She keeps trying!

yes ladies and gentlemen, I am determined to succeed this time. (This time of what, I don't actually know.) But all I know is I MUST SUCCEED!

I ran 2.8 miles or so yesterday, with the final .8 done in intervals - one minute at about 8mph, then 30 seconds or so at 5mph and another 30 at 4mph. I did that six times. The 2.8 is the mileage for the running - I guess I got up to about 3.5 or so total, with the walk/jogs included. Even just the two miles was hard! I feel like there's something wrong with me. :P Really I think it's just laziness, and the afore-mentioned caloric deficiency; I'll just have to live with it for a while I guess. Oh, I also did the first two miles working on speed a little: the first 1/2 mile was at my usual pace of 6mph, then I did .5-1.5 at 7 mph and the final 1/2 back down at 6. So I suppose that probably helped too. :P

Today I finally did 3 miles nonstop again! The last time I did that was last Thursday, and I was *trying* to go for five, but I ran out of time (and I had a, um, potty break emergency). Oh, no wait! I'm totally lying! Out of guilt and shame after bungling it on Saturday at the race I went and ran four miles straight on the treadmill that afternoon. Self-flagellation hurrah! (Seriously though: it was not punishment, it was redemption, just to remind myself that I could. It felt great. I wanted to keep going but my knees were saying "Um, you ARE aware that you've run more htan 7 miles today right? STOP IT!")

So, point being: I did my three miles today, nothing fancy, no elevation and it was all straight 6mph the whole time. It was STILL really hard. :( Not really really really hard, but I had the laziness "I want to stoooopppp" kick in pretty early. Sigh. Yesterday and today I went on to use the elliptical once my run was done. Tomorrow I have a longer run, 4 miles plus some intervals, so I won't need to use the cursed elliptical machine. I have come to loathe that thing.

Push-ups update: MONDAY WAS HARD. I was supposed to do 80 push-ups, man! **80**! I did 70, filling the actual requirements until I got to the "max", which was "Minimum 20". HAHAHAHA. I did ten and THAT is an accomplishment. Today I was supposed to do 100 (why is that extra zero there? ...Oh, right) and I managed 85, which I must say is FREAKING FABULOUS. I'm still planning on repeating this week next week, hopefully I'll find the time on Monday between the baking, cleaning, and general hostessing. (It's Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, dontcha know.) I am also doing small sets of push-ups on my "off" days, which I suppose I'm not recommended to do, but I think it's okay. I'm only doing about ten and I'm paying REALLY CRAZY attention to form, which I think is just enough to kinda "boost" my endurance for the next day. Also trying to work crunches back into my daily routine, instead of just "that thing that I do when I am following a DVD that tells me to do them". I have pretty good ab strength that is just wasting away underneath the drapes of stretched-out skin - don't tell me you guys don't like that imagery because we all know every body is beautiful :P - but at least *I* know they're there.

Tomorrow's gonna hurt

that might be a clever reference to Smashmouth, or it might just be a very true statement for my future.

Another title for this post could easily be "Ow! Pilates!"

I got the Crunch Fat Burning Pilates DVD today (well technically, last night) from Netflix and used it today. HOLY JABLONSKI!! I will say that I am able to keep up with the pace of the cardio part quite well, and that I actually did finish the workout - both the cardio blend, and the mat portion. I was really surprised each time one workout ended: I honestly thought I was only about halfway through. So, go me!

On the other hand, I have NONE of the "control" that the instructor talks about for Pilates. I just toss my limbs out all over the place. And the entire first ten minutes at least (probably more) focuses on squats! NOOO! That's just MEAN.

I also find it funny that they do exercise modifications for those of us who suck (er, I mean, who are just starting out) - which is great, don't get me wrong - but those modifications are led by a woman who, I kid you not, I thought was a very buff man with long hair at the start of the video. She's that ripped. YEAH, lady, YOU really need modified poses. Oh well, thanks for letting me slack off. ;D

The mat stuff is the most interesting to me. I did most of the exercises with modifications but I think in another week or so I will be ready to try them without modding (key word: TRY). I like the "Hundred" one - I've tried that before and I suck but seeing it demonstrated made me understand it a bit easier. Also, boys I was drippin' sweat at this point and my legs were all slippery. Not an easy workout!

So my initial response: if you are looking for a home workout and you really want to start Pilates, start with something easier! If you've got some background with Pilates, or you just REALLY want to push yourself, this is pretty good - the pace is good, and like I said it went more quickly than I thought it would, but it is definitely going to take me a while to learn to isolate my muscles etc etc. I got no rhythm, either.

Also! Today was day 2 of the Hundred Push-ups challenge! I forgot to check the chart to see what I was supposed to do, so I just did this: 12, 12, 10, 10, 8. I think that's right, and if not, it's really close. Total is 52! Ay caramba!

Listen folks I'm guaranteed to have my ass in a sling tomorrow I'll be so sore. And I claimed I was going to run sprints! We'll see, friends and family (mostly if not entirely the latter). We'll see.

Oh for the record though, I did start the workout with a mile at 2% elevation. Hooray! It showed me one thing: I will NOT be able to run the same at 6.5 mph on Friday. Instead I'm going to try to do that speed at 1% and if that's too hard I'll drop it down to 0 after a half mile. I'm sticking to the speedy though. It is in the cards! (I miss Magic 8 Balls.)

Quickie edit: I checked and I was wrong on the very last set of the push-ups, it was meant to be 10 again. So I should've done 54. Fie on that, though, I'm pleased with 52 (and 8 really was my max). Friday I'm supposed to do 15, 13, 10, 10, 15... I don't know about that. :P (63 total! Last week the highest I got was like 45 and at the end of this week I'm supposed to be up to 63! That's just special.

"Gotta keep those balls in the air... how hard can it be?"

Ahhhh a montage. If my life rated a montage I'd be in MUCH better shape, just automatically. I mean, they only show montages of people who get really fit, right?

Oh well. I had a kind of aimless day today in workout-ville.

I did run another mile; this time I felt I should mix it up a little so I ran elevations on the treadmill.

0-2 minutes: 6.0mph, 2% elevation
2-4: 6.0mph, 4%
4-6: 6.0, 2%
6-8: 5.6, 6%
8-10: 6.0, 2%

I figure that's probably good for me. Or something. I hope it wasn't too short to do any good.

Then I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, which I must reiterate I HATE, but which is very efficient for calorie-burnin'. I did something somewhere like 500 calories, although I know you can never really trust the readout on a gym machine. Still though. It was on "hills" also, I figured I should stick with a theme.

Afterwards I did some more stretches, and then crunches, this time being good and working hard! 25x2 regular crunches and 25x2 bike abs, so that's either 75 or 100 total depending on how you look at it. :) I skipped the pushups. I'm too sore.

Nothing else really to talk about. Boss is out on a meeting today and tomorrow so I'm busybusy, though admittedly some of that is becuase I am taking it upon myself to be Proactive! and Get things done! like that.

From the "don't say I never did anything for you" department, to those who sit all day (like hmmm, I don't know, me) here's a little mini ab workout that FitSugar posted a while ago. I haven't done it in about a month. But it's mini and you can do it at your desk without anyone really knowing. At Your Desk Abs Workout

I almost didn't make it but then I did

Had so many meetings and stuff this morning (I confess: one was a book club meeting) that I wasn't sure I would get to work out. I was determined, though! ...One unfortunate side effect is that I didn't get to go on my extra walk either yesterday or today, so that's too bad. But I had that huge run yesterday so that's okay. And I bet it's hot outside. And I wouldn't have been able to watch TV.

Real quick, today's workout:

Walked 3 minutes to warm up
Ran 1 mile at 7.0 mph (total time: 8m40s)
Push-ups and crunches
15 minutes on elliptical, with five minutes "warm up" and five minutes "cool down" warmly sandwiching five minutes of an interval routine that I detest but which is relatively easy: do 8 seconds all-out pushing as hard as possible, then 12 seconds recovery, over and over and over for five minutes. Yikes!
And finish off with ten minutes on the treadmill at varying speeds and elevations, doing fun things with hand weights. "Varying" means I spent about half of it at 3.0 mph on 3% elevation, first just carrying the weights and pumping my arms for about 2 1/2 minutes, then 30 to a minute each of bicep curls, lateral raises, and upright rows. I stopped when my arms told me to. ;) Then I hit the elevation up higher and went to 4.0 mph for most of the remaining time.
Finally cooled down with about five minutes of stretches - not actual yoga, just stretchin' out the legs.

As for the push-ups, since I didn't start the 100 challenge on Monday I'm putting it off until next week and seeing what I can do on my own. Today I did one set of 15, then a set of 10, and then a set of 8 followed by a knee-set of 7. So I totalled 40! Not bad! Crunches were far less inspiring: 50 regular but only 20 bike abs. But so what!

The problem is I don't really know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I guess I'll just spend more time on the elliptical.

Long Live the 80s!

Man, I keep forgetting how SILLY Jane Fonda's workouts are. :P I always fail to finish a workout and that is in part because of how quick-paced they are - I don't have problems getting out of breath but I do lack the coordination to keep up with them so I usually just end up hopping and looking kind of disgusted with them - and also the routines are just so... weird! 60s Dances, Irish Jigs, WTH???

She does do a strength training workout before and after the aerobics though - specifically, upper body before and lower body afterwards. You're supposed to do one each day and the aerobics in between on both days. Meh. I find her lower body routine uninspiring (unfortunately I feel that way about most lower body routines) so I usually ignore the second half of hte tape, around when I lose interest in the aerobics. Instead, afterwards I did a few moderate lower body moves on my own, not a whole lot but they made my legs ache so I think it's enough. Just about two minutes worth of wall-squats - you know, where you "sit" against the wall and let your thighs screma at you in agony? That one. :P I did a minute, then stood, then 45 seconds, then stood, then about 40 seconds before I nearly fell down. Then I did some lunges and now I have jelly legs.

I forgot I was going to try the 100 pushups challenge today so I didn't check it in advance, and thus had no idea what I was supposed to do if I tried it. That's okay though because I wore myself out doing lateral raises and bicep curls and so on. I did do pushups but only like 16. But after doing the weight stuff it felt pretty hard. :P

So to compensate and make me feel better about myself, instead I did some extra crunches. This is actually pretty meaningless but at least I feel like I did something. ;) Two sets of 25 regular, then two sets of 25 bicycle abs! (meaning in all, not per leg) So in a way I did 100 crunches today. ^_^ I think it's really more like 75 but that's still impressive! I wish I could say I am definitely doing the bike abs right. I feel it but I might be cheating and doing it just halfway, because I don't feel it THAT much. Well, I'm trying anyway.

I finished by doing a few yoga poses that I remembered, mainly a couple of seated poses and then Triangle pose and Proud Warrior. Just enough to open the hips. So I suppose today wasn't a loss, and I'm still going out for a walk, but man I want my Minna Lessig video back. >:P Those moves were so easy to follow and it never felt like I was actually doing 20 minutes worth of lower body work.

Tomorrow's my long run day! I always hate the days when I don't run because I don't really know what to do. Blah. Then again this means tomorrow I have to go outside and sweat and possibly vomit. Why am I so pessimistic? I LOVE running outside. Well, that's enough out of me. ^_^

Today, and In the Future

Today's workout!

I did the sprints I said I would do, and then after doing some crunches and push-ups I finished on the elliptical for about 20 minutes. Those sprint suckers are hard, though. I've done them about five or six times now and sometimes I can complete them without stopping... but usually not.

It's a routine I got from FitSugar which apparently was created by a celebrity personal trainer just for use on the treadmill. Since, especially at this time of year, I think it's easier to do timed sprints on a treadmill indoors, I have been trying to do this once a week. I do usually work some sprints into the latter part of my outdoor runs, though (the part after I've recovered from the long steady distance run).

Anyway, the routine is:
5m @ 5mph
1m @ 8mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times
45s @ 9mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times
30s @ 10mph; 1m @ 5mph. repeat 3 times.
5m @ 3.5mph

So obviously it's that last set, the 10mph one, that kind of... kills you. XD I enjoy these, in part because it's relatively brief, and in part because I know I can do it. But today I did have to stop after the first two reps of the 10 mph set. I'm also not sure I timed it all correctly today. Still though, it comes out to about 2.05 miles from start to finish (not including the walking at the end) and that's a good workout! The intervals are really good for fat burning and metabolism too, or at least that's what I've read.

After that I did more crunches and push-ups. Same crunch total as yesterday on both moves. Push-ups I added to slightly, still three sets, still 13 on the first, 10 on the second, but I managed 7 on the third and then 7 on the modified/girly position. So I totaled 37 today! My mother has prodded me to try the 100 Push-ups Challenge which I suppose I will give in and do starting on Monday. I'll see if I can stick with it. I've been really good at going gung-ho with push-ups for a few weeks and then forgetting about them entirely for a few more weeks. So we'll see. *G* The aspect I like of that challenge is where you only do them 3 days a week; part of what tires me out with push-ups is that I do try to do them each day and some days I'm terribly sore from other workouts.

*****

Now for something completely different yet still connected to running! For months now - even well before I was doing 5Ks or could run for a full mile - I've been eyeing the Walt Disney World marathon/half-marathon. (If anyone reading this doesn't know me personally yet, here's a secret everyone knows: I'm fanatical about Disney World. I can go back and forth on Disney products as a whole but the WDW fixation has just grown over the past four years.) You get to run through the parks. The characters come out and cheer you on. OH. MY. GOD. If I could actually run that far, I thought to myself, and actually ENJOY it, doing that THROUGH Disney World would be like... heaven. :O Just looking at the course map made me giddy.

Well. I'm not committing to doing it yet, because once I commit to it I will actually DO IT and I'm not sure I CAN do it. Getting there will be hard, more so because I would absolutely have to bring my family and it's just a matter of coordinating etc. But I've looked at the races they actually have available and it turns out there are a ton more than just the official Marathon and Half. They have a bunch of race weekends spread throughout the year and have been adding more lately.

In addition to the Half Marathon (or... perhaps... dare I say... the Marathon itself? I've thought maybe for my 35th birthday... assuming I could get the training time in by then... NO COMMITMENTS) I would love to run the Tower of Terror 13K. This just started last year and is a twilight run around Hollywood Studios, beginning and ending, as I understand, near the Tower of Terror ride. In addition to starting off with fireworks and taking the runners up to a "VIP" area inside the ride for the post-race party, you get gimmicky stuff like a glow-in-the-dark bib (well... I suppose, since it's a twilight race, that's actually very useful) and a medal shaped like the hotel, with MOVING ELEVATORS. I kid you not. XD

Tell me that doesn't sound like a hoot! An 8-mile run at dusk in October. I sincerely doubt I'll ever manage it, unless I give up entirely on running the marathon or the half (I just don't think my husband would be completely kosher with me spending a buttload on running in WDW races and paying to get everyone down there, etc), but what fun!

Today's results

Forgot to mention today's results.

I had an indoor run on treadmill. Nothing fancy, just two miles. I've been trying to increase my pace a little so even though I do longer runs at 6 mph I've been essaying my shorter ones at 6.5 or even more if I feel I can do it. I did the first mile at 6.5, dropped to 6 for .2, got back up for .5, and did the last .3 at 6 mph. I finished in just about 19 minutes, which is quite good for me!

I think I'll try Friday's 1-mile at 7.0 if I can manage it. Then again maybe I shouldn't... I do need some recovery time and I'm sandwiching it in between sprint intervals and a long run. I guess I'll just do a nice quickie.

Today I also did some yoga from the "Beginner's" DVD, and where I'd found the "general" poses quite simple and easy to follow today I did a full workout that's on the DVD as a special feature. HI I CAN'T FOLLOW YOU LADY. Nothing to make you FEEL like a beginner quite like watching your instructor pull her foot down over her head while you struggle to get it as close to your body as possible: and that is perpendicular to the floor. Oh well. At least I can do forward bends. Backbends? Another story again. :P

And, last but not least, I vowed yet again to put some real effort into committing to stomach crunches and push-ups, because I suck and I just don't do them regularly. Confessing here whether I've done them or not will help, I'm sure.

Today I did 20 crunches, rested, then did another 20. Then I did 20 bicycle ab crunches (20 as in ten on each side), rested, and did another 20. So that's my starting point, 40 of each, but I'm terribly inconsistent with crunches because I always change what moves I want to do.

In terms of push-ups I did 13, rested, did 10, rested, then did 6 before dropping to the modified position and doing another 6. So 29 full push-ups, and 35 total (including girly-style), that's my starting point. I do try to do sets of three and I can see I'm getting better for doing that. Even though I'm inconsistent a little while ago a total of 25, including girly-style, was a strain.

I really need a workout for strength training! The problem is that I hate following anything that isn't on TV because it's static, boring, and I know I'm not doing it right. We'll see what Netflix brings in the future!