Post Thanksgiving workouts

Thanksgiving break was wonderful! Surrounded by family, lots of food and wine, and beautiful scenery down in South Carolina! I went for a run on Thanksgiving to the beach and back, and rode bikes around, but that was it workout wise! Honestly, it felt nice to have a break from my usual routine :)

....Though that's not saying I wasn't looking forward to getting back to the gym yesterday! 20 minutes on the ellipitcal before moving on to abs and legs. 

Legs were a mix of machines (hamstring curl, abductor, adductor), squats, leg press, and leg curl.

Today I got to the gym later than usual and didn't want to stay too late so did a quick 30 minute workout. 1 mile run on the treadmill and then arms, focusing on biceps and triceps.

Finished out with lat pull downs and chest presses. 

23 days until Christmas!!!

Happy Thursday

Do you ever have one of those days where you are in a good mood and have bouncing step to your walk? That's how I felt today after a great Autism Teacher training/conference with my county....and being free at 2:30! Being at the gym at 3 was such a change especially when I'm in school during that time.

So what did I do at the gym?......EVERYTHING! And it felt wonderful.

20 minutes on the stairmaster to start out then headed to the weight section for arms.

3x15 bicep curls

3x12 tricep kick backs

3x10 front arm raises 

3x12 skull crushers

2x12 chest press

I then decided to do some glute action:

3x15 laying leg curls

20 squats

20 plie squats

20 donkey kicks

20 fire hydrants

20 side leg circles

30 alternating lunge jumps

30 sliders

20 deadlifts

And to complete my workout, abs!

:40 sec plank

5 side plank dips

20 crunches

15 vertical leg crunch with weights

:15 cobra position

:40 sec plank

40 russian twists

10 jackknife sit ups

30 bicycles

:15 side planks

TGIT....aka almost Friday!!!

Starting the weekend off right

Finally it's the weekend! 

Heading to Baltimore for a weekend with my best friends, but wanted to get in a workout to start out the fun! Scrolling through Pinterest, I chose the Weekend Circuit Workout

I also added in a :30 sec plank at the end of each round and started with 20 minutes on the elliptical on the cross-country setting.

Have a great weekend! 

Brrrrr

Brr!! It is officially flannel sheets and glove season!  And whenever I start running again, it'll be leggings, running gloves, headband, and long sleeves! 

I focused today on abs and glutes. My lower body has felt sluggish since the marathon because I went from running and having that be my main glutes exercise to not running. Hello legging season!!

Glutes:

20 minutes on Stairmaster

Laying leg curl 4x12

Glute kickbacks 3x12

Squats on Bosu Ball 3 holds for :30 seconds

Abductors 3x15

Adductors 3.x15

Single leg deadlifts with dumbbells 3x12

30 Butt Lifts

Abs:

30 vertical leg crunches

20 oblique crunches

:30 sec plank

40 Russian twists

40 bicycles

5 weighted sit ups

:20 sec side plank

:45 sec plank

20 jacknife sit-ups

Have a warm Friday tomorrow!

 

Another half marathon

Half Marathon #4 will be taking place in April! My mom and I signed up to do the Waynesboro Park to Park 1/2 Marathon in April. The price was the cheapest I've seen for a half and it'll be nice to do a race so close to home (20 mins away)....and with my mom!

Yesterday's workout was a good one. I was still a little tired from Saturday's workout and wasn't really sure what I wanted to do so decided to whip out one of my favorite circuit workouts.

I skipped the 1/2 mile run. Not ready to run just yet. I did start out with 20 minutes on the elliptical. 

First long workout since MCM

A week ago right now, I was halfway through the marathon. That seems like a lifetime ago! I went to the gym twice during the week, but both were for like 40 minutes. 20 minutes on the elliptical, easy, and then 20 minutes doing arms and abs, again easy going. 

Yesterday--after a night of Halloween fun aka eating pizza and candy while passing out candy to adorable trick or treaters--I was ready to get in a hardcore-full body workout.

After starting out with 30 minutes on the elliptical, I did some leg & glutes exercises:

3x15 laying leg curls 

3x15 adductors and abductors

3x15 calf raises 

50 squats 

25 walking lunges with weights 

Abs:

40 sec plank

40 leg lifts 

30 scissors

30 criss crosses

20 cross crunches

20 heel touches

20 plank jacks

1 min crunches

1 min v-hold

1 min bicycles

And last, arms.

3x15 tricep dips

3x12 tricep pulldowns

3x15 rows

3x15 skull crushers

3x10 side arm raises 

3x12 chest press

A good solid Saturday morning workout. 

Ooorah. ;)

Marine Corps Marathon recap

It's hard to believe that it is already been 4 days since I completed my first marathon. I went back to work Tuesday and lots of people were impressed by how well I was walking! Thank goodness for massages is all I'm saying ;)

Now let's see how I can recap a marathon....

Race day had me up at 4:30! Yikes. Mrs. Farrow, Caroline, and I hit the road to the metro by 5:30 and were on the metro heading into the city a little after 6 (with a herd of other runners). We arrived at the Pentagon station and started the walk to the Runner's Village.

While I was waiting in line for last minute bathroom before lining up, the American Flag came flying in by skydivers.

A quick goodbye and off I went to line up by the Arlington National Cemetery. They didn't have official corrals, runners just lined up in sections based off of expected finish time. I crossed the start about 5-10 minutes after the gun went off.

The first few miles of the race were super CROWDED! Trying to get a pace, running around people, and avoiding getting bumped into or tripped. I can't remember when exactly the crowds seemed to thin out (if they ever really did).

The first half (13.1) miles went by super fast in my opinion. That part of the race took us through Downtown Rossyln, Key Bridge & Georgetown, Rock Creek Park (which was rather peaceful being in woods compared to the city), and Kennedy Center. I saw Caroline and Mrs. Farrow at the Mile 10 sign and was so excited to see them! I was feeling good, I was maintaining my happy pace, the weather was perfect, and seeing the excitement in my sister's face and Mrs. Farrow's was an extra boost. 

Miles 11-14 took us through Hane's Point which I remembered from my Nike Half in April. I loved running alongside the water. I passed the Half mark just a little over 2 hours.

And then the unfortunate happened.....

That evil thing that has haunted me all year.

My IT band started hurting.

at mile 16 (Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, World War II Memorial) .

*Cue curse words*

I tried slowing down my pace to see if that eased up on the pain. Helped for a bit, but then it became obvious that it wasn't going away. 

Miles 16-19/20 (those miles were a blur) were spent trying to run, fast walking, random stretch breaks and just frustration. Yes, my happy mood had changed to frustration. 

Mile 20 was the 14th Street Bridge....aka the never-ending bridge. It just kept going! It probably wouldn't have seem so long if I wasn't in pain. At  this point in the race, I stopped caring about my time (I had gone into a race with a hopeful finish time) and started focusing on how to stay strong and in the least amount of pain for the remaining 6 miles (and to not have my band go completely out on me). 

I shuffled/ran/walked the remaining miles, but when I reached that final mile, I ran. I wanted to get to that finish line. 

I passed the 26 mile sign and was ready to take on the hill that finished the race (yes, only the Marines would have runners go up a hill to end a marathon). The hill curved and I could see Caroline and the whole Farrow clan (Ben, his parents, sister and brother in law) along the side and in front of me, the finish arch.

I had mixed feelings when I finished....some anger over my injury, exhaustion (hello, I just ran a marathon), and a bit of excitement and numbness.

A marine places the medal around your neck and then salutes you which is totally awesome.

 I waddled through the finisher's shoot to get my finisher's box of food and water and then continued slowly on to find my "fan club".

Caroline and Ben found me first which had me burst into tears (I promise I'm not this emotional). They helped me over to where the Farrows were where lots of hugs and pictures were given (as well as a bag of ice for my band). And sitting on the ground for at least 5 minutes was heaven.

Thank you to all my friends and family who tracked me in the race and posted sweet messages on Facebook and Instagram. Seeing those afterwards put such a huge smile on my face!

I have evoked the core principals of the Marine by demonstrating honor, courage & commitment in a successful "mission"!!!!