75 Hard Day 6

Today was a bit easier than yesterday. I slept better last night. I think that helped. My ankle is doing a bit better which made it a bit easier to get my workouts in. My first workout was 45 minutes on the Gazelle while I watched the news. My second workout was a strength routine on the front porch. I did it in the front because I wanted to do step-ups, and we don't have steps in the backyard. It was a bit difficult and I wanted to quit after about 30 minutes and just walk around the block, but I kept going until the 45 minutes were up. (I'll post my front porch workout on my main blog tomorrow.) Drinking a gallon of water was easy today. I had drank all of it by dinner and kept going until a little while after my last workout. The last 30ish minutes of my fasting period went by so slow. I made a smoothie to break the fast, and it felt so good in my stomach! I need to have them more often. I crave them sometimes and tell myself that they are a hassle to make, but they really aren't. I finished "I am Malala" tonight. I will work on finishing the next book starting tomorrow. I am so thankful for this goal. It has shown me that I can make time to sit quietly and read something other than homework. Overall, I would say today was a successful day. Best of all, I do not feel broken. 

75 Hard Day 5

Today was really hard. I feel like I am breaking. I don't know if it is the challenge, the fact that I didn't sleep much last night, or other life circumstances. Of course, it could be a combination. I have to quit my Glow Up challenge which was specific exercises daily, Monday through Friday. My injured ankle has been getting worse as I do the jumping jacks and butt kicks. I also can't really run until it heals a bit. Today, I did some yoga and went for a walk. I don't enjoy yoga very often, but it actually felt good today. I may need to do this video more often. The fasting part was a bit more difficult than it should have been because I took Noel to 7-11 and had to wait to eat my snack for about 3 hours. I made it and was quite proud, but it was hard. I know I need to make better food choices during my eating window. I have the food in the house, so I will make a better effort tomorrow. Hopefully, that will help me feel fuller longer. All I have left to do tonight is my reading. I will read the next 10 pages of "I am Malala." It is an easy read, so it won't take too long. 

75 Hard Day 4

 

Today was a bit more difficult. I struggled with the desire to workout. I had planned to do yoga with the Wii, but the controllers didn’t work. I hopped on the Gazelle instead. Then, I sat and talked to Noel until I made dinner and left for a youth activity. By the time we got home it was almost 8:30, and I still needed to do my workout outside.  With my right achilles hurting, I opted for a walk. The cool breeze felt good, and I don’t regret doing it. It was hard to convince myself to get out and do it, though. 

Tomorrow, I will hook up my dvd player and do some yoga from my videos. If my tendon feels better, I’ll get that run in that my body is craving. 

75 Hard Day 3

Today was a bit harder in some ways and easier in others. When I’m working is the main time I snack, so fasting until10am was really hard. I sensed up drinking half of my gallon of water trying to clam the hunger pains. I texted a friend who has done intermittent fasting to get some ideas on how to stay full longer and implemented some of them during my eating window today. I hope it will make it better tomorrow. The workouts weren’t too bad. I played tennis with Chad for one workout. That was nice. The other one was a bit more difficult because I hurt my ankle and tried to do jumping jacks. I will wrap it tomorrow to see if it helps. Other than that it is now 9pm and I still need to do a ton of homework that is due tonight. I’ve got to get my schedule figured out better. 

75 Hard Day 2

Today was a good day. I did a bike ride in the afternoon and some strength work tonight. Having a day off helped. Honestly, I’m a bit concerned about it working with all of my other responsibilities. I’m crossing my fingers. 

75 Hard Day 1

I have officially completed day one of 75 Strong. It wasn’t too bad. I know other days when I have more to do will be harder, but I am ready for them. I have a plan. 

Day 1 picture:

100 Day Challenge

I saw this video today of a lady who went to the gym for 100 days. I can't really pay the money to join a gym right now, but I do have some X-Box and Wii programs as well as a lot of videos I can do. I am going to try the 100 day challenge. I am going to work out for 100 days. It is a new year. I need a new start!

Success

Yesterday, the hubby and I completed our first 5K! He ran the whole thing, and I ran probably about half of it. When I was done, I couldn't believe that I had actually finished. It was both hard and rewarding.
Most of the difficulties of the run were self-inflicted. We procrastinated signing up so long that by the time we did the earliest we could start was 10:30. That was a good time to get well rested before the race, but it meant that we were running in 80 to 90 degree weather. The next problem was that I didn't drink any water before the race. If there hadn't been a watering station in the middle, I would not have made it through. The worst mistake that I made was to eat a fast food breakfast on the way down. It was too heavy and too greasy to eat before running and caused problems.
I think the reward is obvious. I finished. I didn't give up. When I was ready to give up, my sister, my nephew husband, and one of my best friends along with her sons were there to cheer me on. I finished in about 47 minutes.
I am so glad that I did this. I will definately run another 5K, and I can't wait until I can do my first 10K, the Boulder Boulder, next year!

Quick note:
My favorite quotes of the day came from my little 5 year old nephew:
     "This doesn't taste like corn..." (Talking about the "color bombs" made of colored cornstarch.)
     "That is devastating right there." (Pointing out that I had lost a safety pin that had been holding on my running bib.)

Before the Race

At the Finish Line

My Cute Nephew and Me

Hubby, Awesome Friend, and Me

He Got A Bit Messy