Day 10 – begin again

Last day of Level One and I am thrilled to move to level two. THRILLED!

I’m anxious for more challenge. I haven’t really noticed much change, except for some more shoulder definition, which I am actually really liking! I have fairly broad shoulders and upper arms that I have always found kinda large, so I avoided working them out. The bit of muscle definition suggests more strength and fitness rather than fat. I am definitely going to work out my upper body more as a result.

My legs are a little on the sore side after my run yesterday, but not in a bad way and not very much. The Shred gave them a good shake out 😀

Day non

Well. I didn’t shred today, and seeing that I don’t get out of work until 0030, it’s not happening. And I’m okay with it!

Instead, I did a seven mile run today, to kick off my marathon training. It was hard, but a success. My goal was to complete it in under an hour (8:30ish pace) and I finished in 59:30 🙂 but afterwards, I was not in the mood to shred. I was planning on doing both.

It’s an exercise in flexibility for me. I tend to structure my training rigorously and have a hard time deviating from it. So I’m okay with not doing all thirty days. The run is more important to my goals.

Back to work. I just needed to get something out here!

Day 8

Well, Day 8 is done. I headed out and did a trial 5k and wound up doing about the same as my PR of 24:10. Not bad on the four hours of sleep I had, but if I’m going to hit 8min miles for 26.2 miles, I really have to work on my speed.

I wore my Altra Intuitions, which felt pretty good. I’m definitely going to have to stretch out my ankles and calves. They’ve been screaming from the Shred, and with my near complete transition to zero drop shoes, they still get a little tender. They were a bit stiff for my warmup mile. I’m doing toe circles right now 😀 Feels wonderful!

Came back and busted out the Shred. It was hard after hammering out that run! But it’s done and now I can take a nap before work, haha.

Okay, so I used my iPhone to assist me on today’s shred. I found a workout training app by Skimble that allows you to set up exercise programs as an interval timer.

Luckily, someone else went through the trouble of inputting the workout, so I used that. Same workout, no annoying repetitions of the same old stuff. Perhaps some people find that motivating? I was finding it obnoxious.

What’s also neat is that this means I can do it at the gym. Tomorrow is super time crunched and I have to leave the house super early for a meeting, so I’m going to have to fit it in at the gym. Now I’m prepared!

Off to dreamland!

Heads up, Day 7-up!

I’m feeling pretty good today! Got up early for a meeting, which then got pushed back an hour, so instead of doing my shred when I got back, I got to bust it out before. I like getting my sesh in early. Makes me feel accomplished 😀

So the residual delayed onset muscle soreness is fully gone, so my body’s adapting to the level one workout somewhat. During the workout, I do feel a lot of positive stress on my upper body muscles in particular, but no DOMS afterward. I can’t wait to move forward to level 2 though. I need more challenge!

I made an egg puff for breakfast, pre-shred, with a liberal amount of Tabasco in with the egg and then topped with copious amounts of salsa with some avocado. It was delicious and super easy. I do like my omelets, but this works similarly with less time and hassle. Now I’m enjoying a spinana smoothie before I head off to the gym for a good easy cardio session and then work until midnight. Maybe a nap is in order too?

I decided I’m going to kick off my formal marathon training next week so tomorrow I’m planning on an early morning 5k time trial to gauge what my pace goals will be. I really want to qualify for Boston, so speed is a definite focus. Endurance is no big deal, especially because I’m stubborn, haha.

Be back later, perhaps with a picture of the epic burger salad I plan on making tonight!

Day 6 in the mix

I’m so silly 😀

I feel so much better than I did last night. I had a fairly good night sleep, with the exception of some crazy dreams (seriously, crazy, involving someone I haven’t thought about in years). I woke up headache-free and somewhat refreshed, ate breakfast, got the kiddo off to preschool, and proceeded to shred it up!

I’m getting really sick of hearing Jillian talk, since I’ve been hearing the same thing for the past six days. Today I’m going to try to set up my Gymboss Interval Timer app on my phone so I can do the workout without the video. I think it will do wonders for my sanity.

On the flipside, I think that my day of rest really helped. I felt a lot stronger and like I could push harder, so I did. I was dripping with sweat at the end 😀 Of course, the fact that it’s already hot as heck might be helping with that, but whatever (hee hee).

Off to work I go, and I think I’m going to hit up the yoga class at the gym afterwards. Super excited because I haven’t been able to go in several weeks!

Day 5 – somewhat of a bust

Tired, with the beginning of a headache in my left temple, I popped in the 30 Day Shred DVD. I barely made it through the first circuit before the wee headache turned into a full blown pounder. I had to shut it off. Bleh.

I’m not going to push myself when my body is saying no, so I’m taking the message and heading to bed pronto. Maybe I’ll make it up tomorrow. Right now, even the sound of the keys clicking is hurting my brain, so I’m off until tomorrow. Anyway, rest is probably the most important part of recovery!

The daily grind

Crazy and hot day today! Orthodontist, gym, work and now I’m finally home, relaxing.

Gearing up to shred it up after dinner. I know it’s late, but it’s only twenty minutes and I never have an issue with falling asleep, no matter when I work out!

Dismayed at the Casey Anthony verdict, but not truly surprised. The whole situation is horrifying, but karma will hopefully work it out. Just ugh. People.

Check you later!

Day 4 in the bag!

The daily shred is over with, but I’m not as satisfied as I was on previous days. I struggled with today’s workout a lot. I just felt so drained. I struggled with the jumping jacks and jump rope, and I had to drop to my knees for the pushups earlier than the past three days.

Naptime was not in the cards for today, so I’m surviving on about five hours of sleep, and my tail is dragging badly. But I am glad that I got my workout in. No matter how tired I am, I always remind myself that no one ever regretted a workout, but they sure regret missing them!

This exhaustion really makes me worry though. I have struggled with feelings of sleep deprivation for a long time. I would estimate that I started falling asleep in class on a regular basis in sixth grade, and it’s been a constant problem since then. I also struggle with driving for extended periods of time because I get so drowsy. I went to the doctor for some blood tests when I was in college to rule out hypothyroidism, and all the results came back normal. This drowsiness really came to a head when my son was born until he was about eighteen months old, when he finally slept through the night. I was sleep deprived to the point where I felt like I was walking around in a fog all day and I would forget what I was saying mid-sentence.

What is the point of all this long-winded nonsense? This post at Healthy Tipping Point has had me really pondering finding a naturopath or holistic doctor to see if I can finally reach a resolution on what makes me feel so wiped all the time, no matter how much sleep I manage to get. I have many of the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue that I’ve found by consulting Dr. Google, so who knows?

I’m also curious to find out if I have any gluten sensitivity, since many articles on diet I’ve read lately indicate that a majority of the population do have some form of sensitivity. I’ve been eating as little gluten-containing products as possible lately as an experiment, and everything seems to be running a little smoother, if ya know what I mean 😉

Getting back to the Shred, however, I caught my husband admiring my Lululemon Groove crops today, so I’m thinking that all the squats and lunges might be having a nice effect on the rear view 😀 I’ll take it, with some additional inner thigh toning please. Thanks Jillian!

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy July 4th, all my fellow Americans, and happy Monday to everyone else! Happy fourth day of the 30 Day Shred to me! I haven’t done it yet, but I will do it soon. I’m still feeling pretty tired after my twelve hour shift yesterday. I’m dying for a nap, and yet I woke up at my early (normal) time despite not falling asleep until about 2 am last night.

I’ll get caught up later! Hopefully after a good snoozle and workout, haha.

Day 2 and 3

Days 2 and 3 are in the bag. Definitely feeling some soreness in the upper back and shoulders, but I think they are looking more defined already. I definitely like it! The only portion I keep struggling with are the pushups. Bleh. I absolutely need to work on my upper body strength. It will come in useful for work too; making patient lifts easier will help out a lot.

I have to take a quick shower and jet off to work. I prepped a feast for myself this morning, and I can’t wait for lunchtime. I will have to share later!