Sometimes we need a little magic!

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Malin

I sleep really well last night but I woke up a few times because my lower back was killing me, not in a bad way but from yesterdays sweet workout with Frank. Soreness from a workout will never stop me so with 2 Advil later and some tiger balm rubbed into my back and I was as good as new.

I knew what I had to do today because Megan told and I am sticking to the game plan. So with 5 miles to run today I started as planned but in the middle of the run the treadmill came to a stop and I had to start all over and some personal stuff came up that was completely out of my control and all the sudden it felt like I was running in a storm.

Everything was hurting and I had one mile to go and I was going to crank the speed up from 8.06 minute mile to 7.54 minute mile and with the darkness in my mind it felt…hmmm, not impossible but close.

So when Tarik, a fellow trainer walked through the doors I begged him to stand next to me and help me push and so he did. He made sure I did not give up and when I told him I was puking he just told me to keep running and stop making a mess. I came in on 24.14 at three miles and then I already had over two miles under my belt.

Sometime we just need to use some magic to turn the negative into something positive and the storm that might have been ahead is all of a sudden less threatening!

Thank you Tarik for pushing me to the end!

Another Battle and another Victory

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Malin

So last week was not so great for me regarding my running, it was actually pretty crap! So today I was nervous about going over to Lifetime Fitness to do my workout. I pulled myself together and drove the car over, I was driving not only because the wind was god awful but also because I did not want to rush to get Mira from school.

Once I was at the gym I started to stretch out the legs and trying to come up with a plan for upcoming hour. I was thinking about dividing the cardio between the stair-master, elliptical and the treadmill but at the same time I really wanted to break that mental barrier from last week when I hardly made it past 3 miles without stopping.

So instead of making a goal for the distance I made a goal for the time, which was “How far can I get in an hour” and I started to run. The fist 3 miles were easy so I decided to increase the speed every 10 minutes by 0.1 and at the 47-minute I was running at a speed of 7.4 when my calves turned into tennis balls (i have big calves… lol). I kept on convincing myself that I only had a few minutes left but wow did it hurt! I was really trying to run to the beat of the music to push through the pain. At the 55 minute I increased the speed one more time and when the hour was up the treadmill finished on 7.2 miles and once again I am back on track!

Do not disturb, it’s Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Malin

I have been very strict with my diet the last month and a half, I have not yet had a slip up and I am not intending to have one either. This does not mean I will suppress myself from the “good life” for the rest of my life. Instead I believe it is all about planning and to choose the right moments and tonight is the night when I will let myself indulge (in moderation). But first comes first, in order to do this I thought I have to work that little bit extra hard over at Life Time Fitness. And what is not more appropriate than working on the cardio a day when it is all about hearts!

So covered up in my pink hoodie I headed over to the gym and started 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by 20 minutes on the Stairmaster and when I finished I did my interval run. And again I was running out of time because I had to pick Mira up from school but at the same time I wanted so badly finish on 3 miles. So running against the clock I kept on increasing the speed and I am telling you, I was not running on the same pair of legs I ran on in the beginning of the week. I was flying and finished my 3 miles on 23:45 minutes. Then I quickly grabbed my stuff and legged it out on the parking lot to go and grab Mira and her friend.

Now when the girls are fed I am going into the basement to finish out on some core work…Happy Valentine’s Day!

A record breaking week!

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Malin

This morning Mira woke me up by calling for me and as I turn around in bed I could feel yesterdays workout. Moving one limb at the time I was assessing how bad it was and realize it was pretty bad but not as bad that I couldn’t make it over to Life Time Fitness for a run.

Over at the gym it was a free trial weekend and there was cars parked everywhere and I had difficulties finding a treadmill that was not occupied. With Thursday fresh in my mind of my next-door neighbor running like there was no tomorrow I could not do any less than my record time of 5k in 25 minutes. So I started my run by doing intervals and five minutes into it I felt I really had to go to the loo. I’m not sure what distracted me more from the boredom of running on a treadmill, was it the need of a wee or that every leap I took my legs were hurting. Anyhow I kept on running because I had a goal to achieve and I kept on increasing the speed of the intervals. When I passed the five mile mark I realized I could make 6 miles under 50 minutes and I cranked up again and finished 6 miles under 49 minutes a new record!

On stumbling legs I’m now going to watch my hero play his Saturday soccer game…Go Wilmette Wings!

I have stepped it up a notch…

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Malin

At the warehouse yesterday Mrs. Brown sort of mentioned to John that she wanted a harder workout for Friday’s leg day and John is not the kind of person who’s not up for a challenge. John is very well aware that I don’t really eat any carbs and the same afternoon he sends me a message saying that I should add a sweet potatoes to my dinner tonight and carb-up on ¼ oats in the morning because Friday will be intense and I’ll need it…Help me God!

With this in mind I walked over to the gym thinking I should start with doing a low-intensity workout on the Stairmaster. I ended up behind my next-door neighbor who is training for a Marathon. She was running on one of the treadmills and wow was she running. When she was done she turned around to me and I told her it was and impressive run that she just finished. That is when she goes “This is my recovery day and before this cheeky run for 4 miles I rode the bike for an hour”.

I finished my “low-intensity” workout with some sour thought in my head and got on the treadmill and stepped it up a notch. I ran my personal best and now I know I can do it and I am not going back!!!

This is my new Friend…the “Black Danger”

Image

Yesterday when we got into the car and started driving and we are out on the tollway I realize I left my “Blue Danger” in the closet!!! What a disaster, here I am planning my weekend away in every detail and I forget my runners. We were already late leaving the house so there was no way we were turning around either. I get real angry with myself and just stop talking because how could I be so stupid. I am trying to visualize myself running on the treadmill in my Uggs or barefoot and it is not a pretty sight.

As we get into the Resort area I see a sign for an Outlet, quickly I bring out my phone and Google to see where it is and what kind of stores they have. This is my lucky day; there is a Under Armour store just 3 minutes walk away from the hotel. So after the games today Freddie dropped me off and here is my new “Black Danger”

Came back to the hotel and then quickly changed into my workout clothes and went to the gym but when I got down there all the machines was taken so instead my friend showed me some basic Pilates moves for the core.

pilates ett pilates2

After about 10 minutes one of the two functioning treadmills were available and I thought I would go for a quick run. I was running at 6.5 for 5 minutes then I started doing intervals at 6.5 and 7.0 every other minute for the next five. I then finished the last 10 minutes running at 6.5, 7.0 and 7.5 a minute each. It was not a long workout but after all it’s my day of rest!

running

Five minutes here or there…Yes, it makes a difference!

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Malin

Before the holidays Laura and me found this awesome “spinning lady” at Lifetime Fitness, she had a class on Tuesdays at 9.30, just perfect! But last week I was told she had moved to a different day, what a bummer. When you find good people who can motivate you should hold on to them real tight. So I was dragging my feet a bit this morning ending up being late for class but good for me Laura rang and she was going for a run instead. I got dressed real fast and ran over to the gym, yes I ran. I am fortunate that I don’t live far from Lifetime Fitness and can use that opportunity to get in some extra exercise. And what a beautiful day, if I had not agreed on meeting up with Laura I would have kept on running outside.

I like running with Laura because she inspires me but the treadmill next to her was broken and now the hour run I was anticipating to put in felt awfully boring! Instead I decided to run for 20 loooong minutes followed by 20 minutes on the Stairmaster to be finished off with another 20 minutes on the elliptical.

I find it easier to break up my workout this way and I also realized I get more out of it. The first 20 I focused on getting my heartbeat up and really working on my endurance. Then right on the Stairmaster. I used one of the pre-set program to focus on lower intensity (fat burning) but still keeping my heart pumping. One of my friends rang me and I guess I could have talked to her but it would not have been to pleasant for her listening to my heavy breathing. Finally the elliptical gets me going again. I like the elliptical because you can use fun intervals that keep you concentrated on what you are doing instead on how hard it is it. It will also work not only your legs and ass but your upper body so you get more of a total body workout . When I was done, me and the “blue danger” ran back home and it actually turns out those extra minutes I put in gave me an extra mile to add on to my workout.