the treadmill diaries

Early last month, I published my exercise calendar for July along with a commitment to feeling stronger and to possibly shedding a few pounds.

So, how did I do?

My targets were to:

• Walk and/or Run – 40 Miles
• Get in 13 Cross-Training Sessions
• Hit Yoga Class once a week

…and to see what if any weight I could lose through this routine.

Before, I share my results ….I have to confess that I leaned a lot more towards this…

…running and soaking up the summer rays. Can anyone really blame me for preferring this over indoor activities? I’m just going to have to move all my workouts outdoors. J

Okay, enough stalling…here’s how I did:

• Walk and/or Run – 40 Miles – Crushed this by getting in 106 miles!
  75 of them were running miles & 31 walking. Not bad, huh?
• Get in 13 Cross-Training Sessions – Only did 4 out of 13
• Hit Yoga Class once a week – Missed all 4 of these L – though 2 of them were due to class cancellations so I’m not totally at fault, right?
• Lose Some Lbs – Though I was hoping for more, I lost 5 lbs. It’s coming off slower than I’d like but my body is changing & feeling stronger.

Though I would have loved to nail every goal, I really can’t complain about the outcome. I had some serious success and we always have room to improve.

So, I’ve been thinking about the approach for August and I’ve changed up a few things in my exercise routine. Take a peek:

As you can see, the biggest change is increasing my daily workout time to 60 minutes a day – 6 days a week. I’m expecting this should do a world of good for me. But, of course, time will tell. Can’t wait to see…wish me luck!

 ….the number of days in a row that I’ve exercised. 

I feel great.

I am stronger.

I’m not stopping. 

Here’s what I’ve done:  http://thetreadmilldiaries.com/365-workout/.

I just came to the realization that I have a serious ‘quirk’ when it comes to sneakers. I intentionally set out to buy a new pair because the shoes I have don’t work or are well passed their prime.

Now, here comes the odd bit.

After I spend a ton of time researching, selecting and ultimately bringing new ones home, I wear them once or twice and then push them to the back of the closet ..only to wear an older pair that I supposedly hate. Huh. Go figure.

Let me illustrate what I mean.

The pattern began two years ago with my first Nike Air Max purchase.  After spending way more than I would have liked to pick these up, I quickly abandoned them for the oldest sneaks in my collection – my Skecher Sports. After the Sketcher Sports had way too many miles, I came into a new pair of them. Since I was just wearing the same sneaks …of course I’d still dig them, right?? WRONG. Back to the Nike Air Max which became my favorite running shoes. As these started to get wear and tear, it was time to grab something new to wait in the wings. Welcome my pair of Brooks. Known for running and helping those of us who are flat-footed, these shoes should have done the trick. NOPE! Let’s say hi again to my 2^nd pair of Skechers. And, when it was time to consider warming up a new back up, I bought the latest version of the Nike Air Max.

Ran in them one weekend and then of course had to go back to the Brooks – which I absolutely hated and now I love. That makes sense.

That leaves the new Nike Air Max patiently waiting on a shoe self for my next sneaker purchase…knowing that I’ll eventually resume our friendship and choose them over the new kid on the block.

So, did you follow all of that? Not sure that I did. J

Basically, I have strange sneaker habits. Don’t know why…and I don’t care to overanalyze it (too much that is outside of seeing the humor in it).

Just tell me I’m not alone in doing stuff like this. What’s something you do that you can’t explain?

Yesterday happened to be one of those days where I thought I had plans and then ended up with none. But, you’re not hearing me complain about it. It left the day open for my husband and I to do whatever we wanted…and it turned out GREAT.

I started things off with a decent breakfast – Fresh Spinach & Provolone Egg White Omelette with Rosemary Focaccia Bread. This egg option is so good that I’ve had it at least 4 days this week. It’s filling yet low cal…and provides enough energy to get through to lunch.

After eating every bite, I spent about an hour cleaning the house. Not sure about you, but having the house in order always helps me to relax and allows me to move on to enjoy other things. Once I was done, it was time for the fun to begin.

Late morning, my husband and I decided to make a pit stop at Starbucks for our favorite lattes – his a mocha, mine plain with nutmeg on top – and for a competitive game of high-tech scrabble on our iPhones. After 30 minutes of intense word sparring, I’m pleased to announce I WON. Though to his credit, Jon did put up a good fight. See:

We then randomly decided we would visit Mine Falls Park – where I ran the Jack London 10K last year – my first trail race and also my first 10K. It was a blast then and it was a blast yesterday too. The 80 degree sunny weather was picture perfect in the wooded trails and around the water. And, the lovely breeze and shade kept things cool and very comfortable for our hike. Check out some of the scenery:

Ooh..and how cool is this mushroom I came across on the trail?

The hike worked up our appetites so we decided to head back home after getting in a couple of miles. We grilled up some marinated steak tips and paired them up with coleslaw, bruschetta, grilled potatoes and a tomato & cucumber salad.

After gobbling dinner down, we settled in for a relaxing rest of the night. Without having planned it, Saturday turned out to be a very good day. And, I was a happy lady.

This post title had me giggling. Probably because it conjured up an image of me literally sitting on a roll of some sort – hot dog, hamburg, French, whatever.

Odd I know but I can’t help myself at times. I can be weird. Or perhaps we can call it ‘quirky’.

ANYWAAAAAAY…shifting topics since this post has nothing to do with bakery products.

Let’s talk exercise. I’m back to doing it again on a consistent basis and it feels wonderful. As some of you know, I was under doctor’s advice to ease back into it. The upside, I was able to start 3 weeks ahead of my surgery recovery schedule.

And after six weeks, I’m proud to say that I’m on a 9-day streak of fitting a workout into my day – mostly walk/run intervals with a couple of resistance programs thrown in for good measure. For full detail, check out my workout log.

Being that I’m pumped and feeling highly motivated after this small success, I decided to jump in head first with a full-blown July workout schedule. Here’s what it looks like:

I’m pretty confident that if I stick to this program in July, I’ll find myself feeling stronger at the end of it (and possibly be down a few pounds too if I’m good about following my nutritional plan). You can help to keep me honest by checking back in on my progress at the end of the 30 days.

So for those of you in the U.S., what did you end up doing for fun this 4^th of July weekend?