A Brief History of Last Week (Part 1)

Hello! I’m a little late getting this post all typed and ready, but in the words of Shaun T, “This is Insanity.” Insanity is definitely the word to describe the last week and a half!

If the above picture doesn’t make much sense to you, then let me do my best to explain it to you. The first number represents the week of our Getting Running workout, and the second number describes which run of that week we are doing on what day. For example, today’s 4-2 means that we did the 2^nd run of week 4 (two 3-minute and two 5-minute runs, if you recall).

So far, we’ve stuck super close to the schedule, and if you look ahead to Friday of this week, we’ll be running 20 minutes straight!

If you’re confused by this running schedule, just know that we wanted to simply see if we could be prepared to run a 5K in just 3 weeks instead of 9. Crazy, right? :D

Now on to Insanity! The picture above shows what our workouts should look like, but what do we actually look like during the workouts? Have a look:

Pitiful? Definitely! But are we trying? You betcha! Wow. I think anyone who has ever started Insanity has been thrown off by how hard it actually is. Ugh!

Basically, every time you do Insanity, you shorten your life by about 5 years or so. At least, that’s how it feels. The instructor, Shaun T, tries to harshly encourage us, but it’s hard to hear him when you’re too busy dry-heaving. It’s a good thing we don’t eat until AFTER the workout!

*******************BONUS********************

Here’s a list of terms for Insanity and what they mean:

Plyometric: Impossible

Hip Flexor: Bend your legs until your body can’t possibly support itself any longer, and then hold that pose

Compromised form: The way that any normal person would do an exercise, which, consequently, happens to be the wrong way to do it

Let’s gooooooo!: Shaun T’s (somehow) encouraging chant at the start of every video

(In a seductive voice) Beach body: It’s just simply fun to say this along with the voice

Tanya: A woman with the strength of about 3 rhinocerouses

Chris: A man who is constantly put to shame by Tanya

**Part 2 coming soon!**

3-Week Challenge of FUN!

Guess what? It’s August already! That’s right, 8 months have passed since I published the first post in this blog. And in that time, a lot has happened, both athletically and non-athletically. In May, I graduated from high school, and, a week later, ran in my second 5k! In June, I flew to Seattle and spent almost a month out west, seeing all there was to see! Finally, we’ve reached August, which means the start of college for me! I leave in exactly 2 weeks to the campus of Johnson University, where I will be studying this fall, but I didn’t want to leave home without first challenging myself to something fun. :D

(Trumpets are blaring) Welcome to the 3 Weeks of FUN Challenge! This challenge is meant to prepare not only the body, but also the spirit, so the more people who do it together, the better!

This challenge has 6 rules that are as follows:

1.    Spend at least 1 hour in scripture and prayer daily

2.    Go running every day

3.    Do Insanity every day

4.    Drink only water/water-mixed drinks

5.    No junk food

And the last one’s not a rule so much as a retractor:

6.    On Sundays, rules #2-5 do not apply. Rest.

And there you have it! At the beginning of this week, four of us chose to do this challenge together, and now, there are six of us. We’re growing!

In the next post, I will explain the running routine and the Insanity routine. But if you’re interested in doing this 3-week challenge, then go right on ahead! Just remember that every journey, no matter how large it may be, all SW1S!

Re-constructing!

After 3+ months of inactivity, I find myself playing catch-up here on SW1S. Here's the lowdown, Reader's Digest version:

• I conked out sometime in early May from the B210K program.
• I ran my 2nd 5k at the end of May in sweltering heat
• My runs gradually decreased their distance and times through June
• I took 1 month off of running (July) since starting last December
• Now it's time to get back in the swing of things!

So here we are! I've started Get Running all over again in hyperspeed (more on that later), and this time, I have a whole team that's helping me out! I hope to give you a detailed update tomorrow or sometime soon! In the meantime, you'll notice some aesthetic changes and updates throughout the blog. So get ready, because it all Starts With 1 Step... version 2.0!