Monday’s run, but no 30 Day Shred

Normally I try to run Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturday or Sunday.  However, I haven’t been very consistent with my running lately….a little laziness maybe??  Anyway, I also looked up the weather forecast for this week and made the decision to do something different.  Instead of waiting until Tuesday, I decided to start my week of with a run.

So, this afternoon I checked the weather, changed my clothes and went running.  The weather was a cool 64*F, but the humidity was 50%, and the winds were 13 mph.  I wore shorts (because of the humidity) but wore a long sleeve cotton shirt (because of the winds).  It ended up being the perfect outfit!!

I ran my usual route but changed it around a little.  Running the neighborhood is 1 mile up and 1 mile back and running around the park trail 3 times equals 1 mile.  Normally I run the neighborhood first and finish up with the park.  However, too often I am finding myself finding excuses to stop before I run the full mile in the park.  So, I ran the 3 laps first and then ran up and back down the main street.  It worked out perfect!!

When I run the neighborhood, it is opposite from where my car is parked so I can’t quit….I have to either walk or run back.  See, sometimes I have to use psychology on myself!!  How sad is that?!  I started my run a little too fast because my legs were exhausted the last 1/4 mile and it took everything I had to run my intervals and finish somewhat strong!

I am continuing my interval schedule from last week: 2 minute run/2 minute walk X 9.  However, since I ran 3 full miles today what I actually ended up running was:  run 2 minutes X 11/walk 2 minutes x 10, + 1:13 min walk.  It was a great run and it put me in a great mood for the week.

Because I ran so late–6:15pm, I have decided not to do my 30 Day Shred workout tonight.  I debated this with myself but decided that whenever I do the workout after my run (usually a few hours) my knee’s are “not right” ( I don’t really know how to describe it, they don’t necessarily hurt, but I can “feel” them).  I would have been doing the workout within a half and hour from when I got home from running.  I don’t want to mess up my knee’s, so I am going to err on the side of caution. Don’t worry, I will be back tomorrow to do Day 10….the last day of level 1!!

Tonight I will do some ab work and a little yoga.  Dancing With The Stars is on tonight as well as the premiere of The Bachelorette.  I have never seen The Bachelor or Bachelorette before…but the girl is from the Bay Area, so I thought I’d check it out.   Besides, Real Housewives of New Jersey is on at 10pm so I probably won’t watch all of it anyway.

Today for breakfast I had a Sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks –no whip.  I know, not the best choice, but it’s better than nothing!  For lunch I had a turkey burger and Summer Squash Medley (leftovers from the other day).  After my run I had a Fuji apple w/2 Tbsp of peanut butter.  For dinner tonight I am going to have whole grain pasta and broccoli. Also, for snack earlier today I had a few walnuts.

I’m still not drinking enough water.  I know I’m dehydrated, even though I don’t really feel like it.  So far today I’ve had 4 cups of water.  I am going to go guzzle some more and maybe I can get to 8 cups by bedtime?? Fingers crossed!!

30 Day Shred-Day 6

I’m so happy today was a beautiful warm sunny clear skied spring day!! And the best part….no humidity!! I was going to run late this afternoon but my mom invited me to an early dinner and grocery shopping so off I went!

We went to Rubio’s.  I had a chicken burrito.  Yes, it’s huge but I only ate half and took the rest home.  It was so good! I was really thirsty so I ended up drinking a lot of water!!

Afterward we went to Nugget Market.  Bought lot’s of fruits and veggies.  I think I mentioned this grocery store in a previous post.  This store has the best produce dept!! The whole store is fabulous! It’s very clean and the employees are the nicest!!  I know why they are considered one of the best employers in the state (I think the country too?!).

After watching my SFGiants lose again to AZ Diamondbacks I watched Real Housewives of NY and then Watch What’s Happening Live.  Sarah Jessica Parker was on WWHL tonight and I couldn’t miss it!! SJP was fabulous as always!

And, like a good girl, right after WWHL was over I turned on the dvd and did my workout!.  The Shred was awesome tonight! I finished everything even when it burned like crazy!  I can’t believe I’m saying this but the push-ups were great tonight!!  Did I really just write that?  Yep, and I meant it! I only have 4 more days of Level 1.  I am getting a little nervous, but I’ll get over it!

As for my eating….no ice cream for breakfast today! lol  I had a bowl of Shredded Wheat.  But I didn’t have lunch today because I wasn’t hungry.  I did have a Fuji apple w/2 tbsp of peanut butter and then the early dinner.

Still feeling a little dehydrated so I need to drink more water!! What the heck is wrong with me!?!?!?  Goodnight!

The Shred–Day 2

I decided to blog about my workouts in a public forum because writing it in a journal for “my eyes only” hasn’t really been enough of a motivation to stay committed.  I figured that if I put it out there for anyone & everyone to read it would make me stay on track because the alternative, quitting in public, is too darn embarrassing!!  Whatever works, right?!

So, I did do my second day of Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred–Level 1.  I wasn’t sore from yesterday which is a good thing!  I am finding that each time I do this workout parts of it get a little easier so I am doing part of the routine following the “beginners” trainer and part of the routine following the “advanced” trainer.  Hopefully, by day 10 of this level I will be following the advanced trainer throughout.  Fingers crossed!!

The push-ups are still nearly impossible–but I keep trying!  The only part that seemed harder was the dreaded arm raises using the 5 lb weights while doing side lunges.  My arms were burning so bad I could barely stand it!  But Jillian is right there motivating me on……

I again finished this workout with a smile on my face…….very sweaty, but with a smile.  Now, that’s what counts!! If I’m smiling, it means I can’t wait to do it again…..burning arms and all!!!

The Shred–Day 1 (again)

Yes, today is “officially” the 4th time I’ve done the Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.  Today would be the 2nd time this week and I did the routine twice last week. I made a decision yesterday that I would start again and do it for 30 days straight.  So, I am ignoring what I did before and counting today as day 1.

I’m starting out at Level 1.  Since there are 3 levels of this routine and it’s a 30 day program, I figure I will do each level for 10 days.  I marked it on my calender to make it easier for me to remember to move up when it’s time.

Push-ups are at the beginning of level one, right after the warm-up.  I have always sucked at doing them, even the beginner’s kind using your knees!  Things haven’t changed, but, I am hoping that after the 30 days I will be able to show some improvement.  We’ll see……

The first time I did this routine last week, I could barely do the jumping jacks!! Yes, seriously! It was very embarrassing since I used to be able to do them with ease.  Today I was able to do them easily!! This makes me sooo happy!!

Level 1 is tough, but I was able to sweat through the whole routine!  The only areas  that gave me a hard time were the push-ups and the side lunges with the arm raises using weights.  The side lunges themselves were no problem, but the arm raises w/the 5 lb weights were a killer!! Yes, my arms are very weak.  But in my defense, even when I was thin I had weak arms!  I want to change that permanently!!

I can honestly say that I finished this routine with a smile on my face!! I was sweaty but happy!!

Also, I weighed myself this morning and I was 169.0 lbs.  I have quite a ways to go but 1.5 lbs lost is better than 1.5 lbs gained!!! I’ll take it!!