6 AM this morning: Running = Fail

However, I managed to:

10 push-ups
4 sets of 20 dips
3 sets of 50 scissor kicks. My scissor kicks were the ones with opposite arm reaches for opposite toe.
50 squats where when i squatted, my arms came up in the air kind of in front of my face and then lowered them as i came up out of the squat, and I did them relatively fast. These are great...I should do these more often!

Update this evening at 7:00: I ran at 6:00. Yay! Got 1 mile in and a bit of walking this evening...

best full body workout ever!

I have no clue what my body is going to feel like in the morning!

I did a mud run 1 hr. training class this morning, even though I am not doing the Mud Run this year! Why would I torture myself like that? Because it is fun!!!

It was a pretty large group there this morning. And I learned how to do Burpees this morning! HARD!!!

I can't even begin to explain all of what we did.

I performed better on the running part than I thought I would.

I'm getting stronger holding planks. We had to hold a plank then lower into elbow/forearms planks w/o bending the knees. I did it! You have to keep switching it back and forth until she calls time. And if anyone dropped or sunk, we all had to start over!

I did push-ups again. I still have to do them on my knees though.

I had to run up and down a hill carrying a really big rock until she called time.

My pull-ups sucked! I couldn't even get one unassisted! :(
(These were true pull-ups...not like little iron gym things I do at home)

My lunges are getting better!!! :-)
My jumps are too.

We had to do squats and jump squats. The trainer, Virginia, told us to "make sure your knees don't come over your ankles guys". As she said that, I was thinking, "Jeez, I hate it when trainers say that! What does that really mean? It doesn't help me squat better!" Right as I was thinking that, she says, "dig your heels into the ground...get heavy in your heel folks and come off your toes a little and stick your butt out". I did what she said, and was happy! I now know how to do a squat. Guess what? My knees didn't hurt!!! Even my physical therapist didn't even tell me that! I hate it when trainers think that by telling you not to put your knee over your ankle means that you should know how to squat properly.

I was really good at crab crawls and bear crawls.

I'm used to doing low dips. As in....like on a park bench. We had to weight our palms and then dip hovering over the obstacle with feet off ground. I couldn't even feel anything in my triceps (I really need work there) My shoulders ached doing it. I really don't like those.

We did Burpees!!! They are hard, but not that bad.......I am slow at them. But I did them all though so...

We had to get into plank pose and keeping our legs straight walk with hands across the parking lot. Then when finished, you had to go backwards. Really pushing into the hands.

Note to self: I SUCK AT JUMP ROPING!!! MUST GO BUY JUMP ROPE NOW!!!

I was great on my scissors and my crunches.....i hate doing abs. I always pull muscles in my neck when doing ab workouts! I already have really bad issues with tension in my neck. When I do abs, I cannot for the life of me, relax my neck and just use my chest to pull up. My chest is so weak. But I did really good today, but i could tell my neck was stressed. We will see how it feels tomorrow.

We had to push a tire over and over and over.....you get the picture!

Then James and I had to grab a tire together. I carried one side and he carried the other. We had to run with it across a big parking lot and then back. I noticed some folks were bending at the elbow using their biceps to carry the tire. Basically, they were locking off! I know as a climber, you shouldn't lock off like that. I don't even carry my groceries that way! LOL I kept my arms straight, not hyper extended though. I only had to use my finger tips. I did ok, but it was towards the end, so my endurance was failing.

Wow, I can't even remember what else we did to blog about it. It was a really tough workout this morning! And they serve protein shakes there. So James bought me a banana/peanut butter, sugar free shake!!! It made me miss Jamba Juice in Cali.

Ok, I have stretched, and now I'm off to read about the rest of the integumentary system and about bones.

See ya.

8:15 AM tomorrow...what will you be doing???

http://bodyshopathletics.com/saturday-workouts/

This is what I'm doing!!!

4 elements to success:

1. To be physically in shape

2. To be mentally focused

3. To have emotional balance

4. To be spiritually sound

My eyes watered with joy this morning after I opened an envelope from my mailbox

"My Daughter,
What I Love About You:

I love the spirit of you...
the grace with which you welcome each challenge,
the childlike wonder that still colors your days.

I love the originality of you...
your willingness to stand out from the crowd...
your unique perspective on what's happening in the world
and in your life.

I love the wisdom of you...
the way you trust your intuition...
your unfailing commitment to doing the right thing.

And most of all, I love the heart of you...
the genuine compassion, empathy, and friendship
you offer everyone you know.

I guess it's pretty clear...
I love everything about you.

And on your birthday, I'm wishing
joy and blessings to you,
my beautiful daughter and friend."


Happy Birthday, Susan.
We Love You!
- Dad and Mom

Happy Birthday to me!

:-)

I did it! I ran this morning.

I ran 1 mile this morning at 6 AM. I also did 10 push-ups (the girly ones) and 15 assisted pull-ups.

I need to figure out a better pull up system though, b/c my heels rest on the back of a chair at the top of it. I don't push though just rest them there. So basically, I'm sort of laying down in the air pulling up. My arms are long though, I don't lock off, I go all the way back down...and I feel like my core is strong and working. I guess it is almost like I am in push-up pose but on my back in the air instead? Of course, my arms felt like they were gonna fall off. I remember a long time ago when I could do that for much longer. I'll get it back!

I'm going to do my daily dozen at lunch!!!

the new challenge

Tomorrow is my 36 year birthday!

I start tomorrow morning off with 10 pushups and 10 pullups. Then I will run 1 mile.

Wish me luck!!! I've been studying all night for a histology exam that I have tomorrow!

My friend James and I have started a challenge to keep us both motivated. I am in school and cannot work out on a regular schedule with him like I used to. And my new schedule would mean going it alone. James has been putting off working out, b/c I'm not there with him. We usually do stuff together.

We have decided to do a 6 am challenge.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda...

I am not a morning person and never have been. It has always been hard getting up.

Even back in middle school and high school....I remember Mom coming in and waking us up, and I would just sit up in the bed under my covers not wanting to move. It seemed so hard to want to start the day.

In my 30's, I subconsciously hit the snooze button several times before it kicks in that "My alarm clock is going off"! And the only time I seem to never hit snooze and jump out of bed at the sound of the alarm is when I am getting up for a climbing trip! Imagine that!!! Or last summer when I started power walking tons of miles with my friend Anne. Knowing that she would be at my house, I would HAVE to be up and ready. Also, I started liking the way i felt to have walked 8-12 miles already before 10 am. I felt great and had the rest of my day to go still!

Anyway, now I have learned myself well, so I've started this new thing where I set my alarm clock for 10 minutes earlier than what I wanted to get up for. If I want to be up at 6 am, I set my alarm for 5:50. That way, I subconsciously hit snooze for 10 minutes, and then I suddenly realize it is 6 am and time to get up. It has been working.

However, I am still finding myself saying, "I really WANT to be able to go running at 6 am." I'm still not though.

I am no longer saying, "I wish I could get up at 6 am."; "I wish I could go run in the mornings before work."; "I wish I could run at 6 am."

No, I am now saying, "I WANT to run at 6 am." I started this for the new year 2011. I shall say I want versus saying I wish, or I should have, etc.

I have even taken a "sleep better" yoga workshop.

At the end of last summer, I bought a t-shirt from the yoga studio that reads, "I like who I am when I try." Some folks say you shouldn't try to do things just do. There is no try just do. Well, maybe in emergency situations where your life is at stake, there is no try...it's "must do". But for the rest of your life as it may be from day to day, if you never first try then you will never do at all. Right???

I tried eating Sushi again in 2007 and discovered that I really do like some of it. Now I am eating it. See?

I don't want to do things half-ass. How many things are you doing each day that are just half-ass? If you don't "try", it means you are doing it half-ass. You've got to really try! Really push yourself and want something. I really do like myself better when I try. It goes back to that old saying of, "How will know if you like something if you never try it?"

So every moring this year, I have "tried" to get up early to go run. It hasn't happened. But guess what? Other things have!!!

I snooze for 10 minutes, then get up at 6, and go to the bathroom. By then, my dog is barking to go out b/c he hears me. I go let him out and immediately go into the kitchen to grind my coffee beans and make a breakfast. I let my dog back in and feed him. It is now 6:15 or 6:20. Now I am awake. I still can't make myself go run. However, I load the dishes into the dishwasher or empty them, whichever. I put a load of clothes in the washer or take a load out of the dryer from the night before. Wow, I'm more awake now. The coffee is tasting good, and I find myself opening up my text book for school and I begin to study. It is now 6:30 or 6:45. I read and study until 8:00. I throw on clothes for work, and then I'm out the door. (Oh, I take my showers and stuff the night before...showers relax me, they don't wake me up)

Guess what? I have been getting to work on time. Wow! This never happens. I am always late to work in the mornings.

I'm getting all of this other stuff done in the mornings now, making some time for other stuff later in the day. I'm in a good mood at work when I get there and not still half asleep! My days are better...I get more done now than ever. I have more energy. And I'm falling asleep better and staying asleep. Feeling rested.

They say it only takes 2 weeks to get a routine in place. Mine was more like 2 months, but I'm getting closer to my goal.

I WANT to run in the mornings before work. It will happen.

looking forward to the summer...

Advisement appointments for summer school start on March 1st.

I'm undecided as of what to do for summer.

I had thought about going ahead and getting my general psychology course out of the way. However, I'm thinking I want to go ahead and purchase my study materials for the personal training certification and take the NASM exam as soon as possible. Therefore, I may just study for the NASM all summer.

I could do personal training while I am in grad school for physical therapy.

Now I am just researching NASM v. ACE. Everything I have read so far says to go for the NASM. I'm a bit confused. I don't care if one test is harder than another. I'm not looking for the easy way out here. I want to get the best personal trainer's certification possible.

I'm leaning more towards Personal Trainer or an Advanced Health & Fitness Specialist (or both).

Right now, it is hard to study for anything else while working full-time and taking Anatomy & Physiology at night.

I also need to go ahead and get my CPR/AED/First Aid certification as well. I will need those to get into the DPT program at MUSC and to be a personal trainer.

another post from Tinnybuddha.com

How to Accept the Moment & Still Make Progress on Your Goals

Feb 17, 2011 12:43 am | Cat Li Stevenson

Editor’s note: this is a contribution by Cat Li Stevenson

“There is little success when there is little laughter.” ~Andrew Carnegie

As a long-time, former night owl converting to a morning person, I’ve made a few discoveries about adopting a new routine.

Now that I wake up before sunrise, I experience a slow decline in my enthusiasm at around 10:00 a.m.

The other day, I realized that I had not yet poured myself a cup of coffee. Completely floored at how I managed to forget—but also grateful and proud that my energy stayed up naturally up until this point—I made my way to the office coffee machine.

I felt a sense of panic as I searched for the coffee bean bag on the counter—nowhere to be found. I looked in the grinder to see if perhaps the leftover grinds from yesterday could somehow fill my mug today. It couldn’t.

I finally looked in a cabinet nearby and—tah dah!—a whole stash of coffee beans ready to be ground! A sense of calm came back instantaneously. What I realized between 10:00 a.m. and 10:11 a.m. while searching for coffee is this:

I’m deeply fond of the comforts of my routine, whether I choose to admit or not.

I’ve fought it for the past few years. I’d come into the office sluggish and frustrated, and it was written all over my face to the point where co-workers would avoid me. I didn’t find a sense of purpose in my 8–5, and since I was a transparent person, I justified that it was okay to show it.

I was miserable during many parts of 2009 and 2010. I thought if I embraced my routine, I would somehow be settling.

I was afraid to allow things to make me happy in the present because I was trained to look forward. I was accustomed by my upbringing to continually outdo my current situation.

I felt that if I took life more seriously than everyone else—which included resisting anything that didn’t align with my personal opinion of success—I was a step ahead. I craved constant achievement. I was a serial improver and it made me unhappy.

Eventually, I came to a point where I straddled the line of giving up and settling versus fighting and improving.

I straddled for a year—immobile, lost, and scattered.

Fast forward a year later, and I’ve found that we don’t have to be torn between being in the moment and creating the next one.

Instead, we can carry both ambition and happiness with us on our daily journey. The goals, the destination, and the visions we have for the future are only worth accomplishing if we can be present and appreciate the ride.

Appreciating doesn’t have to mean settling. It just means to be here now and be a part of the ride, instead of on the sidelines fighting it.

Here are three ways to happily achieve:

1. Live your life one small improvement at a time.

Do not overwhelm yourself with pressures. Simply take it one step at a time. It’s easy to become stressed and enslaved by something we’re diligently pursuing. In the process, we only see the prize—the “someday,” the end—while missing out on the many amazing, little moments that could bring us happiness.

Embracing our current routine doesn’t have to mean to succumbing to it or becoming complacent, but instead to take growth one day at a time. Commit to a small adjustment each day that corresponds to your overall goal. The power of consistency will be transformational.

In The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy talks about the monumental improvements we can make in daily disciplines that compound over time to create results:

Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = Radical Difference

Be consistent, be patient, and stick with it.

2. Rearrange the current routine.

Some of the most brilliant, accomplished, present people I know have a routine that they’ve tailored to their ambitions. They’ve created a daily, weekly, and monthly way of living that suits their grand purpose or goal.

In order to achieve without feeling imbalanced, treadmill-bound, or overwhelmed, it is crucial to create new enhancements to our daily routines.

Take an honest assessment of your day. Play with time; turn your day inside out.

Figure out how to puzzle in step number one—whether that’s going to the gym during lunch three times a week instead of chatting with colleagues; or waking up 20 minutes earlier each day to begin that inspirational book; or winding down an hour earlier at night with a podcast or your journal for better rest and your overall well-being.

Place all excuses aside and simply be open to redesigning the day. Give it a chance. Let it settle in for a few weeks before judging it.

I was a night owl for many years—I loved rebelling the midnight hour. Illogically, I thought I proved something by staying up extra late, just because. Come morning time, I felt fuzzy because I couldn’t move quickly enough.

Over the past few months, I’ve formed new priorities that required me to move writing and working out to the morning. I’ve found that my creative thinking at 5:00 a.m. is something completely different from what it was at 11:00 p.m.

The workout routine—despite my excuses about how I could never do the morning thing—has given my day a tremendous face lift. Jump-starting the day with extra time and wellness has set the stage for a more meaningful schedule to follow.

Find a way to puzzle in the enhancements for a better routine. Your happiness and productivity depend on it.

3. Become a source of time.

Once you rearrange your routine, the final key to empowerment is a small adjustment in the perception of time.

The biggest complaint I often hear from co-workers, family, and friends is that they are unsatisfied because their routine does not offer time to accomplish what they want. Because we feel there’s “no time,” we often think our routines create our reality instead of realizing we create our lives.

In The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks proposes:

“Begin with time itself. Do whatever it takes to get yourself in harmony with the reality that you are the source of time. A simple way to begin is put to yourself on a radical diet: complete abstinence from complaining about time. When you stop complaining about time, you cease perpetuating the destructive myth that time is the persecutor and you are its victim.”

We are the source of time. While this conceptually may make sense, it takes practice to integrate.

Recently, I removed “I have no time” from my vocabulary—and after two months of doing pretty well, the benefits have begun to feel both incredibly productive and enlightening.

Our days are too precious to fight. Take the time today to contemplate how to customize a more balanced path to happily achieve by reflecting on your own unique situation.

Acknowledge how far you’ve come to be who and where you are. Then brainstorm ideas to creatively redesign the day to bring more value to your routine. Find a way to grow a little bit each day, while being patient and present.

Carry these two ideas with you on the journey, savoring each moment with awareness, gratitude, and laughter while consciously creating the next.

***This blog post was taken from today's message from TinyBuddha.com

---

Tiny Buddha

Tiny Wisdom: On What’s Safe Feb 17, 2011 12:44 am | Lori Deschene “Your current safe boundaries were once unknown frontiers.” -Unknown Though we all know that reaching our potential requires us to stretch outside of our comfort zones, it makes perfect sense that we want to be comfortable. And sometimes there’s no reason to fight that. My father, for example, enjoys doing manual labor and has never aspired to a job that entails a high level of responsibility. It’s not just a matter of staying with what’s comfortable. It’s a matter of allowing himself to have and honor personal preferences. Of course this begs the question: If we want to open ourselves up to new possibilities, how do we know when to stay with what feels comfortable and when to stretch into a new way of doing things? Tiny Buddha contributor Sonya Derian tackled this issue in her post When to Go with the Flow & When to Expand Your Comfort Zone. She suggests that we need to ask ourselves if we really want to experience something different, as opposed to just thinking we should. She writes, “…if you want something more, or at the very least different, you’re going to need to step out to discover what’s on the other side. If you want something different. Not everyone does.” The real challenge, it seems to me, is finding the courage to answer that for ourselves. If you feel resistant to leaving your comfort zone today, ask yourself: What is it that you really want? If it is something different, would achieving, creating, or experiencing that justify a potentially uncomfortable transition?

November 12, 2011 in Columbia, SC

http://johncolver.com/workshops

There will be a Fit by Nature workshop here in Columbia, SC on November 12, 2011.

I'm excited!!!

Update

I have had my first round of exams in my Anatomy & Physiology 1 class. This is the first science class that I need to complete my many undergrad prereq's for grad school. (basically, I am getting another undergrad degree right now)
I received all Bs.....on my lecture exam and the lab exam! Yay!

I'm getting ready to get advised for summer classes. I also want to discuss going ahead and possibly getting into the Phase 1 of the PTA program, just in case. My main reason for doing this is that I am going to be job shadowing soon. If I am enrolled in the Phase 1, then the job shadowing can count towards the required observation hours needed to apply for Phase 2.

However, I'm not so convinced I want to be a PTA anymore. I'm seriously thinking about just going all the way and getting my DPT. (med school program - grad school) I want to apply at MUSC's College of Health Professions. It is located in Charleston, SC.

I feel that many more doors will be opened to me if I get my DPT.

Going along with all of this so far has meant not as much climbing. Not a big deal I suppose. It wasn't like I was leading a ton, and it wasn't like I was climbing 5.10's clean or anything!!! LOL

I read my friend's blog this morning (John Colver), and he wrote about having patience. I am finally climbing harder than I ever have before, and now I have to stop b/c of school? Suckage.
In the end, I will have an amazing career and not just some job that pays the bills.

I want the amazing career!!!

a really great blog!

I am so glad to have met this person and consider him a friend of mine. His name is John.
I met him on Facebook.

I thought I would share his blog here.
http://johncolver.com/

Also, he has a book coming out in April titled, Fit by Nature.

John Colver is awesome, and I am truly inspired by him and his work.

An Assignment from Seattle!

It is almost midnight here in South Carolina.

As I lay out on the grass in my front lawn, I look up to the sky. I'm just staring. I close my eyes for a brief moment and just breathe...listen and feel. (This may become a nightly ritual now...what if it is raining? Hmmm...)

Wow! It really is gorgeous out here. I always love the outdoors, but I never do this. I never just lay down on my front lawn and gaze up to the sky.

The moon is bright white...almost hurts my eyes to look. It is very powerful, and I am not. I feel humbled now. I am so small...yet it seems so close to me at the same time as if I could reach up and grab it. It lights my paper for my pen to write.

It is almost midnight, and sky is blue! Wow! It's a bit chilly out, but I'm over dressed. I remove my beanie and my down jacket. I'm now wearing just a fleece Omni-Therm by Columbia Sportswear.

The wind is calm to none. The air feels crisp and moist. It feels good in my nostrils as I breathe.

I can see stars glisten and white clouds are moving. I can't believe I can see white clouds on a blue sky at midnight!!! Strange...I'm getting goose bumps.

As i lay here, I inhale and exhale slowly. I say "Let" "Go". "Let" (inhale) "Go" (exhale)..."let" (inhale) "go" (exhale). ...Repeat!!!

this really clicks with me right now

“The moment in between what you once were, and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place.” ~Barbara De Angelis