I am really curious to know if the Wii Fit could actually be used as an exercise tool, or if it is just a device to make parents feel less guilty about abandoning their children in front of the TV.

Luckily, I was able to get a hold of a Wii Fit this week (Thank you ToysRUs.com).  The Balance Board and Wii Fit game has been a new fun toy to play with on my breaks from studying for the Bar.  When you first sign-in to Wii Fit, you select a Mii to represent you and then you begin a body test.  The body test involves getting your height, weight and age, and then having you perform a balance test.  The results produce your “Wii Fit Age” as well as providing you with your BMI and weight.  The scale was accurate, but sadly the Balance Board is not able to calculate your muscle mass.  My dad registered as obese.  Dad is not obese.  He can bench press two of me and his biceps are thicker than my head.  Big he is, but not obese.

I however, measured overweight.  Not a shocker as I know I am heavy for my height.  Wii Fit gives you the option to set BMI/Weight goals after telling you how big you are.  It was a pleasant surprise to see that they recommend you not try and lose too much weight too fast.  Overall, I have found that the Wii Fit provides some really great fitness advice.  Plus, they re-enforce the game aspect by providing you with a FitBank that stores all of your FitCredits.  You earn credits for training.  The more credits you earn, the more games you unlock.

Speaking of training, you have four training options: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and Balance Games.  I will not lie, I love the Balance Games.  I have unlocked them all already.  You are still using your body, although not to the extent you do in the other training areas.  But the four training areas give you a well-rounded approach to fitness.

So will Wii Fit help you lose weight?  I don’t have an answer for you after 4 days of fun.  I can tell you that I have worked up a a sweat more than once.  I have had a sore bottom and sore legs the following day.  I have been down right WORN OUT!  But I will have to get back to you on the weight loss part.

I finally finished my first week of training under the One Hundred Push Ups program.  I am proud to say that I made it all the way through.  It was challenging, but a success.  Now only five more weeks to go before I can do the big 100.  The training program has made me feel like I need to do more strength training.  Since moving to Tennessee I have not had a gym to go to, so my strength training has really just turned into resistance training.  In stead of lifting weights, I have my body weight and resistance bands.  It is at least something, but I feel like I could be doing more.  I guess I feel like that in other areas too.  Like Bar studying…

Speaking of Bar studying, I completely bombed the practice MBE that I took on Friday.  I mean below average raw score bombing.  I feel like I need to be cracking down even harder since I only have four weeks left until the big day.  I am now only 3 lectures behind the in-class study schedule.  I was about 1 1/2 weeks behind when I started.  I just need to practice more questions and focus on some concepts that continuously trip me up.

And finally, the House Hunting.  It is on a semi-hold right now. The Husband left today for three weeks (possibly more) in Argentina for his job.  While I can still keep looking, no firm decisions can be made until he gets back to look at the house too.  The way the market is moving along, I that any house I find will go flying off the market anytime soon.

We did go to three open houses today before he hopped on his plane.  They were mainly disappointing.  It is a combination of not finding what we want and then finding houses that people didn’t take good care of.  I mean, if you are having an open house, the least you could do is clear off the cobwebs from the side entry, toss out the dead plants and put a screw into the loose railing so no one falls down the stairs to the basement.  I mean, you are trying to sell your house, right? *sigh*  We did see one house that was taken care of and was below our price range, but it also meant it was too small for us.  At least we are starting to understand more what we will and will not accept as far as size and condition are concerned.  So the hunt, on a smaller level, will continue.  The massive assault on the real estate of Blount County will occur in August.  I will be done with the Bar, the Husband will be in the country and I want to be settled in a home before Thanksgiving!

I started my first day of training to reach 100 push ups in a row and it was a rough day!  I was able to complete all the push ups required, but I felt like it was a bit more difficult than it should have been.  If you are training too, check out the Week 1 Chart over at One Hundred Push Ups to see what you should be doing.  I am in the middle column so I did 7 + 7 + 5 + 4 + MAX (8).  I guess I shouldn’t complain too much because my max was greater than any one set.  However, when I got out of my shower, I had great difficulty fixing my hair.  My arms didn’t want to reach above my head at all!

Now there has been some chatter on the web about how this training program might not be good for you because all it focuses on is your upper body - mainly chest with some shoulders, back and upper arms.  I understand these concerns, which is why I will point out that I do exercise other areas of my body.  This morning I ran 4.5 miles in 60 minutes.  Slower than what I was doing 6 weeks ago, but that happens when you take an extended break.  I also do yoga and strength training for all of my body parts. 

So if you are going to do this challenge, don’t neglect the rest of your body.  I know everyone out there has seen one of those guys who only do bench presses and curls but never do a squat.  Big chest with chicken legs.  They make me laugh.  Don’t look like a chicken - remember your other body parts.

I would like to think I could do it with lots of practice and increased upper body strength.  Obviously I am not the only one out there who thinks they could do 100 push-ups.  Both J.D. at Get Fit Slowly and workoutmommy have blogged about One Hundred Pushups which is a six-week program that will end in the ability to do 100 push ups.

The programs involves doing sets of push ups three days a week and you only need 30 minutes for each session.The initial test makes you do as many good form push ups as you can.  I was easily able to do 5 and made it all the way to 10 before I thought my arms were going to give out.  Now I just sit tight until Monday when I start the training program.  See you in 6 weeks!

Sadly, I was unable to do my long run and second easy run last week.  The reason?  On my Speedwork day I pulled something behind my left knee.  Walking more than a mile caused pain and irritation.  Luckily, today it is feeling much better, so I am hoping to jump back into my routine.  This week’s plan is similar to last week’s except that my Speedwork day is a Tempo Run.  For the Tempo Run, I will have a warm-up mile and a cool-down mile with 3 fast miles in the middle.  I will run those at a pace consistent with what I would do in a race, so not as fast as my sprints but not as slow as my long run.

Here is what I have to look forward to:

Monday: Cross Train

Tuesday: Easy 4 miles

Wednesday: Cross Train

Thursday: Tempo Run: 1 mile Easy Warmup, 3 miles at “Race Pace”, 1 mile Easy Cooldown

Friday: Easy 4 Miles

Saturday: Cross Train

Sunday: 8 mile Long Run

I know I have been posting a lot about my running lately, but I don’t want to neglect another important aspect of my fitness routine: Strength Training!

There are many benefits to strength training. Besides the fact that muscle looks better than fat, more muscle also makes for faster an longer runs. Strength training not only works on your muscles, but also improves your blood pressure (by strengthening your heart) and you bones! Weight-bearing exercises help keep your bones healthy and reduce your risk of osteoporosis. And those are just some of the benefits.

So what do I do when I strength train? First I will say that I vary it depending on what cardio I am doing for the day. If I am running and strength training, then I will usually skip leg exercises. Otherwise, I like to do a total body session 2 - 3 times a week. I aim for 3 and usually only get in 2. I know I should be doing more… But on to my workout:

All exercises are done three times (sets) at 12 - 15 repetitions (reps) with enough weight to make the last couple of reps feel difficult.

Exercises (links take you to examples on YouTube):

Upper Body: Bicep Curl, Tricep Extensions, Hammer Curls, Overhead Tricep Extensions, Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Dumbell Fly, Reverse Dumbbell Fly, Lateral Dumbbell Raise, Overhead Press, One Arm Dumbbell Row, Back Extensions(no weight)

Lower Body: Squats, Lunges, Calf Raises

Abdominals: Crunches (25 reps x 3 sets), Bicycle Crunches (20 reps x 3 sets), V Crunches (10 reps x 3 sets)

Source/Source

o, I am not going to post about my daily walks right now.  I will be honest, they have taken a turn for the boring!  Mainly more errand runs and runs around Union Square.  Not much fun for you, my dear reader, to hear about another duplicate walk.  But have no fear, I have still been doing them daily.  Hopefully this week will make for a better walk.

Onto good news… I did another long run today for a total of 8 miles!  That is 2 miles longer than my long run last week.  I feel as though I could have even done 10.  I made a bit better timing too at 11:37/mile.  I really want my short runs to get faster, but I am fine keeping my long runs nice and slow.  They are meant for endurance building, not speed.

I have also decided to let you know what my plans are for running this next week so you can run along with me.  I have been using the Smart Coach at RunnersWorld.com and here is what they are telling me to do for the next week:

Monday: Cross-Training

Tuesday: Easy 3.5 miles

Wednesday: Cross Train

Thursday: Speedwork: 1 mile Easy, then 800 at 5:24 plus an easy 400 (times 3), 1 mile Easy Cooldown

Friday: Easy 3.5 Miles

Saturday: Cross Train

Sunday: 8 mile Long Run

Another week of daily walks during this month of The Great Walking Experiment. I will say that this second we, it was a bit harder to keep up with my walks. I have been trying to focus on my running and find that I don’t have the time to walk. Isn’t that weird to think about? I don’t have time to walk. So I have actually been trying to build in my walks to my errands to make sure that they happen. San Francisco is small enough that I can get in a good walk while also doing my errands. No car required!

Day 6 - April 7, 2008

This was a treadmill day. No walking outside besides to and from class.

Day 7 - April 8, 2008

Today was a walk around Union Square. It was a pretty simple walk that was flat for the most part. It is all around the shops and some tourist areas. You can check this walk out on Gmaps. Only 2.6 miles, but almost a good hour of outside walking time.

Later in the evening I took a quick walk around Inner Richmond. I had gone to the area with my friend, Adam, for dinner. Then we headed over to Trader Joe’s for some tasty dark chocolate. And instead of waiting for the bus on the corner, we walked down a couple more blocks to catch a different bus. It added over an extra half a mile to my daily walking.

Day 8 - April 9, 2008

Treadmill - BORING!

Day 9 - April 10, 2008

I was up very early to take my friend, Kate, to the airport. So after coming home for a nap, I headed over to Cafe Triste for an Cafe Latte. Cafe Triste is supposedly the first espresso cafe in all of the West Coast. I will tell you that it puts out a pretty mean Cafe Latte. I also walked through Chinatown and got a Black Bean Cake, which was also pretty tasty indeed. Over all, a long and leisure 3.1 mile walk.

During the afternoon, I took another quick walk up the street to Zuni for lunch with my friend, Jennifer. An extra 1.5 miles for the day.

Day 10 - April 11, 2008

Here is an example of fitting walking into my schedule. I had an early dentist appointment, so it lead to another walk around Union Square. Plus a little shopping. I don’t include the walks around the shops in my mileage for the day. I still made a 1.85 mile walk out of it.

Day 11 - April 12, 2008

Oh no! Another day on the Treadmill.

Day 12 - April 13, 2008

After my long run of 6 miles I took a late walk to Whole Foods for some weekend grocery shopping. Got all the fixin’s for miso soup and a roasted squash and apple casserole. Yummy! Almost 2.4 miles to get to the store and back at about 50 minutes (not including shopping time. A big hill going there too.

Day 13 - April 14, 2008

This was a really, really late walk. It was so late that I ended up taking the Muni back home. Yeah, the neighborhood gets a bit scary at night. It is usually when the young men come out to holler at the girls. I did get yelled at and called some pretty foul names for not saying ‘Hi’ back to a guy. Ugh! So I got my 30 minutes in and then hopped the Muni back!

Today I ran my very first long run. It took me a whopping 1 hour, 21 minutes and 1 second to run 6 miles.

Why did I put my body through this 6 mile jaunt?

Mainly to become a better runner. There are different types of runs that you are suppose to include in your training and The Long Run is one of those runs. The Long Run gets your body use extended aerobic exercise and teaches it to run on fat as a fuel source.

How do you do a long run? Once a week, run at a easy pace - about 1 mile/hour slower than your normal pace. Run at this pace for about 20 - 30% of your total weekly mileage.

Want to know more about The Long Run? Check out this previous Q&A from RunnersWorld.com.

The Great Walking Experiment has survived the weekend! I took tons of picture for these walks, but I narrowed them down for you. Still, this post is a bit picture heavy.

Day 3 - April 4, 2008

I really have been wanting to try walking to some places that I have never been to in the city. I will be moving away from San Francisco in about two months, so I want to get as many of the sights in as I can. Isn’t it weird that I have lived here for almost three years and there are so many things I have never seen or done? So today I headed to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies. It took me about an hour of actual walking time and the total walk was 3 miles. You can check out the route on Gmaps. I spent a lot of time taking pictures in Alamo Square, so I was gone for much longer than an hour.

On my way to Alamo Square, I past through some neighborhoods and noticed one house still decorated for Easter.

And on the way back home there was a beautiful mural on the side of the African American Arts and Cultural Center. I also noticed a mortuary. It is really odd to see one around here. There is only one cemetery in San Francisco and that is the military one located in the Presidio.

Overall, this was a pretty pleasant walk. Alamo Square is beautiful and offers a great view of downtown as well.

Day 4 - April 5, 2008

Saturday’s walk had a purpose to it. My friend Erin and I wanted to eat breakfast at Dottie’s True Blue Cafe. We heard it was excellent. I will say that it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. Know that there is a LONG wait on a Saturday morning (and probably most mornings) but it is worth it.

This walk was very lesiurely and included shopping in Union Square and the Farmers Market at the Ferry Plaza. The total route was 3.5 miles and took a few hours, given all of our stops! You can see the route we took on Gmaps.

Besides a wonderful breakfast, the walk was also great. We traveled through some of the more touristy areas, so the sidewalks were pretty crowded. I always enjoy a walk through the Farmers Market and the Ferry Plaza. And on busy days like this, you might get lucky and hear some great street entertainment!

Day 5 - April 6, 2008

This was more of an iconic walk. Erin joined me again as we walked our way through the Japanese Tea Gardens and then through Golden Gate Park to grab some lunch. The total walk was about 2.6 miles according to Gmaps. Once again, this was a slow going walk, so I am not even going to try and estimate the time!

When walking through places like this, I realize that I am really going to miss San Francisco.