Gym-iversary

An old Instagram picture popped up in my Timehop today.

It was a sad blurry pic of my foot on a treadmill.

However, that sad blurry picture reminded me of where I was two years ago. I had put the health and well being of my preemie twins first for all of their short life, and I felt it was finally time to work on me for awhile.

Their first trip to the Y was interesting, in fact that first year was always touch and go. Would the gals let me actually get in a workout today? Or would I be constantly looking over the shoulder, wondering if the daycare attendant would be searching for me to come get my inconsolable child. If anything that made me work out with more intensity, who knows how much time I would get today! 

It's been 2 years since I started going to the gym regularly and it's been such a breath of fresh air in my day, both mentally and physically. Now, while the gals enjoy the daycare, I workout, read a book, or just completely veg out on my phone.

Over the first year I was able to lose the 50lbs I had gained while pregnant with the gals, and then because I was on a roll, I went for 40 more!

I've also learned a lot about myself these past two years and I'm continuing to grow. The joy of lifting, running isn't for me anymore, and now this year's venture is Yoga and Mindfulness. 

So don't think all those New Year Resolutions are a sham! I'm proof that these goals are a great way to kickstart a healthy lifestyle. 

Happy New Year Y'all! 

The Trail Bites Back

Oh man did I start out this run like a cocky bitch.

Gorgeous day. Cloudy. Breezy.

Perfect for running. My new found love for running the trail eases my achy bones and keeps my mind calm. I started out confident and strong. Leaping over roots, avoiding turtles, and even circumventing a few scary bugs.

Y'all. This nature kid hates bugs. Did I ever tell you about my camping trip to Florida? No? Well long story short, finding palmetto bugs on the inside of your carefully placed bug net after you've already crawled inside to go to sleep is NOT fun.

Anyways.

After avoiding a particularly frightening bug, I descended down the trail, picked up speed, and caught my foot on a root. I tried to over correct, ran faster, but I knew my big ass was going down. Right now I'm blaming the bug for my misstep. It surely could not have been my fault.

I felt like I was going in slow motion. All I could think was: "Ouch. This is going to hurt." There may have been some choice expletives running through my head as well, but we won't worry about that.

Then I went all GI-Joe and Superman mixed into one. Instinct kicked in, I tucked, put my shoulder down first, and completed a masterful roll/flip and popped back up so quick, you would have thought I did it on purpose.

Now when I fall on a regular run (I have to admit that it's happened more than once) boy does it hurt. I usually go straight down, bust my hands and knees, and my ego hurts the most of all. This time? Instead of looking around ashamed, hoping that no one saw me, I looked around and wished that someone saw my masterful feat.

I only had a small cut on my knee, and since I was already standing again, all I had to do was brush off the dirt, and finish my run.

So thanks trail running. I'm now able to add on another reason why I like you so much. When I fall, my body and my pride doesn't hurt so much.

Breaking the Routine

Routine. I usually thrive on it. Schedules are fabulous and very necessary in this household. It's what gets us through our days and leaves us with at least a small bit of sanity.

Over on Instagram I've started doing an Atlanta Mom's Blog photo a day. It's been fun to check out the hashtag {#atlmomsblog} to see what other local moms are doing throughout their day.

Today's picture was asking for your morning ritual. Pretty standard here, wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, drink coffee, and go to work. If I'm lucky, 3-4 times a week I go to the gym.

I'm a standard gym rat. I run, walk, and lift. Nothing too fancy. Every now and then I'll throw in a HIIT class or some cross training on the Arc Trainer. Oh and I catch up on Twitter, but y'all already knew that. When I started my whole weight loss journey, I simply did what worked for me to get the weight off & that was it. Nothing extra. Now that I've lost 90 pounds, I'm no longer striving for shedding the lbs, but maintaining my hard work, building muscle, and having fun. 

Here's where I'm going to break my normal routine. While I want my gym visits to be entertaining, I also want them to be social. There are lots of mommies who take classes at my Y, so I'm going to force myself to take all these crazy classes they offer, have fun, and make friends. Today's class? Zumba.

Oh Zumba Y'all. For those who don't know me, I'm 6 feet tall, pretty athletic, and have zero dancing ability. So picture this giant in the back of the room, taking her first Zumba class, looking like a complete jackass. 

I started out a hot mess. I was slow and concentrating too hard on the footwork. I couldn't understand why people took this class. 

I'm not sweating. 

This is dumb. 

Then the instructor yelled "stop looking in the mirror!" It woke me up and I realized that if I wanted a good workout, and if I really wanted to sweat, I needed to not worry about the steps and just move. As soon as I did this, I was able to relax and step it up. Now that is when I began to sweat.

I danced, I jigged, and I just enjoyed the music. I had a blast watching the only gentleman (who looked about my dad's age) in the class bust a move. I pushed myself hard & got a good workout in. I will definitely take this class again, and next time I want to wear my heart rate monitor to compare it to one of my normal workouts. 

Lots of the mommies were chatting after the class, but I scooted out quickly and skipped the friendly banter. Let's just do this one step at a time. 

Crazy dance class first, new friends next.

I promise I will push my social comfort zone future!

There's No Overthinking When You Are On the Trail

Today was one of those days that I needed to desperately get out of the house.

I needed to be by myself.

I needed to just get away for a few.

I wanted to go for a run, but my foot & knees have been bugging me lately. So a jaunt around my hood wasn't what I was up for. Not to mention, our new locale is just not very running friendly.

As soon as the gals' heads hit the pillow for nap time, I was in my car heading for the Laurel Ridge Trail.  It's just around the corner and follows the shoreline of Lake Lanier, the Chattahoochee, and the Buford Dam. It's well shaded and good for any type of hiker or runner. While it doesn't have a lot of traffic, it does have a lot of beauty.

I haven't done a true trail run in ages. I'm going to rectify that and do this more often, because I had a blast. I needed some time out of my own head, not to worry about the day to day, and a trail run was just what the doctor ordered. I couldn't be bothered by my problems, because I was too busy concentrating on not busting my ass while dodging all the roots and rocks! I felt like I was back in Maine at summer camp bouncing all around the trail. I was having fun.

The trail is a loop and with the direction I go, the Dam is close to the finish. This makes for some steep running at the very end of your run, but it was a good challenge! I was beat!

The best part about this trail is that it starts and ends right on the lake. So it was nice to cool down after my run right by the shore. I will definitely be coming back to do this trail again, even though it was a challenge, I wasn't bothered by my usual nagging knee and foot pain.

I'm probably in the market for some trail running shoes now. Anyone have any recommendations?