Getting Our Licks In!

Last night I did a little bit of gardening - but the season is winding down and it's not so much improving anything at this point but maintaining what is already done. So this doesn't take too long - still got the cleaning bug and dusted a bit upstairs - just for fun. :eek::p:confused:

I then decided to do my new Christi Taylor "Humble Beginnings" - one of her CIA workouts - don't remember the number - but it was really hard. It was step, of course, and I worked out without my shoes again which was even more fun than last time. It was so complicated and she moved on so quickly - I was struggling but completely occupied so that the time flew by. I had tried to do the 2nd step workout on that dvd before and couldn't - the warm up went on soooooo long and she took soooo long breaking it down I got mind numbingly bored!!! So I'm at this point now that if it isn't really complicated (well for me anyway) and it doesn't move along quickly - I can't do it. Even though Christi was moving too fast for me I thought - once I really learn this routine I won't want the breakdown at all. This is my criteria right now for step workouts.

Elle - your yoga practice sounds just lovely - so calming and quiet - nice. :) It must be wonderful to customize your own workout. I usually use a tape and sometimes I don't choose well and it doesn't always fit my mood.

Janie - well - gee - just clean when you can. Life is too short to worry about a clean house. I'd rather you were out in the sunshine :cool: and walking Rolly - there is always another day to mop the floor!! :p:rolleyes: Good job on your workouts - now you are inspiring me!

Laura - tell us how class went - I bet you were still able to give your students a good workout. I think you'll probably heal pretty quick and I'm glad your on the mend now. I'm really glad you are able to check in with us, we missed you here - did you get the internet up and running at home?

Michelle - DH said he was scrubbing the boat on Sunday - it is like a workout. We went out for a bit on Saturday morning & then he went out again the next day - he said he anchored out and swam and soaked in the sun since it was dead calm. You are plugging away on STS so good job - you have to fit it in where you can.

Renee - So what step workouts are you going to do on recovery week? You have got my interest - Step Moves? LIS? Athletic Step? Step Jamb? Step Blast? HIS? They are all good and the list is almost endless!!!

Shadowpup - enjoy your trip - post when you can - you know we miss you here.
 
This morning I woke up and felt like my left side had been run over by a mack truck. I think I must have slept funny on my side and now it is unhappy. It's an age thing, I am sure. As I get older, I find that I must have my hips perfectly aligned one on top of the other when I sleep or else the hip on the side I'm sleeping on is sore when I wake up. Even though the days are still pretty warm, the nights are cooling down to the 60s and Ripken and I are having very nice walkabouts in the morning. Half of our morning walk is now pretty much in the dark; the other half in twilight to the start of sunrise.

After our walk this morning, I did Step Blast. I decided I wanted to do step this week for my cardio days so I'm not doing the prescribed shock cardio workouts on the STS rotation. Gotta love step blast--I think I sweated out 2-3 pounds of water. WooWee!

Elle: it's nice that you can do a yoga workout without a dvd/tape. Sometimes it's nice to just have that peace and quiet and go at your own pace.

Shoegal: please come to my house and weed my little peezy garden. I hate weeding and gardening in general, and I've got a patch of weeds that I really need to get after. I'd rather clean house or scrub the boat. In fact, you inspired me to scrub my master bath floor real good last night.

Laura: upper body workouts are a good idea while your knees are mending. Maybe also a good time to do some good stretches. I imagine your knees are a bit tender and might not like alot of step or lower body weight work for a few days. Boy--having banged up knees has got to be tricky. Well, at least it's warm and you can wear shorts--don't have to worry about pants bothering your knees.

Shadowpup: I love when you tell us about the horses. Maybe because you seem to have such a natural relationship with them.

Janie: good luck on 30/30. Those HITT workouts are toughies. The ab circuits pilates workout is one of Ripken's favorites which means he likes to get up close and be "helpful" when I'm trying to do that one.

Sister: enjoy your rest next week. Low Max?

~michelle
 
Well I actually called in and took the last two days off of teaching, hated to do it, but was really afraid I would push through and do more damage than good!:eek::confused::mad: I am doing a lot better, almost walking normal again, but still having a hard time with stairs, getting in and out of chairs & cars, and it is really tricky getting down to the ground. I hope there is nothing else wrong with my right knee......:( still can't bend it fully:confused:;)

Michelle: oh how I love twilight! I would walk then if bears and mountain lions weren't an issue in my neck of the woods. I love sunrises and to enjoy them with your pup sounds heavenly! Speaking of pups, our new puppy was born on Saturday, and we will be able to visit her in about 4 weeks!! We are so excited!!

Shoegal: barefoot stepping??? I need to go back a ways and find out your inspiration for that idea! I know bare foot running is all the rage right now in Boulder, but I hadn't heard of more high impact exercise being done barefoot! Doesn't it hurt your feet? Do you find you are way more low impact with your jumps than with shoes on? Dying to hear more...

ElleP; ahhh love those in-tuned sessions on the mat! I did some gentle stretching yesterday and it felt so good!

Janey:My house and my garden are so seriously neglected and at this point with my injury it is going to stay that way! Drives me crazy so I came down to my mom's house for the next few days so I don't have to sit in my house and be driven mad by all the 'have to's" plus the girls start school tomorrow so it will be nice to be closer!

My biceps are STILL SORE from Cross Train Xpress upper body two days ago! So resting today and tomorrow I will try STS Chest & Back at the gym.

Hi Shadowpup!
 
Was raining all day long, couldn't walk Rolly. Don't know what I'm going to do when it's rainy season for Rolly. Maybe he can get used to the treadmill with me. Hmmmmmm. Did 30/30 and burned 303 calories.

Elle, Always nice to see you on the forum. Great job on your personal yoga. I do love my Rolly, he's the best.

Shoegal, Gardening I missed this year, but will be in full swing come Spring. I love Humble Beginnings. Great job! I guess I'm one that doesn't get bored easily.

Michelle, I wake up sometimes hurting too. It's not nice. Great job on Step Fast, that is a sweat fest for sure.

Laura, I'm so glad you are doing so well and especially glad you took some time off from work. It had to be done.:rolleyes: You are healing, it will take time, that was an awful fall. Don't you just love DOM's?;)

Janie
 
I decided to do Supersets last night with Cathe - and no shoes again. It is still "fun" to me but there were some points in the workout where I would have liked more traction. I think it takes a little bit of pressure off not to put on the shoes :eek: - it is very unlike me not to want to put on shoes, I know - but it is like I'm instantly ready to workout and that it is something a bit different.

Janie - did you miss the work in your garden this year - don't worry I'm sure there will be more than enough to do next year - always is - it is constant work.

Michelle - I don't know how this sounds but I would actually love to come and weed your garden :eek::confused::eek: - I really like to improve and beautify. That is why I like to decorate so much - fall is fast approaching - can't wait to pull out the Autumn/ Harvest/ Halloween/ Thanksgiving stuff!!!

Laura - well, it was a wise decision not to teach - better not to risk it - I would come out and help clean up your house too :eek::eek: but if you are anything like me it would kill you to watch me do it. I got the idea from a thread on VF about working out shoeless - there was also an article about it - some people really didn't like it but others found it was better all around for them. So I decided to try it - I like it. How do people run shoeless in Boulder?? Are they doing this outdoors - or on a track or treadmill??? Just try it once - you might be surprised at how it feels.

Ok off to work - hope you all have a great day!!
 
Quick post: another great walkabout with my pup this morning. We were in the dark completely today because we were up a little earlier so I could get all my normal routine done before leaving for a meeting at Quantico. Today was STS disc 8, back and triceps. Lots of fun. Enjoying this third week of meso 1. Probably because I had a break last week.

Laura: well, you answered my question about your mobility with your banged up knees. Big ouchies. Better to take it easy than make things worse by aggravating the wound areas. I'm not surprised that you still have doms from the cross train express upper body workout. That's a tough workout. You might try the upper body workouts on Body Max and Body Max 2 while you are recouping.

Janie: You may not like this idea, but why not walk Rolly in the rain? Ripken and I walk in all weather--hot, cold, wind, rain, ice, snow. I have full rain gear at the house and my muck lucks. Ripken doesn't mind any of the weather (well, he really isn't too crazy about heat and humidity) and he just goes. When we come home, I have a shelf full of towels in the garage for drying off Ripken. If you are interested in rain gear, I recommend Helly Hanson. It's a little pricey but very comfortable and performs well. Plus, I believe they are headquartered out of Seattle.

Shoegal: doesn't supersets have power lunges? I'm not sure I could do power lunges in bare feet. Maybe you are becoming Barefoot Gal vice Shoegal?

Hi to sister, Elle, and Shadowpup.
~michelle
 
Hi everyone! Feeling super sluggish! I can't remember being so laid up! I really believe that energy begets energy and being a slug makes you even more sluggish! Today was the girls first day of school. They have what they call a "Red Rose Ceremony" at the beginning and end of every school year. In the beginning of the year they introduce any new faculty, or changes in staff and then they introduce the new senior class, and then the senior class introduces the in coming 1st graders, each child is introduced to the school, the senior walks down and gives the incoming 1st grader a rose and then walks them up to their teacher. After all the kids are seated the 1st grade teacher tells a short story, at the end of the year the 1st graders give the seniors a rose at their graduation. It is always a very touching ceremony. Today though I am more emotional than usual, and was close to tears several times.....

I think this is a big year for me as my daughters are growing up and don't need/want me like they used to....and being a twin mom, it was so intense the first several years that it completely consumed all my energy and focus, it is like I am coming out of a deep haze and looking around and like ""NOW WHAT?" So I really need to focus on myself and creating some healthy habits and passions again! AND I AM A GIMP! UGH!

Anyway finally motivated to the gym for an upper body STS Meso Cycle 3 style workout on Chest and Back.I felt so much better afterwards...thinking of hitting shoulder, bi's and tri's tomorrow again!

janey: I heard from my mom that there was a brief moment of sunshine in the PNW and then it went back to rain! We have had a very wet summer and I am hoping for a long dry fall here!

Shoegal: yep barefoot runners all over Boulder right now, running on pavement, sidewalks, trails...it is all the rage. Nike even has a 'barefoot' shoe out now. All because of a book that came out recently, maybe it is called Born to Run??, but it says a lot of the injuries people get from running are actually from their shoes not from running. The way we run barefoot is to hit the outside middle of the foot first but running shoes makes the heel strike first and causes all kinds of impact up the leg to the hip and sacrum.. This all 2nd hand but I have been hearing a lot about it here.

Michelle: lucky pup indeed to have a mom willing to brave all kinds of weather for his walk! :) Yes indeedy a very bad ouchie! SO MAD AT MYSELF!! This really sets me back, but I had no idea, nothing ever has happened to me like that before...I will try Body Max 2 Upper Body! It is on my list, I don't have it down here in Boulder with me, I am staying at my mom's for the girls first week of school, but I will try it this weekend!
 
Did STS disc 5, Back & Triceps. Also walked moderately 2.5 Rolly for an hour. Burned 649 calories.

Shoegal, Great job on Supersets. No reason not to do workout without shoes sometimes. Variety is what I always say.;) I do miss my garden. It's the first time in 15 years that I didn't have one. Next year I'll make up for it, but a smaller one perhaps, and a bed of as many blueberries that it will grow. YUM!

Michelle, Great job on disc 8. Getting up before the sun, well, I'm glad I'm retired.:confused: I would walk Rolly in the rain, except the trail is only about a foot and a half wide, which makes the shrubbery rub off wet rain onto us. Cold and wet I don't like. But, I will give it a try. I haven't done it yet and am willing the next time it rains. Perhaps will drive somewhere where the trails are wider. Thanks for the tip in rain gear, I'll look into that.

Laura, Rolly and I managed to walk in beautiful weather today. As soon as we got home, it started clouding up and rained. It was a wonderful walk and was glad we had the opportunity. I would love an Indian Summer, but I doubt it this year, more likely a brutal Winter.

That's really cool :cool:that your school does introductions. It's a cute ceremony. They sometimes get to my tear ducks as well.

Great job on those upper body workouts. I'm proud of ya.

Yes, our children grow up way to fast! I sometimes miss my little girl, at least when she was young. I love her now too, but I love those memories, innocent, vulnerable...needs mom;).

Janie
 
I did HITT 30/30 last night! With shoes, of course - was very short on time and wanted to get it done - so great workout. :D Gee all the jumping I did - I'm not saying I jumped as high as Cathe but I put a lot of effort into it. Whew!!

Laura - rose ceremony?? Sounds like an episode of the Bachelor! :D Except this sound so much nicer. Your girl's school really sounds like a great place. Children grow up really fast and everything changes but sometimes in very good ways so we all have to switch our focus every now and again.

Janie - good job on disc 5 - and your walk - I've walked in the rain - sometimes it can be fun.

Michelle - Will Hurricane Earl affect your weather? We are supposed to get a good breeze on Saturday and it should be colder. DH wants to sail - I really wanted HOT so we could anchor and swim - don't think I'll be doing that! Aren't there bats buzzing around when you walk in the morning??? I went out one morning - very early to let the girls out and the bats were flying around like crazy.
 
Good morning everyone.
Another lovely day here in the mid-Atlantic. Ripken and I had a great walk and then I did Rhythmic Step. It's just been one of those weeks where I felt like step rather than anything else for my cardio. Lots of fun.

Shoegal: no bats here. Thank goodness. I'm sure we have them around, I just don't see them in my neighborhood. We more suburban than rurul and I know you see bats in the rural parts of Virginia. We are expecting wind from Earl and some super high tides. NOAA has a small craft warning posted for the Chesapeake Bay starting tonight through tomorrow, but the forecast is for 20+knot winds through Saturday. That could all change, but I'm guessing that most folks who were going to cruise this weekend will cancel unless they left their piers this morning. It is supposed to be around 80 degrees on Saturday and Sunday which sounds super good to me. Maybe I can get the little boat cleaned up tomorrow and we will put that in for the weekend. We are planning to cruise over to the eastern shore next week. Yup--I'm on vacation starting tomorrow through Sept 14.

Laura: the rose ceremony sounds very nice. My recollection is that you and your DH send your girls to a private school. Obviously, the school has grades 1-12. How many students total? Do they have separate buildings for the elementary, middle, and high school? Somehow, I think you will find a way to fill up your days doing interesting things as your girls get older. And don't forget you've got a new puppy coming who is going to need some attention. Have you all picked out a name for your new pup?

Janie: I highly recommend good rain gear. Makes walking in the rain much more bearable. I always figure it's just water--I can always dry off and so can Rip. And if he gets really wet, his fur feels so good after I towel him dry. Sometimes you have to look for the bright side of those rainy days. We had quite a bit of rain in August and now we are dry again. We can't seem to strike a happy medium between rain and sun lately.

Sister: where are you? I tried to call last night and no answer. Maybe you were at karate. I'm not quite up to snuff on remembering your new schedule. Hopefully, no drama going on the western front.

Hi to Shadowpup and Elle.
Have a great day.
~michelle
 
Yippy Skippy Hooray! I finished mesocycle 1 today! I am looking forward to an active recovery week of great step/cardio. Circuit Blast cardio only is like a Hiit workout, but its done in 23 minutes. Very intense and fun.

I've been busy with school and karate. Its hard to check in these days. Karate is Monday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings. That may change but its what I am managing to do right now. Wednesday afternoon/evening I sometimes go out with teacher friends. So, I never really know if I'll be home or not. Cell phone is always with me. ;)

Looks like everybody is doing A-OK.

~Renee
 
Hi everyone! Super sore in the pecs today from my workout yesterday. I didn't get my other upper body split in as I had a ton of errands to run today. I might get it in tomorrow or might just wait until I am home and do the Body Max 2 Upper Body on Saturday.

A friend of ours died last week in an accident in the canyon on his way to work. He was riding his motorcycle and a deer jumped out in front of him. He lost control of the bike and was thrown several feet. After 6 hours of surgery he died. He is leaving behind a wife, a friend, and a 5 year old son and a one year old daughter. It is so tragic. I just ran into the wife at target with her daughter, I had not seen her yet.....There is a benefit tomorrow night for her and she is having a gathering at her house this sunday. The girls are going to a sleepover/birthday party tomorrow night so Bo and I can go to the benefit. It really makes you realize the uncertainty of life...

My knee is slowly getting better, I am beginning to be able to go down the stairs normal some of the time again. It will still be awhile before I am up and at them, and so frustrated about the lack of exercise, trying to keep the eating in control though to make up for the lack of calorie burn...

catchick: conrgarts on doing Meso 1 again! Are those pushups getting any better? I always dread them...

Michelle: sounds like some lovely weather your way. Today was our first cool day and I bought a light new 'jacket' that is super cute as I was unprepared for the chill down here at my mom's. I love it, it actually reminds me of a jacket I had in the late 80's that I absolutely loved and wore to threads....Yes the girls go to a very small private school which goes from preschool to Highschool. The preschool/kindergarten is separated by a lovely fenced in place with a good size outdoor area, the 1-5 is separate from the 6-8 but they share a courtyard and the HS is across the street and very separate. It is a beautiful campus which is somewhat hard to describe...I think it was once an old camp, so there are 4 buildings around a circular courtyard, there are other buildings around the campus for different functions as well. Each building is split into two parts with a shared center area which has bathrooms, there is a grade on each end of the buildings.. so 1st & 2nd grade in the 1st building, 3rd and 4th in the second, ect...it is really nice as the kids actually have to go outside to go to different rooms, like the choir room or the violin room ect instead of a crowded hall way with lockers...probably more than you wanted to know!;):rolleyes:

Shoegal: LOVE the HITTS and sounds like you really made an effort to push yourself! I know Cathe is always my bench mark when I do those kind of workouts but I am not there yet either! Thanks for the reminder to shift the focus instead of getting lost with what has changed that was helpful!

Janey: How is your daughter doing? Been quite on that front so I hope all is well !
 
Today was Cardio Core Circuit (CCC). I also speed walked Rolly for an hour at 3 to 3.5 mph. Burned 603 calories.

Shoegal, I really like 30/30, great job on that one.

Michelle, One of my favorites steps is RS. Great Job! The only problem with the rain in the forest is it leaves knee high puddles to cross, no where to go around them. I hope Rolly will like the treadmill.:rolleyes:

Renee, CONGRATULATIONS! Now you can do the steps you really like. ENJOY! You deserve it. Have fun with school and Karate.

Laura, Half a workout is better than no workout, good for you. Oh, I'm so sorry about your friend. How awful! I'll pray for his family. (((HUGS))) to you. Get healed, you will have plenty of time later on to do your exercises the way you want to do them. I have 3 daughters, and they all are coping. I think you might mean Tina. Her husband's addiction is doing good from what I gather, (I have my own doubts though, I still think it's mental) but we'll see how they hold up as time goes by. Thanks for asking.

Janie
 
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I did Power Hour last night - except I'm not quite so powerful right now and struggled through a lot of it - but it felt good to grunt through it all - got me thinking about the gym styles and I'm going to do them next week I think. Very good week for me as far as excercise - not so great in the eating department. I'm trying though.

Well something absolutely horrible & amazing has happened. Growing up my best friend had lived two doors up from my house - my best friend and her family eventually moved out and a new family moved in. A couple that had a son and daughter - the son quickly became my younger brother's best friend. When they grew up they were in each other weddings. The wife died years ago of liver disease and the father remarried his son's mother-in-law. (perhaps this is too much info) On Tuesday, the father was in a bad way - very distraught & upset and was walking around with his hunting rifle. His wife begged to leave - he let her go and after she left she called the police saying that he was suicidal and was afraid he'd hurt someone. When the police arrived he announced that he was a Vietnam vet and didn't want to hurt anyone but if he was going to aim he wouldn't shoot for their Kevlar - he'd shoot for their heads. A female officier was trying to talk to him and calm him down - the father apparantly raised his rifle and another officier that was nearby shot him dead. This man was at my own father's funeral and I've known him for quite some time. How could something like this happen??? I'll be going to the funeral home this evening.

Laura - I've very sorry for the loss of your friend -accidents involving deer happen quite often here in PA. I agree, life seems uncertain when things like this happen. I am sending prayers out there to you and the family.

Hope everyone is doing well and has a nice weekend.
 
Oh boy, I am so sorry to hear about Laura's friend and Shoegal's friend. My condolences to both of you. These are both such tragic and sad stories. Big (((((HUGS))))) to both of you.

Laura: thanks for the description of your girls' school. It sounds really nice. From your previous posts, it also seems that your twins really enjoy their school. I have to admit there is a part of me that is always a bit whimsical this time of year when the kids go back to school. I loved school so much--loved it so much that I kept going back to get more degrees. I wish every child has as wonderful a time in school as I did. Sometimes I think it would be fun to go back and get another bachelor's degree just for fun or maybe just take some science and math classes. Or learn a new language, like Italian. I've been tempted to look into the rosetta stone program. Okay, enough, I digress.

Shoegal: love powerhour. I recommended that workout to my hairdresser this past week. She runs and does yoga but no strength building. Hurricane Earl went easy on us. The cold front tomorrow is supposed to bring more wind--not too bad this afternoon at the boat.

Janie: you've been walking that poor little pup's feet off lately. Good for both of your!

Okay--our local grocery here at Solomons ran a special today on lobsters. You had to order ahead of time. I believe that Joe ordered 8 at 1 1/2 pounds each. Leftovers will become the filling for lobster rolls to be eaten later during the weekend. Yummy.

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable labor day weekend.
~michelle
 
Taking care of Adrian and not having a lot of time. Just wanted to say I'm keeping up with STS. Will talk again tomorrow.

Janie
 
Enjoying some great doms today from STS disc 9, legs, yesterday. And did MMA kickbox on the boat today.

Having great weather this weekend. Temps in the 70s, no humidity. Very sweet. Great walks with Ripken today too. He is really enjoying this weather. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend.
~michelle
 
The weather in central Virginia is wonderful. The windows are open, the back door to the deck is open, so the cats are enjoying some outdoor time too. No AC in nearly 24 hours because its just not needed. Of course, it won't last long, tomorrow its suppose to be back up in the mid 80's but I'm gonna enjoy it while its here.

Yesterday I got a major good deal on 30 pound dumb bells. Play It Again Sports just got in a huge shipment of used hex dumb bells. Selling them for 50 cents per pound! And to top it off, I had a 5 dollar coupon! So, I was expecting to pay around 50 bucks and I walked out of there paying half that! SCORE!!!! I really like when that happens, an unexpected bonus.

I am in active recovery week. I went real easy yesterday with Low Impact Step. Today I think I will do LowMax or Rhythmic Step. I am recovering not only from meso 1, but my first sinus infection of the school year. I have a busy week ahead, after the holiday weekend. Karate on Tuesday, Thursday and belt graduation on Friday, and out with the girls on Wednesday...my birthday. ;)

Laura and Shoegal...my condolences to both of you.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Labor day weekend.

~Renee
 
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