My progress...

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Friday, October 22, 2010

Dear Body, You are awesome. Thanks for the great workout! Love, Mary

This is what I tweeted 1/3 of the way into my workout this morning:



 Mary Casey 


Just did 30 min. on the ArcTrainer. Moving on to the StairMaster & will finish up on the elliptical-all machines I was scared of 6 mos. ago!


And that is a true story.  Six months ago, I was going to the gym and using the treadmill and only the treadmill.  I was planning to turn myself into a runner via the C25K program.  And I was steering clear of all the cardio machines there, except for an occasional turn on the recumbent bikes.  My, how things have changed.

Back in June, I decided to climb on the elliptical to see how that would go.  And it went well, which was amazing to me because the last time I had been on an elliptical, during my gym orientation, which was at least three years ago, I thought I would die on the elliptical after less than five minutes.  Since that day in June, I have continued to progress on the elliptical, using the different programs to change up my workout.  I have added the ArcTrainer in pretty regularly, and this week, I got on the StairMaster for the first time since my early- to mid-20s.  And I am loving challenging myself and enjoying some variety in my cardio workouts.

This morning, I did 30 minutes on the ArcTrainer, 30 minutes on the StairMaster, and 30 minutes on the elliptical, and it was AWESOME!  I burned over 1000 calories, I sweat BUCKETS, and I felt amazing at the end!  I tried a similar workout earlier this week and actually overdid it, in that I got lightheaded and queasy on the elliptical, I think from hypoglycemia.  I had eaten about 900 calories at that point in the day, and once I burned 900 calories through exercise, my body revolted.  I took care of that today by taking a cue from distance runners who use gels in their runs and eating a Larabar after I was 2/3 of the way done with my workout.  It was PERFECTION.  I felt strong to the finish.

When I was done, I was so proud of my body.  I have been working hard, and it shows when I can get through a rather intense workout like that.  I am certain not up there with elite runners or anything like that, but this is such progress for my former couch potato self, and it was so amazing to feel so strong at the end of my gym session.  And even when my eating is not going as well as it could be, this was a great reminder that the gym is still there for me, and exercise can still feel great!

Make it a great day, everyone!

2 comments:

Gina said...

You go girl! Awesome results! Best feeling in the world when you have that cardio strength to keep going rather than we a person starts & can't breathe:-) That stairmaster time is the most impressive. I have a love/hate relationship with those things!!

LauraLynne said...

Awesome progress!! Nutrition is key for longer workouts, be sure to stay on top of that and hydration (hydration is actually harder to catch up on!)

But seeing the stamina changes have been the best part of my journey, wearing smaller clothes, watching the scale change - all great, but being able to run, bike, swim, exercise longer and harder - that's the BEST!