Bored!

I'm bored with the treadmill. I'm sick of staring out the window. The same red truck is there everyday. The trash truck comes on Wednesday. Unlike ya'll, I don't have friends here who do anything but drink beer. I was thinking this morning while I was running about how nice it would be to have friends to workout with and how I could mix things up when a thought came to me ...

...we should exchange addresses and mail each other mixed CDs with some music that we like to run to on it. You might be surprised what my favorite songs to run to are. If we each sent one out, we'd have 5 new CDs full of new music! Mixed CDs are still legal, right?

What do you think?

benched

Hello my lovely and fit ladies!

Yes, I am still injured. My knee has been in a kind of achey limbo for about two weeks now. Just when I think it's feeling better, I go running and then it feels bad all over again. So I'm taking a full week off from running and doing anything high impact in hopes that it will finally heal itself. I'm also looking into buying stock in Ibuprofen and some kind of knee brace (a stylish one, of course). In the meantime, I have been doing stomach crunches and push-ups every morning (I can do 12 without stopping!), and I've been going to yoga 2 times a week, and I still ride my bike everywhere. I wish I knew what triggered my knee twinge, but it's a mystery. A frustrating mystery. I just want to run like the wind! Or at least like a slow moving breeze!

I'm glad to hear the rest of y'all have been running for five minutes without stopping. That's very impressive and I hope to be alongside you again soon. In the meantime, keep training and take care of your knees!

<3 Chrissy

Good excuse this time

This week has been strange. Illness, snowstorms, babies. We didn't have school on Monday due to the snow, so I put in at least one good session that day. Tuesday I went in the morning, but my knee was hurting so I stuck to the eliptical and crunches. Last night I left for Portland and only slept a few hours.

Tomorrow is a new day! I'm going to the gym in the morning. I'm running for 3 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. I can and will do this. Watch out gym ... I just saw a baby being born and I think I can take on the world! I hope I never come down off this high.

Rawr!

I had met up with Mary last night at the campus' rec center. We were all like eye of the tiger and shit and totally kicked running's butt...

Jogged: 3 min
Walked: 90 seconds
Jogged: 5 min
Walked: 2 1/2 minutes

and we d0-si-do'ed and did it again a second time.

Moanday

Monday:

Elliptical Trainer: 1 hour

The End.

Pause

Friday is my day off from the gym, so I didn't go on Friday. Saturday I felt like do-do. My throat hurt and I was achy, so I skipped another day. I stayed home and drank a ton of emergen-C and woke up today feeling much better, but ... it the yard was covered with snow! I did drive to my friend's house to make snowpeople, but by the time I was done it was dark and I didn't feel safe driving in the freezing slush to the gym and back.

Excuses, excuses!

This is the first time that I've gone this long without working out since around the holidays. I'm hoping that we'll have no school tomorrow and I can make up for lost time.

weekend feats

Saturday:

Met up with Chrissy and Mary at the rec center and this is what we did:

30 minutes: 90 second jog/90 second walk; 3 minute jog/3 minute walk
30 minutes: weight training

When I got home I walked/jogged the dogs for about 25 minutes.

I was pooped.

Sunday:

Met with Mary at the rec center...

30 minutes: elliptical trainer
30 minutes: weight training (lower body)

Minor Setback, Small Victory

I went to the gym alone again tonight, pumped and ready for more of this week three exercise-fest. Go me for making it! But when I got there, I got tired fast. I wasn't able to do 90 seconds of jog/90 seconds of walking 3 minutes of jogging/3 minutes of walking. Instead, I stuck with 90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking. That might take me back to week 1.5, but I had to listen to my body's limits. I'm slightly bummed that with all my working out this weekend (Saturday and Sunday with Sonnie at the rec center, plus skating--also with Sonnie--on Saturday), that my performance was so lackluster. Nevertheless, I'm proud of me for making it out. So maybe my 9 weeks to 5k will be slightly longer, but I should still definitely be ready by late March.

Go team!

Hello muscles!

Wednesday:

Skiing Machine: 30 minutes
Core Exercises with medicine ball: 30 minutes

Thursday:

Elliptical Trainer: 30 minutes
Weight training upper body: 30 minutes

**Lately, I have been feeling pretty depleted by the end of the day or more like after my afternoon workout. I have been eating well and taking my multi-vitamins. I still need to get better about taking in more water and staying hydrated.

I think more so I'm feeling depleted because I am back to exercising 6 to 7 days out of the week. I think I'll need to look into protein shakes to make sure I have enough fuel to do the things that I want to do. But I'll hold off on that for now because just thinking about that makes me shudder. :)

ch-ch-changes

I'm up to a total of 30.13 miles of walking / running since I started keeping track.

I got off the program for the long weekend. I found that I was spending over an hour running, warming-up and stretching. I didn't have time to lift weights, do ab work, or sit in the steam room (my favorite). I missed those things. Each day this weekend I ran / walked 20 minutes to keep endurance and used the elliptical for 30 minutes and ended with weights, stretching and the steam room.

A group of friends and I have been going to yoga class at least twice a week, but a few weeks ago the yoga instructor on Thursday nights left to open a new studio. My schedule (as well as the other people's) is very tight. I asked them and the Y is letting me use the room. I have been leading my friends once a week. Last week I decided to use an old CD that Amy, Chrissy and some other Nac folks would practice to a couple of times a week. I forgot completely about yogic bicycle. Chrissy, do you remember that? 50 times!? I have incorporated that into my daily routine and it feels great (now ... it sure as hell didn't feel very good the first time).

I want to continue on this program and I think due to the time I have in the morning, I'm going to have to put the weights on hold during the weekday. For now I'll stick with the program, adding the yoga bicycle and continuing with the yoga at least 2 times a week. The weekends I can focus on my arms and the steam room.

Oh ... screw the scale. My pants are less tight so I must be doing something right.

Tuesday's Torture

Lunch time:

walk/jog: 30 minutes
weight training: lower body: 30 minutes

Evening:

walk/jog: 30 minutes
weight training: upper body: 30 minutes

Back on Track!

Hello Y'all!

So I had another exercise-hiccup last week and somehow managed to injure my knee. I woke up Sunday morning, the day after working it at the gym with Sonnie and Mary, and my knee felt a little funny. But I walked the dog anyway, and when I got back from that I could barely walk. Very frustrating, not to mention painful, and also confusing since I don't know what exactly triggered this injury. I skipped my workout date for Sunday and yesterday I went to yoga but took it easy, and today I feel just about 100% better. I guess my body just needed a break after finding itself so active after so many weeks of sitting on the couch!

I'm ready to get back to work, though, and by work I mean WORKING OUT! Starting Week 3 tonight with Sonnie and Mary and I think it's going to be a good one. Hope everyone has a healthy week as well!

Weekend Exercise Log

Saturday's Exercise:

Walk/Jog-20 minutes
Elliptical Trainer-20 minutes
Abs-10 minutes
Stretches-10 minutes

Rollerskating-50 minutes

Sunday's Exercise:

Skiier Type Machine (a more advanced Tony Little Gazelle)-20 minutes
Rowing Machine-10 minutes
Weight Training-15 minutes
Cross-Training with Medicine Ball-15 minutes

Swimming Pool-1 hour (involved chit chatting with Mary as we went around and around the lazy river portion of the pool...it involved a slow crawl and some deep stretches of the legs...no cardio involved)

Set Back: Vol II

Hi friends,
Hooray for everyone this week!

I have fallen a week behind. Boo. I've had a cold since Tuesday (the doctor suspects cedar fever) that has caused an icky sinus infection. Today I felt much better and ready to begin week 3...or is it 4? when Matt and I started arguing about attending church followed by who had cut the cheese. Not believing one another, we (Matt) climbed into the attic to discover the smell was instead TWO dead rats we set out to poison ten days ago. Everything was fine until the Lysol ignited wires the rats chewed causing a medium-sized insulation fire.

Several lessons to be learned. One--among many--is not to complain about having to attend the happy-clappy *contemporary* church service at 6:30 because you missed the traditional service this morning. Sack up and go. We missed church this morning because our super awesome washer & dryer was delivered. Amen! (Thanks, Turners! You are officially share holders) No more streams flowing through the hallway! No more 1.5 hours to dry a pair of jeans and a sock!

I plan to run tomorrow. And pray thanks.

Good luck this week, ladies! Pending respiratory health and avoiding the bubonic plague, I'll be on track to run with you in March/August.

Sore Legs, Happy Heart

Hey everyone,

I am so proud of you all! It is amazing to watch everyone's progress, even though we are working out and preparing in different ways and in different locations, too!

Last night, I was all set to just sit at home and do some laundry when Chrissy couldn't make it to the track. "It's darn cold," I reasoned. But then I thought: NO! You feel good, you have time, and boy are you in a bad mood about work! I knew it was time to blow some steam off. So I did my first solo 5k-prep workout. It wasn't much different from the ones I've done so far with Chrissy and Sonnie except I did it by myself! Oh, and I brought my iPod. The time actually went really fast alternating between walking and jogging. I even broke a sweat in the midst of the chilly weather. Alright!

Here's what I did:
-2 very brisk laps around the top of the track (concourse?) as warm-up
-25 minutes of the Week 2 plan (alternating 90 sec jogging/2 min running)
-1 full lap of the concourse jogging (rather slowly)
-2 cool down laps of very slow walking
-stretches

Also, a creepy dude watched me stretch from the parking lot and I kinda speeded those along. Hee hee.

Anyway, it is easy to have a set back, but you all are keeping me inspired and I do so appreciate it. We will definitely be ready for a late March/early April 5 K at this rate. I am so proud of everyone and also proud of me! Keep up the good work.

And also: tomorrow at 10am at the rec center at SFA if anyone is interest. Sonnie, Chrissy, and I are all going.

Friday's Fantastic Feats

Exercise:

Elliptical Trainer: 30 minutes
Walk/Jog: 30 minutes

**Went back to the gym when my boss let me off early today and did:

Treadmill: walked/jogged for 30 minutes
Weight Training: 30 minutes

I went to the gym today during my lunch hour with my co-worker. We got on the elliptical trainers and just chatted away. The time sped by and by the time we got off the machines we were both a sweating mess.

We stretched and left the gym and high-tailed it back to work.

The boss was nice enough to shut down the office today at 1:00. I'm still here but plan to leave around 3:00. I'm going to go back to the gym and get my run in since I haven't done my second walk/jog for the week.

I paid big money today to join the campus' new recreation center. I must admit I was suckered in because it is pretty nice in there.

I think Sunday I will go and check out that heated outdoor pool. Wheeee!

set backs

I have a confession to make. I've been lazy this week. Really lazy. I skipped yoga on Wednesday (thought to be fair I'm making it up today with the noon-time class) and I cancelled my running date with Mary last night (we rescheduled for Saturday morning, if any peeps are interested). It's been cold lately, and I'm falling into hibernation mode, and I was feeling bratty and under the weather. But reading through the reports here and seeing how everyone has been pressing on and kicking ass, well, I'm re-inspired to get with the program (and stick with it!).

5K, here I come!

Stupid scale.

I don't normally weigh myself. I don't like judging myself based on a number and it usually just makes me feel bad about myself, but I have been working out for a while and thought I would give it a go.

Well .... guess what?

After almost 2 months of working out at least 3 times a week (the last 3 weeks have been 5 times), I have gained weight. WTF is up with that? I know that it has nothing to do with numbers. I know that shouldn't matter one bit. The important thing is that I feel better and stronger. I have more energy. I'm happier ... er ... I was until I weighed myself. I'm never stepping on a scale again.

Thursday's Throw Down

Went to the campus recreation center and exercised with a co-worker.

Walked Briskly: 40 minutes
Walked & Jogged: 15 minutes
Cool Down: 5 minutes

I'm feeling great physically these days. Every day it seems that I have a new ache but it's the kind that's satisfying because I'm moving and using my body. One of the reasons that I like exercising is because I feel body capable which equals body confident.

Now I'm not saying that I'm a girl who's confident in how her body looks in a bathing suit. However, I am confident in how my body moves and what it is capable of doing. And even though I'm not pleased with how my body looks in a bathing suit I don't let that stop me from donning a swimsuit to get into a pool.

I hope everyone is getting to a point where they are proud of themselves and patting yourself on the back for a job well done. I'm proud of us wanna be 5K-ers.

Making Progress!

Three cheers for Sonnie's good advice about eating before jogging. I only go in the mornings so I often wouldn't eat beforehand because I was worried about getting a cramp. So, the last two times, I made sure I ate a couple handfuls of peanuts half an hour before going -- and I improved significantly!

Today I ran my whole 1.5 mile route! In the beginning I mapped out 1.5 miles and have been running more and more of it each day, until today (my fifth day out) I got through the whole thing! I really had to keep talking to myself to get all the way up Pine St. to my house. Man, that was the hardest part. It's a steep hill! I felt like I was going to die!

I plan on sticking to my 1.5 mile route through this week and next, to improve my time. Then the week after that, I'll add on a half mile. Then do that for three weeks, then add another half mile, etc., until I'm busting through 3.5 miles!

Do we have a particular 5K in mind? What's my deadline again?? I can't do Sundays, is there one on a Saturday?

Walk It Out Wednesday

Exercise:

Elliptical Trainer - 45 minutes
Stretching/Cool Down - 15 minutes

I was a sweating mess afterwards.

Tuesday's Move It or Lose It

Afternoon Exercise:

Elliptical Trainer: 30 minutes
Rowing Machine: 10 minutes
Weight Ball: 10 minutes
Recumbent Bike: 10 minutes

A total of one hour at the Rec Center.

Evening Exercise:

-Walked 3 laps around the concourse to warm up
-20 minutes of: 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking
-Just for shits and grins jogged to see how far we could go on our last fun filled cardio lap (I secretly knew that the girls would make it all around the concourse...YAY!)
-One last lap for cool down

A total of one hour at the track.

New Poll

...because the old one was kind of getting boring. If anyone has good poll ideas, let me know.

Chrissy and Sonnie and I are starting week 2 tonight. All participants get a copy of the Juno soundtrack because that's how I roll. I'm all about incentives. :) (Actually, I am unofficially offering this bonus to all of you, but only if copyright lawyers do not read this.)

:)

Easy Day

Yesterday's Exercise:

Elliptical Trainer: 30 minutes (Level 12-14 Ramp; 4-8 Resistance)
Rollerskated: 15 minutes (I got bored to tears so I packed up my gear and went home)

Check-up

I think if I report what I've accomplished, I will be more likely to keep it up. That and I'm damn proud of myself. So far I have ran/walked a total of 16.69 miles!

I also have moved up to three minutes of running followed by two minutes of walking this morning. My lungs and legs can handle it, but after about 30 minutes this morning I developed a terrible cramp in my right side after running for 2.5 minutes. The remaining 20 minutes were alternating 2.5 minute running with walking. I found this site with information on the side stitch. I'm going to try pay attention when I exhale. Interesting stuff.

Keep up the good work!

Sunday's Funday at the Track

Today's exercise:

Chrissy, Mary, Amy, and I met at the campus track. We warmed up by walking three laps around the concourse minus the ramps.

We did our 20 minute session of 60 second jog / 90 second walk regimen.

We then walked one lap around the concourse including the ramps. One lap around the concourse including stairs. Finally one more lap to cool down.

We exercised in total about an hour and ten minutes.

I felt great afterwards. Especially after the cool down stretches.

Feeling Pretty Good

I love that mapmyrun.com site.

I got out there three days this week -- my first week. And man, did I eat and be lazy all December in anticipation of getting fit. Glutinous. I don't have a watch so I haven't been doing the walking-running-walking, etc. I mapped out 1.5 miles for this week and then tried to jog more and more of it each day. 0.3, 0.5, 0.7. Slowly, but surely, I'll get through the whole thing. Man, I've been so non-aerobic for so long. I've just been going up Raguet to Sarah Ann St. and back. I'm drooling over that cute little white house near Millard St., I think, with red shutters that's for sale. If only it were about $80,000 cheaper. I like going past it each day, anyway.


Anywho. It feels good to be exercising. It feels good to be sore. It feels good to strut around the room in tight jeans to get my husband's attention. ;)

YMCA

I love my Y. Everyone is so nice. I never feel intimidated on the machines, because there are all types and all ages that are just doing their thing. Every morning there is a woman who has to be in her 70s, lifting weights and using the stair master. Everyone smiles and says their hellos. Even the teenage girls from the swim team are polite and respectful. And ... they even have coffee brewing from a local roaster for only 50 cents! On Friday one of the employees plays his guitar and they give the coffee away. I never miss a Friday.

Speaking of Friday ... I'm glad it's finally here. I'm pooped. I ran four days this week and either went to yoga or worked out on the machines and weights the other 3 days. I went back to work this week too, so I had 60 little rug rats to deal with. I'm going to a friend's house for dinner and taking tomorrow off. I hope they are serving wine.

Famished and Tired.

I hit the campus track today for my lunch hour. 2.5 laps around the track equals 1 mile. Here is what I did:

-Walked three laps
-Walked and jogged five laps

Did the 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking method.

I have no clue if I did the walk/jog session for 20 minutes. It was hard enough keeping up with how many times I looped around the track and keeping track of my 60/90 second increments.

While jogging I upped my pace a little today and I'm feeling it now. I'm spent.

Another good reminder ladies:

It really isn't fair to your body to go out and expect it to perform for you when you send it out on empty. Just like a car you absolutely do not expect it to perform if it has no gas. Make sure to fuel up before a good work out. If you absolutely cannot eat something before exercising because it makes you feel oogy then do it an hour ahead or even take in a good dollop of peanut butter and a banana.

I'm out.

Day 2 - Sore Legs

Hello 5k-ers!

Last night Mary and I did the second workout session of the Couch-to-5K plan. It was the same as the one we did on Tuesday with Sonnie - 20 minutes total, alternating with 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking. Since it was dark, we went to the SFA track, which was nice. While the workout wasn't terribly difficult, I'm glad we're starting out slow. I felt really good directly after Tuesday's run, but yesterday I was super sore. My body needs to get used to running, and easing in to this new lifestyle is better for my bones!

Also, I bought this book on Amazon Monday, before I'd even started training. I need to be stopped.



Happy trails!

Day 4

Hello fellow runners!

I was chatting with Sonnie the other day and she warned me about not warming up properly. I thought that I was starting to get shin splints. The next day I skipped my morning workout and went to a yoga class instead. It was perfect. The majority of the class was floor poses which helped tremendusly. The next day I decided to warm-up for 2 more minutes (I'm already doing 5) and slow my pace way down. I think I was a little too ambitious. ;-)

I started day 4 of my training and moved up to alternating 2 minutes of running with 2 minutes of walking. Honestly, I was a little worried about being able to run for 2 minutes, but I did fine. I did have to skip my weights and my sauna this morning because the session today was 44 minutes. That didn't include the warming up, cooling down, or stretching before and after. I'm already getting to the gym at 5:45 am! Maybe I'll combine my stretching with my sauna. I'm just glad that I have podcasts and good music to listen to on my ipod. I don't think I could do it for that long without it.

Keep up the good work and the updates.

I will run tonight

Hello all!

I will muster the courage to run tonight. Monday was good but I'm still feeling sore. So, while I'll not be there to run with you tonight, count me in in spirit.

Lots of love and happy running!
Jen

First Day of Training!

Last night, Sonnie, Mary and I (along with Seamus) officially kicked off our 5K training. We did the first workout from the Couch-to-5K plan, which consisted of a brisk 5 minute walk followed by 60 seconds of jogging, alternating with 90 second of walking for 20 minutes. It was not as complicated as it sounds and was actually pretty easy. Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought? The hardest part was keeping my dog in "travel mode" but even he got the hang of it before we were done. Go, Team 5K!

Mary and I are going to train again Thursday night and are meeting up at about 5:45pm. Let us know if anyone wants in!

Thanks for the add

Hey y'all! I'm so happy to be apart of this. Thanks for letting me join. I have also recruited two coworkers that are willing to run and train with me, so I won't be running alone when the time comes.

The book I'm reading suggested keeping a journal. I loved the idea and got started right away. At the top of each page I put each session as suggested by the book. Underneath that I listed the weight machines, weight, reps and sets that I attempt to do after running. On the back of each page I have been writing down things that I have noticed or want to remember ... like this morning when I got a stomach cramp and skipped the last minute of running (I did stick it out and walk the rest of the time). It will be nice to look back and see all that I've accomplished. I might end up running a marathon and laugh at the time when I couldn't even run a mile without stopping to catch my breath.

I feel like sharing, so here are some photos of my cute running journal.

Finally!

I'm back in town and ready to start training! I mapped a run, but I think I'm going to start slow by running the paths in the Native Plant Center. When I was mapping this route, I dragged through what I was sure was at least 3 miles, only to find that it was actually only one. Needless to say, I was intimidated. However, since then I've started dreaming of triathalons. But first, a 5K!

Starting Here, Starting Now

Hey everyone!

Did y'all get started yesterday? I was unexpectedly out-of-town taking care of my dad and that never means fitness or even anything remotely low calorie. Ha. But Monday is as good a time to start as any, so I plan to get my first session in tonight.

Kealy wrote on her blog about getting a handbook for beginning runners and using a notebook to kind of monitor her progress. I think I am going to do that, too. It thrills me to get gold stars, even if they are self-awarded--as long as they are deserved. Keeping a journal of my accomplishments will keep me motivated in dark times when I'd rather watch more episodes of 30 Rock online, which is my new favorite show. So hilarious. But onward!

Sunday is the day of rest, right?

Inadvertently I chose Sunday as a rest day. But! I finally got around to mapping my route. It is the longest climb in the city but the grade is manageable (I think). I have had trouble sleeping lately and hope running will help me manufacture z's.

Thanks for the stretching reminder! I always forget to stretch.

This is Jen, reporting from the Austin bureau.

Sunday's Warm Embrace

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and committed to a walk/jog with the dogs in the neighborhood.

We did our 3.67 mile walk/jog and it's been a couple of hours since then and the pups are still sleeping. I love tired puppies. :)

Just a reminder ladies.....

When you start your own program remember one of the most important things you can do for yourself to prevent injury:

S T R E T C H !

When you get more used to running it will start to shorten the muscles in your legs because they are going to become tight. Rememeber to stretch out those limbs!