betterstronger’s BodyBlog

My Saturday night was spent as a fitness quest!  Hahaha.. went running around 10:30PM and it was great!  Kept a great pace, even added extra length and ran past the point where we usually turn around and start heading back.

On the way back, threw in some sprints too, about three 30-second all-out bursts.  Then my friend pointed out a rowboat that was in the water, secured next to a floating dock.. so we of course, freed it and paddled away!  It was a lot of fun, didn’t make it that far (I took canoeing I&II in undergrad, but the oars were very skinny in comparison and also we couldn’t find the pivot point(?) to put the oars in) but think we might take it out for a ride again if it’s there during our next run.

Afterwards we ran back (after a short period of walking) and I threw in a couple extra sprints.  It is amazing how much my endurance has gone up.  I think I will take my stopwatch to my next run just to gauge my progress.  Anyway one more final stands between me and Thanksgiving break!  Got a 95% on the practical portion where I interview an SP (Standarized Patient = an actor/actress who pretends to be a patient, it is to gauge interviewing skills/empathy and also covering all the questions on a checklist we have) and this is the second, written part of the final.. the incentive is there to do well so I can honor the class!

Wow.. how many good workouts can I possibly have in a row?

Today went for a run outside after the practical part of my ITP final (where I interview a standarized patient).  Kept pretty good pace and even threw in some sprints.  Can’t wait to shed this fat!  I’m really starting to enjoy running.. now that it’s no longer a giant hurdle for me

So to answer Al’s question, I did get a little sore yesterday, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the sprints or the ab exercises ahha.  I had run/sprinted a total of 3.1 miles, but did a total of maybe 4-4.25 due to walking in between.

Yesterday I went through the entire set twice but did anywhere from 10-25 reps because I didn’t want to feel crippled while running today haha.  Felt pretty good, and I did it with a group of guys from school and it was nice to see that I could keep up.  I even did the proper "knees to elbows" technique a la Crossfit where I rotated my entire lower body up so that my feet were touching the pull-up bar.  Definitely feel it today, but since I didn’t do that many reps, think I’ll go at it again on Sun or Mon instead of waiting a full week like one of the guys (the one who introduced us to the exercise) had suggested.

It’s really nice to feel a burn since the captain’s chair wasn’t really challenging me anymore.  Also yesterday when I was doing my sets of pull-ups, someone came up to me and told me that it was very impressive that I could do them.. felt pretty good

Since this blog is all over the place anyway, might as well throw in that I’m not sure if running on the treadmill and sprinting is better than running outside.  Running outside is nice and definitely challenging, but I tend to go at a slow pace (about 6mph).  On the treadmill, my new workout is a mile at 7.5mph, take a break, then break the rest of the mileage (2.1) down into twentieths of a mile or half miles and do them anywhere from 7.5-9mph.  I am thinking about trying to do this outside today just to see how it goes.. maybe a combination could be a good solution.  Just hoping the weather holds up!

Really great workout today.  Ran a mile in about 8 minutes (on the treadmill) then did intervals after, ranging from .2 of a mile to half a mile.  Afterwards went through an ab routine then finished with a little basketball.  Great workout!!  Gonna do the ab workout in full tomorrow.  It’s 9 exercises, anywhere from 15-25 reps and you do two sets.  Here is the workout:

-25 crunches
-25 bicycle crunches (each side)
-15 jack knifes (lay down then sit up into a V)
-15 "crossing" sit ups (not sure what to call this.. your legs are bent and feet off the ground, body in a V position, and just crunch on each side
-15 knees to elbows on pull up bar
-15 leg raises on balance ball (hold yourself stable by holding on to a bench)
-15 leg lifts on captain’s chair (my standby!)
-15 leg lifts where you lift your knees first then extend your legs fully
-15 sit ups on decline bench

I might be off on the numbers to do on per exercise but I’ll know for sure tomorrow.  I’m feeling decent today, got an 80% on my first phys exam which is ok but not great.  It’s worse than I expected, but I also stayed up really late last night with some drama.. someone made me really upset and I was up til 4AM and couldn’t sleep so got out of bed at 6AM and kept studying til my exam at 8AM.  So I ended up pulling off a B regardless and had a great workout to top things off (i know I keep saying that but haven’t had one this good on a while) so things are going well.  Almost thanksgiving break!

Ended up not leaving my apartment all of Thursday.. fortunately the power didn’t go out, but the internet was gone, and there were leaks all over my apartment.. had never seen it so bad in the year I’ve been living here.  Needless to say the gym didn’t happen, and it was closed on Friday too.  Today I’m back at school (surprise surprise) and plan on going to lift today and run tomorrow.. gotta get back on track.  I have heard that a few days without strength training really sets you back.  Good thing the nor’easter didn’t do more damage!  I might’ve still been stuck inside… Hope everyone else stayed safe and dry if the storm affected your area.

I.. am rained into my apartment.  Classes were cancelled due to inclement weather which is nice but unfortunately it really IS inclement out there which means today isn’t a free day to go gymming, out to lunch, etc.  Just me and my notes in my apartment..

Anyway fitness wise things were going pretty well, gymming 3X a week (to lift) and running 3X a week.  Got sick I think from running in the cold on Sunday night, but I think I’m over it now.. thankfully, since I worked out anyway on Monday and Tuesday even though I wasn’t feeling up to par.

To echo an older post I wrote, I am still seeing JUST how important it is for food to be clean clean clean.  Not making a terrible lot of progress in my abdominal section, part of it is genetic because that is where my mother carries her weight, but it just means that in order to reach my goal, I have to be more strict than some other people may be.  It’s definitely hard.. but if it came easy, everyone would be in shape.

I’m really happy.. did 5 sets of 5 pull ups for a total of 25!!

Also think I’m gonna start incorporating sprints into my runs once a week.

That’s all for now.. other than that gotta focus on school.  My final today really could have gone better, but I don’t have time to lament over it since I have an anatomy quiz on Friday.  It never ends…

You know. I feel that I am making progress, yet when I look back at my monthly picture updates, I don’t see a difference.

I can say that I am making progress, because I went from being unable to do any pull-ups to being able to churn out two sets of five hanging pull-ups, I couldn’t even run a mile, but now I can jog three miles without walking, etc..

It’s been almost one year since I joined the site, and I am proud of these accomplishments but I am still working on that one coveted goal that so many people have.. to see my ABS!  Though I eat clean for the most part (whole grain pasta, melba toast/almonds/fruit for snacks, fat free yogurt and Kashi Go Lean cereal for bfast, etc), I do splurge sometimes here and there.. e.g. yesterday I got Indian food for take out.

I have been wanting a new MP3 player (mine somehow deleted all the songs I had on it so I figure it would be a good time to replace it haha) so I am thinking that every time I choose to make a meal instead of eating out, I can put the money ($5 or $8 or whatever it may have been) towards a new iPod.  Seems like a good motivation for my goal.

Anyway.. gonna head out with my roommate to the grocery store.  Maybe pick up some fruits or other snack.  I just made three tupperware containers of brown rice, black beans, okra, corn, salsa, and chili powder for lunch this week.  Gonna do my best to stay on track despite tomorrow’s embryo final and an anatomy quiz on Friday.. I will NOT cave in to my studying munchies!  hahaha so i hope

So the good news is.. I did 2 sets of 5 pull-ups today!

But the bad news is.. my right arm is KILLING me.  Specifically my anterior deltoid region   Even when I was studying, jolts of pain arose every time I had to lift my arm up to write.  I am not sure if it had anything to do with the pull-ups, but the rest of my routine was normal (hammer curls, tricep dips, etc) and the only thing I did differently was the increased number of hanging pull-ups.

Running is on tomorrow’s schedule so here’s to hoping the pain goes away soon!

You can tell when I have exams because my blog updates and commenting completely disappear..

Despite the fact that I spend my waking moments in the library, I am fitting in exercise which is fantastic for me.  Last year I made many many excuses to not work out, but this year, I am doing a much better job of balancing things and making exercise a part of my daily routine rather than a chore.  I am very excited to say that the running is resulting in some positive changes that I can already see — namely, my abdomen, which is becoming leaner, slowly but surely.. think I can get to my goal of seeing my abs by the new year if I’m consistent

Speaking of food intake.. I think I’m slightly addicted to Tropical Smoothie.  Or maybe it’s just because I like to try a variety of things, so I feel the impulse to try all of their low-fat smoothies (which I add protein to).  I have a long way to go though because my addiction just started.. think I’ve had three different kinds so far.  My favorite is definitely the Health Nut, but the Get Up and Goji is a close second.  Fortunately, they’re not too high in calories or fat when made with Splenda, though they are pretty much a meal substitute.  And on the expensive side to boot.. so perhaps I should nip this addition in the bud..