Fitness Friday: Beach Ready

This week I am heading to the beach with "double down" and a few of his friends. To try and make my weekend a bit easier running wise I did a hard track session earlier this afternoon (3x(5x400m) and then heading back to the basement to do some stretching and strength work.  Now I'll just have an easy run tomorrow and a long run Sunday. I'm anticipating it being pretty hot when I get down there, but am looking forward to a few days to lay out in the sun!
My general running fitness seems like it is coming along fairly well... I'm sure I have Ryan and Kim, and the C.O.W.S to thank for keeping me fit while rehabbing my ankle all summer.

First I started out with some work on my foam roller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHBDim_fzk

Then I went back to work on my ab ball and made use of the laminated card that I was given and is now in the hands of other athletes in Chattanooga:

First I did some general planking balancing on my ab ball (3x 60s), then I switched to some arm and leg extensions while balancing on the ball (3x15s per side).

rom there I did a side plank then rotate to bring elbow under the shoulder of my supporting arm (12 per side).

Finally, starting in a push-up plank position with my feet balancing on the ab ball, I then engaged my core to pull the ball in towards me, bending at the knee (3x15 reps).

Not a crazy long core session, but enough to stretch out and engage my core after a pretty solid track session.

Now to pack for the Beach! 

Fitness Friday

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=16625

Ok, so it's again time for some core, strength, and stability work! This week I chose to reacquaint myself with the strength routine from Coach Jay Johnson. During law school I was usually pretty good about coming in from a run and jumping right into these exercises. Maybe it was because my laptop was usually already out from homework, or it served as a good distraction while I waited for my dinner to finish cooking... but since I have been living my new double life, I have fallen off the wagon.
Rollerblading has shown me how weak my hips, bum, and lower back have become, so I opted to do "Part 1" of the general strength exercises.

First, of course, I foam rolled:

Then I set into the exercises:

Plank, Side Plank, Supine, Side Plank - x20 seconds each

Clams - x10 each side

Lateral Leg raise - Neutral x4, Toe Out x4, Toe In x4 - switch sides

Donkey Kicks - x10 each side

Donkey Whip - x5 each side

Fire Hydrant - x10 each side

Knee Circles - Forward x10, Backwards x10 - switch sides

Hurdle Trailing Forward - x10 each side

Hurdle Trailing Backward - x10 each side

Lateral Leg Swing - x10 each side

Linear Leg Swing - Straight knee x10, bent leg x10 - switch sides

I did this workout after rollerblading along the Silver Comet Trail, so my hips were pretty tired by the end of it... the goal will be to work up to going through it 2-3x after several of my easy evening runs each week.
I finished up my core strength by throwing on the Ab Ripper X video from P90x and called it a day!

Fitness Friday: Fitness on the Mend

http://www.cupcakedujour.ca/2012_06_01_archive.html
Ok, So I am officially back to training and... BACK WORKING! Yah me! I have been able to pick up some part-time work at Speek & Webb (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Speek-and-Webb-PLLC/263925700298864), a law firm based in Chattanooga, TN. As I continue to focus my attention on getting my ankle back to 100% and my body back ready to run a fast marathon in October, I decided I need to return to my roots and pay attention to cross-training. Yes folks, this means I'm back rollerblading, swimming/aqua-jogging, and hitting up the core, drills, and stretching. As you can imagine, the whirl-wind of a trip my life has been on for the last 12 or so weeks caused me to let things fall to the way-side, causing my body to remind me that it's doing the small things that keep me healthy... lesson learned the hard way. So, in my attempt to keep myself on track, I am going to start posting my cross-training/strength building workouts on here! This week, I did the Core Synergistics workout from P90x. I love doing this workout... though Tony Horton can be a bit much at times. It switches things up enough that I don't lose interest part way through, and it helps me focus on my hip strength and flexibility... my trouble spots. I last did this workout with my lil' big sis when I was in Vancouver, BC. I had to modify it then because of my foot, but was still able to get a lot of benefit from it. I've shared the link to her workout blog... as you can see, it took matching outfits to motivate us to get going ;D.

"Fitness on the Mend"
Sometimes, our bodies don't behave. Despite our best intentions, and most ardent care, we get tired, we break down, we get injured. This post is about working out through injury. Or more specifically what to do, when you can't do what you usually do. My sister was in town this week to race in a half marathon. On her first day here she ran 15 miles. On day 2 she did a 8/6 double. Day 3 brought 400 repeats. And then, something went wrong... She began noticing a tightness in her ankle. Hopeful it would settle down by race day, she tapered her training, did the old RICE standby, and bought some Advil. On race day, we were awaiting her triumphant appearance at the finish line, when my phone rang. She had pulled out at 4 km. The medical team suspected a sprained ankle, or perhaps worse.

How does a runner keep their fitness level up when they can't run? They get creative.

We put matching outfits. We threw on p90x. We improvised.

Low Lateral Skaters:

Bow to Boat:

Squat X-Press:

Reach High and Under Push-ups:

Fitness waits for no man.