Artist Madrid, Naturally

I made it! More pictures and insights to come soon.

Woke up with back, shins and calf hurting. I think my body hates me :.( Oh well! Here I Go!

One Morning You Will Decide One morning you will decide that this is the day to escape: time to load the car, leave the madness and mayhem. Soon we will drive along mesas, snow-capped mountains, along the Natchez Trace  and the Appalachian chain. Maybe we will leave the car at the airport and fly to that city on a cliff in Spain you saw online or Vienna where I will lure you to Sopron and show you the family homestead. Tell me when, my love, and I will Get the bags from upstairs. ~ Arthur Turfa Some times you want to run away. You feel the walls caving. Every tick of the clock, taking  you closer to the edge. You just have to get away...  But most times in life you can't escape because: your inner demons will follow you wherever you go -or- you feel you can't physically zip off in a car or plane at the moment (like the subject of Arthur Turfa's poem quoted above). When I reach that rock and a hard place, I want to Exude Energy... whether Cre...

5k Boot Camp Cram AKA Boot C(r)am(p) has begun!

You may have noticed that Artist Madrid, Naturally got a face-lift yesterday. I guess I figured I am more mature and wiser now than when I first started this blog over 5 years ago. So my blog got a little update to go with the new AM. In other news... This past Saturday morning I was riding around town with Mr. Madrid and we happened upon the clean-up stage of a 5k. Hubby was intrigued so I shared my knowledge and past experience with participating in one. It was an amazing experience and training for that really kick-started my fitness routine . I mused out loud that I should probably plan on signing up for another one so I would have motivation to get active again. He asked if you had to run the whole way. I laughed and said of course not, I walked parts and jogged at times. So he proceeds to say: "Sounds fun. We can do one together." Once I picked my bottom lip off the floor, I googled the upcoming date of the same race I did in 2013. And Voilà... Mr. & Mrs. Madrid ...

So about a month ago, I started doing this body weight circuit training routine . I knew I needed to incorporate a full-body workout into my exercise routine. I chose this over a kettlebell workout because I already had all the necessary equipment. I have now worked my way up to doing all three circuits (yes, it took me that long) with a 3 minute jog to warm-up. I have a love/hate relationship with this workout. I love that I can do it in about 20 minutes and it's strength-training and a cardio workout! However, it is definitely a challenge. Once you've completed it, you feel like you've had your butt kicked. But the saying goes: "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you" . And I love the results. The squats and lunges have made my legs stronger, which is great for running. The plank variations really work your core and my arms need all the help they can get with those push-ups lol. AM's Body Weight Circuit Training: 20 squats 20 lunges 10...

I realize that I haven’t written about my hair in a while. And I will really soon, I promise! But right now, I want to update you on my next jogging goal! My next 5k will be November 23 rd ! It is another evening race, so I guess I will have to mosey on down to Academy Sports soon  to get a warmer runn ing outfit (wink, wink). It is also a “ Crit ” (or criterium  style race). Trust me! I had to look up what that meant too lol. I now  know   it  is a lap course usually in a city. Th is one will cover about 2 blocks.  My first 5K was a flat route through shady (and normally quiet) neighborhoods.  So I am  definitely  excited about trying a different type of  course. I am also excited because I am pretty sure that some of my friends will be joining me this time. YAY!!! My goal is to complete the course in less than 45 minutes (10 minutes faster than my first) and to jog a least half of the time. Which means: In total, I will h...

I know, I know...Months ago, I said I was going to do a post on my stretch routine. I am extremely slack. Well, here it is! Before I begin, I do a few dynamic stretches to get me warmed up. These include leg swings and lunges. Then I start off walking fairly slow, until I'm all loosen up. My post jog stretch routine gets a little more complicated. So, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I decided to save y'all the headache of figuring out my vague descriptions and created a Pinterest board instead. Check it out! Post Jog Stretches-Pinterest Board

Mistake #1 : I Should Have Gotten to The 5K Earlier Even though I got there 45 minutes or so before the start time, everything just felt so rushed. Rushing to find parking, rushing to find the Registration table, rushing to pin my number on, rushing to the starting line, rushing to get turn my playlist and timers on. And of course, all of this rushing made me even more nervous.   Mistake #2 : I Shouldn’t Have Let Nerves Get In the Way of Routine Because I was so nervous, I didn’t take the time to properly stretch and warm-up. I mean I did do a leg stretch or two but that was about it. I paid for this dearly in the first mile. My calves cramped so bad, I could have cried. I was able to walk through it but after that I was only able to jog super-short distances.   Mistake #3 : I Should Have Realized Sooner That I Should Just Have Fun I did realize this after the first mile but until then I was completely miserable. When I realized that jogging as much as I would like was out of ...

I did it!!!! I want to thank everyone for their support.  My Official Time: 49:58  I will be posting an overview of my experience tomorrow or Monday. Thanks Again!

Omg! So you know how I said I already had my timers set up? Well obviously the app I downloaded is possessed because it keeps going off, even after I turned all the alarms off. I don't need this in my life right now lol. And I definitely don't need it while doing the 5k. So I'm scrambling to find a better multi-timer app. I will let you know what I find. In other news, I've been super busy today, so I haven't really had time to be nervous. Only a few more hours to go. I'm actually really excited now. I just need to remember to pace myself and find a reliable timer app (lol) and then I should be good to go. Well I need to take a nap now, so I'll probably do another post an hour before the 5k.

At this point, I am alternating between being ready-to-run excited and terrifyingly nervous. Yesterday, I did my registration ($30 non-refundable) reorganized my "Walk/Run" playlist and washed my 5k outfit. Today, I printed out my registration confirmation, laid out all my 5k clothes and accessories, set up my times on my phone, did a quick leisurely walk to stretch my sore leg muscles and researched every single thing I could on 5k's.

For the first time ever, I walk/jogged 5 kilometers (a little over 3 miles)! And get this: I did it in under 55 minutes! I really can't believe it! I'll be attempting this again on next Saturday... My first 5k!!! So some details:  I alternated between walking and jogging.  I sort stuck with my 5 minutes/2 minutes pattern for about the first 35 minutes but then I speed walked for the next 20 or so minutes. Then ran the last minute. The most difficult part was the heartburn (I have problems with this anyway but it seems like every time I jog I have a major heartburn episode). I'm at a hotel (yes, I'm out of town again) so I work outed on this amazing treadmill. I mean it did all the normal things (mileage, pace, calories burned, heart rate) but it also had a tv built in! Confession: It was a dream come true! I got to do a 5k, in the air conditioning, while reading subtitles of morning talk shows and listening to my motivational music mix.  They only thing that could ha...

...A two week break, that is. Why? Because I’ve been busy and to tell the truth, just not feeling it. So I am sitting on the crouch reading a book (sci-fi). And get this, the main character of the story runs to relieve stress. She describes how she loses herself in the run. My next thoughts: If it works to calm down a displaced, outcast girl who is trapped in a mutiny-filled spaceship (and the fact that she is able to find time amongst all that craziness), then its got to work for me! So I've resolved to get myself back in the swing of things (this includes: stretching, walking, jogging, dancing and my arm strength exercises)... August 3rd will be here before I know it!!!

Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that it wasn't rainy or soggy in the evening. So I decided to take my walk/jog outside (with friends). I was motivated and as rested as I can get but the workout was difficult. I mean really difficult. Inside: I had worked myself up to  35 minutes (walking about 5 minutes and then jogging 2 minutes easily). Outside: I could only jog about 1 minute without feeling like I was about to pass out. You guys should have seen me doing my best "Cathy" impression (arms flailing, panicked and perspiring). I chalked up the difficulty to the heat (even though the rain had cooled things down a bit). But after doing some research, I realized there were probably other factors besides the weather. These include: wind resistance, inclines and the asphalt surface. Because of this it is suggested that you at least partially train for a 5K outdoors so you can get used to the altered conditions. Today, I felt like I did after my first time jogging. The ...

Every site I've gone to while doing research about jogging has said that it is extremely important to have the right shoes. I was overwhelmed with all the information I found. Seriously! It took me a whole week of reading articles and blogs and comparing quiz results and shoe reviews before I formed an idea of what I needed. I wanted to share some of the sites that helped me the most (in chronological order): Finding the Right Running Shoes Running Shoes Wizard (Quiz) Running Shoe Recommendations-Based on Foot Type How to Buy the Right Running Shoe Ok, so my goal was to find shoes that were comfortable, affordable and over-all improve my jogging experience. I've mentioned before that I use the Nexercise app to track my exercising. One of the perks is that you earn points, if you earn enough you can trade them in for coupons. So, I traded some of mine in for a $20 off coupon for Reebok . The plan was to use the coupon in purchasing my shoes online. From my research...

So today I was perusing some of the events coming up on my calendar. I get to August and I see that I'm supposed to be doing a 5k that first Saturday*!!! It totally slipped my mind! Which means I have NOT been training for it :( "Hhm, AM why are you doing a 5k?", you ask. Well let me rewind my story a bit. When I first started working out, I knew I had to have some goal to work towards (besides being healthy and losing weight). So I decided that I would do a 5k mid or end of Summer. This was ingenious because I wouldn't want to go out there and be embarrassed because I wasn't fit enough to finish! Great! But then I forgot about it. I have still been working out but it's been more about cardio in short bursts then endurance. The question is: Am I still going to participate in the 5k? The answer: Heck yeah! Side note: I, at some point, will have to buy some running shoes.  So after I figured all this out, I decided to see what I can do now. If al...