Look at my clavicle! What do you mean, you can't see it?

Plans have changed a bit. I realized that tomorrow the school's fitness center will be closed (they're changing out all of the aerobic equipment for new machines, wee!), so I've got no workout plans. In lieu of this catastrophic news, I decided to forgo shoveling today so I'll have something to do tomorrow, and instead decided to kill it on the treadmill.

I ran two miles at 21:30, did a hill workout on a stationary bike for 12 minutes, and then did 16:30 minutes of interval work back on the old treadmill (one mile of intervals, .4 mile recovery). Intervals were separated by 1:00 @ 4.0, and went as follows: 2:45 @ 5.5, 1:00 @ 6.0, 1:00 @ 6.2, 1:00 @ 6.4, 1:00 @ 6.2, 1:00 @ 6.00, 2:45 @ 5.5. So today was a 3 mile day. Not too shabby. I haven't run that far since the Turkey Trot I did with my sister on Thanksgiving, so I'll take it as a win, even if it has to come in parts. A mile is a mile is a mile.

This is me post-shower:

Ignore the goofy face and peace sign, and look at the index finger pointing to the imaginary clavicle. I've always wanted a clavicle. That would be a nice spot for one. Okay, I know I have one, I just want to be able to see it. I'm touching it in this photo, but you really can't tell. Add that to the list of goals. Goal-related post coming soon.

You know you've had a good workout when...

...you look like this:

A miracle that I still somehow manage to appear happy (I kid!).

Now don't get me wrong, I am an exceptional sweater by society's standards. It could be the dead of winter, I'll be sitting in a t-shirt, and I'll still have sweat stains. However, I would consider this t-shirt a mark of greatness. I nearly saturated the whole thing! Anyway, today I killed it at the gym - I ran 3.0 miles in 34:25, which is a good time for me. Then I biked for a while, and I finished up with 2.0 miles worth of intervals, working up to 6.2 mph (super speedy!) from 5.0 mph and then back down. One of the better gym workouts I've had. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the treadmill and gyms? Maybe not recently, but I hate them. Today was positive, though!

Also, this was my second workout of the day! After watering my garden this morning I went to visit a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while for a kayaking adventure! One friend lives on a lake, so we spent an hour and a half circumnavigating the shoreline and a couple of little islands. All in all, a pretty awesome day!

Let me leave you with some more post-workout views (because I know how much everyone loves a good sweat sodden t-shirt):

I like how the pit stain is indistinguishable from boob and/or back sweat.

This is my victorious pose!

P.S. - The back of the t-shirt reads, "Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees."

Progress! Change! Woo!

Sometimes I feel silly while running on a treadmill. Every step I take my gut and my love handles just bounce up and down. I'd like to be able to see myself run, I think I might get a kick out of it.

Anyway, I haven't written in a while,but that doesn't mean I haven't been running! It was nigh impossible over break (roads too dangerous and no gym), but once school started up again the first thing I did on Monday the 12th was head to the gym. I ran a mile at a 12:00 pace to see how I'd do. It was a little bit tough near the end, but I got through it without too much difficulty. I think that I could have kept going, but I didn't want to push myself too much. Tuesday I went back to the gym and struggled through a half mile. I've never really run on consecutive days (I was doing the couch to 5k program which had full rest days), so this was pretty big for me. I pushed myself to finish a half mile, but I knew my body didn't want to go much farther than that.

Wednesday I rested, and Thursday I headed back to the gym. I set a goal of 15:00 (1.25 miles), and by the time I got there, I decided I was comfortable enough running that I should keep going, so I pushed my goal to 18:00 (1.5 miles). I just kept going until I got to 20 minutes - it required a bit of an extra push, but a run should be challenging. I was so proud of myself, I almost threw my hands into the air at the gym, but then I realized that I might embarrass myself a little and refrained.

After that hard run (my longest treadmill run! wee) I took Friday off and got swimming lessons from my friend Annie on Saturday. I always thought I could swim, you know, I can move from Point A to Point B in a somewhat timely manner. We spent almost the whole time on breathing and form. Damn! It's hard. It was fun, though, and a pretty good work out. Before, I never really liked to use my legs when I swam and she made me, so my legs were a bit sore. I went to the gym again on Sunday and ran a mile (all of my runs are set to a 12:00 pace on treadmills). Monday I went swimming again. Tuesday no gym. Woops.

Now Wednesday. Wednesday was a day I was proud of. My goal was to run for 15:00. At about 12:00 I was starting to feel it, and I pushed myself to make it to 15:00, and I made it. I did my cool down walk and two minutes into it, I thought to myself, "I think I can run more, and I want to!" I finished my cool down, and then reset the treadmill for another 9:00. It was hard to stay motivated mentally, and my eyes kept wandering back to the timer, but my body was totally fine with it. I required a bit of a mental push around 7:00 in, but I just told myself that only 2:00 were left - I had already run for 22:00, what's another two? Awesome day at the gym. Not my longest uninterrupted run on a treadmill, but the most distance I covered by running on a treadmill. Pretty cool! Running for so long made me a couple of minutes late to work though. Woops again! They didn't mind, luckily.

I usually go to the gym before class, but I have to do a load of laundry and I wanted to write a post because I haven't written one in forever, so I'm going to go around lunchtime. My goal for the day is 8:00!

Finals

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Haven't you heard? Finals are here! Hooray!

But seriously, I'm really tired. Yesterday I had three papers due. Thursday I was pretty much writing for a full 24 hours aside from my one hour radio show, meals, a meeting, and the 5 hours of sleep I managed to get (and I'm pretty darn cranky when I don't get at least 8). I made an effort to get to the gym on Thursday, but the world seemed to be against me. It's probably better that it happened that way in any case, because my quads and glutes were pretty sore from lunges on Wednesday. When I say pretty sore, I mean I felt it with every step I took. So I couldn't get to the gym yesterday morning (finals were all due in the afternoon), so I went right after I handed my last one in. I was pretty tired, having only slept 5 hours, but I managed to run about a combined total of 13 minutes during intervals, I rowed for 25 minutes, and I biked for 10 minutes as a cool down. I really wish it were warmer and not so icy (Massachusetts was just hit with a HUGE ice storm - power is out all over the state) so that I could run outside, but I suppose I should just suck it up and shut up about it. The weather won't change just because I want it to.

I haven't been eating well lately. Finals time prompts a lot of my friends to bake, and I consequently eat whatever they decide to throw in the oven. Tonight is one of my best friend's birthday parties (good thing I don't drink, what a waste of calories!), and beforehand they're going to be making gingerbread houses at her apartment. My goal for the night is to not pick at the candy laid out and to make a house for someone else and not myself.

I got the keys to my new apartment yesterday (a block away from where I currently live) so I'll be moving starting tomorrow, hopefully. I have a little bit of time before I have to go to work, but I'm going to get in a workout. No point in starting to move when I don't know which bedroom I'm taking and I've barely started to pack.