Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Update on THE SHRED

A few of you may be wondering if I am keeping up with doing Jillian Michaels' DVD The Shred. Umm.........no, I'm not. BUT.............I am happy to report that I am not completely neglecting my fitness and health. Although I was seeing benefits from The Shred, I was not doing it very consistently as I was finding it hard to do in the evenings since we are getting so busy with the boys' activities. For a while I had been thinking about taking up jogging/running again. I used to do that fairly consistently before I had the boys but haven't for many years. I was inspired by a couple of my local buddies, Justin and Krystal, who recently trained for and ran a marathon. That is just such an amazing accomplishment. I am truly in awe of them and their efforts. My own DH has been a runner since he was a teenager and has also completed a marathon as well as some half-marathons and many, many other races. His dedication to running is also an inspiration to me. SO..................about a month ago I decided to get serious about it and get going. In the past I've started new exercise routines and done too much too soon which has resulted in burn-out and/or injury. This time I wanted to do it right. So I headed over to the Runner's World website and found a training program for beginning runners. I printed it out and on Saturday I finished my fourth week of the 8 week program. I am proud to say that I have stuck with it and that I am actually getting up early and doing it in the morning. It is fantastic to realize late in the afternoon that I've done my workout for the day. I have renewed energy and my body feels stronger. I've dropped a few pounds already and am definitely getting more toned legs which is a major goal for me. If you have ever thought about starting a running program, I really recommend this one. It tells you exactly what to do each day for 8 weeks. It is easy to follow (I'm doing mine on our treadmill) and provides the perfect amount of challenge at the perfect pace. The end goal of the 8-week program is that you can run for 30 consecutive minutes at a relaxed pace.......they say this would be a distance of about 2 miles. That is a VERY relaxed pace because when I walk on the treadmill I walk at a 15 minute per mile pace. At about 4 weeks into the program I am running over 2.5 miles each time. I realize this will be different for everyone, however. I can honestly say I look forward to my running days. I can't see me giving it up anytime soon. As for Jillian and The Shred, I am thinking about adding it in on the non-running days but haven't yet. My husband keeps cautioning me to take it slow so I don't get injured and I am taking his advice. If you are a runner I'd love to hear from you. Actually, I just love to get comments over here period...........so no need to be a runner to comment. ;0)

3 comments:

Doli said...

Oh Im definitely going to try this exercise .. Hope I can do it :) Thanks for the tip!

Anonymous said...

I know so many people who run, and I admire each one of them! Well done!!

Love what you've been doing with freezer paper. The pillow is awesome.

Myth said...

Hi! I have been learning to run for the first time too! I have been using the podrunner series - beginner to 5ks which is a set of MP3s that seem similar to your instructions - designed to get you from nothing to 5 ks in 9 weeks. I am halfway through week 3. I have never run before in my life, so I am finding it really amazing to start now - I am 36! Another site you might find inspirational in your exercising is Sparkpeople.com. It is a huge worldwide (I am from Australia) community of people getting fit and losing weight, and contains a fantastic lot of resources. You can find me there as fractalmyth.

Oh, if you were wondering where I come from, I subscribe to your Montessori blog and came to see your thanksgiving pillow - great work! I have been wanting to try freezer paper stencilling so thanks heaps for the tutorial. You may have just inspired a pile of handprint Christmas presents!