Eye of the Tiger

As I mentioned last week, I've known for awhile that it was time for me to take things to the next level.  I don't remember the correct term for it, but physiologically your body eventually gets used to what you are doing and becomes complacent.  While this is one the great things about working out at Clay - your body will NEVER get complacent (I swear Hyam stays up all night coming up with crazy new ways to make us sweat), my effort level is controlled by me, not the trainer, and I hadn't been turning things up the way I needed to lately.

So when I got an e-mail from Clay announcing that Laura would be offering the opportunity for clients to try out an introductory boxing session I jumped at the opportunity. At the end of the 30 minutes I was wiped out and totally hooked. Boxing rocks!

Immediately after the trial I signed up for regular sessions with Laura. We decided that an hour session featuring 30 minutes of boxing and 30 minutes of strength-based cardio would be good for me. As much as I love the feeling of punching the bag (is that weird?) 30 minutes is about as much as I can handle right now, and trust me, Laura does not mess around for one second of that session.  

You may remember from Laura's guest post that I mentioned she trained in the US Army Reserve Military Police.  She's the real deal bad ass. Therefore what we are doing is more Muhammed Ali than Richard Simmons style boxing.  We use real boxing gloves, a real heavy bag and I when I joke about her hitting me back if I miss the mitts, I'm not sure she's joking...

Side Note: My partner apparently got intimidated by my mad skillz (not) and had to quit so I'm looking for a partner at 9:30 on Thursdays. I can do it on my own, but it's more fun with a friend. Anybody want to join me???

Ouch

By 9 o'clock last night I was hopping around on one foot because the pain in my ankle was bordering on unbearable.  If anything so much as touched it I winced. After four ibuprofen, a large bag of ice numbing my propped up foot,  Modern Family on the television and my two girls waiting on me hand and foot (literally) I started to think I could get used to this it was much worse than I had initially thought.

When I woke up this morning the bruising was up but the swelling and pain were down significantly.  Regardless, I decided that attempting to pound my way through a boxing class was probably not in my best interest so I cancelled with Laura in lieu of a trip to the doctor. I'm sure it's not broken, but I damaged it somehow and figure I should probably get it figured out before I spend the entire day traipsing through Williamsburg on the Woodbrook Elementary Fifth Grade Field Trip (and no, contrary to popular belief, I did NOT 'conveniently' sprain my ankle two days before a trip on a bus with 50 screaming 11-year-olds). 

While I was laying in bed last night I started to feel angry about this possible setback. I had really just started to feel I was back in the workout groove and had finally gotten over the weight loss plateau (eight pounds in the past few weeks!). And now this?  I know, I know, I'm being overly dramatic. After watching Kevin Ware's broken leg and incredible reaction to it a million times during March Madness how could I possibly be feeling sorry for myself with a silly sprained ankle? I don't know, but the fact of the matter is, I was.  Then I remembered the Facebook post that Laura had posted, ironically, yesterday.  I loved it so much I immediately wrote to her asking if she would be willing to be a Guest Blogger on Finding Amy...Again so that all of you could feel as inspired by her as I (and so many others) do.  Thankfully she said yes, so instead of my whining you can all hear her beautiful words today instead!

So...click here (she deserves her own post, don't you think?) 

Enjoy the Ride

Today I have a special treat for you - a Guest Blogger!  Meet Laura Conklin, one of the incredible trainers at Clay. Laura has a long list of qualifications (BS in Health & P.E., NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, CrossFit Games Finalist, US Army Reserve Military Police, years of training experience, etc) but for our purpose it's most important to note that she is a kick-ass trainer who has a knack for bringing her clients to an entirely different level.  Our boxing sessions have made me believe that I'm bad ass (I'm a blonde haired, blue eyed, 40 year old mom from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, we all know I'm about as bad ass as a kitten, but she convinces me otherwise!). And if all that isn't enough - her dog's name is Scout! 

A reminder about life...from my mountain bike and the trail, with love:

As I entered the woods today on my bike, I could feel my balance was off and my legs felt a little tired. But, a beautiful day, out in the solitude of the woods, riding with Scout by my side could never be a bad ride, no matter how my body felt.

I found myself hesitating in areas I normally don't, slipping in others, throwing a foot, etc., etc. Then came a decent sized hill with moderate technicality. Today, that 'moderate technicality' seemed more like the 'hill from hell'.

I hit it as I always do, but today, I wondered if I would make it to the top without coming off. About halfway up, as I was heaving a lung and my quads on fire, I took my eyes and focus off the trail in front of me and looked up at how much I had to go and how steep every part of it was. The only thing that went through my head in that moment was "holy shit". That moment of negativity taking even more energy from my body. I immediately returned my eyes to the trail, rocks and logs I was dealing with, and just kept pedaling. Within moments, I was at the top, enjoying a nice downhill.

What hit me is how life can be exactly like that. 'Off days' can take challenges/struggles and make them seem harder to deal with than other days. Little mole hills can become mountains. And, taking your eyes off what's right in front of you, what's in the moment, can cause things to seem momentarily overwhelming.

My advice, keep pedaling and face one thing at a time. You'll be at the top before you know it, "woohooing" an awesome downhill! :)

Enjoy the ride...!

Oops...I Did It Again

When we adopted Scout I read every dog training book I could get my hands on.  One of the best pieces of advice I read was "A tired dog is a good dog."  Sure, there are dogs who love to just lay around, and Scout can hang with the best of them, but given the choice between lounging and exercising that dog would be outdoors running, hiking, skipping and jumping all day long if he could.

So in addition to my workouts at Clay and running on the treadmill I try to walk him at least a few miles a day.  We miss a day here and there, but It averages out to about 15 miles a week. This seems to be enough to keep him happy and me moving (though we'd both benefit from more, of course).  

I also read was that exposing your dog to new places with new smells is good for them and can actually help tire them out.  So, I try to make sure that we try a new route - or one we haven't been on in awhile - a few times a week.  Sometimes that means checking out one of the great hiking trails we are lucky to have in and around C'ville.  Other times it simply means venturing to an adjacent neighborhood.  Either way, Scout always seems happy. (Am I the only one who ever thinks being a dog would be pretty awesome?)

Unfortunately today we only had time to do the adjacent neighborhood thing.  We live on a hilly, windy road with no shoulder, let alone sidewalks, so I often get in to the car to get there (honestly this is about safety, not laziness).  The nice thing about this is that even if we only go a half mile, the fact that he got to go somewhere in the car seems to totally make Scout's day.  Again, wouldn't being a dog be awesome?

Today I chose a nice, long street with a good sidewalk.  Round trip would give us a solid 3 miles and leave me time to shower (maybe even put on make-up!) before heading off to Women's Health Virginia to deliver thank-you goodies for National Volunteer Week.

It was a great walk until the dreaded squirrel crossed our path.  Scout has, to put it mildly, a thing about squirrels.  And deer. And trucks. Mostly squirrels though.  When he sees one he has a very hard time not chasing after it.  Even though he's never - not even once - caught one, he never gives up hope. (that whole, not being able to climb a tree thing really hurts him).

Unfortunately I didn't see the squirrel or, apparently, the edge of the sidewalk, so when Scout took off in one direction, my body went the other direction and my ankle went some place completely different.  The end result wasn't good. 

 blood

 and swelling

yuck

Unfortunately we were over a mile in to our walk when this happened so the old RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate) trick didn't take place for awhile.  These pics were taken after we got home, so you can see how well that went. I, of course, did the smart thing and e-mailed Laura to see if we could do an upper body only boxing workout tomorrow.  Oh, and I made an appointment to see my doctor, too, just in case. 

After stressing that I needed to ICE ICE and MORE ICE Laura told me that Michael Jordan once severely sprained an ankle, iced it and was able to play the next night. The way I see it Michael Jordan's got nothing on me, right?  Time to put on my boxing gloves! 

**And if you're thinking you've seen something like this from me before, you just may be right...

Forever

I spent a weekend at the beach in Port Aransas, Texas with my sister and mom at the end of March.  It was a great weekend filled with lots of laughter, reminiscing and making new memories.  I love both of them immensely, and having time time like this is about as good as it gets. 

As good as it was for the soul, however, it was difficult on my self-esteem.  

My sister and mom, you see, are both quite thin and beautiful.  I often joke that if you sliced me in half both vertically and horizontally you'd have my my sister.  At 5'3" and about 110 pounds it's not actually that much of an exaggeration.  And while she's always been petite and thin, she recently discovered a passion for (obsession with) tennis that has taken her tiny, cute body to hot rockin', cute body with some serious muscle (you should see her guns!).  

And then there's my mom. At 70 years old she could still rock a bikini if she wanted to (she doesn't) and can put most 30 year old women to shame when it comes to energy levels (without drinking a 5-Hour Energy Drink).

So you can see why I might feel a little out of place...

Most of the time I am good at separating my weight from my self-worth. I know my body size doesn't define who I am, and the majority of the time I'm truly okay with - actually proud of - who I am.  I work hard at being strong and I've almost completely overhauled my diet in the past few years.  I am not the insecure, overweight, unfit, bulimic girl I used to be. But sitting in a swimming suit next to your hot 44 and 70 year old family members makes it pretty impossible to deny that you are not nearly as thin or fit as you'd like to be, either.

Prior to my trip I had spent several weeks telling myself that it was time to kick it up a notch. I'd been stuck at a certain weight for several months and I knew that it would only change if I did something about it.  Being with my mom and sister was actually a good reminder that I needed to do more than just think about it.  The only one who has control of this is me, and sitting around wishing I was smaller has never been an effective way for me to get where I wanted/needed to be. Go figure.

So, we're now two weeks post spring break and I have, indeed "kicked it up a notch". i'm happy to report that, thanks to a major change in my diet (which I will blog about this weekend) and the addition of a hour of boxing with Laura at Clay (which I will blog about soon, too!) I am five pounds down!  

It's a good start.  Now, I just need to keep it up.  Forever.