I'm finally back to workout out regularly..and boy does it feel good. I went through a several week period of eating like crap and barely working out. It always feels good to get back in track. I'm still not eating 100% better, but I'm doing better than I was. My problem? Easter candy. I didn't buy any, but I had some given to me. While I'm back to working out regularly, I haven't been doing much running. I want to run, but I also wanted to start working towards a sprint triathlon so I've been doing other cross-training. I sat down a couple nights ago and created a weekly workout schedule so I can get in runs and still cross train. It won't totally go into effect until later in the month but I have my fingers crossed it will work.
So here's what I did for the week of May 1st: Sunday - swam - roughly 10-12 lengths - I don't remember Monday - This was a rest day although I did have a fitness assessment done at my gym so I did walk on a treadmill for 15 min. The end result of all the testing..I have the body of a 21 year old. Go me! Tuesday - Ran 2 miles..you read that right..I only ran 2 miles Wednesday - Spin class - loved it! Lots of intervals. Thursday - Soccer - Technically I did sprint and run a lot so I guess it counts for running Friday - more swimming - There was an old guy walking in the lane next to the one I was swimming in. I don't know if I should be embarrassed or impressed...because he was lapping me. lol! I did a total of 10 lengths.
I did 2 easy lengths of what I call a modified butterfly, then freestyle for 4 lengths, 2 lengths using a board and kicking, 2 lengths of combined freesyle and modified butterfly. This is nowhere close to where I need to be if I want to do a sprint triathlon. I think I've come to the realization that I won't be able to do one this year...so I need to just work on getting better at swimming and focus on running for my next half later this year. Saturday - run! I finally got out for a run. I did two runs, roughly an hour apart. The first run was 2.7 miles and the second was 2.6 miles.
You want to know the best part? I did all of this..all those workouts, with a cold!
One change that I'm excited about is that I signed up for Big River Running's speed workouts. Big River Running is a local running store and favorite running store in STL. They put on a lot of the races that I love (such as the Castlewood Cup) Plus, another reason they are my go to store, they are locally owned. Love supporting the locals. I have decided not to play soccer anymore because I think it's causing some of the issues I've been having with my back and my IT band. I used soccer as speedwork (because I'm too lazy to do it on my own). Since no more soccer after a couple more weeks I knew I would need to do speedwork and since their program is free, it was perfect. I had to sign up, so I feel like I'm accountable. Since I signed up I know I'll make myself go even if I don't feel like it that day. I'm nervous, but I'm excited. The speed sessions Start on May 10th and are every Tuesday until August 2nd when there is a timed 5k on the track to see what our pace is and how much we've improved. My goal is to get under 25 min or an 8:06 min/mile.
Back in February one of the Change the World Wednesday challenges was to reduce speed. When I wrote about it I mentioned how I normally speed to/from work because I just want to be home..I don't want to spend my time driving to/from work. Boy it really does suck to live so far away from my job!
Since then I have actively been working on not speeding and going 60-65 mph on the highway. I didn't think it was going to make much of a difference but I'm amazed that it has.
I normally would average 322 miles per tank. Yes..I'm one of those that doesn't normally get gas until the light comes on telling me I'm nearing empty. At first I didn't pay too much attention but last month I noticed I got a lot more miles than normal so I started to pay attention. I've been able to get up to 367 miles per tank of gas (although I was seriously on empty when I filled up. haha! The light came on when I was at work and I don't work in the safest of areas and decided I could make it home..which I did..barely). However normally I get at least 20 more miles per tank of gas than I used to. With the rise in gas prices, this really makes a difference. I was talking to Husband about this and the next time we were in my car (we normally take his) I showed him how I had started to keep track (lame..I know) and we figured out that I'm now averaging around 28 miles/gallon.
On another note, my husband filled up his new car, which is a hybrid recently. He said he went 3 weeks and had over 700 miles. That's awesome! I can't wait till we get his paid off because then it will be about time for me to get a new one and I want something that gets as good of mileage.
However there is one other thing I wanted to mention about not speeding. I thought I would have to start leaving earlier in the mornings in order to get to work on time, but that's not the case. I'm leaving at the same time and I'm arriving on time. I've also noticed, and to me this is the most important change, that I"m less stressed. I honestly didn't even realize that the commute was stressing me. After I had been going slower for several weeks it dawned on me that I didn't feel stressed, I didn't feel pressured. It was such a jolt to realize that I had been stressed out on my commute. I just hadn't realized it. I'm much calmer in the car. Not that I had road rage, but I would get annoyed when somebody would get in front of me and be going slower etc. I love that I'm more calm. This was an unexpected perk of reducing my speed and I'm so glad I did.
Unfortunately, while I am getting more miles per gallon with my car, due to joining a gym I'm also driving more. I hate that but live is about balances. I don't want to give up working out in order to save a couple bucks on gas. The gym is only 5 miles away, so I'm not adding on a ton of miles, but it's still significant when gas is $4.00/gallon.
In late March I decided to start taking yoga classes. As a runner I'm putting my legs through a lot. My legs aren't always happy about this. I felt that yoga could make my legs happier and if my legs were happy my performance would improve. I searched around and found that a local rec center offered yoga classes. I didn't want to join the center because it's pretty expensive but did more digging and found that I could get a class pass for $50. This would give me 10 classes ($5 per class). Then when my 10 classes were up, all I had to do was give them another $50. I could take as many or as few classes as I wanted. This was perfect. My husband saw that spin classes were an option and suggested I try that. He has mentioned it in the past, thinking it's something I would like. So I took one. I liked it.
I had a new routine. Sunday was my long run day, Monday was a rest day with yoga, Tuesday was a run, Wednesday was strength training, Thursday was a run, Friday was spin class, Saturday was either a rest day in anticipation for a long run on Sunday or another workout that I decided that day. Repeat.
Then a couple of weeks ago at an employee meeting one lady talked to us about this Vitality program my work started using last year. I have been using the Vitality program but she introduced me to something I was unaware of. Vitality has partnered with some gyms in the areas where Vitality is available. Ok, I did know that. What I didn't know was that if you link up your gym account with Vitality you could get a subsidiary. To make it simple..they give you money towards your gym membership.
Front lobby
Hmm....now I'm interested. I quickly got on Vitalities website and started looking up the info. I found a couple of gyms in my city that were close to me. One I drive by frequently and it's fancy smancy. Every time Husband and I would drive by and he would catch me looking at it he would tell me to not even think about it. So at first I didn't look at that one. But then on a whim I decided to look at what the subsidiary would be. For the level I'm at with Vitality (you earn points for working out, doing other healthy things and this allows you to move up levels) the subsidiary for this fancy smancy gym would $50. How expensive is this freaking gym?! I went to the gym's website and couldn't find it so I contacted them. I found out it's $60 per month. That seems like a lot, but knowing I would get $50 back I knew it was affordable. I knew it was cheaper than what I was paying now for only 2 classes per week. Plus once I reach the next level with Vitality the subsidiary will be $60 per month, that covers the membership! I'm working on moving to the next level by August.
I mentioned all this to Husband and he was not on board with it. So I created an excel spreadsheet detailing the cost of the 2 classes I was doing and both gyms I was looking at. I did cost from May through December, pointing out when I would start getting the subsidiary, when I would break even, and ending with out much money I would save by joining the gyms compared to the current method. He still wasn't sold.
I made an apt with a sales rep at the fancy smancy gym and dragged Husband along to look at it. We talked to the sales guy first, got a tour of the gym, went back to the office, and Husband agreed I could join. I was super excited!! This gym has everything I wanted.
locker room
The gym is Life Time Fitness. The benches in the locker room are granite. The lockers are wood. There is granite in the showers. There is a huge spin room with a projector. There are a ton of treadmills, bikes, and other equipment. There is an outdoor pool and an indoor pool. Including a lap pool. The gym is open 24 hours. There are two sauna's in the locker room. There is a spa inside the gym. There's a cafe inside the gym. I don't need to continue do I? You're already sold right?
How much will I use the gym? Only time will tell. I know I plan on taking at least 2 classes each week. There's a third class I will probably start taking too. I joined a week ago Saturday. Since then I have used it for a spin class, barbell strength training, treadmill, pool, and I had a fitness assessment. (By the way, the fitness assessment has determined that my body age is 21, so from now on that's how old I'm telling people I am. haha)
cycle room
One of my goals for this year was to do a sprint triathlon. I know how the pool so I can start swimming and access to bikes. I'm pumped!
After my half I kinda lost it. I still wanted to run and still wanted to be active but I wasn't. The half was a bad race for me and that took something out of me. It was hard to get back into the swing of things. Combine that with no big race until Fall and I had nothing to work towards. With the gym, I've got my interest back. There is so much I can do there. I'm excited about working out again! I won't use it to run a lot, but I will use it sometimes. I'll use it when the weather is bad. I'll use it when I want to work on pace.
I think it's funny when I talk to people about the gym and mention the cost. I think $60 is very expensive for a gym but can understand why this place is so expensive. It truly is super nice. However a lot of people think it's a decent price. In fact, those who know what you get with the gym think it's a decent price and not expensive at all. I guess it's all in how you view things.
**copyright info - all pictures were taken from the lifetime fitness website for the location I go to. I didn't snap the pictures myself. However..they are accurate as to what those areas do look like**
This week's Change the World Wednesday Challenge hosted by Reduce Footprints is:
This week, stop smoking for at least one day (forever would be better) ... yep, 24 hours ... no smoking! It's hard but I know you can do it!
Or ...
If you are not a smoker, remove toxins in your home by cleaning (yep, dust is a toxin), opening windows (fresh air, sunshine and a rainy day actually help clean indoor air), adding a plant to your environment, etc.
Or ...
If you don't smoke and have already taken the above actions, please let us know about any other actions we can take to purify the air in our homes.
It's been awhile since I participated in Change the World Wednesday. I think the daily challenges and then my life getting hectic for awhile caused me to just stay clear of my google reader for awhile. I hope to be back though! Let's hope this starts another long trend of me participating in CTWW.
I'm not a smoker, I never have been and never will (or so I tell myself). So not smoking for 24 hours isn't a challenge for me.
We've been having some crazy weather here lately and we go from having the heat on to having the AC on. Ok, I wouldn't have turned on the AC but the husband did it because he was hot. We've had a lot of days where it's been nice though. A bit chilly to wear shorts outside but warm enough to have the heat off in the house. We've been opening windows when we can. In fact, they were open just last night. Sometimes they are only open for a couple of hours before it's too cool and we have to close them but I do like to open them for a little bit.
I have 3 house plants in the kitchen and recently, in an effort to be a surban farmer, I've planted some lettuce and spinach seeds. These are currently still in the house as it's too cold yet for outside. In the last couple of weeks I've also added 4 tomato plants and a pepper plant to the inside garden. I'm looking forward to putting them outside but until then, they sit on the floor in the kitchen in front of some big windows.
Since it doesn't appear that not smoking and adding a plant to the house was an issue, let's mention the third part of the challenge..doing something else to help purify the air.
While I can't say I don't do anything specific to purify it (although I'm looking forward to reading what others do so I can copy) I can tell you what I don't do. I don't normally use air fresheners. When I do, it's because Myla had an accident in her kennel and the smell is over powering. I'll then spray something in that area to get the smell to go away.
I don't use the glad plug in's or other similar products on the market. I just don't see how that can be healthy. There have to be chemicals in them that I would be putting into the air in my house. Plus I don't think we need it. Our house doesn't have a "bad" smell to it so I just don't see the point of them either.
I will admit that we burn candles, but in an effort to make that better for us I hope to find some soy ones when I'm in need of more. At least I think it's soy that's better, it appears I need to do more research on this before I do anything.
pssst..when I went to Reduce Footprints to link my post I read the other comments and Eco Friendly Homemaking had a great suggestion. She said that by removing your shoes before you step inside you can eliminate roughly 65% of the toxins that we pick up when out and about. I believe I have read this before, or something similar, but forgot about it. Husband and I do remove our shoes once we are in the house..but do walk around a bit. He walks only a couple of yards before removing his but I normally walk through the house to our bedroom to remove mine. I'm going to try and remember to remove mine either right before I step into the laundry room or right after I do and then carry them to my closet to be put away. Right now I normally put my shoes on in the kitchen when I'm getting ready to head out the door and I'll try to do that in the laundry room from now on.
That's right, I'm suffering from another cold. My husband is the sharing type, which is good except when it comes to germs.
I brought my organic honey to work so I can eat it periodically throughout the day. I don't know anybody who likes to just eat honey by the spoonful, but I have no idea what to mix it with so that's how I eat it.
I've been working on the rest of the Dove Chocolate bunny my Mom gave me for Easter. I don't think the milk chocolate is the cure-all for colds but it sure makes my day more enjoyable.
I was just getting back into a regular workout mode, still not running a lot but working out regularly, and now the cold decides to pay a visit. Mondays are generally my rest day. I went to the gym early in the morning for a fitness assessment and decided not to work out that night. Ok, fine, dinner was ready when I got home so I decided to eat instead of run. Who wouldn't? I'm still trying to decide if I want to run tonight when I get home. I think even a 2 mile run would be worth the effort. I've read several reports that say working out when you first get a cold can actually help you get over it faster. Plus, if I do polish off this chocolate bunny I will need the 2 miles just to burn off an ear.
I thought I was going to go way over my spending in April since there was so much of it at the beginning of the month so I'm really happy with how things ended. In fact, I actually bought some junk food the last couple of weeks and if I hadn't done that I wouldn't have gone over. That just tells me that I need to get back on track with the healthier eating and resist buying the expensive junk food at the stores.
My goal is to spend $300 or less on groceries and health/beauty items.
I spent $305.72. This brings my average spending so far this year to $304.81/month.
I ended up saving $34.94 in coupons towards budget items and $40 in coupons towards non-budget items. This continues with the trend of me not being able to use as many coupons as I have been in previous years, but it's still a good amount.
On April 10th, 2011 I participated in my first ever half marathon. For those who aren't aware, a half marathon is 13.1 miles and a full marathon would then be 26.2 miles.
Start of the race..I'm in a pink tank top with black shorts
Yes, I'm a long time runner but I've never ran this kind of distance before. I was happy with my 3 mile runs. Then last year I decided that wasn't enough and moved up to 4 miles for my weekday runs and 5-6 for the weekend runs. Then I decided I might want to do a half marathon.
So the 10th was the day. I was confident going into the race. I had run 12 miles two weekends before that and it felt great..I was tired and my legs were weak ( I did some major hills) but I knew I could have run 13. I set a goal of 2 hours but told myself that the real goal was finishing the race, the time would just be a bonus. Then the day of the race is here. And we have unseasonably high temps. When the race started at 7am it was already 73 degrees out. By 9am it was so hot they closed the marathon course where the half and the marathon runners split. Any marathon runners who came to that point after 9am were forced to continue on the half course and call it a day. Let me tell you, I felt the heat. I don't run well in the heat and humidity that we get in St. Louis and it showed. I showed up confident and determined to have a great race, and my race sucked. My first 6 miles were great and then it went downhill.
Right after mile 6
I felt really good the first couple of miles. I had been having issues with my heal again (the one with the stress fracture) and had been worried about it. It hurt right from the start but on mile two I felt a sharp pain and then nothing. I must have eased out whatever was causing it to hurt because it felt awesome after that. Then on mile 4 I started to feel the heat. I was getting hot. I told myself to slow down. Mile 5 I'm beginning to have doubts that I could finish the race. Mile 6 I wanted to walk but knew my Mom, she drove me, was planning to be on the course somewhere in mile 7 so I couldn't walk, I didn't want her to see me. Miles 7 through 8 were all uphill. I was feeling horrible. Mentally I wasn't doing very good. I was also over-hydrating because of the heat and in desperate need of a bathroom. I finally started walking after mile 8. I just couldn't do it! I felt miserable, I was hot and my legs were tired.
I started playing games with myself...if I walk to the next light..I have to run to the light after that. If I walk for .3 miles then I have to run for .3 miles. The more I had to stop and walk, the worse I got mentally. I would work back into a run but would find myself tripping on the pavement, a sure sign that my legs were fatigued, so I would walk again.
it's kinda hard to see me..I'm waving at my Mom at the finish
Finally, I hit the 12 mile marker and I was determined to run the last 1.1 miles to the finish. I did it too. I felt bad but I pushed through it and I did it.
I can't tell you how many times I wanted to quite. I can't tell you how many times I called myself a failure for having to walk part of the course. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to sit down and cry. I had worked for this. I had trained for this. Why couldn't I do it? Yes, I was having a one woman pity party.
After the race was over I kept it together long enough to get home and then broke down crying in the bathroom as I was getting ready for a shower. I felt so bad, mentally and physically, that I crawled into bed after the shower were I dozed and just laid there for a couple of hours. I only got out of bed when I did because Husband came in and laid with me and after a couple minutes suggested we go get ice cream. Does he know me or what? He offered to take me to my favorite place for some cherry almond ice cream. It's made fresh in the store and it's the only place I know of to get that flavor and it's my absolute favorite. I then came home and made a cake to take to my Mom's since she was having the family over for dinner. I had planned to make a celebration cake but, as I told Husband, it turned into a "I walked but I didn't quite" cake.
Crossing the finish line..finally
I was still feeling pretty bad Monday but by Monday night I was doing much better. By Wednesday I was finishing with the pity party. I belong to a website called DailyMile (you're welcome to be my friend if you belong too!) and I posted my sob story. The support I received was amazing. I can't even begin to tell you how good it made me feel.
My friends on DM made me realize that while I had to walk, I didn't quite. I did finish the race. I completed my first ever half marathon! I couldn't do anything about the temperatures and I was smart by listening to my body and walking when I realized I was suffering. I could, and should, be proud of myself for what I completed. And you know..they were all right. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I should embrace the race. Realize that I completed it and set my sights on the next one. I know have a PR (personal record). I can tell people that I completed a half marathon and I can be proud of that.
Finish..medal around my neck.time to go home
What also helped me realize that I did the right thing was reading news articles and watching news clips on the race, as well as talking to others. I talked to a couple co-workers who also ran it and they both had to walk. They both mentioned seeing people drop out of the race. Husband talked to a co-worker of his that runs and that guy said he knew two people running the marathon. Both he would consider very strong runners, both dropped out. One dropped out at mile 6. Watching the news report I learned that over 100 people were treated for dehydration, 20 taken to hospitals. I was not one of them. I did not drop out of the race. I did not quite. I walked when I felt my body needed it and I completed it. I'm proud of what I did. It take me some time to be comfortable with this but now I embrace it.
You know, we all have good days and bad. The 10th was a very bad racing day for me. However it's not the end. I'll continue to run and I'll continue to work towards the tougher runs. We have another half in October and while I haven't signed up for it yet, I plan to. I have a PR, I need to beat it.
For those of you who might be interested in, here are my stats for the race: Finish time: 2:13:18 Overall place: 4,217/11,535 Female place: 1,863/7,086 splits according to my Garmin: 8:45, 8:27, 9:01, 8:25, 9:01, 9:29, 9:47, 10:10, 11:46, 11:35, 12:19, 11:59, 10:00
Here's a video from a local news channel that covers a part of the race. The funniest thing is that they interview the men's winner of the half and he said the heat didn't bother him but the wind did. I can tell you that every time I felt a breeze, I could usually hear several people go "ah..that feels good". haha
