getting stronger

so, we went to the park to walk/jog trails last night. aside from a couple blisters and sore ankles, it went well! we improved on the pace from our previous walks by a full minute, and did 3.14 miles in 1 hour 7 minutes. i ran a couple little sprints, which was a little bit hard on my ankles, but also kinda encouraging in that i actually *wanted* to run!

This morning, i got up at 6:45 and went for a walk at 8. again i felt like running, so i did a little sprint to get started. my ankles were still pretty sore from last night so it didn't last long- i walked the rest of the hour at a pace faster than last night;s by a whole minute! i can't wait to see what happens on a day my ankles are less sore!
After lunch today, i popped over to the gym and finally got a swim in. it was my best swim ever to date in a few ways. i did 1050 meters (previous best was 840) in 45 minutes that's 45 min nonstop swimming, not broken into 4 12 minute segments. i'm really happy. it's not objectively fantastic, but it's a start, and i'll take it!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

today i slept in till noon. definitely feel like my body is fighting something off. attempted to start an INSANITY workout and realized something. i am just not ready for this. this does not mean i am giving up. it means i'm gonna do something else to work up to it. i can't go from no workouts for about 8 months to the most strentouous program i have ever seen. i made a chart for myself to track what i'm doing and how i'm sticking to it. here's what it looks like:
Tues-Sun:
1. Biggest Loser Last Chance workout Cardio
2:walk 60 min outside
3: Biggest loser upper/lower body (add in after week 1)
4: Swim 45-60 min
5: walk 60 min (gym or outside)

i'll be grading myself each day based on how many of these things i accomplish.
Check (-)= 1-2 things
Check =3-4 things
Check (+)= 5 things.
so. that;s the plan. i get a check minus today because all i'm gonna get to is a 60 min walk outside- but at least that's somethin!

Rough start to the week

Yesterday (Tuesday) was supposed to be day 1 of my workout week, but life did not cooperate. i had been up till 4 am and slept till 11. then, my back was hurting somethin awful- by the time scott got home my respiratory/mucus issues were unbearable. managed to get in bed at 11 and probably asleep by midnight. sigh.

Shoe Saga.

This story is kinda like the 3 bears- but.. with 4. :-)

for the past four years i have owned 3 pairs of sneakers.
1: Too Old.
The first pair is these Avia cross trainers. They were great and i loved them, but i bought them in 02 because they were $20 at Costco and now they are old and worn out and very little support for lateral movement. i've decided they are my hiking/Walking shoes now.

2:Too Big/too cheap/Wrong fit
This pair of Dr Scholls Dyna Step sneakers were just wrong from the beginning. i bought them because they were inexpensive and i was obsessed with "gellin" they never fit right- too wide, no arch support.

3: Wrong Sport

I love these Nike Running shoes. they are Nike+ compatible and as you might guess, i customized them completely- they were sold to got with the 2 Generation Ipod Nano, which i also got for Christmas 06. I love them, but they are running shoes, which i do not do-yet. I'm gonna keep them (possibly forever) but they are of very little use until i'm able to at least jog.

4: Just right. (i Hope!)

Last week i got orthotics to put in my Dr Scholls, which i hoped would help my foot pain issues when doing cardio. no dice- made it way worse. so last night after trying on many many shoes, i found these. I love these Adidas shoes- they are designed as trail running shoes, but they cradle my foot like nothing i;ve ever felt, so i'm gonna give them a try as Cross trainers. i may be in love.

Insane Beginnings

Which is to say, I have begun INSANITY. Scott has joined me.

If you aren't familiar with the Insanity program, i suggest you google it. it's well named! High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to the MAXIMUM. have you ever seen a workout video where the people doing the workout take 2-3 breaks each throughout the workout while the workout continues? i'm not talking about prescribed water breaks built into the production of the workout. i'm talkin about the workout is going on and these folks-either on their own or because of individual direction from the instructor walk off to the side and sit for a minute or two. it's that tough. today is the last day of week 1 for me and i've yet to complete one of these workouts. and that's ok, because you know what? I'm DOING it. i am getting off my butt and doing something to improve my health and fitness, and the weight loss will come.
i'm in the phase of starting a workout routine where i'm sleepy and hungry all the time. i find this both annoying and amusing. it'll probably last a bit longer this time around cuz i'm going Zero to 60 in no time flat and the body needs to adjust. and that's fine, as long as i can stay awake enough hours to work out and keep the house clean, i'm golden! :-)
another goal/plqn is to actually blog here daily for accountability purposes- i need someone to fuss at me if i start slacking. feel free to be that someone!

that's a lot of stairs!

this past thursday, i finally got back to working out hard after a long long illness. i started with my Biggest Loser last chance workout DVD. i did the upper body workout, which was tough. i then almost immediately moved on to an outdoor cardio workout. i walked all the stairs in our apartment complex. it came out to 48 flights of stairs. it took 35 minutes. i finished out the full hour by walking around the neighborhood a couple times. it;s now saturday night and my legs are still crazy sore. been doing a lot of stretching, but no actual workouts since then. (as of monday 2/7)