Now I am not Sally Fitness, never have been, I do the gym thing a couple times a week but I don't have marathon sessions. I walked some, did some weights, stretched a little. I gave it effort, or I thought I was giving it some effort.
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| Found this on: https://www.facebook.com/richardallenfitness |
Now I knew about the sessions before they became available, so I got a bike and I started swimming a bit. The first time I got in the pool, I thought I was going to have to be rescued by the lifeguard. One lap, yes, One lap was all I had in me, I was panting and coughing (because I tried to drink the pool) and I thought Holy crap, I am never going to be able to do this. Now I have not swam with a purpose in many moons, I mean many, many moons. When I was younger, I swam a lot, lived in the pool and was good at it. There is much truth to adage, "If you don't use it, you loose it." So I basically had to learn to swim all over again. Called up Tonya got some pointers from her, read a bunch of stuff, watched YouTube and slowly built up my confidence and each time I went I did one more lap. I also wear contacts, so I spent a lot of years with my eyes closed under water so I also worked on becoming more comfortable with my face in the water for an extended period of time with goggles on. (Make sure you get good goggles, there is nothing worse than having your goggles leak!) The first night of class she wanted to see how we were swimming and I did it! I was no speed demon, and I still wasn't super comfortable with my face in the water, but I did all she asked. I didn't drown so I was pretty excited considering a month previous I could only swim ONE lap. This past Saturday morning, I headed in was able to do, a few warm up, some drills, set and few to cool down. Don't ask me how many, because I am terrible at keeping count!
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| Found this on: https://www.facebook.com/richardallenfitness |
The next class, she wanted us to run, now I suck at running, always have. I have often said I was born with anti running gene. I flirted with running off and on for years, I just can't make myself love it. I was determined though, I had also been practicing in the weeks before the class so I didn't make a complete fool of myself. to be truthful, just a little bit because I really don't like to run, it was more of a ralk (run, walk). I did my best to keep up with them, but I quickly found out that wasn't happening because I would either die or at the very least cry in front of strangers so I slowed down. When I had to, I walked, when I could, I jogged. Again, I am not a speed demon, in fact, I am the slowest, but I am progressing. When I started this, it was all I could do, to do a .10 of a mile, and that my friends is not a joke. This morning I did 3 miles, slow, but I completed it with no walking at all. I have also figured out that I have to completely concentrate on the task of running for some reason I can not multitask on this. So if you see me out there, just wave and keep going because I can't chat.
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| Found this on:http://teenamonteleone.blogspot.com |
Then we biked, now this was what scared me the most. I love to bike as a kid, I burned up the roads of my little town. As an adult, nope, it hurt and it hurt in some seriously tender spots. When I got off the bike, I felt like I had given birth to an elephant. So I got some handy, dandy biking undies, (Me and bike shorts? No, thank you) that I could put on under my shorts and much better.
The first night I got the bike, I thought I would ride down and get our paper. I was all cocky too. It's not that bad I thought as I pedaled down the drive and then I turned to start back up and OMG, I thought I was going to die. I just knew my lungs were going to pop out my chest, and my heart was going to rocket out of the top my head! In fact, I actually had to stop for few moments. I did not remember it being this painful as a kid! Again, I kept at it. One more lap, then a mile, then another, each time just a bit more. Last Thursday, she led me on a 9 mile ride and I did it, with a lot of sweat, but no swearing. I even did the horrible hills (horrible to me anyway) and I was able to keep going.
I am currently using a mountain bike, which is not designed for road biking, it is heavy and I feel like I could give it more, but she can't take anymore. I am currently looking at road bikes, but I just had to replace my air conditioner (a must in NC) and my dryer less than 2 weeks apart, so we shall see if I can pull it off. So if any of you know of a good road bike that won't kill me, that is cheap or free, let me know!
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| Found this on Pinterest, but no one to give credit to! |
For biking and running, I do at home either early in the morning or at night, I live in the country and we have a really long driveway and a nice trail leading over to another road so that serves as my training ground. It is safe for me to do alone without worry of cars or snakes (snake season here in NC) and there are elevation changes. I just go back and forth and use an App to keep track of my mileage.
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| My running buddy. |
I have lost about 12 pounds in the last 3 weeks, due in part to the sweat fest I participate in and I am also making better choices about what I put in my mouth as well.
I have learned I am much more capable that I gave myself credit for.
My goal in this in the beginning was to finish so I could
Until next time.
