Fitness Firsts

Well, after yesterday's awe-inspiring post, I figured things couldn't get much worse today. So I'll talk about going to the gym. Because everyone loves that topic. Although, to be technical, two of these "firsts" happened in the fitness room at the hotel we were staying at last weekend, so I suppose I'm a little misguided in calling this a discussion about the gym. But I digress.... On to the list of my recent fitness firsts (because lists are oh-so organized and make me happy):


1. Running at a speed of 8.0 mph (which is approximately a 7:30 mile). Granted, no way did I even get close to running a full mile at that speed, but I can honestly say I've never moved the speed up to that rate before. At least not while I was actively running on the treadmill (and yes, I am implying that I have been known to increase the speed of the treadmill belt while I was not actually running on it. So what).


2. Running in just a sports bra. While I can't honestly say that I've never done this, I can say that it's been ages. And I've certainly never gone running in just a sports bra in February before. But the fitness center at this hotel was located RIGHT next to the pool area, and despite the fact that the hotel didn't actually have a sauna, they kept the pool area heated warm enough that it could pass for one. I think I lasted all of seven minutes with my t-shirt. And then some awkward pre-teen boys came into the fitness room to talk to their mom--and decided they needed to stick around a get a workout in. Despite the fact that one of these boys looked like he lived on the couch. It was pleasantly awkward. But I suppose can take pride in the fact that I inspired some boys to be physically active, even if it was just for 15 minutes. 


3. Going to the gym after a 12-hour day. Wednesdays are my dreaded 12-hour shifts (on a regular basis. Some weeks I have more thrown in just for fun), so I'm usually not getting home until 8:30. Well, I desperately needed to log some gym time this week--both Monday and Tuesday ended up being somewhat unexpected days off. So I bucked up at went to the gym at 8:30. And it was about as brutal as I thought it would be. I hadn't eaten since 3:30 (and that was just a measly yogurt), so I scarfed down a homemade granola bar on my way to the gym. Not so pleasant during a run. But I also don't run well on an empty--or nearly empty--stomach, so it was really like choosing the lesser of two evils. I don't think I'll be visiting the gym at 8:30 again--at least not without much more careful consideration about when and what I'm eating.


And what has been my reward for all this hard work? A handful of emails today from my mom about how important it is to ease into a spring fitness regime and the harms of too much endurance running. Awesome. Great positive motivation. I think she may be resenting the fact that she signed up to run the 5K with us in March... But that's just me