Weights and walking today

I headed to the gym this evening for a weights session, and then walked for a while on the treadmill, before going to the shops. I was there earlier than usual. The place was quite empty. It's often quiet on a Friday, but it was like a ghost town. I think that it might be a reaction to the intensity of the fitness challenge. Since it ended, I haven't been to the gym all that often. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the other challenge participants are also taking a break from the gym.

For myself, I am really enjoying doing non-gym activities, like running and exercising outdoors. I'm even finding that riding the bike is fun. Mind you, while I'm job hunting over the next few weeks, I'm hoping to pick up some gym classes that I haven't tried before, like Body Attack. I enjoy doing my weights sessions too.

Today was my last day at work. It was a sad day, as I've enjoyed working there, but it was a good day too, as I'm very much ready for a change. A group of us went out to lunch, and then I headed off to a local pub for a drink with a smaller group. The pub's name is "The Contented Soul" and it was very apt today.

On my way home I was conscious of feeling sad about leaving, which had me wanting to eat. After last weekend's disaster, I was determined not to let that happen. I updated my food diary, worked out what I could fit into my calorie budget, and made a series of delicious healthy food choices. What's even better is that I've achieved my calorie target for the day.

I arrived home early enough to go shopping at the bike shop and get to the gym around 5pm. I didn't have quite such a long shopping list as I planned, as part of my farewell gift was a bike computer. I was delighted. Mind you, I managed to snap one of the bands that holds it onto the bike, so I have to replace that before I can use it. Hopefully, it won't be too hard to buy a rubber thingummy. I think I'd better take it with me when I'm trying to replace it, as I'm sure my description will leave a lot to be desired.

At the bike shop, I picked up a pair of long bike pants, a bright yellow Hydra jacket, and a beanie thing to wear under my helmet. I'm planning to try them all out tomorrow morning, as I work out how to get to the starting point for the Mother's Day Classic. I enjoyed just picking up the jacket and buying it without trying it on. It's great, knowing that you fit into a standard clothes size.

Once I'd parted with my money, I headed to the gym. It doesn't feel like I'm spending money there, as they cleverly take it straight from my bank account. I did my weights session. I was really happy with my triceps pushups. I can do the two sets on my toes now. I still don't get down too far, but I'm making progress. My reverse crunches are also heaps better. I skipped the chicken, as the lower bench was being used. I should have done it later, but I was onto the abs exercises by then. After I finished my weights session, I hit the treadmill for a walk.

One good thing about the treadmill is that I catch up on popular music. At least, I think that's a good thing. Mind you, they have this inane sms stuff going on at the bottom of the screen, with kids texting their friends. "How's my sxc boiii?" At least it wasn't one of those "rate the photo" ones. They are simply dreadful. In my day, we used to ring the radio station with dedications. I guess it was just a lower tech version of the smsfest I was observing today.

I headed to the shops after the gym and got my step count over the 15k mark for the day, which isn't too bad, considering I only had about 2k at lunchtime. All in all, it was an easy day's exercise, but it did the job.