Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The 30-Day Shred, Joining a Gym, Doctors & Finding Motivation

Well, I'm finally at Day 6 of Level 2 of the Shred. I feel like it's taken me FOREVER to get to this point, between taking off a couple of days (not in a row) for shin splints, and then having to take off an extra day yesterday because of a migraine.  I feel like I just about get some momentum going, when something gets in my way.  The good news, besides the fact that my last two days off I did make sure to do some free weights (8lbs), crunches and push ups (girly ones, I'm not very strong :)), is that in the past, if I'd taken a day or two off in the middle of a workout run like this, I would have just quit.  I have a big all-or-nothing personality, so anytime I'd start something, if I missed a day, I'd think "Oh well, I've already missed one day, why bother?"

But fortunately, learning to run last year and committing to that helped me to realize that you can miss a day or two here and there, and still come back.  I'm definitely struggling with level 2 of the Shred, to the point where I am drenched in sweat by the time I'm done, but I'm sticking with it.  Despite the fact that I'm terrified of level 3 - my sister said it was the first time she had trouble following the harder girl, while I've been having trouble following the easier girl all along!  But I can just give it my best shot and see how it goes.  I'm starting to see results - I feel stronger and a bit less like I want to keel over by the end of the workout, and I'm down about 1.4 pounds from last week (adding in a bit of dieting helped that too).  The biggest motivator for me (I'm totally embarrassed to admit) has been watching old episodes of La Femme Nikita.  Peta Wilson is in such great shape for the show (which finished up when she was 30, like me) and watching her kick butt makes me want to be stronger and tougher. 

I realize I'm not going to get there on just 20 minutes a day of Shred, so I'm also thinking about joining a gym.  I happened to get a postcard in the mail the other day for the Ocean Club, which is about 15 minutes away from me.  They have a pool and water aerobics classes, which I've always looked for in a gym, and some great group classes offered too.  If I'm going to get in good shape for the Mud Run in July, I'd better get moving.  Plus, my biggest motivator for joining this particular gym is that they have very reasonably priced massages and I'm a sucker for a good massage.  So I'm hoping to get over there on Friday to take a look around and maybe sign up.  They have monthly membership options, which I like, and it would give me a place to keep running in the summer, after I basically fizzled last year because of the humidity.  We'll see what happens.

And in good news for my running career, I've officially made a doctor's appointment for a week today, when I'll be up visiting my parents.  Hopefully I don't have to wait two hours to see him like the last time, but I should be able to figure out my wheezing/coughing/chest tightness, toe injury, stomach pain, and maybe sort something out about the migraines that have been cropping up with more regularity and severity again lately.  We'll see what he says, and hopefully I'll be back running in a couple of weeks' time! 

2 comments:

  1. How did your doctors appointment go ? I am doing the 30 day shred too and I am so out of shape I had to stop it a couple of minutes in because of chest pain or lung tightness I don't know what it was. I will say that when I was in high school I used to run cross country and the migrane stomach pain and so on was the same for me. But u figured out it was my diet. I ran till I was sick basically, and I never wanted to eat I had no appetite - eat clean often is my advice to you ! Even if you don't want to !

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  2. It was so long ago, I don't remember now! I think I probably had bronchitis at the time (I get it a lot). I'm doing the Shred again, and it's taken me forever to get through level 2 without having to stop after each set. You definitely might want to talk to the doctor about the chest tightness, and just make sure you're not having some sort of exercise-induced asthma. Good luck!

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