Exercise

Road Rules: Cars v. Bicycles

08/02/2011

I am not a fan of bike training. It’s not that I don’t like being out on my bike. In this heat, the breeze that comes from moving at a decent pace makes the exercise tolerable. When I can get a good momentum going, I feel powerful. I can log a lot more miles in a lot less time than swimming or running. For some reason though, on the bike, I feel invisible to the cars that I’m sharing the road with. And trust me, I’m not small enough to be invisible to anyone. Here’s the thing. When I’m out on my bike on the road, I follow the rules. I wear my helmet. I stay on the right side of the road. I obey traffic lights and stop signs. I stay off the main roads as much as possible because cars going really fast scare me. Even so,...

Pit Bulls, Chica Bands and Holiday BBQs

07/06/2011

It’s been a while, so I’ve got random stuff to write about. While I haven’t been great about posting to the ol’ blog, I have been keeping up with my training. In the past, when I let the blogging slip, it’s usually because I’ve let the workouts and healthy eating slip as well. Not much to write about then. Or maybe that’s when I should be writing the most, and confessing my slip-ups. So I’ll start this post with the confession that the holiday weekend— a four-day weekend for me— was not great healthy food-wise. It was fun food-wise, but the scale and I were not friends by yesterday morning. In this case though, I at least knew the why behind the 4-5 pounds I managed to pack on over the four days. Pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and all sorts of other yummy things take center stage in our...

A New Routine

05/09/2011

I feel like I had been living, breathing and sleeping St. Anthony’s Tri training for the past six months. I didn’t realize how much until I didn’t have to do it anymore. I rarely slept past 6:00 am on a Saturday or Sunday, because training needed to get done. My days revolved around work and working out. In the last couple of months before the race, I was too afraid not to get to the gym or out on the road, for fear I wouldn’t be ready. Don’t get me wrong. I had my off days, but even when I was “off,” I was worrying that I wasn’t training enough for this race. There was so much to do to prepare for it, from fundraising to getting comfortable running without my iPod. In the end, it was awesome, but I am happy it’s behind me. Last week, I did...

My 10-Day Pilates Challenge

03/16/2011

I’ve been doing the running, the biking, the swimming to get ready for my upcoming triathlon on May 1. And I’m making progress… slowly. While my legs and arms have gotten more toned, my core (my midsection, my belly, my abs, my problem area) has retained the jiggle. I know that until I drop this last 20-25 pounds, that’s not going to go away. I also knew that I needed to be working that area a little more regularly, not just for the aesthetic benefit, but to make the running, biking and swimming better too. So I started doing Pilates. My daughter, a Pilates advocate from a weight-loss adventure a few years ago, pulled her dvds back out about two months ago as she restarted her fitness regimen. She’s doing great, and Pilates is reshaping her lithe frame. When she started, I started with her, but my commitment to...

Swimming…. or not

10/04/2010

I did it. I finally got up early enough this morning to get to the pool in the gym. The alarm went off at 5:40 am. I was dressed and out the door at 5:55 am. I was at the gym at 6:10 am. And Every. Lane. Was. Full. There was one lane where I could double up with someone so I was going to take that approach, but when I went to go into the ladies locker room adjacent to the pool, it was closed for repairs. There is another locker room but it’s clear on the other side of the gym. I took it as a sign to go home. I have had issues with this pool since I signed up for the gym two years ago. It’s not a large pool, but I was assured when I plunked down my $44 a month and signed my...

Where Your Feet Can Take You

08/30/2010

I live on Long Island. It’s a big place with lots of beautiful beaches on the South Shore, cliffs on the North Shore, farms out east and, of course, lots of congested suburban neighborhoods. We spend most of our time in the congested neighborhoods. When my kids were small and even still today, one of my favorite pastimes has been to drive to the less congested areas and see what there is to see. And trust me, I thought I’d seen just about everything. Then I started walking and running. It’s amazing what you miss when you are in a car. I’m just sayin’. This weekend, my friend Jen and I went walking in an upscale neighborhood (an understatement). The neighborhood is probably one of the most upscale in central Suffolk County. The couple mile walk up the main road is spectacular. Million-dollar-plus homes with the Long Island Sound...

I Love Running… I Hate Running… I Love Running…

08/04/2010

This is a post I wrote last year around this time and reading back, I realized that it is really relevant to my life again now, so I’m re-running it. I’ve been on vacation this week and will be back to regular posting tomorrow. But this has always been one of my favorites! Recently, I came across a greeting card that on the front said: I love running, I hate running, I love running, I hate running. I loved that and if I could find it again, I would totally link you to it! I loved it, because as a newbie runner, it’s exactly the way I feel, when I’m running, when I’m about to start running, when I finish. It is totally a love/hate relationship, although lately, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. While I was running my 3.2 miles this morning (my version of a long run),...

Walking Is Good Too

06/12/2010

I’ve been having a problem with my hip the last couple of weeks and running is out of the question. My hip will start to feel better after a day or two, but any running, even a couple of blocks, the pain comes back. So instead of running, and in an attempt to keep my endurance at some level, I’ve been walking. For a couple of months now, I walk hills with a friend on weekend mornings, and a couple of weeks ago, I started walking with my daughter after work. I love running. Never thought I’d be writing that. But I do. And in past months, where I’ve gone walking instead of running, I’ve found it a little frustrating because I want to run. Lately though, because it’s all I can do, I’m starting to appreciate it again. I started out walking. And I liked it then. Then...

I wore them out

05/06/2010

I had to go get new sneakers last night. I ended up with exactly the same ones as my old sneakers— Asics Gel Kahana 3′s. Same color and everything. The first pair of Asics were very, very good to me. And while I did research if there was a better pair of sneakers out there for me, I found that these sneakers fit great, have the stability and cushioning I need, are lightweight and helped me go from walking/running to all running last year. Why mess with a good thing? I’m excited to have new sneakers, even if they are the same as the old ones. There is one difference after all. I wore the old ones out. They still look like good sneakers but I can feel that the gel cushioning is breaking down, and they are wearing on the outside of the heel, something I manage to...

Not Marathons, Not Yet Anyway…

05/03/2010

For the record, I have never completed a marathon. I have, however, done a couple of sprint triathlons. There’s a big difference, the biggest difference being, I am nowhere near ready to run 26.2 miles. 2.62, maybe, but move that decimal point over one and I’d be in really big trouble. The longest distance I’ve raced has been a 1/4-mile swim, 9-mile bike and 3.1 mile run. Even with the three disciplines combined, they don’t come even close to a marathon. I’m a beginner, not an ironman. Funny though, every time I have a race, someone will ask me how my marathon was. I correct them quickly. You have to earn that marathoner title. That’s not to say I wouldn’t love to do a marathon someday. Right now one of my goals is a half marathon, planned for the fall. But 26.2 miles is a very long way to...

Page 1 of 1212 3 4 5...12 »

Get Fat Girl To Fit Girl Right In Your Inbox

Visit My Inner Chick

Triathletes - Triathlon Training

Weight Loss

Archives