legs - great to hear you back!!!

You are amazing...P90X, CF, bodybuilding...I have come to learn that you and so many here are really really crazy!...

...I think that is why I like to hang here.

I think you are right about C2...

...it is more challenging than C1 for me.

My approach to it is this way...C1 was fun and exciting...

...now I have to decide...

...am I serious about this...

...or this just going to be another one of those fades and phases that you go through,,,

...when that thought comes into my mind, it just gets me ticked...

...I want this...

...I am going to have this...

Thanks for pointing out that for all of us this can be hard at time... I am not going anywhere...

I am learning to stay true with BFL but also learning to have a little fun with it...my UBWO ...

...I have mixed in a little circuit training as shown on the Transformation site - 5 upper body lifting sets of 10 reps each then a minute or two rest and repeat five times. It has given me DOMS again and pushed me in another way where perhaps I have not pushed as hard with the traditional BFL approach... I must have gotten lazy on the UBWO.

The plank and other fun things...I agree it is not worth getting hurt over...but I gotta find that boundry...which brings me to Laura'n'

You know the only thing worst than being wrong is being consistently wrong. They say the most important thing to a person is their name and I will start treating your name, Laura, with the  Tender Loving Care it deserves.Thanks for pointing it out...perhaps this plank thing is affecting me mentally. I did love the blog talk about the 5 min plank and I am not to excited about the 'hurl' approach ;-)

Another thing I noted was the 5 minute video of the plank.

Looking at it, you can tell that minutes 1-3 are nothing (at least the guy made it look like it was nothing but fun). Well they are something, but looking at his face, you can tell the determination really does not kick in until about minute four, and then from 4:30 on you get the feeling that he is thinking...not going to let this thing beat me...then a few seconds later...cannot quit...then perhaps (using my own imagination here) ...why did I ever agree to this challenge by the Siffers...then he is done...Amazing... Or it could be that he is just trying to keep the hurl down LOL. I think we take the challenge minute by minute and see how it goes. Still want the 5 minute goal...but like all hills/mountains the steepest part of the slope is near the top. I am training like I own it...Hey, at the worst I will walk away with a new set of abs and stronger core to go with it. So, still going for it with caution! I'll probably need you guys to remind me when I am between minutes 3 and 4 why I signed up for this...either way I am just enjoying the ride!

Awww!! Run4Life, I was JUST about to change my avatar to Larry! Kinda likin' the thought of changing it up! :)

No worries. But I could tell you are the sort of person who's in this group for the long run, and I'd hate the awkward explanation when we all meet up as a group someday and someone lets it slip that I'm really Laura... :)

I squeaking out of work early today to get to my workout. It's GORGEOUS outside! Gonna take my HIIT off the elliptical and onto the pavement.

Has anyone else done the cardio interval workout from BFL running outside before? Heck, maybe that ALL you guys do.

I've only done it once or twice in one of my other challenges. It was a nice change from the numbers of the elliptical. I really did have to do "perceived" effort. But it was fun.

Then home to practice some of those plank positions in the video Run4 posted!

Can't wait for my first LBWO tomorrow! That's my favorite.

Donald, I'm the opposite of you--I love squats & lunges. It's my upper body & abs that are wimpy.

DAT'S ALL GONNA CHANGE!!!

Lins! So excited to hear about your gardening with the kids! You home school too? Wow woman. You're one of those stellar people. I have a lot of respect for that. Way to go. Sorry to hear about the rotator cuff though. That's a brutal injury. Take it easy, okay?? maybe one of those bitty step stools in front of the toilet for your little one? I know how it goes though. Sometimes the "placement" of the kiddo is a little more urgent than just "okay! Step up here sweetie and sit down." Anyway, I hope you're able to get some good days of rest in. Glad to hear you're icing.

Maybe you can still do squats & lunges? Those were my saving exercises when I had my neck surgery. I'd use an exercise ball at my lower back as I was standing against a wall. With my arms at my side, I'd squat til my knees were a perfect 45 degree angle, and shins straight up & down. Hold for a long count, then slowly stand back up. Can add weights to that too. I didn't have any home weights, so I'd load up books or canned goods in small bags.

But rest the shoulder, whatever you do.

What are the rest of y'all working on this week?

See you tomorrow!

Laura KP

Laura!  Welcome back girl!!  So happy to hear the knee is doing great.  I love that you surpassed your goal!!! Way to go!  The knee seems to be getting stronger since I have started CF.  Danno and I are still looking for dead people together  :-)  All is well.  My goals by the end of the summer is a handstand pushup and a muscle up...it's gonna be tough, but we can do it!!  When I first started working on my handstands a few weeks ago I could only stay up for a couple seconds, now I'm starting to try and kick off the wall to stand on my own...it's worked for a second or two  lol

Hi Mike, Donald, Legs, Run, Opti, Bryan, and Lins....and I know Patti and Jessica are somewhere out there :-)

Things are going good, I've had some great workouts...every muscle in my body hurts.  My workout for the day is already done but I want to go back in the gym and play  :-)

I posted this on Donald's FB already, but here is what I came up with to help me get stronger to be able to do my muscle ups...I put a resistance band on my rings.  After I get good at this weight I'll move up to a bigger band

I hope it works...where there is a will there is a way right?  LOL

And I want to try and get Tony to build this in the backyard for me LOL

Sagittarius Horoscope 4-25-12

You are feeling the urge to talk more today -- things are kind of stumbling along slowly, and it may be a good time to forget about progress and just rethink what you need to do next.

I have not posted in 12 days.

Opti - Thank you. I love eating primal. I do not get super hungry/angry every 2-3 hours anymore.

Donald - Thanks. I enjoyed my last long run. No more for 3-4 months. I don't do pilates because I believe torture is unethical.

PattiOnePercent - Welcome back!

Laura KP - Congrats on signing up for a 5k. Ellen and I were considering doing one the same date but her ankle is hurting from the "barefoot" running/jogging we did Monday. I had knee issues in March but I feel stong now and the toe shoes don't hurt my knees. I actually got them to prevent knee/foot pain. Some people mix training in standard shoes and barefoot and you should try on a pair to see how they feel.Also, I have been wanting to try CrossFit for a while but I too like the alone time and fosucing inward working out alone on weight days. I did the cardio intveral BFL hiit outside at the end of C1. Man that was an eye opener and MUCH harder. I have done it 2-3 time since then and it is alot of fun but I don't get as a distance as on the treadmill.

run4life - Setting big goals you are not even sure you can accomplish is a good thing. Motivation is harder during C2. BFL C1 was a challenge but now that you know you can do it are you feeling less challenged? You should put your video on youtube and post it to the form to get advise on form.

MikeC - This forum is FULL of Tweakers and Freaks but 100% BFL by the book is still a great program/system. I did 2 challenges before I started modifying.

Legs - P90X was fun but Tony Honrton is kinda annoying. I am glad the DVD has a music with cues only audio setting.

Darcy - I am still considering making a home gym in my detached garage. It would save us $75 a month for 2 gym memeberships. My roommate moved out in July but left alot of stuff and it taked up half our space. I asked him to get it out by November but no such luck. He is getting married in September and we should have it all gone by then. It gets too hot here anyway. We have the option to suspend our gym membership so maybe I will try out having a home gym when it cools off this fall. Thanks for the advice on the facebook message.

I enjoyed my Half Marathon on the 15th. It rained the last 6 miles on and off. I did not set any records but it was cool to run my 4th half marathon in 5 months and a nice way to end 7 months of training. My endurance training is over until August.

The primal challenge is going great! 10 days in and every meal but one has been home cooked so far. The meal out was at Chipotle and healthy. We are buying organic produce and some meats and grass-fed beef from a CSA we joined. I am looking forward to our chickens laying eggs. It is also helping us budget our food better. Saturday we spent the last of our money (minus bills) on groceries. I challenged Ellen to plan it out to make it last 6 days till our next paycheck. The RNG showed me a number I have never seen before this morning. I went to but some new cargo shorts on Friday and found out I am at a new size but they only had plaid so I didn't get anything.

"Barefoot" transition training is going good. I did my first full mile this morning in 11:08.

I just spilled coffee all over my shirt...

Hi everyone!

Great pics Bryan and Darcy! Fun to see what you're up to!!!!

Running outside for the HIIT didn't go very well at all yesterday. Pretty discouraging actually. I realized that running is still difficult enough for me that that perceived effort 6 climbs to 7, 8, and 9 before the level-6 minute is up. So I found that just continuing to run for those 4 minutes, then walk one minute, then run 4 minutes, then walk 1 minute, etc, still ends up looking like the graph-with-peaks, but it wasn't what I expected.

The discouraging part was that my left heel has been giving me troubles. I thought it was just plantar fasciitis (or whatever it's called) that tendon from the low calf that goes under the heel and to the arch. I've iced it that last few times I've run, and made sure to stretch it after not moving around for a while, but yesterday it felt like my heel bone was poking out the bottom of my foot.

I have an appt with the orthopedist day after tomorrow. I'm hoping there's nothing structural--that it's just that tendon and there's some stretches I can do, and maybe like a heel-cup or something that helps spread out the impact.

I really have my heart set on running the 5K for Autism on May 19th. I'm willing to rest it in between days--but I'm not even up to 2 miles yet, so I still have some work to do if I'm gonna get to 5K.

But I'm excited for my LBWO and plank practice tonight! I had to write down the different plank forms to have in front of me next to the stopwatch so I don't leave any out! :) I may just start with a regular plank and get a baseline before I start trying to vary the positions.

Day 3 of no wine! (and to clarify Donald, yes--no alcohol either...not even on free days...None til Done baby!)

Hope everyone's rockin' on!!!

Hey! Here's a great recipe you might like. If your diet is Primal (Bryan, me), this makes a GREAT soup! If you're BFL'ing, it makes a GREAT sauce over spaghetti:

Spaghettini with Tuna [or Primal: Soup with Tuna and no Spaghettini :) ]

1/4 c olive oil

2 6-oz can whole tuna in water (drain)

28-oz can whole fire-roasted plum tomatoes

2 cups vegetable broth

chopped fresh parsley

red pepper flakes to taste (I used ground–we were out of flakes--turned out great)

heat oil in large saucepan

mince garlic into pan and brown (do not let burn).

add tuna –try not to break it up too much–but get it all garlicy.

add tomatoes and broth. break up tomatoes with spoon.

heat to simmer.

add pepper and parsley [and I added black pepper too].

Serve over spaghettini noodles

[or in a bowl]

Laura - Thanks for 'plaining the tweeks and modifications.  I'm with you in the Le Crewe des Freaques.  Haha.  I would love to track this challenge with you!  I hope your Dr. finds the cause of your pain!  

BryanL - Thanks as well.

Girlcop30 - Those don't look legal!  (Talk about modifications, Bryan!)

Hope all of you have a great evening; see ya for coffee in the morning.

Mike

BTW:  Luck Man!  I am.  Greg Lake performing for me (and many others) tomorrow night.  Are any of you "old" enough to know who I'm talking about?

Hey all! Had to hop back on one more time tonight.

I was so discouraged about my run yesterday that instead of heading to the gym for LBWO, it's one of those rare, GORGEOUS 65 degree Spring days here in MN. Apple trees in full blossom, lilac fragrance all over the place, I just had to run instead.

I wore a Tako insert in the lowest shoes I could find suitable for work, and lo & behold, by the end of the day, my heel felt like a minor ache rather than a searing pain.

So I wanted to see what it felt like to run.

I did my 1.76 loop without stopping and it felt pretty good!!! It hurts, but it doesn't feel like an injury-hurt anymore. Now it's more like a DOM-hurt--like if you try to do your HIIT the day after a brutal LBWO or something.

Anyway, it was still an hour or so before sunset, so when I got home, I put Dash on a leash and walked another mile through his favorite trails. Now I'm sitting on the porch, admiring a light breeze, laptop keeping my legs warm, and watching the sunset.

THIS makes yesterday all worth it and I just had to share the good cheer. :)

I'm still gonna keep my appointment with the orthopedist on Friday and see if he can recommend some decent inserts or something...but it's time to find me a 2.25 loop I'm thinkin'!!! :)

Hope you're all having a beautiful day too. Tomorrow it's squats, lunges, calves and abs for real. Nothing like flip-flopping the work outs the first week in. Oh well.

Laura - couple thing.

first - 2 miles that is great - you will hit the 5 K mark. Just keeping the momentum during the run increases the difficulty (kinda reminds me of the plank)...and continue the runs as you are...soon the effort will not seem to be so intense and then you can pick it up again. run walk is the way to go...you can then continue to change the ratio as you get stronger or increase the intensity of your run. I don't know if it will help but Jeff Galloway ( an olympic Marathoner) has a whole program dedicated to this run walking technique. You could go to his web site and see if there is any insight there that can help you. I have three of his books and trained for three marathons using his techniques to enable me to complete three marathons. By the way run walk could even be run jog… He also talks about techniques on how to run using different muscle group by changing up your stride…such as glide running or shuttle stride…it tends to give some of your secondary muscles a little bit of a rest while continuing to run.

I think his program works if you are just patient - sounds like this BFL program...result will come just be true and patient. Glad you found a potential solution of the foot pain. That is tough to run through.

OK the second thing...I love your humor...your post a while ago..."Awww!! Run4Life, I was JUST about to change my avatar to Larry! Kinda likin' the thought of changing it up! :)" I gotta tell you I was taking a break at work and drinking my water like a good boy ...when I came across your post and the avatar change to Larry statement. Well, next thing I knew, I was getting up to get a towel to clean off my computer screen as I could not keep the water in as I was laughing so hard. You keep me smiling.

I got about five additional folks on another blog also saying they are going to try the Five min plank...so we got our own ab training group going.

Finally Laura...I have had three free meals in a row and during the last one I kept thinking of your tag line..."Sabotage is NOT part of the plan." I am done with free meals for  while...I even passed up a Culvers meal as I was forced to pull up to the drive through for the family...I had Lentil soup waiting for me at home ..>Yummy!

Glad you were able to smell the roses this evening on the porch.

Copgirl - glad the workouts are going strong.

bryan - awesome photos on the runs. You make it look so easy.

Mike - I have Lucky Man on my oldies but goodies playlist on my Ipod…love that song when I want to slow it down a little! It will be an awesome show...jealous here! :-P

OK I still have a cardio workout in my future (tonight) and trying for my second 90 second plank…just to make sure it is not a fluke.

Keep it strong coffee crew.

oh my, so much activity!!!  

i'm not caught up on reading, so forgive me for not replying or responding to any of the last pages.  

Now that the forums are working again, I've been busy and will be practically gone all weekend.  My kitchen's a mess with dirty dishes everywhere, but I've been eating 100% clean the last few days again!

i will try to get caught up in little spurts here and there.

i love creamer in my coffee, how do i substitue that? as i drink 4 cups a day...LOVE My Coffee..!

Gilrcop30, hey!  Sounds like you're doing awesome!

Laura KP, thanks for the suggestions on squats.  I think I could do that!  I can't add weights, at least not for a while.  The AC joint would be pulled on too much.  Maybe I could find one of those weight vests somewhere...  Who knows!  The 2 y.o. is doing it all on her own now (she's a quick learner!), so no worries there anymore.  The hubs and my 8 & 9 y.o. daughters have taken over the laundry, so no lifting there.  

Yes, our plants have been a fun adventure.  We've made a couple hundred $ already, it's fun for them to see the fruits of their labor (me too!).  We have always had a veggie garden but since we don't know when we're moving, I didn't want to plant one and then have to leave it behind.  So we just have the plants we are selling (we grew about 350 of them!).

I will take care of myself!  Thanks again for the encouragement!

Have a great day, coffee crew!

Laura KP - Do you land on your heel when you run? Good job on the runs and not letting a little pain stop you. 

MikeC - I may only be 28 but I love Emerson Lake and Palmer. 

Run4Life - It it without a doubt not easy but it is lots of fun. 

jlm86 - Just do what I did 3 years ago. Give it up cold turkey. I guess unsweetened almond milk would be ok. I use it in my protein shakes Sometimes. 35 calories per cup.

I am loving having home cooked food every day. I keep a spreadsheet of my weekly weight every Thursday (for 173 weeks now) and I at my lowest ever. Legs showed me you can push past a longtime plateau and do amazing things. I tend to lose more body fat the weeks I don't run or run less than 2 miles at a time.

Everyone should read Born to Run

Can I just say YOU ALL ROCK! :)

Love the pics and inspiration I find in this house EVERY day.

I can't write back and reply and comment to all the amazing...just wanted you to know that I am proud, and from you all I draw strength in fighting my OWN demons.

C1, C2, C6 .... heck we all are here for the long haul and if there is nobody at home or on the phone that I can talk with to get out of a funk, I KNOW this house will.

Thank you all, old and young for being so awesome.

Oh one more thing,

run4life - thank you for helping me realize that I need to be back.

Hi all!

Legs--darn right you need to be back! You surely knew that all along! But happy you're taking Run4's advice. :)

Bryan--a friend of mine also just read Born to Run and has been wearing minimalist shoes while working up his distance--just like you. He's dealing with a lot of plantar fasciitis as could be expected, but working on the stretches and keeping to the plan. He wasn't nearly as dedicated a runner as you prior to starting to go barefoot. But I'm next on his loan-list to borrow the book.

I do land on my heel. In traditional running shoes is that the way you should? Ha ha...traditional...barefoot should be traditional since it's older, but you know what I mean.

Run4Life-- sorry, but a little bit of advice--when you clean your computer screen, you're supposed to spray water from a spray bottle--not your mouth. Just sayin'... (tee hee--sorry about that.)

MikeC & Bryan--GREAT taste in music.

jlm86--I'm experimenting with my coffee. Seems the things that spark me on these days are challenges. Did a 30 day Paleo challenge while nursing my knee back to health, and loved the "you can do anything for 30 days" mantra. For that time, I cut my coffee to black. Like you, I love my coffee. So messing with it is never a good thing. I'm a coffee purist and will simply throw coffee out if it doesn't meet my tastebud's high standards. Anyway, couldn't do milk in the Paleo challenge. COULD do coconut or almond milk if it didn't have a ton of unpronouncable ingredients. But I didn't like it. The coffee never got to the right color. (ok--guess my eyeballs have standards for my coffee too). I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit strange. But I digress.... So like Bryan, I just went to black.

When that challenge ended, the CrossFit Off-the-Chain 50 day no grain, no sugar challenge began. This challenge was to try to win a T-shirt...so the stakes were super high, pressure on! Dang--I WANTED that t-shirt.

Anyway, dairy was now allowed, but sugar wasn't! That was another change-up to my very calculated potion I call coffee. But you know what? Other than the occasional plain/no sugar latte, I've actually grown to like my coffee black.

Sometimes I'll add a little honey  or coconut palm nectar. But you never know--tell yourself you'll try it for a week or two weeks. You never know--you might just like it.

Out of curiosity--are you opposed to ANY milk? 1% in the small amount used certainly would be okay with the BFL challenge, right? But I know--if you're trying to cut out all sources, I get that.

Lins--SO cool on the plant sales. I'm a plant hound. I work on a college campus and anytime someone posts that they're moving offices and can't take a plant with them, I'm there to adopt it. I don't have a garden set up at our new house yet. (We moved in 1 year and a half ago) and was hoping to this Spring, only to find out that the one area that would work best sun-wise and out of the way of the ongoing baseball tossing in the yard is surrounded by 3 black walnut trees. I found out from a landscape guy who helped us get the property sodded that their roots are actually toxic to most garden plants. :( So I'm most likely just going to container-garden. The bulk of what I'd want is spinach, grape tomatoes and herbs anyway, so my sights are set pretty small.

LOWER BODY WORKOUT TODAY COME HELL OR HIGH WATER!!!! :)

Larry KP