Heeeeellllloooooo out there!

I’ve missed you! I hope you’ve all been well since I last saw you.

I know I’ve been completely MIA for the past week but I was giving myself a little recharge week.  I took a break from pretty much everything.  No blogging, no running, actually no exercising at all (this was a tough one!) and no real thinking about what I was eating.  You might be saying to yourselves Why on earth would you do that? And it’s a fair question so I am going to try to answer it for you.

First things first though….

Have you missed this face?

Ok, back to the task at hand.

Lately, with the exception of my long runs,  I’ve been feeling pretty unmotivated and more importantly un-excited about exercise.  My long runs were leaving me feeling great and with the feeling that I had really achieved something, but everything else was leaving me feeling just kind of blah.  

And after getting sick at the end of last weekend, I thought it would be a good time to step back, take a week off and re-evaluate.

I even went as far as to not allow myself to exercise.  I know that sounds really weird but I wanted to remind myself how much I really enjoy it and more than that, how much I need daily exercise in my life.  I was starting to take for granted the simple ability to exercise.  The fact that I am able to get up, get out and work on my fitness is a gift and I needed to remember that.  I also needed to remember that it should be fun!  If I wasn’t getting much enjoyment out of what I was doing, then it was time to change it up.

Through the week, I started to think about what I find fun in work outs.  I really like the running, and with the half marathon coming up that definitely needs to stay.  But for my cross training days, I needed to change it up.  I remembered that I always, always enjoy Body Pump, but haven’t done it since before the wedding.  I love the way it challenges your muscles, is set to fun music and flies by!

(Photo Source)

The other thing I remembered that I really enjoy is Zumba!   A couple of years ago when I was in my last year of college and living with my brother, I had the Zumba DVD’s and I used to have a little solo zumba party every day in our lounge room.  I had the shaking sticks and the whole sha-bang-a-bang.  And it really worked for me! I love love love dancing of any kind and I remember how much fun it was and how exhausted and awesome I would feel afterwards.  So… Zumba will be making a return appearance in my workout schedule and I’m so excited!! I may even buy myself some official Zumba clothing just to feel extra motivated.  Hmmmm…I’ll think about that one.

SO… after taking some time, and thinking about it, this is what my new schedule is (roughly) going to look like.

You’ll notice there are a lot of /OR’s in there so I can have some flexibility with my runs and how I’m feeling on certain days, but the basic idea is there.  This plan has me running about 3-4 times a week, zumba once a week, body pump once or twice and a yoga session.  It all starts tomorrow, Yay!!

It’s amazing how much more excited I am already about my work outs.  Wish me luck!

…………….

Today, just knowing that my week off was over had me waking up in a good mood and ready for the day.

Breakfast…

I started off with a delicious bowl of overnight oats with a new-to-me pear Chobani.

And some fresh blueberries and blackberries.

And I popped some new gummy vitamins that Chris picked up for us.

A little added immunity support is just what this girl needs!

 

Workout…

After sitting around for a little while and catching up with Chris about his early morning surf, I headed on off to the gym.  It’s been a while!

I hopped on the treadmill and did an easy 4 miles finished off with 5 minutes of incline walking.

After the mill, I went over to the mat and did some basic ab work, planked my little heart out and sttttrrrrreeeeetttcccchhheedd for a good 15 minutes.  It feels good to be back!

And now I’m showered and off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday.  I hope you’re all doing the same.

 

Question;

Have any of you changed up your routine lately? Anything new that you’re loving? 

 

*Note*

A really good buddy of ours had to say goodbye to his best dog-pal Lizzy this week.  After 13 years together.  Lizzy was truly an awesome dog who had an awesome life.  She hiked in the snow, hucked off rocks into the water, chased many frisbees, rafted the Truckee river and did everything a dog could only dream of.

We’ll miss you Lizzamonsters!