Kettle Bells

It's been a little while. I've been busy, but who isn't. Anyways, I decided to change up my strength training routine by using kettle bells. It's been interesting. I definately recommend using the wrist guards. They are worth it and with save your wrists from getting too banged up.  I'm into week 3 so far. Mondays I do upper body and usually Thursday I do legs. Fridays I usually do a Workout of the Day with chin-ups, push-ups, squats, box jumps and repeat them for a half hour. I'm still running 3 times a week. Usually twice with the stroller. Victor LOVES it. He starts whining when I'm done my run coz he wants to keep moving. I'm averaging 5 miles at each outing. I'm also still boxing for 30-40 minutes, 3 times a week a night. So my workouts have been going good. And I'm 10 pounds lighter from my weight before I was pregnant. Sweet!

June and July have been pretty busy months. Victor's first birthday was the 6/20, my niece turned 14 on the 6/25, I had my cousin's kids birthday party and a graduation party on the same day the first weekend of June. Add in three concerts (Fidlar, Modern Life is War, and Coliseum) and a couple Union matchs. And we took a short vacation at Ocean City, NJ for July 4th and Zim's 40th birthday. It's been pretty nutty.

Hoping to be back to regular posting soon. Only a couple more busy weekends left!

June So Far

My June has been pretty busy. Thère is something going on every weekend so far. I've had a bunch of birthdays, graduation parties, and some concerts. I swear I don't have a free weekend until mid July. It's a good thing though. Victor is going to be 1 next Saturday and Zim'ś turning 40 on July 3rd. Big milestones! This year has flew by!

I'm still able to work out 6 days a week. I usually run Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The runs are between 3 and 1/2 to 5 miles. I strength train the rest of the week excluding Sundays. My body needs one day of rest. I'm also still boxing 3 nights a week for about a half hour. Victor's getting close to walking, so that will be a workout of itself soon! He starting to slowly cruise holding on to the furniture. It's going to be a fun summer watching him grow!

The band pic is Modern Life Is War.

It's Been A Little While

The last four weeks flew by. Since my last post I got tattooed, saw The Who and Joan Jett, ran a 5K, and saw The Avengers and Mad Max. Victor also turned 11 months a couple of day ago. I'm keeping busy! I'm still working out 5-6 days a week. Three of those days, I work in a 30-45 minute boxing workout as well. My knee is back to normal. I'm very happy about that! I'm running 3 days a week. Nothing over 5 miles though. I'm slowly finding my speed again. Yesterday I was averaging around an 8:30 mile, for a 4 and 3/4 mile run. I stopped taking Allegra about 2 weeks ago, and feel I have more energy. I was feeling so sluggish and tired during my workouts using it. 

Last Sunday, Zim and I ran the Victory Brewing: Run For Ryan 5K. Last year I couldn't run it coz I was pregnant, but I've ran it for the past 5 years or so. This run always kills me. I don't know if it's the 1pm start time or how hot it has been in the past, but I never put up a good time. Anyways, it wasn't too hot and I think I ate at the correct time this year for once. I ran it in 24:53, which was one of my best times ever running it. Zim came in 23:30, and broke his PR. I was quite happy with my time. I enjoyed a couple Victory Summer Ales and headed to my parents to pick up Victor. 

Later that night it was off to The Who concert, with my buddy Lou. I was pleasantly surprised that Joan Jett was opening. We had great seats, 3 rows from the floor and a straight forward view. Joan Jett was great and looked great as well. The Who was AMAZING. Despite being in their late 60s/early 70s, they put on a great show! I was going to buy a t-shirt, but $40 is a little too much in my opinion. Nope. Altogether it was a fantastic day from start to finish. I've been non-stop listening to The Who all week.

Movies! I saw The Avengers last week. I thought it was a lot of fun. I would have liked to see a little more of a couple characters, but overall I thought it was good. It did feel like it was more setting up for the third Avengers movie, Infinity Gauntlet. I saw Mad Max:Fury Road a couple nights ago. It was pretty awesome. Non stop action, over the top bad guys, and just nutty post apocalyptic antics. Charlize Theron was REALLY good, and Tom Hardy was hot per usual. It was fun! Looking forward to the sequel!

That's my story, Happy Memorial Day!

End of April

I had a bit of a busy week last week. Zim was staying longer at work to cover a co-worker that was out because of surgery. She's actually still out. He took last week off from working out. He did that 9 mile trail run in Reading, PA and took a beating. He fell 3 times, rolled both ankles countless times, and split open his shin. I'm pretty happy with my decision not to run it. He said there was a TON of people who got hurt.

I attempted to run again last Tuesday and in my 3rd mile, I felt my IT Band again. Ended up doing 4 miles, coz I honestly didn't feel like walking back to my car. I stuck to the elliptical for the rest of the week. My knee wasn't too bad, but I wanted to rest it. 

The weekend was the busy part of the week. Saturday night, Zim took me out to dinner at Iron Hill for a pre-birthday dinner. Dinner was great and it was nice to be able to eat without having to entertain a 10 month old. Sunday was my birthday, so I dropped Victor off at my parents and went to the Phillies game. Sunday was the last game that I could get in for free from the LOVE Run. It was get 2 free tickets (up to $38) in April for doing the run. Can't beat that! We sat in the outfield and watched Ryan Howard crush a home run ball. It was a beautiful day out and the Phils won!! Sunny and 60 degrees. We headed back to my parents and had pizza, wings, and birthday cake. We got home, put Victor to bed, and watched WWE's Extreme Rules, and I had a few beers. Not a bad way to ring in 37.

Today I strength trained and went for a mile run afterwards. My knee was absolutely fine. Then after 7, when Zim's giving Victor his last bottle, I did a 25 minute boxing routine. Tomorrow I'm going to try another run again. I'm planning on just doing 3 miles. We'll see how my knee feels!

Trying Out the Running Stroller

Wednesday mid morning was SUPER nice out, so I decided to give the running stroller a try. Yes, my knee was bugging me a bit, but I figured a little widdle run wouldn't be that bad. I ended up running 3 and a 1/4 in 32 minutes, and my knee bugged me again at mile 2. It definately is my IT Band. I powered through. The compression 3/4 length pants and knee brace I was wearing made no difference. Zim told me that ROCK TAPE worked wonders for his IT problems. 

Anyways...Running with the stroller wasn't too bad. It's not the lightest or the best at steering, but it does it's job. I was running at a 9:50 ish mile. It was different but enjoyable. Victor seemed to like it, until the last mile when the wind kicked up a bit. Altogether we had a fun time. We came home and a few minutes later Victor pasted out for his nap. I did some crunches, squats, and push-ups and got to sneak in a shower before he woke up. Good times.

Today I took it easy and did the elliptical for 45 minutes and did some quick ab work. Thursdays I go to the boxing gym to help out or coach, and I was close to bringing in my gloves. I'm so out of practice boxing wise, but I want to try to incorporate some boxing workouts in again. Nice to change up the cardio, especially when you have a bum knee. Plus an AWESOME stress reliever!!!

Healing Up

I have a 15K trail run lined up to run on Saturday morning. I've taken a couple of runs, and I totally have to skip the race. Zim and I were going to run it together, but unfortunately my knee starts bugging me about 2 miles in. I think it's my IT band. Zim had that same problem a coule of years ago. If the race was a 5K, I'd do it, but 9 miles is a little different. Plus it's Record Store Day on Saturday!! I need to buy some limited edition sweet vinyl! 

I have been still working out and getting some small runs in. I ran 4 and 1/4 and walked about a mile on Monday morning. My mom loves walking on the trails around my house, so she'll take Victor in the stroller while I go run. And the weather was SUPER nice! That run cemented my not racing decision. Today I lifted and switched my routine up. My shoulder is still not 100%, but everything I did today felt fine and I didn't overdo it. I'm also good doing ab work now. If I would lay flat in my back, my shoulder would hurt. No more pain, just a little sore. So I'm healing up, slowly but surely.

The Love Run Half Marathon

My alarm buzzed at 4:55am. I was well rested, being in bed and asleep by 11pm on Saturday night. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and geared myself up for the race ahead. CW-X compression pants with my Chelsea FC shorts overtop. Under Armour compression shirt with my Phoenixville PAL Boxing t-shirt overtop. Shock Doctor compression socks over my pants. Finished off by my Under Armour jacket, Brooks winter headband, and Brooks PureFlow kicks. It was a bone chilling 28 degrees with a wind chill in the teens. I brought a pre-race jacket and knit cap. 

I had a breakfast of sprouted grain toast and organic peanut butter, followed by brown sugar pop tarts in the Jeep on the drive down. I left the house at 5:50am and parked in a parking garage around 6:40am. I drove around 10 minutes to find a close spot. The street parking was only for 2-4 hours, so I chose a parking garage. I parked about 10-15 minutes walk away.

I made my way to the race and was happy I brought my jacket with me. They had a bag check, so I didn't have to carry it with me. Then the wait. I checked my bag at 7:20am. It was cold. My fingers got numb, then my toes. I took refuge in a tent from the wind. At 7:40 I made my way to the start line. It was separated by mileage pace. I entered as a 8:30-9 minute mile and took my place. I made a little small talk with a few people around me and started to feel the warmth of the sun. Soon enough it was 8am, and we were on our way.

The first 2 miles were a cluster of runners trying to find their pace. We started at the Philadelphia museum of Art and ran towards City Hall and Chinatown. I felt my pace was decent, not super slow, not super fast either. I started to feel my fingers and toes again. Honestly, the first three miles were a bit of a blur other than the scenery. Art museum, City Hall, Chinatown, independence Hal. Then we headed down the Schuylkill River Trail. Before I knew it I was at mile 5, right around 41 minutes. Then around mile 6, the hills came. The hills were nothing to write home about, but still it took it out of you. I refused to walk and ran my way through the elevation part of the run. It was a long, slow elevation. I swear, close to a half mile. I pushed through and saw the first runners starting to walk. And still I ran. 

I remained on pace of a 8:45 mile till mile 10. My legs felt they were running through concrete. They ached. I had two options in my head. Walk a bit or not be able to drive or walk back to the car. I stopped and walked around 10 and a 1/2 miles for about a minute and a half or so. I knew if I walked too long, I wasn't going to want to run again. Two and a 1/2 miles seemed like an eternity away. I started my slow jog again. My leg knee started to bug me and my legs were sooo tight and heavy. I promised myself I'd keep running till about 11 and 1/2 miles, and then I'd walk again. I really started to worry that my legs would be too shot to drive home. I also knew my pace was most likely would take me over 2 hours. I stopped and walked about two plus minutes and I could see the 12 mile marker down the trail. I bucked up and started to run again. I pushed through the 12th mile and got a bit of a boost with the crowds of people cheering everyone on. I finally saw the finish line and could not wait to cross. The time read 2 hours 3 minutes and 41 seconds. I was honestly happy with time. I think even if I didn't stop to walk that I still would have been over 2 hours and limping back to my car. I was just happy to finally be FINISHED.

I got my well deserved medal and grabbed some water. I was walking like a newborn fawn. My legs were spent. I kept walking so I wouldn't tighten up. I grabbed a food bag and demolished the soft pretzel inside. I finally stopped to stretch out. I was so off balance. After stretching I picked up my bag at the gear check and decided to start making my way back to the parking garage. My knee was still bothering me and my legs were like jelly. At least my shoulder felt fine. After I got to my car I stretched out for another 5 minutes. I hopped in the Jeep, destroyed a bottle of Propel and busted open my bag of Apple pop 'em rice cakes. I felt fine driving home, made it back by 11:30, and took a long, hot shower.  I ended up napping on the couch with Victor in my arms a few hours later. My legs didn't feel that awful. They hurt, but I could walk fine. Thank you compression pants! And probably good I did stop and walk a little bit. It would have sucked if I really pushed it and still came in like seconds over the 2 hour mark.

So I finished my first half marathon! And had a really good time in both senses!! I'm so happy I did it!! All my training did pay off. Maybe next year I beat that 2 hour mark.

I would have taken more pictures but my phone died out at mile 10. Imagine my delight of having dead legs in the middle of Philly, not sure if my legs would last for the drive home. I was too tired to really worry!