Tar Heels Workout

One of my favorite workouts is the 'Medicine Ball 400', a total-body workout using nothing more than a 10-lb medicine ball.  It is similar to a workout used by the University of North Carolina to whip the Tar Heels team into championship shape, helping to create a solid core, burn fat and improve sports performance. 

What I like about it is that it has lots of diversity, with 10 different exercises including big circles, 'woodchopper', standing Russian twist, squat to press, medicine ball situp, rocky solo, toe touch, 45-degree twist, and a couple of crunch variations.  As challenging as you care to make it; if you speed things up and run through 25 repetitions of each exercise twice back to back, it ends up being an aerobic workout as well.  Which is what I did today, in addition to run-walking about 5 miles this morning with Daisy along Buffalo Bayou.  So all in all a pretty good day.

Last night we went to a masquerade party at the home of one of our runner friends - lots of fun and way too much to eat!  Everyone had really creative costumes - most of which I failed to recognize.  Having grown up in Africa, I am not too familiar with the characters from Scooby Do or Sesame Street... Kathleen went as a Girl Scout, complete with authentic uniform and sash from the 60's and I dressed up a Juan Williams' worst nightmare - in 'muslim garb'.