Saturday, December 21, 2013

2nd Annual Christmas Fun Run

Today marked the 2nd Annual Christmas Fun Run, AKA my favorite run of the year.  Last year this was my favorite non-race run and this year was even more so.  We woke up to a few inches of snow which on any other day we probably would have just gone to the gym for a treadmill run.  Today we put on our big girl pants elf suits and headed to Kneaders to meet up with a big group.
CHEEEEEESE!  Aren't we just a couple of jolly weirdos.  "We are Santa's elves, filling Santa's shelves, with a toy for each girl and boy, oh we are Santa's elves."
I really didn't think our fancy little shoes would stay on but they did and they kept our feet dry and warm.  Maybe I will wear them on every run...hmmm?
There were probably 30-40 runners.  
We ran up the canyon for a while, notice I said UP the canyon...in the snow!!!  Running up the canyon is hard enough but add inches of snow and it's REALLY hard!  The snow was falling the entire run which made it oh so magical.  We had quite a few slips and slides but amazingly we didn't fall, I fall on dry ground and the treadmill so I was certain I would go down at least once.  It must have been my #ElfPowers that saved me.
I was so happy to see the Santa gal, we felt kind of dumb that more people didn't dress up.
Last year the real fun started once we left the canyon and went into town.  I finally suggested that we turn around and head into Provo and Orem. 
Bill dressed up too :)  Isn't it a beautiful winter wonderland, I LOVE IT!!!
The roads were really bad and we saw a Suburban stopped on the side of road.  Naturally, we thought they were stuck or having car trouble.  Nope, the guy was standing outside of his car telling us how awesome we were and taking our picture.  He was great :)  Perhaps I can pay him to be our personal cheerleader on all our runs. 
We got lots of funny looks and saw A LOT of people taking pictures of us...good times.
We saw the Jolly Old Elf again.  I swear it was the same Santa we saw last year, he was hanging out the window just a wavin'! HO HO HO!
We turned onto University Parkway and headed into Orem.  The hill going up from the Olive Garden to Red Lobster seemed to go on forever, it's a HARD hill and nearly killed me off.
There was a lot of snow which at times made it very hard to run, we became stumbling fools a number of times...it was super dang funny.  People were laughing WITH us, not at us :)  I'm sure of it!
#ProCompression #ElfPowers #TheFanciestShoeCoversEver
Weesie Saturday ;)
We ended up with 16.25 miles in 2:32, I don't think it's ever taken me that long to run 16 miles.  It's amazeballs how much harder it is to run in the snow...TOTES MCGOTES!!!
This commercial makes me sooooo happy!!
Thank you Rachelle for putting together such a fun run.  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

How To Kick Your Own Butt!

Tuesday I did quite the leg workout.  I somehow convinced Holly that she wanted to take some videos of me doing the moves after we finished our KYT workout this morning.  Just FYI, I HATE seeing myself in videos and I REALLY hate hearing my voice.  On leg day I always warm up with 4 laps of walking lunges.  The first lap is done without weights, after that I grab 15 lb DB's.  Here is the rest of the leg workout:

Check out my Holiday lederhosen :)
15 Squats with big barbell
(go low and SQUEEZE your glutes at the top...TUSHY SQUEEZE!
30, or more, squat hold calf raises
(Squat down and HOLD it the entire time and do 30 calf raises.  These are kind of like seated calf raises only your quads will be burning too.  Keep going until your calves are burning, it may take more than 30.
30 Single leg bridges
(lift your tukus off the ground, the higher you go the better.  Put as much tension as you need on the bands and do 15 per leg.
 30 Glute push-backs
(keep your leg straight and get a full range of motion, lift your leg high.  I usually get the "shackles" as the attachment but for times sake I just stuck my foot in the strap.  15 per leg.
30 Pendulum lunges
This will make your quads BURN!
(lunge forward and back, this counts as one and I usually hold 15 lb DB's but for this "re-enactment" I did not...sorry I'm not sorry ;)

I didn't record the last one because it's pretty self explanatory but DO NOT forget this part.  Walking lunges with 15 lb DB's across the gym then do the wall-sit holding the weights on your thighs, hold for at least 1 minute.  Then lunge back to where you started from and do the wall-sit AGAIN!  If your legs aren't burning then you are doing something wrong.  Now repeat this entire workout 3 times.

After this workout I decided to head into the Cardio Cinema room and do some hill work.  I saw this workout on the Instagram and decided to give it a try.
Thanks sweats4sweets for the awesome tready routine.
 I started with a 2 mile warm up and then I started to climb.  I kept the speed at 7 mph and it was HARD.  I thought I was going to DIE!  To recover I just lowered back down to 0% incline and kept running.  I did 4 repeats at 15% but just jumped my feet off to the sides for 30 seconds to recover.  Then I ran 2.5 more miles.  I did 2 miles at 8 mph and cooled down the last .50 mile, for a total of 7.5 miles.   I left the gym feeling beat and AWESOME!  I absolutely love the way I feel after a hard workout.  There's something wonderful about kicking your own butt!

Needless to say I woke up SUPER sore this morning...I love that!



Monday, December 9, 2013

A Wonderful Workout And Christmas Song!!!

Sometimes you just get so incredibly shredded that you want to share your awesome workout with everyone.  Today I did a killer shoulder workout, I kind of LOVE working my shoulders.  This picture shows you just how shredded I really am, I hide it well.
I BE HUGE ;)
Here is the workout:
30 Squats with alternating shoulder presses
(holding 20 lb DB's with palms facing each other held just above your shoulders, squat and while you are coming up do a single arm shoulder press, squat and switch sides, repeat 30 times)
15 Seated Military presses
(I used a shoulder pulley machine at the gym 30 lbs, if using DB's I usually use 20's)
15 Side delt raises using resistance bands.
15 Hammer style(palms facing each other) front delt raises
(I used 12 lb DB's, start with weights by your side and raise them up to about eye level)
15 Bent over rear delt pulls
(With soft knees bend over keeping your back straight, if that makes sense, grab a 40 lb barbell a little wider than your shoulders and pull up towards your chest.  You want to work your rear delts so keep your elbows wide and in-line with your shoulders.
15 Upright row to press using 40 lb barbell
I'm not doing a very good job at describing these things so just google it :) you're welcome!
I guess this is why I don't post workouts very often, they're too hard to describe.

I gave the weights I used as an example, we are all different.  I'm sure plenty of you are laughing at the weights I used but it was hard for me so lay off...I kid!!

After this shoulder workout I went into the Cardio Cinema room and did a 9 mile progression run.  I started at 7 mph and for the first mile I bumped it up .1 mph every .25 mile.  Mile 2 was 7.4 and I bumped it up .1 every mile ending at 8 or 8.1 mph.  I cooled down the last .50 mile.  I'm still trying to regain my speed since my ding dang injury this summer, so by the end this was hard for me.

If you're looking for something for the runner in your life, it can be you, Aspaeris is having a big sale from 12/11-12/24.  You can get 40% off everything using promo code MERRY at Aspaerispivotshorts.com
I did a review of the Aspaeris Pivot Short HERE!!  I wear them mostly to recover in and I love them.  

Lastly, I have to share a Christmas song that I am in LOVE with.  It makes me cry a little bit and I like to run to it, enjoy!!
LOVE IT!!!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Thankful 13 Half Marathon 2013

Thanksgiving morning I had the opportunity to pace the Thankful 13 Half Marathon.  This was one of my favorite races of the year, next to the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon.  Unlike most Utah races this course doesn’t send you flying down a canyon, you have to earn your time on this one.  Another good thing about this race is that you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to catch a bus, nope you start and finish at the same point.   Holly and I paced the 1:50 group.
 
The race started right on time and we were off.  I was a bit nervous that I wasn’t going to be warm enough.  I tried out my new Nike jacket and wasn’t sure how warm it was going to be.
Here's Kenna modeling it for you.  It is quite possibly the softest thing EVA...it's smooth like butta!  It has thumb holes and is thin but it is VERY warm, perfect!  I picked it up at 26.2 Running Co. when we were there for packet pick-up.  I can't tell you how much I love this jacket, so I'm not going to try!!!
  By mile 2 I was warm, so Holly and I took turns holding each other’s junk so we could take off a layer.  This was no easy task but we somehow managed.  I had to lose my fancy turkey hat at this point as well.  It was driving me cray cray and my head was super hot…nobody likes a hot head!  Besides, I was having a panic attack because my airway was being cut off.  I tied the little suckers legs around my waist, it looked like he was pecking my bum :D  Cute bum where ya' from?
 
The course was absolutely beautiful, they had to change the course a little due to some construction and it was even better than before.  I hope the course will stay the same for next year, although according to my Garmin it was a bit short. 
 
There were signs all along the course showing what people were thankful for, I liked this a lot.  I REALLY liked one sign that said “I’m thankful for my ex-husband, thankful he’s an ex!”  HAHAHA, that caused me to have a fine chuckle.  I also saw a sign that my friend Jessica did, her dad beat colon cancer this year YAY!!!  It’s always nice to have something to read to distract yourself.  It’s also nice to be running behind a guy in a full on turkey costume, when he approached one photographer he did a funny little turkey move.  I missed it but Holly sure laughed about it, I can envision it and it was breath taking :D
 
Holly and I attempted to do a jump for one of the photographers, I can’t wait to see how this one turned out, as I flung my arms in the air to give myself a little boost I cracked Holly in the stick :D  I hit the pacing stick and nearly knocked the poor dear over, it was a travesty but might make for some good photography.  I will just add that our tutu’s looked super awesome in our shadows.
They looked awesomer (it's a word) when we were running.
The race was so well organized, everything was perfect!  Holly and I finished the race and wanted to even things out so we did 14 miles, it was FUN!!  We finished just in time for the push-up contest.
  I will NEVER win a race but I can win a push-up contest.  I WON and got a HUGE turkey!!!
Isn't it beautiful Clark?!?  I told you it was HUGE.
  I did 90 push-ups and my whole body was shaking, I’ve never had that happen before, maybe I was nervous ;)  I just need to enter more push-up contests and less running contests I guess ;)
Pacer group shot!  Becky, Weirdo #Uno, Julia, Rachelle and Weirdo #Dos.  Aren't our turkey hats dashing? 
Then I said something that made Holly angry and she came at me with an axe...WTHeck! 
Don't worry, I apologized and we're friends again.
Sadly, race season is over for a while here in Utah.  Luckily, Rachelle invited me to her 2nd Annual Christmas Fun Run, YIPEE!!!  I already know what I'm going to wear too and these little beauties are definitely going to be part of my ensemble, I love them!!!  I could quite possibly wear them every day this month!
These are going to sell out QUICK so if you want some follow this handy little link HERE and order yourself some.  If you use the promo code SNOW you will not only get 40% off but you will also get FREE shipping.  Don't say I never gave you anything (technically I'm not giving you anything but let's just pretend that I am) and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!