After my 8 mile run yesterday, I was pretty exhausted. I woke up this morning still pretty tired and wondering what the heck I was going to do at the gym today when I really just wanted to curl back up in bed. I got up and got dressed in my workout clothes and then went to wake the kids up and start getting them ready for school. My husband is working nights this week, so he told me he would get our oldest on the bus if I could take the middle one to school (I take the youngest with me to the gym). He went out to warm up the car for me and then came in to tell me that everything was covered in a sheet of ice. I went out to load the kids up and yup, sure enough, the driveway was an ice skating rink. At one point my husband slid down the drive from top to bottom, then proceeded to run back up... only he was slipping down the whole time. I started to freak. A little ice, I can deal with. I actually rather enjoy drifting through slippery corners. But a sheet of ice everywhere? I trust my own driving, I don't trust anyone else's- at all. It briefly went through my mind that this was a pretty good excuse for not going to the gym. But my husband went out and checked the street for me and it was, in fact, clear of ice. So off I went.
The husband was right, the roads were all de-iced. I made it to the gym in one piece. Still didn't want to work out, but I was there so SOMETHING was going to happen. When my friend Patti showed up, I asker her what she wanted to do today. I figured I would do whatever she wanted since if I did whatever I wanted I'd still be at home sleeping. She said she wanted to do legs. LEEEEEGS! I ran 8 miles yesterday, woman! I can't do legs! But in all honesty, my legs were feeling pretty good and this was my reason for joining the gym in the first place- I can run at home, but I don't have many options for weight lifting. So I agreed and we got started. The first squat machine felt almost too easy when I did my trial lift, so I bravely went and found two 25 lb weights to add. Patti put two 10 lb weights on hers (a different type of squat machine) and we would do a set, switch, do a set, switch, do a set, switch. By the end of the first set I was thinking my extra 50 lbs might not have been such a good idea. By the second set, I knew it. By the third, my legs were jelly. But instead of complaining I said "hey, wanna do arms today too??" So after legs we did some arms! We didn't do our normal routine, but tried free weights instead, so that was fun. There was only one set of 5 lb weights and one set of 7.5 lb weights and I was stuck with the 7.5 lb ones for most of the workout because we kept forgetting to switch until we were already halfway through a set. But I just kept thinking "quit complaining! No pain, no gain! If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you!" And I did it. Now my arms AND legs were jelly. I'm thinking tomorrow should be core/chest/back and I can just kill my entire body all at once.
After lifting we hit the treadmills and I decided to just walk my miles today. I kept it brisk (any faster and I would've had to jog), and Patti did run/walk intervals. She gave me some crap about not walking at an incline, so I set it at 1%. After all, my quads were already jelly and I'd like to be able to walk tomorrow. I put in 2.5 miles, keeping my heart rate in the fat burning zone almost the entire time.
All in all, it was a good workout. And it could've been NO workout and probably would've been 6 months ago. I am trying so hard to not only NOT QUIT, but to PUSH IT. Push my limits. Push what I think I can do. Push those cupcakes away. Mmmm, cupcakes. But really, they say the definition of insane is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I've been doing the same thing for 5 months now and I keep expecting things to happen- my weight to go down, my body to change- and it's not happening. I need to step it up, push myself harder than I did the day before. I WANT to feel tired but accomplished. I WANT to feel achy muscles and know that tomorrow I'll be stronger for it. I WANT to know, when I'm lean and fit and strong, that I did that. Just me. I made me awesome. I can't wait.
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