Wounded Warrior Project Ride

How on earth did I miss writing about Wounded Warrior Project and the Sept 17th ride in Seattle? My sincere apologies. This post is long over-due.

I drove to the ride in the early AM and was ready for anything. Even the driving rain. I met up with friends I hadn't gotten to see in 5+ years and had a seriously fantastic time. Yes, the ride was wet and cold, but we made the 25 miles easily enough. A cold, pelting, driving rain followed us through the majority of the miles, leaving us wet to the point of mild hypothermia, but we made the ride fun. I met a new friend who is in to similar things and also loves cycling. We plan on hanging out again soon. This gal knows quite a few jodies/cadences and we spent a good 5 miles doing call and response to take the focus off the cold and wet. It worked wonders. Thank you, D for a most enjoyable experience!!

After the ride, there was coffee and awesome lunch boxes provided. I had the vegetarian panini with avacado and thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, most people were pretty water logged and took off immediately following the ride.

Still, I will never forget watching the servicemen and women saddling up and leading the start of the ride. The shouts of encouragement from the crowd, the families in the wet and cold to support their loved ones and friends was awe inspiring. These people gave their all, yet even for their injuries, external or internal... they stood proud and strong. I wasn't the only one with damp eyes through the entire opening ceremony.

I would proudly ride again. Rain, sleet, snow, sunshine... you will see me doing this again next year. Such a wonderful and worthwhile cause, its a shame the inaugural year didn't have a bigger turn-out. I foresee next year being even bigger if I have anything to say about it, and I can't wait to be a part of it again.

Thank you to all those who are serving or have served our country. I was just so honored and privileged to be chosen to be a part of your ride and I look forward to the Wounded Warrior Ride Seattle 2012.

Love to you all,

Grace

Sept 22nd - 26th

So I had the opportunity to do a road trip from the 22nd through the 26th. I did my skating for the week but planned to get in a lot of walking and jogging the weekend I would be away.

As it turned out, it worked out perfectly. I didn't jog a whole lot, but I got in a LOT of walking and felt good about marking week 6 completed. Every opportunity, I was running stairs in a stadium, walking the town a bit and just having a fantastic time. I ended up down 2lbs from the previous week, which is a net loss of .5 lbs for the past 2 weeks. I'll take it!

This week, just got in run #1 officially for week 7. I was running outside and forgot to watch the time. I ended up running the first 11:30 minutes, walking one minute and finishing out the 30 minutes running. I FELT GREAT!

I will get in 2 runs officially this week, but with all of the stairs I've done playing catch-up with housework, laundry and vacuuming, I have no qualms about moving forward. Especially after the relative ease today presented. It was amazing!

Tonight I also did my Insanity Fit Test: Day 1

1. Switch Kicks: 45

2. Power Jacks: 45

3. Power Knees: 80

4. Power Jumps: 25

5. Globe Jumps: 10

6. Suicide Jumps (burpees): 15

7. Push-Up Jacks: 10

8. Low Plank Oblique: 40

Off to shower and looking forward to the rest of the week!

As an aside, I'd like to give a shout-out to my awesome friend, Dingo. She has planned and put together a half-marathon plan that not only ties in with my skating at least 3 days a week, it also takes in to account my RYBO! training that I'm in the midst of. THANK YOU DINGO!!! I love you, baby!

Yours in Fitness,

Grace

Where does the time go? WEEK 6 REMIX!

Okay, so last week was crazy. Skate practice Sunday and then I took a few days off as I had a skate test on Thursday. I figured, I didn't want to over-do, lets not do the 30 min runs either.

BIG mistake. At least, it is in my mind... now here's my logic:

1. I didn't pass my skate test. I was close, but no cigar. I need 5 minutes and I got 5:01.

2. The 30 minutes that I walk/run probably wouldn't have done more than just warm me up to stretch better before the test.

3. I didn't pass anyway, and now I've lost those days to run!

Re-doing week 6. Same as it ever was!

Thursday, pushed hard at the skate test. Friday I took the day off. Saturday I had a 25 mile bike ride for Wounded Warrior Project. The ride was crazy cold and rainy. We were soaked and numb, and I'm still dealing with feeling like I can't get warm a day later, but it was a BLAST! I am so doing the ride next year. It was a great route/loop and I'm happy to say it seemed even with the rain, my team had a fantastic time.

Finished skate practice tonight. I will be running tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I am off for 4 days to have some vacation downtime. I will be taking skates, my bike possibly and a map to this new town and tooling around in-between fun stuff with friends. AND I get to meet new people (here's my shout-out to Team Bunny!). Looking forward to it.

Thanks for sticking around! Still going strong here. I will post more as the week progresses.

My Best,

Grace

This weeks first run and a quick update!

My first run of the week was on Sunday. I found myself watching the clock for the full 5 minutes. Going to have to find a way to fix that. I'd like to be able to run with the proper timing without having to watch a clock. Some sort of automatic dual timer would be great. Just listen for the beep and be on my way.

Before the run I had done a workout DVD, then I had 2 hrs of skating Sunday night. I was a little sore yesterday but went to skating again last night. Today, pretty immobile, so I am taking today as a rest day and will get back to workouts tomorrow.

Now, where's my ibuprofen?? Who has it?! :D

~Grace

Week 5 and a week 4 recap!

Today begins week 5!! Almost to the halfway point and I can't believe it!

While I only got to do 2 runs last week, they felt really good. In fact, I was so underwhelmed one evening I ended up doing an additional 60 minutes of cardio DVDs on top of the run. On the bright side, the scale is telling me the weight is staying off. I'll take no change for this week vs weight gains!

I'm getting used to working out late at night. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I typically prefer to workout in the AM and have it done for the day. Then if I have extra time in the evening, I can do additional fun stuff if I'm feeling up to it.

Once kiddo is in school starting this week, I think a lot is going to be changing. Not only will I have more time to run, I will have time to hit the gym for classes and get back in to Iaido.

For diet this past week.... I shook things up a bit. I strayed from my regimen and had some steak, hot dogs (amazing goodness on a bun!) and some peanut butter. I felt the need to do something different and see if having a few things on my "verboten" list would help more in the long run. While I love the idea of following michi's ladder rather strictly, I can't reasonably sustain it long term. I think of these diversions from my dietary plan less as "treats" and more "planned allowances". If I know I have an event coming up where I'll likely indulge, it makes it easier to stave off my desire for that handful of chocolate chips.

Week 5 plans:

1. Find a race/run to enter. (DONE! Will be running in 2012 with some amazing people!)

2. Accountability. (DONE! I have my wonderful Facebook and blog followers!)

3. Walk 2.5 minutes, Run for 5 minutes

4. Keep the running controlled

That's it, folks! This one I need to do 4 times this week. It's a pivotal week with the running upping to 20 minutes of the total 33 minutes. It's a big jump.

Thanks for sticking with me,

~Grace