The Bright Side

new red belt!

 

Congrats on the new red belt, Ryan!  Way to go, kid!  

 

Keep up the good work! 

Oh, and congrats on earning the one-year award.  That's so cool!

 

 

"ben does life" tour coming here!

 

Have you ever heard of the Ben Does Life blog?  It's great!  You should check it out.  

Ben is this great guy, who has a very inspiring story and he is in turn, inspiring many others to get out there and "do life."  He made a video of his journey and a 1,000,000+ views later he is appearing on national TV, doing radio interviews, appearing in magazine articles all while he continues to inspire his thousands of fans on tumblr.  

 

 

Ben is quite a character and he and his father, Pa, and his brother, Jed, are quite entertaining as they jib and jab (and support) each other across their blogs.  

I am super excited today because Ben just announced for this summer:

Do Life: The Official Nationwide Unofficial-5K Tour 

 Thirty 5Ks, in 30 cities in 40 days!  

Here's his map:

 

And I just happen to live in one of those cities!  Yay!  And doesn't that just fit in perfectly with my goal of running a bunch of races this year?  

Yes!  

Actually, it sounds more like a happenin' kind of bloggin', kind of happy people kind of event with less emphasis on the race thing, more emphasis on the gathering thing.  Which is just fine by me!  Ben actually held a similar event in NYC last weekend and it looked really fun from the pictures and descriptions.  I can't wait for this summer!  

Now all I have to do is talk my family into going with me...

 

wednesday's workout

Treadmill:  Program #2 Interval Workout

Intervals:  4.5 min. @ 3.5 mph w/ 5.0 incline and 1.5 min @ 6.0 mph (!)

Calories:  554 per the treadmill computer

Distance: 3.74 miles         Time:  60 minutes

 

 

tuesday's workout

 

Spinning:  Spinnervals - Sweatin' Buckets

Time:  60 minutes

Calories:  310

HR: ave. 115, high 145

 

This workout felt great!  In fact, I almost did it twice.  The best $7 that I ever spent was on my new gel seat cover from Amazon.  Wise move.  

 

 

 

monday's workout

Treadmill:  3/1 intervals at 4.0 and 3.1 mph

Time:  65:00

Distance:  4.03 miles

Calories:  570 (per treadmill)

 

Ran early (5 pm) today to try something new.  I usually run late in the evening, but I've been really tired lately so I decided to run early and maybe get to bed earlier.  Exciting news, isn't it?  No, not really.

Anyway, it is done and that feels good.  Now I can just enjoy the evening.  

Signing off.

 

 

friday's workout and a movie

• Treadmill Time: 95 min. (jog 5 min./walk 1 min. intervals)
• Totals: Jogged 75 min. and walked 20 min.
• Distance: 6.01 miles
• Calories: According to treadmill: 889, Polar monitor read 663
• HR: ave. 130, high 150

This workout rocked.  I earned a total of 66 WW activity points this week.  Can't quite get used to these new higher points, 66 points sounds crazy!

During tonight's workout I watched the movie, Pirate Radio. Have you ever seen it?  It takes place in the 60's and includes great music and an awesome ensemble cast including Bill Nighy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Sturridge, Rhys Ifans and Emma Thompson.  Sort of silly in parts, but overall good fun.  Written and directed by Richard Curtis of Love Actually, Bridget Jones and Nottinghill fame.  If you liked any of those films, chances are you would enjoy Pirate Radio.

 

 

thursday's workout

• Spinning:  Spinnervals - Lean & Mean
• 316 calories
• 60 minutes
• HR: ave. 114, high 141
• Felt great!

Loved this new Spinnervals 4.0 DVD.  It focuses on interval work, which was great.  Near the end, the trainer has you get off the bike and do a series of squats and isometric squats.  Wow, my quads were shakin' and quakin'!  It was a challenge.  

Tonight, while I was spinning, I watched Under the Tuscan Sun.  Man, I love that movie.  Ah, Italy.  Tuscany.  The Amalfi Coast.  Positano.  It must be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.  I've been there twice and I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

Positano

 

The Hotel Santa Caterina

This is where we stayed in Amalfi, The Hotel Santa Caterina.  Heaven on earth.  Take a mini-vacation by clicking on the link above and take a little tour.  So beautiful.  I highly recommend it.

Wait.  How did I end up talking about Amalfi in the middle of my workout report?  Oh, right. Under the Tuscan Sun.  

 

 

Ok, enough.  Back to reality.  Time for bed.  

Night!

 

wednesday's workout

• Treadmill: intervals (walk 1min/jog 5 min)
• Distance: 4.61 miles
• HR ave. 129, high 169
• 75 minutes
• 501 calories

love this quote!

Saw the following quote, written by the songwriter, Leonard Cohen, over on Julia's Hooked on Houses blog in a post about Elizabeth Edward's home.  This quote is written on Elizabeth's kitchen wall:  

 

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

Isn't it beautiful?  I think so.  It really spoke to me and truly captures how we've felt and what we've experienced having autism in our lives, so I thought I would share it here with you.  

 

Julia also has several photos from Oprah's visit to Ms. Edward's home as well.  My absolutely favorite room was the children's playroom.   Now this would be an awesome place for some seriously enjoyable homeschooling!!

 

The books, the shelves, the cozy couch, oh my!

 

And how about this for a workspace?  Lovely.

 

Thanks, Julia, for bringing that quote into my life.  It is a keeper!

 

 

tuesday's workout

• The Next Challenge DVD
• 65 minutes
• Weights/abs/flexibility
• 229 calories
• HR ave. 97, high 133

This session felt good, very good, actually.  Wore my new Polar heart rate monitor for the first time with this workout and I am a little disappointed in the calories burned. I've been doing this DVD for "awhile" now (read, off and on for years).  It always seems like a challenge, but maybe it is time to move on from this one, too?