Knocking out my cardio!

Yay! The February issue has been sent off to the printer and we can relax for a day or two. Ahhhhhhhh! It's always hectic around deadline time and things pop up that Christine, Michelle and I all three need to take care of, not to mention taking care of and chasing 10 kids between the three of us, so Carl was put on the back burner a few times in the past two weeks.

Carl does not like this.

Ditching out on him makes Carl an unhappy camper.

So, he's glad we're back at it. Well, at least *I* was today anyway. I did nothing all day at home and I hadn't slept well last night either so I was dragging. I was worried that I'd drag all through my workout and I really, honestly was dreading the thought of going to the gym and walking on the stupid treadmill. I was looking for excuses and I almost even let Kai, my 4 year old, stay home from tumbling so I could take a nap instead of working out. But, I'd never let my kid skip a practice or activity so I could indulge myself, so I took him to tumbling and off to the gym I went.

I don't have a whole lot of time on Wednesdays since he's only in tumbling for an hour, so I hustled in and got busy. I couldn't see Carl anywhere (he was working with another client at the time...he was there though) and there were four men on the treadmills and nobody on the bike so I hopped on a bike and went for it.

I rode hard for 30 minutes. I kept my heart rate up above 120 (which is where I need to be to burn calories) and my rpm's above 95 (which is how to keep my heart rate above 120) and I tried to maintain my 95 rpm's even when I was on hills (electronic resistance, but you can "see" the hill you're on on the display panel). It was a good push a time or two, but I just counted out my cadence, kept pedaling and got through it. I really like working out on the bike. I like the bike's workout program with the hills. It's a challenge, throws my heart rate up a bit more and also makes the riding go by faster when I can "see" what is coming up, what the next challenge is, and how the program lays out.

I had about 10 minutes left in my bike ride when two young girls got on bikes on either side of me. I helped the one girl get started, told her to keep her rpm's up in the 90's (or just go home...LOL) and kept pushing. I wanted to ride really hard for my last 10 minutes and I did. One of the girls beside me looked at me when I had about 3 minutes left and said, "Wow. You're doing alot better than I ever could!" lol My rpms were up around 120 at this point.

Carl checked back in when I had about 30 seconds left in my ride and told me he wanted me to do at least 5 minutes on the elliptical. I was feeling pretty good, actually, so I told him I'd go for it. I caught my breath, got a drink and climbed on the elliptical. I put it on 21 level resistance, 5 incline and went for it. I went HARD for that whole 5 minutes. I even impressed Carl. He knew I had it in me and was in much better shape though. So, of course he took credit...thought he was quite a superstar personal trainer.

Hey man! I did all the work here! LOL

And, the best part is, I honestly felt GOOD after that workout. I guess there is such a thing as workout endorphins. I didn't think it existed, but I really felt something today. And, I didn't come home and die on the couch afterwards. I didn't almost collapse at the gym as I climbed off the elliptical, and I really didn't take 30 minutes to catch my breath. I'm in SO MUCH BETTER SHAPE than I was a month and a half ago. It's such a good feeling too. I even noticed it when I played basketball last week. Normally I'm DEAD and can't go on after 2 minutes running up and down the court, but last week I was not. I could've played alot longer than I did. Now THAT is a great feeling as well.

Yay me and *cough* *cough* thanks carl *cough