My Mileage – Week 2

Mar 14

Posted by CaptureLife in Running | No Comments

This week wasn’t a great week for me,  I did manage to get some miles in but not nearly as many as I wanted. I made a few things that weren’t running my priorities this week and unfortunately that took time away from exercise and running.  I’d like to blame the weather but I have a gym membership so I have access to treadmills whenever I want, darn there goes that excuse ;)

Sunday I got in about 4 miles and I managed to shave a hefty bit of time off my average time per mile…. wooh hoo! Now if the week had only kept up like that…

Monday I only got in a walk with the dog on my lunch break but it was pretty much a speedwalk, we had to get as far as we could in the time allotted :)

Tuesday was not so good… I started off intending to just take a nice run and even prepared by dressing for the rain. I ended up cutting my run a little short when Sam passed me on his way home and stopped to give me a ride. I will admit I happily accepted as it had started raining harder and I only had about 3/4 of a mile left.

Wednesday I went over to Anytime to check out their equipment. One of the trainers there showed me all the stuff and I must say they have some pretty fancy equipment…. I’m actually excited to use their stuff which is saying something because up until now I’ve been pretty much set on my body weight exercises, resistance tubing and of course the TRX.

Thursday I did not plan my day well and I’ll admit it. I was going from one appointment to the other and had wanted to go straight to the gym from my last appointment but I needed to EAT!

Friday I had another little walk with the dog, nothing spectacular.

Saturday I was going to go for a run and Sam decided to come with so we went for a walk instead. I wasn’t sure how far we went because we took an interesting round about route and I didn’t have my GPS watch with… partly because I didn’t really care how far we went and partly because the battery is dead. oops… I used mapmyrun.com to figure out the distance and it looks like we went around 3 miles. Not bad for a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Weekly total: about 10

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Warrior I

Mar 13

Posted by CaptureLife in Yoga | No Comments

Or less commonly known as Virabhaddrasana I which will begin a series of posts on the different variations of Warrior poses.

Warrior I is a hip opening pose as well as helps you open your chest and strengthen your upper and lower body.

To move yourself into Warrior I start in mountain pose.

From here step one foot back so your feet are about 2-4 feet apart – whatever is comfortable to you with your foot turned out about 45 degrees from the heel.

Bend your front knee directly over your front foot so a right angle is formed by the calf and the thigh.

You’ll want to make sure that your hips are square and even.

Inhale and bring your arms out to the side and up over your head palms together.

Beginners: You may want to leave your hands on your hips so that you can feel their alignment and keep them square.

Turn your gaze upward towards your hands.

You can press back into your heel to feel the stretch in your back leg and remember to breathe :)

Once you have held the pose for a few breaths release your arms down to your sides, step the back foot forward and perform the pose with the other leg forward.

Modifications include leaving your hands at your hips and decreasing the bend in the knee so it’s not as deep.


Respect your body and it’s limitations… if something causes you pain or doesn’t feel right please don’t push it.
Search for modifications and other poses or exercises that will help you progress to meet your goals.

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Indoor VS. Outdoor.

Mar 6

Posted by CaptureLife in Running | No Comments

As the weather starts getting nicer I’m always faced with the battle between running indoors and running outdoors. Especially since it seems that right around the time I get the gym membership is when Mother Nature decides to cut us Wisconsonites some slack and warm up a little.

Lately I’ve been heading outdoors for a variety of reasons but here are the main ones… first I’m cooped up indoors all day long and I need to get out! Aside from that I haven’t been running as much as I would like yet this years so I do like that when you’re outdoors you can adjust your speed however you like without having to push any buttons, there’s also the hills to mix it up a little and of course the best thing about outdoors is once you start you can’t just get off the treadmill and say you’re done. You’ve got to either keep going along your route or turn around and go all the way back, it’s great for when you really don’t feel like running but know once you get started you’ll be just fine.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is running indoors on a treadmill. This of course has it’s own advantages as well… you don’t have to dress for the weather and hope you got it right, there’s a nice little holder for your water bottle so you don’t have to strategically map out your runs around water stations or carry one with you (or… gasp… go without). Also the gym I belong to has the fancy treadmills with the TVs so I can watch crap television while I run, although this is not a deciding factor for me it has been proven that when you’re distracted, for example by TV, you tend to run longer. I have been known to start running a little too fast which causes me to get a little more tired than I like before my run is finished, this is something that the treadmill helps with. You can set it to a slower speed to pace yourself and as long as you don’t speed the treadmill up you’re going to run nice and steady until you reach your goal.

So each option has it’s own collection of good and bad which is usually the case. What you choose is up to you, what are your reasons for choosing one over the other?

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My Mileage – Week 1

Mar 5

Posted by CaptureLife in Running | No Comments

So I debated about posting this as sometimes I don’t do nearly as much as I wish I would but then I decided it would be a great way to hold myself accountable.

Here goes….

Sunday after my return from a weekend full of Yoga I ran 3.5 miles including the lovely hill that goes through Carson Park.

Monday I took a little break to let the body recover from all the new poses and the running.

Back at it again Tuesday the dog and I went for a little walk on my lunch break and then we walked another 3.5 miles only stopping a few times to investigate the other walkers and animals on the trails. Unfortunately I was wearing really crappy socks so my feet were on the verge of blisters when I finished…. dumb… dumb… dumb.

Wednesday Sam and I went for a short bike ride because we started a little too late and it was getting a little chilly for a pleasant ride.

Thursday my goal was to run 5 miles but once I got into it I cut it down to just under 4 because my feet were still not completely happy with me about my choice of footwear on Tues.

Today is Friday and unfortunately there was no running but there was some walking. Sam and I had to get a bunch of errands done and we both were finally not working so we took care of everything – yay! On the plus side we parked at one store and walked to all the rest so there was some activity today.

Tomorrow I get new running shoes! It’s my Christmas present from Sam’s mom and step dad, and they’re in town for a wedding! I think I’m going to pick up some new socks while I’m out as well.

Total miles for the week: about 11

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Don’t miss the links!

Mar 1

Posted by CaptureLife in Information | No Comments

You may have noticed on the sidebar of this blog there’s a section called Sites of Interest. Those are a selection of websites that I’ve found interesting or helpful while on my fitness journey.

I’ve added a few more links for your browsing pleasure and wanted to take a moment to let you know they’re there! Feel free to browse the sites and leave some feedback if you find anything interesting or a great site I have yet to include.

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Yoga Teacher Training – Round 1!

Mar 1

Posted by CaptureLife in Yoga | No Comments

This past weekend was the first of many weekends that I will be venturing to Winona for my Yoga Teacher Training with Jen. Before I get into a post about the Yoga training itself I want to go into a little back story about myself, Jen and Facebook.

I spent my years from birth up until I started second grade in Rothschild WI (near Wausau for those who are curious) and then moved to Altoona. While living in Rothschild I had a best friend who was Jen’s daughter (well she’s still Jen’s daughter but no longer my best friend) when we moved away I was able to come back and visit a few times but we all eventually lost touch as we stopped visiting and they moved to another location as well. So fast forward about 17 years and Jen finds me on Facebook. Gotta love technology! We chatted back and forth about how our families were doing and then I found out that she’s now a Yoga teacher and is doing her first Yoga teacher training. Of course I signed up.

Okay so now that you know how all this came about let’s go back to this past weekend. We began on Friday evening with a Yoga session and meditation – the others in the group are Jen’s students so they are familiar with the style of Yoga she teaches. I was not completely familiar with the sequences she was using in her class but I knew the poses so I was able to follow along quite well and then we came to the meditation part. This is something that I don’t do on a regular basis other than before I’m going to bed in an attempt to turn my brain off so I can get some sleep so it was a new experience to be doing a full meditation in the evening. We used a guided meditation on a CD so that Jen was able to participate also. I really enjoyed it and was surprised that I didn’t have more difficulty ignoring the cars that drove by or the other thoughts that wanted to intrude into my mind.

The rest of the weekend consisted of discussion of the various Yoga styles (you may have noticed my previous post on just that) and we started in on the 8 limbs of Yoga. We covered the first two limbs Yama (Discipline) and Niyama (Restraint), I’ve got some future posts plans to go into more details about those as well as the other limbs, and talked about living a Yogic Lifestyle. We spent a good part of the day going over the Warrior poses and the proper alignment for them as well as some other hip opening poses – again look for more detailed posts to come!

Saturday evening, I stayed with Jen for the weekend, we watched What Dreams May Come. It was the first time I had seen the movie and thought it was pretty good although it could have also been that we had some delicious chicken artichoke pizza…. mmmm….

Sunday morning we wrapped up with another Yoga session this time we did Yoga X from the P90X program. I never knew Yoga could make me sweat so much…wow. If I didn’t believe the info about the program kicking your butt before I definitely do now. Luckily we followed it up with a nice meditation – the Metta Meditation where we offered love and kindness to not only those we love but those that cause us frustration or other ‘not so nice’ feelings. After that we had a little more discussion about our ‘homework’ for the next meeting and I hopped in the car for my drive home.

I’m very much looking forward to our next meeting and for once actually have homework I’m excited to do.

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Find your style.

Feb 27

Posted by CaptureLife in Yoga | No Comments

This weekend is the first of many weekends of my Yoga teacher training. We started last night with a nice yoga session and some meditation followed by a discussion on the different styles of yoga.

There are SO many different styles out there I feel it would be impossible for someone to not be able to find one that suites them. There are slower, gentler styles that focus more on the breathing aspect and at the opposite side of the spectrum there are styles that are very strict about alignment and getting the poses (asanas) correct. You can find yoga that is  geared just for those looking for a workout and don’t care about the history and philosophy behind yoga and you can also find yoga that will kick your butt while also focusing on the background of yoga.

I challenge you to try a few different styles to help you decide what best fits your life and body, here’s a short list of just some of the popular styles out there and a quick overview of what they entail.

Ananda: A very gentle experience that uses positive affirmations during every pose.

Ashtanga: If you’ve ever heard the term ‘Power Yoga’ it’s based on this style. Ashtanga is designed to build strength, power and flexibility and can be physically demanding of the participant.

Bikram: Or ‘hot yoga’ is a series of 26 asanas practiced in a heated environment.

Iyengar: Alignment based yoga that focuses on precise alignment of poses.

Kundalini: Emphasis on breathing and chanting this yoga style is all about awakening your energy.

Viniyoga: Slow flowing yoga with poses that are adjusted for the level of the students.

Mysore: This is a self led practice where each student has a practice based on their ability.

Yin: Focuses on how the body moves and the fact that everyone is different so poses will look different from person to person.

Like I previously mentioned this is just a small list of the different styles available but it should help you to get started on your path to finding a style that suites you best :)

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Teaching is Hard Work!

Feb 22

Posted by CaptureLife in Fit Tips | No Comments

Everything we do burns calories – how much we burn depends on what we’re doing, obviously going for a jog is not going to burn as many calories as taking a nap.

I have a heart rate monitor from Polar and I decided to use it to see just how much work my body really does. I taught a wordpress class yesterday and started tracking about an hour before the class started. I got to my location and spoke with Bobbi Jo for a few minutes and then proceeded to get my room and laptop set up.  A little while later my participants arrived and I gave each of them a short tour of the building and then we got down to business. Throughout the class I was doing some sitting, some walking around and a lot of moving and pointing but nothing I would consider too athletic. I should point out that I get nervous/excited when I’m teaching things so my heart rate does increase while I’m teaching.

Four hours later my participants have left, I’ve cleaned up the room and packed up my stuff. Time to check the monitor…. Time: 4:13  Calories: 437

Not too shabby for someting I was loving and getting paid to do!

Now imagine what that count would have been if I was walking between rows of people the entire time. Or if I had just sat there the entire time…. What daily activities do you do that would be easy to add an extra boost of exercise to?

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Warm Hands, Cold Thighs

Feb 21

Posted by CaptureLife in For Fun | No Comments

Of course the weekend I join the gym (I couldn’t go any longer without a treadmill!) turns out to be such a beautiful weekend I can’t not go outside. Oh well I’m sure this WI weather will make up for it sometime in June with snow… It was about 34 degrees this afternoon so Sam and I decided to take out our bikes for the first ride of the year. There were a few days before that were more than warm enough to go biking but unfortunately I was stuck working and by the time I was done it was dark, darn early sunsets. Now that the sun stays out longer it’s much easier to find time to ride as I try to avoid winter bike riding in the dark, I’ve had a few too many wipe outs on the ice.

We rode about 5 miles and did a nice loop of some of the trails in the area, there weren’t a lot of people out on the trails which was nice but there were a few taking advantage of the warm spell. We saw quite a few people ice fishing and more than a few dog walkers. It was great to see all those people out getting their exercise!

I wish we could have ridden longer but I had to get back home to teach my Wordpress workshop (yeah, I’m a nerd) and my thighs were starting to go numb. My jeans were just not providing the warmth or protection from the wind I needed. However, thanks to the mittens I stole from my dad last winter my normally frigid hands were nice and toasty. I will put up with the many sizes too large mittens getting caught up in the handle bar any day if it means my hands will stay warm.

Hopefully the rest of the week will be equally as great for outdoor adventures and we can all get some fresh air.

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Calendar has been updated!

Feb 6

Posted by CaptureLife in Fit Tips, Information | No Comments

The calendar has been updated with some local races (and Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth) through June! I hope to see you at some of these events as I plan to attend all of them except the Spring Thaw and the New Balance Girls on the Run. Spring thaw takes place over a weekend that holds a lot of birthdays and family events that are taking place and I don’t want to miss time with my family and the New Balance race falls on the day of my wedding so I think I’ll be busy enough that day. I do however plan to take part in the races in April and the 1/2 Marathon in May as well as the RCU charity classic that I’ve attended 3 years in a row now!

If you’re planning to take part in the 1/2 or Full marathon remember to start your training now to avoid injury during the race.

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