<p>Thanks, mspearl. It was the second best day of my life (the first was the day my daughter was born…) I thought I would smoke until the day I died. Quitting was totally unplanned, spur of the moment. In fact, my last puff was the first drag off the first cigarette of a new pack I had driven to 7/11 to buy at midnight. I took one puff, snuffed it out, and put it back in the pack to smoke the next day. I never did. Crazy, huh?</p>
<p>Turns out that people who quit spur of the moment with no planning have the best odds of success. Also turns out that it’s the most common way that successful ex-smokers quit.</p>
<p>Did some plyometrics and hang cleans tonight. I tried to max out. Did sets starting with 1x4 reps, then 2x3, 2x2. I failed on my third set of 2, but I had gone up significantly in weight…</p>
<p>Will have to hit it again in a week or so…</p>
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<p>Heart Rate formulas are different for men and women. And neither of them are that accurate… But then again what is very accurate in fitness? ;)</p>
<p>That’s a good reason! Being a nicotine drug addict is no way to live. Huddled in the rain in a doorway to get a fix while the family is enjoying dessert inside the restaurant. It’s like being a leper in this day and age. It’s a horrible way to live.</p>
Went to Dicks at the mall to look for 5-inch running shorts with an iPod pocket. They had such an item by Under Armour and had about 20 in XL, 2 in L and 1 in S. The store clerk looked online for me and found 9-inch, 10-inch and something even longer. Most of the stuff in the store was long, longer and longest. They had a Nike model but nothing with an outside pocket.
So I looked on the web and found something at RoadRunnerSports. It’s a running site and I’ve bought stuff before over there. They have their own brand of running gear in addition to Nike, Adidas, Brooks, etc. I found an online coupon and they have free shipping so I ordered two of them. I’ll pick up a few more if I like them. At some point I’d like to retire the XLs in my collection - maybe even the Ls. But I think that I’ll need a few for tennis.
Yay, BCE. Roadrunnersports is a great site and I’m glad you were smart enough to look for a coupon. I always do that, and since I’m a VIP member, I can get really low-priced running gear. It enables me, though…
Late basketball game last night so running at lunch today. Need an easy effort because I’m running a half-marathon as a training run on Saturday.
<p>It looks like they have good, well-designed stuff and they focus their own products on running. Nike has running stuff but I find that their stuff isn’t the best for running - they have little issues here and there. I do like Asics products but it’s hard to find them locally. So I’m taking a shot at mail-order. I suppose that I could go down to Boston to look for stuff as running is huge down there.</p>
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<p>Sounds like fun. We have some nice weather today and tomorrow and snow on Saturday.</p>
<p>The easy effort disappeared after the first mile. I don’t know why I run too hard on the noon runs. I guess I’m anxious about being gone too long or something. 38 degrees, cloudy, took my hat and gloves off at 4 miles and then wished I hadn’t but didn’t want to stop and reverse everything! 6 miles done. Eating lunch at my desk now.</p>
<p>She outlines her approach to cardio or conditioning. Typically setting a timer for 15 minutes and doing a series of four exercises, each for 30 seconds, with a short rest in between – either long enough to stop panting or using a heart rate monitor to recover. The exercsises can be anything that gets the heart rate up and gets you panting:</p>
<p>med ball slams
burpees
squat jumps
kettlebell swings
sprinting on a treadmill
Airdyne sprints
split squat jumps
jumping jacks
moutain climbers
running in place
dumbbell snatches
Steps and press with DBs
Squat presses with DBs</p>
<p>They sky is the limit. Just pick anything that gets you huffin’ and puffin’ in 30 seconds. The great thing is that you can pick stuff that suits your fitness level. 90 pounds ago, stepping up with a curl/press did it for me. Now, it might be burpees. Or adjust how many you do in 30 seconds.</p>
<p>Neghar posted a YouTube of her short conditioning circuit from Monday:</p>
<p>Terrific stuff, especially for fat loss cardio. The nice thing is that this kind of 15 minute workout could be adapted for home, for gym, for a park outdoors, for a hotel gym, for just about anywhere. Like find an outdoor stairway or a hill and alternate that with burpees or jumping jacks.</p>
<p>2 miles, 7:59 pace. I felt like taking it easy today so I upped the pace. It would be nice if I could do 3 miles at this pace - maybe by the end of the year. Also Ab Dolley Plus, Smith Machine and free weights. A good workout day.</p>
<p>LOL. I guess that might sound a little obnoxious! It is a way to get in the longer marathon training run with company! I am also going to try to use it to get some of my mental issues surrounding racing a little under control by really trying to put NO pressure on myself and by trying to remain a little bit comfortable throughout the 13 miles. We’ll see. It was my daughter’s idea…</p>
<p>I was telling one of our fitness members the other day (an avid runner more of the 5k variety now) when I was going to get back into running… problem is I have about 20 pounds to lose before I can. When I lose the 20 pounds I want to lose, I’m gonna go out and buy a good pair of running shoes and start seriously running. At this point, I am too heavy to think about it; I end up with shin splints bad real quick…</p>
Mspearl, I was 160 down to 127, sometimes i hit 125 like before a special event. Seems 127 is my threshold, and I think it’s because I am more buff. Muscles. So if younhit 130 or127 and can’t seem to go lower, don’t stress yourself. When you are working out along with eating smart, you may hitnyour best weight a few pounds above your ideal. I know I did. Went from a 12 to a 6. But my bones seem to be dense. I can stand next to my niece who is my size but she is ten pounds lighter and has bigger chest! You r doing great, keep it up, and what did was set mini goals, like 2 pounds by valentines day, that skirt for easter, worked for me. I want to be 125, such a pretty number, but even with step mill, treadmill, burn, 8 miles walking a day, etc, 127 seems to be what my body likes
