When?

When did it happen? When did I suddenly become 'athletic'? Well, I can say that I'm an athlete, but I still question my level of athleticism. When?

When did I start drinking protein drinks instead of soda? When did i start finding healthy alternative to yummy gu chomps?

I surprise myself! Three years ago a journey began...like life in general, I didn't know I had trekked a new path. My BFF asked me to join her for a 5K at Disney; I laughed of course because 3.1 miles is for people trained to do so. I wasn't 'fit', and I couldn't imagine being so. For some reason, I said yes. It was a long three miles; she left me after 100 feet. I was shocked that I finished, and I wanted to do it again.

Later in 2007, I did a 6.5K at Disney (Tower of Terror), a night race, and again, it was almost fun. That hooked me. I started exercising more, and in 2008, I did about 7 races. I even did the Minnie Marathon 15K. 2009 brought a half marathon challenge; I thought I was prepared but not really. I finished it, but I struggled; struggled more than I liked.

In 2009, I decided I was going to do a full marathon, 26.2 miles of craziness. Everyone I know thought I was crazy. Nonetheless, I signed up for Team in Training, and my journey follows in the older blog posts. I learned about sneaker shopping and rediscovering the joy of spandex. I ate Clif Shot Bloks and Gu Chomps. I even got addicted to the Biggest Loser season 8(?).

In January 2010, I completed the full marathon. It wasn't easy. I pushed through that event and finished. Aw, the glory. My pain would ease up quickly, while those I walked for were stuck in hospitals.

This year, I decided to do it again. I am a fast walker, and my new challenge is running a good distance of the half marathon. I joined the Y, and I'm even exploring new 'healthy' smoothies. Scary enough, I may actually learn how to swim and get back on a bike; not turning into a tri-athlete yet.

I've been pushing myself in new ways. I'm learning to train without machines to do strength training, and I just went to my first boot camp class. I've done some yoga too.

So I ask when did this happen? When did I actually get a little excited about going to workout? It's surprising, yet exciting.

What's great is that I can embrace, love it and leave all the sweat behind (or on the road, treadmill, weight machine or studio floor).

So thanks for letting me share my journey with you.

little weekend work

Well, quick inventory of activity:
Thursday swimming
Friday rest
Saturday strength/cardio

So, one of my buds let me enjoy her pool on Thursday. Since I'm still new to swimming, I took the 35 minutes to practice breathing and get comfortable in the water. I'm not trying to stroke myself across the pool yet. Just learn how to regulate my breathing. I know it sounds funny, but the next step is to figure out how to get the swim cap on; it's not as easy as I thought.

On Friday, I took a long nap in the evening before going back to sleep.

Today, I did session #2 at the Y. It shows some additional strength plus using the elliptical (intervals). There was supposed to be a small group of us, but it was only me, so it became a personal training session. It was good, and I worked up a good sweat. I like the fact that they show you how to use machines and work without machines. The staff, for the most part, is really nice.
Apparently Saturday has a kids day element where the kids are in the studio doing exercises and such, so there was a huge group of parents watching in awe. It was so cute; the parents were so proud.

So after a good workout today, I headed to a chocolatier to make my own chocolate with a nice group of women I met through a meetup.com. They do lots of fun activities, and it's nice to meet new people.

The rest of the day is projects and soon I'll be off to bed to get some good sleep. Tomorrow is another adventure.

Butt Workout

Well, earlier this week I accidentally :) took a break from my normal workout. I didn't get to join the team for a group run session due to work that kept me there past the deadline to get out of the office. I made up for it (not that you can really do that) with some workouts the past two days.

Yesterday, I got a guest pass to Gold's Gym, so I could attend a Step class. I haven't done step aerobics in YEARS, and it did show. I'm good with coordination but it was fast, couldn't understand a damn word the instructor was saying, and there was a tall guy blocking my view. Needless to say, I laughed a lot through it all. Today, I can definitely feel it in my rear. yay!

Today, I got told I have a strut in my step, like I shake my hips or something. I don't know what to say about that at all, but "check it out boys!"

So after work today I headed straight to the gym (Y) to do some cardio. I did a nice 20 minute workout on the treadmill with a nice mix of walking and running. Then I got a 15 minute stretch class where I really worked out my chest muscles that get cramped from sitting over a computer like this all darn day. After the stretch, I went straight into yoga. Wow, there were some moves...nothing killer though. I felt a really good stretch like I can feel myself getting stronger. It was nice because one of my buds was there in class, and it's always more fun with friends.

Now I can enjoy a protein shake and a documentatary on the Future of Food. Food Inc is better but still good education on the food I consume.

Getting Faster

This morning was a nice 3 mile jaunt in a pretty park in Orlando. I was less aggressive than I was earlier this week, as I didn't want to hurl. I did a great time for me, but didn't kill myself. I did interval training with running and walking so I can continue to challenge myself.
Afterwards is the fun part where we eat breakfast together. Not everyone can join, but it's a great time to chat and bond over our experiences. I can tell this season is going to be fun.

Recovery

Whew! I am enjoying the day off. This evening I've been preparing for my fundraising activities by prepping letters to mail over the weekend. I am excited for exercise tomorrow. Three (3) mile run in the morning, some volunteering and hopefully some pool time in the afternoon. It should be fabulous!

The Pool Excitement

Let's start with the fact that I didn't exercise yesterday. Holy crap sore muscles. I could barely walk on Wednesday, so I decided to take a recovery day. It ended up working out great because I met up with a couple people I had gone skydiving with, and we watched the videos plus the additional footage some of us hadn't seen yet. Hilarious!

So today was a new adventure. Two of my fabulous friends, Julie & Leslee, took me to a Y with a pool. I was shown how to swim many times as a child but never picked it up; I feel like people laugh at me regularly for my 'inability' to swim. This evening, I changed. They showed me to float, to use goggles, to breathe while stroking, etc. It was an adventurous time, and I felt frustrated that I still don't like water on my face. What changed, however, is that I did well. The two of them provide great encouragement, so I felt safe and inspired to do well.

I definitely see myself buying a swim cap and some goggles. I'll probably see a bit more of the pool, though I am not ready to conquer a triathlon yet (though I have friends at work encouraging me to do so).

This week has been great with improving fitness.

New Mantra

Well, tonight a new mantra chose me. I was singing random songs in my head, when the song "Hands" by Jewel came out. Only Kindness Matters. I know this doesn't have to do directly with training or eat healthy, but it does. It's about kindness to others and to myself. It's about pushing my body in a healthy way, eating food that nourishes my body & doesn't hurt it, and being gentler on the level of stress I place upon myself. It's not about being angry on the road and letting the guy in in front of you; it's about smiling at the grocery store cashier.
It's about kindness - to me and everyone around me. It starts here!

Yack is Back

Dear me, I decided to push myself and ended up hurling a couple times in the last 24 hours. After training last nite, 'bleck'. This morning I went to a Total Body workout; I hadn't attended a class like this with heavy weights, floorwork and a medicine ball. At the end, whew! I headed to the bathroom and hurled up my light breakfast. Rough! Then I went to the Y 1st Go Session where we talk about warm-ups, nutrition, learn some of the machines and get it in gear. The same trainer from the total body, and she was so excited to have me back a second time. She was awesome! She's high energy and a marathoner, and she's excited for my training.
While I was there, I saw Tom, who I consider one of my coaches; he got me to the finish line of the marathon, and he continues to be my cheerleader.
So yes, I hurled, but I recovered. Can I tell you how much my quads hurt? I'm afraid I won't make it downstairs in the morning or even to crawl into the shower.
It's time to kick it!

training time is back

Holy crap, today was the first TNT training. It wasn't difficult in comparison, but I wanted to push myself hard. I did. I also tried to puke my brains out as well, but was able to maintain. We did a 2 mile loop in which I ran and walked in TWENTY minutes; I maintained a 10:10 pace for that two miles. That is unbelievable for me. A new record. It felt great that I could move so quickly when I added some jogging. I got to catch up with one of my mentors, who is super nice; she and i kept pace together for about a mile, and it's so good to be back with her and other coaches/mentors. It's going to be a good season!
Got my shower now, ate a banana, now I need to find a bit of dinner.

The New Beginning

Today I officially began a new TNT adventure. I'm doing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Fran. I can't believe it, and I'm so excited. We kicked it off today. With that, I signed right up at the YMCA. Yes, I now have a gym, where I can train on machines and do group classes. I'm excited about the classes. It's all here. New dollar figure to raise, and I have an excitement in my heart. It's going to be fun.