Did I? Didn’t I?

Well, I bet you’re all dying to know if I met my goal of doing 1/2 mile straight on my elliptical on Friday, the first day of summer. Well, no, I did not do that on Friday. My workout got postponed Friday. Half on my workout that is. I got my strength training done and then found out my sister in-law and the kids were coming down “early”, so I put it off until today.

Did I do it? Yes I did! I really didn’t think it was going to get done today, because I got on the elliptical and during the first 100 revolutions, my right hip (not really the hip, but the upper outer leg) was tired. But I pushed on, and it worked itself out. Felt good, and around the 650 revolution mark, I began to feel my legs start to tire. I thought to myself, “it’s only 150 more revolutions, you can push through it”, and that’s what I did. Legs were tired, then they were fine, then they were tired, then they were fine. Back and forth for a while, and then I was done.

It’s been about an hour since I finished, and I feel OK now. My legs were tired when I got off, but they seem to be just fine now. I only did a half mile, I didn’t continue to do a full mile like I thought I would. I decided to be smart and stop.

I don’t know how often I’ll do a half mile straight, but it will happen again. I know it’s possible now. You sometimes need a lot of determination to get something done, but you can do what you want, if it is something you really want to do.

Keep pushing, and keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Back in the workout groove after a 10-day vacation. I‘m in the process of writing a vacation recap. It is coming, probably by the end of the week. I did gain about three pounds while I was away, but those pounds are back off since I’ve been working out again. So I’m back in maintenance (I hate spelling that word) mode. It would be nice to lose another 5 pounds, but I’m not worrying about it. As long as my clothes fit, I’m fine. After all, I am smack dab in the middle of the weight range for my height. I also know I’m a good weight since both security people at the airports (Palm Springs going and Atlanta coming back) commented on on my being skinny.

More mileage pictures are heading your way. I am now up to date with the pictures. The last picture in this post is from today’s Leslie Sansone workout. I am still loving her 5K With A Twist dvd. Tomorrow is a mile on the elliptical. I need to start working on my endurance again. I most likely will not make my goal of doing a half mile straight by the first day of summer. The first day of summer is June 21 (a week from this Friday). It might be possible, if I really push myself. Let’s see if I can do it! I did do 500 revolutions without stopping on Saturday. Half a mile is 800 revolutions on my elliptical. So it could be possible. Ok. That’s a goal. If I don’t do it, I won’t beat myself up over it. Half a mile straight next Friday, let’s go!

For now, here are the pictures from the virtual walk site. I’ve now passed through the city of Ashcamp, KY, and have about .7 miles until I reach Lookout, KY in Pike county.

Mile 571.2 (watp for 3.1 miles)                                    Mile 572.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                      

Mile 573.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                     Mile 576.2 (watp for 3.1 miles)

                      

Mile 577.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                     Mile 580.4 (watp for 3.1 miles)

                       

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving! It feels really good after you’re done, trust me!

Exercise Progress...And My "Problem"

It has been way too long since my last update here. It seems like that's how I've started the last few entries. Been a long time, but things are still improving and moving in the right direction (well, other than the scale). Exercise? Awesome. Writing? Still going well. Food? Meh. Scale movement? Wrong way.

First off, exercise. I'm making quite a lot of progress with my routines. My strength training is still the same, but it is getting a tiny bit easier. I'm still using the 10 pound weights and doing one set of 15 for each exercise. The lying triceps extensions are getting a bit easier, as long as I remember to do them first, instead of last. I'm not to the point yet where I feel comfortable doing more than one set. It is getting easier though. I don't feel like my arms are going to fall off after I'm done anymore.

I'm still not doing push ups. I nixed those from my routine a while back because they put way too much pressure on my wrists. My left wrist specifically. Right now I don't have any aches and pains in my left wrist anymore, but I don't want to do push up quite yet. I don't know if I'll add them back in at all or not. I hate push ups. They're my least favorite exercise. I'd rather do more chest press exercises with my weights than do push ups. Push ups are evil.

Speaking of aches and pains. I am now pain free as far as my left ankle goes. It was weird. A few weeks ago I was still having twinges here and there. About two or three weeks ago, I actually took a full week off from my elliptical because it hurt so bad. Got back on and it was OK. Had a twinge here and there, but it was mostly fine. Now? I don't feel any discomfort at all. It was there one day, and gone the next. I'm not even using my ice pack or heating pad anymore. No more Icy Hot either. I think what helped it to get better was lots and lots of stretching. Stretching my heel cord and hamstring in particular.






I bought a handy dandy gizmo a few months ago which I give all the credit to. I used to see this thing every time I was on an airplane looking through the Sky Mall magazine. I always thought about getting one. Well, I finally did. And I'm glad. I've always had a hard time stretching my heel cords. But this gizmo makes it a lot easier. Just put your foot on it with your heel against the back support and lean into it. I think a “normal” person can flex their foot to make their heel go down naturally, and I can sort of do it with my right foot. But with my left, I need to bend at the waist to get the stretch I need. My left heel cord is so tight, that foot is hard to move without help.

Seeing as I have no more pain in my left ankle, I'm stepping up my elliptical routine. I'm up to doing one mile three days a week, and a half mile three days a week. On the half mile days, I'm increasing the resistance to level 2. And my one mile days are getting easier and a little bit faster. I have had to make a few changes though.

The display screen on my elliptical is acting up a bit. I'm having to change the batteries every other week. Last time I changed them, it didn't seem to help, the screen was still flickering. It's very strange. Might be a loose connection or something. The “poles” that you hang on to as you're moving have a tendency to bang from side to side every now and then. Hard. And if the batteries are almost dead, one good whack can reset it. It's now starting to do that even with fresh batteries. So, I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer as a backup. Plus, I pretty much listen to the same CD every time I'm on it, so I know which song is playing when I normally finish my mile.

I hate to say it, but I think I've got a little bit of an obsessive compulsive problem in terms of mileage. When my screen resets I flip out if I don't know how far I've gone. I can take a guess, but I know it's not exactly right. So, I'm not focusing on mileage anymore, at least not as strictly as I was. I'm going for time. I normally do one mile in 37 to 38 minutes. I'm now going for 40 minutes. Yesterday I did 1.1 mile in 40.5. See? I couldn't stop at 40 because I was SO close to the next .1 mile. I had to continue. Need to work on that little “problem”. I have a little dialogue in my head that goes like this:

Sane Tee: OK, 40 minutes is up. You can stop now.
Insane Tee: I have 40 more revolutions until the next .1 mile. I can make it.
Sane Tee: Just stop and say you did 1.1 mile. It's close enough.
Insane Tee: But it's NOT exact.

And if I go one or two revolutions passed the mark? I always say “Oops”. So, I've got a bit of a problem. I'm dealing with it though. So, focusing on time will make me stop obsessing, especially if my screen resets. I'll be forced to estimate my distance at the point.

This entry is getting a bit long, so I'll stop for now. I'll cover the food and writing topics at another time. I've also got two new types of tea from Teavana I need to review. I've already had one of them, and all I can say is yum!

Stay cool everyone. Today is the first day of summer, so drink plenty of water. So far the temperatures here in the desert haven't been too horrible. We reached 109 a few weeks ago, but it's been just over 100 the rest of the time. High is usually 102 to 105. We had a week where we had a high of 109 to a high of 85. It was crazy.

Keep moving!

Exercise Progress...And My "Problem"

It has been way too long since my last update here. It seems like that's how I've started the last few entries. Been a long time, but things are still improving and moving in the right direction (well, other than the scale). Exercise? Awesome. Writing? Still going well. Food? Meh. Scale movement? Wrong way.

First off, exercise. I'm making quite a lot of progress with my routines. My strength training is still the same, but it is getting a tiny bit easier. I'm still using the 10 pound weights and doing one set of 15 for each exercise. The lying triceps extensions are getting a bit easier, as long as I remember to do them first, instead of last. I'm not to the point yet where I feel comfortable doing more than one set. It is getting easier though. I don't feel like my arms are going to fall off after I'm done anymore.

I'm still not doing push ups. I nixed those from my routine a while back because they put way too much pressure on my wrists. My left wrist specifically. Right now I don't have any aches and pains in my left wrist anymore, but I don't want to do push up quite yet. I don't know if I'll add them back in at all or not. I hate push ups. They're my least favorite exercise. I'd rather do more chest press exercises with my weights than do push ups. Push ups are evil.

Speaking of aches and pains. I am now pain free as far as my left ankle goes. It was weird. A few weeks ago I was still having twinges here and there. About two or three weeks ago, I actually took a full week off from my elliptical because it hurt so bad. Got back on and it was OK. Had a twinge here and there, but it was mostly fine. Now? I don't feel any discomfort at all. It was there one day, and gone the next. I'm not even using my ice pack or heating pad anymore. No more Icy Hot either. I think what helped it to get better was lots and lots of stretching. Stretching my heel cord and hamstring in particular.



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I bought a handy dandy gizmo a few months ago which I give all the credit to. I used to see this thing every time I was on an airplane looking through the Sky Mall magazine. I always thought about getting one. Well, I finally did. And I'm glad. I've always had a hard time stretching my heel cords. But this gizmo makes it a lot easier. Just put your foot on it with your heel against the back support and lean into it. I think a “normal” person can flex their foot to make their heel go down naturally, and I can sort of do it with my right foot. But with my left, I need to bend at the waist to get the stretch I need. My left heel cord is so tight, that foot is hard to move without help.

Seeing as I have no more pain in my left ankle, I'm stepping up my elliptical routine. I'm up to doing one mile three days a week, and a half mile three days a week. On the half mile days, I'm increasing the resistance to level 2. And my one mile days are getting easier and a little bit faster. I have had to make a few changes though.

The display screen on my elliptical is acting up a bit. I'm having to change the batteries every other week. Last time I changed them, it didn't seem to help, the screen was still flickering. It's very strange. Might be a loose connection or something. The “poles” that you hang on to as you're moving have a tendency to bang from side to side every now and then. Hard. And if the batteries are almost dead, one good whack can reset it. It's now starting to do that even with fresh batteries. So, I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer as a backup. Plus, I pretty much listen to the same CD every time I'm on it, so I know which song is playing when I normally finish my mile.

I hate to say it, but I think I've got a little bit of an obsessive compulsive problem in terms of mileage. When my screen resets I flip out if I don't know how far I've gone. I can take a guess, but I know it's not exactly right. So, I'm not focusing on mileage anymore, at least not as strictly as I was. I'm going for time. I normally do one mile in 37 to 38 minutes. I'm now going for 40 minutes. Yesterday I did 1.1 mile in 40.5. See? I couldn't stop at 40 because I was SO close to the next .1 mile. I had to continue. Need to work on that little “problem”. I have a little dialogue in my head that goes like this:

Sane Tee: OK, 40 minutes is up. You can stop now.
Insane Tee: I have 40 more revolutions until the next .1 mile. I can make it.
Sane Tee: Just stop and say you did 1.1 mile. It's close enough.
Insane Tee: But it's NOT exact.

And if I go one or two revolutions passed the mark? I always say “Oops”. So, I've got a bit of a problem. I'm dealing with it though. So, focusing on time will make me stop obsessing, especially if my screen resets. I'll be forced to estimate my distance at the point.

This entry is getting a bit long, so I'll stop for now. I'll cover the food and writing topics at another time. I've also got two new types of tea from Teavana I need to review. I've already had one of them, and all I can say is yum!

Stay cool everyone. Today is the first day of summer, so drink plenty of water. So far the temperatures here in the desert haven't been too horrible. We reached 109 a few weeks ago, but it's been just over 100 the rest of the time. High is usually 102 to 105. We had a week where we had a high of 109 to a high of 85. It was crazy.

Keep moving!