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!

C25K Week 3...Second time around

I finally started week 3 for the second time. I planned on starting Monday but it was pouring rain when I got off work. I had plans for later in the day so I didn't start. I decided to wait it out and start today when I could go to the gym. It was more crowded today than I have EVER seen it! I know things will get back to normal in a few weeks though.

I was pleased to see that I dropped a few pounds over the summer (today was the first time I weighed myself since May). I was pretty pleased with my run. I did a total of 2 miles. I started off walking at 3.6 or something along those lines and I started running at 5. Each interval I would increase by 0.1. I know it's not a lot but I don't want to push myself too hard. I know that's why I've always hated running before. I used to run at least 6.5 mph and I would get very frustrated with myself because I couldn't make it very far. I know I'm capable of working faster but I'm just going to pace myself so I can reach my goal! I'll most likely run again tomorrow to try to get caught up so I can start week 4 next week.

Group fitness classes on campus also start next week. I'm so excited for these. They are free for students so I try to take advantage of them every semester. There is a great abs class,"absolutions". I plan on trying to go to about twice a week. It only lasts 15 minutes but it's pretty intense. Another class I really like is "Rock Bottom". It is a 55 minute class that works everything below the waist. It is only once a week on Thursdays. I would like to try a few new classes that I haven't tried before. I think I will try to go on one of these classes on days I don't run.

The New Plan

I got up this morning knowing I had to run today. I decided to do some yoga to help warm up my muscles. I like doing yoga because I can see that I am getting more flexible and toned. The best my legs have ever looked was when I went to a yogalates (yoga/pilates) class 3 times a week.

After my run I decided to do some other short workout as a cool down instead of just stretching. I'm just trying to keep some variety in my workout so I don't get too board. I turned it to FitTV to see what was on...it was a shimmy workout. I tried the first 5 or 10 minutes of it and I wasn't really getting into it. I did notice that my arms were not as toned as I would like them to be. I've never really cared about toning my arms until I saw them when I was trying to do a shoulder shimmy. lol I hate pushups so I found a 10 minute workout online to do.

I think I will try to work arms and abs on 1 or 2 days that I have off running. The other 2 days I will focus on my thighs and buns. I'll start that tomorrow with buns & thighs!

C25K Week 3...Day 2.

I finally did day 2! Today was probably one of the worse runs I've had since starting C25K. I used to get diaphragm cramps while running all the time. I haven't had one since starting C25K until today. It was hot and that didn't help. I think one thing that bothers me is that I have no idea how far I am running. I don't want to get used to running on a treadmill but I would like to run on one about once a week so I can actually see that I am running a longer distance. I completed it and I stayed with the pace most of the time but I was exhausted by the time the second running interval started.

I have decided to take tomorrow off and redo week 3 starting Monday. I really didn't want to do this at first but I would rather finish up a little later than beginning week 4 and not be able to get through the whole workout.

Need Motivation!

I still haven't done day 2! I planned on running it Thursday & Saturday. I realized my ipod was dead on my way out the door Thursday so I didn't run. I wanted to run around NC State's campus when I went to visit FI but I couldn't find my charger anywhere. I know this is a ridiculous excuse not to run but It hasn't taken much to talk myself out of running lately.

On the bright side, I woke up about 45 minutes before my alarm clock went off this morning. Usually I just lay in bed and try to fall back asleep. It takes me a good 30 minutes to fall asleep so it usually just irritates me. I got up this morning and did some yoga. I don't remember the name of the show I was using..."Inhale" maybe. Anyway...it was on Oxygen and I didn't like the guy at all. Maybe it was too early but he annoyed the crap out of me. I couldn't remember what channel FitTV was so I just stuck it out. I still have to get used to these new channels.

C25K Week 3...It's about time

I finally started week 3 yesterday, when I should have been starting week 4 :-/ All this moving has had me exhausted. Just when I thought I was starting to make some progress with unpacking my sister and my niece decided to come to visit. I was expecting them to come spend a few days with me, but not until I finished unpacking. This slowed my progress to getting almost nothing done!

I have been unpacking my things during the day by myself since FI is in training for 12 hours a day. At night I have been going to his place to help him do some things for work. Today is his last day for training. He still has some things he has to get done before Friday. I hope to work on some of them today so we can actually spend some time together other than work!

Anyway, I finished day 1 of week 3 yesterday. I planned on doing it on the treadmill so I could see how far i was running and at what speed. I stepped into the gym of my new apartment complex and the treadmills they have in there have to be the first ones EVER built. They were so old and the didn't work at all. I decided to do it on the elliptical (I know it's not the same thing but it was hot). It looked a little newer but it squealed like crazy so that lasted all of 2 minutes. I finally sucked it up and ran outside. It was a little awkward to run around the parking lots but I was determined to get it done. I did find out we have a car wash on site that I didn't know about. lol. I didn't get as winded as I expected to after not running at all for over a week. It was a little easier than I expected...I guess those hills and the high elevation in Asheville really did make a difference for me! I got really tire during the last jogging interval and I was glad the workout was almost over! I'll plan on driving to FI's and running around campus until classes start back and I can go to the nice gym on campus.

C25K Week 3...Pending

So, I decided I wasn't comfortable running in this area so I planned to do some pilates today. What did I do? I took a nap, had a baked potato and a beer. Not my idea of a good workout. :-/ I REALLY hope I can make myself run tomorrow after the 3 1/2 hour drive to Raleigh!

C25K Week 2- COMPLETE!

I finished week 2 on Saturday. I reversed my route so that the largest hill was at the end of my run going uphill rather than at the beginning of my run going downhill. I didn't think it would make a big difference but it definitely did! It felt really great to finish up week 2 and I'm actually looking forward to starting week 3. I should be starting week 3 today but I'm not sure if I will. I'm at a hotel for my last night in Asheville. I'm not completely sure I feel comfortable running around here. I don't know the area behind the hotel very well. Tomorrow I will be driving back to Raleigh. I could run once I get there...I'll try to make it a point to take a run around campus when I get in. I'll be crashing with a friend since I can't move into my new apartment until Wednesday. She's an RD on campus so that will be convenient. No excuses! haha.

C25K Week 2-Day 2

Today was definitely more challenging than yesterday. I didn't think I would be able to tell a huge difference without having a day of rest but I definitely can. My calves started to burn before the first jogging interval was over. I kept pushing and finished strong though. My pace did slow just a little from yesterday. I got back to my room yesterday before the cool down was finished and I had to walk around the building. Today I wasn't at the building yet when the music finished. I am a little disappointed in myself because I should be increasing my pace. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, especially since I didn't have a break in between days.

Another thing that made today a little harder was that I kept getting not so subtle reminders that AF is going to be in town soon :-/ This made it even harder to resist that last little bit of Haagen-Dazs that was calling my name from the freezer. Of course I gave in, but there was seriously only about 5 spoonfulls left so it wasn't so bad.

I like to work out something else before I stretch. Nothing in particular, whatever I feel like doing at the time. Today I did some push ups because I often neglect my arms. I also did a few thigh/butt exercises. Sometimes it's really hard to do this after running. I found that if I listen to music really loud it really pushes me that much harder. A guitar usually does the trick. Today's motivational track was Nonpoint-In the Air Tonight.

My New Favorite Tasty Treat

White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle ice cream! So delicious. I am a sucker for ice cream, too bad it's not exactly a low calorie/low fat sweet snack :-/



My biggest problem with ice cream is controlling how much I eat. I will grab the whole container and tell myself I'll only have a few spoonfuls. Half a container later I'm telling myself "ok...this is really the last bite". I've decided that I can still eat ice cream but I need to put X amount in a bowl so I'm not so tempted to keep eating it all. Of course I didn't do that today, I'm in the dorm for another week and I HATE washing dishes in the same sink I brush my teeth and wash my face in. I definitely plan to start using a bowl when I get back to the dishwasher.

Here are the nutrition facts for this yummy deliciousness!

Nutrition Facts:
Amount Per Serving
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup (108g)
Calories: 310	Calories from Fat: 160
Total Fat	18g	28%
Saturated Fat	10g	52%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	105mg	36%
Sodium	65mg	3%
Total Carbohydrate	32g	11%
Dietary Fiber	1g	2%
Sugars	28g
Protein	5g

C25K Week 2-Day 1

Today should actually be day 2 of week 2, but considering everything that has been going on I'm not that disappointed. I really enjoyed my run today. I decided not to run on the track and to run around UNCA's campus since I leave in less than a week. I'm really glad I made the decision. I feel like I'm getting more of a leg workout with all the hills and the scenery is much better. The music for week 2 is much better than week 1. I decided to work abs today as well (I guess I'm trying to make up for all that fast food I had last weekend). I did the "Waist Slimmer" section of 10 Minute Solution: Rapid Results Pilates. It was a pretty intense workout...much better than just doing a ton of crunches. I definitely felt it. I think I may continue to do this or a similar workout twice a week (not necessarily on my off days).

I have just over two months before I take B-pics so I think that is definitely motivating me. I feel great after my workout today and I'm actually looking forward to running tomorrow as well!

Pilates

Today I should have started week 2 of C25K since I didn't have shoes yesterday. By the time I got home, had lunch and ran to the grocery store it was horribly cloudy outside. It was raining by the time I got back from the grocery store and it still is. I can handle a bit of light rain. What I can't handle is not taking a shower or having to take a cold shower after running for 30 minutes! Yep...it must be my lucky day because the hot water is out due to boiler problems! They "hope" to have it back on by tomorrow!

I showered before work so I don't feel completely disgusting. There's no way I could go to bed all sweaty though so I decided to do a little bit of pilates. I absolutely love Netflix, especially since you can watch things instantly on your computer. I found a pretty good pilates workout (10 Minute Solution: Rapid Results Pilates). It is a group of five 10 minute pilates workouts targeting different parts of the body. I was really tempted to do the buns and thighs workout but I decided that would be a bad idea. In order to stay on schedule with C25K I will have to run for the next few days or I can take a day off and run Saturday, which is what I might do. I think my legs will get their fair share by then! I decided to do a total body blast and slim and sleek stretch.

Weekend Update

This weekend FI and I had to pack our things to move out of our apartments. I HATE packing. It's even worse because we haven't even moved anything in to our new apartments, it's all in storage waiting to be moved again next week. Anyway, because of the very busy weekend, packing all the dishes, lots of time on the road etc. I had more fast food this weekend than I've had all summer. Between Saturday morning and Monday night (I'm including Monday because I didn't work) we had. Hardee's 3 times, Sonic once, Krystal once, Wendy's once, McDonalds once, Cookout once (yes, I got a milkshake too), and Chic-fil-A once. The only "meal" we had that wasn't fast food was cereal on Monday morning. This is horrible! I know we were busy and pressed for time but I can't believe we had that much fast food in one weekend.

Yesterday should have been Week 2 Day 1 of C25K. I was at FI's apartment in Greenville. I have a pair of running shoes at each apartment so I don't have to worry about packing/leaving them at either place. When I was ready to run I found out FI had already packed my running shoes up and they are in storage in Raleigh. I did do some random leg, ab workouts for about 15-20 minutes.

We packed/moved/cleaned 10 am-8 pm Saturday and 10 am-6pm Sunday. On our way back to Asheville and Greenville Sunday night we stopped for a quick dinner (Wendy's). I had to continue on 40 and FI got on 85, about 30-45 mins later my car started to overheat and my battery and E-break lights came on. I had to let my car cool on the side of 40 at 10:30 at nights alone. I was really scared. I finally got my car to the nearest exit in Statesville to wait for FI. We looked at my car and noticed a belt had broken and was hanging below my car (it was the alternator belt). Nothing was open so we drove back to Greenville. We got there at 2 am, I was supposed to be at work in Asheville at 5 am. I slept for 2 hours, called out of work, slept for 2 more hours then got up for the trek back to Statesville to take my car to get repaired. FI had to get back to Greenville so he could work a half day. We got to Statesville to pick my car up around 8:00 pm. About 20 mins down the road (after FI had went his own way to Greenville, again) my car started to overheat badly again. FI came to my rescue again. We decided that we were not going to leave my car 2 hours from either destination again since we spent so much time dealing with it Sunday night and Monday. We were just going to drive it little by little, expecting to arrive in Asheville around 3 am. I decided I wouldn't go to sleep since I get up for work at 3:30 anyway. Luckily we only had to stop to let the car cool down once. FI tightened the radiator cap really well (we noticed that the rubber piece inside it is slightly torn, causing water to spray out instead of circulating) and we arrive in Ashevill a little after 1 am. Luckily I got to sleep about 2 hours before I had to get up for work.

Somehow I'm still going kind of strong...I plan on going to bed early tonight though!

C25K Week One...CHECK!

I completed my first week of C25K today and I am very proud of myself. I am exhausted, probably for many reasons. This was by far the hardest day so far. I ran earlier in the day so it was really hot, I have only been getting about 5 hours of sleep a night since Sunday, I stand for 8 hours at work (with some walking, and lots of pacing. lol). I did about 8 laps, so roughly 2 miles. I have no idea what my speed was but I know that it got slower as the run progressed. I'm contemplating re-doing Day 3 on Saturday...so I don't get out of the habit of running with 3 days off. It would also be nice to do it on a treadmill to see what my actual distance and speeds are.

The last 3 or 4 jogging intervals were brutal! I can already tell that this blog is going to help me. The main thing that kept me running through those intervals rather than walking them was knowing that I would have to come back and write in my blog that I gave up. Knowing that fellow C25K buddy, Mel, is already seeing results during week 2 also kept me going. I kept telling myself that it WAS worth it. I just scheduled B-pics for October 3 so that gave me an extra push.

I worked abs for about 10 minutes since I got in. I didn't feel like it at all but I've realized that listening to "Thunderstruck" as loud as I can helps a lot. LOL. I need to invest in some new headphones, mine keep falling out of my ears and this gets very annoying while running. I think that may be my "reward" to myself after completing week 2. I borrowed a friend's Bose headphones at work the other day and I fell in love with them. However, I abuse electronics severely so I don't think I can drop $100 on a set of headphones that I will most likely murder in less than a year.

I had a small salad as a snack after the run and I'm off to Doc Chey's for some yummy chinese food in a little bit. I don't know how fattening chinese food is but it's for a farewell dinner for a fellow intern.

C25K day 2

At first I was really unmotivated to run today because it has been sprinkling on and off and there are a TON of kids here for some sort of running camp. No way I was going to run on the track with 100+ track kids out there!

I got motivated and just ran around campus. I have NO idea how far I went but parts of it were really tough. Think about hiking a mountain...but jogging! I'm sure that's an exaggeration but when you're from such flat land the hills really are a challenge, along with the elevation. Of course the downhill parts were cake. My legs were still sore from Day 1 but they actually feel better now that I ran again. I'm really proud of myself. Even after it started raining on me I kept on truckin'!

Friday should be my day 3 but I'm leaving for Charlotte then Raleigh right after work. Since there is no way I'll find time to run Friday, day 3 will have to be tomorrow. I know it will be a bit harder without a day of rest and I know I can do it!

I found some motivation for those days when I just don't feel up to it:

Intro and day 1 of C25K

So...I'm way out of shape. I'm getting married September 18, 2010 and I really want to have an awesome body by then! I'm not unhappy with my weight but I wouldn't miss a few founds if I were to lose them. My main goal is to become fit and toned. I think I'm about average for my size, but I have absolutely nothing to base that on. The last time I weighed in I was about 127ish and I'm about 5'3". I have some flab that I just need to get rid of.

I've been running most days for the past couple weeks but I haven't had any set goals or anything. Fellow knottie, Mel pointed me in the right direction. I started my first day of C25K today! I thought the first few days would be a piece of cake since I have been running about 1/2 mile straight...NOT THE CASE! I didn't lose my breath as much today as I did when I was just running the 1/2 mile but my legs sure are feeling it! That's a good thing since they are one of my target areas (along with my belly and butt). So...why is it important for me to run a 5K?...read on

Sophomore year of college I made a list of things I wanted to do before I graduate. Some of them don't work out so well with my current goals (I wanted to try ALL of Cookout's milkshake flavors...that's not too good for the honeymoon body I'm going for). One goal I've held on to is running in the Krispy Kreme Challenge before I graduate. I just want to run it...and run back with my dozen of yummy deliciousness! I really wanted to run it this past year since it was the first year it was on ESPN, but I couldn't even run a mile straight. Needless to say I wasn't going to be able to run the 4 miles required to complete the Krispy Kreme Challenge.

I'm also struggling with the food issue this summer. For FI and I, this summer has been all about saving. I only have a microwave while I'm in the dorms for my internship. I decided that I was going to cut my costs on food. I set a budget of...drumroll...$10 a week! That will pretty much buy you some Ramen, bread, sandwich meat, milk and cereal. Of course this hasn't been very easy to stick to...I think I've only stayed within that budget 2 weeks all summer...but I have only had fast food once while in Asheville! I'm taking baby steps here.