I am out of my mind. I'm sitting here exhausted and it's 8:30pm and I'm considering going to bed.
I think my husband is right and I've packed way too much into this weekend.
Today I hosted my fundraiser Vicious & Virtuous which benefited my walk team "Team Brian The Lion" and Autism Speaks.
Today while we were getting ready for the event and I was running around we got a call from the realtor that someone wanted to come and look at our apartment. I had to drop what I was doing and all hands on deck we cleaned the place up to make it semi presentable for a prospective buyer.
I then had to switch back and scramble to make sure we had everything we needed, the kids both had pants on and matching shoes, that I hadn't forgotten to put on my bra and get everyone out the door to the bar where V&V was held.
It was a total success with the final amount raised at over $400 but I'm absolutely wiped out.
It's behind me and I can now focus on the 42 miles I have to bike tomorrow. My first concern is what to wear. It's going to be partly cloudy and a high of 66. The 60's are tricky because I'm never sure if I should do long or short sleeves. I do not want to bring a sweatshirt to this event and I'm leaning towards short sleeves & shorts on my bottom.
I really need to stop over thinking this don't I? ::Sigh::
I'm packing protein bars, a bagel with peanut butter, 2 bottles of water, a small thing of Gatorade, Tylenol, tissues, chapstick...
I took the bike to the shop yesterday to get tuned up and since it was only a few blocks away from my mom's I decided to ride. I got about 1/2 a block before I thought I was going to die. My legs were killing me and my heart was hammering out of my chest. It was like I was pedaling on sand.
I immediately panicked. What happened?! When did I get so weak? HOW was I going to pedal 42 miles on Sunday if I can't go half a block? (Cue the headless chicken)
The rational voice in my head piped up "Bike has been in storage since October. Maybe the tires just need air and the chain needs oil?"
I walked it to the shop and dropped it off explaining that it felt like I was riding uphill and asked them to tune her up.
I ran out of time and asked my sister to please pick her up. Bison the Bicycle waits untested for me to take on the adventure tomorrow.
42 miles on my 60 pound pink beach cruiser. I'm sitting here now looking at the photo from last year and remembering how absolutely exhausted I was and how I'd stopped and considered quitting after only 15 miles but pushed on and was able to do another 15.
This year will be different. I'm sure I'll struggle but I'm going to deal with the struggles differently. I'm not going to let that little voice of doubt get in my way. Rather than focusing on the pedals and the pain, I'm going to pay attention to the amazing city and neighborhoods I'm riding through.
I anticipate having to walk the bike over the bridges but that's okay. KYL right?
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Boot Camp Today
Today the kiddos and I went to the 10am Boot Camp and it was just myself and one other student.
One of the things I really love Hoboken Boot Camps is that they don't get all pissy or tweaked when I bring the kids. No one huffs at me or rolls their eyes or whines about them being there (at least not to my face!) and in turn my kids are HUGE fans of the classes and it's a treat for them to come with me to class.
They look forward to it, ask to go and if we should for some reason skip a class they are disappointed
You find me another studio or another group of coaches who don't mind the kids using their equipment as a playground .
I've been going to class for a year and a half and so have they. Saturday classes and when they are on break from school they come with me.
At this point, they know many of the exercises and the moves and have learned how to respect and handle the Kettlebells.
Today since it was just myself and another student I allowed them to be a part of class. Patrick, my oldest at a wise ancient 7 years on this planet helped Jesse teach and was the "official" timekeeper for our 40 second periods. The Lion decided he was going to participate in class today and he was AWESOME. Today was Static Hold day and it was NOT easy.
We had to hold a Kettlebell out in front of us, arms straight for 40 seconds. Lion was right there with us (sort of) holding a 10 pound bell to his chest for the full time. We then had to "sit" against a wall with a jump rope holding up one leg. Again he was right next to me with his own jump rope holding his leg out and sitting in a semi squat.
When we took our bells out to the loading dock to do a walking overhead press he was right there holding his 10 pound bell to his chest walking with us.
Did I mention the Lion turns 6 next Friday? Yeah. Let me tell you how humbling it is when I'm struggling with the weight I chose and my baby boy is blowing by me laughing.
It was a GREAT class and I'm glad the boys got to be a part of it. It makes them feel important and special. That makes me happy.
One of the things I really love Hoboken Boot Camps is that they don't get all pissy or tweaked when I bring the kids. No one huffs at me or rolls their eyes or whines about them being there (at least not to my face!) and in turn my kids are HUGE fans of the classes and it's a treat for them to come with me to class.
They look forward to it, ask to go and if we should for some reason skip a class they are disappointed
You find me another studio or another group of coaches who don't mind the kids using their equipment as a playground .
I've been going to class for a year and a half and so have they. Saturday classes and when they are on break from school they come with me.
At this point, they know many of the exercises and the moves and have learned how to respect and handle the Kettlebells.
Today since it was just myself and another student I allowed them to be a part of class. Patrick, my oldest at a wise ancient 7 years on this planet helped Jesse teach and was the "official" timekeeper for our 40 second periods. The Lion decided he was going to participate in class today and he was AWESOME. Today was Static Hold day and it was NOT easy.
We had to hold a Kettlebell out in front of us, arms straight for 40 seconds. Lion was right there with us (sort of) holding a 10 pound bell to his chest for the full time. We then had to "sit" against a wall with a jump rope holding up one leg. Again he was right next to me with his own jump rope holding his leg out and sitting in a semi squat.
When we took our bells out to the loading dock to do a walking overhead press he was right there holding his 10 pound bell to his chest walking with us.
Did I mention the Lion turns 6 next Friday? Yeah. Let me tell you how humbling it is when I'm struggling with the weight I chose and my baby boy is blowing by me laughing.
It was a GREAT class and I'm glad the boys got to be a part of it. It makes them feel important and special. That makes me happy.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Jogging
Now that the weather is getting warmer, we are starting to do more jogging in Boot Camp. I HATE jogging. Why? Partly because of my shin splints and partly because I want to look like this:
but I hate it because I know I look like this:
but I hate it because I know I look like this:
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
5 Boro
HOW did this happen to me?! I have 9 days till the 42 Mile NYC Bike ride and I have not yet swung my leg over my bike to train.
Did you read that? Read it again and then send the men in white coats. I'm going to attempt to ride 42 miles on the roadways of the 5 boros that make up the NYC area without having been on a bike in about 5 months, maybe more.
What's worse? I did the SAME THING LAST YEAR. Last year though the ride was the first time I'd been on a bike in 25 years.
Did I mention the kind of bike I have?
That's her. My beautiful pink one speed beach cruiser. My eldest son named her "Bison" because she's as big as a Bison.
While I love her, she ain't fast and she ain't light. Hills are painful with her.
This year however I have something on my side I did not have last year. I have intimate knowledge of the course and what to expect and where the hills are and how to attack this whole pack of insane folks biking along with me.
Did I mention that I'll be doing this 42 mile journey with 32,000 of my closest pals? Oh yeah. That means not only do I have to focus on me and my bike and the potholes and hills, I have to be insanely aware of all four sides and watching for accidents ahead and bikes getting too close behind.
I'm also hoping that while there won't be any surprises and I can better mentally gear myself up for this one better than last year I'll also have better legs in my corner. I've been working on my legs like crazy trying to get them ready for this event.
One of the things that killed me last year was the stopping and scooting along. With that many folks trying to funnel into roadways there are bottlenecks galore and that means you have to scoot along getting bruised and battered.
I have a plan to combat this too and I'm hoping it works. I can't share it with you because it's a little unorthodox and may or may not break some rules. I'll tell you all about it later on, after the event.
I'm prepared to struggle and maybe even shed a few tears. This is going to be an exhausting day and I'll be pushing my poor short stubby stems to the limit.
So why on earth am I doing this? Because it's an amazing opportunity to ride roads that are closed to bikes 364 days out of the year. Because last year I only made it to 30 miles and had to bail out early.
This year I'm going to do the full 42 miles. I'm stronger than I was last year and I need to prove that to myself.
Did you read that? Read it again and then send the men in white coats. I'm going to attempt to ride 42 miles on the roadways of the 5 boros that make up the NYC area without having been on a bike in about 5 months, maybe more.
What's worse? I did the SAME THING LAST YEAR. Last year though the ride was the first time I'd been on a bike in 25 years.
Did I mention the kind of bike I have?
While I love her, she ain't fast and she ain't light. Hills are painful with her.
This year however I have something on my side I did not have last year. I have intimate knowledge of the course and what to expect and where the hills are and how to attack this whole pack of insane folks biking along with me.
Did I mention that I'll be doing this 42 mile journey with 32,000 of my closest pals? Oh yeah. That means not only do I have to focus on me and my bike and the potholes and hills, I have to be insanely aware of all four sides and watching for accidents ahead and bikes getting too close behind.
I'm also hoping that while there won't be any surprises and I can better mentally gear myself up for this one better than last year I'll also have better legs in my corner. I've been working on my legs like crazy trying to get them ready for this event.
One of the things that killed me last year was the stopping and scooting along. With that many folks trying to funnel into roadways there are bottlenecks galore and that means you have to scoot along getting bruised and battered.
I have a plan to combat this too and I'm hoping it works. I can't share it with you because it's a little unorthodox and may or may not break some rules. I'll tell you all about it later on, after the event.
I'm prepared to struggle and maybe even shed a few tears. This is going to be an exhausting day and I'll be pushing my poor short stubby stems to the limit.
So why on earth am I doing this? Because it's an amazing opportunity to ride roads that are closed to bikes 364 days out of the year. Because last year I only made it to 30 miles and had to bail out early.
This year I'm going to do the full 42 miles. I'm stronger than I was last year and I need to prove that to myself.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Kettlebell Training
126 days till the Certification Test.
Still get anxious butterflies when I think about it. I realize now that it's not because I'm afraid I'm lacking in strength or power. I'm afraid I'm lacking in form and knowledge.
I'm one of those gals who believes that if you are going to invest your time in something, you need to give it 100% and nothing less.
I'm a 38 year old stay at home mother of two little boys, a wife to a cranky but sweet husband and owner of a dog that the cranky but sweet husband will not take care of ever under any circumstances.(Humphrey is a 12 year old very sweet Basset Hound with Arthritis and a bad bladder)
For me to commit myself to an event like this one, one that is three entire full days requires calling in favors from friends & family to help me watch the dog & assist with child care.
I cannot just decide to take a weekend and grab my gym bag and trot out the door.
Deciding to go for this certification involves many more people and schedules and time than my own.
What I'm saying here is that if I go into this with anything less than my best effort, I've wasted not only my time but that of friends and family. A completely unacceptable scenario.
Because of this, I've been immersing myself in videos and I've gone and gotten two basic Kettlebell books so I can start over at the very beginning and understand the how and the why of what I'm doing.
The class that I've been taking is not a kettlebell specific class and there is much that we have never worked on and moves I've never even tried that I want to learn and want to know.
The whole point of the certification is so that I can teach others to love the heavy iron balls with a handle as much as I do. How can I teach what I'm not super confident on myself?
The RKC cert requires you to teach a student before they will pass you. That to me is more frightening than anything they can ask me to do with a kettlebell.
When I read that I realized that I might appear to know how to do a swing but I've really got zero clue if my posture is right, if my feet placement is correct, if my hips are moving the proper way. It's truly never been taught to me. I couldn't at this stage teach it to anyone else with any confidence.
So I need to get some one on one time with my coach and really go back to the basics and work from the ground up. In the mean time, I'm watching and reading and learning as much as I can.
How badly do you want it?
Still get anxious butterflies when I think about it. I realize now that it's not because I'm afraid I'm lacking in strength or power. I'm afraid I'm lacking in form and knowledge.
I'm one of those gals who believes that if you are going to invest your time in something, you need to give it 100% and nothing less.
I'm a 38 year old stay at home mother of two little boys, a wife to a cranky but sweet husband and owner of a dog that the cranky but sweet husband will not take care of ever under any circumstances.(Humphrey is a 12 year old very sweet Basset Hound with Arthritis and a bad bladder)
For me to commit myself to an event like this one, one that is three entire full days requires calling in favors from friends & family to help me watch the dog & assist with child care.
I cannot just decide to take a weekend and grab my gym bag and trot out the door.
Deciding to go for this certification involves many more people and schedules and time than my own.
What I'm saying here is that if I go into this with anything less than my best effort, I've wasted not only my time but that of friends and family. A completely unacceptable scenario.
Because of this, I've been immersing myself in videos and I've gone and gotten two basic Kettlebell books so I can start over at the very beginning and understand the how and the why of what I'm doing.
The class that I've been taking is not a kettlebell specific class and there is much that we have never worked on and moves I've never even tried that I want to learn and want to know.
The whole point of the certification is so that I can teach others to love the heavy iron balls with a handle as much as I do. How can I teach what I'm not super confident on myself?
The RKC cert requires you to teach a student before they will pass you. That to me is more frightening than anything they can ask me to do with a kettlebell.
When I read that I realized that I might appear to know how to do a swing but I've really got zero clue if my posture is right, if my feet placement is correct, if my hips are moving the proper way. It's truly never been taught to me. I couldn't at this stage teach it to anyone else with any confidence.
So I need to get some one on one time with my coach and really go back to the basics and work from the ground up. In the mean time, I'm watching and reading and learning as much as I can.
How badly do you want it?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
R&R
I guess I'm more exhausted than I think because I slept till 11am this morning! Why my children allowed this is completely beyond me but they did and I'm thankful for it.
Today is Sunday and so no Boot Camp. We leave for Disney World on Wednesday to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. It's a family affair this time with myself, my husband, our two little boys, my father in law and my husband's two best pals.
A full 7 days away from Boot Camp and away from exercise means I'll come home well rested but a little out of tune. It means I'm going to have to work extra hard to get back again to where I am now. Where I've busted my ass to get to.
I could pretend that I'll be good and hit the gym while I'm away but I know that I won't do it. The closest I'll be getting to the gym is a massage at the spa which shares space with the gym. Of course Disney World is not a relaxing vacation. We do LOTS of walking, at least 15 miles each day.
I've made peace with the fact that I'll be eating in a relatively unhealthy fashion, eating richer foods, more desserts, more snacks than I do on a daily basis.
I've also promised myself than when I get home to get right back into it. We get home on Wednesday and I'm going to try to get to a class at Boot Camp on Wednesday night. Allow no more time than is necessary to go by before getting back to my beloved kettlebells.
Today is Sunday and so no Boot Camp. We leave for Disney World on Wednesday to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. It's a family affair this time with myself, my husband, our two little boys, my father in law and my husband's two best pals.
A full 7 days away from Boot Camp and away from exercise means I'll come home well rested but a little out of tune. It means I'm going to have to work extra hard to get back again to where I am now. Where I've busted my ass to get to.
I could pretend that I'll be good and hit the gym while I'm away but I know that I won't do it. The closest I'll be getting to the gym is a massage at the spa which shares space with the gym. Of course Disney World is not a relaxing vacation. We do LOTS of walking, at least 15 miles each day.
I've made peace with the fact that I'll be eating in a relatively unhealthy fashion, eating richer foods, more desserts, more snacks than I do on a daily basis.
I've also promised myself than when I get home to get right back into it. We get home on Wednesday and I'm going to try to get to a class at Boot Camp on Wednesday night. Allow no more time than is necessary to go by before getting back to my beloved kettlebells.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Exhausted
It's Friday again and my body is ready for a break. This week seems to have been squat/jump week. Every single day we've been doing crazy reps of star jumps, squat jumps, jumping jacks, burpees, tire work & Bosu Ball.
Remember that three weeks ago, I was the gal who didn't do these exercises. Now that I've rededicated myself and really decided to stop screwing around I've been going as balls to the wall as I can with all the exercises and not shying away from anything.
Today we were doing team drills, one of us did 60 jumping jacks and the other had to do Burpees till your partner was done, from there it was right into 40 squat jumps with your partner doing pushups till you were done, then 40 star jumps with your partner holding a plank position, right into 60 trunk twists with your partner doing something else that I've clearly blocked out to save my mental sanity and the last one we did was shoulder taps in a pushup position. 40 of those.
(I know I've got that wrong & I'm missing an exercise or two. I'll take a photo of the board tomorrow) Thank GOD I paired up with a classmate who's in awesome shape and was able to work fast and bang out the exercises with me.
When you were done with that you grabbed a Kettlebell & did a walking overhead press and walking lunges.
Then we went back and did the team drills AGAIN. At some point my poor legs couldn't do it anymore and so I went and did dips using the same rep counts as whatever exercise I was supposed to be doing.
It was this high intensity style all week. What a week I picked to decided to not go half assed anymore!!!
I realized today in the middle of class when my legs were screaming at me, that the level of exhaustion my legs were feeling after only 15 mins of class was identical to the way they felt last year at the 5 Boro Bike tour at about the 15 mile mark.
Don't know about you but when 15 minutes of cardio work feels the same as riding a bike 15 miles I think that's a crazy intense class.
I'm tired. My shoulder and upper back muscles are tight and so sore right now from the dips & pushups, & my poor short stubby stems. They are so tired.
I will go to class tomorrow to keep the promise I made to myself but I will go light on the weights and go easy with myself.
On the super up side, a friend told me my butt looked smaller! Perhaps all my hard work is starting to pay off?!
Three more Boot Camps till Disney World...
Editing to add photo of the white board. It was altered for the classes later in the day.
We didn't do ankle touches, we did jumping jacks and we did squat jumps rather than V ups and Star Jumps rather than Ribbons (some of you call the move Halo)
Remember that three weeks ago, I was the gal who didn't do these exercises. Now that I've rededicated myself and really decided to stop screwing around I've been going as balls to the wall as I can with all the exercises and not shying away from anything.
Today we were doing team drills, one of us did 60 jumping jacks and the other had to do Burpees till your partner was done, from there it was right into 40 squat jumps with your partner doing pushups till you were done, then 40 star jumps with your partner holding a plank position, right into 60 trunk twists with your partner doing something else that I've clearly blocked out to save my mental sanity and the last one we did was shoulder taps in a pushup position. 40 of those.
(I know I've got that wrong & I'm missing an exercise or two. I'll take a photo of the board tomorrow) Thank GOD I paired up with a classmate who's in awesome shape and was able to work fast and bang out the exercises with me.
When you were done with that you grabbed a Kettlebell & did a walking overhead press and walking lunges.
Then we went back and did the team drills AGAIN. At some point my poor legs couldn't do it anymore and so I went and did dips using the same rep counts as whatever exercise I was supposed to be doing.
It was this high intensity style all week. What a week I picked to decided to not go half assed anymore!!!
I realized today in the middle of class when my legs were screaming at me, that the level of exhaustion my legs were feeling after only 15 mins of class was identical to the way they felt last year at the 5 Boro Bike tour at about the 15 mile mark.
Don't know about you but when 15 minutes of cardio work feels the same as riding a bike 15 miles I think that's a crazy intense class.
I'm tired. My shoulder and upper back muscles are tight and so sore right now from the dips & pushups, & my poor short stubby stems. They are so tired.
I will go to class tomorrow to keep the promise I made to myself but I will go light on the weights and go easy with myself.
On the super up side, a friend told me my butt looked smaller! Perhaps all my hard work is starting to pay off?!
Three more Boot Camps till Disney World...
Editing to add photo of the white board. It was altered for the classes later in the day.
We didn't do ankle touches, we did jumping jacks and we did squat jumps rather than V ups and Star Jumps rather than Ribbons (some of you call the move Halo)
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