running

Twenty-Five vs. Thirty

Don’t laugh but when I turned twenty-five I had a little quarter life crisis. It seems silly, but whatever, different ages effect us all differently. I’ve seen people have a tough time with thirty and I couldn’t wait to be thirty.

When I was twenty-five I did something pretty stupid. I ran a marathon without training. Why, you may ask? My best friend Julie had found a List of Things to do Before I Die paper we had made as kids. She had listed compete in a pie eating contest, which she did. In fact she excelled at eating pie and won the contest. I hadn’t done anything on my list and was inspired by Julie (and my quarter-life crisis).

So I decided I wanted to run a marathon, but I didn’t have time to train. I also thought that if I didn’t run the marathon then I would never run one because I was […]

Twenty-Five vs. ThirtyMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:49-04:00

Varity in Exercise

Varity in exercise is a must. Not only is it good for your body, but if you are anything like me, you get bored fairly easily. Just for my mental state I need to change my workouts. I always do pilates because I love it, and I honestly believe it keeps my body safe so that I can do other things, but, cross training in general helps to keep your body safe.

Everything else outside of pilates and I’m sort of a fair-weather friend.

Here are just some of the things I do to workout (sometimes I do some more than others)

• Run
• Tae Bo (or another kickboxing class)
• Step Aerobics
• Dance
• Swimming
• Dragon Boat
• Interval Training
• Boot Camp
• Weight Lifting
• Walk
• Hike
• Yoga
• Racquet Ball

What’s currently working for you? What is your favorite type of exercise right now?

Varity in ExerciseMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:51-04:00

Pilates is Easy

Think Pilates is easy? You probably aren’t doing it right. Every time I take a pilates class I’m surprised at how difficult it is, and I like a tough, challenging workout. There are exercises that I didn’t find difficult at first, but once I understood them better (from years of practice) I found them to be my most challenging. Many of the beginner exercises are actually the most difficult. And when I’m not doing an advanced exercise as well as I should, it’s usually going back to one of the beginner exercises that will make me realize how I should be moving my body in order to do the more challenging exercise properly.

Even an exercise like ab prep–it seems easy, but it’s not at all. You are basically lifting your head and shoulders off the floor. Many people mistake it for an abdominal crunch, but the exercise is so much more, and once you discover all the intricacies, you can find what may seem like the simplest exercise extremely rewarding.

It may not happen right […]

Pilates is EasyMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:55-04:00

Warrior Dash Prep

Okay—so I’m supposed to run the Warrior Dash in Pennsylvania tomorrow. It is my second physical challenge of my 30th year. And here is what I’ve done to prepare for it:

That empty space about sums it up: a whole lot of nothing. I didn’t prepare for the Ragnar Relay as well as I wanted either, but I thought lesson learned; I’ll do better next time. It wasn’t entirely my fault since I got sick, but I hadn’t even looked through the course. Then a friend said to me, “You do know you have to run through fire, don’t you?”

“Um, no,” was my response. I looked at the course and it appears that I will actually be trying to leap over fire, which I think I’ll be able to do fairly well. So I’m a little less concerned. Plus I’ll have shoes on, so it should be as bad as it sounds.

Point is, I’m going to have to double time it for challenge there in order to make up for one and two. My challenge idea is still cool, but right now it isn’t serving its original purpose.

Warrior Dash PrepMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:46-04:00

Barefoot Running: Part Two

Sometimes I don’t even run a 10-min mile. Not worrying has made running much more fun.

According to an article in Runner’s World, barefoot running is the way to go. Apparently, some studies have actually shown little to no difference in shock absorption up the leg in runners wearing shoes? So why do we wear them? Just to keep our feet soft and protected? (That would actually be a good enough reason for me.) I never want to go for a run and step on glass or gravely pebbles.

There are some concerns that barefoot running is tough on the Achilles tendon and can lead to plantar fasciitis. Because of this runners need to build up to barefoot running very slowly. This bothers me too. If I go for a run now, I do a minimum of 3.6 miles. I don’t want to have to start running less than that. This alone would be enough reason for me never to make the switch.

There is helpful information on Harvard’s website. I went there after finding another site claiming that a Harvard study found that running barefoot was considerably better than shoe […]

Barefoot Running: Part TwoMaggie Downie2018-03-05T14:34:55-05:00