Some Motivation

Even though I just did some light running with Luke last night, I did some strength training right away this morning.

It was the only opportunity I knew I would have to exercise today, as Luke and I are boarding a plane in a few hours to Australia. It's his grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, and they are flying us out for two weeks. It will be about a 24 trip from the MSP airport to the Sydney airport, so I definitely wanted to get up and move my body before all of that!

It should be interesting to see how I continue to exercise while I am away. I am wearing my gym shoes on the plane, and packing a resistance band and my Pilates DVDs.

This morning, I did my regular strength training routine. The only thing I changed was the number of reps for the LAT pulldown. I did 20, instead of 15. All are 15 reps and 2 sets unless otherwise noted:

• Dumbbell Sumo Squat; 30 lbs
• Straight Arm LAT Pulldown; 20 lbs, 20 reps
• Push Up on Ball
• Dumbbell Walking Lunge, Single Leg Balance, Dumbbell Lateral Raise; 5 lbs, 20 reps
• Dumbbell Tricep Extension, Dead Bug Position; 5 lbs
• Prone Ball Leg Curl
• Dumbbell Bicep Curl, Wall Sit; 5 lbs, 20 reps
• Side Lying Crunch on Ball

The Boardwalk

Another morning where I just could not peel myself out of bed to go running. I told myself that I would go during lunch. Well, I went outside at lunchtime and there was no way I was going to bring myself to run in that weather. It must have been the hottest and most humid day so far this summer. So then I told myself I'd go running this evening after it cooled off a bit.

This evening, I didn't feel good. I've been having stomach problems for a few weeks now. I think it might have to do with my recent trip to Kenya...I've been seeing a travel doctor. Anyway, so, I finally started to feel up to go running but really wanted to run with someone. I really miss Baxter!

I begged Luke for about 20 minutes to go on a 3-mile run with me, even though he hates to run. He enjoys playing tennis far more! Finally, Luke compromised. He agreed to run 1 mile and walk the rest of the way. So, that is what we did. We walked down to the river then ran for about 1 mile along the river to the Science Museum where there is a light display. It was just getting dark enough to notice that the bulbs were lit. Then we walked back up hill and back home.

It was still really humid, and warmer than I would have liked it to be, but it was a gorgeous evening to spend on the "boardwalk" with Luke.

Meager

More strength training today!

Same routine as before, except I increased the number of reps for my bicep curls. All are 15 reps and 2 sets unless otherwise noted:

• Dumbbell Sumo Squat; 30 lbs
• Straight Arm LAT Pulldown; 20 lbs
• This is beginning to feel too comfortable...as in, it's getting too easy. I think I will increase reps next time (before increasing the weight). The machine I'm using increases by 10 pounds, rather than 5 pounds.
• Push Up on Ball
• Dumbbell Walking Lunge, Single Leg Balance, Dumbbell Lateral Raise; 5 lbs, 20 reps
• Dumbbell Tricep Extension, Dead Bug Position; 5 lbs
• Prone Ball Leg Curl
• Dumbbell Bicep Curl, Wall Sit; 5 lbs, 20 reps
• Feeling the burn again!
• Side Lying Crunch on Ball

As I briefly alluded to above, our "fitness center," located in our building is a little sad. Here are a few pictures:

One 10-lb weight. Yep, just one.

The 30-lb weight I use for my sumo squats. There are two of them, 

but I only need one for the exercise.

The weight machine. 

I use the bar dangling from the top to do the straight
arm LAT pulldown exercise.

5 lb and 3 lb weights (I think). I use the red ones, 

which I think are 5 pounds to do a number of
the exercises.

My personal trainer was kind enough to take this meager inventory into consideration when she designed my strength training routine!

Slug-a-lug-lug

Another 3-miler today. Due to my neck issue I had last week, it was my first run in a while. And boy was it tough! I just felt so sluggish the entire run. Here are some of my thoughts about why that was:

• I started the run at a faster clip than I should have. I think I ran my first mile at around a 7:30 pace!
• Baxter is currently spending a few weeks at my parents' place since Luke and I will be traveling for 2 weeks beginning this Friday. Stay tuned! Because I didn't have a running partner, I didn't have anyone to measure my pace against.
• I had a board meeting to get to later tonight, so I felt rushed for time.
• I ate a burger and fries for lunch.
• I knew it wasn't the healthiest decision, but I didn't think about how it would affect my run.
• It was hot this afternoon!
• Even though it is hard to get out of bed early in the morning, this warm streak is really making that look like a better option!

Again, I forgot to stop my chronograph at the end of the run, but my average mile pace was somewhere around 9 minutes. I walked about a block and a half when I hit the hill going back into downtown Saint Paul, which evened out my average pace from my first mile.

Pain Tracker

• Left ball of foot hurt before and at beginning of run. After a few minutes, it stopped hurting.

I noticed that my right heel has started hurting in the past when I run up hill. I mentioned this to my chiropractor, and he suggested I shorten my pace when I go up hill. Once I caught my breath today and started running again up the hill, I shortened my pace and my heel did not hurt!

Since I did not have a running partner today, I looked for other people to run against, so that maybe my competitive spirit could motivate me instead. It helped a bit, but there were very few people out in the hot weather.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

My neck finally feels back to normal, and after a busy weekend, I'm finally ready to do some strength training again.

Same routine as before. Even though I made a note to myself to increase weight or reps on some of the exercises for the next time, it has been a few days since I've strength trained, so I decided to do the same weights and reps as before to see if my previous conclusions were still the case. All are 15 reps and 2 sets unless otherwise noted:

• Dumbbell Sumo Squat; 30 lbs
• Straight Arm LAT Pulldown; 20 lbs
• Push Up on Ball
• Dumbbell Walking Lunge, Single Leg Balance, Dumbbell Lateral Raise; 5 lbs, 20 reps
• Man, this makes me sweat!
• Dumbbell Tricep Extension, Dead Bug Position; 5 lbs
• Prone Ball Leg Curl
• Dumbbell Bicep Curl, Wall Sit; 5 lbs
• Still not challenging for the biceps. But thanks to the Pilates I did last week, my thighs are in need of a challenge too! So, next time, I plan to increase to 20 reps.
• Side Lying Crunch on Ball