Hannibal and Predator

So barely into my marathon training I’ve decided I need to take a few rest days. Granted I’ve been working out 4-5 times a week for the past 8 or so months, so I think its okay. As I’ve mentioned before I had a long period of time where I anti-worked out, aka I got fat. I’ve been pretty good for a while now, a few years, and my final semester of UVM it was crushing plates with one of my riders of brohan (reference lord of the rings and he’s a bro.) As we became more infamous around the gym we picked up some weight lifting nicknames. I was Hannibal (the cannibal) and he was Predator. When we weren’t benching, squatting or crushing some sort of weight we were fighting the ladies off of our swollen arms. Back to the main point, my body needs some rest, I’ve been tired a lot, I haven’t been extra motivated to workout (yet I have been working out a lot.) I just feel like my body is losing more than its gaining. For the effort I’ve been putting in I would expect better results. Today I will workout VERY lightly (not technically a rest day.) But I’m doing some personal training for my mom so I will do some exercises with her. Tomorrow is the Mardi Gras parade, so I’ll take a break and try to revitalize, rehydrate and pack some protein in.



*I'm the one who doesn't look like a rat-2009 mardi gras parade with predator*

Sounds like Margaritas, Buffalo chicken pizza and heavy beer for me. I guess by rest day I also mean fat gaining day(s)... Hopefully this reverse muscle/endurance building regimine will get me back on top.(of the scale) No no I need to get jacked...oh well.

Greediness/ Cross Training

Well I'm barely into my marathon training and I already have some minor tendonitis, time to be extra careful and really focus on my stride and landing. Last night I ran for about 3 minutes for my 3 mile run...close enough? (P.s. I didn't do 3 miles in 3 minutes) My local ski resort stole a good 36" of snow out of the sky yesterday so I had to make a trip there today. Sadly it was already up to 34 degrees F (thats above freezing folks) that means that the precipitation was rain, I got soaked! I was able to find refuge in the woods, oh glorious woods. A whole 20 inches had fallen since the resort closed shop the night before. That meant that with enough searching I could find fresh lines and fast chutes. I was doing laps on this one trail Tumbler Woods, sounds so inviting eh? I kept pushing more and more towards out of bounds. My last run of the day I spotted this epic shoot, trees lining both sides, and about 100 yards of untouched "powder" (sticky heavy powder.) It was more than worth it, although sticky, it was steep enough that I was cruising and I wanted to scream out as if this was my last run ever. AWESOME. I get to the bottom of this chute, yepppp I ended up off of the beaten path. I find myself looking more out of bounds to my right, and a hill to my front and left. I opt for trying to find my way back to the "trail" aka the woods. The snow as I said was super heavy, so I couldn't lift my skis out of the snow (up to my waist (I'm 6'3.)) I take my skis off, well I ended up deeper. Chest height easily. I truthfully got a little worried how far I would have to go. (also wish I had a camera to document this) I had to use my skis like snowshoes for my hands, putting all my weight on them and lifting each foot up and pushing my self into this packed chest deep powder. I had my ipod on through this, and I went through about 2 lengthy songs (10-12 mins total) before I had advanced back to the trail (75-100 ft) I don't want to calculate my milage for that...56 minute miles? Prob even worse than that. I also did leg strength training the night before...foolish.

Hidden Runs

Today I was at my gym looking at Map My Run and I was looking for a nice 6 miler to do. I found a loop that was along a main trucking route and on a busy road where cars go way past the speed limit. One of my coworkers told me about a 6 mile loop that is on the "Ti Trail." The Ti Trail is a trail that the Ticonderoga (ship) was brought out of the water and taken to the Shelburne Museum. Its a beautiful trail that viewed the awesome frozen lake champlain and held 4 white tailed deer today as I was running. I was more than pleased with this awesomeness. At the end of the run I was dissapointed though because my foot has been killing me...solution: having your boss be a physical therapist. God I love free advice, he gave me pointers on my running gait and explained to me where I may have been messing up my stride. Thanks Brian.

Multi-tasking

So today I had to run another long run for training. I forgot to bring any outerwear so after my shift at my gym I closed the doors to the outside world and prepared for my run. Being that the gym is recently renovated I checked tvguide.com for the listings after my shift. I set up the 4 brand new flat screen t.v.s with hockey, curling, Pirates of the Caribbean and some celtics v. nuggets. The treadmills have receivers to plug headphones into so I was able to transfer from channel to channel as commercials came and went. I also had my 2 ipods (I lost one and bought a shuffle then found my other...cant complain) I had constant entertainment. So I embarked on my run but soon biddies were blowing up my cell phone, (one girl and my mom) and I found myself texting while running on a treadmill at a cozy 8:25 pace. I have no idea how my texts came out, probably awful. I ended up running around 6 miles on a treadmill and it wasn't too boring. The t.v. and multiple ipods may have helped, I'm just gonna have to suck it up and breath fresh air and run outside more...ugh.

Marryathon

SO I've begun my training for the Vermont City Marathon. Thats 26.2 miles for those of you who don't know or think that its 25 or 26, just from finishing the half I know those last .2 around the waterfront are exceptionally gruelling and endless. I am fortunate enough to work with a few experienced athletes. One of my boss's wife is a professional Ironman competitor. Her twin sister Kelly Liljeblad (the best coach in the world) hooked me up with a marathon training program. In the photo to the left she is finishing a marathon in Miami. By finishing I mean winning a marathon in Miami, and she finished with a time of 2:47:13. Impressive right? Well her best time is actually 2:32:27, so if I can even do an hour slower than her I'll be exceptionally happy. Goal 1: finish the marathon Goal 2: finish in under 4 hours Goal 3: finish in under 3:30, they are ranked in order of likeliness... Goal 4: meet the prettiest girl in Vermont on the course and hold hands crossing the finish line while she writes her number across my bicep in hot pink lipstick. I might change that to my number one goal...continuing in order of likeliness. But seriously though, if you want to be in a place surrounded by only fit and mostly attractive people, then go to a damn marathon. Thats my first dating tip...more to come fellas more to come.

Wind Chill

I woke up today knowing I was going to have to run. I was careful to think about things I might need: Running tights-check, light jacket-check, hat-check, shoes-check, running gloves-left in my locker at my gym shouldn't be a big deal its not that cold. HAHA So when I decided to run along the bike path for my 4.5 mile jaunt I forgot that the bike path is located along the lake. Winter chilling winds...winds that turn waves into beautiful icicles. While debating if I should cut my hands off to reduce wind burd I heard my ipod remind me that it doesn't like the cold. "Battery low" Thanks ipod, my only saving grace is dying. I sucked it up and when I hit the turn around point I found myself running INTO the wind...as if the wind at my back wasn't cold enough. On my way back I was a little cold and fatigued and I see two teenagers walking on the ice towards the water...meaning, the lake is FAR from frozen over. 'Oh great, Jameson is gonna have to save some lives when hes already tired and cold.' Luckily by the time I had ran out of view they were still above the ice so I didn't have to save any lives.

Singles Awareness

I get it, really I do. Its a day for love its a day you show someone you care, but why not 24/7 365. Thats all for me and ranting. Yesterday I did a 4 mile run (my long run in the first week of my May marathon training.) It went pretty well considering I hate running on treadmills. To cope with my annoyance of constantly knowing time and distance I threw a sweat rag over the display. Take that.

Jameson-2
Treadmill-0

The reason I now have two points over treadmills is that I broke one by running too fast a week or two ago. So after my run I celebrated my singleness in downtown Burlington. That picture shows roughly what I wear when I go downtown on a regular basis. Kidding, it was halloween. Anyway, now I'm at work a little hungover (sorry mom). Maybe I shouldn't give her the ability to follow my blog... Well anyway I am at a gym so I could try to get motivated and then workout after, but I'm thinking rest day. It is Valentines day so I should so something I love, which brings me to either cooking a good meal or working out, or both. Decisions...

Sugarbush Vt. The least snow in the East

While my lucky a** sister is dealing with Snowmaggedon down in D.C. Im dealing with Ver'y-warm'mont. The news keeps telling me about record snows that are hitting the North East...well I live in the damned NE and we havent gotten anything for what seems like years!! I'm praying for snow, it is in the forecast, but enough already. I finally went for my first trip to the mountain today. I had no idea what to expect. I ended up finding 20 degrees, no wind, and SUPER fast snow. I haven't even put my boots on since last April so I wasn't sure what to expect. After two sketchy turns I was buzzing down the mountain looking for the best terrain. Second run I find some mogels and pop in and out of those with ease better than I remember in previous years. Maybe finally doing awesome leg workouts has paid off! I had been eyeing these tight knit woods near the top of the mountain on Sugarbush (yes even though we have had a recent melt) and I just had to try. The snow wasn't too icy so I figured hell I'd try it. I entered the woods and remembered the dangers of glades and realized I'd forgotten my helmet. (sorry mom) I took some turns and was able to find some fresh (most likely wind blown) powder so I enjoyed myself. I also found holes where I could see streambeds, and exposed roots and rocks...which may explain the new dings to the bottom of my skis. The end of my tree skiing experience was a sketchy looking narrow chute with a drop at the end, trying to pinpoint my location I couldn't remember if the drop was going to be small or big. I slid down the chute a few feet, didn't see any rocks and dropped blindly into this open trail. Epic. God I miss skiing, I need to get as much as I possibly can in before mid April. I'm glad I didn't end up stuck in a tree.

Deflation

I had a meeting with a strength and conditioning coach today and they certainly put me in my place. Right when I was getting my confidence up he quizzed me on different aspects of my training with clients and really pushed to see where my programs were taking them. It ended well, with an agreement that we could work together. More transitions in my still very new job. I relaxed by doing some chest and ab exercises and I made a protein shake with strawberry whey, and I think I will make another protein shake later. And by protein shake I mean beer, hopefully a Switchback!

Dear sweat once a day

You asked for it.



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Nike me

How to alleviate boredom when sitting at a desk... design shoes. I LOVE shoes, I have more pairs than most 19 year old girls...I would guess anyway, I could be wrong. By going to Nike you can design your own shoes and for a ridiculous price purchase them. I design for fun, not to buy. Maybe when I make a pair I love enough I will purchase them.




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Roommate music...I came up with the song title.

Outside the Gym

Sometimes I do fun things. One of my favorites would have to be skiing. I haven't gone yet this year and I bought a pass...pathetic I know, but as you can see from this photo, I am a hugggge fan of spring skiing. So I have plenty of time left. (Bolton Valley, Butter- Photo by PXG)
My mom, my sister and myself after the Vermont Marathon last May. My mom and I each ran a half marathon as a relay team, and my sister ran the entire thing, our team beat her, but she has gone on to qualify for Boston...twice.

Tired and possibly miserable, punishment for wearing a "Will Run for Beer" shirt, because at mile 25 there was a beer "aid" station, so I was more than obligated to take a cup and pound it down to slow my pace down a little bit further.

Genes & Jeans

Unbreakable (pt 2).... I have to thank my mom for my genes as I have found myself to be unbreakable yet again. I was testing out my renovated gym during some employee only time and was pushing myself on the treadmill (side note, I hate treadmills). I kept building up speed, warming up @ an 8:30 pace and doing a pace 30 seconds faster every 5 minutes, I did this until I was cruising at a 7 minute pace, at that point I blasted 2 minutes at a 6 minute/mile pace and backed off to a 8 minute pace. Really wanting to push it I pushed it up to a 5:30/mile pace, and noticed the treadmill shaking vigorously. After crushing that set, I backed off to a 8 minute pace and cooled down. I stepped off to find the supports on the treadmill weakened.

Jameson-1

Treadmill-0


So I have to thank AJH for these genes, that have let my jean size shrink in the past couple years. (Except when I get into hulk mode, then I still stretch them out)

Lemme Upgrade You

With my newfound job I found myself with two more "home" gyms (fitness club owns two facilities.) I can use these gyms when I want, with whatever kind of workout I wanted, without waiting, complaining, or having to give a bag of sand if someone doesn't like my music choice. I have been at this club for a month. I knew I was given a great oppurtunity. Great people, huge client base, and two facilities. Now this first picture is what my gym looked like before the renovations took place. WAY in the back of the picture is the cardio area, hanging from the ceiling are televisions from 1998 I believe. Some are basically black and white, all are small and have horrible sound, the lighting is dim and the atmosphere is not very pleasant. In the front of the picture is the weight training area, I don't have any updated pictures of the improvements from the weight training room, but think carpeting, lighting, better equipment layout, and new paint to brighten the mood up. Looking at the cardio room picture, you can see that there are 42" flat screen t.v.'s, new lighting (esp on ceiling aimed at walls) and the atmosphere is much better. As I said before, wait until I put up a photo of the weight room from after the renovation. It crushes, it dominates, and you will explode out of your tight t-shirts when blasting pecs and delts.

Unbreakable

So when I was weight training three years ago, I did biceps, triceps, sometimes chest, some ab machines, lat pulldown and calf raises... To say it was a full body workout was ignorant to say the least. I stepped it up in the year after, I was doing intense ab workouts, chest, back, biceps, triceps, and running a lot. I however still neglected to do my legs because since I was running 10-20 miles a week I figured I was pretty good on legs. However, as I worked towards my trainer certification and the months leading up to me deciding to be a trainer, I realized I had to suck it up and do legs. I have bad knees and in general have done little weight training for my legs. Since deciding to do legs I have done tons of stability leg exercises on bosu balls, (half dome thing, turned upside down, one legged...yes very difficult) and I was able to work my way to standing up on a large exercise ball. I was doing squats, lunges the whole 9 yards. I had done a little bit of leg press and I usually did it following a heavy lift or during an intense workout, I had never really tested my max. Well, today I had an unbreakable moment. (Bruce Willis, Unbreakable) In the video Bruce adds more and more weight and does an inhuman bench for his size. Now I'm not saying my leg press is inhuman, but when I began I started at a low weight and kept adding and adding. So I started with 90 pounds, it was cake, so I went to 180, and then 270, 360, and I ended up leg pressing 450 pounds. There are plenty of people who can press much more than me, but as I sat there, I was aiming to do 200 max...So when I ended up adding 250 pounds to that, it felt pretty good. (side note, that is not a picture of me on the right.)

Maple Muscles

The hardest thing about exercise besides making yourself do it, are those other temptations. I found mine just last night. Maple Blondie Ben and Jerries ice cream...It took over me, it is everything I want and more. So if I want to avoid getting cottage cheese legs and a turkey chin, I will probably have to avoid it. To make matters worse, as I was sitting at my job earlier, I found a coupon for a free pint of good ol' Ben and Jerry. So I will probably have to indulge...again, and of course I was lazy today and skipped my spartacus workout and did a quick 25 minutes instead. Avoid it, but its so good.