I'm Running My Life…

Let me just start by saying….I AM THE WEAKEST LINK!!!! Yes, I realize I have to crawl before I walk but man this weight training is no joke.  Which for me is a good thing.  I love to push and challenge myself and I think I’m going to be able to do just that at Columbia Fitness Boot Camp.

After the first day, I was really asking myself what I was doing at home (as far as cross-training on my own).  My weights at home just didn’t seem as heavy as the weights at the gym.  Okay, I realized my kettelbell was made out of a different material (so there would be a difference there) but man the free weights seemed a lot heavier in class.  Oh well, again, I have to crawl before I walk and I refuse to beat myself up because I have to start off with a smaller weight.

My goal for starting a strength training class is to tone up this body and build muscle.  I want to accomplish all of this while still running five times a week. Is that possible? I really hope so.  In reading this article “Can I Run Long Distance and Still Build Muscle“, the answer is yes, I can.  I just have to make sure my “nutrition is meeting demand”.

Taking the first steps:

Priorities:

• Continue to run (I want to increase my overall pace)
• Get stronger and toned

Well if you know me, you know that any thing I do, I do it at the best of my ability.  In starting to incorporate more strength training, I have really been focused on my nutrition and making sure I’m getting the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.  I even started back tracking my daily intake on myfitnesspal.com to help me keep up with it.

I tried to enlist the help of a ‘specialist’ (not sure of her title) but that didn’t pan out to well.  She was going to create me a meal plan based on my goals but I guess that turned out to be harder than she thought.  I already don’t eat a lot of the junk out there so I’m guessing it was hard for her to come up with anything for me (never heard back from her).  Oh well, I’m pretty good at research and I’m sure I can figure this out (but if you have any pointers and/or advice please leave them in the comment section…thanks!!!).

Boot Camp

I signed up for a four week strength training session at the Columbia Fitness Boot Camp.  This is an all women session that takes place three times a week for 45 minutes.  I’m sure this will not be my only four weeks because I really enjoyed the first week of class.

Day 1

We focused on upper body.  Wasn’t bad at all.  The only thing that proved to be a challenge for me was the lat pulls (oh and that dayum ab machine).  I haven’t stepped foot in a gym in ages and gym equipment is very intimidating to me (because I don’t know what I’m doing LOL).  Anyhoo, Coach Michael was very helpful and adjusted the weights and really was there to help me out.  We did a LOT of repeats of some of the following exercises: push-ups, sit-ups, bicep curls, crunches, lat pulls, tricep dips.  Yeah, looks like I have my work cut out for me!!!

Day 2

Today’s  focus was all on the lower body.  I was a little nervous because I’m still nursing my hamstring injury (I think it’s my hamstring and by nursing I mean NO RUNNING and ice every now and again).  Not running is NO JOKE.  I really miss it.

Day 2 wasn’t too bad.  We did some of the following exercises: kettlebell swing, bridges, squats on machine (I think he’s going to have me just doing body weight squats from now on because RUNNING is my #1 priority), leg extensions on machine.  Again, not a bad day.  I think I was sore all week but no pain no gain.  RIGHT!!!

Day 3

It was just me and Coach Michael for the first 15-20 minutes of the class, which was great for me because this was personal training at its best.  He started me out with a series of exercises in sets of 3 for 30 seconds each set.  I really need to work on my burpees and aim to do 20 in 30 seconds (well that may be a stretch…but hey it’s a goal).  After the workout, coach set down and talked to us about nutrition.  In all my days of boot camping (and yes I’ve been to a few), I have never had a coach sit down and talk to us about nutrition unless they were trying to push their own personal products.

Next Steps:

I’m creating my own meal plan based on my body weight and my goals and think I may have came up with a winner.  I’m also going to focus on learning more about macro- and micro- nutrients and how all these play a part in the body.  Watch out now because sooner than later I will be able to share my knowledge with all of you.  Let’s get it fam!!!!