Wednesday 14 February 2007

Kicking goals today

It took me a while to get to the gym this morning. I just wasn't organised. I planned to do a treadmill session, as I'd run the day before. I'm being careful not to overdo the running. I think I've been very lucky with my knees. When I joined the gym, they were starting to hurt just a little all the time. I think I managed to get fit and lose weight before I did any permanent damage to them.

Anyway, I arrived at the gym, a little late but full of beans. The gym has been working hard to make itself a friendlier place, and the Biggest Loser competition is helping with that. Another thing that's really helping is that the management seem to be making more of an effort. When I got there last night, there were hearts all over the place in recognition of Valentine's Day. Today, when I opened my locker, there was a rose and a heart shaped chocolate there for me. It was a pleasant surprise, and I appreciated the thought behind it.

As for my workout, I did the planned aerobic training session on the treadmill. Only 20 mins at 6 km/hr, because I was late and I wanted to stretch and make my bus. All objectives achieved with 10 mins to spare. I am getting much better at this!

I felt great all day .. all those happy exercise hormones kicking around in my system. If only I'd believed the "when you exercise you have more energy" line years ago! Work felt productive and I headed home, looking forward to getting to the gym. Even I find it hard to believe that I'm looking forward to all this exercise, and I'm the one experiencing it. In my previous life I could have represented Australia in bludging.

This evening's session was a change for me. I have realised that I can't keep doing the same workouts on this challenge. I'm being careful about the running and I'm having rest days between my weights sessions. For the past two years I've studiously avoided the cardio machines except for those times that Leanne has taken me through an intense cardio session. Tonight I bit the bullet and hit the machines.

I did 10 mins on the cross trainer and 10 mins on the stepper, both at level 4. I started on a low level, because I wasn't sure how I would go. I followed up with 10 mins on the treadmill. I figured I'd earned a session on a machine I liked.

To my total amazement, I did really well on both machines. Obviously my dread of them is a hangover from when I tried them right at the beginning of my fitness journey. Now that I'm fit, they aren't as daunting. I'll have to make them part of my repertoire now. I also burned good calories - 270 in a half hour session.

I'm finding the fitter I get the easier it is to be fit. Of course, those people who already knew this are saying "that's obvious" but it just wasn't obvious to me. I never believed that this would be fun, and it is. I'm so glad I undertook the challenge, because it's pushed me up a few levels.

2 comments:

Celeste said...

Kathy are you going to the gym twice a day???? Man that's commitment! I'm still pleased with myself when I do 4 runs in a week and when I do two runs on consecutive days I'm super proud! Good for you on the effort you are putting in. How are you finding road running? Better than the treadmill? I tried the treadmill but just couldn't get into it.

Kathy said...

Celeste, I'm doing a fitness challenge at the moment at Fernwood. They are running it in conjunction with Biggest Loser. You get points for each workout, so I go for a half hour workout in the morning and again in the evening. I'm aiming to go twice a day on weekdays for the twelve weeks of the challenge, which, believe me, will be a challenge. So far, I'm really enjoying myself, so it's easy to get up in the morning. When it gets a little colder, who knows?