30 Days Active Challenge Follow Up Report – Week 1

Hey guys! Happy Hump Day!

As you may remember, last week I posted a Tough Love Letter to myself where I promised to go back to basics and workout every day for 30 days, and post weekly progress reports here.

So here is Part 1 of the 30 Days Active challenge recap, as promised.

{WEDNESDAY}

Last Wednesday, after I published the tough love letter, I was all jazzed up to get started on my new challenge!

So I grabbed my husband and we hit the weight room together (followed by a yoga class for me).

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It felt awesome to be back in the weight room! I ran into a couple of my cycling students, which is always a pleasure. Love my people!

 {THURSDAY}

Oh, was I sore on Thursday! I think I pulled a muscle in my arm as it still hurts today – been working too hard 🙂

Since I couldn’t really use my arms to workout, hubby and I went on a long walk on Thursday evening.

30 day active challenge

{FRIDAY}

On Friday I woke up with an itch only a run could “scratch”. 🙂

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that I got injured running about a year ago (on my first run in forever), went through a long and expensive PT, got a pair of expensive running shoes and never got back to running – story of my life…

Until the 4th of July 2014.

So at about 7 AM on the 4th of July, I dusted those Brooks off, laced ’em up, left a note for my husband (who was still asleep like most of sane people out there), and went for a run with the C25K® – 5K Trainer.

30 days active challenge

No, my bad knees didn’t give out and I ran/walked for about 1.7 miles. I know people who eat marathons for breakfast, and I’m awful proud of them and proud to be friends with them. But you know what? There’s no feeling like being proud of yourself for making those first 1.7 miles after a long period of being a lazy ass  injury!

I felt horrible every step of the 1.7 miles, and  felt awful proud of myself afterwards!

No knee pain so far (and it’s been almost a week), so I decided to stick with the C25K for now.

{SATURDAY}

It was my turn to teach Saturday Cycle at the Y at 8:00 am last week. The Y has dropped the 9:00 am class for the summer and made the 8:00 am class an hour long instead of the usual 45 minutes.

I have to admit, I dislike an hour long cycling classes. I think 45 minute format is ideal for getting a good workout and not overdoing it.

But hey, the boss is the boss, so I put together a hilly, one hour long nightmare plan on Friday night 🙂

30 day active challenge

It is VERY schematic though – the height and steepness of the hills in the drawing above had nothing to do with the actual intensity of the class profile elements. I just did that so I could better visualize the terrain I planned out for the class.

So on Saturday morning I grabbed my husband again (gotta love that guy for everything he takes from me!), and we headed out the door for the morning cycling madness 🙂

30 days active challenge

We killed it! It was a wonderful class – great energy from my students, lots of compliments from the class on my playlist. By the way, you can check out the playlists I use in my indoor cycling classes here.

After getting home, taking a quick shower and grabbing breakfast, I went back to the Y for a yoga class. Oh did that feel good to my sore legs and arms and shoulders!

{SUNDAY}

Regular workout was just not playing out for me on Sunday. The evening was approaching fast so I had to come up with something to stay active.

When the family decided to drive to our local swim club, I decided to bike there.

It’s not far – just about 1.73 miles one way, but that was better than nothing.

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It felt great to do some laps at the pool afterwards, too!

{MONDAY}

On Monday I taught my regular indoor cycling class to my regular 3 summer students 🙂 You know, you might see a lot of instructors complaining about attendance numbers dropping in the summer time. I LOVE this time – I use this opportunity to try new things in the class that I wouldn’t be able to try with a bigger group, use it to bond with my students and give them more attention during and after class.

Love-love-love small classes. They might not be blasting the bigger class energy, but they sure feel rewarding and challenging!

30 days active challenge

{TUESDAY}

It was HOT here on Tuesday. I kind of gave up on the idea of going for a run since early morning – it was sticky! Options were: home yoga DVD or weight room at the Y.

Since my arm is still not 100%, I decided to wait with the weight room.

Home yoga DVD seemed a little boring….It cooled down after the rain…So I ended up going for a run 🙂

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I love that feeling of freedom running gives you…All you need is a pair of shoes and some motivation to lift yourself off the couch and get out of the door – and you won’t regret it.

I felt so much energy after the run last night!

So, friends. Here are the results of Week 1 of the 30 Days Active Challenge:

  • I. AM. SORE. Like, all the time and everywhere 🙂
  • I am 2.8 lb lighter (that’s after a 6 months plateau and then a gain – I couldn’t believe the number on the scale finally moved in the right direction!)
  • I look at my FitBit more than I look at my watch 🙂 Sometimes I feel like I look at my FitBit more than I look at my husband! 🙂 🙂 🙂
  • I feel empowered!

That’s it for now, guys.

Remember to check back next Wednesday for the Week 2 recap of my 30 Days Active challenge I brought onto myself 🙂

Stay strong!

Lean Lena

This post has been shared on the Work Out Wednesdays Linkup. I am also a featured blogger there this week! Check it out – it is a great weekly linkup with wonderful people.

 

Five on Friday – Shoes, Bling, Bikes and More

Hey guys! It’s Friday! I am so happy about it!

I had a horrid week at work. I really hope you did better than me 🙂

Anyway, it’s time for the traditional Five on Friday post to show you five things I’m loving lately. Here we go!

{ONE} Vibram FiveFingers – Seeya

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I just got these in the mail a couple days ago. They are much lighter than the Traksport Sandals I got before and I am absolutely loving them!

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I’ve been wearing them to work every day of the week since I got them…Yeah, it is a bit of a dress code violation but really, I don’t have customers visiting me and spend most of the day commuting between the printer and my desk. I don’t think anybody cares about the shoes I wear (if any).

Buy Seeya’s here if I got you interested.

{TWO} Mantra Bands – One Day at a Time

I now have two in my collection, and check out how well they go together!

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Looking at them is an inspiration and a reminder that it is a journey, not the destination that matters. And of course I love me some bling, too 🙂

{THREE} Entry Level Road Bikes

The subject of road bikes has been of interest in my house for a long time 🙂 I have never owned a road bike in my life. I have a $50 Walmart “no brander” right now 🙂

So one day I just said I wanted a road bike. It kind of frustrated my husband a little… I quote: “You can’t just say you want a road bike! That’s not enough information! What kind of bike? What brand? Components?…” Anyway, turns out he thought that would be a great surprise gift for me. But since I started bugging him about why he’d gotten so frustrated, he confessed and there will be no surprise (don’t bug your husbands, ladies) So! My wonderful husband started doing some research and stumbled upon this great article here, which is called “Top 5 Entry Level Road Bikes”.

And I am totally drooling over this Schwinn!

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Totally looking into buying one on Amazon – women’s version, of course 🙂

{FOUR} FitBloggin’ 2014

Exciting-exciting-exciting!

So here’s the story. Last week my blogging friend Jen over at A Hungry Runner threw a question at me on Facebook:

Are you going to the Fitbloggin’ conference? I want to go so badly!

I was not planning on going. Well, of course I know what FitBloggin’ is and how awesome it would be to go, but I didn’t think me and my blog were quite there yet.

But it is a whole different story when you have a buddy by your side 🙂

Anywho, within 24 hours from that question on Facebook Jen and I had our attendee registrations done and hotel booked.

WE ARE GOING TO FITBLOGGIN’ 2014!!!!

To say that I am excited is a HUGE understatement. I am SO looking forward to meeting the fellow fitness bloggers and learning more about fitness blogging by attending sessions, as well as working out with a bunch of awesome people, exploring the beautiful Savannah, GA and so much more!!!

Jen, you’re the best for throwing that idea out there and taking me along on this adventure with you 🙂

I. CAN’T.WAIT.

 

{FIVE} Spinning® App

Did you know there was an app for that? 🙂 I didn’t!

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Image source and app download link.

Anyway, I have downloaded it and hubby and I went on a quick bike ride on Thursday to try it out.

The app is pretty awesome, my friends. Check out the summary of our ride:

Speed graph

Speed graph

Elevation graph

Elevation graph

Map

Map

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Ride summary

Loved this app! So easy to set up and use and so much useful information about your ride.

And that’s my Five on Friday, guys! Hope you have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

Do share: do you or have you ever owned a road bike? If yes, what brand and model is it?