Don't worry. You're in the right spot, but I've changed the name of my blog to Enjoying the Course. It's the same old stuff, with more emphasis on Running and Exercise. Please take a look around and let me know what you think.
Well, my first day has come and gone. I'll never have another first day.
Until tomorrow, that is!
The school I'm at is on a modified block schedule, so tomorrow will be like another first day because I will be meeting all new students.
Still, it won't be the same. I don't think I'll be nearly as nervous.
Today was good! But tiring. Mostly because I wasn't really doing much. The World History classes were watching a Frontline video on China. It was really interesting but still difficult to watch the same documentary twice in one day. :-)
I am looking forward to a fun semester, though.
Despite being am a little intimidated by my mentor teacher. He is awesome and so full of knowledge!, I do think I will learn a lot from him; we should work quite well together.
Here are a few thoughts from my first day.
Dress in layers. i.e. wear a cardigan or sweater. I knew this would be the case, but still I chose to ignore it today. I usually get pretty warm when I'm in front of a group, but since I was mostly watching a movie today, I ended up pretty cold most of the day in my short sleeve top.
My first day's outfit.
Bring more food. I ate half my lunch as a snack during prep around 10:30am or so. I had to stop myself from eating more. I finished my lunch during lunch period, and I was pretty hungry by the time I got home. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't bring more food. Y'know, to aid my weight loss journey.
Teachers are master cryptographers. Most of the students in the two World History classes today had decent enough handwriting, but others are quite a stretch to decipher. I'm pretty pleased that there was only one whose writing I couldn't stumble through at. all.
Overall it was a great way to ease into teaching and my home for the next three months.
This week's topic was chosen by Bruna over at Bees With Honey.
Her challenge to us was: "If they were to make a movie of your life what would the soundtrack be like? Share 10 songs that best tell the story of your life. Be sure to include the period or event that each song represents."
I thought it sounded like a great challenge/topic, but you know what? I really couldn't think of 10 good songs to describe my life. I'm going to be a ruler breaker this week and do my own topic.
As you probably know, my marathon training begins two weeks from TODAY.
It will be my third marathon. I ran my first in 2002 and my second in 2003. Twin Cities Marathon both years.
And then I said ... NEVER AGAIN.
Yet, here I am endeavoring on this adventure once more.
Whenever I tell someone I've run a marathon, and they are impressed, I always downplay the accomplishment. My time wasn't fast enough. I walked a lot. I didn't properly train. Blah. Blah. Blah.
This time I want to make the most out of my training. Hopefully this will improve my time. Hopefully this will give me a little more pride in my accomplishment.
BUT I think I will need some help in staying focused. In staying motivated.
So, without further ado Sorry for the lengthy back story here is my list of 10 ways you can sponsor my training for Grandma's Marathon 2012.
Motivate Me. With quotations. Or videos. Or images. Or maybe just a funny story. Or an inspiring one. You can share these with me on my Facebook page, Twitter, or mention me in a Pinterest pin.
Share your own training story. Any tips you have for devoting the time to the training. Or for cross-training, hills, speed work, etc. Story of your own personal accomplishment. Of running a marathon or something else that was a difficult goal, but you persevered and felt a sense of pride following it.
Sing me a song. Or just send me your favorite songs to listen to when you are out running. What songs/artists inspire you to push yourself? To keep going when you just don't want to.
Run with me. In person. Obviously in person it would need to be in St Paul or somewhere I can get to easily via public transit.
Run with me. Virtually. I'm talking on the phone. Since I’d likely have headphones in, we could chat instead of listen to music. Sure I would likely be out of breath a bit, but at least I would have someone to talk to who was also exerting the effort of breathing, talking, and running.
Fuel me. Send me your favorite fuels. Or your favorite fuel recipe. Pre-run. During run. Post-run. Whatever. Or even simply suggestions of what has worked for you.
Race registration fees. Not for the marathon. That's already paid for. I would like to do a few races in the meantime, though.
Cheer for me. At the marathon in June. Or at the Get Lucky Triple 7K I’m doing in March. Or even during a long weekend run. Obviously in person would be fun, but you could also cheer for me via email or gTalk. I generally run with my phone to record time/distance and for safety.
Product testing. If you are a company or have a running product you'd like to promote, I'd be happy to test it out in exchange for a review. Or let me know your favorite, must-have or obscure product, and I can contact the company directly.
Carpool. If you happen to also be running Grandma's, I'd love a ride. And maybe split a hotel room. :-) I have yet to figure out logistics. The marathon is only 20 weeks away, and most of the nearby hotel rooms are already booked or way too expensive for me.
You could sponsor me for a day. Or a week. Or the entire training period. I hope to get my marathon training schedule posted later today or sometime this week. It will have it's own tab under my header. You know, in case you want to really hold me accountable choose when in my training you'd like to sponsor me.
If you want to do any of these to help me out, please let me know. You can email me at enjoyingthecourse@gmail.com. Or contact me on FB, Twitter, or DailyMile (links in top left sidebar). Or I guess you could just surprise me.
Today’s Writing Prompt: Describe, in detail, the way you like to relax.
In detail? I don't really know.
In general? I'm pretty easy to please.
I could relax by:
simply vegging in front of the TV watching a favorite show or a movie.
reading through my favorite blogs.
reading a book.
going for a run or to the gym.
taking a bubble bath. maybe with some glowing candles.
I don't really need anything to relax for me.
I'm not really a comfort-food or drink kind of chica.
I mean I do tend to eat a lot, but not really as a way to de-stress or relax. I just eat because I'm hungry or because it's there. Unfortunately, it's sometimes too often the latter.
Relaxation can come in various ways, I suppose.
I kind of prefer the escapist way to relax. Mind-numbing. Not needing to think. Or laughter. I love to laugh!
******
Now it's your turn! Here are a few rules:
Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
Link up your post.
Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.
What are your favorite ways to relax? How did you relax this weekend?
When I signed up, I was considering running a half marathon today and doing the virtual race as part of that race. I decided against the half because 1) my knee is still bothering me, 2) I babied my knee slacked on the training a bit these past few weeks, and 3) I didn't want to pay the registration fee.
Adam said we could run it "Wherever the crap you want! Outside, treadmill, in front of the WII, nude in the shower, wherever!"
I considered running nude in the shower. But I figured that would probably be even more boring than the treadmill and almost as slippery as outside. ;-)
Since the sidewalks are still a little icy, I headed to the gym instead.
I kind of strained my knee during Thursday's virtual race, so I decided to take it easy for this one. I started real slow, walking the first 1/2 mile. I could pretty much feel my knee during the whole run. Boooo.
Here is how I broke down my race:
Miles
Speed
0.0-0.25
4.0
0.25-0.5
4.5
0.5-1.0
5.0
1.0-2.0
5.5
2.0-2.25
6.0
2.25-2.5
6.1
2.5-2.75
6.2
2.75-3.0
6.3
3.0-3.1
7.0
I probably still pushed it a little too much. Ugh. At least it is over.
So, yeah. I didn't exactly freeze anything off during this race. Or get a PR.
Good thing all the prizes are randomly selected. Hope I win!!
I'm excited for my first ever review ... and giveaway! I hope you are, too. Please give me any feedback on this review (length, comprehensiveness, type of product, etc) and/or the giveaway (entry options, etc). I'm a newbie at this, so I welcome all feedback. Thanks!
When I saw this video on Collage Video's facebook page, I immediately knew it was something I wanted to try out. An exercise video specifically designed for runners? Sign me up!
Here is a little preview of the video.
My first thoughts? Wow! This is NOT for beginners. This was a very challenging workout. I think I probably only did about half of it the first time. I couldn't keep up and my legs were so tired. Even when I was doing it, I don't think I had very good form.
The first time I tried it out, I tried to do all of Workout 1 in one session. It runs about 46mins and is broken into 6 segments. I had to skip the 5th segment altogether because it's all plank exercises resting on your elbows and forearms. My forearm was bruised at the time from a fall a few days prior, so it hurt too much to put all my weight on it.
As I’ve tried it a few more times, I have gotten stronger and able to make it through more of the workout, but I still end up taking small breaks and not doing complete sets. I also tend to do the exercises at a little slower tempo, which also prevents me from completing full sets.
A little more about the video.
StrongStride is a pilates and strength training regimen that will strengthen your core and improve your stride. – From the video intro.
The breakdown.
Program 1 (~46 minutes) and Program 2 (~51 minutes)
Each of these workouts are broken into 6 segments - Glutes/Hamstrings, Hips, Hip Flexors/Quads, Core, Core (Planks) and Back.
You can easily do the whole workout or choose to focus on one or more of the segments.
Strength Training
Broken into Warmup (~5min), Running Muscles (~32min), and Non Running Muscles (~26min). The Running Muscles and Non Running sections are further broken into Weights and no Weights.
The menu for this section of the DVD is a little cumbersome. You can’t select to do the all three segments without returning to the menu. Also, if you wanted to just do the weights portion or the no weights portion, be sure to select those words. If you select Running Muscles, for example, it will automatically start playing and go through the strength training with both weights and no weights.
The Weights and No Weights workouts are very different. I thought that the No Weights would be the same exercises as the Weights segment, but just not using any weights. I was wrong. Pleasantly so. This greatly added even more to the variety of exercises done throughout this video.
Dynamic Warmup (~3min)
This is just a simple warm-up to do before you head out the door on a run.
A few of my random thoughts
Like I mentioned before, This. Was. Tough, but the good news is that after only a few sessions, I do feel like my strength increased. I haven’t been able to run as much this month because of a sore knee, so I can’t testify to it actually improving my stride and running ability. That said, I think if I continue to work out using this video which I definitely plan to do, I really believe it will have long-term, positive effects.
I am not really familiar with pilates, which possibly made this workout seem more challenging for me. There are a lot of similar exercises with just flexing or pointing your toes. Is that common in pilates? It definitely seemed to make it trickier for this girl. Even though there are a lot of similar exercises, there is also a lot of variety, which I definitely enjoyed.
There are times in the video when I wish she would alternate sides more rather than doing everything on the right and then having to switch to the left. This seemed to really tire me out more and then I wouldn’t be able to complete the second side without a little breather.
The models in the video are shown wearing shoes, but after reading some reviews on Collage Video’s website, I generally did Program 1 and Program 2 barefoot. It seems this is more common for pilates. I felt like it was more difficult to point and flex my toes when I had shoes on.
While there were modifications shown in by the models, these modifications were never vocalized, so I wasn't exactly sure what the options were for modifying the exercises.
I would suggest probably going for a short run or walk as a warm-up because she just gets right into it for Programs 1 & 2. Obviously, there is a warm-up you can choose for the Strength Training. Well, I’m sure you could do the strength training warm-up before the programs, too. :-)
Overall, while there were a few minor things I didn’t like about this video, I would definitely recommend it to any runner how there wanting to improve their stride or simply anyone looking for a good at-home strength training program.
Pros
Cons
*TOUGH
*Modifications are not really explained
*Easily customizable to fit your fitness needs/goals
*Tempo is kind of fast (for me at least)
*Menus are easily navigable
*No Warm-ups before Programs 1 & 2
*Lots of variety within each segment
You can purchase this DVD from Collage Video for $19.99.
Or you can enter below to win a copy.
Before I get to the giveaway, here are just a few notes about Collage Video.
They are an exercise video distributor. While they don’t have a lot of selection specifically for runners, they have an excellent selection of a variety of other fitness videos.
You can browse by Goals (e.g. Weight Loss, Endurance, Stress Relief) or Workout Types (e.g. Aerobics/Cardio, Stretch/Yoga/Tai Chi). You can also browse by specific instructors, brands, and equipment.
Every video has a description that includes a nice breakdown of the different segments of the video.
Also, all the videos also have customer reviews, which I find very helpful when choosing a new video.
You can also create a Video Wish List. I love websites that allow that, so I don’t have to remember all the videos I want to try.
If you want to read a few more reviews on StrongStride, be sure to visit its page over at Collage Video.
And now for the giveaway.
Collage Video has agreed to let one of my readers try out this video for free. How cool is that?!
To enter, simply follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter below. If you have any questions about how to enter, please feel free to email me at enjoyingthecourse AT gmail DOT com.
I know I'm off to bigger and better things plus I was a bit of a slacker at work, so I was pretty much looking forward to finishing up this assignment.
Still, it was with mixed feelings that I ate my good-bye lunch and worked through this final day.
Of course, our company holiday party is tomorrow evening, so I'll see everyone one last time.
In addition to a free lunch today, I also got a card signed by everyone in the office (about 10 or so people) with a $100 GC to the Aveda Institute included. That was very unexpected!
I think I'll hang on to it until around Spring Break. I'm betting I'll be ready for a little pampering by then. :-)
My boss also made me this pretty pendant.
And then her boss gave me a $50 Visa gift card as a thank you for working over MLK weekend.
All in all definitely not a bad last day of work.
And now for Five Question Friday.
1. Do you swim in the winter?
Only if I have to. I'm not a big swimmer, but I'll go every now and again to encourage my husband to get some exercise. Last weekend I swam with the sharks at SeaLife. Does that count? Hopefully I'll get a post on that up in the next few days.
2. Do you love or hate winter?
Yeah. I'm pretty much a winter hater. I hate the cold. The dry, itchy skin. The bloody noses. The cold. The dark. Blah.
3. Do you put makeup/actual clothes on when you know you're going to be home all day with just family?
Ha. Sometimes I don't even put makeup/actual clothes on when I'm going out and about. Oops!
4. How old were you when you had your first alcoholic beverage?
I was 20.
5. How many ill calls in a 12 month period do you think are acceptable?
I'm not sure. Maybe 9-15.
Have you ever received gifts on the last day of a job? What are you up to this weekend?
