Feeling good

I worked out last night....my first weight training session in, well....let's just say a really really long time. Paulette, as always, is genius and wonderful and created a fabulous strength training plan for me. On Tuesdays I focus on legs with a few arms and on Thursdays I focus on arms with a few legs. Both days incorporate abs. I went last night and started working through the routine. Let me tell you how intimidated I was! I don't particularly like working out in the evening, I never have. I much prefer to work out in the morning when I have the energy to get me through a full workout....but the cards dealt me an evening baby-sitter and that's what I took to get a workout in. Back to intimidating....the entire weight room was crawling with big, huge, buff army dudes. I felt like such an idiot searching the room for the machines I needed and then pushing my measly 20 or 30 lb. weights while they are grunting and throwing around 100's. No worries though....no one paid any attention and I did my thing. Some of the things Paulette had me doing weren't available in the room I was in. (There are two weight rooms in our gym- a machine room and a free weight room). I will need to check the other room to see what is available there and how to work it into the routine so I am not spending all my time walking between the two rooms on opposite sides of this monstrous gym. After I was done with the weights I got on the bike and rode about 1o minutes. Whew...that was a smoker! I thought I was in better shape than the bike let me believe, but I also know it is amazing cross training. Thursday, I will do the other half of the routine and the elliptical. Wednesday...cross your fingers...trying my legs at 6 miles!

Feels good to be home

I guess that really has a dual meaning. I am happy to be in my home and back to my routine and schedule and way of life....but I thrilled to be home in the sense of feet hitting the pavement (or treadmill, in my case). Even though I made the promise to myself to start fresh on Monday, I actually was itching to get out and do something. On Sunday afternoon, I tried my feet and breathing at a 2 mile run outdoors. I ran 1 full mile. I was whipped though! A month of laziness took over and the 90+ heat and crazy humidity left me breathless and exhausted. I walked/ran mile 2 back to the house and even Ben took notice of the shade of red my face had turned. I was under the impression than running, or any kind of physical exercise, was supposed to give you an energy boost and adrenaline high....not this girl! I went straight to bed and slept for the next hour.

Monday, I had my diet reversal and ate so well all day long. Drank a ton of water, had healthy snacks and fought the urges for in-between junk snacking. I ran, almost, 3 miles on Monday morning. I did 5x1 minute intervals and was almost at my 2 mile mark when Sasha from childcare came in because there was an issue with Connor's wipes. Apparently there weren't enough for a dirty diaper change and they can't use anything on a child except wipes....so I had to go in there to wipe Connor's behind with wet paper towels....poor baby. Mommy totally dropped the ball on that one!! Anyway, I went back to the treadmill but felt like I was completely thrown off so I did another .5 miles and called it a day. For being out of the loop for so long, I was going to take what I could get.

I am so thankful that I still have the motivation and determination to stick to this. It can be so hard to go back to that lifestyle when you have "given" up on it for such a long period of time. Tonight, as long as it works with Ben's schedule, I am going to the gym for a short stint on the bike and a strength training workout. I am looking forward to working some different muscles and have the ben-gay out and ready to be used.

On another note, since this is ultimately a healthy living blog, I went to the dermatologist this morning for my annual skin check and left with an A+!

Here it is

Well, like I said yesterday, I have changed my workouts (slightly) and start again on Monday technically. With any luck, I will have the motivation to run an easy 2 miles on Sunday, just to shake off the thick layer of rust on the legs.

So here it is: Sundays are an easy run day
Mondays are 3-4 miles of intervals. I want to start with walk/run intervals and depending on how I do with that I will change it up to sprint/jog intervals
Tuesdays are a bike workout for 15-20 minutes and then weight training
Wednesdays are my long run days
Thursdays are an elliptical workout for 15-20 minutes and then weight training
Fridays are either tempo or speedwork
Saturdays are the much needed off day!

I am actually excited to start running again. I am crossing my fingers that this motivation continues because I am so ready to get out there and go again!

And so starts Day 1

After what feels like a lifetime of running and eating healthy and after a long trip up north that has sent us home with tons more toys, clothes and almost 10 pounds body weight heavier.....my time is now. I feel so gross, which only leads me to believe that my love/hate relationship with working out leans more towards the love side.

The only reason I am giving myself the weekend is because I want to savor the last few days of leave I have with Ben and Connor, together as a family. We went shopping for groceries and have picked up everything to have every meal at the house, which means no eating out, no temptation for garbage. Tons of fruits and veggies means I will fill up on delicious, nutricious food instead of ice cream, chocolate and chips. I am tracked an entirely new running program to train for the 13K in October and have am planning on going to the gym on my "off-running" days to start lifting weights and cross train.

I hope my motivation continues. Right now, honestly, my only motivation is the feeling of looking like an oversized whale and how much I truly hate it. I have to start again and get my butt in gear. It's going to be a long 13.1 miles if I don't!

Oh my oh my oh my

Well.....it has been a personally eventful, exercise neglectful couple of weeks. I am disgusted and disappointed with myself and am feeling pretty lousy right now. I have been diagnosed with asthma, officially now. I took the Methocoline Challenge last Wednesday. Basically you breath into a tube for a few minutes and they measure your breathing. After that, they have you breath in the tube but continue give you higher and higher doses of methocoline to determine how you react when they are throwing you into bronchial spasms. I failed miserably. I was diagnosed with asthma. That test kicked my rear-end. I felt like I had been hit my a Mack truck by the time I had returned home. Basically, no long run on Wednesday. Thursday I was still recovering and had planned on running in the morning to catch up, but I felt like crud still, so I let it go. Friday, Ben was off work and we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Saturday is technically an off day but after a run-in with the emergency room and a sick baby, I said HELL NO to running Saturday AND Sunday.

Now, I have decided to run 4 days a week. I have added in a run day on Mondays because I am a slacker, but unfortunately, can't run on Wednesday because we are busy all day long with pre-vacation errands.

I am seriously hoping I can do something while I am on vacation because I am feeling pretty darn rotten anymore.