A few days late

I broke out the roller blades a few days ago - it's been forever since I've worn them (high school?) and you could probably tell when I first got them on. :) (think stumbling, breaking rhythm, leaning too far forward so nearly face planting...you get the point)

I think I may start roller blading instead of running. Less chance of shin splints (which is ALWAYS preferable) and I felt it more in my thigh muscles (similar to riding a bike uphill) which seems like it would be more beneficial for getting ready for RAGBRAI than running would be. My heart rate was up just as fast too! I may have to find a longer route though - it didn't take me long to get through the track.

Old news and new news

St. Patricks Day - I haven't exercised since (still recovering)

Mom requested I come with her to Ottumwa to go to a few classes at the YMCA (since when did "a few" mean 5?!). I've learned it's easier to just say, "Yes" than have her guilt trip me for abandoning her so I agreed.

That morning, we left at 7 and ended up lost so we didn't make it to Tia Chi - no big loss though. The class consisted of a bunch of old men on those large stability balls. In hind sight, it was the only class I could have excelled at and looked better than the majority of the class. Instead, we used some of the weight equipment and "warmed up" on a treadmill (think very leisurely walk).

Turbo Kick wasn't too bad, but I'm not a fan of punching and kicking the air (I need a body). I felt more like a 3 year old pretending to be a boxer (probably looked like one too - you know what I mean. The kid is pretty much thrashing around, throwing punches at invisible monsters all the while making a face that is more likely to make the attacker laugh than run away afraid). About half way through, the instructor said, "Ok, when you hear the bell, we'll start the cardio!" WTF, mate!? What did we just do for the past 40 minutes!?

We thought yoga was up next, but apparently we had an old schedule because the class is actually PiYo. Cool, I can do that. Class starts, and we have a sub who is actually teaching Pilate's. Crap. 45 minutes of ab work. I did about 20 minutes because I was dying. And mom was dying too, but only because she was laughing hysterically. She told me later she laughed so hard she nearly threw up. The class consisted of Mom, Lauren, me, and an old guy who left 10 minutes in. I wanted to leave with him. So now we're the only ones in the class, and I expected the instructor to notice us not doing anything. If she did, she kept it to herself because she just plowed through everything. Needless to say, I left a little bit of my dignity on that Pilate's mat.

Drums Alive was next; that one was pretty fun. We beat on large stability balls with drumsticks to certain beats and danced around. But after exercising for 2 1/2 hours prior, I was a bit lack-luster in my dance moves. I was singled out. :( I'm sorry, but I've exerted more energy in the past few hours than I have in a long, long time!! My energy level has nearly been depleted!!

The Core Training class was next, but by this time, Lauren and I were lying on the floor panting. Mom took the hint and said we could go home. (Thank you thank you thank you!!!)


In recent news, I received an email that was looking for research subjects who are out of shape and want to be more fit. You come in for 4 trials and run on a treadmill while having various things monitored (breathing, heart rate, ect). I'll get a monetary compensation and a personalized fitness workout out of the deal. I signed up. More on this later.

EPIC. FAIL.

Disclaimer:

FYI, I haven't posted the past two days, but just because that's the case doesn't mean I'm not working it up. It just means I didn't feel the events of the morning were worthwhile to post on. I can only speak of doing crunches so many times before it gets monotonous. (Really, once is too may times for me)

Apparently, a lot of people find this blog amusing (I've been approached by about a dozen?). Glad to know my pain is your joy. Because you're all such dedicated followers, I'll let you know when I fail so you can ridicule me back to success. I'm expecting it!!!

Thanks for your support, all!

Day 2:

Wikipedia: Shin splints is a general term used to refer to a painful condition in the shins. It is often caused by running. An individual not accustomed to running may experience pain in the shin muscles the next day even after a single, short bout of intensive running.

Yep, sounds about right. =S

I woke up at 7 this morning, jumped out of bed, and wanted to yell. No running for me this morning--walking is hard enough.

Instead, I did crunches until my abs burned so much that I still felt them half an hour after I was done. (again, pitifully out of shape, so didn't take much) I'll give it another go after I get home from class.

According to Wikipedia (which is always questionable anyway), continuing to run with shin splints can cause stress fractures. Do I risk it? Probably not. I'll stick with doing basic workout stuff until I no longer walk like a gimp.

~sigh~ And today was SUCH a nice day! Perfect day for a run... (maybe I'll try a walk?)

Day 1:

I went to bed really excited about running this morning. This morning, not so much.

But I really do want to be in better shape and stop being so lazy with sleeping in late, so I dragged my sorry backside out of bed and got ready. I left around 7:15.

I saw a squirell (only one), some snow, an old man with an empty coffee mug and a few other insane runners. (I pretended to be a pro when I was around them. As soon as they were out of hearing range, my gasping resumed and I slowed to a quick walk. Keeping up appearances is hard!)

I was able to run a lot more than I thought, and maybe jogged (off and on for sure) 1/3 to 1/2 of the time. Woot! I got back home at 7:55.

I will admit, it's nice being ready for the day 2 hours before class is supposed to start. I'm really awake and feel like I could get something productive done! (I know, duh! But this is new for me so shut it!)

I will need to buy more breakfast food though. Kix aren't going to cut it for long.

Background:

I've always considered myself to NOT be a morning person. I have a hard time getting up before 8 and when I do, I'm a huge grump. (Some days worse than others!) So this past Christmas break when I had to get up at 5:30 to make it to work by 7, I thought for sure that I was going to have a miserable break.

While the first two weeks were really hard and I barely managed to stay awake while standing around at word (no exageration), something weird happened. I got used to getting up that early. But not only that, I was actually able to function like a normal person (or like myself getting up at 9).

At some point, I read some verse somewhere in Psalms (made a huge impact, you know?) about the sluggard (maybe it was Proverbs...sounds more like Proverbs) and how we pity the foo' (paraphrased of course). I was the fool and in some way, sinful as well, since I was letting my body have control over myself.

I've been really fortunate this semester; I don't have anything earlier than 9:30. But so far, I've slept up until that point nearly every day. Only one day did I get up early just for the sake of getting up early.

So here's my plan. I'll be getting up at 7 to go run/walk this bike path that goes through Stoneybrook Park. I can't even begin to guess how many miles it is, but it took me an hour to walk it at a very leisurely pace. Just a few miles? Who knows. My goal in one month is to be able to at least run it halfway through. In two months, I want to be able to run the entire thing.

Keep in mind I'm NOT a runner and have extremely bad cardio. I'm not sure if these are reasonable goals or not (I feel like they are), but we'll adjust if we need to.

If I die taking this on, this blog shall be my memoirs and a warning to all those considering exercise.