Run in the Park

I didn't have much time but so needed to get in a run.  I needed a clear my head, de-stress kind of run.  I managed to take advantage of a beautiful day and get in a quick run in between work and my haircut and highlights appointment.

I had a great 2.6 mile run at Wash Park.  Wish I could have stayed in the park longer but that was all I had time for.

Planking with the Bosu

Yesterday I did my weekly Kinesis and Pilates session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  Often she'll have me do some sort of exercise or exercises on the Bosu.  Today was planking with the Bosu.  It's plank position with forearms on Bosu then putting hands on floor into a full plank and alternating those positions for a set time.

It's tough and definitely a full body, especially core workout move.

Travel & Work Sunday

Woke up in Breckenridge to an incredible sunrise.  

It was quiet so I dived into some work and logging video.  Work, time with friends, 3 hour plus travel time from Breck back to Denver, and participating in the Denver Dumb Friends League telethon filled my day. 

Skiing Breckenridge

Saturday I skied Breckenridge with my friend Hope and her 16 year old daughter Chrizney.  It was Chrizney's first time to ski.  She'd taken a lesson Friday.  But it took us awhile to get down our first run.  I certainly saw some big falls.  In the cold and wind, I became Coach Jen as we slowly got down her first run.

There's something to be said to watching someone try something for the first time.  The first day of skiing for Chrizney turned into a much better experience once we did some of the ski school runs.  Her last run of the day she made it all the way without a fall or even a wobble!

Snowmobiling

After running around in the snow and cold for live shots for several hours at Snow Sculpting Championships in Breckenridge, I headed out with some friends for adventure in the afternoon.  We went snowmobiling with Good Times Adventures.  Okay, I know it's not super strenuous but I'm counting snowmobiling for two hours as my workout.  We climbed to close to 12,000 feet as we road up to Georgia Pass on the Continental Divide.

It was the first time I'd gone snowmobiling and it was a blast!  Can't wait to go weaving through the trees again.

Travel Day Thursday

Thursday was a travel day.  After work I headed up to Breckenridge.  Didn't have time for a workout.  But I probably needed a rest day since my abs, arms, and quads were feeling the day after soreness from Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes!

Mad Abs & Dirty 30

Today was one of those days that half the battle is getting to gym.  Well I made it and pushed it hard for an hour with Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club.  Sarah started her 30 minute Mad Abs class with a plank series.  In the class we used the Bosu ball, body bar, and gliders for full body movements that focus on the core.

After than I went straight into Tim's Dirty 30.  It's 30 minutes of doing cycles of a exercise series.  This class is tough!  Today Tim had us do a series of five moves starting with 10 reps each then repeating the cycle with 9 reps, 8 reps all the way down to 1 rep of each move.

Here are the moves in a cycle:
Bent Over Plate Row - bend over at waist with 25 or 45 weight plate (or use two), arms extended, then pull elbows back in a row movement.

Push Ups - on toes, military style.

Forward Lunges each leg - Tim gave me a great tip.  If you do these in place then lean forward slightly.  You'll feel it in your abs more and save your back.

Burpees - Plank, jump feet to hands, then jump up reaching hands to ceiling, returning back to plank

Turkish Get Ups (TGUs) - I did these with 3 pound weights.  Start on your back with one arm up to ceiling with weight in hand.  Use the other hand to help you sit up, then stand up, all while keeping the weight high reaching up to the ceiling, then go back to start position in the reverse of how you got up.

You can do the moves in any order but do them in same order for each cycle.  If you are short on time and need to blast it out this will do it!

Too Much Work Tuesday

I had a ton of work to get done and an afternoon meeting so I had a too much work Tuesday.  After three days of skiing and snowshoeing I was okay with a rest day.

Fit Snowshoe Tour in Beaver Creek

Monday I headed out with a couple of friends on Beaver Creek's new Fit Snowshoe Tour.  Here's the kicker - you start this tour at 9,840 feet and climb to 10,400' feet.  It's really cool because it's in McCoy Park, which is one of three lift access Nordic centers in the United States.  Most are at the base of mountains.

I really liked how our guide Tom got us through the workout.  We started by just counter poling, which is using opposite pole with opposite foot, for 100 yards then resting 30 to 60 seconds. We did that for several rounds then started adding more distance in between breaks.  We did a variety of terrain from flat groomed trail to well into the powder on an incline.

We were out of breath and sweating.  Definitely a great workout!  Tom put it this way - if you take one breath at sea level, at that altitude of almost two miles high, you're taking two breaths.  You're working harder as your body compensates for less available oxygen.  Tom also said this working is twice as intense as hiking.

I loved the mega workout at altitude.  I can't wait to go back and snowshoe or try cross country, skate, or tele skiing at McCoy Park with the Beaver Creek Nordic Center.

Skiing Powder Day at Beaver Creek

Sunday was a powder day at Beaver Creek.  9" of new snow fell Saturday night and early Sunday.  So two friends and I headed out to feel the burn in our legs from skiing powder.  It was a blast!

Check out my Powder Day! Skiing Beaver Creek Swept Away blog for the video of my powder day at Beaver Creek.

Skiing With A Ski Film Veteran

Saturday I got to ski with my friend, Chris Anthony.  He's been in 21 Warren Miller films and is a big mountain skier.  Yes it's been an incredible week for me getting one-on-one lessons with Billy Kidd at Steamboat Springs and Saturday skiing Beaver Creek with Chris.

We had a blast.  Chris worked on technique with me, keeping me in that ski like a world champion mentality.

If you know Beaver Creek, we trained on Lattigo and Gold Dust.  These are two blue runs.


Couple of things Chris worked with me on:

Keep your shoulders and chest forward.  Think belly to the base.
Look down mountain, not at your ski tips or just a few feet in front of you.
As you pole plant, stand up then bend into the turn as you put weight into the downhill (or outside) ski.

After a few runs with Chris, he headed out to ski with another friend who is a very advanced skier.

I took a couple more runs with my friend Carl, who's a blues to blacks skier.

Great day skiing with friends and working on my technique!

Travel Day

Today was filled with early morning live shots then straight into weather sessions for the Weather Summit I was attending.  After two sessions I made the drive from Steamboat back to Denver. Took my dog for a nice walk but that's all I could squeeze in today.

Skiing Steamboat With An Olympian

Wednesday I got a chance to ski with an Olympian but not just any Olympian.  I skied with the first American male to medal in alpine skiing, Billy Kidd.  I'm still very much a beginner skier but Billy gave me tips to be confident on the mountain.  I'd been thinking too much about my knees, hips, and butt.

Billy taught me to ski well you have to look like a champion.  Look how world-class skiers stand - feet apart, knees bent, arms out. It starts with standing.  Then going down the mountain, it's about the pole plant.  Pole plant to start the turn. Shift weight to outside foot in the turn.  It was a ski lesson breakthrough for me!

 I'm looking forward to practicing on the slopes at Beaver Creek this weekend.

Strolling Steamboat In The Cold

After working the AM shift Tuesday, I drove to Steamboat, which because of the roads took almost 3.5 hours.  As soon as I got there I headed out to get some video and watch the Cowboy Downhill then live shot at 5:45pm.  I needed to get in a little exercise so I headed out for a mile walk in the cold.  It was 3 degrees!

Glutes Day

Today was glutes day in Kinesis and Pilates at Pura Vida Club.  Erin had me do several exercises (in addition to squats and lunges) that focused on the glutes....otherwise known as the booty muscles.  We did several moves on the Bosu ball.

The first was the bridge with a glute lift.

The second was frog lifts.  It looks funny but it works!

Here's Erin showing the moves.

I got really excited in Pilates when I was doing a roll up to a stretch and realized I could get my head to my knees.  One of my workout warrior year is to get my head to my knees while sitting with straight legs on the ground.  Now to get my head to my knees with a flat back.  Upping the goal!

Easy Sunday

Sunday was an easy jog then nice stroll with my dog since temperatures climbed into the 50s.  Also got in some stretching.

Travel Day & Sleepy Saturday

Saturday was another travel day for me.  My road trip turned in to 4.5 hours instead of 3.5 hours because 30 minutes down the road I noticed my skis didn't make it into the car.  That pretty much set the tone for the day.  Everything took me longer to do than I expected and I was exhausted.  I actually felt asleep at half time of the Broncos game and slept until almost 7am (after waking up at 11pm, 3:30am, and 5:30am).

Ski and Snowshoe Friday

Friday was a fun day on the slopes and snowshoeing.  In the morning, my friend Jackie and I headed out to hit the slopes at Buttermilk in Aspen.  She's a green to blue every once in awhile skier and I'm a little more advanced as a green/blue skier.  This was only my second time out on the slopes this season and we had a ball.  I used the runs like Homestead Road to practice and really focus on my technique and just a day to get comfortable back on skis.  We did several runs then head in for a quick lunch and an afternoon of snowshoe.

For the snowshoeing we took the gondola up Aspen Mountain (Ajax) and then off we went with our guide Daniel on the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies tour.  Jackie's 7-year-old daughter went with us.  It's a fun thing for families to do and we had a great time.  It's a two hour outing but you do stop along this educational tour.  The views of the Highlands Bowl, Mount Sopris and the Elk Mountains, and the Continental Divide were amazing.

Travel Thursday

Thursday was a travel day.  With work and driving 3.5 hours to Aspen I didn't get a workout in.

Weather Wednesday

I had plans to make a noon Mad Abs and 12:30pm Dirty 30 class but Mother Nature had other plans for me.  Thanks to the latest round of snow in Denver I missed the classes.  I did get some stretching in though!

The Ropes

Just go ahead and say ouch, ugh, *@&!, or whatever word you choose.  The ropes are just the warm up to a Muay Thai Kickboxing one-on-one session with Sean at Pura Vida Club.  I did a session with him Friday so I knew the ropes were coming.

Here's the warm up:  four rounds of 20 seconds.  First 10 seconds is alternating your arms up and down to move the ropes as fast as you can while also constantly moving your legs in lunges or squats.  After 10 seconds, it's 10 seconds of lifting both arms over your head and slamming them down as hard as you can.  But here's the kicker....you do four rounds.  Your heart rate soars and you gasp for air and it's only the beginning of the session.  You may think it's only 20 seconds. Try it and you'll see that 20 seconds can seem like an eternity.  I asked Sean if they get easier and was told honestly no.  He said the better you get at it the faster you get.  They're not meant to be easy.  I'm kind of thinking that exercise was designed to separate the men from the boys or the no guts, no glory mentality.  For when I finish those four rounds I'm simply thinking "I am woman, here me roar!"

I asked Sean to video tape me doing the warm.  Here's how it's done.

After that it's kicks, knee ups, punches and today adding elbows.  It's 30 minutes of push as hard as you can. Repeatedly Sean said to me, "You got this."  It helps push through, especially since I did a 3pm workout after getting up at 2:45am, did the morning newscast, and didn't finish up with a shoot until almost 1pm.

Part of that shoot was at Cry Baby Ranch.  The owner, Roxanne Thurman, told me about a t-shirt they are getting in within the next few days.  It says "Strong is the new skinny."  I've already put in my order for one!

Heart Rate Raising Warm Up, Scorpion, & Oblique Crunch

I knew I was in for an intense workout when I walk in to Kinesis and Erin at Pura Vida Club tells me the warm up:  30 second rounds of jumping jacks, speed squats, butt kicks and high knees, quick rest, then 30 second rounds of jumping lunges, mountain climbers and burpees followed by slide out push ups.

Then on to machines for two exercises of 45 seconds each with one minute jump rope in between each two exercise set.  Talk about non-stop!

Since we did a lot of arms in Kinesis, Pilates was filled with more leg work.  Most of the session was on the Cadillac and wunda chair.

Couple of great exercises for you to try are the scorpion stretch and oblique crunch on your side.

Watch the video to see Erin explaining how to do these two moves.

Slacker Sunday

Slacker Sunday...there I said it!  I had every intention of getting out for a long walk or easy run but got wrapped up in some projects at home and suddenly the day was gone and there was this little thing called the Broncos play-off game that I started watching.  I did get in a nice short dog walk with that pooch.  That counts!

Rest Day on a Souper Saturday

Rest days are important.  So after three days of intense workouts I took a rest day Saturday.  I needed it since I was really sore from Muay Thai Kickboxing.

Plus with the snow it was the perfect day to take a rest day and get some chores done at home including making some healthy soups.  One of my goals this year is to cook a little more.  So the first weekend in January is the perfect time to start!  I split the soups and put half in the freeze, some in the fridge, and put two servings of each in containers for one of my cousins.  I made my mom's vegetable soup.  She normally puts lean ground beef in hers.  I put ground turkey instead. The other soup I saw on Giada at Home on the Food Network.  In the "Power Boost" episode she made a turkey, kale and brown rice soup.  Both are delicious and I'm so glad to have some lunches and dinners done for the week plus more to enjoy over the next few weeks.  

Pilates to Kickboxing

Friday was an intense workout day. It was a two-a-day workout day for me.  I did my first Pilates session of the new year with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  I had a mini goal reached in that session.  There's a move on the Cadillac machine where you are sitting with your legs out straight and dive forward to try to reach your feet.  I was so excited when I could touch the bottom of my feet.

Then I went back to the club for a 30 minutes session of Muay Thai Kickboxing with Sean.  I knew it was going to be tough when the warm up involved a fire hose size rope stabilized by two heavy weights.  Hold the ends of the rope I had the move ropes up and down as fast as I could for 20 seconds then lift both ropes above my head as fast as I could for another 20 seconds.  After the first round, Sean says I have four of those. Buck up little camper was all I could think!  From there we did series of kicks and punches.  My heart rate soared, I couldn't breathe and yes I felt like I was going to puke.  It's tough but I loved it!

I'm A Runner Ballerina...Well At Least Today!

With the high of 65 today in Denver there was no way I was going to miss out on a great running day.  65 degrees on January 5th!  So I did a 2.5 mile run at my favorite park in Denver, Wash Park.

From there I bolted over to Pura Vida Club for a ballet body class.  There's a reason ballerinas have beautiful figures.  The instructor Elizabeth Vino is a classically trained dancer and it was an awesome class.  Great blend of ballet and fitness.  Yes it kicked my butt especially the plank, hamstring, and abs series.  I'm already feeling the soreness of going for the dancer body.  But I love it!

The Dirty 30

I had two classes I wanted to try at Pura Vida Club today:  Mad Abs and Dirty 30.  We'll I got to the noon Mad Abs class about 5 minutes late and it was packed.  So off I went to do my own abs workout of crunches, planks, roll ups, and other ab exercises including the elevated side plank.  

So after abs it was in to Tim's Dirty 30 class.  It's 30 minutes of give it all you got.  


It's a boot camp style  class that's designed to kick your booty!

Here's the series:

Burpes 15 (Push up, jump feet to hands, then jump up reaching hands to ceiling, and back to push up position.)

Lunges 25 each leg (These are three-quarters of the way down with goal of quick, not deep full lunge.)

Weighted squat lift 12 (Using weight plate or weighted ball, squat then bring weight forward to shoulder level.)

Run .25 mile (I used this to push my run at a faster pace but not all out sprint.)

Turkish Get Up 7 each arm (I'd never heard of these before but you start laying down on your back with a 3-10 pound weight, straight arms and weight in line with shoulder. You use other hand to help you sit up, then stand up, all while maintaining the weight high reaching up to ceiling then go back to starting position in the reverse fashion of how you got up.)

Mountain Climbers 50 each leg (Start with straight arm plank position and alternation bringing knees to elbows.  Feet on gliders.)

I got through two rounds. Some of the guys got through three. That's my goal to get to in the Dirty 30.

I have a good feeling I'm going to feel this workout tomorrow.  

I finished out the day with a great 45 minute dog walk.  With temperatures around 60 in Denver in January, I couldn't pass up a nice long walk with my dog.  He was certainly happy too.

6 Months To Go!

January 3rd.....six months to my 40th. Time to kick it in high gear!  We'll I had every intention of that with a run then hour ballet body class but the shoot I had scheduled for Thursday got pushed up to Tuesday afternoon.  I spend time wandering through Ice Castles and even did a little ice climbing to the top of one.

So on the way to and from to Silverthorne I thought about my workout challenge to myself.  What is really that I want to accomplish?  Well get in best shape of my life of course but that includes some specific goals.  I don't want to be skinny.  I want to be athletic.  So in the next 6 months I want to get back to running 5 miles with ease, get some definition in my arms, strengthen my core, and be able to put my head on my knees.  The last one is my flexibility goal.  I thought about maybe I should try to be able to do splits again but head to knees is a bigger challenge.  I had a yoga instructor show me recently how to start:  stand with knees bent, hands on calves or back of ankles, and start by just trying to get chest to quads, and breathe into the stretch taking several breaths to deepen it and work toward goal.  So ladies what to be in a bikini on their 40th, I want to be able to put my head to my knees.  Guess we all have goals!

Taking A Long Walk

One of my favorite things to do is head out on a long walk.  So on a beautiful afternoon with highs in the low 50s I took my pooch and headed out for an hour.  I just wanted to spend some time soak up the great weather.  It was wonderful to see so many folks taking advantage of a cool park day and walking, running, and playing with their dogs.  So it's an easy cardio day for me with some stretches afterward, but it's pretty hard to beat a nice long walk.

New Year's Day Run

Happy New Year!  I celebrated part of day one of 2012 with a chilly jog.  Can't be in the middle of a fitness year and not workout on New Year's Day!  There weren't many people out since I was running at halftime of the Broncos game.  It was really cool to run by the stadium and see it filled with people.  Plus I got a nice treat on my run.  The bike path has been extended! Looking forward to logging some miles on the new section.