30 Day Abs: Shit is gettin' REAL.

I noticed a few of my friends publicly committing on Facebook to do 30 Day Abs, and I thought that this challenge could help me established a new healthy fitness habit and would benefit my marathon training.  There are several free and paid iphone apps, I settled on "30 Day Ab" free version by Jozic Productions (www.jozicproductions.com).  There are 4 exercises: sit-ups, crunches, leg raises, and plank.  Day 1 is 15 sit-ups, 5 crunches, 5 leg raise, and 25 second plank.  Pretty easy!  And didn't take so long.  But for some reason it took me a week to mentally prepare for Day 2.

The program is 3 days of exercises, followed by a rest day.  Each day is a little harder than the previous.  By Day 11, I could barely finish.  So after a day of rest on Day 12, I decided that I would repeat Day 9, 10, and 11.  I did Day 9 on Friday, and yesterday I justified skipping a day since I had to run 9 miles for marathon training.  Now I find myself at the crossroads of procrastination.  I am telling myself right now that as soon as I finish and publish this blog that I will go to my bedroom at complete Day 10.

I starting running in 2009 using the Couch to 5k program.  I read somewhere that if a week was really hard that it was best to repeat a week rather than move on.  I repeated many weeks and took extra rest days between run days.  But I finished it.  And I've run 3 half marathons to date.  So I thought the same method could be applied to 30 Day Abs.  My journey, at my own pace.

If anyone else is considering doing this challenge, I highly recommend buying an ab mat.  I bought one for $20 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Workouts-Machines-Equipment-Trainer-Exerciser/product-reviews/B00BBLDN56?pageNumber=2. It's basically a little curved mat that supports the small of your back.  It also helps you get a better range of motion and do the exercises more effectively.

Here's a similar 30 Day Abs program, the one I saw circulating on Facebook:

Solstice means it's officially summer!

It is absolutely gorgeous today in Brooklyn, we were out of the house this morning by 9 am to enjoy the longest day of the year.  We did our usual long doggy walk down Franklin St. and Kent Ave. to Williamsburg.  We always stop at Sweetleaf Coffee on N. 6th, which serves the best coffee and pastries on the planet.  Then we go to Bushwick Inlet Park along the waterfront to enjoy our tasty treats while we watch soccer.  Of course, we always take the doggies to the dog park at McCarren Park.  Oh, did I mention that we got another doggy?

Landon was showing signs of boredom, so we adopted a sister for him.  Irene is a chihuahua pug, she has a mean looking grin, one ear that is always curled forward, and she snorts like a pig.  And she is an alpha female. We love her so much, but these two are a hand full!

According to my new Misfit Shine activity tracker, I have walked 4.8 miles before noon today.  (Shine is "the world's most elegant physical activity tracker": http://www.misfitwearables.com). I still need to run 55 minutes today (about 5 miles), according to my Gipis app marathon training program.  

Izzy and I have had sinus infections that are interfering with our training.  Izzy is still set to box in the ring for the charity at Gleason's on July 19th.  I'm running the Queens 10k tomorrow and marathon training is gearing up.  I am registered for long training runs through NYRR in July, August, and September.  And I'm thrilled that the Queens 10k is a month earlier this year (and probably 20 degrees cooler), and that I will earn a medal.  Last year I finished in 1:08:02, and hoping to finish under an hour. Check out this photo of me last year, apparently I looked like I just bought a Toyota.

If anyone wants to track me, NYRR offers live tracking here: http://liveresults.nyrr.org/e/NYRR-QUEENS-2014#b=na&v=ptrack  My bib # is 9058.

I started Day 1 of 30 day abs, but I never got to Day 2.  I am using a free app called 30 Day Ab by Jozic Productions.  I am recommitting to this, starting today.