Week 1 Update

This week was great!  I generally felt very energetic, I mostly ate clean and I worked out regularly.  

Part of what I loved about this week's workouts was having company during each and every workout!!

I like getting to work out with different people because they all challenge me in different ways.  

My favorite type of Trainer to work with is the type that will push me beyond what I believe to be my limits.  If I am going to bother with driving somewhere and paying someone to train me, I better be sweating and spent by the time the hour is up.  I can work out at home just as easily as I can work out at Bootcamp or some other training session because I have weights, a bike, a treadmill, a stability ball, etc. at home and there is a gym in my community center available for use.  However, when I work out at home, I tend to take longer breaks between sets and I tend to give up too easily on tough exercises like push-ups.  I like having someone nearby encouraging me with a "10 more seconds!!" and "your push-ups look great!!" when things get tough.  

I also love working out with my family & friends.  My sister Elisa is very athletic and dove right into training for a half-marathon soon after she delivered a precious baby girl at the end of June.  I typically complete my two-mile jogs with Elisa or with my awesome Hubby Ryan.  Ryan is always supportive of my fitness goals and is Almost to the point of committing to some of his own fitness goals.  He has been running with me consistently and at least seems Interested in signing up for the half in December!!

Just for laughs:

I think we all have dreams of becoming "super athletes" - whether we dream of finishing a race in first place, breaking a record, or getting to the Olympics. *sigh*  Well, it seems Mr. Paul Ryan also has lofty goals which, in his mind, he has already attained...though the facts are otherwise.

http://www.salon.com/2012/09/02/paul_ryans_marathon_lie/

My personal goal has varied at times and in a moment of silliness during this Olympic season I wished I had the talent and body of Kerri Walsh Jennings...who just so happens to be exactly one foot taller than me. Ha!  

I'm certainly not saying we can't have lofty goals and work hard to get there, but it helps me to set Reasonable Goals that I can attain in a Relatively Short amount of time in order to stay focused and motivated.  I focus on shorter term goals which end up being steps along the way to the more substantial long-term goals. At the present time, I can't quite wrap my mind around 13 miles when I'm only jogging 2, but I can wrap my mind around the goal of 5 for now, and maybe 10 when I hit 5, and so on.  I've run a half before and I will do it again!  

Feel free to share your goals with me!

Weekly Workout Update:

Running - 6 miles

Walking - 1 mile

Bootcamp - 1 hour 50 minutes

Aqua Aerobics - 30 minutes

It doesn't sound like much but it totals 227 minutes (or 3 hours and 47 minutes of working out).  That's not a bad start for week 1.

My goals for the upcoming week are:

Increase the distance of each run to something over 2 miles - maybe 2.5 miles per run.

Increase time spent strength training - I hope to get close to 3 hours on weights/bootcamp instead of just 2.  The longer my runs get, the more I tend to lose sight of strength-training goals...I'm hoping to avoid that while training for the next half.