Category: Triathlon

It’s cold, snowy and early.

 

REALLY early.

 

I’m awake ready to hit the gym, but Mother Nature has yet again dropped a mix of snow and ice on us. The roads are a slippery mess. So bad in fact that school has been cancelled again.

 

My trip to the gym has been thwarted.

 

Luckily I have another workout out option.

 

I head downstairs for my morning sweat session with trainers Jamie Zacharias and Stacy Redwine.

 

Ok, so maybe Jamie and Stacy aren’t personally in my basement ready to whip me into shape, but I DO have their new workout DVD, Mash Up Conditioning.

 

 

It’s been a long time since I popped in a workout DVD {er..video tape}. So long in fact that leg warmers might have still been in style. It’s been hard for me to get into the workout DVD mindset, because all I can envision are old school moves like grapevines and jazz hands.

 

Well, this isn’t your old school video.

 

I’m not the most coordinated person, and workout DVDs can be somewhat intimidating with their complicated combinations. However, the Mash Up workouts are easy to follow. In fact, it’s the perfect mix of workouts I’m already doing at the gym.

 

In each workout there are three trainers who provide examples of beginner, intermediate, and advanced options for each exercise so you can safely progress through the different levels.

 

 

I was also worried that the advanced examples wouldn’t be hard enough, but yet again this DVD surprised me. Can you say plyos? OUCH!

 

Each of the 7 fifteen minute workouts included on the Mash Up DVD combine 5 minutes of Mind Body exercises, 5 minutes of Agility and Strength exercises, and 5 minutes of High Intensity Intervals.

 

Which means if you only 15 minutes you are good to go.

 

Have more time?

 

You can combine the 7 sessions to customize a workout to fit your schedule and fitness level. It will keep your body guessing and keep you motivated.

 

 

The best part …

 

There’s a countdown timer in the left hand corner of the screen, so I know how much longer I have before I can collapse in a heap.

 

 

Are you ready to start MASHing it up?

 

Enter the Rafflecopter below to get your own copy of MASH UP Conditioning. The giveaway will end on Monday, March 3 at 8 am.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Oh, and if you are a fitness professional looking to expand your training, MASH group training certifications are available.

**

The Nitty Gritty: I received my copy of MASH UP Conditioning as part of my Girls Gone Sporty Ambassadorship, but all opinions and love of sweaty workouts is all my own. 

The alarm has gone off three times and each time I hear it’s muffled wail I quickly press snooze, roll over and cuddle deeper under my smooshy down comforter. My eyes close, but my mind begins an inner dialogue that goes something like this…

 

“You really should get up and head to the gym.”

 

“But I’m so TIRED.”

 

“Get up you will regret it if you don’t.”

 

“But the hubs car is parked behind mine and I don’t want to move it.”

 

“No really get up, you will feel better after you workout.”

 

“But it’s so FREAKING cold!”

 

“Get your BUTT out of bed!”

 

“Fine.”

It’s a pretty long monologue that ensues before I finally pull myself from my bed nest and make my way to the bathroom. Groggily I splash water on my face, pop in my contacts, squeeze into my sports bra and tights, and make my way downstairs to my frigid car.

 

The moment I walk into the gym I’m greeted with smiles and lots of “hi’s” {it must be all the endorphins}. In the locker room I hear “it’s good to see you this morning,” I look up and see a woman whose name I don’t know, but I swim with her almost every single Wednesday morning. We don’t know each others names or family, but we share the same passion for swimming and fitness.

 

As I make my way out to the fitness floor, the “morning girls” are there. Still I don’t know their names, but we see each other almost every morning at 6 am. “We missed you the other day,” mentioned one of the girls. “Yeah, I slept in,” I said reluctantly. “Well, you are here today, so that’s good,” she replied.

 

It was nice to be missed.

 

It was even nicer to be encouraged.

 

That’s something about the fitness community that I LOVE the encouragement, the smiles on the race course, the cheers. It’s like we are all working together for a common goal. It truly is a community … but it’s not just this day that proves it to me.

 

It’s the days when I post a fitness selfie and I have friends tell me I’m “awesome” and say “way to go”

 

 

It’s meeting a stranger on the first day of your kickboxing class and almost three years later you are still best friends.

 

It’s having your spin instructor tag you on Facebook to encourage you to attend class.

 

It’s talking triathlons with a fellow mom who lives in sunny Arizona and becoming friends even though you’ve never met in person.

 

Fitness is about more than six pack abs, and a tiny butt. It’s about building friendships, empowering yourself and being inspired by others.

 

Each day when my inner monologue begins I remember these friendships and they are what get my ass out of bed and into the gym.

 

Thank You for encouraging, inspiring and empowering me.

 

On a side note…

 

If you are looking to meet some fitness minded folks that can encourage, inspire and empower you, there’s an app for that, called Activebudz. Created by a friend and one of the most inspiring people I know, the app connects you with other athletes and is like a “friend finder”. The interface is similar to FB, but instead of looking at cat videos and taking surveys on which Star Wars Character you resemble, you will be connected with fitness fanatics who like to swim, bike and run, just like you!

 

The app is brand-spankin’ new and it might take a while to get all the information out there, but as they say Rome wasn’t built in a day.

 

What are you waiting for? Go and download the FREE iPhone* app and start meeting your Activebudz.

 

*Activebudz is only available for the iPhone. My friend needs to sell another body part to make the Android version, but rest assured it’s coming.
Download it here: Go TRIbal Activebudz

 

*This is not a sponsored post, just me spreading the word about my friend’s awesomeness, and giving my fitness pals a shout out.

 

Last Memorial Day, only 3 weeks before my triathlon, my hip decided it didn’t want to run anymore. In fact, it told me in no uncertain terms by the excruciating pain radiating up and down my leg, that it didn’t want to do much of anything other than sit on the couch and watch TV.

 

Sorry hip that’s not an option.

 

Not with a race only 3 weeks away.

 

So, I paid a visit to my local sports medicine doctor, told him what was up. He shot in me in the ass will a cortisone shot and the pain {kind of disappeared}. The hip was jacked up enough on pain meds that it made through the race and I continued running, biking, swimming.

 

Eventually, my hip’s bliss wore off and it started to rebel again. I kind of figured it was time to get some answers instead of just a shot in ass.

 

A couple x-rays and an MRI later, it was determined that I had tendonitis of the hip.

 

I was benched from running.

 

I was ordered to do PT.

 

I told to continue my ART {Active Release Therapy} at the chiro.

 

I’ve been doing all that since October, and slowly {very slowly} it’s getting better.

 

But I’m scared.

 

With each twinge of pain as run, I back off and give up. My “fight through it” mentality is gone.

 

In its place is FEAR.

 

FEAR that I will never run without pain.

 

FEAR that my triathlon career will be over sooner rather than later.

 

FEAR that the voices {those skinny, mean, bitchy voices} will return.

 

I know in my heart that fear can take over and eat me alive if I let it, but still it creeps around the edges.

 

As I’ve been progressing through my recovery, I’ve found some ways to keep the fear at bay.

 

BABY STEPS –

I’ve granted myself grace and backed off a bit.

 

Being benched from running was THE WORST [which is ironic since I used to HATE running}. However, I looked for other things I could do. Like lifting weights, biking, and swimming. I also completed my PT homework every day, like a good student, which is always harder than it looks.

 

Now that I’ve been given the green light to try running again, it’s been hard to rein it in. Measuring in minutes instead of miles has been a challenge. But looking ahead helps …

 

Which leads us to …

 

LOOK FORWARD INSTEAD OF BACK

Like I said looking ahead to my goals and how far I’ve come squashes the fear.

 

I discovered early on that if I dwell on how my injury happened, where I was a year ago, etc, it just increases my anxiety. Instead I picture myself in a new chapter, starting all over again. Who knows this might just make me a better and more efficient runner … which means faster … Yeah baby!

 

Finally…

 

REGAIN CONFIDENCE

Every time I have a PT appointment I think of skipping it. Mostly, because I’m doing my PT exercises as part of my workouts, and I’ve mastered them. But I go and when I do my Physical Therapist kicks my butt by mixing up my exercises. Then I master those and he gives me more … it’s been going on like this for weeks. While it’s hard, it’s also rewarding, just like competing. This constant struggle and achievement is helping me regain not only my mental confidence, but my physical confidence as well.

 

After my injury I looked at myself and my body as a failure. Now that I’m seeing progress and achieving goals I have a more positive outlook on my recovery.

 

Hopefully, some of these techniques will work for you too.

 

I know I still have a long road ahead, but I will reach my destination, because fear won’t hold me back from the finish line.