C25K Week 2 Day 2

Well, I almost made it through today. I did about 4 1/2 out of the 6 runs before walking the rest of the way. When I stopped running was about the time that I accidentally knocked the safety clip off the magnet and reset the treadmill. My calves were totally screaming and my ankles were hurting too. I wanted to push myself but my body did not apparently because I had major cramps in my calves afterwards even after stretching. I'm still getting slight shin splints even after the new shoes but I think that's the impact of my weight. I might do Week 2 again next week depending on how Friday goes. It took me quite a while to move up to Week 2 as it was considering I avoided running at all costs before this. But it is getting easier. When I started I couldn't get through the 60 second runs and now I'm up to 90 seconds at a time.

What really helps is that I have several friends who are in the same part of the program as I am so it's like I have people to root for and people that are rooting for me even though we're on opposite sides of the state. Go Erin and Aimee! We can do it!!!!

New Shoes!

I got new running shoes today! I went to a running store and had them fit me. She said I was probably buying my shoes too small cause she noticed that I had a lot of rubbing on my heel. Which I did, because at the concert my shoes got soaked and rubbed really badly. Anyway, I got Asics Cumulus shoes and they are really comfortable. I can't wait to run in them tomorrow!

Go me!

I've had an awesome week! I mentioned on the last blog post that I joined sparkpeople.com. It's really kept me motivated. I've kept a food journal on the site and tracked my workouts all week. I worked out 209 minutes and burned 1,140 calories. And you know what? I feel great! Before I started consistently working out, I took a 2 hour nap every day cause I was bored and had no energy. Now, I have no desire to take a nap. I've tried. Can't do it. I've been eating much better, too. I don't really even want unhealthy food. I do get chocolate cravings, but I got dark chocolate Chex Mix and that is very yummy! It satisfies my cravings very well. On Monday I'll weigh in and give an official report on what I've lost so far.

Name Nominations

So I'm realizing that in less than a month I start back to school, which means I will be in my second year of teaching. Therefore, I need a new title for my blog. Any suggestions?

In other news, I met my calorie goal today and my cardio fitness minutes. I didn't get my strength training in though due to procrastinating and then my card didn't work to get into the clubhouse. Better luck next time I guess. I did get some strength training in during EA Active, but I count those calories towards my cardio workout.

Tomorrow: C25K

Reaching for Goals

Last night I joined sparkpeople.com. It's an online weight loss program that's free to join. Thanks to Liz for recommending it! One of my goals on there for motivation is writing in a journal everyday. I'm counting this as my journal. So I guess I'll just talk about my day.

This morning when I got up I was just about to make breakfast when Chris suggested we go to Corner Cafe for breakfast. Since that's one of my favorite places for breakfast I couldn't turn it down. One problem: I knew I was going to start my food journal today. Writing down what I'm eating really makes me think about what I'm going to eat before I eat it. It's like seeing it in print makes it worth more or something. It also made me think about food almost every minute of the day. But back to breakfast. Usually when I go there I get the biscuits and gravy cause it's really good there. Instead, I went to "the lighter side" portion of the menu and had one egg, a piece of toast, and hash browns. I know the hash browns were a pretty big bomb, but I still managed to stay within my goals for the day, so I don't feel as bad. I just don't get ice cream tonight. It was well worth it though.

After breakfast and a trip I just relaxed until Chris went to work. Then I went down to the fitness center for my C25K run/walk. Finished the whole thing! It's getting easier and I think I'll finally be able to move to Week 2 next week. I also did my EA Active workout. I got the EA Active: More Workouts game and upped the intensity to medium instead of easy and it's kicking my butt but in a good way. This one doesn't have as many sports drills as the first one but it includes stretching and ab workouts so I like it better.

I think I'm going to need to invest in some good tennis shoes. My current tennis shoes are fine for walking around, but the other day after running I had some nasty shin splints. I also notice my feet hurting a lot while running in my arches. Part of that is probably excess weight but better shoes would support my feet better. Does anybody have any suggestions for shoes?

Thinking

After a week of no exercise I'm getting back on the horse. I'm doing much better with my Wii workouts than I am with the C25K program. I'm going to head down to the gym soon though. It's been difficult for me to get started. However, I have been able to get through entire workouts without deciding to just walk the rest. I messed up last time I went to the gym and dropped my key card on the way back. So then I couldn't get back in until I found it or bought a new one. Luckily, when I went down to the office the other day someone had turned it in. Thank goodness cause we had also invited Emily and her boyfriend over for dinner. It was pretty tasty. We had chicken kabobs with chicken, pineapple, onion, and broccoli, along with asparagus, corn, and fruit salad. It was a nice change on the grill from hamburgers and hot dogs.

While I'm on the subject of food, I've been trying to think of ideas of how to eat healthier. I'm toying with the idea of joining Weight Watchers. I think I'll just do the online program but maybe it will give me more recipe ideas for healthier food. I can never come up with ideas for good food and end up getting stuck in a rut cooking the same thing over and over again. I think if I'm eating better and exercising I'll have more energy to get things done. I really need to keep it up once school starts. So many times I'd come home from work and just collapse cause I was so exhausted. I didn't have any energy, so I'd end up doing a quick crappy dinner or saying "Let's just go out." I think the most difficult thing will be cutting down on ice cream. I love ice cream.