Halloween Candy Bandit

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I’m going to be honest, I love candy especially chocolate, it’s just so delicious! Unfortunately it does me no good other than brings me pure joy, but who needs that when you are trying to stay fit?   I particularly like the snack sized candy because in my mind I feel better only eating a small piece of candy rather than a regular sized candy bar but when you are eating 10 snack sized candy bars at a time, that mentality is just plain ridiculous.

Am I the only one that thinks this way?

Halloween in my house is a pretty big deal with 5 little ones.  We love dressing up, carving and painting pumpkins, and the best part, trick-or-treating.  So as expected we make out like bandits with the goodies having 5 kids hitting up the neighbors for treats, all sounds good right?  NO, because then mommy is left with 5 buckets of candy all day while the kids are at school and I’m supposed to ignore it… it just doesn’t happen!  Ugh, where is my self-control?   Not only am I indulging in copious amounts of sugar (yes I’m that mommy that steals their kids Halloween candy, sue me) but my kids want their hard-earned candy and ask for it multiple times a day.  My kids are a handful on a good day, give them candy and it’s like adding fuel to the fire. Quickly I become the “meanest mom in the world” for not giving them their own candy but for eating it myself…WOW mom of the year right here!

So I decided to fix the problem and get rid of the culprit that ruins my good mommy status and my waistline. Even this mean mom thinks its pretty extreme to just throw all the candy away (which I would love to do).  I guess the kids did walk through several neighborhoods to collect the candy and it would be such a waste to throw it away.   I found another solution…the Switch Witch!!

Have you heard of her?

Last year was our first year she visited and it was such a hit with the kids; they are excited to have her come again.  The night of Halloween, when the kids have come down from their sugar high and are finally asleep you take their candy (maybe leaving 4 or 5 of their favorite pieces for an occasional special treat ) or if you are brave enough and you think your kids are willing, you can to talk them into leaving their candy on the doorstep for the Switch Witch to come and take.  Leave the Switch Witch letter and a small little toy, book, or puzzle, it doesn’t need to be an expensive toy…lets be honest, it’s cheaper than the dreaded dental bill.   When the kids wake up in the morning they find their new toy and the candy is gone.

You would think taking the candy away would cause some devastation but they really are happy to see a new toy and quickly forger about the loss of their candy.

You can find Halloween candy buy back or exchange programs where you can send the candy to troops, such as Operation Gratitude at operationgratitude.com or you can find local dentists who will buy the candy by the pound.

I have made a printout of the Switch Witch poem by clicking on the Switch Witch link        –> switch witch  You can also search for the Switch Witch online, there are many sites to get the poem and even a book and a doll (reminds me of the elf on the shelf) if you want to get super fancy with it.

Happy Halloween and I hope your children enjoy having the Switch Witch visit as much as we do!!
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Wednesday Workout

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Holy, it’s been forever since I wrote a post!!  I’ve been so busy with end of the year school activities…yes my kids are still in school thanks to the 5 snow days we had, not sure if this is a good or bad thing but I’m going with that it’s a good thing, at least my house will be clean for the next week.  I’ve also busy with training, traveling and racing the past 5 out of 6 weekends.  Honestly I haven’t had time to really do a structured workout other than my runs.  I literally go out to the garage and just start lifting stuff, doing burpees, lunges, push-ups and pull-ups; it is absolutely a HOT mess.

I like to have my workout written down and just grind it out until I’m done; I’m feeling a little unorganized and incomplete doing it this way.  I need to get back into the groove of strength and circuit workouts, I feel like I’m losing my mojo but hey I’m becoming a better runner!!  I’m taking an oath…I WILL do 3 WOD’s a week until the end of time, haha just kidding thats just not going to happen.  My goal is to get in 3 WOD’s during the week to gain my strength back, there that’s sounds like an attainable goal.  So with that said, here is a great workout to start with:

6 minute AMRAP
20 KB swings
10 Burpees

2 minute rest

6 Minute AMRAP
200 meter sprint
20 walking lunges

2 minute rest

6 minute AMRAP
20 push-ups
20 bench dips
20 box jumps or squat jumps

2 minute rest

6 minute AMRAP
100 meter farmer carry with dumbbells or something heavy
10 thrusters with db or kb
10 toes to bar or leg lifts

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Do I look like I’m having fun here? I wonder why I went back to do this 2 more times when I look like i’m in pain…

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Citifield Recap and AMRAP

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I ran the Cititfield Spartan Sprint, home of the NY Mets, a couple of weeks ago and had an absolute blast.  I took my 10-year-old daughter to keep me company for the trip and I thought it would be a fun mommy-daughter activity to do together.  The stadium races might be one of my favorite type of races.  Since it’s in a stadium the race tends to be shorter but equally as hard as some of the regular Spartan Sprints because of the multiple stair climbs and the proximity of the obstacles; it reminds me a lot of a CrossFit WOD.  You never really get a chance to recover and catch your breath, it’s an all out sprint to the finish line.

I knew this was going to be a battle from the start with some amazing athletes that showed up to compete: Karlee Whipple (Spartan Stadium Pro Team), Cassidy Watton (Atlas Pro Team and stadium badass), KK Stewart (Spartan Pro Team), Elise Fugowski (frequent Spartan Podium finisher and CrossFit athlete) just to name a few. As we started it was a battle, Cassidy taking the early lead but not by more than 10-20 seconds.  As we ran up several flights of stairs, jumped several walls, and conquered the foot wheel, there was a group of us that were all fairly close.  We came to the spear throw and everyone seemed to missed, I knew if I wanted a spot on that podium that I had to hit the spear.  I grabbed the spear, aimed, and nailed it!!  As the other athletes were doing there 30 burpee penalty, I was able to moved on.

Some of the other obstacles were the atlas carry, hurculean hoist, sandbag carry, ball slams, jump rope, wall traverse, monkey bars, box jumps, water jug carry, cargo net, and the rope climb.  Cassidy caught up to me at the hurculean hoist, she’s a beast not even kidding, and then passed me at the ball slams.  I was able to finish in 2nd about 10 seconds behind Cassidy and Karlee Whipple taking 3rd.  I was delighted to get on the podium with the amount of competition that showed up to win.  The coolest part was that my daughter was waiting at the finish line to cheer her momma on, what a great Mother’s Day gift for me!!  After I had some time to recover, Logan and I ran another lap.  This was Logan’s first time doing the “big kid” race and she absolutely killed it.  I was so proud at how well she did, she never needed my help and ran the whole race…Spartan champ in the making!!

Thought I would post a workout that train you for a Spartan stadium race.  Happy Friday and Memorial Day weekend!

20 minute AMRAP
400 meter run
20 walking lunges
15 burpees
10 box jumps or squat jumps

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Wednesday Chipper

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So I am having a hard time finding a good balance between running more miles and finding time to do strength training thus the lack of blog posts.  I finally got back to CrossFit after a 3 week hiatus with spring break, sick kids and running a crap ton of miles. I did this workout at Pioneer Valley CrossFit and went at 110% and almost died…I loved it!  haha

I have a Spartan Sprint at the Cititfield Stadium in NYC on Saturday.  I absolutely love stadium sprints, it reminds so much of a CrossFit WOD.  Literally going all out for a whole race and lifting heavy shit makes me super happy.  I will keep you all posted on how it turns out.  Happy training!!

2 rounds
35 double unders
35 kb swings 35#
35 box jumps 20”
35 walking lunges
35 burpees

time:13:59

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Tuesday Chipper

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It is spring break for my kids and I’m pretty sure God is testing me to see if I can keep my sanity and patients…ugh!  Since we are staying home this year for spring break (no Mexico this year:-( ), I am on the brink of having a nervous breakdown and going bat shit crazy at all times.  My kids are bored, hungry, crabby, fighting, messy, locking each other in rooms  and it’s only 8am, what the hell isn’t it bedtime yet??

So I realize I need to remove myself from the situation and go out to the garage and workout. I leave my ten year old in charge, it’s not as dangerous as it sounds people, I’m still home plus things might get ugly if I don’t get out.  Working out is like going to the “shrink,” for me; I’m literally working on my mental health.  When I’m done, I come back inside refreshed, happy, and a slightly more energetic mommy.  I might be able to get through the rest of the day without losing it!  Cheers to freakin spring break!

10 minute warm-up

WOD
100 walking lunges
90 sit-ups
80 push ups
70 jump squats
60 kettlebell swings 35#
50 burpees
40 box jumps
30 push press 45#
20 toes to bar
10 burpee box jump

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Tuesday Workout

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Yesterday I decided to strap on my weight vest and do some hill sprint repeats and boy howdy it sucked.  I’m not one to complain about a workout because I enjoy the pain from working hard but it was pretty unpleasant.  When I was done I felt really accomplished and glad that I did it but I was thankful that shit was over.  I then did a fun little WOD (see below) and finished off with a 3 mile run.  I’m really trying to push myself in these training sessions and I’m hoping the hard work will pay off in my races…

So today I challenge you to get outside and do something that gets you out of your comfort zone, something that really pushes you and makes you a little uncomfortable.  For example, if you are on your usual 3 mile run, stop and do 10 burpees and 20 walking lunges every .5 mile or go run stairs at the local track with some running intervals.  It’s good to mix things up and get out of your usual routine, its great for your body and your mind!

WOD
5 rounds
20 burpees
20 ball slams (14-20# med ball)
10 pull ups or push ups

1 mile run

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Deck of Cards Workout

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Happy Monday!!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!  My family had a great weekend full of egg hunts, Church, outdoor activities and lots and lots of candy!  I know that I definitely over indulged in all the sweets but sometimes you need those kinds of days (or weekends) to keep you grounded and give you some balance instead of completely depriving yourself and then completely falling off the wagon. With that said, now that the holiday weekend is over I’m ready to get back to eating clean and training hard!

The workout for today is one that I used to do but I haven’t done it for probably 3 years, I actually forgot about it, how dumb because it’s really fun.  You need a standard deck of cards and a pair of dumbbells.  Flip a card, each suit represents a different exercise (see below) and the card value equals the amount of reps.  Easy as that, shuffle the deck and get going!

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Training Tuesday

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I decided to work on some OCR specific training today!  I have the Charlotte Spartan Sprint coming up in a week and a half so this type of training needs to be done so I’m prepared.  I

1 mile warm-up
6 rounds
800 meter run
1 rope climb
20 box jumps
1 uphill bucket carry
10 burpees
2 mile cool down

*If you don’t have a rope to climb substitute with 20 push-ups.

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I think rope climbs have become my favorite obstacle!!

Getting active with your kids

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So a couple of days ago I was getting ready to go out to our garage for a quick workout when my 10-year-old daughter asked if she could come with me…seriously!?!  This made my day, maybe even my week.  While I was waiting for Logan to get ready, Laney, who’s 8, asked if she could come too, hmm even better.  We went out to the garage and I explained the WOD to them, as they looked at me like I was a little crazy, I quickly ran out of the garage to start our first round which started with a 400 meter run before they could change their minds.  As we were nearing the house after our first run we were met by Lawson and Liam, 6 and 4 years old, who came to join in.  As the WOD moved along, Logan and Laney stayed right with me while Lawson and Liam did their own “crazy boy” thing which was fine by me as long as they were moving.  I was so proud and excited that my kids wanted to workout with me, usually they think I’m crazy when I train.  Don’t get me wrong, they are active kids and like to get outside but don’t usually participate in my workouts (which can be intense).

I think it’s extremely important to show you children that exercise should be a priority in your life and not a burden, which far too many think.  I’m constantly explaining to my kids the reasons why I love to exercise and why its important.  Showing them that exercise can be fun and that its something to be desired will help them get off the couch, put down their electronics and get outside to get active!

Here’s the workout the kids did with me:

5 rounds
400 meter run
20 burpees
10 ring dips
20 squats
10 leg lifts

Pictures of our WOD, sorry they are blurry but we weren’t slowing down for pics!

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Post workout picture 🙂

Monday Workout

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I’m so tired of snow and the cold weather!! I can’t wait until I can go outside to run and train without freezing my buns off and wearing 3 layers of clothing. The day I did this workout, it was 35 degrees…smokin hot! I had to take advantage of the warm weather right (eye roll)? 35 degrees is literally considered warm at this point, everyday it is below freezing with a wind chill that makes your eyes water. Please give me some warm weather?! Ok no more complaints 😉

This is a great OCR (obstacle course race) training workout, adding in obstacles/movements to do while fatigued emulates how you will feel in a race. By the way, I think everyone should sign up and try a OCR; you will be surprised what your body and mind are capable of and it’s a great goal to start training for. Happy Monday!

WOD
20 burpees
bucket carry
30 box jumps
rope climb
40 push press 65#
bucket carry
50 hang cleans 65#
rope climb
60 pull ups
bucket carry
70 push ups
rope climb
80 squats
bucket carry
90 sit ups
rope climb

time: 35:25

modified workout
20 burpees
30 box jumps
40 dumbbell overhead press
50 straight leg dead lift
60 dips
70 push ups
80 squats
90 sit ups

BUCKET CARRY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS AT SPARTAN, THIS PICTURE WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF A 5+ HOUR RACE…I WAS NOT SMILING AT THE END!

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