Climbing Update and MAC

Hey, this past week was my second week of my rock climbing course for second semester. Monday's class was full of relearning belay techniques, practicing knots, and boldering. I feel like I'm starting to get better at boldering again, some parts are difficult because you can only go so far up the wall when bouldering but otherwise it's still pretty fun and good practice for working on holds and moving your hands and feet together.
For those of you who don't know, bouldering is a style of climbing that requires two people, a climber and spotter, where no ropes are used where the climber will climb up to about their spotter's shoulder height and then climb horizontally. When inside, this is usually done over a mat ("bouldering mat") in order to soften the fall. Most new climbers will start with bouldering in order to get the hang of holding onto rocks before climbing a wall. Now, don't get me wrong, bouldering isn't always easy! It can always be made more difficult and in some cases it's harder than actually climbing due to limited holds. Give it a shot! :D
Anyways, on Wednesday, I finally got recertified to belay, so I can climb with friends whenever now which makes me quite happy I'm not going to lie. I get a sort of feeling of freedom when I have this certification, I'm not exactly sure why, but it's still a super nice feeling. For the test, three people are required: a climber, a spotter (someone already certified), and the "belayer" (the person who wants to get certified). The spotter holds the end of the rope that is normally on the ground for a belayer in case they need to help hold the climber when they fall. The test here involves the "belayer" explaining everything to the climber (all the commands and such) and then tying the climber in and getting themselves attached to the belay device and the floor (if need be and the climber is heavier than they are, so they don't shoot up into the air), while climbing the climber does three falls and the "belayer" has to catch each one properly, then lower the climber back to the ground safely. The three falls include: an announced fall, an unannounced fall, and an unannounced fall where the "belayer" doesn't look at the climber but feels them fall. It sounds more complicated than it is, but it's really to make sure that the "belayer" knows what they are doing for safety's sake.  So, yea, that's that :P

Onto another subject, I joined a club this week! The Martial Arts Club (or MAC), which is a really relaxed club on campus run by students where we learn the basics of martial arts. Yesterday (Thursday) was the first time that I went and we did kicks and shoulder pushes. It was quite fun, I need to get used to kicking at the right height because I did over stretch my iliac muscle so that's one thing I need to work on. I do plan on going back next week, so that's something to look forward to :)

What other activities would you guys do in college? Happy Friday!
Love,
Sara :)

And....Back

And we are back at school. Well, I am at least. The last Winter/Holiday Break of my undergraduate career is over....that's a slap in the face. That means that I'm almost done and I really need to have fun this January term (interim/J-term) and upcoming semester (which starts in February). In essence, I'm back on campus, not quite unpacked fully yet, still have about half my clothing to unpack and about all of my food to unpack...progress? Anywho! Just wanted to say that I am still alive! :D And tomorrow marks the start of the last January term!!! I will update you tomorrow, when I am more awake and have a cappuccino or oatmeal (yes I still eat it) in my system!
I am also playing with the idea of thank you cards for some people who got me particularly memorable gifts, or who I think deserve one (for instance my parentals who have honestly gotten too few thank you notes and letters from me in the past!).
Also, it's time for me to start working out more regularly since I don't have finals to keep me from keeping in shape :P I have been quite lazy in the past two months or so since Thanksgiving, and I really could use some daily exercise in my routine. I'm hoping to get up to my 5K possibility again by then end of this month, or next month if it turns out this class is more work that I was prepared for.
That's just a quick update :) I hope that the new year has started out well for all of you! :D
Love,
Sara :)

iPhone Fitness Apps

So I got an iPhone not tooling ago and I have been playing with different apps to find ones that I would use and that are pretty interesting and fun for me. I have the usuals like twitter and Facebook and instagram. But I've also found some others that aren't quite as big as these. This post will concentrate on the fitness ones that I have found as of now.

First, Charity Miles. This app seems to be growing in popularity and for a good reason! It takes the miles that you run, walk, or bike and turns it into a donation to one of several listed charities, such as Every Mother Count, Autism Speaks, Feeding America, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, World Food Programme, ASPCA, The Nature Conservancy, Pencils of Promise, Habitat for Humanity, Achilles International, and The Global Fund. For each mile walked or run Charity Miles will donate approximately 50 cents to one of these charities, and will donate 25 cents for each mile ridden on bikes. This app is pretty good, and the intent is there. My only criticism is that it isn't exact, it tends to underestimate how far you run or walk, so you will most likely have to walk or run farther than  one mile in order for it to say that you made a mile. Otherwise, this is a good app for keeping track of how far you might want to run!

Second, Strava Run and Strava Cycling. These are two separate apps that I really enjoy and really like using. It uses the GPS in your iPhone to follow around where you run both outside and inside (sadly it's not so good with stairs), the measurements of these two apps are ones that I completely trust and I do use them as my way of accurately measuring how far I have run or biked in the given time. This app also gives averages, and for running it gives each times for each mile ran. I do enjoy this app and the accuracy that it provides. These are ones that I highly recommend!

Third, Sworkit. Are you looking for a quick 5 minute strength workout for your arms? Or a 45 minute full yoga sequence? This is a good app for you! Sworkit takes several different moves that work for the area you want to work and then putting it into a random sequence. There are many good moves for each area of your body and you can choose to work your full body if that's what you want for up to 60 minutes. The thing that I'm not a big fan of for this app is that it doesn't show you how switch to each move, and doesn't allot you time to switch. But it still works well and I would suggest it.



As far as other apps go, I will keep exploring and try to update you when I find others that I enjoy! But these are the ones that I use most often, and the ones that I would suggest.
Happy Hump Day!
Love,
Sara :)

Things to Take Advantage of for a Workout

1- There's a workout facility. This can be the trail through the woods, a sidewalk in a busy city, a quiet country road, or an actual gym. You can find a gym anywhere if you just lace up your shoes and step out that door.

2- Women's workout shorts don't tend to have pockets. Take advantage of that, don't bring your phone if you are going in a group unless you can use it for timing or to track your mileage. If you don't need it for your run font being it, it's amazing how much stress can go away if you leave the electronics at home!

3- There's no service if you run outside. Seriously, if there is it probly won't be as good, so use your iphone or whatnot to track your running or listen to music/books-on-tape/whatever keeps you going, but don't do any more than that! If you do it's just a waste of time I think.

4- Make it a group activity. Running with friends will encourage you to keep going and can actually increase your speed/distance over time. I find that talking every once in a while with the person/people I am running with helps both me and them to keep their minds off any hard work.

5- There's always inspiration. I've heard so many times from people who are lacking in motivation to find a reason to workout, or a reason to get up and do something. Just look pretty much anywhere and you can see inspiration for getting a fit body, not skinny as in skin and bones, but healthy and fit, which I have heard is the new skinny.

Alright, that's what I have for you for today. More will come later, I apologize for the slow and lack of posts currently, it has been my busiest week/weekend at school yet and it will only get more busy :P but I will do my best to keep the posts coming! I promise!

I also didn't get the chance to climb this weekend :( due to working for 6 hours straight instead, which sadly took up the time I usually spend climbing to get food and go to work. Hopefully that will start again this weekend or sometime soon!

I do have a bike ride coming up next weekend: The Apple Affair, in Galesville, WI. My grandparents are from there and we try and head up there for this big bike ride every fall that we get the chance to! This will be my first time going in quite some time, so I will update on how that goes this Saturday. The ride is Saturday, starting between 8-9am. Wish me luck!

Have a great week! October starts tomorrow!!! Crazy how fast this year has gone...
Love,
Sara :)