I did not realize how tired I was until I woke up this morning at 5:00. I was wide awake, but my body wasn't! Although I went to bed at 9:00 pm last night and slept fairly well, one cannot make up for missed sleep. So, I lounged around until 5:30 and finally got into my morning routine at about 6:00. As usual, once I get going, things progress quickly and well. I managed to get into my workout fairly early today. I was a little worried about the quality of today's workout because I had to go fairly late with yesterday's workout and had far less than 24 hours between my workouts.

I did not have to worry about workout quality. I hit the abs pretty hard and stretched my entire body vigorously. It is now, on most days, hard to imagine the pain that I was dealing with in my arms and shoulder. I get a little ache on occasion and even that is more of a nuisance than anything and usually goes away on its own. The stretches really work. I also have been working in the extra push-ups again on Sundays and Thursdays. Still, I am nowhere near the sets of 100 I completed prior to the injury. Right now, I can hit 3 sets of 60 when pushed to it. If I enter this transformation contest, I will certainly raise the reps again, remembering to keep my arms and shoulders well stretched. The push-ups really helped my chest.

I went outside for my 1-mile walk and run today. I have maintained that I would keep the pace nice and easy for my runs. Today, however, was sort of a breakthrough on my 3-mile run. I believe my legs have been responding to the traveling lunges and are not as flat as they  have been after previous workouts. My "easy" pace today was a bit faster than it has been for previous runs. Today, I ran my fastest 3-miles of the new cycle (no where near PR time! LOL! ), finally getting back below the 20 minute mark. I finished in 19:48 (6:36 mile pace). I actually had some gas left in the tank for the last few laps! My final mile was significantly faster than the first two miles. That felt great! It turned out to be an ABsolutely great workout!

Today is the last day of Fall 2012, so I took a few new profile and progress pictures. They are o.k. not looking my best today, but such is life. We are all a continuous work in progress. I will probably feel totally different on Sunday when I take some new photos and get the weight measurement for the week.

I hope today was a great one for everyone! Tomorrow, weather permitting, I complete week 3 of Cycle 30 with Tabata and Plyo.

Have a wonderful Thursday night. 

Here is what I did today:

• Stretching Regimen
  
• 3 x 30 Leg Raises (six inches with 3 count)
  
• 3 x (2 x 30) Oblique Crunches
  
• 3 x 30 Quasi Sit-ups
  
• 3 x 50 Push-ups
  
• CARDIO:
  
• 1-Mile Walk
  
• 3-Mile Run (20:48)