How I spent my rainy day in China

I was woken up this morning by a thunderstorm. Our new apartment is on the 11th floor and that feels a whole lot closer to lightning than I like.

I retreated to my new workout space for a little while.

30 Day Pilates Body

Day 20 - stretch and relax

This was the perfect way to start the day.

After a cup of coffee it was still raining, so I looked up a yoga video to replace my Monday hike up the mountain. No way I was going to do that. One thing I learned quickly about living in Shenzhen is that when it rains everything becomes slippery. It helps to clean the bottom of your shoes regularly, but you still have to be careful. 

Tone Yoga from Yoga with Adriene

I like the way Adriene guides you into a pose and then explains how your muscles should be engaging. Like in triangle pose, today I realized that my core should be doing more work than I realized.

Right after yoga, I watched the Xavier basketball tournament game on Slingbox. Sadly, they lost in the final 2 seconds. 

Still rainy outside and lacking no desire to go out in it, I signed into Booya Fitness in search of a video workout to burn some restless energy. It's so easy to find the perfect workout since there are so many videos to choose from. Use my link to join free for 30-days and see what I mean.

Flex Barre Total Body Express

I liked this one. It was a total body workout, but my legs felt it the most. 

The description for this workout listed calorie burn between 250-300. I had some internet streaming issues, but I wasn't even close. My resting heart rate is around 55, so I did get a good cardio session. 

Today was also the start of a new yoga Instagram challenge with the added bonus of prizes from Lucy Activewear and RunersLoveYoga. 

#RunnersLoveYogaFlow

Day 1 - warrior 1

One of the hard parts of yoga for me (besides my tight muscles) is hip alignment. For example, when I'm doing a pose, I feel like I'm positioned correctly. Then I see a picture.

The rain came off and on all afternoon along with the Bosch repairman. On his second visit he told (my rental agent on the phone because he only spoke Chinese) me that the washing machine that the owner just purchased needs to be replaced. Ugh.

And that's my rainy day in China.

Hope you had better weather where you are! 

I Can. I Will.

When I woke up this morning, the water was not working in the apartment.  I went to investigate and saw an announcement posted in the lobby of our building. In Chinese. Super helpful, right?

Luckily, one of my Chinese neighbors came along to read it, too. We sort of had a conversation (I don't speak Chinese and she did not speak English), but by throwing out phrases like méi yǒu shuǐ (no water) and jiān (time, while pointing at my watch), she was able to tell me shí (10 - which I interpreted as 10:00). I thought the whole thing went rather well. And, the water came back on a little after 9.

Meanwhile, with no water...

Yoga Camp ended. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in the free flow workout for the final day. I haven't been doing yoga long enough to just make up a flow on my own. Plus, I look forward to being led through an invigorating session. 

I tried to watch what Adriene was doing (she was un-mic'ed), but at times I did veer off to practice some of the poses that still challenge my strength or balance, or both. 

After my lackluster yoga session, I chose a cardio yoga workout from Booya for my 30 Day Pilates Body challenge "free day" choice. My internet was super stinky (translated that means it would start, stop, start...), and the instructor went really fast, but I was still able to get a good workout from Crossflowx. 

Most importantly, I had a moment during that workout. Since my knee surgery, I've lost a lot of strength in my left leg. The ongoing problems have made it hard to build it back up. Side plank variations on my left side are usually pretty dismal...until today! I was so excited to feel power doing these side crunches. 

This was a big milestone for me. I have been fearing that I wouldn't be able to get stronger. Today showed me that when you do the work, when you're consistent, when you have faith...you CAN reach goals, make progress, see change. It might not happen as quickly as we'd like, but it WILL happen. 

BTW, today is the last day to enter the Booya Cardio Blast Challenge. Don't miss out on the chance to win one of the awesome prizes simply by doing a cardio workout! You can signup here.

After my morning fitness excitement, I had to make another batch of banana peanut butter protein bars. They make the apartment smell so good and make a great healthy snack or dessert. 

What's your latest milestone?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for signups made using my link. If you signed up today, thank you!

Try It Tuesday: Mindfulness Yoga

This morning I tried a new yoga class at a new studio: PD Yoga. The studio is across the street from our apartment community, in an area called Sea Taste, so super convenient. It's a small studio with three small rooms and a variety of class offerings. The studio is clean, offers lockers for storing belongings and a changing area. More importantly, for expats, everyone I've met so far speaks English.

Mindfulness Yoga was a hatha style class that focused on poses that will help improve posture. It was perfect for me. The instructor came around many times during class to assist, correct, or challenge us in our poses. I didn't exactly work up a big sweat, but I loved feeling looser and relaxed when I left.

mrC met me after yoga class at the studio and we took a walk to pay some bills. It was such a nice day that we decided to have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant because we can sit outside. We always laugh at the portion size difference of the chips and salsa here versus the US.

Later in the afternoon after doing a little work around the apartment, we took our second walk of the day and picked up some clothes I had hemmed. The weather has really been perfect the last couple of days, so we have been taking advantage of it.

After our walk, I was hit with a wave of fitness ambition so I went to Booya Fitness for some more Pilates. One thing I love about the video selection is the variety. There are traditional classes like the one I did today, The Classic Pilates Body, where the workout format follows the time-honored routine (see Pilates 100 picture below). There are also classes that put a twist on tradition and create a high energy class like Cardio Pilates. 

Don't forget that you can try Booya Fitness classes free for 30-days (sign up here) Every workout you do until March 15, enters you into the Cardio Blast Challenge for a chance to win some great prizes!

What new fitness activity have you tried lately?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!

Mountain Monday & Leap Day Fun

Winter might be over here in Shenzhen. We officially sweated our butts off climbing the mountain today. We were met by our local park employee who loves taking group pictures for us. Getting to the top of Nanshan wouldn't be the same without a photo to prove it.

It was so nice to be greeted by such amazing weather on Leap Day. No one had to twist my arm to get my #OiselleLeap on and show off my favorite #flystyle for a chance to win a head-to-toe Oiselle outfit. 

Lately I have been really enjoying my Yoga Camp daily videos, but I've also been missing Pilates class at the studio. The instructor is having a baby, so they have taken the class off the schedule and I don't know when it will be back. This afternoon I popped over to Booya Fitness and found an awesome 30 minute Pilates video to do at home.

If you haven't tried Booya Fitness yet, now is a great time to do it. Today they are launching the Cardio Blast Challenge. Check out these great prizes up for grabs.

To enter all you have to do is sign up for Booya Fitness (free trial, monthly, quarterly or annual subscription) and complete a cardio workout! That's it. You're going to work out anyway. Why not enter to win an awesome prize too? I did!! Click here to sign up.

To round out all this fitness, I made another batch of my banana peanut butter protein bars.

How are you spending Leap Day?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!

Friday 5 {a little late}

Whew! What a busy week. I love when the week is full of activity and wears me out, but I miss checking in on the blog and sharing my adventures.

So since I'm a little behind (with zero posts) this week, I thought I would pick my top 5 moments to share:

Nanshan Hike - Mountain Monday was rained out and became Massage Monday for me (and oh my muscles needed that massage!). On Tuesday a couple of us made up the rain out and headed up the mountain. It was cold and gray, but we had a good time chatting and climbing. Nanshan Mountain peak has had a bit of a trim, so the views are now unobstructed and will be nice on a clear day.

Interval Runs - I did two 30 minute interval runs this week, giving myself more non-running days in-between. The first one was on the treadmill using my phone with the Nike app. The goal is time with a slow and easy pace. It was a good workout.

For my second run, I felt it was time to run outside again. I've been nervous about my knee "giving out" again, but the runs on the treadmill have boosted my confidence. This time I used my Nike watch. I kept the same routine: 5 minute WU, 3:2 run/walk, and 5 minute CD. It was another good interval run. I think the longer break between runs was a good idea.

Booya Skinny Jean Workout - I'm constantly looking for leg workouts because I still need to re-build the strength in my left quad, but I've also noticed that my pants are fitting a little snug lately. This was a GREAT workout. There's still time to enter the Booya Fitness Valentine's Day Challenge and win prizes for doing this workout. You can't lose! (sign up here)

Yoga Camp - I'm still enjoying my 30 days of yoga and it's because of how good the poses make me feel. I'm also loving the variety and when practice matches up with Instagram challenges.

Flower Market - Some friends asked me to join them on a trip to the Dutch Flower Market in Shenzhen on Friday. It worked out perfectly for me since YogaLife is closed for the Chinese New Year and it was a perfectly gorgeous day. We enjoyed a couple of hours of walking through the rows and rows of vendors selling flowers (obvs.), Chinese New Year decorations, and animals of varying kinds (birds, hamsters, bunnies, cats, fish, turtles).

A couple more things worth sharing:

A great article about facing the struggles of workout blahs: When workouts go bad: How I knew it was time to breakup with my workout.

Good tips for all us (ahem) over-40 runners and those who are close: 4 Things Over-40 Runners Do

I love quick little killer workouts that are fun too --> like this one: Cardio Dance Party


How was your week?

Fitness Friday: Keeping it Real

Not every run, pose, workout is perfect.

It's one of the things that keeps me going. The challenge. To be stronger. To do better. To get fitter. 

Not so perfect examples:

I did not do Yoga Camp day 6 yesterday, which actually ended working to my benefit. There was no Pilates class this week (darn Chinese New Year!), so instead of trying to squeeze it in late last night, I did both day 6 and 7 this morning. Another bonus: day 6 was a core focused session.

The different time zones make US based challenges, well challenging at times. So, after getting nice and warmed up, I got caught up on some of the #flexandflow challenge poses that I miss because they're posted during my evenings. 

Follow the photos through my lizard poses and you will see where my imperfect body is today.

The left quad. Tight as hell. And that whole knee not bending thing. Not so perfect. 

This afternoon I went to the Booya Fitness website for some cardio. I've been loving Zumba classes on Wednesday nights, so I tried the Bollywood Workout. The only problem is my China internet connection. Not so reliable. At least I was able to complete this workout with only a few spinning ball pauses.  

The point? Just keeping it real. I like to focus on the positives, the success, but I don't want to give a false impression that I don't have struggles and challenges. And I fail. 

Sometimes I get back up right away and sometimes it takes awhile to reboot. No matter what, though, I don't give up.

A Non-running Fitness Back-up Plan

For the past few years, running has been a huge part of my life. I even started this blog! I started 2015 rehabbing from knee surgery and set a goal with my Moms Run This Town group to run 300 miles. I exceeded that goal finishing the year with 422 miles, but it wasn't the calendar that brought my running to a stop. It was my knee.

I've been afraid to talk about the possibility of not running, but the reality is that my running days might be numbered. At first, this was devastating on so many different levels. Running is my thing. It's how I stay fit, deal with life, vent my frustrations. It's been the focal point of much of my social time. Practically ALL of my friends run!

Obviously, I had to come up with a back-up plan.  First I needed a schedule. Any runner will understand the need to know what to do on certain days of the week. My plan needed lots of cardio to mimic running workouts and strength/stretching to increase the odds of a runner come-back. And, I figured if this is going to work, I needed a goal.

Two things were right there ready to help me with my new non-running fitness plan.

Booya Fitness: I've mentioned that I am working with Booya and created a 4 week training plan called the Chilly Challenge. This plan has everything: yoga, HIIT, strength and it is already all laid out for me. I decided to sign up and get to work!

PS: Now is a great time to try Booya Fitness and join the Resolution Challenge! You can get rewarded for sticking to your New Year's resolutions with some AWESOME prizes and a rockin' body! Learn more here.

Oiselle Run Love Challenge: I'm teaming up with Nicolasa for the next 6 weeks and our goal is to do strength workouts at least 3 times a week! We'll be hitting it all: arms, abs, legs! This challenge will give me even more motivation to stick to my plan.

My workout plan still has room for Monday hikes, Wednesday Zumba, and Friday Pilates. No need to get rid of workouts that are already in place and that don't hurt, right?

Holiday Sweat Challenge Wrap Up including Fitness in Vietnam

After my last run two weeks ago, I've been in Pouty-ville. No running, no blogging. Lots of pouting.

After a couple of days following RICE protocols to alleviate the swelling and discomfort in my knee, I was motivated to do some light strength workouts.

Dirty Dozen Arms 3x (with my new hand weights!)

Awaken the Core - Booya yoga video

And then I went to Vietnam, for Christmas, to join mrC for a few days. I would have loved to run there, especially along the beach, but honestly I was too nervous to try. So instead, we included fitness in our little unexpected holiday in other ways.

We spent a day snorkeling in the South China Sea. The boat took us to three different locations where we able to be in the water for an hour each time. It felt so good to be moving through the water.

We went on a 18K bike ride and swam in a waterfall in the Vietnam country side. The bike ride was work as we made our way through some rolling hills, but the scenery made up for it. After the ride, we hiked and climbed a couple more kilometers to the waterfall.

After returning to Shenzhen, I made a trip to the fitness center to replace Pilates that was cancelled on New Years Day.

30 minutes elliptical

Dirty Dozen Arms 2x (with 5 pound weights)

5 laps in the pool

On Sunday I woke up to rainy weather so instead of riding my bike or walking to the fitness center in the rain, I went with an at-home backup plan. I even did a workout from my Booya Fitness training plan! (click the picture below to see it for yourself).

Dirty Dozen Arms 3x - my home weights are lighter

Plank Workout 

Yoga Express --> Chilly Challenge day 1!

Overall, the Holiday Sweat Challenge had some up and downs for me, but I crushed over 3000 minutes of fitness and more than 100 servings of freggies! Now I am ready to focus on a new year and a new me. I don't know if I will be running in 2016, but I do know there will be fitness!

How are you starting 2016?

Holiday Sweat Challenge Week 5 & 6 Update

It doesn't seem like a good sign to be able to combine two weeks worth of fitness into one blog post. However, even though I was taking a break from running, I was still working on strength and anything else to make my muscles happy!

After four weeks of the Holiday Sweat Challenge and 63 days of a run streak, my legs told me to rest. I'd been treating a tight right calf knot for about a week when on my last run (day 63) I picked up on a little twinge in my left adductor.

Time for some serious rest. After two days off to start Holiday Sweat week 5 and doing nothing beyond walking and foam rolling, I pulled out the low impact workout cards. Here are some of the workouts I did:

Lower Body Blast - Amanda Miller
Happy Hips Yoga - Happy Fit Mama
Lose the Pooch Abs - Pop Sugar Fitness
Booty Hips - Amanda Miller
Hip Strength - Runner's World (July 2015)

By Sunday, I was feeling like it was time to test the legs. The only good thing about this run was that I ran. For the first .25 everything seemed ok, but then the familiar tightness in my right calf came back (although not painful). Worse though, was the painful trigger point in my left adductor, near my knee.

Needless to say, I was crushed. The weather has finally turned cool here in Shenzhen and I can't run. I knew that feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I went for distractions. Some things that helped keep my mind off the failed return to running: a really good book and some really good tasting snacks!

Again, I started week 6 of the Holiday Sweat Challenge in rest-the-legs mode. I focused on foam rolling and yoga stretching for the first two days and then mixed up my low/medium impact workouts. Here's what those workouts looked like:

Hip Strength & Stabilty - Jasyoga
Cardio Drills - Booya
Dirty Dozen Arms - Your Path to Fit
Pilates Abs - Run to the Finish
Not So Easy Circuit - Booya

This morning I laced up my running shoes for another test of the legs. It was going ok, just a couple of twinges in the calf and adductor. I thought it was ok to run through it.

As I neared the two mile mark, my left knee kind of gave out a little. Startled, I stopped and walked a bit. Bending and flexing my left leg. It didn't hurt, so I gave it another try. A couple of steps later the same thing happened. Run over.

As I sit here typing and icing my knee, I have no idea what this means. My knee (which has had a hard life) is unstable and I need to figure out why...what can I do to help it...and how will it affect my fitness life.

--------------------------------------

Some of the workouts I mentioned are from Booya Fitness. Booya Fitness is an online gym. Your membership gets you access to a large variety of online classes that can be done at your convenience. There are also dozens of workout training plans available for a small fee.

I have teamed up with Booya to create a 4 week training plan that is perfect for the winter months, but can be done anytime of year. It is also a great cross training option for runners as the plan has options for 30+ minute runs. Take a look here.

Are you currently following a training plan?
How do you distract yourself when you're injured?