The Race Photo

Well here it is! Not a terrible pic. Wish I had remembered to smile and put my hands up! Maybe next year :). I think my arms look pretty darn good in this pic. I also realized that the Spring Lake race page has a clock time and a net time. My watch said I finished the race in 49 mins and change and the net time on the website says 49:48 so I'm super thrilled I finished it in under 50 minutes! The girl in the black tank and shorts in the top left of the pic is my sister!

What Can YOU Accomplish in a Month?

What do you think can be accomplished in just one month? I want to share with you what I have accomplished from April 19th to May 25th.

Measurements
April 19th (May 24th)
Height 5 ft 6
Weight 134 (128.5)
Bodyfat 22% (20%)
Waist 29 in (27 1/4)
Hips 36 in (35)
Right arm 10 3/4 in (9 14/16)
Right leg 21 1/2 in (19 4/8)
Right calf 15 1/2 in (15)
Chest (at largest part) 33 1/2 in (30 1/4)
Chest (under) 28 1/2 in (26 1/2)

And the pics!











Unfortunately, I didn't do the flexing photos from the beginning so you won't see a before an after on those. Immediately I can see some more definition in my abdominal region and my back looks a little leaner. My legs are getting there! Not bad! I didn't follow any specific program but I kept it a mix of straight sets and supersets. I wrote down my weights and tried to improve on them in almost every workout. Sprints, spinning, and running were my cardio.

I have to say my diet is tight. I rarely cheat. I feel like this is one of the main reasons the last month has been so successful. Somebody once said that abs are made in the kitchen and that sticks with me so I am strict with it.

I'm looking forward to seeing some great changes in the coming months on the New Rules of Lifting for Women! Come along with me on this journey!

And the Training Program Will Be.....

I think that taking a few days off is just what I needed. I'm catching up on some sleep and researching some training programs. This is great! I'm not going to get used to it though. I'll be back to working hard in a few short days!

Today I was reading some information about Alwyn Cosgrove's Afterburn program. It's an intense fat loss program designed to rev up your metabolism. It has a circuit style weight workout, cardio intervals where you never do the same workout twice, and a nutrition program. It sounds so tempting but to be quite honest I'm 128.5 pounds, 20% bodyfat and I'm a size 4 pushing a size 2. I could certainly stand to lose some bodyfat, but do I want to be much smaller? Not really!

I think my goals are more to gain strength. To be able to do pull ups, improve my squat and deadlift. Things like that. So I think my decision is going to be New Rules of Lifting for Women! Keep in mind that Alwyn Cosgrove also designed the training for this program as well.

I am planning on making the weeks in Phase 1 look like this:
Sunday - lift
Monday - spin (45 min class)
Tuesday - lift + 15 mins of sprints
Wednesday - OFF (or do sprints if they weren't done Tuesday)
Thursday - lift
Friday - sprints/steady state combo (30 mins max)
Saturday - OFF


It's been a long time since I've followed an exact program (Body for Life in 2001) so I'm actually kind of looking forward to taking the guesswork out of it. I will probably update pics once per month and I will most definitely be doing before and after pics.

Change of Plans

Well folks, I think the time has come to take a break. I've been feeling tired for a while now and last night when I was writing my workout for today I realized I've been at it 6 days a week from as far back as February. I've been extremely consistent since October though and that's a long time without really an "official" break.

Since Monday starts are such a pet peeve of mine, I'm going to plan a weight workout for Friday morning and maybe a track workout on either Saturday or Sunday morning then start a new training schedule on Monday.

This gives me a few days to research what it is I really want to do. I'm leaning toward doing New Rules of Lifting for Women. For those who are not familiar, NROL4W is a 7 phase strength building program designed for women using basic strength building exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges etc. The program is roughly 6 months in length. I am an exercise and diet book junkie but I would recommend this book to anyone as a good introduction into strength building. If you are interested in finding out more, check out this link http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Women-Goddess/dp/1583332944.

In the coming days I am going to focus on rest, good nutrition, foam rolling, and streching.

Update for week of 5/24/09

There have been lots of changes to measurements here. Not sure if it was the running or the little splurge I had on Saturday but in any case here are the numbers.

Measurements - last week (this week)
Height 5 ft 6
Weight 127.5 (128.5)
Bodyfat 21% (20%)
Waist 28 (27 1/4)
Hips 35 in (35)
Right arm 10 in (9 14/16)
Right bicep flex - 11 1/4 (11)
Right thigh 19 4/8 in (19 4/8)
Right calf 14 14/16 in (15)
Chest (at largest part) 31 in (30 1/4)
Chest (under) 26 3/4 in (26 1/2)

I'm up a pound and down 1% bodyfat if that is even accurate. We'll see when I weigh in next week. Based on the measurements, seems as though my upper body is getting smaller and my hips and thighs are the same and my calves are getting bigger. Great!






















I am free from race training but I am still in the process of deciding what training program I will do! For this week I'm going to continue writing my lifting programs the day before the workout.

Here's how I'm planning my week:
Monday - Track intervals and stairs
Tuesday - lift
Wednesday - Run 3 miles at a faster pace than I'm used to
Thursday - lift
Friday - Sprints or spin
Saturday - Off

The diet will continue to be the same as it's been. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I made a huge melon salad with honeydew and watermelon so I'll be having that for dessert after dinner until it's gone!

Next week I will update measurements and in 2 weeks I'll be updating both measurements and pics. Have a great week everyone!

Meals and Workouts for 5/23 through 5/25

I have been MIA this weekend! Well not really. I've been enjoying the weather and getting a tremendous amount of household chores done.

My diet over the last few days has been on point with the exception of race day Saturday, 5/23. I actually had a cinnamon raisin bagel after I ran! That's right people! I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've had a bagel but I will say my jaw was killing me from all that chewing! Later the same day I went to a bbq and had ribs and chicken and all the sides baked beans, macaroni salad and even dessert! I certainly woke up Sunday morning a bloated mess.

I got up early on Sunday morning to head over to the gym but someone forgot to get up to open the gym! I was pissed! I headed home and did this circuit:

dumbell squat
push up
standing shoulder press
inverted row
reverse lunges

I sort of made it up and did 8 reps for 6 rounds. I didn't even have my watch but I think it took about 20 - 25 mins. I also didn't plan for this workout so didn't write the weights in my notebook. I did 5 mins on the bike to warm up and 5 mins on the bike afterwards plus stretching.

This morning I headed over to the local high school track for some intervals and stairs. I would have done sprints but I think my legs are still recovering from the race!

I will be doing my weekly update in a post later today (hopefully). I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend!


Here's a pic of me and my sister on race day. I'm the one with the visor!

Recap of Spring Lake 5 Mile Run

So the race is finally over! This race is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend every year and it's a favorite here on the Jersey Shore. This year there were 9,500 participants. Registration opened on February 1, 2009 and was filled up by February 10, 2009. It's been around since 1977 and it's been listed in the country's top 100 races in Runner's World magazine. If people can't run, they even sell their bib numbers on craigslist! My official time was 52:02 which is not terrible although not my best time.

It took us a few minutes just to get to the starting line because of the amount of people that run the race. Then it was elbow to elbow until about mile 2 where it started to break up a bit. We did stop once for some water and my ipod earphones got unplugged so I had to stop and fix those. There were so many types of people of so many ability levels and ages, it is hard not to get inspired. All along the race route family members, people living in the neighborhood, and even the fire department came out to cheer us on! My sister and I ran together until the end and I sprinted the last 1/4 mile I'd say.

They give out a t-shirt and a glass to every registered participant. I've been drinking out of my 2002 glass for a few years now. It was definitely time for a new one. I say I won't run again but I most likely will. I would love to run it with my son and daughter one day!