A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gym

Hi to all my new readers!! Welcome to my blog! I've noticed a lot of new people leaving comments, which I'm so excited about. I think that sometime this weekend, I'm going to update my Google Reader to include all of you :) I love reading other people's blogs, because they are so inspiring, and I love when I get those "Oh someone else is going through what I'm going through" moments.

This week is my first cross-training week, an idea I came up with while I was bored this weekend. I guess I also want to boost my stamina for running, since I feel like I don't have enough to actually get through these longer runs that are coming up. I guess I'm getting intimidated that the next three weeks of C25K are 25, 28, and 30 minute runs, three days a week. How did I get here? Should I really be here? Am I ready for that? I guess the truth is that I am, but at the same time, my good friend intimidation is setting in. I can't believe that by the end of these first six weeks of summer (for me, summer starts when the summer session at my university starts) I will be able to run for 30 minutes straight. A 5K is another thing. I'll worry about distance later.

I'm really enjoying my cross-training. On Tuesday, I split up my time by doing 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the stationary bike with a 5 minute warm up/cool down on the treadmill. Today, I started with a 5 minute warm up on the treadmill, then did 10 minutes on the stairmaster (whodathunkit?? that I'd be on the stairmaster!), followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical (I think I'm an addict, I just love it), and 10 minutes on the rower. At first, that was tough, but once I got into the rhythm (and imagining myself in a boat on the Charles as part of the Harvard crew team). My arms are burning a bit right now, but I loved my workout today! Seriously! I feel energized and I'm amazed at my body. I don't think I've lost any weight this week, but at the same time, the fact that my body allows me to do these things that I wasn't able to do before... I am just so thankful for that ability that we take for granted. There are many people who would love to be able bodied, and those of us who are and don't use it are just wasting it.

One more thing... I've given myself the luxury of stretching after each workout. I go into my gym's gym (lol), take one of the workout mats and stretch for about five minutes. It really helps with the soreness and it gives me some time to meditate on what I just did.