Workouts

How I got into running. (National Running Day)

| cheriarmour

So, yesterday was National Running Day, which I celebrated by sneaking in a quick run after work, and then heading over to Fleet Feet to supplement the staff for one of our events, Ladies Night.

10338232_10100333307830413_5297024876603291970_nLiterally, this is one of the fastest runs that I’ve ever done in my life – I actually did it mostly in the rain, and since I live near Crabtree Creek, I also spent a good portion of it running in a puddle up to my mid-calf.  But running in the rain is the best, right?  Makes you feel like a badass.

It got me thinking about how running radically changed my life.  I mean, it partially helped me start this blog, and helped me to accomplish some of the wildest things I’ve ever accomplished in my life.  But I’m not sure where I would be or who I would be without it.

I got into running by just trying it.  I would run.  Run a little further.  Then run a little further.  Until finally, I signed me, and a newer boyfriend (now fiancé) up for a Warrior Dash in Virginia.  He drove, we ran, and had one of the best times ever.  And I realized that not only had I done it, I’d done it WELL.  About a year later, I ran my first half, and less than a few months after that, my first full.  And I wasn’t hooked necessarily to the misery that you feel at mile 17, but more to the elation of starting something, and finishing it.

Running brought me:

  • A new body.  My body was fine before.  Good even?  But I feel that my body looks it’s best when I’m in the throes of marathon training, and I’m craving good-for-you foods.  I love the confidence that running has given me in my body,
  • New friends.  Yesterday, when I worked at Fleet Feet, it was so amazing to be around my people.  Beautiful, nice, likeminded people, who just take care of themselves.
  • New experiences.  Ask me two years ago, would I do a 5k?  How about a half marathon?  How about SIX half marathons?  Two fulls?  Ever consider an Ultra or a tri?  I would have never guessed that for myself.  And it makes me wonder what other incredible things that my body can do.

After celebrating this wonderful day (National Running Day), what can some of you guys say running has brought you?  

 

Body Attack in Review

| cheriarmour

Two mornings ago, I dragged my butt out of bed to go to something called Body Attack, a class that is in the Les Mills family.  Les Mills, by the way, is the umbrella under which Body Pump falls.  Body Pump is that toning and weightlifting class I’ve been taking.  But I digress.

So I dragged my butt out of bed because I knew my favorite Body Pump teacher would be teaching this called Body Attack.  I get there, and I started off a little skeptically.

Screen Shot 2014-05-29 at 9.23.03 PMI was skeptical, but as I looked around, I saw a lot of the folks that were regulars at Body Pump, and the class was pretty packed, especially for 5:45am.

Instead of the class being dancey or boppy, like the classes I’m sort of used to taking the class involved some plyometrics, aerobic exercises, and high energy interval trainings that sort of reminded me of when I would go off on my own and do some of the Nike Training Center (NTC) workouts on my phone.

As the class went on, I felt like it got a little less weird, and the class morphed into exactly what I needed, especially some of the plyometric exercises that involved me holding and working with my own body weight.  Especially in my upper-body, this is something I’d like to try to develop.  Additionally, the class involved a good bit of running around the studio, something that I feel so at ease with.  So between the running the development of some sweet strength, I think me and Body Attack (and Monica, the fabulous teacher) will get along just great.

So, when you go to try this class out, definitely give the class a little longer than the warm-up, which definitely feels strange, and you will fall in love.

**As a side note, the adorably amazing teacher, who can bust out like a million push ups, kept saying “jack it” when she wanted us to fly into some jumping jacks.  I could not stop laughing.  I have the maturity of a 15-year-old I know.**

I’m a Sweat Pink Ambassador!

| cheriarmour

You might have noticed a little button pop up on my blog…

Sweat-Pink-ambassador-badge-SMALL

 

There on the left side.  So I wanted to let you guys know, that I am a Sweat Pink Ambassador!

That might mean nothing to some of you, so let me explain.

Fit Approach is a community of girls like me.  We like to sweat, we like to eat well, and best of all, as an ambassador, I love to bring what we know to wonderful people like you guys, who read.  As an ambassador, I can bring literally any question about blogging, about code, or most importantly, about sweating to these women, and someone will usually have an answer for me.  Please, if you’re a lady looking for some resources, go to Fit Approach and poke around.

I was so excited to get the email that I was part of this family, and once again, I’m so grateful for this blog and the opportunities it’s given me.  I’ve met people, had folks tell me how much they love my blog, and it feels so good.  Thank you guys for reading, and I’m SO pumped to be an ambassador of fitness for you!

Body Pump!

| cheriarmour

So, for a few months now, Matthew and I, coworkers, have been waking up at the buttcrack of dawn to go do this Les Mills class called Body Pump.

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Dramatty and me!

I liked it the first time, and with the first instructor I took it with.

And then I took it with Monica.

And I honestly hope Monica never reads this because I don’t want her to get skeeved out, but she is an incredible instructor.

For starters, she’s beautiful, and I’ve heard rumors that she has a few kids.  She wears her instructorhood well, and she’s muscular and still feminine, and it’s obvious that she maintains her activity level outside of the studio.  (There are some fitness instructors who NEVER work out – I definitely was one of them many many moons ago.)  So as I started to fall in love with Monica (and with the class), the fleeting thought crossed my mind a few times, that I should look into becoming a Body Pump instructor.

And then Gina at The Fitnessista posted about her experiences at her Body Pump instructor training.

And THEN, finally, the other day, I took a class where the instructor made a HUGE boo-boo.  She was really cute, and very energetic, but not the best instructor in the entire world (her cueing wasn’t great, and her form was pretty bad to be a teacher).  And in the middle of a weighted squat, which I am still very very sore from, she goes “Come on!  It’s bikini season!  You wanna fit into that bikini!”.  I will go into later why you never say that as a fitness instructor, but that very day, I started doing some research and poking around for information on how to become a Body Pump instructor.

So, here is the official announcement!  I’m demoing my skills as a teacher in general next week at the Rapid Fitness downtown, and then I officially start the process to become a Body Pump instructor!  Crossing my fingers and hoping that the training won’t come to Raleigh until AFTER we get married, but with my luck, I’ll be in training like a week before 🙂

Any of you guys taken Body Pump before?

Today.

| cheriarmour

Last night was great.  For the first time in weeks, and weeks, and weeks, because I woke up early and went to body pump, I really had nothing to do after I got off of work, especially seeing as how I worked on a good chunk of wedding projects on Thursday night.

So immediately after work, I laid down with the foster baby (beagle) and took a nap.

Then, me and Austin hung out and watched this creepy creepy Netflix documentary on Jeffery Dahmer, which is pretty funny (not ha ha funny, but “omg this is crazy funny), because I read Jeffery Dahmer’s article on Wikipedia the other day.  Don’t ask why, I love Wikipedia articles, they’re really a fun pastime.  Not Jefferey Dahmer’s per se, but sometimes the articles I read are fun.

So today, I get to do something really fun.

Screen Shot 2014-04-04 at 8.39.22 PMEvery year, Elon hosts a dance marathon called Elonthon that benefits the Duke Children’s Hospital, and every year for the past few years, I have gotten a chance to teach a short Zumba class to sleep deprived students at Elon, and every year, it’s been really fun.  I’m honored to be able to do it again this year, and hope to snap a few pics of the sweaty, beautiful faces of my Elon folks.

What are you doing on this beautiful Saturday? 

 

The day I woke up early!!

| cheriarmour

It has, for a long time, been my complete and utter goal to wake up early and work out.

Well guess what suckers!

I woke up early, met up with a co-worker, and went to Body Pump at 5:45 am.  It’s a miracle!  So Hungry Runner Girl has talked about pump a lot lately, and even talked about how she’s been excited to weight lift since she started taking the class.  Whaaaa?  So when a coworker asked me to join, and said class was at 5:45, I jumped at the chance only because I knew I would have to be up early today if I wanted to get everything done and still make it out to DC in the evening for the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon.  (By the way, if you’re still interested in running, you can register at the expo for the 5k, the half, and the full).

But back to class.

photo (25)I never feel really eager to lift weights, but the class made it stomach-able.  The nice thing about this class is that we worked pretty much all of the major muscle groups – the agonists and the antagonists, and we really didn’t leave anything out, which is really important.  I think, I lot of times we focus on one group – the abs (without working the back), for example.

The thing that was sorta weird was that since I teach often enough during the week, I don’t really take a whole lot of other classes.  It’s weird to be a teacher in a class.  You can’t help but to critique form, cues, and his or her demo, which she did great on.  Also, you can’t help but to be a little horrified at the little things instructors do.  We tell dumb little stories.  We laugh at ourselves.  We sing passionately along with the music, which is so awkward to watch (I never realized that).  And we make it look freakishly easy to demo what we’re doing.  This morning, ol’ girl, was pressing like a million pounds overhead while stupid 80s songs played jauntily in the back.  And I can totally appreciate that!

How did your workout go this morning?  Do you think I can keep it up and work out early one day a week? 

 

Runner Pop Quiz

| cheriarmour

Happy Thursday afternoon, beautiful people!  Hope your runs are going well.  Mine are good, save for a little bit of a stuffy nose and a sore throat that I’ve been nursing.  But this hot and cold weather is good weather for getting sick in, right?

Anyhoo, remember pop quizzes?  I think the last one that I took was in religion sophomore year in college and the joke was on Tripp York cause I actually did the reading.   And I can actually recall what the reading was about – about Disney.  Scary.

So I stole this pop quiz from J at Skinny Chick Blog, but she said we could steal it, and she’s a runner too.  I kept the pink font in her honor.  Onto the quiz!  

1.  What weather do you refuse to run in?

I refuse to run when it’s icy out.  We don’t do ice too often here, the sidewalks never get cleared, and as someone who has (very painfully) broken a bone before, I have no interest in doing it again.  

2.  What distance is your “short” run?

My short run is this like, 3 miles loop through downtown Raleigh.  I think Jillian Michaels said one that 3 miles is what you need to stay fit, and I’ve always taken that to heart.  I always have 30 minutes to pop a 3 miler in.  

3.  How do you stay hydrated while running?  Water fountain, carry your own etc.

I carry my own, and sometimes stop at coffee shops and the Whole Foods to fill up my little bottle.  I haven’t worn my backpack in a long time, and I’m just not yet in the mood to wear it.  Handheld it is!  

4.  Music or no music?

Usually music.  Sometimes not if I need to be alone with my thoughts.  

5.  Do you ever run nekkid?  {Without GPS, not literally silly}

Sometimes. When I forget to charge my watch.  But I love it.  

 6.  What is the first thing you do after a run?

Grab some water, and walk the dog, since I know she’s usually been waiting on me for a while.  

7.  What’s your favorite running shoe ever?

You know what?  I’m kind of in a shoe rut.  I work for Fleet Feet, and I have every running shoe at my disposal, and I was a Brooks girl,  I’ve been a Brooks girl for a while.  But here’s me here….

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In a NB (and the review is coming soon!) and I’m still not sure which way I’m gonna go with shoes.  I’m running a half in March, and a full and a half April, and I need to figure it out ASAP, cause I don’t want to be without toenails!

8.  Do you make deals with yourself to finish a tough run?  What are they?

I think usually I just think about food and Austin to get me through the run.  I think about pasta, beer, toast, wine, beer, and my husband-to-be when I’m toward the tail end of a long run.

9.  Two things you can not run without besides kicks?

A good bra.  There’s nothing better than a good bra.  

Boobs!

 

Boobs!

10.  Running has helped me ___________.

Be confident in myself – who I am, my skills, my abilities.  I wouldn’t have had the balls to do a lot that I have in my life without running.  

11.  Are you following a training plan?  If so, what does your weekly routine look like?

I’m following the Hanson method.  Sunday I run long (but not longer than like 16). Monday I run 5, Tuesday a speed run that’s been adding up to like 8ish miles the last few weeks, Wednesday I take a break, Thursday I run 8 fast, Friday I run 5 easy, Saturday I run 5 easy and then I do it all over again.  Mama is TIRED, mmkay!

12.  Be honest, do you regularly stretch + foam roll post run?

I stretch.  And I foam roll a few times a week, but definitely not as much as I should.

So how’d you do on the pop quiz?  Feel free to lift it, answer one or two of these, or just drop in and say hi to me!

 

Would you workout with an overweight trainer?

| cheriarmour

Okay, but before we get into all of that, look at what I ate for dinner last night.

I met up with Kelly, a good friend from Elon last night, and we met up at this place called Pop’s in Durham.  It was a Trattoria, and choc-full of a ton of good wines to choose from, so it was the perfect spot for us.  So look what I had.

photo (5)This delicious thing, which came in its own skillet thingie is a fusilli pasta with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella.  It was literally to die for and so huge, that I could only eat like a little bit of it before I packed up the reset for lunch tomorrow.  Lunch is gonna be BALLER tomorrow.

But back to the topic at hand.  So I was taking to a friend yesterday, and he was describing how is accountant had a lot of bad, outstanding debt.

“It’s like working with a fat personal trainer,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense!”

And I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

I’d like to think that you can be overweight, and fit, and that I would be okay working with a personal trainer who was overweight, ESPECIALLY if that personal trainer was well-versed in his or her craft, but I’m not sure.  I never want to discriminate against someone on the basis of how they look, especially given the fact that you cannot necessarily tell how healthy someone is by looking on the outside.  So I’ll pose these questions to you without any judgement, or leading.

Would you work out with an overweight personal trainer?  Why or why not?  

 

The scam in Acuvue Contact lenses…

| cheriarmour

This is about to be a hard-hitting piece on what I feel is a grave injustice!

Okay, it’s not that serious, but it really annoyed me, and you guys tell me if you’ve had this experience.

So I’m blind as a bat.  I started wearing glasses in like 4th grade, and my vision has steadily gotten worse, even more so now that I spend the second half of my day glued to my laptop.

My only option at this point is contacts – I work out way too much for glasses, and I think I look pretty stupid in glasses.

photo 4

 

So the way it all works, is that when you order 6 months to 1 year in contacts, they tout this rebate as like, the biggest draw EVER to ordering the contacts in bulk.  Since I wear dailies, that meant that I had to order a truckload of contacts to get a $35 rebate.

So I apply for the rebate, and I’m notified that it’s going to take 10 weeks to get the rebate.  Okay, fine, whatever.  At least this time I didn’t forget about the rebate, like they were hoping I did.  I got that thing in the mail over the weekend and my “rebate” is a prepaid Citi card with $35 on it that I have to activate, and it expires in a year.  I also have to spend all $35 in one place because they charge you per transaction.  That rebate sucks.  I’m buying my contacts through Walgreens’ website next time.

photo 1

 

Moving right along…SNOW!  Actually, it was fake snow.  Here in North Carolina, we never get good snow, so on my way to the gym last night, the snow was looking pretty serious, but it was for naught.  By the time I was done with the gym around 9pm, the snow seemed to have eased up, and was replaced by a bone-chilling wind and cold.  Ugh, North Carolina, can’t we get just one good snow before the spring?  Please?!

photo 2

 

Once I got to the gym, I ran an easy 2 miles, and then hit the studio to take instead of teach a class with the amazing Loretta Bates.  I look like a beluga whale next to her, but she is teeny, not only around, but she’s a good half-a-foot shorter than I am.  Her class was a blast!  It’s so nice to take a class instead of teach one once in a while.

So how are you guys doing today?  Enjoying a snow day?