Moving along

I have new motivation for working out! I'm responsible for making sure my BFF is working out. Of course I can't let her down ;-) We got up bright and early this morning to hit up the gym before class or work. I stuck to the treadmill today. I did almost 3 miles total. I can't remember how long we were there (40ish minutes I think). I didn't do a lot of running but I did keep my pace up while walking. I wasn't too disappointed since I haven't ran since I last posted. I don't even know how long it's been...maybe 2 weeks? Tomorrow we'll be getting up even earlier (this is gonna take a toll on me sooner or later). We're going to an abs class at 7:15 then we'll do some cardio. I might even make my way back to the gym tomorrow afternoon after my lab to go to rock bottom (my favorite fitness class that I haven't been to all semester).

I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't put on any extra pounds during my little hiatus...especially since it's tailgating/football season! Thankfully, I have to do a lot of walking across campus.

I WILL get back on schedule!

So much for running regularly. Today is the first time I've been to the gym since early last week. So much has been happening lately. Classes are back in full swing and I'm not, as a result I'm falling behind. I've been sick on and off. I've had an awful ache in my neck/shoulder area for the past 5 or 6 days. I could keep on and on with the excuses. I've been meaning to get back to the gym but other things get put first. I think the wake up call was when we decided to move the wedding up about 3 months. I no longer have until Feb. to go dress shopping! I'm very excited about our new date but I know losing 3 months of planning is bound to stress me out at some point. Running is one of the best forms of stress relief that I know of (at least the best form of stress relief that is safe).

Anyway, today I started my warm up at 4 mph then I ran at 5.5 mph. I was determined to make it past a mile straight. I pushed and pushed myself and I did it! I ran 1.25 miles straight. I walked 1/8 mile to catch my breath then ran another 1/2 mile. I think I'm going to slowly work down the walking time so I can run at this speed for about 25 minutes straight, then I'll work on increasing the speed. I did 2.5 miles total today in 31 minutes. I can deal with that :-)

Update

Last week I was sick and I felt awful so there was no working out involved. This week I decided I had to get back on track. I went to the gym to run on Tuesday. I realized mid-day that I forgot my ipod but I decided to run anyway. At the end of my workday I got some bad news about my venue so I was beyond pissed. Running is one of the ways I relieve stress so I was looking forward to it even more. I decided to run for about the same amount of time as I would if I were doing C25K minus regular intervals. I ran at just over 5mph and for my first interval I ran a whole mile without stopping! I don't remember how long I walked for but I ended up doing 2.2 miles in 28 minutes. Not so bad considering it's been about a week since I've ran. I think I'm going to try this approach for a week or so to see how it goes.

Bad Week

The very end of last week and all of this week were aweful in terms of my running, or any other physical activity for that matter. I felt aweful last weekend. Sunday I laid around with a fever all day. For the majority of this past week AF made me wish I had already gone through menopause.

But...I'm feeling much better now...not quite 100% but I feel good enough to get back into the routine of working out. Hopefully this next week won't be too busy. I plan to re-do week 4 since I never ran the last day of it. I know week 5 is going to be really tough so I don't want to jump in at that point. The last thing I need is to get discouraged.

C25K Week 4-Day 2

I finished day 2 on Wednesday...then my internet died so I couldn't blog about it :-/ Anyhow...I went to absolutions before my run. Absolutions is a 15 minute abs class. I know 15 minutes doesn't sound like a lot but it's a pretty intense class. I didn't think it would make a big difference in my run but it definitely did. I got tired much quicker than I did on Tuesday. I still want to try to go to absolutions at least once, hopefully twice a week. If I'm going to go on a running day I'll try to do one in the morning and one later in the afternoon. I still increased my speed for the first two running intervals, after that I stayed at the same pace. I started at 5.1 mph. I finished with 2.27 miles. I was pretty satisfied considering how bad I just wanted to quit. Now I just have to finish up with day 3. I'm not sure when I will work that in. Maybe a little later tonight? I have a busy weekend ahead of me but I'm determined to finish up week 4 and be ready for week 5 on Tuesday. I think week 5 is going to be pretty tough since the workout changes every day.

C25K Week 4

I had to leave a meeting early to do it but I started week 4 yesterday. I'm seeing more good results! :-) After completing week 3 with 2.11 miles I started week 4 off with 2.25 miles. I know it's not a huge jump but I was glad to see some progress!

I didn't get home until after 9 last night and was way too exhausted to blog...or check my e-mail...or even turn the computer on! I went to bed a little earlier last night so hopefully I'll be well-rested and ready to run again this afternoon.

C25K Week 3...Finally Finished

I ran day 2 of week 3 on Thursday and I just finished day 3 earlier today. Both days went relatively well and I increased my distance a little between them. Thursday I finished right at 2 miles...I think 2.01 or so. Today I ran 2.11 miles! I know it's not a huge difference but I really like being able to see my progress. I won't be able to start week 4 tomorrow because I have class until 8:45 tomorrow night and the gym closes at 9. I don't have time to run and get a shower between my classes and there's no way I'm going to class sweaty and gross. Group fitness classes at our gym start tomorrow and I will probably go to absolutions, a 15 minute abs class that I love! I plan on running Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I may go to "Rock Bottom" on Thursday. It is a group fitness class that works everything below the waist. Yay for toning those thighs!