Hardest. Workout. Ever. June 14, 2011

I had taken a short gym hiatus for just over a week, and yesterday was my first day back.  I spent a few days in NYC visiting friends, and then spent the next few days on the couch with a bad cold.  I hate not going to the gym now, mostly because when I don’t go I forget that I enjoy it and don’t really want to push myself to go back.  Does that make sense?  I suppose because I hadn’t been able to go in 8 days and I was still on the tail end of a cold, yesterday’s workout was EXTREMELY taxing!  I managed to stick with it and do 45 minutes of cardio and 33 of strength training & stretches.  Yes, I’m a little particular/OCD and keep track down to the minute in my weight loss log…  don’t judge..  Anyhow, after deciding to “take it easy” and setting the elliptical for 45 minutes at a level 4 (no biggie, I can “easily” do an hour at a level 5), the voice in my head went something like this:

5 minutes:  ”Feels great to be back at it!  Time to start the intervals!”

8 minutes:  ”OMG I don’t think I can make it.  No more intervals”

10 minutes:  ”WTF.  Time to take it down to a level 3″

11 minutes:  ”Just make it to 20 minutes.  You can do 20 minutes.  You cannot get off this machine until you’ve done 20 minutes.”

15 minutes:  ”I’m going to die.”

20 minutes:  ”Well, I’m almost to 300 calories burned.  Lets just get there.”

23 minutes:  ”Made it to 300 calories, but I’m almost at 25 minutes.  Let’s just make it to there.”

25 minutes:  ”I can make it to 400 calories.  Or 30 minutes.  Whatever comes first.  Keep going.”

30 minutes:  ”Just past 400 calories.  I’ll just push through to 450.”

33 minutes:  ”If I make it to 500 calories, that’s my 1/7 of a pound for the day.”

35 minutes:  ”I really should go to at least 550 calories burned to take into consideration the 10% margin of error of the calorie burned estimator.”

38 minutes:  ”I’m soooo winded, but there’s only 5 more minutes until cool-down.”

40 minutes:  ”OMG”

43 minutes:  ”SO. CLOSE.”

45 minutes:  ”THANK GAWD!!”

 

I thought I was going to pass out in part of my strength training, but I made it through that too.  I even added a new core and arm exercise to the mix.  It was all worth it when I came home, showered, and put on a skirt and blouse that I haven’t fit into for 3 or 4 years.  Woo!  Plus, it can only get easier from yesterday’s debacle, so I’m off to the gym for today’s more pleasant (hopefully) workout.

*update:  I just got back from today’s workout, which was SO MUCH BETTER.  Phew.  Today’s inner dialogue on the Elliptical machine went more like this (48 minutes on level 4, then 43 minutes strength training/stretching):

5 minutes:  ”Warm-up complete, on to intervals.”

12 minutes:  ”Already a quarter of the way done!  Woo!”

24 minutes:  ”Halfway done!  How did that happen?”

32 minutes:  ”2/3′s done!  Way to go!”

36 minutes:  ”3/4 of the way there!  Only 10 minutes to cool-down!”

48 minutes:  ”I’m a rock star.”  Just kidding!  heehee

I’m a runner? June 3, 2011

Well, the scale has been hovering on the same number for the last couple of weeks, so I’m going to turn my focus to a non-scale related victory.  Today, I ran for an hour.  A WHOLE hour.  Not in intervals (ie. minute of walking then 2 minutes of running, repeat) which I’ve always done in the past – 60 minutes of RUNNING, and more than 5 MILES (clearly I’m assimilating well to be using miles instead of kilometers)!!  I only slowed down about 4 times, just long enough to take a giant gulp of water before speeding up again.  Full disclosure – I didn’t push it as much as I could have (I worked up to 5.5 and stayed there for most of the run for those of you familiar with treadmill settings), but I didn’t want to crash & burn on my first attempt.  Even when I was about 20 lbs lighter than I am now, I could only do about half that amount of running.  The reason I’m so surprised is that I haven’t been doing much running.  In fact, I haven’t run at all in over a month and have been doing the Elliptical machine instead.  I haven’t been doing much running for two reasons:

1. I hate running.  A lot.  Or, at least I used to.  I’ve tried to start a running regimen many times since, oh, grade 9 or so, and it has never stuck.  I always seemed to eventually realize that I hate running.  I know it’s “best” to mix up your workout routine a bit, but I figured that if it was keeping me happy to get some exercise, it was just fine to stick with the Eliptical machine.
2. My knees have been bugging me lately, and from what I had read the Eliptical is supposed to be much better for your knees than running is.

When my knees started to get sore at other points in the day (not just when working out), I thought I’d do a bit more research about it.  Turns out that if the stance of the Elliptical machine is wider than my normal stance, it can cause knee pain…  Ruh-roh…  Anyhow, I tried altering my stance to mirror a normal Jenny-stride, and it did help a bit.  Then I thought, “well, if my knees are still a little sore after that experiment, I might as well try running.”  I was pretty excited when the rock-star of runners at my gym jumped on the treadmill next to me and I realized I was *almost* able to keep up with her.  Let’s just pretend I didn’t overhear her saying she was taking it easy this workout…  heehee  Anyhow, my knees feel great and I actually didn’t hate it enjoyed myself, so I think it’s a sign that I should keep running.  I must admit, even before I attempted the run today I’ve been daydreaming about doing a 5K…  And now that I know I can do 5 miles (that’s a little over 8 km’s for my fellow Canucks) , I have no excuses!  My cute hubby is accompanying me to the gym tomorrow, and since he doesn’t quite enjoy the marathon of cardio that I do (pardon the pun), I will work on running at a higher intensity for a shorter amount of time.  I can hardly believe I’m excited for tomorrow’s run…

Strange Sights at the Gym March 8, 2011

I have been going to a lovely gym for the past few months.  It’s new, clean, and giant.  It even has a sauna (though I’ve never used it…).  I never have to wait for a cardio machine, and rarely is there a wait for a specific weight machine.  I have seen a few strange things there so far, and after today’s debacle I thought it was time to share these sights with you.

• On one of my first trips there, I was *fortunate* enough to witness a middle-aged man working out in his boxer-briefs.  At least they were navy blue and not white.  These were not spandex shorts, they were definitely boxer-briefs.  Weiner-flap and all.
• The other day, I saw a teenage girl “working out” in her uggs.  Make that her fuggs. 
• A few days later, I saw the same fugg-girl ”working out” with a friend, also wearing fuggs.  I say “working out” because they were lightly bouncing around on exercise balls the whole time while chatting. 
• Today’s sight was great.  It was like watching America’s Funniest Home Videos live while doing cardio.  It was especially funny because there was Karma involved.  Two 40-something year old women were parked in a handicapped spot, though they were clearly not handicapped and didn’t have the appropriate sign for their car.  They pull forward since there was no car parked in the spot in front of them.  They didn’t notice the two giant orange pylons directly in front of their car.  They drive halfway down the lane before reversing, then stopping to get out and check below the car.  They don’t see the bright orange pylons, so keep going, then realize there actually is something wrong.  They pull in to an open spot, and once again fail to locate either giant, bright orange pylon stuck underneath their car.  The pull out again, only to realize yet again that something is wrong.  On the way to pulling in to the next spot, one pylon comes loose.  They eventually get the second one out, and go along their way.  The kicker is, as I’m leaving the gym I witness someone else pull out and get one of the bright orange pylons stuck under their car too.