Day Twenty-Eight

What in the world was I thinking, why in the world did I tell two of my friends that I would join them today at the Y for Group Active and Group Groove. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't move. My body hurt from my head all the way to my toes. My cat thought it was pretty funny watching mommy try to make her way through the trailer and get ready for the day, I on the other hand did not think it was funny. But being the good friend that I am, I dragged myself to the Y for class.

When I pulled into the Y's parking lot, I noticed that neither of them were even there yet. I started thinking to myself as I set the three of us up for Group Active, "If they don't show up and I dragged myself here for nothing, they are so going to hear from me." But with 5 minutes to go before class started, they both come dragging in (they're still in pain for their workouts yesterday, glad to know that I'm not the only one!). Group Active for those of you who've never heard of this class covers everything and it's great for beginners. You start off with 20 minutes of cardio step, then move into weights were you work your arms, back and chest (with a little bit of legs). Then you move into working your balance, core and end with some nice stretching! It's an awesome workout and I would recommend this class to anyone who's starting out!

After this class, I took a little break till Group Groove. I love this class if you couldn't already tell! It's one of those classes were you just get your heart rate up and have so much fun at the same time. I ended up talking one of my friends from downstairs into joining me in the class. Which he did and it was actually pretty funny watching him try to get his "GROOVE" on! But I do have to say, he didn't do to bad. Now, I wonder who else I can get to join me in this class....stay tuned!

Once class was over with, I could barely move and knew that there was no way I was going to do any sort of workout with the of the girls who are on the Y's new Biggest Mover. But I'm with you guys all the way in heart!

I'm thinking that tomorrow is the perfect day for a rest, especially since I won't be able to make it to the gym and I've just now realized that I've been going at this since Monday with no rest day. What was I thinking, but don't worry....I'm sure that I'll have something cleaver to say for tomorrow!

Day Twenty-Seven

Oh, today was such a bitter sweet day. I arrived at the Y this morning for my workout knowing that in the back of my mind this will be the last time I'll be training with Kevin. It was an awesome workout and it made me miss my Biggest Mover day's.

We started our workout with a 5 minute warm up and stairs six times, then we moved on to kettle ball swings (30lb weight) and the row machine, doing each for a minute a piece three times. Then it was off to my favorite thing in the world...BENCH PUSHES!!! This is where we push a bench from one end of the gym to the other with about 80-100lbs on it and we do this three times. In between these we were slamming 25lbs balls into the floor (which is a great way to get out your frustration...I found this out during my Biggest Mover, especially when I'd just broken up with my ex and found out he'd been cheating on me with my ex-best friend for the past three months!) After these, we moved on to push ups and squat with dumbbells (which when I was doing these Kevin decided to make a comment about me using the 20lb one's since someone else was using the 30lb one's, so what does one do....we grab the 40lb ones and finish our workout!). It was one of the best workout's I've had in a long time!!!

One would think that after that workout they would be done for the day, but no. I decided to come back later on in the day and do 35 minutes on the treadclimber. I can now officially saw that I am done for the day!

Day Twenty-Six

Nothing to exciting happened today, thought about skipping my workout and just say home and sleep. But my cat and neighbors were not going to let that happen, so off to the Y I went. I was going to do a workout downstairs in the fitness center, but my friend who really pushes me decided to cancel on my at the last minute. So, since I needed to get something in off to Group Groove I went! It was another exciting class and full of laughes. Especially when my friend Kylie and I almost ran into each other and the lady who was "grooving" in front of me wasn't paying attention to what she was doing and almost walked right on top of me!

But I did get an excellent cardio workout and my legs were still killing me from Group Step class the night before. Hopefully tomorrow I'm not in to much pain....I'm joining the new "Black Team" of Biggest Movers for their workout, since my trainer Kevin will be training them in his very last workout. Wish me luck!

Day Twenty-Five

Oh my body, legs, calves and feet are killing me right now! I just got done taking my friends step class and before I took this class I heard he was intense, but I didn't think it was going to be as insane as it was. There were so many twist and turns, up and downs in that class that I'm surprised that I didn't fall flat on my face. Although I did come close to hurting myself a few times. Let's just say that my legs are not as long as some of the other participants in that class, so trying to make it from one end of the step to the other under 5 seconds is NOT going to happen! I have no idea how people find this so called torture FUN....but then again, this was only my first time and I shouldn't knock it quite yet. Whether or not I go back for more is another question. Although, if you do want to take a class were you work up a really good sweat and can get an awesome cardio workout in one hour, then I totally recommend joining the Bangor Y and taking the Group Step class!

Day Twenty-Four

So you would think that one would head one's own advice and not do any cardio today, but nope that didn't happen. Don't get me wrong, I did do some strength training...but not enough to really count for anything. I did a 5 minute arm/chest workout, nothing to big. From there I moved on to the elliptical, where I was told by one of my friends that I wasn't sweating enough. Umm....yeah, that's a new one. So what does one do...they crank up the level to a 12, let's see who sweat's more now!

There was one thing that I could of done without during tonight's workout and that was the girl working out next to me on the elliptical. It was fine when we both started out, but about half way through my workout (she stayed on my longer than me) she decided that it was WAY to hot downstairs, so she needed to take off her shirt and workout in her sports bra! Whatever happened to this so-called family environment we're suppose to have in this gym?

Anyways, tomorrow night I may be in pain. One of my friends is teaching a step class tomorrow night and they've been after me to take their class for quite some time now. I've never done a full hour of step, so this shall be interesting. I'm planning on hiding in the back, hopefully my plan does work and here's to hoping that I'll be able to move afterwards!

Day Twenty-Three

Ahh...life is good again! After getting a full night of rest, I was ready to take on the gym. First step was an hour of cardio dance (Group Groove), then downstairs I went for another intense workout. Warm up was a 5 minute run on the treadmill. From there I moved on to the treadclimber for a half an hour (for those of you who've never used a treadclimber, it's kinda like a treadmill except for the fact that where you stand moves up and down). 

After I finished there, one should of been smart and called it a day....but no, I decided to continue on with my workout. I don't know if I was trying to make up for lost time or what, but I was definitely in the working out mode and working up a sweat!

I ended my workout with a 15 minute bike ride and a 10 minute run/walk on the treadmill. And I just now realized that I've been working out for 2 hours! Man, it's been a really long time since I've done that much cardio in one day. Thinking that maybe tomorrow should be a strength training day with very little cardio, that's if my legs don't quit on me!

Day Twenty-Two

Man oh man, today was a long day. I could of stayed in bed for another 3 hours, but off to work I went. I was really thinking about skipping a workout today and just crashing in bed much earlier than normal...but I didn't. Since I had to work all day, there was no time to make it to the gym today. So, today's workout had to be done in the comfort of my home. Thank goodness I'm prepared for day's like today! I just put in my workout dvd's in to the player and away I go. Managed to squeeze in a good core workout and then ended with a nice and relaxing yoga.

Day Twenty and Twenty-One

Day Twenty: Oh man, no workout for me today! I can't move....my whole entire body hurts. How I managed to make it to work this morning is beyond me. Starting to think that I may of over did it yesterday.

Day Twenty-One: Today's workout is not what one would consider normal. My day started off at 7:15am loading and unloading cars for our annual auction. Setting up, which included moving chairs and tables. Taking a small break from that to run back to the Y where they were having the Biggest Mover Kick Off and I just happened to be a guest speaker! Oh and one of the local news TV stations were there filming (I do think I managed to avoid all camera's). After I finished there, it was back to the auction were my day/night didn't end until 10:30pm and I could hear my bed calling my name....ahh, sleep!

Day Nineteen

My body is so sore, it's amazing that I can even move. But being the good girl that I am, I dragged my behind downstairs for another day of training!. Since I was sore, I opted out of the usuall run on the treadmill and decided that I was NOT doing any arm workout's. (How I even managed to left a pen today was a miracle in itself)

No, today's workout consisted of biking for 3 miles, intense half hour workout on the elipitcal (where this baby through everything imaginable at me!) and then I ended with 10 mintues on the EFX crosstrainer. By the time I was done....my thighs and calves were SCREAMING at me. Now starting to wonder if my body was sore before this workout, how am I going to feel tomorrow?????

Day Eighteen

Surprise, surprise...my legs feel great even after yesterday's workout! Since I wasn't feeling horrible, I decided I mine as well workout and not take a rest day. So downstairs to the gym I went but decided to switch it up a little today. Instead of the usuall run only on the treadmill, I started of with a 3 mile bike ride (which I managed to complete within 11 minutes!). Then it was on to the elipitical, for a very intense half an hour workout. By the time I finished there, I took a small break and decided I needed to work on my upper body and some abs too. After finishing some much needed strenght training, I finshed out my workout with a 10 minute run on the treadmill. I'm starting to think I'm falling in love with the treadmill, it's getting to the point that if I don't go for a run on it for atleast 10 minutes, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Someone please help me!

Side note: Decided to check in with one of my friends to see how her training for the 5k is going. Found out she's having a hard time too! Between working long crazy hours like me and the day's getting shorter, she's finding it hard to go for a run outside. Hopefully she'll be able to get in some workout's before the 5k. Here's wishing her good luck too!!!!

Day Seventeen

My calves are killing me! I ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes, actually make that 15 minutes of running time and 5 minutes of walking/slow jog time. I'm thinking that I'm going to be really sore tomorrow, if I'm not then it's going to be some sort of miracle! I do believe that's the longest that I've ever ran on a treadmill, which is amazing for me. But I do have to start running outside, even though being outside in the cold does not sound like fun to me. Hmm.....wonder if there's anyway I can make one of those heated blankets portable????

Oops, Where has my head been???

Okay, it's been awhile since I've last written so please forgive me, I've been just a tad busy! Work has been really crazy, especially with our annual auction coming up this coming Saturday. I've also been getting ready for one of my most dreaded season's....WINTER! But I'm happy to say that my place is ready to go for that first sign of dare I say it...snow. Hopefully that white stuff is still a way's away, but then again I do live in the state of Maine and you never really know what the weather is going to bring you here.

My training has been going really good. Even though I haven't been in the gym as much as I would like, I've still been able to get some type of a workout in. It truly is amazing how much of a workout you can get just by doing some yard work! I did however make it to the gym yesterday and I'm still able to run for twelve minutes with no problem. Who know's maybe I was suppose to be a runner all my life, but never took the time to realize it.

Side Note: It was nice to see some of my friends this past Saturday and hear them say that they're proud of me and cheering me on as try to complete this crazy task. It makes me happy to know that there's SO many people out there behind me! Thank you all!!!!

Day Eleven

OMG....OMG...OMG!!!!!!

Okay remember two day's ago when I said by the end of the week I wanted to be able to run for 3 minutes by friday with NO problems. So yeah, managed to reach that goal....TODAY!  I managed to run on the treadmill today without having to stop and slowing down my speed for a total of.........TWELEVE minutes. That's right people you heard me, I ran on the treadmill for tweleve whole minutes without stopping. I'm on such a BIG natural high right now that I feel like I could take on the world....that's if it required me to run!

So, this training thing is really starting to pay off....which is why I'm proud to say that the first stop in my training will included me running in the Jingle Bell 5k Run/Walk in Freeport, ME on December 5, 2010! Feel free to join me by either running or cheering me on!

Day Ten

Opted out my daily run for some nice, rock solid core workout! My abs are killing me....you'd think that someone out there could find a better way to design a core workout without having your abs screaming in pain. But, I guess I should look on the bright side and picture the awesome stomach I'm going to have.... someday! I've even found a new way to workout at home, since my cat is always wanting my attention... she's now become part of my workout routine. Whether it be me caring her around (she may be small, but after awhile she can get kinda heavy!) or lifting her up and down while I do squats, it's a nice way for us to spend some time together. Oh and she LOVES dancing!!!! (actually it's more like, hey let's attack mumma's feet while she's dancing around the place.)

Day Nine

Oh man....it felt soooo good to get back into the gym even though I shouldn't of done yoga first. But I do have to say that I was VERY limber for my run!

I'm suppose to be running up to 3 minutes with no problem by now, but that's not happening. I'm still hanging out at the 2 minute mark...I may be able to go a little bit further than that, but not by much. That'll be my goal for this week. By Friday I want to be able to run for 3 minutes WITHOUT hitting the stop button because that little voice inside my head keeps telling me that I can't do it and that I'm going to hurt myself.

I found out today that one of my friends is planning on running a 5k this coming December and she wants me to join her. I'm debating on whether or not to join her. It might not be a bad idea.....

Day Six, Seven and Eight

Day Six: No crazy workouts today! Kinda sore from yesterday, but I managed to find something that wouldn't hurt me to much. Climbing stairs to my seat and cheering on my local college hockey team. Thinking this is the best workout to date!

Day Seven: Dragged myself to the Y for a workout on my first day off in six day's! Thinking I could of stayed in bed for another 3 hours....but better to get it over with now than later. Decided that I needed to switch up my cardio a little bit, instead of doing the usuall run of the treadmill.....so off to Group Groove I went. For those of you who don't know anything about this class, it's one hour of DANCING! And boy, it sure get's your heart just a pumping! About 15 minutes into class, I started wishing that I brought more than one water bottle with me, the new stuff was killing me! Highlight of class though had to be when we were in the middle of our "break" dance song and we were shaking our botties, when one of the instructors had to call me out. Great, just what I need everyone in class looking at me....guess your not even safe when you're hiding in the back row!

Day Eight: Well today wasn't a great day. No real workouts today.....worked a long day! Opened and closed both buildings and by the time I got home I was DEAD! Sleep has now become my new best friend! But tomorrow is a new day and I WILL make it to the gym after work, no putting it off any longer!

Day Four and Day Five

Day Four: I hate to say this but I didn't make it to the gym....decided to stay home instead and shake away this stupid cold!


Day Five: I'm back and ready to go full force again! Gotta make up for missing yesterday and even though it felt good to take a day off, I actually missed not going to the gym. I'm starting to think that I'm a gym junkie, but at least I'm not as bad as I once was. I do believe that for the months of Jan, Feb, Mar, April and May I pretty much lived in the workout center. Back then it would of been normal for me to spend the minimum of 2 hours working out with the max being 4 hours. Now I'm good with an hour, maybe two.

Training went pretty good. I'm now able to run on the treadmill for TWO whole minutes before I need a break(walking/jogging for one minute) and I was able to keep this pace up for a whole half hour. Never in a million years did I think I'd be running on a treadmill, let alone doing it with such ease. After the nice run, I decided that I needed to add a little bit more to my training......can someone say weight training time! There's nothing like ending a run with some leg presses and dead lift's with 30lb weight!

Side Note: I was asked by one of the members working out downstairs that if they just stood their and watched me run on the treadmill, if they would be able to loose some calories and call it their workout. If loosing calories was that easy, then man I'd be sooooooooooooo skinny right now!!!

Day Three

Day three of training has to be my favorite so far. Why you may ask, because I didn't have to run on the treadmill! It was my first official "non" running day and I'm begining to think that I'm going to like those day's. I did however make it down to the gym for my evening workout and I actually worked up more of sweat than I have the past two days, so much for taking it easy! Although, it was hard to concentrate on my workout with the crazy teenage boy running around the workout center. I swear that boy had an attention span about as long as my pinkie finger nail. He couldn't stay on a machine for more than 5 seconds and they're were a few times I thought he was going to hurt himself. Let's just say, the night person working downstairs had their hands full with that kid.

Side note: I have a new nickname....I'm now being called "Marathon Maria" and apparently this is going to be on the back of my shirt. Gotta love my "Y" friends!

Day Two

Well, I have good news.....I did not hurt myself today on the treadmill! Today was actually a fairly decent day. I was focused and managed to hit every stride with ease.  Although my hips were hurting, I pushed thru the pain....and I felt great afterwards. I didn't look pretty with the sweat pooring down my face and my hair all over the place, but I didn't care. It's not like I was there to impress anyone and besides most of the people who were in the gym the same time as me have seen me at my worse! (Flashback to the Biggest Mover, the stuff my trainer "The Punisher" put us through you wouldn't believe. Besides walking away with bruises, I may of had a few other injuries, but I won't get into those....not too pretty!)

I do however have a new note to self:  Do Not EAT before going for a run on the treadmill!

Day One

Okay, today was my first official "marathon" training day and even though I've been working out in the gym on a regular basis since January(which has helped me loose a totally of 55lbs to date!), today totally kicked my butt! My attempt to run on the treadmill for a half an hour was very comical. I do believe that at one point I almost took a small digger. Thankfully none of the other members inside the gym noticed, they were to busy either chatting to one another or very focused on their own workouts. Although that doesn't mean I didn't walk away without getting hurt...because that wouldn't of been my style! At one point, when I was totally focused in my run I got a little to close to the front of the treadmill and WHAM, smacked my right hand into the bar. Note to self....no daydreaming while running!

First crazy dream came to me while I was sitting at work waiting for the next member to walk in, it had been a slow day. While I was sitting there, I thought to myself...Hey let's train for a MARATHON! So, after throwing this idea out there to my "trainer" friends, they said "you should". So, here we go! First day begins on Sunday October 3, 2010 with the goal being that I'll run in this marathon in October 2011. Wish me luck!