Furlough Week 2: Strength Training

Through my weekly running over the past six months, I have grown comfortable with running 6 miles.  I don't feel exhausted, I don't ache afterwards, but I still feel like I've accomplished something. 

This past Monday, I thought I would switch it up and do a strength training workout.  I wanted to do a p90x, but our weights were locked in our storage closet, and our storage closet keys were in the city with Chip.  I turned to my old favorite- fitnessblender.com.  Fitness Blender is AMAZING- it has a ton of workouts of varying length, difficulty, and body areas.  I chose the Total Body Tabata workout.  45 minutes of HITT and Toning seemed like a great reintroduction to upper body training and strength training.  As a friend recently pointed out to me, no one sees your legs in a wedding dress; they see your back, arms and shoulders

You can find the workout here: http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/workout-detail/Total-Body-Tabata-Workout-45-Min-HIIT-and-Toning-Routine/eg/

Tuesday, I woke up and MAN WAS I SORE.  I thought, with the running, I was working all of my muscles.  Goes to show that my body really does adjust to what I put it through.  Running just isn't pushing me as hard anymore.  100 squats, though, I felt.

This really inspired me to vary my workouts. I had sort of forgotten what "sore" felt like.  After running the 13 last weekend, I was sore for an hour or so after the run, but then my muscles relaxed and I drank water.  I was as good as new by afternoon (good enough to go to the Shirlington Oktoberfest- a great but crowded time!).

Tuesday of this week, I was too sore to do much of anything, but yesterday I made sure to get out to go on a run.  The first two miles, my muscles yelled at me each time I took a step.  The inside of my thighs, shoulders, chest, and arms ached with all their might.  Then, after two miles, I started to loosen up and ended strong.  This is the opposite of how I usually run- I am a quick starter who slows and then plateaus at about 9:20,  a comfortable pace for me.



It felt good to push myself a bit quicker!

Today I hit the gym again- I did the seated row machine, a back workout I found on pinterest (http://www.skinnymom.com/2013/06/09/get-your-sexy-back-with-a-sexy-back/#_pg_pin=580623), simple lifting, and an oblique workout.  It is already a can't-reach-your-hair-to-shampoo-post-workout soreness.