Exercise Update

I didn't start the first week of the new year very well! Sunday was Dec. 31, New Year's Eve, and I continued my holiday slacker ways with no exercise. Masha ended up going out of town, so I didn't have a scheduled run in the morning. My kids spent the night with Grandma the night before, so I had the unusual luxery of sleeping in and took full advantage of it! Then I had the nerve to take a nap in the afternoon and otherwise procrastinate until there was no time for a run before our dinner guests arrived. I really need a schedule, including a day, time, and preferably a work out partner to get my butt in gear!

Monday, I was in make-up mode. I gave myself two Cyclo Core DVDs for Christmas and I tried them both out. The program is geared towards using weights and yoga to improve cycling performance. The first DVD is a resistance workout using an exercise ball and light hand weights. It was pretty good, although I would prefer a longer weight workout. The next time I use it, I will do each section two or three times. The second DVD is Cyclo Zen which is a yoga workout. I did two of the sections - power yoga and relaxation yoga - which were both good but remarkably similar. My kids did all three workouts with me. They were hilarious, especially with the yoga moves. They said they loved it and asked to do yoga ever day when I get home from work. (Didn't happen in practice, at least yesterday. They were tired, hungry, and cranky after going back to school for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks.)

Tuesday (yesterday), I ran five miles through my neighborhood but due to user error on the Garmin (I forgot to restart the timer after stopping at a traffic light), I don't know my time. I'm estimating in the 45 minute range, which means I'm getting slower on each run. I'm not going to beat myself up, though, because I don't really know my time and anyway run speed is a secondary, not a primary, goal for 2007. Nutrition was better yesterday. It is enlightening to track my food intake. I hit my own fruit/ vegtable goal but fell woefully short of the government's daily fruit recommendations according to the food pyramid. I also had a dark chocolate Hagen Daas ice cream bar after my kids went to bed for no reason other than that I was obsessing over it. Today, I'm having an apple with breakfast to get an early jump on fruit intake!

This morning, I did Cyclo Zen relaxation yoga for 30 minutes and I'm scheduled for spin class at the YMCA during lunch time. I haven't taken a spin class in ages and am not looking forward to getting all sweaty at lunch time then having to return to work. Hopefully that will be motivation to get my trainer set up on Tuesday nights so I can cycle at home on Wednesday mornings throughout the rest of the winter! I also need to purchase some winter biking gear so I can get outside to cycle. Maybe my husband will even go with me since he has his own bike now! That would be great!

Other than Monday, I'm reasonably on track for the week. Onward!