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Commercializing Fitness March 31, 2008

Posted by kimayars Ramblings Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

I personally love the commercialization of fitness. I love walking into the fitness aisle of Target and seeing what’s popular. A few days ago, I went in for a birthday present and decided to see if there were any fitness accessories that I needed (but would probably never use). I was shocked to see… kettlebells! And in fashion colors, no less. I think my friend Dave would have cried. I might have to get him the one in “cornflower” for some auspicious occasion. ;-)

But also lacking was any instructional DVD or book on how to use kettlebells. These suckers are heavy and I’ve watched enough videos on YouTube to know that used incorrectly they could really do some damage. Like many pieces of fitness equipment, it is usually worth it to spend a little extra cash on some instruction with a trainer than just jumping right in.

So I left the kettlebells on the shelf (not that I could lift them anyway) and grabbed a “Yoga for Flexibility” DVD by Gaiam. We’ll see if I follow my own advice…

Floating…Is that exercise? March 30, 2008

Posted by kimayars Ramblings Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 5comments

We’re at the new Great Wolf Lodge in “scenic” Grand Mound, WA right now enjoying the benefits of an 84-degree indoor waterpark while freak snow and hail storms are happening across our area. Controlled climate is good. ;-)

So, I’ve been doing a lot of floating and bobbing with the girls. There have been some stairs involved, but only to get the the water slides. It has been a relaxing and fun little mini-vacation so far.

The only real problem is that the main eatery in this place is a buffet. Erck. I am terrible with buffets. The food is also really good, which complicates things. I’m sure I’ve gained a few pounds. I know I’ve been eating a lot because Jeff has been giving me those knowing side-ways glances. He knows not to say anything, but he is making his point.

I did think about going to the fitness center to run this morning, but just as I climbed out of bed to drag my sorry little butt down there for a 5-mile run, our youngest woke up and didn’t reconize where whe was. She climbed in bed with Jeff and I and I just couldn’t resist her snuggles. They aren’t this age forever, and I want to enjoy every minute of it. Even post-traumatic cuddling.

Maybe tomorrow morning… :-D

Double Trouble March 27, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

Today I was reminded *why* I don’t do double-runs in a day.  Advil is my friend…

I made a promise to myself that no matter what, I would go to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday morning after I dropped my oldest off at school (my youngest daughter LOVES the KidZone).  I know myself well enough to know that if I skip a day, it makes it okay to skip another, and another…  You can see the pattern.  So skipping is not an option (unless I have a sick kiddo).  So even though I ran with Beth this morning, I was still going to do the treadmill with Sherene.  It was a moral imperative.

I didn’t even cop out.  I did “Level 3″ on the “Sport Training 5K” program, so there was some effort involved.

The treadmills at the gym are by LifeFitness.  Sherene and I started a little game of forming words from it.  My favorite is “snit”.  Sherne is in the lead with “listen”. So far we haven’t been able to make any dirty words. It’s amazing what you can use to distract yourself when desperate.  :-)

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Legs of Iron March 27, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

When I say “legs of iron” I don’t mean strong and steely.  I mean heavy and immovable.  It was like having two lead balloons for feet today.

Beth and I were quite pleased to finally get our splits below 11 min/mile.  This will get better as it gets lighter out.  It’s hard to run with confidence in the dark at 5:30am.

I’m doubling-up today, and am heading to the gym later this morning to torment Sherne on the treadmill.  Don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but I’m sure I’ll think of something… (Napping in the corner using a BoSU ball as a pillow sounds rather nice.)

Overall I’m happy with my week.  I got some good consistent running in!

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Working Out the Kinks… March 25, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

I’m still a bit sore today, so my run on the treadmill with Shrene took on the form of 6.1 miles an hour at a 0.1 incline for 31 minutes.  You guessed it: I was on the treadmill with the broken “0″.  It was a nice run though, and helped me work out some of the soreness in my lower back from yesterday’s lesson. 

 I went to the chiropractor this morning for my monthly check-up.  I’m a chiro junkie and love to get my back cracked.  If I could, I would go every week.  Today I was especially looking forward to it.  I’m laying on my stomach ready for the big moment.  My doctor scribbles on his pad and cheerfully announces, “Good news! You don’t need an adjustment today!”  Whaaaa?… I was stunned.  “Really?” I said.  “Yup! We’ll see you in 4 weeks! Nice job.”  I left the office feeling kind of slighted.  Realistically, it’s great news that I don’t need an adjustment, especially since I took a tumble off the horse a few weeks ago. But I was disappointed, nonetheless.

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It’s all about me… March 24, 2008

Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse) Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 4comments

I had a great lesson today on Tigs — he was very well-behaved and it was our first mellow ride in about 3 weeks. It was nice just to let go and relax.  My trainer took this opportunity to work on my position and to start re-thinking how I use the reins with him.  Tigger is under the impression that a release means “go”, where I want a release to mean “stay as you are”.  There will be a little bit of re-training there. It was really weird to have the lesson be all about me…

I’m pretty sore after my last two runs. Tomorrow I will be heading to the gym to try and loosen up a bit.

And now, a bit of horse eye-candy:

 

(This is Tigger at the clinic, just before we went in to ride. See how calm he looks? Yay!)

A good start to a long day… March 24, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Last night when I went to bed, my last thought was, “I hope it’s REALLY raining tomorrow so we can cancel our run.”  This morning was cold, but dry. No chance of cancelling.

I was actually up at 5am feeling pretty awake, so it wasn’t as bad as I thought.  Beth and I took her dogs for the first mile then ran another 3 miles around the library and back. We finished running up the hill to Hemlock (which I had to take a short walk break on due to some very fatigued quads).

To be honest, I’m surprised that our average pace was +11 minutes.  On the flats when I looked at the ForeRunner it always seemd to be well within the 10-minute pace.  I’ll have to look at the splits later tonight.

I have my riding lesson today at 10:00.  I generally don’t run and ride in the same day because it takes too much out of me.  Couple that with the fact that I work today and the girls have activities from 3:45 to 6:00 and this is going to be a pretty long day.  I should sleep well tonight…

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