Great News, Great Run, and a Birthday

Today is my little brother's 22nd birthday. We have always gotten along and I have been really lucky to never really understand sibling rivalry.

I started my day at school, but I was lucky to have an hour and a half for lunch. I met my brother, cousin, and mom for his birthday lunch.

We had Chinese food, which used to be my favorite food until I was introduced to Phò, which now I cannot live without. I settled for chicken and veggies.

After school and learning how to create a good relationship with your administrator, I went to the gym for a quick workout before I had to decorate for the birthday party. While I was changing, I got a call from my superintendent telling me that a job opened up in the classroom I call home and I will be doing my first 12 weeks of student teaching in that classroom. I was so pumped and excited that my progression run felt super easy.

It's really amazing what a positive attitude can do for your run. A good mood really makes all of the difference. I did chest/tricep and then rushed home to decorate. My brother got to the house and we decorated him.

The boys also got into the decorating spirit.

My sister and the baby were there. Doesn't she just look so great for being the mom of a 5-day-old??

My best friend (who is due in November) came over and we had some good, much needed laughs. No matter how much time passes without seeing her, we can pick up right where we left off.

I'm so lucky. And I am so excited to get back into the swing of things with my coworkers who feel like family. It was a really great day.

Tell me about your day.

What was on your training schedule?

A Story and Accidental Hill Work

Today at work, one of my students called me over because she wanted to read me a story that she had written about me.

This pretty much melted my heart for several reasons. 1. She cared enough about me to write about me in her notebook. 2. She remembered a story I told her a few weeks ago about the time I played Templeton the rat in Charlotte's Web. And 3. Her handwriting and spelling is amazing for a student with her disability. My students amaze me every single day. And I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. We also walked to the park to watch the junior rodeo.

It's rodeo week in the town I work in and it's a really big deal. The kids put together goody bags to hand out at the parade on Saturday and really enjoyed watching the little kids ride horses. And, of course, there were cows too.

I decided to come home to work out today. I feel as though I haven't spent enough time at home lately since I've been going, going, going. I also house sat the other night, so I literally wasn't home at all that day. For a huge homebody, this is way out of my element.

I came upon this huge line of bikers on my way home.

So I headed out around my neighborhood for a 4 mile run. I have been really bored with my usual route which really keeps me from running outside. So, I went a different way. Which was fantastic, except there are A LOT more hills on this route, so what was supposed to be a slow and easy run turned into hill work. This is okay because I need hill work, but my legs were so tired after yesterday's workout that I thought they might fall off during some of those climbs.

I wanted to run purely on feeling and I did. I only looked at my Garmin to check mileage. I slowed down when I needed to. I had absolutely no idea how fast or slow I was going. It felt really freeing, since I am usually obsessed about my pace. I felt like a beast after I finished.

I did my shoulder routine while watching Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition and then had to rush out the door to meet my family for dinner. My other step sister is in town from Arizona, so almost the entire family is here, which is very rare. We went to our local BBQ place where I got the Tri-tip.

You better believe that after all that hill climbing I ate every last bite. I also ran into my running partner who I haven't seen in MONTHS because she is pregnant, and while she is definitely still kicking butt at working out, our fitness levels are different and she said she doesn't want to slow me down. She had just found out that she is having a girl, which I completely guessed correctly!! It was so so nice to run into her because I have been missing her a lot.

How often do you do hill work?

Are you as obsessed with pace as I am?

HIIT Wednesday

First of all, let me just tell you how fantastic it is to have my own personal masseuse. I've recently hired one and I only have to pay him in kisses.

Don't let the face fool you.  He adores me.

Wednesdays are my day off from strength training since I do a four day split. So now Wednesdays have become my unofficial HIIT day. High Intensity Interval Training is fantastic for fat loss as the calorie burning continues for 24-48 hours after you do the workout. The point is to bring your heart rate up quickly and then back down again. It hurts, but it's important to include in your weekly routine.

SOURCE

Today I started off with sprints on the treadmill. I do a 5 minute warm up, then 10 sets of 30 seconds of sprinting followed by 1 minute of recovery pace. After the 10 sprints, I cool down with 5 minutes of recovery pace.

Then I got on the stairstepper again. Stair stepping is my version of hell, but I put on the interval setting and do 10 minutes of 40 seconds work, 40 seconds recovery. I actually lasted the entire 10 minutes this week! My calves were burning when I got off.

Then I head upstairs to finish up my workout with Tabatas. I grabbed a Kettlebell and did swings, sit ups while holding the kettlebell, and weighted squats. I had dinner plans with the best friend, so I only did 3 rounds of tabatas instead of four, but my Mexican food was so worth it.

I know I will be feeling the HIIT tomorrow, but this week I have been experiencing a lot of DOMS this week for some reason, so it will only add to my already sore chest and triceps. I love it, though.

I highly recommend adding HIIT in at least once a week. Choose a cardio that you enjoy doing and then do it as hard as YOU can on and off for as long as YOU can.

Do you already do HIIT in your workout routines?