I Signed Up For Commitment Day 2015!!!

January 1, 2015 will start my third year on this journey and will mark my second Commitment Day 5k.   I'm so excited even though I am not a runner.  I loath running, but I loved the Commitment Day 5k this year.  I really felt like I started the year right.  My goal is to beat my old time of 45 minutes.

Sarah is my emergency contact.

The Week Before D.Tox

This week was the week before I start D.Tox.  I worked out four days this week.  Two days of personal training and two days of Pilates.

My training days were Sunday and Wednesday.  You can read more about those days here.

I had my regular Pilates on Tuesday night and Jumpboard Pilates on Thursday.  My Tuesday night homies, Linda and Maureen, weren't there due to injuries.  Linda is covering from foot surgery and Maureen is having shoulder issues.  I miss them.  I saw Linda on Sunday in passing at LTF and she was walking slow and trying to see what she could do at the gym.  I haven't seen Maureen.  Tuesdays just aren't the same without them.

The Tuesday class kicked my butt.  It almost felt as though I had never ever done a Pilates class.  I was whipped by the time class was over.

Thursday was Jumpboard, my second official class since I added on the second night of Pilates.   I still do love jumpboard and I am getting quite the workout from it.  I don't doubt the pure genius of adding on this second class.  It was a brilliant move on my part.

My days off this week were Monday, Friday, and Saturday.  Saturday I cleaned my apartment like a maniac and that was a workout in itself.  

I am starting D.Tox on Sunday.  I am training with Sarah on Sunday and Thursday (our one year anniversary).  I have Pilates this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!  I am making up the class that I would miss because of Cassie's upcoming honeymoon.

Have a great week, everyone and be sure to check out my D.Tox threads.

Fighting The Good Fight

Sorry, readers, this has been a busy time for me.  I signed up for some extra typing at one of the courts and it was due today.  Of course, I procrastinated, but I turned it all in on time and made $1100.  I also worked all 5 days last week which is crazy to do with so much typing.  But I got through it!

I still managed to make it into the gym though.  I did take Wednesday and Friday off, but I still managed to get in five workouts.  

I made a decision to NOT sign up with Title Boxing after my Groupon expires.  I did love it, but I am just really dedicated to the Lifetime Fitness way of life.  Anyone reading this and thinking about going to TITLE, I highly recommend it.  The workouts are amazing.  Maybe in the future I will sign up there, but for now it is not in the cards and the budget.

Sunday and Tuesday I worked out with Sarah.  Those days are chronicled here.

Monday, I went to Tammy's Vinyasa Flow class at 4:30.  Great class.

Thursday, I went to Pilates.  I normally go to the Tuesday 7 pm class, but since I was scheduled with Sarah already, I decided to save Pilates for another day.  The people in that class were nice enough, but I missed Linda and Maureen.  I can't wait to see them again tomorrow.

Saturday, I took Linda's 645 spinning class.  It was a good class and my glutes hurt like a mother after.  I usually double up and go to Rickita's Ashtanga Vinyasa, but these darn transcripts put a damper on that.  I did get a massage with Drea though and it was awesome.  She did tell me that my skin was really firm, meaning I need to drink more water.

I was really worried about working five days and staying on track.  Just like the saying goes:

HAVE A GREAT WEEK, EVERYONE!!!!!

Couch To 5k - Week 6 Day 1

I had today off from work.  Yay!  I went to Lifetime Fitness at around 8 a.m. to do my next day of the Couch to 5k program.  I took yesterday off from the gym.  I realized I had not taken a day off from the gym since December 26th!  Holy cow!  I totally didn't mean to that and I wouldn't suggest it.  The body does need to rest!

The weather in Michigan is starting to warm up and so is the gym.  There were plenty of cars in the parking lot when I got there.  I think the weather has sort of derailed or delayed some New Years resolutions because the gym has been pretty quiet when I've been there.

I chatted with Sarah in the locker room and she passed her Health Score Certification!!!  Go Sarah!

I made it upstairs and prepared for my run.  You can see from the picture above what I had to do today.  I was a little nervous about the 3 minute walking.  In the past that hasn't been a lot of time for me to "rest" before starting to run again.

The first five minutes was a breeze.  I'm really getting used to running at least five minutes.  I walked for three minutes, then I started the 8 minute run.  It went well and I ran the whole thing.  It did seem to last a while and just as I was checking my phone to make sure the app was still working, it told me to start walking.  Ah!
Then it was time to run the second five minutes.  I knew I could do it.  It was only five minutes.  I did change the speed.  I ran the other two intervals at 5 mph, but I did the first four minutes of this interval at 4.8 mph.  I did the final minute back up at 5 mph.

I have to say I hate running while I'm doing it, but I love it when I am done and have accomplished something.  :)

Commitment Day 5k 2014

I did it !  I lived!

I was nervous about doing the 5k, I'm not going to lie.  I knew I wasn't going to run every single step.  It was going to be cold.  My car said it was 14 degrees.  It was going to snow.  I was worried about it being slippery.  But I did it.  I'm glad I did.

It started yesterday when I drove out to the Commerce club to pick up my t-shirt and my number.  See...

I fell asleep early last night.  I didn't wait for midnight to ring in the new year.  I had to be up early to get to the race location in time to get a parking space.

I arrived at the location just after 7 and stopped in at the Dagwood Deli to grab some breakfast.  I got a breakfast sandwich and ate about half of it.  It was yummy, but I was full after just having half.  I chatted with a woman who was also running the race.  She was very nice.  She was not a member of Lifetime Fitness, she was just interested in getting moving on January 1st.

After breakfast, I went back to my car and just waited for race time.

The race started and I started running.  I'm not sure how far I ran before I started walking, but I did good and I wasn't crazy out of breath.  From then on, I walked and ran.  I honestly couldn't tell you what percentage I ran, but when I did run, I felt like I had a good pace.  I'm pretty sure that I was running faster than my treadmill speed, which I heard is common once you hit the streets.

I finished the race running and my time was 44 minutes.  Not bad.  I guess I'll just improve from that as I get better.  I wasn't super tired or sore, I was just fine.  I grabbed a bottle of water and a banana, and then I drove home.

Was I glad I did it?  Yes.  Will I do another 5k?  Sure.

Couch to 5k, Week 3....DONE!!!

I have officially ended Week 3, Day 3 today.  This week has been difficult, not so much because of the running but because my nasal passages are swollen.  This is pretty common for me during the winter.  My doctor has prescribed something for me, but most insurances don't cover it and it costs $140.  Through trial and error I've discovered that the CVS brand nasal spray that costs $6 works just as well.

So week 3 consisted of a 5 minutes warm up, run 90 second, walk 90 second, run 3 minutes, walk three minutes and repeat once, then a 5 minute minute cool down.  I ran 5.5 mph on the treadmill.  Not too shabby except for the nasal passages issue.

All of this is in preparation for the Commitment Day 5k I am running.   I won't have the program completely finished, but hey I'm trying.  I'm getting really nervous about Week 5 Day 3....20 consecutive minutes of running!!!  Yikes!  I'll probably lower the mph on the treadmill and that should help.

I'm also a little sore from my training session with Sarah on Friday.  I bought some Glutamine to help with my recovery.  I'm going to start using it today and hopefully it helps.

This upcoming week is my last work week for the year!  I am so excited.  It has been a long but great year.  I'm glad to have a break.

Exercise-wise this week, I am training with Sarah on Monday and Wednesday, Pilates with Cassie on Tuesday, and then I'll try and fit in some days for the Couch to 5k program.

Have a good week!

I Just Registered ......

.....for the Commitment Day 5k through Lifetime.   I'm doing the Couch to 5k program in preparation.  For those who don't know, it's a 9 week program to get someone ready for their first 5k.  I am currently on week 3.  I won't be finished with the program by January 1, but that's okay.  And I make not run every step of this 5k but I've got to start somewhere, right?