Monday, July 31, 2006

Workout (Weights)

BodyPump: 4:30pm-5:30pm

What a disastorous class. My plan was to run but when AL called to see if I'd be up for a BP class, I couldn't say no. So I was prepared to run, not do Body Pump and yes, I have different clothes for Body Pump then running. Problems with the class were as follows:

1) Forgot my socks, worked out without them (Ugh)
2) Didn't bring my gloves, worked out without them; hands feel all callousy (Ugh)
3) Wore shorts (New Lulu Lemon Running shorts) and not my usual pants, which meant that the dead rows were annoying because I'm using to sliding my bar down the legs of my pants not my bare legs (Ugh).
4) Wore my t-shirt and not my running tank/bra because I had just washed the running tank/bra and didn't want to have to wash it again before my next run and was therefore not as comfortable as I would be had I worn say, a Lulu tank.
5) For whatever reason the instructor didn't have a mic, seemed scattered and didn't turn the lights on so we were working out in the dark and (I was) feeling disoriented
6) Not focused and too distracted by work - BP is MUCH better in the morning when I'm barely awake and can focus on only one thing (BP)

Good things about the class?

Getting to hang with AL :).

I also met Tay at the driving range after work and spent 30 minutes or so trying to hit the ball. I'm sore this evening as a result and planning on just going to yoga on my lunch hour tomorrow, but I will have my running clothes with me, so if I'm so inspired, I might squeeze in a run between meetings tomorrow. Possible but not likely.

Oh yeah:

Calories Consumed:1957
Calories Burned (During BP): ~300
Calories Net: 1657

Posted by Tawny at 7:44 PM | | Comments

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Workout (Cardio)

Walking: 5 minutes
Running: 15 minutes / 2.5km / HR: 173
Walking: 20 minutes / HR: 137

Total Time: 40 minutes
Distance: 4.87km

I somehow managed to convince Tay to go for a run around 9pm, with the promise that we wouldn't stay out very long, only one running session and a walking warmup and cooldown. We started off at a good pace and despite the temperature (weather network indicated a temp of 33 with the humidex, but it felt relatively cool), I managed to stay just ahead of Tay until 10 minutes or so into our run and then I began to fall behind a little bit. At the 15 minute mark I pulled the plug and said I couldn't do anymore; we slowed down and walked for 20 minutes. Shortly before we got home I began to notice a cramp in my right hip and a slight pain behind my right knee - I made sure to stretch well when we got in, but later, when I was complaining that my legs were sore, Tay tsked me and said that I should have said something about the pace and we could have slowed down. I gave him what I hoped was my best stubborn You're-kidding-me look and then for extra emphasis I declared there was no way I was going to do that.

Competitive much? Maybe just a little :).

Two short runs in a row - I'm hoping to hit the treadmill after work tomorrow for a lengthier run. I'd like to get into running daily, even if 4 or 5 of the 7 runs are shorter, with 2 longer runs, and during my shorter runs I can work on building up my speed.

Calories Consumed: 2113
Calories Burned (During exercise): 271
Calories Net: 1842

Another thing for me to be obsessive about - Fitday.com.

(Though I really could have gone without knowing the truth about avocados.)

Posted by Tawny at 8:37 PM | | Comments

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Workout (Cardio & Stretch)

Cardio - Running/Walking
WarmUp: 5 minutes
Running: 15 minutes / 2.25km / HR: 183
Walking: 10 minutes / HR:147
Running: 7 minutes /HR: 175
Walking/Cooldown: 10 minutes

Total Time: 47 minutes
Total Distance: 6.8km

This damn humidity is wreaking havoc with my running schedule.

Set the alarm for 7am to get up and out in an effort to avoid the humidity - the night before the forecast had predicted temps around 22 degrees with tolerable humidity. When I checked the temp, it was 22 degrees but the humidex made it feel like 32. That said, our first running segment was much slower than Monday's and the second segment I had to cut short because I seriously felt like I was going to throwup. I'm NOT happy.

Stretch - Yoga
50 minutes (Kathy Smith's New Yoga Basics)

Tay agreed to try yoga and so instead of doing New Yoga Challenge, I switched back to the beginners video and spent an hour giggling as I listened to Tay cursing as he tried to get into various poses. He did well though - I'm sure his downward dog is better than mine - and at the end of the hour, while he might not have felt noticeably more relaxed and focused (I did) he did agree that he would try it again.

(This means going back to Lulu for a yoga mat so I have one for at home! :).

Posted by Tawny at 2:39 PM | | Comments

Friday, July 28, 2006

Does Learning to Swing Count?

In exchange for running with me, Tay decided that in return I should learn to play golf so we went to the driving range after I got home from work so that he could try and teach me how to swing the golf club. We were at the range for probably 45 minutes, long enough for me to go through a large bucket of balls. Holding a golf club was a little awkward and there was lots to remember - I have a checklist in my head now (left arm straight, knees bent, eye on the ball) but I wasn't totally discouraged.

I'm not sure how well I did, or how much exercise it counted as, but I'm quite sure I looked positively athletic in my new Lulu shorts and my yellow tank.

THAT's what exercising is all about, after all - looking good while you do it ;).

Posted by Tawny at 2:33 PM | | Comments

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Workout (Weights)

BodyPump: 12pm-1pm

Spent the night at Elisa's so ended up going to the noon hour class rather than my normal morning class. Noticed a BIG difference in the people that go at lunch time compared to morning, especially the really annoying girl who set up right in front of me.

Things to do during BodyPump that will cause me to glare at your back:
-Set up right in front of me, therefore blocking my line of vision and ability to check my form in the mirror in front of the class
-Tap your foot to the music but not in rhythm
-Constantly lift too much weight during every track and then have to decrease during, which is hugely distracting
-Have really bad BO and but make me obsess that it's me and not you (which it wasn't, I kept checking)
-Let the class know that you're friendly with the instructor by chatting constantly with her between tracks, therefore slowing the rest of us down.

Bonus? My new Lulu Lemon top looked great, especially with my weight lifting gloves! :)

Posted by Tawny at 2:26 PM | | Comments

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Workout (Weights And Cardio)

Body Pump: 7:30am-8:30am
Running: 6:15pm-7:45pm

I was too distracted chatting away with Anna Lee this evening to keep track of our progress but I do know that in the first 15 minutes that we ran, we covered a distance of 1.4 miles, which works out to about 2.26km. It would appear that my pace has definitely improved, despite my feeling a little sore this evening (running last night and BP this morning was a lot on top of my run tonight) and the humidity was up there (+30) so I was impressed that we did so well despite the less then optimal conditions. What impressed me more was the distance we covered - we went down through High Park until we came out at the bottom and I was floored to realize we were on the Queensway. We cut down Colborne Lodge Road to the lake and for the first time ever, we ran along the lake front before cutting back up to Queen and then up Lansdowne. Heather pointed me in the direction of Gmaps Pedometer which is utterly cool and our route is marked out here. We clearly lost track of time while running and chatting and we walked more then I would have liked but I was enjoying both the company and the scenery so I'm focusing less on how much mileage I ran and more on the fact that it was an hour and a half of cardio on a really hot night when I was already tired to begin. If I had to guess, I would say that we ran for at LEAST 45 minutes if not more - maybe an hour of the hour and a half. According to Gmaps we did 5.7 miles (~9.2km) and my pedometer recorded us at 5.85miles so it's pretty close (I was questioning the accuracy of my pedometer).

Definitely a good run - and now that I know about Gmaps, I can start tracking all my runs - this is going to be very cool :).


Posted by Tawny at 7:37 PM | | Comments

Monday, July 24, 2006

Workout (Cardio)

Walking: 5 minutes / .30miles
Running: 12 minutes / 1.15 miles (1.85km) / HR: 173
Walking: 8 minutes / HR:137
Running: 12 minutes / 1.05 miles (1.7 km) / HR: 176
Walking: 11 minutes / HR: 137

Total Distance: 3.9 miles (6.3km)
Total Time: 48 minutes

I worked through my lunch hour today so I could leave early and go for a run when I got home - but after sitting in the car (in jeans) for 45 minutes I was too warm to go back out and run so I convinced Tay that we could go after dinner. We didn't end up going out until 9pm and by then, the sun was almost gone and there was a very mild breeze blowing that made the temperature very comfortable.

Tay had hurt himself a few weeks ago so it's been a while since he ran with me - plus I was sick for a week and then I did both my runs indoors last weeks so I told him that we'd run for as long as he was able and we'd stop whenever he said the word. As soon as we took off running I noticed a considerable distance in my pace - it would appear that running on the treadmill last week has helped me to increase my stride and in the past, when Tay has ran with me, my pace has always been too slow for him so he's always gone ahead a short ways whereas tonight, I seemed to keep just ahead of him - he agreed with me during our walking segment that I'm definitely much faster, and my the first time when I've been running I felt very strong and very confident.

We did two 12 minute running segments which was fine with me and it was nice to run in the dark with a partner (I've always been a little nervous about running at night by myself). I didn't want to really push myself because I've got a big workout day planned tomorrow - Body Pump at 7:30, a run with AL at 5pm and then we're going to Body Flow at 6:30pm. I think with all of that, I just might be able to take Wednesday off. We'll see :).

Posted by Tawny at 8:29 PM | | Comments

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Workout (Stretch)

BodyFlow: 11:30am-12:30am

Woke up this morning to sore muscles that I never knew existed so headed downtown with Laura in the morning thinking that an hour of Body Flow might help.

For whatever reason there was lots of traffic on the Gardner so I was late for the class but I snuck in anyway - got there right at the end of sun salutations which is my favorite part but it was still good to stretch through the rest of the class.

We've learned a move in class where we're supposed to sit cross legged with our feet on the floor in front of us, take a deep breath, and with our hands face down on the floor beside us, we support ourselves on our arms and lift our butts from the floor. That's not the difficult part - once we've accomplished that, we're supposed to lift our legs and feet off the floor as well so that the only part of us touching the ground are our palms.

I can get my butt off the floor but the rest of me? Not a chance, at least not yet.

Posted by Tawny at 8:12 PM | | Comments

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Workout (Weights and Other Stuff)

Body Pump: 10:30am-11:30am
Paddle Boating: 4:15pm-5:00pm
Kayaking: 5:00pm-5:45pm

My original plan had been to get up early and run before hitting Body Pump at Laura's gym with her, but being out the night before until 2am and then up until 3am doing laundry meant I was sleeping as long as I possibly could because I knew the day was going to be long and the night even longer.

Probably a good thing that I didn't run because I took Laura with me to the club picnic after Body Pump and after we grabbed some food, we wandered down to the lake where after learning that the kayaks were already rented out we decided to go out in the paddle boats. 45 minutes after constant pedaling we returned to the beach and found the kayaks returned, so we asked if we could take the kayaks out for the last 15 minutes of our paid hour. 15 minutes turned into 45 minutes and when I finally climbed onto shore, both my legs and my arms hurt in ways that they hadn't hurt in a very long time.

I LOVED kayaking though - was surprised at how easy it was to learn and how much fun it is. Laura told me that she kayaks on the lakefront every Friday night - she got started when her and a friend of hers took a private lesson. When Laura and I were out on the lake we talked about planning a weekend in the fall where we'd do a guided kayaking tour along some river - I think I'm going to look into taking a lesson so that can happen :).

Posted by Tawny at 8:00 PM | | Comments

Friday, July 21, 2006

If I Could Have, I Would Have

But my body was begging for a day off, so I listened.


Posted by Tawny at 7:59 PM | | Comments

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Workout (Weights)

Body Pump: 5:30pm-6:30pm

I think I maybe overdid the working out this week and was possibly not fully recovered from my cold because Body Pump was brutal. I can't remember the last time I found a Body Pump class so hard, or when I sweated so much. I was constantly wiping my face down and I drank half a litre of water and half a litre of Gatorade during the hour class. AL joined me for the class and of course she barely broke a sweat - can I just say how frustrating it is to workout with someone who doesn't sweat and finishes the class looking the way she started whereas when I finish, I look like I've been through the wringer? :). (And I just finished having this conversation with Steve who fully agrees with me, so there's no use in AL getting all indignant ;).

I noticed in BP that Instructor B kept calling out to me on how to adjust my form - I'm guessing because I upped my weights that it was throwing off my form a bit and so everytime she said something I did my best to correct - by the 4th or 5th time I was trying to convince myself that it was good that she was watching me and that she just wanted me to be doing it properly so that I didn't hurt myself, and not feel like I was getting picked on becaues I didn't notice her calling out to anyone else. Maybe it was because I was lifting SO much weight (more than the dude next to me) that she wanted to keep an eye on me as a precaution. That must be it ;).

Regardless the class was really hard and I was REALLY sore afterwards that I need a day off and I won't be working out again until Saturday morning when I'm hoping to go for a run before I head downtown to meet Laura for Body Pump at her gym. I'm going to try and run for 40 minutes again, this time outside. How exciting! :)

Posted by Tawny at 1:20 PM | | Comments

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Workout (Stretch and Cardio)

BodyFlow: 12:10pm-1:10pm

Walking (Warmup) : 5 minutes
Running: 40 minutes
Walking (Cooldown) : 5 minutes

When did 15 minutes become 40?

I was too sore from BodyPump yesterday to go for a run this morning but I brought my running clothes with me to work thinking I might get in a run after work. After a very long, very boring meeting that ran late and therefore kept me at my desk well after 5 preparing for another meeting tomorrow morning, I seriously debated whether or not to run. My head was hurting, my butt and thighs still hurt when I walked, I was tired and I'm still sniffling (yes, over a week later). Earlier in the day I thought I would be able to run outdoors because there was a nice breeze but by 5 the humidity was building so I knew if I was going to run it was going to be at the gym. Finally I convinced myself to hit the treadmill and promised myself that even if I only did 15 minutes it was better than nothing and that I'd allow myself to go home at the 15 minute mark.

My motivation going to the gym was next to none - realizing I forgot my lock was almost enough to send me back to my car and on my way home. Didn't help either when I got on the treadmill and discovered that a) I forgot by heart rate watch, and b) Charlotte's battery was dead - it took every ounce of me not to get off the treadmill. I pitched the Ipod into my bag though, plugged my headphones into the gym's music system and tried not to get discouraged when, at 2 minutes into my run I wanted to stop.

I told myself to just run until I couldn't run anymore. And then a funny thing happened. At the 15 minute mark, I realized I wanted to do 5 more. At the 20 minute mark, I figured I'd go for 25 and I did. At the 25 minute market, I was too close to 30 to give up and once I hit 30 I figured I could do just 5 more, and I did. And at the 35 minute mark I realized I'd never ran for longer than 35 so I pushed it a bit more and 5 minutes later I was at 40.

40 minutes of running without stopping, for a total of 6km.

In order to start training for the marathon next May, I need to be able to run 5-6km 3-4 times a week by the end of August. It's not even the end of July and I've hit the 6km mark. To say I'm excited is an understatement :).

I'm looking forward to getting back outdoors, and am hoping for an early morning run Friday morning with Tay. I have plans to go to BP with AL tomorrow evening after work despite the fact that I'm still sore from Body Pump yesterday, plus BodyFlow today was a new release so the positions were tough, and after that run tonight all I can think about is how I thought my butt and thighs hurt BEFORE I hit the gym. I'm tired, I'm still headachy and I hurt but it's all irrelevant because I think I've had one of my best runs EVER.

Posted by Tawny at 7:50 PM | | Comments

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Workout (Weights)

Body Pump: 7:30am-8:30am

I don't listen very well.

I said last night that I wasn't going to up any of my weights but I get to class and what did I do? I increased my weights for half of the tracks we do:

Squats: 15kg to 17kg (37.5lbs)
Back and Hamstrings: 12 kg to 14 kg (31lbs)
Triceps: 7 kg to 9kg (20lbs)
Lunges: 14kg to 15kg (33lbs)

My weights are getting to a point where, when I increase and am loading up my bar, I feel apprehensive about whether or not I'm going to be able to lift it - like when I was increasing for the back and hamstrings track I initially loaded up 15kg and got scared by the heft of it and panicked and switched the plates around. It meant that I only took off a kg but it seemed more manageable and it was probably better that I did reduce it because it was definitely a struggle. I find this 'fear' a little silly because I've been very cautious about my progress and making sure that my increases are gradual - a jump in 1-2kgs is not a lot, but I'm reacting like I'm suddenly lifting 10 times the amount of weight - but maybe that makes sense because my muscles should be reacting that way to more weight regardless of how much it is.

The instructors keep telling us that when you can get through a track and it's not a struggle, that's when you should increase, and when you do increase, it should suddenly become so much more difficult. Definitely true, I fought my way through all the tracks I increased for, and found the lunges so hard that I thought I was going to throw up following them. The instructor this morning pointed out that lunges are much harder to do than squats because you really only use the one leg (if you're doing them properly, you use the other leg as a hinge). I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense so after hearing that I didn't load up my bar as much as I did for squats.

BUT can I say (for the record) that I was lunging with more weight than anyone else in the room this morning (even the instructor) as most people lunged without their weight on their shoulders but instead with their bars held vertically in front of them for support? The instructor said that lunges are great for the butt and hips(?) or thighs(?), and I can believe it - it's hurting to walk today and I haven't felt that way in quite sometime.

The new release was pretty good - I always love the days when they do a new release because there's so much excitement - they were playing music before the class while we set up so it increased the anticipation - it was kind of like that excitement you feel when you're waiting for a concert to start :). There's always more then one instructor on stage during a new release which is kind of fun but personally I prefer Instructor B over them all so when she let her cohost take over it wasn't as good but new releases only happen every few months so I can deal. Most of the music I didn't recognize but really liked some of it and I was pretty excited when I found out that Love Shack was the song for the chest presses :).

Can't wait for Body Pump on Thursday AND the temp tomorrow is supposed to be only 17 which is downright chilly, so it looks like I'll be able to run outdoors before work.

Can you tell that I'm excited to be back to working out? ;)

Posted by Tawny at 12:47 PM | | Comments

Monday, July 17, 2006

Workout (Cardio)

Walk: 5 minutes, speed: 3.5
Running: 15 minutes, speed:5.8, HR: 171
Walking: 5 minutes, speed: 3.5, HR: 145
Running: 10 minutes, speed:5.6, HR?
Walking (Cooldown): 10 minutes, speed: 3.5-2.5, HR: 145

Total Distance: 3.4miles / 5.5km

Didn't leave the house this morning at 6:30 as planned but instead left at 8:30am which meant no morning run, which meant I got to sit in my very warm office all day (it would appear that my AC isn't blowing cold air but instead is just blowing air that is barely cool), which meant I got to go to the gym at 5pm which was quite possibly the hottest time of the day and also the time of the day that everyone else went so there was lots of warm bodies heating the place up.

I don't care, but people who workout when the humidex makes it feel like 41 outside are nuts, and I will gladly lump myself into that category. My running clothes, when I took them off, were drenched.

That said, my run was disappointing, the longest distance I could pull was 15 minutes but I did increase my speed slightly. Managed another 10 minute run after a 5 minute break but it was brutal and I stopped when I did because I thought I would die I was so warm. Ugh. There's a reason I like to work out in the mornings, and it's not just because the 5pmers seem to be a little chaotic-crazy.

It's new release week at the gym, which means new Body Pump tomorrow morning - I signed up before I left the gym - there was already 18 pple on the list - which is a lot for a class that usually gets 6-8 people. I honestly CAN NOT wait to do the release. Can't wait to hear the new music and do some of the new moves. I usually try and up my weights during a new release but since I was off sick for a week, I think I might maintain for this week and try upping them next week.

Posted by Tawny at 8:32 PM | | Comments

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Weekly Workout Summary

Monday: Cardio (Running/Walking, 6:30am)

And...that's it. 1/7.

Goddamn stupid @#$%ing cold.

I did'nt run yesterday and I wanted to try and get to Body Pump today, but after having a discussion that I had with Tay last night, I decided to give myself until tomorrow morning before I hit the gym again.

We talked mostly about my determination to push myself when I'm sick - he thinks that I need to just slow down and take care of myself when I'm sick (and give my body the rest it needs to get better), whereas, like I proved last week, I think that a cold shouldn't really slow me down and even on my sickest days, I was trying to get to the gym. Positive thinking type thing, I guess, which didn't really work for me last week because here it is, almost a week later and I'm still sniffling.

I was trying to figure out my motivation behind this stubborn attitude of mine - why, when I'm obviously not well, do I still try to maintain my exercise routine that is a challenge even when I'm in the best of health? I know that a huge part of it is that I have been really enjoying working out lately (more so now than ever before - I realize now that the key to success is to find forms of exercise that you love - for me, it's running, Body Pump and yoga) and that I feel SO much better when I'm exercising constantly (both physically and mentally - no exercise in a week? I feel lethargic and heavy). But I also know how hard it is for me to get into a routine and for that routine to stick - so as much as possible, I try not to deviate from it because once I get momentum going, I can ride it for a pretty long time. If I stop (get sick, go on holidays, let work bog me down) then it takes me that much longer to get back into it.

I know that I need to take care of myself - and I can accept that one of the reasons I might have gotten sick in the first place is because I've been under some stress and pushing myself a lot (through work AND exercise) and I probably need to eat better - Tay tells me constantly that I'm not eating enough so I'm going to try and refocus and take better care of myself - I'm definitely hoping that the trip to Halifax next month will be a good chance to decompress and recover (though I AM bringing my running shoes :P).

As for now, this cold has had me for 7 days, and I'll give it the rest of the day and one more night's sleep - but come tomorrow morning I'm hitting the gym at 7am (figure I should take it easy and treadmill it - controlled climate, less impact on the body) and I'm going to run my little heart out.

Posted by Tawny at 11:41 AM | | Comments

Friday, July 14, 2006

Enough.

Cold or not cold, I am meeting Anna Lee bright and early tomorrow morning for a run in her neighborhood. I don't care if we only run 5 minutes, or if I'm coughing and sneezing the entire time. This is my fourth day without a workout, and quite frankly, I've had enough.

So there, you stupid, stupid cold.

Posted by Tawny at 8:00 AM | | Comments

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Grrrr.

I am back at work today - not really feeling 100% but I have a late meeting tonight that I need to attend so here I am. I woke up just before 6 feeling remarkably better, I debated going to BP but then decided if I felt that good then, then I would feel so much better if I slept another hour and I could definitely go to BP at lunch.

Wrong.

Woke up at 7 and felt worse. Took some Tylenol Cold and it's helped me make it this far into the day, but I've still had periods where I've been extremely hot (once this morning when I all but growled at Tay as I was getting ready for work) and another at my desk sitting next to the AC which is on full blast.

Still sniffling, still coughing but I STILL brought my gym bag with me and was still debating going to Body Pump at noon until Tay convinced me otherwise. It's the fear of delaying my recovery and delaying getting me back to the gym that's keeping me away.

*Sigh*

Posted by Tawny at 11:55 AM | | Comments

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

This Cold Is So Kicking My Ass

I told Tay between sniffles last night that if I felt the tiniest bit better this morning that I was going to take my stuff downtown and hit the treadmill. I'd read somewhere that you shouldn't run with a sore throat but that you could if you were stuffed up because running helps loosen all that yucky stuff and helps your body expel it faster. Tay suggested that I was crazy - he said that I'm sick and that my body needs to conserve it's strength to get well, not to do 5km on the treadmill. While I had to agree with him, I was convinced that my cold was progressing and that by this morning, my cold would have progressed past the sore throat part and all that I would be left with would be stuffiness and some soreness. Positive thinking right?

Anyhow, I woke up this morning feeling yet again like I'd be hit by a mac truck, still sore throat, still stuffed up, headachy and sore and so warm that I wonder if I haven't been running a fever off and on during the night. I debated long and hard going into work (yeah, I had given up on the idea of a morning run, but I was trying to use BodyFlow at lunch as a lure) and finally decided that I couldn't do it. I was too miserable, besides which, why risk passing my cold onto my coworkers?

So I'm home and I haven't worked out since Monday and it sucks. I'm going to work tomorrow and you'd better believe that if I don't get up for BP in the morning, I'm going on my lunch hour at the very least.

Stupid cold.

Posted by Tawny at 11:25 AM | | Comments

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

I'm Not As Crazy As I Thought

I went to bed at my normal time last night, fully planning on going to Body Pump in the morning - my bags were packed and my clothes were freshly washed and hanging up to dry. It didn't matter that I was feeling like crap, I was going to Body Pump even if it killed me. My alarm went off at 6 this morning, I got up and slowly began trying to put myself together - and at about 6:20, reality hit - I was in no shape to drive downtown, much less go to Body Pump, much less go to work afterwards. So I went back to bed and slept for another 6 hours and after getting 13 hours sleep I feel like I could go for at least another 6.

I'm still mad that I missed Body Pump though. Stupid sore throat. It better be gone by tomorrow. Or else. :)

Posted by Tawny at 9:43 AM | | Comments

Monday, July 10, 2006

Update

-I spoke to Ted today regarding my running and when I should start worrying about increasing my pace/speeding up and he told me after I was able to run for an hour without stopping. At first I groaned at how long that would take and then I realized I'm already over halfway there!

-At around 2pm this afternoon my throat started getting sore and by 4pm all my concentration was gone and I was staring blankly at my computer screen. Despite feeling unwell, I mentioned to Tay that I'm going to start to bring extra clothes with me because if I had had them, I so would've been going to Body Pump at 4:30 to get my mind off my impending cold.

-At 6pm I was walking over to meet a friend who was giving me a ride home and as I walked in the cool summer air, I found myself thinking that it was the PERFECT weather for a run. Until it struck me that I'd already ran today and I didn't need to run AGAIN.

-I'm beginning to wonder if an addiction to exercise can be a BAD thing.



Posted by Tawny at 7:57 PM | | Comments

Workout (Running/Walking)

Walk: 5 minutes
Run: 10 minutes/1.46km/HR: 161
Walk:5 minutes
Run: 10 minutes/1.51km/HR: 158
Walk: 5 minutes
Run: 10 minutes/1.54km/HR: 167

Total Distance: 7.65km

Temperature: 20 degrees with 88% humidity

The humidity at 6:30am this morning was brutal and I'm concerned that it's going to be an issue - as much as I love running outdoors, I have a feeling that on really humid days, I'm going to have to take it back indoors. Tay made it through 2/3rds of our run this morning and while I stuck it out the full hour, my goal had been to try and increase my pace during the 3 10-minute intervals. (I don't know if it makes sense to do that during shorting running intervals rather than trying to increase my pace during my 5km+ runs, or if I should even be worrying about increasing my pace at this point and should instead just be worried about distance (ie. building up my kms). Regardless, as hard as I tried it was very difficult to increase my pace and I doubt that any increase was substantial enough but I was definitely pushing myself. So hard that when I got home, I was once again covered in sweat (the back of my running tank was soaked through) and I felt seriously on the verge of throwing up and that feeling stayed with me for at least an hour.

I had known from checking the weather last night that there was a chance that it would be raining this morning so I had my gym bag packed with work clothes so that if I did wake up and it was raining, I could throw my bag in the car, come downtown and just run at the gym. After this morning's run and it's level of difficulty and lack of results, I'm wishing I had done that anyway. From now on (especially weekdays) I'm going to have a contingency plan (my bags packed) in case I wake up and the humidity is brutal (I know now that 88% is insufferable). In that case, it's the treadmill. Has to be.

At the same time, I'm wondering if I shouldn't be running on the treadmill at least once a week anyway, and using that run to focus on my pace. It's a lot easier just to punch in the speed I want to run on the treadmill rather than trying to force myself to do it outside and not knowing if I'm actually increasing or not. I might try it Wednesday and see how it goes.

Posted by Tawny at 12:22 PM | | Comments

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Weekly Workout Summary

Sunday: N/A
Monday: Cardio (Running/Walking, 8:30am)
Tuesday: Weights (Body Pump, 7:30am), Cardio (Running, 5pm)
Wednesday: Stretch (BodyFlow, 12pm)
Thursday: Weights (Body Pump, 7:30am)
Friday: Cardio (Running, 6:30am)
Saturday: Cardio (Running, 8am), Weights (Body Pump, 10:30am)

Total Days Working Out: 6/7
Cardio Days: 4
Weight Days: 3
Stretch Days: 1

Wasn't too surprised to wake up this morning and not be up for a run considering the a) late night with Anna Lee last night (Going to bed at 3 and getting up at 8 is not conductive to exercise) and b) considering that I went for both a run (my farthest length run yet) and Body Pump yesterday morning. Late yesterday I felt a bit of soreness in my right knee and wondered if I hadn't done something to it (and I doubt that wearing sandals with a 2" stiletto heel downtown helped my knee much either ;) but when I woke up this morning the soreness was gone. The only thing that's sore today is my shoulders - I'm wondering if that's because when I got home from Body Pump yesterday I forced myself to do some pushups on my toes just to prove that I could do them ;). For the record, I managed 5.

Posted by Tawny at 7:47 PM | | Comments

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Workout (Cardio AND Weights)

Running: 8:15am-9:00am

Body Pump: 10:30am-11:30am

When Anna Lee and I were making plans to work out today, I had originally suggested to her that we go for a run and then hit Body Pump together. She thought about it for a bit and then passed on the running and we decided just to do Body Pump.

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling pretty good and despite knowing that I was going to Body Pump, I found myself wanting to run as well. I knew that I didn't need to run because I'd done enough (I'd ran 3 times this week already plus did 2 Body Pumps and a Body Flow and was preparing for a thirdy Body Pump) but I wanted too. Really badly. So I threw on my running clothes and promised myself that I would only go out for a short run, and when I got tired, I'd come home. I was out for 45 minutes, and of those 45, I ran 35 minutes without stopping. What's more exciting is that I ran 3.3 miles without stopping which works out to 5.3km. I am SO excited by exceeding my 5km goal and couldn't wait to tell Anna Lee who wasn't overly surprised. She laughed at me and observed that I shouldn't be shocked because she knew that I could do it and it's true, I suppose I know this, but still. I'm very excited.

Goodlife is currently having a summer class promotion (friends of members can buy a package of 10 classes for $20 which is a crazy good deal) so when Anna Lee and I went upstairs for Body Pump I was absolutely shocked by the number of people that had turned out for the class. I counted 22 people in the room, but they were still cramming more people in after I counted - crazy considering that when I go at 7:30 in the morning there's usually maybe 6 or 7 of us. There was lots of energy in the room and while Anna Lee and I couldn't set up next to each other, I could see her in the mirror and was of course impressed by the amounts of weights she chose to put on her bar - it was her first class in over a year but she's been doing weights steadily at the gym - and I have to admit that she SO kicked my ass, especially on the legs track. I didn't begrudge her outlifting me though because she's in great shape and it's the result of her working really hard, but I have to admit that I was VERY jealous when I saw her doing her pushups on her toes rather than her knees, which is how I have to do them.

Renu has mentioned wanting to try Body Pump with me - I was going to invite her to this class but I had a feeling the room would be packed and I didn't want her to be outside her comfort zone but I can't wait to have her join me for BP and anyone else that's interested in picking up one of those summer pkgs. And Anna Lee's allowed to come back even though she does her pushups on her toes :).

Posted by Tawny at 12:36 PM | | Comments

Friday, July 07, 2006

Workout (Cardio)

Running: 20 minutes
Walking: 10 minutes?
Running: 10 minutes

Spent the night at Anna Lee's last night and at 6am she was poking her head into her office to inquire as to whether or not I would be interesting in going for a run. I mumbled something vaguely commital to her and then something about 5 minutes and to which she cheerily responded that she would go get ready. I stumbled bleary-eyed out of the room after her second wakeup call and was greeted by not just one morning person but TWO - Steve too was already up and as I made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth, the two of them started to dance in the living room. I felt compelled to explain to the two of them that I don't talk to anyone usually until after an hour after I get up and then, as if to prove my point, I fell silent.

By the time we hit the pavement though, I was reasonably more awake and certainly more talkative. The weather was perfect this morning, a cool 14 degrees which was fortunate as I had planned originally to run at the gym and had brought pants, and it was only towards the end of my run that I started to warm up. We ran along Parkside almost to the lake and then looped back through various side streets. I wasn't wearing my watch this morning (or my pedometer) so I couldn't track my progress and when we stopped, I was disappointed that we had only ran for 20 minutes or so. Anna Lee consoled me by reassuring me that I'd not gotten much sleep the previous night. Regardless, some is better than none and I plan on getting out again tomorrow morning which will mean I hit my 4x a week mark - and if i can stay out longer then an hour, I might just achieve my 4x1hr weekly goal (currently at 2.5 hours or so).

Posted by Tawny at 7:33 AM | | Comments

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Workout (Weights)

BodyPump: 7:30am-8:30am

After only about 3 hours sleep, I still somehow managed to get my butt out of bed for Body Pump which is a little crazy considering they also offer BP on Thursdays at noon and again at 5:30. But I couldn't sleep so up I went - had a late start leaving the house and traffic was a little heavy on the way in, so I was a little late (missed the cooldown).

I was working out next to the only guy in the class (other than Instructor J) and I couldn't help but notice as I was loading up my weights for the squat track that I was piling on more weight then he was - in fact, my weight load was twice as much. Out of curiousity I kept my eye on him for the rest of the class and found that I kept outlifting him with the exception of biceps and tricps where we were equal. But during the shoulder track? We started out with the same weight but then dude had to drop to a lower weight. I'm certainly not judging him, and I know that he's not a regular (he comes when his schedule allows it) but he's a pretty big guy so the fact that I was lifting more than him? You KNOW I basked in it :).

Posted by Tawny at 7:25 AM | | Comments

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Workout (Stretch)

BodyFlow: 12:10-1:10pm

I have been noticing that my flexibility is increasing and I am able to get much further into a lot of the yoga positions that I have before. I don't know if it's a result of my muscles lengthening from all the running and body pump that I've been doing, but I can definitely twist myself into positions that I was unable to do before. I'm really liking Body Flow because of the combination of yoga and pilates - yoga works your core (abs) regardless, but the pilates part kicks ass because it's hard and it HURTS but I can feel it working and I'm getting much better at them so this can only mean really good things for my abs :).

I caught a glimpse of myself during the tai chi part of the class as we were moving from one move to the other and I was a little startled, partly because of how I looked (even I can start seeing the difference in my physical form) but also because of how fluid my movement seemed to be - I have never been a graceful person but to see me moving so smoothly was a bit jarring and also very satisfying. I made fun of the tai chi portion when I first started BodyFlow, but now I'm starting to see the benefits...I'm liking it quite a bit.

Posted by Tawny at 6:33 AM | | Comments

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Workout (Weights & Cardio)

BodyPump: 7:30am-8:30am

Running: 5pm-6pm

Body Pump was good today - I'm adjusting to the extra weight during my tracks and think that by the time the new release is out (in a couple of weeks) I might be ready to increase again. At least for the leg tracks. I love the new releases because it's all new moves and it mixes things up, and you work your muscle groups in different ways.

I've been having a bit of trouble with triceps - with the presses and our curls - the key is to keep your elbows in as much as possible so that you're isolating your triceps but it's hard, and sometimes, my elbows will start to creep wider apart than they should. I brought one of those circular rubber resistance bands to class and slipped it around my wrists while I did my triceps - it certainly helped to keep my wrists in the proper position so I'm going to keep using it until I don't need it anymore to maintain good form. I think next class though I'm going to slip it around my elbows because that might be more beneficial.

When I was in the locker room later that day (after my run with AL, see below) I overheard a couple of girls talking about their workout routines and the different classes they take. One girl mentioned that she LOVES bodyflow and that she's tried Body Pump, but that it's just too "intense".

Intense. Really? ;).

Running - I was CONVINCED we were crazy when we went out for our run because it was extremely hot and extremely humid, but I have to come to terms with the fact that I have hooked up with a running buddy that is borderline crazy, so enough said, and off we went :). We did the same route as last time, and I called it quits at 32 minutes (AFTER running up both sets of stairs in behind skydome). I checked my pedometer at the 32 minute mark and we had done 2.90 miles which works out to about 4.67km which is about the same as what we had done Saturday - sure it took us a minute longer, but downtown running is much different in that you have to a) run around people and b) deal with constant traffic lights so considering these factors (and the heat) I think we were probably faster than when we ran on Saturday. All told we were out for about 45 minutes and did almost 6.5 km - I hope next time we go out we can stay out longer and go farther! I'm loving it!

(And nobody reads this, but in case you're curious about AL, her blog is here.)

Posted by Tawny at 8:15 PM | | Comments

Monday, July 03, 2006

Workout (Cardio)

Walk: 5 minutes/.48km
Run: 30 minutes/4.62km/HR:183
Walk:10 minutes/1.1km/HR:153
Run: 10 minutes/1.46km/HR:173
Walk: 5 minutes/.52km

Total Distance: 8.2km

Temperature: Avg 24, 33 w Humidex

The past few mornings that I've woken up and the humidex has crept the temperature up above 30, I've always forfeited my run with the reasoning that it'd be crazy to go out. This morning I got up around 8:30 (after sleeping just over 5 hrs) to find the humidex had already brought the temperature up to 31. I debated going back to bed but then forced myself out by remembering some of the brutal conditions that I trained in last summer for my duathlon - there were some nights I'd be out running before dark when the humidex easily put the temperature at 38-40 so I forced myself to put on my running clothes and get out there.

I did a similiar run as I did Saturday with AL and the good news is that I maintained the same pace mostly, which is good. My heart rate was a little high at the end of my running segments (both the 30 minute one and the 10 minute one) but for the 30 minute one I was pushing myself because I'd really like to see me accomplish a 30min-5km average by the end of the summer. By the time I got home I was coated in a sheen of sweat and ready to die, that's how hot I was. And yet, I need to do some banking and pick up a couple of things at the drug store so I suggested to Tay if he wanted to get out on our bikes that would be fine with me (Tay hasn't been able to run with me the past couple of times I've went - injured himself some how and his being sick hasn't help) so yeah, I'm ready to go back out. Woo!

New Runners
I've been told that runners have a street life of about 6 mths for people that work out on a regular basis - I've been alternating my two pairs of runners for well over a year now, so I decided that I needed to get a new pair to get me through the summer and fall and then maybe in the winter I can get runners that would hold up to winter running. In the past I've had to avoid Nikes because they were too narrow for my wide foot and so I used to wear Adidas (plus my sister worked at Adidas and my last two pairs of sneakers cost $20 each with her discount) but the other week I found a pair of Nike that I liked. I had to insist, however, that the Nike swirl be pale pink however, so they're not exactly as show below (think more girlish ;).


Posted by Tawny at 7:35 AM | | Comments

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Weekly Workout Summary

Sunday: N/A (Vegas)
Monday: N/A (Vegas)
Tuesday: N/A (Flight=Barely any sleep=Rough Day at Work
Wednesday: (Sick/Jetlagged?)
Thursday: Weights (Body Pump, 7:30am)
Friday: N/A
Saturday: Carido (Running, 10am)

Total Days Working Out: 2/7

Damn Vegas for interfering with my workout schedule!! ;)

Posted by Tawny at 7:31 AM | | Comments

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Workout (Cardio)

Running: 31 minutes, 4.65km
Walking: 10 minutes, 1.00km
Running: 15 minutes, 2.35km

Joined Anna Lee for a run downtown in her neighborhood - ran from her condo over to High Park and through the park past the zoo animals (a bit of different scenery for me on a run! :). I didn't really pay attention to my watch or my pedometer when I was running - we were too busy chatting - and it wasn't until I was starting to get winded that I looked down to see the time and discovered that a half an hour had past.

So what's great about these runs with Anna Lee is I'm forgetting about my 3 intervals of 10-12 minutes each and doing just one big interval, which is what I need to work towards when I start training for the marathon. On this run our longest distance was 4.65km, not too far off from the 5-6km that I need to be steadily running in order to train. Of course, I've read that a runner should average 5km in 30 minutes and we're still over that (and I'm thinking that AL has slowed her pace down a bit to match mine which is cool of her) so as soon as we start picking up the pace a bit, we should be in good form.

Total run time? Approximately an hour (I didn't record any warmup)
Total distance? 8km

Posted by Tawny at 7:25 PM | | Comments


* Kill Bill:Vol 1 (2003)

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Weighing In

  • Current Body Fat: 24.3%

  • Body Fat Goal: 20.0%

  • Current BMI: 22.5

  • BMI Goal: 21

  • Current Weight: 148lbs

  • Weight Goal: 140lbs

    •

Working Out

  • Monday: Running, 30-45min

  • Tuesday: Body Pump, 1Hr, Running, 30-45min

  • Wednesday: BodyFlow, 1Hr

  • Thursday: Body Pump, 1Hr

  • Friday: Running, 35-45min

  • Saturday: Running, 35-45

  • Sunday: Rest

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