Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Get Moving Mondays....

Mondays, oh Mondays...I hate when you coming around!  But yesterday was actually a pretty decent Monday!  I am beginning to look forward to Mondays...kinda!?!

Well again yesterday..Group walk #2 with Black Girls Run!  The Westchester Crew increased from 2 people to 7 last night.  I had what I call a big group!  I had some runners, some woggers, and some walkers!  It was awesome!  So last nights 3 miles was a personal best.  I finished those 3 miles in 49:36!  Yeah me!  A 2 minute improvement from last week.  My next goal is to get under 45 miles!

After our walking adventure, Hailey and I ventured out for another game of tennis!  Tennis is still hard as heck, but we are enjoying ourselves!  We played for little over an hour.  The courts in Westchester are not as crowded as they were in Cheviot Hills.  So that is a plus. We had some guys that were eyeing us down last night and was trying to get a real, "pick up game".

Very active day...Food choices not so great.  But I will improve.  Getting ready for the big weigh in tomorrow, so I will behave myself today!
Monday, July 30, 2012

The Report is: I have nothing to report!

Usually on Mondays I get to work and I am so excited to write about all the cool things I did over the weekend, but not this weekend!  From Friday through Sunday, I punked out of every workout I had on my schedule.  No spinning on Friday no Chip trail Run on Sunday!

I did spend the weekend trying to bring some order and to my life.  The process has been started but it is not yet completed!  Well I don't have much else to say, but Aug 2 will make it a month since my last weigh in, so I guess we'll see how things have progressed in the month of July.

See ya!
Friday, July 27, 2012

TRIED Tennis Thursday

Okay, I am gonna get straight to it.  No talking about food, work or anything else.  I went and attempted to play tennis last night!  I learned tonight that Tennis Players must be in excellent shape!  I can't remember the last time I sweat so much, and now the day after I am sore as can be!  Venus, Serena, Andre, Sharapova, Kournikova...I give you mad props.  Playing tennis ain't easy!

First off, please know, that I am in no way a good tennis player.  Back in the day when I was a younin' my dad taught me and my brothers how to play.  And this is probably the first time since then, I have attempted to get on a court.  Amazingly enough...I even still have a racket!  So here is me and Hailey on the court with all these older people that obviously are great players.   Hailey a couple of times, hit the ball over into another court and the old foggies over there started to get mad!  Some people are just so rude!  He was very upset.  I wish you could of seen us, I am sure we looked at hot mess.  We couldn't serve properly.  And we were horrible at returning serves and volleying the ball back and forth.  We sure did get a lot of cardio in running after the tennis ball! Good workout...exhausting and I can't wait to do it AGAIN!  LOL!

It was a great cardio day though...I got in a little over 4 miles doing walk/jog intervals.  this time my jog intervals were 1/4 mile each time.  Got pretty decent stats from the run.
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/uGSKJCe46qw



Thursday, July 26, 2012

WOW...What A Wednesday!

I had a great hump day! Why? Well I got to go to rowing class! It was my first class back since March 2012! I miss it so! I got to go to my Wednesday afternoon spin class...how I missed that too. But it was a sub teaching and she was rathering...BORING!

So yesterday...not the best eating day. I woke up late so I had to run out of the house without making my eggs! So Breafast turned out to be: White chocolate latte and a Cheese crumble Danish.

We had a lunch meeting at work (OOPS) So lunch turned out to be 2 slices of pizza, a side salad, and some Alfredo pasta. That Alfredo Pasta was delightful!

Dinner...left over pizza from lunch.

As you can see, I definately carbed up! LOL! It was probably the best thing for me that I had 2 workouts in!

Workouts

  • 45 minutes of Spinning
  • 1 hour of Rowing 


Well in a few weeks I will be embarking on a 12-week weight loss challenge with my wonderful BGR girls.  The challenge starts August 21 and requires weekly weigh-ins and weekly picture taking.  I am not happy about the picture taking.  But this is probably just the thing I need to get me motivated...Nothing like a good competition!  For the competition I have to keep a food log on MyFitnesspal.com.  Logging things online used to appeal to me, but I am so over it.  I hope I can maintain it, if I don't they will remove me from the group!  I look forward to seeing how my body will transform in the 12 weeks, so look forward to the posts and possibly the pictures as the challenge begins!

Talk to you Later!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Group Walk #1 ... Completed!

Monday July 23rd...A day I hope to remember for many many years!  Why you ask?  It was the first day of leading off my Walking Group with Black Girls Run (BGR)!  Throughout the day, I had to fight the feelings of anxiousness and fear.  I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up or finish the walk.  I am amazed that I still ALLOW these thoughts to bombard me.  The BGR girl are so non competitive, why am I tripping?  They are truly and genuinely concerned about everyone moving at their own pace and getting the task done.  That's it!  Again...Why am I tripping?

So I asked Hailey to come walk with me on Monday just in case none of the BGR members showed up.  Surprisingly I had 4 RSVPs; 2 cancelled last minute, so I had a total of 3 walkers, Hailey and 2 BGR girls, well 4 walkers if I count myself in.  It was unusually cold last night, windy and everything, I wish I had brought a jacket, but we pushed through!  We finish just under an hour, and those 2 BGR girls are some speed walkers for real!  I think they probably walked under a 15 minute mile!  Amazing to me!  We completed just a tad bit over 3 miles. Here is the route and my walk data:http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/ol7OJTt1M8o After the Group walk, Hailey and I walked around the park and got another 1.59 miles in..a leisurely stroll. So overall yesterday, covered 4.59 miles.http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/iCY3S0nZZNk On our way back to the car...Hailey found $11 on the floor in the parking lot.  What did we do with it?  We went to Beach Pizza on Manchester and Lincoln and have cheese pizza! It was great!  

Overall a great experience, a great group of girls, and I am honestly looking forward to doing this every Monday.!

BLACK GIRLS RUN & They Rock!
Monday, July 23, 2012

Weekend In Review...

Hiddy Ho There!
Weekends come and weekends go.  Here I am on Monday wishing it was still the weekend. Reflecting back on the last few days, this weekend was absolutely WONDERFUL!  I really did enjoy myself!

I started off my Friday with an early morning Spinning Class!  It has been a good while since I made it to spin class.  My butt needs to be retrained to handle the bicycle seat...again!  But overall a great workout, as always.  I realized then, that I missed spinning!  Gotta do better about making it to class!

Saturday...Bike Ride!  This time It was a bit different of bike ride.  We started at Dockweiler beach and then instead of getting on the bike path we rode on some of the streets!  Lo & Behold, I found streets that took me to my house!  I was so excited!  Here is the path:  http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/t7R42M9Ot6Q  Distance wise, it was a shorter route than I would normally ride, but I was able to do it very quickly since I didn't have to worry about the congested bike path!  And I only took one break!

After the bike ride, my next feat was a stroll.  Just did 2 miles, but walked on the sand!  Oh my word, it was difficult! But I got it done! http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/tnNo48jZ9Bo

Non-exercise related stuff.  Hung out with some friends...watched some movies.  Enjoyed the sun, did some shopping.  Laughed, ate, and was merry!  


Sunday, I chickened out of Speed Training...again!  That was 2 Sundays in a row I did not do it!  Oops!  Well that is all I will bore with for now, cause my boss just got to work and I guess I should pretend like I am working!  Talk to you later!
Friday, July 20, 2012

Heat & Beat

Man yesterday (Thursday) was hot!  I got to do a few new things that I feel like I want to share with you!  So join me on my story telling journey why dontcha ya!

Okay well food-wise an okay day!  On the workout schedule it was interval training.  This week on the 5K training plan is 1.5 minutes of jogging and 2 minutes of walking.  The location this time was on San Vicente on the grassy median

Side Bar:  I have never really walked or jogged on grass before.

I will start by saying this was extremely hard for me.  I died like half way through the route and ended up walking most of the way back!  It was extremely hot outside, the grassy area was not even, I was constantly having to dodge tree roots and uneven grounds and my legs were hurting.  Despite all these issues and negativity, my beloved Endomondo stats came in semi-impressive. LOL!  My time was my best 3 miles and my max speed at some point in this venture was a 13.25 minute mile!  I am not sure when I pulled that off...but I have learned Endomondo does not lie!  And maybe since at some point I was moving quicker than usual is why I died so quickly in the workout.
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/ni9dxdpEIys

After this terrify and exhausting workout, I decided to treat myself to a juice!  I have never been to a juice bar so I was excited.  I have just always created my own juices at home.  So I tried Pressed Juicery in Brentwood.  It was...not really a juice bar.  The juices were already pre-made and bottled, stored in a fridge.  But nonetheless I gave it a shot!  I got Greens 2, which is kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon.  It was pertty tasty! 
Greens 2 - Pressed Juicery




Water Fountain just outside Pressed Juicery




So after we got our juices we sat outside in the little courtyard area just outside Pressed Juicery that had the cutest little rustic/semi-antique looking water fountain.  I love water...regardless of whether  its the beach or a water fountain, water just relaxes me.  


So after this little San Vicente interval training adventure, I take inventory.  My legs are a smidgen sore.  I think running on the grassy area activated some leg muscles that don't get used when running a side walk or asphalt?  Again, I am no physical fitness expert, just voicing my opinion and observations.  

That's all I have for today.  Take Care!  Can't wait for the weekend...it's bike riding time!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Amazing Monday...

Well Gang...Finally got my juicer replaced!  Applause, Applause, Applause!  I am so excited, so ready to get back to juicing for myself and not going to juice bars!  I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!  LOL!  The juicer is till at home in the box, but I think it will be making its debut around Wednesday.  That is when the new "sale" items will be released and I can see what produce items are on sale.  Nothing good is on sale right now.

Today was a pretty decent day...food wise I was going okay until the visit to Kentucky Fried Chicken. Where I had the nastiest fried chicken in the world.  Those poor chickens should be ashamed!

I made it out for another interval training.  This one was not as bad as last week.  It was more doable.  The training plan called for 1.5 minutes of jogging 2 minutes of walking.  I was able to cover 1.76 miles in the 30 minutes which included a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down.  So overall, I don't think it was too bad.  But I am probably being to kind and generous with myself!

I am just trying to keep myself motivated by saying these will be the hardest workouts..I will get better, I will get better, I will get better.  It is a hard pill to swallow sometimes...BUT I WILL GET BETTER AT THIS.  I must!

Okay that is all for today!  See you next time!
Monday, July 16, 2012

Food Should Taste Good

Food Should Taste Good...I think that is a statement we can all agree on, Can't we?

Well not only is that a true statement, it is also a Brand Name!  Here I was at Quiznos, ordering my regular Italian Sub and I happened to look down at the chip rack and saw "Sweet Potato Chips."  I immediately said, I have to try those.  So I did!

I want you to know, those were some pretty darn tasty chips! I love them!  Please check out their website, they have a variety of flavors: http://www.foodshouldtastegood.com/#/home/
From what I can tell from my quick browsing is that all the chips are kettle cooked and gluten free!  They are  also certified Kosher, if that is important to you!

The taste was excellent!  I really enjoyed the chips.  The other thing that sold me on them, was the simple ingredients.  Sweet Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt!  You know what you are eating!  The nutritional information, not that bad, 150 calories for the bad, 17g carbs, 3g fiber, and sodium at 140mg.  It is kinda high in fat...8g.  But I think it will work as a once in a while snack.

My next mission...to find them in bulk!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Did the Unthinkable...

Well gang...my second BGR event completed.  And boy was it a tough one!  But I finished it, I didn't think I would, but I did.  You never know what you are able to do until you try!  I can say that now knowing without a shadow of a doubt its true.  Today's BGR run was in Santa Monica.  I have been a little nervous to try the Santa Monica Runs, since the coordinator, Monica, is a very experienced runner, and well, I am not!  So after my intimidation...I showed up and it.  She worked with me, at my pace.  Thank God!  But I promise you it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life!   We did almost 5 miles.  The link is below, and granted as I went back and looked at the stats, they are not impressive, but I don't care.  I did walk job intervals, for the whole 5 miles.  You've never know looking at the data, but for me it is a big deal.  I love my endomondo tracking tool, but we did have a lot of stop along the route, and I didn't pause it so I know it screws up the data a bit.  We had to wait for some lights to cross and so forth.  But for me, this was a huge accomplishment!  Much Props to BGR - Los Angeles. 

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/nxP5yPvPoRg

I got home, and I am soaked, bra, underwear, shirt..soaked in sweat!  This is my evidence, that a workout was done tonight! 

Well I have nothing more to say.  I am gonna go shower and wash the funk off of me and figure out what I will eat before bed time. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Not Much to Report...but I'm reporting!

Now that the 4th has passed.  Time to get back on plan.  I did lots of eating on July 3 through the 9th!  Ha Ha!  Ain't it amazing how I make a one day holiday a 6-day eating fest?  Gotta love it!

I can honestly say, I have been on the lazy end of the spectrum.  I have not done any physical activity since my walk on July 4th!  So I made myself go out for a walk yesterday, Monday the 9th.  This walk served 2 purposes:

  1. I needed the exercise
  2. I needed to find a route for my BGR group
It took some doing, but I am happy to report that I accomplished both.  I walked the route, its just under 3 miles, and I think its a nice walking route for the group.  So last night, I reported into Samantha.  Blocked in my dates and my route and I am good to go beginning July 23rd!

Here was the route from yesterday:

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/igIdFH-EsqI

Looking for all the new things on the horizon.  But I am scared!  I have speed training this week.  I don't know what to expect, but I have to try.  Stay tuned!

Kyra
Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July and Stuff...

Well I am writing from the living room, tired, sipping of a white chocolate latte!  Not the best post walk drink.  But I need a pick me up! 

I finally made it out to my first Black Girl Run event!  The Run leader gave us 2 route options, (1) was 2.8 miles; (2) was 4.8 miles.  In an attempt to push myself I opted for the 4.8 mile route.  It was been a very long time since I put in such mileage.  So I said well you may as well do it!  From the get go...killer shin splints in my left leg.  This is becoming a normal thing with this leg.  Even when on the treadmill, I get them.  I took a breif pause to stretch it helped some.   Note to Self:  Spend more time stretching before heading out there! 

I was doing okay...I was able to stay a few steps behind a walker, Ruby.  She kept a pretty good pace and my goal was not to fall to far behind her.  Like I said, I was doing okay, until....HILL!  And the gap widened!  The hill/incline was at the end of the walk, I was already dead tired and pushing myself up it, was a challenge but I made it!  Another Note to Self:  Get yo' lazy tail back outside to walk!

Walking is so simple, its such a basic form of excercise and I allowed my love for cycling, spin class, water aerobics, and kick boxing stop me from my walking.  This was a wake up call for me.  So I have to take some of the other "fluff" off of my workout calendar and get back to the basics!

Here was the walking route:  http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/pnAC8oyfVSc

And a lovely pictures of the group!  They almost made me cry!  But I like them, I am glad to be in the mix of things!
This will likely be my only post for the day, so Have a Great 4th everyone!  Until next time!

Kyra
Monday, July 2, 2012

My poor neglected Blog...

Hello Blog...oh how I missed you! Please forgive me for visiting you! LOL! I am here now. I am enjoying life and life is enjoying me! What else can I say! I have some Good News and some not so good news. But I am writing this more as an update than anything else.

Not So Good News:

  •  Got on the scale this morning...334.8 I was thinking WTF? But then I said, "Whatever you evil scale" I feel good, I am being active!" I will not be defined by a number on a piece of machinery!  
  • I have not been working out as much as I should.  Been stricken with another lazy spell...OOPS!
Good News:
  • I am still enjoying my bike!  I went out this weekend.  Did 12 miles round trip!  
  • I am officially a run coordinator with Black Girls Run!  AHHH...exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time.  I think it will help me be accountable once I get started.  I will keep you posted as this progresses
God has been good, great and awesome to me!  I love him more today than I have in a long time!  New experience this last week with God.  Renewed & recommitted to Him!  That was my God Shout out!

Oh While I was biking on the beach this weekend, I found where Jack lives!  LOL..okay I really don't know if this is where lives, but what are the odds that someone unrelated to Jack in the Box has a house like this?  Kinda cool to see though! 
Jack's House - Hermosa Beach
And just a few more pictures of me on the bike this weekend.  Pictures can be used as Motivators...LOL.  It's horrible seeing yourself in a picture.  Time for more exercise!