Time to Get Serious

I feel like I’ve used that title before.

A while back (July 29 to be exact), I had a grand plan to start going to the YMCA to get my ass in shape.  Then one of the boys got sick and there was no way I was going to leave them in the “free” child care at the gym.  My plan got deferred for a week (I like to start on Mondays – I’m weird), which seemed like no big deal.  Then we went out for breakfast with B’s parents and he and his mom had a conversation about leaving your kids in the child care at the gym – and that we don’t know the people working there.  I sort of rolled my eyes at this conversation, but then took it to heart as I pondered it.  Don’t read into this – B was perfectly fine with the boys going to the gym child care while I worked out, but hearing them talk about how we don’t know those people made me not OK with that plan.  So I didn’t work out, and I didn’t work out, and I didn’t work out.

There is a pretty big cross-country race here that we’ve done a few times together, and registration for it was this past Saturday.  I knew it was the motivation B needed to get running again, so I offered to sign him up.  I mentioned that I was jealous that I couldn’t do it too but that the boys and I would enjoy cheering him on.  I also mentioned that I’m not in any shape to run that race and then lamented the fact that I wasn’t going to the YMCA because of the conversation he and his mom had about the child care.

And then he said, “we have a treadmill in the basement, and you have at least an hour of nap time each day to run if you want to.”

That’s just what I needed to hear.  How could I have forgotten that?  I mean, that treadmill is the source of many a joke in this house.

(There is some history behind this piece of exercise machinery.  It was my grandpa’s and when his house was being prepped for sale, B and our friend drove down to get it, and carried it up a very narrow staircase to hoist it into the truck for me.  As they were trying to maneuver it around the staircase (built in 1950), B told me that he was about to just leave it there because getting it out was going to be impossible.  But they did it!  They then drove it home 2 hours and had to figure out a way to carry the beast into our basement.  We got it all setup, with treadmill track under it to protect it from carpet fibers, and it sat there.  For a long time.  Of course that didn’t stop us from buying a TV for that room so that I’d have something to watch when I decided to use it.  Then we finally got pregnant and I decided to try it out, and B caught me jogging on it 5 days after our first successful transfer.  I was forbidden from using it again “after all we’ve gone through to get you pregnant,” So it just sat there.  Then I never got the motivation to use it again.  And we dropped cable.  So now it’s in the only spare room we really have with a TV that has no means of displaying a single TV show.  And that treadmill, and the TV, have sat unused for 3 years.  Until today.)

I took B’s words to heart and put on my (tight-fitting) running clothes prior to my big kid’s nap so I’d be ready.  I laid with him until he fell asleep (just a couple of minutes – it gets easier and faster every day) and then I was out of there!  I grabbed the monitor for the baby’s room and headed downstairs with my phone so I could stream some SVU on Net.fli.x.  Of course the emergency “key” was missing from the treadmill so I had to track that down (thank you, little man, for bringing that upstairs a while back), but I found it quickly and I got all setup.  I even stretched!  I walked for one mile at 3.5 mph, then jogged for 2 miles at 4.0 mph (an admittedly light jog), and then finished with a 1 mile walk at 3.5 mph and a 3.5 incline.  I moved my body (as Josey would say!) for 65 minutes and burned 432 calories.  My average pace was 15:55 which is slow, but acceptable to someone who hasn’t run in over a year.

So yeah – I did that today!  And it felt great!  And it motivated me to sign up for that race with B (I cannot believe I got in!).  And it motivated me to take photos (GASP!).  And it motivated me to start my fitness tracking spreadsheet.  And it motivated me to stop eating like crap and just take better care of myself.

It’s time to get serious.  I will log my progress here each week with photos (gasp again!) if I get around to it each Monday (I plan to and even set a reminder on my phone!).

I’m in pain tonight, and I will be tomorrow for sure when I wake up, but as I know from my fitness past, this pain will be gone soon enough.

Starting weight: 177.6 (10 pounds more than when I got pregnant – GAH!)

Current weight: 177.6

Target weight after 10 weeks:  159.6 pounds

Target weight loss after 10 weeks: 18 pounds

What I currently look like (A new version of the bump photos – HA!):