Insanity Craziness

Today has been an extremely busy day. I got up around 7 and did my insanity workout Day 4 and then I went and ran 8 miles. Two of those miles were in my Vibrams. I can already feel my body getting stronger as well as my legs. After that I cleaned my brothers house and helped my niece with a history project she had to do. I am just about ready to crash right now.
Today, I am going to tell you about the Insanity program that I have been doing all week.

Have you heard of this program?

This program is one of kind and involves a lot of plyometrics and cardio building. It is a partner workout to P90X if you have ever done this, but with Insanity it does not involve any weights or other materials. With P90X as well, you are mostly trying to bulk and build your muscles, while Insanity tries to build your cardio and tone your muscles. 

Brian and I decided to try this program out and see what we thought of it. I wanted to help build my lungs up while I am training for my upcoming half marathon in a little more than a month. 

Here is a short run down of what I have done so far through this program. I have been getting up at 5 a.m. and working out before school and then quick shower before I head out. It is exhausting, but I am just keeping my goal in mind. 

Tuesday- Day 1- Fitness Test- This was killer. I thought by the end of this I was going to pass out. 

Wednesday- Day 2- Plyometric Cardio Circuit- This was a lot of jumping and cardio. 

Thursday- Day 3- Cardio Power and Resistence- This works on your upper body strength and your cardio. 

Friday- Day 4- Cardio Recovery- By far one of my favorite days so far. It has a lot of stretching breathing and lunges. 

Saturday- Pure Cardio- Lots of moving. There is not that many squats or lunges, just constantly moving. 

Sunday- One more workout and then I have a rest day. I am so excited to get to this rest day and to get to somewhat sleep in. 

So far I love the workout and I can already feel a difference in my body. I just bought a recovery drink today to be able to use after my workouts. I would post pictures of what I look like now, but I am going to wait until after I finish so that you can see the before and after difference. I am also striving for that Insanity t-shirt if you have some noticeable differences. 

Today I was set to do 8 miles. I set out after my Insanity workout and completed 6 miles in my normal running shoes and then 2 more in my vibrams. 

Next week, I will be running another mud run in my vibrams with my sister-in-law Karen. I am really excited about this mud run, I just hope it is not freezing at this run considering all the water there is going to be. We are going to be a couple of power rangers. I am going to be the red ranger! I promise pictures will come with that. 

Ouches and Pains and Biofreeze, Oh MY!!!!

In the past week I have had an icepack on my calves and on my ankle. I never thought that I would have so much soreness from a pair of shoes, but it is all in good pain. I have kept up with running in my vibrams, but very little. I am not wanting to stress my body out running in brand new shoes.

Yesterday, Brian and I ran in the CASA 5K. I was so happy that he decided to run this race, and while I probably should not have, he did a great job. He came in at 27 minutes (for no training, that is great!) I was proud of him. That was his first 5K this season and probably his only one unless I can get him to run another one. (More recap to come in a couple of days).

I saw some other people running in Vibrams and I asked them if some of the pain I was feeling was normal to what they were feeling and they said that it was completely normal. That made me feel so much better about all the pain that I was not sure if it was normal. They told me that my calves were going to hurt and that my knees and ankles were going to be sore, because I was building all that muscle up in my legs that I am not used to using.

I will be back at running (in the grass) tomorrow. Also, this week I will be getting INSANITY in the mail. I am going to be doing that as my cross training for my half marathon to help strengthen my feet, legs, lungs and my whole body. Brian is going to be doing this with me. I will either be doing this in the morning or evening each day. Maybe I will be able to earn my insanity shirt from the before and after picture!

I hope everybody is having a great weekend.

Half Fanatics

Woohooo I qualified for Half Fanatics on Level 1 (1 Moon) for running 3 half marathons in 43 days. I am so excited. I am about to register for my 5th half marathon in a couple of weeks in December.

Check it out at the very bottom of the page...... Half Fanatics. I am so beyond excited about this!

I love meeting all kinds of runners at different events, so this just made my day knowing that there are people all over the world that travel to run half marathons and marathons! I am waiting on my username and password at this time, but if you have run a ton of half marathons, you should check it out and see if you can join the team!

Am I Crazy....Marathon

I think I may be a little bit crazy, but I am considering running a MARATHON!!!!! My friend gave me a book the other day called Marathon...You Can do it, written by Jeff Galloway! After she gave me that book, I thought well I guess I will try and see if I can run a marathon. I will have run 5 possibly 6 half marathons at that time in the past 2 years and I want to see if I can challenge my body even more. These are some of the Marathons I am debating about right now. I do not want to go very far to run one and I do not want to pay an outrageous amount of money either.

1. White Rock Dallas Marathon- Very possible option
2. Rock N Roll San Antonio- Not to sure of all the hills whenever I am used to training on flat ground. 
3. Houston Marathon- Depending on lottery chance
4. Rock N Roll Dallas Marathon- I have ran Rock N Roll Dallas half and I loved it. 


At this time I am not sure just yet. I am hoping to train with a friend of mine who runs ultra marathons and possibly see if he will run it with me. Am I crazy for thinking about this though!

I am currently training for my half marathon coming up in December...Run Girl Run 13.1. I am training in Vibrams, but I am not sure if my feet will be ready for a half marathon in a them or not, so I am having to switch back and forth between the Vibrams and regular running shoes.

Am I crazy though? I am going to need a lot of encouragement to run a full marathon! That is really going to push my mind and body to its limits.

Vibrams Five Fingers Review

I posted a couple of weeks ago about how I wanted to get some Vibrams FiveFingers, but could not decide which ones I wanted to get. I was so excited about getting new shoes. I have already tried on the Vibrams in a store close by called Luke's Locker, so I knew what size to get. My debate was between the Komodosport and the KomodoSport LS. 

These are the shoes that I decided on....

Komodosport LS

Now, I know these shoes look extremely weird and are not your typical running shoes, however they are extremely comfortable! They pull tighter than the Komodosport. I wanted to get the pink and gray ones, but they were out of my size in that one, so I went with the yellow and gray. It is a more neutral color and I liked them as well.
These shoes are great for walking, running, trail running, mud/obstacle running and just wearing them around the house. I was waiting for these to come to the door, because whenever I got them, I immediately put them on.

One thing about these shoes, is that if you have never worn them before, they are going to take you a little while to get them on. It took me around 30 minutes to get both of the shoes on my feet comfortably.
My feet naturally curve to the left and right depending on the foot, so whenever I put these shoes on I had to turn my feet the other way and work each individual toe into the correct slot. Brian decided he wanted to watch and continued to laugh at me while I was putting them on.

Once on though, I did not want to take them off. I wore them most of the evening and then decided I probably should not wear them to bed. I decided to take them to school and wear them at school the following day, regardless of what everybody would say about them.
The next day at school I wore them most of the day and by that evening my calves were not hurting, but the top arch of my feet were, so I took them off and massaged my feet.

With Vibrams, you are not supposed to train day after day in these. You could risk serious injury in your heels, calves or arches of your feet and legs. These shoes are ones that you have to build your body into.
On Saturday, I decided I would take it slow and run 3 miles, but not run the entire thing, just run some and walk some, so try and start breaking them in.

I got a few weird stares, but that is okay, because I know they were just wondering what in the world were on my feet. After my 3 mile run/walk I felt great and decided to keep them on the rest of the day. This was probably not the smartest thing in the world for me to do. That evening as I took them off, my calves were beyond tight and the bottom arches in my feet were so tight! I grabbed the foam roller out of hiding and started using that and man did it feel good/bad. I have a love hate relationship with my foam roller.

However, my vibrams are amazing, and while I may not be running in them everyday, because I do not want to overdo it, I will be trying to walk in them a little bit everyday. I beyond love them and am hoping I will be ready to take on the WW3.5 Obstacle/Mud Run in November in them.

In Review:
1. Take your time when you get a new pair of Vibrams. Do not take off when you first get them and run 10 miles. You are only supposed to do 20% of your workout at the beginning and build yourself up. 


2. Make sure you get the correct fit or they will hurt your feet. 


3. Buy a foam roller (if you do not already have one) because I guarantee you will need it. Unless you have a sweet husband who has massive hands and can massage your calves. 


4. Wear them around your house/job/town as much as you can before you start running in them. 


5. These shoes are designed to make you feel like you are walking barefoot and they shape to your feet. If you do not like walking barefoot or feel like you need a lot of cushion on your feet, then these shoes are probably not for you. 


6. TAKE YOUR TIME BREAKING THESE SHOES IN! You will not break them in, in a week or 2 like normal running shoes. These shoes take a lot of time. 


Overall, have fun and enjoy the freedom of not having tight shoes that make your toes feel cramped. You will love the feeling of having your toes spaced out and the circulation going through your feet. I love mine and if you have some, I hope you love yours too!

Over Training/Over Racing

Let me start off by saying THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the ideas for a Halloween Costume for my school with a story. I  loved all the ideas and am definitely going to be choosing one of those. Oh and also thank you for your thoughts on the Vibrams that I am ordering. I will let you know which pair I got whenever they come in!
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Many of you can probably guess what I am going to be talking about, so hopefully even if you know this or you have done this your self, you will stick with me and let me know your thoughts!! How many of you out there have signed up for so many races really close together, whether it be 5K's, 10K's, half marathons or Full Marathons? I can attest to this. I ran 3 half marathons in 2 months. Now, this seems okay, but in actuality it is not the safest thing to do.

Rock N Roll Mardi Gras-Feb. 2011

From Runner's World
People who are very physically active sometimes cross the line between sufficient training and too much training. Sometimes in your zeal for excellence, you may push yourself too hard. Overtraining usually occurs when the body does not have enough time to recover from the stress of intense training.


If you are used to training for quite some time and you are ready to race this much, then that is fine. However, if you have not trained properly or have only ran a couple of miles a week, then you need to think before you sign up for races back to back, especially longer races. 

Signs of Overtraining include these, but are not subjected to just these: 

• You constantly feel tired or listless.
• You cannot make further fitness gains or you actually move backward in your level of fitness.
• You suddenly lose weight.
• Your resting heart rate increases 5 beats per minute.
• You have lost your enthusiasm for exercising.
• You feel irritable, angry, or depressed.

Gusher Half Marathon- March 2011

There are many different ways to help or prevent overtraining such as: 

1. Recognize when your body has reached a point of training for that time period. 

2. Follow guidelines, and try to stay on schedule. 

3. Run with others that are at your same training level. 

4. If your body is hurting, take some time off. Do not keep training as hard as you have been. 

5. Pay attention to your shoes. If your shoes or feet are starting to hurt, then you may be in the market for a new/different pair. 

Rodney Horn Memorial 5K- March 2011

I can personally attest to running 3 half marathons and 1 5K (pictured above) in a 2 month time period. From this, I did not listen to my body as I should have and I ended up injuring my knee to the point of having to wear a knee band and having an orthopedic surgeon look at it. I had a syndrome called Plica and it was not fun at all to deal with or take time off from. 

Since then I have watched my body and made sure to take my time and really look at the races that I want to run. I listen to my body and how it feels. There is a DIFFERENCE between training HARDER and training SMARTER! 

Rock N Roll Dallas- March 2011

Just because a medal is pretty or because you can get into a race for really cheap does not mean you have to run. If you are not careful then it may come back to haunt you in the future. I know many people who are training for half's and full's (such as myself) and are working very hard. I have opted to run 1-2 half marathons a year now and maybe a full in my future, but for now I am enjoying running half marathons and mud/adventure races. 

Make sure that you are listening to your body, following a schedule (or at least trying too) and are paying close attention to the shoes that you are wearing. These things can make a huge difference in your training. 

I am going to hopefully get a chance to watch this tonight. I am getting into the fall spirit, because Christmas is right around the corner! SO EXCITED!!!