Jogging, Training, and double YUCK!

I've decided to create a new short term running/jogging goal. This one is based on distance. My goal is to be able to jog one mile straight without walking. I want to achieve this goal by Thanksgiving and I think that's reasonable. This morning I was able to jog 3/4 of my first mile. I had to really push myself, but I made it :) Stay tuned for updates on the progress of that goal!

My personal training has been doing good. I've been doing 2 sessions a week then having one day of doing it on my own. So far I feel good and like I'm making progress. I've increased weight on everything and a rep on the planks. I think I've toned up a bit as well! My least favorite part of this routine is the Planks! It's the only one that does not seem to be getting easier! Last week Friday I learned an important lesson with my PT: Don't do cardio before the session. By the end I was really drained and had a hard time finishing the exercises. She told me she understands wanting to get it done and out of the way, but it just doesn't work so well. I am hoping to pick up a few 1 hour sessions after my initial ten pack of sessions is done. Then I'll really get my butt kicked!

Now for the double yuck! Last night while packaging my lunches and snacks for the week I looked down and noticed a "crumb" on my shirt that looked like a piece of the Kashi cereal. So out of habit I picked it up and put it in my mouth. A few seconds later I'm like wait this is gross it tastes like how a ladybug smells when you pick it up. I immediately spit it out and realized it WAS a ladybug! EWE! I was mortified and quickly grabbed the closest thing to me, which was chocolate chips and put a handful in my mouth and drank a whole glass of water!

My second yuck has to do with the gym. There is a lady there in the mornings that is nice but I don't know if she doesn't believe in deodorant or what. Usually as soon as you pass the glass separating the lounge area from the cardio area you can smell her it is so gross! This morning was particularly bad. I almost passed out when I crossed the glass! It was all I could do to start my workout and not gag! Luckily I did my strength training first so I only had to endure 20 min of the horrible smell! Has anyone else run into a situation like this? How on earth do you handle it? She's a nice lady, but just really smelly!

Lessons Learned

Over the last few weeks I learned an important lesson when it comes to my fitness journey: Take it slow! Previously I had been working on my jogging, trying to work up to doing a 5k. I found some information about getting up to speed and training for a 5k. A lot of what I found was geared for starting at 5 mph for 1 min then going back down to 3.7 for 4 min and Increasing the time for running each week. I had been doing a few min jogging at 4.5 mph so I figured I could do 2 min at 5 mph followed by 3 min at 3.7 mph. Turns out this was not such a good idea. After my second set of this my asthma kicked in and I felt like I could not breathe, even after taking my inhaler. I decided to just do walking after that point and used the incline to up my heart rate. After this I was afraid to jog anymore in fear of starting a bad asthma attack.

This week I decided to try it again, and vowed to take it a bit slower. I did not push for 5 mph and I went back to doing 1 min 5mph followed by 4 min 4.5 - 4.7 mph. This worked much much better for me and I was able to complete the workout without the use of my inhaler! Yesterday I pushed a little further because the 1-4 ratio was not getting my heart rate high enough. I bumped it up to 2 min at 4.5-4.7 mph followed by 3 min 3.7-3.8 mph and added some incline work to the 3 min. sections. I also jogged at 4.7 for a stretch of 5 min. This ended up working out perfectly! I even upped the length of my workout to 60 min from 45 min. I felt awesome after wards!

There is no need for me to be ready for a 5k in a few short weeks, so I decided there is no good reason to push myself hard enough to bring on an asthma attack. I will slowly work up to my goal to run the 5 k next fall and by then I should be able to push myself that far without an asthma attack.

The scale is still my enemy, but this week in Dance it Off I noticed that my legs are starting to look pretty darn good! So I'm avoiding the scale for the next few weeks. I'm also going to ask my trainer about the weight issue I've been having!

Week 4 re-do

As planned I redid week 4 of the 100 push-up challenge. Day 1 was easier this time around, but I still struggled with day 3. I did the exhaustion test this morning and got to 50 push-ups. Not bad, more than I could do the last time so I can't complain. This puts me in the third column once again for week 5. Only 2 more weeks left before I find out if I can do 100 or not!

Today I decided to take the dogs on the long morning walk we used to do instead of doing the elliptical. It felt good, really really good. I think I miss that long 45 min walk in the morning and the dogs really enjoyed it too! It was also refreshing to see that a lot of the houses that have been on the market in the area for the last 6+ months have finally sold.

Week 4 again

Last night as planned I restarted week 4. I was a bit worried it would be really hard since I haven't done a single push-up in 2 weeks. But to my surprise Sets 1-3 seemed easy and the last 2 didn't feel impossible, they weren't great, but not impossible. All in all I'm pretty impressed that I was able to do them without struggling too much.

Week 5 - fail

I failed week 5 as I got totally wrapped up in getting the house ready for our party on the 20th. I have not picked them back up this week as I'm now preoccupied with getting ready for my trip up north. I leave on Wednesday and return on Monday. I know that I will not be doing push-ups during this trip as I tend to be busy the entire time I'm visiting. Therefore, I'm taking this week off too and will resume on Tuesday the 30th starting with a redo of week 4. I felt like I struggled with that week and even though my exhaustion test proved I was still on the right track I just feel as though repeating that week (especially with the 2 week break in there) would be better than going on with things. I also haven't done my elliptical workouts yet this week. I haven't been getting good sleep and when that happens it's SO hard to get moving! However, I have been keeping up with the dog's exercise routine of an AM walk and an evening hour or so at the dog park.

Week 4 wrap-up/Exhaustion Test

Week 4 was tough. I feel like I'm losing steam and often felt like I should have been back one column. However, the exhaustion test at the end proved that I seem to be on track. After doing my cardio this morning I fit in the exhaustion test. I am now able to do 42 push-ups! Almost half way there! This keeps me on track in column 3 for week 5. Then there will be another exhaustion test. So far so good. The scale hasn't moved, but I feel better and that's all that matters.

Week 4

I noticed I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging lately. I think I will cut back to doing weekly updates on day 1 of the new week. I've found that week 3 got harder and harder for me as the days go on. Week 1 and 2 didn't seem as hard to me! But I've been able to complete the weeks and started week 4 last night.

I thought I wasn't going to make it and I should move down to column 2 instead of 3. Then I decided to take a little bit longer break in between the sets. The first 3 sets were HARD! I thought I wasn't going to make it. So I decided to get up let the dogs out, and rest for a couple min before doing the 4th set of 21. It worked like a charm! I was able to do that set much better and I felt as though I could make it to the last set.

So before the 5th set I let the dogs in, did a couple mini tasks and came back (no more than a 5 min break if even). The first 12 or so were ok, then it went downhill. By 20 I had to keep thinking come on you can do it over and over. By the last 5 or so I was shaking and weak, but in the end I did all 32!! What an accomplishment for me to push myself through it.

Turns out doing Biggest Loser Weight loss Yoga the next morning was not such a good idea as my arms were not happy doing more strength exercises. But I got through that too!