Fan of running shorts!

So I got my first pair of running shorts for Christmas this year and I wore them to the gym today.  I am a HUGE fan!  I want like 20 more.  I will have to invest in some more (as well as new shoes because mine are giving me blisters)

Night at the gym with Eric today.  I was totally not in the mood to go to they gym.  Its like Friday since I'm off tomorrow and I'm not so into workout out on my Fridays.  If I didn't have a date with Eric, I would not have made it to the gym.

Start out on the lovely stairmaster.  15 minutes, level 10 on speed interval (it was fun, let me tell you).  With 6 minutes left, he decided to bump up the level to level 12.  Next, off to the meaty weight room, although it wasn't too crowded with the upcoming holiday.  I did one lap around the track of backwards lunges.  Then we did some arms, legs and abs.  A lap of forward lunges and more legs, arms and abs.  It was a total body workout today!  I finished of the workout with 10 laps around the track, then a rest, then 7 laps in under 5 minutes (17 laps equal 1 mile).

I spent about 5 minutes in the sauna, then called a day and most likely a year.  I don't think I will be going to the gym tomorrow.  Happy New Year!!

Why am I so hungry??

So I feel like I'm hungry a lot lately.  I think my stomach must have grown over the past couple of days and I need to shrink it again.  I can't get enough chocolate.  Its awful!

Treadmill day today at the gym.  2 minute warm up, 33 minute run and a 2 minute cool down.  I did walk for 2 minutes in the middle of the run.  Final stat line: 37 minutes, 3.3 miles and 455 calories.

I also ran into Eric at the gym (who was supposed to be in California) and he harassed me about training, so I will be training with him tomorrow.  Ugh, don't know if I'm up for this torture at the end of the year! Hopefully he'll take it easy on me.  I doubt it though.

Christmas Monday

Ah, back to the grind.  Yesturday, I drug Stephanie to the gym where we did 15 minutes on the arc trainer.  We then did some weights, leg exercises and arms.  It was a good workout for Sunday post Christmas, but not quite the Sunday night normal run.

Today was interval spin with Janet.  Small class, I was one of six people there.  There was one guy who was a bit of a freak that I've never seen before.  He was talking about the 'reading' he does on fitness and he had some questions for the trainers to talk about.  Then I felt like he was staring at me during the class.  Talk about stalker!  Anyways, it was a good spin.  Lots of intervals and lots of climbs.  One of the songs we did a tough interval.  Climb for 45 seconds with a fast pedal speed, then climb for 15 seconds on a normal pace, then repeat. 

Unsure about the workout tomorrow, Steph's last day in town, so it may be an off day.

Ah, the holiday break!

So nice to finally be on holiday break, although not as nice as the college break, its a much needed 4 days off!  No workout yesterday- I felt a little rushed post work and didn't want to be stressed out about having too much to do, so I skipped it.  I did take advantage of the off day and went to the gym early today with all the retired people.  I did a treadmill run, but it didn't go quite as planned.  I started running and was planning on doing a 45 minute run, but after about 25 minutes, the treadmill just shut off.  I had to jump over to the treadmill next to meand finished for another 25 minutes.  I really have no idea what the workout summary was.  I believe I burned about 450 calories, but I'm not really sure about the time or distance.  I couldn't get the summary off the first treadmill because it totally shut down.  Oh well.

Christmas starts today for me, off to my grams.  Merry Christmas!

Kick it up a notch!

So, the day didn't start on too good of a note.  I ended up gaining a pound this week.  Clearly, I can't lose weight when I don't track calories.  My goal for the end of the year is to maintain my current weight and start tracking again as soon as the holidays are over.  The food journal will be back real soon!

Kickboxing today with Janet (with special guest, my sister, Stephanie).  She was really good and I enjoyed it.  Definitely different than spinning, felt a little uncoordinated at the beginning of the class.  It took me a while to get the one move, kick with one leg, punch with the opposite arm.  I think it took me until the last time through to get the move.  Janet would do three different series of moves, then we would put them together for a couple of times through.  Apparently last class she burned 1000 calories.  I find that VERY hard to believe.  She did have weights on her hands, but I wasn't too sweaty afterwards.  Maybe it was just the different workout, but I don't think I burned even close to that many calories.

Tomorrows agenda: Running.  Depending on when I get out of work, it will be a 35 to 60 minute run.  Run hard before the holidays!!!  Only 4 more days :)

5 more days!

It's been a while, I know.  Thursday, no workout, I wrapped presents at the mall, although, no one stopped to get their gifts wrapped.  Apparently I didn't look like I could do a good enough job, so opted to do it themselves.  No weekend workouts either, although I did brave the holiday crowds Saturday and Sunday.  They almost eat you alive, but I made it out! All my presents are wrapped and under the tree!

Office Christmas party at lunchtime today.  Not too bad with the eating, I didn't eat too much, but did eat some cookies :)  I made stuffed mushrooms which were good, at least I thought so.  There was a veggie tray, which always helps!

Spinning day today with Janet.  I was a bit sluggish today, I had to have tea in the afternoon to wake me up! I think since I didn't work out for a little while, I had some pent up energy that released really quickly at the beginning of the class and left me with no energy at the end of the class.  It was a 'race class' today, which meant lots of climbing and hills.

Switching up the workouts this week.  Stephanie is home, so we're doing kickboxing tomorrow night.  Janet is the instructor, so it should be fun!

24/7

Running day today, marathon training continues today.  It was just a short workout today, total ending stat line: 38 minutes, 3.57 miles, 490 calories burned.  I start out with a 2 minute warmup, then ran at a 6.2.  I did walk for 2 minutes in the middle at a 3.5 before ending it with a 6.2 run (the last 10 minutes).  Cool down for 3 minutes.  Good workout, it was the gluteal workout program, so the incline was a 4 for most of the run.  A little more challenging for the shorter time, but a good workout.

Question of the day (at work):  How many underwear do you own? Apparently the average person owns 21 pairs.  I think I may be around that or slightly above.

It was dunder mifflin day at the office again today.  Michael, aka my boss, distracted everyone with trying to figure out all the characters of the 12 days of christmas.  It only went on for like 20 minutes though.  Then it was learn chinese in the afternoon.  Productive day for michael.

24/7: The road to the winter classic starts tonight.  You watching??

Blah Tuesday

Good new today: I lost 1.2 pounds this week.  Good to finally see some down numbers, now seriously, I need to get below 170.  Its been way to long that I've hovered around 170 without going under!

It was a pretty blah day at the gym.  I have bad underwear on, bad shorts for spinning.  The combination gave me a wegie (weggie?) the whole class.  And the room was a frigid 53 degrees when we got in there.  Although I guess this felt warm compared to the -5 outside today.  Spinning was a little rough today.  It was an interval ride with lost of hills and sprints.  She also went long, about an hour class instead of 45 minutes.  I guess she was really into it.  Yoga as a cool down.

Stay warm today!

Monday, Monday

Today was my 'sick' day from work, but not the gym.  A little busy this week so unfortunately I could only fit Eric in today, which means spinning Monday had to be put on hold for this week.  Eric was off somewhere when I got there (I asked another trainer about it (Carinne, it was Tyler, I believe you liked him, right)) so I jumped on the arc trainer for some cardio.  When Eric finally found me, he told me that the arc trainer doesn't get my heart rate up fast enough and switch me to the stairmaster.  10 minutes and he upped the level to level 12 on the arebic training program.  This was after I told him my calfs were hurting...

He asked what I wanted to work today and I told him lets do some abs and arms.  Well, he took that literally and I found out just how much he likes pushups!  We did some abs on the ab coaster and in between directions we did 15 pushups.  Eric wouldn't allow me to do pushups on my knees and made me do real pushups.  Lets just say they aren't my favorite!  We did a couple leg lifts, then situps with a medicine ball, more pushups.  We then did some biceps.

Then Eric found another girl to prey on.  He made us do situps throwing the medicine ball back and forth for a song, then switched it up.  We had been using the 8 pound medicine ball.  We went to the big balls! 12 and 15 pounds and we would do situps, place the ball on the bench and switch balls.  We did it for what seemed like 20 minutes, although I think it was a song or two.  Finish up the day with 20 minutes on the elliptical.

I may not be able to feel my arms tomorrow, but on a good note, Eric thinks I'm getting stronger!  Spinning Tuesday instead of spinning monday, then the big hockey game! Yes, I make my workout schedule around hockey, don't judge :)

I Love You, Man

Ugh, lets start the post with the fact that my calfs hurt so badly! I almost had to crawl to the bathroom the other night because I couldn't walk to get there.  I don't know if it was the treadmill, Eric or a combination of the two.

Tonight was my Sunday Funday Cardio Day! I did the treadmill today for 50 minutes.  I did a 2.5/3 minute walk at the beginning and then started running.  I did run the rest of the 50 minutes straight for about 4.5 miles.  I thought it was a pretty good run.  Ending stat line (warm and cool down time included): 55 minutes, 4.97 miles, 630 calories or something like that, I don't remember the calories.

I'm watching I Love You, Man, not the best movie, but I guess it has its moments.  Amazing Race season finale tonight! Enjoy!!!

More stairmaster!?

Trainer Eric day today.  I was really excited when he wanted to start me out on the stairmaster, only to find someone else on it.  He started me out on the arc trainer instead for 15 minutes, the lesser of two evils.  THEN, he saw that the stairmaster was free, so after 10 minutes on the arc trainer, I switched to the stairmaster for 10 minutes at a level 11 (he upped my level and boy did that seem much faster!).  While on the stairmaster, Eric was talking to me about some guy I was in the gym with (hes always very chatty).  He tends to confuse me with some other girl who goes to the gym that was swimming with some guy last week.  I was like, never used the pool here.  I believe its the same girl who he thought was my sister at one point. 

After my cardio warm-up, we went to the meaty man gym.  I did a lap of lunges around the track.  As if my legs weren't burning enough at this point, we did more legs at the leg extention machine (40 lbs, 26 reps).  Got up and did back leg raises and the fire hydrant pose (leg out to the side with a bent knee, kick back, keeping the knee bent).  25 each for each leg.  back to the leg machine for 15 reps, then calf raises, 3 different ways.  1- toes straight ahead, 2- toes toward each other, 3- heels together; 25 each way.

We then did some pullups and dips, followed by some arms and back exercises.  Finished up the weights with 50 reps on the ab weight machine and some more calf raises!  Cool down was 15 minutes on the elliptical.  Eric was telling me to come home and eat and omlet or chicken and I told him that was a bit much for 8pm, seeing how I go to bed like 2-3 hours after that.  I opted for a potein smoothie from the gym.  I'll have to get the potein stuff you add to water so I can get the post workout protein without some meat.

Fun fact learned about Eric today: He makes dentures for his day job.  haha, I find it so funny!

Watching the end of High School Musical 2 before bed!

Marathon training

So today I had the day at the gym to decide what to do.  It seems like a while since I haven't been doing either spinning or working out with Eric, so it was strange to pick my workout again!  Today was training day for the relay marathon we're doing May 1st!  Since I've been doing intervals for a while, I wanted to see if I could run 3 miles straight without stopping or slowing down. 

I got on the treadmill and picked the 5K program.  I walked the first 0.2 miles at a 3.5 speed, then crancked up the speed to 5.8 for the next 3 miles.  And I did it.  I'm not sure why, but it seemed very easy today.  I wasn't even that excited to go to the gym today, kind or dreading it, but my workout was really good.  I'm not sure how long my warm up 0.2 miles took, but I finished the 5K (3.2 miles) in about 35 minutes, which wasn't bad.  I did sprint the last 0.2 miles at a 6.5 because I was feeling pretty good.  My final stat line: 38.30 minutes, 3.41 miles, 416 calories.  I did do this all on a flat incline, since it was a test run.  I'll have to add some miles each run.

Set up my HBO for the Pens tv show next week.  Can't wait! So excited! And Crosby already scored in the game tonight, 17 games and counting :)

Happy Birthday Emily!

Today was my sister's birthday (as well as my bigs, Liz), so happy birthday!! Birthday dinner tonight after work, so gymtime wasn't possible.  I did however, force myself to workout on my lunch break at work.  I don't usually enjoy working out at work, mostly because I hate to be sweaty and smelly the rest of the day, but I couldn't skip today after the poor weekend and a big dinner.  I did the stairmaster for 20 minutes.  I did the first 10 at level 8 and the next 10 at level 10.  It was easier than the one at the gym.  The one at work looks like this:

So it wasn't the stairs that they gym actually has.  I'm not sure why, but it seemed easier than the gym version.  Anyways, I did 94 flights of stairs and 216 calories.  Throw in a couple pushups and squats and called it a day.  Not the best workout, but better than nothing!

Gym tomorrow, marathon training.  I'm gonna go away from the intervals and see how much I can run at once at a speed probably around 5.5 or so.  Not too fast, just a steady pace.  Hoping for like 3 miles?? We'll see.  Haven't run straight for a while.

Holiday Parties-1; Me-0

The weekend of holiday parties did not go so well.  Well, the parties were good, but the food and drink choices were not made too well.  Ate and drank too much over the weekend and NO workouts!  I don't know if its a good thing to have one really bad weekend or multiple weekends where there are parties.  The scale will not be kind this week...

Spinning monday with Janet.  Good spin today, we would run for a song, and then climb for a song.  Good music today, a little of everything.  We finished the sping with some jumps.  Carinne always makes fun of me for not being up to date with my music.  I don't listen to radio too much, but I realized today that I am really behind.  Both my spin instructors are over 40 and they always have new, popular songs on their playlist that I haven't heard before.  I know that they are new and the artists, but am definately behind.  At least they teach me new music while I'm getting my butt kicked!

On a side note, I took Kaitlin to see Santa this weekend.  She really enjoyed him and even gave him a hug when we left!

Oh, and this is how cool she is (waiting in line to see santa):

Thirsty thursday

Spinning day today with Andrea.  It was an interesting spin.  A huge varity in music selection.  We did a little disco, lady gaga, beach boys christmas songs.  At one point she said her son had to teach her how to say Flo Rida because, as she says, its spelled like Flordia.  We ended it with the sound of music.  Not the best I would say, but I got through it.  Definately tired today and looking forward to the day off tomorrow.

The treats at work have started already! December is a month of temptation at work.  The biggest losers only have to last 15 minutes in a room sometimes.  I challenge them to do an 8 hour day in the office with a bunch of different candies and donuts.  Its way tougher!

Christmas parties this weekend.  Still looking for that healthy appitizer.

Use your abs! (what abs?)

Another day with Eric.  This was the first time I did back to back days and was a little worried about it.  Also, it makes the halfway point of our relationship (6 out of the 12 sessions I paid for).  Workout was a bit different from before.  Start out on the arc trainer machine.  15 minutes, level 10 in the hill interval mode.  Want a machine that works the legs? I'd use this one, good for the upper legs, feel the burn!

We then did some a bit of a calistenics workout, working the abs in between cardio burst.  He introduced me to the ab coaster machine today

You can work your abs and obliques by switching the direction of the pad your knees are on.  Eric put the weight on, so I'm not sure what I was lifting.  In between the different sets (all 25), I did jumping jacks with 3 pound weights in my hands.  We then did some knee ups with a medicine ball and other various ab workouts, like the V-sit and leg crossovers.  I also did some pushups on a bench, as well as on the floor (HE MADE ME DO REAL ONES! NO KNEES!).  We ended the calistenics portion with some leg raises and 6 inch of the floor holding of the legs.

To end the workout it was back to the stairmaster.  And to think he would actually let me go a day without it!  10 minutes, level 10 on cross country setting.  I did actually change the level to level 8 since I was dying and he wasn't paying attention at that point. 

Between the pushups and weighted jumping jacks, my biceps are sore already.  Spinning tomorrow! More legs workout.  By the end of the year, my legs/butt better be looking good with all this work!!!!