"Runner's" High

Today I lost 2.2lbs! And instead of punishing my body with sweet indulgences such as brownies and ice cream (like I've been known to do in the past), I REWARDED my body with endorphins! I hit the gym HARD this morning by walking my first 5k! If you had asked me a month ago if I could walk a straight 5k, I would have laughed in your face and eaten another Chicken McNugget! lol Yes, I walked today's 5k, but that just made me want to build up the endurance I need to run one! So yeah, it's not really a "Runner's High" that I'm experiencing today, but more like a "Brisk Walker's High!"

At the gym I intended to slowly work my way up to my cap speed, and slowly work my way back down. Here's what my schedule looked like:

:00-:05 -- 2.0 mph walk
:05-:10 -- 2.2 mph walk
:10-:15 -- 2.4 mph walk
:15-:20 -- 2.6 mph walk
:20-:25 -- 2.8 mph walk
:25-:35 -- 3.0 mph walk << FORMER "cap speeed"

(but here's where it changed!)

I fully intended to stay at 3.0 mph for 10 minutes and then work my way back down at 5 minute intervals. But instead, at :30 I thought "hmm, I wonder if I can just bump it up to 3.2 mph" ..and so I did. And from :30-1:00 I walked at a 3.2 mph pace! I WAS going to work my way down! i was.. but good songs kept coming on and I couldn't bear the thought of enjoying such fast paced music at a slower speed. So I just kept on trucking. I'd tell myself "okay, when the clock his :40, I'll bump it down. Then "Sweat" (Snoop and Guetta! My official work out home boys) came on and I had to keep going! And.. so on and so forth until finally my music cut off at ALMOST 1:00 (remember, it's a 59.6 minute playlist) and I glanced at the distance. 3.3 miles!!! (I should have taken a picture, but I was a blog fail and forgot until I got in the truck to go home! Next time, for sure!) I was so happy and giddy!! and as soon as my treadmill hit the hour mark, the automatic cool down started. So I had a 5-minute cool down, texted the hubs to tell him I'm an official 5k walker!, and then headed home.

I rewarded my body with lots of protein (oats and peanut butter!) and caught up on my new favorite blog [[Onion in My Hair]]. While reading previous posts, I did a little free weight lifting 1 arm at a time and drank a lot of water! That consumed the better part of my afternoon. And then.. I started getting an itch. It was just after 4, and I NEEDED to get up and do something. I was THIS (>>-<<) close to going to the gym, but decided to get some Vitamin D and go for a family walk instead! Puppy and hubs in tow, we hit the pavement and went to the dog park. We laughed, played, and warded off giant dogs (no really, GIANT!) and then headed home. Since I knew today had been much more active than yesterday, I checked my handy dandy pedometer for a glimpse at my daily step count.



OVER 11,000! And it's not even dinner time! (Almost, not quite!).

Today is one of those days that I feel so pleased with the way things are going and I am just wonderfully happy! I am so proud of myself for not giving in to indulgences and for rewarding my body the proper way! However, I am enjoying a humble glass of dessert wine before dinner :)



Happy Friday, everyone!

What are your weekend plans?