Stella's Getting Her Groove Back

We rang in the New Year very quietly at home. It is a weird experience to watch the ball drop on TV and then look out the window and be able to see all the fireworks going off in Central Park. And then when we turned off the TV to head to bed (at 12:10 am) we could hear everyone in Times Square yelling and cheering. Oh, the joys of living in the Big Apple!

I still really wasn't feeling that great over the weekend. Friday we took the train out to my dad's house in New Jersey and I don't think the train ride helped me any. Saturday we came home in the afternoon and Drew headed to the gym, but I took a nap on the couch. It really wasn't until Saturday night while I was eating dinner and actually really hungry for the first time that I started to feel more like my old self again. Finally!

That meant that this morning I would have to do what I said I would do and be better about working out in the new year and forget about the past few weeks of slacking off and sickness. So, Drew and I headed off to the gym together. I walked for a few minutes on the treadmill while figuring out my plan of action and as a quick warm-up (it's freezing outside!!).

After that I decided that I would finish Week 11 of my weight lifting program, which I thought I'd be done with before the start of the year, but getting sick has set me back a week or so. This was the workout:

Leg Press: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Leg Press: 1 set of 10 reps @ 200 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 200 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 200 lbs
Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 25 lbs
Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 sets of 8 reps @ 30 lbs
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 10 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 2 sets of 8 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps

Um, so, yeah, not a huge fan of having to do only three exercises but do them each twice. I know that I didn't lift as heavy as I had in the past, but I figured because of all the repetition, it'd still be a good workout. It was also really hard for me. I normally don't struggle quite that much at these weights when I lift, so I know that part of that was that I'm still a bit weak from being sick. The crunches should have been with weight added on, but my stomach has been through enough the past week, I figured that just doing crunches was enough of a workout!

After the weight lifting, I decided to do something that I really hate and run on the treadmill. Really, I wanted to see how I felt while running since it seems pretty important for my half-marathon training that I'm really going to have to start in earnest very soon. But, I figured I'd just start today and get my feet wet. I set the treadmill pretty slow - 5.5 speed - and started running.

It was not horrible. I put a towel over the treadmill, so I couldn't watch the miles or minutes tick by. I also switched my watch so that I could see the calories and my heart rate, but not the time duration. I realized that I'm still in a pretty big calorie deficit for the past week and I definitely was this morning as well. I decided that I would give myself a 500 calorie limit for the weight lifting and the running as I wasn't sure it'd be wise to continue after that based on my nutrition.

I knew that my calories burned weight lifting were about 230, so I figured I had about 270 to go on the treadmill. They just ticked off really quickly. However, I didn't quite make it to 500 total. I started feeling a little bit faint and decided I didn't really want to actually faint, so I slowed down and just walked for a while to finish up my workout. I only made to 490 "strenuous exercise" calories. I think I'm just fine with that.

I was really glad to get back to the gym and while I didn't feel 100% while working out, I certainly didn't feel bad while working out. I think that as I eat more in general over the next week or so, I'll start to feel back to normal, but I was really glad to know that I could still run (although slowly) and feel fine and not winded!

Weight Lifting
Time: 39:41
Calories: 234
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 117

Running
Time: 19:09
Distance: 1.75 miles
Pace: 10:56/mile
Calories: 256
Maximum HR: 188
Average HR: 179

Walking
Time: 12:58
Distance: 0.75 miles
Pace: 17:17/mile
Calories: 122
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 147