Confessions of a (Lazy) Runner

Okay, I have to confess something.

My name is Amanda... and I'm a lazy runner.

I can run through a lot. I will run when I'm mentally tired, and I will run when I have a headache. I will run through 90+ degree heat, and I will run in 30 degree cold. I will run if I don't want to, and I will run when I'm feeling sick. However, I will NOT run if my sleep has been compromised! I posted a few weeks ago about a night of tornado warnings, and how a lack of sleep kept me from running that next day. Well, thankfully, last night was much less scary and dramatic, but I didn't sleep very much. Therefore, no run this morning. :)

Some friends of mine and I got together last night for pizza, beer, and birthday cake. I mean, does it get any better than that?!? Also, I love stretching out birthday fun for a week! We ate until we were stuffed, sat around and laughed, played games... Just an all around good girls night.

I have a total love affair with Publix marble cake with buttercream frosting. YUM!

Even though I got home at 12:30ish last night, the REAL reason I didn't sleep so much is this:

Everybody, meet my little brother, Casper. I'm puppysitting while my parents are on a two week cruise to the Caribbean (rough life they lead, huh?). Casper has stayed with me before, but it never fails. The first night he stays with me, he yelps and whines and barks his way through the night. He would be much more silent if I let him sleep upstairs with me, but I have my own little one that wouldn't much like that:

This is Fitzy. He's a 17-year-old half Himalayan, half Ragdoll cat. And he's my baby. He's been an only child for 17 years, so to get used to having a dog in the house, is not working out so well. So in my two story house, Casper gets the downstairs when he visits, and Fitzy stays upstairs. No mixing of the two!

Aside from pet drama, it's been a pretty relaxing weekend. Hit up the grocery store, and I realized that my purchases over the last 6 months are so different from before. Before I really began thinking a lot about what I ate, I bought all sorts of "diet" food - reduced fat Cheezits, Diet Coke, Snackwell cookies, Weight Watchers pizzas, etc. It was like I hadn't yet resigned myself to the fact that I had to eat well, so I made myself feel better with diet versions of foods I love (chips, sodas, cookies, pizzas). Now, however, it's a little more nutritious, and a little more boring, not gonna lie. :)

This is an average haul for me: blueberries, grilled tilapia, tuna fish, organic milk, chicken cutlets, asparagus, sweet potatoes, part skim mozzarella, pears, apples, zucchini, and yes, even a bag of prunes! I worried I might have to prove that I'm a elderly lady just to be able to buy the prunes, but luckily, the cashier took the streaks of grey in my hair (come on, I teach elementary special education, of COURSE I have grey hair!) as proof enough.

That was about the only productive thing I did yesterday and today. Today, I am super sore from a workout yesterday morning. It took me about 20 minutes and I am feeling it today! (Click HERE to go the BodyRock site and check out some workouts for yourself!)

Yesterday's workout had 3 parts to it. Parts 1 & 2 were 12 intervals of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, with two exercises that I went back and forth for:
Part 1:
1) Jump Mat Pushups -- Get in a push-up position. Keeping upper body still, jump with your feet together to the right until the balls of your feet land near your right elbow off the side of your mat. Then back to center, then to the left, then back to center. Do a pushup and repeat the jumpings.
2) Pushup Toe Touch - Get into position and complete a push-up. Then bring your left leg underneath your body (still planking!) and touch with your right hand and return to start. Do another pushup, then touch your right toe with your left hand.
(Great workouts for upper body strength, but also for core stability)

Part 2:
1) Squat Jump Clean & Press: Squat down and jump up. As you land, reach down and pick up kettlebells. As you move to a standing position, lift the kettlebells up and over your head. Squat back down to put the kettlebells back on the floor, immediately do a squat jump and start back over.
2) Switch Lunge Kick - Get into a lunge position, but bend over and put your hands flat on the floor. Do a small jump lunge and switch the legs, but keep your hands on the floor. Rise up and kick up the back leg and meet with the opposite hand. (There are better explanations and pictures and video on the BodyRock site!)

Part 3 -- All ab work. I set my timer for 50 seconds work and 10 seconds rest, for 8 rounds.
1) Plank Toe Touch on Ball - Get into a plank position, with your feet resting on an exercise ball. Using your core muscles to keep you balances, slowly lower one leg off the side of the ball so your toes touch the ground. Return to the ball and lower the other leg. Do as many as you can in 50 seconds.
2) Reverse Curl & Stand - Lying on your back, do a reverse curl (lift your legs in the air and use your ab muscles to lift your butt off the ground an inch or so). As you come back down, use your core muscles to help your legs drive you to a standing position without using your hands. Sit back down without hands and rock back into a reverse curl. Continue for 50 seconds. (Think about Turkish get-ups when you do these!)
3) Plank - Hold a plank position for 50 seconds
4) Ball leg Lift - Use a stability ball to balance yourself. Lift your arms over your head and grasp a doorjamb to help maintain balance. Lift and lower your extended legs, using your core muscles to maintain balance. I promise you, 50 seconds is not a lot of time, but you will think it is during this exercise!

The rest of the day involves napping with Casper, cuddling the kitty to reassure him that he's still my favorite, and watching a lot of TV. No work for this teacher today - gotta love furlough days. Woot woot for unpaid days off!

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What, if anything, keeps YOU from a scheduled run? Weather? Illness? Moods? Come on, you can tell me!