Playtime with the Kettlebells

Today was a date with the kettlebells, and I knocked my workout early enough this morning to feel relieved.  I actually wasn't looking forward to it at all - the routine was all high-reps of squats, windmills and farmers walks - but I got it out of the way and felt better knowing that I ended the high-rep phase of this workout program. Hooray for conclusions! 

I'm still working on kettlebell form and it still surprises me how hard moves like the clean and snatch are. They look so deceptively simple, but I still get the tell-tale marks of a KB newbie, i.e., brusing near my wrists. Even the  swing, which I'm usually pretty good at because of my lower-body power, can be a real challenge some days for me to slog through. 

That said, I'm really digging the KB's. I like the fact that they're still a mystery to me, and their versatility. I'm not a big fan of cardio (an odd thing coming from a runner, I know), but doing a cardio routine with the kettlebells is actually... fun! And allow me to make a DVD recommendation, and say that the Kettlebell Goddess workout is a good place to start if you are a femme. 

Above is a pic of my beloved 8 kg kettlebell. I'm slowly working my way up to the 35-lb. RKC KB.

So... why did I even bother doing this?

Let me introduce myself. I'm 31, originally from New York City, and a novice at running and anything fitness-related. I actually started to get into shape the winter of 2006 - that's when I was depressed enough with my skinny-fat figure to haul myself to the nearest gym, and met with a trainer. Looking back it seems very quaint and silly (my plan was very much grounded in those circuit machines and the elliptical), but it was the first official step I'd taken to carving a real physique, not to mention a healthier outlook. In approximately 5 months, I whittled down my body fat percentage from a whopping 34% to 25%. Nowadays, I estimate I'm somewhere in the 20%-22% range.

So just two and a half years later, I'm still muddling my way through this fitness thing. I'll freely admit don't know much more than when I initially started. There's also a lot of white noise in the physical fitness sphere, so can be frustrating figuring out which protocols to follow, what foods and supplements to take, blah, blah, blah. 

My most recent endeavor has been to start training for a half-marathon. I am entering the Half Marathon of the Palm Beaches in December, and in the meantime plan on participating various 5Ks to get into the race mindset. My ultimate grand ambition is to run a full-on marathon, and a dream I harbor is to be in the New York City ING Marathon. This will be my chronicle of the highs and lows of HM training, and of generally trying to stay in shape.