Hot Streak Continues

I feel wonderful about how I've been waking up early for workouts and even making time for them on the weekends. It's like going from seeing a therapist once a month to a more consistent basis and you feel like you really start making progress. My idea of joining bootcamp for a month in the hopes of carrying the early morning workouts on has turned out well. It's sweet relief to be sitting at my desk and know I'm done for the day. I can go home after work and do whatever I want. I've been alternating between some DVDs I rented from the library and going to the gym. I actually ran twice on the treadmill last week and felt energized after. I leave for my Colorado vacation in two days, so I'll accomplish what I can beforehand and then tell myself I don't have to give a hoot about exercising for nearly a week. Cheers!

Happy birthday to me!

I woke up early to start the day with a bang at the gym. Jason was taking Quixote to dog care so I didn't have to worry about reserving 30 minutes of my morning for his walk. Therefore I stayed at the gym for about 90 minutes, of which I ran for a half-hour. That was great for my self-confidence and it was incredibly reassuring to know that run with Ed hadn't damaged my knees irreparably. After that I alternated ab work, weights, lunges, exercises with the ball, alternating jumping lunges, etc. I put forth a hearty effort. I felt I had to. I know people assume I'm this freaky eater who never eats crap but let me put that myth to rest.

Over the course of the weekend I ate an entire Hershey bar and three no bake cookies that each had 9 grams of fat. Also, throw in homemade French toast with cinnamon swirl bread from Good Harvest. Don't forget the pizza on Friday night. After that sugar onslaught, a caramel apple pie appeared in the kitchen at my office on Monday. I only had a sliver of a slice but I'm sure it wasn't on any healthy top 10 list. So, blah blah, there you have it. I'm not perfect with eating like a health nut every day. Hence, my appearance at the gym in the wee hours of my birthday.

Tonight looks like dinner at PF Changs and yes I've already looked at the menu and the nutrition profile online. That place is out of control. Do you know there are some dishes that are considered to be three or four or SIX servings on one plate?? I will definitely be gorging on Buddha's Feast. It's my birthday and I can eat like a nerd if I want to!

Two days down, the rest of my life to go

I continued the trend of working out before work on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday I did my own rendition of boot camp based on a workout site I found online. I usually feel like a dork bopping around on my carpet in my living room but I was determined to try and make a solid effort. I must've done something right since my thighs are screaming for mercy today. Those are the crazy kind of results I can boast about! On Tuesday I went to the gym. It's probably been more than a month since I've been there. I alternated 15 minutes on the treadmill and the elliptical, interspersed with upper body weights and abs. It didn't feel like the hardest workout of my life but back-to-back morning sessions are a strong way to start the week.

I decided that in order to entice myself to keep on this trend of early rising, I need new programs to hold my attention. Until something has proven itself as a lame workout program, I can believe it's going to be great. Therefore I put holds on about 10 DVDs through my library system. Hopefully those will capture my attention, and tone my body as well!

I will miss boot camp

Boot camp technically ended on Monday but I made up two days that I had missed, making this morning my last class. We took body measurements of our neck, chest, waist, thighs, etc. but after a month I didn't have any shape difference. I'm not surprised. I was working out before I even started the session. However, I did notice improvements in the exercises we did for our fit test. For example, on the first day, I could only do 16 burpess and by the end I could do 20 in a minute. I went from holding the plank position for 92 seconds to 107 seconds. I also improved my full sit-ups in one minute by about 25 percent. It's incredibly rewarding to have that tangible evidence of progress.

Boot camp was a very different sort of fitness from what I am used to. It was short circuits, explosive movements, a lot of variety. It's not like doing the same machines at the gym repetitively or plodding along on the treadmill for 30 minutes or even yoga with the exact same exercises every single class. Boot camp was new and challenging in a way that my body responded to really well. I loved how so many exercises tested my core area without it seeming like mindless, dull sit-ups. My abs have never looked better.

Here's an example of what we did today. There were four stations. We did two exercises for 30-45 seconds at each one and then rotated the circuit twice. At the first one, we alternated holding a weight and mimicked the wood-chipping form. At the next station we laid on the floor and raised our legs to make circles one way around a raised bar and then the opposite direction. At another station, we balanced in a bridge position with our neck and shoulders on the ball and then raised and lowered heavy weights over our head and back to our knees. Then we held that position and did tricep extensions. At the next station we kneeled on a bosu ball for decline pus-ups and then hopped with rotating feet to stomp against the ball. That was one circuit group.

Then we were given new exercises and had to repeat each station twice with two movements at each one. tT made the time fly by. It was a perfect combination of cardio and explosiveness with weights and muscle burning. We also did jumping jacks and ran around the building space for more direct cardio. That's just an example of one day and we never had two days that were the same. We'll see how many benefits and tips I can take from this class and carry them over to my gym routine.

Did I really say I would run 16 miles?

I was actually pretty excited about running with Ed for one of his 16-mile loops on his quest to finish 100 miles and bring in a boatload of money to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I said I would help him out with the fourth loop, which had me meeting up with him about 5:00 p.m. on Saturday evening. The weather was a tad on the warm side, but even with that, the conditions were pretty favorable for running. No rain fell, as had been predicted — and had been my biggest fear.

In preparation I skipped the previous Friday's boot camp section to save my legs a bit. Besides that, I really wasn't all that prepared. Ed just made it seem rather ... can I say ... easy? He told me it would mostly be walking in the woods with a tiny bit of running interspersed and then times of politely looking the other way when he would be crying in misery. I hadn't been running much on my own up to that point. Besides a few days of boot camp during the week and long walks with Quixote and Jason (not on the beach, ha ha), I hadn't really pushed my body through any grueling workouts. However, the idea that it would be a lot of walking compelled me. I love walking. I love being out in the woods. I feel great when I can help someone out with a worthy cause. And when Ed's not talking about bad music, he can be an engaging conversationalist.

I arrived at Pinckney Rec Area with plenty of time to spare. I met Ed's son Brent and chatted with Caryn, who is probably one of the most sincere, friendliest people I've ever talked with. The crowds were pumped with electric tie-dye banners and signs. There was even a stage for a band. I was impressed with the turnout of people.

Ed had been having a good day, although he might say bad because he's one of those types who thinks running too fast can be a bad thing. Ah, those runners, so fickle. We met up slightly ahead of schedule and we were soon the only ones on the trail. The scenery was great. It's events like that that remind me how trail running beats the pants off road running or cement running or asphalt running. If you can't see or smell a car, you're going to enjoy yourself. Nature was showing off at her peak. The foliage was abundant and verdant. The pine needles littered the path like earth's best concocted cushion. But what was that smell? Ed though it was a skunk but after following behind him for a spell, I had my doubts. I think he was trying to create a diversion.

But then came his joke about a man pooping in his sleep in bed and I thought, Uh-oh, this is going to be a long 16. How can I possibly get out of this? As if that weren't enough, he started to wax on about Katy Perry's "talent." Hmmm ... this was going to be an exhausting day, and I wasn't even thinking about my legs!

Actually Ed showed a lot of grit and spirit and it was very inspiring. To think he already completed 48 miles before I even joined him was pretty impressive. He kept a fierce pace. I might have figured we'd be just walking but that's like saying Usain Bolt just jogs in the Olympics. That surprised me but I was determined to keep up. I felt like it was my duty to not complain, not badger him too much about how he was feeling and just be there to keep the pace and occasionally offer something slightly interesting to say.

However, my full 16-mile lap was not to be. I felt so upset when my knee initially started bothering me. I thought it was my heel lift, so I removed that. But the pain was still there. I tried to walk faster when Ed was jogging to avoid that stress, but that didn't help matters either. Not the ideal place for a pacer. I sorta hoped that shifting my balance or changing my stride would alleviate the growing splinters around my knee. Nothing was working and I was hugely dismayed. It finally became clear that I was going to have to punk out at an aid station and, boy, did I feel like a punk. But once Ed told me that he'd stick with me before he'd care about finishing the race, I knew I had to get out of there. If I really wanted to help him, then my best position would be off the trail. What kind of pacer forces her runner to hobble along with her? Not a very good one, I thought.

At the 10-mile marker with a knee of glass, I respectfully stepped off the trail and waved Ed on. I had no doubts that he would finish. And many hours later, he did. After I heard about how many times he threw up on that fourth loop once I bowed out, I felt pretty confident that I made the right decision at the right time. Sure, running 100 miles is pretty tough but running 16 with someone whose idea of conversation is Katy Perry's "talent" is rough too. I can't blame the guy though. Eating baked potatoes and Gu and throwing up repeatedly can do strange things to a person.