It’s the start of a new week! I’m feeling pretty good, although last week was kinda… well, I was going to say ‘difficult,’ but that’s not quite the right word, so let’s go with ‘challenging.’ It started off rough. I was continually feeling tired and sore, perhaps like I was overtraining, and I had no desire whatsoever to work out. So I listened to my body and took it easy for a few days. I replaced my planned weightlifting workouts with some easy-to-moderate, no-impact cardio on a recumbent bike just to get some activity in. I did that on Sunday and Monday, then climbed a bunch of stairs on Tuesday and, on Wednesday, didn’t work out at all.
Having that mid-week rest day worked wonders. I really think I had been pushing myself really hard for too long. I’d reached my weekly goal of 7 workouts in 6 days during each of the past 8 weeks (with only one unplanned rest day during that time, when I had a nasty bout of food poisoning). After those two easy days and the rest day, I was rearing to go. So on Thursday, I headed to Slimmons and took Anne’s class. She’s the toughest teacher there. I followed it up on Friday with my once-a-week two-workouts-back-to-back day, which involved taking a great Powerwave Battle Ropes strength/conditioning class at my gym and following it up with a full cardio workout – 20 minutes StairMaster (110 floors) and 25 minutes stationary bike (7.8 miles).
On Saturday I did more cardio (45 minutes on the ARC trainer), and Sunday, I lifted weights (although nothing too crazy or aggressive).
It’s kind of a cliche, but everyone says to listen to your body when it comes to working out and pushing yourself, and last week, that’s exactly what I did. My body told me to simmer down for a few days, and I did. And it worked! My goal now is to make sure I’m prepared to kick ass at my two upcoming stair climb races (they’re next weekend and the weekend after that!), and after those are over, maybe take it easy for a little bit longer.
Meanwhile, my eating hasn’t been great. It hasn’t been terrible, but I know I can do better. I’m eating lots of healthy foods, but I’ve also been eating my share of junk. Eating late at night, ignoring proper portions, lots of carbs, all sorts of bad habits. I should know better. And yet, I’m OK with it, for now. Lately, I haven’t been beating myself up over every bad choice, and I’m not wallowing in guilt or shame. On one hand, I know I can’t let myself get too comfortable indulging in poor behaviors, because I’ll need to snap out of them before the evolve into something worse. On the other hand, not being so hard on myself is a pleasant and welcome change of pace, because guilt and shame is exhausting, and I know I’m much harder on myself than anyone should be.
It’s hard work being on top of my game in both the exercise and eating realms of this process. Lately, I’m been killing it physically, so I’m okay with making some allowances with my eating. I’ll have to buckle down soon, and I will.
In the meantime, I have something exciting to celebrate: over 800 miles of cardio! (And I’m not celebrating with food, so don’t even think it!)
Last summer, I embarked on my Cardio to Vegas challenge, where I logged all my miles during any type of cardio, and virtually “ran” the 274 miles from my Los Angeles home to Las Vegas. I finished at the end of September, and even though my goal was complete, I was in the habit of logging my miles, so I kept doing it.
Logging miles is easy. I just pay attention to distance whenever I’m on an elliptical, ARC trainer, or bike. Sometimes I take a photo of the display at the end, so I don’t forget. When I’m running outside, I use my RunKeeper app, which uses GPS to track distance. Then, I note the miles in a little chart on the side of my calendar, and keep a running total.
Here are my charts for 2014:
The number in the upper right of each month is the total from the end of the prior month. At the end of January, for example, I had gone 678.9 miles, so that’s at the top of the February chart. Below it are three columns: date (left column), that day’s mileage (middle column), and new total (right column). As you can see in the February chart, on 2/1 I went 3.4 miles, and 678.9 + 3.4 = 682.3, so that figure goes on the right.
As you can see, a few days ago I crossed the 800-mile mark. I’m currently at 806.9, so I thought it’d be a good time to plot that distance on a map and see how far I’ve gone. I last did this in December, with 420 miles under my belt, and I had made it to Hurricane, Utah.
My new stopping point? A few miles beyond Grand Junction, Colorado!
It’s my fifth state along this particular route, AND I’m only about 250 miles from making it to my sister’s house outside Boulder. At this rate, I’ll be there in a few months!
Just for shits and giggles, I plotted 806.9 miles in a couple other directions as well. If I had headed due east, I’d be beyond Albuquerque, New Mexico…
…and if I headed north along Interstate 5, I’d be almost to Eugene, Oregon!
Two quick announcements before I wrap this up:
- Congrats to Joanna in Wisconsin – she won my Siggi’s yogurt giveaway! Enjoy your free yogurt.
- I’ve been cooking up a storm lately, and I photographed everything. So, the rest of this week will be Vegetable Week here at Keep It Up, David. Stay tuned for three great veggie-based recipes coming at you all week long!
Keep It Up, David!
Keep It Up, David! 
David – I am re-embarking on my weight loss journey and reading your blog continually inspires me. Thank you so much for your ideas and your journey! We will both KEEP IT UP!
Glad to hear! Thanks for the note and good luck. KEEP IT UP!