Abs: Before and After

Thought I would post a quick pic of my ab progress. I have been doing my Abs for Christmas workout and seeing progress. The before picture is from October of 2011. The after picture was taken today on a whim. This is after a 7 day cruise and feeding frenzy AND a big Christmas dinner. The key in both instances was moderation and healthy choices. I just pulled my turtleneck up today to get this pic. I know its not professional quality but please forgive me!!

More of my favorite things...

I run with a CamelBak. No matter what...I wear my CamelBak. Mine is a "women's specific pack" called the Annadel. When I first started running, I did a lot of research to find a way to stay hydrated during my short 2 -3 mile runs. I was pretty good about drinking enough water throughout the day and prior to a run. I was able to make it through the shorter number of miles. When I started training for my first half marathon, my mileage increased. On my first five mile run, I felt like my stomach was eating itself. I felt so sick that I consulted the trusty interwebs to see what the problem could possibly be.After reading a couple different articles, I discovered that I was most likely dehyrdated. I quickly changed my search from what is wrong to what can I do to fix it. There were all kinds of water bottles and belts with bottles available to me. I did not fancy the idea of carrying anything in my hands. I happened upon the CamelBak and felt that it would be the perfect solution. I ordered it and it arrived very quickly. The first time I ran with it, I was supposed to run 4 miles but felt so great that I extended the run to 6 miles. I was well hydrated the entire run. I love my CamelBak. It is lightweight and functional. I have talked to others who are not fans of running with the CamelBak. The have complained that the fit is cumbersome. I love mine. I love that I never have to stop at a water station during a race. I am a "slow and steady wins the race" type girl. I run slowly but I can run for prolonged periods of time. When I stop running, though, it is difficult to start back up. Stopping at a water station could curtail any race for me. The CamelBak may possibly be responsible for success in some of my long runs...

   You can find one here...

Official Cleveland Rite-Aid Marathon Blogger!!!

Yesterday I received notification that I was selected to be one of twelve official bloggers for the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon. To say that I am excited is an understatement! I am truly honored to be chosen. I am NOT running the marathon. I'm running the 10K. This will be my third year in a row running this particular race. The first year I ran it, I didn't realize I could not pick up my race packet on race day and ran without a bib. I had no time registered. I did memorize the girl's number I ran along side of so that I could look for pictures of myself crossing the finish line. Last year, I was better prepared. My friend picked up my packet for me. On the morning of race day, I could not find her. I had the announcer announce her name, but she did not respond or appear at the podium. She later told me she thought it was a joke. Once again, I had no time registered for my run. This year I plan to run the 10K AND register a time.  There are 11 other bloggers as well and 10 guest bloggers. Check out the other bloggers here...

Abs for Christmas? Yes, Please!!!

I am pretty proud of the changes I am seeing in my body. I am gaining more muscle which means I am losing lots of jiggle. I have been doing lots of cardio which includes my running and Jillian Micheal's videos and I have also been lifting weights at the gym. I downloaded the GymPact app to my IPhone which is an incentive based app that pays you to go to the gym or charges you if you miss workouts. I have worked out 5 days a week for the last six weeks (including the week of Thanksgiving!). With all of this, I am noticing a much flatter tummy. I am not doing ab specific exercises, however. I decided to come up with a plan to address my abs. I chose these specific exercises because they are challenging, but they are all exercises I can do successfully. I want to get the most of every exercise I do and I cannot do that if I am trying to figure out how to do the move. My 14 year old acted as a guinea pig and experimented with me to make sure that the workout is a challenge. So far, I can only complete the workout 2 times in a row. This takes 10:37 seconds. My goal is to be able to do this workout 3 or more times consecutively, in conjunction with my other workouts, by the end of the month. So...yes please, I will take that lovely gift of abs for Christmas...

Magical Socks

A friend of mine once told me that his wife bought him socks for his birthday. I felt sad on the inside for him. SOCKS... for a birthday present! He could see the shock on my face and went on to explain that these were not just any socks, they were special running socks. I was intrigued but not sold on the idea of magical running socks. The socks he was given were Thorlos. I decided to do some research and perhaps invest in a pair. I have horrible feet. I mean...I have arthritis in both feet and Plantar Fasciitis. I figured that it couldn't hurt to give it a try. I purchased one pair of socks for 13 dollars. Being the big cheapy that I am made this a difficult task. I reluctantly parted ways with my money and walked out of the store with the most expensive pair of socks I have ever owned.  The most horrible part of this process was that the socks were not even cute. They were just plain white socks with a gray heel and toe. I ran outside (as opposed to on a treadmill) for my inaugural Thorlos clad run and I felt the difference immediately. These socks have the perfect amount of cushion to fit comfortably in your running shoes but also swallow your feet in a pillow of love and protection. I noted a significant decrease in the amount of aches I felt while running in the Thorlos. I absolutely love these socks and recommend them to other people all the time. I have a friend who is an avid, daily runner. She says that she is not concerned with "running gear" she just wants to run. She runs long distances and runs them in about 8 minutes (or less) per mile. When she complained to me about foot aches, I suggested Thorlos. She bought a pack of 3 pair on line and now also swears by them. In fact she reports that they are a must have for her runs now. I initially bought my socks at a sporting goods store near my house. The store has since closed. I have not been able to buy them in the store but I have purchased them on line. When I needed to buy some right away, I took a chance on SmartWool. They are similarly priced. The pair that I bought was pink! Cue dance music and balloons for the cute socks!!!  They function much the same as the Thorlos. The difference is that these are made from breathable wool and the Thorlos are cotton. I love them both equally. I would definitely recommend these socks to all those who run, jog, walk, bike or hike!!

2012 Thanksgiving Day Columbus Turkey Trot

My family gathered at my cousin's house in Columbus for Thanksgiving this year. My cousin lives in Columbus and I live in Cleveland. We are virtual running partners and while we have "run together", we have never physically run together. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to finally get together for a run. Once we started looking into potential races, we found this one and also found that there was a family discount for teams of four family members. We invited everyone to participate. Two other cousins decided to join us. (Family runners were: J, JM, M and R) The race turnout was great! There were thousands of participants there trying to make up for the turkey and dressing that they would undoubtedly consume later in the day. There was a 2 and 5 mile event. Both were runner and walker friendly. There was also a free kids run earlier in the day. The event was extremely family friendly and catered to all abilities and fitness levels. Before the race, one of my cousins (JM) disappeared. He ended up running the race alone. The remaining three of us decided to attempt to stay together. For the first two miles, the three of us made pretty good time. We finished mile 1 in 10:07 and mile 2 in 10:43. At mile two, my cousin (M) gave us permission to leave her if she started walking. Shortly thereafter, she took a short walk break. The two of us (J and R) continued on together. We finished mile 3 in 9:55 and mile 4 in 10:40. At about mile 3.5, I attempted to tell J to leave me but he couldn’t hear me. I kept up with him for about another half mile. At mile 4, I made sure he saw and heard me tell him to leave me. He finished mile 5 in about 10:30. I finished mile 5 in about 11:14.  Before the race, I imagined I would take an hour to run the 5 miles. I finished in 52:24. I usually get extremely sluggish around mile 3 and my speed drops into the 5MPH range. I believe that running with my cousin pushed me to maintain a more consistent speed. I am very proud of my time. The after race snacks were great. Not great because they were so tasty but great because there was a wide variety of healthy snacks that I had not tried before but had the opportunity to try on this day. They had the usual bananas but they also had OxyWater, cereal bars and what seemed like every available flavor of Zone Perfect Bars. I am usually a Power Bar girl. I am not a huge fan of all of the Power Bar flavors, though. Some of them are too sweet for me. I do like the fact that they fill me up and give me energy. I was excited to try a couple of different flavors of the Zone Perfect Bars on race day. I ate a whole peanut crunch bar. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was sweet but not necessarily too sweet. I also found it to be filling. I also tasted someone else's Dark Chocolate Caramel Pecan. Yummmmmmmy is an excellent word to describe it. I was not a fan of the OxyWater. I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners. I hate the after taste. I took one sip and passed it on to one of my kiddos. I thoroughly enjoyed this race. I am not sure if I will run this particular race again. I live hours away! I would love to run another Turkey Trot next Thanksgiving not only in preparation for the calories I will consume later in the day but also to celebrate the fact that I am so thankful to God for my ability to walk, jog, run, jump, and leap!

M,J and R /Pre-Race

JM, M, R, J /Post-Race

My Favorite Things...

I made a decision about 4 1/2 years ago to stop putting chemicals in my hair. It was not a major decision. I never had a relaxer as a child. I didn't get my first one until I was 18 and able to pay for it myself. My mother did not allow me to relax my hair. She always said "You don't need one". I was a stubborn child though, and that was not enough to deter me. I jumped on the first opportunity that presented itself for me to chemically straighten my hair. My mothers message was lost on me. She presented it the wrong way. Five years ago, when my daughter turned 6, I decided to teach her the lesson my mother tried to teach me. I decided to do it differently. I wanted to teach my daughter that she is beautiful the way God made her. I wanted her to appreciate the hair she was born with. I could not tell her that her hair was beautiful while all the while chemically altering mine. I decided that I was done with chemicals. Four years later, my hair is healthy and strong and I love it. I have experimented with what feels like a million products over the years. I have happened upon some that have become favorites. I love Yes to Carrots products!! My daughter has a flaky scalp and I sweat a lot in my hair from exercising. I wanted to find a shampoo and conditioner that were not full of chemicals to address these issues. I recently happened upon Yes To Carrots Scalp Relief. While I am not a die hard natural product junkie, I do appreciate the fact that their products are 99% natural. These conditioners are not thick enough alone so I mix them. I am a big fan of Herbal Essence products. I mixed Yes to Carrots with Herbal Essence's Honey I'm Strong. This mix makes our hair easy to detangle and leaves our hair soft and manageable. Despite having found these products that I love, I am on a never ending quest for the perfect hair products and I am always open to suggestions. I'm a hair product junkie!!!!

The Women Who Run Race!!



 



 

On Saturday, my younger sister  and I participated in the Women who Run race hosted by Hermes Road Racing.

My sister and I are currently in the process of rebuilding our relationship. I wanted to share my love of running and fitness with her and I thought this would be an awesome opportunity for us to bond over a common goal. I was a little hesitant to ask her because she has asthma. I know a lot of athletes with asthma but her asthma is a special beast. There are times during our conversations when I have heard her struggling for breath. I decided to ask her anyway. She responded without hesitation "I'll try!” I signed up for the 4 miler and she signed up for the 1 miler. On race day, we were informed that the 4 miler had been changed to a 5K. I didn't mind at all! The atmosphere at this race was amazing!! There were women of all different ages and abilities. There was a 76 year old woman who ran this race and had run a half marathon the previous week! There was also a huge group of Black Girls Run runners there representing in their black and pink and Black Girls Run Tees. What an inspiration! The Women who Run race was quite an empowering run. My sister finished her mile run in about 12 minutes. What an awesome feat for someone who does not run often! My goal for this race was to have fun and to run the race in sub 10 minute miles. My time was 31.25! I met my goal and PR'd for the 5K. Upon finishing the race, each runner was greeted by one of many firefighters who were handing out medals. We also received a feminine cut race tee in our race bags. How cool is that! No boxy tee this time! A cute fitted tee!!!!  I am hopeful that this race becomes a tradition in our city as there are a great many women in our area who run and love it!!!



Me and My Joes after the race



My sister and Me with our medals!

 

Black Girls Run! Cleveland

 



Me and Rebecca (a running Amiga)



Short term goals

WARNING: The today in this post refers to Monday. I was slow to post...

 I am a planner and have always had to be. I went to college with no financial assistance from my family. I managed to work full time and participated in activities . What kept me afloat during this period was setting short term realistic goals for myself that would ultimately lead to me reaching my ultimate goal, which, at that time, was graduation.

Setting goals and working to achieve them is very important in any fitness plan.  My long term goal is to be fit. I have an idea of what I want my body to look and feel like. I know that I want awesome abs. I want to wear a bikini at 40.  I can envision all of this and I know that none of this will happen next week. This means that if my goal is set far out, I will not experience any notable success next week.  I know and accept this.  It is very easy to set generic goals for fitness. I have set generic goals and I have heard others talk about theirs. Examples would be “I want to be fit or I want to eat healthier”. These goals are great, but lack specificity. With only an abstract idea and no concrete action plan, it becomes infinitely more difficult to measure success.

In an attempt to remedy this, I have decided to start setting short term goals with a definitive measure of success. Reaching these smaller goals that I set for myself will eventually lead to me succeeding at my long term goal by creating concrete and manageable steps that can be tackled one at a time. The goal I set for myself this week is to wake up at 5 am to workout. I am not a morning person so this will definitely be a challenge for me.  I woke up this morning at 5 and looked outside. It was pitch black and I decided that a run in the dark was not for me. That being said, I did not want to stay in bed and feel like a quitter on my first day. I hit snooze at 5. I got up at 5:14 and made my bed. I then did an ab workout that I LOVE from Melissa Bender on YouTube. The video is 10 minutes. There are 10 different ab exercises. You do each exercise for 50 seconds with a 10 second rest between each one. This morning was a success!!  

My son has his guitar lesson tonight. Lessons are 30 minutes long. I usually sit in my car and watch Hulu on my phone or laptop.  So, I have made my second goal to run while I am waiting on my son to complete his lesson. We shall see how that goes...  If the plan works tonight, then I will plan on running Wednesday while my daughter is at her Saxophone lesson!!!

Depression and my war against the pudge...

I started Ripped in 30 about 30 days ago. The first two weeks were great. I did my workout everyday and I was able to run a few times.  I saw notable changes and I was pumped. Week three found me a little depressed. I have struggled with depression for years. At one point in my life I was so depressed that I stayed in bed most of the day. I worked nights. I would take my kids(the Joes) to school and I would stay in bed all day. I only worked 3 nights out of the week but that did not stop me from spending hours in the bed, allowing my life to slip past me. My son who is now 14 recalls that he knew I was sad. The discussion that followed was an eye opener for me. I have made a significant effort not to isolate when I am feeling depressed. I make special efforts to spend more time with The Joes and to try to better manage my symptoms.  Over the last two weeks, we have spent a lot of time together as a family. We have been cooking together and we make an effort to cook healthy meals. I feel that this was a success. What was not a success was me in pajamas everyday for a week. During the third week, my car decided to quit me while on an exit ramp. The shop quoted me a fix-it price of 900 dollars. I decided to take some time, think about it and make an educated decision. This meant that I was stuck at home for a week. I worked from home, in pajamas, every single day. Two of these days, I took a half day. I was just chillin at the house in my pajamas...depressed!!!  I had to rely on others to get The Joes to activities, but the fact that there were “others” to help was a blessing.  The two weeks were not a total loss. There was another success!  I did run about 6 times. A few of those runs were on a treadmill. The outside runs were great. Greatly influenced by other’s running times, I set a new running goal to consistently run 2 miles in 20 minutes or less.  Four of the runs were outside runs. The times were as follows: 3 miles in 34:03, 2.2 miles in 23:18, 2 miles in 20:32 and 2 miles in 20:09. These two weeks reminded me that I am much stronger today than I was years ago. I cannot just lie down and let life pass me by. Today I am a fighter...

After...

I finished the 30 Day Shred last Wednesday!!!! It also happened to be my birthday so my post is a little late...While I finished on Wednesday, I spent Thursday through Sunday celebrating with awesome family and friends. I went to see Raphael Saadiq on Thursday at the House of Blues. On Friday, I went to the Chocolate Martini Bar with some girlfriends. On Saturday, I spent the day with my daughter and nephew. We were treated to the yummy flavors of Sweetie Fry and I finished my back to school shopping!! On Sunday we  headed to church, then went to dinner at the Chocolate Martini Bar again and we saw Adrian Dunn's Hopera that evening. I had an amazing time and felt amazing because I reached a goal that I had set for myself. I must say that 37 feels awesome for me! I completed 30 days of workouts. I feel stronger and leaner. I keep looking at my thighs and I am completely amazed at how toned they look to me. I am not as toned as I would like to be...but I definitely see a change in my body. BTW...my right thigh is larger than the other. It has a couple dimples!!Argh. I am trying hard to get rid of them!!!! I did not lose a significant amount of weight but I did lose inches which excites me more than the weight!! I have also gained speed. This was not an anticipated side effect but one that I appreciate greatly. I have been able to get my mile time down from a 12 minute mile to now below a 10 minute mile. I am now starting Ripped in 30 from Jillian Michaels. I may only do this workout 6 days a week as opposed to the 30 days of workouts with the previous workout... My new measurements are as follows:

Waist: 26  Bust: 31 Hips:37 1/2   Thigh: 21
Calves:12 1/4   Bicep:10 1/2 Weight:132

Goal:Running a Faster Mile

I ran the Mill Creek Classic Half Marathon in March of 2012. I finished it in 2:48:00. I ran about 13 minute miles. I ran a whopping 19 torturous hills. I most likely finished it because I ran with an awesome partner!!!! I was very proud of myself that I ran continuously for almost three hours. I never imagined that I would run that far ever! This was a tremendous accomplishment for me. More recently I have found that I have been consistently running about 11 or 12 minute miles. I am not satisfied with this time. My new goal is to run a faster mile. I do not want to do interval training. It is not very appealing to me. I have decided to stop trying to run long runs AND improve my time. I just cut my runs short. Very short. My latest plan has me running 3 times a week, 1 mile each workout. I have found that it is less intimidating knowing that I am only going to run a mile and that I can invest all my energy in the run. I have met each run with success. My latest times for my mile runs have been 9:40, 9:46 and 10:00(on the treadmill). I plan to run 4 times next week, 1 mile each time. The goal is to run sub-10 minute miles each time. Every two weeks I will add one mile and attempt to maintain a consistent time. I am also doing Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred and Kettlebell swings and situps. I am feeling a lot stronger and this may be impacting my performance during my runs. I am hopeful that I will run a 5K in the fall in under 30 minutes!!!!

My kids are not responsible for my doughy middle...

I always cringe when I hear folks say that they sacrificed their dreams for their children. I guess it's a parenting choice. Neither way is right or wrong. I have chosen to not attribute any of my shortcomings or failures to my children. I imagine that it must be a great burden for a child to bare. Imagine thinking: My mom never finished college because of me or my mom has extra weight around her midsection which leads to higher rates of heart disease because of me... SCARY STUFF!!!!

When I go to my kids school I am always met with visions of moms who have given up on the idea of fitness. I have some mom friends who attribute their doughy middles to the births of their middle school aged children and proclaim that there is no time for them to work out. I will just go ahead and admit the following fact for all of us: My kids are not responsible for my doughy middle. I know that this is shocking considering they are 14 and 11 years old. In reality, I have a doughy middle because I have not been as committed to my own personal fitness as I should have been. It is my responsibility to hang around for a while to be a parent to my kids. I have control over my physical being and have decided to make an effort to set an example of wellness and fitness for them. When I started running, I included my children. I ran with my son who pushed me to run faster. I included my daughter in races which brought us a little closer together. I am working to teach my children that fitness is a lifestyle. I have decided to take back control of my life and my health. Every day I am more amazed at what my body can do and I look forward to learning all that I am capable of!

Goals: Awesome Abs!!

Setting specific goals can be intimidating but like most situations you have to set them in order to progress. Fitness is no different then anything else in your life, if you become complacent you will not see progress. Fitness goals seem to be unobtainable for some simply because the goals they set are not realistic, you can't run today and see the results tonight! Like most people I have worked very hard to get bikini worthy abs, among other things, and not to toot my own horn but I've done well. Lately I seemed to have hit a plateau so I have decided to revamp my routine, check out my weekly calendar and slenderize your waist with me!

OK Abs!!




Plan of Action

• Limit ab isolation to once per week: It appears to be "thickening"my waistline.
• Alternate my morning super sets with a full body dumbbell routine.
• Omit sit-ups from morning super sets.

7 days in...

Today is day 7 of the 30 Day Shred!!!! I have actually completed seven days and 12 miles of running. I am feeling stronger and my endurance has increased. I am quite pleased with my ability to stick to the program this time. I must say that my success can probably be attributed to my workout partner who is such an inspiration. Working out with a partner has been a blessing! We have been texting to confirm completion of workouts or to encourage success in future workouts. It is providing me with someone to talk to about my progress and how I am feeling and it holds me accountable. It also saves those around me who are disinterested in my working out from being forced to listen to me drone on and on about my excitement about exercising. My daughter has commented that my abs are starting to look good!!! My new measurements are below:

Waist: 27   Bust: 31 Hips:38   Thigh: 22 1/2

Calves:12 1/2   Bicep:9 1/2
Weight: 134

Drum Roll Please: Introducing me...AC!!!

Being skinny is easy, trust me I have over twenty nine years of experience. Being fit....well that requires some effort.

Being the "skinny girl" my entire life I have heard it all;"why don't you just eat", "are you anorexic"," you're so lucky","girl I would never want to be as small as you" and so on and so forth. Despite the relentless efforts of others to make me feel inadequate, I grew to be comfortable in my own skin. Even after having my first child I was still, unbeknownst to me, incredibly fit! What changed?

You guessed it baby number two and the  world's most horrific pregnancy, it's in the Guinness Book of World Record's for the World's Most Miserable Pregnancy...well maybe not but you get the point! After I had my second daughter at the age of twenty five I discovered that I no longer had the gift of teenagary (I made it up) on my side,my body had been stripped of a large portion of the muscle tone I had taken for granted and  I couldn't perform simple tasks such as digging a hole in the ground. Yes I'm serious, I couldn't dig a hole in the ground! So I began my journey of complaining about my body and reminiscing on how it used to look and how fast I used to do this and that, pathetic right. So I began a different journey to reclaim my life, my body, my youthfulness and of course my sexy!

Before and...

A newly married friend at work complained to me yesterday that she had gained a few pounds since taking her vows. She and I had a brief chat and decided to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred together. We both own this DVD and both have started it without finishing. Our goal this time is to actually complete 30 days. I also plan to continue my running on T, W, Th, Sat and Sun. Do you own this video? Are you interested in joining the challenge with us?I have decided to post these tragic before pictures as a personal motivation to attain super sexy on day 30 which also happens to be my birthday!!!!! Those pictures better rock!!!RAB

I am 5'5". I weigh 138 pounds.

Waist: 28     Bust: 31 Hips:39   Thigh: 23

Calves:13   Bicep: 10

My horrible, terrible, no good, very bad run...

Thursday night at about 9:30 I decided to peel myself off of my couch and go for a long exhilarating run. The temperature during the day was hanging out in the 90's and had dropped to a balmy 85. I had eaten a light dinner (1 piece of pizza) and felt like I was ready. I donned my Camelbak, Nike plus gear, and my music. The run started off nice enough. For the first quarter of a mile I felt like a champ. I thought "You go, RAB!" Then lethargy slapped me around. I thought "You go home, RAB!" I couldn't stop though because I would feel extreme shame if I registered a run that was less than one mile. So...I pushed on. I was greatly anticipating that 1 mile to register on my watch. When I hit my street I was at 1.5 miles. I thought "I can at least do 2 miles..." It was at this point that I smelled our friendly neighborhood skunk. I feel pretty confident that my mace will take care of all animals except skunks and I fear them and their stinkiness. I decided to walk (I feel running may startle them) down the middle of the street at a cautious pace. *insert failure buzzer here* Fret not...I made it home un-skunked and greatly defeated. Of course there is always tomorrow...

Introducing RAB

As a single mother of two, it has become very easy to skip workouts, eat donuts and doze on the couch watching endless episodes of How I  Met Your Mother with my two uterus hitchhikers. I really love donuts!! I buy endless videos, workout "essentials" and spandex clothing.  I always find a justification to not use them or to use them sparingly. At this point in my life, I am pretty fit. I run...but not regularly. My longest run thus far has been 13.1 miles. Suffice it to say, "pretty fit" is no longer good enough for me. I want awesome abs! And arms! And legs! Is there a rule that says a woman can't be sexy at any age? So follow my realistic journey from ehh to ohhhh!! RAB