Morning!

Well, I didn’t do my run last night. I was so tired by the time I got home I just said –“no”. But the good news is, I went to bed as soon as I started feeling tired (9:30) and fell right to sleep! Whoop! I didn’t wake up again until 3:58AM. When that happens it means my body is finally getting back into the cycle. YAY. Of course I didn’t do cardio last night so I don’t know if that was the culprit, but I’ll keep an eye on things.

Highlight of my day yesterday? When my hairdresser (I went back to get my hair colored - love it even more now) asked, "Are you a runner? Do you run?" and I got to answer "Yes, yes I do!"

Now, I hope your brought your dancing shoes, because I’ve got some good things to say. :)

So this morning – no real issues waking up. Made it to the gym on time and started on the treadmill. My training run went pretty much the same as last time except I only ran 1.75 miles and I remembered to set the treadmill to a 1.5% incline.

Now, you might be wondering why I use a 1.5% incline. (or not but I’m going to tell you anyway) There’s a few reasons. 1) My treadmill at home won’t go lower then a 1.5% incline and I want to be consistent. 2) Running outside is harder then running on a treadmill. Has to do with actually having to MOVE your body forward. So to approximate the effort needed to run outside you should set your treadmill at 1%. Since last time I trained for a 5K I did ALL my training runs on my treadmill (at 1.5% remember) I found that once I got on the streets it was actually EASIER! Talk about a boost on race day. So, the plan is to do training runs at 1.5% AGAIN so I’m ready when it’s time to hit the streets.

So, after my run I ready to do legs. Well… I wasn’t really READY but I did them anyway. (Took a bit to catch my breath) I am happy to say that even after running 1.75 miles I was STILL able to up my weights. Ready? HAPPY DANCE TIME!!

Legs:
Squats (+Bar): 160 x 6 / 160 x 6 / 160 x 6

Last time I did squats I was doing 140 lbs and felt a little shaky. This time 160 and after a WEEK of intense cardio AND running 1.75miles! HELL YEAH – HAPPY DANCE!

Leg Press: 410 x 6 / 450 x 6

I would just like to mention that I have to load 10 freaking plates on this machine…10! And I think I’ll be able to go up again next week – That’s a lot of work! Heheheh Oh – and _I_ pressed 450lbs!!! HAPPY DANCE AGAIN

Straight Legged Dead Lift: 110 x 6 / 90 x 6

Now – you may wonder what’s going on here (or you might not but I’m going to tell you anyway). About ½ way through my first set I realized something. I was feeling these more in my back then in the backs of my legs (not negatively as in OMG I’m going throw out my back but whew that’s working the muscles of my lower back. Then it hit me that I was probably not hitting my form right. Because of the weight I was not doing a full range of motion and it was ending up being more of a “Good Morning” then a “Dead Lift”. SOoooo I offloaded some weight, made sure the bar went as low as I could get it (without rounding my back that’s just below my knees – even though when I stretch I can put my palms to the floor). And really squeezed my gluts as straightened. We’ll see if it makes a difference because dead lifts USED to KILL my ass lately – nada.

Calf Raises: 255 x 5 / 255 x 5

When I first walked over the Calf Raises my heel was starting to throb. I needed to stretch my calves and feet and the calf machine always does a great job – so I was looking forward to this. I was running a little short on time though so I hurriedly put the pin in and mounted the machine (heheh heheh I said mounted :P) the first push was like WHOA… this is heavy. I guess my calves are feeling all that cardio I’ve been doing. I pushed through and managed 5 reps. (FULL Reps from the top of my tippy toes to my heals practically touching the floor. MAN it feels good). I step off and check the pin – DUH it’s in 255 NOT 235 like I thought. HAPPY DANCE! The last set though, as soon as I pushed ‘up’ I got a pain (kind of like a cramp) in my left side under my shoulder blades. I probably could have done 6 but I had to get the weight off my shoulders. So I’m going to have to find a different calf exercise. Do you think the people in the gym would mind if I had fiancé sit on my back as I did Donkey raises? *chuckle*

Oh, I know I forgot to mention it yesterday, but no DOMS in the back :( However, this morning – shoulders! Felt them as soon as I tried to roll out of bed Whoop!

And lastly a progress report. Official weigh in? 203.1! Dance with me! Whoop! That’s nearly 1.5 pounds since Monday. We like this!

So the plan for the weekend?

Tomorrow I have personal training session. I’m kind of excited about it because I get to get my metabolism tested, body fat tested and checked for weaknesses and/or imbalances. I was supposed to do this at the beginning of the month – but I was having a rough go of it and I flaked. So besides that I’m planning another LISS session and a 2 mile training run, probably on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Eating back at 34/33/33 except today which is my free day. (Yeah folks I eat more fat then you – deal with it. If I don’t I turn into someone you DON’T want to know) The goals for the weekend is to show up Monday at 203 (or lower).

I also need to plan my workouts for next week as I think my training runs are going to have to fall in the morning from now on (with LISS at night) and I have to work around the whole Thanksgiving thing.

PLUS I get to hang with my Dad next weekend and I’m thinking I might just make him take me to his gym and give me PT session (My Dad’s a Personal Trainer at Ballies in case you didn’t know – lol).

So – that’s my update.

Give me another Happy Dance just for the heck of it!

whoop! whoop!