A Date Day at Fort DeSoto

The day we got married 8/5/05.
Not a lot of recent pics
of the two of us.

My last post was about the benefits of fitness dates. This is just more evidence.  I wish my phone had been working or that I had a charged battery for my Rebel XTI but alas...pictures were not a part of our day.  I am borrowing some from various other bloggers.

Josh came up with this one all on his own.  For years now, I have been saying how I would like to try kayaking.  Deep down, the idea of being alone on a tiny little plastic boat out in the water...where all manner of sea critters dwell...secretly terrified me.  But this past year has been about testing myself, putting aside fears, and living in the moment.  On the surface kayaking was appealing because of the full body work out it provides; as well as being able to get really close to coastal mangroves, which fascinate me. 

Josh decides we'll grab a big breakfast, head to Fort De Soto Park, explore the fort, do some kayaking, then some swimming at North Beach.  It was so perfect.  We walked around the fort for a while, reading the historical material about how it was used and why it was built.  We both remember the fort seeming bigger when we were kids.  I think it's a shame the other buildings that once housed the officers are no longer on the island.  Then we headed over to the kayaks.

Got this here

We bought two hours in two kayaks.  I chose a Sit-On-Top kayak for my first time out while Josh chose a Sit In.  I liked the Sit-On-Top while we were in the inlet. The water was calm and I had decent leverage for paddling.  I also felt like I was getting a great core workout.  We wanted to explore off the water trail a little but it meant being exposed to choppy water due to wind.  We had done half the trail in 30 minutes so we headed back to switch my kayak for a sit in.  Once we switched we headed out at a leisurely pace.  The Sit In was much more stable in the choppy water. 

While kayaking we got to see lots of egrets and blue herons.  We got to witness a pair of Osprey fishing.  One circled about 200 yards ahead of us.  It tucked it's wings, swooping toward the surface of the water, then plucked a fish with it's talons and soared back to it's water-side nest.  We also got to see a pelican do multiple dives in a lagoon off of the path.  Lots of fish were jumping. Annighas were swimming, fishing, and drying their tar-black wings on the low speed boat signs.

This pic originated from dipity.com...but wouldn't open.

Afterward, we headed to North Beach.  Josh's plans of swimming were waylaid once I felt the icy waters.  Instead we laid on the beach to relax.  We got to see a small pod of dolphins swimming in the distance. 

Our final activity was to take a long walk along North Beach.  We started out by the North Beach Snack bar and walked north along the shore until it curves into the inlet.  You could see all the different currents warring in the water.  A dangerous place to enter the water for sure but apparently an excellent spot for sunbathing, shelling, and fishing.  Across the inlet we saw boats and tents pitched for primitive camping.  After walking for about an hour is was time to wash off the sand and head home.

From the Fort De Soto main page

This was one of the best workouts and most relaxing dates ever.  We made a new memory with each other.  Josh and I have been together 12 years this June.  We will have been married for 8 of those 12 years in August.  Instead of Getting Fit Like No One is Watching...it feels like we are getting fit and I hope people see the benefits of what it can be like when you do it with your partner.

Fitness Dates

Healthy Hearts Beat as One

My husband, Josh, and I decided this week, while trying to figure out what kind of a date night we were going to have this weekend, to do a fitness date.  While there was a movie I wanted to see...I was worried I wouldn't be able to resist the buttery popcorn and soda that usually accompanies the movie.  I suggested a fitness date would be a good idea.  Here are the top five reason why this was a stroke of brilliance!

1) Explore the Great Outdoors
We live in Florida, the Sunshine State.  While most of North America is still experiencing severely cold or snowy weather in early March...it's starting to feel like spring here.  In our county, we have the Pinellas Trail.  It is a linear trail park that starts in St. St. Petersburg, cuts across the county along Tyrone Blvd, and then goes north all the way to Tarpon Springs.  Some sections are more scenic than others.  We started at Seminole Blvd and walked to Tryone Square Mall (4.36 miles) and then headed back. 
We walked by Blossom Lake Park, passed the St. Petersburg/Madeira Beach KOA, and across Cross Bayou.  It was very pleasant with 3 overpasses.

2) Time to Talk
Couples face a lot of obstacles to remain intimate.  Most couples have careers that keep them apart from 8 - 16 hours a day.  By looking at your family schedule and figuring out when you can etch out some time to workout together, you'll be giving yourself the gift of connection.  Josh and I were able to talk about some of the separate activities we have
done that week.  I told him about a lesson plan I was struggling to plan out for an observation.  He told me about his experiences volunteering at the Specia
Olympics and how his classroom observations were going.  We talked about our daughters and our bucket list for summer traveling.  It's not that we wouldn't talk about these things if we didn't walk together but this was such a pleasant way to do it!

3) Collaborative Goal Setting
Setting goals while you are trying to loose weight or get more fit is really important.  See my previous post about goal setting. Josh and I have separate goals.  He has more weight to loose than I do.  I have some personal
achievements that I am working on.  I want to be able to run a 1/2 marathon and eventually a triathlon.  But our training goals are common, run/walk 3 - 5 times a week.  I am also trying to build some muscle. Because we are both aware of each other's goal there is a high level of
motivation, support, and accountability. According to Jari Love, a fitness  instructor, 94% of couples stick with their fitness plan when they work out together.

4) Time to tease
When you exercise, your body produces chemicals that evoke feelings of happiness, reduces stress, and increases libido.  If you are exercising with your partner, you are both producing
those hormones at the same time.  There is a certain amount of playful flirting that occurs while exercising with your spouse.  Whether it's a saucy smile as you bend to lift a free weight, a pat on the bottom as your running side by side, or some playful nudging was you pass each other on the trail...it all can add up to a very flirtatious encounter.  Want more evidence that sweaty workouts with your partner are worth it?  There are a number of
scientific studies that support the idea that exercising = more love making!

5) Cheap!
We spent a grand total of $20 on our 3.5 hour date.  Our usual date night is about $50 for dinner (a huge calorie surplus), and $20 for movie tickets (if it isn't an IMAX or 3D (movie), plus another $15-20 for snacks at the theater (another calorie surplus there). 

So...where are you going on your next date?

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Picnic Hike
• Beach Fun: play some volleyball, jog along the shore, paddle boarding, etc.
• Row, row, row you boat: rent a kayak or canoe
• Just Dance!  Whether you use the Xbox Just Dance game for the kinect, go out for some salsa dancing, take a class, or hit your gym for Zumba...dancing is a steamy way to exercise with your partner.
• Yoga or Hot Yoga
• Bike ride
• Join a recreation team league.  Most communities have adult rec leagues. 

Setting Goals is Important

 

I am a teacher.  One of the most important skills I teach my kids is how to set small goals when you have a big one to tackle.  By creating a checklist of tasks to achieve, I show them a way for big projects to seem like many small projects which build on each other.  Take my running goals:

Big Fat Juicy Goal:  Run in the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon. (1-2 years)
1st Goal: Train 3 times a week
2nd Goal: Run in a timed 5K once a month
3rd Goal:  Once able to run a 5K without stopping, begin training for 10K.
4th Goal: Continue training 3 times a week for 10K
5th Goal: Run a 10K every other month (5Ks in off months)
6th Goal: Once able to run a 5K without stopping, begin training for 15K.
7th Goal: Train 4 times a week for 15 K
8th Goal: Run a 15K every other month (alternate 5 and 10Ks in off months)
9th Goal: Once I feel confident that I can run 3/4 of a 15K, begin training for 1/2 marathon.
10th Goal: Train 5 days a week
11th Goal: Run a 1/2 marathon every few months.

These goals may shift and change.  I teach my students to keep a calendar to keep their deadlines visual but training for a physical event is different.  If I get injured at some point that will push things back.  You never know when you will bump up against an obstacle like weather interference, mental blocks, or scheduling conflicts. 

I don't feel a rush to complete my Big Fat Juicy Goal.  It's a dream but I certainly don't want to sprint into it and feel overwhelmed.  I often get Big Fat Juicy Ideas.  I am a big picture person; an idealist; an optimist.  I tend to run full steam ahead without a care of the obstacles or consequences.  This is great when studying a new topic or wanting to experience new things (like food or cultures).  Not such a fantastic thing when the results often end in half finished projects, a messy house, and frustrated students. 

As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I am starting to realize that I should make a plan.  Look closer at the details.  Think smaller (at times).  In my training, that means run often, increase my distance and interval training as I begin to feel stronger.  Pay attention to what my body is telling me, and care for it when it needs a massage, pedicure, a steam, or a soak.

Reflection is a skill most teachers use as a professional tool to assess their success or to analyze there lessons.  We use it with our kids too.  Needless to say, it is a skill that carries over into my personal life.  I have been reflecting a lot about why I am running.  I hated running for a long time.  I came up with every excuse of why I couldn't run.  As most things, it stems back to an elementary school experience where I could not keep up with the athletic kids.  I didn't play sports.  I wasn't very fast.  I also didn't practice and wasn't pushed to be any better.  I was adequate and so that was enough. 

This is no longer acceptable.  Mediocre isn't good enough.  I don't feel the need to be THE best.  I just need to be MY best.  I've spent too much of my life making excuses that I wasn't good enough, smart enough, pretty enough.  I am enough but it doesn't mean I have to be complacent.  I am my daughter's first example of what it is to be a woman.  I don't want their self image to be self-depreciating.  I want them to be strong, independent, and healthy.  And so...I run. 

Get fit like gorilla's are chasing you?!

The Chase

My family and friends know I have been determined to become a runner for the past six months are so.  I have been set back several times by injuries and excuses.  Previous to December 6, 2012...I made it though a lot of treadmill and elliptical cardio in the gym.  But it was mindless and felt like torture.  I would see commercials with girls running.  They were the very essense of confidence and strength.  I had seen the inspirational Pinterst posts of the freedom running could bring.  I desperately wanted to feel like that.   

Don't get me wrong, my friends, I love weight lifting still.  It makes me feel powerful, strong, capable, and fierce.  But what about a sense of accomplishment, what about the high runners speak of at the end of a marathon?  What about overcoming a lifetime of telling myself, "You're not an athlete.  You've never been able to perform athletically."  It's really hard to abandoned years and years of self-doubt.

I was so tired of being afraid of everything.  Tired of telling myself my knees are weak, my shins will hurt, my back can't take it, there are no bras that will support me running.  All of these excuses of why I couldn't.  On December 6, 2012, I ran my first 5K.  I did it because I wanted help raise money for a local education foundation that supports mentorship of under privileged teens.  I didn't train before hand.  I was in horrible shape.  But I finished in under an hour.  I walked most of it but a ran some too.  I could barely move for the next four days.  That is when the chase began for me.

I got new shoes (see my previous post on show shopping). I got a new attitude.  I decided I would run and I started running.  Sometimes at the gym on the treadmill, sometimes on the track at the Y, it mostly outside on the beach and local park trails.  No excuses...just doing it.  Ad the weirdest thing happened.  Running stopped feeling like so,etching I had to get through and started being what I needed to relax my mind, distress my body, and get my creative juices flowing.

Two months later, I am signed up for two more 5Ks.  One is this coming Saturday and the other a month from now.  For the past four weeks, I have run 3 days a week using the Easy 5K with Jeff Galloway App.  I get stronger with every run.  Two days ago, I did 2.94 miles in 42:58 min.  I was outside on a park trail with small hills, some gravel paths, and a strong breeze.  I never stopped.  Afterwards...I felt amazing!  I realized I was going to be able to complete my next 5K with at least 10 minutes shaved off my time.

Gorilla Work Outs

My husband, Josh, comes to me and says, "Want to do a gorilla workout with me?"  Several mental images flashed through my mind.  Like the ones to the right.  However, he was talking about a fitness app.  Check out their info here. 

This week we started using the Gorilla Workout app.  Level 1, Day 1 was four cents of 8 squats, 4 walking lunges (right and left count as 1), 10 modified push ups.  I have never done a lot of body weight workouts.  It was a lot harder than I thought.  Every work out will be a little different and they will get progressively more challenging.  I love that we are working out together a couple nights a week now.  We have common goals that are aligned.  We will reach them at different paces but the complete support and encouragement makes the goals seem completely obtainable. 

A Full Week Back

Fitness

This is the first full week of weightlifting and cardio since this past summer.  I feel amazing!  I kept my weight for arms and shoulders just slightly under what I know I am capable of lifting.  I do not want to flare up my bursitis.  I am focusing on developing solid form when I run. 

What is super amazing though is the 100% support I am getting from my husband.  We have been switching off childcare when the time we can workout doesn't line up with the gym's kid zone areas.  Watching the girls when I go beach running.  He even broght me the Kinect game Just Dance so I could fit in cardio on the nights where we have a lot of running to do and I can't get to the gym and it's too late to run outside. 

It has been so rewarding to see Josh changing before my eyes.  He is setting really obtainable goals for himself and he has saught out technology to assist him in being successful.  He uses the Zombie Run and Fitocracy apps alongside LoseIt! 

Here is my workout this week!



Jamie Eason: barbell squats



Sunday: Ran on the beach; 30min; 1min walk/1min run

Monday: Weight Lifting 35min; Elliptical 30min

• Dumbell Press 15lbs 3x10
• Lat Pull Down 40lbs 3x10
• Overhead press 35lbs 3x10
• Cable row 40lbs 3x10
• Squat to shoulder press 10lbs 3x10
• Alternating bicep curl 10lbs 3x10
• Overnead tricep pushup 10lbs 3x10
• cable bicep curl 20lbs 3x10
• Cable tricep pushdown 30lbs 3x10
• Cable fly 15lbs 3x10



Tuesday: Weight Lifting 40 min; abs 25mins; Stationary Bike 30mins

• Leg Press 110lbs 3x10
• Alternate lunges 10lbs 3x10
• Hip abductor 40lbs 3x10
• Hip adductor 40lbs 3x10
• Barbell squats bar+20lbs 3x10
• Standing calf raises 25lbs 3x10
• Seated calk raises 25lbs 3x10
• Back extensions 3x30 (front & sides)
• Vertical scissor kicks 3x10
• Horizontal scissor kicks 3x10
• Yoga ball crunches 3x15



Overhead cable curl



Wednesday: Aerobic Dancing 30 min

Thursday: Aerobic Dancing 30 min; Weight Lifting 40 mins

• Barbell curl 18lbs 3x10
• Superset: Overhead cable curl 15lbs & Cable hammer curls 15lbs 3x10
• Alternate hammer curl 12.5lbs 3x10
• Bench dips 3x10
• Skullcrushers 15lbs 3x10
• Seated tricep press 10lbs 3x10
• Tricep push down (rope) 30lbs 3x10
• Airbike 3x25
• Yoga ball crunches 2x15

Friday: Weight Lifting 30 min; Ran on the treadmill 26:23 min 1min walk/1min run

• Smith military press 35lbs 3x10
• Superset: Upright dumbell rows 7.5lbs 3x10 & Standing dumbell military press 7.5lbs 3x10
• Incline bench front dumbell delt raises 5lbs 3x10
• Lateral raises 5lbs 3x10
• Rear delt raises 3lbs 3x10

Diet

I am not yet back 100% to where I was this past summer with my food.  During the school year, cooking dinner takes a backseat to all the other things we hav to get done.  So for now, I am counting calories using the LoseIt App and just trying to build in good choices as I am counting. 

For example, we were at the mall today.  The mall we were at is the only one around here that has Sbarro.  I wanted spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread more than I can say!  BUT I knew that means very few calories for the rest of the day even if I worked out.  Instead, I chose their skinny pizza. A super thin pizza with light tomato sauce and mozzeralla with onion, green and red pepers.  270 calories a slice.  I pair it with a salad and diet coke.  Small choices like that over time will hopefully equal better habits. 

Let's get honest

Okay...as you can tell, I am way off the wagon here.  I started to go to the gym and then I let my overbooked schedule rule my life and be an excuse for why I eat on the run and avoid the gym.


Christmas 2011

I do want to take a moment and focus on my husband.  Josh is an amazing human being.  Sometimes I can't believe that someone so smart, funny, and resourceful picked me for his life partner and mother of his children.  I am the epitome of disorganization, procrastination, and I can't tell a joke right to save my life.  Josh is a big guy.  I would be lying if I said I haven't been concerned over his health.  In the last year, though, Josh has taken many steps to getting his weight and metabolic syndrome in check. 

He did a juice detox a while back that completely changed the way he thinks about food.  As a result, we are trying to keep a 90% vegetarian diet for pure nutritional reasons.  He has learned a number of very tasty recipes.  Finally, he is adding in exercise.  He got the Fitocracy app to give his fitness efforts a gaming feel and tracks his calories using Lose It!. 

I am so proud of how focused and dedicated he is.  Josh is very supportive of my own fitness goals and is very encouraging.  It's not his fault that I am a cranky mess!  LOL! 

He is my inspiration to find that motivation and press on.  I think I'm going to have to start letting some things go so that I can put my health and fitness first.  Maybe if I do that, my kids will see that Josh and I think it is a priority.  I want them to choose to live healthy lives as they get older too.

Inuries Abound

Several things have happened since September's post.  First...school started.  I am a teacher.  I have found it very difficult to maintain my level of training.  Mostly due to my daughter's after school activities.  I need to reprioritize.  Second...I had several injuries.

During the third day of phase three, I was trying to discover what weight I could fail on.  Well, my shoulder began to hurt.  Not just muscle soreness but in the joint.  I stopped immediately to rest it.  I still did legs that week and cardio but my right shoulder was in severe pain.  I iced it.  I applied heat. I took ibprofen.  Eventually I called the doctor.  It ended up being bursitus.

WebMD: "Bursitis is the inflammation or irritation of the bursa. The bursa is a sac filled with lubricating fluid, located between tissues such as bone, muscle, tendons, and skin, that decreases rubbing, friction, and irritation."

The way to treat it is rest, ice, and anti-inflammatories.  It took a month of rest before my shoulder felt normal again.  Around that time, it was Thanksgiving break.  My brother invited us to come to North Carolina to his in-laws lake house.  We had an amazing time but I fell down the stairs and injured my other shoulder!  Again...ice, rest, and anti-inflammatories.  No gym.

I have gained much of the weight back.  I have been feeling sluggish, fatigued, and mentally slower than I did during the summer.  I hate feeling this way. 

First 5K! Could I be a runner?

On December 8, I ran my first 5K!  I hadn't been training.  My shoes were worn down.  But I beleived in the cause and helped to raise money for my school team.  I ran with three kindergarten teachers.  All of them run regularly.  I thought, I was in really good shape.  My muscles wont fail me.  WRONG!  I alternated walking and running.  I tried to walk half a mile and run half a mile.  I lagged behind my team but at some point while I was running, I realized that had I went back to training when I was well or gotten into the pool, I wouldn't be struggling this badly now.  I finished in under and hour and was very proud of that.  I could barely walk the next day I was so sore.  I knew then that I would have to get back to what I know was working for me before my injuries.

This is from the Fit2Run website.

I am determined to return to my training.  For Christmas, Josh took me to Fit2Run.  It's a shoe store specifically for runners.  They digitize your foot print to discover where you are placing all your pressure.  They measure your foot and video record you running on a treadmill to assess what kind of shoe you need.  We discovered that I overpronate (especially on my right foot), which would account for the knee pain I experience after running.  The saleswoman recommend a shoe with a post in it and orthepedic inserts for my collapsing arches.  We tried many pairs on.  She jogged behind me to assess my gait and give me pionters on how to fix it.  It was a great (and expensive) trip.  I left with shoes, inserts, and compression socks.

This is the shoe I ended up getting.  LOVE them!

The next day, I was back to Phase 1, Day 1 of Jamie Eason's program.  I thought about trying somthing new but I had such good results the first time.  It was my own fault I didn't complete it.  Hopefully this time I will be able to.  I learned my lesson.  Keep the weights challenging but it's not worth it to push so hard I cause an injury.  So, wish me luck.