Week 5, Day 2, Cristin

OK. Clearly I am the only lame ass who has to work all during the holidays and has ample time to post on this thing.

So another post to myself: Made it to the gym last night for a short (20 min) but intense workout of cardio and weights. I followed it up with a Champagne tasting.

Happy New Year!

Week 5, Day 1, Cristin

Because I hurt myself so badly on Day 3 there was no Day 4 last week. I’m not sure there would have been a Day 4 anyway but let’s just pretend I was going to run 8 miles but I just couldn’t.

So, Day 1.

Ice Skating! With Hockey Skates! And I didn’t fall at all. I knew I could do it. So now I am just changing my Olympic dreams a bit to speed skater instead of figure skater. Sure there’s no music and hardly any glory and not as many people watch the competitions or even know when they come on but I have to focus on what I am good at here people.

One whole hour of ice skating. It was a pretty good workout. I was sore and exhausted afterwards.

I also have plans to really step it up in the new year with my workouts. I know, I know, it sounds like a resolution. But something has got to be done.

Week 4, Day 3, Cristin

My third workout of the week was just OK.

I went ice skating again. But this time I went out and bought skates. Figure skates. I didn’t realize that there is an instrument of death called a toe pick on figure skates. I fell not once, not twice but THREE times. And not just little falls. Full out face plants. Well, I landed on my back most of the time but you get the picture. It was as if I was practicing flips without meaning to and having never even seen said flips in action.

I think I got about 45 minutes of skating in before I called it quits. The last fall hurt a lot. I promptly returned my skates to the store and am on the look out for some hockey skates that I like. Figure skates are so much cuter but let’s be honest-I don’t have that much of a chance at the Olympics, so why put up with the constant falling? There is enough chance that I will fall on hockey skates anyway; hell just WALKING causes me trouble sometimes so why push it?

HOW DO FIGURE SKATERS HANDLE THE TOE PICK???

I don’t get it.

Week 4, Day 2, Cristin

Surprisingly on Christmas Eve I managed to get a 20 minute work out in. I did a workout from one of my Women’s Health magazines. It combined cardio and strength and I worked up quite a sweat.

And then I went and ate and drank and was merry and felt pretty good about it.

Week 4 Day 0 Natalie

Haven't done much to keep up with this week. I drove to Texas on Monday, and home again on Wednesday. That knocked 2 days out of the running. Tuesday was spent going to the airport and shopping, Thursday was Christmas. I have no idea if I have given up for the week, I suppose we will see if I can squeeze even one 30 minute run in this week. Ugh.

Week 4, Day 1, Cristin

So week 3 passed and I didn’t do much to reach my goal.

But now it is week 4 and I have already done a really hard 45 minute workout full of cardio and strength training. I feel pretty good about it. James and I worked out while watching TV on Sunday because there was no way I was even leaving the house for one minute since the temperature with the wind chill was -31. Have you ever seen such a number?! Ri-dic-u-lous.

Week 3 Day 2 Herpreet

A really pathetic run today, but it's something. I walked 1/4 mile to the park as my warm up, ran 1 mile, walked just over 1/2 mile, ran just under 1/2 mile, then walked 1/4 home. SIGHHHH. It is better than nothing. And I also had a massive menstrual-induced headache while I did it. So.

Seeing as tomorrow is the start of Week 4, I didn't meet my 3 times a week goal again. But I'm trudging along, guys!

On a totally different note, I realize that I sort of introduced each of you by stating how I know you, but feel welcome to introduce yourselves however you please, as Natalie did.

Week 3 Day 3 Natalie

Ah! I so didn't want to run this morning. But I did it. I had to do it so that I would be able to complete my goal for next week. I'm going to be on the road Monday and Wednesday, knocking those days out of the 7. So, should I go Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday... Or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday? It's so hard deciding! Plus I might want to add in private pep talks about going to the rec center. -a? Merry Christmas!


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Week 3, Day 2, Cristin

20 minutes on the elliptical with the pushups/crunches again. I was able to do 20 push ups during one set so I am proud. It was incredibly hard though.

Slowly makin’ it through week 3….

Week 3 Day 1 Herpreet

FINALLY had my Day 1 this week! First I made an on the go playlist that followed this order: Pixies, Talking Heads, Ted Leo, The Shins.
Then I got out of my car and stretched, and then I ran in the rain! I had a lot of fun! Is that nuts? Because I actually went to the trail two hours earlier and LEFT feeling that I was not wacko enough to run in the rain. Oh well. A little wackier each day!

Week 3 Day 2 Natalie

Feels good to be done with running by 8:26 AM!!!! One more day and 1/2 of my goal is reached... Then on to next week.

Kevin--I did it! I did it!

Three full, grueling workouts AT THE GYM on Sat, Mon, AND Wed. I am proud and exhausted.

Week 3 Day 1 Natalie

2 of 6 miles down for the week. My leg is hurting like crazy today, so I was really scared that I'd start out and have to quit and start all over again tomorrow. There were times that I thought I'd have to stop because I'd get a sharp pain, but it only lasted a second and I kept on going. So I have completed 1/3 of my goal for the week. I found my ipod on Sunday, which is AWESOME. I missed running with music, though not too much because I wasn't overly bored when last I was running. Amen, the end.

Week 3, Day 1, Cristin

Well this week is hard. It has been extremely cold. Today it was 7 degrees when I left for work. But, it was SO much warmer than yesterday that when I commented to the lady who is always at the bus top with me that today was better than yesterday she said “Oh yes. Today is very, very nice” WHAT? TODAY IS NICE? The saddest part is that I agreed with her. Today WAS nice.

But not nice enough to want to get up and work out. Not only is it cold but it is also dark in the mornings. It’s very hard to get out of bed much less fit in a pre-work work out.

I tried Monday but it didn’t work. I woke up today much too late to do an actual work out so I remembered that all my magazines say that you can spread out your workout through out the day. So I turned on the TV and watched morning shows while doing odd bits of cardio for 10 minutes. At least it was something.

And then at lunch I walked probably about a mile round trip while I did some Christmas shopping. IN THE SNOW (but not uphill!).

So that’s about 20 minutes total. Hopefully I have another 10 minute workout in my future.

My week 3 goal is to get through week 3.

Week 2, Days 3 and 4, Cristin

OK this is late but I thought I'd post anyway.

Wednesday I felt like crap but I had parked at the gym for the cheap parking lot rates so I HAD to go in at least so I forced myself to put on my workout clothes with the idea that I would 20 minutes of cardio tops. I had just started a new book so I brought it out to read (which I never do-sometimes a magazine but never a book). I got on a bike for 10 minutes and then switched to the elliptical to do 10 more minutes. To my surprise I did another 35 minutes! 45 minutes of cardio total! Simply because I did not want to put down my damn book. Whatever works.

On Friday I went after work to the gym (and Kevin you are so very right-working out on Fridays after work is just brutal) but I had packed my clothes and knew I had a delicious dinner ahead of me so I went anyway. Again I brought the book. I managed 35 minutes on the elliptical and then 3 sets of 15 pushups with different types of crunches in between. I used to be able to do 20 pushups in a row so I was a little upset about that but decided 15 was fine.

The only reason any of that happened is because I was so into my book and wanted a chance to read it.

The book? Twilight.

Don’t judge.

Week 3 Goals Herpreet

My goal this week is to run 2 miles 3 times between W-Sat. It is cold in Austin (colder than last week when I whined about it), and I am not equipped with any cold weather running clothes. But it is supposed to warm up starting tomorrow.

Week 3 Goals Natalie

I'm going to aim low, so that maybe I can not overdo things so much that I completely fail to do anything next week, (which is my general pattern...) I would like to run 3 times this week, for a minimum of 2 miles. I am okay with run-walk-running if I don't feel that I can run 2 miles straight at any point. Part two of my goal is to REPEAT THIS GOAL THE FOLLOWING WEEK, but extending my runs from 2 miles to 30 minutes, 3 times. The end. Amen.

Motivational Inspiration, with love from Herpreet

Did any of us meet our Week 2 goals? Cristin - I think it's all YOU!

Everyone - Week 3.
Let's get our buts in gear. I thought this video might be some cold-weather-workout inspiration.



PS I'm in BR next week; we should go on a run together!

Week 2 Day 0 Natalie

Yeah, echoing Herpreet's little breather, I have taken the past few days off too. I took Wednesday off so I could study for an exam and work on a paper- neither of which I did... Thursday I took off because it SNOWED, and the weather was crappy and the roads were slipper and I could just see falling and breaking my neck, and today I took off because I worked at my internship and then hit the road for New Orleans. Tomorrow, I will do something, even if it is just to take Annie for a long walk. I might have some cocktails tonight to celebrate BEING DONE FOR THE SEMESTER!

Week 2, Day 2!!!!! Herpreet

YES. Did it. I have to say, my whining yesterday and then saying how I was going to run today to all of you really held me accountable. And it was a pretty A+ day! I walked 1/4 mile to the park, ran for 2 miles straight, then turned and walked back 2 miles and continued walking home. So - 4 1/2 miles! The walk was long and more leisurely, but it's cardio none-the-less. I considered running some of the 2 miles back, but to tell you the truth, I was really enjoying the walk. I've only ever run or ridden that trail, and I was able to take in a lot more on the walk.

So, tomorrow will be my Day 3!

bloggercise friends.

aka introductions.

Okay. Natalie and I (herpreet) went to middle school together for one year. It strikes me as rather appropriate that we met in a P.E. class. The way we hung out in that class happened because a) I could tell Natalie liked cool music, and I wanted to know about cool music, and b) we both preferred the bleachers to the gym floor or tennis courts. Then many many years later, we ran into each other at a mutual friend's wedding. Later I came across her blog, and then I decided to share my blog with her.

Cristin is one of my oldest friends ever. We met in tenth grade in Mr. Hamilton's Civics/Free Enterprise class (you may have read about this class on my blog). The class was ridiculous, and the two of us made those, "Is this for real" looks at one another all the time. And it grew from there. Also, I was fascinated with Cristin's long, soft wavy blonde hair. It was like corn silk, and I also thought it looked like it could be on a Johnson's Baby Shampoo commercial because at the time they were running this ad campaign with all these women with long hair in various shades of blonde. Me not being blonde at all - I was drawn to the commercial. We lost touch after freshman year of college, but then, when we graduated, we both were moving to New York at the same time and we reconnected and it was so nice to have one another in the city. She was my maid of honor when I got married, and I read at her wedding. So that's sort of heart warming.

Kevin and I went to high school together. He was a grade below me and Cristin, and at the time, we called him George even though his name was Kevin for some reason I don't know, but other people could probably explain. I didn't really know anything about him except that he had a massive crush on my friend Alicia. The night before Alicia left for college in Illinois, all of her closest girlfriend's were packed into her bedroom while she packed her bags, and George showed up. I remember being really annoyed (sorry, Kev). I thought, "What is this dude doing crashing our say-goodbye-to-alicia party????" But then years and years later THEY started dating! And one post-Christmas gathering, Kevin and I invented a game where we tried to one-up each other with what Christmas gifts we'd received. We began by saying things like, "I got a soap/lotion set from work." And he would say, "I got a box of cookies from my boss." And then it escalates. You save the BEST gift for last. So that for the final build up, either your best gift will trump the other's best gift or vice versa. And this is how we began a Christmas tradition and also realized we both love inventing ridiculous games.

Kevin and Natalie, you are in BR. And Kevin just began his own funny blog where he asks readers what would be on your very own ROY G. BIV mix tape, and you come up with a list of songs related to each color.

Crisitn, you are in far away, cold Chi-town. I am in Austin.

We are all introduced. Cheers.

Week 2, Day 1 - Still. Herpreet

Okay, okay. I completely realize that I'm stuck on Day 1, which was my fall-down-bike-ride. But when I woke up on Monday, I realized I'd fallen harder than I thought. My neck and arm were sore, and one of my ribs was sore, and I was just achy in general. Blah. Stupid falling off bike. So I did nothing Monday or Tuesday (except pout inside my head about my aches and pains).

Then Tuesday night I had my FINAL fiction workshop for the semester and had drinks with all my classmates after. A lot of drinks. On top of this there were threats of snow in Austin and San Marcos. I didn't want to drive home to Austin that night (weather), so instead I had even more drinks in San Marcos and spent the night at a classmate's house. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 7:20 a.m. and had to go onto campus to help administer my World Lit class's final exam (so I was really glad I'd stayed in San Marcos - her house was only 5 minutes away, instead of 40). I thought I'd drive home and sleep and then wake up and run. BUT. Instead I went back to my friend's house after the exam, we texted another friend and the 3 of us had a really fun, much needed bonding kind of adventure in TX Hill Country. So I didn't make it back to Austin until 5:30 pm. And boy was I exhausted. c. and I ordered pizza, I ate, I read in bed, went to sleep.

Does any of this count as a workout? I know. I know. NO. The thing is, it is COLD outside. No, it isn't Chicago-cold, and no, there's no snow on the ground like in BR (wtf???@@**!!!!), but it's kinda chilly. Oh, herpreet, doing her best whining.

Well, I've got today, tomorrow and Saturday to work it out. So here is my plan: Right now, I am going to watch an episode or 2 of Charlie's Angels on hulu.com (I know, this doesn't sound right, does it) to motivate and inspire me. Then I'll jump in the shower, and then I'll walk over to my local coffee shop to work on the paper that is due on Saturday. TOMORROW, I will go on a run first thing, and I'll either do a bike ride or run on Saturday (a really hard one on Saturday so my body will forgive me for whatever I do to it at the holiday party I'm attending Saturday night).

So, co-challengers, help me stick to my plan if you can, and I'll do my best to help myself. I THINK I can lift my fingers to click on hulu.com right now.

Week 2, Days 1 and 2, Cristin

I set my alarm for 6:20 on Monday with the hope of getting out of bed and getting a solid half hour of exercise in before work. I got up at 6:50 and got a solid 20 minutes in. And was extremely late for work. I decided to do a Cardio Dance workout from the On Demand section. It said no dance experience was required. It lied. I had to turn it off after 10 minutes because it was getting ridiulous. So after that I did 10 minutes of arm exercises from one of my magazines. Supposedly it's a routine from the woman who trains Madonna and Gwenyth Paltrow (hopefully my arms turn out more like Gwinnie's than Madge's)

Set my alarm early again on Tuesday. Up at 6:50 again and late for work again. Big surprise. This time I did one of Jillian's 30 day shred workouts from On Demand. KICKED MY ASS. I knew I was in trouble when she had fitness models doing the workout with her instead of Biggest Loser people. By the end even the models were sweating. I'll definitely do that one again. It's a 40 minute workout too which is good.

It took me 30 minutes to de-snow my car today so I'm trying to decide if that counts as day 3!

Week 2 Day 2 Natalie

Okay, it feels REAAAALLLLLY good to have this taken care of already at 11:07 am. I stayed home from my internship this morning so that I could work on my final paper for one of my classes. I took a brief break to clear my head and had a nice trot in the rain. My legs got tired at just under 2 miles. I may be pushing them a little hard considering I hadn't run at all in November I don't think. October is questionable too. If I did run, it was only one or two times, just to see if I still could.

Now I've got to go take a shower and try and crank out a few more pages before going to the second half of the day for my internship. I'd just skip altogether, but my lunch is there and It's really yummy so I want to go eat it. Ha!

Ideas for Challenging Game

Okay, I've been thinking about it, and this is all I can come up with so far:

I think the game should revolve around whether or not we accomplish our own goals for the week. I think we should veer away from any punishment for not achieving goals, and focus more on reward. This shit's hard enough as it is.

So what if the person who achieves their weekly goal gets rewarded by having the other members dedicate a youtube vid, funny picture, funny story, or some other type of internet treat? It wouldn't take long at all, and it would be something to look forward to.

If not this, then maybe we can start from here and figure out some other types of rewards that we can dish out to each other when we succeed for the week.

Maybe there should be special rewards for completing goals for the month, or for who has the best success rate after a certain time, etc. Just trying to get the ball rolling--any thoughts?

Week 2 Day 1 Natalie

So it was a really good idea to run on Saturday, because yesterday the most exercise I got was driving to go watch the Saints game and then lifting the burger from it's basket to my mouth. The wedding was a lot of fun, Sunday not so much. But I'm back on again, ran this afternoon for about a mile and a half, had to keep it short due to the fact that Annie likes to sniff everything in sight and it was getting to be too dark to run, even with my guard dog. Not that I would have gone much further, I'm still pretty out of shape. Once school is out I might try to incorporate some trips to the rec center into my routine to see if maybe I could do some swimming. Oh, and my bike too, can't forget that one! That is all. Oh yeah, for those of you who don't know me... I'm in Baton Rouge. I had to email Cristin to find out where she was, and I have no idea where this Kevin character is. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves...
I am 32, getting my masters in social work at LSU, and have a weimaraner named Annie. The End.

Week 1, Days 2 and 3, Cristin

I managed to get in a workout on Friday and Saturday. Nothing on Sunday unless you count the 10 minutes it took me to get the snow off my car. I’m pretty sure I burned at least 15 calories doing that.

I was treated to a vacation in the city this weekend and stayed at a hotel on Friday night. After finding out that there was an $18/day per person fitness charge (18 dollars!!) we instead went up and down 12 flights of stairs 3 times. It resulted in a tough 15 minute workout. Not as long as I had hoped but still something to make me feel that I earned my steak dinner.

On Saturday I went ice skating for the first time! And here’s the amazing thing: I didn’t fall! Not once. I was really impressed with myself. I thought for sure I would be holding onto the rail the entire time. I was also really excited that 45 minutes of ice skating took the place of the gym that day. I think I worked muscles in my legs that have never been worked before. It's going to be my new thing. I just know it.

The Holiday eating is going to be my downfall. I'm hoping I can at least maintain throughout the season. Just maintain. I think that will be a feat in itself. I had so much good food this weekend I don't even want to talk about it.

Physical Challenge--Kevin

Sorry for the delay, guys. Logging on to this site as a host was a challenge in itself due to computer probs at work. I almost crumpled in the face of this first, extremely low level challenge.

Luckily I got my stuff together on Saturday, and hit the gym--3o minutes of lifting, 25 minutes of elliptical. I'm feeling really good.

One important step I took this weekend was recognizing this reality---I can't work out on Fridays. It's the last thing I want to do, after feeling the rush of freedom after busting out of the office on Fridays. So that means, I've given up on the MWF workout schedule. As good a day as Monday is to start off on a good foot, Friday is just as crappy for following through.

So now, I'm going to a Sat. morning, Mon., Wed. schedule, with Th and F as days of rest. Saturday mornings have been a nice, peaceful way to get started with the week's bizness. It's also flexible, as I could also go with a Sun/Tues/Thurs, schedule, or a few others. As long as I'm realistic about being allergic to Friday workouts, I should be able to stay on track.

My goal is to stay on this track until Christmas. Long-term of course, is to stay with it forever, but let's take one step at a time. The big lesson for me in all this is---recognize mental blocks, and either overcome them, or work around them.

I'm still thinking of ways to incorporate our challenges into game mode, so bear with me. Any suggestions?

Week 2, Day 1 Herpreet

OUCH!

Today made my 3rd day of cardio for the week. Or technically, it's my FIRST day of cardio for the coming week. I wish I was not so compulsively linear, but I am.

So. Week 2, Day 1 is where I'm really at. I did a bike ride instead of a run. It was four miles around Town Lake, and took me 20 minutes. It was all going really great until I got to the end of the loop and backtracked to the trail map. I wanted to see on the map exactly how many miles I'd cycled. As I was riding over the gravel, I didn't slow down enough and my bike slid. I fell off, scraped up both hands, my calf, my elbow and my thigh.

Tons of people were around, and NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON bothered to ask me if I was okay. NOT ONE PERSON. Then, as I was trying hopelessly to get my chain back onto the gears, this dude comes up, says, "Do you know what time it is?" I was CLEARLY flustered as I tried to fix the chain. I look at my watch, say, "Ten after one." and he (barely) says, "Thanks," and runs off.

Motherfuckers.

I just want to go on record with this: In Baton Rouge SOMEONE would have stopped to say, "Are you okay?" or to ask, "Do you need help with your chain.

Day 3 Natalie

Took Annie out for a quick trot before I hop into the bathtub and get ready for a wedding. Went a little over a mile, for about 15 minutes. Not hard, and way easier on me mentally because now I can enjoy the wedding without having to worry about running tomorrow.

Lovely jazzercize image found here...

Day One (for cristin)

OK. This week has been hard because the temperature hasn't really gotten above 20 degrees. It's only the first week of this weather BS so I suppose I should buck up and deal with it.

I have gained 8 pounds since my wedding. That was a mere 2 months ago! 4 pounds a month. If I keep it up I will weigh 48 pounds more than I do now at this time next year. Not OK.

I haven't done much this week. On Tuesday I did Bob's 25 minute cardio blast from the Biggest Loser workout on my comcast On Demand (try it-it's hard! lunges, lunges and more lunges). On Wednesday I did 40 minutes on the elliptical when I was really hungry and had no desire to work out but I pushed through anyway. So that's something. I am impressed with myself today because I just ate veggie soup for lunch because I have a wonderful steak dinner to look forward to tonight and I know I will eat much more than just the steak because that is just the way it goes. If I have time I am planning on getting in at least 30 minutes of cardio before dinner.

So-not the greatest exercise week.

My goals are to get in at least 4 workouts each week (preferably longer than Bob's BL workout). A combo of cardio and weights. I used to run but I'm not that great at it anymore so I'd like one of those cardio workouts to be running. But just one because the treadmill drives me crazy. I much prefer running outside. Occasionally I will do that in the winter but it has to be AT LEAST 28 degrees for me to even consider it!

So here goes...

Day 2 Natalie

Oh, it was hard to run today. But I did it and it felt good, and I made it a little over 2 miles. I went nice and slow, and kept my pace steady. And better than all that- it's over and now I don't have to worry about doing it later. Cleared my mind for a nice afternoon of thinking about the projects I need to work on this weekend. Thanks again H.!

DAY 2 Herpreet

The other day I ran and walked a total of 2 3/4 miles - a warm up, a one mile run, a walk, another one mile run, a cool down. I could not run two consecutive miles! Didn't I get super fit earlier in the year? What happened?

The day of that pathetic run (but a happy one, none-the-less!), I decided to officially challenge Natalie (something she had suggested we do a while back). Then, that evening, as I was getting ready for school, I emailed a friend in London that my favorite pair of jeans, a pair that I'd purchased at the height of my triathlon fitness, barely fit around my thighs and ass anymore.
I was wearing them at the time. Two minutes later, I stood on top of my toilet, trying to reach a shelf above it. It was a risky stretch-type of maneuver. I heard the sound: RIIIIIIIIIIP - right through the inner thigh of one pants leg. Wow.

So I'm really into this challenge!

I have a primary goal right now: run 2-4 miles 3 times a week. Yesterday I did a 7 minute warm up walk- part of it a mental warm up to convince myself: I CAN do 2 miles without stopping, I CAN. Then, I DID run 2 miles without stopping! And I did a 5 minute cool down walk. YAY.

Day 1

Herpreet challenged me the other day on her blog, which was exactly what I needed. I've been a sessile lump for the past month or more, and I needed a little shove to get my butt out the door. So today when I got home from THE LAST DAY OF CLASS! it would have been easy to say that I'd start once I was done with exams... that I would start when it was sunny outside... that I would start on a day where I had had something more substantial than cookies, chips, and coca cola to nourish my body. But no. I grabbed the dog, put on my long ignored running garb, and ran. Not very far, but farther than I would have thought. The end.