On Monday evening, I piled on the layers (two pairs of leggings, UnderArmor shirt, tech shirt, PADA shirt, and knee high socks) and headed out to play pickup with some of my favorite Ladies. True, it was about 27 degrees (and I’m sure the “feels like” temperature was actually a little colder), but, man, did I have fun! I hadn’t exercised outside in about three weeks and I forgot how great it felt. After about two hours, we called it a night and got some hot chocolate. I came home feeling great–not only had I gotten in a good workout, but I had spent time hanging out with friends I haven’t seen very much lately.
Last night, I took another step by joining the Manayunk Running Club. I’ve met quite a few of the members through friends, and everyone kept telling me to join. I was hesitant because I’m so slow. I mean, one guy in the club ran Broad Street in about an hour. It took me almost two. How could I run with these guys? But I decided that I needed the challenge, so on Tuesday night, I once again piled on the layers and headed out to meet up with everyone.
Instead of running on Kelly Drive like I normally do, we ran a loop through Manayunk/Roxborough that included a lot of hills. I kept telling myself what Tara always says (“Hills build character!”) which I think helped. Also, I ran with two other people and we finished the 4.4 mile loop in about 44:00, which I was happy with. Afterwards, everyone went to get some food and play some Quizzo, which was also a lot of fun.
I am also making progress in the weight lifting department. In fact, I’m now up to doing squats and deadlifts with 70 pounds! I also realized today why I like lifting weights; it’s much like training for a race. See, what I like about training is following a plan and seeing progress. When I was training for the marathon, I went from 14 to 16 to 18 miles. And today as I was doing shoulder presses with 20 pound weights (!), I realized that when I started following this plan, I was using 10 pound weights. Isn’t that awesome?!
If you don’t lift weights, I really suggest you start.
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