FAIL

Monday Phil was super sore from his over-achieving 10 mile skate the previous day. So it was like pulling teeth to get him just to walk with me. We went 1.6 miles.

Tuesday, I was standing at the gas pump and not only was it 85 degrees and sunny, but there was a hot wind. Yuck. So, even though I was dressed and ready to roll (har) we didn't go.

My whole "burning 500 calories a day" thing is off to a terrifically rough start. :(

Oh, and I forgot to mention I just ate a Snicker's bar. :(

Back in the ... Skate?

With Friday and Saturday off, Phil and I were ready to go on Sunday. We skated the full 5 miles in 39:30 - a 30 sec improvement from our last time. So, even though it kicked my ass, it was a great skate. Phil, the overachiever, decided 5 miles just wasn't good enough so he did the 5 miles again. He did it in just under 30 mins, which sorta ticked me off, but whatever. There was no possible way I could skate the path again, so I just meandered down the path and ended up walking roughly 2 miles.

Tonight we are going to walk, I believe. I've been thinking pretty seriously again about doing a few twice-a-days during the week. Phil challenged me a long time ago that if I got to my goal weight - 140lbs - we could have kids. I never really took him seriously and therefore never took weight loss seriously. But he mentioned it again last night and I think I really need to be serious about this. I want kids. More than anything. And if this is the only way to prove to him how serious I am, well then doggonit, I'll do it!

Breaks are good, too

Well, we skated on Wednesday night, to my chagrin. I had hoped we would go for a walk, but the weather was sunny and warm so Phil wanted to skate. Wow, were we both exhausted. I thought forsure we were going to kill our 40 minute time from Tuesday and take at least 45 mins. Fortunately, I was wrong. It was nice to know that, even though we were both tired and struggling to keep up, we managed to match our 40 minute time. Hooray!

We took last night off, Phil had "team-building" for work (aka free beer) so he wasn't up for it. I was tired anyway, so after 5 straight days of working out, it was nice to take a break.

Tonight we'll go for a skate on the trail. I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow, we are going to Mike and Sam's wedding (hooray!) in the evening. Should be good times.

Hooray

So, thank goodness for bad weather forecasters - there was no rain last night so Phil and I were able to go on our skate. Hooray! Our first go (Saturday) we did the 5 mile trail in roughly an hour. Which, I understand, is super slow, but you must understand I'm bad at skating. Sunday morning we managed roughly 50 minutes, which I was happy about cause we're picking up the pace and I'm not sucking as bad. Yesterday, we rocked it out at 40 mins, woo!!

I can tell him getting more comfortable with the stride, with speed, and even with hills. Stopping is still troublesome for me, but eventually I'll get the hang of that too, I imagine. And Phil is super patient with me.

When we finished our skate my face was absolutely covered in sweat - mostly due to the immense humidity, partially to the fact we skated hard and I'm out of shape. But it felt good and I'm looking forward to our skate tonight. Forecast is Sunny and 70s, hooray!

Rain, Rain Go Away

Yeah, it rained all afternoon yesterday so the trail was wet - sad. We ended up taking a walk on my 1.6mile loop in the hot, humid weather. It was, sadly, harder than I thought it would be. It took us a sad 27 minutes to walk the whole thing, which is about a 3.5mph walking pace. Yeah, it's slow, but it's better than sitting on my ass.

It's supposed to remain dry today, so hopefully we'll be able to get that skate in. Yay! Forecast: Rain all afternoon. Looks like it'll be another humid walk.

In-line Skating

When Phil and I first married, we purchased some very nice in-line skates for me. I've used them off and on over the past few years, but never consistently, mostly for fear of landing face first on the pavement or breaking my wrists. Well, Phil absolutely loves in-line skating and he is very good at it. Fortunately for me, he is also very patient.

Saturday and Sunday we went 5 miles on this nice rail trail in Kentwood. I must admit it was rather enjoyable, even though there were times I was sure I'd go headlong into an oncoming vehicle. We are going to go again tonight and hopefully every night the weather is fair.

Not to get ahead of myself, or anything, but I also mapped out a jogging path behind my house. It's an easy loop of 1.6miles. So the hope is I could start walking it then eventually bump up to walking one loop and jogging a second loop. We'll see, no promises or commitments. Just trying to get in shape. I managed to lose about 15lbs then promptly gained it all back. Yeah, I suck. So here's hoping I do better this time.

Exercise for Health and Energy

I see this as an ATtainable and MAINtainable goal. I’m going to have to start slowly. My schedule should look something like this:

Walking 3 days a week
Walking 4 days a week
Walking 2 days & Running/Walking 2 days a week
Running/Walking 4 days a week
Running/Walking 2 days & Running 2 days a week
Running 4 days a week

I think I could reasonably say that in about 3 months I can be running 12 miles a week.

See more progress on: Run 12 miles a week

So far to go

Starting Weight: 165
Current Weight: 165
Goal Weight: 140

I’ve been in a holding pattern at 165 for a while now – which is good. That means that if I change nothing, I shouldn’t gain weight. It also means, if I stop eating fast food and drinking soda I’ll gradually lose weight. If I start drinking more water and working out I should should see a fairly rapid weight change.

I’ve done it before. I can do it again. Just takes self-control and discipline.

See more progress on: Weigh 140 lbs

Marathon?

Chad challenged me tonight to run a marathon with him in Oct. I've really fallen off the running wagon and do, legitimately, need to get back on. I told him if I can run the 53 Riverbank 5k in 30 minutes I would train with him.

Guess I need to get back to the gym on Monday...

Better than Nothing

I went to the gym last night, which was good. But my workout felt rather lacking. I walked for 5mins, alternated 1min running and 1min walking for 20mins and walked another 5mins. In 30 mins I went just over 2 miles. My shins were hurting pretty badly, even though I stretched the pretty thouroughly beforehand. So I spent about 10mins massaging them afterwards and they actually feel much better today than they did yesterday durning the day, less stiff. So hopefully when I go tonight it'll be better.

I have decided, though, that I need more sleep. The 6 to 7 hours I'm getting is just not enough, but it's so hard to get to bed early for some reason. Tonight, I'm going to shoot for 11:00.