Parker is Fully Trained!

And by that I mean he doesn't need training wheels on his bike anymore!

Parker got inspiration from his cousin to take those extra helpers off. I was at work when big boy took his first official ride, which I'm bummed about, but happy for him that he achieved a goal he's been working the nerve up to try for some time now.

Way to go, Parker!

Cross Training: Biking

Last night I had my first "real" bike ride for exercise. I rode with my sister and 2 friends from work. It was a 10.8 mile ride along the river. It look us about an hour and 15 minutes, but we took lots of breaks and even sat on a bench for awhile to rest our behinds.

I really don't have a fancy bike. I think it was the blue light special at WalMart.It does the job though so I don't mind. My sister and I bought the same helmet without knowing and noticed we have the same bike, just different colors. Weird, huh?! We must be on the same wavelength or something. I actually found biking to be much easier than running. My butt is the only thing that is super sore today. It hurts to sit down! I think I'll get used to it though (along with some padded shorts!) and will try to incorporate more biking into my exercise routine.

ALL DONE!

Biking FAIL!

After talking with a couple family members about biking, I decided to give it another go. Main reasons I was scared to go back on the bike: It hurts my butt, I'm scared of hills, and I have no idea about gears. I told myself to get over it and suck it up.


Cory was a gem and fixed my bike up all purdy. He borrowed his brothers super fancy bike, called mom, and we were off!

We got nearly 2.5 miles into it and "pop"! There went my front tire.

Lance Armstrong Cory was pretty far ahead of me Mom went to catch up to him so he could go back to the truck. I sat there for what seemed like forever staring down the road.

And finally- my knight and shining husband guy!

Guess what? Oh his way back, BOTH his tires blew!! Eventually my mom passed him, so he hopped on her bike. About an hour and a half later we made it home.

I think my bike hates me.

Importance of Cross Training

I recently finished my first ever running training plan. I didn't follow it exactly, but I learned a lot. For example, I suck at motivating myself to run after work. By time I cook, get kids in the tub, clean up a little, the day is gone and I am pooped (or insert other useful excuse here).

So this time around I am more realistic and smart about my new 10K plan. That's right, I threw it out there..I am training for a 10K!!

Turns out on my last training plan I was missing a major key. I have been doing things totally wrong!!

I did not include cross training in my weekly schedule!

Actually after reading other running blogs and articles, I feel kinda dumb that it never occured to me to do other forms of exercise besides running. It might not seems to make sense at first, but cross training actually will make you a better runner! Here's why:

REDUCES INJURY!! Doing other sports will lessen the strain on the muscles you use while running. Running is high intensity, high impact. Pounding on your joints day after day will eventually take it's toll. Especially for a newbie.

AVOID BURNOUT!! Let's face it, running gets boring at times. We have all been there..in a running rut. Taking a day off to do another form of exercise will make you maybe miss running a little bit, recover mentally, and help you give it your all on the next run. Monotony sucks.

MUSCLE BALANCE!! No one wants to end up with buff hamstrings and calves, but puffy untoned arms and abs. It's important to lift weights to target specific areas and tone, bicycle for cardio/quad workout, swim for cardio/arms/quads/back, yoga for stretching, ect.


To get started with all this cross training stuff, I went for a bike ride with the mamasita tonight. What a nice change and great cardio workout. I really enjoyed it. Variety is the spice of life, right?! Nod your head and say "Right, Katie!"

We did 4.6 miles in 29 minutes. I have no clue if that is good or not. I will have to do some more research on biking. Great, I am a newbie all over again!!