You don’t need a gym

I watched this week’s episode of The Biggest Loser where one team was “locked out” of the gym.  I was annoyed when Jillian Michaels whined and complained about this twist.  She kept saying how much of a disadvantage it is not to have a gym.  Meanwhile, her team [spoiler alert] smoked the other team in the weigh-in.

I know a lot of the histrionics are for television, but I would prefer the message being that you don’t need a gym or gym equipment to get in a good workout.  Why do you need a treadmill when you have beautiful weather outside?  Why do you need weights when you have your own body weight and resistance bands?  Gyms and weights make working out more convenient, but it doesn’t define what you can accomplish.

I attended training last weekend to become certified in a program called   Body Back.  It is a results-based “bootcamp” style class that uses high intensity interval training (HIIT).  The instructor basically killed us all day long and we didn’t use a single exercise machine.  The only equipment we used were resistance bands, ten pound dumbbells, and bosu balls.  Our first workout was done outside and was the hardest workout I have ever done.  We did sprinting and plyometrics for cardio, including a killer sprint up a steep hill.  We did pullups, pushups, one-legged deep dips, and arm exercises using resistance bands.

The second workout of the day involved rounds of alternating cardio, strength and core exercises.  The only equipment we used was a set of resistance bands.  I was pushed so hard I was actually brought to tears.  The tears were not tears of pain or frustration, but a spontaneous cathartic release.  I know it sounds super corny, but the emotional release was very intense and surprising.  Heck, I didn’t even cry when I finished my first marathon.  This physical and emotional breakthrough was done without a gym.

The last workout was a circuit.  It included things like bicep curls, mountain climbers, oblique crunches, ladder sprints, squats, burpies on a bosu ball, chest flies, skull crushers, and jumping jacks.  By the end of the last station, my tank was empty. I was sore for several days and never stepped inside a traditional gym.

I am always inspired by The Biggest Loser and admire how they can change lives with a gym or without.  I am hoping that this class will allow me to change lives in my own small way.  My friend, Heather, has participated in the program in San Diego and has lost over 20 pounds!  This woman ran five half marathons over two years and couldn’t lose those last few pounds of baby weight and was able to do it with an eight week fitness and nutrition program.  I am looking forward to my own clients’ success stories.

Between coaching runners and fitness training, I think I am well on my way to a new career in helping women reach their fitness and weight-loss goals.

The Biggest Loser is Back!

I am a huge fan of The Biggest Loser and am excited that it is back for another season. There is something about that show that I love. It is so inspiring. On one hand, I can't believe that these people let themselves get to where they are. On the other hand, they lose amazing amounts of weight by learning how to make good choices with food and exercise. They change their lives. Is the Biggest Loser situation realistic? Not at all. People in the real world don't get to exercise hours and hours a day. But they learn how to exercise and learn what their bodies can do. I know that several previous Biggest Loser contestants have gained their weight back, but many have kept it off. Isn't that what it is all about?

As much as I love Jillian Michaels, I have a HUGE beef with her (or at least her organization). I was looking for something on her website (I LOVE her workouts) and out of curiosity clicked on the "free weight loss plan." Just so you know, I do NOT want to lose weight. I filled out the questionnaire honestly with my current weight and physical activity (5'6", 117 pounds*, working out 4-6 days a week) The "free" weight loss guide was a bunch of common sense stuff. The website then prompted me to sign up for her paid program. WHAT?? They will take my money to help me reach my ridiculous and ficticious goal weight of 110 pounds???!! That is actually criminal. I am so disappointed that there are fitness professionals out there helping 5'6" women try to reach 110 pounds or less. Why would you assist someone with a BMI under 19 to lose more weight??

I'm all for making money for helping people get fit, but there should be a limit. It should be about helping people get healthy.


*********************************
On the running front... well, there is no running front. I haven't run since labor day. I'm just going to focus on what is going on in my life and worry about the running later. I'll probably go for an easy run this weekend. Tomorrow I am going on a brisk hike up Cowles Mountain with my friend. Maybe we'll even run a bit. I have decided not to stress.

To jump start my motivation, however, I am seriously considering running the P.F. Chang's Rock-n-Roll Marathon in January. I'm going to start the training on October 1st.


*I am actually a little shorter than 5'6" and don't usually weigh myself, but figure I am between 115 and 120.

I have a celebrity girl crush...

...on Jillian Michaels. When I first started watching her on Biggest Loser, I really disliked her. In fact, I still don't really like her on Biggest Loser. I think she is as much self-serving as anything else. However, I saw her on The Doctors (some hokey daytime show I came across the other day when I ran out of DVR stuff while I was folding laundry) and she really seems to know her stuff. Tonight I was cruising the internet looking for ideas for my class tomorrow and found some of her workouts. Great stuff! I love the way she does intervals and circuits and keeps the heartrate up. And her exercises work multiple muscle groups at one time. Look out, ladies... you are going to work tomorrow!! bwa ha ha ha (that was supposed to be my evil laugh). So move over, my other celebrity crushes*, Jillian's my gal this week. *wink*



This is an easy week for my training. Good thing, because I am feeling a bit beat up. Thank goodness I didn't have to do speedwork or a tempo run today. Our schedule calls for easy seven mile runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Tuesday, Kenny and I took an easy 14.5 mile bike ride down at the bay. While I didn't really even break a sweat, my legs definitely felt it. If a triathlon is ever in my future, I have a lot of work to do because my legs felt like jello after. I am not sure how well I would have run after that.

Today, I put off my run all day. I just didn't feel like doing it. The later it is, the less likely I am going to run. I finally did. However, I was running out of time before I needed to get home to fix dinner. Instead of seven, I did five miles. Instead of running it super easy, like I had planned (and what the schedule said), I ran it at my marathon pace. Well... I didn't think of it that way until the second mile. I started out in a nice comfortable pace. I wasn't holding back, I wasn't pushing it. When I saw that I ran the first mile at 9:14, I thought to myself that it was only four seconds slower than a four-hour pace. So I decided to see what it would feel like to keep it under that four hour pace for the rest of the run.

Turns out... it felt good. Can I keep that up for twenty six miles? I don't know. I ran the other miles right around nine minutes. The entire run averaged 9:03. Not bad for a run I almost blew off because I was REALLY wasn't in the mood.

At one point, I started thinking about Boston (crazy, I know). I think it had something to do with the podcast I was listening to. To qualify for Boston, I would have to average 9:48 per mile. It is not out of the realm of possibilities**, but definitely not likely. I pushed it a little in the fourth mile and ran an 8:52. A BQ pace would NOT be easy. I think I need to push Boston far out of my mind and focus on running smart and feeling good during the entire marathon. I am training for sub-four, but will be happy with 4:15. Heck, a 4:30 would still be twenty-four minutes better than last year's time. Maybe I'll think about Boston in three years.***


*I love having random celebrity crushes to keep life a little less serious (and I have enough seriousness in my life right now). My crushes have been various American Idol hotties, celebrity chefs (top on that list is Rocco Dispirito) etc.
**The Boston qualifying time for a 42-year-old female is 3:50:59. Based upon my half marathon PR, several calculators have said that I could run a 3:53 to 3:55 marathon. If you plug in some of my mile times from my speed workout a few weeks ago, the calculators say that I could get under the 3:50 mark.
***The BQ time for a 45-year-old female is 4:00:59!

A couple of random thoughts on a Saturday night...

Random thought #1- I am starting to obsess about hills. The La Jolla Half Marathon is in eight weeks. I can't stop looking at the course map and the elevation profile*. Holy CRAP. That hill is GINORMOUS. That steep steep grade in the middle of the race is 420 feet in less than a mile! I have heard that it isn't even the worst part. Apparently the hill at mile 12 is the true killer. It is short and steep and right at the end to suck the life out of you.

Luckily, I live in a very hilly neighborhood. I usually don't like to run anything longer than a couple of miles here because that is the length of the flat route. Thursday, I took on some of the hills. One of them was ridiculously steep (214 feet in .14 miles) but I ran the entire thing. I doubled over, completely out of breath at the top, but I did run the hill. The other hill I ran was a bit better. It was 78 feet in around 1/3 of a mile. I didn't have much difficulty... until I learned that the big hill in LJH is much, much steeper. sigh. Next week I am taking on yet another (bigger) hill in my neighborhood. I am going to do everything I can not to let that race get the best of me.

Random Thought #2- I have been a big fan of The Biggest Loser since the first season. I love watching these people change their lives for the better. They lose weight through hard work and eating right. It is not all about cutting calories, but fueling the body correctly.

This week's eliminated player was shown training for and completing a marathon. Kudos. They went on to say that he finished in in 3:53! Holy cow... if a guy who just lost 100 pounds could do that, surely I could, right? Hold on. I've been reading this week that not only did Dane NOT run a 3:53 marathon, he didn't FINISH the marathon. WTF? At mile 17, he got in a car (reported to be an NBC production van), was driven to mile 20 and ran the last six. He was in danger of not making the cut off of six hours and they wanted to show him crossing the finish line... AT 5:53!

I am so disappointed. This leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. What else has the show lied about? I hope that they retract their report on Dane and set the record straight. I would hate to stop watching one of my favorite shows.

Random Thought #3- Good luck to all of you racing tomorrow! Terri, I know you have your four-miler. You'll do great! Irish Cream is going for a PR in a 5K! Good luck to anyone else I forgot.
Chris, I hope your race went well this morning. Did the cold temps get you moving fast?

Random Thought #4- It is after 11 p.m. and I am running fourteen miles tomorrow. What am I thinking? I really need to get to bed. I haven't run fourteen miles since before the marathon.

Nighty Night.





*Sorry for the poor quality. I couldn't seem to save the map from the website big enough to post. This image is from 2003, but it is exactly the same as what is on the website.