Adventures at Ijams

Yesterday our Biggest Winner team met up out at Ijams for our weekly training. It's been years since I've been here, and was delighted to rediscover this awesome place right in our back yard! My teammate Lee Ann & I were slated to complete 8 miles of walking/shuffling in this week' training, but we ended up hiking instead of just walking, so we cut our distance a little short finishing 7.25 miles.

Now for those of you who read this and think, "Oh, they didn't finish their 8 miles," no worries, we burned more calories hiking the 7.25 than we would've walking the 8! And, believe me, I'm feeling every step of it today!

Here's our group that met up yesterday!

After the photo we split up in separate directions -- the runners went towards the greenway, and the rest of us headed towards the Quarry side.

 Needless to say -- some of the trails were kind of muddy...which caused us to move slower in some places, and hard to even pass in others.

But we saw some beautiful scenery, and some really cool historical stuff...

We did a little exploring, and are really excited that local groups are helping repair, restore, and create new trails in this area!

The keyhole is one of the really cool places we visited. At this point in our hike, Lee Ann's FitBit notified us that we'd climbed the equivalent of 51 flights of stairs with all of our steps for the morning.

Lee Ann in front of the Key Hole.

Just in case you're wondering ... we're on the "right side of the tracks!" :)  This is me and Lee Ann as we were finishing about 6.5 miles, before we headed back to the visitors center. When we were finished, my heart rate monitor told me I'd burned over 1800 calories! That's what 3 hours of hiking will do!

This week has been a tough week of sorts. Busy week at work, hard workouts, and the slight feeling of burnout due to some pain. Our Thursday night training session with Chris was tough, but what I needed to remember that I am getting stronger, and that I'm really doing great! Once again it was the laughter with and the support of my teammates that reminded me what great things we're accomplishing.

And, if you haven't met all of us yet, you'll quickly learn how quiet and shy we are ... NOT! :) The photo below is from our Thursday night training with Chris O'Hearn at Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center. We're all smiling so big b/c the training is OVER! Just kidding...Chris!

So, even though Saturday's training wasn't as cut and dry as I'd originally thought it would be, it turned out to be exactly what I needed. A nice break from the pavement (although about 6 miles in I really would've given anything for pavement), and some much needed "therapy" time with my walking buddy, Lee Ann. It's amazing how therapeutic laughing and commiserating with a friend can be!

Here are some closing thoughts I've collected on Pinterest this week.

This is how I felt much of the week! lol

I was introduced to Burpees Thursday night in training. UGH. 

I hope everyone has a great week! Also a couple of great healthy things going on this coming week if you're looking for something to do!!

Thursday night there's a great event at West Town Mall supporting heart disease awareness for women!http://www.covenanthealth.com/hearttruth




Also, we're celebrating National Wear Red Day the hospital where I work on Friday, and have some great events planned - check it out!

Also, next Saturday is the kick-off of the Covenant Kids Run, part of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon. Our team will be at the zoo to help out with this great event! There's still plenty of time to sign your kids up for this awesome event!