25-Day Fitness Challenge | Week 2 Update

Hey everyone!

Happy Friday!  Time for my 25-Day fitness challenge update. Yes! I have completed week 2 and for some reason I missed one day this week. Seems like that's the trend...missing one day a week.  Hmm. I'll do better next week. (I'll try to anyways)

My knee is still aching and crunching/grinding, etc. I tried a knew support last night, and it didn't help. I ended up taking it off halfway through my workout. I'm starting to think it's probably my cartilage rubbing away. I don't know when I'll end up going to the doctor about it.  I'll keep a close eye on it and see how things go.  I'm looking forward to start my walk/jogging sessions out doors. That'll be the real test as to if I can do this Read2Run 5K. I'll know soon enough!

 Are you doing a Spring fitness challenge? How's it going for you?

~Tamara

25-Day Fitness Challenge | Week 1 Update

Hey all!

It's time for the update from this past week. I think I did pretty well this past week. I only missed one day, Tuesday, as I had a late homeowner association meeting which ran very late and I really couldn't get into working out after it.  I'm feeling pretty good and I'm very happy that I'm mostly keeping up with the challenge! I think I can do the next 7 days without any misses.  I'm going to try my best.

My knees are cracking and creaking when doing all the dancing, so I'm nervous that something is going on with them. It hurts sometimes, but not unbearably   It's very  uncomfortable and I even had to take ibuprofen a couple of nights. Because of this I'm starting to be concerned about the upcoming 5K training. I'm not sure I should be running, I don't want to mess up my knees.  I hope the more I work out the stronger they will get. I'm also thinking of getting a supplement that will help with cartilage. I'll keep an eye on it, and if I'm still having issues by the time I'm supposed to start training, I'll have to back out of it. I won't injure myself for a charity run. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll all be fine!

Regardless of my knees, week 2 here we go!

Do you have issues with your knees and still work out? Please give me some tips that could help, other than going to the doctor.  My insurance sucks so I'm only interested in going there if it's serious. Thanks in advance guys!

~Tamara

25-Day Fitness Challenge

Hey everyone!

I decided to kick off the beginning of Spring with a fitness challenge.  Day 1 began on Wednesday and am going until the end of the month! The challenge is to do some type of exercise for a minimum of 15 minutes every night.  I'll be doing Tia Mowry's Yoga DVDs and a combination of XBox360 Kinect Games: Just Dance 4, Dance Central 3, Zumba Fitness Rush, and Zumba Fitness Core!  Mixing all those up should make it easier to do every day. The yoga videos are 45-50 minutes and on the XBox360 Kinect high intensity dance games, I'm able to do 4 songs in a row which is about 15-20 minutes.  So there we are. Like I said, I've already started and I plan on checking back in once a week until the end of the month!

I'll be the first to admit, exercising isn't my favorite thing to do. I really hate sweating my hair out. That sounds a little vain, yep it does, but it's the truth!  But I'm going to push past that! LOL.  These next 24 days will be a good push to get me into some kind of fitness routine.

I've decided to do the Run to Read 5K in June again this year (my 2nd time), and now that I know what to expect, I feel I'll be able to train better and be more prepared.  I'll probably start walking/running outside as soon as April arrives. The Michigan never-ending winter weather should be officially over by then and I'll have 8-10 weeks to get my butt in gear. Last year I did a lot of treadmill training and that didn't prepare me for all the hills and valleys out there in the wilderness on the dirt path! This time I'll be training outdoors!  The subdivision next to mines is very hilly and will be perfect.  Until then, I'll be building my stamina with the XBox360 Kinect Games!

With Spring coming soon, are you doing any kind of fitness challenge or routine to get ready for the warmer weather?  Please share, I'd love to hear some of your fitness plans.

~Tamara

5K Results!

This weekend was the 5K.  Finally finished!  I walked most of it and jogged a bit.  Let's just say that the trail was much harder than anticipated.  Seriously there were many steep hills and valleys.  Straight wilderness.  Only the first quarter mile was paved,  the rest was all trail!  Needless to say my time was nearly 12 minutes slower than on my treadmill.  Now I know how to train for next time,  outside!!

This was a charity run/walk for Oakland and Macomb County Literacy Councils. I'm glad I did it and it was a good experience.

Sorry for the horrible pictures...I guess the Android phone Blogger app doesn't upload as nicely!

5K Training... Update!

I'm registered!!  Training has slowed down because I'm no longer going to run the 5K. My knees started to feel weird and I don't want to injure my knee(s) ...so needless to say,  I'm now walking the 5K.  In addition to my knees,  what ultimately made me change my mind about running is that a few weeks ago I found out that the park where the event is being held has lots of small hills and it's a trail,  not a paved road.   A few days following that new information,  I did almost 3 miles in my very hill laden subdivision.  I was shocked that my time slowed down to 5 minutes more per mile!  That's my fault for training only indoors on my treadmill. I should have split the time and ran outside also.  Oh well, lesson learned.   I'm a little let down about it,  but on the upside I'm happy that several members of my book club will now be joining me on the walk!

5K Training... One month in!

Just a quick check in.  Let's just say that I'm not as far along as I'd like.  As you probably can guess, I was hoping to start jogging and them BAM, running in no time flat.  LOL, apparently things don't work that way.  Seriously though, I'm doing pretty good. I've been walking/jogging about 4-5 times a week. I'm going at a pretty good speed, I'm averaging a 16 minute mile every time. Not bad. The goal is 12 minute mile.  I've got a few more months to go before the run, and I'm feeling pretty positive about it. I think I can do it!  I'll be checking in again a month from now.

5K Training!...And other stuff!

I all, I’m back for a brief update! Okay, I’ve decided to do a 5k (3.1 miles) on June 9^th.  This is for charity, the 5k is called Run 2 Read.   This past Monday I began my training.  Yes…training.  I’m excited and I hope that signing up for this 5k will keep me motivated and moving forward.  I have to register lo later than May 11^th, at that point I have to decide to sign up for the 5k run or 5k walk.  If by May 1^st, I can completely run at least 2 miles, I’ll go ahead and sign up for the run.  I really want to accomplish this and I know I have a hard 8-12 weeks ahead of me, but I’m ready to go! Plus, if this helps me get off a few pounds, fabulous!   Anyhow, back to the topic at hand. Training.  I found this training calendar on mayoclinic.com, courtesy of Galloway’s 5k/10k Running.  It’s a schedule to get you to run a 5k in 7 weeks, so according to this, I should make my goal by the time I have to register.  Basically this program consist of 30 minute sessions 6 days a week.  Run/walk interval training for 3 days, walking only for 3 days and resting for 1 day.  I decided to make up my own version of the program, pretty similar to this one.  My treadmill already has a weight loss program and  an interval program.  Both of these utilize interval training, i.e., 30 seconds faster, then 30 seconds slower, etc.  The weight loss program integrates incline into the speed changes.  I figure between these two programs, it’ll do the trick.  I've posted my modified training plan that I did myself.

On another note, I know I didn’t post about it before, but I’ve decided to go natural, I haven’t had a relaxer in my hair since early July 2011.  I think I didn’t mention it before it because I wasn’t sure I would stick with it.  I’m posting now because I’ve decided to give it 100% in hopes to eventually have a head full of natural hair with no relaxed ends.  I wish I had thought to do a length check back in July, but noooo, of course I didn’t.  I do recall that at the time of my decision to go natural, my hair was thin and very short in the back.  I believe that in addition to the relaxer, the stylist I was seeing was pressing my hair way to hard.  At the time I decided to go natural, I was so fed up with the service I was getting, I also changed hair stylist while I was at it.  I’m glad that I did switch, because my new stylist is known for “growing hair”.  She still flat irons me, but not nearly as hard.  I’ve been complimented on my hair tons of times since I’ve given up the relaxer and changed stylist!  My hair looks full and healthy.  Regarding hair growth, as of today, my hair now reaches that bone near the top of my back. It’s growing slowly but surely without much breakage. 7+ months into transition and so far, so good and I’m feeling great about that. 

Once I committed to the natural hair think I quickly realized that I’m not the short curly, afro or braids natural girl, but I’m more the “my hair is trained because it’s always flat ironed”  natural girl.  LOL, anyways, the point is that goal is to have armpit length natural and trained hair.  Since the weather will be warming up soon plus with all of my new working out efforts, I decided it’s time to tryout some protective styles aka weaves.  Because of all the intense working out, once I start sweating in my head, my hair needs more attention to keep it looking good.  MORE upkeep??!?! I don’t think so!  I know I can’t and won’t be flat ironing my hair weekly just to keep from looking crazy, so it was time to look for alternatives. My stylist mentioning relaxing the edges only, but I don’t think so!!! If I’m going to do natural, I’m going to do it 100%.  Thus lead me to finding some cute protective styles that I can rock during the warm months.  These full weaves will first to keep my hair looking good at all times, and second, keep my hair protected as it grows. Pictured are a few styles that I'm considering for myself.

I will definitely do a growth check before photo immediately prior to going into my protective style weave and an and an after picture once I have maintained my protective style for a few months. 

Wish me luck..on both accounts!