Royal Arch Hike

Yesterday I met some friends in Boulder to hike up to Royal Arch.  It was the perfect weather for a hike - sunny and cool.  The Royal Arch Trail is a butt kicker.  It's tough and steep spots.  It's 3.2 miles but the elevation is 1, 205 feet.  Since it goes up and down, the elevation gain round trip is 1,417 feet.

The view from the top is definitely worth the work you put in to getting there.

The Royal Arch was formed by wind, water, and mechanical erosion.  It is a fragment of the Fountain Formation.  The mineral rich sand eroded from the ancestral Rocky Mountains uplift 300 million years ago.  From the ebb and flow of inland oceans, the sediments were compressed into a layer of sandstone then thrusted upward by the same tectonic force that created the present day Rocky Mountains.

If you're in the Boulder area, it's a great moderately strenuous hike. Go for it!

Conference Day - No Workout

Didn't get a workout in on Saturday since I was involved with the Drink Local Wine conference from 9am to 4pm.

Just A Walk

Friday was just a walk. After the high intensity intervals Thursday, I took advantage of a beautiful Friday afternoon and took a walk.  I actually walked to the host hotel for Drink Local Wine national conference to pick up my packet.  The walk ended up being a 2.6 mile outing for me.

Parking Garage Intervals

Thursday I did a high intensity intervals workout with Cristina.  But this time we headed out to the parking garage instead of inside at Pura Vida Club.  Since I'm still dealing with a pulled hamstring, Cristina said no sprints until it's better.  That does not mean the intervals are any less intense.  Using a giant rubber band and the ViPR, Cristina managed to once again kick my butt.  But in this workout I not only had my own resistance to use, Cristina pulled on the band in opposite direction as I tried to run and shuffle the other way.  Each interval was done for 30 seconds with 30 second rest.  Each pair of intervals was done for 3 rounds.

First up was what I call band hops.  I did fast small hops side to side inside of the band with Cristina pull band the other way.  We did three rounds of those on each side.

Next was what I call the sled pull and ViPR slams.  I put the band around my waist and ran forward pulling Christina, who was pulling in the opposite direction.

For the ViPR slams, I slammed the ViPR down as hard as I could in a lunge position then quickly shifted over to other side.

The next pair of intervals was band shuffle runs and ViPR put downs.

Next up band shuffle runs.  I put band around waist and shuffled with left lead for 30 seconds then back with right lead for 30 seconds while Cristina pulled band in opposition direction.

In the ViPR put downs the goal is to get the end of the ViPR as close as you can to the ground and you quickly move forward and backward.  I did the left arm for 30 seconds then right arm for 30 seconds.  On these I need to work on getting closer to ground.

Here's video of band hops, ViPR slams and ViPR put downs.  The ViPR is a weighted tube.

Obliques On Ball & 3 Tier Dirty 30

Today was my usual Wednesday Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club.  Today Cyndie had us use the ball for almost the entire class.  I loved two moves that work the obliques.  For the first one lay on your back with lower legs on top of ball.  Arms are flat either by your side or out in a T position. Simply rotate legs over to one side then back to center and rotate to other side. Do this for 30 to 60 seconds.  It's a great warm up move or stretch.  The other is a Russian twist.  Lay on the ball at shoulder blade level.  Feet of the floor and flat from shoulders to knees.  Extend arms and clasp hands. Rotate hands to one side turning fully so shoulders stack, trying to keep hips squared, then back to center and over to other side.  Do this for a minute.  Both are great moves for obliques.

In Dirty 30, Tim did a little different workout today.  It was just 3 exercises. Push as hard as you can in the first set.  Here's the workout:

400 meters (.5 mile) - Can do on treadmill, elliptical, or rowing.  I elected to run.
40 squat presses with 10 pound weights
40 ViPR pushes (it's sort of a bear crawl pushing the weighed ViPR tube)

200 meters
20 squat presses
20 ViPR pushes

100 meters
10 squat presses
10 ViPR pushes

I did all my running in the 7:30-8 minute pace and actually finished all three sets in under 20 minutes.  Tough, effective, and quick!

Take A Walk Tuesday

After a hard workout Monday, decided to lay up a little bit Tuesday because of my hamstring and that I wanted to go hard in Dirty 30 class and intervals training on Wednesday and Thursday.  So just stretched and walked.

Push Ups & Assisted Hops In Parking Garage Gym

On Monday I had my usual Kinesis and Pilates session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  It was such a beautiful day that we took my Kinesis session outside and hit the parking garage.  That means running stairs (single steps, double steps, sideways), lunges, push ups, triceps dips, up and overs, jumps, and all sorts of old school fun.  Two of the exercises I did were push ups into side plank and assisted hops.

The the push ups, we found a curb.  I did a push up straight into a side plank then returned to a push up starting position, push up, side plank opposite side, then back to start position.

After running stairs and 10 burpees, I did 20 assisted jumps.  The trick with these is to think about jumping up and over something while holding on to the railing.  Trying to capture a picture while I was at the top of the jump gave Erin and I a great laugh.

Here's a video of both moves:

In Pilates, we did a lot of ab work and some serious work on my hamstring. My tweaked hamstring is giving me fits!  And of course I don't want to totally rest like I probably should.

Travel, Stretch, & Walk the Dog Sunday

After my tough Saturday workout I'd planned to take a rest day today and do something easy.  I got in some time on the foam roller since I'm still having a tight hamstring issue.  Once I flew back in to Denver and got home, I took my dog out for a nice long walk in the park.  It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the mid 70s so the park was packed, which made for a fun dog walk for us!

Walking Course To CrossFit

Saturday turned into a little bit of an all morning workout.  I started out with two friends walking the course at Oak Hills Country Club.  We got out there about 7:15am to beat the golfers.  It was a beautiful cool morning in San Antonio.  With the peacefulness and serenity of the course, it was definitely a great way to start the weekend.  We walked about 3 miles.

Then I headed over to meet my friend Christy.  We power walked for 1.5-2 miles since we had about 20-25 minutes to kill before heading over to our first CrossFit class.  She'd signed up for it and since I was in town I tagged along.  There were a few others from her office participating in this intro class at River City CrossFit as part of their corporate membership program.  Eric and Erica were our coaches.

Here's the breakdown of our CrossFit class:

Warm up:
Frog jumps up and back
Shoulder rotations with PVC pipe
Lateral shuffle
Karaoke shuffle then sprint 2X


High Hang Cleans - I did my first round with just the 45 lbs bar, second round at 50 lbs, ad third round at 55mph.  These are starting in jump position hold bar at waist, jump up while simultaneously bring bar up to collar bone height to rest with elbows out front as you land back in in a squat then stand up. Lower bar and repeat. We did 3 at each weight.

Next some cardio.  Our series was 400 meter run, 25 squats, 25 burpees.  I completed in time of 4 minutes 47 seconds.  We had 9 minutes to fix series.

The we went in to Tabata style intervals.  These are 4 minute workouts that consist of 20 seconds of going as hard as you can then 10 rest, repeat for the 4 minute duration or 8 cycles.  


First 8 cycles of exercise were abs on the domed ab mat.  We started laying on floor back on mat, feet close to butt, and arms extend out over head. You sit up bring arms overhead and reaching beyond toes on floor.  I did a total of 89 of these sit ups.


Next cycle was squats.  These were butt below knee level squats then back up.  If you hit a number in a round then that was your number or less for the remaining rounds.  I hit 16 squats in first round, 15 in second, 14 in third, then held at 13 squats for each of the last 5 rounds.


After that I rolled a little on the foam roller and called it an awesome workout morning!

Walking Along

Friday I got some catch up time with a great friend.  We went on a morning walk.  She's not a runner so I slowed down to take a walk with her.  A walk with a friend is great exercise but it's also good for your soul to have the time to enjoy being with a friend.

Travel Thursday

No workout yesterday.  It was a work then travel day for me.  I'll take it as a rest day!

Power Walking In The Land of Dinosaurs

I had a shoot for an upcoming Explore Colorado special today and headed back out the Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison.  We wrapped shoot about noon and I wanted to get in a workout.  Normally on Wednesdays I take Mad Abs and Dirty 30 from noon to 1pm but missed the classes today.

With my right hamstring bothering me and sore from intense workouts Monday and Tuesday, I decided I was going to power walk or hike.  If we finished our shoot early enough, I was going to head over the the Matthews-Winters trail in Red Rocks.  But since it was a little after noon and knowing I had a tons of stuff to get done this afternoon, I decided on the power walk at Dinosaur Ridge.  That decision was also made shortly after I saw a snake slithering by on the trail as we headed up Dakota Ridge trail a bit to shoot something.  It was a bull snake, which keep rattlesnakes away...but still I'm not a fan of snakes!

From the gate to the bone site on the other side of ridge is 1.5 miles.  So off I went, power walking my way up the gradual incline of the ridge and over to the other side.  I actually went beyond the bone site to the other gate to get in a little more mileage.  Which meant I probably did closer to 3.5-4 miles.

On the way to my turn around point I really enjoyed watching the clouds roll in over the Foothills.

On the way back the view of the clouds coming in over Red Rocks was just spectacular.  Definitely a right decision to workout, clear my head, and really enjoy a cool place.

Fell Off A Box

If you were at Pura Vida Club yesterday about 12:15pm then you likely saw me fall off a 2 foot box/stand when I did a squat jump. It was one of those slow-mo falls. I landed on top of the box but shifted weight back just enough that I looked like I was one of those Nestea plunge commercials from the 80s...except there was no pool or water to fall backward into.

I was really tired yesterday and completely brain-fried that I forgot my camera for workout.  If I would have remember it, Cristina would have totally caught that fall on video.  Good thing for me I guess.  Bad for you since you miss out on a seriously good laugh at me.

Once making sure I was okay, trainer Cristina said, "Well, at least you know what it feels like to fall."  Yes I do and then what it feels like to laugh at yourself then get right back up and try again.  I had no problem jumping high enough to easily clear the box but for some reason my brain didn't want to trust I could do it. Determined, I jumped again and again. That first fall was the only one in high intensity intervals session.

I warmed up with a few minutes of walking but instead of doing sprints, since my right hamstring is super tight and bothering me, Cristina had me go to the rowing machine for row sprints of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. I did these for 8 minutes staying under 2:12 for 500 meters pace.  The last one I went under 2:00 pace for part of it.

I stretched out my hamstring on the foam roller for a few minutes.

Then it was over to the 2 foot box/stand.  First exercise was stand on top of box, lunge, step hop on top of box, then lunge with other leg and repeating as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Then repeating two more times.

Next the the box squats. After the fall I did one set of 10 then a set of 6.

The weighted ViPR was next.  Cristina pulled out one of the biggest (i.e. heaviest) ones. She had do a side lunge leaning the ViPR over to the side, then up and quick switch to lunge other side.  I did three rounds of 30 seconds going as fast as I could with 30 second rest in between.

She dropped the ViPR weight for me to do lunge presses. As soon as I tried, my hamstring said no.  So she switched me to fast squat presses - squatting with ViPR at chest level then pressing it overhead as I stood up.  Being bull-headed I tried lunges with press for the second round and powered through but for third round of 30 second interval I went back to the squats.

I wrapped up the 30 minutes high intensity intervals with more rolling of the hamstring on the foam roller. Guess I need to use mine at home more!

Glide with Rower Abs

Yesterday I did my usual Monday workout of Kinesis and Pilates with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  One of the exercises she had me do in Kinesis was what I call rower abs using gliders.  If you don't have gliders, you can use towels on a hard floor surface.  These are super effective.  I did 10 just back and up then 10 (reach right then back reach left counts as one) reaches.

Here's Erin coaching me through the rower abs with gliders.

Just to give you an idea how tough my Kinesis session was, I ended it with 1-0 burpees.  That's after all sorts of cable exercises, the rower abs, jumping rope, and jump lunges.  For the jump lunges, Erin had me do 2 sets of of 20 seconds with 20 second rest in between and she called that my intermission.  Yes it was a tough workout that extended in Pilates which included a lot of abs and jump board moves.  It was more like cardio Pilates to me - jump board is tough....especially doing single leg jump board moves for a minute each then doing jump board small leg circles.  No wonder I'm sore today!

Roll the Hip, Lift the Foot

Yesterday I took the 8:30am class at Pure Barre's Cherry Creek location.  I rushed in because I was running late due to a wreck.  So a little flustered I jumped right in to a class that was packed!  This was my favorite Pure Barre class that I have taken.  All the classes have similar moves but for some reason the format of this class better suited me.  It was probably because we did a lot with the double bands and balls.

One of my favorite moves during the class was sitting on the floor with one leg crossed in front and the other to the side.  Holding on to the bar, we first just rolled hip forward of the leg that was to the side.  The keeping knee down, lifted foot up and down.

Courtesy: Pure Barre
This is the knee on floor, lift foot move.

Then picking up knee slightly off floor and pushing it back.  We did these slow then quick pulses.  The moves are small but tough.  

Up To Highest Point In Red Rocks Park

Even though I was pretty tired Saturday, I got up and took to the hills.  Two of my cousins decided to do the last minute hike with me.  We planned to beat the cold, rainy and snowy weather and yes we did.  We hiked up Mount Morrison, which neither of my cousins had ever done.

Instead of just up and back down the same trail, we actually started on the backside in Idledale, which has an elevation of 6,460 feet.  We started at 8:20am and made it up to the top at 9:07am, in 47 minutes.  We were moving at a pretty good clip to reach the top at 7,881 feet, climbing about 1,400 feet.

It was beautiful at the top with views of some of Colorado's highest peaks including Longs, Evans, and Pikes Peaks.  One of my favorite views was Mount Evans surrounded by clouds.

Then at 9:20am we started the over 1,400 foot and 1.3 or 1.4 mile hike down, which was very steep and rocky.  It's considered a Class 2 hike, which means you have to climb in spots and use your hands to maneuver.  There were a few moments I regretted that I was in running shoes instead of hiking shoes.

But through some climbing through rocks and a few slides on some small scree we made it down and were walking to breakfast at 10:30am.

Definitely a thigh burner and great workout in just over two hours.  

Rest Day Turned Mega Work Day

Friday I was planning to take a needed day of from workout.  Good thing since after working the AM shift, I ended up having to go back to station to cover the 9pm and 10pm. Yes, it was a very long day.

Got 30? Go High Intensity Intervals

Yesterday was a high intensity intervals session with Cristina at Pura Vida Club.  I love the tough, kick your butt 30 minute workouts.  Cristina does make me laugh though when she tells me I have another round with a smile.

She had me start with a quick walk then jog warm up on treadmill as set up for sprints.  My right hamstring has been a little extra tight for a few days so I did 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off sprints from 6.5 mph up to 10.5 mph, increasing speed by .5 mph for each sprint.  I had an average pace of 8:42 mph.

Next up lateral jumps shuffle and forward hurdle hops.  Let's just say I wasn't exactly Miss Graceful on those!  These drills are not something I normally do, which is great because they are that much more of a challenge.  Cristina had me do 4 passes of lateral then rest, 4 passes of forward (right lead 1 & 3, left lead 2 & 4) then rest, then do two more rounds.

Then to the ViPR, or weighted tube.  I did a squat swing through then hop twist.  Cristina had me start with just squatting and swinging the the tube up before I advanced to adding the 180 degree jump.  I did three sets of 10 of those.

Here are those two exercises:

I finished out with some glute and hamstring stretches. In and out of gym in 30 minutes...and got a workout that kicked my butt!

Modified Tabata Combos

Yesterday was my usual Wednesday Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club.  They are 30 minute classes that absolutely kick your butt.  When walking out of Dirty 30, two guys behind me walking down the stairs comment on how tough the class is and how much it pushed them.

One of the class participants yesterday that made me work harder was a guy on his first day back from having a collapsed lung.  We were doing the triceps round and he was sitting it out.  Just thinking he was tired I said come on you've got this.  That's when he showed me scar and told me it was his first day back.  Let me just tell you that watching him do the up and overs on the step, you'd never know he was recovering from collapsed lung.  I told myself if he can go that fast then I have to go faster and work harder.

So here's the workout that is modified Tabata and we did two rounds.  You do first exercise for 20 seconds, got straight into second exercise for 20 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds.  Equipment you need: Bosu ball, step on high risers (we had stacks of four on each side), and either a 10-pound or 25-pound plate.

You do 4 rounds of each combo for a total of four minutes at each station.  Then repeat for a second time.

Combo 1 with Bosu ball:
Bosu burpees with push up (flat side of Bosu faces up, ball side down)
               
Deck squats (ball side up, lay on ball, roll up to low squat then stand up, then back down to start position)

Combo 2 with weight plate:
Plate squat press (squat with plate then press plate straight overhead as you stand up then back down)

One arm row (1st & 3rd round with right arm, 2nd & 4th round with left arm)

Combo 3 on step:
Tricep dips (legs fully extended)
Up and overs (going up and over steps - not length-wise - as fast as you can)

Get through all three combos twice and you are done!

Trekking Across Dinosaur Ridge

After a shoot at Dinosaur Ridge, I decided instead of heading over to Red Rocks that I was going to run/hike the Dakota Ridge Trail.  Erin from Dinosaur Ridge said the views are spectacular...but watch for rattlesnakes.  Now that's a different run for me - run and watch for rattlers!  So I parked my car at the gate entrance of Dinosaur Ridge and started running up the road to the trailhead.

Right at the trailhead I noticed a mountain biker and decided to let him make it down the last switchback before I headed up.  I asked him if he had seen any snakes.  Just one he said, then commented on how early it is to see them.  Great.  Blame snakes coming out early on the weather!  He told me where it was and I had so ground to cover before getting close to the snake spotted zone.

I jumped on trail and started the climb up to the ridge line.  I quickly noticed the ever-changing terrain and constant rolling of this ridge.

It wasn't long before I got the great views of Red Rocks, Morrison, Golden, and even Denver.

There were a couple of spots that I just had to stop and soak up the scenery of the Foothills, jagged rocks, petrified trees, and the trail that lies ahead.  I kept going through the trail that does turn into a single track trail through rocks and boulders in a few points.

I asked a few other folks if they'd seen any snake.  All said no until two women said yes and that it was about 30 minutes down trail in the ravine.  There was a guy hiking a little ways behind me so at least I knew if I did run into a rattler there would be someone not too far behind.  About 10 minutes after I ran into the women a guy was running the other way and said he didn't see the snake.  So feeling a little better I kept going, but still slower than I normally would as I was keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes as I traversed the ridge line.

As I got closer to the ravine, a guy named Jason was on the home stretch of his run and took the raven and uphill to next ridge peak with me.  Actually nice to have someone to chat with for a bit on my run/hike. I hit my turn around point and was able to take the trail back at a faster pace since I wasn't so scared to run into a snake but still had to go back through some tough terrain.

 
It took me 45 minutes to get all the way back to my car, including a couple of stops to take a few pictures.  The Dakota Ridge Trail is 2.2 miles and add the distance to and from my car to trailhead and it was close to 3 miles each way.

It's a great run or hike.  Make sure you take water, wear sunscreen, and watch for snakes!

Calves Roll Out

I did my usual Monday Kinesis and Pilates training session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  My calves were still sore from being shredded in the step class I hadn't plan to take last Thursday.  My calves were so bad Saturday it hurt to walk!

Some how that still didn't get me out of running the stairs in Kinesis.  Erin had me do cable work with so quick intervals to get the heart rate up like 20 seconds of mountain climbers used Bosa ball will ball side down and flat side up then straight into push ups keeping Bosa ball in same position, then  repeat.

In Pilates she put the through the ringer as usual but left some time in session to roll out my calves.  Erin used a bar to roll on them then had me use the foam roller.  I'd used the roller before for my calves but only rolling calves on it, not rotating leg on the roller.

Here's Erin talking me through the calves roll out.

Happy Easter!

I took a pretty easy day since my calves are still extremely sore from accidentally taking a step class.  So I just enjoyed a great dog walk, stretching and getting some chores done at home as a workout.

Happy Easter!

Gone Fishin'....Float Fly Fishing That Is

Yesterday I did a first me - go on a float fly fishing trip.  I went out with Sunrise Anglers on the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs.  Since you're in a flat bottom row boat or skiff, you do have to balance.  I was actually surprised how much balance and core work I was getting standing at the bow and fly fishing. Of course, not as much as my guide who was rowing!

Travel To Glenwood Springs

Friday was a road trip to Glenwood Springs, about 2.5 hours west of Denver.  So after work, I drove there and got in to Glenwood Springs about 3pm.  I spent some time touring the Hot Springs Pool Lodge, Spa of the Rockies, and the hot springs themselves.  It was almost 5pm when we finished and I had dinner plans with friends there at 5:30pm.  So I did get some walking on the resort tour and to and from dinner but that's it for a Friday workout.

Did Not Mean To Take Step

Thursday I had one hour for a workout - that was it, no more, no less.  So I bolted over to take the new 11:30am Fit Body class at Pura Vida Club.  The class description was:

Give your metabolism a kick start with this cardiovascular and muscular challenge. Keeping your heart rate elevated with bouts of cardio intervals while sculpting the entire body with balls, bands, weights and more. cardio * strength * flexibility

So when I went in and the instructor said grab a step and mat (and nothing else), I should have clued in that it wasn't going to be what I thought it was.

I quickly figured that out as we started in to warm-up.  It was a step class.  A few folks left shortly after the class started.  I'm sure they were like me and expecting a different class.  But I was an aerobics instructor for awhile and always hated it when someone walked out.  So I decided I was already there and to go all in for it since I only had that hour.

After about 20 minutes I remembered why I gave up teaching step.  My knees do not care for it and it does require a lot of concentration to follow routine, something I hadn't really mentally prepared for since I thought the class was something different.

I made it through but it was a long hour workout.  I did enjoy the few one minute drills like push ups, tricep dips, lunges, and jump overs we did.  I just wasn't in to doing a step routine.

Oh well I got some cardio. But my knees and calves have paid for that class for three days now.

After the class I headed over for my final Airrosti appointment on my shoulder.  Dr. Wilson said I lean my head when rotating my right shoulder.  That's probably why I still had some tightness.  So last treatment and it feels good.  Love being able to rotate shoulder without pain!

Modified Tabata - Get It Done In Under 30

Today I booked it over to make the noon Mad Abs and 12:30pm Dirty 30 classes I usually take on Wednesdays at Pura Vida Club.  


In Mad Abs, Cyndie had us use a Bosa ball and medicine ball for today's class.  We used the Bosa for almost the entire class including doing some lower back strengthening doing Superman lifts on them.  Mountain climbers, walking planks, slide crunches on Bosa with both legs off floor were all part of the abs fun today.


For Dirty 30, Tim had us do modified Tabata, which is four minutes of intense interval or circuit training. We had three stations today.  Here's the breakdown:


Cross over lunges then extended lunge for 20 seconds - cross your right foot in front of and outside your left foot so you are in a curtsy position lunge, then push off that right foot, and taking it out to the right to land in a 90 degree lunge with right leg while left leg straightens in a side lunge position.
Repeat with left leg as lead for 20 seconds.
Rest 20 seconds.
Repeat 3 more rounds.


Handle medicine ball kettlebell swing for 20 seconds - squat then swing handle medicine ball up to shoulder and repeat  using the power of the squat and hips to help with lift of the ball.
Shoulder press for 20 seconds - elbow even with shoulder and press ball up. Free hand is down by your side, not on hip.
Rest 20 seconds.
Repeat two moves again on each arm.


Body bar row for 20 seconds - make figure 8s as you paddle with the body bar using straight arms. Hips should stay square, abs in, and be in an athletic stance with knees bent slightly.
Mountain climbers for 20 seconds - in plank position with feet on gliders bring knees forward to elbows as fast as you can.
Rest 20 seconds.
Repeat 3 more rounds.


Then do another round of all exercises. Have fun!

Going The Rounds With High Intensity Intervals

I was absolutely thrilled I was able to squeeze in a high intensity intervals session with Cristina at Pura Vida Club today. With the snow it was looking like I was going to have to cancel which would have meant a no workout day for me. Instead I got a good old-fashioned butt kickin' today.

Cristina had me start with a quick warm up on treadmill then right in to sprints of 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. I did sprints at 6 mph, 6.5 mph, 7 mph, 7.5 mph, 8 mph, 8.5 mph, 9 mph, 9.5 mph, 10 mph, and 10.5 mph. Thinking I was done there...boy I was wrong. After a 40 second rest, I hit 11 mph for 20 second then a 30 second rest and 30 seconds back at 8 mph.

At some point in 10 mph spring, Christina said, "You're getting in the best shape of your life." Yes I'm going for it and pushed through. In the 11.5 mph sprint, she said, "You've got this." Yes I did....but barely!

We moved on to the ViPR, or weighted tube.  Cristina had me do three 30 second rounds of curtsy lunges with a jump up should press.  After the second round, I looked at her and said you're going to make me do three rounds aren't you. She just looked at me and smiled.

Next the ViPR drag. That's starting in plank position. Drag the tube with one arms. Move backward three hand placements then drag tube with other arm and repeat sequence for 30 seconds.  I did three rounds.

Finished off with a warm up 30 seconds on rowing machine then three rounds of 30 seconds rowing as hard as I could with 30 second rest in between.

Here what the ViPR and rowing exercises look like:

Abs on the Foam Roller

It was back to going full steam today with my usual Monday Pilates and Kinesis session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  Kinesis was filled with burpees, slide out push ups, of course cable work, and some abs on the foam roller.  I actually love these.

I have a foam roller at home and it is one piece of equipment I think anyone into fitness or working out should have at home.  I actually got introduced to mine by Dr. Jason Garrett with Airrosti in San Antonio (also now in Denver and a few other cities).  He gave me one for my IT band. Rolling out the IT band on it is no fun but a necessary evil for the runner in me.  I love finding new ways to use it and Erin has had me do crunches on it before so we decided to share this move today.  You'll be surprised how challenging it is, especially when you try crunches with one leg up in the air. One tip for that, step out wider with the floor on the ground for more balance if you need it.

Yes it is one of those moves you can do while simply watching tv.

Here's Erin explaining how to do abs on the foam roller.

Walking & Cleaning

Sunday was a clean up and clean out day for me.  Still not feel super great from allergies decided to just go out for a nice dog walk in addition to mile long list of chores I need to make a dent in at home.

Strolling Vail

I didn't get much of a workout in Friday but at least I did something!  Still battling allergies and not feeling so great, I headed to Vail after work.  When I got there I had about an hour to enjoy just wandering around Vail on a beautiful day after some plans had gotten cancelled for the afternoon.  I didn't a have a ton of time before getting ready for an evening at the Vail Film Festival, but I did get to enjoy a relaxing stroll.