Water Day

Yesterday I was in the pool for 4-5 hours. I usually run on Mondays, however I had a lot I needed to do in between work so I skipped it. Instead I hauled more wood, taught swim lessons, swam with my daughter, and had 2 hours of training. Our pool is going to add aqua zumba to the mix in December, so part of our fitness portion of training was to try it out. I have done zumba at home on the kinect and taken a class one time. I am not the most coordinated person, which is why I teach bootcamp and not an aerobic type class where I have to stay on the beat. I love zumba on the kinect, I really got into it and had a great core workout. I didn't feel like the class was as hard, although I'm sure I didn't go all out like at home. I was wearing my normal shorts and t-shirt while everyone else rocked their zumba clothes. I do think more dance style clothes would help get in the mood. Back to aqua zumba, it was a decent workout, but I didn't love it. I prefer zumba out of the water, I found it hard to do some of the moves and just felt like I was flailing around. I would prefer to swim laps if I am going to work out in the water. I do think I need to don some dance clothes and try out zumba again.

After aqua zumba it was on to treading while passing a 10# brick and answering lifeguard and CPR questions. We treaded water for about 30 minutes. Overall it was a great fitness day, just enough to stretch out my sore back (from all the wood) and help my muscles recover.

Today I am teaching bootcamp and will probably join in depending on how many new people I have. What are you doing today?

Halloween Weekend

We had a great weekend, starting with Halloween. My kids had a blast and have more candy then they will eat in a year. Saturday started out with sunny skies and temps in the 30's which is perfect for a run. I took the dogs out and had a nice 4 mile run, this was still not long enough for the puppy! Later that afternoon we went to the neighbor's for pumpkin chunckin. Someone had an old trebuchet he had sitting in his yard he had never used so we tested it out. After a few misses it finally launched a pumpkin....about 20 ft, not quite what we had in mind. The guys kept working on it, but at this time it was windy and COLD so all the girls went inside with the little ones. They ended up getting it to work and had lots of fun launching pumpkins and then the kids played baseball with the pieces. Afterwards we went home for a few hours then went to town to the library where they had their fall festival. I had a nice chat with my friend while tons of kids ran around playing games and eating more candy.

The time change was a wonderful thing this morning, I was up early, having my quiet time and still being able to work out before church. I decided to try out a kickboxing workout I found on youtube. It was just the right intensity and reminded me of how much I enjoy kickboxing and other types of workouts. After church it was time to get some work done. My kids and I hauled wood all day, and my back feels it! Squating, carrying, throwing, and stacking wood is a great workout, I think I will feel it tomorrow.

Overall it was a great weekend. How was your weekend?

I Did It!

I am now a NASM certified personal trainer! After a lot of studying I passed my exam and am so excited to start helping people! I am not sure in what way yet, I need to talk to my boss and see if they will hire me as a personal trainer. If that doesn't happen I will look into starting my own business. I have a lot of ideas and just need to start implementing some of them.

Running is going well, I have been averaging 4 days a week with 2 days of bootcamp. I am enjoying this schedule and starting to see more definition in my legs and arms since not doing much in the summer. There is a great group attending bootcamp and I am having a lot of fun getting to know them better. On tap today is a 4 mile run, and of course a nice long walk with my hyper puppy! Have a great day!

Fall Running

Running has been fantastic this fall, after struggling with motivation for quite some time now I am in love with running again. Fall is my favorite season and this year has been perfect with cool mornings and daytime highs anywhere from 50*-70*. We have had an incredibly wet summer so everything is still green, instead of the typical brown, and the fall leaves with the green fields are amazing.

I also had the oppurtunity to run a 10k with my son! It was Gavin's first race, besides the local 1 mile fun run, and he earned his first medal which was very exciting! We ended up doing a 1 minute run with 30 second walk throughout the race, and as predicted I had to chase him the first 2 miles. He started dragging a little around mile 5 but as soon as we turned the corner and could see the finish line 4 blocks away he picked it up. At the last block he stepped it up and I again started chasing him, he has his Dad's speed and I couldn't catch him. He finished about 10 steps ahead of me!

This is at the starting line.

Shortly after the 10k it was time to run the 1 mile with Brooklyn, my sister, and her daughter, Marlee. It started raining right before we started and dumped on us throughout the run, finishing with lightning at the finish line. We had fun though and excited to run again next year!

First Day of School!

My kids went back to school today and I am enjoying having the house to myself and all this free time! It is great to have some time to work on different projects without distractions. My only problem will be me, does anyone else find you can get more done with a packed schedule? When I have hours free I find myself wasting time because I don't know what to work on first. I am determined not to let this happen though so I will need to make out a schedule for myself and stick to it!

I am teaching my first bootcamp today and am very excited. The sun is finally shining today so hopefully a few people will want to work out inside! I am really looking forward to creating routines and trying new exercises. I am also hoping to draw more people in, I know a lot of people were intimidated by the name Insanity so they wouldn't come to a class.

I have been running, 3-5 miles, and it is feeling good. I ran/walked 2 miles with my kids then went for a 3 mile run yesterday, so I wasn't going to run today but it was so beautiful this morning I took the dogs out for 1 mile. I also did a 10 minute kettlebell workout and will do abs with class today.

What Happened to Summer?

This has been a very cold and rainy summer, I think we had a total of 3 weeks of normal 85* weather but it didn't happen all at once. We would have 3 days of nice weather and then it would be rainy and 70* for a week. Yesterday I almost started a fire it was so cold, and when the clouds moved there was a lot of new snow on the mountains. I am not ready for winter! Gavin has decided he wants to run the 10k with me, so I have been taking him out a few times a week to run/walk. Brooklyn is going to run the 1 mile so she goes with us, so we haven't gone more then 2 miles. I finally had a chance last weekend to run with Gavin alone. I told him to go at an easy pace because we were going to run farther, I had planned on running with him to help pace him. He started running and his easy pace was about 30 seconds a mile faster then mine! We were running on a hilly course and I couldn't catch him, when he stopped to walk I caught up and he said he was feeling good. I told him not to worry about me and to continue, he left me in the dust again. I told him he was going to run the race by himself and beat me, he told me "I hope not, I would be lonely." When it was time to turn around I had finally warmed up enough and he had slowed down a little that I could run with him, we started with me by his side and he started to pick up the pace. When I asked him why he replied, "I thought I was going to slow since you are running with me." Once I assured him that I was trying to run with him we ran the rest of the time together, maybe I can keep up with him in the race after all, I just need to warm up first!

What A Week!

This week went by so fast, I had planned on blogging throughout but when I finally had time I was wiped! So here is a recap of the week: Monday: I taught aqua-fit, this is only my second time subbing for this class and it is so much fun. The ladies let you know if they like it or not and the feedback is great. I taught from deck and after an hour of shoulder raises I was sore! Afterwards I had a couple hours the went back to the pool and worked the rest of the day. Tuesday: I ran 3 miles, then ran/walked about 1.25 miles with my kids. Gavin told me he wants to run the Yellowstone half marathon next year, I told him maybe we should just start running and he can run the 10k this year and see how he likes it. Both kids had a great time and told me they want to run or exercise every day, so now I have to step up and get them moving. Later that day we went to the lake, the water was nice, I was able to swim for awhile without freezing. Our lakes never get warm compared to other places, but it was warm to us, probably somewhere around 65-70*. Wednesday: Gavin has been in 4-h this year with our dog, so it was fair time. We left the house around 7, my kids are definitely in summer mode and did not want to get up! We drove to the next town and spent the morning watching all the kids show their dog. Gavin did great, grand champion 2 times and 3rd overall. Afterwards we hung out at the fair for awhile, we watched the hypnotist, and they loved that, Brooklyn was very disappointed that she couldn't be hypnotized! That night I did pilates, which felt great after a day at the fair. Thursday: I did a 2 mile run, with 1 mile tempo, followed by a run/walk with the kids for 1.5 miles. Then I tried to tackle cleaning my house (didn't get very far), then took the kids to the pool. Friday: I put together a circuit for the kids to do in the morning, including soccer passes and kicks, since soccer will be starting in a couple weeks. They LOVE doing circuits, and I find that they are so much happier and helpful when they start their day this way. Then I had a meeting with my new boss, and the rest of the day was spent at home. I had planned on getting a lot done around the house but I could not get in gear. I finally went for a walk in the evening but that was my only exercise. Today I am heading out for a 6 mile run, putting together a circuit for my kdis, then tackling my house and whatever my hubby needs help with. Hope everyone has a great weekend!