not a #runday

I have been feeling down since I have not been able to run. So today I decided to go to the school and do a little workout. Well no one was there, so I conned the maintenance men into letting me in. I did "Farmer in the Dell".

At the school I use a 25 lb kettlebell but I only have a 10 lb at home.

Kettlebell swings: Use your hips and keep the kettle bell under control. Do not let it swing too far between your legs. 

Rack (thats on the left): Point your elbow to the ground and rest the kettle bell on your arm. Try not lean to one side. Switch the kettlebell from one side to the other. 

15 minutes is a long time! You can pause if you need to my not when it is in the rack position. Once you rack it you have to go! It sounds easy, but its hard.

Give it a try! 

I am a commuter!

For the past two years I have been driving 45 minutes to work everyday. It is about 35 miles. I live on the Outer Banks and work in mainland Currituck County. I enjoy my decompression time in the afternoons and I catch up on podcasts in the mornings. 

At least there is not a lot of traffic! 

#commuterproblems! One of the biggest problems I have is that I have to pack for a whole day when I leave for work in the morning. Usually that means school work, workout stuff, lunch, and purse! You can call me the bag lady if you want. Above is a light packing day. I also make enough coffee to get me to work and I have my water bottle to drink on my way home. 

I have read a lot about commuters and the one thing I hate the worst is that commuters are more likely to be overweight. I hate excuses and that is not going to happen! I make sure of that by bringing my running/ workout clothes and working out or running while I am still in Barco (That is where my office is). I work on this really neat community campus with parks and rec, the senior center, aviation school, airport and the YMCA. They have not completely finished construction so I run the roads and then cut through the woods. This gets me a little over 2 miles. When the sidewalks are finished it will be a longer run and I will not have to cut through the swapy woods or jump the ditches to get back on the road. 

To make sure that I get to work on time I have a very specific schedule.
My Morning routine: 

5:00 Bob Marley wakes me up with Kaya 

5:05 Coffee is being made! 

5:05 - 5:25 Morning Yoga 

5:25 - 6:00 Breakfast and Full House

6:00 - 7:00 Getting ready! Packing for the day , laundry and/or dishes 

7:00 - 7:15 Take the dog out 

7:16 Out the door! 

7:30 News update on the radio 

7:35 Podcast 

See I have got it down! I even subscribe to my favorite podcasts so I am always ready! I love love love stuff mom never told you. I think women keep far to many secrets from one another so this is a great way to explore the mysterious womanhood.  Freakonomics is cool mainly because it was my freshman reading in college and Stephen Dubner is an Appalachian Alumni as am I! He also spoke at convocation my Freshman year! 

#runday "Houston we have a problem!"

Disclaimer: This is super gross! 

Thursday I was teaching a Re-Think Your Drink seminar in Corolla so I had a little time to kill in the morning. I ran my usually first street path. I even ate some oatmeal made with coconut milk. (really good!) So I knew this was going to be a great run. I mean look at how pretty my run trail is through the national park. 

 Because I know I can trick my brain by thinking about something else while I am running I try to keep my mind on something new each run. This way I do not think about how far I have been or have to go. I think it helps me get through the run. My boyfriend (running coach) told me I need to learn what each pace feels like. I have been trying to keep a close eye on it. I cannot tell between the 8 minute pace and an 11 minute pace so I was working on that durning this run. I noticed when I was running that I was landing on the outside of my feet. So I corrected myself and just kept running.  

When I got home I took off my shoes, this is what I found....

Day two it is looking a little better! But I think my toe nail is going to fall off just in time for summer. Yay! And I am disappointed that I will not be able to run for a while.  I was in such as great routine and this really throws a kink in the workout plan. I know how hard it is to get back on track when you get off track because of an injury. I also wanted to run in the Shore Break 5K which is in two weeks. 

I have never had this problem before so I think these shoes might not be for my feet. The good news is I can return them and try some different ones. It does stick that I had this happen but at least I am not out the $80.00 I paid for the shoes. Maybe in a few days I can do a barefoot beach run?! We will have to see.

-Liv 

#runday May 8th

Today was a run day! 

For the longest time I have not been able to improve my fitness. I do not think my body cannot handle it, but the coolest thing about our bodies is that they are made fore this! So it is my brain that is always getting in the way. I tell myself I am getting tired. I can not go any further or fast, but I really can. I am trying hard to break through my mental roadblocks and believe in myself. Today I told myself "You can do it!" over and over again. Then I started thinking about Adam Sandler and Waterboy (that is what I call runner ADHD). Before I knew it I was home! 

I did a 3 mile run on a pack of nabs and a cup of coffee! So why can't I run further and better when I have a good lunch? It is all in my head! The first step to breaking down those mental roadblocks is believing in yourself.

We have a great place to run in my neighborhood called "The First Street Path"! It runs along West First Street, up by the Wright Memorial and then to the school, library and government center in Kill Devil Hills. Love this path! 

I am still doing the 30day ab challenge

Today:

• 36 sit-ups
• 29 crunches
• 30sec plank
• 19 pushups (I have been doing man pushups! They are killer)

I also did a great plank workout from Badass Fitness  she is a beast! I hope to be like her one day! 

What is in your gym bag?

My workout schedule: 

   Monday #weighttraining   Usually I do some type of quick circuit training. We are lucky to be able to go to the high school and use their equipment. The gym teacher their provides us with new workouts to try each week. 

   Tuesday #runday

   Wednesday #runday

   Thursday #weighttraining 

   Friday #restday

   Saturday #runday

   Sunday #restday

1. Merrell bag
2. Make up remover wipes I like the clean and clear ones too! These I picked up at TJ Maxx. It is important to make sure you clean your face before you work out
3. Barefoot shoes!  I am trying the new barefoot shoe thing and I love it! I have tried the New Balance kind too. My only complain is that they stick... really stick! 
4. Nike+ watch w/ shoe sensor  check out my Nike+ profile 
5. Razor 
6. Sweaty Band I love my sweaty bands!
7. Headphones
8. Deodorant 
9. Lotion I like something that smells good when I'm working out
10. Tons of hair ties
11. Victoria Secret sports bra My favorite sports bra yet!
12. Protein shake and blender bottle 
13. Pre-wrap  (to use as a headband)
14. 4-H t-shirt
15. Shorts

I usually pack a few outfits because I never know what I am going to feel like come 4:00, nor do I know what the weather is going to be like. 

30 Day Challenge

 

I have been doing the 30 day squat challenge! It has been amazing. I am really feeling the burn! I have been kind of cheating. I split the number for each day between plea squats and regular squats. Sometimes I even throw in a few lunges. 

Plea squats target the inner thighs. You can also lift up to your toe on your left or right side to target the area. Make sure you only do one side at a time and have the same number of reps on each side. 

These are deep keen squats. The goal of a deep knee squat is to get your butt below your knees. If you are not following the proper form you more than likely will feel it in your knees. These squats will give you the best results.

Do you add weight? The USDA recommends that Americans get at least 2 days a week of strength training. Weight barring exercise can be done with body weight but once you have master body weight squats it is a good idea to more on to weights. You can use hand weights, body bars, or even kettle bells to ad weight. I am currently squatting 40 lbs. with a body bar. No more than 15 reps per set. I try to do about 10 sets per workout. If you are trying yo bulk up do a heavier weight with less reps, but if you are looking for lean muscles do a smaller weight with more reps. 

Remember to stretch your thighs after your workout. For your muscles to grow long and lean you want to make sure that you have a good stretch after all workouts especially when you are working such a specific area. 

An ab challenge is on the horizons for May! Get ready summer! 

-Liv   

New dinning room table

Our retro table just is not doing it anymore! We have an old laminate wood table with chrome legs that are duck taped together at the top. So I thought it was time for a new table, but tables are really expensive so I thought I might make one. Here is my inspiration!

I want to build a bench for one side! I like this one, but I want a back on mine. And I love the light colored upholstered chairs with it. So I am going to do both.

Here is my beautiful wood it is black or dark walnut. I am think I am just going to seal it because the wood is pretty. But I want to have a dark table so we will have to see how it looks after the top is put together and I condition it.

There are my legs the short ones are for the bench and the long ones for the table.Duh! I go them from www.hairpinlegs.com/ . It was super easy to order from them and they have tons of styles! I hate choices. Right now they are raw steel which will rust so I may need to spray them black or clear.

 

 

 

I have picked out these chairs from IKEA. They have a dark brown/black base with a brown/natural cover which is great because you can change the cover! Check them out at Henriksdal chair from Ikea!

I am so excited about this new project! I am not that great with wood work so I am getting some help. I will be so happy to throw that old table away. And share the finished product!

-Liv

Whats going on?? Why no posts?

Well I have been extremely busy and my focus has been on work, school and become super healthy! So I have not had a lot of time for sewing. I guess I could cut out sleeping but I really really like sleep. So I thought it might be easier to post about what I am doing rather than just projects I have going.

So I wanted to show you how crazy my life! This is a picture of my desk today. I know crazy, but thankfully school is almost over for the semester. Summer is on its way and maybe I can turn back into the beach bum I have always been!

I have been working hard to finish my first graduate class at East Carolina University. I have taken other classes since I graduated from College APP State '10, but this one is the start of my graduate program, MS Family and Consumer Sciences Secondary Education. I will take the GRE this summer and apply for grad school in March. Wish me luck! I am powering through this literary review with muller! Non-fat yogurt with caramelized almonds! So good, but it is 200 calories as my fitness pal reminds me. Naked Protein granola and coffee are of course important to keep me focused. 

I am back at it! Running and workout got me through college, but as an adult I have found little time to do anything other than eat, sleep, or work. I have been working through this and I will be posting some workout/nutrition stuff, because thats whats going on with me right now. My sewing machine is feeling a little neglected. Maybe I can pull it out durning the summer?

As summer approaches I have been spending a lot of time with family. Mainly because I live at the beach, my family loves the beach, and they just need a reason to come down as often as they want. I constantly remind them that it get cold here too! This is us on the newish Jennette's Research Pier. It is so cool to see the wind turbines, and other sources of wave energy they have been able to harness. This pier was built by the aquarium so it has several huge tanks with fish in them!

Hope you enjoy some of the new stuff I post! 

-Liv

How does your garden grow?

My little potted garden on the porch has grown so good this summer. I think the rain water is what it really likes.

I have had a wonderful crop so far this summer and the plants still are not finished producing fruit. Next year we are going to try for more plants and see what happens. I think I am going to try to grow greens and strawberries in the spring. Maybe I will look for some things that can grow in the fall too. I love growing stuff.

My herb garden is doing good indoors too! I use the herbs in everything. I would love to grow lemon balm and mint. But I think they would do better outside. I am still learn but I think for my first growing season I did good. We can try again next year.

Summer Night Alone

Lights over the top of my deck 

Pandora Station I am listing to. Add a little Tiny Tim in there too!

MacBook for tunes, wine for sanity, and the mason jar as a night light

Drink of choice, almost as good as my Pink Truck 

I love the lights 

A nice spot to rest and relax after working all day 

The patio garden that surrounds me

Things I have learned from Contemporary Folk Music tonight:

1. Let it be 
2. You can't roller-skate in a buffalo herd
3. You can't go fishing in a watermelon patch 
4. Sweet Pea your the reason I keep coming home 
5. Darlin' your heads not right 
6. You were only waiting for this moment to arise

I think Contemporary Folk music could be my new favorite music especially if I am going to lean things like these! To night was a nice relaxing time and I am glad I got to spend it with myself. It is hard to remember that you need to have time to turn your brain off and just pick up on the funny lyrics to calming music. It takes my mind off the fact that all the clothes I have washed are hanging around the Apartment because the dryer is broken. 

My goal for this week is to spend time with myself!!