Back At It, Or... My Gym Pet Peeves

I finally got my butt to the gym this morning. It's the first time I've been to the gym since I started the school year. I haven't had any energy or motivation...and I have 12 more days until the end of the month so that has forced me to get my butt in gear.

I was having exercise ADD (note, there was no "H" in there...) and decided to do 15 min on the bike and 15 min on the elliptical. Also, I probably shouldn't do ANY time on the elliptical bc of my back, but I just love and miss it so much. First off, the gym parking lot was packed. I had to go nearly to the top level of the parking ramp. I like to use locker #11 (hello OCD). Locker #11 was taken, as were practically all the lockers in the first section. I had to go all the way down to the 3rd and last section. I put my stuff in locker #139 after I changed, but it wouldn't lock. So then I moved all of my stuff down to locker #140. This is nowhere near locker #11!

Biking was fine. I was checking out the ellipticals while biking and there was one left right around my 15 min mark. I quickly put all of my stuff on it and cleaned off my bike. I always wipe down the machines before and after I'm there bc I've seen way too many people not wipe it off at all bc they are just "warming up." Hello, you still left your cooties! The two wipe dispensers closest to the ellipticals were out so I had to go all the way back to the one I used for my bike. I love the dispensers, but I hate that on any given day, at least 1 out of 3 in the first row are out of wipes. It's another pet peeve of mine when the person before has pulled two wipes out, but only uses one (they are connected). The other one inevitably dries up before it's used. Such a waste.

I ellipticalled next to a very tall/large man. He was actually kind of cute, but he smelled like Brian smelled and that was such a turn off. He was going great guns though, and not in a totally weird way like some guys. I like this bc it keeps me going faster as well.

I was able to stretch out and my back didn't hurt so I gave today's workout two thumbs up. When I got back to the locker room some lady was leaving and not only did she leave her locker door open (another pet peeve of mine, and yes, I do close them when I see them open), but she also left two towels - one on the floor and one on the locker door. Dude! The towel drop is on your way out, actually there are TWO on your way out. Don't be a slob - these people aren't your maids. So the workout was two thumbs up. The things I had to deal with were not.

Afterward I drove across the street to Brueggers and indulged in a pumpkin bagel with pumpkin cream cheese for breakfast. I love the fall!

Running Stats

I haven't run a mile in exactly a week. This morning I hauled my butt to the Henry Sibley track and nearly died. I've decided not only to track my time, but also my max HR, average HR, calories burned, and total time (mile + walking 1 lap).

And I reached a new record today, with cramps, on the first day of Sally, and in capris for the first time!! Here's the stats:

Time - 12:03 (so close to getting below 12 min!)
Max HR - 199 (that's 105% folks)
Ave HR - 180
Cals - 207
Total
Time - 16:46

Dropping Time

It rained overnight and was spritzing this morning, but I drove to coach tennis in Richfield bc I hadn't gotten a call or text saying that practice was canceled. When I got there the courts were soaked and none of the girls were in the gyms. I was a little peeved so I headed back to Henry Sibley High School for my run. I kicked butt on the first lap, knocking off 20 seconds. I was amazed that I practically had a stride instead of a trot! It was still misting and my glasses started to fog up on lap 3. It was about 70 degrees and there was a wind. I wonder if the weather conditions helped my time, but I dropped over one minute! 3 miles done and I'm down to 12:09.

My hips are achy even after my rest day yesterday. What I wouldn't do for a massage! But I hopped back in the car, wiped off my glasses, and drove to Lifetime. Rode the bike for 30 min while sweating profusely and reading Chelsea Handler. I finished up by dipping my tootsies in the pool.

When I got home and read my email I saw that my tennis match for tonight has been canceled. I was bummed, but now have the rest of the day ahead of me to catch up on TiVo, read, and watch movies!

Ya gotta start somewhere.

Today I decided that it would be a good idea to run a mile. I haven't run a mile (and I use the term "run" loosely) in over 12 years. In high school we were required to run the mile and a half. As a current PE teacher, the only reasoning I can see behind running the 1.5 instead of running the mile is to waste more PE time. The best time I ever got in the 1.5 was around 15 minutes and that was in 1997. My goal for today was 1 mile in under 15 minutes without walking. Totally doable.

So I hauled my butt out of bed around 11:30 am and drove to the Henry Sibley High School track. I realized once I got there that I had forgotten water but decided to start anyway. Okay. I can do this.

I took off at what I thought was a good pace and finished my first lap in 2:48. Hmmm. So I optimistically thought I could do a mile in 12 min. The second and third laps mainly consisted of me repeating, I can do this I can do this I can do this. I quickly realized that I would probably run my first mile between 12 and 15 minutes.

As I glanced down at my heart rate monitor I saw that I was consistently in the 180s during my run. To the casual observer it looked like I was out for a gentle jog around the track, but my heart was at its max. I trotted around the track four times and ended up with a time of 13:24. Actually, it could have been a few seconds under that, but my HRM decided to take that exact moment to inform me that it was now 1:04 pm. Thanks a lot, HRM.

I think this is a great place to start. I figure that my best mile time was 10 min in the spring of my junior year in high school. I played varsity tennis, JV basketball, and ran varsity track that year. I was in the best shape of my life! I was also 120 lbs.

So my goal is to run 1 mile each day this week. I say this now, as nothing on me hurts. We'll see what tomorrow morning brings... After the "run" I grabbed Subway (Ru's favorite!) and then did 30 min on the recumbent bike at the gym. I'm nowhere near Katie's level of training, but ya gotta start somewhere.