Weekly Workout Wrap Up 4/13/08

I mentioned earlier in the week that I have been a little bored with my workouts lately. This week almost every workout required significant conjuring of motivation. And that motivation came in many forms. Typically, I am actually anxious to get to the gym. Just knowing how fabulous it feels to during and AFTER the workout is enough to motivate me to exercise! But sometimes it takes more than the pure love of fitness and health to get to the gym.

Monday: Motivating factor: TV! 1 hour on the elliptical. 30 minutes reading for class. 30 minutes relishing every delicious minute of the Hills!

Tuesday: Am workout video Zumbanda Dance Video Pm Workout Video. I half-heartedly Tae-boed through Billy's Ultimate Bootcamp:Favorite Moves.

Wednesday: 45 minute DIY spinning, 20 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes core work.
Motivating Factor 2: Gisele. No, I do not plan on ever having a body even remotely close to Gisele's. She is widely regarded as the hottest woman on the planet! Not only am I not that conceited, but let's not forget, I'm 5ft tall! But I am going to Brazil (her homeland) for 3 weeks this summer for a course--not a bad place to get 6 credits. Well at least that is the plan, however, with the Dengue outbreak in Rio, I am nervous it will get cancelled. Nevertheless, when I was really fading during the last ten minutes on the elliptical, I thought of the cute bikinis I bought in Naples last summer: two-piece motivation and dreaming of Brazilian beaches helped me eek out those last few minutes.

Thursday: Crunch Bikini Body Boot Camp Video and half of Claudia Schiffer's Perfectly Fit Legs.c
Motivating Factor: Hot Jeans
I was very close to taking Thursday off, but then someone made me realize that my hot jeans require dedication, so I did some leg and butt work before hitting the hay.

Friday: 30 minute morning run outdoors

Motivating Factor: New Itunes

The only time I had to workout on Friday was in the morning. Thursday night I downloaded 4 Minutes, Touch My Body and Bleeding Love, so the only thing that got me out of bed at 6:30 was the excitement of some new tunes. (I am not a Madonna or Mariah fan, but I couldn't find anything else.) To be honest, I hit the snooze from 6 to 6:30, but when I finally got my butt moving I was on the sidewalk by 6:37, which gave me time for about 30 minutes of quick running before I jumped in the shower and got ready for work.

Saturday: Let me tell you that Saturday was my most productive day in weeks! Upon reflection I think it was due to the fact that it was the first weekend day I have woke up with no hangover whatsoever. I am a super light weight! Friday night I only had a glass of wine with dinner thinking that I would probably open one of our many bottles when we got home, but by that time I had totally forgotten about it! Maybe this one drink thing is the way to go.

Anyways between a nice stroll through the city, shopping at Macy's, brunch, hitting the library, spa manicures and coffee with a friend, a trip to trader joe's and more homework, I managed to sneak in about 30 minutes of run/walking and 30 minutes on the elliptical. The running I did as follows: 1 song walking at 4.5 and reading for class, 1 song running at 7.0 and 1 song running at 6.2, repeated 3 times. The last ten minutes on the elliptical sucked! But I kept thinking of Physique 57 where they always say, that without challenge there will be no change. So I figured this was really the most important part of my workout, and I suffered through!


Sunday: 9 mile run

Motivating factor: great friend!

I was registered for the Run as One 4 miler this morning. My original plan was to do the race and then run an additional 6 miles. However, I got to the park really early (as I do for everything), and I had almost an hour before the race started. So I decided to do a four mile loop before the race. I am so glad I did because I am not sure I could have done 6 miles after!

It was a Team in Training Reunion event, so I got to hear Coach Ramon give his pep talk. Highlight: "We are only as fast as our slowest runner, so everyone start out at 5 minute miles and then hold back a little bit!" Haha!

I was so excited to run with my friend Rev. She just finished the Paris Marathon last week and she is already back on her half iron man training regime! After the run, she is biking 50 miles!

It was great to get a break from the ipod to chat a bit. Rev got me through every long run in marathon training practice, and she was nothing short of angel on this 4 miler!

Like the Scotland Run, it was packed. Every mile of the way Rev gave me advice and encouraged me to push myself. We took the first mile easy, chatting with a couple of 11 year olds running the race. We stopped for a second to recover at the water breaks. The second mile, she speeded us up to a tempo pace, which required a lot of bobbing and weaving to stay together with the thick crowd.

Mile 3 was hilly, so she instructed me to keep my arms low and my knees up, flicking my feet back and stepping lightly like a hot potato. Then lean into the downhills.

Mile 4 To push through it, she told me to pump the arms and push off the balls of the feet. She even counted down the last 30 seconds while chanting pump pump pump!

She was a darling to run slow with me. I know she was really holding back. Our first mile we ran around 11 minutes maybe, but by the last I would guess we were at 9 minutes or under. My overall pace was 9:37 minute miles.

I was really cold at the end of the race, so I didn't take on the extra 2 miles I had planned. But did jog the 12 blocks each way to and from the subway, so I am giving myself an extra mile!

Rev and I at the end of the San Fran marathon in October.