It's kind of funny that things are pretty easy for me right now, and that doesn't seem to give me much to blog about.

Thanks to the few 'new' people who have dropped by and left me a comment - I really appreciate the support!

Workouts have been going well - though, now that I'm over my cold I seem to have hit the 'hormonal' time of the month.  Retaining water, tired and craving sweets - yay!  Good news is if I stay focused this can end up being a really strong week.

Friday the 'tireds' hit me hard, but I still managed to make it to the gym.  It took a lot mentally to start each set, but once I lifted it, it wasn't that hard so it's obvious that the exhaustion I was feeling was something other then physical.  Hit my chest workout, did some abs and then my '100 pushups' - looked like this:

Incline Barbell Bench Press:  6 reps x 115 lbs x 3 sets (hopefully this helps explain my shorthand Kim!)
Dumbbell Bench Press: 6 x 50 x 3
Chest Dip: 8 (with 155lbs of assist)
Hanging Leg Raise: 10, 10
Cable Kneeling Crunch: 10 x 110 x 2
100 Pushups - Week 2 day 2: 5, 3, 4, 4, 7

Finally got around to my last run of the week on Sunday - It was an amazing day. So I grabbed my running partner



(he was more enthusiastic then it looks)

and off we went!

I wasn't sure how this was going to go - 20 minutes of solid running. But hey, the weather was great, the dog was excited to be out on a run with me -- I figured I would go out and do my best. Only bummer out of the whole thing was that I somehow turned off my watch after the first 5 minutes and didn't figure it out until about 10 minutes later... but I still feel like I had a great run and the dog and I enjoyed the entire experience. Made it 1.91 miles in 25 mintes for a pace of 13:05 including a 5 minute walking warm-up... I take it!.

The best part was getting to dress like this while running!



Yes, it's January here too...

Monday - tired and frustrated because my arm strength sucks! but did a decent bi workout.

alternated Dumbbell Curl: 6 x 30 x 2
Barbell Curl: 5 x 60 x 2
EZ Curl Bar Curl: 6 x 55
20 Pull-ups: Week 2 Day 1: 1,2,1,1,10 w/155 assist

Then I hopped on the treadmill - I don't normally run two days in a row so I was a little unsure how it would go, but I figured 'what the heck'.  It was a 'back-off' day with only 5, 8, and 5 minute runs with 3 minute rest intervals.  Was actually pretty easy.

2 miles - 29 minutes

Yesterday was shoulders - still dealing with the blahs, but by then I had figured out the cause.  Once I had done that it was easy to take my focus on how tired and cranky I was feeling and force myself to think about hearts, flowers and .... well generally not make it worse by getting sucked into the PMS blackhole of blah thinking vicious cycle.

Dumbbell Press: 6 x 40 x 3
Side Lateral Raise: 6 x 25 x 2
Bent-over Raise: 6 x 22.5 x 2
100 Pushups: Week 2 Day 3: Total Pushups: 30 Sets: 5, 7, 5, 5, 8

Last night -- well the monthly bout of insomnia hit... stupid night to forget to take my bedtime sups, but it is what it is - when I'm laying there looking at the clock at 2:00AM it's the wrong time to go pop the sleepy time pills - lol  I was slow to get up but forced myself to the gym anyway.  I was glad I did.  While I was setting up my squats, I had an older gentleman (by older I mean older then me) come up and ask me about my Manta Ray

He was really nice (and in good shape) and we got into a conversation about weight lifting, knee rehab and other random stuff.  He ended up asking me if I was a powerlifter, because I was lifting so much weight.  He totally meant it as a compliment and I took it as one.

Barbell Squat: 6 reps x 215 lbs x 3 sets
Angled Leg Press: 6 x 630 x 2
Lying Hamstring Curl: 6 x 95 x 2
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 6 x 185 x 2


Then another guy complimented my strength right before telling me I should be using a weightlifting belt for my deadlifts. He didn't seem to understand that I didn't use a weight lifting belt because I'm working on whole body strength. I never do deadlifts to failure and focus on lifting with my glutes/hamstrings. I use my core to stabilize my back and thus avoid having to do things like planks or 'core workouts' (ick!). Seems to me that using a weight lifting belt kind of defeats the purpose... but, what do I know? I'm just a girl who picks things up and puts them down ;)

Oh yeah - also did
Twenty Pullups workout - Week 2 Day 2 - total reps 17 made up of sets: 3, 2, 1, 1, 10

That pretty much brings us up to date.  Food wise - I've been great.  Small cravings for sweets but nothing that can't be silenced with a little 85% dark chocolate.  Feeling strong and relatively happy considering the hormonal timeframe.  I'm smiling a lot more then I'm not.

Oh - should be publishing some progress photos soon too - I'm kind of excited to see if I can see the changes I'm feeling...