I realize it’s been a LONG time without a Fired Up Friday. Sorry. I haven’t had much to be fired up about lately in the running, jumping, swimming, biking, swinging, spinning department. I’ll expand in a later post.. maybe.
But this is different my friends, because I am fired up, I am pumped, I am jacked. I am going home! And every achy mile I run and I hear this song come on, I’m reminded that next week I get to GO HOME to Wisconsin!
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I have a new reason to love Fridays. The day sort of lost relevance to me when I started working from home and the fact that I have to work most weekends anyway. Friday began to blend in with every other day of the week (except rush hour started sooner). Continue reading
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The dreaded return to the gym after vacation. It hurts. It hurts.
So I put Serena Ryder in my ear. Makes me move.
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This Fired Up Friday song is an ode to my muscles. Burn baby burn.
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Have you ever tried a Barre class? Holy crap can a small, simple movement make your muscles burn! I guess it’s supposed to be basic ballet movements dumbed down, which would explain why ballerinas have such amazing bodies. That’s a lot of muscle tucked into a compact figure. You do lots of squats and leg lefts and twists, but your arms also get a good workout too, since they’re either moving or held out, away from your body. If you like Pilates, you’d like Barre. If you like the the part of group exercise classes where you have to get on all fours and do leg lifts and fire hydrants, then you’d like Barre. If you like the sensation of muscles you burning in agony and the pain of knowing you have to keep going for 30 more seconds, you’d like Barre.
And so continues my journey of finding exercise other than running.
Although… I’m crossing my fingers I’ll make it to six miles this weekend…even if I have to walk some of it.
Let’s stick with the UK girl band music shall we? This is an oldie, but a goodie, and made me dance when the iPod picked it at random this week. So how obvious should a girl be anyway?
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Greetings from Canada, where I thought it was too hot to run outside, so I opted for the hotel fitness room, only to discover it wasn’t air conditioned. Nor did it have an elliptical, to which my knee looked at me and winced “do I really have to run on the treadmill?” Yes.
I should spend lots of time in that crappy little fitness room on account of all the Tim Hortons (best donuts ever!) I will be consuming this weekend, but the question remains if I will actually be at the hotel between the hours of 6AM and 9PM anyway. Probably doesn’t matter in the long run, as I will be logging plenty of miles walking around this race track; down the hill, over the bridge, down the hill, across the paddock, back across, up the hill, across the bridge, up the hill.
No wait, the REAL question remains: is it donut or doughnut?
Tomorrow is Saturday. Listen to The Saturdays to get amped about that.
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What’s my excuse? Tendinitis. Ran a total of 0 miles this week. So it looks like the Madison Mini Marathon on August 17 isn’t going to happen. Unless I’m like that kid in Rookie of The Year, and when this tendon heals, I’ll have super strength and speed! I guess it’s probably a good thing to take a break from running for a bit, especially in the Atlanta heat. Right now I’ve got eliptical, rollerblading, stationary bike and upper body strength training to keep me busy. I also have both my arms, both my legs, good doctors and mediocre insurance, so I’ll try not to whine too much about my bum knee too much.
This song has been stuck in my head. So I shall put it on my iPod. Although until recently I thought the chorus was “Good girls die young, bad girls do it well.” It is in fact “Live fast, die young. Bad girls do it well.” I myself, am a good girl, which would explain why I’m slow and old?
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So I had this great idea that I could run half marathons through the summer if I ran them in the Midwest, where the weather would be perfect. What I didn’t think through was that I’d still have to train, in Atlanta, through the summer. Thankfully, it hasn’t been to ridiculously hot yet, but still, if you’re going to get a long run in, it’s best to do it right when the sun rises, which is not my prime time to function. In fact, I’ve had trouble completing any runs recently without stopping to walk for a bit. It sucks. It’s frustrating. But, it does make it feel slightly sweeter when I finish – like I struggled and pushed for it.
Half marathon #2 in a week…
I recently saw the Great Gatsby. I think I over-hyped it in my head because I left it underwhelmed. The soundtrack, however, was as awesome as any Baz Luhrman film. Currently, this little Fergie number from the film is rocking my iPod.
This Fired Up Friday is a SHAM! You can’t run to this song. You can’t lift to this song. You can’t bike to this song. All you can do is dance. Naked.
Seriously, if this song came on my iPod while I was running, I would trip and fall on my face because I would try to dance and run at the same time. When I’m in my car, when I’m at my desk, when I’m baking cookies and this song comes on I start dancing like a fool. God help us all if this song were to come on over the speakers at the grocery store or the gym.
You know what this song is good for? Taking a shower and getting ready in the morning. How can you not feel like a sexy badass when you’re putting your summer dress and sandals on and curling your lashes with Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. playing?
Hmmm, so maybe it’s not really a sham because it still gets you fired up and ready to take on the day?
I’m glad this forced me to look up the video for this song because it is hilarious. The concept appeared to be: take half-naked models, place in room with R&B artists, add random props, let hilarity ensue. If you think it’s sexist or gross you need to settle down and realize they’re making fun of themselves. It’s called parody. I learned about it in sophomore English class.
I finished the Country Music Half Marathon in under two hours! Official time was 1:55.55. In the rain at that! It was a steady rain from Friday night all the way through Sunday. I wore a trash bag until about mile 8. Thankfully the temperatures were decent—60s—and it wasn’t very windy, but I was damn cold walking through the finish line festival.
I’ve been taking it easy this week, but can’t slack for too long; next half marathon is in little over a month, the Allstate 13.1 Chicago on June 8.
My playlist for the Country Music Half Marathon included very little country music, but it did include B.o.B.’s “Still in this Bitch.” I found it particularly appropriate for the middle of a half marathon in the rain. Sometimes you just have to keep your head down and knock it out.
Adventures of a Hungry Redhead 