get in shape

I’ve been looking at my workout log. I realized that even in my darkest, laziest months, I’ve been working out on 1/3 of the days! Which is much, much better than not working out at all, and much better than I thought I was doing. :)

(Of course, my best months are rarely above 2/3, which is nothing spectacular, but hey, still better than nothing.)

1. running in the park – free
2. a pair of good running shoes – 100 €
3. my Mom bragging to my primary school P.E. teacher about me running in a race – priceless

and even more satisfying:

4. rowing on a river with my boyfriend for 2 hours, hiking in the nearby hills for another hour, and being able to tease him about his lack of fitness – PRICELESS! :D

It’s December, and I’m maintaining my fitness, so my goal is reached:

- being able to run for at least 30 minutes without stopping – it’s cold, my usual running route is being turned into a park and it’s closed off till spring, so I’m only running at the gym, and not very often, but I’m still able to do 30 minutes

- being able to do at least 10 straight-leg pushups – I’m at 15! whoo boy!

- losing another 4kg (9lbs) or at least maintaining my current weight – doing really well with this; I’m 1.5kg away from my target weight

I really should go to the gym more often. I know what I looked like in the summer, when I was exercising like crazy, and even though I’m the same weight now as I was then, it’s just not the same. :/

Buuuut… I’ve gotten in shape, and I’m staying in shape. ;) Goal done!

A few months ago, I set myself specific sub-goals and deadlines for this. The deadline was September, but I forgot to review my progress back then, so here it goes, about a month late:

1) being able to run for at least 30 minutes without stopping – I’ve done this and I’m still doing it. But I really need to find some kind of motivation to continue with my training through the cold, dark winter months.

2) being able to do at least 10 straight-leg pushups – I’m at 12 pushups right now. I’m doing them every morning. This has the most inconvenient side-effect of me noticing just how dirty is the floor.

3) losing another 4kg (9lbs) or at least maintaining my current weight – I actually reached my target weight sometime in July, when I was exercising like crazy. I’m now 2kg heavier, which is fine, but it looks like I keep gaining, instead of maintaining, which is not fine. More home-cooked meals, and less giving in to sugar-loaded bribes at the office.

Sooo… I’m doing ok with this. It’s no big deal, just a routine. Two more months, and I’ll mark the goal as done.

I ran 7.4 kilometres in 50 minutes today. That’s an average pace of 6:45, which is more than 1 minute better than my usual pace. Oh, sure, there are people who’d run that distance in half the time, but hell, this is MY personal record, and I’m damn proud of it. God, I wish I would run into my high school PhysEd teacher so I could gloat. :P _{Now I’m off to find some ice for my poor knees…}

I think I’ll start jazz dance again. I have exactly 32 hours to make a decision – the class begins tomorrow. I’ll go for street jazz this time (_{inspired by this video ;)}).

I just have to work out how to fit Body Attack classes, strength training, swimming, running and (possibly) dancing into a 24-hour/7-day week. If anyone told me a couple of years ago I’d enjoy all of it so much, I’d tell them they’re crazy… Ah, how people change. :)

This is such a big, ambiguous goal. Everyone’s definition of what “getting in shape” exactly means is different, so this is my definition:

- being able to run for at least 30 minutes without stopping (speed and distance don’t matter at this point)

- being able to do at least 10 straight-leg pushups (_{and if I hear anyone calling me a wuss for not being able to do even that much, I’m strangling him/her with my twiggy arms :P)}

- losing another 4kg (9lbs) or at least maintaining my current weight (_{I hate to think of my body in terms of weight and losing weight and would much rather like to have a goal like this, but a number on the scale is the easiest way to measure progress)}

My goal is to reach these milestones by September, and then maintain that level of fitness until at least December to say this is “done”. Of course it’s a life-long goal, and you can’t just say “it’s done, I’m not working on it any longer”, but it’s my goal and I get to decide when to click on that “I’ve done this” button. ;)

I feel like Superman. ;) Or Hulk. Or well, someone strong and fit. :D

I went to the gym. Did my weight training routine. (One of these days, I’ll be able to do more than 5 straight-leg pushups, even if it’s the last thing I do!) As it was raining outside and I came on a bike, I decided to try out the treadmill until the rain stops. So I alternated 5 minutes of running with 1 minute of walking for about 30 minutes. And I kept thinking “Wow, that’s not as hard as I thought”!

I feel sooooo good right now. :)

This has sort of been on a backburner as my life got really busy these past few weeks. Now my back is starting to warn me that sitting in front of a computer the whole day is definitely not its favorite thing to do. So, no more dallying – getting in shape to look good is a nice goal, but not all that important; getting in shape to be healthy is, on the other hand, the most important goal I can think of right now.