Jumping in with both feet, that's my problem.
Moderation does not come easily for me.
So, I mentioned that I was starting the TapouT XT workouts. I love the workouts, they are tough but oh so good. That said, I'm registered for 2 marathons this fall (Chicago and Marine Corps Marathon). I haven't been doing much of any running lately, and I'm now ~16 weeks out from Chicago. Probably not very realistic to assume that I can do a tough daily workout 6 days a week plus marathon training.
So, I'm regrouping. And traveling down to St Louis for the weekend to run the Pride 5K with my friends.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
To Quit Does Not Exist - TapouT XT
For the past several months (OK, probably more like a year), I've been going to see a personal trainer twice a week, eating junk, and not really doing any other exercise. This has not been working for me.
Plus, lately I've been getting burned out on the trainer sessions and skipping on a fairly regular basis. This has not been helping the way my clothes fit at all.
I have a couple of friends on Facebook who have been posting about a workout called TapouT XT, so I got curious and visited their website. I watched the infomercial and decided to give it a go. I ordered it late one Sunday night and waited patiently for the workouts to arrive. Next, I started the procrastination. Of course, this is me we are talking about. I got the DVDs a couple of weeks ago and just started the workouts on Monday. Since this is me we're talking about, I also had this brilliant idea that I would be running 4-5 days a week AND doing these workouts 6 days a week. Um, yeah, maybe eventually but not so much from couch to twice a day workouts right off the bat.
Sunday night I took before pictures in my bikini (which I haven't worn in public in about 4 years). It is not pretty. I couldn't bring myself to measure or weigh. I know, I know. I have an idea of what my weight is, so I'll know how much weight I've lost at the end within a pound or two. See that, I'm thinking positively about this thing already.
So far, I've completed 2 of the workouts.
Day 1 was "Cross Core Combat". This workout is no joke. There were a lot of pushups, which are my kryptonite. I had to come up with my own modifications for a lot of the moves, but I got through the workout and still managed to burn just over 500 calories. Not too shabby for a 45 minute workout. This workout took a lot more space than I expected, so I was rolling into furniture at first. I'll get that figured out before the next time (I've been doing these in my bedroom).
Day 2 was "Strength & Force Upper" along with "Ultimate Abs XT". I liked this workout a lot better than the first one. There was some floor work (which I did on my knees again), but there was also a lot of resistance band work which I liked. My upper body was burning by the end, more than it ever has after any weight training workout. The Ultimate Abs workout is ~15 minutes of ab hell. That's all I can really say about it. My goal is to get to a point where I don't have to take any rest breaks during the moves for the 15 minutes. Day 2 was a little over an hour of workouts, and I managed to burn 674 calories. Not bad.
Today is Day 3, and I'm looking forward to Plyo XT after work. I know it's going to be tough, but I still can't wait.
My next progress photo will be after 10 days. My plan is to post the progress photos as I go, I'm hoping for a noticeable difference after 10 days...
Plus, lately I've been getting burned out on the trainer sessions and skipping on a fairly regular basis. This has not been helping the way my clothes fit at all.
I have a couple of friends on Facebook who have been posting about a workout called TapouT XT, so I got curious and visited their website. I watched the infomercial and decided to give it a go. I ordered it late one Sunday night and waited patiently for the workouts to arrive. Next, I started the procrastination. Of course, this is me we are talking about. I got the DVDs a couple of weeks ago and just started the workouts on Monday. Since this is me we're talking about, I also had this brilliant idea that I would be running 4-5 days a week AND doing these workouts 6 days a week. Um, yeah, maybe eventually but not so much from couch to twice a day workouts right off the bat.
Sunday night I took before pictures in my bikini (which I haven't worn in public in about 4 years). It is not pretty. I couldn't bring myself to measure or weigh. I know, I know. I have an idea of what my weight is, so I'll know how much weight I've lost at the end within a pound or two. See that, I'm thinking positively about this thing already.
So far, I've completed 2 of the workouts.
Day 1 was "Cross Core Combat". This workout is no joke. There were a lot of pushups, which are my kryptonite. I had to come up with my own modifications for a lot of the moves, but I got through the workout and still managed to burn just over 500 calories. Not too shabby for a 45 minute workout. This workout took a lot more space than I expected, so I was rolling into furniture at first. I'll get that figured out before the next time (I've been doing these in my bedroom).
Day 2 was "Strength & Force Upper" along with "Ultimate Abs XT". I liked this workout a lot better than the first one. There was some floor work (which I did on my knees again), but there was also a lot of resistance band work which I liked. My upper body was burning by the end, more than it ever has after any weight training workout. The Ultimate Abs workout is ~15 minutes of ab hell. That's all I can really say about it. My goal is to get to a point where I don't have to take any rest breaks during the moves for the 15 minutes. Day 2 was a little over an hour of workouts, and I managed to burn 674 calories. Not bad.
Today is Day 3, and I'm looking forward to Plyo XT after work. I know it's going to be tough, but I still can't wait.
My next progress photo will be after 10 days. My plan is to post the progress photos as I go, I'm hoping for a noticeable difference after 10 days...
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Is There Anybody Out There?
Wow.
I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted here.
I'm not going to try and summarize what's been happening around here, I'll just jump right in like I've been here all along. That makes perfect sense, right?
Last weekend was a big weekend. My daughter had her senior prom,
and she graduated from high school.
Since I live alone with 2 kids that are basically adults (the boy will turn 18 in October), you would think I would have all kinds of time to do whatever I want, right?
Well, that's true. I do have a lot more free time on my hands these days, but I'm not taking advantage of it. I'm spending a lot of time lounging around the house and reading on the back deck instead.
I'm not going to whine and complain here about how out of shape I am. I have the tools to change it.
The plan is that over the next few months, I'll be posting my progress here. So far, not so great. This week is Week 1 of Marathon Training for Chicago. Guess how many of my 3 scheduled training runs I've done so far? Oye.
I'm signed up for CARA Training, so I have no excuse (short of laziness) to miss the 6 mile run on Saturday... Hopefully I'll meet somebody who lives in my neighborhood who can be my conscience for the weekday runs as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a local running partner.
I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted here.
I'm not going to try and summarize what's been happening around here, I'll just jump right in like I've been here all along. That makes perfect sense, right?
Last weekend was a big weekend. My daughter had her senior prom,
Since I live alone with 2 kids that are basically adults (the boy will turn 18 in October), you would think I would have all kinds of time to do whatever I want, right?
Well, that's true. I do have a lot more free time on my hands these days, but I'm not taking advantage of it. I'm spending a lot of time lounging around the house and reading on the back deck instead.
I'm not going to whine and complain here about how out of shape I am. I have the tools to change it.
The plan is that over the next few months, I'll be posting my progress here. So far, not so great. This week is Week 1 of Marathon Training for Chicago. Guess how many of my 3 scheduled training runs I've done so far? Oye.
I'm signed up for CARA Training, so I have no excuse (short of laziness) to miss the 6 mile run on Saturday... Hopefully I'll meet somebody who lives in my neighborhood who can be my conscience for the weekday runs as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a local running partner.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Commitment...
1: a promise to do or give something 2: a promise to be loyal to someone or something 3: the attitude of someone who works very hard to do or support something
Despite the fact that every man I date wants to make a big commitment to me for some strange reason (perhaps because they need me to support them but that's a different story for another day), I have a big problem with it.
Big
Huge
Take, for instance, the fact that I signed up for 2 marathons this Spring (one which takes place next weekend). Big commitment, right?
It should have been, yes.
The problem: I didn't do the training. Same as when I signed up for Chicago last October, no training. (The difference is that I will NOT be running a marathon next weekend with no training.)
So, even though I paid the money and signed up (commitment), I refused to do what was needed to keep up my side of the bargain. I made no commitment to my goal. In fact, I probably did LESS running than I would have done if I hadn't imposed a big deadline on myself. It was like I had a monkey on my back, but I couldn't force myself to do something about it.
So, even though I paid the money and signed up (commitment), I refused to do what was needed to keep up my side of the bargain. I made no commitment to my goal. In fact, I probably did LESS running than I would have done if I hadn't imposed a big deadline on myself. It was like I had a monkey on my back, but I couldn't force myself to do something about it.
The weekend following Marathon #1, I have committed to run a relay. Ugh. (I will be running the relay, I can't let my team down)
So, here's my plan for the next month or so:
- 1- I will go to Marathon #1, I will support my friends and cheer for them (and possibly switch to the Half Marathon, if that is allowed).
- I will run the relay, it's only ~10 miles per person, broken up into 3 sections, I can do that. I will enjoy the day with 7 of my friends.
- I will play Marathon #2 by ear...
Beyond that, I plan to stop making these commitments until I can get a handle on my schedule and start running for myself without a looming deadline.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Getting the Hang
Yeesh! What kind of blogger am I? An absent one, I suppose...
As usual, I'm on the road this week. Unless something comes up at the last minute, I'll be home all week next week. I'm actually starting to get the hang of this. I honestly don't mind traveling a couple of days every week. I don't have to go to the same office every day and meet with the same people week after week.
This week, I'm south. I know it's warmer everywhere, but I didn't even need a jacket today, for crying out loud! I'm planning a run tomorrow morning in shorts and short sleeves, my Garmin is charging away as I type.
The bad, terrible, horrible news that I'm trying not to focus on until I get home... my dog is missing.
Yes, this guy. Long story short, he got away from my daughter on Monday night. I've got pictures hanging up all over town, contacted all the local vets and groomers, and nobody has seen him. This is a 14 year old dog, hard of hearing, poor vision, but as energetic as a puppy. I just can't imagine somebody would pick him up and not turn him in. I can't believe he's gone. I don't know what else to say about it. I feel like I'm missing a member of my family right now, a runaway. I'm hopeful that he'll come home, but realistically I know that's probably not gonna happen.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Three Things Thursday
1- When traveling for work with a group of men, and vendors are taking you to the best places to eat, it is not always the best idea to get the most food and drinks possible out of the free meal.
Moo.
That said, I ate at a couple of great places in Minneapolis (here and here) and one pretty great place in Grand Rapids. I did pretty good at eating healthy in Grand Rapids (here), but I was out of control in Minneapolis.
2 - I haven't been running. Combined with #1 above, I feel terrible right about now. I want to hibernate and wake up when I've lost about 20 lbs. The problem with hibernating is that it won't get me marathon-ready in less than 3 months. Guess I'll have to suck it up.
3 - Work is kicking my butt. I need to figure out how to get more rest when I'm traveling. I chose the job that includes all the travel, now I have to figure out how to make it work in my life. When I'm on the road, I tend to work all day at the facility I'm visiting, then go to my hotel and do the work I would have done if I was in the office.
Moo.
That said, I ate at a couple of great places in Minneapolis (here and here) and one pretty great place in Grand Rapids. I did pretty good at eating healthy in Grand Rapids (here), but I was out of control in Minneapolis.
2 - I haven't been running. Combined with #1 above, I feel terrible right about now. I want to hibernate and wake up when I've lost about 20 lbs. The problem with hibernating is that it won't get me marathon-ready in less than 3 months. Guess I'll have to suck it up.
3 - Work is kicking my butt. I need to figure out how to get more rest when I'm traveling. I chose the job that includes all the travel, now I have to figure out how to make it work in my life. When I'm on the road, I tend to work all day at the facility I'm visiting, then go to my hotel and do the work I would have done if I was in the office.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Woe, Woe
I had a 2 1/2 day long pity party over the weekend.
Am I depressed? Maybe.
Am I just lazy? Most definitely.
I tend to need activities planned in order to keep myself motivated over the weekend. Otherwise, I lay around in my pajamas the entire time and read. It all ended last night with the ordering of pizza so that I wouldn't have to do any more dishes.
I'm ok with it because I hit the ground running at work today and have had a pretty productive day. I'm pretty stoked about work these days because I have quite a few pretty big projects coming up. The big projects that affect a lot of change are always my favorites. :)
Anyhow, I took advantage of the beginning of the year sales this year and ordered a treadmill and an elliptical machine. I've had several treadmills in the past, but this time I went all out and ordered quality instead of taking the cheap route. Since my daughter doesn't like to run, I also ordered an elliptical machine for her to use (and I'll take advantage of it, too).
I expect zero excuses from me from here on out.
It's too cold. (hit the treadmill)
It's too hot. (hit the treadmill)
I overslept. (treadmill before bed)
I don't feel up to it. (hit the treadmill or elliptical and stop if you feel worse)
It's worked for me in the past, no reason it shouldn't work this time around.
One more day in the office this week, barring a huge snowfall, and I'll be off to Grand Rapids later in the week. Maybe I can explore GR on foot one of the mornings I'm there...
Am I depressed? Maybe.
Am I just lazy? Most definitely.
I tend to need activities planned in order to keep myself motivated over the weekend. Otherwise, I lay around in my pajamas the entire time and read. It all ended last night with the ordering of pizza so that I wouldn't have to do any more dishes.
I'm ok with it because I hit the ground running at work today and have had a pretty productive day. I'm pretty stoked about work these days because I have quite a few pretty big projects coming up. The big projects that affect a lot of change are always my favorites. :)
Anyhow, I took advantage of the beginning of the year sales this year and ordered a treadmill and an elliptical machine. I've had several treadmills in the past, but this time I went all out and ordered quality instead of taking the cheap route. Since my daughter doesn't like to run, I also ordered an elliptical machine for her to use (and I'll take advantage of it, too).
I expect zero excuses from me from here on out.
It's too cold. (hit the treadmill)
It's too hot. (hit the treadmill)
I overslept. (treadmill before bed)
I don't feel up to it. (hit the treadmill or elliptical and stop if you feel worse)
It's worked for me in the past, no reason it shouldn't work this time around.
One more day in the office this week, barring a huge snowfall, and I'll be off to Grand Rapids later in the week. Maybe I can explore GR on foot one of the mornings I'm there...
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