So today may be the first day of June, but it is Day 4 of my new lifestyle. I have officially made the mental leap from "determined to start" 9getting in shape) to "determined to succeed". Here is my progress so far:
Sunday May 29- Walk/Jog just over 3 miles down at Ludington Park.
The weather was perfect! The swans were out in the little bay and the swarms of bugs were minimal. I started out inhaler in pocket and ipod on something upbeat. Walked, jogged, walked, jogged, stopped panting and needing to stretch, more walking, another stop. At this point a more seasoned walker happened upon me and offered me words of encouragement. Her name was Sue. It was perfectly timed as I was just about to forgo attemting the goal I had set out for myself and calling it a day. (After all, everyone gives up a little early on their first day out right?) She told me I was doing good and to keep it up. I later discovered that she has been a teacher for the past 30 years so this came naturally to her, but never the less I ate it up. I did my best to keep up to her pace. She was just about to begin the main jogging portion of her commute. I started with her realizing that I had probably been doing more of a Berenstein Bear type of slow loping rather than actually jogging. Even though I didn't yet have her stamina, I kept plugging away. Stopped to walk a couple times and once more to stretch. She went on ahead to complete her workout and I was once again trying to enjoy the solitude. When I got to the bridge I saw that Sue was reaching it as well, having taken a different route. I fell into stride beside her (walking at this time). We talked for a bit, when the path came to a fork she asked me which way I was going. I had planned on going left which would have brought me back to my car and made my entire journey one mile. But, what the heck, I continued to walk along with her. We continued to visit, walked and jogged in turn, encountered a rather large hill, and had a great workout. We came to her turnoff to head home but she decided to walk with me all the way back to my car. I am so grateful for the support and encouragement that she gave me! It was the best way to start the day, the week and this new life.
Monday May 30- 1 1/2 mile walk at the Highschool track, walked 8 blocks with Dave and Maddy after dinner (approx .6 miles), walk/jogged 24 blocks (2 miles) with ipod.
Went for a walk with my friend Carrie and her daughter Kera in the morning. She lives pretty much across the street from the highschool track so we went there. It was a nice easy walk, probably best after the abuse I put my body through the day before. I really enjoyed our time together and it feels great to be able to encourage others to be active.
After dinner out Dave and Maddy and I went for a walk. Maddy rode her bike. It was lovely out. The whole time though I felt like I just wanted to go faster. If I had been alone I would have jogged some of it, so I ended up going out after we were done. Dave took Maddy upstairs to get ready for bed and I kept going. I kept a steady pattern; jog two, walk two, jog two, walk two. I had to stop twice to tie my shoe but otherwise kept it up for 24 blocks! Our city blocks measure approx 12 blocks to 1 mile. Once home I soaked in a bath of ice cold water for 15 minutes to help with the recovery. This was not fun. It reminded me of Lake Superior, and I will admit to being spoiled by the much milder temperatures of Lake Michigan! However, I will do it as many times as I need to throughout this journey to ensure that my body is well taken care of as I push it to meet the demands that I am going to put on it. (A note: according to Dr. Oz it is important to keep your toes as well as your arms up out of the cold water while soaking.)
Tuesday May 31- 5 minutes on the eliptical, a total of 50-70 crunches in various ways, 15 minute walk to, and through, the cemetary
Dave and I went to the gym together. He did his thing while I did mine. I started on the eliptical, which I despise. (It is not easy to use that machine when your legs are two different lengths.) Needless to say it did not go well. Since I had focused on cardio the last couple days I decided to utilize the machines for some strength training. I focused on my abs. I did 5 different workouts for them and lost track of how many I did exactly.
Dave had to work at 3 so after Maddy got off the bus at 4 we got her bike out and went for a walk with my best friend Kristin. She had her son Ryan in the stroller. We were concerned about the chance of thunderstorms, but as the sky was clear we decided to go for a quick jaunt. The cemetary is only 3 blocks away from us and it has a really nice hill, so we went there. I am not sure what the etiquette is for bikes in a cemetary so I had Maddy walk while we were in there. A good idea anyhow cause she most likely would have crashed while attemting to get down that hill!
