Small baby steps, but better then crawling or flailing around whining.

Getting up in the mornings (read 4am) for cardio, getting in more regular stretching and slowly building stamina on the running.  What I have noticed increasing is the ****** desire to run ******  yes you read that correctly. 

Last week when my evenings were consumed with the deck, oh and unrelenting cold and rain I missed the running.  I was looking forward to running on Sunday, the first day I could fit it in.  Again a week down made me wonder where I left my lungs but the recovery was so much quicker and I was done, back home and feeling great in no time.

I realize I haven’t blogged on this site for nearly a month.
That doesn’t mean I had completely fallen off plan and am under the table in some chocolate induced comma. I am still maintaining despite all of the distractions lately.

It has been quite a month. First being layed off and then having family arrive on leave from the air force. They flew in on the 12th of April and so I had a house full for 3 weeks. Visiting and catching up and meeting my newest niece was fantastic. It did mean the already interrupted schedule because of no job was even more disjointed. I did manage to continue working out and running just not as much as I could have. The food brought into my house was not stuff I would usually buy and I did partake of more calories then I should have but I have been continuing to make good choices.

I am now in California for eleven wonderful days with Chari. I brought workout gear with me and plan on getting some excersize while I’m here. We went to Monterey Bay over the weekend and I had some fantastic food and I did split a piece of chocolate covered cheesecake (on a stick) with Chari but am pretty happy with my choices.

There is also a lunch interview tomorrow and hopefully soon a job offer to follow (4th interview with this company). I know once I’m back to a normal routine with a job and normal schedule the workout’s and blog’s will be more routine as well.

I think after 6 weeks on this schedule I have figured out how to fit my early morning workout in. Get this, instead of getting up at 4:30 for the workout and not getting a good one or a complete one before needing to be in the shower at 5:30 and heading out the door at 6:15 to be at the park and ride at 6:30……..I am now getting up at 4:15

What you say…even earlier….

Here’s the deal. It takes me a little bit of time in the morning (especially at this hour) to get up and get going. This is giving me 20 minutes or so to get up, get dressed, remember how to tie my shoes and get to working out. So I am getting started about 4:30-4:35. This is giving me enough time to work out. Before I was still taking the 20 minutes or so to get mobile and by then my workout time was nearing the half way point.

So that’s the schedule this week (that it falls on the first week of daylight savings is just a cruel joke cause my body thinks its 3:15) so far two days of 4:15 and two good workouts in.

The tracking of the food is going better also. I am having dinner with Char and Leslie tomorrow to discuss the Marathon and the neglected marathon blog.

All in all getting up fifteen minutes earlier seems to be getting me on the right track….(pun fully intended)

So after a month of working a new schedule and a trip to see Chari and feeling like I was just not putting as much into it I took a page from my dear friend Char’s blog wrapping up the month, and totaled up my month, including days were all I did was 10 minutes of stretching or 20 minutes of core work.

I didn’t go so far as to add up each event separately but came up with a total of 19 hours and 15 minutes, dividing that by 29 days (of which I admit I didn’t work out each day as some of them I was out of town) I had 39minutes per day. UM, I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.

Just seeing it that way, encourages me to do even better this month!!! It also encourages me to keep running, even though I seemed to not be doing so well, the 1/2 Marathon is 269 days away.

Well I’m still on the morning vs evening kick. I realize that everyone is different, so if I just look at yesterday and today’s results I still am debating.

Yesterday, I didn’t want to get up. After watching the superbowl and eating just a little to much chili and yummy food I just couldn’t get up at 4:30. Couldn’t!!! So I decided I would work out after work instead. Knowing there are more distractions at night to derail me I thought sure I can do it. Well there were distractions, first was Mary was at my house cleaning out her recovered stolen truck. Then there were phone calls from people not used to me being home. Finally at 8pm I headed out to work out, but only got a couple miles on the treadmill and not an exerted effort.

So today, up at 4:30, 30 minutes on the treadmill, 10 on the elliptical trainer and about 10 in stretching. Again not a vigorous workout at all. So tonight my plan is to do a weight workout because it has been days since I have gotten a weight workout in.

My plan, for today cause really its still changing daily, is to work out cardio in the morning, and weights in the evening. So every twelve hours or so. I am not going to worry to much yet on not increasing my running for the marathon. I’m hoping with increased strength and soon increased light outside it will just increase naturally.

My entire life changed in the last 18 hours.  I went from working 3pm to 11pm to now being at work at 7am.  I felt it was imperative to try and get a workout in before work this morning so I got up at 4:40 in the morning.  I ended up just walking  my dog Missy for 20 minutes and then coming back and doing 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

It wasn’t a perfect workout, it didn’t include any strength training and very little stretching.  I will need to do that in the evenings and perhaps move the cardio to evenings too and just walk Missy in the morning.  Not really sure but I do know that getting up at 4:40 today wasn’t too hard, but perhaps that is just because I didn’t really sleep last night.  Somewhere in there I need to fit in the training for the 1/2 marathon.  It is looking harder and harder at this point.

When do you work out?  Early mornings?  After work?  During work?  Weekend warrior?

In an email exchange yesterday the gauntlet was thrown down. A 1/2 Marathon the day after Thanksgiving this year.
Thirteen miles! Gulp! I am very excited however. I spent a good part of the day printing off ideas and training schedules to get from 0 to 13 miles. I do have 11 months to do this but I am getting started now.

This should also help with the food, exercise and weight loss thing as well. However it just seems a bit more doable to train for a marathon which I have never done. It is a great goal that will have a lot of wonderful side effects.

So with this 60 pound weight loss journey I am adding in a 13 mile 1/2 Marathon as well. It actually seems more doable now!

Color me excited.