Day 98 - Pushing through...

When I woke up this AM, there was no way I was going for a run. I pretended I was by getting out of bed, but I was back next to Kyle within two minutes. He asked me if I really wanted to quit and I told him yes....so he let it be.

Fast-forward to my trip to Manchester, NH and I got my groove back! Walked into the hotel, got into my running outfit, and kicked ass at 3.5 miles. I ran it faster than my assumed race pace (don't get that excited, it's not like my race pace is anything awesome), but it felt awesome.

Apparently, there must be some changes in me as one of the women I work with told me that she thought I looked a lot more toned....and actually said (and I quote) "your arms look cut". Then, while I was running today next to a full length mirror (LOVE it) I could actually see the muscles moving in my upper arms and back. I was a little turned on by it....which is weird because usually I'm all about "skinny" and now I'm into "muscles"??? Strange.

Funny moment in the gym. As I open the door, this 38 year old man is literally groaning and grunting his way through pushups. I'm thinking he's really at the end of his workout for how much bitching and moaning are taking place. Then I start watching him....he's not even doing real pushups!!!!! He is faking his way through really shallow dips and keeping his arms bent. What a mess. I thought that was enough....but oh no, it gets better.

He goes over to the free weights section and tries to lift two 40 lb dumbells off the rack. He can't do it, so he brings one over to the bench and then makes another trip. He benches them for maybe three reps. Again, no full extension of the arms. He is groaning and then collapses on the bench to watch TV for five minutes.

THEN, he goes over to the free weights and picks up two 30 or 35 lb bells. He walks over right next to me (please note we have the entire gym to ourselves to spread out in) and cleans the dumbbells. Then he attempts to do a push press and almost drops one on his head. He can't get them higher than his shoulders. He shakes his head, takes a peek at me to see if I've noticed (I'm pretending I'm seeing none of this) and then goes over to get the 25 lb bells. He does maybe 5 of what I would call clean & press, but instead of doing the cleans, he is letting the bells fall down to his side and then trying to beast them back up with his arms. No wonder he can only do 5.

At this point, I seriously wanted to get off the treadmill, take the 2 25's and double his workout. It was so sad....and I thought it couldn't get any worse!!!! Never fear....it did.

THEN, he gets the 2 15 lb bells. I'm completely snickering inside because seriously, why is a guy using 15 lb bells. I use 15 bells for a light workout with a lot of reps! Then....think about what he did next....yep, you guessed it...that asinine exercise where you hold the two 15's above your head and extend your arms forward and back to work something...I think triceps? Either way, it's a completely pointless exercise that will do nothing for your physique. Mr. Gym Rat did 10 of them before he was completely beat.

He then took a towel to wipe off ALL the sweat from his excruciatingly tough workout and poured himself a large glass of water. Then he watched TV for 10 minutes and then he decided to do sit-ups. On the sit-up machine. Nothing weighted...just 15 to 25 sit-ups.

It took every inch of my self-control not to walk up to him and suggest he look into Crossfit or a local barbell club. The man wasted a good 35 minutes on nothing.

I've determined that is why America is overweight. You have people doing idiotic exercises that will never help you lose weight. Let's be honest, even if I work out for an HOUR on the elliptical machine as hard as I can...am I really breaking a sweat or struggling in the slightest? Not so much. I went to Olive Garden afterwards and they have only one or two items that can even be modified to be part of a healthy diet. I actually took a glance at the nutrition information online....even the chicken they advertise as "healthy" has over 42 g of carbs. Completely unnecessary.

I was pretty good...I got the mixed grill with all steamed veggies instead of the potatoes. I caved a bit at the end of the meal by having one breadstick and my after-dinner mint....but that was the best I could do!

In other great running news, I've been waking up every morning feeling really nauseous and it stays with me for hours....whether I eat breakfast or not. I'm not pregnant for the one smartass that will ask. Now, when I've run recently, the back of my throat and upper chest start burning and I start coughing. Acid reflux? I guess I'll go read my runners symptoms book again...if it's not one, it's another.