Little Victories

If I started Paleo/CrossFit just to enjoy the big victories, like finally hitting my goal weight or being able to push press 80% of my body weight or having all of my health problems disappear due to a new eating lifestyle, then I would never have a chance to celebrate (And lets be honest, I look for any chance to celebrate anything!  Hello, celebration drink!), and it would be so much harder to make it to the big victories (see above) if I didn't celebrate the little ones that pop up inbetween.

My current "little victories": 
-fitting into my shorts from last summer that a month ago I couldn't squeeze my thighs into, let alone the rest of my body
-being able to button up my dress pants that haven't fit me for over a year
-having more muscle control when I come down from a pull-up
-being able to run laps at the gym on the track without getting so winded I can't even make it all the way around one loop (yes, I was that out of shape...don't judge me...)
-successfully making it through 2 nights of CrossFit without giving up or throwing up

So grab your celebration drink (mine is water with a lime wedge) and toast to your own little victories!  Celebrate them, enjoy them, and remember that without the little victories there would be no big victories!

xoxo, M

6-2-2011

 Today I was seriously so exhausted after work.  As a teacher, I expected that the last few days of school would be a piece of cake:  give exams, tell kids to have a good summer, then kick my feet up and enjoy having the afternoon without students (we do half-days for exams).  Not. Even. Close.  Exams are easy enough, when it isn't a group of students who won't stop talking long enough to write their name on the answer sheet, let alone actually focus on the test.  And forget trying to get my seniors to do ANYTHING.  Then today, we went out and worked in the school's Vertical Grow Garden doing weeding and planting (hellooooo sunburn!).  And I finished out the night chasing down my night school students to take their exams.  

I was exhausted on the drive home, and totally ready to crash.  But I knew I couldn't not workout, and I knew how guilty I would feel if I skipped it today.  Being out of all forms of protein (see my last post), I had to grab some beef jerky and pumpkin seeds on my way to the gym.  It felt sooooo good to get on the elliptical and run 2 1/2 miles, especially since it's been a week since I've had a chance to run at the gym (even though I've been doing the C25k running outside).  I also did some leg lifting and some Crossfit stuff with the medicine ball.  Needless to say, I'm super sore now!  But I'm loving the feeling of a good burn after the workout  :)  It's becoming addictive!

So here's dinner tonight:  2 grilled brats, spicy brown mustard, and fresh veggies.  Yummm!

Couch to 5k

2 posts in one day?  Uh oh...

I wanted to include info about the CouchTo5k running program that I'm doing, but I didn't want to include it in my day 10 report. 

I'd originally heard about this from an Army wife friend, Becca, who was doing this to help her lose weight and train for her husband's base 5k race.  I never actually took the time to read about what it was though--just knew she was enjoying it (Pre-Paleo feelings about running:  "gross.") and that running wasn't for me.

A few days ago, I told H that I wanted to try training for a 5k.  I have bad knees due to 12 years of ballet, so running outside tends to hurt me.  Usually, I stick to 2 miles on the elliptical for running and call it a day.  He told me he wanted me to look into the CouchTo5k program, so this time I actually looked into it.

Let me preface this by saying that I love to run on the elliptical.  I love the sweat and the incline and pushing myself to the beat of the music (or Law & Order if it's on at the gym...guilty pleasures are the best!).  But I hate hate hate running outside.  I get bored (weird, I know) and it hurts my knees, so I wasn't too excited about the idea of doing all this running outside on the hard pavement.

However, the CouchTo5k program didn't seem that bad.  Interval running to get you used to running for time and distance.  Gradually stepping up the program until you are ready for a whole 5k.  So I strapped on my Nikes, grabbed the headphones, and headed out the door.  It's not as simple as it sounds, especially for me as a beginning outdoor runner, but it's not so hard that I felt like I wanted to quit.  Infact...::gasp!:: I liked it.  A lot.  To the point where I got up the next morning at 8:30am and went jogging...something I don't think I've ever done.  And liked it!  What is going on?  Am I actually...enjoying running outdoors?! 

...okay I am.  And I kinda like that idea...a lot.

xoxo, M