good times!  Is it Saturday yet?

Daily Mile & Lift

Today I conquered the world!  Muah ha ha ha ha!  Well, maybe not.  But I sure as hell felt like it!  I had leg curl, glute machine, barbell squat and v squat PRs!  I did my first hundred pound squats- two whole sets! I can envision myself crossing the finish line of my first 100k feeling strong! 

10 minutes elliptical

leg extensions

leg curl (95#)

glute machine (110#)

barbell sumo squat (100#)

v squat (124#)

leg press

donkey calf raise

hanging leg raise

2.5 treadmill miles

25:39

10:15 pace

Leg extensions to start the day.

There she is.  100 pounds.  Isn't she pretty?

Daily Mile & Lift: Tear shit up Tuesday

Since Katherine couldn't go for a trail run on Tuesday I had a hard time convincing myself to go alone.  Then I figured, screw it!  That's why I'm taking this winter easy.  So I went to the gym and did the gnarliest back day ever!

Four sets each of the following:
Dead lift + Shrug (with a dead lift PR of 115#!)
Pull Ups
Wide lat pull downs
Single arm bent over rows
Narrow seated cable rows
Upright rows
Barbell biceps curls
Wide grip seated cable rows
Back extension holding 35# kettlebell
...then on to abs
Hanging leg lifts (4 sets of 10)
Russian Twists (2 sets of 50)
Crunches (2 sets of 25)
Bicycle Crunches (2 sets of 50)
...then a two mile run on the treadmill
2 miles
19:53
9:56 pace

Yes, I was sore and tired today.  Yes, I still did a small workout this morning.
3 sets of "Fitness at Home" and the pyramid ab workout.

 I'm ready for a killer leg day tomorrow!  Lift heavy ladies!!!

Lift Heavy, Ladies!

Today was chest and triceps at the gym.  My husband Jeff has taught me a lot about weight lifting, but one thing that has really stuck with me is not to be afraid of lifting as heavy as I can.  There is no point in half-assing it!

Bench Press 45#X1, 55#X2, 60#X1
Decline Bench Press 55#X3, 60#X1
Tricep Dips, Wide & Narrow X4 ea.
Incline Fly Dumbbell Press 10# dumbellsX4
Overhead Tricep Press 15#X4
Plus 20 minutes on the elliptical & 300 Abs

And here is a little fitness motivation for you! Happy Monday folks!  Lift heavy ladies!





We actually have this Lego.  She's hella buff!  I think she'd make a great gym partner.

Cross Training

Considering that on Wednesday I couldn't even walk up and down the stairs, the fact that today I'm 95% pain free is miraculous!  This morning I went to the gym and rode the stationary bike (can you say boring?).  I rode for 45 minutes and was thrilled to actually break a sweat for the first time all week!  I also did pull ups and some glute and hamstring work.  As long as my knee continues to feel better all day today, I'm going to do a test run tomorrow.  Feeling massively relieved at the moment.  I will continue to do my healing routine and work on strengthening.  Let's hope that my knee doesn't flare back up again!

Yoga, Food and the Final Fourteen

Yoga was awesome today!  So many push ups and yoga push ups my arm pits and shoulders are sore.  I'm feeling really good getting into the gym while I'm impatiently waiting for my knee to quit hurting.  It's better than it was and I actually walked (only slightly painfully) down the stairs in my house like a normal person this morning!  Two more days off running and then Monday I'll reevaluate and decide if I can get in a small run or two next week.  

One of my biggest challenges this week has been to not overeat.  I can't risk weight gain right now.  The last thing I need is a few extra pounds in addition to a bum knee on race day.  I've done fairly well, however, I have eaten more than my fair share of marshmallows.  What can I say?  Marshmallows are good.

Did I mention that in fourteen days I'll be running my second ever ultramarathon?  I'm starting to get really excited!  Now that the panic of bum knee-dom is subsiding, the realization is hitting me!  I'm doing this thing again!  Antelope Island 50k, here I come! WAAAHOOOOO!!!!!

Light at the end of the Tunnel

This morning I woke up feeling better than I have all week!  My knee is feeling drastically better today.  I can walk with zero pain.  Stairs still make me wince, but not nearly as bad as earlier this week.  This simple switch was enough to take me from thoughts of a DNS (did not start) or DNF (did not finish) to visualizations of myself at the finish line of my second 50k!  

All week I've been resting my leg as much as possible, foam rolling, icing, using arnica, stretching and resting more, still.  Feeling so much better this morning I hopped over to the gym for a bit of a workout.  I felt so much better after getting a workout in!  I did:

Bench press

Lat pull downs

Dumbell overhead press

Hip adductors & abductors

Leg raises (very light weight)

Anti-inflammatory line up

Hello hip workout.  Help me out here, okay?

Plus, I went to the chiropractor, whom I love!  Seriously, if you are a runner in the Salt Lake area, look up Dr. Mark.  He has helped me though so many minor running injuries!  Plus, I did a little bit of walking today and am still feeling good!  Hooray!

1.5 miles