10 Days

10 days out

I feel stronger than ever and sore. The area I'm still concerned about is my lower abs. They are as stubborn as Weston. Sure they are solid and sure, I have a 6 pack, but dang I want those lines deep and it just isn't happening. It also likes to stick out despite the above. I’m not overly concerned about it. I’m happy with what I will be stepping on stage with regardless.

There is something that just isn’t right this week. All things are not peacefully coming together. I’m behind in a lot of things at home due to ball games and food prep and grocery shopping and Dale working every night when he comes home. Plus, he has a sinus infection. I know that stuff can wait but that area is off. There is laundry in baskets all over my house. Most of them are folded, which is a miracle but I have yet to find the time to put them away. The only time I could actually find the time is when those little monsters are supposed to be asleep.

My head is a little off too. Just old wounds coming to surface. I know the issues, I just have to find a way to deal with them in a healthy productive way.

Speaking of wounds, I was at Wal-Mart last night with Weston and Waylon. We passed an older man who had bibbed overalls on. We never saw his face, but as we were passing him Waylon says, “Hi Papa”. He wasn’t expecting a response. The guy never turned around to address him and Waylon didn’t need that. It was just his 4 year old little way of saying that man reminded him of his late grandpa. My first reaction was sadness. I wanted to cry right there by the light bulbs, but I knew that wasn’t healthy to do. I think once I start crying I may not stop.

Exercise is way more than just making your body physically strong. It works your mind as well. In the process of getting your body fat down and leaning out it searches every part of you. Even those little crevices in your brain where you like to tuck things away to deal with another day.

The workouts are crazy. I think I literally felt every bit of energy drain from my fingertips as I was leaving the gym yesterday. I have given up on doing my hair. No point in doing my hair for the morning when I will soak it over my lunch hour and it will end up in a ponytail the rest of the day anyway. Two more weeks, my work peeps are just going to have to deal with a less attractive, smelly me. Oh, hi, new president that just joined our company! What’s that about first impressions? Oh well.

I know I said I wanted to blog every day, but as you can see that is hard to do with everything going on right now. I will do the best I can. Tonight it is a rush home, eat dinner, and rush out the door to travel about 40 minutes for another ball game. It’s going to be a long night! But, it is Wyatt’s very first machine pitch game and I’m really excited to see how he does.

This is Waylon from his game Monday night.  His uniform is so big and his portly little body just screamed Babe Ruth to me.  So stinkin cute.  His team did awesome for their first game!

Ripples In The Tummy - How To

I woke up exhausted. This week like the weeks previous has been crazy. There really isn’t a break in sight. I’m tired. I can feel my mind getting weak. Weaker moments are slipping in as far as doubts, abilities, just negative stuff. I realize it is my choice to pull it all together and make it happen. Things are getting harder. It is harder to balance. It is harder to have a positive attitude. Our days are packed with things to do right now. It is just an all-around busy time of year for us and packing 2 huge goals on top of that makes the chaos almost unbearable. My mind is playing tricks on me as we are coming down to seeing the light and the finish line. I have a choice to kick or give in. I have to find yet another gear. Kicking used to be one of my specialties!

This weekend's running schedule was tough.  A 5k race for KC Corporate Challenge, which I actually pushed and my 10.88 miles on Sunday before church, which I felt every bit of. I may or may not have cried running through the cemetery again.  Like an ugly cry that I would be embarrassed of if anyone actually saw me.  Hopefully that car I passed at the stop sign didn't notice the tears running down my cheeks.  Tuesday was my rest day this week and that is just too long ago for me. I just need to breathe. Do the best I can and breathe! We will get there. I WILL do this! I CAN do this!

Week by week, day by day, hour by hour, I’m going to get there. I’m just going to breathe!

So, I’ve had a TON of questions about what I’m doing for abs. First of all, abs and my rear end/upper hamstring have been my slowest to respond and my trouble areas. That is where my fat goes. I didn’t seriously start training abs every day until a couple of weeks ago when I got frustrated at the slowness of their progress. I took it upon myself to do every ab exercise I could think of pumping out about 500 plus abs exercises. It was killer and I think jump started things. Then my sister set a plan for me to do something every night with abs. Because they are made up of so many muscles you can work them every day if you choose to. I’ve asked for her blessing in sharing this information. She was all about letting the cat out of the bag. It’s all about helping our fellow men and women get to their best selves, right?!

Here we go. Take notes, come back here and read often, etc. If you want to do this I highly recommend taking some before and after pictures. You will love to see your progress. Let me tell you though, this is a complete package deal. Don’t expect to keep eating all the same crap you may be eating (if you are on the unhealthier side of a diet) and not work your body out in other areas and see results. All of these things work together. Ladies, lifting weights affects a lot of areas of your body. If you are standing up right curling you should be able to feel some of that in your abs because they should be tight to keep you stable. Lunges? You are using your core to stabilize your lunge down and bring that knee forward to take your next step. It all works together.

Here are some pics of before I started ripping on my abs. 

Those 2 are purely running and yoga and that was after completing P90x as well.  A thing to remember is the look of your abs could change day by day or actually from morning to night.  Don't get discouraged with yourselves.  So many factors play a role in your tummy area.  Food, stress, posture, etc.  Do your best at controlling all of those factors.  If you slip up, try harder the next day.

So, what I'm doing? 

During my workout Tionna usually has me doing some sort of ab workout mixed in with whatever muscle group we are working.  Usually something like hanging leg raises, knees up, or double crunches with a weighted ball.   Later in the night I will take time before bed or when I can get it in to do more.  Monday, Wednesday, Friday I try to do cross body moves to help define the line down the middle of my core.  Tuesday and Thursday I do straight on abs, crunches, heels to the heavens, etc. Saturday and Sunday I do whatever I feel like doing with abs. 

I don't have pictures of all of them but if you have questions just ask away.  I will try to explain the ones I do have pictures for. 

This first one is pure awesomeness and totally hard.  I felt really accomplished when I finally got this one.  Note:  you may fall, you may lose your balance, you may get really frustrated with how badly your body is shaking.  Breathe, control, push on until you get it.  You WILL get it. 

Start out as shown here

Tuck knees

Extend back out to plank and raise up as much as you can.  Really use those core muscles to get you up there.  You want your back straight as if it is up against a wall.  If you aren't there yet, keep trying. 

10 reps - 3 to 4 sets

CROSS BODY

There are 3 exercises in this set.  Do 20 on each before you switch to the next exercise.  So, you will do a total of 60 with your right arm, left leg before you switch to do 60 with your left arm, right leg through all 3 exercises.  

 

1.  Rested knee/opposite elbow  (20)

2.  Extend knee - bring it in to meet opposite elbow  (20)

3.  Straight leg raised - arm extended to meet opposite foot  (20)

Rest, Switch arms and legs, Repeat above!

You want to do 3 or 4 sets of these.

#1 - Start with your leg on your knee and your opposite elbow needs to meet your rested knee

20 reps

#2 - Extend your leg then bring it in to your opposite elbow

#3 - Straighten your leg and bring it up to meet your extended opposite arm

When you are down your leg should only be inches off of the ground as well as your arm raised over your head only inches off of the groung.  Bring it all up to meet in the middle and squeeze!

Go take ridiculous amounts of pictures of yourself in the mirror because your abs be poppin!

Another one I do, I think she calls it Bird Dog or something. 

Start on your hands and knees.

Ball up - Bring your left arm in to meet your right knee

So, your knee and elbow should be meeting around your belly button. 

Extend your arm and leg and REACH as far as you possibly can.  Squeeze that butt and reach with those fingers. 

Do 15 to 20 with right arm/left leg

Then switch and do 15 to 20 with left arm/right leg

Make sure you reach and squeeze

Squeeze when you are balled up and squeeze when you are extended.

3 to 4 sets of those, too.

Take a lot of pictures so you have proof you are making progress when you doubt yourself.

 

BAM!  Rock it, ladies!  Work it, sweat, keep trying and some day you will wake up and not have to try every position achieveable to see one little ripple including coughing or leaning as far back as possible.  Don't act like you've never done it!  You will wake up, lift your shirt and say, "YES!"

Sometimes I forget I have them.  I get to doubting myself and feeling like I'm not good enough to step up on that stage with these girls that have been going through the same things.  Then I lift my shirt and tell myself I'm going to be ready.  I'm so close.  I still have some issues with my lower core muscles.  I'm still working on those hard.  I also need to shape up my lower back muscles and my lower butt/hip area.  I know I am in awesome shape, probably the best of my life, but I have a stage to walk onto nearly naked, so I need a little more work. 3 weeks out, actually a little less than that as far as exercise.  I'm so ready to get this going.  Here we go....

Let me know if you all have any questions.  Go thank T for the awesome info!  Better yet, go hire her!  She will whip you right into shape!

Good Luck in Boston and an Overdue Update

Today, on this Patriot’s Day, a few of my friends are up in Boston taking in an experience I can only imagine wraps you up and takes hold of you until it is down into your bones. What an atmosphere it must be there. Top runners from all over the world taking on a brutal 26.2 miles. Wow! I get a little choked up just reading through their facebook messages and blog posts. This is something you just don’t wake up and do. You spend months, some even years, preparing for a moment like this. I’ve never ran into double digits consecutively in my life until this year (God willing), but I have followed many that have and it isn’t just your legs turning over and your arms pumping. It is emotional and life changing. I’ve heard you learn a lot about yourself and a lot about living a solid balanced life ready to face the mountains it offers. I’ve learned so much just training for 5k’s and half marathons to believe every bit of that to be truth. Good luck to all my friends out there on that road today. Maybe someday I’ll experience that. Do I hear another HUGE goal in the making? Maybe, maybe not.


On my training front… wow, training aside, the love and support that I get popping up here and there, well, I can’t really describe it. It humbles me and it pushes me on. I can’t thank you all enough. To get random messages from people that I didn’t even realize were following my journey or cared what I am doing just means the world to me. I can’t say or thank you enough to express what you are doing to my heart or how you are fueling my journey. Thank you for stepping out and saying something to be a part of that. If I can inspire one person to make a positive, healthy change in their life I feel like I have won. Maybe the majority want me to shut it, but for the ones that have sent me messages, emails, texts to say they are inspired… well, they are worth annoying a few others. So, I’m not going to shut up anytime soon. I may even start to get louder.

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. Training over my lunch hour leaves very little time for me time. I usually get me time during my drive to and from work, which doesn’t allow for blogging. My life is so full right now. I was thinking earlier it is like those days when you have a pile of laundry on the floor that you need to get to the washing machine but all of your baskets are full of either dirty or unfolded laundry, so you try your hardest to pick everything up in your arms and make it across the house in one trip without dropping anything. As you go socks slip out. Underwear hits the floor. You toe grab the shirt that slid off the top and wrap the pant leg around your arm just to get the job done. More times than not you have to go back for something. That pretty much describes my life right now. Yes, there is DIRTY laundry literally and figuratively just for those that think this journey is a piece of cake – a non-white flour, sugarless, no frosting, or filling piece of cake.

There are boys to love, a house to keep picked up, meals to cook and eat, baseball practices to attend, etc. With so much going on some or the majority of the things on your list fall off the pile and I have to find ways to pick them up, dust them off, and give them the attention they need. For those of you that didn’t get the picture blast on Facebook and Instagram we now have an awesome dog named, Maddox, aka Maggots. No matter how much Weston tries he just can’t say Maddox and it is admittedly adorable! He fits right in and we get to skip the very time consuming puppy period. Not that I don’t like the puppy period, but we just don’t have time for puppy time in our lives. Maddox can pick up right where we are and I even got a little run in with him. It wasn’t an official run but it was a run and he did great at it. His previous owner taught me a trick with the leash, which is a lifesaver. Maddox could drag me through the trees and drowned me in the pond if he wanted, but this trick is just plain awesome and simple. You pretty much just wrap the leash around his chest and back up through the top so it is snug around his chest and not choking him and he isn’t pulling me everywhere. Works like a charm. If he starts to pull the leash gets tighter around the chest so he backs off and stays in control. He gives some pretty sweet hugs too.

Back to training. I was getting pretty worried for a while as I didn’t think my body was responding as it should. I had a lot of bloating around my stomach and my abs were being stubborn. After my 7 mile run on Sunday the weekend before last a switch was flipped. I think it was exactly what my body needed. My stomach is starting to shape up. We are 6 weeks out. I’m nervous. Just talking about it makes me nervous. My goal is to not show everyone that this is my first time on stage. I’m pulling out a new fitness diva personality when it comes time. Be ready! This week we worked back, arms, shoulders, a little chest, and I don’t think we did legs this week or we did them early and I can’t remember, but I can tell. Last week my legs were SOLID. I mean S.O.L.I.D! My butt down into my hammies and quads. This week they aren’t as much. You’d think after running 11 miles in a weekend they would still be solid, but they aren’t. My running is done on Saturday and Sundays alone. No running during the week unless it is a warm up or after some boys.

Runs – wow. My Saturday morning runs have become torturous. They are short and supposed to be faster, but they aren’t so fast. I don’t know if it is just transitioning my body back to runner mode or what, but every step sucks and I want to quit. I should be able to handle 3 miles, right?! Sunday is a completely different story. They are so fulfilling and they actually feel really, really good. I don’t even need to talk myself out of being negative with them. At 4 miles yesterday I felt like I could conquer the world and any problem that came my way. I felt awesome. Around mile 6 I didn’t feel as great, but not wanting to quit anytime soon. 8.18 total miles, the longest I think I have ever ran and it was awesome. And actually fast, sub 9, which is fast for now and with the training I’m doing. Beyond satisfied with that. I think the final pace was 8:48. I’ll take it! If I can hold on to that pace for 5 more miles I would be extremely satisfied with my half marathon time. My hips felt the strongest, which is good. We have been doing a lot of hip work. Lunges, deep squats, etc.

This weekend was just one of those weekends when things felt easy. Easy to keep my patience, easy to adapt to what we had to do and not worry about what wasn’t getting done, easy to love, easy to be loved. Everything was easy except that 3 mile Saturday morning run. It is days like this that let me know I can do it. I need days like this when the days of screaming, fighting, and constant struggle are looming. I’m thankful for the easy days!!!

Eating – it is going well. I’m not too picky with food anyway besides those sweets. I’m loading the veggies as much as possible and making sure I try to eat as lean of a meat as I can. So far so good and I’m sure it is making a difference on those long run days where I need the fuel. Previously if I went out and ran 5 miles I’d be dead the rest of the day and cranky, but these last 2 Sunday’s with long runs, it’s like I never ran. My body isn’t sore, my energy is up, and my mood is good. More of that please!!! And, when I pass that bowl of tiny candy bars at work in the morning I can smile instead of talking myself out of going closer to it. Cahnges are starting to become habit, life, a part of me. That’s where I wanted to get. I probably won’t stay this strict with my diet forever and will savor a few good ole country comfort meals once this training is over, but for the most part I am like a chameleon… changing!!!

I think that is enough for now. I’m going to try to blog more as we dial in on 2 big goals coming soon. I want to make sure I’m journaling this experience. I may never do it again.

Again, thank you all for the love and support. Keep it coming. If you have an idea for what I should wear for my theme wear shoot me an idea. We haven’t decided just yet.

Oh wait, playing catch. OMG, playing catch. I have 3 boys, you all know that, but when I knew that that was my future I pictured sports and dirt and a lot of energy. Man, I must be some kind of psychic! The weekend before last I had an actual game of catch with the baseball with Wyatt. Waylon joined in some too. But, to actually throw the ball and not have to hold back much just felt amazing. That boy has a sweet arm when he lets it fly too. So much potential in his future. This weekend we played catch with the football for over an hour it seems. I have to admit he threw that tiny plastic football much better than I did. That’s the reason I do this. That’s the reason why I want to make sure I am in shape. I want to make sure I can run across the yard after a football and make great catches with my sons. I want them to know I am right there with them and can step in and do what they want to do without them saying, “but I don’t like to play with mom because she can’t …” I want to run trails with them, explore the world around them and not be left behind grasping my knees and having a heart attack. That’s why I’m here doing what I do.