Lots of Running (Day 192)

Well, I didn't have to train alone toady after all. I trained with my mom! She came by and picked me up around 10:30. We began our workout with cardio. I ran 3.5 miles in 30 minutes. We trained shoulders after cardio. 3 sets of machine shoulder presses, followed by 3 sets of lateral raises, finishing with 3 sets of rear delts. After mom dropped me back at my place I ate a little lunch and then climbed on the spin bike for 30 minutes. Finally late this evening Kim and I went back to the gym so she could do some cardio and tan a bit (in preparation for our trip to Costa Rica). So I jumped back on the treadmill for another 3.5 miles, then about another mile and a half on the elliptical trainer. I'm pretty sure this is the first time in my life I've run 7 miles. Maybe as a kid playing tennis I logged 7 miles during an entire day, but I doubt it. For the past day or so I had been whining to Kim that I haven't been burning as many calories as usual. I realized today it was probably because I haven't been doing my usual hour and a half of cardio. D'oh. So today I easily reached my calorie burn. I actually blew past it and have burned more today than any other day since I started tracking it with the BodyBugg. I think I burned around 4300 calories on the day.

I actually laughed at myself out loud today. I was describing how much I enjoyed running to my mom (I think it was her, maybe somebody else). Then I realized what I'd just said, I "enjoyed" running. WHAT? (read that as Dule' Hill says it as Gus on Psych). When I started trying to integrate running into my cardio workouts I couldn't run 100 yards, much less 7 miles. My cardio consisted of walking at a moderate pace up a steep incline. One of the things I've loved about adding the running to my routine has been the ability to set a goal, work toward it, and then move on to the next goal. I'm really not able to do that with my weight training now ('cause I'm so tired from all of the cardio :) ) so it's nice to have something that I can motivate myself to train for. I think the running has helped me move past some of the long held ideas that I've had that have really limited my fitness. When I was heavier I convinced myself that running was bad for me, bad for my knees, and I didn't need to do it because I might loose some muscle mass. Now I realize how much better shape I'm in and how crazy I was for thinking that way. I'm not a bodybuilder, I never will be, nor do I want to be. I hate to say it, but I'm turning into what I used to hate. A granola eating, pull-up doing, athletic person. I'm not the strongest person in the gym, I can't lift as much as I could six months ago, and I probably can't train as intensely (resistance wise), but I'm drastically more fit. Thankfully, I'm happy with that.

I had a chance to take a pic of a sign I've meant to shoot for a long time this morning. The downtown area of our small town has a small parking area with a little gazebo across the street from the town library. Near the gazebo is a sign compelling everyone to keep pets off of the grass. The only problem is there is not a blade of grass to be found. Ok, maybe a few blades scattered around, but nothing to worry about protecting. Anyway, I love the lunacy of the sign.