Hey There!

It is most definitely a new year and I have a personal goal to blog a lot more often! I know, every time I post on here after not writing for quite some time, I am always wanting to blog more, but fall off the wagon. I have got to write more. There is just too much going on in this crazy head of mine to not dump it out. Gotta get it out more often!

Okay so last year was a tough year for me with being motivated to keep up with my workouts. I had lost my day job in January, exactly one month after my mom had passed away (like that wasn't enough). My job was kind of high intensity which kept me going like a crazy woman all day long and I actually loved that. But since being gone from there, I'm not as active at home. There is no reason to carry a 18 ft ladder to put decorations up in the ceiling at home right? Well, at the time no because we only had 9 ft ceilings at our apt. Now we do have high ceilings in our new home. More about that later!

After I left, I decided to try and dive into my business and work towards turning it into my full time career. Only I am usually behind my computer lots of times. I went back and forth in my mind so much trying to find the right balance, but I guess I kept making excuses. I liked to workout in the mornings, but since my daughter started kindergarten, it became a little crazy and hard to wake up before 5 am. I didn't even try 4 am. The mind is such a battle field, and I was constantly going back and forth in my mind on "well if I work out in the morning, I wont be able to get fully dressed in time to take Constance to school in order to start my work day" and "Gosh, I really don't want to work out in the evenings since I am kind of tied down with work....." EXCUSES!!

I really let that take over my whole year. I would get into a semi decent routine and it would be great one week and the next, not good at all. I also started back at college and that added more change and more excuses. Though it was a little tough with 3 full time classes in just a 7 week time frame, but i most definitely could have managed my time a little better to do what I needed to do which was workout.

So here is the new year, and I am digging deep and wanting to focus on writing more to get my feelings out and fight my way back to the top again. No excuses any more and no more living in the past! I have realized how pathetic I have been with letting "sissy girl" run my life and my mind. I know what it takes to get where I want to be, I must apply the work to accomplish the goal! I must do it when I dont feel like doing it. I need to stop letting fear get in the way and push through to the top!!

Cheers to a new year of more writing, a new journey, accomplishing many goals and a beautiful life! I am going to enjoy the ride even if I must sweat my way through it :-)

Much Love,
Krissy

Weekly Workout Planner Template

Its a new week! Are you going to CHOOSE to run your week or will you have the week run you? Its actually a choice and a matter of how we respond to things when they dont exactly go as we have planned or thought they would go. One thing you can start with is planning your workouts. When we workout consistently, it makes you feel so much better. It makes you feel a sense of accomplishment that you are starting to take care of your self. It makes you feel stronger, like you can tackle anything that comes your way. Of course there is more to all of that, but you MUST Choose to start somewhere. Let's make this week a GREAT one!!

Here is my workout plan for the week! I am ready to grab it by the horns and make it call me Mama!! Haha! Time to get it DONE!

 You can most definitely have one for yourself as well! Print it out and plan your workouts for the week! Then post it where you can see it everyday and cross it off as you go through the week!

Weekly Workout Planner by Crystal Crosby Keefer

Hope you enjoy!

Much Love,
~Krissy~

{Demonstrations} Last Night's workout - 7-15-14

I have been dusting off my blogs this week for sure! I actually got a chance to write on my other one this past Monday. It felt nice to do so :-)

Okay, my workout I did last night is one that I got from Zuzka Light a long time ago. A quick little workout (well depending on how many reps and sets you do) to keep you moving, challenge your body and your heart rate.

There are only 4 exercises, but there are 2 moves per exercise. I am not quite sure of the exact terminology, but here is what I came up with that makes sense.
1. Side twist squats with jump ups
2. Oblique Planks (knees to elbows)
3. Skaters with knee raises
4. Side to side jumps with side kick.

Here are the demonstrations:
Its hard taking pictures of yourself while trying to get the moves right before the timer goes off! Haha. Hubby did manage to get 1 or 2 pictures for me, but he doesnt have a steady hand. lol. ANYHOW.... here they are!

Side twist squats with jump ups

Oblique planks (Knees to elbows)

Skaters with knee raises

Side to side jumps with side kick

I do anywhere between 10 - 12 reps and 3 - 4 sets 

Reps are how many of each exercise you do.

Sets are how many of the whole (all) exercise group that you do. After completing all four exercises one time, that equals 1 set.

Let me know if you try it out and what you think. I personally love this mix! Dont forget you can follow me on Facebook. www.facebook.com/runningwithkrissy

Recap of the week thus far

Monday, when I woke up, I decided to do a morning run, even though my body prob could have used the rest. I got my workout in before I start my day. I actually was able to get up on my own (didn't have anyone waiting for me) to get dressed and get out the door for a run alone! It was great. I have missed those runs so much. With my hubby's schedule and dark mornings, I was having a hard time getting myself together. It was actually light out around 6:30 when before it would start getting light around 7:15ish.

I think I really should have done yoga as my only workout to stretch out the soreness and work on strength. Oh well, I felt it this morning when I woke up for sure. My shins and ankles were hurting. I am starting to think that I didn't have my shoes tied tight enough....

A little weekend run recap......
My muscles were not recovered from the at home body pump workout (Saturday) and then the obstacle course style 4.5 mile run from Sunday! Well, of course it wasn't an actual obstacle course. One of my friends referred to the run as that when she heard how crazy it was with the kiddos. Bikes, strollers, kids complaining, wanting us to pull their bikes while they walk or play around and try to get in a good workout too..... Crazy!

My sister was driving. YES she has a BUS!! lol (A Nissan Armada)

I have to give it to my nephew though, he kept up with me pretty good on his bike. He was a trooper and I am sure I wore him out!


Any how, back to Monday...... When I came back in from my run, my daughter wakes up gets dressed and this is what she does.....

She put 2 of the couch pillows underneath her to prop her legs up like she had just gone running or something. I told her that is what I needed!! Can you see that monkey shirt?? She LOVES it and wears it ALL the time - wont have it any other way. Looks like I may have to pack it up for the niece when she isn't around.

On Tuesday, I knew I had to take a little rest from running. Gosh it has seemed a bit hard for me some days - well sore muscles will definitely make it feel that way. I decided to do Jillian Micheals. I love me some Jillian! 20 minutes and a butt kicking workout? Oh yeah!. I was a sweat girl when I was done!

On Wednesday, I had to use the day as a rest day. My daughter was having a friend over for a sleepover, so we were occupied with having fun. When her friend arrived with her "parents" (Aunt and Uncle-our good friends), they stayed for a bit and we all chatted for a little while! Before I knew it, time had flown by tremendously! And I had not made dinner yet!

 Here are a few pictures from a walk at the park over the weekend and some playground fun. It was so nice out and we got to play a little bit of Frisbee.

Today is a run day for me along with some yoga. Hubby said that he may join, so we have a date at the gym to get in some mileage. It looks a bit dreary outside. Not sure if it will rain.

Hope you have a great Thursday!!

Much Love,

Krissy

Oh yoga!

Just this week, I have started practicing yoga every single night. I like this page on facebook called holy yoga and they focus on faith, God and bringing you closer in your walk with God. I have felt so distant from Him lately so I have been trying to focus on slowing down and truly keeping him on my mind all day - praying and praising too.

So I saw some thing on holy yoga's facebook page about all it takes is 3 minutes a day or so to practice poses that seem difficult. That got me to thinking that I didn't need to do a full blown yoga session to do yoga. It also helped me to understand the "practicing" aspect of it. Oh I was in LOVE!

I can say that I have always loved yoga, but couldn't manage to go to classes as often as I would have liked. I do have 2 dvds at home, but they don't feel like the deep, relaxing, peaceful yoga that I have been yearning for. I can tell a huge difference in my flexibility since doing ite every day. And no, it hasn't been a full session every day. I have been practicing warrior pose III, low lunge, high lunge, and the revolved triangle pose. Just practicing will have you using that strength and really make you focus on breathing.

 Here is the latest flow sequence that I have been working on.

 I did the whole flow and it felt amazing. There was the extended hand-to-big toe pose that I had to modify. Every time I would grab my foot, I could tell my form was messing up. So I grabbed a dining room chair and used the back top of it to help me. Still have some practicing to do with that one!

Major improvement in my hamstring flexibility and that is going to help so much when running! I am excited to keep it up! Looking at this picture, you can see my hands are flat on the ground. I have never been able to go that far with my hands being flat down!

If you are reading this you should try "practicing"  little bit a day. It will make you feel so good. And yoga journal is a great magazine that has lots of info.

Much love,
Krissy

Race weekend {Part 2}

After my daughter's race on Friday, April 4, it was time for my race on that Saturday. The Cooper River Bridge run! Its one of the biggest 10k races in the country and it was amazing!! It turned out to be such a beautiful morning. The temperatures were just perfect compared to last year. Last year it was freezing! We had to wear sweatshirts on top of thin jackets that we would wear during the race. The sweatshirts got thrown away (donated to the local goodwill) along with so many others. Gotta do what you gotta do - cant run with all that stuff on! This year I got away with just my tank top that I was running in!

The beautiful bridge during the run!

 Photo by The Chart Group, Inc

 Race morning did not start of the way I had hoped and liked for it to start off. I was so exhausted from the day before that I. FORGOT. TO. TURN. MY. ALARM. ON..... YES, I had it set, but COMPLETELY forgot to turn it on!! My plan was to wake up at 4 to get dressed and eat. Then leave around 4:25 to go and pick up my friend Amy. You know the kind of peaceful morning that gives you time to do all that you need and a peace of mind to not have to freak out about the possibility of EXTREME traffic jams - I did mention that about 40,000 people sign up for every year!

I woke up at 5:02. I heard my phone ringing, but then since I was asleep, I wasn't quite sure where the "music" was coming from. I woke up and looked at the alarm, saw what time it was and prayed that the clock was wrong! Picked up my phone and realized the time was right. I have never jumped up so fast. All I could think was it's done. "I will never make it there with all the chaos that will be coming through now!" I didn't know what to do. I was still partly asleep. My friend Amy, has prob been waiting on me since 4:30 (and I forgot to send her my new number). My husband jumped up with me too. I guess I may have screamed "AAHHHH! I OVER SLEPT" or something like that.

I fell to the floor and started crying, thinking that I would not be going. When I finally got it together (2 minutes) I called the number that called me and it was Amy! I apologized and apologized some more - I was so sorry. After all this was going to be her first bridge run experience! She finally convinced me that we had time to get there. So I told her "Okay, give me about 10 minutes and I am on the way!" I started flying around the house and thought, I will throw everything I need in a bag that I can just toss out once we get there, I am fully dressed and I finally really got it together. I threw my flip flops on, grabbed tennis shoes and socks and everything else that I truly needed and ran out the door.

I forgot food.....

Luckily when we made it downtown, my nightmare of CRAZY traffic did not come true! We found decent parking at the top of a parking garage and were on our way! Phew! What a relief!!

By the time we got around to the starting area, there was not going to be enough time to grab food and eat. The lines were still long - well I guess I could have, but didnt want to chance it. Time was already flying by so quickly.

I did have an energy gel that had about 100 calories, so I took that right before I started. But all in all it SUCKED to run on an absolute empty stomach! I didnt think to just eat anyway and jump into a coral that was behind mine. I was in coral letter I. Your time doesn't start until you cross the starting line.

We met up with some other friends at the start and was ready to have a good time!

Oh well. I did the best that I could. Couldnt push too hard, because I would have passed out. I beat my time last year by about 5 minutes. We live and learn thats for sure. Over all the race was awesome. The security was taken up a notch and we all felt safe! I am grateful for such an amazing and very well organized race in our area!

We got over it! Ready to do it again!

Much Love,
Krissy

Race Weekend {Part 1}

I was so exhausted from the day before my race with running around for race packet pickup, dropping my husband off for him to work the flower town festival, taking my daughter downtown for her own race!

During Packet Pickup - She is normally afraid of people in costumes. Proud of her for facing her fears!!

 Trying to fill some big shoes!

 My daughter was so excited for her own race. We trained together a little going no more than a mile. That time was so special for her. This was her first time doing a kids race and I wasn't sure what to expect when we got down there.

OH MAN, the streets were jammed with cars. I started to panic as I had not registered her yet. She told me that she didn't want a t-shirt, so in order to do that you would have to register in person. We did manage to find a decent parking spot and walk down to the event AND register her! The event was so nice along with the park and the weather! We played did some activities and walked around before the race and she had a blast!

Before the race started I told her a meeting spot where she could meet me if she couldn't find me, but I think she was too excited to remember. RIGHT before the race when she was in line, I asked her the meeting spot and she says "I don't know".... So I had to think quick and decided oh geez, I will just run around the park keeping up with her off course to see her and make sure she finds me in the end! There were so many kids and people there, I couldn't imagine how she would feel if she wasn't able to find me. 

YES I was the crazy mom in dress pants and flat sandals running around with a camera around my neck and big purse on my shoulder keeping up with my baby! Boy was I sweaty when done, but it was so much fun!! She had such an amazing time and so did I, but this momma was BEAT after running around all day!

 Here are some of the pictures during the race and after!

Stay tuned for my race day recap - Race weekend part 2

Much Love,
Krissy