30/30

So I definitely delayed getting out of bed this morning to avoid the calisthenics. So happy to have finished the progression challenge - this morning started with 5 minutes each wallsit and plank and 100 each of burpees, lunge jumps (each leg), squats and bridges. I took the "after" pictures and sady don't see any difference - I can feel the difference though and I think that's whats most important.

All in all I feel great about November's challenges and will spend some time this evening reflecting and setting intention for the next month. I hope you are all feeling successes and learning from any set-backs. 

Working out on the go..

I had a quick 3 day/ 2 night trip to Calgary for work. It was a lot of fun. I won't even pretend I ate healthy. I did however have the most delicious steak.. YUM!! I had the "petit filet" with shrimp and it was not petit at all- 8 oz. I won't even tell you about the 24oz Tbone Ana had.. haha. Anyway the food was amazing.

YOLO, so gotta make the best of it.

I did however, manage to fit in some workouts.

The first night I was out till 1am..which is 3am Ottawa time, so I thought it'd be dead the next morning, but because of the jet-lag I managed to wake up and forced myself to get to the gym. I did 5km on the treadmill, a few small laps in the pool, and a couple minutes in the hot tub..oh right that part isn't exercise. Still nice for sore muscles.

I definitely want to start doing more running on the treadmill. The treadmill gets a lot of flack, but I don't mind it, and it allows you to get the workout done quickly. I definitely need more cardio in my routine.

I had the pool all to myself so that was nice.

The conference was business casual so I brought two outfits with. Day 1 more business, and day 2 more casual. It's really hard to know what to where. Guys have it a lot easier and most of them just wore suits.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Excuse the dim hotel lighting. The reason my hair is different is because in between, I went to a blow dry bar. It was fun! they have a menu of hair styles you can choose from! I chose "pillow talk" but then said I didn't want it too wavy actually. The night before it was more voluminous..

Yep there's Mark! He was we were scared because we were standing on glass at the top of the Calgary Tower. It was really cool. Also, take a look at this vending machine

See. Lara bars and coconut water. I felt like I was in BC.

Anyway the second morning I woke up at 5 am and decided to venture off to Goodlife for a 6am body shred class. It was about 1.5 km away and I could have gotten nearly all the way without going outside, as there is a cool sky walk! But instead I took the fresh air as it wasn't too cold. There was a Goodlife opening right near the Hotel but it won't open for another few weeks.

It was fun seeing the gym.

We were just 4 people at body shred and it was so nice to actually have room to spread out and move. There was a hot tub there, where everyone can look in on you..it seemed a bit strange.

Afterward I finally had a healthy breakfast of  steel cut oatmeal at this cafe called Good Earth . I could pick 3 toppings so I had banana, coconut and seeds. It was delicious.

Yesterday I took a rest day and today I did body pump and have soccer tonight. A director at work just brought in 100 tim bits .. cause 50 wouldn't have been enough? It's ok I only ate about 10 of them or so (hahaha I am not kidding- terrible). oh well.

Anybody doing any black Friday shopping?

Have a great weekend!

Just a bit more to go..

Just like every Monday I started my week off by going to boxing, it was terrible my teacher came to me at the end of class and asked if everything was alright because I was so bad apparently at boxing... 

That was a great way to start the week! Yesterday after work I wanted to go to the gym but decided on eating falafel with hummus instead :) I mean how could I say no to that ?

Today I did my long run at the gym, 11km again just that this time I died a lot.. No idea what was wrong with me but I was just counting down the meters to finally get to 11.. I'm accusing the 0,5m height I added to the treadmill as oppose to the usual flat running I do.. Anyway my treadmill results were 1:10:00 11.5km and 800 calories. :D 

My Nike app results were:

 

As you can tell not that great..

Just like last time I took a photo of my workout shirt which was soaked in sweat btw! I have to say I was wearing my ultimate roots cardigan :D

 

Yummy yummy! 

Tomorrow I start my Russian classes again and then it's off to pole dancing on Saturday :) yaaaay

Focusing on the small victories

Last week, I slacked a bit on my goals...I didn't get to a spin class nor did I swim. I managed to run a couple of times though, including running in the freezing rain on Saturday.

At volleyball, I managed to keep the ball in play 80 percent of the time and at curling I managed to throw a couple of rocks from the hack on Saturday (although they didn't really make it down the ice).

I had some great rides on Cedric last week. On Friday, I had an amazing lesson where we had a bit of a breakthrough. I won't bore you with the details but it made my weekend. :)

This morning I decided to start the week off by going for a swim. I managed to swim 1000 m in 35 min. Not super fast, but I'm already noticing an improvement.

In related news, last Wednesday was my final physio appointment. I'd been going to physio twice a week since mid-2012 in an effort to recover from the nerve damage I'd suffered as a a result of my back surgery. I've worked really hard to get where I am and I can't really articulate how wonderful it is to have finally "graduated".

Dance all night

So the other day i was trying to find a gym class to go to. Lately I am only in the mood to do classes and not to do my own cardio on the machines. There wasn't anything good at the clubs I usually go to, so i checked out St-Laurent and came across this:

Say what? This can't be right.. zumba at 1:30am and 3:am. I did a double take. This must be a mistake? nobody except for JULIET would want to do this- haha. But it's true, they do offer it. They recently added in a video system at my usual location and explained that it's so they can offer these night time classes. If you show up at 2 am and want to do a class they will pop in a video and you will do a virtual class in the studio.

Pretty neat.

I am off to Calgary for a couple days for a conference. There is a gym and pool at my hotel, so hopefully I have time to put them to use.

About time! (better late than never was already taken...)

First of all I want to thank all of you for all of your inspiring posts! It makes it that much easier to keep going and to push myself a little each day to know that so many people are doing the same thing.

Also, I want to thank Katy for the 30 day calisthenics challenge and planting the seed to get back into the challenge mode; and El for re-kick starting the blog and getting so many more people to join!

As for the 30 day challenge, it has not always been easy but it's definitely been a positive aspect of a pretty heavy month. My main goal was to do the calisthenics, and not only have I been doing it, I'm actually enjoying it! I think I'm kinda hooked on the adrenaline of it...and I want to keep doing some variation of it after the 30 days. 

The best part is that I've gotten my students into it too! Ideally I try to do the majority of the exercises first thing in the morning, but on days when I spin or run in the AM or am just short on time; we've been doing the exercises in gym class. I've turned it into a challenge in which my students try to beat their own records and then they get to challenge me to beat the best score (burpies/ minute etc.) in the class. Little do they know they're helping me in my 30 day challenge journey :).

Another goal I sort of decided on the fly is to not straighten my hair in the month of November...so far, so good and I'm learning to like how my hair looks without the straightener.

I havent' managed to keep the gratitude journal daily but am doing it more often...

And I already have some ideas for December goals! (We are planing to do this again right??) :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Danièle

Crushing My November Challenges

Now I don't want to get ahead of myself here... there are 8 days left... However, I am loving this month and feel great for the challenges and accomplishments!

What has me in such a great mood you may ask? Last night, after a water-logged hour of struggling (and being rolled back up by my friend Emily), I managed to roll a kayak. I then was able to do it a few more times before deciding to stop while I was ahead. I feel like I have a litre of pool water in my sinuses but I am super happy and can't wait to officially join the kayak club in the New Year.

Amazingly, the calisthenics are getting easier too. I'm sure there will still be days when a 3+ minute wallsit is pure hell, but my legs, core and endurance are so much stronger and my recovery time between sets is dropping daily.


Yesterday, I also submitted a job app for which I feel quite confident. Regardless of the outcome I now have a better idea of how to re-work my resume for any upcoming postings.

As for re-connecting with me, I started keeping a gratitude journal (thanks for the suggestion Daniele), got myself a Y-pass, have been swimming more and spending great quality time with friends. Overall, I feel fantastic about the momentum I'm building in my world.

I hope you're all having as fabulous a Saturday as I am! :)

Pole dance Saturday

Last week I started pole dancing and I LOVE IT! We're six people in the class and I do it with a work colleague of mine who's just great! 

First of all it's crazy fun, its great workout and its hot hot HOT! 

Today we learnt a forward spin and a backwards spin as well as some crazy floor moves.

I can highly recommend the place I do pole dancing at for anyone who lives in vienna its poledancevienna.at :)

So you have a bit of an idea what it looks like I've decided to post a photo of the studio :)

I tried looking for a video to show you what I learnt but that's not gonna happen.. So for anyone that's looking for a fun workout try pole dance!! 

Better Late Than Never is Exactly Right!

Eleanore had asked me to write a post about a new gym (technically a fitness studio) I recently joined called Orangetheory Fitness (OTF). They are based out of Florida, but have become a franchise and locations are slowly popping up all over the US and Canada.

I was very excited to join OTF as I have been teaching people the benefits of high intensity exercise for over a year now. This particular type of exercise creates excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (or EPOC, for short). When you exercise strenuously at a high intensity it creates an oxygen deficit in your body (due to a buildup of lactic acid). Afterward, the body needs to use more oxygen to restore itself to resting state (EPOC). The body needs a lot of fuel in order to do this, and it gets this fuel from your fat! Which is why high intensity exercise has been proven over and over again to be the most effective for weight loss (as well as general overall HEALTH)! Some studies have shown that the body can continue to burn fat for up to 36 hours following this type of exercise!

The OTF workout is 1 hour in a group setting (up to 26 people per class). Half the class will start on treadmills, while the other half will start out on the strength training floor. Halfway through the class, everyone switches.

On the treadmill, you will choose whether you are a power walker, jogger, or runner. You then adjust your incline and speed accordingly and the trainer will tell you when to turn things up or down. As people become more accustomed to the workouts, they start integrating rowing along with the treadmills. For example, last night we did 0.2 run followed by a 200 meter row, then 0.1 run followed by a 100 meter row, and continue through. Their rowing machines actually have water in them, so you have the feel of rowing through water. The strength training floor has lots of different elements – free weights, TRX bands, Bosu balls, ab dolly’s, etc… The trainer will show everyone each exercise, the correct technique, how to adjust the exercise to make it easier or harder, and then away you go. There is a TV screen which will tell you what exercises you should be performing and how many reps of each you should be doing. You continue to keep doing these until the trainer tells you to stop.

You wear a heart rate monitor for the duration of the class, which helps you to keep track of just how intensely you are working out. The monitors are hooked up to large TV’s so you can see your heart rate, which heart rate zone you are in, and the number of calories you have burned.

There are 5 heart rate zones, based off a percentage of your maximal heart rate. Your max heart rate can roughly be calculated using the equation 220-age. At OTF, the heart rate zones are broken down by color accordingly:

Grey ~50-60% of max – very easy for breathing and muscles
Blue ~60-70% of max – comfortable, easy breathing, low muscle load, light sweating (warm-up)
Green ~70-80% of max – light muscular fatigue, easy breathing, moderate sweating
Orange ~80-90% - muscular fatigue and heavy breathing
Red ~90-100% - very exhausting for breathing and muscles

Of course, the benefits happen when you are in the orange and red zone. So, do you need to be in those zones for an entire hour? Absolutely not. More is not always better. With this type of exercise, if you spend TOO long in the orange and red zones, your body will begin to breakdown muscle for fuel. Therefore, to get the best results you want to spend about 12-20 minutes in the orange and the red zones. The majority of your class time should be spent in the green zone.

The OTF I joined literally just opened a few weeks ago, and already people have been noticing the effects it’s been having on my body! The trainers are awesome and keep you motivated and looking forward to your next workout. If there is an OTF in your area, your first class is always free, so I encourage you to check them out! 

Better late then never..

This post is about yesterday! I was planning on writing something but got too busy at work and forgot about it.. You guys know how that is right?

Anyway yesterday morning I went to the gym managed to get up at 6:20 am for that yaaaay ! 

My outfit of the day was sponsored by my dear family aka Eleanore who got me both the top and bottom from lulu lemon ! I always feel so cool wearing the clothes from there as it doesn't exist in Vienna I get to be like "boyaaaa in your face" ;)

Anyway I did a 20 minute warmup on the cross trainer which was great I took a photo of that too :p

I then went on to do 100 squats, 10 minutes of jump rope, 50 leg lifts and 50 crunches ! 

Boy did my tummy buuuurn! 

On the way to work then I stopped by my favorite supermarket called Merkur on Hohermarkt (in Vienna) and bought myself this amazing green smoothie from true fruits!

It was the second smoothie I tried from them and I went back today to get the same one again! First off it's super healthy it's filled with matcha, ginger, kale, spinach, pear, banana and apple and it tastes great none the less!!! There also aren't any added sugars and the smoothie comes in a glass bottle meaning you can reuse it as something or recycle it ! 

I saw today that they have liter bottles as well! So getting one of those for the weekend at home :)

The back label of the bottle is also entertaining to read (yes I read those! My friend is a nutrishionist and since she always checks the sugar amounts and what not I've started doing that too) 

So if you can go buy this smoothie ! I'm sure it's something wholefoods would have :) so I just did a little research on true fruits and they give you a bunch of ideas as to what to do with the bottle once finished consuming ! You can use it for oil or salt or soy sauce or God knows what! Either way they give you the option to buy different lids on their website ... I love it! Have a read here: www.true-fruits.com

As for today I'm not going to the gym or doing anything sporty as matter of fact :)

Happy weekend :) 

Rest Days

Good morning and happy hump day! The week is flying by.

So, yesterday was an unplanned rest day for me!

Actually, all  of my rest days are usually unplanned. I figure if I try and workout most days, there are bound to be some days where it just doesn't work out. I was really busy at work and had a lot to get done by end of day.. I was bummed about not being able to go, so thought I could dash over do a quick body combat class. I have been in the mood to do some kick box lately. [ not enough however to do the kind of kickboxing that will cost me $323742380 dollars a year. And no, not even if you wave the crazy $200 dollar fees that were just there to be waved in the first place so you feel like you are getting a discount. grr!! I hate when people try to pressure you into joining their club. ]

Anyway, I wrote to Tamara about body combat and she reminded me that the classes were cancelled yesterday. So I took that as I sign that the gym just wouldn't work out. I am glad I did as I worked late and was even late to my photo class. Luckily I didn't miss a thing even though I was nearly half an hour late.

On another note, I was absolutely starving yesterday! I could not stop eating. I think it is this cold weather.

Today things have calmed down and I plan on hitting the gym..I am thinking body pump. I haven't done weights in a while.

Oh I came cross this article yesterday on body fat and sacrifices etc- found it very interesting.

The cost of getting lean

Midweek Wednesday

So this week started out great, I had my usual Monday night boxing session with the usual 20 minutes of jump rope. At the end of the class my trainer complemented me on looking like a professional I was so happy ! 

Today I went to the gym in the morning and completed my once a week run! The second I got on the treadmill my shins started burning, this probably has something to do with the mega long running warm up I had on Monday as everyone was late -.- anyway the longer I ran the less painful it felt so I managed to keep on going for quite a while and completed a run of 11km in 1:01:11 or something ! This is what my Nike app says on the treadmill I did 10,5km at the end and burned 750 calories whereas on the app I only burned 640... I don't know which one to trust but either way I'm happy with my results!

 

My shirt was soaked after the run, which I've come to appreciate as it shows that you've really gotten something done :)

(Yes I did just post a photo of my sweaty shirt :p) time to get motivated !

Happy goal keeping!

Weekend Fun!

This weekend I went to Toronto for my annual trip to the Royal Winter Fair. Before I left, I went for  a morning run along the canal with my friend. It was a great run but left me quite tired for my 4 hr drive. I'm glad I did it though because it ended up being the only real exercise I did all weekend.

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting friends and walking around the Royal  (which I suppose is a bit of exercise) . One of my favorite things to do there is to eat an apple dumpling. It is amazing and worth every calorie!

The finished product

On my way back to Ottawa, I stopped at the barn rode Cedric. He was a bit stiff from the cold but after about 10 minutes he loosened up and we had a lovely ride.

Today I got back on track and went to a Body Shred class with El. It was a good workout but I had a headache due to the weather and wasn't able to push myself as hard as I would have liked. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.

Weekend Temptations

Well I am back from the land of delicious pastries and croissants..aka Montreal. I would say the damage was medium-high.

I was about to post some photos from some of the bakeries but decided better not to.

The good:
- After my sunrise photo session, we went to Art-is-in Bakery. I watched as everyone stocked up on so many croissants and breads. I resisted knowing I was going to MTL.
- walking, walking walking- as much as possible
- yoga at a great yoga place - Luna Yoga in Old Montreal
- delicious ginger tea- good for the immune system - seeing good friends- good for the soul

The bad:
- Art is In- I did indulge in a breakfast sandwich (no bacon just egg and cheese)
- Shared snacks at an Iranian tea place
- thai dinner
- red wine
- candy

The ugly: 
- mushroom baguette from mama claffouti
- 1/2 triple chocolate croissant from mama claffouti
- brunch after already having said croissant. The brunch itself was the "brunch sante" and was delicious.

Berries, granola and yogurt, cheese and figs, poached eggs over mesclun lettuce and toast, fresh fruit- now this is a nice brunch!

I tried to enjoy the weekend, after all YOLO. Back to the gym today.

The Evil Fluff!

So I went to bed last night knowing that today's weather was going to be crappy. Most days that wouldn't bother me since I workout indoors, but today is my running day and I like to run outside. So when I woke up this morning sure enough there was the evil white fluffy snow waiting for me, mocking me to some degree. So I did what any normal person would do on a Sunday morning, I crawled back into bed.

Whilst in my cozy warm bed, I began to say "Get up, get dressed, GO RUN!". Let just say that I was in bed long enough for me to loose count how many times I repeated it, but it worked this time. Next thing I knew I was dressed and looking for my toque and mittens.

Once outside I was greeted with a cold slap to my senses, not pleasant at all. But I had come this far and was not going to turn back, so off I went. Lets just say that the picture below pretty much sums up how it went. All in all it is safe to say that this weeks habits have been completed (I hope you all were able to complete yours too, if not the day is still not over yet).

Halfway There!

I love that I planned ahead and thought the calisthenics challenge was completely reasonable and manageable. So happy for day 15 rest day! Why on earth would I think building up to 100 burpees, 5 min wallsit and 5 min plank over 30 days would be easy?! Not to mention the added squats, lunges and bridges?! I will complete the challenge and I already feel stronger for it, but it's definitely adding to my early morning grumpiness.

This Friday, meeting one of my closest friend's son took priority over the kayak pool session.... so the roll will wait a week. I have followed through on resume/cover letter work and am feeling more confident about some potential prospects.

The most exciting thing I did this week was finally bite the bullet and start an online photo portfolio! I've been talking about it for ages and am so grateful for the feedback I've received so far. If you're interested please check it out: https://500px.com/katywinship 

I hope you're all having fantastic weekends and accomplishing your goals!

Almost there!

So the week's almost over and I've almost achieved all my goals (gym wise) for the week yahuuuu!

So far I've been to the gym on monday for boxing, tuesday, wednesday and friday for a regular workout. Yesterdays session was cut short as I was not motivated to do anything so I just ran a quick 2k warm up did some leg, tummy and arm workouts and that was that :)

Today I start my pole dancing course I'm rather excited! I'm hoping to go to the gym tomorrow as well if I've got time! There's a massive Russian test coming up and I should be studying for that...

If you've got any workouts you think I should try let me know :) I'm always up for trying something new!

Enjoy the weekend

Friends don't let friends sleep in

muahahaha.

Well this morning I woke up before 6 am and decided I should go for a run. It was then or never because I had a breakfast and lunch with work so wouldn't have time for the gym. I texted Antonella to see if she was planning on running and if she wanted to come.

Awww..what a good friend!

So I got ready to head out into the dark- head lamp and all.

I have never used  a headlamp and was excited to try it out.

I got outside and couldn't stop laughing because it was quite light out and I did not need a headlamp at all. It was definitely overkill. I kept it on for a bit just for fun and then put it away.

Anyway we did around 5k and the pace was faster than what I usually run on my own.

Antonella didn't believe that I run as slow as I do..so here is the proof

I realized I barely ran at all in October..only 17.2km..woops. Back at in November.

See all the meh faces for my mood?  it is still better to do a mediocre run than none at all!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Try and stay focused on your goals but still have some fun! If your goals are too strict or you are finding them unreasonable, please re-adjust! Weekends are usually the hardest for me for nutrition..so I will try and be mindful and not sabotage myself [completely].

Making fat cry on a daily basis!

Challenge accepted!! Apologies for the delay in submitting my goals for these 30 day, I'm a newbie to the blog world.

So the following are the habits I plan stick with:

• 30 ~ 40 min. of Nike+ training 5 days a week
• 20 ~ 30 min. runs 2 days a week (weather permitting)
• Find and try new quick healthy energy boosting snack/ meal recipes. (I’ll sifting through El’s other blog to find ideas.) Suggestions welcomed.

The goal with sticking with these habits is to build up my energy level (I hate feeling sluggish), and to do better in my next 10k or ½ marathon race.

Today I did the Fighter Fit workout and substituted running in place, back pedal, and light jog with skip rope. I did this so I can build up my skip rope endurance.

I find thinking “Sweat is just your fat crying” while I workout funny, and motivating.

80-20- Eating Healthy!

Have you ever heard the saying " Abs are made in the kitchen" ?

Well they really are!

They say that 80% of it is nutrition and only 20% is exercise.

This 80-20 rule also applies to other things. For instance, eating healthy 80% of the time and indulging 20%. And some say it goes for kissing too, go in 80% and let the person come to you for the other 20%.

Anyway.. back to eating healthy. How boring. I usually am starving and wanting to eat my lunch by 11 am..but today I wasn't hungry and at all, and I realized it is because I had a salad for lunch. wah wah.  I need to spice up my salads with something delicious. Like maybe pasta. Just kidding.

healthy dinner from the other day-
salad with chickpeas and pomegranate seeds

I came across this article with tips on how to deal with your post-workout hanger.

 I am doing okay with getting workouts in but the next step is to really focus on nutrition if I want to see any results. I am so inspired by all of you! you are working away towards your goals.. not making excuses and getting it done! That is awesome.


<3

Starting the day off right :)

So far I'm quite pleased with my progress.  I hope I can keep it up.  Yesterday El and I went to a spin class at lunch.  It was a great workout.  There are fans all over the room but they don't seem to turn them on so the place becomes a sauna.

In the evening I played floor hockey.  Although we lost, we played really well.  Some of the guys on the opposing team were really aggressive so I took it a bit easy.  Even still, I've got a lovely bruise on my thigh from blocking a slap shot on the net.

This morning El and I went to the U of O pool for a swim workout.  I managed to swim 1000 m in about 30 min.  It felt good to be back in the pool although I need to work on perfecting my flip turns before my competition in May.

Tarantula Day 27

I didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning, so skipped my morning run. I figured I'd make up for it with gym work tonight. Then I had to work late and almost got seriously behind in my challenge. I high tailed (what does this phrase mean exactly anyhow) to the gym just in time for an eight o'clock pump class.

Today was a good reminder not to put workouts off because who knows what's going to happen in the day. I should have followed El's example in her first post. Unfortunately this has been--and likely will continue to be--a repeat lesson. Here's hoping it sticks for the remaining 26 days at least!

Starting out..

I'm doing this in the hopes of getting stuff done, during the summer I have sent El so many squat challenges and what not challenges I completed exactly 0 of them.

So now I've come up with some smaller easier goals which are:

1) Finish my boxing course. - Be able to do all jumps on the jumping rope and skip for a minimum of 15 minutes.

2) Enjoy my pole dancing course. I start this on saturday and can't wait to improve my arm strength !

3) Lose more body fat gain muscle -eat healthy!

4) Go to the gym at least 4 times a week (including boxing//excluding pole dancing) so do sport at least 5 times a week

5) Go running at least once a week whether its in the gym or outside.

6) Also add at least one kilo of weight to the weights I lift.

7) Lastly start trying to prepare lunches for work.

So far I've done my boxing for the week, Ive added a kilo to one set of weights that I lift, and I've been to the gym 3 times! I have also managed to skip with the jumping rope for 2x5 minutes :)

Yaaaay!

Lunchtime workouts

 If work permits, I like to go to the gym at lunch to workout. Sometimes I just need the extra minutes of sleep in the morning..so this is a second chance for me to get my workout in early(ish).

Today Tamara and I rushed over for a quick spin class! I have not sweat so much in a long time.

Prior to the sweat-fest
T- already checking off her goal of weekly spin

I came across this article recently on how to squeeze in a lunch-time workout. It says to head straight to the showers with all your clothes, so you don't get stuck in a long line-up.  This is good advice, especially if your gym is very busy. Good life is usually nuts at lunchtime.

Tuesday

After resting my body on Sunday and Monday I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go for a ride outside.

I rode around with my friend and although it was mostly at the walk, I worked on making Cedric use his back. I didn't want to work him too hard as it was quite warm and Cedric has grown in his winter coat.

After my ride I came home and went for a 30 min run. My GPS watch wasn't working properly but I think it was about 3k. I managed to work my way up to running three 3 minute intervals.

Afterwards I had volleyball game in Gatineau. I kept about 80% of the balls in play. I didn't try any overhand serves because my back was bothering me. Perhaps next week it will feel better.

My goals

Thanks El for inviting me to the 30 day challenge! As some of  you know, I had back surgery almost 2.5 years ago and have been working ever since to get my body back up to normal.

My long-term goal is to do a beginner triathlon next May so my main goals for the next 30 days are to get my body ready for that competition.

Swim -  Swim once a week at least 1000 m.

Bike - Go to a spin class once a week.

Run - Be able to do a 5-1 interval run.

I'm also active in a number of sports. I play volleyball, floor hockey and go curling once a week. I also horseback ride 3-5 times a week. My secondary goal is to improve something in all of these areas.

Volleyball - I haven't been strong enough to do anything but an underhand serve so I'd like to work towards making an overhand serve (that doesn't hit the net) and have all the balls I hit to remain in play.

Floor Hockey - I'd like to get a goal. I normally play defense so this will be a bit of a challenge but I'd like to try.

Curling - I normally use a stick when I deliver the rock (because of my back surgery I wasn't able to bend over and slide). I've become quite proficient at it but I'm stronger now and I'd like to work towards being able to deliver the rock "normally" and not like an old person.

Horseback Riding - I've been riding for over 25 years so my goals are quite technical. I'd like to work on being able to do sitting trot while keeping Cedric's back round. I'd also like to work on getting Cedric's canter more elastic and getting him to keep his body straight  at all three gaits.

Tarantula's Day 28

Today was a tough day. I started my run ten minutes later than planned and wanted to stop running almost immediately after starting.

It's days like this I keep my goals small: "I'll run as far as the canal Ritz. Just stay focused on the canal Ritz." Then,  when I get to the Ritz, I keep going, deciding I'll run to Landsdowne. When I get to Landsdowne, I decide to carry on to the Bank St bridge then so on and so on, until I'm done. And I feel good.

Maybe one step (forward) at a time is a good mantra afterall.

(Re)Connection

Thanks El for re-starting the blog! (And for calling me out to write a post.)

My goals for November:

30 Day Calisthenics

I overdid this one in September (sometimes I jump in with 2 feet and little foresight) so planned ahead and made a calendar this month. One challenge was not enough for me so I compiled the Butt, Burpees, Plank and Wall Sit 30 day challenges from 30dayfitnesschallenges.com. Yes, I took before pictures. No, I’m not posting them on the internet.

Job Applications

I am currently looking to expand my career and am pushing myself to apply for a minimum of five opportunities in the month of November. The worst that will happen is I will gain more experience writing and editing the dreaded cover letter, and the best….

Roll My Kayak

I used to paddle a lot and I’ve been carting a white water kayak around with me for years. So I’ve joined a local kayak club and so far have attended one demoralizing pool session. About a decade ago, I learned to roll my kayak my first hour out, it’s now been seven years since I’ve tried and it hasn’t come back so quick. So I will continue to attend the weekly pool sessions and practice and I feel confident that I will have it back soon.

Reconnect with Me!

I feel like since transitioning to city-life and a regular 9-5 job I’ve slowly lost some of my passions and ambitions. Lately I’ve been pushing myself to re-kindle these and create more balance in my world. Primarily I am accomplishing this by spending more time outdoors with intention. For example last week I hiked a local mountain – I pushed myself hard and did not break on the ascent but on the descent I pulled out my camera and took my time to observe my surroundings and play. My favourite shot of the day is the one above - I love macro photography and was going in to take a shot of a mushroom when I realized I was interrupting this guys lunch, If I hadn't been taking my time and being observant I would've missed my Planet Earth moment (in my mind I could hear David Attenborough narrating as I tried to capture my find). 

Of all my goals this is the most important and also the hardest to define as a SMART goal – I think all three of the others are also sub-goals to this. The balance and connection that I gain may not be overtly measurable but I can say that I already feel that I am making progress.   

Tarantula's Day 29 (I'm counting down)

Okay, Eleanore. Challenge accepted.

Yesterday, I did a 10K run, followed by a Goodlife Bodyshred class. Then I went to my friend's house to build a gingerbread house with his son...which was singularly frustrating because he kept eating the frosting, causing the house to repeatedly collapse. But, I digress (and will do so often). And, at least I didn't eat the frosting, making for a strong Day 30.

Tonight, my plan is to go to the gym for BodyPump and a core class. All of this is in fulfilment toward my 30 day objectives, ta-da:

My Weekly Plan


At least three times a week, I will BodyPump, CXworx, & BodyShred. Four-to-five times a week, I will run, including a long run on Sundays. Once a week I will play soccer (starting Nov 21, so that's a bit of a late start, but oh well). I will throw in bonus activity throughout, like a spin class or yoga or something.

My long run schedule

Nov 9: 10km
Nov16: 15km (what? Is this wise? No. But, I need to get to 20 and pronto-like.)
Nov 25: 18 km
Nov 30: 20 km

Food
And eat well. As in healthy.

Inspiration

I am open to suggestions. My inspirational phrase was going to be "one step at a time." I searched for a photo on the web to try to accompany this phrase and was shocked to see how many times it shows up as a tattoo on someone's foot. I'm afraid, therefore, I am still looking for an inspirational phrase as I can't show a similar level of zeal for the phrase "one step at a time." This brings into question whether it is the right phrase for me. Then again, maybe it's more a problem that I should find a different measure of commitment. Yeah. Something I'd Crayola on my bathroom mirror. That opens the field!

Monday

Good morning!

I started out the day and week with a quick interval run. It did not feel quick.  

How are you starting out the week? 

Lets do this!

Hopefully you have taken some time to think about your goals. Feel free to post them on here so we can all motovate and encourage each other. My goals are to workout 5 days a week and to eat healthier. I would like to lose 5 pounds. I will try and put together something more specific and share it on here. I did take some "before" photos this morning and they are pretty horrible. It is important though to be able to compare and see if i am making progress. Also your goals do not have to be weight related or even fitness related. It is completely up to you.

One thing I will try and do is to get my workouts in early. The sooner you get them done the less likely you are to skip them. Also, always have a back up plan. If you are planning to go to the gym at lunch and work gets busy or you forget your gym shoes, have a plan B- yoga after work or taking a walk.

Usually on Sunday mornings I like to do a long-ish run, but this morning I decided i didn't want to go out into the dreary cold, so I came to spin class.

I was a bit too gung-ho as the gym is still closed!

Note To self- check the schedule more closely next time. Spin is at 9:05 and the gym only opens at 9? Hmm Not super conveniant. Oh and I also forgot to bring a towel.. Hahaha But then again who needs a towel anyway? ;) 

Have a great Sunday! I look forward to seeing your goals. 

Healthy Eating and Exercise Challenge to begin November 9

For many of us, fall is a time filled with thanksgiving food, Halloween candy, and comfort food. The weather is getting colder and it's getting harder and harder to get outside for that run, or making it to the gym.

It is so easy to let our busy schedules get in the way and to make excuses. Hopefully this blog can give us some motivation to get back on track. And for those of you that are on track, share your  tips and tricks with the rest of us! 

In the next few days, think about what this means for you. Set your goals and intentions for the next month.  Make sure your goals are measurable. How will you check your progress? How are you going to challenge yourself?

Also take some time in the next few days to get organized-  clear out the junk food from your house, plan your menu or workout routine and set yourself up for success!