The Long and Winding Road

It was brought to my attention by a close friend of mine (thanks Kevin!) that I have neglected to post anything new for awhile and I apologize! So let me give you a quick update on how the training is going thus far :)

I have really stepped it up a notch with my workouts. I now in addition to doing RPM classes 3-4 a week, I added the Combat class that is absolutely brutal! I also added one more BodyPump class a week so this is how a week of training looks for me right now:

Monday-I usually run outside for about 4 miles then go to BodyPump and strength train for 1 hour and for about 20 minutes I do either the stairmaster or the row machine.

Tuesday-Rpm for 45 min then I go straight to a Combat class for 1 hour

Wednesday-Lately has been something around the house such as painting for 8 hours or today I was digging a duck pond for about 2 hours. I usually go to BodyPump on Wednesdays but today took it off to give my muscles a chance to recover a bit! Wednesdays are usually free of cardio.

Thursday- RPM for 1 hour

Friday- Combat for 1 hour and then BodyPump for 1 hour with 20 minutes in between of low impact cardio such as treadclimber.

Saturday- RPM for 50 min. or I have started biking outside when it is warm and average about 13 mph.

Sunday- RPM for 1 hour but this week and next there are no classes so I will either bike or jog outside. I also reserve Sundays for an optional day off if I feel worn out :)

So that is my training so far, it has been working extremely well for me! I did come down with a little cold last week and took 2 days off from training and really felt almost worse for not going to the gym! I think I'm hooked. I also started having a fruit smoothie in the morning to add more calories in addition to either 1 hard boiled egg or 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese. I was just eating half a grapefruit and 1 egg but that wasn't enough at all!

I have reached some major goals too, the other day I noticed I felt really strong (I could see muscles that I never had noticed before on myself) so I decided to see if I could do a pull up, which for me, is quite a feat! And I did!!! I did 1 pull up, a huge obstacle to overcome, now I'm working on 2!

I noticed also that my weight is changing again. It was at a plateau but I think it was because I was gaining muscle weight so I decided to try on some different pant sizes and was almost in tears when I realized how far I have come! I was at about size 16, 14 on a good day, on January 1st. As of today, I fit into a size 8, 10 is a little big and 8 is a little snug but they don't make size 9, so I will go with the 8! So I have gone from size 16 to size 8 in 3 months! I am so proud of myself but now I am starting to worry about what is going to happen when I start landscaping full time starting next week. Landscaping is a great workout but not at all as intense as what I do at the gym so we'll see if I gain weight or stay the same! My goal is to lose 10 more pounds but start adding more muscle tone. My other goal is to start biking on the weekends for at least 30 miles to start, then moving up to roughly 50-60 miles a day! I am fortunate in that I have a cousin who is a professional biker in NC, he is in the semi-pros and even sponsored by Cliff Bar! He has been giving me training tips and motivation! The training that he does in a week makes me nauseous just to think about, it is not even right. He is up in the morning and out the door biking at 4 am, goes to work then goes home to do crazy endurance training. I seriously do not even know how he gets the motivation to do it but he loves it :)

I still need to raise more money but as soon as the weather warms up here, I'm hitting the streets of downtown Bangor to visit local businesses. I need to have my donations and a bunch of paper work mailed to the Trek by May 26th to qualify for Quick Check In, that way when the time comes to do the Trek June 19th, I don't have to wait in long lines for my number and to hand in my donations, it will be all done!

So I will do better to keep things undated here on my blog and thank you for checking!!

Above left is me on January 1st at 170+ pounds (size 16), the picture on the right my husband took of me working on a new Festive Flamingo last week at around 140 pounds (size 8).....it hasn't been easy but it is so worth it!