My post-marathon workouts have also been fueled by a competition I have going with 2 of my girlfriends...shout-out to Katie & Michelle! We have been competing to achieve the most workout "check-ins" on Facebook. Last month, I totally lost! Katie pulled out the win, but Michelle was CLOSELY behind her...I was a distant 3rd. The month of May was my busiest month of the year, and now that that was over, I strategized a new plan of attack for June. I have scheduled it so that on most days I can exercise twice a day without putting any burden on my family. One of my favorite benefits from the marathon training, is that I have now built up enough strength to run while pushing both kids in the double stroller. So each morning, at about 7am, after the kids have eaten their breakfast, I put them in the stroller and we go for a run. When I am solo, I can run 3 miles in 30 minutes...but when I am pushing the stroller, the 3 miles takes me 40 minutes to run the distance.
I have read my Bible, eaten breakfast, done my chores, and have gotten this first workout done before Rick even comes home from work. We then have the rest of the day to do whatever...go to the beach, Sea World, Soak City, playdates with friends, errands (booooring, lol)...whatever is on the agenda. We then eat dinner together, and spend time with Rick in the evening as usual. But after Rick goes back to bed for nap #2 (at about 6pm) the kids and I head to the gym for my 2nd workout of the day.
On MONDAY- I was able to spend almost 2 hours at the gym in the evening. I did about 40 minutes of strength training on my own...doing the exercises that my trainer had shown me during my training sessions, and then I hit the treadmill for an hour of cardio. Over the last several months, I have started to play a little bit of a game with the treadmill. A game to see how many calories I can burn in an hour. In the beginning, I was always hitting around 900 calories. But then, I began to wonder how many more "points" I could earn???...I bumped up my incline, or I bumped up my speed, and I would be STOKED to get 1000 calories burned in the hour. In the last couple of months or so, I had increased my stamina even further, and I have been hitting numbers like this...
On Monday, after my workout had ended, and when I had earned 1108 calories yet again, a new challenge clicked in my head...get to the 1200 calorie marker! That was going to be my new mission.
On TUESDAY- It was so tempting to jump on the treadmill and attempt to accomplish my "1200" goal. But I didn't. I have desired for quite some time to try the other fitness classes at the Y, and this was a night when I could take the "Sports Conditioning" class. I NEVER even considered this class in the past. My trainer teaches this class, and during one of my training sessions he had mentioned that I should come do it. I told him that it sounded like it was out of my league, and he said that based on my performance that I could totally hold my own in his class. I was super nervous about going, but I am glad I didn't chicken out...it was an INCREDIBLE workout! The class was basically doing all of the things that we did in my training sessions, and I rocked it! It is by far the most challenging class I have ever been to, including the boot camp I went to with my friend Katie several months ago. When I walked into the class, there was this 20-something year old girl who immediately gravitated towards me, and I am so glad she did. We became partners for the rest of the night, and it was so nice to be buddied up with someone early on when you are a newbie. There were times in the class when we were doing something funky, and I thought, "Oh no! I can injure myself!"...and then it was so refreshing to realize, "Oh wait, who cares if I sprain my ankle now!?" :0) I have a lot of improvement that I can make in this class, and look forward to achieving new goals on Tuesday nights!
On Wednesday- I went to my first ever Spin class! Again, the thought had crossed my mind to abandon all things new, and return to all things familiar. I was longing to get back on the treadmill and make things happen! But I didn't. I hopped on a spin cycle instead, next to one of the other gals I had buddied up with the night before at the Sports Conditioning class. She got my bike all set up for me (it's a whole process, who knew!?) and then I was good to go. There were only like 15 of us in the class, and of the 15, there were 10 of us that were trying it for the first time! I was glad to not be the only one without experience. The class was a lot of fun! The music was loud, the teacher was cool, and I sweat a TON! For the most part, I did great. There were 2 times when the teacher told us to bump up our resistance and I didn't do it. I felt like I was at my max. But there were numerous times when the other newbies had stopped cycling altogether and needed to take a break...I never needed to stop, and that was nice for my ego. ;0) There was a time when my "friend" cycling next to me had corrected my technique and had reminded me to push with my heels, not with my toes..."You will get shin splints," she told me. I was gripped with fear! For 8 months, shin splints were the very thing I was avoiding! But again, it was so refreshing to be able to calm down and think, "I can totally get shin splints now!" LOL! Now of course, I don't WANT an injury, so I did correct my form, but it's really nice to be released from the burden of fear! All in all, "Spinning" is an excellent form of exercise, and I will absolutely be returning to the class! However, I will say though, that I had sweat a crazy amount of sweat like that the night before in the sports conditioning class (and when I run) and I preferred the other classes to spinning. It's just a preference thing. But again, I am loving the variety in classes now, and I will totally go back.
On THURSDAY- The kids and I had a birthday party to go to in the evening at the YMCA in Santee, and after the party, I had time to jump on the treadmill before we made it home for bedtime. Unfortunately, I only had 50 minutes to spend on the treadmill, so I was nowhere near able to accomplish my "1200" goal...
But it was still a decent burn! :0) In the future, I plan to go back to doing Zumba on Thursday nights.
On FRIDAY- I was able to give my "1200" game my best effort. There are no classes on Friday nights. I LOVE the gym on Friday nights...it is EMPTY! Most people are living it up on date night or something like that, and I get to have my pick of the fitness equipment! :0) Friday night's workout was similar to Monday's. I first did about 40 minutes of strength training/circuits. I had a GREAT sweat going. And then I jumped on the treadmill, I was ready to make it happen! I put the incline at 15 (the max) and I walked at a 3.9 pace. Months ago, when I first started out doing extracurricular cardio on the treadmill, I walked at a 3.5...but in my journey to accomplish the "1000" calorie goal, I had gradually increased my pace up to a 3.8. Friday was the first night I had bumped it up to a 3.9. And as I had expected, I didn't notice too much of a difference. It was a comfortable challenge. But unfortunately, in the end, I didn't hit my mark! :0(
It would have to be another day.
On SATURDAY- I had a wedding to go to in the evening...if I was going to log-in both workouts for the day, I was going to have to do them back-to-back in the morning...so that is what I did. I ran 3 miles in the morning with the kids, and then we headed to the gym. I did have the option to do Zumba that morning, but I was determined to hit "1200" on the treadmill! I got on that bad boy...I set the incline at 15, and then I bumped the pace up to 4.1. I could definitely feel the difference in pace as to what I am used to...but it was manageable. I was curious to see if I would be able to keep the pace the whole workout. I was wondering if I would tire out at some point, and have to bring it down a few notches. I keep a towel over the dashboard so I am not focused on the numbers. I like to get lost into a show while I am working out. But occasionally, when I would have to wipe my sweaty face with my towel, I would check out my numbers, and it was too close for comfort! The numbers weren't going to add up to 1200. :0( I had thought about keeping pace, and telling myself not to worry about about the goal...I would hit 1200 eventually. But then the beast came out in me, and I thought, "NO! You are doing this TODAY!" So, I bumped up the pace 1 more time to a 4.2, and I rode that out until the very end. And would you believe...
...I did it!!! I was SOOOO stoked!!!! I felt like a video game junky who had finally beat Pac-Man! I beat the treadmill!!! I was on top of the world...forget about runner's high...I had walker's high! It was AWESOME!
On SUNDAY- I took the day off! :0)
No comments:
Post a Comment