Gym or Home Workouts

Are you a gym person or do you prefer an at home workout? For years and years (really all the pre 2020 years) I swore I would never be the person to workout at home. Rewind to the time when gyms closed for a time and we had no choice. It was workout at home or don’t workout at all. I was lucky enough at that time to start to build a home gym. I now have a decent amount of equipment and can get in a good workout at home. 

One perk of home workouts is being able to easily switch up my footwear. I started having some issues with my feet a few years ago. At times it hurts to stand so it is nice to hop on my bike. At other times I might need some type of foot support like a plantar fasciitis brace or even a change of shoes or socks. I have wondered if it is planter fasciitis, but ultimately I don’t think that is it. I have had quite a bit of progress with physical therapy and using some taping. It is nice to know what is out there in case I need further support in the future. 

I am lucky now to have a bike, a decent variety of weights, bands, and a few other things to help the home gym seem a little more like the actual gym. Honestly though nothing can replace the energy of the gym.

I will always be a gym girl at heart, but some of the time it is nice to be able to sleep a little longer and skip the commute to the gym. What about you? What is your favorite way to get in some movement throughout the day?

*collaborative post

13.1 Arizona edition

Waiting for the race to start with Susan and her race friends 

Beautiful views along the course 

Finished!

With Kate at the finish line

Post race breakfast 

Sharon and I have been talking about going to Arizona to run a marathon for a few years. We get excited to sign up and then end up changing our minds. I decided this was the year. I went back and forth between running the full and the half. In the end I signed up for the half marathon and I’m glad I did. It was a really great race. It was so nice to do a half with no pressure on time because the full was still going on. The weather was perfect. The race was very well done. I would absolutely do it again. 

26.2 St. George round 3-wetter than wet

Stacha and I have talked about running here and there at work. One day we started talking about the St. George marathon. She always wanted to do it, and I kind of wanted to do it again. I knew I couldn't run the big cottonwood so I was considering it. We kind of talked each other into signing up.

We drove down to St. George separately and met up at the expo and for dinner after. The weather forecast wasn't looking great so we worried quite a bit about what to wear the next day.

We met for the buses and also met up with Sharon and her son. The weatherman the night before said there shouldn't be any rain so it eased our nerves. Unfortunately it started to sprinkle while waiting for the buses. 

We got to the top and hung around for a hit. Eventually we got in our places to start, and the rain also started. We got our garbage bags out and put them on. We thought it would be temporary and the weather would get better. It never did. We wore them for 26.2 miles.

There were several times where the rain stopped for a minute or two, and we were hopeful. Around mile 17 or 18 we finally knew we weren't ever going to take them off. Stacha started getting blisters in the first 10 miles somewhere. I didn't start noticing them until later-probably around mile 15 or 16. We knew things were going to be bad when we finished, and they kind of were.

I was really proud of us. The weather was bad-really bad. We were pretty miserable, but we stuck it out. We stayed together the whole time, and helped each other stay positive. We had pretty good attitudes through it all. We chatted and laughed and tried our best to distract ourselves from the weather.

Stacha's sister and her family surprised her along the course and cheered in several spots. It was the push we needed to finish strong.

We were so happy and proud when we finished. It was by no means my best marathon time-wise, but it felt like one of my biggest accomplishments. I am so happy we stayed together the whole time-something I had never done before. Our bodies were pretty wrecked for several weeks after from blisters and severe chafing and other effects of the weather, but our sense of a accomplishment made it worth it.

Documenting my garbage bag.

weekend happs

basically crammed a whole weekend into saturday. i worked late on friday and did my usual sunday things (church, laundry, meal prep) things on sunday.

saturday started out well before bright and early. in fact it was pitch black when we started running down big cottonwood canyon. it was starting to get light by the time we got to the bottom of the canyon. we ran around town for a while until people needed to leave. andrea drove me back up the canyon and i ran down again. it is so beautiful. it is still so green. it is a pretty steep downhill so training for the marathon there is pretty important.

 

i finished running in time to run home and change before heading to the pure barre 5 year anniversary celebration. they previewed the new Empower class launching august 14. it is such a fun, sweaty class. the pace is much quicker, and the energy was so high. it was so much fun and a killer workout. after brittany finished teaching, we went to protein house for lunch. it is so fresh and clean (the food and the place itself).

the rest of the weekend was spent meal planning.prepping and general goal setting and planning for the week and month ahead. there's something about sitting down and making plans that gets me all kinds of excited. 

how was your weekend? any exciting happs?

unblogged bloggables-csatt seattle meetup part 2

it was a quick weekend, but we did so much in the short time we were there. part 1 started getting a little too long.

we met for dinner and games at a german pub on saturday night. we had the whole upstairs for our group, and it was nice to have the space.

with robbie, michelle, mandi, and jen

everyone who started in january 2016. papa z may have been sleeping on a bench at this point

i can't remember how or when i connected with jen in the group, but she is another big reason i wanted to go to seattle. she is one of the most consistent people in the group. she is also amazingly supportive and so much fun. i was so happy to finally meet her and get to spend the weekend with her.

mandi and i spent a little time at the seattle temple on sunday morning. it was so peaceful and a great way to spend the morning.

we met up with the group and went to pike's place. we did the typical touristy things-the gum wall, the market, the ferris wheel. 

with papa z, mandi, and lisa

most people left sometime on sunday, but mandi and i stayed until monday. i got to spend a little time catching up with tonya.

mandi and i met jen at her gym for a workout-the very first gym plan workout. it was fun working out with jen, and i knew i was going to love the new gym plans.

breakfast with the few remaining-lisa, jen, papa z, debra, mandi

jen took us to snoqualmie falls

we did a makeup tutorial with jen

we spent a little more time with debra before it was time to head home.

the seattle trip was so much fun. i loved meeting so many people i talk with online every day.

unblogged bloggables-csatt seattle meetup part 1

when i signed up for csatt fitness last january, i really thought i would keep to myself, do the workouts for a month or two, and be on my way. i had basically no intention of being socially involved with the group, and i definitely did not expect to find some of my best friends and soul sisters. i am so glad i was wrong. after a month or two i knew i wasn't going anywhere. i started connecting with people in the group, and all of a sudden i was more socially involved than ever. 

fast forward a few months. people started planning a weekend meetup in seattle, and i decided to go. after the meetup was planned, debra z won the challenge and the meetup turned into her winner's weekend making it even more fun.

mandi and i flew in early in the morning. we went to breakfast, and i dropped her off at debra's. i picked up michelle and jenn and we got in a quick workout. i luckily ended up in an accountability group with them my second month in csatt, and we've been good friends ever since. they were 2 of the biggest reasons i wanted to go to seattle. i was so happy to finally meet them.

jen hosted the group at her house the first night. she had a taco truck for dinner. everyone ate and mingled, and it was so much fun to meet so many people.

mandi, papa z, jen

jen and cody

with jen and michelle (my #APF girls)

with grace, michelle, jen, lisa

kate surprised everyone

we all met at the lake the next morning for stand up paddle board yoga. it was a little bit of a chilly, windy day. the instructor said she would normally cancel the class due to weather. she didn't want to cancel on us so we still had our class. i was scared out of my mind, but i knew i would regret not trying it. it ended up being so much more fun than i thought. it was hard but not impossible. i definitely want to do it again sometime.

we got some instructions with our boards on land before getting in the water. our boards were attached to a rope during the class making it a tiny bit easier than i expected.

after the SUP yoga, Cody did a short workout in the park.

we all went to brunch together after the workout and then had a few hours of free time before dinner that night.

part 2 coming tomorrow