One Spud among many fast running Asparagusses...

Asparagusses?  Or should that be Asparagusi? Anyway......

I've been using my treadmill pretty regularly, trying to use it at least 6 times out of the week... 3 runs and 3 nights of walking at least 5kms.. you know.. just to get the feel of walking the distance.. and I can walk it without any issues at all, which is a nice comforting back up plan in my mind LOL  Not like my mental image of signing up for the 10kms and doing part of it by taxi and still crawling across the finish line like the guy in Run Fat Boy Run.  (Great movie... see it if you get a chance)

Aside from doing a treadmill swap (treadmill went back to the store because it was defective and I was able to get a cheaper but stronger/better model used from some friends) I hope to continue with my regime of 3 nights of running and 3 nights of walking, but I gotta tell ya... those Running Room people will be the death of me!  LOL

First and foremost, I gotta say the instructors Julie and Patricia are very encouraging, understanding and helpful in my quest to run the 5km, and I'm not just saying that because they might be reading this :P  They asked me repeatedly how I was doing, they encouraged me with  "only one more minute" and best of all they didn't say stuff like "are you barking mad trying to run???"  Always a good sign in my book.

The reason I say that the rest of the group was like fast running Asparagusses, is because most of the people in the class don't look like they are there to loose weight, they look like they want to run to get in shape... which you gotta really give credit to the thinner people that want to work out, because seriously, how many thin people do you know that eat whatever they want and don't bother to work out?  I know a few and basically they don't know any different, that's just normal to them, but there is the rare one that is stupid enough to say "I don't understand why fat people can't loose weight.. just stop eating.. there ya go, problem solved"  grrrrrr  So I digress big time... The running group seem to be quite friendly and that was cool.  We all sat together for about 45 to 50 mins before the run and Julie and Patricia spoke to us about running and helped calm our first timer nerves.

From the booklet that we received, I thought we were going to start with 3 mins of running and 1 minute of walking, but Patricia announced it was going to be 5 and 1, which I have done before.  It is a challenge, but it's not like 8 and 1 would be, which is where I consider myself to be @ currently.  Well they kicked my arse big time LOL  I ran most of i even tho I moved myself to the back of the pack, and Julie stayed with Alex and I for the majority of the run.  Alex kept up a steady chorus of "you're kicking ass!" and "you're doing great!" while Julie was giving out advice about not tensing up the shoulders and neck...gotta love that!  It's because of them that I managed to do as much as I did.  I think it felt much more difficult for me than running on my own for several obvious reasons.... when I run alone, I am probably a lot more gentle on myself when it comes to the pace of my run.  when I run alone, I don't have to keep up with a group.... when I run on the treadmill, it's more forgiving than on the paved roads,  when I run alone, it's indoors on my treadmill where it's not fricken freezing like it was that night.  and when I run alone it's not in the dark with cars coming straight for you like there is a bulls-eye on your ass and a point value above your head  LOL "Car up!"

Alex suggested that maybe I could talk to the instructors and switch classes and maybe go to the Learn to run class, but I'm not sure if I should... I have mixed emotions on that.  Logically, I'll probably not be able to keep up with the group as a whole in the long run, they will probably progress a lot quicker than me, but on the frosted side, the Learn to run might be too easy and not push me enough...   Argh, I don't know what to do.. speak to me oh magic running gods!

The Spuds sneakers are melting!

Do not dispair... I didn't get lost running in the woods or something... I am still alive... :P

So the last 3 weeks I've been training with my new treadmill, still loving the hell out of it!  The convenience of having it right there waiting for me and available almost all the time.  I say almost because J has started using the treadmill regularly too!  He's really supportive, doing WW along with me, exercising, eating veggies, doing so many things he never ever thought he would do.   He's doing so well too!  It's really encouraging to see someone do so well!

My weight has stayed the same... still, BUT and I'm not saying BUTT :P   so even if I'm not loosing weight, I'm making great progress on the treadmill...

I've lived through level 5!  I skipped the last session in level 5 tho because of this:

Level 5 - Day 1

Walk 5 min, Run 5 min, Walk 3 min, Run 5 min, Walk 3, Run 5 min, Cool down walk for 5 min
Level 5 - Day 2
Walk 5 min, Run 8 min, Walk 3, Run 8, Walk 3, Run 8, Cool down walk for 5 min
Level 5 - Day 3
Walk 5 min, Run for 20 mins, Cooldown walk for 5 min

So i'm sure you've noticed the pattern deviates quite drasticaly on Day 3... yeah, no freaking way am I going to just go from what feels like a gruelling 8 mins of running to a heart stopping, eyeball popping, lung exploding 20 mins... pffffffffffffffttttttttttttttttt!

So I've moved to  to Level 6 Day 1:
Walk 5 min, Run 5 min, Walk 3, Run 8 min, Walk 3, Run 5, cool down walk for 5 min
Dig great, pushed through it and kicked ass whilst virtually melting the treadmill and my sneakers with my hotness  muuahahah and then *thump* I look at the schedule for Level 6 Day 2.... walk for 5, run 25 mins, walk 5 mins..... CRAP!

So I think for the rest of my training is going to be stuff like
walk 5, run 10, walk 3 etc etc
walk 5, run 12, walk 3 etc etc
walk 5, run 14, walk 3 etc etc
.... and maybe work my way up to the 20 mins :P

Spud out!

Spudding along without a clue in the world :P

So I missed a blog post last week it seems, but that's ok, it was a horrible week point-wise:

Mon - 34, Tues - 30, Wed - 39, Thurs - 50, Frid - 47, Sat - 30, Sun - 42... that's 62 extra points... even flex points couldn't cover me.....

That's what you get for eating out 3 times in a week... guess which days!!  So after all that, no weight gain as per usualy right?  Believe it or not... no weight gain... but wait, i'm not done!.

Last week was a tad better, but I still dipped into the flex points:

Mon -29, Tues - 36, Wed - 33, Thurs - 34, Friday - 39, Sat - 35, Sun - 33* .... that's  27 flex points.  Sunday doesn't count because that's supposed to be part of 6 extra points I earned for a physical activity... YAY!  It's like free points LOL

So during the past week... I lost weight... during 2 of the most horrible point weeks...I'm down to 246... so 4 pounds down... I had gotten even lower, but during the weekend managed to creep back up.... I don't get it at all, I really don't..

If you were paying attention you'll remember that I said I earned 6 points for physical activity... yeah, 30 mins of running on my new treadmill.  Boooouuuuuyaaaaa!  So happy with it...love it love it love it.  No more locker room, no more leaving home on weekends to work out, no more monthly fees or big yearly membership, priceless :)  Even the bf is thinking of walking on it once in awhile...in fact... he's planning on moving the furniture around so that we can leave it open all the time (it folds up for storage) because it's hard to pull out on the carpet and he figures we'll never pull it out to use it.  I just figured it was part of the workout to pull the machine out....

Let's hope this week is better