Another run

I made it out for another run today... it was great! The hills kind of kicked my butt! I persevered though and made it through. I ended up running 3-ish miles and coming inside to stretch and cool down. The weather was COLD but above freezing so it didn't feel too bad.

Yesterday I threw together a cross training workout with moves from Jillian Michaels' workout again. That also felt great! I even woke up sore today. A nice sore, of course!

I will most likely be MIA for a few weeks as I travel to see family and friends for the holidays. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a happy new year! I will keep up with my workouts and I hope you will too!

And BTW, I was at 158 pounds last time I checked so I have confidence I can hit my goal by the end of the year. I also went to the salon today and someone noticed I had lost weight. Jackpot!

Winter Running

I made it out for a short jog today. I just love winter running! I hadn't been out really at all yet for my marathon training (it officially begins on December 28), so I'm happy I made it today.

It snowed in PA yesterday, but not that much where I am. Instead of a workout yesterday I actually walked around town and finished my shopping. I walked over 4 miles carrying everything I purchased, and when it was all over, my HRM read 1250 calories burned. Now that was over a period of two hours, but still... that is some awesome calorie burn for shopping!

Today's run felt great! It was in the high 20's, but there was no wind and the sun was shining. I don't mind the cold... in fact I love running in it! I had my winter gear on, and the cold air just felt great! The only issue I was having was snow. The sidewalks and streets were still covered, so I had to be careful and run slowly. The good side of that is that you have to work pretty hard to keep yourself upright, so it feels like you're getting a decent core workout too. After a 2-ish mile run, I decided to shovel a bit of snow to finish things off. I ended up with over 700 calories burned. Yay!

Tomorrow will be a cross training day, so I'm pretty sure I'll do Jillian Michaels' Trouble Zones workout. It definitely makes the muscles burn!

INSANITY Returns

I just finished up Plyo Cardio Circuit, and it felt great! If you haven't tried out Shaun T's INSANITY yet and you really like intense cardio, you have to get it! Again I wanted to run today and I waited around until it was dark. I don't like running in the dark, so I did some INSANITY instead. I burned 663 calories!

Tomorrow I will definitely run! I found my iPod which was also something I was using as an excuse to do my indoor workouts. No fooling around anymore! I'm going to follow this for my marathon, and I'll be officially starting (and blogging about it) on December 28.

Must eat something... INSANITY makes me hungry!

I Caught the Lazy Bug

Yes, that's right, I have a been a lazy bum (as compared to my usual self) the last few days. I had my last final exam on Monday afternoon, and I pretty much cratered after that. I did not eat like a crazy person, but I was just so, so lazy. It was all I could do to get off the couch! I guess finals and job interviews have really taken their toll on me. I did some working out but nothing near as intense as usual.

On Tuesday, I tried a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader workout. Soooo, I hate to be mean, but seriously, anyone who takes their workouts seriously, please don't do this workout. The moves are fine, but I'm pretty sure I lost a couple IQ points. Is that mean??? Oh well... it was pretty bad.

On Wednesday, I tried to do some online yoga on yogatoday.com. They have one free yoga workout each week. Unfortunately, my internet connection was not so strong and it kept buffering and buffering. Doesn't make for a very focused and centered yoga practice! I stopped after 23 minutes and returned myself to my couch.... SERIOUSLY, I CAUGHT THE LAZY BUG!!!

Luckily, I woke up refreshed and feeling energetic this morning, so I threw together a strength training workout on my own. I combined mostly moves from Jillian Michaels, some cardio from INSANITY, and some kickboxing at the very end. All in all, it was 523 calories. Ahhh, it feels good to be back!

If I learned anything from this it's that sometimes I just need a break! I think I get so concerned that I have to do a kick butt workout everyday or I'm not working hard enough or something. But you know what... sometimes everyone needs a break! The key is not making a break a permanent stop. I've gotten to the point in my health journey where I know that will not happen, so occasional breaks are important for me. I now feel refreshed, recentered, and refocused. Ahhh...

PS - That sleepy cat is my cat, Shepard!

Monday Weigh-in

As I mentioned in previous posts, for the 25 Days till Christmas Challenge, I wanted to lose weight and be at 157 pounds by Christmas. I weighed in today, and I was at 159 pounds. Woo hoo! I was at 168-169 at the end of August, so this is some serious progress for me! Here are some triumphs related to this that I'd like to share:

1. I have never been brave enough to weigh in on Monday. In the past, I always pushed this off to Thursday knowing that I had screwed up over the weekend and it wouldn't show a loss. Today, I knew that I had been reasonable over the weekend, getting in my workouts and having controlled splurges. It showed on the scale! This really makes me feel like I've turned a corner and I have made this into a lifestyle, not a diet. I am going to embrace Monday weigh ins from now on!!!
2. I've been doing this on my own! What I mean by that is that I'm not following a plan or some prescribed diet. I'm not counting points, I'm not restricting foods, and I'm not working out like a crazy person. I'm eating what feels right (and journaling... not going to lie, journaling is very important for me) and I'm working out for less than an hour a day. And it's still working!

So I am full confident that I can hit my goals my Christmas. Today, I plan to do another Jillian workout because I'm busy at school until 4:30. After that, it will be getting dark, so I'm not going to do a run today. My last final exam is today though, so I am free until next semester. I'm going to get plenty of rest tonight and then I'm going to get up to run tomorrow. Woo hoo!

Just in case you feel like shopping...

Check out this website! It's an invitation only discount shopping site. I bought a $250 winter coat for $49 the other day!!!

http://www.ruelala.com/invite/athomas24

Let the Running Begin

I decided today that I should get to running if I really think I'm going to run this marathon next May. It is absolutely FRIGID in Pittsburgh today. I wanted to run 3 miles, but the temperature was in the teens, the wind chill was negative, and the wind was blowing at 20 mph. Not pleasant! Instead of giving up, I decided to head over to the gym to do my 3 mile jog. That was both good and bad!

Good - actually ran 3 miles, didn't give up!

Bad - treadmills are so boring!!!

When I did my first marathon in 2005, I trained through the winter, and I've actually come to like that feeling you get when you run in the cold. The wind is just too much though because even with ear muffs, it hurts! So off to the treadmill I went... with no iPod. Ugh. I made it through my mileage, but I stopped once in the middle to walk. And seriously, in all honesty to myself, that was pure mental garbage/boredom. Oh well. Can't win them all right? At least I finished! I meandered my way back home, and when it was all said and done, I burned 924 calories. Nice!

So, all this running and talking of marathons makes me think about a post I read on another blog this week. It was about being a "try" athlete, which I thought was awesome! You can read it here. What really struck me is that throughout my life, even with my marathon, half marathons, P90x, etc. I still tell people that I am not an athlete. I started to wonder why I do that... you know, I have no clue! But I know I'm going to stop... just because I wasn't a HS or college athlete on some kind of team sport does not mean I'm not an athlete. I need to start giving myself credit! So thanks to Amazon Runner for the post!

I hope everyone out there who gets up everyday and presses play or goes for a jog or hits the gym gives themselves the credit they deserve. You are an athlete! And so am I! :)