RUN OR DYE!

We ran a 5K on Saturday. We were missing two of our Body Back ladies, but we had a blast!
Here is our group's picture before the run.

And here is after.

Oh, didn't I tell you? It was a color run, very similar to the other one that I ran a while back. I got a little messier this time. It may have had something to do with who I ran with. : ) These chicks were out for blood! But we did have a great time. 

In case you're counting, this makes my third 5K in three months. Okay, it's my third 5K ever. Like, in my whole life. I doubt I'll keep up this pace, but I do plan to run more races in the future. Who'd have thought - me, running for fun? Pretty wild. 

Tabata 2

I'm not entirely sure how this happened, but apparently we asked for this. Another night of Tabata Training. It was awesome, but I can't remember a thing! The hour always goes by so quickly when we do this. 

Sponge Balls!

Another Monday weigh-in, and I lost over a pound this last week! Woohoo! There's just one week left in our class and I'm exactly 1 pound away from making my 10 pound goal. I'm feeling pretty confident that I can keep up the weight loss and get to where I really want to be. I'm still not sure where that is, but I know I'm getting closer and it feels so good. I've got an awesome exercise routine, and I think I've finally figured out how to eat. I know...it's about time.

In tonight's class we used those deceptive little sponge balls again to do core and lower body. We had a small group, and it got smaller as class went on. At the end, it was almost a personal training session - just me and one other. Man, was I glad she was there! The thought of being one-on-one with Bethany frightens me! I am such a slacker. With no one else for her to focus on, I wouldn't be able to take my mini-breaks. Yes, I realize I'm only cheating myself. But it's hard work! And sometimes I just need a second to rest and breathe. 

So after a great class (and giving it my all), we'll see if I can use my legs tomorrow. 

Crossfit Style

Wednesday's class was Crossfit-esque, so I'm told. I'm not familiar with Crossfit workouts so it was all new to me! We were outside in the heat, I think it was in the upper 90's last night. I was sweating just standing there. Bethany had stations set up throughout the field we were on, maybe 9 or 10 of them. We rotated through, doing each exercise for one minute. Let's see how many I can remember...

V sit with resistance band.

Jump rope. You don't need a picture of this, but know that it was in a field. So I may have just jumped in place after tripping over the rope a half-dozen times. 

Walking lunges with kettle bells. This added more resistance than I realized with an extra five pounds in each hand. 

Box jumps.

Haha! Just kidding. Ours was more like the box you would see at a step class.

Crunches on stability ball.

Squats with kettle bell.

Our kettle bells were not that tiny! I've never seen such a small kettle bell.

Rear fly on stability ball.

Stability ball ab pass.

I really don't have a clue what this one was called. But we passed the ball between our hands and feet, coming up to meet, then touching down on the ground.

Forward raises with kettle bell.

Again, with the teensy kettle bells..

Wall ball. This was fun. Chunk a 10 pound ball 10 feet in the air at the wall, and when it bounces off and flies back down at you, try to catch it.

I think that's all of them, though I would not be surprised if I missed one or two. I think the heat really got to me. And please forgive me if I butchered the name of some or all of them. (By the way, those were not our pictures. I always forget to take some!)  We did two rounds of each exercise, and on the third set we did a short sprint between each station. 

By the end, we were all soaked in sweat. Then, we had to look at ourselves in the mirror (because that's what everyone wants to do after a workout). It was actually not as scary as I thought it would be. : ) We talked about what words came to mind...our inner voice. And GREMLINS!

 
That nasty little gremlin who tells us such negative things, and cute one who who is supportive and positive. I choose the cuddly one to be my inner voice. What about you?

Stripping

After last week's four pound loss, I was pretty nervous to weigh-in tonight. I thought for sure some of that weight would be back. I was even hoping for no loss/no gain, just to be the same. But surprisingly, I lost over a pound this last week! Woohoo!! I'm feeling pretty good about making my 10 pound goal in these last weeks of Body Back. I'm not going to lie, after no loss a few weeks ago, I wasn't feeling terribly confident. But I've got a new spurt of excitement and motivation. Maybe it's the mini-shopping spree I went on a couple weeks ago? Which by the way, my shorts are already too baggy! Ugh! Why couldn't I have left the tags on a few of them? I went back to the same store and tried on the next smaller size, and they fit! Ahh! It's just amazing. All of this hard work is finally catching up.

Tonight's class was a bit of a mystery going in. We got a somewhat coded message that it would be "stripping class." So here I am, racking my brain - I surely won't be Googling this one. Now I know that there are exercise classes based around, ahem, exotic dancing. I'm thinking I'll be climbing poles and attempting embarrassing hip movements, that frankly, my hips just aren't capable of. Thankfully for everyone involved, I was WAY off. 

It was NOT this.

This "stripping" had to do with our exercise bands. Usually, we get the choice of using a red band (more resistance) or green band (less resistance). But tonight, we used both. At the same time. I was really shocked at how difficult it was to use both bands together. On any other day, I always use a red band because the green ones just don't feel like a workout to me anymore. (Yay for being stronger!) So silly me for thinking that adding a green band in wouldn't make a difference. There was more than one exercise where I was fighting to complete the reps with both bands. We would do a set with both bands, then "strip" down to just the red band. Then to the green, and work back up to both bands again.

We did manage to find a few poles to use outside. But nothing vulgar, I promise. We anchored our bands on them to do chest presses and rows. It was a fun and very challenging workout. I'm really enjoying that we're getting such a different workout every week. I think that really helps me stay interested and motivated. It's definitely not monotonous! 

Halfway Assessment

Today’s workout was our halfway, reassessment. I was anxious to see the improvements that I've already made on this journey. We did all of the same exercises for one minute, trying to beat our original numbers. 

The changes that this group of women have made are amazing! I'm pretty sure that every single person improved on every activity. Well, except for me. My run time went up by one second...but in my defense, we are running outside on a fairly uneven field - rocks, holes, etc. I am running as fast as I can, without injuring myself, dodging whatever is in my path. I have been known to twist my ankle just walking on level ground. Really. And the last thing I need is to mess up one of my ankles and not be able to exercise for the rest of the class. All that said, I don't see my run time improving in the end. But I'm okay with that, because I know that I have gotten faster and stronger regardless of that number. 

I improved my plank time by eight seconds. That doesn't seem like much, but after holding it for three minutes, I think anything over that is a bonus! I wish I had all my numbers to share, but I just don't remember them all. I turned in my sheet where I logged it all, but I can tell you they all went up! (Well, except for that darn run time...) 

I still struggle with pushups. I just don't have the strength to do a real one, still! Now, I'm not doing them on my knees, but I can't get my chest down like I'd like to. I mean, I could, but then my whole body would be on the ground too. I get as low as I can, but I'd really like it to look something like...

this.

I powered through the squats, and my legs are still sore. The only thing that worries me, is now I have to improve all of these numbers by the end! I've got a couple more weeks left, so if I thought I was giving it my all, now I've really got to. Here's to making a change!!

Haha! Yes, that's how strong I want to be!!

By the way, I guess my hard work is paying off. I have had multiple compliments from others, telling me that they can really see a change. My clothes fit differently, actually, most of them don't fit at all! I finally went shopping to spend a few gift cards I've had since Christmas. Yes, I know. But I haven't wanted to buy clothes for this body that I didn't plan on keeping long. Anyway, my new shorts were three sizes smaller than what I was wearing last summer!! WOO HOO!! I've only ever owned a few pants in this size, so I'm really excited. Hopefully this mini-shopping spree will hold me over until I get to where I want to be. Or at least until the season changes and I can't get away with wearing shorts anymore. ; )

Power, Strength, and Determination

Week five of Body Back! I can’t believe how fast these weeks have gone by. After last weeks’ disappointing weight loss, or lack thereof, I was a little nervous to see what the scale said tonight. Low and behold, a four pound loss! Woohoo!! That puts me more than half way to my weight loss goal. Which is good, considering we’re in week five of eight. Now I just have to believe that the loss is real and keep the momentum going. I hope next week that four pounds stays off!

This will be another week of back-to-back workouts, and we’re not doing upper body one day, lower body the next. I don’t have a clue what Bethany has planned for us, but I’m hoping I don’t die doing it! Tonight we did something new to all of us, I think. Tabata Training. Ever heard of it? Me neither, so I Googled it. ; ) Basically what I found out (before class), was that it is a four minute session, broken up in to eight 20 second sets of high intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. That doesn’t sound too bad, right? But of course, we didn’t do just one.

After a nice jog to warm up, we were on to our Tabatas. Our first set was jumping rope. No big deal - jump for 20 seconds, and then you get a nice little break. But then, by the second or third set, mommy bladder hits. I really don’t want to take a bathroom break, seeing as we just started, and this will be over in like two minutes. But then I think, the next one might be even worse – I may not make it to the bathroom if I wait! Mommy bladder wins. I chunk the rope, and sprint to the ladies’ room.

Feeling much better, I’m back in time to start our second Tabata. Upper cuts using our resistance bands. These were tough! Around the 6th set, it was really hard to push to finish those 20 seconds. My arms were weak and burning. Oh, I almost forgot our mantra for the night. Bethany would call out, "Power!" We responded with, "Strength! Determination!" We did this throughout our workout, regardless of the soccer games going on around us. :) Once, we even got a "Hoorah!" from someone in the building. 

With just a short break between exercises, we moved on to frog leg planks, then jump lunges. Jump lunges are fun, but I can't do them long. 20 seconds doesn't seem like a long time to do something, but after several sets, I was exhausted! Not to mention dripping in sweat by the time we were done. We finished our Tabatas with mountain climbers, scissor crunches, and finally plank jacks. The scissor crunches were unusually difficult for me. Back to my lack of coordination, I just couldn't figure it out with out feeling terribly wrong and awkward. I ended up modifying it just a bit - I figured it's better to do something hardcore, than do another thing halfway. 

So that was Monday: intense cardio. And it was great! I really enjoyed the workout. (Shocking! I know.) It was nice to know how long I had to push myself before I got a break. I hope we'll get a chance to try Tabata Training again.