Thursday, September 12, 2013

Tough Tuesday Workout: No Stoppin! (9/10/13)

Like I said Tuesday between weddings, workouts and work, all words with "w" have prevented me from posting any of the Tuesday bootcamp workouts that I've been doing, but we have to make time for what we love so here was out workout this past week 9/10/13.

There were 3 segments that made up this workout - all from Bodyrock and Zuzka Light, my two favorite sources of inspiration. I like these workouts because you can do them as a class with proper intervals in between, in between each set we took about 2 minutes to recover and get water.  But in a pinch you could do these workouts on your own in a gym and only spend a few minutes.See below for my BodyRockin trip to Vegas.

What you need: One set of light weight and one weighted bar, bench w/ 4 risers (high) and a mat and a gymboss or other interval timer. 

Warm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats and Lunges  (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc.


This round of workouts was the ultimate test of pushing for 10-15 minutes, recovery and then going again. I called it No Stoppin' because despite the 10 seconds rest there wasn't much time to recover between moves

Set 1 - You can see the Bodyrock version here and I made some edits based on what equipment is in the gym.Set the timers for 50/10 and I put about 1 minute between sets. This one combined cardio, weights, body weight and plyometrics for real interval workout

We used the bench but you could also do this on the floor.  Hold plank, do a 3 point jump bringing the knees in each time, Right, Center, left, Center. Pushup, Jump in, Star Jump.

  • High knees, tapping on the bench.
  • Sitting on the bench, relax back on the sit bones and crunch knees in and out. 
  • Elevated push up, we put our feet up on the step, hands on the floor. 
  • With the bar, step up, step down on the risers, alternating legs. 

Set 2 - This workout is the from Zuzka Light Power Cardio and is number 6. This workout was again a 50/10 and there was no recovery between the 3 sets. This was straight up cardio, my heart rate monitor hit 172 which is over 80% for me.

  •  Plyometric Sumo Squat Jump
  •   Flying Jump Lunge
  •   High Knees
  •  Side Burpees
  •  SuperHeroes - lying on back arms and legs held up in superhero flying pose

Set #3
This last one was again 50/10 and we only did 2 rounds because we were running out of time. I took this one from Bodyrock but made edits so we'd be lifting. The pushups were exhausting.

  •  Reverse lunge
  •  Pushups
  •  Deadlift Row
  •  10 biceps 10 triceps and keep alternating
  •  Squat curl press

Then it was onto rest and stretching.

As I mentioned, I use Bodyrock and Zuzka a lot when traveling.  I went to Vegas a few weeks ago for work and hated to miss my Tuesday bootcamp, plus I had a triathlon that weekend. I spent 30 - 40 minutes in the gym.  I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and then did a Bodyrock workout that I looked up on my phone.

I took my NYRR mini 10K shirt to Vegas and repped some pink while staying in the Flamingo hotel. With a pink yogurt. 


At the conference I scored this cool red waterbottle.
The flamingos at the Flamingo hotel!!


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Niantic Bay Triathlon (and a Surprise), Camping and Catch up!

A Big Surprise Waited for me at the End of the Niantic Bay Triathlon!
I have not been blogging in awhile, sorry for the drop off, but a lot has happened since the Niantic Bay Triathlon last month!

Catch Up
I am still teaching classes and we're still rocking our Tuesday bootcamp workouts, and I'm going to start up with those again this Thursday. (Promise!)

I have a few triathlons to catch up on, first and foremost, Niantic Bay today. But we also did the Tobay Triathlon on Long Island for the first time and I did the Women's triathlon for the 3rd time.

Races
The Niantic Bay Triathlon is one of my favorite out of the Hartford Marathon Foundation races. I love the location.  The swim is great (especially when no jellies!), the bike is scenic (who doesn't love a course where people blast music to get you up the toughest hill?), and the run is flat and so scenic (which as a lousy runner - I love).  The whole experience makes you want to get up and do it again.

Quick Race Recap

Swim 13:19
I beat my best swim time by almost 2 minutes coming in at 13:19.  I made myself move to the front and tried to stay with the leaders as best I could. I definitely think there was a strong current pulling us in because I felt like I'd landed back on the beach in no time flat and despite being unable to find my wet suit strap I got a helpful hint from the announcer on the shore.

T1 2:28
Shocking! Considering it normally takes me 20 minutes to get out of a wetsuit, but I must've been in high spirits.

Bike 45:25
Not a bad showing for me, exactly where I wanted to come in at.  I was hoping to be at an hour after the bike and that's just about where I was. I was glad to see the family blasting helpful tunes up the hill.

T2: 1:27
After a smooth showing on the bike I ran down the hill, if you've never done Niantic Bay, there is a big down hill after the bike and you need to remove your bike shoes to get down quickly and safely. 

Run 35:38
Running is always my downfall and since my great illness of May and June, I haven't been running like I should.  But, I was pleased to keep my average pace under 12 minute miles and to run the entire course with only a small stop for water at mile 1.5.

All in all it was a great race, and I had always thought I'd never go under 1:45 on this course and I made it in 1:38 so that was a huge success!
Crossing the finish line at the beach!


But the best part was still ahead.  Turns out I got a big (semi) surprise at the end and was rewarded for my hard work with a proposal. (That's why I've been busy!)  Wedding planning, working and running around can make you crazy!
Slightly better than the Niantic Bay medal. 


A great day with the additional surprise of having our favorite kiddies and their parents there! And my mom and dad! 
Fortunately, we also did not have to right back to work after getting engaged and were able to enjoy my first camping trip in the Maine Woods.  We went up to Portland, Me. and had a great weekend just outside Portland at a campground and then staying in Portland. A few highlights

I only spent one night camping and though I enjoyed it, it wasn't without challenges. It took us awhile to build a fire, which almost meant no s'mores (I almost went home!)  We had an animal sneak in to test out our left out beers at midnight and he came back a few more times. And I had to pee.  But all in all it was great. We had s'mores, pancakes and enjoyed a day at the beach the next day.
Our Humble Home for one night outside Portland.



Delicious goods from Two Fat Cats. 
We taste tested most of Portland after fending for ourselves at the campground. We had ice cream and fried clams near Old Orchard Beach.  We ate pie for Breakfast at Two Fat Cats (and whoopie pie) and we had croissants at Standard Bakery.  We ate a great meal at 5 Fifty Five and a out of this world meal at Fore Street. Fantastic foodie town Portland. And we had lobster rolls, all over!!
My wall climbing. 
We did a lot of biking, walking, running and other activities while on vacation. Our last day it was rainy and I was feeling pretty tired. I had done a triathlon that weekend!  So Thursday morning we went for a long walk and stumbled across this park which had awesome obstacles.  We tried to do each one and it gave us a great workout.  I am thinking about signing up for Hoboken's obstacles course race in a month and this was a good test!

Well I will get back to Tuesdays this Thursday.  We had a great workout this morning.  Post my end of summer spin playlist and recap the latest 2 triathlons soon!  We have one more triathlon this season this weekend HAMMERFEST in Branford. It's scheduled in amongst wedding venue searching! Last week's triathlon was in and amongst dress shopping.   Then its on to some runs before the cold sets in. But all in all.
Yes, we spent a lot of money in the life is good store, but look how cute this towel looked on Long Island's beaches.