Mid-week workout.

With my little guy at home today, I stayed inside and did a long cardio workout.  First, I began with 40 minutes of Pilates.  Then I got on the treadmill and did 40 minutes of speed work, similar to what I did a few days ago, running sprints for 1 minute, with 1 minute of jogging in between for a total of about 4 miles.  After that, I put the treadmill at a steep incline and walked at a pace of 3.5 for another 5 miles.  I also got off the treadmill every 5 minutes until I had finished a pyramid of Burpees (squat thrusts), starting with 10, then 12, 15, 18 and 20.  I was inspired to add Burpees to my workouts more often after reading a post from my friend over at AFitfamily.com where she wrote about her CrossFit workouts.  By the time I finished all of this, I had been at it for over 2.5 hours and decided it was time to move on to other things. :)

While I was working out, I was catching up on a few of my favorite shows.  I was struck by something Dolvett Quince (trainer) said on The Biggest Loser.  He was talking to one of the contestants about not focusing on winning the game and acknowledging how far he had come, he said "Don't fall in love with the (anticipated) result.  Fall in love with the work."  I love that concept.  Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in trying to reach a destination, whether it's our "skinny-self",  financial success, or a happy relationship, that we forget to enjoy and learn to savor the journey.  I have finally come to a point where I go running, workout or go to the gym because I enjoy doing all of those things and exercise is a part of who I am.  Even so, I still have moments where I catch myself dwelling on the "when I lose 5 more pounds...", or "when I can fit into a size such-and-such..."  It's hard to break the habit of thinking in those terms when you're always waiting for the "when..."

Question for all of you:  How many Burpees have you done at one time?  Anyone else out there do CrossFit or P90X?  Finally, any other motivational quotes that you love?

5.5 miles.

A couple of weeks ago, I read the book "Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an all night runner" by Dean Karnazes.  I would definitely recommend this book to any runner (or anybody, for that matter) looking for a little inspiration.  This guy is crazy.  His stamina for long distance running is unmatched.  And while you read his words and think to yourself, "I could never do that!", it's still motivating to think that it's possible.  Really, anything is possible with hard work and dedication.  He went from just a regular, average 30 year old guy, to the guy who has run innumerable ultramarathons, most of which were 100+ miles.  I also found a documentary on DVD and ordered it through Netflix called "Ultramarathon Man: 50 days, 50 states, 50 marathons."  Seriously.  Phew.  Anyway, we watched that on Saturday evening and I think I'll watch it again.  Another motivational story.  What an amazing person he is, and one that through reading his book and watching him on film, you feel like is just a regular, down to earth type of guy, who just doesn't stop until he's completed his goals.  Even then, he just keeps running...

So, this morning I began my day with 20 minutes of Pilates before I even took the kids to school.  After I dropped them off, I headed outside for a run.  I did an out and back totaling 5.5 miles.  It was really windy, and I had a serious headwind the entire way back to the house, so I was surprised to see from my Garmin that I had an average pace of 10:37 min./mile.  When I got home I fixed a nice bowl of hot oatmeal with blueberries and almonds and after eating, I got on the bike for an hour.  It's kind of nice that I can scootch the bike right up to the computer desk and do my online things while I pedal away. :)