I remember the first time I heard about Pinterest. I was at a Stroller Strides class and it was the hot topic of conversation. Intrigued, I checked it out as soon as I got home. A place on the internet where I could collect my favorite ideas and look at my friends favorite things? Yes. Please.
I pinned motivation. Inspiration. Quotes. Hair styles. Craft ideas.
And workouts. Lots and lots and lots of workouts.
Well, pinning and doing are two very different things. Since I’m living in the “weather hell” that in New Jersey (I’m sure the majority of you out there can feel me on this. Florida, California, and Hawaii friends… you guys can just pretend), I decided to flip through the Pinterest Rolodex and do a couple of the workouts I’ve pinned through the years.
Using the very scientific method of closing my eyes and pointing at the screen, I landed first on PopSugar treadmill workouts and then on this one specifically.
What’s that you say? I’m not a new runner? You’re right, I’m not. But I figured that this would be a good way to switch it up a bit and do something that I normally wouldn’t, especially because I’ve been on the treadmill every day hitting my five mile goal (running, walking, skipping, whatever). Plus, I can tell new runners my thoughts on it… you know, in case they want to give it a go!
I’m a Galloway runner (that’s one who does intervals, for the record) so this type of workout was right up my alley.
Off we go!
Staying at the 3.0/3.5 pace was a bit of a challenge on the psyche for me because I’m more accustomed to keeping a 3.8/4.0 walking pace. But, I had a good playlist on the iPod so I jammed out, waving my hands in the air like I just didn’t care and patiently waited for the first jump in pace to 5.5.
5.5 is a comfortable speed for me but getting up to that from 3.5 was a bit jarring after hanging out at 3.0/3.5 for 10 minutes. I’m thinking an intermediate step might be more comfortable (for me and for a beginner). Maybe 4 minutes at 3.0, 3 minutes at 3.5, and then 3 minutes at 4.5? That’s my non-professional opinion right there.
And then going down, down, down from 5.5/5.8 to 3.5 was sad and wonderful all in the same breath. The 2 minutes of running to 4 minutes of walking was very nice though; it gave me time to bring down the heart rate, only to jack it back up again. It was attainable and while I wasn’t maxing out on my running, it felt good and I enjoyed the 40 minute workout.
My trainer has always been a firm believer that you always keep your treadmill at 1.5 incline to mimic the feel of the road more correctly so out of habit, I had hit 1.5 and didn’t realize it wasn’t on 1.0 until I was nearly done. My bad!
This workout is based on speed and time, but not distance. I stuck to the script the entire time and finished the 40 minutes in 2.72 miles.
What I find particularly interesting about Pinterest is that sometimes the image pinned doesn’t lead back to the direct source. Tracking this one down only took a little bit of sleuthing, thanks to the TribeSports watermark on the image! You can click the picture to go directly there.
I like this one a lot because while I do core work at the gym, I don’t usually spend more than a couple of minutes at a time working at it. This one had my abs shaking toward the end, in the best possible way!
The hardest part of this workout? My dog truly wanted to be a part of the process. I got licked in the face more times than I’ve kissed my husband this month and she also tried to crawl under me when I was holding my plank and bridge. It was nearly more challenging than the actually core work itself.
Finally, my head space has been very cluttered with extraneous chatter and unnecessary worry lately. Therefore when I saw City Fit Girls’ Instagram post mentioning Headspace I knew I had to check it out. Try a gym membership for the mind.
Also, I really like accents and this guy has a lovely one. (How’s that for clarity?) I’m currently on day 5 of 10 and I start each day with a 10 minute “take 10” meditation. It’s good stuff; I like starting each day off with more of a clear intent. Sometimes it doesn’t last more than a couple of minutes but sometimes it does. And that’s some pretty powerful mojo!
So tell me, do you actually DO the workouts that you pin on Pinterest? Got any good ones for me? What’s something recently that’s surprised you? What would you like to do more of? Random: One of the coolest things was when a friend sent me a link to a picture of Cam, Vic and myself on Pinterest board for RunDisney costuming ideas.