I can do it!

I started out the morning with an upper body workout.  Ben was still running when I finished, so I chased it down with a few assisted pull-ups, some torso rotations, and some ab work.  Then this evening, we went to the rec center and I decided it was time to try out cycling again.  So we went to the cardio spin/weights class, and I did 10 miles in 30 minutes, plus ANOTHER upper body workout!  I finished off the night with a 60 minute water-run.

What is up with my weight being...up? I've been so good for a month! But I'm definately putting on some muscle. I took pics at the beginning of the month and at the end of the month, and I can totally tell a difference! I'm excited to finish my 18 week challenge, to see what kind of muscles I've got hiding beneath all the fluff. :D

I guess I had a good workout yesterday, because I'm pretty tired today. I did my 20 minute HIIT on the recumbant bike this morning, and my legs were shaking like leaves when I was finished! So I took it easy the rest of the day, and just did an hour of yoga this evening. I am SO ready for sleepy-time!

I did my lower body workout this morning, but I decided to do a little warm-up on the elliptical-of-death first, just to shake things up.  So I spent 5 minutes on there, and it felt so good, I almost RAN!  But I restrained myself, and went to work lifting weights.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it seemed so much easier today!  Was it the warm-up?  Or am I just amazingly strong?  Or both?  :D

Tonight I did 65 minutes of water-running in the pool.  That, and the .21 miles I did on the ellipitcal (yes, I'm counting it!)  makes my total miles for today 6.71.  :)

This morning I did a 20 minute HIIT on the recumbant bike.  This evening I did an hour of yoga.   ZZZZZzzzzzzzz......

I did an Upper Body Work Out this morning and followed by a 2 1/2 hour water-run.  It was a very good morning.  Now I'm tired.  :D

Well, 40 minutes may seem like a long time to run a 5K in, but considering I can't run and had to WALK the whole thing, it's not too bad!  :D  I don't have my official time yet, but I'm pretty sure I did it in under 40 minutes.  That race was SO crowded!  Ben and I were the last ones to cross the starting line, but we had to weave like crazy to get around all the people, their strollers, and their dogs.  How irritating!  Still, it was kind of fun to get to pass so many people.  I was hoping to do the walk in about 40-42 minutes, so I feel pretty happy about the race.  Oh, how I MISS running, though!  Walking fast is SO much harder!  :D

This morning was a lower body workout. I'm getting bored with my routine. So starting on Wednesday, I've decided to try out some P90X a couple of times a week, and see how my back does. This evening I went to spin for 23 minutes, and did 6 miles. I don't know if it's because of the weight training or because of the water-running, but I can move my legs SO much faster than before! I used to HATE sprints, but now I can KILL them! :D After my short spin class, I went to the weight room and did more assisted pull-ups, some hip adduction/abduction, and some torso rotations. Just mixin' it up a little. :D

I had to make up for missing my water-run last night, so after I did my 20 minute HIIT on the recumbant bike, I headed over to the pool for an hour of water-running. This evening I will go do an hour of yoga. :D

Well, as promised. I did my P90X Shoulders and Arms routine this morning. It was fun - I worked out with Ben in our basement home gym, and with the mirrored wall I was able to see how much progress I am making in my strengthening and toning.  It is FUN to have muscles!  I had tendons popping out in places I didn't know I had tendons!  Not that I'm all muscle-bound or anything, but showing a little definition sure beats looking at flab.  :D

I followed up shoulders and arms with ab-ripperX.  Then, because I was so starved afterwards, Ben and I went out to lunch at all-you-can-eat sushi.  I had planned to only eat enough to fulfill my usual portion size, and I stayed away from the rolls and stuck with sashimi, but I was so hungry I probably ate twice the amount I should have!  For "dessert," I let myself have a small piece of orange chicken.  I know, it's silly, but I'm getting such fantastic results with my meal plan that I don't really even WANT to cheat!  My weight has stabilized, but my fat % continues to decrease and is being replaced with muscle mass.  It is a glorious thing.

This evening, to work off all that delicious sushi, I went to an hour of spin class and then finished off the evening at the pool for 65 minutes of water-running.  I'm thinking I earned those extra calories.  We shall see if all that food affects anything tomorrow.  I actually ate according to plan all day long, except for the sushi....

Boy, oh boy was I TIRED this morning!  It was a weird night last night.  I kept waking up every few minutes because I thought someone was in my room.  Then my 4-year-old woke up just after midnight screaming in a panic for no apparant reason!  But after that, things seemed to settle down.  Still, I had to content myself with less than five hours of sleep, since the alarm goes off at 5:15 AM.  I made it to the gym for my HIIT on the recumbant bike, but I don't think I pedalled as hard as I usually do.  My mind was tired from too little sleep, and my body was tired from the hours of workouts that I did yesterday.  Still, I got the job done, sweat like crazy for a while, and felt pretty good about my workout overall.  This evening I did an hour of yoga, then decided I needed to sweat some more, so I revisited the elliptical-of-doom, and, despite STILL feeling tired, ran my tail off to get a mile in!  It only took me 20:50, which is pretty good for me.  That machine is HARD!!!  After that, I took a half mile walk on the treadmill to cool myself down.

It was a P90X morning.  I did legs and back, minus the back.  But I DID use weights this time...something I haven't done before.  We'll see if it makes me sore or not!  Then I did some ab-ripper.  I thought about doing something else this evening, but....nah!  I'm good.  :D

I started out this morning with a 2 hour and 41 minute water-run.  I fiured it would take me about 40 laps to get the time in, so I dedicated each lap to a year of my life, and spent the time on each lap thinking about the events of that particular year.  It made the time pass more quickly, but I kept noticing that I wasn't working as hard, so I would have to try to exert myself more.  In the end, I decided that I needed to make up for my lack of exertion, so I went to the gym this afternoon and put in a 20 minute HIIT on the recumbant bike.  I then did a 10 minute walk on the treadmill, and a mile on the elliptical that I hate, and cooled down with another 10 minutes on the treadmill.  Then Ben and I went to the local BBQ and stuffed ourselves like piggies.  Maybe I should do some P90X, to chase all that food down.  But I probably won't....  :D

This morning I let myself sleep in until 7:00!  It was awesome.  I wasn't actually sleeping, just laying there thinking about how nice it was that today is a holiday, and my hubby is home, and I had no commitments to make me have to get up early.  But finally I got out of bed so I could get my workout in.  I did P90X Shoulders and Arms, and followed it up with ab-ripperX.  After that, I did my physical therapy while Ben was out running.  When he came back, he wanted sushi, so I gave in and agreed to go, as long as we biked there and back.  I rode my mountain bike, since I'm not ready to bend over my road bike yet...not for a couple more weeks.  We did about 22 miles in a total of about 90 minutes...with a *nice* lunch break in between!  I allowed myself to eat as much as I wanted of the good sashimi and veggies, until I was satiated but not "full."  It lasted about an hour and a half, and then I was hungry again.  But I made myself wait another hour before I ate.  I'm going to be playing with my food intake until I can figure out what my body needs.  My own personal science experiment.  :D

Actually, my plan was to take it easy this week, and give myself a little recovery time.  So much for that.  Just in case any of you really think I'm crazy, let me just tell you what Ben has done so far today.  He did P90X in the basement while I was doing mine upstairs - except he did chest and back and ab-ripper.  Then he ran 9 miles while I did my physical therapy.  Then we biked 22 miles on our mountain bikes.  Now he's headed to the gym to get a few more miles in on the treadmill.  And then we're going to the pool so he can swim 100 lengths.  See?  See what I have to live with?  We were comparing abs today, and I was trying to show him my teensy bit of definition, when he lifted up his shirt and put me to shame.  How come I never noticed those sweet abs on my husband?  I swear they weren't there a month ago!

Anyway, I'm having a blast doing my thing and feeling good about myself.  I've never felt better in my life!  I didn't realize that getting fit could be so fun.  Yes, it IS hard, but SO worth it.

5.32 miles on the recumbant bike this morning for my HIIT.  Then this evening, an hour of yoga.  :D

I got up this morning and did my P90X legs routine w/ab-ripper.  Then I realized i couldn't go water-running tonight due to another engagement, so I headed over to the pool after P90X to get 63 minutes in.  I missed running on Monday, so I couldn't bear to miss it again!  Only three more weeks until I get to actually run on the road again - hallelujah!!!!

Today started with a 20 minute HIIT on the recumbant bike.  I was feeling pretty good, so I tried to out-do what I did on Tuesday, but I ended up doing the exact same amount of miles!  Ha!  Tonight I went to ZUMBA for the first time in months, and it was FUN!  But not anywhere near as hard as it was the last time I went.  I love that I'm getting stronger.  After zumba I went to yoga class, and it was easy, too.  :D

Today I celebrated my 39th birthday by getting up at 5:00 AM and heading straight to the pool for 2 hours and 52 minutes of water-running.  Yay.  But I ALSO celebrated by taking a short nap this afternoon!  YAY!!!  Actually, I'm going to REALLY celebrate tomorrow, when we baptize my little girl and then stuff ourselves full of all kinds of good food and a variety of cakes....ahhhh.....  :D

I brought my 18-year-old son with me for my workout this morning.  We wanted to see how well he could keep up with his ole mom.  We started with a HIIT on the recumbant bike.  I had him start at the exact same time as me, and up the resistance at the same times so we coupld have a perfect comparison.  I was pedaling faster than him the whole time, so I kept ahead of him on the miles.  I was working!  Then, suddenly, at the last moment, he pulled ahead of me!  I could NOT figure it out!  I finished at 5.38 miles, and he was at 5.41...and I KNOW I was pedalling faster than he was at the end.  Finally, we figured out that he didn't lower his resistance as far as I did on the cool-down, so that's how he pulled ahead.  Still, I was happy to finish 0.6 miles ahead of my usual mileage.  :D

We immediately followed up the bike with a full upper body workout.  I did pretty good, but at the end I bonked a little, since I hadn't eaten breakfast and I needed fuel.  Joshua couldn't lift the weights that I was lifting - they were too much for him.  HA!  HAHAHA!!!  Well, if he tried it a few more times, he would probably kick my trash, but in the meantime...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

My plan this morning was to do P90X legs, but Ben woke up to do it with me, and since he has it downloaded on his laptop, we were able to actually do the workout in our GYM instead of in my office!  And THAT means that I had a pull-up bar to work with...so instead of doing JUST legs, I was able to do legs AND back!  I'll admit, I looked like an idiot trying to do the pull-ups, but Ben said that he could see the muscles in my back, so I tried evern harder to do them.  :D  Boy oh boy, did I work up a sweat!  It was a great workout.  And we topped it off with ab-ripper X.  I'm loving watching the definition appear in my abdomen.  I don't believe I have ever had ab definition before, but maybe I was just not paying attention when I was a youth.  Oh, well, it doesn't really matter to me.  I'm just glad to be a 39-year-old mother-of-eight-babies with AB muscles!  Yes!!!

This evening we went to the pool, as usual, and I did 63 minutes of water-running.  This weekend I will have built up to my three hours of water-running, and then - back to the road!!!!  Actually, I promised myself that I would try to stay off my legs until eleven weeks had gone by, so I have to wait until March 9th, but that still gives me a couple of days to try out real running before I run the Dallas Rock-n-Roll Half on March 14th.  I guess I will have to keep water-running for another week, but at least I will be finished with the REALLY long runs.  Oh, so BORING.

I did my HIIT on the recumbant bike this morning with Joshua again.  I was NOT going to let him kick my trash again, so I pedaled like a maniac and didn't lower my levels as quickly as he did.  In fact, on the cool down, I kept my resitance up by quite a bit!  But he ended up coming in almost 2 tenths of a mile higher than me!  I think the machines lie.  So I covered up my shame by doing an hour of ZUMBA and an hour of YOGA this evening, just to show the boy who the boss is.  :D

This morning I did P90X shoulder and arms, and, of course, finished off the workout with ab-ripperX.  Then this evening I did an hour of water-running at the pool, afterwhich Ben wanted to go put some miles in at the gym, so I did 22 minutes on the elliptical-of-doom (1.01 miles) and cooled down with 22 minutes on the treadmill, walking (1.13 miles).  I went a long way between meals, so I was HUNGRY this evening!  :D

I started out this morning with my usual HIIT on the recumbant bike.  I felt like my heart wasn't in it, but I tried to do my best anyway.  My milage was a little lower than it has been recently, but not too bad.  I DID work up a really good sweat!

I decided to take a free day on food today, because I really wanted sushi buffet and because I had to travel with a group of friends to an audition.  So I gorged myself on sushi and followed up our audition day with a trip to Dairy Queen for a medium-sized peanut-butter-cup-cheesequake blizzard!  Yummy, yum yum!  Then I drank water like a crazy woman, because I had totally forgotten to drink all day, and it made me feel very bloated.  I was later getting to the gym in time for ZUMBA, and I really felt too full to do yoga, so I decided to try doing something cardio to help sweat it off.  Nothing sounded appealing, so I started walking on the treadmill.  That wasn't doing the job for me, so, in a moment of extreme weakness, I RAN.  Yes, it's true.  It felt SO GOOD to run again...I can't even express it.  This is a week and a half earlier than I had planned, but I was surprised at how easy it felt.  I was only going to do a teensy bit of running, but once I got started, I couldn't help myself, and I just had to find out how conditioned I was.  This is what my workout looked like.

1 mile walk at 3.0 MPH

1/2 mile run at 6.0 MPH

1/2 mile walk at 3.0 MPH

Then I started running at 6.5 MPH, and every tenth of a mile I upped my speed 1/10th of a mile faster, until I got to 7.5 MPH.  I did 2/10th there, and again at 8.0, 8.5, 9.0, 8.5, 8.0, and 7.5 MPH.  I finished with 1/10th of a mile at 7.0, 6.5, and 6.0, then cooled down with a 4/10ths walk at 3.0 MPH.  My total time on the treadmill was 63:04, and I did a total of 5 miles.  I figure that the 5k I ran was approximately 26:30.  Not bad for 9 1/2 weeks off!  I'm still going to try to be good for another week and a half, but I may sneak a run or two in before then...we'll see how/if my back reacts.

Easy Friday - only ONE workout today!  And it was a Lower Body Workout.  I went back to the gym to do the weight machines for the first time in a couple of weeks, and I was SHOCKED to find out how easy it was!  Good ole P90X!  I started out the workout with a 10-minute warm-up on the dreaded elliptical, then moved over to the machines.  I finished my last set of leg extensions at 92.5 lbs., and it was just right - everything else needed to increase a LOT.  When I started this in January, I was only doing 67.5 lbs. on my final set!  Every weight I did felt easy.  I wrapped up the session with some ab-ripperX.  I weighed in this morning at 123 lbs, the day after a VERY free-food day, so I figured that wasn't too bad.  :D

This morning was my LAST long pool run - hopefully!!!  I'm so happy I think I need to have a party!  I did a full three hours.  Monday I'm going to hit the road, Jack.  :D