Week Three: Day Two

Today was a little frustrating. Waking up at 4:30am meant I was exhausted all day long. I could barely force myself off the couch to do my run, and when I did, my GPS malfunctioned and said I only ran one mile. The time kept going though, so that's something. I at least know I'm hovering around 21:00 exactly for the 1.8 mile loop. I was hoping to shave off another 30 seconds or so, but it was all I could do just to finish today.

My diet was awful, for the same reason I had to wake up so early. A 24 hour shift for my husband pretty much guarantees that my day will be nonstop running around, so I planned to eat poorly today from the start. I still managed to make sure I got around 125 grams of protein though, so it could be a lot worse.

I'm going to go rest up and make sure I can give everything I've got tomorrow. It's deadlift day, and I'm hoping to increase my weight again. See you then!

Week Two: Day Four

Heya guys! I just got back in from my run. Sorry to say I don't have an Endomondo screeshot for you all today, but it was raining and I was worried about getting my poor phone all wet. That thing's been through enough already. That also means I ran without music for the first time in ages, and I didn't even realize how much it was helping me. I think I might finally make an effort to get music with a specific BPM to help me keep a consistent pace from now on. Even without the music today I was much better at maintaining speed than I used to be.

Unsurprisingly, I ran the same loop I always do, 1.8 miles around my neighborhood. I feel as though I shaved off a little more time, but I didn't have my trusty phone with me to be sure, so there's really no telling outside of the "20-ish minute" usual. I am sure that I'm improving, however. Again, I ran further without needing a walk period, and only walked one section total. Another couple days and I should be able to do the entire loop in one go!!

Again, though, my diet today has been terrible. My husband is on guard duty, which means if I want to eat with him, we have to have something super fast. Our only options on post are Burger King, Popeye's and things of that nature, so I work with what I've got, I suppose.
No breakfast, other than a cup of coffee, and lunch was a meal at Popeye's worth about 700 calories/17 grams of protein. I've got a bag of beef jerky to munch on throughout the day to help me keep my protein up, as well as my usual Designer Whey shake. I'm not sure what dinner will be yet, since that mostly depends on how much time we have allotted, but it's a safe bet that it'll be comparable to lunch, which gives me somewhere around 2100 calories and 130 grams of protein. Acceptable.

Week Two: Day Two

Not gonna lie, I put my run off for way too long today. I had a bunch of things to do this morning, so I convinced myself the run had to wait, even though it really made zero difference what order I did my chores in. As one might expect, seeing as how I live in Hawaii, it got hot by the time I made it outside around 2:30pm. Whelp, lesson learned I suppose!

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised with my performance. Despite the heat, I did fairly well.

Look! A whole 15 seconds off!

More important than the precious seconds shaved off my time, I completed my goal! I finished the first mile without walking at all! Admittedly, it tired me out enough that I walked a little extra during the second half, but hey, progress!

My ultimate goal for a 2 mile run is about 16:00 but cutting my time a full 5 minutes is going to be pretty difficult. I'm not going to be too disappointed if I don't get there, but I've always said 'Go big or go home' so why stop now! I'm under no delusions that this will happen quickly though, so in the mean time, my next milestone goal is just to finish the 1.8 mile loop without walking.

Good Night, and Good Luck!

Day Four: Running

Just came back in from my second run day. There isn't a whole lot to say, other than I managed to shave off about a minute. It's not much, but it's certainly a start!

Somehow, I also managed to make my neighborhood loop .02 miles shorter. Silly GPS.

I'm feeling pretty okay. A little bit better than last time. Hopefully next week I can pull off the first mile without needing to walk at all. 

Wish me luck!

Day Two: Running

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely hate to run. It has been this way for as long as I can remember, no matter how much I try. I'm terrible and slow, but hopefully given a little time and practice, I'll get a little better, and maybe I won't hate it as much. I'll never be a runner. I'm perfectly okay with that. It's not an endorphin thing, it's not just that I'm bad at it. It's just nowhere near my idea of a good time.

That being said, I went running today. And I'm actually a little proud of myself. I was still slow, you can see that for yourself:

See? Terrible. Don't judge.

But I made myself do it and I didn't give up, and that feels excellent. Lucky for me, running is a pretty small part of my routine. I'll only be doing it twice a week tops.

A lot of people tend to swear by cardio, insisting that without it, fat loss isn't possible, but I'm here to tell you guys that's just not true. The body is a machine. If you take in fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. It's true that cardio is great at burning those calories, but if you hate it as much as I do, find something else that works for you. Something you love will always work better than something you hate simply because you'll stick with it. I figured this out the hard way, and it's why cardio is such a small part of what I do now.

Alright folks, I'm going to grab a big giant glass of water. I'll see you all again tomorrow!