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 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

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 4, Day 2 - Carla

Okay, so I forgot to do my circuit yesterday. (Thank you, Maria, for not bugging me about that!) Rob and I went to see the last Harry Potter movie at midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning which made for a tired day yesterday. Then after work (and my youngest son’s last day at daycare) we attended the School Readiness Fair to get my youngest ready for the thought of school. We got home late and started watching the first Harry Potter movie as that was what my oldest wanted to watch. Long story short, I ended up falling asleep while watching the movie and completely forgot about doing my circuit. So I did it today instead.

My oldest son and I went for a short walk this afternoon before church. When we got home from church we ordered pizza from Papa John's which was going to arrive in 45 minutes. It was perfect weather for a run, so I laced up and went out for a 35-minute run! Felt pretty good, even if I was a little slow! :)

My sets for today were as follows: Push ups (14, 16, 12, 12, Max), Sit ups (38, 45, 38, 38, Max), Dips (26, 32, 26, 26, Max). My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 20, Sit ups – 58, and Dips – 40.

Week 4, Day 1 - Carla

I split my circuit up today. I headed over to the gym around 5:30 with the boys so I could get a run in on the treadmill before I did my circuit and went to BodyFlow. By the time we got out of the house and I got the boys settled into the Kid Zone at the gym I knew I wasn’t going to have time to do everything I wanted. I knew I NEEDED to run on the treadmill as I have been VERY bad about getting my runs in so that was my first stop. I barely made it through my half hour…I need to get working if I’m going to keep up with my friend at camp in a few weeks! I had time to do my push ups and sit ups before BodyFlow, so I went ahead and did them. After BodyFlow I went home for dinner and some snuggles with the boys before finishing up with my dips. Long story short, it all got done eventually!

Here are my sets for Week 4, Day 1: Push ups (12, 14, 11, 10, Max), Sit ups (32, 38, 32, 32, Max), Dips (23, 28, 20, 20, Max). My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 17, Sit ups – 50, and Dips – 34.

Fitness Weekend, Part One

Keeping fit over the weekend is the best thing you can do, right??? So today/tonight started the weekend of fitness for me. At lunch I went for a 30 minute "run" (which was about 2/3 running and 1/3 walking as I haven't been doing much running lately) then tonight I went to Zumba where I saw Maria! Great class with an awesome teacher...my body wasn't able to move the way it was supposed to, but I had a good time anyway! Hopefully I'll be able to get another run in tomorrow morning before Kickboxing class and my circuit! We'll see how it goes!

Week 2, Day 2--Maria

It's my birthday!  I woke up, went on a run with my best friend from college who is visiting, had bacon and eggs for breakfast from J, had grilled chicken salads for lunch that J also made, key lime pie for dessert (a birthday tradition), and watched some TV and lounged.  I am planning on going out for sushi and then drinking wine and hanging out with my hubby.  YAY!

Here was my circuit today:

Push ups: 10, 12, 9, 9, max
Sit ups: 21, 24, 18, 18, max
Dips: 16, 20, 15, 15, max

Max push ups: 14
Max sit ups:  53 (WHOA!)
Max dips: 24

The plan is to hit bodypump tomorrow and go on a run in the morning!

Week 2, Day 1 - Carla

Week 2, Day 1 Sets: Push ups (9, 11, 8, 8, Max), Sit ups (21, 21, 15, 15, Max), Dips (18, 18, 13, 13, Max), Squats (19, 19, 13, 13, Max)

Week 2 begins! I did not get up in the morning to do my circuit as I was being a little bit lazy! I even went to bed early last night with the little one hoping to be able to get up, but it did not work out! However, I went home at lunch to do my circuit so I could be done with it for the day. When I was looking at the sets before starting I noticed that one of the push-up sets was 11 and the max set was no less than 11…I was not excited about that! But as I went through the circuit I felt stronger and stronger…I was even able to eke out an extra push-up on my max set – yippee…12!!!!! The sit-ups, dips, and squats are going well – nothing to complain about there! I do find the squats to be somewhat boring which may explain why I don’t feel like I can do as many of them (at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) My total circuit took 20 minutes to complete today.

My max sets were as follows: Push ups – 12, Sit ups – 25, Dips – 20, and Squats – 25.

This evening I also went to the gym to do BodyFlow, which felt great! I have not been doing much running as my right calf has been hurting a bit lately and I wanted to give it a bit of a break. It is starting to feel better, so I guess it's back to running for me!