Sunday, June 2, 2013

A week in review

I've been back in TO for almost a week now.  Sunday evening seems like a good time to sit and write a review of my activities over the week, so here I am.

This week I focused on getting back into the groove and establishing a regular schedule.  My work hours can fluctuate week to week, but I can organise my activities around it fairly easily.  This week I attended 3 fitness classes and went for a run.  Not bad for "getting back into it".  A (somewhat detailed) break down:

Monday - arrived back in the city in the late afternoon.  Rest day.

Tuesday - Jillian Michaels BodyShred.  A 30 minute class, but high intensity throughout.  Works on strength and cardio.  Definitely a challenging class - the most challenging of all the ones I've tried so far.

Wednesday - BodyPump.  It's an hour-long strength class using the barbell.  Surprisingly, my arms weren't that sore after this one.  This means I'll have to up the weights next time!  I did get a good glute workout from the lunges, though.

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday - 7.7km run in 47 minutes (calculated pace is 6min 6 sec/km).  This is slightly faster than the average pace I ran my 10K at.  Right now my running goal is to do a long distance run at a 5min 30 sec/km pace, so I have to work at shaving half a minute off my time.  That would put me at 55 minutes for a 10k, and I'd be very happy with that.  Once I reach that goal, I'll aim for an even faster pace.  That's something I love about goals.  Once you reach them, you've accomplished something great, but you can always up the challenge and restart your efforts.

Saturday - Rest day.  I discussed signing up for some more runs with friends, and possibly starting swimming to work towards a beginner triathlon.

Sunday - BodyAttack.  This one is an hour-long "sports-inspired cardio workout" class.  I did something funny to my buttocks (again).  It's a bit of a strain that will require some rest for the next day at least.  BodyAttack has gotten easier since doing BodyShred, but the arm strength component still knocks me out.  When I got home, I did 10 minutes of my own abdominal exercises to round it all off, which included flutter kicks.  I hate (but kind of love) them, which means they're something I absolutely have to work on!!

In all, my week was a bit random.  I kind of just searched for a class that was happening at a convenient time and then attended it.  I'd like to sit down sometime and figure out a schedule to spot train certain parts (arms day, legs day, core day).  For the moment, though, I'm paying attention to a full-body, overall fitness.  I certainly feel stronger and fitter since before my vacation, and I want to keep improving on that.  There are also a number of classes at the gym that I haven't tried, so I'd like to get a few more under my belt before I start making my plan.  I'm so excited because of all the things I have not done yet.  I could spend weeks trying out all the classes and machines at all the different gyms I have access to with my membership.  Mixing it up and keeping things new is an important component of motivation.

Finally, here are two tools I like to use:

One is a pace calculator, so you can see how fast you run or calculate a good pace at which to run a race.


The other is a mapping tool.  It gives you information on distance and elevation.  This has been a useful site for me when creating routes to train for my run.


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