Day 51: Upping the Ante

I started off my workout this morning with the C25K W6D2. I was expecting all the workouts for the week to be the same, as they usually were for the past five weeks. Imagine my surprise when I look at the workouts and it says to do 2 10-minute blocks of running! I have never done that much running before, except on the treadmill some time ago. I suddenly got nervous and seriously considered doing the W6D1 again. I thought for sure that I would not make it. But I decided to try it anyway. To my surprise, I was able to do both 10-minute blocks without stopping, for a total of 20 minutes of running. I'm not going to lie, I was definitely out of breath and definitely considered stopping a few times. But then I would look at the clock and say, I'm halfway, I've got 3, 2, 1... minutes left, and so on and so forth. That has always gotten me through some difficult runs. Some folks think it's counterintuitive to look at the clock, that you should just enjoy the run. And I do! There are times when I look at the scenery and just love running. Other times I'm so out of breath that it's a struggle to get through it! I find that looking at the clock gives me a goal. :-)

I was definitely sweating after that workout.

 

I decided to up the ante and walk an additional mile for a grand total of 2.55 miles. It got easier as I went on, and I would have gone longer than that except it began to drizzle a little and I was concerned about my cell phone getting completely drenched or at the very least a little moody, so I packed up my gear and headed home. (Much to my dismay, it stopped raining as soon as I left! :-P)

 

I was a little sore after my workout, and I decided to take a little break. I drank my protein shake and did some homework, and texted my fiancé for a few hours. Then I got bored. Mind-numbingly bored. I am low on fuel and have to wait to fill up the tank again, so I've mostly been at home all day. I got the crazy idea to ride on my dad's stationary bike for a little while, since it is in the basement anyway and so am I, most of the time. I thought that I would do a short 10-minute ride and be done with it, but as usual I made bets with myself (as in, I bet I can go longer than 10 minutes!) and ended up doing 9.11 miles in 36 minutes. Not a bad deal, though I have to admit I'm still a bit sore. Sometimes I do two workouts on the bike for a total of 1 hour, but since I have been upping my run time I'm just going to stick with 36 minutes.

 

I hope everyone has a good day. Be blessed, and go outside! :-)

Day 43: The Answer to all Life's Questions... and a day

Gotta love a good Hitchhiker's Guide reference.

It's been another day. Nothing too spectacular. Decided to go running while my mom and sister went to their water aerobics class, and got in a 1.80 mile, 37 minute run on the dreadmill. I averaged about 18:45 a mile, which isn't too bad. I even got in a 4.0 mph run for 60 seconds at the end. I'm trying to increase that 4.0 mph run at the end too, it feels so good to get that last burst of energy out! After my run, I hit the stationary bike for a 6.14 mile bike ride. I only rode 26 minutes because I figured Mom and my sis would be done by then, but they took an entire hour to get dressed! Only in my family I reckon. :-)

I went to Target and got some real running clothes, as opposed to my cotton shirt and shorts that I normally wear. Per usual, my hair is a state of disarray, otherwise I would post it in two seconds. I got a green running shirt and a pair of black compression capris. I tried on two different pairs and ended up liking those better. I got some prepackaged dinners and would have gotten a ton of hummus and pretzels (my favorite guilty pleasure) but then I found out the entire refrigerated section in the store had lost power and the food had spoiled the day before, and there was no food at all in the refrigerated section! :-( Thankfully I was able to find some plums that weren't refrigerated and I had one of those as a snack.

I got my flu shot, which was relatively quick and painless. I never have been particularly put out by needles or shots, after having bloodwork done for years for a med I used to be on, they don't phase me at all and I don't particularly get nervous before getting a shot. The only problem is we ended up waiting almost an hour to get it because we weren't entered into the system. Then they found out that my mom and my sister had different insurance plans and that held them up longer, until FINALLY we got our flu shots and were able to leave. A NSV for me in this regard: while I was waiting, my mom and my sister got 3 bags of cookies and proceeded to polish most of them off. I didn't touch a single cookie. I was quite fine with my plum and flavored water (well, with the plum anyhoo, the Life Water was ridiculously sweet and after I drank it 3 times and cringed each time I decided to throw it away). Before I would have inhaled the cookies along with them.

I was in a bad mood the rest of the day though, family drama is always there. I thought it was just that, but... (TMI alert!) Aunt Flo came to visit. I think that's pretty sweet cause before I would skip for months at a time, but this time it was on time. :-) It's the first time since I lost so much weight in 2010 that I've seen happen. I'm also thrilled because that means the weight will start to fall off. I actually don't have issues gaining during, just before AF, and then the weight falls off. It would also explain why I was eating like a maniac this weekend, lol. :-)

Well, I gotta go do some Chemistry homework awesome-sauce, so I will get my butt off Blogger and go do it, lol. I hope everyone has a fantastic day and is blessed continually! :-)

Day 36: Sweaty Monday

I got back on my antidepressants.

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be depressed if I'm working out, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Besides, I have a bit of a one-track mind when I don't take them. Blame whatever you want, I just feel better that way. (As long as I'm taking all my supplements, mind. Otherwise it just turns me into a freakshow, lol.)

Anyhoo, got a nice long run in today, about 30 minutes worth. I got up to 4.3, but only for a little while because I didn't want to amp it up for so long that I couldn't finish the workout. I averaged around 3.8-4.0 mph, which is fairly normal for me. I am on W2D3 of C25K at the moment, and I'm about to do week 3! That scares me ever the slightest bit, because I have never gotten past week 2 the few times I have done C25K. I have no issue running for 3 minutes, I have done it on the treadmill before, but it should be interesting running it at normal speed! I have always run it about 3.0-3.2 mph but I haven't gone any faster than that.

Nice and sweaty! If I look tired, I am! :-)

 



I have chemistry class today, and will have my first exam on Wednesday! I am not super nervous, but I will definitely be studying hard for that. It's fun stuff like calculations and significant figures, and I will have to know a list of elements (though not all 117 of them!) that is listed on the school website. So far I have done fairly well, got one 88 but I guess that's okay. Otherwise I have gotten all As this semester. I keep hoping to pull off another 4.0, so I can get my GPA back into the 3's. I had some issues the second semester, and I'm hoping to get as close to a 4.0 as I can before I get done and go to UMSL. :-)

Well, don't really have a diary to write this morning, got some studying to do and gotta get in the shower. Cause let's face it, working out makes you stanky, lol! Have a great day all, and be blessed!