Like Riding a Bike

First off, let's get the not-so-good news out of the way first. As you may have seen in the update to my last post I had a .5 gain last week. I wasn't happy but I got over it fairly quick. Incidentally, I started my menstrual cycle today so now I am wondering if that is part of the .5, or at least hoping that's the case. In any case it's all part and parcel for the journey.

Ok, now that the gain is out, let's move on to better things. I didn't get any exercise on Friday (but does the work day from hell count?), but the rest of the weekend was a big success!

On Saturday I was with the kids all morning while Miguel was in his triathlon. I didn't end up taking the kids to watch him, he was doing it with a friend so I knew he'd be alright without us. It would have been nice to cheer him on but the super early wake up and keeping the kids entertained during the event just didn't sound like fun. So the kids and I went to our regular playgroup and had some fun at the park. I had probably my biggest scare of not being able to find Marek though, thank goodness my mommy-friends stepped in and helped me find him fairly quickly. It was scary but glad to find him quickly. Later Miguel came home from his tri (he was VERY happy with how he did) and suggested I go to the gym while the kids nap. Perfect. I did c25k Week 1 (day 2) and felt oddly comfortable. I did have some tightness in my adductors (inner thigh) area. It was a strange feeling because I don't think I've ever felt tight in that area before. Anyway, it got better as the intervals went on. No twinges of pain in my feet and my endurance seemed better than last time. I did notice when I got done that I forgot to put my usual 1 degree elevation, could that have made a difference? I suppose. In any case I was very happy to be enjoying c25k, something I didn't expect to happen so soon. After that I did chest and triceps for weight training and left feeling quite pleased with myself.

Today I was with the kids all morning while Miguel played golf and then soccer. I will be taking notes for Mother's Day next year ;) I took the kids to the park to watch the last 20 minutes of his soccer game and we had some nice family time afterward. I planned from the start to go to the gym during their naps so as soon as they were tucked in I hit the road. I am realizing how important weekend workouts are because weekday ones are so much more challenging to squeeze in. Today I started with 20 minutes on the treadmill, doing a more than leisurely but not hard pace. I wanted to see how the upright bike would feel so I did the "random" program (seemed like what other bikes call "hills") on Level 4 (I think) for 25 minutes. This bike didn't cycle from level to level as fast as other bikes I've been on so when the resistance was up, there were a few times when I was really getting my butt kicked. But I powered through and felt good about how it went for my first time. Afterward I did legs and shoulders. Squats went ok, since I had time I did three sets of everything instead of two, which was probably a good thing. But the lunges, oh my!, I couldn't do them. I did one set, barely. I guess it was the bike? But I had no strength in whatever muscles you use to do lunges. Oh, I found something new that I really like! It was a square balance board that looked like this on the bottom:



You can stand on it to balance from left-to-right or from front-to-back depending on how you position it. So I got the bright idea to do my shoulder exercises on it, I've been doing triceps and biceps on the bosu so why not? I did lateral raises while balancing left-to-right and front raises while balancing front-to-back. I like that it adds a balance workout and also that it engages my core, balance comes from the core right? At least I think I read that somewhere.

After weights I had a nice long time to stretch, which I really needed, and left feeling good. While I was there I realized this is the first time in my life, I think, in which there is no cajoling, bargaining, convincing or any other tactics to get myself to the gym. I think it's because of the kids and the lack of time and just an appreciation for the time spent doing it that I never had before. And I really want this. I'm afraid I know this feeling won't last but I want to believe it will so let's just go with that reality for now.

When I came home Miguel had some friends over and asked me to run to the store for some grill fixings. After the upright bike at the gym I wanted to ride the real thing. Miguel got my bike down for me and pumped up the tires. I popped on the snap-on platforms over my clipless pedals, I'd purchased them way back when and this may be the first time I'm actually using them. I rode to the store and back taking the same loop route I did for my walk a couple weeks back. Funny how a bike will show you all the little grades you never noticed before. I felt fantastic riding the short distance to the store. The rest of the loop home was a little painful though it was less than 2 miles in total so I didn't suffer too badly but...IT FELT GREAT! to be on that bike. I felt like I was gliding along. I need to plan a nice (mostly flat) road ride asap!

Well, you're totally up to date. I have one gym-day in the bag for this week and I more than met my goal for last week. Ok, gotta hit the sack before I fall asleep on my laptop. Thank you for reading and, most especially, thank you for the supportive comments. I've been reading a lot of my old posts lately (I'm getting motivated seeing what I did before) and the comments are still so helpful. Thank you!!