Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ugh! Thank goodness this week is over!

It's been a long week and finally it is Sunday. Although today is not much better, I dragged myself to the gym and when I got there realized I had forgotten my sneakers! Guess I was not meant to work out today. So I am back home, cooking supper and getting ready to watch the gold metal game between Canada and the US. I am getting back into my workout routine tomorrow I promise!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Spring is coming!

It has been a few days since I have written a post, meaning, I haven't worked out since last Thursday! Needless to say I had a busy weekend of work and couldn't find the time to get a workout in. Today was different however, the weather was beautiful today, +4 and sunny, so on my walk home from school I decided today would be a great day to head outside for a run instead of hitting the gym. Boy am I glad I did! I haven't run outside since the fall and today reminded me of how much I enjoy a good run outside! Being outside in the fresh air all alone is much more relaxing then running on a treadmill in a gym filled with people. I ran for 25 minutes today, I always like to ease into my outdoor runs, the pavement is much harder on my muscles than a treadmill. So as not to miss out on my usual intense workout, I did some exercises when I got home as well. Burpees, pushups, jumping squats, paired with various ab exercises = a great little workout.

I'll be back to boxing tomorrow night and I'm hoping for another great workout. I've only got a few more months until my birthday and bikini season! Got to shape up!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Boxing never seems to get any easier!

Just got home from another boxing class and boy, I can barely lift my arms! The thing I love about boxing is that no matter how often you go, you can always push yourself more so it is always a hard workout.

After discussing my progress with a friend today, I have decided to cut back on my carbs, not cut them completely out, just eat less, and focus more on fruit, veggies and lean protein. I really need to step up my diet if I want to see results!

Tomorrow is Friday, I really dread Friday. It is like my Monday! Back to work at 7am!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Another day of great workouts!

I have been pretty busy the past few days with school and other fun activities. I went back to boxing last night and had an awesome workout, however pushups are hard because of the massive bruises I have on my knees! Afterward I hung out with my little brother, who is in town for work, we had some beer and watched Canada beat Norway in olympic mens hockey!

Today I hit the gym with my friend Sarah and we did the interval workout that I did last week. Doing it with another person makes it much harder! After that I went to spinning which was pretty intense! Tonight I am having a glass of wine and watching some of the Olympic coverage.

I have set a new goal for myself this week: no more chocolate bars! I tend to have them when I am school, so I have decided it is time to cut them out if I want to get the results I am looking for!

I've got another test tomorrow morning! I sure can't wait for April to be over!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Climbing some ice!


I had such an amazing day today! Bright and early we headed down to the university to meet up with the UNB rock and ice club staff for our day of ice climbing. I was excited all morning but it was more than I anticipated!

After a 40 minute drive and a 10 minute hike we were at the base of Hays Falls off the Maliseet trail. We listened to some instruction and then we paired off to start climbing! They had set up 5 different ropes starting from easiest and getting increasingly harder. The first few were pretty easy but then last two were much harder. They took alot more upper body strength. It was by far one of the hardest things I have ever done. The funny thing is that while I was pretty high up I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on my fear of heights. I was constantly thinking about where to put my foot next so it wasn't that big of a deal.




I managed to climb all five climbs successfully and without anything worse than a few bruises. Ice climbing is definitely a new favorite sport that I will be eager to try again. The feeling of accomplishment when you get to the top is pretty amazing. The day was definitely a successful one, met a ton of nice people, climbed a whole bunch of ice and finished it off with a celebratory beer.



All in all pretty amazing!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Pumped for the weekend!

Ah I finally made it back to boxing last night! And boy was it fun! Everytime I take a break from it and go back I realize how much I love it! No matter how good of shape you are in, boxing is always hard! I always feel better when I leave the club drenched in sweat.

Work was a little rough today. I let a coworker get under my skin and it ruined most of the day for me. After work I went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff to make for my lunch tomorrow. I will be up bright and early to go ice climbing for the day. I am really excited to learn! I will post some pictures hopefully when I get home.

So Valentines Day this weekend. Not one of my favorite holidays. I'm not just saying that because I happen to be single this year(although I might add it sure makes me dislike it more), but I think it's kind of a ridiculous commercial holiday. However, it does make me a little sad. I'm 25 and live alone and sometimes it gets pretty lonely. Friends can only help so much. Don't get me wrong, I have some amazing friends, but there are times when not even friends can help the feeling that you are all alone. It's hard to learn to be alone and be happy. I guess it comes with getting older, but it sure isn't easy! I've been chatting with a friend of mine who is a successful Press Secretary in Ottawa and it blows me away how we both feel so vulnerable sometimes. I often find myself envious of her life. She has an amazing career doing what she loves and lives a fabulous life. But despite all of her success, she is just as lonely as me at times. Why is it that no matter what we have, or what we have achieved, we just can't seem to ever be happy with ourselves?

It's something I struggle with daily, the thought that I should be happy with myself and my life. I must admit, I am much happier than I have been in previous years. Ever since I decided to invest my time into getting healthy and fit, I am much more content with being me, but at the same time I feel like I need to continually change aspects of my life to make myself happy. Maybe it's that I get bored to easily? Who knows?!

So on my quest to make myself happy, I gave away my shift for tomorrow so I can go on an ice climbing adventure! My new outlook on life makes me try things that scare me that my old self never would have even considered! Here's hoping I can rock the ice climbing!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Hump Day!

I love Wednesdays! They signal half way through the week! Today I had a spectacular day. Went to school early(however I did more socializing than studying) Got to see my little brother for a bit, he was doing some work in town and stopped in to drop off a bag to me. Then I hit the gym for some serious training. I ran for a warm up and then did 15 second intervals of pushups, burpees, jump squats, situps, side crunches, prisoner squats and skipping. Then I did some tricep exercises with weights as well as some shoulders. Afterward I went to spin class for 60 minutes. All in all, it was a fantastic work out day for me.

I am heading back to boxing tomorrow, I didn't get to go last night because I found out last minute that I was able to get this Saturday off work to go ice climbing with some friends, so I had to attend a meeting for the ice school instead of go to boxing. I am pretty excited to learn how to ice climb! Should be a tough but fun day!

Anyway I am off to watch last night's episode of Lost and go to bed! I am sleeping in for once tomorrow because my 10 o'clock class is cancelled! Yay!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Monday, Monday, Monday...

Today was a busy, busy Monday. I was up bright and early and at school at 8am to start studying for #1 of the 3 tests I had today. Wrote three tests in a row and then went to sign the lease to my new apartment for the summer. Then I hit the gym: did 20 minutes on the elliptical, 3 rounds of the following ab exercises: 20 seated oblique twists with 5kg medicine ball, 10 sit ups, 15 elbow to knee sit ups (each side), 30 bicycles, and 1 minute plank. Afterwards I went to spin class. I discovered that I have been putting my bike seat too low and this has lead to my knee bothering me when I run. So I'm hoping that the change will help! Spinning was a tough class tonight, I was drenched in sweat by the end!

Back to boxing tomorrow night! Can't wait to hit the bag!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

finally hit the gym!

I made it back to the gym yesterday after I got off work. Started with a quick warm up of 10 minutes on the treadmill then my friend Sarah and I did 8 rounds of the following exercises:
20 Prisoner Squats with knee ups
10 Santana Push ups
100 skips(jump rope)
20 plank knee tucks
Completing the 8 rounds was tough but it only took us about 45 minutes. Then I hit up spin class for an hour!

It was nice to be able to workout full throttle again. I am a bit sore today but that will go away once I workout this afternoon.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Being sick is the worst!

Well in terms of getting fit, this week hasn't been a very good representation of what I can accomplish. I started coming down with a bit of a cold last weekend so by Monday night I was clear out of commission. I thought I would be back into shape and ready to work out at boxing tonight, but I am still not feeling it so I have to skip it yet again. Man, being sick really sucks! I have to tell myself that it's okay to take breaks sometimes, but I really dislike the way I feel when I miss working out for a few days in a row. I feel like I lose all the work I have done. So not a good feeling!

So since I can't go to boxing tonight, I have set goals for some school work I would like to get done so that I can try to make it to boxing Sunday night(even though that means missing the superbowl!) So tonight I will finish a case I have due next week for my Salesforce Management class, and I plan to catch up on my reading in most of my other classes. Hopefully this will all get done!

Tomorrow I'll be up bright and early for the 6:30 shift at work. I'm hoping it's a busy day, I could really use the cash. After work I am DEFINITELY hitting the gym for some weights and spin class. Looks like I will have to work extra hard to burn off extra calories from all week!!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Another week!

I started my Monday as I usually do: With a wake up call at 5:20 am from my friend Sarah in my driveway, ready to hit up the 6am spin class. Monday is always a rough day for me to get through so I figure working out first thing will mean I can't think up excuses to not do it later on. My busy day today included a group meeting at 10am, class at 1 and a presentation at 3, followed by night class until 7. I then went and looked at an apartment I could potentially be subletting for the summer. It was pretty nice and I am hoping that I get it!

So now I am home and about to eat supper(I know it's late!) and do a bit of reading before crashing at some point close to 10. Tomorrow is not such a bad day, 3 classes, another apartment viewing and ending the day with my favorite activity, boxing! I am in need of some stress release!