Fit(ter) in 15: Week 9

February's focus has been arm strength:

• Monday/Thursday: 100 tricep dips
• Tuesday/Friday: 100 walk-down push-ups
• Wednesday/Saturday: 1 minute plank

How did I do this week?

• Monday:
• 100 dips + 100 squats
• Tuesday: 
• Run commute + office yoga "lunch" break (with plank)
• Wednesday: Fail.
• Thursday: Another snow day... 
• I managed 50 dips and 60 squats while trying to keep an eye on a toddler with a  bad case of cabin fever and while trying to get some work done so I don't get fired. The  fact that I did any exercise at all on a day when I essentially worked 2 jobs simultaneously and had no break from 6am to 10pm... That's a win.
• Friday: Fail. Again.
• Saturday:
• Yoga (including plank)
• Sunday:
• 8.5 MILE RUN!!! (Longest run in 2ish  years)

How did I do for the month?

Well... thanks to nagging pain in my hand I totally fell off the wagon on the walk down push ups. But I did well on the dips and planks. My running is back on track. And I'm doing strength training at least 4 days/week.

I'm not letting myself off the hook for the missed push-ups, but the whole goal of this challenge-per-month goal was to get back in the habit of exercising (almost) every day. So far, that seems to be working!

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.

Fit(ter) in 15: Week 8

February's focus is arm strength:

• Monday/Thursday: 100 tricep dips
• Tuesday/Friday: 100 walk-down push-ups
• Wednesday/Saturday: 1 minute plank

How did I do?

• Monday:
• 3.1 miles. In 26 minutes. In 14 degree temperatures with wind chills around zero.
• Tuesday (Snow day!)
• Shoveling snow
• 1 minute plank
• Wednesday:
• 100 tricep dips
• 100 squats
• Thursday (It's seriously cold outside... single digits, baby!)
• Office yoga
• 1 mile commute run (it was too bloody cold to walk)
• Friday:
• 20 minutes on the stationary bike
• FitnessBlender's bodyweight workout
• Saturday:


• Sunday:

So... my schedule was all over the map this week. I don't think I did a single challenge exercise on its scheduled day, but I stayed on track workout-wise... running in the freezing cold and staying on top of strength training.

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.

Fit(ter) in 15: Week 7

February's focus is arm strength:

• Monday/Thursday: 100 tricep dips
• Tuesday/Friday: 100 walk-down push-ups
• Wednesday/Saturday: 1 minute plank

How did I do?

• Monday:
• 100 tricep dips
• 80 squats
• Tuesday:
• 10 walk-down-push ups... No. I didn't forget a 0. I had shooting pain in my hand and decided to try again tomorrow.
• Wednesday:
• 4 plank variations (total 2 min)
• 60 push ups before the hand hurt again...
• 2.5 mile run (20 minutes! Does this count as speed work?)
• Thursday:
• 100 dips
• Friday:
• Self-declared rest day...
• Saturday:
• 5.65 miles in 47:45!!!!!
• Sunday:
• Ate lots of King Cake and danced to zydeco and Dixieland jazz in honor of Mardi Gras.

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.

Fit(ter) in 15: Week 6 - February's arm challenge

February's focus is arm strength:

• Monday/Thursday: 100 tricep dips
• Tuesday/Friday: 100 walk-down push-ups
• Wednesday/Saturday: 1 minute plank

How did I do?

• Monday:
• 100 tricep dips
• 80 squat-to-leg-lift (Trying to keep the momentum from January...)
• Core strength "yoga" (Ouch! Even after a month of 200 crunches a week, this was tough!)


• Tuesday:
• Crazy day at work. Feverish, teething child... read Wednesday
• Wednesday CATCH UP DAY
• 100 push-ups (40 as walk-down)
• 1 minute plank
• Thursday:
• 100 tricep dips
• 100 squats
• Friday:
• 80 push ups...I think... a curious toddler distracted me and I lost count
• Saturday:
• 1 min plank - at the playground!
• Sunday:
• 4.8 mile run (43 minutes)

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.

Fit(ter) in 15: February Challenge

I liked the principles behind January's cross training challenge, so February's fitness challenge follows a similar concept:
3 exercises per week
1 exercise per day
2 times through the routine each week
1 rest day
0 equipment needed

It was easy to remember. Most of the time I could do the exercises in my pajamas or at my desk at work. (A challenge should be hard, but you should also set yourself up for success, right?)

By popular demand, February's focus will be arm strength:

• Monday/Thursday: 100 tricep dips
• Tuesday/Friday: 100 walk-down push-ups
• Wednesday/Saturday: 1 minute plank

Stay tuned...

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.

Fit(ter) in 15: Week 5

January's challenge is complete!

The goal was to do 6 days of exercise each week, including the following:

• Monday/Thursday: 100 push-ups
• Tuesday/Friday: 100 squats
• Wednesday/Saturday: 100 crunches

How did I do this week?

• Monday: Oops... Getting back to the normal routine of daycare/work/cooking I sort of forgot the push-ups.
• 2 mile run
• Tuesday:
• 100 push ups
• 100 squat-to-leg-lift
• Wednesday:
• 4.25 mile run
• Thursday:
• 100 push-ups (including 10 walk-down push-ups... Getting ready for the February challenge!)
• Friday:
• 100 squat-to-leg-lift
• Saturday:
• 100 crunches (20 with a toddler bouncing on my belly. Ouch!)
• Sunday:
• 4 mile run while pushing 50 pounds of toddler-in-jogging-stroller

So, this week was a roaring success, but how did I do for the month?

During the stomach bug week from hell, I fell behind on my workouts. I wrapped up the week with 200 push ups and 200 squats, but I completely skipped any additional core work. (I didn't eat solid food for 3 days, so I'm not even going to pretend I feel guilty about taking a few days to rest and recover!)

Otherwise I hit every workout as planned, for a total of (drumroll please!):

• 900 squats
• 900 push-ups
• 700 crunches
• 31 miles run

Next month's focus: ARMS!

For more posts in this series see Fitter in 15.