I have a gym membership, but it's in the city 40 minutes away. Sometimes, when cash is tight, I can't go because we don't have the gas. This has been the case for a week and a half now. So I decided that I was going to take up walking. My girls are in school full time, I am a stay at home mom, so I thought that going for a walk EVERY single day (even when we're back to having gas) would be a cheap and productive way to spend some time during my day, and help ensure I am getting at least 30 minutes of activity a day. I alternate between 1.6 mile and 2.75 mile walks, and have been enjoying them quite a bit (aside from my new shoes chewing up my heel, but eventually that will stop).
So last night my husband surprised me with getting some extra gas in the van so I could go to the gym (tomorrow is payday, this week's been killer). So off I went. Now, I had only been going 3 times a week at the best of times. I could do 9 minutes on the elliptical with a 2 minute cool down, and I found it hard to get through.
So last night, I set the elliptical to my usual 9 minutes, with a 2 minute cool down, and away I went. As I got to about 8.5 minutes, I realized that I wasn't NEARLY as tired as I typically am at that point, and decided that when it hit time for my cool down, I'd put 10 more minutes on the machine, and just go as long as I could. Turns out, my usual 9 minutes, with a 2 minute cool down turned into 18 minutes with a 1 minute cool down. I DOUBLED my time, and the only thing I had been doing recently was walking every day. Who knew that walking could increase stamina so much? Certainly not me!