I'm still working out!

Here's the work out I just did:
10 forward lunges
10 squat jumps
10 push ups (3 regular, 7 on knees)
10 bend and thrusts (5 jumping, 5 stepping back)
10 plie squats
10 jumping jacks
3 3-second t stabilizations
10 seated rotations
2 sunrise salutations.
Yesterday I did my first outside run. Running outside is a lot harder then running on the treadmill, even with the resistance increased to one. I seem to be able to run for about 4 minutes before I have to stop and walk. I planned yesterday on being out for a half an hour. Mainly because a running friend of mine wrote me a 5k training plan, and that's what yesterday's instructions were. So, in that half an hour I managed to walk/run 1.15 miles, and back. So...2.30miles. Of course, the way back I had to walk almost the entire way, because I didn't warm up and stretch enough so I had major leg cramps. Next time, longer warm up, more stretching.

In which I return

Well hi everyone! Fancy meeting you here....at this place I said I would be days...(weeks?) ago. Sorry to keep you waiting. I've been awfully lax on working out. I'll work out one or two days a week, take a week off, rinse and repeat. Bad, I know. You would think that wanting to do something as awesome as run a marathon would be enough to get me training, wouldn't you? Add to that that it's an instant mood booster, and you should have to try to get me from going to the gym, instead of trying to get me to go to the gym. But no, no dice. I seem to need tangible rewards, not intrinsic rewards. So I have chosen chocolate. Yes, chocolate. I crave it multiple times a day. I can force myself through sheer force of will to not have any for a couple weeks maximum, and then I binge. So, I have decided that I will not be able to have any sweets, until after I exercise. And it's been three days in a row! Go me! I'm especially proud of myself for my workout today, it's a new personal record.

I ran a mile and a half on the treadmill with the resistance set at 1 (I had read that doing so mimics running outdoors) and didn't have to slow down to walk at all! I even sped up at the end! (I'm in the habit of increasing my speed from 4 to 4.5 for the last little bit.)

So proud of myself. :)

Change of plans

I realized something the other day when I was looking at a calendar. I told you guys I'm planning my wedding, right? Well in case I haven't, I"m planning my wedding! Eeek! And we're looking at the end of September, beginning of October for our wedding date, and then going right to our honeymoon. The Chicago Marathon, is usually the 1st week of October, this year it's October 9th. This presents me with a problem. I don't want to be sore from the marathon on my wedding, and I don't want the hecticness (that's totally a word, right?) of wedding planning to interfere with my training. And, all the training guides say that I should be doing an average of 10 miles give or take a week for 1 year before I start training. I just ran my first mile a few weeks ago. I don't want to get injured because I pushed myself too quickly. So, I have decided to train for the 2013 marathon. Don't worry, I will still have this blog (for all 4 of you who follow me. :)) For one thing, I have allll those other goals on my list, and more that I keep thinking of. For example, this is probably the best year for me to compete in NaNoWriMo. And, I will still be running.

So there will be a slight shift in the focus of this blog. :)

Two new milestones

Lately I have been awful at training. I have a this thing where I take a day off, and it magically turns into a week. Who knew, right? So I have a new work out schedule, which is:

Monday: Short run, Pilates
Tuesday: Weights, Yoga
Wednesday: Medium run, Pilates
Thursday: Weights, Yoga
Friday: Long run, Pilates
Saturday: Weights, Yoga
Sunday: Hot tub/walk on treadmill/aka rest day.

My theory behind this, is that if I get myself used to going to the gym every single day even if I'm not exercising there (see: hot tub) then I won't fall out of the habit of going again. My short runs are a mile. The medium runs are a mile and a half, and the long runs will either be 3 miles, or a 5k (3.10miles) I haven't decided yet.

So, my second mile stone is that I ran a mile and a half today, and I only had to walk for one minute! So excited. It took me 22 minutes and 58 seconds. I did not enjoy myself while I was doing it for the most part, although there were a few minutes when I got into a groove and enjoyed myself. I did feel really good (and tired and sweaty) when I was done though! And then when I got home from work, I did Pilates. Monday I had forgotten to do so, although I did do a quick couple sun salutations after weights on Tuesday.

My first mile stone is that I knocked some time off of my mile! I am now at a 14 minute and 30 second mile. I think the first one I did was about 15 minutes and 30 seconds! Go me!

Tomorrow: Weights and Yoga. Trying to decide if I want to be at the gym at 7 to do weights so I can go to the yoga class at 8...Also trying to decide if I want to join my sister for Zumba tomorrow night.

GUYS!!!!

I RAN MY FIRST MILE!!!!

Ok, I'm done with the caps now. I actually ran my first mile on Friday. Normally I run at the speed of 4.5 (what does that even mean?) on the treadmill. I can usually last about 3 minutes. On Friday, I decided after my 5 minute warm up and stretch to try running at 4.0 instead. And I hit the three minute mark and felt fine, so I decided to keep on going. And then I got to five minutes, 7 minutes, etc. Eventually I kept on staring at the timer in disbelief that I was actually doing it!

And then, guys! When I got to .95 I hiked the speed up to 4.5, and finished out my mile! It took me about 15 minutes, maybe a little bit longer? I don't really remember now.



And today, I ran a mile again. Yay me! I ran about half of it at 4.1, and then at .95 I bumped it up to 4.5 again. Friday I plan on doing my "long run" and "wogging" as a friend of mine says (jog/walking) until I hit a 5k.

On Tuesday and Thursday I plan on doing Pilates for a nice stretch/cross train, and Saturday and Sunday will be my rest days.

I'm back!

I went for a run today! Yes, first time since June 12th. I finally had the time, and the health. Didn't really want to go, but that is the whole point of training for a marathon. I'm training, which means I have to do it even when I don't want to. I did a 5k. Yay me! However, I walked most of it. After my warm up, I started with my usual run 3 minutes, walk 1. But it didn't feel right, so I ended up walking most of it. I think if you add up all the minutes I ran, I might have run a mile.

My left hip flexor is really sore. I asked a runner friend of mine for advice, she recommended heat and stretching so that's what I'll do.

Actually, I'm going to get my heat pack now.

Ahh...that already feels better.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try a light weight training workout and see how that feels. I'm thinking my work out schedule will be Sunday - run, Monday - weights, Tuesday- off, Wednesday, run, Thursday, off, Friday, run, Saturday, weights. I also want to work pilates and yoga in there for the stretch, and core training. Maybe on days I run I'll do pilates, and on days I do weights I'll do yoga.

I'm looking forward to my next run. Not because I had such a good workout today, but for the opposite; I never really got into my groove, and didn't get my sense of accomplishment. I miss that sense of accomplishment, and I can't wait to feel it again.

Sick, again

I got sick. Again. My left cheek was so swoleen that I looked like a chipmunk, and it hurt to use my neck muscles at all. 800mg of Ibuprofen every three hours just BARELY dulled the pain, and the same with Tylenol 3. Heat packs though, were a godsend. Eating was out of the question (before today) which was unfortunate, because the antibiotics I'm on give me severe nausea if I don't have food in my stomach.

Which means that the last time I remember working out for sure, is June 12th. Mostly because of this blog. So, since today was the first day that I was able to eat a couple full meals, I will start tomorrow by either going for a walk or doing some yoga. Or maybe both if I'm feeling really up to it. I will then start over with training. I am thinking about using the Couch to 5k program since it has been so long since I've been able to train; and we are getting closer and closer to the fall when I wanted to be able to run a full 5k.

Wish me luck guys, and no more illness.

More road blocks

You know what else makes it hard to achieve fitness goals? Getting sick. I still haven't worked it since...I don't know when. I kind of feel like I'll be starting over whenever I can work out again.

But! I got a new toy. A laptop. My first one! I've always been a pc girl, but I needed a laptop for school. For one thing, my handwritting is atrocious and it's easier for me to type notes, then to write them. For another thing, our pc is next to the computer. Which means that if I'm writing a paper while he watches tv or plays videogames, it's hard for me to concentrate. And, sometimes I want to be able to go to my local coffee shop to study. And now I can!

Finals week is not conducive to exercise goals

These past couple weeks were a good example of when one goal interferes with another goal. It was finals week for me at school. I had a take home exam worth a quarter of my grade due this past Monday, and my take home final worth a quarter of my grade due this past Wednesday. So every spare second I had was spent working on those.

But now, after much drama with grades involving me thinking I did everything for the first project right, and finding out I did everything wrong...I'm done!

So I celebrated by going to the gym yesterday. I walked for 5 minutes to warm up, stretched and then started my work out. I jogged for three minutes, and then walked for one. I repeated that system for a little over 30 minutes and ended up completing 1.95 miles. I then walked for 5 minutes to cool down, and stretched.

Which was another hassle, because when the gym is busy there is almost no where to stretch. Normally I go into the studio where they hold classes, but there was a class when I went yesterday. Another good sport is the mat under the rock climbing wall, as long as no one is using it. Which, someone was. After that the only thing you can do is either find a corner, or stretch when you get home. So I found a corner. Despite my stretching though, my legs were killing me during the day. Any advice guys?

While I was warming up, a personal trainer offered to give me 1 free session. So I'm planning on showing him my list of goals, and seeing what he can help me with.

I'm supposed to do weights today, but I don't feel like going. Maybe I will have today be my rest day.

Test

This is my first test in achieving my goal of running a marathon. Not only am I tired and not feeling like running, but I have a final, and a project due. These are both for the same class. One is due Monday, the other Wednesday. Both are worth 25% of my grade. So, they take priority. But when I need a break - or once they are done- all I have to do is put on my shoes, and I'm out of here!

First run

I did my first run today! I decided to test myself, to see how long I can currently run. After all, how do you know if you've improved if you don't know where you started? I found out I can run for 3 consecutive minutes before I have to slow to a walk or stop and get some water.

I drink a lot of water when I work out. You see, I used to pass out randomly when I worked out. I say randomly because it wouldn't be every time I worked out, and I wasn't doing a brand new exercise. We couldn't figure out why for a while. I went to a cardiologist, got a stress test done, had to wear a heart monitor for a month. It sucked. Then my doctor decided I had vasovagal syncope and told me to drink fucktons of water (Hi, I swear. Hope that's not an issue.) So when I'm working out, whenever I start to feel a little off I gulp some water. And so far, I haven't passed out again. (So far, I've passed out 3 times, and almost passed out once).

The disadvantage of having to drink so much water, is that it makes my tummy all sloshy.

A brief introduction of myself and my goals.

Hello! My name is Aileen (pronounced Ay-lean). Welcome to my humble little blog. I like many people, get crazy ideas of things that would be challenging, but awesome to say that they accomplished it. Things like running a marathon, getting published, modeling for an art class or photographer.

Here’s the thing though, I’ve decided to actually work on accomplishing these goals.I will be chronicling my journey with all of it’s challenges and rewards through words and pictures.

I hope it is at least entertaining for you.

I currently have a list of 10 goals, which I expect will continue to grow as I do.

Here’s a little about myself. I am a 20 something woman living in the Chicago land area. I work with adults with profound developmental disabilities, and am earning my master’s degree in Library and Information Science. I am engaged (and no, I haven’t set a date yet) and live with my fiancé in the studio apartment of my parent’s basement, with my parents, sister, and puppy (Although, they don’t live in the studio with us. That would be crazy. They live in the rest of the house). I love words, beauty in all forms, food, friends, and conversation.

I am planning with starting with item #1 on my list, but I will not necessarily follow the rest of the list in order. I may combine, and work on 2 or 3 or 7 at a time. I have decided to work on #1 first for the following reasons.
1. In order to accomplish #2, I have to be able to accomplish #1. (Actually, in order to complete #1, I have to be able to run a mile straight.By which I mean, not stopping to walk after jogging for 2 or 3 minutes.
2. It’s been on my mind the longest.
3. Because I want to.

So! Here are my goals.

1. Run a 5k
2. Complete Chicago 2012 Marathon
3. Learn to box
4. Learn a Martial Art.
5. Learn Yoga
6. Be able to complete entire Pilates floor mat routine.
7. Learn Tai-Chi
8. Complete a triathlon
9. Complete Nanowrimo
10. Model for at art class or photographer
11. Get published
12. Go rock climbing


This by the way, is not my “Bucket list”.My bucket list is:
1. Spend at least 1 week in every country (I have spent 5 months in Rome, Italy, and 1 week in Stirling, Scotland, and a couple weeks in Quebec, Canada)
2. Spend 1 night and day in every state in the United States (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota and others I am forgetting are already accomplished)

Feel free to ask questions or make suggestions!But please, be nice to each other (and to me, please?).

Those of you who know me in real life, I may be paranoid but please, don’t use my first or last name on this blog. Thanks!