It Takes A Blogosphere — The Great Fundraising Act

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Coco

I don’t know Susan, but enough of my #fitblog friends do that I decided to dedicate today’s post to the auction being held today (July 25) to raise money for her cancer treatments.

Susan is a 20-something woman from Canada who has a great health/fitness/food blog at The Great Balancing Act. Her life was turned upside down when she recently was diagnosed with Lymphoma. We all know that cancer can strike anyone at anytime, but it is still hard to take when it strikes someone that seems so healthy and has been working so hard to take care of herself.

You probably don’t know Susan either, but you can help her while helping yourself to some great auction items.

You can read more about the auction in the Fitblog newsletter.

You can check out the auction items and logistics on Janetha’s Meals And Moves blog.

One thing I love about the blogosphere is the supportive community I have found. Today’s auction is a shining example of people pulling together to help out someone in need.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Knowing When To Say When

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Coco

I am usually a “no excuses,” “suck it up” and “get it done” person when it comes to my exercise routine. When my work is in overdrive, I still set my alarm for 5:00 to get in my workout–I need to take care of myself, balance the stress, and get a hit of endorphins. On weekends, I get up at 6:00 to fit in a long run before the rest of the day’s activities or a yoga program before church. Even when I’m tired, I get up and “just do it,” and I’m usually glad I did.

But I also am learning when to say “when.” Last week I had a several nights in a row where I just did not get enough sleep (barely 6 hours). While I can keep that up for a few days, it does catch up with me. My business trip to Colorado was the last straw–an exhausting trip out, under 5 hours of sleep at the hotel, and an important meeting took their toll. When I got home at midnight, I decided that I really needed to catch up on my sleep. I emailed my assistant that I was going to sleep in the next day, turned off my alarm, and crawled into bed.

I ended up sleeping for about 7 hours, until 7:30. I felt well-rested, and decided to continue my gentle morning by doing a Rodney Yee program instead of hitting the elliptical and doing my usual free weights routine. Between that and a pot of my favorite Starbucks Komodo Dragon coffee, I was ready to face the day.

This weekend’s heat wave brought me another opportunity to say “when.” As much fun as I had running with my friend last weekend, I convinced her that it would not be a good idea to run outside this weekend, when the temperature would be in the 80s by 5:00 am, never mind the humidity, heat index, or air quality. We made plans for next weekend, and I made a date with my treadmill.

When I saw this weather report at 6:30 am, I knew I had made the right decision.

I wasn’t sure how long I could stand to run on my treadmill, but I had a few episodes of Desperate Housewives to catch up on, so I decided to go for 8 miles (plus my warm-up and cool-down). I chose the “Sport Training” program at level 3.  I ran at 6.0 mph when the incline was over 1.8, and bumped up to 6.3 mph when the incline was lower, although that didn’t happen very often. It was a solid workout and I had to dig in to keep going at the end.

(miles, calories, time)

When I finished my cool-down, I checked the weather again:

I think I made the right decision!

I still have one more hour of the Desperate Housewives season finale to watch–I am saving it for my next heat wave-induced treadmill workout.

When do you say “when”?

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Being Flexible With My Fitness Routine

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Coco

Last week I wrote about about the importance of my very predictable fitness routine. I have a basic exercise plan that I pretty much follow day in and day out. But, life being what it is, I have learned that being flexibile can be almost as important as having a routine–and I don’t mean being able to touch my toes or approximate a forward fold with Rodney Yee.

Ever since I started exercising regularly (about 11 years ago), first thing in the morning has been my workout time. Between work, my kids’ after-school activities and getting dinner on the table, I literally did not have time to exercise in the afternoon or evening. Now my kids are older, but I still don’t get home from work until 6:00 or 7:00, and I still try to fix dinner most nights, so I still workout in the mornings. I think it’s a great way to start my day, and the endorphins wake me up more than any grande bold coffee from Starbucks could.

But sometimes I don’t workout in the morning. Sometimes I do hit the snooze button too many times. Sometimes I have to leave the house early for a work meeting, a business trip, or one of my son’s sports events. When that happens, being too rigid about my routine can keep me from getting in a workout. On those days, being flexible can help me stick with my overall fitness program.

I have learned to be flexible with what I do for my workout. I used to think that if I didn’t have 45-60 minutes for a workout, I didn’t have time for a workout. Now I know that even 20 minutes is “worth it.” In 20 minutes, I can enjoy a brisk walk in my neighborhood, get sweaty on the elliptical, do the short program on my Bob Harper Pure Burn Super Strength DVD or do one of the programs on my Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga For Your Week DVD.

While it’s more difficult, I also have learned to be flexible with when I do more workout. While it can be hard to tear myself away from my desk, I usually can take a walk at lunch. If I can get home by 4:00 or 5:00, I can fit in a solid workout before dinner. If I get home late, I can take a walk, do yoga, or do some stretching and foam rolling.

Having a routine is essential to my fitness program, but being flexible when life interferes with my routine makes my prorgram even stronger.

Do you have a regular workout routine?

If you miss your regular workout, do you try to make it up?

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

See You On The Flip Side

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Coco

I’ve had a good summer so far. With my daughter home from college and my son figuring out where he wants to go to school, there’s been a lot of “news” in my house. I try not to get too personal on Twitter, but if you follow me there, you have a good idea of how well my son’s lacrosse team has done, when we’ve made college visits, and how often my daughter has made peach pie. I don’t post as frequently on Facebook , but most of my Facebook “friends” are “real” friends, so I tend to share more specific details about the same things.

But I have a good friend who is not on Twitter or Facebook, and she doesn’t really have any idea what I’ve been up to. We try to get together, but we both lead busy lives, with full-time jobs and family demands that quickly fill up our weekends.

The problem is, I’m so tired of talking and writing about our big summer decisions that I don’t really want to fill her in. Can our friendship survive if I don’t share the details? Will we still be close if I just tell her when my son decides where he wants to go to school, and don’t recap the highlights of all of our college visits? If I tell her that it was nice having my daughter home for the summer, without describing how she combined three different recipes to create her signature peach pie (she’s made it three times already and it’s all from scratch!) will she still be one of my “best” friends?

I have cyberfriends that I can meet in person and “click” instantly with because we already “know” so much about each other.  Our conversation is easy because we already know personal details, hobbies and interests, although we might have to step back and fill in information that seems important “in real life” but less so in the Twitterverse-Blogosphere.

Is there a flip-side to that cyber-intimacy coin? Is there a risk of drifting apart from “real” friends who aren’t as immersed in social media as I am?

Do you feel a stronger connection to “real” friends whom you also connect with in social media?

Do you have cyberfriends whom you feel as close or closer to than some of your “real” friends?

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Tuesday Treadmill Workout (60 Minute Bordom-Buster)

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Coco

I’ve been doing most of my runs outside lately, but when it was 74F with a dew point of 72F and 94% humidity at 5:00 am, I decided it was time to reconnect with my treadmill.

I had time for a long workout, but boredom is a big factor when I’m on the treadmill.
I decided to play with the incline and pace to pass the time.

60 Minute Treadmill Workout
0-5 Walking warm-up: 3.7 mph, 0.5 incline
5-10 Running warm-up: 5.7 mph, 0.5 incline
10-15 Running warm-up: 6.0 mph, 0.5 incline

15-21 Incline intervals at 6.0 mph: 
          90 sec at 1.0 incline, 30 sec at 0.5 incline
          9o sec at 1.5 incline, 30 sec at 0.5 incline
          90 sec at 2.0 incline, 30 sec at 0.5 incline

21-25 Speed segment: 3 min at 6.7 mph, 1 min at 6.0 mph

Repeat above for three more times:
25-31 Incline intervals (same as above)
31-35 Speed segment (same as above) 
35-41 Incline intervals (same as above)
41-45 Speed segment (same as above) 
45-51 Incline intervals (same as above, but at 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 incline)
51-55 Speed segment (same as above)
 
55-57 Running cool-down: 5.7 mph, 0.5 incline
57-60 Walking cool-down: 3.5 mph, 1.5 incline

As you can tell from the last incline interval, I decided that the 1.0 incline wasn’t really challenging enough. If/when I do this workout again, I will try to do all of the incline sets at 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5. If that is too hard, I can always shorten the 2.5 incline interval to 60 seconds. 

What’s the longest run you’ve ever done on a treadmill?

Do you like to play with incline and pace to pass the time?

Posted in Fitness, Treadmill Workouts | Tagged , , | 15 Comments