Continuous improvement.

My lofty exercise goals hit a small snag on Friday afternoon when I bounded out for a run, only to feel that my back was not well. This happens every so often and is a good indicator that my heel lift is worn out and I need a new one Also, it's a sign that I am wearing lazy flip-flops too often and I need to wear my support shoes. This was hugely disappointing. I was already feeling frazzled and rushed for time and was so yearning for the opportunity to quickly work out my emotions. Well, I did the only thing I could do in that situation. I powered though a workout video that I had not done in a long time. Yikes! My thighs were screaming bloody loud! And on top of that, I later strapped on some high heels and went dancing at a wedding.

Now, it's Sunday and my legs are still recovering from Friday. However, I set my goal of running 5 miles and I was going to see it through. After all this half-marathon isn't going to have a moving sidewalk! However, I also had another (albeit, minor) goal of sleeping in. That wasn't such a good idea by the time I got to the park and it was already nearing 70 degrees. Ugh. I gave a very determined effort and stayed upright for the entire five miles but I definitely squeezed in some walking breaks. I really hadn't approached this as best as I might have, but I still met my goal. That was a wonderful feeling!

Now, it's nearly 1:00, I'm done running but it's very hot outside. What's the only thing I want to do? Yes, go swimming! I call up one of my friends to head out to Island Lake. We like to swim from one side of the lake to the other. I'm not sure the distance but we guess approximately a quarter of a mile. Whew. Buns of burning steel! Where's my life jacket? Sharon wanted to swim back again and I said she was on her own. I wasn't going to pull out the I-already-ran-5-miles card, but, seriously, I had already run for an hour today.

Then I got home and started thinking that with all this focus on PT and getting in more runs, I've been neglecting my upper body and core. So I decided to go with the day's current adrenaline and pump out another short workout video for my arms and shoulders. I've also been thinking about the main character in American Psycho who claims to do 1,000 crunches a day. I know full well I couldn't do 1,000 unless you plucked my intestines from out of my body, but I thought I'd give it a try and work up to bigger numbers. Well, I got up to 150 and called a day.

All these stats are marked on my calendar in a kaleidoscope of colored stars. Continuous improvement---that's the idea.