Rain rain...

Sitting here shaking during a thunderstorm. Or possibly sitting here shaking because I lifted weights tonight like a champ! I prefer the latter but the first is much more likely.

Had a really great spin class yesterday evening and felt good about adding something new to my workouts. Tonight I had a brief jog and focused on a weight routine. I'm still quite happy with my fitness app which has hundreds of exercises to target specific areas and allows you to track or customize a routine. It's encouraging to see weight and reps increase and is a reminder that I can do it if I stick with it!

So, while it may be a sleepless night, I'm hoping the rain will wash away the heat and bring on some cooler temperatures. I'm ready for my favourite season.

Goodnight

Time for bed! What a weekend, a good one but oh man did I get in over my head. It started with a great idea to paint my living room. Two days later, a bucket of paint, several cans of spray paint, some new accessories for my room and achy hands and I'm back to working out.

Had a great run today, felt like it was getting easier and I focused on getting my form and breathing right on rather than speed. Finished with weights and planks and I'm feeling good overall. Looking foward to taking some classes this week to mix up my workouts and challenge myself with some variation.

Need to keep it up to keep up with this one...

Beautiful thing

A late night last night and an early morning today had me grasping for some form of energy boosting drink/food this afternoon. I managed to make it through the day, a busy one at that, and opted on a post dinner workout to avoid the university crowd.

Today was a solid weight day with a warmup of rowing. Not gonna lie, have never really paid attention to the rowing machine but some recent articles about the benefits have peaked my interest. Tonight I didn't have a particular area of focus and did a total body workout. Putting my hair up in a ponytail afterwards had my arms screaming so I'm sure tomorrow will be once heck of a slow moving day. But, I think I'm okay with it.

"Behind every beautiful thing, there is some kind of pain" Bob Dylan

10:51

It's a short week and cramming in everything that needs to be done is proving to be challenging. I had an appointment after work today so I wasn't able to get a workout in until after 8. Now, if you know me, you know I would rather be at home, tea in hand and reading with my feet up. Nope. Not me. Not today. I got in there, got it done, and am happy all the University kids had cleared out by then. Add a stop at the grocery store post workout and it's got me here at 10:51 pm. Way past my bedtime.

Despite a late finish, I'm happy, I'm sore, I'm in need of a shower and I'm looking forward to doing it all over again tomorrow.

Dear body...

Dear body, 

I am sorry for the torture I've put you through. Sorry for the carb laden escapades followed by inactivity. Sorry for the cheesecake, the lattes, for my love of crackers and all things butter. Sorry for my torrent affair with ice cold beer on super hot summer days. Sorry for those s'mores too, although Reese peanut butter cups in place of regular chocolate was a borderline genius moment in my life. 

I'm not sorry for the soreness in every step today. I'm not sorry for the hamper of sweaty stinky gym clothes this week that I have to deal with. I'm not sorry for waking you up early this weekend to get an early morning run and workout in before a busy day. I'm not sorry for the multiple baths ran to soothe achy muscles.

So body, while I feel you may hate me right now, I'm learning to love and resect you more and more.

Love, N.

Ps. Tomorrow, we do it all over again, and then some...

Listen hard

Happy to report that I have worked out the past 3 days. No skipping, no lame excuses, just a valid attempt to get back at it. And I am sore. Fricking absolutely sore. Serves me right for some intense weight sessions along with running after all this time. But, better to be sore than sorry.

This long weekend will be a short one for me. I have a 7 am flight to Vegas on the holiday Monday for 10 days. Some work, some play, and lots of taking in the scenery and experience. Tomorrow will be crammed - early am run, brunch and some fam jam time. 

Tomorrow is also 4 years since my dad passed. Can't believe it, still feels like yesterday. He was always my biggest fan and I know if he was here he would encourage and guide me to follow my heart and dreams. He always understood me, listened to me, and made me laugh when I wanted to cry. He was so genuine, sincere and showed me how to be strong. He smiled with his eyes, just like I do.

I'd give anything to talk to you right now. Miss you and love you. 

A day without...

August. August is like the Sunday of summer. Can't believe there at 30 days left until school buses clog up the morning commute and open toed footwear becomes borderline inappropriate.

Today I had a short, but solid run. It felt great to get moving after a day in the office and I complimented my 5k with a good upper body weight session. My vacation afforded me a chance to skim through my reference books and I'm going to start following a plan again to keep me on track and help prevent injuries.

I'm realizing some things just occupy a big part of mind, and I need to do something about it...