I've decided my goal of working out 5-6 times a week for 6 weeks just wasn't right for me. Some weeks I hit the goal but felt constant pressure (and wasn't getting other stuff done), and some weeks I just simply tanked. Either way it wasn't working.
So I'm aiming for 4 formal gym days (2 resistance/weights and 2 aerobic) plus integrating non-formal exercise into the rest of my life. This means a bigger push to
actually use my new bike as something besides an obstacle course/hurdle in my apartment's entryway.
Also a friend has talked me into doing the Minneapolis Bike Tour next weekend. It's not a race and it's only about 14 miles for the short version, which might not seem like much until you realize that the longest I've done is between 3 and 4 miles (and we took a break part way
). Plus that was a month or two ago. So I've got a lot of incentive to bike more this week so I'm not quite as pathetic ... err... I mean unprepared.
9/7/08, Sunday
I had figured I probably wouldn't work out today since a friend was flying into town tonight, but as it was she was too tired to do more than crash at her hotel. So I decided to bike to the Uptown Y (just over a mile away).
I spent a little time thinking about the route so I could avoid some of the busier streets and set off all nervous. Riding in city traffic is a big adjustment for me. ("Big adjustment" is another way to spell "terrifying.")
The actual ride turned out to be fun, but when I was a good part of the way there I realized I'd forgotten my heart monitor that I need for the workout I'd planned.
I decided to keep riding and do an errand in the neighborhood of the gym. So I stopped at a
cooking supply store and picked up a kitchen scale I'd tried out at a friend's. Then I biked a few blocks more and visited some good friends I'd been neglecting before biking home.
All in all it was pretty fun for something I'd been avoiding for about two months. Plus I really like my new and improved food scale.
9/8/08, Monday
I'm so tired but it's all good.
This morning was supposed to be my day off where I get to sleep in, but I got called in for a mini-crisis at 6AM anyway. Then I decided to bike (for the first time) to the downtown Y that I prefer. Yup, that's in the heart of traffic-filled downtown. Maybe sleep deprivation made me brave. Or maybe I had to prove that I wasn't wimping out when I lowered my formal gym-time goal.
Anyway, I made it there in one piece. Twice I needed to pull over to the side to regroup and collect myself, but I got there.
Once there I did:
bosu plank 40 seconds x 6
bosu compressions 200 x 4
bosu crunches 10
bosu step (two rounds of it)
(The numbers are from the numbers on the plates, so not actual pounds; +5 is adding a 5 pound weight.)
3 sets, 10 reps each (unless stated otherwise)
cable cross twist: 30
cable cross shoulder press: 15 (stopped after 2 sets because my left thumb was hurting in a way I didn't understand)
low pull: 4+5
triceps pull down: 5+5
biceps curl: 2
leg press: 1st set 9+5 both legs, then 4+5 one leg at a time, then 9+5 both
hip abductor: 8
hip adductor: 8
shoulder press: 62.5 (10 reps, then 7, then 8)
seated chest press: 65+10
Then I biked home. (A different route due to one way streets.)
I ate out tonight at a
great restaurant with my visiting friend and I've no way to know what the calories were, but I had decided in advance that that would be ok. I gave myself room for a thousand calories and I just have to hope that was in the ballpark. (Though I may need help sticking with that decision and not freaking out if I maintain or even gain this week.) Tomorrow it's back to weighing and measuring the food.
All in all a good day.