Great Cardio Workout Over

The image next to this post is from our trip to the quarrantine station on North Head (near Manly) on Sunday. This is the oldest piece of graffiti that I could find, apparently dating from 1863. There were many other images and names of vessels carved into the same cliff face, and it really made for an interesting wall (but sad too as they were only there because of sickness on board the vessels).

You may have noticed that I have included a shot of my running shoes as part of my profile. I thought that it was appropriate as I spend so much time in them now, and really this blog is a bit of an insight for readers as to what it is like being in my shoes! Terrible I know.

I got underway today with a hiss and a roar. The procrastination of yesterday is behind me and I am getting back into the fight against fat. I took a stroll to the gym today, once again it is a brilliantly fine day and I think rather than repeat that most of the time, readers should assume that it is fine here, and I'll tell you when it rains!

The stroll to the gym wasn't the best, my knee was giving me some pain on the way, particularly at the start of the trip. I was surprised by this because it hadn't given me any troulbe last night, or yesterday after the workout. I kept going and as I got closer to the gym it started to feel better. Surprisingly enough I was warmly welcomed to the gym this morning by the receptionist - I must be starting to get the elusive 'regular' status there!

As per usual I dropped off my stuff and hopped straight onto the treadmill for two 25 minute sessions. I set my goal today to try and do over 300 calories on each session. I managed to do it, and the second 25 was easier than the first. I think that this was because in the first 25 I did some portions of the 25 minutes at 6.0 km/ph, the slowest pace, whereas in the second 25 I did the whole lot on either 6.5 or 7.0 for two minutes each. Near the end of the second 25 I cranked it up to 7.5 for a few minutes to make the 300 calorie mark. So, all in all a successful start to the day with 637.6 calories burned on the treadmill.

I think that having a double shot espresso coffee with my partner each morning before she heads off to work aids my performance on the treadmill. It certainly kick starts the brain and the new coffee we purchased at the weekend is very nice. A great start to the day, and I will make sure that I keep this habit up. I like my coffee!

I felt good about the decision I have made in relation to the trainer. I will see how things go this Thursday, however I am confident that things will go better. I might try and get up a bit earlier than usual so that I am a bit warmer and a bit more with it by the time that we kick off our workout. Both of those things might help me get more value for money out of the workout, and I am sure that the coffee hit will help too!

I have scoffed down a nice bowl of porridge (I think this is the same thing as oatmeal) and am knocking back a litre of water as well. I worked up a powerful thirst this morning and wont have any trouble knocking back 3-5 litres today. I have been eating a lot of yogurt the last day or so, and am finding that I really like it. It is difficult around our place to get the low fat, low sugar varieties and I noticed that my partner had accidentally purchased a low fat, higher sugar version of the yogurt we usually buy. Can't afford or be bothered throwing it out as I don't think that it will hurt that much. I can report that it is much tastier, but we will be going back to the healthier version!

That's about all there is to print today. A catalogue of sports clothing arrived with our mail today and I was checking it out this morning when I first got home from the gym. There were some nice looking clothes in there, but that will have to wait for a wee while yet I think. I did manage to get into an old shirt today that I haven't been able to wear for quite a few months. Feels good to have it on and know that it looks like a shirt should, rather than looking like air tight plastic wrap around a pork roast!