Category: Fitness

Last night I attended American Warrior Ninja Night at a local Parkour Gym called Urban Acrobatics.  American Ninja Warrior, if you don’t know, is an obstacle course that uses body weight and momentum to travel across six obstacles.  Every time you complete a course, you move on to the next round. No American has ever finished the entire competition. I have been watching AWN for several years and have thought about it quite differently over that time:

3 years ago:  Are these people CRAZY?!?  Who wants or needs to be able to do that? What a waste of time. Get a life.

2 years ago: I don’t think I could do any of that!  These people are nuts.

1 year ago: Hm…..maybe I could do that one but never that one!

This year: I’ve got to find a gym to try this.

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So I looked into finding a place to play like a ninja  First, I had to figure out what the heck Parkour even was.  For a good read about it: Check this out in the New Yorker.

Also, here’s a video of one of most famous Parkour athletes: David Belle.

If you somehow don’t know what American Ninja Warrior is, you can watch highlights and clips from this season HERE.

Now that we’ve covered the background information, let’s get in to the workout!

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I found this gym, Urban Acrobatics, by doing a simple Google search for “Ninja Gym Denver”.  I saw they had a Tuesday night American Ninja Warrior class so I messaged them on Facebook for the details.  Basically, bring your $15, sign a death waiver, and have fun! The gym looked like it had a few obstacles and I figured why not! A few days ago I did some more searching into the gym to see how legit it was.  I figured I’d go either way just to get some experience. (My boxing trainer is out of town…..) The more I looked into UA the more nervous I got about attending.

Urban Acrobatics is managed by Lorin Ball, who has competed in every season of American Ninja Warrior.  You can watch him from last season HERE. The more I researched the facility and saw videos of what they had and what their athletes could do, the more nervous I got.  I thought I was going to make a total fool of myself.  I had no idea what I could and couldn’t do.  I practice on monkeys bars a lot and know I can do pull ups.  My arm and core strength are good but my back and chest need work.  I had no idea what I was getting in to.  So what do you do when this happens? You invite a friend and make them do it with you.  Thanks Thomas!

Breakdown of the night:

Run – We started by going for a short but quick run around the outside of the facility: up stairs, down stairs, hop over railings, jump up the wall and when we got back you climb down the rope wall to get started.  I felt good so far!  I could keep up and while I didn’t look graceful, I could quickly make it over the objects.

Stretching – This is when we did introductions and stretched out.  Pretty typical.

Demonstration – Then the instructors went through the course.  At each obstacle they would give tips on how to best do it or alternate ways if you couldn’t get it.  You only got two chances on each obstacle before moving on.  Here’s what the gym looks like: I’m not going to try and describe lasts night course because it’s almost impossible to imagine but here’s a short breakdown:

Hop from balance beam, swing across the 6 foot gap, climb up the wall, across 3 balance bars, jump to the next landing, walk down the pipe, warp wall, rope descending climb, swing to a tire, box jump, salmon ladder.

Did you get all that? While I’m watching the demonstration I’m thinking, “how can I get out of doing that obstacle?” “There’s no way I can even try that!”  “Yeah……right!”  BUT, I was here to try.  My greatest fear was showing up and looking like a total idiot.  I was happy that there were others there trying for their first time.  Right away the instructors encouraged everyone to just try their best and asked the veterans to help out the newbies.  I really appreciated them accepting us!  I didn’t feel judged by anyone, except myself of course.

Practice – We then had time to practice and just play on the obstacles and try to figure them out before our timed run. So I went around and tried all the different obstacles and was surprised at what I could do!  I had a pretty good vision of what my abilities were but I surprised myself a few times. Practice was essential for me because I really didn’t know.  This was also my favorite part of class because you could get tips from the other members.

Conditioning – After practice, everyone gets a chance to run the course timed.  While you’re waiting for your turn, Lorin assigns conditioning exercises.  Last nights were: 30 leg lifts, 3 rope climbs, and one minute holds on the rock wall.  The 30 leg lifts were easy as I do that exercise all the time.  The one minute holds were a little harder.  We were only allowed to use one foot but my toes are strong from boxing and my fingers are strong from play piano so I was pretty good at this exercise!

We also had to do rope climbs.  I am not awesome at this.  I had to use the rope with knots in it because after my run my arms were dead! But I made it to the top just the same.  I didn’t have three climbs in me but I did one. By the end of class my arms, forearms, chest and shoulders were sore.

My Run – During class everyone gets a timed run.  I was not at all excited about it!  I was nervous about everyone watching me!  Luckily I went towards the end and lots of members had moved on to their conditioning.  Some of the veterans finished the course in under a minute.  I was hoping to come out injury free.  When It came to my turn, I did the best I could.  I failed the first obstacle twice, got the second and third.  When I got to the Warp Wall, I already knew I couldn’t reach the top from practice.  But I gave it all I had anyway.  On my third attempt I finally touched the top!  The warp wall is just as hard as it looks even though it’s not nearly as scary as I thought! I was really proud of myself.  I had to take the alternate route since I couldn’t pull myself up the wall and then failed the rest of the obstacles.  It took me over 5 minutes. BUT I was impressed with myself and pushed myself to try and do new things, so in my mind, I win! Here I am after class trying a few things again.  Neither of these videos is as strong as I hoped since I was already pretty spent:

Wow.  This post has gone on for much longer than I thought it would………

After class I talked to Lorin about which class/classes would help me most.  Since I’ll be doing the Touch Mudder (AHHHH!) in September, I need obstacle training. He was very helpful and gave me a trainers name and number that works for UA.  I had a GREAT time and will definitely attend in the future and have lots of friends to bring! I’m already thinking about when I can try that warp wall again!

Moral of the story: I was scared as hell to go to Ninja night.  I was scared to try.  I was scared to get hurt or fall but I did it anyway.  And the result? No injuries and a huge amount of pride! Push yourself to try something new today even if it’s scary!

This Saturday, July 4th 2015, I accomplished my last fitness goal that I set for myself in January.  I hiked a 14er and made it to the summit!  For those that don’t know, a 14er is a mountain that reaches over 14,000 feet above sea level.  Denver, the Mile High City, is 5,280 feet above sea level.  Today’s post will consist of some advice for hiking and an account of how it went.

Can I Hike?

Anyone can hike as long as you choose a path that’s right for you.  Here’s some things to consider when choosing a path:

1. Distance – Now I know it sounds silly but don’t forget most trails are posted for length one way.  Most hikes you double the distance for there AND back.  Be really careful here. Just because you can walk 3 miles, doesn’t necessarily mean you can hike three miles.  All of the things below will effect how difficult the hike is. When in doubt start small because you can always add distance but you don’t want to get stuck half way down a trail.

2.  Altitude – If you will be hiking through an elevation change, there’s lots to consider.  I don’t notice much of a difference if the change in altitude is 500 feet or less.  Once it’s more than that, my body will notice.  The higher the elevation, the less oxygen there is in the air.  This makes it harder to breathe and some people even experience altitude sickness.  Remember to drink TONS of water and listen to your body. If you’re starting at a higher elevation than you live, give yourself a while to acclimate before starting your hike.  Then remember to take lots of breaks on the way up!

3.  Expected Weather – Try to prepare for all kinds of weather.  I recommend bringing all items in ziplocs and bringing extra for your feet in case of rain.  Also, remember to layer your clothes.  Every 500 feet up will bring the temperature down 5 degrees.  It’s hard to plan for how cool it will be versus how hot you’ll be from hiking.  Bring lightweight layers so you can dress appropriately for that part of the hike. Remember sunscreen, sun glasses and bug spray!

4.  Topography – I don’t like to track how far I am on a hike because I find it very discouraging.  However, I do like to look at the topography of the course before I start.  There is usually a sign at the beginning of most trails with this information. I like to look for check points like streams, hills and valleys.  That helps me know where I am on the trail without having to think about how much farther it is to go. Every part of the hike will take a different amount of time.  A half mile here is not the same as a half mile there so don’t push yourself to make great time because you really can’t compare one to the other.

5.  Terrain – Depending on the popularity of your trail, it’s terrain can really vary.  An ‘open trail’ hike that no one ever goes on is going to be more like a ‘no trail’ hike.  However, a ‘closed trail’ hike can often be much more open and obvious if tons of people have done it.  The terrain should help you decide on proper footwear and clothing.  The more ‘closed’ a trail, the more hiking you’ll actually be doing versus walking.  The more woodsy a trail, the more clothes you’ll want to wear for shade and protection from bugs.

Some popular trails even have message boards where you can see how the trail looked the day before you do it. Don’t be afraid to bring too much stuff you’re first time as long as you can carry the weight.  You’ll figure out what you really need the more times you hike.

Hiking Mount Bierstadt

Hiking a 14er (Mountain that reaches 14,000 feet) has been one of my goals since moving to Colorado.  However, in January I set it as a goal for this year.  After not-so-patiently waiting for the temperature to rise high enough to hike, we set a date to hike Mount Bierstadt on the 4th of July. I really thought it was going to be no big deal.  I’ve done a half marathon, so how hard could it be?

Answer: FREAKING HARD

The first mile of Bierstadt isn’t so bad.  It’s not much more than walking, step up here, walk across here, small steam here, mud there…….and then it get’s hard.  The hike up Bierstadt is a 3 mile hike with 3,000 foot elevation gain. After that first mile, the gain in elevation started to get to me.  We had to stop and take breaks A LOT.  You feel like you’ve only gone 10 steps since the last time you stopped but then you look back and you’ve made it farther then you thought.  You take a minute to catch your breath and then within a few more steps, you’re already huffing and puffing.  There’s no training for altitude without practice.  I had not had enough practice.

When you train for physical goals, it gives you a bottom to refer to.  You’re thinking, “I can make it, it doesn’t suck as bad as that one time.”  But when you haven’t trained, sometimes the event IS your bottom.  I hit bottom during the second mile.  There was a point where I didn’t really know if I could do it.  I wouldn’t let myself give up or turn back  but I really really really wanted to.  The last stretch of Bierstadt is all boulders that you have to figure out for yourself.  There’s no trail at this point but you can tell where to go because you’re almost to the top. This was actually the most fun part.

And then you make it to the top.  There were 20-30 people at the summit when we arrived and lots of dogs.  Everyone is celebrating what they’ve just done and taking pictures.  It’s kind of fun to celebrate with everyone! AND THE VIEW!

I have never been anywhere so beautiful in my entire life!  The hike was so hard but so worth it.  Where else can you see and do this on a Saturday for fun? I love where I live!

 

Often when I tell people I’m in boxing training, they think I’m doing kickboxing.  Here’s what they envision:

 

While I actually like these types of classes, this is not what I’ve been doing.  Kickboxing classes definitely have their place and are great calorie burners.  I enjoyed them a lot when I was working on my endurance and agility.

Last night I was lucky enough to have TWO private sessions with my trainer but I was even luckier to have a friend at the gym who could take some video.  I get photos of me boxing pretty frequently but I’ve never seen videos of myself.  In a way I didn’t really want to watch them.  But after I did, I really wanted to share them!  I think I’m looking pretty good!  It’s always hard to box and try to think about what you look like because you’re doing so many other things.

Here’s all the things I’m thinking about controlling in these videos:

1. Footwork

2. Stance

3. Forehead down

4.  No eye contact

5.  Full extension on my jab

6.  Pivot Right hand

7. Pivot left hook

8.  Proper placement

9.  Proper speed

10.  Proper power

11.  Breathe

12.  Cover your face

13.  Slip

14.  Don’t get hit

15.  I hate Jameson

I’m sure there’s more that I forgot.  But it’s the combination of every part working together that makes boxing what it is.  Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

I’ve now been taking private and semi-private boxing lessons for 6 months with Jameson Bostic and DaVarryl Williamson at PunchDenverBoxing. (Like them on Facebook Here!) I haven’t been writing about it much since my focus has been running. But I can absolutely, 100%, without-a-doubt say that I love it!  Every athlete has a preferred sport and mine is definitely boxing.  When I say that I’m in boxing training, people think that I’m doing kickboxing.  This is not the case. There’s no Tae-bo or jump kicks.  There’s no booty shaking or dance cardio mix. There’s only perfect technique and training. While running comes in a close second, my heart and mind are always excited to walk in to the boxing gym. You can read all about the health benefits of boxing: here.  But I have to say, that’s only a small part of the reason why I love it.

Boxing classes go faster than any other type of class I’ve taken.  At my gym, PunchDenverBoxing at Touch ‘Em Up, they hold semi-private sessions every night.  A few times a week I also get a private lesson from my trainer, Jameson Bostic.  Whether I’m working with a small group or by myself, the hour goes so quickly.  Most of the time it goes so fast that I stay for a second class :). We start with exercises such as: running, pull ups, push ups, agility work, tricep dips, ab wheels, hula hooping and always plenty of sit ups.  Each night is a little different.  Sometimes we flip tires or do box jumps.  It just depends on the night and the abilities of the group.  Then we get into the punching.  We usually work long combinations with mitts but sometimes do bag work or speed drills.  No matter what, there’s always something to be doing or working on. There’s never time to just stand around and catch your breath. But after almost six months now, I feel very strong at boxing and can see how it’s bled over into my everyday life. Here’s my top four reasons for loving boxing:

 

1.  I’m never perfect

In boxing there are so many things to think about: Block your face, elbows in, full extension, foot work, pivot, height……..My gym wants it perfect, every time.  At first boxing made me feel totally inadequate. Today my punches aren’t fast enough, yesterday they were too high, tomorrow the will probably be too low.  It’s hard for me not to be perfect.  It’s hard to realize that even when you’re trying 150%, sometimes your body just can’t do what you’re telling it to do.  But when you’re arms are tired and you’ve done this same combination 10 times already, hearing “Perfect” from your trainer is all worth it.  When you hear the sound a good right hand makes on a mitt, you want to hear it over and over. Boxing teaches me that I can’t always be perfect.  Things can go wrong at the last second but with training you can figure out how to improve on the mistake that you’ve made.

 

2.  More than just punching

I also love that it isn’t just about punching.  When using proper technique, boxing exercises your whole body.  It takes a ton of control to punch with accuracy.   There’s footwork, breathing, stance and eye contact to think about all outside of the punch you’re about to throw.  Then there is the combination to remember and which punch to throw when.  It’s an accumulation of so many muscles working together that the punch is just a small part of the equation.

3.  Mind Control

It’s really hard to hear “Nope”, “Not good enough”, “How many times have I told you” and so on from your coach.  Really hard.  But it’s worth it to keep going to get the one “Perfect”.  I like being motivated through yelling and being held to a standard no matter what.  I don’t want a coach who accepts my ‘good enough’ attitude when I give it.  I need to be pushed. Because I get this mental practice at the gym, I find it happens in my everyday life at work and at home.  Some people might think that training to be a fighter makes you a fighter all the time.  I’ve found the opposite to be true. Throughout the day I’m calmer.  It’s easier for me to step outside a situation and see it for what it really is.  My demeanor is overall calmer and less stressed because of boxing.

4.  It’s freaking fun

Boxing makes you feel tough!  I now walk around at night with no worries.  I know that if a situation gets out of control, I can defend myself.  Boxing is just fun!  It’s fun for me to see a grown man wince from my punch in the ring.  It’s awesome to get the loudest right hand of the night. It’s fun to watch fights on TV or live and actually know what’s going on.  Boxing is the most fun sport I’ve ever done and I can see myself doing it for quite some time!

 

 

 

On April 25th, I ran the Graffiti Run in Denver.  My friends and I had picked out this race months in advance because we had always wanted to do one.

What is the Graffiti Race?

There are many races like the graffiti run and they are mostly all the same.  Everyone wears white and you throw ‘paint’ before you run, while you run, and after.  If you are hoping to get in and out of this race and be clean, you SHOULD NOT attend.  The paint is more like chalk dust that gets everywhere. It was very fun in the moment, not so fun afterwards.

The Race

My friend, Thomas Elio, and I have have both been training for the Colfax Half Marathon.  So when I signed up for this race, so did he.  We trash talked about it for weeks of who would win.  We also went with my friend Melissa and her hubby.  My hubby was demoted to photographer since he injured his foot.  He was SUPER disappointed not to run with the rest of us. The race was at Mile High Stadium in Denver through the parking lot.  Parking sucked!

When we made it to the starting line, we waited for the usual 10-15 minutes while they sent out waves of runners.  I was already feeling kinda yucky: my lungs felt full of chalk, my mouth was dry from it and I felt like I was looking through sand.  We had only begun the paint adventure.  While you are running the course, you run through ‘color zones’ and earn a new color each time until you make it to the end. In the first color zone, a kid volunteer threw and entire handful of ‘paint’ right at my face and it filled my entire mouth. I was then spitting pink to clear my mouth.

ONCE AGAIN, the miles were not marked.  How hard is it? This is the second race I’ve run with NO MARKERS.  Thank goodness I was running my Nike+ app and knew how far I was.  Thomas and I stayed together for the first mile or so.  Then I got caught in a group of people that would not get out of the way.  Do they know what a race is? I quickly lost sight of Thomas and knew I’d lost.  I tried to just have fun running the distance, seeing the sights, and trying to avoid huge chunks of paint.

When I reached mile 2.5 I knew something was off.  I could see the finish line but still had almost a mile to go!  But……the race was only actually 2.8 miles, not a 5K.  Wait to go Graffiti Run.  Major Fail. But I ran the race fairly quickly considering how many people were in the way and still lost to Thomas.

Tips

Cover Your Mouth – While registering for the race, you could purchase a face covering and I thought “Bah! Who cares!” You will care.  Trust me!  Thomas was nice enough to bring an extra handkerchief and I would have died without it.  I inhaled SO much chalk through my mouth and nose that it was hard to run sometimes even with my mouth covered.  Seriously, you’ll want to. My boogers and ears were black for two days.

Wear Glasses – Same reasoning as above.  You’ll want to keep as much debris out of your eyes as possible.  While I never felt like I had to take my contacts out, it was sometimes hard to see.

White Will Dye – Someone warned me about this before the race.  ANYTHING a light color or white will get dyed.  Including headphone cords.  So if you don’t want it dyed, don’t wear it.  I wore a yellow sports bra that is now kinda green in some places because it’s all I had.  Immediately after this race I bought a cheap-o bra for events like this so I don’t ruin a good bra again.  Even parts of my skin where I sweat, like arm pits and toes were dyed for a few days.

Shoes and Pants Ok – I purposely wore my worst pair of shoes and pants that were too big in case they got ruined.  However, my black pants were just fine after one wash.  Either it didn’t soak in or you just can’t see it.  My shoes, which were mostly gray, came out too.  I clapped them around afterwards and most of the paint fell right out.  Anything that get’s wet WILL DYE.  I also brought an extra pair of clothes so I could strip in the parking lot before getting in my friend’s car.  THINK THIS THROUGH before you leave the house!  They gave us car seat covers at registration, but they turned out to be mostly useless.

Fun! – The race was definitely fun for a one time event.  However, it was quite messy and I’m not very good at messy.  By the time I’d showered and felt human again, the race took up the whole morning and afternoon.  Just remember to plan extra time to clean up afterwards.  I would do a race like this in the future, but not anytime soon!  I’ll stick with fun that can be cleaned up faster!

 

Here I am, one week from the big race.  I feel like every single post lately is about running! So today I just wanted to write about how I was feeling in general.  No flashy pics.  No gimmicks. Just honesty.

I hope there is a time when I look back and realize that running a half marathon was no big deal.  But for right now, it seems like a HUGE deal. When I first set this goal, in January, I thought I’d accomplish it by maybe October or so.  Then I ran a really strong 5K in January.  Then I ran a 7K in March and realized if I just trained, I could probably push myself into running the Colfax Half Marathon.  There are two big marathons straight through Denver.  One in May and the other in October.  Even when I’d signed up and paid the money to run in May, I didn’t know if I could or would do it.  I also didn’t know how it would change everyone around me at the same time. I knew it would take a lot of changes and mental work.

One huge change I made was gyms.  I haven’t written about this much for the sensitivity of both businesses.  However, I think it’s time.  At my previous gym, I felt maxed out.  I knew I could still choose to push myself hard and do more.  I could have run before or after classes but I didn’t really want to.  I was happy with how my body looked and didn’t want to lift more.  I just wanted to be faster, trimmer, and work on my endurance.  There wasn’t a lot of room for that where I was.  Since there was only one class offered a day, I would show up for class and then do a little additional work.

Since I had already started boxing training, I was wanting more and more.  I had loved boxing class for a long time and found it to be the highlight of my week.  Then when I added private sessions, I wanted to box all the time.  So, that’s what I do now.  I joined a different gym where boxing is 24/7.  They have classes all day long.  If there’s no class then there’s always someone to work out with.  I still get my private sessions a few times a week.  I NEVER knew I could work out for three hours until I started at Punch Denver Boxing @ Touch ‘Em Up because I’d never had the chance. So in mid-March I made the switch and although it was a hard one, it was absolutely the best choice.  Once my boxing endurance was stretched to two hours, my running endurance stretched to two hours and beyond.

I’m now faster, trimmer and more fit than I was before.  My physique is even better than before despite a few injuries I’ve had along the way that required workout adjustments. Boxing is what I needed to become a runner.  I think I could have done the marathon while training at my old gym, but I think it would have been A LOT harder to do it on my own.  My training team adjusts my workouts based on how much I’ve run or if there’s a race coming up.  I couldn’t tailor my classes before.

This post is getting off track…………..

Running has given me a lot of time to work on my mentality.  There’s so much time to just think!  I have found it’s easier to just stop and think in every area of life now, because I’m a runner.  Running and boxing have gone hand in hand with mental work.

This past week, I felt off all week.  I didn’t feel confident in the gym; I wasn’t sleeping through the night.  It rained EVERY SINGLE DAY for the last two weeks.  There’s only a few weeks of school left.  Everyone is stressed and crazy.  I felt like I’d never make it to Friday.  BUT then I ran.  On Thursday night it was finally clear for a few hours.  Dan and I laced up our shoes and went for our first couple run in over a month. (His foot is healed!)  We ran 4 REALLY fast miles.  I got my personal best on 1K, 5K and 1 mile.  It felt so good to run that I could’ve cried when we were done.  That night I slept like a baby and felt less stressed about everything.

I didn’t know how much me running would change everyone around me.  Because I run, so does my hubby, my friends and even co-workers.  Dan now runs with me and is talking about us running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in October.  Several of my friends have gotten back into running, or realized that they could run further than they thought all because I can.  I even started a Friday Fun Run club at my work because I wanted to encourage others to run.  I never realized that losing 135 pounds seems unreal to most people.  They can’t understand how much that is unless they are morbidly obese too.  But everyone knows what it feels like to run a mile.  Most people in Denver know how far a 5K is.  I never knew running would be such a common thread to talk to people about or influence people to start making better choices.

3 months ago, I never would have been confident about running a half marathon.  I still wasn’t confident about running a 5K, but now, I feel awesome.  I KNOW that I can cross that finish line.  I KNOW that I can push myself to do it.  I KNOW that I’ll feel proud to cross that line.  I KNOW I’ll earn that medal.  I KNOW that I’m a runner and it feels so damn good!