That Moment When You Realize No One is Looking...Yet You Still Work Your Behind Off

Dear Diary...

What an awesome weekend it's been.  OK, Friday night wasn't awesome because I was sick and slept the whole time... but the rest of the weekend was awesome.

I really feel like I've earned some bragging rights over the past couple of days.  I've done more in the past two days in regards to exercise than I did for the whole months of December and January combined.  That doesn't really sound like much to brag about, I guess.  It really means I did absolutely nothing in the form of exercise for the past two months - but I still worked hard these past two days.

I am very proud and totally bragging when I say I worked my behind off yesterday.  For 80 minutes I pushed through the pain, and made every minute count.  There was no stopping me.  I just kept going and going and going.  Think Energizer Bunny.  I was in some kind of exercise high, yesterday, because I just didn't want to stop.  I kept moving to the next piece of equipment, the next exercise, giving it my all.  I made every minute count - and by the time 80 minutes was up, boy did I know it.

I started out on the machine that looks like an elliptical but isn't.  Well, come to find out, it is.  It's called an Arc.  You ever heard of those?  It's a type of elliptical with a more limited range of motion.  Instead of doing a movement that resembles running, it goes more along the line of skiing - up hill.  I decided to ask one of the employees there what the differences were between the arc and the elliptical.  He basically said that the arc will burn twice as many calories as an elliptical or a treadmill, and will burn the muscles in your thighs, glutes, etc. and went on with the spill about the benefits of the arc versus the other pieces of equipment.  My mind wasn't paying attention at that point, he had me at "burns twice as many calories". So, I decided to give it a go.

Within about 30 seconds, I could totally tell that this machine was going to be one of my nemesis.  It's freakin' hard!  I've never been skiing, let alone trying to ski uphill, but if it really is anything like an arc machine - you can count me out!  Although, I've set my mind of conquering that machine.  Eventually.  I started out with 15 minutes.  I don't know how I got through it, but I did.  I kept the machine at a low incline, and just pushed as hard as I could to get through what was supposed to be my warm-up.  By the time the 15 minutes were up, my legs felt like a bowl of Jell-o.

After the arc, I moved on to circuit training.  I did the 12 minute ab circuit.  It was awesome.  Hard as heck, but kinda fun too.  It was similar to the circuit training I did on Saturday, yet this was all focused on abs.  It was different forms of ab crunch machines, with a stretching machine in between each crunch machine.  Even though I got through the circuits, I realized I have plenty of room for improvement.

After the ab circuit, I went and did the full body circuit training.  Let me point out here I'd already done 15 minutes on the arc, 12 minutes on my abs, and was now doing 30 minutes of full-body.  I think I did even better than I did on Saturday.  I made sure I really pushed through the burn.  I wouldn't let myself slack off one bit. 

Which brings me to something else I want to point out.  It dawned on me this morning that for the first time in a very long time, I held myself accountable for getting the most out of my work-outs.  No one was watching me.  No one was keeping tabs.  I was completely on my own.  I had the perfect opportunity to slack off whenever I wanted - but I didn't.  I could have gone to the gym yesterday, sore muscles in tow, and just taken a leisurely walk on the treadmill. I could have skipped the intense circuits.  I could have - but I didn't.  I let my sore muscles fuel my fire to show myself that I still had it.  I was still strong.  I could still perform a great work-out.  And that's what I did.

After the full body circuits I hit the treadmill for 15 minutes at a 2% incline at 3mph, and then finished with the stationary bike for 7 minutes.  I will admit, I had intended on doing the bike for 15 minutes - but I pushed really hard, and realized that 7 minutes was enough.  I went 1.5 miles at a speed of 12 during those 7 minutes.  I was dripping with sweat.  My entire body had received a good going over.  I was ready to call it a day, and I'm ready to pick it up where I left off today.

Today is going to be the real test.  Going to the gym on the weekends is pretty easy.  I mean, I had nothing else going on, I went in the mornings of both days.  I wasn't tired after a long day of work.  I was energized.  Today, I'll get to see how hard I can push myself after a day at work.  I'll tell you right now, it won't be as intense as the past couple of days - just because I have to go easy on myself.  I know that.  That's not an excuse, either.  It's a precaution to make sure I don't get any injuries.  Going from zero exercise to over two hours of exercise in a matter of two days has left my body... well, how should I say it?  Urm, hurting?  No, that's not right.  Really sore is a better way to describe it.  I'm not in pain, I'm sore.  But I don't want to get to a pain level - I just want to maintain a soreness level.  I figure if I go today and get some cardio and strength in, I can rest tomorrow and get back to blasting my body on Wednesday.   

Can you believe that this is the same person who spent so long blogging about being in a rut that she just couldn't get out of?  Well, believe it.  I know it's only a couple of days in - but I truly feel like a different person.  I promise not to just talk about my work-outs every day.  That would get pretty old pretty fast.  But I will be sharing how amazing I feel that I'm back on track.  Cause that's what I am.  Back on track. 

Till next time. ;)