Feeling Guilty for Exercising??

At least get out there with them.
From Freesurf Magazine

“I would feel guilty getting a babysitter for my kids just because I was exercising.”

These words were actually spoken to my friend by her neighbor. So I’m just going to go on about that for a minute. Would this same woman say, “I would feel guilty getting a babysitter for my kids just because I was going to a museum (or going on a date with my hubby, or spending some time with friends, or taking a class, etc?)” Would this woman say, "I would feel guilty taking my daughter for a bike ride because she should really be doing something better with her time?" I don’t know. But maybe she is not familiar with all the benefits of exercise. Here are a few:

1. Exercise improves your mood.

2. Exercise combats chronic diseases.

3. Exercise helps you manage your weight.

4. Exercise boosts your energy level.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep.

6. Exercise can put the spark back into your sex life.

7. Exercise can be — gasp — fun!

8. Exercise can increase mental focus.

9. Exercise can improve digestion.

That’s just a little info. For more details check out

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676 

or

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/fitness/articles/2010/06/30/0630healthexercise.html

I’m not saying she has to exercise, but to make someone else feel badly because they are taking the time to exercise--that is a little weird and twisted to me. I think exercise helps me be a better mom by reducing stress, helping me have more energy for my kiddies, etc. I just want to take this woman by the hand and take her for a nice walk around a lake and see if she lets a little sigh of relief escape. Or maybe give her $20 to pay for a babysitter? Or maybe just tell her mothers don't have to be martyrs...

One Band and Rope Climbs

Global Times
This is Ronaldo cheering for me as I did my rope climbs....umm. I'm sure everyone wanted to see a picture of me doing the rope climb, but since I didn't take one, I just threw in a pic of Ronaldo as my salute to the world cup. P.S. If you want to see the foot technique for the rope climb, just do a rope climb search. You will also notice that CrossFit people and military people are the only ones crazy enough to carry on the rope climbing tradition from 1950s gym classes.

I am down to one-band pull-ups, but it’s not pretty. I did six in a row today and then had to rest. We had to do 30 in all and my last—say 20—were pretty pathetic. I’m not sure my eyes even made it over the bar. But they did get done. I am learning that I have to push myself to make real strides. Some others who started Foundations with me are already down to no bands, which is really impressive. We’ve only been doing this for 6 months. They were in better shape than me when they started and are more consistent about going. But I’m still happy with the progress I’ve made. It’s good for me. I’ve probably never been this strong in my upper body.

I also surprised myself by conquering the rope climb. I was able to climb to the 12-foot mark. Our trainers showed us how to wrap one foot around the rope and then step on the rope with the opposite foot. That way you can anchor your feet and use your legs to push you up. It reminded me of rock climbing. Sometimes when I rock climb I tire out my arms because I’m not using my legs enough. Then I remind myself to stand up on my legs instead of pulling myself up with my arms and I have a lot more power. So once I used my legs more in climbing the rope, I was able to get up 12 feet. In our workout we had to do 3, then 2, then 1 rope climb between other exercises, and I was able to do it. It wasn’t until I finished the entire workout that I noticed I had scraped half the skin off my right outside calf, bruised my thigh, and filled my fingers with little rope slivers, which I picked out of my skin all day. Why can’t they have a polyester rope like they use in rock climbing? Would that be too expensive or something? Seriously. Next time I’ll remember to bring long socks, gloves, and two pairs of shorts.

Eat More Fat

It's working for me--really. I'm eating an avocado a day, taking fish oil, having olive oil on my salads, eating olives, and I only eat butter, no margarine or hydrogenated fats.

I saw this video on the Dialed-In Nutrition site. Pretty interesting.

Organic Co-op Food

My food co-op is now delivering organic food to our pick up location, so I gave it a try. It cost $10 more ($36), and the organic baskets had less food and different food from the regular baskets. But it is still a good deal for fresh fruit and veggies—especially all organic.

We got peas, mangos, cantaloupe, mini peppers and beets, which I love, and the others didn’t. But they got strawberries and blackberries and some other stuff that we didn’t. All the food was good and yummy. The avocados were definitely smaller. We also got apriums, which are apricot/plums—sort of like the Labradoodles of the fruit world I guess. They were okay. My daughter the adventurous eater liked them. Sometimes I wonder if buying organic is worth it. Can I really afford it? And aren’t these pollutants all around us anyway? In the water, air, plastics, etc? But then, if it’s only ten dollars more, why not? A little less pesticide has got to be good for you, right?

Calluses

These are not my hands.

Image credit: CrossFit

But at our gym, a few people's hands look like this. Holding the weightlifting bars, the pull-up bar, and the rings will give you calluses after just a few days. I didn't want mine to rip, so I looked up some info about it. Wow. There was lots of info and advice about calluses--one person even uses a  Dremel to file hers off! Another guy had this whole spiel about soaking your hands and scraping them with a butter knife. Gross and time consuming. I thought I'd just take a page from my running days. (That made it sound like they are over--I've got to do some more running!)

Lots of running will give you calluses on your feet. If you don't file them off, they get too thick and can rip or cause deep blisters. Same thing with calluses on your hands. I used to file down the calluses on my feet with a pumice stone in the shower and put lotion on afterwards. I've done the same thing with my hands, and it has worked well. Orange and Ginger Bath and Body lotion to be precise. It smells so naiice.

Anyway, you don't want to file your calluses right off or they will be too tender to grip the bar. You have to keep a little callus-ness. If you are a hand model, I don't know what to tell you. You might have to try some fancy gloves or something.

Riding Is My Ritalin...and My Prozac

Riding Is My Ritalin is a great article from bicyclingmagazine.com. It makes a lot of sense to me because I’ve found that exercise is sooooo critical for me. It helps me sleep, digest, feel more happy and energetic. Last year just before Christmas, I was not exercising at all. I didn’t like my gym, and I couldn’t find anyone to run with me in the dark, cold mornings. (What? That doesn’t sound like fun?) I was a piece of work, crying over dumb little things, stressing, and feeling CRANKY. That works really well for my family…

In January I started exercising again at crossfit and that, along with some other stuff, helped me do a 180 turn around. I just felt like the troubles of life could roll off me like water on a duck’s back. My very, very favorite thing is exercising outside in a beautiful place. Nature kind of rejuvenates me somehow. My next favorite is at least getting outside anywhere and exercising. And then if all I can do is exercise inside, that’s still pretty good. I know not everyone is so rejuvenated by exercising, but I wonder if it does have at least some of these positive side effects for everyone. And I wonder how I can get my kids to like aerobic exercise as much as computer games. Wouldn’t that be nice? If they were constantly asking me if they could go outside and ride their bikes and fighting over who got to go first? They do at least like riding. And they love the trampoline. So that’s a start. Maybe I’ll tell them the doctor insists that they exercise for at least a half hour a day before they play computer games or watch tv. Would that be naughty?

Mountain Bike Race at Five Mile Pass

This is how the terrain looks at Five Mile Pass. The race went up and down all the foothills in the mid-ground.

Race number two: I almost beat my sister! She started out faster and took off into the hills. I figured I wouldn’t see her dust until I crossed the finish line. But then, not too far into the trail, as I approached a steep climb, I saw her ahead, walking. “Are you okay?” I asked her as I rode by. “Just went out too fast,” she said. I was ahead of her for most of the race, but then in the last half mile (or maybe even less) she passed me and beat me by just a few seconds. She came in second, and I came in third. I think I was stronger on the MANY steep climbs, but she is stronger in endurance. She rides more often, and I, of course, crossfit more often. We missed the snow in the morning, but after our race it started to hail. Buh-bye trail. See my sister's version of the story at http://girlcycles.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/lehi-5-mile-pass-too-crabby-for-photos/

I missed crossfit for five days and wondered if I would lose strength that quickly. Nope. I actually did better than I ever have on my front squats today (squats while holding the bar up by your neck and kind of resting it on your clavicles). My best one rep max was 90 pounds, and today I did 5 reps of 80 pounds—so I think I could definitely do more on a one rep max. Also, I am down to two bands on the pull-ups. I did that a while ago but forgot to mention it.