Not very fast. Not very long. But I did indeed run on the treadmill at the gym last night... for two whole minutes. Ok, I know its not very much, but considering I've NEVER even walked any faster than maybe 3.4 on the treadmill I was pleased with myself. What made me do this? I don't know... perhaps it was Keelie's post over at Real Fat. She ran an entire 5K on the treadmill and I was thinking of her as I lugged my tush onto the treadmill (if you haven't noticed by now, I HATE the treadmill). There I was walking away, trying to convince myself I wasn't bored to death, and slowly increasing my speed... finally when I hit 3.8 I decided "lets see if I can actually run on this thing without falling flat on my face." Weird thing, I actually felt more comfortable running than I ever have walking on it. Now I think its going to be my new gym game, to try to add a minute (or however long I can last) each time I run on the treadmill. That's how I tricked myself into going from 35 to over 100 floors on the StairMaster. :-)
I found out last night that the gym is starting the Around the World Challenge early... two whole weeks early. This morning, I went back, signed up & paid the fee. I'm the first to sign up!!! I don't know whether I'm happy about it starting early or not... it definitely presents some challenges and adds more stress to my already packed schedule. But on the bright side, I won't be at the gym for eight hours finishing it up on Mother's Day this year. My Mom will thank them profusely when she hears... lol.
The challenge was highly rewarding for me last year because I'd never done any sort of physical challenge before. But, there was one problem that I'm hoping to find a solution for this year: I was spending sooooo much time at the gym that I ended up eating a lot fast food meals and other less than healthy things. Much of my hard work at the gym failed to be maximized because of this.
This time around, I'm really trying to plan ahead because I want to see the full effect of the challenge - physically & mentally. So I need a little help... What are some quick, easy meal & snack ideas?
On a final note: A big thank you to Crystal at Fitness Journal for mentioning my 2-4-8-10 Challenge on her blog today. :-)
5 comments:
Good for you! Sometimes I actually think it feels more comfortable to run instead of walking really really fast. Just keep adding little bits like you said.
If someone told me I would have even run for 1 minute a few months ago I wouldn't have believed it.Our bodies are capable of so much more than we give them credit for.
Keep up the good work!
Keelie
One of the fastest things I like are what my mom calls breakfast burritos.
Take a whole wheat/multigrain tortilla, spread some reduced fat peanut butter, a little drizzle of honey, and some strawberry and banana slices. It's yummy. I'll have it sometimes for dinner with a salad or something.
And if you use the prewashed salad greens, making a salad can be quicker than stopping at the drivethrough.
Turkey bacon, that's fast, about a minute in the microwave.
Also, you might want to try:http://www.tasteofhome.com/Healthy-Cooking-Magazine
There's also a sister magazine dedicated to quick cooking.
congrats on the run! im scared to death to try it for fear ill fall on my face......having to work up to it. but i like how you JUST DID IT! and that your challenging yourself now. snacks/meals to go....look at healthy "wraps" they are great on the go and easy to make!
Well done for running! :) Last year, my personal trainer told me that the best way to begin running is to start 1 minute run, 1 minute walk and increase to 2 minutes run, 2 minutes walk (etc) from there! It's okay to go a week between increases! :)
As far as a quick breakfast idea - low-fat yogurt, toast with peanut butter, and a piece of fruit (which you can eat after your workout if you prefer!). You could also make something at the beginning of the week that would last all week, such as egg and spinach "muffins", turkey meatloaf muffins, etc.
Awesome job on the running. I hope to do that someday but scared on the treadmill because I am so uncoordinated
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