When I woke up this morning, I thought, "Man, why did I write that I was going to start doing 30 Day Shred? I don't wanna..." ;) After the boys went to school, I went to the rec center to run on the indoor track. I could have done the treadmill, but I honestly wanted to go up and down the flights of stairs a few times to get a little bit of elevation for my Wii U Fit Meter! I'm so far behind Jerry that I'll never catch up.
Anyway, my schedule for today and tomorrow is technically 3 miles easy today, and a 10K race tomorrow. But since I'm not racing a 10K, I think I may just do 8 miles at long run pace tomorrow. So today, my plan was to do 3 miles at half-marathon pace (8:34/mi).
I have no idea what happened, but my pace was nowhere near 8:34. My heart rate was up to the middle of my tempo run zone (Zone 4), but my pace was in the low 9:00's mostly--and I kept getting slower and slower. I'm hoping it's just because it's so hot in there? I don't know.
After I finished running, I ran up and down the stairs about five times. My legs were tired from that! I should do that as a workout one day--just go and run up and down the stairs for 20 minutes.
When I got home, instead of doing 30-Day Shred, I decided to do Pete Thomas's ABC circuit workout. His bootcamp class was SO hard, but that's what makes me think this workout will be effective (it's the same thing we did in class, only he won't be yelling at me to go faster!). I'm not going to do the full circuit program as listed (~60 minutes, 4 days a week); I am going to do 20-40 minutes, 4 days a week, by cutting back on the repetitions of each circuit.
Basically, you start with Circuit 1, and do the "A" exercise for 60 seconds; then the "B" exercise for 60 seconds; then the "C" exercise for 60 seconds. Repeat 2 more times, for a total of 3 times for Circuit 1. Then you move on to Circuit 2, and do the same thing. And so on, until you've done all 6 circuits.
To cut back on the time, I'll just do 1-2 repetitions of each circuit instead of 3. I did 40 minutes today, and I have a feeling I'm going to be REALLY sore tomorrow!
My parents and I have been quickly getting things together for Mark's party on Saturday, and we had the idea to buy gifts for Mark to give each of the men at the group home. He lives with 17 other men, who are basically like his "family", and they've missed him. Mark loves to make people happy, so giving gifts is perfect for him :)
My dad talked to the woman who runs the group home, and she gave him a Christmas wish list from all the men. There were a few items listed for each person, and their favorite colors/sports teams/etc., for gift ideas. They said they're always in need of toiletries, so my parents went and bought shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and a washcloth for each person. And I did the fun part--going shopping for the items on the wish list!
Looking at the list, it was going to be a bit of a challenge, but definitely a fun challenge. I quickly learned that the hardest part was shopping for people I'd never met. I wasn't sure what sort of disabilities each of them had, and where it listed "books" or something, I wasn't sure if that meant a children's book or adult book. So I tried to go with safer items that were still on the list.
Some of the men enjoy coloring, so rather than the typical coloring books, I bought these little white figurines that you decorate yourself with markers and stickers. There were a few DVD requests--war movies, cat/dog movies, animal movies. Someone requested the book The Outsiders, but I couldn't find that at the stores I went to, but I did find the DVD, so I picked that up.
Also on the list were their favorite treat foods--chips, cookies, Cheetos, doughnuts, etc. So once I bought a non-food item for everyone, I decided to get a small food item that they'd requested, too. I was really excited to get home and start packaging everything together. I bought some clear gift bags to put everything in. Thankfully, I didn't forget anything, and I think everyone will be happy with their gifts!
Tomorrow, I'm going to go up to the nursing home with my dad, where we'll meet with the occupational therapist. She's going to teach us how to get Mark into and out of the car. And, while we're at it, she's going to follow us (and Mark) to the group home! Mark hasn't been home since early December, so tomorrow he'll see everyone for the first time in a couple of months. The OT is going to evaluate how he does in his home environment, and see what they need to work on in OT and PT sessions.
Unfortunately, he'll have to go back to the nursing home for the night, but then we'll pick him up on Saturday for his big party. Needless to say, Mark couldn't be more excited about this weekend!
Anyway, my schedule for today and tomorrow is technically 3 miles easy today, and a 10K race tomorrow. But since I'm not racing a 10K, I think I may just do 8 miles at long run pace tomorrow. So today, my plan was to do 3 miles at half-marathon pace (8:34/mi).
I have no idea what happened, but my pace was nowhere near 8:34. My heart rate was up to the middle of my tempo run zone (Zone 4), but my pace was in the low 9:00's mostly--and I kept getting slower and slower. I'm hoping it's just because it's so hot in there? I don't know.
After I finished running, I ran up and down the stairs about five times. My legs were tired from that! I should do that as a workout one day--just go and run up and down the stairs for 20 minutes.
When I got home, instead of doing 30-Day Shred, I decided to do Pete Thomas's ABC circuit workout. His bootcamp class was SO hard, but that's what makes me think this workout will be effective (it's the same thing we did in class, only he won't be yelling at me to go faster!). I'm not going to do the full circuit program as listed (~60 minutes, 4 days a week); I am going to do 20-40 minutes, 4 days a week, by cutting back on the repetitions of each circuit.
Basically, you start with Circuit 1, and do the "A" exercise for 60 seconds; then the "B" exercise for 60 seconds; then the "C" exercise for 60 seconds. Repeat 2 more times, for a total of 3 times for Circuit 1. Then you move on to Circuit 2, and do the same thing. And so on, until you've done all 6 circuits.
To cut back on the time, I'll just do 1-2 repetitions of each circuit instead of 3. I did 40 minutes today, and I have a feeling I'm going to be REALLY sore tomorrow!
My parents and I have been quickly getting things together for Mark's party on Saturday, and we had the idea to buy gifts for Mark to give each of the men at the group home. He lives with 17 other men, who are basically like his "family", and they've missed him. Mark loves to make people happy, so giving gifts is perfect for him :)
My dad talked to the woman who runs the group home, and she gave him a Christmas wish list from all the men. There were a few items listed for each person, and their favorite colors/sports teams/etc., for gift ideas. They said they're always in need of toiletries, so my parents went and bought shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and a washcloth for each person. And I did the fun part--going shopping for the items on the wish list!
Looking at the list, it was going to be a bit of a challenge, but definitely a fun challenge. I quickly learned that the hardest part was shopping for people I'd never met. I wasn't sure what sort of disabilities each of them had, and where it listed "books" or something, I wasn't sure if that meant a children's book or adult book. So I tried to go with safer items that were still on the list.
Some of the men enjoy coloring, so rather than the typical coloring books, I bought these little white figurines that you decorate yourself with markers and stickers. There were a few DVD requests--war movies, cat/dog movies, animal movies. Someone requested the book The Outsiders, but I couldn't find that at the stores I went to, but I did find the DVD, so I picked that up.
Also on the list were their favorite treat foods--chips, cookies, Cheetos, doughnuts, etc. So once I bought a non-food item for everyone, I decided to get a small food item that they'd requested, too. I was really excited to get home and start packaging everything together. I bought some clear gift bags to put everything in. Thankfully, I didn't forget anything, and I think everyone will be happy with their gifts!
Tomorrow, I'm going to go up to the nursing home with my dad, where we'll meet with the occupational therapist. She's going to teach us how to get Mark into and out of the car. And, while we're at it, she's going to follow us (and Mark) to the group home! Mark hasn't been home since early December, so tomorrow he'll see everyone for the first time in a couple of months. The OT is going to evaluate how he does in his home environment, and see what they need to work on in OT and PT sessions.
Unfortunately, he'll have to go back to the nursing home for the night, but then we'll pick him up on Saturday for his big party. Needless to say, Mark couldn't be more excited about this weekend!
