Comments (20)

By kilax, April 23, 2009 5:32 am

Update: Aron is right – the Chicago Marathon is now closed. Funny thing is – it was open this morning when I checked it. Total bummer. Steven wanted our first full to be local – time to look into Wisconsin!

Earlier this week, a coworker (who is also a runner) asked if I will be excited when the May 2nd Half Marathon is over.

No way! I will be SAD when it’s over! I am having so much fun training. I love being on a schedule. I love having a race to look forward to.

And yes, I am a little bit worried of keeping my mileage up when I am NOT training for something specific. I feel great when I get at least 25 miles in a week.

My guess is, I will spending most of May 3rd convincing Steven to sign up for the Chicago FULL Marathon before it’s too late. (Wait, is it a good idea to give away my reasoning for signing up? Ha ha.)

Related story: On Saturday, after I got my medal, Steven said to me, “That medal is pretty cool. A lot better than a block of cheese.”

Ha ha. Yes, the Kenosha Half Marathon Medals are blocks of cheese:

And… today is the first day that weather.com is showing the forecast for race day. Let the worrying begin! I have absolutely NO faith in weather predictions. But I still look at them, and somewhat plan my life around them. Why? I am not sure.

Looks good so far…

Comments (20)

By kilax, March 18, 2009 4:10 am

I have to share two dirty little secrets:

1. I am a runner who NEVER does strength training. (BAD BAD BAD!!!)
2. I am a runner who NEVER gets sore from running. I push myself, but never feel the burn the next day. Lucky, I guess.

With that being said – for me to find a workout DVD that gets the strength training in, AND makes me feel sore as hell, that means a lot! And that’s not mentioning that is also gets my blood flowing and my heart rate up.

I’ve been doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred at Level 1 for four days now. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the DVD, it is split into three levels of workout intensity. You become comfortable with one before you more on to the next. I think the idea is that you do it once a day for 30 days straight, but it never actually explains that on the DVD… anywhere that I’ve found anyway!

Each level is a “20” minute (more like 30) workout with a warm up, then 3 intervals each of 3 minutes on strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs, and a cool down. It is fast paced and keeps your heart rate going the whole time.

Pros: Just doing this for four days has me walking around like I have stiff, sore legs. It hurts to bend over. My chest is sore. It feels great! I can really see this DVD changing my body in the next 30 days. And I like that it only takes 30 minutes of my time, can be done without leaving my house, and requires minimal equipment – just free weights.

Cons: I worry that the DVD is only going to strengthen my upper legs and chest/upper arms. I hope that we get to a calf exercise in the later levels. And I find Jillian annoying and fake. But I bet a lot of people say that. (In the last ab exercise of Level 1, she says “I know you feel that little knot in your stomach. That’s your body getting stronger.” Ugh. Every time she says that, I DO feel it. Those bicycle crunches ARE HARD.) And one more thing – the DVD doesn’t play nice with our DVD Changer. Oh well.

Overall, I really like it, especially being the first workout DVD I’ve ever tried. I hope that if I ever surpass Level 3, I will have a new found inspiration to continue strength training on my own! I really think anyone* could do this DVD – no matter what your exercise level is. It is tough at first, but even four days later, it’s feeling easier to me.

Side Note: I just remembered that Jillian Michaels has this game for the Wii. I don’t have the Wii Fit, but the game sounds kind of cool.

*Let me know how it goes if you try it! I know Tori is talking about it! And based on offline conversations with Denise, Mom, Courtney and Gina – I think you four would like it as well!