Me at 210 pounds Christmas of 2008
Me at the beginning of my journey May of 2010
Me today, July 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Picture Proof
I just looked through some old pictures of myself and I am just sick to my stomach. There is no way I will EVER look like that again. At my heaviest I was at 215 and that is just sick. When I started this journey I was 205 and I currently am hanging at 191. 14 pounds lost and more to come. Some proof of my journey so far.
Me at 210 pounds Christmas of 2008
Me at the beginning of my journey May of 2010
Me today, July 2010
Me at 210 pounds Christmas of 2008
Me at the beginning of my journey May of 2010
Me today, July 2010
The hills are alive with the sound of...
....cursing!! LOL
I am going out to Clermont this week for a training session with Coach D2 Cycling Center. I haven't been out there in about a month. But I haven't felt stronger than I do right now. This should be a good thing! The anxiety that I have had previously about the hills is a little deminished after the great week of cardio training I have had added with the best ride to date. I am really curious to see if any of this power will transfer over to making me a stronger climber. I am no Andy Schleck but I would settle for being back in the "autobus" with the sprinters just trying to finish the climb in the Alps. (Sorry for the all the Tour de France references. I am missing it already!)
So 7:30am on Sunday morning I will be leaving Winter Garden station for a 50 mile ride through the rolling hills of Clermont and Lake County. It is going to be hot but this is Florida afterall! :)
I hope that everyone has a great weekend.
I am going out to Clermont this week for a training session with Coach D2 Cycling Center. I haven't been out there in about a month. But I haven't felt stronger than I do right now. This should be a good thing! The anxiety that I have had previously about the hills is a little deminished after the great week of cardio training I have had added with the best ride to date. I am really curious to see if any of this power will transfer over to making me a stronger climber. I am no Andy Schleck but I would settle for being back in the "autobus" with the sprinters just trying to finish the climb in the Alps. (Sorry for the all the Tour de France references. I am missing it already!)
So 7:30am on Sunday morning I will be leaving Winter Garden station for a 50 mile ride through the rolling hills of Clermont and Lake County. It is going to be hot but this is Florida afterall! :)
I hope that everyone has a great weekend.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Runnning post #2
Today was much better. I still am no fan of running but I felt better. I was able to complete 10 run/walk fast intervals. With a warm up and cool down included I was able to run/walk 2.1 miles in 30 minutes. I felt a lot stronger. I never realized that there was a technique to running though. Slowly but surely it is getting better. My arse is sore I am sure that I will feel it more tomorrow.
I have to thank my coworker Diane for being dressed out ready to go to the gym at our normal time. I have little to no desire to walk in the 100 degree heat to the gym to run for 30 minutes then walk back. But since she was ready to go I got it in gear and off we went. I always feel better once I am done. :) :)
I am working on putting together some before and after pictures for a photo blog. I can already see a big difference between the start and now. I cannot wait to see the difference in September when I am done with this phase. Then it is off to a new phase of training. I think the next one is going to be a century ride!!
ETA: No side cramps today! I focused on my breathing a lot today and drank a whole bottle of water. Coach, I know that you will be happy. :)
I have to thank my coworker Diane for being dressed out ready to go to the gym at our normal time. I have little to no desire to walk in the 100 degree heat to the gym to run for 30 minutes then walk back. But since she was ready to go I got it in gear and off we went. I always feel better once I am done. :) :)
I am working on putting together some before and after pictures for a photo blog. I can already see a big difference between the start and now. I cannot wait to see the difference in September when I am done with this phase. Then it is off to a new phase of training. I think the next one is going to be a century ride!!
ETA: No side cramps today! I focused on my breathing a lot today and drank a whole bottle of water. Coach, I know that you will be happy. :)
A great day
I wanted to do this last night when I got home from my Wednesday Night Ride with St. John Cycles but I was so exhausted that I had a snack and went to bed. Tired from working out hard and from pure excitment.
Yesterday I had a great day in the gym. The eliptical and I are becoming the best of friends. I did my 30 minutes then concluded with my upper body workout. The only thing that I would have changed was the atmosphere! The young guy next to me on the treadmill apparently was having a REALLLY good workout. He stunk! OMG it was awful. Now I ride with a bunch of guys. We all get hot and stinky but NONE of the men I ride with smell this bad. I swear he must have slept in those clothes that night before. Thank goodness he was almost done with his workout when I started mine. I don't think that I would have been able to handle it for very much longer. ;) Of course you all know that I smell like a fresh spring field when I am done working out. Never do I stink! LOL
Last night was a fantastic ride. So much fun! I knew that I was riding hard and felt great. I never really ever pay attention to the speeds we were going while on a ride. EXCEPT when I get dropped by the group. They just flat out left me off the back of the train when going around a corner. I was able to get out of the saddle and build my speed up to 23 but I still couldn't catch them. I was able to maintain a speed of 20mph all by my lonesome for about 2 miles. Oh well! I knew where I was going and I knew eventually I would catch back up to them. The best part of the ride was getting back to the truck and seeing that I had my fastest average ever (I averaged 18.7mph!!) and a top speed of 29mph. BIG smiles all around. I celebrated with a beer. ;) It tasted good.
Today is more running. My goal is to do at least 2 more intervals this week. I have been having a great week so far with my cardio so I know I can do this.
Yesterday I had a great day in the gym. The eliptical and I are becoming the best of friends. I did my 30 minutes then concluded with my upper body workout. The only thing that I would have changed was the atmosphere! The young guy next to me on the treadmill apparently was having a REALLLY good workout. He stunk! OMG it was awful. Now I ride with a bunch of guys. We all get hot and stinky but NONE of the men I ride with smell this bad. I swear he must have slept in those clothes that night before. Thank goodness he was almost done with his workout when I started mine. I don't think that I would have been able to handle it for very much longer. ;) Of course you all know that I smell like a fresh spring field when I am done working out. Never do I stink! LOL
Last night was a fantastic ride. So much fun! I knew that I was riding hard and felt great. I never really ever pay attention to the speeds we were going while on a ride. EXCEPT when I get dropped by the group. They just flat out left me off the back of the train when going around a corner. I was able to get out of the saddle and build my speed up to 23 but I still couldn't catch them. I was able to maintain a speed of 20mph all by my lonesome for about 2 miles. Oh well! I knew where I was going and I knew eventually I would catch back up to them. The best part of the ride was getting back to the truck and seeing that I had my fastest average ever (I averaged 18.7mph!!) and a top speed of 29mph. BIG smiles all around. I celebrated with a beer. ;) It tasted good.
Today is more running. My goal is to do at least 2 more intervals this week. I have been having a great week so far with my cardio so I know I can do this.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Feeling Good
I have to say that for the very first time I completley understand that high that people feel after a really good workout at the gym and why they can workout for 2 hours. I didn't want to leave the gym today but because I only have an hour for lunch and I walk 5 minutes to and from the gym I had to go. :(
I completed 42 minutes on the eliptical machine. Sweat dripping on my face and all. I was ready to keep going when the machine beeped at me that my workout was done. Does this actually mean that I am finally getting into better cardio shape? 42 minutes was unheard of before this and even walking into the gym today it sounded like forever. But I set the machine on level 6 with the hill setting and started out. It didn't take long before I realized that I was completely warmed up and I kick it up to level 7! Ya'll I feel awesome. I am ready to do that again (and I do tomorrow LOL.)
:) :) My smiles for the day :) :)
I completed 42 minutes on the eliptical machine. Sweat dripping on my face and all. I was ready to keep going when the machine beeped at me that my workout was done. Does this actually mean that I am finally getting into better cardio shape? 42 minutes was unheard of before this and even walking into the gym today it sounded like forever. But I set the machine on level 6 with the hill setting and started out. It didn't take long before I realized that I was completely warmed up and I kick it up to level 7! Ya'll I feel awesome. I am ready to do that again (and I do tomorrow LOL.)
:) :) My smiles for the day :) :)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Ready for the weekend!
It is Friday ya'll! This is the best news I have heard all day long. :) I am looking forward to it. Lots of time with my family and friends. No work for two days. Hopefully that rain stays away from us and the wind is at our back's for riding.
Finished my return week to the gym strong today. I didn't get to lunch until late today which meant that I practically had the gym to myself. It was really nice. Felt awesome today. The quads are still a little sore but they are getting better. The core workout is getting easier (NOT EASY) but easier. I still sweat buckets and still find a couple of the exercises very hard to do but I am getting there. Again the best part was the stretch at the end. It was sooooo nice.
I have a couple bike rides this weekend where I am kicking up the distance for the first time. I just hope that weather cooperates. I should have almost 100 miles of riding under my belt come Sunday afternoon. Lots of calories burned and lots of practice for the century season coming up. :)
I wish everyone a great weekend. Enjoy yourself whatever you are doing!
Finished my return week to the gym strong today. I didn't get to lunch until late today which meant that I practically had the gym to myself. It was really nice. Felt awesome today. The quads are still a little sore but they are getting better. The core workout is getting easier (NOT EASY) but easier. I still sweat buckets and still find a couple of the exercises very hard to do but I am getting there. Again the best part was the stretch at the end. It was sooooo nice.
I have a couple bike rides this weekend where I am kicking up the distance for the first time. I just hope that weather cooperates. I should have almost 100 miles of riding under my belt come Sunday afternoon. Lots of calories burned and lots of practice for the century season coming up. :)
I wish everyone a great weekend. Enjoy yourself whatever you are doing!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Running
I am going to have to get used to this running thing. I just got back to work from the gym and I am whooped. I completed 2.02 miles with a 4.2 mph average. I completed 6 intervals running/walking. I got a horrible stitch in my side about 20 minutes in my workout. I am still working that out.
On to the next phase! I will stop whining for now.
On to the next phase! I will stop whining for now.
Big update
Where to start....
Two weeks ago today I went to the doctor only to find out that I had strep throat. Just lovely. I felt horrible. The most awful I hate felt in years. I was happy to have a diagnosis but I wasnt happy about the restrictions that it put on my body. It took me over a week to finally feel 100%. No riding for a week and very little exercise. I just couldn't do it! I felt exhausted with a sore throat and ear ache. I was a mess.
Fast forward to this past Monday. I was finally feeling 100% better. Ready to hit the ground running. I only have 2 more month to Assault so I have to get my butt in gear with my training program. I received an email from Coach that morning with my training schedule for the next 4 weeks. HOLY COW! A lot of cardio and endurance training. Treadmill and eliptical machines are going to be my torture chambers. :) I am going to riding a lot longer and harder as well. I am looking forward to that though. After being off the bike for so long I am happy to get back out there.
I have officially lost 14 pounds. I am very happy about that. Hopefully in the next 8 weeks I will be able to double that number if not triple it. My overall goal is to lost another 30 pounds. I would be a very happy camper if I am able to accomlish that. I know that it will take a lot of dedication on my part not only from an exercise standpoint but also from a diet standpoint. So far I am still doing really well with both. Gotta kick up the fresh fruits and veggies again. I slacked off while I was ill and still haven't gotten back full force.
Monday's workout
All core work. Took me a long time since I have been out of practice. But I felt surprisingly good.
Tuesdsay's workout
Lower body blast #2. Super sore from Monday's workout but I pushed through. The weights felt really heavy! The best part of the whole day was the stretch at the end.
Wednesday's workout
Cardio and upper body. Finally recovering from Monday's workout but the legs were uber sore from Tuesday. In my sick little twisted mind I knew that being sore was a good thing. Building up that muscle that I surely need. I was able to complete a 5k in 30 minutes on the elipitcal machine and that made me smile like a little girl.
Wednesday's ride
It was really nice to be back on the bike. It was awfully hot but there is something about being with a group of friends riding. You forget almost that it is 95 degrees outside. We had a really great time. Ended up breaking off into a really small group, Glenn's bitches! LOL We averaged 17.4 mph for 18 miles. The wind was swirly and was always in our face. I felt awesome. The legs were a little tired but a nice spin did my body good. Top it off with a beer and some friendly conversation and I can honestly say that this was the highlight of my week!
So if you made it all the way through this I applaud you. :) Dry topic I know but I needed to put it down on "paper" so to speak. On to Thursday's workout looking forward to the weekend.
Two weeks ago today I went to the doctor only to find out that I had strep throat. Just lovely. I felt horrible. The most awful I hate felt in years. I was happy to have a diagnosis but I wasnt happy about the restrictions that it put on my body. It took me over a week to finally feel 100%. No riding for a week and very little exercise. I just couldn't do it! I felt exhausted with a sore throat and ear ache. I was a mess.
Fast forward to this past Monday. I was finally feeling 100% better. Ready to hit the ground running. I only have 2 more month to Assault so I have to get my butt in gear with my training program. I received an email from Coach that morning with my training schedule for the next 4 weeks. HOLY COW! A lot of cardio and endurance training. Treadmill and eliptical machines are going to be my torture chambers. :) I am going to riding a lot longer and harder as well. I am looking forward to that though. After being off the bike for so long I am happy to get back out there.
I have officially lost 14 pounds. I am very happy about that. Hopefully in the next 8 weeks I will be able to double that number if not triple it. My overall goal is to lost another 30 pounds. I would be a very happy camper if I am able to accomlish that. I know that it will take a lot of dedication on my part not only from an exercise standpoint but also from a diet standpoint. So far I am still doing really well with both. Gotta kick up the fresh fruits and veggies again. I slacked off while I was ill and still haven't gotten back full force.
Monday's workout
All core work. Took me a long time since I have been out of practice. But I felt surprisingly good.
Tuesdsay's workout
Lower body blast #2. Super sore from Monday's workout but I pushed through. The weights felt really heavy! The best part of the whole day was the stretch at the end.
Wednesday's workout
Cardio and upper body. Finally recovering from Monday's workout but the legs were uber sore from Tuesday. In my sick little twisted mind I knew that being sore was a good thing. Building up that muscle that I surely need. I was able to complete a 5k in 30 minutes on the elipitcal machine and that made me smile like a little girl.
Wednesday's ride
It was really nice to be back on the bike. It was awfully hot but there is something about being with a group of friends riding. You forget almost that it is 95 degrees outside. We had a really great time. Ended up breaking off into a really small group, Glenn's bitches! LOL We averaged 17.4 mph for 18 miles. The wind was swirly and was always in our face. I felt awesome. The legs were a little tired but a nice spin did my body good. Top it off with a beer and some friendly conversation and I can honestly say that this was the highlight of my week!
So if you made it all the way through this I applaud you. :) Dry topic I know but I needed to put it down on "paper" so to speak. On to Thursday's workout looking forward to the weekend.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Long weekend
but a great one. Saturday was the race in Daytona so there was A LOT of walking and stair climbing. It felt good especially since I didn't ride that moring. Sunday was a day to recoup. We didn't get home from the track until 3:30am so I slept in. No riding again. :( I know it is awful. We didn't do much arond the house but I didn't end up washing both the car and the truck also helped wih the pool cleaning chores. Not really exercises but it was better than just sitting on my keister.
Monday I rode! I met a bunch of my fellow cyclists in Lake Mary and we did 34 miles arond the Lake. It was an awesome ride. A couple of milestones for me. I pulled the line of riders around the Lake for a little ways and I rode the fastest ever up Orange and over I-4. I really had a good day. Felt good. The weather was good and I was happy to be on my bike. I came home and worked around the house and did my core workout as well. Very well rounded day.
Back to work today though. I just got back from the gym. It was Lower Body Blast day. It is amazing how my legs still feel like jello. I know that I must be doing something right though when they feel like that.
The amazing thing about this whole process is how I feel after I work out. There are days that I just don't want to go to the gym but I always feel so much better after I go. AND when I step on the scale. No weight loss this week but I am ok with that. I have seen the inches come off and I feel the stregnth in my core and lower body. This is a good thing. Next week I will have a good weight loss I can sense it!
Monday I rode! I met a bunch of my fellow cyclists in Lake Mary and we did 34 miles arond the Lake. It was an awesome ride. A couple of milestones for me. I pulled the line of riders around the Lake for a little ways and I rode the fastest ever up Orange and over I-4. I really had a good day. Felt good. The weather was good and I was happy to be on my bike. I came home and worked around the house and did my core workout as well. Very well rounded day.
Back to work today though. I just got back from the gym. It was Lower Body Blast day. It is amazing how my legs still feel like jello. I know that I must be doing something right though when they feel like that.
The amazing thing about this whole process is how I feel after I work out. There are days that I just don't want to go to the gym but I always feel so much better after I go. AND when I step on the scale. No weight loss this week but I am ok with that. I have seen the inches come off and I feel the stregnth in my core and lower body. This is a good thing. Next week I will have a good weight loss I can sense it!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Happy Friday
Headache! That is how today is going. I went to bed last night with one and woke up with one. Maybe it is the rain. My workout today was very hard because of it. I took it easier than I should have but at least I went.
Tomorrow is the Daytona. It is going to be a very long day of walking and sweating and dodging raindrops. I cannot ride in the morning because we are leaving at 9am to head over that way. I am hoping to make up the ride by riding on Sunday morning and Monday morning. I love 3 day weekends. :)
I hope that everyone has a fabulous weekend!
Tomorrow is the Daytona. It is going to be a very long day of walking and sweating and dodging raindrops. I cannot ride in the morning because we are leaving at 9am to head over that way. I am hoping to make up the ride by riding on Sunday morning and Monday morning. I love 3 day weekends. :)
I hope that everyone has a fabulous weekend!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Week in Review
I am bad at this updating thing. I was going to come in here days ago and update but I got really busy at work and I didn't get around to it. Today is a much better day.
So since last Friday I have gotten my voice back and I am feeling much better.
It was a blistering hot weekend in Central Florida but we made do. Sunday I took a ride through Lake County. All the while trying to not cough up a lung. I was still feeling kinda icky on Sunday and still had very little voice but something (someone) made me get out of bed and go riding. I am really glad that I did. I was toast by the time that I returned from the 40 miles but I had a couple of accomplishments for the day. I climbed The Wall faster than I have ever done before and I completed a 40 mile loop. Neither one I have done before. Pretty cool.
Monday it was back to the gym during lunch time. I felt pretty darn good actually. I flew through my core workout with no problems. I am able to do all the exercises assigned now. It takes some effort but they get done.
Tuesday was my lower body blast day. UGH! That is just so hard to do. Someone of the exercises make you question why you are doing them in the first place. They also remind you how sore they are going to make you feel the next day. At least my goal is still intact so I was able to complete them, my cardio warm up and cool down and of course my stretching. I LOVE stretching! :) It feels good and it reminds me that I am DONE for the day. YES!
Wednesday is my fun day. My cycling day! I look forward to this day every week. Last night though the weather was looking a little iffy and the wind.... oh the wind! It was awful. We made it about half way through the ride and turned the train around. The sky was pitch black and we still had 3 more miles to ride out before we were supposed to turn around. We all had that feeling that if continues to ride that we were going to get soaked or worse struck by lightening. I ended up only getting 8 miles in last night but I had to ride so hard into the headwind that my heartrate averaged 161 bpm!!! I got my work out in a very short amount of time. AWFUL! OH and it never did rain. sigh
So that leads me to today. 30 minutes of cardio in the gym. 12 minutes on the eliptical at 11 mph (I averaged 10.5mph) and then 18 on the treadmill. HA I didn't do some hot on the treadmill. I would speed walk and jog in intervals. I couldn't keep the jog going. My legs are super sore still from Tuesday and my heart was trying to escape from my chest. Hopefully I will get better at this but today was just not a lot of fun. Running is for the birds.... and cheetas..... and greyhounds.
Tomorrow is Friday, that is the best news of the day!
So since last Friday I have gotten my voice back and I am feeling much better.
It was a blistering hot weekend in Central Florida but we made do. Sunday I took a ride through Lake County. All the while trying to not cough up a lung. I was still feeling kinda icky on Sunday and still had very little voice but something (someone) made me get out of bed and go riding. I am really glad that I did. I was toast by the time that I returned from the 40 miles but I had a couple of accomplishments for the day. I climbed The Wall faster than I have ever done before and I completed a 40 mile loop. Neither one I have done before. Pretty cool.
Monday it was back to the gym during lunch time. I felt pretty darn good actually. I flew through my core workout with no problems. I am able to do all the exercises assigned now. It takes some effort but they get done.
Tuesday was my lower body blast day. UGH! That is just so hard to do. Someone of the exercises make you question why you are doing them in the first place. They also remind you how sore they are going to make you feel the next day. At least my goal is still intact so I was able to complete them, my cardio warm up and cool down and of course my stretching. I LOVE stretching! :) It feels good and it reminds me that I am DONE for the day. YES!
Wednesday is my fun day. My cycling day! I look forward to this day every week. Last night though the weather was looking a little iffy and the wind.... oh the wind! It was awful. We made it about half way through the ride and turned the train around. The sky was pitch black and we still had 3 more miles to ride out before we were supposed to turn around. We all had that feeling that if continues to ride that we were going to get soaked or worse struck by lightening. I ended up only getting 8 miles in last night but I had to ride so hard into the headwind that my heartrate averaged 161 bpm!!! I got my work out in a very short amount of time. AWFUL! OH and it never did rain. sigh
So that leads me to today. 30 minutes of cardio in the gym. 12 minutes on the eliptical at 11 mph (I averaged 10.5mph) and then 18 on the treadmill. HA I didn't do some hot on the treadmill. I would speed walk and jog in intervals. I couldn't keep the jog going. My legs are super sore still from Tuesday and my heart was trying to escape from my chest. Hopefully I will get better at this but today was just not a lot of fun. Running is for the birds.... and cheetas..... and greyhounds.
Tomorrow is Friday, that is the best news of the day!
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