Getting Back Into It

Hey guys! I know it's been awhile since I updated, I have been working out but I wanted to take a break from blogging for awhile after doing it every day for over 2 months. After the Spartan Race, we trained but not nearly as often. My sister, her friend, my cousin, and I did the Color Me Rad Run which was a lot of fun. It's a 5k through streets where you get doused with colorful powder or liquid every 1km. By the end of the race we were extremely colorful but it was a lot of fun. Next year I'm hoping we'll wear costumes to have even more fun with it. Videos to both races can be found below.

During the summer, I travelled quite a bit and thankfully did manage to keep up with workouts. I use a lot of workouts on youtube (recommendations below), and while I was in Florida I went for runs on the beach in the morning and did strength exercises in the nice air conditioned room afterwards. Two days after being home from Florida, I was heading off to a field course in the Adirondacks where I was hiking for the majority of the day so I didn't do additional workouts. Since then I've slipped out of my workout routine so I'm going to continue posting my workouts and thoughts on those workouts here to keep me motivated.
I recently bought two workout dvds from Jillian Michaels so I've been trying those out. This past weekend I tried the Kickbox FastFix which was so much fun. I love kickboxing so this was a great workout for me. It was one of her easier workouts, though it certainly didn't feel that way during the workout itself. It includes lots of kicks, punches, and weight exercises. I only have 3 or 8 pound weights so I used the 3 pound for now, though I will hopefully be buying 5 pound weights to use. My only complaints with this dvd are that it doesn't include a warm up and the cool down didn't have enough stretching to prevent my upper back from being incredibly sore the next day.
Today I decided to try level 1 from the other dvd, 30 Day Shred which was intense. It has a warm up, then 3 circuits of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs for a 20 minute workout. I once again used the 3 pound weights (after trying the 8 and deciding I would be insane to use them) and by the end of the workout everything was burning. It works your legs, arms, abs. It's only 20 minutes so it's going to be an intense workout without breaks.
My current plan is to rotate routines to keep things interesting as I get bored with routines if I do them too often. I hope to include runs (both street and hill), dvd routines, youtube routines, and maybe pilates on the WiiFit for off days.
I don't know if I'll post updates every day but I'm hoping that keeping a blog of workouts will motivate me. Hopefully you'll enjoy my fitness journal and if you're starting a workout routine feel free to leave me comments on your progress!

Workout Recommendations:
Jillian Michaels Kickbox Workout
Fight Club - HiitCombat #4
Suck It Up - HiitCombat #2
Jillian Michaels: Banish Fat Boost Metabolism Complete Workout
I Made It Without Vomiting - ZWOW 57 HIIT
Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 1
Arms and Abs Home Workout


Spartan Race and Color Me Rad videos: