Not This Time

So I've been thinking more about the Corktown 5K this weekend. Schedule conflicts abound, and I just can't see spending $30 for what essentially amounts to a t-shirt. I can run/walk 5K any old time on my own, so that's what I'll do.

The May Crop Walk is free, though I will be fundraising for it, so that's still in the works. That is a BIG one. 5K isn't much more than I'm already doing, but 10K is twice that. I was trying to plan a route around my neighborhood that would get me up to that. I'll have to go quite a ways to get to that point. I have about 8 weeks until then.

My "daily training plan" is as follows:

• 1st week (to March 16):  at least 2 miles of walking or 45 minutes of Free Step 
• 2nd & 3rd weeks (to March 30): at least 3 miles of walking or 60 minutes of Free Step
• 4th & 5th weeks (to April 13): at least 4 miles of walking or 80 minutes of Free Step
• 6th & 7th weeks (to April 27): at least 5 miles of walking or 100 minutes of Free Step
• 8th week (to May 4): at least 6 miles of walking or 120 minutes of Free Step

Free Step is only if the weather is bad or there is no time otherwise. Walking outdoors is preferred.  I can take no more than one day a week off. I think this is a reasonable plan, and if I can stick to it, I'll be able to finish the CropWalk. I'm not going to even think about my speed this year.

Edited because I realized I didn't have a "4 mile" increment!

Exercise

Yesterday was gorgeous, so I went outside for a walk. I've gotten a few half hour walks with Jeff, but nothing near the hour I'd regularly do last summer, so I decided to step it up just a little bit. I added a couple extra blocks, which took my time from 29 minutes to 37 minutes. Not a lot, but I did feel the difference.

An hour later, Jeff got home, very stressed about work. Dinner was just about ready, and he said, "Do you mind . . ." At this point I was steeling myself to hear, "get takeout," but he finished with, "go for a walk." I paused for a second to turn the burners off the stove, slap some lids on, get the fish in the refrigerator, and get my shoes & coat. I knew the broccoli would be oversteamed, but it was a small price to pay. We did the basic half hour, and I had to jog a little to keep up with him, but it was a good walk.

I'm hoping to go out again this afternoon. It's windy but warm, so I'll make sure I have a hat. I also tried a plank for the first time today. I was relieved that I could actually do one, but I only held it for about 30 seconds. I also did ten pitiful girly pushups and 20 barely sit ups. I'm going to start trying to incorporate more strength training. I was watching Our Big Fat Weight Loss Story, and realized that if my family were to do that fitness test, I would definitely slow everyone down. I can't do squats or lunges, and I'm weak in general. I'm starting to get to the point where I care less about being skinnier and really want to be stronger. I need to form a plan and start keeping track of what I'm doing.

Song I don't yet have on my iPod but really want: Kelly Clarkson's Stronger. There's a girl at our church about Lauren's age who says that when she gets married, that's going to be the song playing when she walks down the aisle. Can't wait for that wedding!

Another Option

I've slowly realized that there is another option besides Planet Fitness or the fitness room at the community center. We could get a treadmill. Treadmills can be gotten for about $100 off Craigslist, but it would be available any time, and any of us could use it (the kids get a big kick out of using Grammy's treadmill when they're up there).

We had a treadmill before, but I hadn't used it in so long, we gave it away. If we were to get another one, I'd have to get rid of a lot of stuff in the bedroom--I put a hope chest in that same area, and it would have to go back down to the basement. But I also think we could get rid of one of our dressers (we mostly use the closet, and some stuff could go in bins under the bed), so that would free up some room.

When I mentioned all this to Jeff last night, he said, "I said that! Like, twice!" Oops. Sorry, honey.

So we'd have less junk in our room, I could exercise whenever I want, the whole family could use it, and the price would be reasonable.

Excuse me, I have to go buy trash bags in bulk.

What Was I Thinking?

For Christmas, I asked for and received Just Dance 3 and Zumba for the Wii.  I've heard so much about how fun they are, and I figured it would be better than just stepping on and off the balance board in Free Step.

The girls were really excited for the Just Dance--they've played it at their friend's house, so they know a lot of the moves already. Lauren was demonstrating it for me last night, and I suddenly remembered:  I am totally uncoordinated.

I was watching her jump around, thinking, "Crap. I am never going to be able to do that!" But I got up and did the "Crazy Thing Called Love" routine. You know the best part of trying to do one of these routines?  You feel like a total idiot.

Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. I never like aerobics in college, either. But I do know that if I suck it up and do them more frequently, it'll get easier and I might even remember what rhythm is. Yeah, probably not.

Time

 No exercise yesterday. None today, either. Much as I want to, there is NO TIME. Between the kids' school, my work, Girl Scouts, and hours of available daylight, it isn't happening. I'm hoping to get two BIG walks in over the weekend. God knows I need them.

#4 Thing I'm Thankful For:  that I'm working so much right now, even though the demands on my time are extreme.

Winter Exercise

I'm still walking outside--the weather is actually pretty nice in the afternoons. But like I've said before, "Winter is Coming." If there is any ice or snow on the ground, I won't be exercising outside.

Then what DO I do? I can think of a couple options.

• Option 1: no exercise.

• Option 1: gym membership. I saw a Planet Fitness billboard advertising $10/month. No bells & whistles with that, and I can only use the one facility where I sign up. That's not a deterrent to me. Having to drive 20 minutes to the nearest one so that I can exercise is a deterrent. However, if they're open early, I could return to my "exercise before everyone else wakes up" routine. I don't know how busy they'd be at that time, though. 
• There is an added bonus here of weight machines. Cardio is good, but I'd like to build some muscle as well.

• Option 2:  videos/Wii Fit games. There are a million of these available. Zumba, Gold's Gym, Insanity, TurboFire, Exerbeat, Just Dance . . . I have no idea which would work for me. I wouldn't have to drive to exercise, but I don't think I'd use them while everyone else is asleep. Many of them incorporate weight training using your own body weight, which I theoretically like, but I'm not sure how well it would work in practice.
• A benefit here is that you pay once and that's it. You can even borrow from the library. Yeah, I did that. Twice. I checked out two different fitness DVDs, and never put them in the player once.
• A big drawback is that I'm fairly uncoordinated. Yeah, I know, big surprise. Shut up. But I always hated aerobics, because following the actions was annoying.

At this point, I'm leaning toward the gym. It's a little more expensive, and I'd have to leave the house. But I know me, and I think I'd use that option more than the other.

#1 Thing I'm Thankful For: that my immediate family is healthy, and that my parents are both doing better. My mom is doing pretty well with chemo, and my Dad will hopefully be released from the rehab facility soon.

#2 Thing I'm Thankful For: Microwave Rice Packs. A minute and a half in the microwave, and I have deliciously warm feet when I get into bed instead of misery.

Back to It

After yesterday's grueling 5 miles, I was back to the same old route today, 3.36 miles long. I was thinking about the CropWalk next spring. This year, I did the 2.2 mile with Lauren, and at the time, I said I wanted to do the 10K in 2012. Dude, 10K is over 6 miles. There's no way I could do that, even if I walked it the whole way.

I need to step it up. I know that by adding a certain street, I'll take that basic walk up to 3.78 miles. So while I can, I'm going to do that. That's not a big jump, so I'll take it up a little more than that next month.

I still don't know what I'm going to do once it snows & gets icy.

June Stats, July Goals

Total exercise time
June goal: 45 hours
June results: 35.17 hours
July goal: 40 hours

Average daily time
June goal: 90 minutes
June results: 70.33 minutes
July goal: 80 minutes

Number of days exercising
June goal: 28
June results: 25
July goal: 31

Number of days walking
June goal: 28
June results: 23
July goal: 26

Total distance walked
June goal: 75 miles
June results: 78.76 (102.23) miles
July goal: 80 miles

I hit some of my goals in June, but not all. My total exercise time, my days exercising & walking were all more ambitious than I could handle. However, I did hit my mileage goal, and I attribute that entirely to joining a fitness challenge at My Fitness Pal to "walk" 100 miles in June. That included steps on the Wii as well. Since I didn't have actual mileage to go on, I counted every 2000 steps as one mile. So that's why my June walking results have two numbers--the first is actual mileage I clocked around here, and the second in parentheses includes the stepped miles I got on the Wii.

I found that I got most of my walking in if I went very early in the morning. If I waited until after 7, it was already getting warm and the sun was too high. I've discovered that I don't much care for sunshine when I'm out for a walk--I'll actually choose which side of the street to walk on based on how shady it is.

I've also joined The President's Challenge, which I think will also help keep me moving. So for June, the most challenging goal is that I get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. No slacking because the weather is miserable or I'm having a bad day or I'm too busy. I'd prefer to walk outside, but if all else fails, I'll do 30 minutes of Basic Step on the Wii while I watch tv.

I'm still not looking forward to walking the way I expected. It's still something I do because I have to, not because I want to. I did have one rather stressful day where I went out for a walk after dinner, and it did help, but I didn't have the stamina to walk until I wasn't upset anymore. I think I used to enjoy walking so much more because the kids were small then, and I really needed to get out of the house solo more frequently. Now that they're more self sufficient, I don't crave alone time as much.

Today is July 1st, and I haven't gotten any exercise yet. Since it's almost noon, hot out, and I have a lot going on, it looks like it's Wii for Mii today!