Showing posts with label Fartlek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fartlek. Show all posts

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Where did the week go?

I have not posted in a week!  Lot's to catch up on.
First-How did last week go? And by last week, I mean 14 days ago last week...like March 19-25.
I lost 1.5 lbs.Calories burned: 3590. Minutes of working out: 455.  I'm pleased.

I'm also making a change- I will start weighing in on Monday, because it fits better with MFP and my workout plans. It just so happens that I could also use another day before weighing in this week.

Workout Plan for March 26-April 1 vs. What I did.

Usually, on Sunday, I write what I plan to do the upcoming week and on the next Sunday I would say what I really did. Since this is 7 days late, I'll combine them. 
Mon: Off/ off as planned
Tues: March Circuit Workout/Did it- 80 min/600 calories-woot!
Wed: The Class (from now on known by its real name as I've forgiven them for the price increase) Nth Degree/55 min/450 calories
Thurs: Boot-camp: 60 min/300 calories- We did not run before hand and this really messed up the calorie burn. Sad Face.
Fri: Run 5 miles of Fartlek/Off-
Sat: Nth Degree/went early and ran a mile before class started-65 min/550 calories
Sun: Run 60 min & Barbell Class: Did both. 105 min: 650 calories

Here's a picture of me about to go for Sunday's run- sans makeup. Not a good look, but that sure is a cute baby, so decided to post it for my sole "follower" (Hi mom!)

The To-Do List of all To-Do Lists

So much is going on here!  I had a terrible case of insomnia and an annoying cough Sunday night, so I called in to work Monday. I usually get up for work at 4:30 am, so when I was still up at 4, I knew I had to call in.  Eventually I got a few hours of sleep. I took the kids to daycare and began to work on the "to do" list.  It is incredibly extensive!

This list is gigantic- but there is a good reason. In July of 2010, my youngest was born.  That October, my husband was diagnosed with a form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  He was only 35 and very healthy, so this was a huge shock.  You can imagine, not much got done that was not absolutely necessary! We spent that year just trying to keep our heads afloat.  All those "little" things that people take care of around the house were ignored.  I'm thrilled to say he is now in remission and is finally feeling great- so it's time to get crackin! Yes, I might be an awful wife- as soon as the man gets the "all clear" from the oncologist I'm running to the chalkboard, chalk pen in hand.

Here is the actual To:Do list.  Krista came over Friday night for pizza and asked "Is this all for this weekend?". I nearly choked! No.  A hundred times, No- I hope to finish this list before the end of 2012, not before the end of March! That Krista just cracks me up!



I was crazy productive on Monday and Tuesday and crossed a number of items off of my list.  Wednesday started the usual way, until my husband said "Have you seen Fiona?. Fiona is the youngest of my two Siamese cats.  She's been trying to get outside all week (it's her first spring).  Well, we think she was finally successful at escaping.  We though back and agreed that we had not seen her since before dinner on Tuesday. We looked for her Wednesday morning, I came home for lunch and looked for her and have been looking since.  As of today, still no Fiona.  We are devastated. I take some comfort in the fact that she a) has her claws b) is friendly and c) was a "stray" before we adopted her from Michigan Siamese Rescue.  I'm hoping she is with someone.  Still, I have been pretty upset over this ever since.

We don't know how she got out, but I suspect my kids had something to do with it.  My oldest just started playing with the doors and that's the only thing that I can think of. I have checked every drawer, cabinet, cubby in the house and I am sure she is not inside.  We have posted on Craig's List, have posters up, set up a animal trap, have left the garage cracked, put a litter box outside (so she can smell her way home) and notifies all of the neighbors.  I'm contacting the shelters and will contact MSR in case someone found her and contacts them. Here she is, pushing the grocery cart...



In happier news, I saw this super cute Easter wreath on Pintrest.  The tutorial is from Frills, Fluff and Trucks.  It's a fine tutorial, but I messed it up a bit.  I couldn't find a wreath form that I liked- and I don't think she said anything about size- so I  used one I already had. A big straw one.And I mean-BIG- as in Texas big.   I have already used over 100 eggs and I'm not even done yet. This monster doesn't even fit between my big door and screen door. I have no idea what I am going to do with it!












Here are some shots of it in progress:



Craft Room Renovation

My Craft Room Renovation is finally underway!  My Contractor (AKA my Dad) came over and built the work table. I had to empty out the room for him to do this- there are no words for this- it was that bad. You know how, growing up, you had a "Junk Drawer?", well this was our "Junk Room". Seriously. I will post the "Before" pictures, but not until the room is done.  You would judge me. I need to wait until you are oohing and ahhing over the finished project and thinking I am a fantastic homemaker before I show you these shots. It was that bad.

I already threw away three big black garbage bags of trash.  I have three laundry baskets of bills/paperwork to sort and file or shred and piles of stuff to sort.  Good thing another Justified dvd is on it's way from Netflix! As long as Raylan Givons is there to keep me company, I will manage.

On today's agenda: Fill in nail holes and cracks and get a coat of primer on it. Then I have to pick what color to paint it.As far as colors go, I have to work around the paint in the room (light grey, dark grey and white) and the laminated/Formica top of the dressers that I will have in there (yellow).  I used Design Seeds to try to get a palette. These two came up.


For Fabric, I/m looking at these collections.  I particularly like the Michael Miller flower ones and the Joel Dewbery one with the birds on the black background. I'm thinking that the Joel Dewberry yellow is more like the dresser than Michael Miller's.




I just ordered this Fat Quarter of the Joel Dewberry fabric from Etsy seller Mimis.

  I will need a lot of fabric for the craft room- for a valance, to cover a closet and for a skirt around the craft table. I think I will do a skirt like this from Swoon Worthy. It looks easy enough, and I'll just use hook and eye tape to attach it to the wood.  I'm glad to find one without pleats.  I'm not sure I'm up for that.  Here is a No Sew valance that I saw at CasaSugar.  Looks super easy.















And another good one from EffortlessStyle.  I have blinds in there, so I am afraid the styrofoam one might not fit over as well...we will have to see.









Finally, I found this option.  I'd get rid of the blinds.  This is a good thing, as they get on my last nerve because they always look like this:
And replace them with a fabric covered roller shade.  320 Sycamore has a great tutorial. 
I think that's enough for now.  I'll be back tomorrow with my weigh in, work out plan and we will talk more about food.  

And since you made it this far, I will reward you with a little pic of the junk room.


What is sad, is this is a picture of the closet- the least cluttered part of the room.  In fact, this photo shows the cleanest, most organized two feet of the whole place.

So, tell me about your To Do List.
Any tips on finding my poor Fiona?
Ideas for my Craft Room?
Easter Projects?  


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Week 2

Week 2:
Monday: REST. I had been fighting the flu for days and decided that I needed a break.  This was my first day off in 13 days.  It was certainly much needed.
Tuesday: Run on Treadmill. .5 mile warm up; 1 mile repeats x 4; .5 mile cool down. 575 calories in 60 min. Love this workout!
Wednesday: Great workout at "The Class". Different instructor, plus I got there early and ran a mile before class. Total burn: 728. That's more like it!
Thursday: Personal Trainer Boot Camp: Awesome.  We met outside and it was a perfect workout.  Sprinted for the first time in about 15 years! I was pretty beat after Wednesday's class, but still managed 500 calories in an hour.
It really is a lot of fun to work out with friends! There are 4 of us doing this together, Jenny, Krista, Liz and me. Ok, that is so cool, right- "H,J,K,L"?...If only we had a friend named Igor...I digress...
These workout pals are great, but it is humbling.  They completely kick my ass when it comes to running. At least I can lift more than J&K...though not by much.
Friday: It's still amazing outside, so I skipped the gym and ran outside.  Besides the sprints we did with the trainer Thursday, this was my first time running outside since October. Wow was it hard!  I was sore from Wednesday and Thursday AND running outside is so much harder than on a treadmill! It took me 55 minutes to run 5 miles!  I did a .5 mile warm up and .5 mile cool down. In between I did one of my favorite types of runs, the Fartlek. Funny word for a great run. Highlight of the run, I ran past my training pal, Jenny (of "J,K&L) and we exchanged high fives. Dorky, but fun.
Saturday: St Patrick's Day! "The Class".  One of my favorite trainers led the class and I did the "sprinter" workout.  It was great.  Burned 571 calories in 60 min (ran 5 min b/f the 55 min class started).

This post needed a picture, so here's TJ with his St. Patrick's Day hat on.

 Sunday: GoBarbell and Run.Another great class. It was fantastic outside.  We did tons of walking lunges- ouch!  45 min=350 calories. Nice.  I wanted to do the stairs again, but two things were against me.  March Madness and unbelievably awesome weather.  My husband is a Michigan State University grad and a crazy huge fan.  He is one of those steady, reliable completely even keel type of guys.  Few things upset him and he asks very little of the world- with one exception- Spartan Basketball and Football.  Of course, State was playing when I got out of work and of course the kids were out of control, so I rushed home to get them out of the house and allow him to shout at the tv in peace.
I put the kids in the stroller and headed out for a run.  I went just short of 3 miles pushing 60 lbs of fighting brothers. Once we hit the absolute furthest point from my house, the youngest began to cry. Awesome. Nothing I could do would get him to stop, so I just kept on going.  About 3 blocks from home he stops.  We get home and he says he wants to go out in the stroller again. Are you kidding me? Kids....
We got home and the game was over.  It was a good thing I took the kids.  My husband was able to properly focus on his couch coaching and surely thanks to his efforts, State made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Here's Tuesday's Treadmill Work Out. Let me know if you try it.


Mile Repeats
 with Speed Increase
Distance
Incline
Speed
Example
Warm Up
800
0.5
base -3
6.7
START
400
0.5
base
7
400
0.5
+3
7.3
400
0.5
+5
7.8
200
0.5
+2
8
200
0.5
+2
8.2
STOP
Walk
0
3.8-4.5
4
Allow HR to get to apx 115
Repeat x4 or x 5
Cool Down
800
0.5
base-5
6.5
Done


This Weeks Summary: 
Minutes of exercise: 415
Calories Burned:3556
Weight: -2 lbs