Category Archives: Workouts

Rainy-Gloomy

Fashion, Workouts, ,

This morning I awoke before my alarm that was set for 5:15 AM. Seriously, who naturally wakes up at 4:58 AM?! I’m a pro at quickly dressing and making it to my gym by 5:30 with my 5:15 wake up time. So today I had a few spare minutes in the gym, and I even left a few minutes early which felt nice!

When I opened my garage door, I was thankful for my perkier-than-normal mood. It was pouring and cold out there! Rainy-gloomy weather was definitely the forecast for the day. I made it the gym and ran from my car to the door to find a smaller than normal crowd on the machines. I can’t blame them. When it’s pouring and icky outside, getting up at 5 AM is not always doable. Sometimes our bodies just need the extra rest! But I was still cruising along like normal.

Workout

My workout this morning started with 2 miles on the treadmill with some slight interval sprints to help wake up my body and pass the time.

I then completed a lower and upper body workout, which mostly included 3 sets of 12 reps of each move. I started with leg presses and inner/outer thigh presses. Then moved onto my upper torso, which including chest presses, lat presses, bicep curls, and some tricep work. Since I had extra time, I tried to do 2 out of 3 sets super slow with about 5 more lbs of weight. I can definitely feel the extra burn today! I tend to fall into ruts where I don’t push my body as hard, so this was a nice little change of pace for me.

I finished out my workout with another light run on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the Elliptical.

A common theme throughout the morning was the gloomy weather. I always watch the morning news when I’m on the cardio machines, and it seemed like that’s all the reporters could talk about. It looks like we are in for a few more days of rainy-gloomy weather here in Springfield. But I like the rain, so this doesn’t bring my spirits down too much. The real highlight of today’s news-watching?? It’s only 5 days until Fall officially begins!! On Sept. 22, regardless of the warmer temps, my fall decor is going up around the Harkey house without any guilt. I have several small pumpkins and a fall wreath with a scarecrow that are just dying to come out of the spare bedroom closet! 🙂

Breakfast

Breakfast, once again, was sad and quick once I made it to work. Although I did try a different type of yogurt this morning and really loved it!

photo(76)I had a coupon for the Yoplait Greek yogurt that I used this past weekend. This particular cup was a mixed berry blend with strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries! I definitely approved as it was full of real chunks of the fruit.

I followed this up with my Target find – chocolate peanut butter protein bar.

photo(74)Yummy for sure! I also had a banana and 90-cal Fiber One snack midmorning. My tummy has been extra grumbly today! My morning workouts do make me pretty ravenous, but today is extra hard. Trying to drink lots of water and tell my stomach to cool it!

Wanna know one of my fave parts of this time of year? The changing wardrobes…

Scarves are back!
Scarves are back!

Yes this is me today! It is chilly and rainy, so it was a great day to break out one my scarves. They are so easy to pair with different outfits; plus, a good scarf can make a great outfit! My outfit today would be rather plain if it weren’t for my fun polka dots. My next guilty pleasure? Pulling out all my fall/winter boots 🙂

Hope you’re having a great Tuesday!

Easy Treadmill Interval Workout

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Workouts, , ,

Workout

As you know, Wednesdays are my day off of teaching Jazzercise usually. So I take advantage of my time and typically hit the gym to be a workout snob and do whatever I want! My hips have been sore from pavement running over the weekend, but by the end of yesterday, I was feeling almost 100% back to normal. So I decided to go back to the gym this morning to give the treadmill and Elliptical a try.

It felt great to wake up early before the sun and get into the gym a few minutes ahead of my normal schedule. I hopped on the treadmill with the intention of making it to the 3.1 mile mark in less than 30 minutes since my 5K is this Saturday night! My hip was feeling fine, so I stuck with it and completed an easy interval.

Easy Treadmill Interval

For this entire interval workout, I left my treadmill on an incline of 2.5 to help mimic a mostly flat outdoor run.

  • 5 minutes at speed of 5.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.5

Minus the 1st round of 5 minutes at 5.5, I kept cycling through these intervals until I hit around 3.17 miles. I was sweating like crazy! And my hip was beginning to feel a little sore again for sure. So I decided to stretch before doing some upper body work and finished with 15 minutes on the Elliptical before heading home.

Breakfast

I was hungry when I got to work today around 7:45! I had a banana on my way home from the gym but ready for something more substantial.

I had an extra large serving of breakroom oatmeal and some Greek yogurt on the side for extra protein and staying power!

photo(57)This yummy mixture never gets old and keeps my tummy grumbles to a minimum. Hot breakfasts are the best – even if they are quick and eaten at my desk!

Now I’m looking forward to finishing up my day and spending some time with Nick and Mac tonight on the couch. Nick has been CRAZY busy with a work project this week, and I’ve barely seen him! Oh and I got this in the mail yesterday, so I’ll be marking on every page what I want to order for the holidays…

photo(56)This little baby is chalked full of Christmasy goodness. Can’t wait!

Sore Hips

Food for Thought, Workouts, ,

I suppose this happens to any athlete at some point, but it’s always hard to come to terms with an injury and then tone down workouts for your body to heal. My hips are super sore from my weekend runs!

Saturday started out with 3.5 miles, and Sunday began with 4 miles. I was feeling awesome! But I think my endorphins were pumping so much that I forgot to listen to my body. My right hip has been pretty cranky the last 2 days now. It’s a weird pain in the front of the joint, but I’ve read up on it a bit. I believe my hip flexor is just a little strained and needs some down time from pavement running. After reading this article, I think I’ll be doing some stretches during lunch today!

With my 5K happening this Saturday night, I definitely know I need to take it easy with my outdoor running until then. So this morning I awoke a little before my alarm and decided to take Mac out for a brisk walk to get my blood pumpin.

photo(2)It was a nice little walk that we powered through in no time. Plus, he’s always game to go outside and sniff every single vertical object in site. We made it home in time for me to shower and throw some breakfast items into my purse before heading into work.

Breakfast

Breakfast was almost inhaled completely before I paused to snap a photo!

photo(51)Hot oatmeal with fresh blueberries. Yum! It hit the spot – especially being eaten out of a fancy styrofoam cup.  I also had some delicious low-carb yogurt on the side for added protein.

photo(50)This flavor tastes like a caramel frosted donut. Seriously. So it’s my go-to on mornings where I’m craving sweets. Also notice my pink mug in the background. My coffee was full of flavor this morning with extra pumpkin pie spice creamer!

Hope your Tuesday is off to a great start!