February 2010

Weekend Workout

by blueeyedrunner on February 28, 2010

Hello!
I everyone had wonderful weekends. I had a very nice extended weekend due to 2 unexpected snow days I just don’t understand how weekends go by so quickly! I am glad the snow finally let up so I could run outside again! I love my volvo but it is terrible in the snow. This is probably more because I need new tires, but regardless I was trapped in my apartment for a few days. My apartment complex is on a major highway and I always drive to my parents’ residential neighborhood to run. Needless to say, this morning’s run was totally necessary being that I had not run since Wednesday. My dad and I headed out for a slow 6 miles. Footing was tougher than usual and not all the sidewalks were plowed but it was a wonderful run nonetheless. I don’t have my exact stats because I may have forgotten to charge my garmin (oops) but my dad had his so we went by his watch, and I enjoyed not obsessively checking my splits and just running.

After our run, my dad and I went to Starbucks where I grabbed a quick latte and a newspaper before I went to meet my mom at our first official Pilates Reformer class! I was a little (okay, a lot) nervous about our first small group session because we started in the middle of a block of classes and everyone would already know each other but it was not intimidating at all. I was able to keep up with the pace of the class and it went by very quickly. I already want to register for more sessions!

I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, studying and getting ready for this week. I have a busy work week coming up because this week is parent teacher conferences, so getting all my workouts in is going to be tricky. I have been wanting to get up early to go the 6am Vinyasa (yoga) class at the gym, and this week just may be the time to do it! I used to go in the summer once or twice a week, but it is much more difficult to get up that early when it is so cold and dark out. I will let you know how that goes

On the schedule for tomorrow is a tempo run. 1 mile warm-up, 3 mile tempo @short tempo pace (6:45), 1 mile cool down. I don’t know if I can sustain that pace for all 3 miles. Last time, I came close to it for 2 miles, but I was still a little slow. I may have to adjust my paces.

Okay, back to studying (for the personal training exam) I go. I have been studying anatomy all day and it is hard! I have trouble remember where all the muscles attach…hopefully if I study hard enough it will click.

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More Pilates

by blueeyedrunner on February 26, 2010

I recently wrote a post about Pilates for Runners. Immediately after I published the post, I met my mom at the gym for a fitness pilates class. As I was setting up for class, she surprised me, by telling me she just signed us up for semi-private reformer classes with our favorite instructor, Emily! I was beyond excited! Usually when I refer to a pilates class, I mean a mat class, meaning, no equipment, just your body and your mat. I enjoy mat work because you use your core to stabilize every movement.

Source

Reformer classes at my gym are extra because of the equipment needed, basically this crazy machine:

Also, only 5 or 6 reformer machines fit in the Life Studio (pilates room) and any more, would be too difficult for an instructor to get around to everybody.

My mom and I went to our first session on Tuesday and it was amazing! There are so many props and other types of equipment to use! You don’t use your core as much as in a mat class because the machine stabilizes you, however, with the machine, you are able to add resistance and therefore, train progressively.

Exercise Progression: The key to strength development is progressive resistance. As the muscles adapt to a given exercise resistance, it must be gradually increased to stimulate further strength gains. Of course, the increase in resistance is usually accompanied by a temporary decrease in the number of repetitions performed with the heavier weight load.
(According to the ACE personal training manual)

Our session was so great. Emily (the instructor) knows I am a runner and tailored many of the activities toward that. She also explained my pilates is so beneficial to runners better than I did (or ever could). I will attempt to explain it here.

Running (and sitting, walking, even standing) compresses the spine. When the spine is compressed, fluid that protects the discs is pushed out, many times causing back pain. Compressing the spine also makes us shorter (think about it: the discs get pushed together, shortening the spine, thus shortening our overall height). We are taller in the morning because laying down (sleeping) over night relaxes the spine so that “the decompression from gravity has been neutralized” (source). Pilates elongates the spine, and actually has the ability to make us 1-3 inches taller. Spine stretching exercises focus on training your spine to resist the pull of gravity by helping the spine to relax and to “restore the natural fluidity within those spinal column gaps between the discs.” The roll-up, a very common exercise in pilates, explained here, is a good example of an easy way to stretch, and therefore elongate the spine.

We also used a foam roller, which is a post in itself (I am purchasing one soon, so post to follow!) Many runners use foam rollers to soothe tight muscles and I did not know they were also associated with pilates! You can read about using the foam roller for runners here and here.
Source

I am looking forward to improving my pilates practice with these extra sessions and it is so nice that my mom and I can do this together! This week I also convinced one of my friends to join the gym I go to, which is nice because I have another person to go with AND I get $50 to spend inside the gym (hmm more pilates?)

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Exciting News and Opinions Please

by blueeyedrunner on February 25, 2010

I received some exciting news today. A few weeks ago I responded to an ad for a group fitness instructor at a local gym and today I was contacted by the head of group fitness inquiring about my availability to come in for an audition! This is very exciting as I passed my test months ago, and haven’t really done anything to get hired. I went on one interview around the holidays, but it turns out they were looking more for personal trainers. While I am interested in personal training (I am currently studying for that test) I am not the world’s best sales person, and I ended up deciding that the job was not for me. We are in the process of setting up the audition (audition sounds so much scarier than interview, doesn’t it?) and I am waiting to hear back about the details regarding the entire process. I am nervous, but even if it doesn’t work out, it will be good practice for future auditions.

On another note, I need your opinions regarding blog headers. I am playing around with the look of my page. Hopefully this spring I will get some new running pics and put something together that is a little more personal instead of finding pics on the internet. I’m also not really sure how to make the header fit in the space. Please let me know which pic you like better:

I can’t decide!
Okay I am off to enjoy my 2nd snow day.

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Happiness is…

by blueeyedrunner on February 25, 2010

Hi there!
And if you live in the tri-state area: Happy Snow Day. Yes I am off from work again, but don’t worry I will be miserable in June.

Welcome new followers

Thank you for all your wonderful comments. You guys seriously make my day. The blogging community has been so supportive and fun. When I first started doing this a few months ago, I never thought I would be able to maintain this blog with my busy schedule. It has been such a blast, I seriously look forward to blogging and can’t wait to catch up with what all of you have been up to. There are so many inspiring and motivating people out there and you all have been such a positive influence on my life.

Also, thank you to Elle at Completely Preppy (are you sick of her yet?) for tagging me with the Happy101 Award! As a recipient of this award I am supposed to list 10 things that make me happy. So here it goes, in no particular order:

1.) Family: I have always been very close to my family, but it wasn’t until these past few years I realized how important family is. As I’m sure you have picked up on, I am very close to my parents, and although I have my own place now, I live about 10 minutes away and still see them almost everyday. Of course, Dan is also included as family

2.) Running: Do I really need to explain this one??

3.) Coffee: I’m obsessed. I’ve tried to cut back (somewhat successfully) but I mean really, this is probably my worst vice, and there are wayy worse things to be addicted to than coffee.

4.) Healthy eating: Not only does it make me happy, but it makes me feel good. I love reading the healthy living blogs out there, and getting new and fun ideas to try when it comes to food.

5.) Pilates/yoga: I put these two together because I love them for the same reason. I obviously like to workout and stay fit but these are workouts for both your mind and your body and I always leave a session feeling different than I do after a normal workout. Does that make sense? Anyone else know what I mean?

6.) Prayer: Although I don’t blog much on this topic, I pray a lot and it makes me happy I enjoy the private time alone with God and my thoughts.

7.) Reading: I also read a lot. Books, mags, blogs, you name it. I spend too much money on books (I also use the library but I like to keep books to read again or reference.) but again, there are worse things I could be throwing my money away on, right?

8.) Wine: I do love my wine Not too much though.

9.) Bronzer: I like being tan, but being tan is not good for you so I like to wear bronzer. Bronzer makes me happy so it is on this list. I have all different types. My fav is my bobbi brown shimmer brick.

10.) The beach: I am such a beachy girl. I love summer, being in the sun (obviously) and I hate the cold. I have never been skiing or snowboarding…give me a beach and the water any day. I especially love the beach in the summer, but it is beautiful in the winter as well. I have spent many summers at the Jersey shore and Dan grew up there. There is something about watching the waves crash that just makes me happy.

So there you have it. I am supposed to tag ten others that make me happy but I am going to cop out and say if you read this than consider yourself tagged. Many of you have already received it and I just tagged some of you with the Sunshine Award and would probably tag you all again.
So tell me, what makes you happy??

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Where in the World Wednesday: Miami

by blueeyedrunner on February 24, 2010

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world…it doesn’t have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling. It might even be somewhere in your own hometown!

I love this feature, from Classy in Philadelphia, especially because it is winter and sooo cold here in NJ. Not to mention, we are supposed to be getting hit with another storm tomorrow. As a teacher, I normally love snow days, however, if we have too many more, I will be working until July! Anyway, for that reason, for this week’s Where in the World Wednesday, I am in…Miami! I hope it sends warm thoughts your way!