Who knew you could be this productive before 9am! I'm usually just waking up at this time, but this morning I woke up around 4:30am, started thinking (and getting excited about) my new job, started coming up with good ways to approach clients on the floor (the part of the job I'm most nervous about) and around 5am I decided I wasn't going back to sleep so I started the coffee and started to get to work. I figure if I might be getting 6am clients very soon, so I'd better figure out what it feels like being up and productive this early.
Over the last couple days I've been putting together a giant spreadsheet of strength exercises with columns for muscle groups worked, progressions, regressions and variations, so that I have one place I an go when I'm putting together a work-out for a client without having to skim through all the books/websites I have. I'm also doing one for warm-up/flexibility exercises and fitness assessment exercises. Worked on that for a while while listening to a fresh air podcast.
Started thinking about my nutrition, started analyzing my zinc, iron, protein and B12 intake (all things vegetarians have to pay close attention to), started considering and researching various supplements (in addition to the supplement bars I already eat), trying to figure out another supplement to take without too much vitamin A (I already get a ton of it and too much can damage your liver).
Then I started contacting all my facebook friends who live in uptown, finding out if I have any friends or friends of friends who work out at World Gym. It would be great if the first few fitness assessments I do at the new job could be with people I know or friends of people I know, it would be a great way to get the ball rolling!
This was all before 7am. Then I read my friend Heather's blog for a while, she's a trainer I work with at TeamiFit and has a really great fitness blog. Ate some toast, had more coffee, watched the latest episode of America's Next Great Restaurant on Hulu, contacted my favorite photographer, Tyler Core, about getting a great athletic/kick-butt/fun shot of me to represent by business and to hang on the gym wall in exchange for some free sessions, (all the other trainers have really great shots of them in their given sport), woke up Sawyer, walked/fed Sawyer, did yoga/stretched for a goodly time...
It's raining pretty hard outside or else I probably would have run too. I told Jason and Jameson I'd do their Insanity Cardio workout with them later so I'll skip the running today. Plus I'm taking a slow-motion strength training class tonight at TeamiFit, which I'm already sore just thinking about. Also still have really sore lats from my strength work-out on Sunday (yes, I did a strength work-out the day of the race...I was feeling really energetic!) I have a goal to be able to do chin-ups/pull-ups by summer, so I started doing negatives to strengthen my lats and OWWWWWCH I could hardly reach my arms forward to turn on the faucet yesterday. Good kind of sore though.
By the way, the race went AWESOME on Sunday! It was SO MUCH FUN and I can't wait for the next one. Ran 8k in 39:45, a personal record. Had a great time with the friends I ran with, got soaking wet in the rain and SO enjoyed the free Guinness we got after the race after a week of being on antibiotics and not drinking at all.
Alright, time for another breakfast and some more Hulu. Add to the list of early morning productivity: blog post.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Toes are peeking over the edge of the diving board at the deep end which is full-time employment
Oh boy oh boy oh boy. SO MUCH is happening in my little life right now I can barely wrap my head around it.
For anyone who DIDN'T feel like checking my facebook after my exam last week (OMG that was just LAST WEEK?) I PASSED! Hooray. I am now officially a 100% certified NASM personal trainer. I got my fancy calligraphied certificate in the mail and everything. The exam was actually a LOT harder than I thought it would be (harder than the practice exams). I went over and over every question a million times before I finally clicked the "finished" button and took the long walk to the trinidadian lady at the front desk of the testing facility to get my print-out. I honestly was not sure I had passed until she came around from the back office scanner with a smile on her face. They are lame and won't tell you your exact score, but I know it was better that 70%!
So ok, that was last Monday, last Wednesday I started my work study at TeamiFit. I work 3 hours on Wednesday nights checking people in for classes in exchange for a membership. The membership is nice because they offer a ton of awesome classes which gives me a nice variety of workouts to add to my repertoire and after a week of running it's super nice to be able to take a dance or boxing class on my cross-training day. Everyone who works there is super cool and it's really nice to finally meet some people in the industry. HOWEVER it is not a training job at all. All their trainer positions are pretty much booked up, though I may be able to sub-in every so often. Also the obvious downside, I am making no money there.
Then TODAY I had an interview at World Gym Uptown for a traditional large gym full-time personal trainer job. I was on my game during the interview. He put me on the spot, asking me all kinds of specific questions about exercise assessment, nutrition, program design...I felt like I was back in my NASM exam! Good thing it was all so fresh in my mind. The guy was pretty hard on me, but he must have liked what I had to say because he offered me the job! They're going to call me next week to finalize and I'm going to have to ask a few more questions after I get some opinions from some people in the industry...but it's pretty much really happening.
To be honest, thinking about going from my current life of unemployment to working 5 days a week is kinda freaking me out right now. I have NEVER been employed full time for an extended period and the few times that I've worked for 8 hours a day I HATED it. Of course those jobs were totally miserable and mindless and I sat behind a desk all day doing something that, in my opinion, was meaningless. At this job I will be spending a majority of my time doing something I LOVE. I will be on my feet the whole time. I will be exercising. I will be interacting with real people all day long and making a huge difference in people's lives. Training with me will be the hour that some of these people look forward to all week long. If you're doing something you love you should feel LUCKY to get to work 5 days a week and the whole reason I got this cert was so that I could do something I love and not have to wait another table again.
I've learned that this is pretty much the kind of job that every personal trainer has to have to get started in the industry. A lot of the job will be prowling the gym floor, meeting members and doing the sales-pitch thing. Eventually, yes, I'd love to have my own in-home clients or train clients that are handed to me at a hotel, corporate office, or boutique personal training studio. Eventually I want to have clients that I can schedule as much or as little as I want because eventually I want to be able to do theatre again. BUT to do that I have to get experience working something like this. A lot of it is very sales-y and a lot of people hate that part of it, BUT the awesome thing about this particular gym is that there are only about 10 full-time trainers (some gyms of the same size have up to 30) and there is only ONE other female trainer (who is apparently booked solid all the time), so the numbers work out a lot better than they might at some other place. Also, it is franchised, not corporate, so trainers get to train and do assessments the way they want to, the owners and managers know and care about their employees and it seems like a really nice place to work.
I do have to say, I went with the slightly harder, slightly more expensive NASM as my cert as opposed to the very popular ACE or some of the other certs. I did this because from everything I read/heard it carries the most weight in the industry by far. The fitness director said they received 150 resumes from their classified ad, he picked 5 candidates to interview and my interview ended with a job offer. Let me remind you that I have absolutely no training experience what-so-ever. How's that for weight in the industry? Thanks NASM!!!
Ok, once again I've written for over an hour and only scratched the surface. Hopefully in a couple days I'll write another entry about how SUCKY I've been running lately and about the race this weekend. Until then, nighty night!
For anyone who DIDN'T feel like checking my facebook after my exam last week (OMG that was just LAST WEEK?) I PASSED! Hooray. I am now officially a 100% certified NASM personal trainer. I got my fancy calligraphied certificate in the mail and everything. The exam was actually a LOT harder than I thought it would be (harder than the practice exams). I went over and over every question a million times before I finally clicked the "finished" button and took the long walk to the trinidadian lady at the front desk of the testing facility to get my print-out. I honestly was not sure I had passed until she came around from the back office scanner with a smile on her face. They are lame and won't tell you your exact score, but I know it was better that 70%!
So ok, that was last Monday, last Wednesday I started my work study at TeamiFit. I work 3 hours on Wednesday nights checking people in for classes in exchange for a membership. The membership is nice because they offer a ton of awesome classes which gives me a nice variety of workouts to add to my repertoire and after a week of running it's super nice to be able to take a dance or boxing class on my cross-training day. Everyone who works there is super cool and it's really nice to finally meet some people in the industry. HOWEVER it is not a training job at all. All their trainer positions are pretty much booked up, though I may be able to sub-in every so often. Also the obvious downside, I am making no money there.
Then TODAY I had an interview at World Gym Uptown for a traditional large gym full-time personal trainer job. I was on my game during the interview. He put me on the spot, asking me all kinds of specific questions about exercise assessment, nutrition, program design...I felt like I was back in my NASM exam! Good thing it was all so fresh in my mind. The guy was pretty hard on me, but he must have liked what I had to say because he offered me the job! They're going to call me next week to finalize and I'm going to have to ask a few more questions after I get some opinions from some people in the industry...but it's pretty much really happening.
To be honest, thinking about going from my current life of unemployment to working 5 days a week is kinda freaking me out right now. I have NEVER been employed full time for an extended period and the few times that I've worked for 8 hours a day I HATED it. Of course those jobs were totally miserable and mindless and I sat behind a desk all day doing something that, in my opinion, was meaningless. At this job I will be spending a majority of my time doing something I LOVE. I will be on my feet the whole time. I will be exercising. I will be interacting with real people all day long and making a huge difference in people's lives. Training with me will be the hour that some of these people look forward to all week long. If you're doing something you love you should feel LUCKY to get to work 5 days a week and the whole reason I got this cert was so that I could do something I love and not have to wait another table again.
I've learned that this is pretty much the kind of job that every personal trainer has to have to get started in the industry. A lot of the job will be prowling the gym floor, meeting members and doing the sales-pitch thing. Eventually, yes, I'd love to have my own in-home clients or train clients that are handed to me at a hotel, corporate office, or boutique personal training studio. Eventually I want to have clients that I can schedule as much or as little as I want because eventually I want to be able to do theatre again. BUT to do that I have to get experience working something like this. A lot of it is very sales-y and a lot of people hate that part of it, BUT the awesome thing about this particular gym is that there are only about 10 full-time trainers (some gyms of the same size have up to 30) and there is only ONE other female trainer (who is apparently booked solid all the time), so the numbers work out a lot better than they might at some other place. Also, it is franchised, not corporate, so trainers get to train and do assessments the way they want to, the owners and managers know and care about their employees and it seems like a really nice place to work.
I do have to say, I went with the slightly harder, slightly more expensive NASM as my cert as opposed to the very popular ACE or some of the other certs. I did this because from everything I read/heard it carries the most weight in the industry by far. The fitness director said they received 150 resumes from their classified ad, he picked 5 candidates to interview and my interview ended with a job offer. Let me remind you that I have absolutely no training experience what-so-ever. How's that for weight in the industry? Thanks NASM!!!
Ok, once again I've written for over an hour and only scratched the surface. Hopefully in a couple days I'll write another entry about how SUCKY I've been running lately and about the race this weekend. Until then, nighty night!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Eve of the exam!! Cue Rocky music...
It's the eve of my NASM CPT exam friends!!! Why am I writing to you and not studying you ask? Because I've GOT THIS!!!
Seriously, I've gone over my 2 inch tall stack of flash cards a hundred times, taken every practice quiz and exam online, gone over my notes, re-read difficult sections of the text book... nothing left to do but let my brain relax with some celebrity apprentice and wheat thins and get a good night's sleep.
So barring some major natural disaster or sudden amnesia, in just 17 hours I will be a CERTIFIED personal trainer!
In other RIDICULOUSLY exciting news, I no longer work at Lion Head Pub! On this public blog I tried to be as nice as possible about the place during the extremely brief period of time that I worked there, but now that I'm no longer employed I can say that it was truly AWFUL. I have no idea what possessed me to look for a job at a bar. When I was a wide-eyed 22-year-old, just out of Michigan and living in big, exciting New York City for the first time I was excited to serve sticky cocktails in an over-crowded, hot, loud room until 2 in the morning and come home with my lower back aching and smelling like beer and jagermeister. Now I don't even like staying up past midnight, crowded bars give me a headache and it's really hard to pursue a career in improving the HEALTH of Chicago-ans while serving them alcohol in 3 foot tall towers and deep fried animal fat. It also didn't hurt that in NYC I was easily making no less than $100 on weekdays, $200 Fridays and $300 Saturdays. At Lion Head the last two shifts I worked 6pm-2am Friday and 4pm-3am Saturday. Wanna know how much I made? $165. TOTAL. FOR BOTH NIGHTS. So anyway, now that I'm starting at TeamiFit this week plus promo modeling jobs will start picking up now that the weather's nicer (I'm up for one with Hermes next week! Yes, the Hermes of Hermes Birkin Bags...certainly beats smelling like jager) I decided I'd had enough of this nonsense. I'm very excited to get back to my normal sleep schedule.
One last thing, after taking 2 rest days in my running schedule this weekend due to traveling home from MI, work, recovering from some wacky bacterial thing in my throat and some knee pain, I totally CRUSHED my personal record today for a 5 mile run!! Outside!! On the Road!! I had been thinking that my GOAL for the first 8k race (now 2 weeks away) would be 42:15, just under 8:30 mile pace. Today I ran 5 miles in 40:21!!!! That's 8:04 pace!!! I was all about running at that anaerobic/lactic acid threshold and then gunning it hard into that 1.1 respiratory exchange ratio at the end!! Knowlegde is power :-) I also took a mile jog to warm-up and THEN stopped and stretched before I started the real run (as opposed to stretching cold in my apartment) My new goal for the race is 39:45. So pumped!!!
Alright guys, wish my luck tomorrow (though I totally don't need it!!) Watch my facebook/twitter at around 2pm central time for the results!!!
Seriously, I've gone over my 2 inch tall stack of flash cards a hundred times, taken every practice quiz and exam online, gone over my notes, re-read difficult sections of the text book... nothing left to do but let my brain relax with some celebrity apprentice and wheat thins and get a good night's sleep.
So barring some major natural disaster or sudden amnesia, in just 17 hours I will be a CERTIFIED personal trainer!
In other RIDICULOUSLY exciting news, I no longer work at Lion Head Pub! On this public blog I tried to be as nice as possible about the place during the extremely brief period of time that I worked there, but now that I'm no longer employed I can say that it was truly AWFUL. I have no idea what possessed me to look for a job at a bar. When I was a wide-eyed 22-year-old, just out of Michigan and living in big, exciting New York City for the first time I was excited to serve sticky cocktails in an over-crowded, hot, loud room until 2 in the morning and come home with my lower back aching and smelling like beer and jagermeister. Now I don't even like staying up past midnight, crowded bars give me a headache and it's really hard to pursue a career in improving the HEALTH of Chicago-ans while serving them alcohol in 3 foot tall towers and deep fried animal fat. It also didn't hurt that in NYC I was easily making no less than $100 on weekdays, $200 Fridays and $300 Saturdays. At Lion Head the last two shifts I worked 6pm-2am Friday and 4pm-3am Saturday. Wanna know how much I made? $165. TOTAL. FOR BOTH NIGHTS. So anyway, now that I'm starting at TeamiFit this week plus promo modeling jobs will start picking up now that the weather's nicer (I'm up for one with Hermes next week! Yes, the Hermes of Hermes Birkin Bags...certainly beats smelling like jager) I decided I'd had enough of this nonsense. I'm very excited to get back to my normal sleep schedule.
One last thing, after taking 2 rest days in my running schedule this weekend due to traveling home from MI, work, recovering from some wacky bacterial thing in my throat and some knee pain, I totally CRUSHED my personal record today for a 5 mile run!! Outside!! On the Road!! I had been thinking that my GOAL for the first 8k race (now 2 weeks away) would be 42:15, just under 8:30 mile pace. Today I ran 5 miles in 40:21!!!! That's 8:04 pace!!! I was all about running at that anaerobic/lactic acid threshold and then gunning it hard into that 1.1 respiratory exchange ratio at the end!! Knowlegde is power :-) I also took a mile jog to warm-up and THEN stopped and stretched before I started the real run (as opposed to stretching cold in my apartment) My new goal for the race is 39:45. So pumped!!!
Alright guys, wish my luck tomorrow (though I totally don't need it!!) Watch my facebook/twitter at around 2pm central time for the results!!!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wiping the dust off my poor blog!
Oh my poor neglected blog!! It's been so long that Blogspot even fell off my "top pages" on my home screen.
Lots of good news to report! Most importantly, I got an internship/front desk position at an AWESOME AWESOME gym called TeamiFit in River North! It's a small facility that teaches lots of group fitness classes and has one on one circuit training programs during the day. To start off I'm just going to be working the front desk since I'm not certified to do anything else, but said they can discuss a training program for me to become a trainer and/or group fitness instructor once my certifications are in place!! SO exciting!! This place seems really great too. It's small and independent, they have an adorable yorkie that walks around like it owns the place, they have a lot of really dedicated members and their class offerings seem so fun! I can take as many classes as I want for free so I'll definitely be getting my kickboxing and zumba on!
I'm scheduled to take my NASM Certified Personal Trainer exam on March 7th at 12pm!! The countdown has begun. I just took the practice exam this afternoon and scored 86.67% (you just need above 70% to pass) but I had to guess a little more than I would have liked, so I have some more work to do. I'm about to spend 4 days by myself at my parent's house in Michigan while they're on vaycay, so I should be fine.
Alright, it's grub time. I'm going to play in an organized dodgeball league tonight!! It's my friend Jeremy's league but he's out of town and I'm just playing as a sub, so I literally will know no one. It should be fun...or just really awkward. Plus I haven't played an organized sport of any kind since...6th grade? I think that's right. But it's time to put this "athletic" body I now have to good use! Hope I don't get too many bruises...
Lots of good news to report! Most importantly, I got an internship/front desk position at an AWESOME AWESOME gym called TeamiFit in River North! It's a small facility that teaches lots of group fitness classes and has one on one circuit training programs during the day. To start off I'm just going to be working the front desk since I'm not certified to do anything else, but said they can discuss a training program for me to become a trainer and/or group fitness instructor once my certifications are in place!! SO exciting!! This place seems really great too. It's small and independent, they have an adorable yorkie that walks around like it owns the place, they have a lot of really dedicated members and their class offerings seem so fun! I can take as many classes as I want for free so I'll definitely be getting my kickboxing and zumba on!
I'm scheduled to take my NASM Certified Personal Trainer exam on March 7th at 12pm!! The countdown has begun. I just took the practice exam this afternoon and scored 86.67% (you just need above 70% to pass) but I had to guess a little more than I would have liked, so I have some more work to do. I'm about to spend 4 days by myself at my parent's house in Michigan while they're on vaycay, so I should be fine.
Alright, it's grub time. I'm going to play in an organized dodgeball league tonight!! It's my friend Jeremy's league but he's out of town and I'm just playing as a sub, so I literally will know no one. It should be fun...or just really awkward. Plus I haven't played an organized sport of any kind since...6th grade? I think that's right. But it's time to put this "athletic" body I now have to good use! Hope I don't get too many bruises...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
I have a job! :-) but, you know, I have a job :-(
Sorry for my absence blog-o-sphere! It's been a little cray-cray up in here this week. Only have 20 minutes before I've gotta start getting ready for WORK, so I'll be brief.
I've started training for my NEW JOB!! Woot woot. Waiting tables at Lion Head Pub in Lincoln Park. Tonight is my last night of training. Here are the pros and cons for time save-age.
PROS:
*Having a job
*It's a 15 minute walk door to door from my home, making the late night end time not so bad when you don't have to catch a bus/train
*Very relaxed environment, people seem pretty cool
*High-volume on weekends
*I can wear jeans and tennis shoes, (HUGE PRO!!!)
*Really good drink specials, really easy for my friends to come visit me and eat/drink very cheaply
Cons:
*umm...having a job...I'm SO behind on my TV right now
*working until 2:30 weeknights, 3:30 Saturdays is going to be very hard to get used too since in my ideal world I'd be in bed at 11 and up at 7
*Really good drink specials means someone can sit there for hours eating and drinking and have a $10 tab, so if I make money it will be based on volume, not sales.
Plus, Jason is working the auto show every day the next two weeks so I haven't been able to see him at all and our apartment currently looks like a tornado came through (feel lucky I'm writing for you people instead of tending to the massive pile of clothes in my room), but once I'm done training I'm only working 3-4 nights a week and Jay and I will have more or less the same hours, so things should be back to semi-normal.
Other mention-ables:
Only 3 chapters left in my NASM course book!! I see the light at the end of that tunnel.
I haven't run outside since before the snowstorm and I'm getting REALLY sick of running on the treadmill, though I must admit I've made some break-throughs with my speed training/hill work.
Officially told the other bar "no" for the euchre night. Even if I don't get scheduled at Lion Head on Tuesdays, I honestly don't think I'm gonna want to spend my night off from working at a bar working at a bar.
Ok, that doesn't even scratch the surface of all the thoughts in my head right now, but I need to make some dinner before I head out (tonight is my first night working until close...the #1 thing I'm nervous about is how hungry I'm going to get. Stocked up on Luna bars)
Later gators.
I've started training for my NEW JOB!! Woot woot. Waiting tables at Lion Head Pub in Lincoln Park. Tonight is my last night of training. Here are the pros and cons for time save-age.
PROS:
*Having a job
*It's a 15 minute walk door to door from my home, making the late night end time not so bad when you don't have to catch a bus/train
*Very relaxed environment, people seem pretty cool
*High-volume on weekends
*I can wear jeans and tennis shoes, (HUGE PRO!!!)
*Really good drink specials, really easy for my friends to come visit me and eat/drink very cheaply
Cons:
*umm...having a job...I'm SO behind on my TV right now
*working until 2:30 weeknights, 3:30 Saturdays is going to be very hard to get used too since in my ideal world I'd be in bed at 11 and up at 7
*Really good drink specials means someone can sit there for hours eating and drinking and have a $10 tab, so if I make money it will be based on volume, not sales.
Plus, Jason is working the auto show every day the next two weeks so I haven't been able to see him at all and our apartment currently looks like a tornado came through (feel lucky I'm writing for you people instead of tending to the massive pile of clothes in my room), but once I'm done training I'm only working 3-4 nights a week and Jay and I will have more or less the same hours, so things should be back to semi-normal.
Other mention-ables:
Only 3 chapters left in my NASM course book!! I see the light at the end of that tunnel.
I haven't run outside since before the snowstorm and I'm getting REALLY sick of running on the treadmill, though I must admit I've made some break-throughs with my speed training/hill work.
Officially told the other bar "no" for the euchre night. Even if I don't get scheduled at Lion Head on Tuesdays, I honestly don't think I'm gonna want to spend my night off from working at a bar working at a bar.
Ok, that doesn't even scratch the surface of all the thoughts in my head right now, but I need to make some dinner before I head out (tonight is my first night working until close...the #1 thing I'm nervous about is how hungry I'm going to get. Stocked up on Luna bars)
Later gators.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
SnOMG!! Snowpocalypse!!
SO in case you haven't heard, it snowed a little bit in Chicago this week. My biggest inconvenience was that our cable and internet was out for like 36 hours. Not too bad considering some people got stuck on Lakeshore Drive for 12 hours in their cars or on buses!! I can't go longer than like 3 hours without eating, so I would have probably eaten the stuffing from my car seats if it was me. Luckily all I really had on my schedule for the last few days was studying, baking some banana bread for a friend, cleaning the bathroom and napping off some really horrible PMS, so it all worked out ok. The gym was closed yesterday (so was every single other business in Chicago) so I had to do INSANITY again, but it shouldn't mess up my training schedule too much. Speaking of running...
AS OF FEBRUARY 1ST AT MIDNIGHT I WAS OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE CHICAGO MARATHON!!!! 10/9/2011 BABY!!!!!
Wooohooo!!! Trying not to think about it too much since I have two 8k's to train for in the mean time and I'd like to run FAST for 8k. Totally different from my goal for the marathon, where I just want to FINISH with all my limbs in tact and a smile on my face. I don't have to actually start marathon training until June, so I'm trying to put the running part of it on the back burner for now.
However, I do have to start the fundraising part of it!! I have 8 months to raise at least $600 for my favorite Chicago charity, PAWS Chicago!! I'm going to be sending out some personal messages to friends and family probably next month asking for donations, but if YOU would like to start the ball rolling, here's my personal fundraising page:
http://pawschicago.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=451667&supId=318525784
PAWS is an awesome NO-KILL animal shelter here in Chicago. They rescue dogs and cats from animal control who would be euthanized and let them live out their lives in a state-of-the-art facility until someone adopts them. Oprah gets all her doggies from PAWS and I of course got the love of my...SAWYER PUT THAT SOCK DOWN! Sorry...the love of my life, Sawyer Soyjoy Soybug Smith-Pachella from PAWS.
One more exciting bit of news, JASON BOOKED THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW!!! This is super exciting. The restaurant was super cool with him taking the time off to do it too. Not only is it BIG MONEY, it also gets him in with the Chevy people who will hopefully book him for many more shows in the future and MOST exciting of all, he gets issued a pair of skinny jeans for his uniform. HAHAH!!! Can't wait.
Every time I sit down to do a blog post I'm like "gosh I really don't have anything to write about today" and then I end up writing a ton! Sorry!!
AS OF FEBRUARY 1ST AT MIDNIGHT I WAS OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE CHICAGO MARATHON!!!! 10/9/2011 BABY!!!!!
Wooohooo!!! Trying not to think about it too much since I have two 8k's to train for in the mean time and I'd like to run FAST for 8k. Totally different from my goal for the marathon, where I just want to FINISH with all my limbs in tact and a smile on my face. I don't have to actually start marathon training until June, so I'm trying to put the running part of it on the back burner for now.
However, I do have to start the fundraising part of it!! I have 8 months to raise at least $600 for my favorite Chicago charity, PAWS Chicago!! I'm going to be sending out some personal messages to friends and family probably next month asking for donations, but if YOU would like to start the ball rolling, here's my personal fundraising page:
http://pawschicago.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=451667&supId=318525784
PAWS is an awesome NO-KILL animal shelter here in Chicago. They rescue dogs and cats from animal control who would be euthanized and let them live out their lives in a state-of-the-art facility until someone adopts them. Oprah gets all her doggies from PAWS and I of course got the love of my...SAWYER PUT THAT SOCK DOWN! Sorry...the love of my life, Sawyer Soyjoy Soybug Smith-Pachella from PAWS.
One more exciting bit of news, JASON BOOKED THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW!!! This is super exciting. The restaurant was super cool with him taking the time off to do it too. Not only is it BIG MONEY, it also gets him in with the Chevy people who will hopefully book him for many more shows in the future and MOST exciting of all, he gets issued a pair of skinny jeans for his uniform. HAHAH!!! Can't wait.
Every time I sit down to do a blog post I'm like "gosh I really don't have anything to write about today" and then I end up writing a ton! Sorry!!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
SAQ, TFL, NASM, 401K, KMK...was this song in Hair?
Hello Bloggy blog readers! Just vegging out here on this lovely Saturday afternoon. Done with my studying for the day and I thought I'd write an update.
I'm officially in training for my first 8k now ( I'm running in 2 of them 3 weeks apart, March 20th and April 10th). Doing prescribed runs every day plus strength training and cross training. I'm following a version of this schedule: http://www.halhigdon.com/8K/8kintsch.htm with a little extra milage in the first half, since I'm used to 20-25 miles a week. I need better ideas for the "cross training" days. These days occur once a week (I did the first one yesterday) and I'm supposed to do 60 minutes of cross training. It's supposed to be a relatively easy day in the training cycle, unlike what I actually did yesterday. I jogged an easy, slow 2.5 miles in the morning, then some friends came over and we did the INSANITY pure cardio workout...NOT easy. Insanity is one of the Beachbody DVD programs (like P90X) that is all cardio/reactive training/SAQ training based. It was basically 40 minutes of plyometrics and SAQ training (that's Speed-Agility-Quickness) and while it was a really good workout, probably not so much for what is supposed to be a rest day. I need something that's a little nicer to my joints after the almost 25 miles I ran this week. Once it gets nicer out I'll definitely do some bike riding but I need to figure out some other cross activities in the mean time.
I'm trying to be nicer to my joints and muscles all around. I can't risk an injury after all this time I'm putting in to training. My joints are still ok but I've been having crazy tightness in my TFL and calf muscles, especially on my left side. AHHHHH OMG the TFL!! I'm in pain now just thinking about it. I ordered a foam roller from Amazon that should be arriving in the next couple of days and I've decided to start getting massages at least once every other week. There's a little place called Resonance Massage and Bodywork , a fantastic Chinese-style walk-in massage spa just a couple doors down. If you go before 2pm you get an extra 10 minutes, so for $30 you can get 30 minutes on the table. I'm definitely willing to spend $30 every 2 weeks for a massage! (says the still unemployed girl)
Ohhhhh, employment. I went to 5 open server calls this week plus e-mailed a lot of resumes via craigslist, haven't heard anything. Every time I fill out an application I feel like I lose a teeny tiny bit of my soul. I think this week I'm just going to follow my friend Chris's advice, I'll print a stack of resumes and hit up all the bars where I want to work right at opening time, hoping someone got fired or quit the night before. It means facing a lot of rejection and needing a whole lot of luck, but I'm generally good at both those things.
Right when I got home from Michigan after Christmas I submitted for a bunch of server jobs and actually got called in for interviews on 2 of them! I realized that since I still had 4 weeks of my show left at that point it would be silly to go into an interview without any weekend availability so I was like "oh, I'll just hold off until after Kiss Me, Kate. It should be just as easy then!" Yeah, uh huh.
I keep occasionally checking the fitness section of craigslist jobs in addition to the food/drink service section, just for giggles. I can't wait to apply for these personal training jobs! Most of the smaller, independent gyms don't even require previous experience, just NASM certification and "a passion for fitness!" or "enthusiasm to get started in the fitness industry!" and they ALL come with health benefits, educational opportunities, 401k...401K!!!! Ohmigosh I will feel like a real adult. At my current pace I only have 2 weeks left before I finish the text book/course book, plus I figure another 2 weeks of flashcards/studying/practice tests and then I'll be good to take the certification exam at the beginning of March! Man oh man I just hope that there are still jobs then. March/April is when everyone starts worrying about swimsuit season and joins a gym, right? right???
Ok, gotta clean the apartmetn and walk Sawyer before I leave for my show. ONLY 2 SHOWS OF KMK LEFT!!! I have a feeling that this is what the last couple miles of the marathon is going to feel like.
I'm officially in training for my first 8k now ( I'm running in 2 of them 3 weeks apart, March 20th and April 10th). Doing prescribed runs every day plus strength training and cross training. I'm following a version of this schedule: http://www.halhigdon.com/8K/8kintsch.htm with a little extra milage in the first half, since I'm used to 20-25 miles a week. I need better ideas for the "cross training" days. These days occur once a week (I did the first one yesterday) and I'm supposed to do 60 minutes of cross training. It's supposed to be a relatively easy day in the training cycle, unlike what I actually did yesterday. I jogged an easy, slow 2.5 miles in the morning, then some friends came over and we did the INSANITY pure cardio workout...NOT easy. Insanity is one of the Beachbody DVD programs (like P90X) that is all cardio/reactive training/SAQ training based. It was basically 40 minutes of plyometrics and SAQ training (that's Speed-Agility-Quickness) and while it was a really good workout, probably not so much for what is supposed to be a rest day. I need something that's a little nicer to my joints after the almost 25 miles I ran this week. Once it gets nicer out I'll definitely do some bike riding but I need to figure out some other cross activities in the mean time.
I'm trying to be nicer to my joints and muscles all around. I can't risk an injury after all this time I'm putting in to training. My joints are still ok but I've been having crazy tightness in my TFL and calf muscles, especially on my left side. AHHHHH OMG the TFL!! I'm in pain now just thinking about it. I ordered a foam roller from Amazon that should be arriving in the next couple of days and I've decided to start getting massages at least once every other week. There's a little place called Resonance Massage and Bodywork , a fantastic Chinese-style walk-in massage spa just a couple doors down. If you go before 2pm you get an extra 10 minutes, so for $30 you can get 30 minutes on the table. I'm definitely willing to spend $30 every 2 weeks for a massage! (says the still unemployed girl)
Ohhhhh, employment. I went to 5 open server calls this week plus e-mailed a lot of resumes via craigslist, haven't heard anything. Every time I fill out an application I feel like I lose a teeny tiny bit of my soul. I think this week I'm just going to follow my friend Chris's advice, I'll print a stack of resumes and hit up all the bars where I want to work right at opening time, hoping someone got fired or quit the night before. It means facing a lot of rejection and needing a whole lot of luck, but I'm generally good at both those things.
Right when I got home from Michigan after Christmas I submitted for a bunch of server jobs and actually got called in for interviews on 2 of them! I realized that since I still had 4 weeks of my show left at that point it would be silly to go into an interview without any weekend availability so I was like "oh, I'll just hold off until after Kiss Me, Kate. It should be just as easy then!" Yeah, uh huh.
I keep occasionally checking the fitness section of craigslist jobs in addition to the food/drink service section, just for giggles. I can't wait to apply for these personal training jobs! Most of the smaller, independent gyms don't even require previous experience, just NASM certification and "a passion for fitness!" or "enthusiasm to get started in the fitness industry!" and they ALL come with health benefits, educational opportunities, 401k...401K!!!! Ohmigosh I will feel like a real adult. At my current pace I only have 2 weeks left before I finish the text book/course book, plus I figure another 2 weeks of flashcards/studying/practice tests and then I'll be good to take the certification exam at the beginning of March! Man oh man I just hope that there are still jobs then. March/April is when everyone starts worrying about swimsuit season and joins a gym, right? right???
Ok, gotta clean the apartmetn and walk Sawyer before I leave for my show. ONLY 2 SHOWS OF KMK LEFT!!! I have a feeling that this is what the last couple miles of the marathon is going to feel like.
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