Monday, May 30, 2011

Run Your Butt Off... Let the Games Begin


I am a fairly active individual. I love swimming, yoga, Zumba (the funnest workout I have ever done), dancing, hiking, and all around, playing! I'm a pretty energetic person - I LOVE to move. It's fun to get out and sweat, and my day just doesn't feel complete without a little ass kicking! There is an exception to my love of being active... I am a pretty lame runner, like I suck. I am "water" not "land." I've been a swimmer since I was little squish, they threw me in a pool when I was 2 and I never wanted to get out again. I'm pretty uncoordinated when it comes to land-sports like basketball. If you'd like to see a youtube video hit a 100,000 views in one day, try to get a video of me attempting to dribble a ball and run at the same time -- oh then trying to shoot the ball into a basket, it's solid entertainment.
My favorite family tradition is the Thanksgiving Day "Turkey Stuffer" 5k race that we wake up at the BCOD (butt-crack-of-dawn) for and run 3.1 miles. After the race finishes at the Willamalane Swim Center, the pool lets the racers and their families swim for free for a few hours! So we run, then swim... then we go home and play football and make a delish feast! Then we eat turkey and within a couple hours the Tryptophan takes it's effect and we pass the hell out! It's the best way to spend the day and I can't imagine my Thanksgiving any other way. The point of bringing up the Turkey Stuffer is that I don't run it, I walk it with a friend or two, and I'd like to be able to run it. I can run, but it's just not very pretty and I want to know how to be better!

I thoroughly enjoy working out and playing but I don't always have all the time in the world and for a workout, there is no quicker calorie burn than running. Seriously, it's been proven. With running you get the most bang for your buck, about 100 calories/mile, in fact. I want running to be a workout option for me, and I would love to add it into my daily activities. "Run Your Butt Off" is a book produced by the editors of "Runner's World," and it's a book on how to start running and lose weight. It breaks down running into 12 stages, and these stages can be completed at the rate that you see fit, you could complete them in 12 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, whatever. I love it so far! I skipped the first few stages just because my level of activity is higher than the book starts off with. It eases the reader into running, I'll show you an example of one of the stages... I can do a more complete description of the stages another time.
Stage 4
Walk for 3 minutes. Run for 3 minutes.
Repeat that sequence four more times.
End with 3 minutes of walking.
Total workout time: 33 minutes, 15 of which are running.
Do this workout at least 3 or 4 times in a week
before moving onto the next stage.
As you can see, it's not too bad! It's a short workout, the stages are never longer than about 35 minutes, and they increase the amount of running as the stages progress until you're running for 3o minutes straight! I'm currently working on Stage 4 this week, I did my first one yesterday, and it went great! I could totally handle the 3 minute sections of running, I probably could have skipped a few more stages but I wanted to ease myself into this and prove to myself, my body, and my mind, that I am capable of doing this! These aren't the only workouts I'll be doing; I try to hike Mt. Pisgah, or some other intense activity everyday, and that will help my running get better quicker! I'll also be shedding weight along the way, which is one of the main objectives. I'm not trying to be some skinny-mini, but I want to improve my running and my increase my activity level, and losing weight along the way is a fun perk!

This blog isn't just a health and fitness blog, but I will be writing about my journey through "Run Your Butt Off" and how it's going. I'm a very self-motivated individual and it's fun to write about my experiences, I hope you can enjoy the perspective and laugh with me along the way! If you feel like joining me, let me know! I'll post the stages and we can be running rock stars!



1 comment:

  1. Ahhhh I love this! I am a very active person too but TOTALLY not a runner! i have always WANTED to like running...but have always hated it! There is a podcast you can download on iTunes that is kind of like this book. It plays music and tells you when to run and when to walk. Andddd the music it plays when its running time is a little faster. Super cool for those (like myself) that aren't runners. I'll have to check out this book too. Thanks Heather! :)

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