C25K: Day 5

So, I haven't run in several days, but I have been working out! I have been doing those Bikini Ready Makeover videos on Hulu. I did the Boot Camp Burn one a few days ago and really liked it. Thought it's really repetitive, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that workout twice in a row; I'd get annoyed. Plus, I've been doing 'mini-challenges' on MFP; 300 jumping jacks on Friday and 150 squats yesterday. Super fun!

I also got a job (no, not a career job with my hard-earned Master's degree, just a paying job) at Teavana in Charlotte. I'm really stoked about it because the people seem REALLY cool, and I pretty much love tea! Not sure how this is going to mess with my eating/workout schedule just yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'm just glad to have an income again. I love food and my dog, but I'm starting to mentally make a decision on what to cut back on first. Ha.

Day 5: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 90 seconds of jogging/2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 2; Total time - 26:20 minutes

Weigh In: 8-23-12

I finally did it. I tracked my calories and stayed under my goal for the day yesterday--it only took me a week and a half to get my shit together. It's true when they say that eating junk makes you crave junk. Luckily, most of the cookies/chips/dips are out of the house now, so it's easier to NOT eat them. I think it helped that I had a lot of exercise calories, too, so I was eating close to 2000. Anyways, we're back on track!

I learned the hard way that you can set deadlines for weigh loss, but your body will lose the fat when (and where) it wants to, how it wants to, so I'm loosely stating that I want to be under 180lbs by Thanksgiving. I left Denver at ~183lbs but have worked my way back up to ~190lbs, so that's ~10lbs in a little less than 10 weeks. Definitely doable, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll just do my best and see where I am in 10 weeks!

Weight: 190.2 lbs
BMI: 28.08 (Overweight)
Body Fat: 27.09% (Acceptable)

Waist: 35 inches
Hip: 42 inches
Thighs: 27.5 inches (left) / 27 inches (right)
Arms: 12.5 inches (left) / 13 inches (right)
Calves: 16 inches (left) / 16.5 inches (right)

C25K: Day 4

First day of the second week which means upping the running/walking intervals. (Un)fortunately, Robbie is back at work and wasn't there to run with me today. I say that because it's both good and bad--good because I can run a slower-faster pace consistently every run interval, and bad because he wasn't there to push me past my own comfort zone. Oh well, have to learn to motivate myself.

I thought things were getting better with the crazy white dog on Wilson, but he charged after me again today. I've called animal control twice to have his owners put him in a fence or on a leash, but they seem to ignore that warning. I feel bad because I don't want something to happen to the dog, but I would like to be able to run or walk my dog around MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD without being chased by that dog. I don't even think his owners are home during the day; they just leave him outside all day to do as he pleases. C'mon people, take responsibility for your animals! I'll give it another week, then I'm calling again.

Day 4: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 90 seconds of jogging/2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 2.06; Total time - 26:39 minutes

C25K: Day 3

Well, it took me two weeks to complete "week 1" of C25K, but it is done. This weekend was hectic, what with filming all day Friday and Saturday, so I didn't get any workout in besides holding a boom pole for 16 hours. But this morning, we went out and conquered the last of the 60 second / 90 second intervals.

One comment about running with someone faster than you: it's great that they can set a faster pace for you to follow, but they can also kill you with speed. Day 2's run was pretty good, running at a significantly faster pace than I could  set myself...but today was a mixture of extreme speed, medium speeds, and slow speeds. Because of this combination of paces, we finished the normal 1.91 mile route in less than the 25 minutes allotted for the workout; we made it back to the house in 24 minutes. Whoa. I'm pretty sure I was hauling ass at a 7min/mile for the first two runs...

Anyways, to compensate for the fast return, we added another .25 mile (3:30 minutes) to the workout at the end, just walking.

Oh, and I'm really restarting the calorie counting thing again this week. Really.

Day 3: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 2.06; Total time - 27:35 minutes

C25K: Day 2

Today, Robbie went running with me, which meant that I was running even faster than my fast pace. Ugh. He typically runs about an 8 minute mile, which is far faster than I ever even dreamed of running. Of course, we didn't quite run his pace, but I definitely was pushing harder than I usually do when I'm running alone. If I was doing a 10-11 minute pace by myself, I was probably achieving about a 9-10 minute pace today. I'm POOPED.

Day 2: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 1.91; Total time - 25:46 minutes

Two pictures today--

This is what I imagine Robbie & I look like running together, except maybe if one pug looked extremely pained that would be me.

Truth. I powered through all 9 intervals of running. And a little future inspiration for the longer runs :)

Let's start again

Well, I was traveling this past week, and even though I packed my running shoes, I never got the chance to run. It was go, go, go every day I was there. Therefore, I'm restarting my restart. I only got one day in last week anyways, and now I can start on a Monday.

Day 1 of C25K: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 1.91; Total time - 27:30 minutes

I also decided to start counting calories again. After being in Ohio for the wedding, I ate nothing but crap. I know I've probably put on a few pounds since moving, but I was trying to reset my metabolism in order to bust a plateau. Hopefully I've accomplished this and can start losing weight again. I should probably officially weigh-in, but I'll worry about that later. I'm more concerned with my stomach problems--not that they've gone away completely, but they have definitely gotten better since I moved. Now, whether that's because my stress level went down, I started taking the probiotic, or I changed my food habits, I have no idea. It worries me that if I start eating more raw fruits and veggies again that the issues may come back. I guess we'll see! It's a new week my friends: No excuses!

Getting Workouts for Free (ish)

Since I no longer have access to a gym through school and am currently unemployed, workouts have been consisting of running outside, biking outside, and a YouTube workout series called "BeFit in 90." It's been rough since I'm so used to switching up my workouts. And unfortunately, Netflix has stopped streaming any workout videos online so I'm hard up for new routines to do.

Luckily, Hulu is there for me. Sure, it's a little annoying that every five minutes you have to stop your workout for a commercial, but whatever. If you're interested in finding workouts on Hulu, you should try the Bikini Body Makeover series. Today I did the "Tank Top Arms" as my cross-training for C25K. It was 20 minutes of pure strength training for arms and abs, but they also have ones for cardio, legs, calorie burning, etc... There's also the Self: Bikini Ready, Fast! workout which I loved, but Hulu no longer streams. (I need consistency, people!)

Just some helpful sites for those of us unable to pay for workouts or a gym :)

Running From Colorado to North Carolina

Okay, so maybe I haven't been running across the country since the last time I posted. Really, I just haven't been running. Every once and a while, I would hit the roads around my new neighborhood, but it was never more than 1.5 miles. I need to step up my game again. I don't think I could run a whole 5K at this point even if you dangled a muffin in front of me. (I also need to start back on my diet, but that's a whole 'nother story!)

So what's my plan? Why am I turning back to my running blog? Because I'm restarting C25K, that's why! Yes, I could technically jump into the program more than halfway through it, but I'm also going to try and quicken my pace. I figure if I restart the program and run faster from the get-go, then I will have a faster pace when I get to longer runs. That sounds like good logic, right? Let's hope.

Today's run: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Off to run in the rain!