Skipping a day...sort of... - Carla

I am skipping a day with respect to the sit ups/push ups/dips challenge, but I definitely didn't skip exercise today! After work I went to the gym and did Zumba (with Ellen) then I did 4.5 miles on the treadmill. I had to stop to get gas on the way home which took FOREVER because EVERYONE NEEDED GAS TONIGHT! By the time I got home and ate dinner it was after 8:00. I rested with the boys for a bit, then decided that the challenge would have to wait another day. I don't feel too bad taking a day off because I know I'll get myself back on track tomorrow - and I'll have all weekend battened down at home with the hurricane to keep myself on it! Also, with the changes to the way I'm doing things (sit ups and dips one day and push ups the next day) I think my days are going to be off anyway, so missing one day isn't that big of a deal!

Maria - Where are you??? I thought you were going to get started again this week???

Exhaustion test for Push ups - Carla

I was only able to complete 40 push ups last night and went to bed feeling pretty crappy as I thought I was going to have to do Week 4 over again. However, after looking at it this morning I see that with that number of push ups I can move on to Week 5! Yippee!!!!

Exhaustion test for Dips and Sit ups - Carla

I went to the gym this evening for a late-night run on the treadmill. Tonight I did speed intervals – 5 minute warm up, then 10 sets of 2 minutes hard running and 1 minute easy running, then 5 minute cool down. I would have liked the mileage to be more than it was but I feel like I’m running slower and slower every day!!!

Tonight was time for the exhaustion test for sit ups and dips. Here’s how it went:

Sit ups	100	Week 6, Column 2
Dips	60	Week 6, Column 1

Not really impressed, particularly with the dips. I may have to modify my overall goal for the end of this!

Tomorrow night is the exhaustion test for push ups - can't wait to see how that goes! ;P

Push ups Week 4, Day 3 - Carla

I did Day 3 of Week 4 today, but I'm too tired to write it up...I'll post the details tomorrow...

I went to BodyFlow tonight even though my back was sore all day today. I got to the room right at 6:30 and class was already started! Much later in the evening I completed my push up sets. Felt pretty good, but I wasn’t able to do the “at least” number for the max set…they wanted at least 40 and I wasn’t able to do that!

Push ups (29, 33, 29, 29, Max)

Max set: 30

Dips/Sit ups Week 5, Day 3 - Carla

Late night sets again…and no run or Zumba this morning! (But I did make it to BodyFlow.) I’m not doing very well with this running schedule which does not bode well for the two races I have coming up!

Not much to say about the sets tonight as everything felt pretty good! Here’s how it went down:

Dips (23, 23, 26, 26, 22, 22, 26, Max) and Sit ups (30, 30, 36, 36, 30, 30, 40, Max)

Max sets: Dips – 60 and Sit ups – 80.

Push ups Week 4, Day 2 - Carla

NOTE: Although this is technically being posted on Sunday morning, the set was completed on Saturday night...but just barely!

Apparently my new thing for the push up sets is doing them late at night…almost 11:30 tonight! The boys are spending the night with their cousins tonight so the hubby and I decided we were going to work on purging some toys from the collection. However, after a pleasant dinner at Chick Fil A we decided to go to Kohl’s and Walmart prior to heading home…which led to a later evening than we had planned! Oh well…the toy purge will have to wait for another day! Also, I didn't make it to the gym this morning and I didn't get a run in today. I MUST do better in the coming weeks!

Here’s what happened tonight!

Push ups (25, 29, 25, 25, Max)

Max set: 36

I felt pretty good after the first set – it seemed to be the worst one! Even the final, longer set didn’t seem as bad as the first one! Good progress, if I do say so myself! J

Dips/Sit ups Week 5, Day 2 - Carla

Good night tonight!!! I made it to Zumba (with Ellen, not Bev) then I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and came home to do my dips/sit ups challenge. The boys wanted to do them with me which was very cute, but their counting threw off my counts – I may have actually done more than I needed to do!!! But I feel great and am ready for the rest of the weekend to be as active as it started!

Here’s what happened with the sets:

Dips (23, 23, 26, 26, 18, 18, 20, Max) and Sit ups (30, 30, 36, 36, 27, 27, 33, Max)

Max sets: Dips – 78 and Sit ups – 55.

Push ups Week 4, Day 1 - Carla

I almost forgot to do my push ups tonight – it was almost 11:00 before I really thought about doing it. It was a tough set tonight...I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through each of the sets and was SUPER glad to be done with the last push up tonight! Also, I didn’t run tonight like I had planned to, but I did go for a walk around the block (about 1 mile) with my youngest tonight. Not exactly a 4.5 mile run, but at least it was something, right? Hopefully I’ll have a good, exercise-filled weekend – there are many classes for me to choose from and I need to get at least two runs in over the three days. Wish me luck!

Here's tonight's breakdown:

Push ups (21, 25, 21, 21, Max)

Max set: 32

Dips/Sit ups Week 5, Day 1 - Carla

I didn’t want to do my challenge tonight. After work I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the treadmill – 30 VERY HOT AND SWEATY MINUTES…I was red and pretty drenched by the end of it! And yet I persevered and stayed for BodyFlow as I am such a glutton for punishment. It was completely worth it though – by the end of class I was feeling great! Once I got home (after picking up Salsarita’s for dinner) I snuggled on the couch with both boys and all three of us promptly fell asleep! I woke up just before 10:00 and contemplated skipping today and starting the circuits tomorrow, but since I told Maria today that I was going to do it tonight I decided to get off my tushy! Everything felt pretty good especially considering the length of time I took off! I’m back and ready to keep going but I may need some prompting/reminders/nagging to help me along! J

Here's how it went down tonight:

Sets - Dips (36, 45, 32, 28, Max) and Sit ups (54, 60, 45, 36, Max)

Max sets: Dips – 48 and Sit ups – 65.

Not too bad, if I do say so myself! :)

I'm back!!!! Exhaustion Test and Restart of Challenge - Carla

I don’t even want to talk about what has happened over the past three weeks. I have been a VERY BAD GIRL!!!! I don’t have much excuse for the 27^th of July…I should have done Day 2 of Week 5 that day but I didn’t. My family left for a 17-day trip to Canada on the 29^th of July which threw all my workouts out the window! I had good intentions of continuing with my circuits, but I had several great “excuses” for not doing them…I had gotten behind by not doing it on the 27^th, I was travelling all day on the 29^th, I didn’t want to miss out on any fun activities…GREAT excuses, eh??? Anyway, over the 17 days I was away I managed to squeeze in 5 measly little workout sessions. On the other hand, I spent a LOT of time walking up and down the hills at camp and walking around at the different tourist venues we attended while away. And even with eating everything under the sun (and not the healthy stuff, either!) I managed to only gain 5 pounds while away. That’s with several McFlurry’s (with Smarties!!!) and LOTS of desserts and no measured food. Not bad, if I do say so myself! J

All that being said, my plan is to get back on track now. I have 5 weeks and 5 days until my next half marathon, which means not only am I going to get the circuits going again but that I need to kick it back up with the running as well. We got home Sunday evening and I went to BodyFlow last night which was a good start. I saw Maria at work yesterday and we talked about how long the circuits are getting to be with 8 sets of 3 different activities. I think instead of doing all three exercises on one day I am going to stagger them – maybe do dips and crunches Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday and push ups Thursday, Saturday, and Monday. I did an exhaustion test at lunch to determine where I need to pick back up again with the following results:

Push ups	23	Week 4, Column 3
Sit ups	70	Week 5, Column 3
Dips	50	Week 5, Column 2

With these results, I will be starting on Week 4 column 3 for push ups, Week 5 column 3 for sit ups, and Week 5 column 2 for dips. I will be starting tomorrow with dips and sit ups.

I had a great time up in Canada - it was a WONDERFUL vacation - but I am glad to be home so I can get back into a normal schedule with respect to workouts, food, sleep, and everything else.

Week 5, Day 3--Maria

Last Day of Week 5!

Push Ups: 18, 18, 20, 20, 17, 17, 20, max
Sit Ups: 30, 30, 36, 36, 30, 30, 40 max
Dips: 23, 23, 26, 26, 22, 22, 26, max

Max Push Ups: 47
Max Sit Ups: 88
Max Dips: 60

Carla--Where have you been?!?!