JANUARY NO MORE

I just realized tomorrow is a new month. What the heck happened to January ? Seems we like we were just hanging our new 2011 calendars up and now I have to flip the page. What did I do with the month. Well...

I celebrated another birthday. Which means I have been running for 4 years now. Doesn't seem that long.
I ran a 5K in January and placed in my age group.

I signed up for the Women's Half Marathon last Friday. I want to do this race again so I can run it. Not that I minded walking it with my sister, we had a great time.

I tried a new recipe from Cook This Not That. It was the Roast Pork Loin with Lemony White Beans. I loved the beans!
My total miles for the month were not what I wanted, only 22. Need to get out even if it is cold after all my goal for the year is 720.

I guess I could say it's been a good month.

CAT'S SPECIAL BOOT CAMP

One of the trainers at the gym is training for the Golden Gloves boxing match. So today the gym held a special boot camp to raise money to help pay for her expenses. Christy and I wanted to help support her so we attended. If I'd known , I'd of just donated and skipped the camp. It was hard, hard, hard. So hard I can't remember all that we did but it was based on her workouts that she uses to prepare for her fight. She even taught us some boxing steps, that was fun. Part was inside and then we were out in the parking lot for part, yes out side where the temperature was 78. This evening I asked Christy if her legs were sore because mine sure were. No it was her abs that hurt.
This week i managed to get in 4 boot camps and 1 run. Hoping to do better next week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WORKOUT

Today is my birthday and I didn't realize what was in store for me at the gym.

"We are going to do the birthday workout." Shayla said. WHAT, I didn't even know there was such a thing. " What year were you born" she asked. If I had known what she was going to do with that I would have replied 1910. Everything we did was based on my age or year born. OMG, everyone was going to hate me and Heidi kept mumbling " thanks a lot Cindy". Can I help it if I'm old. We had to do 68 sit ups, 68 squat thrusts, 68 push ups, 43 surrenders on each leg, 43 frog jumps , run 8 minutes at a 6.00 pace and then we had to get in plank position with our toes on paper plates and do 8 sets of 6 reps sliding our feet out to the sides and back in. And in case you haven't guessed I'm 68 today so Happy Birthday to me. After that tough workout I will enjoy my dinner out and the cupcake I bought to celebrate.

DO THE MATH

Boot camp this morning, what was in store for us. I knew it wouldn't be the cards today. Okay, she's going for upper body. I can handle that. Here's what we did. She had a circuit set up that we were to do 5 times. There were six of us so six stations.

Burpees 10 reps
Chest press 45 pounds 20 reps
tricep dips 20 reps
lateral pull downs 60 pounds 10 reps
V abs 10 reps
side raise palms facing front 8 reps
palms facing rear 8 reps
palms facing sides 8 reps



So if i did the math correct this is what it adds up to:
50 burpees
100 chest presses
100 triceps dips
50 lateral pull downs
50 V abs
120 side raises

Out of all of the above I find the burpees the hardest to do.

DREADED DECK OF CARDS

I missed the last two boot camps because my back has been sore so made sure i was at the gym today. Didn't want to miss another session. Had I known what was in store for me I might have skipped it. It was the dreaded deck of cards. Here's what we had to do.

Spades dead lifts with 45 pounds
Hearts push ups
Clubs Mountain climbers
Diamonds Wall squats for 10 sec times the value of the card
Jokers burpees for 1 minute
Red faced cards C-crunch for 1 minute
Black faced cards plank for 1 minute
Aces 1/4 mile on the treadmill

The number of reps were the value of the card. Total reps came to 54 .

If you are looking for a hard work out, this is the one to try.

TRADING PLACES

I asked Christy if she wanted to take my place at boot camp this morning. My back was still hurting from last week when I cleaned the carpets and so I decided I would do a yoga class instead. Wise decision, they did legs and Christy looked exhausted when she came home.

I did the warrior yoga class with Heidi, it was a great way to stretch out my muscles and relax. This is one class I might just start being a regular at.

Our biggest loser contest starts today and I am trying to eat healthy. It's very hard after the holidays when I have eaten more than I should have, had more sweets then I needed and sipped a few more reds then I usually do.

PIZZA AND PANCAKES

Christy and I signed up for this race back in December. It was an inaugural 5K and 10K in Addison an area North of Dallas. I awoke to the sound of rain and the thought that I didn't want to go out in cold damp weather to run a 5k. However, I knew Christy would be disappointed if we didn't go and by the time we were ready to leave the house the rain had stopped.

The race was in Addison Circle at the convention center. We were allowed inside to stay warm and use the bathrooms. Yes, real bathrooms.

Waiting for the race to start we are inside staying warm and watching out the window at the runners warming up. The race had one big bridge that we had to run up and down and then on the turn around we got to do it again. Most of the course was flat. When we reached the finish we were handed a mug to go inside and fill with hot cocoa.

The mug pile was quickly dwindleing as helpers were scooping them up to hand to the runners.

Christy and I met up and headed inside to fill our mugs. Besides the cocoa there was beer, pizza, and pancakes from The Orginal Pancake House.

Here's a closer look at the mugs, cute aren't they? While we were sipping our hot cocoa they were announcing the winners. I had spotted my competion so didn't think I had a chance at a medal...

then I heard my name announced for second place, 38:xx, yes i did it!

Look how cute the medal is and now it is hanging on the cute medal rack I got for Christmas.

With our bellies full and cups in hand we headed back to the car and home. This was a great race and I would definately do it again.

BRRR...BOOKS AND BREAD

Yes we have had snow but not as much as Atlanta. Were having cold weather, temperatures barely making it out of the 20's. I have been hibernating like a Grizzly.The only miles I have run are the warm ups at boot camp so I am far behind on my goal for January.
I did two boot camps this week and then today because my back was hurting and I have a 5K race tomorrow I had Christy go in my place.

Because it has been cold I have been reading and just finished a book by Jamie Ford titled Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It is a wonderful story about family, first loves and what happened to the Japanese Americans in Seattle during World War II.

I always find when I am stuck inside because of the cold that nothing taste better than a slice of fresh, warm bread from the oven. I have just made the dough and it is on its first rise. Can't wait until it is finished. I've been using the recipe from King Arthur Flour for classic white sandwhich bread and it always turns out.

FUN FACTS

I never imagined when I signed up to run my first half at Disney in 2008 that I would continue running and even sign up for boot camp. Four years later I am still going strong and blog about what I do. Below is a look back at 2010 with some fun facts.

The best thing I did for myself was to sign up for boot camp in February; it was only going to be for 1 month... I'm still doing it.

I was always carrying my water bottle in my hand and the water kept getting warm. Jenny sent me a great bottle with a handle so I didn't have to hold it in my hand. Big improvement!

Three generations of runners on New Years Eve.

The neatest race of 2010 was "Athlete's Helping Athletes" in Atlanta. Everyone was assigned a greyhound to greet them when they crossed the finish line.

The farthest I traveled for a race was to run the Women's Half-Marathon" in St. Petersburg, FL with my sister, Pat.

The number of races that I ran in 2010 were:

• 10 - 5 K's
• 1 - Half-Marathon
• 1 - 10 K
• 1 - 4.2 mile race
• Total: 13 races
  
  

My most exciting moment in 2010 was winning $500 in the TUF gym contest.

One new thing that I tried this year was Yoga. I didn't like it as well as some of the other training techniques.



The last song that I loaded on my iPod was "The Dog Days are Over" by Florence and the Machine.

Total miles run for the year was 608.97. I've upped my goal for 2011 to 720 miles.

TOO QUIET

Last night Amy's family left for home, this morning my house was too quiet. I miss all the morning chatter. I went to boot camp and there were only three of us, it was too quiet.
Camp today was upper body with lots (160) of push ups, biceps, triceps and shoulders. It was a very hard workout.
I finally did three days of boot camp. Seems like I was only getting one in with everyone here, hopefully I am back on track.

LAST RACE OF THE YEAR

I have to admit when Amy first suggested we do a race while they were here I wasn't very enthused. December can be cold or wet and the thought of racing in that type of weather wasn't my idea of fun. However I pulled up my big girl panties and said I'd go, after all it was going to be my grandson's first race. The race was starting at 4:30 in Ft. Worth, we left the house at 2 because I didn't know what the traffic would be like or where the race was. Got there in plenty of time and got registered.

We all got our bibs and I helped Florian pin his on. I think he was a little worried I might stick him.

The race started on top of the levy so we went up the hill to check it out and also I had to use the port-a-potty and it was down the hill on the other side.

Waiting for the race was cold. I sat on the hill to try and keep warm while the fun run was going on. There was a good breeze and the temperature was dropping. I don't know how people run in shorts when it's cold. Finally we got to line up and the race began. Florian, Stefaan and Amy were ahead of me and since it was an out and back I got to see them when we passed. Christy and I gave each other a high five when we passed. As I neared the end I saw the hill to get up to the levy, ugh.



Stefaan was nice and met me at the bottom of the hill and ran in with me. Amy was waiting with water and a banana and Florian had cookies. My kind of race treat. Can you believe they even had Belgium waffles.

Finished with a time of 38:38 enough to get me first place in my age group. Then it was time to head back home and start the celebration.

That evening we had a great dinner and rang in the new year with horns and champagne.

Happy 2011 everyone.