A beauty queen must be fit- the pageant includes a swimsuit competition! You must be thinking,
"Piece of cake!"
Kristen, you've been a swimmer for how many years? Walking around in your swimsuit should be easy.
Yeah right!
Not only do you have to be fit to be judged but also have the confidence to walk around in a swimsuit and heels...on stage!
Plan of attack:
Since January I've been
swimming with the
San Diego Swim Masters team at the
YMCA couple days a week, anywhere from 1500-2500 yards per practice. The team has been so welcoming, inspiring and full of great people! This is where I get my fill on some outside-of-the-office socializing.
I've been training for Disney's first EVER
Tinkerbell half marathon at the Happiest Place on Earth taking place on January 29, 2012 (there's still space to register!). I'm gaining the endurance for longer and more consistent
running.
I was thinking about
yoga but had some hesitations, a HUGE bump in the road was the price of membership or even a month of yoga until...
GROUPON. The weekend after I was contemplating a yoga membership, GROUPON came out with a deal for
CorePower yoga, $60 for a month of yoga. How perfect! Thanks coworker Maya for showing me the power of yoga!
Here's a look into a typical week:
Monday - Thursday:
7am - 11:45am: Work
12pm - 1pm: Swim practice
1pm - 6pm: back to Work
6:30pm - 7:30pm: Yoga or Run
I have Friday's off (yay alternate work schedule!) so I'll use this day to get an extra long run in or take my time at swim practice. With such a hectic work/workout schedule, I HAVE to stick to a good diet and making sure I'm hydrating with plenty of water. I like drinking Trader Joe's electrolyte enhanced water, comes in 50.7oz bottles because I can refill it 2-3 times a day and there you've downed around 150 oz. of water. & you'll sweat 2-3 lbs of water during yoga (at least it feels like it) so it's very important to stay hydrated.
Side note: There's this really cool website, MapMyRun.com and it tracks your workouts for you! You can trace your run, bike or walk along pathways or streets. It also save your workouts and it'll calculate how far you went! AMAZING! Thanks coworker Tim!
I try to rest on Saturdays and Sundays but if I'm not at the number of workouts I wanted to get in during the week, I'll just make it up during the weekend. Especially when we have stuff going on at the office, I'll save that workout for later. Plus it doesn't hurt to be walking laps around Petco Park as Padsquad :) Go
Padres!
This past week I tried to run
before work, even though I vowed NEVER to get up in the 5 o'clock hour after years of morning practice.
Lesson #1: Sometimes you have to set aside some things to get other things accomplished.
Wednesday, July 20
5:30-6:30am: Run (2.5 mi)
7am-11:45am: Work
12pm - 1pm: Swim practice
1pm - 6pm: Work
6:30pm - 7:30pm: Yoga
I attempted to repeat this the next day but I was so SLEEPY, I couldn't keep my eyes open enough for yoga. I caught up on sleep this past weekend which was nice.
Results?
I feel like I'm in the BEST shape of my life! Swimming tones my arms, running shapes my legs and yoga helps with flexibility, core and gets everywhere else that hasn't been touched. I think it's a good balance of physical activity for more holistic fitness. & it doesn't hurt for an extra 50 crunches here and there :)
Such a busy schedule does put a damper on your social life.
Lesson #2: Surround yourself with people who will support you no matter what. You can only get so far on pure self-motivation.
xoxo,
Kristen
