Working out/playdate with John

Sarah and John came over for a playdate this afternoon. It had been 2 weeks since John and Elise last saw each other and they have both learned new skills since then. It is amazing how fast they are growing. John's birthday is on Friday! Elise is trying to decide what to wear for his birthday party.

Sarah and I came up with a plan several months ago. We get together a few times a week to have a playdate AND work out. One of us runs while the other watches the babies, and then we switch. We usually eat lunch together as well. Sometimes we even get to chat or work on the baby books while both babies are napping! I am so thankful for her (and Ross and John's) friendship. We met at the Bride's Coffee at West Point during graduation week in 2004. We all went to flight school together and then came here. Sarah's husband Ross was Mike's roommate in Iraq during the first deployment. We are hoping that we will be together again at West Point in a few years. How cute would it be for John and Elise to start kindergarten together???

On another note, I am getting ready for the Austin Half Marathon on Valentine's Day. Today I did 8 very hilly miles and it felt great. I haven't run that far since the 3M Half Marathon in January 2008. I was in much, much, MUCH better running shape then. I just looked at the past results online and I actually ran the whole half at an 8:19 pace. That is about 45 seconds faster per mile than I ran today (and I felt great today!). Oh well, I don't care. Even though I'm not working outside the home, I am technically a single mom right now and I don't have the time to put into running to get back into my 2007/2008 shape. I have already checked off the half marathon block, so this one will just be for fun :)

My mom and 2 aunts are walking the half, my brother is running the half, and a few of my cousins are running the marathon. When I found this out, I had to sign up. It is one of those "everyone else is jumping off the cliff and if I don't jump I will be the lazy family member" situations. I have never before faced this particular cliff. I have absolutely no goals with this half except to finish (and thus, not be considered lazy, hehe). I actually plan to walk part of it. I don't know if I will increase my mileage before the race or not. I have an 8 mile route that I love (from my house down 3481 to Stillhouse and back... there is just something about the constant uphill and downhill that is perfect for me), so I will do that a few more times. I may try to get up to 10, but if it doesn't work out, it is totally okay.

My goal with working out is to establish a manageable AND enjoyable routine that fits into my lifestyle as a stay-at-home mom. I like to work out in the first part of the day. I run a few times a week (sometimes while Sarah or someone else watches Elise, and sometimes with the stroller) and I do a workout DVD a few times a week while Elise is napping. If the weather is nice, I like to take Elise and Boss for a walk.

Here are a few of my favorite workout DVDs. I don't have a long attention span for working out in the living room. I like these two DVDs because they are relatively short and still provide a good workout. If you are interested, click on the title to read more at amazon.com.

Pilates
I used to do pilates a lot in college. I love this particular DVD because it switches very quickly between exercises. I don't like wasting time listening to explanations or waiting between moves. It does the same series of exercises in about half the time as some other pilates tapes/DVDs that I own. This no-frills DVD assumes that you know what you are doing, but it also has a Modified Basic and a Basic section that probably go slower and teach the moves. I have never looked at them. I like the Intermediate section for a short workout (13 minutes) and the Advanced version for a longer workout (less than 25 minutes). I watched the Super Advanced one and just laughed.

30-Day Shred
This DVD has 3 workouts that are about 26 minutes long from warm up to cool down. This includes strength training with hand weights (I use 5 lbs), cardio, and abs. For me, this DVD falls short in the abs department (granted, I have never tried level 3), but it fits a surprising amount of strength and cardio into a small time frame. Jillian uses a lot of compound exercises (that work the upper and lower body at the same time) which are challenging. I've been using this DVD for months and haven't gotten tired of the workouts. I just switch back and forth between level 1 and level 2. They are both good workouts in different ways. One of these days I will try level 3.

I would love to hear your recommendations for workout DVDs.

Here is a short video from today. I put the random fireplace clip in the middle to show that Elise tries to get a knee up on the fireplace. I am not proud of this accomplishment.

John and Elise walking and dancing from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.