I will do anything in my power to get out of running. I'm pretty sure I was always this way. I'll go to gymnastics, train with my personal trainer, do an incredibly hard pool workout or take a yoga class (also something I don't like) instead of running for 20 minutes. Because of my aversion to running, I haven't done any of it since my last post.
I've been inspired. Thank you Runners World magazine. You rock.
It's been tough. The stress associated with my current job has been overwhelming. It had taken over. I couldn't sleep or eat. I was constantly tired and could not handle a work out. No more. I have decided not to care so much about the job because it is really not all that important.
Tonight, when I get out of work at 10pm, I am going to run. No really....it's actually going to happen. What else is going to happen? Lots. haBasherti and I have decided that we are not buying any food this week. I spent all yesterday making delicious veggies. I made this incredible creamy sweet potato soup (I'll hit you up with the recipe if you ask for it), butternut squash casserole (squash cooked in apple juice and a little maple syrup with almonds), and my famous chili. There is no need to go outside of what is currently in the fridge.
I'm also starting the Dr. Floras system. It's a powder detox thing that really has no side effects. How do I know it works? I don't. It might all be psychological. I'm not a doctor and I can't tell you how all the vegetable and other stuff (no chemicals) in it works. After I finish it i just feel better.
So that's the thing. Today is day 23 of 154 and I will be running and stretching. Tomorrow I will run and condition, and maybe hit up gymnastics. Wednesday I will train and swim. Thursday I will run and hit up gymnastics. Friday is a rest day. Saturday I will run and condition. We'll talk about Sunday when it comes.
Now that I've made the committment, it's time to follow through.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Day 2 of 154!
Yesterday haBasherti and I did our first day of the 24 week half marathon program. We strayed from the meal program, but I still had a lot of cooking to do so it was okay.
The run was WAY easy. It was too easy, and too short. So on our walk back we talked about using the minute intervals of running and walking to focus on form by doing high knees or butt kicks during the minute run to bump up our heart rate, and then doing lunges or other form building strength moves during the one minute walk.
This morning we started the meal plan. Kashi cereal is maybe the most amazing cereal ever.
This week is going to be challenging. I'm not sure I will be able to stick to the program. Whenever I have days off I always feel the need to work out. haBasherti and I made a commitment to doing this program, and we are already ripping apart the conditioning for harder strength moves.
We will all see what kind of will power I have. It is so hard for me to turn down a workout.
The run was WAY easy. It was too easy, and too short. So on our walk back we talked about using the minute intervals of running and walking to focus on form by doing high knees or butt kicks during the minute run to bump up our heart rate, and then doing lunges or other form building strength moves during the one minute walk.
This morning we started the meal plan. Kashi cereal is maybe the most amazing cereal ever.
This week is going to be challenging. I'm not sure I will be able to stick to the program. Whenever I have days off I always feel the need to work out. haBasherti and I made a commitment to doing this program, and we are already ripping apart the conditioning for harder strength moves.
We will all see what kind of will power I have. It is so hard for me to turn down a workout.
Friday, November 20, 2009
It's Go Time!
Ok, time to set some goals. I refuse to set weight goals, they are just not practical. I don't care where my weight is, so long as I can do the athletic things I want to do.
I debated setting long term goals, and then just always working toward them. I thought that maybe short term goals would be better.....like steps on a ladder towards my final goal. Yeah, that didn't work.
Since I broke my back four years ago, I have not been able to do a back or front walkover. A bridge kickover is my right now goal. A backwalkover is my goal for June 1st. Other gymnastics goals? These include (but are not limited to) pullups, back extension roll (which I have not been able to do since I blew out my right wrist), and a full.
I used to run over an hour at a clip. Now, I'm lucky if I break 12 mins. I found a six-week program that is supposed to work the participant up to a 30 min straight run. I'm doing that program.
the 30-min run program is going to be followed by another 6-week program that is supposed to work the participant up to a 60min straight run.
Not the end....after these two programs are completed. I will be taking the next 10 weeks to do a half marathon work out. This will culminate in (drum roll please) a completed half marathon in May on Long Island.
I'm doing the half.....and crossing the finish line by walking on my hands. It'll happen. I'll post the picture.
The run program starts on Sunday. Last night was forward tumbling in gymnastics. This morning I had a training session with my rediculously talented trainer Davon. Tomorrow will be a rest day.
I debated setting long term goals, and then just always working toward them. I thought that maybe short term goals would be better.....like steps on a ladder towards my final goal. Yeah, that didn't work.
Since I broke my back four years ago, I have not been able to do a back or front walkover. A bridge kickover is my right now goal. A backwalkover is my goal for June 1st. Other gymnastics goals? These include (but are not limited to) pullups, back extension roll (which I have not been able to do since I blew out my right wrist), and a full.
I used to run over an hour at a clip. Now, I'm lucky if I break 12 mins. I found a six-week program that is supposed to work the participant up to a 30 min straight run. I'm doing that program.
the 30-min run program is going to be followed by another 6-week program that is supposed to work the participant up to a 60min straight run.
Not the end....after these two programs are completed. I will be taking the next 10 weeks to do a half marathon work out. This will culminate in (drum roll please) a completed half marathon in May on Long Island.
I'm doing the half.....and crossing the finish line by walking on my hands. It'll happen. I'll post the picture.
The run program starts on Sunday. Last night was forward tumbling in gymnastics. This morning I had a training session with my rediculously talented trainer Davon. Tomorrow will be a rest day.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Ani n'saat l'Yisrael: Mission Statement
May 2008, I was boarding a plane to Israel and trying to remember the Hostel that I thought I was staying at, the phrases I had been practicing in Hebrew, and the life I was leaving behind. To be honest, and no one knew this, I was not planning on coming back.
About a week before I left I spent a Saturday with my then boyfriend, and my father. My mother had decided that after 15+ years, she wanted the bamboo in our backyard gone. Have you ever tried to pull up bamboo? The plants are indestructable! The roots can break through most things that try to block them, travel feet underground and pop up in other places......oh yeah....and when they get really old, it's like wood. I seriously believe that a horror movie should be made about bamboo.
So, you might be wondering how exactly we got rid of this bamboo. Nothing to it. My then boyfriend and I took an axe, shovels, and work gloves and pulled up all the bamboo. We ended up turning over half the back yard and we broke at least one shovel. I discovered that I was very much allergic to something we turned up. I couldn't breathe right for over a week, and on my flight I was worried as to my lung condition in Israel. I was about to do a lot of walking over the next 10 weeks.
Anyway, back to the flight. It took about 10 hours to get to Israel, including a quick stop-over at the airport in Prague. The flight was easy, the airplane was old and still had cigarette ash trays in the arm rests, and I slept most of the way. Little did I know what I was about to go through In Israel. "Annabelle" visited me on the plane. Poor timing.
As I got off the plane, I tried to talk to a taxi driver to get me to the hostel I thought I had reservations with. The driver didn't know where the place was and dropped me off at another hostel in Tel Aviv. I walked around for an hour before I found an artist with a jewlery store who was American. She told me the map on the hostel website was wrong, but that I was only two blocks away. So I walked to the hostel and found out that I did not have a reservation. The owner was nice enough to find me room for the next week.
For those of you who don't know, Tel Aviv is beautiful and on the beach. I ran every day on the board walk and took frequent walks to the shuk. I met a Mr. Lipper, who helped me find my way to Jerusalem and get a cell phone. For the time I was in Israel I called him my older brother. He was so important to my stay there and someone I kept in contact with my entire time in Israel.
A week later I got myself to Jerusalem and check in to the Program I was going to be with for the next month. I got myself to a computer and did something I had waited a week to do, I signed up for Team in Training and volunteered to raise money for blood cancer research in return for training to complete a triathalon......and I agreed to do this in two and a half months.
Most people train for years or months before completing a triathalon. I trained for 10 weeks. In Israel I connected with my coaches via email and ran the hills in the high altitude. I tracked every step with a pedometer and logged in at least 5 miles every day. When I got home, I was 15 pounds lighter, could run for over an hour, and in the best shape I've ever been in since I broke my back. The training for the tri was nothing back then.
Now, a little over a year later, I'm lucky if I can make it 12 hours in a day without being completely exhausted. In 24 weeks, I will complete a half marathon. Why? Because it is important for haBasherti to do it, so I'm going to do it with him.
About a week before I left I spent a Saturday with my then boyfriend, and my father. My mother had decided that after 15+ years, she wanted the bamboo in our backyard gone. Have you ever tried to pull up bamboo? The plants are indestructable! The roots can break through most things that try to block them, travel feet underground and pop up in other places......oh yeah....and when they get really old, it's like wood. I seriously believe that a horror movie should be made about bamboo.
So, you might be wondering how exactly we got rid of this bamboo. Nothing to it. My then boyfriend and I took an axe, shovels, and work gloves and pulled up all the bamboo. We ended up turning over half the back yard and we broke at least one shovel. I discovered that I was very much allergic to something we turned up. I couldn't breathe right for over a week, and on my flight I was worried as to my lung condition in Israel. I was about to do a lot of walking over the next 10 weeks.
Anyway, back to the flight. It took about 10 hours to get to Israel, including a quick stop-over at the airport in Prague. The flight was easy, the airplane was old and still had cigarette ash trays in the arm rests, and I slept most of the way. Little did I know what I was about to go through In Israel. "Annabelle" visited me on the plane. Poor timing.
As I got off the plane, I tried to talk to a taxi driver to get me to the hostel I thought I had reservations with. The driver didn't know where the place was and dropped me off at another hostel in Tel Aviv. I walked around for an hour before I found an artist with a jewlery store who was American. She told me the map on the hostel website was wrong, but that I was only two blocks away. So I walked to the hostel and found out that I did not have a reservation. The owner was nice enough to find me room for the next week.
For those of you who don't know, Tel Aviv is beautiful and on the beach. I ran every day on the board walk and took frequent walks to the shuk. I met a Mr. Lipper, who helped me find my way to Jerusalem and get a cell phone. For the time I was in Israel I called him my older brother. He was so important to my stay there and someone I kept in contact with my entire time in Israel.
A week later I got myself to Jerusalem and check in to the Program I was going to be with for the next month. I got myself to a computer and did something I had waited a week to do, I signed up for Team in Training and volunteered to raise money for blood cancer research in return for training to complete a triathalon......and I agreed to do this in two and a half months.
Most people train for years or months before completing a triathalon. I trained for 10 weeks. In Israel I connected with my coaches via email and ran the hills in the high altitude. I tracked every step with a pedometer and logged in at least 5 miles every day. When I got home, I was 15 pounds lighter, could run for over an hour, and in the best shape I've ever been in since I broke my back. The training for the tri was nothing back then.
Now, a little over a year later, I'm lucky if I can make it 12 hours in a day without being completely exhausted. In 24 weeks, I will complete a half marathon. Why? Because it is important for haBasherti to do it, so I'm going to do it with him.
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