No Good, Terrible, Awful Race Day

First of all, I shouldn't say it was awful. Once again I finished... with no improvement on my time. My time actually got worse from the race I did in July. Only by a few seconds, but still. I wasn't sure about this course as I'd never done it before.

Can I just say... it sucked.

It was sooooo hilly, more than I was used to.  The guy I was walking with was twice as tall as me, so half the time I spent jogging, but my calves were tight. I'm not sure what to do about my calves. They seem to be the only part of me that doesn't want to run. :)

I'm glad I finished, but this is apparently a very competive race. We finished. Dead. Last.

Well.

No good and I don't even feel accomplished. Ughhh. As I write this, it's 6:00am, and I've been up since 4:30. Not sure why... and my legs are STILL sore. Might be poppin some advil today.

Sorry for the whinies. Might try to sleep now.

At the Finish

5k madness

Well. 5k #3 and #4 became #4 and #5. Today I signed up for 5k #3, taking place tomorrow. Blazin' the Burg!! My goal is to complete in under an hour. One of these times hopefully I'll be able to run the entire thing. :)

I've also signed up for the 10-day fat blast at my gym. I'm looking forward to conquering even more ground on this next one. Speaking of conquering, how were your goals for September?? I completed three out of my five.

1. MFP everyday

2. 100 miles

3. No dessert

4. 100 miles by 9/11

5. 10-day fat blasting

My month wasn't so much concentrated on the 100 miles, even after I set the goal. Oh well. I made the 100 by 9/11, that's where my focus was.  Tomorrow I'll post about my goals for October. The month is going to be full of things I've never done before... Scared, but excited. :)

Success!!

Tomorrow is the last night of 10-day fat blast. The workout is 'tabata', which I guess is a very intense workout, in only 15 minutes.

Tonight was weigh and measure. I wasn't really scared, especially after my boss commented on the shirt I wore today and that it fit my body very differently than it has in the past. I was proud of how much I avoided bread. I wasn't entirely successful on the desserts, but I was ok.

Here are my results lost:

Upper Arm	0
chest	.75
waist	.75
hips	.25
thigh	.25
calf	.25
Total Inches Lost	2.25

They're doing this every month until the end of the year, so I think I'm going to sign up for the one in October and hit it hard. I'm so proud of these inches lost, even if my weight didn't go down (according to the gym scale, it went up 1 lb, but that could be muscle, too).

I've never been so sore as I have the last 10 days. Having three different trainers was a plus, because they all did different things to give us ideas on what to do.

More Blasting Fat!

Whew!! This is super hard, but I've done fairly well with the no bread or pasta. It's the sugar I can't kick.

Saturday 9/15 - Morning session. Bad, bad, bad. I felt like I was in gym class all over again... always being last. Ugh. Was frustrating, but I didn't stop moving. At one point the trainer had us in a single file line, jogging around the track. The person in the back of the line had to run to the front... I pushed my way to the front, past all the tall people. It took me a minute, but I did it. Then... the wheezing started. I have never wheezed like that in my life. Then mountain climbers for a minute (twice), then running stairs for a minute (twice). After the 30 minutes was over, I went to the gym and did my daily homework: squats, lunges, and balance board squat.

I made it! After this session, I had to go to church clean-up day. Washing doors, doing squats, etc. Later that after I get home and relax. Go to stand up and my calves were tight. Thinking it was just that mornings workouts, I wasn't concerned.

Sunday 9/16 - Calves are still tight. Yikes. I might need to get them massaged out. Session tonight was good. More running -- ugh. I ate one piece of bread today and that's it. No sugar. Yay me!!! :) Homework - check.

We're in the home stretch! I'm curious how much I've lost, at least in inches. I've been more focused on not eating bread or sugar, that I'm not so worried about what to lose.

How was your weekend? Keep up the good work. I'm proud of you! :)

It hurts, but it's necessary to Lose Me.

1/2 Way - Day 5

We're halfway through the 10-day fat blasting. Find the schedule here. Here's what's happened:

Thursday 9/13 -- I teach at church every Thursday so I told the trainer I was going to miss our workout. In class they did a lower body pyramid -- kind of glad I missed it. :) On my own I went through the exercises, but not as a pyramid. I did 10 reps of each, 3x. Not bad, not bad. Then I did homework -- 10 back extensions, 20 bridge-pelvic thrusts, 10 roman chair high knees (each 3x).

Friday 9/14 -- Off day. And boy was it off.  I had sugar. And chips. And.... I don't feel guilty. Even though I went over my 1490 calories, I didn't go over 1700 (when I first started counting calories, I began at 1600). And I only went over by 150. Not horrible considered.

I will kick this sugar habit!!! Gah! :)

Losing the sugary me... ;)

10-day fat blasting

On Monday I started this 10-day fat blast at my gym. There are 9 women and we get together every night at 7:30 to do a 30 minute workout. Each night we have a different trainer.

Here's the schedule:

9/10 -- Upper body blast
9/11 -- Partner blast
9/12 -- Circuit blast
9/13 -- Plyo/turbo blast
9/14 -- Off day
9/15 -- Cardio blast
9/16 -- Team blast
9/17 -- Core/Stretch blast
9/18 -- Body Weight blast
9/19 -- Lower body blast
9/20 -- Tabata

In addition to these 30 minute workouts, we have 'homework' that we have to do on our own.  Food is three servings (open hand) of vegetables and fruit. Two lean protein (palm of hand). No white bread or white pasta. No sugar, dessert, cookies, cakes, etc., etc.


Monday 9/10 -- Upper body blast was with my regular trainer, so it was nothing I wasn't already used to.  Homework on the other hand about killed me -- Treadmill @ 3.0, incline of 5, walking for 10 minutes, increasing incline every minute. YIKES. I was hanging on for dear life!

Tuesday 9/11 -- Partner blast on Tuesday was a cardio circuit with a partner. Running suicides, reverse crunches, lunges with a band, etc. Again with my regular trainer so I was pretty used to it. Did not enjoy running around the tennis court, but I made it.  Homework was: Plank (1 min), Side plank (1 min each side), side plank with hip dips (I couldn't do these), regular crunches (1 min). Since I couldn't do hip dips, I also did reverse crunches for 1 minute.

Wednesday 9/12 (whole body now hurts) -- Circuit blast was with a different trainer and she was brutal!! It was a whole body circuit working thighs (lunges, low jumping jacks, squats and overhead press, balance board/bicep curls), crunches (on the ball and bicycle), and arms. Each exercise was done for three minutes.  Homework: Bike on level 10 or above with RPMs 75 or above for 5 minutes. Was hard after doing the circuit, but I managed.

Tomorrow I have to miss, but the trainer told me what they were doing, so I'm on my own.  Off day on Friday. Wish me luck!! :)


Body hurts, but it means progress to Losing Me.

On the Go

One thing God is definitely trying to teach me is being healthy and continuing my workouts no matter where I'm at.  This weekend CJ (roomie) and I went to Oklahoma to discuss a possible ministry idea with some friends of ours.  We left yesterday evening, so in the afternoon I had a session with the trainer.  This morning I woke up and did 30 minutes on the bike at the hotel fitness center.  Trying to make good eating choices is a little bit harder, but I'm getting better -- like if I choose fries, only eating 1/2.

I'm always looking for suggestions about handling traveling and being healthy at the same time!! Please share!  Like this weekend I brought my snacks - caramel rice cakes, almonds, trail mix, gatorade, and my water bottle.  Meals I try to do something grilled chicken or turkey and veggies... doesn't always happen, but I try.

Constantly trying to Lose Me :)


PS - I also need a new water bottle... left mine at the hotel. :(

September Goals

The first couple of days every month I review my goals and look back at what I accomplished.  Here's what took place in August:

Non-scale Successes
64.41 miles (bike, walk, etc.) -- 84.94 for the 9/11 Forces Run
Ran .25 without stopping
Trainer complimented my more defined calves ... yeah!!

September Goals

1. 1. My Fitness Pal Everyday
2. 100 miles for the month
3. Hit 100 miles foro the 9/11 Forces Run (time period July to 9/11)
4. 10-day fat blasting at my gym
5. Lose 8 lbs
6. Plank a Day

What are your goals? Together we can help be accountable in every part of our lives!

Taking small steps ... to Losing Me!