Gym day, and just in time.

Wow, what a change from yesterday.  It poured rain all night, and has been overcast, windy and cold all day.  I have really been timing my runs just right lately.  For the past several weeks, Chris' work schedule has been such that he has been able to come with me to Tues/Thurs spin classes.  Unfortunately today he had to go in to work and I had to head to the gym alone.  It's too bad, because he missed out on an awesome class.  Our favorite instructor was there in full force - she is such a great spin teacher.  Today's class had so much more energy and momentum than Tuesday's class.  I loved it and felt purged afterwards.  Then I did about 30 minutes of weight lifting.  I couldn't do all of my usual things without Chris there to help me, but I did most of them.

After my time at the gym, I stopped at TJMaxx before going grocery shopping.  I was in search of some new workout (under) clothes, and hoped to maybe find a cute tank or pair of shorts, now that we've been having some warmer days.  Recently I've been dealing with body image issues, so it was probably not the best time to go clothes shopping.  I don't know why, but no matter how much I work out and no matter how well tuned I keep my diet, I still have such huge fluctuations in how I feel about how my body looks.  Some days I feel strong and light on my feet, other days I feel floppy, jiggly and lumpy - in all the wrong places.  I honestly think there may be some things that happened to my body during the process of carrying 4 children that are permanent, unless I want to consider a surgical "mommy makeover."

Our (fairly recent) regular attendance at the gym has really not helped me with these issues I have.  Sure, there are some women at the gym that are more average and less than perfect, like me, but there are also lots of women who appear so rock solid and have just the right amount of muscle definition and lack of body fat.  Ugh.  Why are we so hard on ourselves?  I mean, in the scheme of things it's really not that important what we look like anyway, but one of the reasons why I work out as hard as I do is to feel good about myself.  Seems kind of futile, if my goals are set unrealistically.  It's just so frustrating.  For example, today at the grocery store, the lady in the checkout next to me looked like she was in her mid-thirties, and stick skinny.  I mean, legs like thin, little poles, skinny.  Oddly enough, she was purchasing (and I'm not exaggerating) 2 boxes of Twinkies, 2 boxes of Hostess Cupcakes, Monster energy drinks, bags of chips and a bunch of other junk.  What the heck?  Okay, judgement aside, but what the heck?!  Alright, I'm done with my rant/pity party for the day.  Isn't this supposed to be an inspirational blog...?

Anyway, I did find one pair of bermuda-length running shorts, but they're nothing too exciting.  Plain black, as usual, but at least they're shorts and hopefully I'll stay a little cooler on warm runs.

Question for all of you: "What brands, styles, types and shapes of workout wear are your favorites and why?"

Bare bones.

This morning my husband and I went to a spinning class.  Today's instructor was the one who is recently back after being on maternity leave.  Normally she's pretty tough, but today we kind of got off to a slow start.  She commented she was feeling especially tired and I'm guessing a late night with a new baby could be the cause. ;)  Once we got going, about 30 minutes into the class, I really started to get my sweat on, but I have to admit I was feeling a little less than enthusiastic about working out today, too.  Some days I just feel kind of blah, mentally and physically.  Today's been one of those kinds of days.  After spin, we went into the weight room and my husband helped me through my usual rotation, which took me about an hour.

After doing some work in the yard, starting to get the ground ready where we'll be planting our garden soon, I decided to "hike" up the hill in our backyard, just for fun.

We live in town, but our house is at the bottom of a huge, rocky hill of a little over 12 acres, which is all part of our property.  We're right on the edge of the town limit, so our property butts up against BLM land.

(Going up.)

(Looking down.)

(That's our house, down there with the red vehicle parked in front.)

We have lots of wildlife frequenting our hill throughout the year, like this little guy.  My husband calls them "rock-chucks", but I actually think they are Yellow-bellied Marmots - for real. :)

I was hoping I might find some deer antlers, but all I found were several animal carcasses.  Kind of macabre, I know, but I brought back some of the bones for the kids to look at.  Kids think that kind of stuff is cool.

After my fun up on the hill, out in the warm air and sun, I feel a little less "blah."

Saturday spin.

Since I did my long run earlier this week, I was free to do a spin class this morning.  As usual, a top-notch cardio workout.  After the class, I got on one of the Arc trainer/elliptical things and did another hour.  I tried to keep my heart rate up, and for the two hours of working out, my average HR was 149, although during the "anaerobic" portion of the spin class, I topped out at 180 bpm several times.

My husband came with me to spin class, then left the gym after that equipped to run all the way back home (13.4 miles) to get in his long run for the week.  Unfortunately, as I was leaving the gym, he called me and had me pick him up on my way home, so he only made it about 8.5 miles.  The wind was crazy, as usual, and he said he wasn't feeling very good.  At least we know now that if we were to feel the urge one day, we could run to the gym, workout and then run back home and the running part would equal a marathon! ;)

Question of the day: What products do any of you use for your skin?  I have been finding that, particularly after spin class, the excessive amount of sweating I do is wreaking havoc on my skin.  Any suggestions?

Strictly XT.

This morning I felt pretty tired and a bit stiff getting out of bed.  I think the recent increase in my weekly mileage is starting to catch up with me.  I started out my workout with 20 minutes of Pilates and followed that with 30 minutes on the exercise bike while also using my 5 pound hand weights.  After that, I got on the elliptical and did just under an hour, breaking it up with sets of sit-ups and step-ups with weights every 5-10 minutes.

As far as my diet goes, I have continued to do pretty well, making (mostly) healthy choices and staying well below my daily calories.  It's getting tougher, though.  As the time comes closer to the marathon, I've been running more and working out longer, and I'm definitely feeling it in my appetite.  I hardest thing for me is not grabbing something less healthy when I'm starving just because it's fast and easy.  I've been trying to avoid those pitfalls by pre-measuring healthy snacks, such as dried fruit and trail mix, carrot sticks and fat-free dip, and nuts, and also keeping a stock of mini-Clif bars in the cupboard, for when I'm in a hurry.  I think it helps.  The other issue I've been having is that even though I eat a good, filling breakfast, moderate lunch and snacks throughout the day, I find myself with an excess of allowable calories still sitting there in the evening.  I don't want to be too far below my calories, considering how much I exercise, or my body will not metabolize properly and will hang on to fat stores instead of burning them off.  All in all, I'm still feeling pretty good, though.  I'm down 6 pounds in a little more than 3 weeks.  Now I just need to maintain that.  Slow and steady wins the race! :)