CRUSHED IT!

Oh hell to the yea! I crushed it! I'm so doing a virtual happy dance right now you have no idea. 

I did my first run today! Now, mind you I will describe for you kids what I did, and I'm thrilled to hear from you, those of you that have been running for a while, on tips and pointers to help me out. I'm reading a ton of good stuff HERE on Women's Health & Fitness, but I love hearing from you all, my blogger world of BFFs! ;-) 

So, I tried my Asics Gel Nimbus shoes (for a peek at these bad boys, you can CLICK HERE) I have to tell you all, these shoes are like running on a mattress. SO SOFT and so cushy. I'm wowed. I wore my Polar HRM of course, (stay tuned because I'm getting a newer one very soon and I'll be sharing a lot of exciting Polar stuff in the next couple of weeks! Yay!) and my new Under Armour bras! (Wow I kind of sound like a walking advertisement in this paragraph, but please note, I am NOT getting paid to mention this, I did not get any of this stuff from the supplier, I'm mentioning brands here because in this case, specific brands/styles help and are important.) Let me tell you on the bra note: OMG. These bras rock. First of all, it doesn't take 7 hours to get into the bra, because it zips up front. Second of all, the girls didn't rock all over the place. Here is the note of brilliance; I didn't even NOTICE my boobs. I wasn't even aware of them during my workout. These bras are incredible. Those of you with boobs know what I mean when I say how much of a big deal it is to not notice your boobs when running or with plyo...I'm used to always feeling my boobs, knowing that it was hurting in some way or worried that I was going to pop out of the bra. Yeaaaaaa. These bras are COMFORTABLE, easy to wear, and they do the job. I'll be buying a LOT more. 

So I looked up a high school near my house, because I thought it would be nice to run on a track. My neighborhood is very hilly, which is great for walking, but I think me RUNNING up and down steep hills as I'm starting off is maybe not such a great idea? So this high school is 1 mile away. I left my house, and ran down this hill and then crossed the street and ran UP a very steep hill. By the time I got to the top of the hill I was at 165 on my HRM and I got a cramp! This is my "thing" that I have to conquer...the cramping. 

**Now, I think there were a couple things here. This might be TMI but I think I needed to *pee* before I left my house and I didn't. Also I hadn't had any water before I left. Is this a cramping factor? Do you guys take water with you when you run? Also, I'm sure going UP that badass hill was pushing it.**

Walked the rest of the way to the high school, found the track and it is LOCKED UP. Rats. But, I didn't let that stop me. Right by the track is this huge parking lot and then there is a big STAIRCASE up to the high school. And this area is monitored by video cameras, so that makes my mommy happy. I plan to come back here but I think I will drive for a couple reasons. #1 is I can bring water and my phone with me. #2 when I'm running, I want to run. Not walk a mile there and a mile home. Not that this is a horrible thing but that's just my preference. I'm hoping to build up to the point where I can run all over the place, in my neighborhood, up and down hills etc. But I think it might be smart for me to start my runs on a flat surface; do you agree? 

I did one lap around the parking lot RUNNING. Then I did one lap speed walking. Then I did another lap RUNNING. Then I walked around to the stairs. I ran up the stairs all Jenny Lynn-like and holy hell, my Heart Rate was at 177! That's when I was wishing I had some water! Came down the stairs and did one more lap, then walked home. By the time I got home I was at 525 calories burned.

I did get cramps. After running UP that big hill at first the cramps under my right rib area were bad. The kind where I stretch my arm up away from that side over my head and breathe to get air into the area.....it took me walking a while and breathing right to get the cramp to go away.

Tell me your thoughts on my cramps; is it breathing or water related?? Cramping is the #1 thing that prevented me from becoming a runner girl before. I WILL CONQUER THIS. 

After all, my name is Kelly which means WARRIOR. (I'm not joking look it up. I'm so cool.)

So, all in all. I feel very good about my first try. My adrenaline rush was big! And then I came home and did a killer shoulder workout, followed by some planks. Total calorie burn of 875 Calories. WOOT!

So glad it is a holiday weekend. I'm home, I finally feel better. I'm going to work on the last pieces of my book, do a Massage and Movie tomorrow after church and then hang with the family on Monday. What are your plans??

Tomorrow I'm going to have a profile of a very cool new fitness friend who is kicking serious bootie. Stay tuned.

So, runners! Tell me your tips, your ideas for me starting out. How long do you run and how often? Do you do gym/treadmill or outside or both? Do you eat before running? Do you deal with cramps? 

Also, I had to share these two videos below. Don't laugh at the late 90's workout gear, but this video was one of the early "tapes" I bought to workout with at home. This CherFitness one had a step workout, ending with some KILLER standing leg work and glute work (which you'll see below) and then some abs work. It is Keli Roberts in the video training Cher and I tell you, these leg moves are really awesome. No weights, but this will work your lower body HARD. I love the idea of mixing up my workouts between heavy isolation training and then moves like this. My body reacts well in every way. 

**Gotta love YouTube people- no excuse for not working out, you can find killer workouts for free online any time!! Notice, on the first video, the leg workout starts around 1:22.