Weekend & Opening Day over, back on track today. I did really well all weekend foodwise, not much formal exercise other than a run on Saturday, but about 15 hours of cleaning between Friday and Sunday which I'm counting as exercise. Opening Day was another story, but I kept that more under control than I originally planned so feel good about that. No exercise, was still tired and sore from the spring cleaning weekend. Back to the park today.

Alena - confession received, glad you are getting back on track with the veggies today.

Rabbit - ikea, love it! It must be fun getting to get out into the schools and show your stuff. Enjoy!

Mel - I lose my password every time I reboot... Seems I would write it down... chocolate... at least the gardening burned some calories in advance of the chocolate!

Pat - new phase of workouts. Fun. Combining one of the UB days with cardio is a good idea, two rest days should make you that much more efficient on the other days.

Lydia - good advice from your neighbor. You will survive the spring, just don't make yourself crazy doing it.

I have to work on a strength training plan that I flows with my running schedule. DH and I are both finding that the heavier strength work makes it hard to run frequently, but we really like the results of the strength training. Hm.

Shannon, we have a gal doing LE with us who is training for a marathon, and says the same thing!

I did my WB workout at home last night, and managed everything with just what I have (not much) except reverse pushups (you need a low bar). TOday was LB and while it went well, I just walked up stairs and noticed my hamstrings. Think I'll have a hot shower before bed. Tomorrow morning is Zumba with a new instructor - eeek. Then I'll do my UB and take Thurs off. Friday I think I'll do water aerobics and then the second WB on Sat. At least that's my plan for now. Oh, wait. I'm going to a women's retreat for church from Fri evening through Sat afternoon. And I have an eye doc appt Friday morning at the same time as WA. Hmmmph. Better devise a new plan.

Wish we had an Ikea closer than Seattle. They won't ship to Alaska either....

Wow, it is HOT here already. I'm dressed for work and already dripping (could be the elliptical workout and coffee).

Yesterday at Crossfit, we did a pretty grueling WOD that ended with a 400 m sprint outside. It was about 80 degrees. I ran fine, although I'm not sure a runner would call it sprinting, but couldn't catch my breath when I stopped. Felt like iron bands around my ribs! I'm hoping it was just the heat. I was still red in the face 2 hours and a quart of water later.

I'm amazed, but cutting my morning cardio to 22 minutes from 40 doesn't seem to have affected my weight in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Maybe I'm moving more ing general running for the train, walking a few blocks, etc. I was really worried when I changed my schedule. An example where more is not necessarily better!

Have a good one!

Mel

There should be an emoticon of a lion roaring...It would feel so good to be able to do that and let off a little steam. ROAAARRRR.

Ahhh. Now. Update: I'm insanely busy getting this house ready. Each project seems to result in yet another project to correct the first project. KWIM. Touch up paint from five years ago. Yeah. Right. They changed the formula and the matte has a slightly different sheen on the ceiling or it aged I don't know. What should have been ten minutes turned into three trips back to Lowes and all day painting the whole kitchen ceiling. ROAAARRRR!

Basement is done. It's beautiful. Freshly painted and almost empty. 'cept for my weights, bench, physioball and aerobic steps.

My backup, the HandyMan, arrives next week. Then, it's off to list the house! Yippee. Someone is going to get a really nice place. I can only hope that I'm creating good karma and that someone else is doing this for me somewhere in Fairfax.

Mel: Glad to know the shorted cardio hasn't resulted in a gain. I'll add that my aerobic workouts have been less consistent this year. I"m still the same weight, measurements pretty much the same. What's different is that I"m not walking around high on endorphins nearly as much as I like.

I'm still lifting most days and I chose to go heavy with supersets. It seems to be keeping me in maintenance. I am looking forward to having more time on my hands soon so that I can be "less efficient" in the gym and actually enjoy myself in the moment more.

Enjoy the warm weather everyone!

Did both an UBWO and cardio (an hour of zumba, with a new instructor, ay yi yi!) today so I can have another rest day tomorrow. I feel so much better with 2 rest days. Fri and Sat I have a WBWO and another cardio to get done. I'll be at a retreat for church from Friday supper through Sat afternoon, so I should have plenty of time. I'll do the workout on Friday and could move the cardio to Sunday if I need to.

Insanely busy at work so exercise is falling by the wayside. I have not dared to look at the scale yet.

Mel - great about the new scedule working out
Lydia - I sympatize with the home work. Good luck house hunting!

I;ve healed nicely from the encounter with the glass door, only a bump on my nose remaining. AND I bought new matrasses. WOW my back & neck seem to be improving, but the biggest change: I'm no longer cold in bed! I never knew the matras was such a big factor in that!

everyone

rabbit

It's official. My house is eating stuff.
This morning, I thought I would wear a new pair of shoes, purchased about a month ago. They haven't been taken out of the box yet.
Except .... I could not find them anywhere. Another mystery. I quickly went through the whole house but nope, I did not find them.
It's scary. I hope my dogs won't disappear one day.

At least I found the new fabulous pair of jeans that I bought while in Chicago, at Saks Fifth Avenue (outlet, of course). Orig. price $174.00, down to $99.00, with an additional 20% off. Final price $85.99.
They hug my butt very nicely ... and ... they are long enough!

Good afternoon all! Sore today after my 'low tech a** busting circuit from stumptuous.com... I really love that site.

I need some help I think. Everything I read says that strength training 2-3 times per week with some cross training in there like yoga or biking is crucial for runners, but it also says don't lift heavy. And I like lifting heavier (not heavy like Mel or Lydia or Cheryl, but still heavy for me... )

So, how do I keep my current muscle while not increasing my lifting weight? Increase reps if the weight starts to get too light? (Now, I am having to rebuild my shoulder strength, so my UB weight has dropped seriously in the last two months - gone back down to 12 or 15 on the DBS when I was getting up to 20-25 there for a while...)

My plan is to start getting my butt out of bed for yoga starting next week and try to get in at least three days per week of a runner's or hip opening program, maybe some shoulder opening if I can do it again without fear. Still targeting 2-3 days of strength training - probably whole body type workouts unless I actually make 3 days, when I will do two WB & I UB I think. Or one day of kickboxing. Sound reasonable? Or should I chuck the formal plan and do crossfit three days per week? Hmm...

Pat - so the woman in your group is doing your current program and training for a marathon? How does she do it? I can barely do three days of running and three days of strength training most weeks. It usually ends up as two days of strength, and one of those is sometimes yoga... Want to share the current section of the program?

Mel - glad the decreased time isn't impacting your maintenance! Be careful running in the heat - don't need to have a heat stroke on a sprint. I've felt pretty close before.

Lydia - you are definitely building good karma with your repairs. Hope it is returned in the house you buy, but if it isn't it will come back somewhere.

Alena - my house eats stuff, too. Sorry you can't find your shoes but cool on finding the jeans. I imagine the dogs would find against the disappearance before they would just poof away.

Rabbit - glad the face is recovering! I had no idea a mattress could impact the temp at night - different cover fabric?

__________________________________________________ _______________
Last night's exercise:

Warmup (1.25 mins rope, 10 PVC ROM pass through, WH Belly Off Warmup)
Circuit: (Did 4x10 in 21:10)
DB Snatch - 15lb per
DB Clean & Press - 12lb per
Burpee

50 ab crunches
30 reverse crunch
15 per side crunch on ball
4 tricep dip - failed after that

30 seconds per leg of a yoga stretch - figure 4 I think it is called?

Shannon - re: mattress & temperature. I believe it is the difference between a core with springs ( & lots of ventilation) and a foam core matress. I had springs before, & chose foam with memory foam on top for my new matress. I have to get used to the memory foam effect...the stuff softens after you are on it for about 5 minutes. But the foam is definitely warmer.

Rabbit - we have the same, a foam mattress with memory foam on top. It is very toasty and comfy! My cats love it too.

Shannon, I'll ask her, but I think she's still doing our regular weights workouts.

Today is a rest day for me, and very out, so I'll probably at least go for a walk.

rabbit and pat- We have a foam mattress with memory foam top also. LOVE it. Cats love it, my back and shoulders love it. It does get toasty in the winter, but not as bad as the "old" memory foam mattresses.

Alena- Maybe the dogs are the reason things are disappearing?? Kidding- you'd probably see the shoe outline in a greyhound! My house eats things too. There are a few things that outright disappeared during the bathroom/closet renovation that I'm convinced got tiled behind the walls. One pair of shoes and a brand new white hoodie that still had the tags on!

I hurt everywhere- I think I'm having a huge fibro flare probably due to the extreme change in the weather. For some reason I thought a good hard workout involving overhead squats, sprints, and pull ups would help WRONG.

Shannon- We have quite a few runners at CrossFit. The problem with heavy lifting a la bodybuilding style workouts is that is completely at cross purposes with what your body needs to do as a runner. You can still lift heavy and get stronger, but my suggestion would be to mix it up in fast paced workouts like CrossFit so that you are training your body to function in all it's energy pathways, and pushing the limits of your endurance. That wasn't explained very well....

Heading to my comfy bed,

Mel

I have been thinking about the memory foam mattress topper, but I heard that it's really hot in summer? One thing that drives me batty are the fitted sheets that are never deep enough. ALthough I did luck out recently and I got two fitted sheet that are generously cut (and I also got a nice new duvet cover & shams) at Home Sense.

I found the shoes! Whew, I signed a sigh of relief. I am only half crazy and not completely crazy as I had thought this morning. I did have to start to question my sanity.
Mel, I have learned the hard way and shoes are stored in the basement where the dogs never go (they are afraid of slippery hardwood stairs). Beetle Bug ate many a shoe in the past (one from a brand new pair of super comfy moccasins that I wore maybe 3 times).

I had a haircut appointment today at 6:45 pm so all I managed to to was a 35 minute cardio on the treadmill. I arrived to the salon with a face like a red beet. My hairstylist used to do bodybuilding when she was younger and she still has the body to show for that. So we always had a lot of common things to talk about.

Pat, how did you like Zumba with the new instructor? Did you find it hard? We used to get one girl (when our instructor could not make it) who used to train for ballet when she was younger and her Zumba was always a lot more athletic than "dancy" as with Luanne. It was quite confusing, I had a really hard tim efollowing her.

Alena

The new instructor - well, new to us - uses more set routines, where the other was sometimes making them up as she went. My worst problem though is that she plays the music loud and then has her back to us, and I can't hear/understand a word she says. I'm always a move behind because I get my cues from watching her feet. She really needs a wireless mike so we can all hear her. I like the music and a lot of the "dances" so I'll keep going. I sure get my heart rate up!

Rabbit: We have a memory foam mattress too. We purchased it almost ten years ago (probably due to replace it soon) and it's been WONDERFUL. We also have a foam topper but that was an emergency purchase made in Fairfax during my most recent trip to stay with DH in his apartment.(recall that we broke the air mattress the first night I was there. I still think that's hysterical)

Mel: Are you feeling better today? Sorry to know about the flare up.

Only formal workout this week was forty minutes at the gym (elliptical) I'm working like a crazed woman at the house and still down those five pounds. Great. I'll take it. Plenty of endurance type functional work though. (lifting boxes, climbing ladders, pulling weeds....) It will be interesting to see how my body tolerates one of my old workouts once this is behind me.

I'm feeling a little better, thank you all. The problem with fibromyalgia, is that when it flares, it hurts whether you move or don't move, The trap most people fall into is that they don't move, and that makes it worse. But chronic pain doesn't make anyone real enthusiastic about getting up and DOING things. I used to speak at support groups, but gave up.

I went to a LONG CrossFit session this morning:
50-25-21 of pull ups, push ups, sit ups and body weight squats. Tired, but I did it and feel better for having done it. Now for the dreaded mulch

Lydia- I'm so going to miss being able to see you when I go to Columbus! Do you have a target date for moving yet?

Alena- The older memory foam was HOT in the summer. The newer foams have somewhat solved that problem. It is still warmer than a conventional coil spring mattress, but comfortable. Glad you found your shoes.

OK, Mulch-Ho!!!

Mel