Herrin Circuit

This is a circuit designed by our retired physical education teacher and local marathon running guru, Mike Herrin. Start this circuit after a light 3 minute warm-up:

1. Run 10 lengths on gym floor, or about 5 minutes on treadmill at a easy to moderate pace
2. Holding 10 lb medicine ball or weights do 30 squats
3. Run up and down a flight of stairs 5 times
4. Holding 10-15 lb weight in each hand, do 10 step ups (12 inches high) on each leg
5. Jump rope 15 times
6. 10 pushups
7. BONUS: Swim 600 yards

Land of the Lost

I know you all think I dropped off the face of the Earth....and sometimes it feels like I have. BUT...I do not EVER give my pursuit of living a healthy, happy life. My workouts have been a little sketchy over the last week or two due to the overwhelming feeling that I am going to drown in this game called life. Workload - which is increasing at this time of year - coaching volleyball for 5th & 6th grade - two trips out of town back to back (one for my personal sanity and the other for work - but both good & very useful!). However, that is life. And I keep hearing the mantra of CMO (Chief Motivational Officer) Scott Smith "Stand Up. Take a Step. Repeat." And that is what I'm trying to do.

Before I left for the park district conference this last weekend, my dear husband said to me, "I want to lose 10 pounds before Spring Break." Now we are talking. Now it's a competition, but we had to find the right motivation. Jeff's motivation, which shall remain nameless, wasn't giving me quite the incentive. What works for me? Money. Because I have guilt when I spend money, honestly winning money in a face to face competition takes away the guilt. So here's the plan.

We will weigh in every Thursday morning. Why Thursday? Because that's the day Jeff finally decided to face the scale. Every Thursday whoever has the highest percentage of weigh loss wins $10. We'll weigh in every week until March 25th, which is the last Thursday before we leave for Daytona Beach....and who doesn't want to look good in a bathing suit on the beach in FL? On the 25th, the overall winner will receive $150. Of course, it all comes out of the same pocket, but it's a $150 to spend without GUILT!

So, who's in?????
Anyone want to join us in a little friendly weight loss competition????

Update

I've been a bad, bad blogger and didn't even complete my own challenge. NOPE! I didn't write down all of my food for a week. Not on SparkPeople.com. Not in a journal. Not on my blog. Just didn't get it done. Last week was crazy - as a lot of weeks are - except that I have now started coaching volleyball which is taking away some of my extra time. I'm still working my plan and preparing my food, but it's a lot of work!

Workout recap for last week:
M: 4.2 miles on treadmill, 1600 yards in pool (not continuous, but I set a goal and got it done)
T: cardio & upper body
W: 2.5 miles on treadmill (not a lot of time, but I got it in)
     weigh-in: stayed the same. No big surprise there
Th: rest day - planned on working out later in the day, but all plans procrastinated didn't get done
F: 4.62 miles OUTSIDE!!!!!!!
S: Herrin Circuit - more on that later
Su: 6.34 miles in 1:02.31 I impressed myself.
M: kids were in school due to a snow day. Home with the hubby. We went looking for bikes. Only exercise was 4 on 4 volleyball that night.
T: Treadmill intervals & back strength training

AND today is Wednesday....weigh in day: lost 1 pound which I am actually thrilled about considering that I went to 2 movies over the weekend and took in a ton of salt. I can give up pizza, but I'm not sure about the movie popcorn.

Gotta run and hit the treadmill!

Thoughts for the day

I posted on my Facebook account that my plan for the day was a 4 mile run on the hamster wheel and 1600 yards in swimming in pool.

I set some of my friends into a tizzy with that one. Apparently, I made it sound as if swimming 1600 yards was cake for me. Here was my response:

OK, let's be clear about something. I am not - nor did I mean to imply - that I am swimming 1600 yards non-stop. But I had to have a yardage goal or I would get to 400 and say "ok, I'm done." I hit 1600 yards, but did it 1-50 or 1-100 at a time.

I hate swimming. Really. I do. It’s boring and it’s hard. It’s not like when you were a kid and you jumped in the pool and just splashed for hours. Now, I have to pay attention to my arm stroke, pushing the “T” down, turning my head just the right amount to get a breath. Ugh. It’s all just too much.  But let’s start at the beginning.

I jumped on the hamster wheel this morning after doing some work around the house. My half marathon training plan said to do 3 easy miles today, but after 3 days of splurging, I needed to jump start my healthy mindset again. I started with a 3 minute warm up. Not wanting to kill my legs yet, I started at an easy pace and after 2 miles started changing the speed and incline every half mile. Now before I reveal my time, keep in mind. I’ve never said I was fast. I finished 4.2 miles in 44:07 minutes burning 511 calories.

After my run, I came upstairs, cleaned up, packed my bag and headed to the Riverplex for my swim. My first 600 yards were 12-50s with a 30 (or maybe slightly more) second rest. Then I moved to 100s with a 60 second rest. After 900 yards, I had to go wrestle an alligator. No, not really, but that’s what it feels like when you have to go to the bathroom and deal with your wet bathing suit. All of the water from my hamster wheel run had finally kicked in. After that, who knows.  All I can say is every 50 yards I clicked my little lap counter finishing after 32 clicks….or 1600 yards. Whawho!

Just for posterity I finished with a 50 yard backstroke to help release some of the tension in my chest and arms.

Now to get ready for 2 hours of volleyball tonight. Whoot Whoot!

Motivation Monday

“Consistent action will get you where you want to be” – Scott Smith, Chief Motivating Officer at www.motivationtomove.com

So, where do you want to be?

You may be thinking with a snort and snicker “Oh yah, I’m consistent. I’m consistent about eating fast food. I’m consistent about blowing off my workouts.”

Well, why is that?

How does that make you feel?

Is that consistent action helping you get to your goals?

It’s time to make a change. It’s time to change your consistent action and chart a new course. Follow our weekly challenges to see how small steps can make big changes in your life, health & happiness.

This week's challenge

This week’s health & wellness challenge is on the track….

Or better yet, TRACK, TRACK, TRACK all of the food you put into your mouth.

Weight Watchers Magazine (Jan/Feb 2010 issue) has a great article about tracking your caloric intake:

1.    Go Ahead & Guess!   (Are they talking to me?) “By making a guess….you’ll stay in the habit of tracking honestly – and that’s the goal.”

2.   Track Backward. If you have a big social event, note a set number of points/calories for the big event and work your back to the start of your day. “By starting backward, you get the big picture of your day in mind as early as possible leaving yourself less room for veering off course.”

3.    Keep yourself honest. Track on days when you go over your points or calorie allowance. (Again, speaking my language!)

4.    Set a tracking goal.

So, that is the challenge for this week. Track your food intake for a week. Be honest. Write it down. Keep yourself accountable to this one aspect of your health and see what type of an impact it can make on your week.  

Exercise & Menu Plan for week of 1/11/2010

Well, it's amazing how one spontaneous day can turn into a 3 day splurge! UGH! Plans for Friday night changed 3 times! So, I wound up sharing a frozen pizza with the kids and movie theatre popcorn with the hubby.

Saturday, I didn't get 6 miles in between the 4 basketball games I had to schedule around. I did get 3.75 miles though...does that count? I missed my weekly running goal of 12 miles per week by 0.17 miles. Whatev! Dinner was LaFiesta because we bailed on our Fellowship Dinner to watch our daughter play basketball. Can you say Pacifico?

Sunday we had 2 more basketball games and I had a definite attitude problem. Dinner at Biaggi's with the in-laws. Food and wine was deliciouso!

SEE? Weekends are my biggest issue! When you are trying to lose the final 10 lbs, you can't afford to eat out three nights in a row. Believe me. I know. I stepped on the scale today. EEEEEK!

I'm heading to the store tomorrow after my run & swim. Wish me luck. I hate grocery shopping.

So, let's get real.. Plan for the week:
Monday
Dinner: Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Workout: 4 mile run on treadmill, swim, volleyball

Tuesday
Dinner: Sassy Salsa Pumpkin Soup
Workout: TBL Cardio Max & UB

Wednesday
Dinner: not quite sure yet, but I will have to meditate and pray before eating because it's going to be a LONG day
Workout: Supposed to be bike, but I haven't joined a gym yet. Good plan, huh?
Weigh In Day - HA, good luck with that one!

Thursday
Dinner: leftovers
Workout: Run 5 miles easy

Friday
Dinner: Mandarin Orange chicken (didn't get made last week!)
Workout: Swim, Back

Saturday:
Dinner: Spicy Shrimp Casserole
Workout: Run 8 miles

Sunday
Dinner:
Workout: