Yesterday taught me how crucial the early morning work out is in this blasted hot/humid weather. Didn’t run in the morning due to thunderstorms so I went after work and it was awful. Then I had to run straight to an appointment at David’s Bridal, no fun (you can read my full rant in the "brides to be" thread if you’re interested. I’m already sick of dealing with them.)
FBWO tonight, hope to run in the morning so I can avoid this horrible heat.
I have been immersed in life stress lately but a very tiny silver lining has appeared.
Tiny, really.
So I still can't do a pull up but yesterday I realized that I can actually hang in pull up position for more than a second at a time. Like 5-10 seconds.
Progress.
Otherwise I am kind of a mess these days but it sure perks me up to be able to hold myself off of the ground for a few minutes. Maybe one of these days I will actually be able to do the monkey bars on the playground or even....a real pull up.
Managed to get in my distance/speed treadmill 1/2 hour today, er, yesterday (Wednesday) and my abs workout. I didn't get to sleep until 5 a.m. so it took some mighty willpower to get my butt in motion. Ugh.
SusanB!!!! Come on- quit reading Oxygen and start doing it
Dh sort of fixed my elliptical so I had a good workout this morning, but can't cool off. Sweating through my pantyhose and suit. Yuck.
No weights today due to a dentist appt at noon. I'd MUCH rather go to the gym.
Work is crazy and food is back on track since my mini-vacation in Columbus. It wasn't terrible there, but it was different from my usual chicken and broccoli routine.
I was supposed to do a FBWO yesterday, but I just didn't have it in me. I got through one set of each exercise and didn't want to do any more. One the plus side, I used that extra time to make a big batch of yummy healthy soup to use up most of the farmers market veggies that were still in my fridge. I've discovered that kale is good if you hide it well enough.
Did my run in the rain this morning, wasn't about to repeat my mistake of trying to run in the evening. Pretty dark out there at 5am what with the rain clouds. The humidity is killing us here.
Might try to make up for my slacking tonight, or just put in a little yoga or something and try for a better FBWO tomorrow.
Susan B - I can sympathize, but I know you can do it! Trick is to just start doing something, that's always better than nothing.
I'll just sit back over here and watch. This is a planned rest week for me.
Mel: August in Ohio bites. Its why I pretty much avoid anything outdoors. Sounds like you had a good time at the festival. Honestly I can only do about an hour and half there and I'm good to go too. Maybe if I had free drink tokens it might be different but by the time I'd finished them I would really then believe my name was "Mary Marie"
Glad to know that you made a visit to Jeni's in Grandview. Isn't the best?! Which flavor did you pick and did you like it. At the dinner party I was at Saturday night they served it for dessert. OMG. It just makes me smile to think about it. : Just in case you are worried they served it with a large melon ball scoop so it wasn't much more than 1/2 cup in total but it was enough. Sorry to hear your run was pretty miserable. I'm not even going to attempt it outside right now. All my runs will be on the dreadmill till this breaks. If you need a gym workout the next time you are in town let me know. I'll help you out.
So the eating has been pretty clean this week and I'm taking the week off from the gym. My house is almost in order again just before school starts. It really gets neglected compared to my pregym days but it's kind of nice to be more relaxed about these things. My mantra is no longer ORDER. THERE MUST BE ORDER. DH is relieved. Actually, when I told him I was going this break he was worried. No, you can't because each day you stay home from the gym it costs me lots of money. Wellll.....yeah...kind of because then I sit around and fix things and contemplate what we can do to make things nicer for us here. What have I accomplished this week beyond the closets...? Well, I just interviewed a rep from a design and build team to remodel the kitchen and possible additions. Maybe the guy has a point.
Lydia- I'll take you up on the gym offer next time DD works out a the big new RPAC on campus and I don't think they'll let me in, and I don't really want to be with no one but students! I had a scoop of Gravel Road and a scoop of Belgian Milk Chocolate, and there weren't any melon balls! I tasted the Thai Chili and liked the underlying flavor, but wasn't wild about the coconut shreds.
Cardio only today- went to the dentist instead of the gym. Ohio's weather has now hit here, so I'm getting the heat, humidity and thunderstorms twice.
Okay. I really worked those legs yesterday and I'm paying for it today. It was my first workout since my scheduled rest for six days. Wow, if this is what rest/recovery does for me, it's going to be a while before I take time off again. I know what it is though. I've discovered the correct way to do step ups.
Which reminds me of a question I've wanted to ask. Have any of you done the same strength training exercise in your routine and had a moment of break through where you body kind of "figures out" the correct way to do something for the best resistance. It's almost like your muscles develop strong enough to be able to really engage further into the exercise. I don't think I'm describing this well but I've noticed that even after doing the same exercise for a while that it will alter/morph into something more fluid/deeper than when I initially began. I'm pretty sure that's what happened yesterday and why I'm now looking for a bottle of Advil.
I did head out for a run this morning thinking it would loosen up some of the lactic acid and send it on it's way. Wrong. I'm just going to have to take it easy the rest of the day and get some clean eats and water.
Lydia- I think I get what you are asking, and yes. There are a lot of exercises that require concentration, coordination and using multiple muscles and joints. I've found for me and my clients, sometimes it takes a while to get the brain all hooked up so that the motions seems natural enough that you can concentrate on the intensity, rather than thinking about how to get it right, not fall over, drop the weights, etc. I doubt too many people have that kind of problems with machines or a single joint exercise like a bicep curl, but compound exercises like a squat, lunges with any variation, cleans, or anything done with a balance component or asymmetrical weighting takes most people time to learn.
I think that's what separates the natural athletes from the rest of us- I know a few people who have an incredible kinetic sense- they just know where their body is and how to move it without having to "learn" a motion as a multi-step process. It's fascinating to see the differences in people. Then there are some who never get it. All part of the brain differences.
My workout today was steam cleaning carpets (that's hard work!), weeding, then 40 minutes of recumbent bike while my hair dye did its thing
Need your vibes.
Go SusanB Go 
: Just in case you are worried they served it with a large melon ball scoop so it wasn't much more than 1/2 cup in total but it was enough. Sorry to hear your run was pretty miserable. I'm not even going to attempt it outside right now. All my runs will be on the dreadmill till this breaks. If you need a gym workout the next time you are in town let me know. I'll help you out.
It really gets neglected compared to my pregym days but it's kind of nice to be more relaxed about these things. My mantra is no longer ORDER. THERE MUST BE ORDER. DH is relieved. Actually, when I told him I was going this break he was worried. No, you can't because each day you stay home from the gym it costs me lots of money. Wellll.....yeah...kind of because then I sit around and fix things and contemplate what we can do to make things nicer for us here. What have I accomplished this week beyond the closets...? Well, I just interviewed a rep from a design and build team to remodel the kitchen and possible additions. Maybe the guy has a point.
It was my first workout since my scheduled rest for six days. Wow, if this is what rest/recovery does for me, it's going to be a while before I take time off again. I know what it is though. I've discovered the correct way to do step ups. 
