So I made it through my first week of my “Month of Movement”. I had a lot of excuses to give up – I was planning a party, getting ready for an event, and to top it all off the State came in for our annual survey at work. But I didn’t give up. I moved my body each and every day. The weekend wasn’t really “working out”, but I cleaned my house for our housewarming party so I totally counted it.
Here’s a breakdown of my week:
- Ran on the treadmill.
- Did a strength workout at home.
- Ran on the treadmill.
- ZUMBA!
- Kickboxing class.
- ZUMBA!
- Just Dance at home.
Week 1 consisted of 359 minutes of exercise (almost 1 hour per day) and I burned 3520 calories (over 500 per day). I also got two new sports bras and a heart rate monitor this week to help me with my training.
Today I was feeling kind of defeated because I didn’t “work out” on Saturday or Sunday. I took the day off work because it is my husband’s birthday, and I almost decided to just spend the whole day being lazy and give up on my “Month of Movement”. But I decided I would count my housework over the weekend as movement (because it totally does count!) and I knew I needed to get some training in since I am running a 5k this weekend. So I got out of my pajamas and headed to the gym.
The gym was really dead tonight and there were only a few people using the indoor track, so I decided to give it a try tonight. Normally if the track is crowded I will use the treadmill even though I hate it. I am so glad I got on that track today because it made SUCH a huge difference. I was planning on doing my Couch 2 5k week 3 workout (90 seconds jog, 90 seconds walk, 3 minutes jog, 3 minutes walk, repeat) for three miles, but somehow I accidentally put my Couch 2 5k app on a week 6 workout (10 minutes jog, 3 minutes walk, 10 minutes jog). I didn’t realize it until I was about 4 minutes in to the first jog section and looked at my phone. I was going to reset my workout but I said nah… let’s see if I can do this, I feel pretty good right now!
I made it through the first 10 minutes no problem, but somewhere in that 10 minutes my heart rate monitor strap came undone. I hardly noticed because the band on my sports bra was holding it in place, but when I started up my second 10 minute jog, I felt it coming loose. So I took a quick pause in the stairwell to get everything back to where it was supposed to be and started back up on my job. I did the workout as planned, then added another 3 laps of running after a second 3 minute walking break to round out an even 3 miles. My cool down was 3 more laps, for an end result of 30 laps (approximately 3.3 miles) in 40 minutes. This was a 5 minute improvement from my last run of 3.3 miles in 45 minutes on the dreadmill.
There’s a quote somewhere that says something like the workouts you dread are always the ones that feel the best when they are done. Or if there’s not a quote about that, I’m saying it now, because it was so true. After a weekend of eating nothing but junk, drinking, and not feeling super active I was NOT looking forward to a run and I expected it to suck. But something about running on that track made me feel amazing. I haven’t felt that fast and free in so long.
I’m really looking forward to my 5k race on Saturday, even though it is in the cold, snow and ice. My run today made me feel as if I’m not as out of shape as I think I am. I guess I just don’t realize how “fit” the other exercise I have been doing has made me. I have felt like I am not keeping up because I haven’t been running, but going to Zumba twice a week is keeping my heart healthy and it is definitely helping me build strength and flexibility, not to mention stamina.
I’m very proud of myself! :)
RD on the Run 