Archive for the 'Fitness' Category

Milestones…

Marian May 30th, 2010

This has been a week of chalking hings off of the “Bucket List”.

Let me preface by saying.. A year ago, I began a personal journey. I was looking at a milestone birthday, and the fact that I also have a disabled child that would more than likely be with me for the rest of my life. I was also at the heaviest weight I had ever been. So, I made a decision that something had to be done, and I was the one that had to do it…

My Bikes
My Trek Bikes

I joined a brand new gym, started watching the food I ate. Now, mind you, I didn’t not eat certain foods, I simply began watching my portions. I did everything I could to to make it as fun as possible, and made it to the gym 6 days a week at first. I walked around my neighborhood at first to kick start my cardio routine to get used to working out.

Now, the other thing is to say, I began my journey at Thanksgiving and went through the Christmas Holidays… But, by New Years I had lost 11 lbs. By June I had lost about 30+ lbs. In January of 2010, I had lost 65 lbs.

The Reward

The Reward

During the summer 2009, after a lot of physical therapy for injuries related to my workouts, and my determination not to stop what I was doing, I started riding my bike. We live in an area that also has a State Park with a great system of trails and roads all around us,  all suitable for cycling. So, at first I would just start riding a few miles here and there. Eventually that increased to 12 & 15 and eventually 20+ mile rides.

This week, I reached a milestone in and ticked something off of my “Bucket List” that I have wanted to do for several months. I rode down our mountain with a friend and then made the return back up the mountain. 5 miles, all up hill… I had one place where I had to stop, and walk for about 5 minutes, just to catch my breath… But, that done, I got back on and rode the rest of the way up…  The picture at the right was the reward once I reached the top of the mountain and the Scenic Overlook in Monte Sano State Park.

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19 July 2009

Marian July 19th, 2009

7-19-2009-Run

Decided to try a little something different today! I did an interval Walk / Run on the Monte Sano 5k Course.  It was really good, I can’ wait to do it again later in the week!

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Travel and Exercise… the Dilemma

Marian July 4th, 2009

IMG_2499

We recently took our annual family holiday. This year, it was the Pacific Northwest.

We arrived and drove to Seaside, OR and had accommodations right along the sea shore. I was looking forward to the next day, planning to get up early and go for a run along the beautiful flat beach. The time arrived and I got up to a chilly morning, headed to the beach and saw it littered with 4″ diameter holes, everwhere along the waterline! It was like a mine field that had recently been cleared! I began my run, and finally slowed to ask someone who was creting the holes what they were dong. The answer: the were digging for clams. When they are at low tide they are apparently easy to find a few inches under the surface of the sand in the wet layers. Who’s a known? Well, got my run in, dodging all of the holes and felt great after, never really feeling the cold.

We were only in Seaside for 3 nights then had to go to Portland (PDX) where my husband was attending a conference. The hotel had a great gym, almost all of the same equipment that my gym at home has! I still managed to get up early to get in a workout with a friend before the kids got up! But, I must say, I missed the chance to run the beach! Oh well, I knew that the opportunity would be there after the conference because we were going back to Seaside before we had to fly home!

I have made it to the gym most days since our return and today eing the 4th of July, I still managed to have a workout, but stayed in the neighborhood and ran my local route!

Picture 2

Nike+ Run Result

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Today’s Workout

Marian June 13th, 2009

ACTIVITY TIME CALORIES BURNED 3292145208_6663594d2e
Treadmill :: Walk / Run 43 min. 420
Walk :: 1.1 Loop 23 min. 191
Walk :: 2.1 Loop 40 min. 324
1 hr. 46 min. 935

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It’s been a while….

Marian June 13th, 2009

It’s been a while since I have made any contributions here!

Me, Winter 2008Since my last post I have undertaken some changes! For the past several years, I have have had a variety of problems with my feet, which has curtailed a lot of my activity. But, last Autumn, I had a catharsis! Time to make a change. As I approach the half century mark in my life, and look to the future with a challenged child, I decided I need to do a little maintenance on myself! I also knew that I would need to learn to work through the pain in my feet. Some days are better than others, and some are really great! But, this whole process is 90% mental!

Picture 1In September, I saw that a new gym was opening near my son’s school.. So, I waited, though September, then October. In October, before the gym was even open, I joined. I waited a while longer and just before Thanksgiving it finally opened! :-)

So begins my journey. I weighed for the first time on 9 December, and found that I was the heaviest I had ever been. That alone help to strengthen my resolve. I had already started going to the gym 5 – 6 days per week. I also began to watch the portions during meals. I have never been a big junk food eater, that wasn’t my problem… I just went for 2nds and 3rds too often! Bread was also a major pitfall for me! I allow for only 1,200 calories per day, and aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio at least 6 days per week. With the help of a great Personal Trainer, I began to incorporate strength training into my workout, and I started seeing results.

By mid December I had started losing weight. On New Years day I was down 11 lbs. In early March it was 20 lbs. Now, here we are in June, and I have lost 40 lbs. I don’t plan to stop here. I now am running a bit, not fast mind you, but running none-the-less!

Today, I have been to the gym and done 2.25 miles on the treadmill and burned 420 calorie in the process, I have also walked 1.15 miles with my children and burned 191 calories. We are going to get in another 2 mile walk before the afternoon is over!

More later!

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