Day 295: Who We Are

"The act of discovering who we are will force us to accept that we can go further than we think."

Today I was looking for a short workout to do during lunch and all of the options on my schedule had lots of incline. Grand Canyon #14 and #15 were staring me in the face, along with a slightly longer Alaska workout with a lot of incline. Everything else was much longer than 20 minutes so I had to choose between these 3. So I settled on Grand Canyon #14, which was almost 21 minutes and the entire workout was at max incline, which is 10% on my machine. The speed ranged from 1.8 to 2.2 mph so I felt like I could struggle through it for 20 minutes. Surprisingly enough, I didn't struggle and really didn't even break a sweat. The last couple minutes I actually boosted the speed to 2.4 mph for a strong finish ! I couldn't have sustained a speed of 2.4 for the whole workout but just a couple of weeks ago the thought of 20 minutes at max incline kept me from even trying. I felt pretty darn proud of myself because it's clear my fitness level is steadily improving. I actually look forward to exercising most days now. Days I go to the office are hard because it's a 12 hour day and I'm often tired by the time I get home, but I push through it anyways. So I'm discovering I can do a lot more than I ever thought I could. The money I spent for a year of iFit is the best I've ever spent, because I know I would not be at this point without it. It took me a while to branch out, because I was doing the same couple of endurance workouts day after day and I was bored and felt like it wasn't benefiting me. Turns out it wasn't ! It's better to change it up and get some intervals and incline in the mix. 

Breakfast was a 2.5 ounce 160 calorie package of buttermilk waffles. I had them plain with a cup of macadamia cookie coffee. Second cup was maple pecan and my power fuel was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit tiramisu yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4.25 ounce 200 calorie turkey pot pie melt with a chef salad. Dressing added 40 calories. Afternoon snack was a 5.3 ounce Light & Fit strawberry cheesecake yogurt and a fresh apple (95 calories). That left 390 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was an 8.5 ounce 250 calorie chicken & vegetable stir fry over riced broccoli. Evening snack was a 2.1 ounce carrot cake with triple chocolate coffee. Total calories for the day are 1200 and I got 64 ounces of water in.

I got another workout in before dinner. I might not have broke a sweat at lunch but I sure did after work ! I did another one of the Alaska workouts and this one was 37 minutes of everything. There were loosely organized intervals, tons of incline and a good bit of endurance. There was just enough recovery here and there that allowed me to actually make it through the entire workout. Incline ranged from 2 to 10 but that was quite a lot of max incline so it was tough going at some points. Speed ranged from 2.5 to 3.3 mph. I've learned to put my head down and just focus on keeping pace during the high speed pushes, rather than watching the trainer, and that helps !

The driveway is done and it looks simply amazing. I could not be happier and I can't wait to glide up it on Monday to put my car back in the garage. I'm sure she is not happy sitting out there in the yard, especially since it's raining ! Next year I plan to have the house painted. I'm seriously considering having the garage door replaced now because it's not as expensive as I thought it would be. I'm going with your basic mid-range white door, nothing fancy. The existing door is wood so it's rotting away and one of the windows is cracked. We'll see on that.

I'll be spending tomorrow with mom so I need to grab a shower and get myself to bed. I'm tired so I don't think I'll have any trouble getting to sleep ! Tomorrow is a big day ... I think when I weigh in I'll be in "onederland". You'll have to check back to see what that's all about !