Dash here, dash there

Yes, I survived the Warrior Dash.....and I do mean SURVIVED!!  They weren't lying, it's 3.2 miles of hell.  Actually, the part I was the most nervous about, the obstacles themselves, weren't that intimidating at all.  What WAS hard was that the running part was mostly trail running.  TRAIL RUNNING IS HARD, PEOPLE!  There's a whole different training method for trail running as opposed to just plain running.  And, with my (un)gracefulness and lack of normal balance, trail running is probably not for me.  I was looking down the entire time, making sure I wasn't going to trip over a rock or branch or something.

And, oh the pictures.....again, further proof of my beautiful lack of grace.

Okay, and in honor of the Warrior Dash, here's a quick list of 3 ways to get the most out of a workout (and make it fun):

1. Kick up the cardio.  Kind of a no-brainer, huh?  Get the heart rate up = burn more calories = better workout.  There are other ways to get in cardio besides just the treadmill too (just plain ole' running gets really boring for me after a while); Jumping jacks, mountain climbers, bear crawls, ski jumps, and one I just recently learned that also will work your arms and shoulders at the same time: Get in a pushup position and jump your feet from side to side, keeping feet together and "jumping" the feet as high as you can each time.

2. Confuse your body.  Switch up your workouts. Doing one thing over and over (isn't this also the definition of insanity?) will slow results and sometimes, if your body gets too used to it, you'll stop seeing results and stay in one place.  When you switch it up, you're making your body continually adapt and change, so you're, in a sense, keeping it confused.  So, do cardio one day, strength training the next, or go play tennis, do a zumba class, try pilates or yoga, spin class, or kickboxing (personal favorite)

3. This is my jam!!!  Find 5 new, upbeat, fast-paced songs to add your iTunes workout playlist.  Or they can be oldies ("Groove Is In the Heart", anyone?)  One of my favorites, oddly, is Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'"....yeah, I know, my music taste no longer counts....but there's a great list here (Tone It Up blog)

A quick pic from right before the Warrior Dash!