4 Golden Rules of Spotting in the Gym

First off, we apologize for the lack of posts recently. As you can see, the website has gotten a makeover and will continue to be tweaked and such since we’ve moved to a new platform. Thank you for your patience and loyalty!! Alrighty, on to the post.

This applies to everyone. Whether you workout alone, with others, at home, or in a gym, you should know how to properly “spot” others. What does “spotting” mean? It means helping and guiding a friend, a workout buddy, a stranger in need. When they’re lifting weight that’s heavy for them and they need that extra push or that extra set of hands to make sure that dumbbell doesn’t fall on their face (from experience, this doesn’t feel good). Let’s look over a few tips that can help:

1. Take out at least one earphone. You need to be able to listen to your workout buddy. They may not be able to talk well, they may be under some stress from heavy weights. They may be grunting something to you that’s hard to hear. You need to give them your undivided attention so that if they need that quick help, you’re there to give it to them.

hoorah

2. Keep eye contact on your buddy at all times. And I mean at all times. It could be that split second you look over at a new person doing who-knows-what that your buddy drops the dumbbell on his face. Not okay. Put in the patience and dedication to helping your partner or stranger friend and focus for the maybe 30 seconds that they are doing their set.

3. Maintain proper form. This is not only important for the person doing the exercise, but also the spotter! If I’m in the wrong position to help Chris with bench press, I might throw out my back. If I am in the wrong form for helping him in chest press, there goes my knees or my groin! It’s important to be ready before they start the exercise, to have ample control and safety over your body–whether that means crouching or kneeling down on the floor. Be ready!

Digging deep for a squat

4. Do an honest evaluation. Are you sure you can deadlift the amount of weight your friend is benching? Because that’s what it comes down to. If they completely fail, you have to be ready to deadlift that weight. This goes for everything. Is your friend putting up too much weight for you to be able to properly spot? Be honest. There should be no pride in this evaluation because it could cost both you and your friend an injury if you are foolish about this one. If I don’t think I can handle spotting some of Chris’ sets, I tell him we could find someone stronger. Do the right thing.

There are others that we could mention, but they don’t come near the importance of these four. Learn these four and you will eventually become a master spotter and a popular gal or guy at the gym. Everyone loves a good spotter! “Just one more” depends on it and, often too, so does injury prevention. Use these rules to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Chris’ new Skyrim hat

Oct012013

Our Weekend in Pictures

Sorry for the no-Monday post, but I was busy studying and Chris was busy scuba-diving. I thought I would share the weekend in pictures…enjoy!

Chris getting his scuba certification

Great start to a Saturday…

Visited tons of farms and went pumpkin picking

Little Salvation Army visit…

Obviously visited the Humane Society…

Chris almost took this guy home

Awwwwwwwww

Video games

Castle marathons

Going to the Flatirons Mall and enjoying some Sarku

Grocery shopping

Some home-cooked meals

Study snacks (totally stole this from Chocolate Covered Race Medals)

Not to mention WORKOUTS

Chris surprised me with a 3-course meal from one of our favorite restaurants, Dagabi Cucina

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BONUS KITTY PIC

^.^

Sep252013

College Student Fitness and Nutrition Guide

We were recently contacted by an individual who asked us to take a look at a graphic and a link you will be later in this post. It is a somewhat long but simple and comprehensive guide to basic fitness and nutrition for college students and those who live a similar lifestyle. I read the post briefly and after realizing that there was nothing wrong or harmful in its contents I decided to share it. I think it is a very useful resource for students to print out and hang up in their rooms.

During our last leg workout, beasted calves hamstrings, and jump squats!

The credit for the post is given to the site which is linked below. I will keep the woman’s name who contacted us anonymous. Here is a Hungry&Fit generally-approved article and–more importantly–graphic that individuals can use as a basic guide for creating a great regimen for college fitness and a healthy lifestyle. (It doesn’t say much about nutrition and diet.)

As the page states, “Starting out at college is a time of excitement, anticipation, and oftentimes, extreme nervousness. There are a whole host of prospects that can leave any freshman filled with anxiety, from making friends to maintaining good grades to knowing which classes to take. One of the biggest sources of anxiety for students, however, is unrelated to academics: A large percentage of students greatly fear the famous and dreaded freshman 15. The truth is, this isn’t an irrational fear: Most college students will gain between 15 and 25 pounds by the end of their sophomore year. One of the main causes of the freshman 15? Lack of exercise: Not only do the majority of college students not get the recommended amount of exercise, one in three just don’t exercise at all. To be fair, finding time for exercise in the midst of busy college life can be challenging, but there are some great ways that that particular hurdle can be side-stepped. Today’s infographic takes a look at the best ways for college students to stay fit—even in the middle of a dorm room. From cardio to strength training to flexibility, there’s a myriad of ways in which even the biggest of couch potatoes can beat the freshman 15.”

http://www.thebestcolleges.org/the-best-regimen-for-college-fitness/

That is the image and below it is the link. Credit goes to TheBestColleges.org who we enjoyed working with and look forward to working with again in the future. They originally posted it in early August of 2013. Being hungry and fit is a lifestyle so creating a solid regimen is one of the best ways to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Saturdays are obviously for family naps

Sep172013

Opt for the Walk

Needless to say, this has been a very interesting few days. Yesterday was the first day back to work after the Boulder Flood (#boulderflood) and it felt surreal. At first, I wasn’t even sure I could get to work (I work in Longmont and live in Boulder) but after some steady driving in the rain, I made it. Sure the highway was a bit beaten up and there were floods beside the road, but I made it perfectly safe and sound. However, yesterday more than any day, I felt mentally exhausted. Weird that it had come after all the catastrophe. Chris woke me up last night because I was having some sort of bad dream and all I remember is rain. It was nice to take a nap when I got back from work. Anyhow, back on point. Walking.

Central Park walk

Especially from that Thursday, if we wanted to go anywhere, it was safer to walk than to drive. We then did a lot of walking on Friday and even on Saturday too. Sunday, we were landlocked again (another storm). It got me thinking…I want to do more walking. Not because there’s a chance my car might get toted away by a flood, but because it should be more a part of everyone’s lifestyle! Even if you don’t have time for a workout, walk where you need to go. The whole concept of moving and staying active is what is going to keep you healthy for life.

So from now on, especially in the coming Fall, I plan to walk more places. To the grocery (we live 2-3 blocks away from one), instead of picking Chris up I will walk back with him, and walk to the gym. Those are just a few examples. You’d be surprised how just that extra bit of moving can make a big impact in your life and your health. So as life slowly falls back into place after the flood, I will find myself walking more and more and exploring new places. Who’s with me?! Take a walk to stay hungry and fit!

Chris got me crocs!! I know my friends will be so happy (not

My walking shoes for these flooded times

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah curled up during the flood

Sep152013

Happy 25th Birthday, Chris! (aaand #boulderflood)

This is going to be a joint post, written by the both of us, about Chris’ birthday and the flood that erupted on his very birthday here in our home of Boulder, Colorado. And it isn’t stopping. As I sit here, I’m watching more rain pour down as it has since 8am. We got a few dry days, but now the rain is here for a while. Where to begin? Let’s just start with Chris’ actual birthday. I’ll be writing most of it, and he will pop in here and there for certain things.

6:30am, Thursday, September 12th. Chris is still sleeping in bed, I need be at work by 8, but I want to go to our favorite bakery and surprise him with croissants. It’s been raining for a few days now, started Monday and worked its way until today. It’s still raining now. I slip socks and crocs on and head out. I get to the bakery but I am kind of dumbstruck and don’t know where to park. The entire right side of the street is flooded. Now this is before we had any flood alerts or thought there was a problem. I turned around and parked on the other side of the street. The bakery was open and I wanted to get him croissants! There was a worker outside and I asked him how to get through it, and he said, “I just got my feet wet.” I still looked for a way, but it was useless. Water was pouring from the north and streaming into the streets. I ended up walking through a foot and a half of water and they had no croissants! Wish I had taken a picture.

A now-famous picture taken by someone at the library

So I get back, wake Chris up, wish him happy birthday and give him breakfast. We turn on the news and see that it’s pretty bad all over. Highways buckling, houses flooding, people trapped. We eat breakfast and open presents, all the while he is communicating with his coworkers. (It’s Chris now) I want to thank everyone for all of the awesome gifts. I’ve always been quite spoiled. I received a gift card to Macy’s, Amazon, and AMC cinemas along with $30 cash. I also got some nice Burberry cologne, a handmade snake-like bottle opener, and a handmade Giraffe head cork wine topper. I was upset with Alana for getting me so much. She got me the newest iPad with a case and keyboard attachment. She also got me two hoodies: one sleeveless one from H&M and a Legend of Zelda one from Woot. I can’t say what I like the most but all of the gifts were very thoughtful and will fit in this household nicely. I am excited as always to use the AMC tickets for two free movies for the two of us. Especially since there are a few movies coming out next weekend that I want to see. Thanks again to everyone for the kind wishes whether it was family or friends.

Birthday breakfast!

Back to Alana. The 119 (how I get to work) is flooding and Longmont is bad. Chris and his staff decide to close the shop and he goes to make sure the flood damage is okay. Everyone advises me to stay home, so I do. This is all very new and not exactly sure what to expect. It was nice for Chris to have his birthday off of work, but we felt for everyone suffering. Luckily, our apartment is 3 floors up, and we are on a safer side of town. We didn’t do much that day, played video games and stayed inside.Chris loved being able to do that, since normally we have too much on our plate. We just made sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed the down time.

We get a call around 3pm from one of our good friends who lives a block away. He is driving home from Littleton (highways are an absolute mess) and his wife and kid are at home with a flooded bedroom. We run to get the shop vac and bring it over to their place. They were the lucky ones. The western building of their apartment complex got completely flooded with 2 feet of water. We immediately begin to vacuum the carpet out which is saturated and getting worse. A battle we can’t win against the pelting rain coming at us. By the time our friend gets home, we have already dumped out 32 gallons of water.

Shop vac

Pouring out gallons of water

Kicking up water

We knew we couldn’t suck up all the water so we go outside and decide to dig a trench away from the windows and then use the mud to create a barrier. It was messy, wet work, but it did give some layer of protection.

Those rainboots ended up having holes in them…surprise!

Packing as fast as we can

Flexing, obviously

After we finish up, we wash the mud off in a flooded street. We go inside for a little bit more clean-up. Chris is bummed so many places are closed. I had this elaborate plan for the day, that I would take him out for lunch, that after work we would workout and then surprise him with China Gourmet and a birthday cake. Nope, not gonna happen. However, one of our most favorite places in town was miraculously open. They know us well at Korea House and invited us with open arms. We were soaked, muddy, and tired, and this meal invigorated us. We got a fixed menu with beer, bulgogi, korean soup, soups, salads, and mochi ice cream. Because it was Chris’ birthday and because the chef loves us that much, he served us with a big beautiful plate of some of the most flavorful sushi I’d ever had. He also gave us a large bottle of hot sake and another beer for free. Happy Birthday, right? It was just what we needed to bring our spirits up. We told them if they needed a place to stay (they live in Longmont), that they could always come to us. We left happy and it was pouring harder than ever.

Korean birthday feast

We get back safely, though main streets are flooding. We play some more video games for a while and then we get into bed. Things are only getting worse. Chris passes out, but my stomach is in knots. So before I continue, let me just tell you about the wonderful Twitter #boulderflood. Online news can’t do enough. I have been on the #boulderflood this entire time, getting minute-by-minute updates from news agencies, emergency agencies, and real-life people struggling in the flood. It has been an absolutely amazing resource, I still follow it now. So as I’m lying in bed, reading the #boulderflood hashtag, things start getting worse. The Emerson Gulch has broken and now a 30-foot wall of water is heading straight for the Creek. I know college kids can be drunk and stupid and people reported seeing some near the creek, fooling around. I stress about their lives. About how the death toll might rise. After a few hours, I finally get to sleep, only to dream more about the flood and wake up too much. Here are pictures from the house we house-sat at:

Beginning of the day

End of the day…that used to be a back yard

Friday. Despite only a few hours of sleep, we wake up semi-early. The rain has stopped and light can be seen. We stay inside for a bit and then decide to go venture out with Marga and Michael to see the damage. The “unaccounted-for” toll has risen to around 130. There is a lot of debris everywhere, but things are drying up. Mud is the problem since there were massive mudslides the previous night. I hear Lyons is an island and Longmont is incredibly flooded. The YMCA where I work at is closed. Our old street (we just recently moved) got flooded and now instead of pavement, it is a mud street. Our previous neighbors are carrying buckets of mud-water out of their house. It is all mucked up. We continue on for about 5 miles total, seeing the damage. But we don’t even go to the bad area, we get tired and head back.

Our old street

a parking lot nearby

Goose Creek where I run next to

The creek rose to ridiculously high levels

We end up going to the gym, finding a bit of normalcy in our recently turned-upside down life. After a great shoulder workout (my traps are still sore!), we head back home. More video games. We are happy for the lack of rain. I can even see a star or two. We also watch From Up on Poppy Hill, the newest Miyazaki film. We go to bed around 2am.

Saturday. Another dry morning! Evacuations continue at a much higher rate now. The National Guard is here and you can see and hear the military helicopters going here and there every minute (no exaggeration). Our friend (with the flooded bedroom) invited us to go play frisbee golf as we often do on Saturdays. Sure, why not! Well, half the course had some bad flooding, but that didn’t stop us. Afterwards, we went to Glacier (our favorite ice cream joint here) and Chris finally got his free ice cream (because it’s his birthday). We go back to the apartment for a little bit and then head out to the gym for a good chest workout (yes, my pecs are sore). As the day continues, formidable clouds begin to form. We come back, watch Castle and play video games. And have mac n cheese and ramen for dinner, good comfort food.

And now it’s Sunday. Still raining strong. Flood alerts are back. Road closures are back. Unaccounted-for toll is up to 530 people. Tragic stories on the news. I hope I can get to work tomorrow. And I truly hope everyone stays safe. I wish I could reach out and help more people, but it’s hard to get to most people right now. Chris certainly had a birthday that nobody will forget. I will stay vigilantly attached to the #boulderflood to stay in touch with everyone and all events. Please send good energy this way. And some dry weather. And despite all these horrible events, everyone reaches out to each other to help. That is what is keeping spirits up, when everything else is gone. Stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria staying warm

Sep112013

Chocolate Protein Rounds [No Baking Required]

My friend made me a batch of these for my birthday last week and I devoured way too many. Like wayyyy too many. But who cares, you only have a birthday once a year, right? Luckily, these things are pretty healthy and help me get my daily protein intake, so I wasn’t too worried. She had given me the recipe a long time ago, but I just never got around to making them. The original recipe doesn’t necessarily call for chocolate protein powder, but it’s all we have so I decided to give it a go. Really glad I did–super easy. And it’s nice not to bake when it’s 80 degrees out! I altered it somewhat and it turned out well!

My own version of a Hershey’s Kiss…without the slave labor!

Ingredients

1 cup oats
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 cups chocolate protein powder (you could do vanilla, though)
1 tbsp honey
2/3 cup Silk Vanilla Unsweetened Almondmilk (you can use regular)
1 tbsp dried cherries (you can use any dried fruit)
1 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl

Dry ingredients mixed together

Mix the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. It’s tough at first because of the peanut butter, but I just whisked it down until it was well-mixed and of one mixture
Slowly mix the wet into the dry ingredient bowl. First I used a whisk, but in the end I had to use a wooden spoon to really mix it well.

Take out a cookie sheet and place wax paper on top. Then scoop out bite-sized pieces of the mixture and line it up on the wax paper.

Put into the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer and then wrap them individually with wax paper, otherwise it’s a sticky mess. Place in fridge until ready to eat!

Ready to go in the fridge

I am so glad the chocolate protein powder worked out. This is such a good snack before or after a workout. Gives you a bit of energy, but doesn’t weigh you down and has a good amount of protein to keep your muscles happy. It’s an unbelievably easy recipe and a great way to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah caught sleeping on the job

Sep092013

Happy 23rd Birthday, Alana!

Yay! Happy Birthday to me! Chris and I had a great “birthday weekend” (his birthday is this coming Thursday—yes, a pair of Virgos) involving lots of good food and good company. Though I am peeved at myself for not taking more group photos, oh well! ABC Family obviously knew that it was my birthday weekend because it was a Harry Potter Weekend (yessss). So besides home We decided on our “group birthday dinner” (meaning more than just Chris and I) we would do on the Saturday. We couldn’t decide on a place…from Korea House to Efrain’s and we finally decided on one of our favorite spots, Tibet Kitchen. But before that, Saturday morning, we went with friends to go play Frisbee Golf on a hot morning. But the view was incredible.

Frisbee golf view

Sample of a Tibet Kitchen plate

Really should’ve taken pictures of the group as a whole, but it included co-workers, friends, and family–a great bunch. We all had a ton of food and felt pretty full…but not full enough to not get ice cream! We finished the night off well with plenty of ice cream to celebrate. It was a great time. The next morning (on my actual birthday) we went to breakfast at Lucille’s, a southern, New Orleans-style breakfast joint. I always hear how popular it is and we got there at the right time. No wait, and we got a seat outside on an absolutely beautiful morning. We obviously got some beignets to share and some dishes for ourselves. It was absolutely delicious and neither of us could finish it (hellooo leftovers!).

I could eat wayyyy too many beignets

After we stuffed ourselves, we ran over to Flatirons Mall AMC (which has the most comfy recliner chairs, it’s ridiculous) and caught a double feature of The Butler and Riddick (both reviews to come). We enjoyed both, but came out starving because it was about 4 hours of movie time with no snacks in between (I forgot the popcorn!). After a long debate about what to eat, we decided on trying Protos Pizza up in North Boulder. And we loved it. We ordered 4 small pies (don’t worry, it was 4-slice, small slice pizzas, not real expensive) to try everything out. The ingredients were fresh, crust cooked to perfection, and a wonderful blend of flavors.

This is a piece from each pie

After that, Chris went to give a private swim lesson. We did a laid-back workout, and then headed to Ras Kassa’s Ethiopian Restaurant. It was open late and we had never tried it. We ordered a “vegetarian passport meal for two” which ended up being a ton of food plus two drinks and dessert! Let’s just say there’s a good amount of leftovers in the fridge. It was an absolutely lovely night, we sat outside next to a creek and beautiful little lights. We enjoyed some drink and a lot of food and had a great time.

Those rolled up parts are injera (Ethiopian “bread”) to use to eat the rest of the meal

Honey Wine and Papaya Margarita

So I had a great great birthday, and I was lucky enough to get cards from loved ones and presents too. My parents sent me great gifts plus a boat load of Trader Joe’s goodies. Chris got me a wonderful collection of presents that was perfectly catered to who I am. Overall, I had a lovely birthday and look forward to celebrating Chris’ coming up soon. As always…stay hungry and fit!

Trader Joe’s yummies

Yes that’s a bento box on top (and Game of Thrones graphic novel)

Chris got me crocs!! I know my friends will be so happy (not

Miyazaki play on Wizard of Oz hoodie (from Chris, of course)

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria on her back

Sep052013

Rollerblading Gets Radical

We may not be full-time skaters, but we have had some experience in the past. And we learned even more about it this past weekend. If you thought that inline skating was just about gliding at a leisurely pace through the park or along the boardwalk, then you haven’t been keeping up to date with extreme sports. While rollerblading can be a gentle activity – about as much exercise as going for a walk – there are lots more exhilarating ways of going skating if you are looking for thrills and a heart-pounding workout.

Image source: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lujcm5IZH31qel33so1_500.jpg

You’ve probably seen rollerbladers performing the same sorts of tricks that you expect to see on skateboards and with free runners. This is known as aggressive rollerblading, where the focus is on performing spectacular moves, such as spins and grinds. You will see skaters spending their time defying gravity as they fly through the air. While it’s not for everyone, aggressive skating has a huge following, and it’s guaranteed to get your adrenaline running.

If aggressive rollerblading interests you, there are two different types that you can try. Street skating, which is also called freestyle skating, uses the urban environment as the stage. Street skaters jump down flights of stairs, grind down rails, and leap over obstacles at high speed. In many ways, street skating has a lot in common with other extreme street sports, such as parkour.

If street skating seems just a little too much for you – and it can be pretty intense – then you can try park skating. As the name suggests, this form of aggressive rollerblading takes place at the skate park, with skaters focusing more on technical tricks than on the freestyle moves seen in street skating. Not only do they try to perfect individual tricks, they try to connect them together into a fluid series of moves known as a line. This can include tricks on features such as pipes and curved ramps, which just don’t exist in a street environment. If you are looking to try park skating, ask around for a good park – the best parks have a flow to them, and have good lines that make it easier and more enjoyable to perform tricks.

Of course, if you are going to perform all those tricks, slides and grinds, a regular in-line skate just isn’t going to do the job. What you need is a pair of aggressive rollerblades, which are specifically designed to take all the impacts and strains. Not only are they tougher in general than regular skates, they also have specific features designed for aggressive skating. For example, the frames are specifically made so that skaters can grind on them, and some include grind plates. Street variants may also omit the inner two wheels, giving a huge area for grinding.

As well as aggressive rollerblading, there are a number of other types of in-line skating that you can try. For example, freestyle slalom skating is incredibly technical and involves performing tricks as you weave around cones that are laid out in a line. Vert skating is another variant, and is basically park skating on steroids – skaters perform acrobatics as they zoom up and down the sides of a half pipe, carrying out complicated aerial stunts such as spins and flips that can take them 10 feet above the sides of the pipe. There are also inline sports that mirror traditional winter sports, such as hockey, speed skating and off-road skating – this last one is basically the equivalent of cross-country skiing on rollerblades.

Image source: http://0.tqn.com/d/inlineskating/1/0/s/5/-/-/fabiola_da_silva.jpg

Whatever type of inline skating appeals to you, it’s incredibly important to take the right safety precautions, otherwise the sport can be hazardous. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are slightly more than 400,000 rollerblading and skateboarding injuries every year. However, given that over 11 million Americans are into these sports, that means that you have a less than one in 20 chance of getting injured in any given year – and most of these injuries are preventable. Buy quality skates that fit you properly and support you, so that you avoid injuries like twisted ankles – and make sure you keep them in good working order. Also, it’s inevitable that you’re going to fall from time to time, so learn how to fall without hurting yourself – if you don’t know how to do this, ask someone who does. And of course, proper protective gear is essential, starting with a helmet that meets or exceeds government safety standards. Other things you will want are quality wrist guards, along with knee and elbow pads. If any of this protective gear gets damaged, replace it – it’s already done its job.

Aug212013

Never Compare to Others in the Gym

Never ever compare yourself to others in the gym. Heck, don’t compare yourself to others in other parts of life, too! I have always had trouble with this. I’m a competitive person and also a critical person. I’m very tough on myself and expect the best. This can be a deadly combination if you let your focus stray outside yourself. It can initiate a viscous self-hate cycle where you never achieve anything you want to and always harp on yourself for doing something wrong or being weak. Don’t do this.

Creep shot of Chris’ back from last night’s workout…spoiler: he’s not doing a back exercise

I typically workout with men…as in Chris and some of our friends. This makes it doubly important not to compare yourself to who you may be working out with. I’m not saying to not draw inspiration or motivation from others–that is most important! It is great to have a partner who works hard and keeps you working hard as well. However, if it comes to a point where you’re comparing your strength, body composition, or speed to that person, it can get rather unhealthy. Even past unhealthy–dangerous. If I tried to compete with Chris on any strength exercise, tried to match his squat, I’d be snapped like a twig from the weight.

Triceps shot from a recent workout

It’s important to understand your strengths and limitations before you barge into a workout. Are you ready for that heavy weight? Are you reaching too high? You need to re-evaluate why you’re working out and what you’re working out to. Write down your goals and write a healthy, safe way to get there. Sure, I want to get back into lifting heavy, but I’m not going to jump into huge weight right away. That’s a ticket to injury. I may be comparing myself to other strong-lifters and wanting to go farther faster, but I am me, and this is where I’m at right now. I’ve taken long steps to realizing this and saying this to myself. Understand who and where you are and understand how you can go forward.

Back shots, before and after

If I compared myself to all the expert climbers in Boulder, I’d feel absolutely down in the dumps, angry and disappointed. However, I’ve only been climbing for months compared to them. Why on Earth would I compare myself to them? If you let yourself get caught up in the emotion of envy and self-hate, you aren’t going anywhere with your fitness goals. I remember a time when several workouts have been ruined by my bad attitude of comparing to others and my mood goes to the sharks.

Leg shot from a workout a little bit ago

Learn from this. Don’t compare to others around you. Compare to yourself. What did you do yesterday? What can you do today? Challenge yourself. Work hard. Train with a purpose and never, ever give up. Stay focused on yourself to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

double head kitty pic

Aug192013

Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain…DESTROYED!

This past Saturday, a team of my clients and Chris went to the Colorado Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain and killed it! I run an Obstacle Course Race Training Group and these girls were prepared for the worst! After the race, they admitted that our training sessions were harder than the actual race, which is good! You always want to over-prepare than under-prepare. Beyond physical effort, it was a lot of fun, especially in a 5-person group.

Before the race

Our heat wasn’t until 4:30pm (it was the only time left to sign up for!), which was a bummer, but we were excited anyhow. We all piled in one of the girl’s van and went on our way from Boulder to Copper Mountain. It didn’t take long, maybe 1.5 hours tops–I didn’t really notice as I was enjoying company and conversation. We stopped at Big Daddy Bagels on the way for some carb-loading and traveled through the mountains. When we got there, the partying was already full-blown as many heats had already gone by. Us girls were all dressed as Wonder Woman and Chris, of course, wore only a batman mask and tutu. That’s it! He by far got the most attention and had plenty of photo ops. It was great. He totally played it up during the race as well, throwing me on his back and doing some squats for the crowd.

Chris & I

Crazy busy

Beautiful views!

AWESOME Batman-in-a-tutu human flag

After changing, wandering around, dancing with the huge crowd, and taking lots of fan pictures, we were ready to go. Sick of waiting! Even though our heat wasn’t until 4:30, I believe we started somewhere around 3:55, closer to 4. All we had to do was jump into the starting line with all others and go! The start is a little slow because everyone is rushing out, but we got to a point for a steady pace. After all, we weren’t being competitive–we did this to have fun! And we certainly did. We all did fairly well with the running, but 3 out of the 5 of us were recovering from colds so we all had a little congestion. But that didn’t stop us!

Musclesss

The obstacles were easier than compared to the one Chris and I did a few years back in Windham, New York. But it was still a lot of fun. We killed the tires and the crawling (the girls are used to that), and the mud pit was great. They threw the mud pit at us a lot earlier than expected so that we were heavy with mud for the rest of the weight, adding at least 5 pounds to each of us. We went through different obstacles, some involved ropes, others tunnels, and barbed wire. Probably the most dangerous ones were when we had to climb up to the top of this wooden-planked type structure and then walk/slide down it. One of them went up about 15-20 feet, and it was the most dangerous because we and the structure were both very muddy and wet, making it easy for someone to slip off. However, none of us sustained any injuries!

“After” pic of Batman & Wonder Woman

We made it!!

Close-up

The showers…they were actually WARM!

Tutu death pile

Everyone there was very supportive and it was an all-around good time. I’m very proud of the ladies for kicking butt all the way through and Chris for actually making it the whole way with his tutu (after it gained ten pounds of mud). It was a great experience with great people and we’re sure to do it again. Afterwards, a few of us enjoyed Beaujo’s (a gourmet pizza joint that’s also in Boulder), where we were too exhausted to really talk until we got some food in us. Catch us next month at the Devil Dash in Lyons, Colorado! Enter in an adventure race to stay hungry and fit!