ok mamas ya'll know i am NOT an athlete. i struggle daily. my goal is to lose another 25 lbs this fall (before christmas) which would place me (oh joy!) in the 100's. as in, not 200's. :)
SO i have discovered this week that PUSHING MYSELF is a lot different than "exercising" or "working out". this has been a great revelation for me. last fall during my first "round" of weight loss, "pushing myself" meant exercising. well that wasn't cutting it anymore.
SO this morning, which was a HARD morning to get started for me - my knee was stiff and sore, it's been a long hard week with my boss out, last night was crazy with my son's school carnival...*sigh*...i really didn't want to do ANYthing.
my new mantra? HARD MORNINGS - I PUSH HARDER.
i DID it. i did 45 minutes on the treadmill - did 1 jogging interval (HUGE for me) and then i pushed harder than i think i've ever pushed before. i literally cried a little when i was done. my hands were raisiny from the sweat. i have NEVER had such an amazing workout. (obviously in my shape i am not a jogger)
and i realized for the first time that a good workout isn't doing your time, getting sweaty, and then traipsing off to enjoy a nice cool shower.
a good workout is counting down the minutes till you're done, giving yourself (out loud) pep talks/prayers counting down the last 20 minutes (lol), collapsing a little at the end, and stumbling to the fridge to get some water. then sitting with your head in your hands and trying not to cry because you DID IT. lol!
i still feel emotional. so what are some of your amazing workout moments?
For me, it was getting through a 40/20 HiiT workout with my favorite at-home instructor. That is a TOUGH workout, and I'm someone that works out hard core regularly.
I got through and DIDN'T feel like I wanted to die. So for me, that meant that my fitness level had caught up and my hard work paid off!
So now, I need to up my game again. :)
My best moment was when I ran 2 miles in under 15 minutes. It was awesome because I am not a runner and I really don't like it much. Of course that was 15 years ago. I'm sure I have had some awesome moments since then :)
Mine are similar to yours. 5 or 10 minutes into a workout, I just want to leave. I make myself stay and am so proud of myself when I make it through to the end. :)
Hooray for you, Adansmama!!! I am overwhelmed with joy for you! And you pushed YOURSELF--you didn't have anyone around you to push you. I think that is the toughest part!! Remember how proud of yourself you are today and be sure to bring up this feeling anytime you get down. What a great accomplishment. (can you tell I am happy for you?!) :)
The pushing past the "I can't do it" moments are always my proudest moments. I suppose one in particular is when I did two reps of chest presses with a 50 lb. dumbell in each hand. I didn't think I could pick them up to bring them to the bench, let alone press them to the sky. But, I had a couple of people standing by believing that I could do it, AND I DID!!
The greatest part about what you did this morning is that you didn't need others to push you because you have it within yourself to push!!!
Go, YOU!!! Happy Friday!
what is this workout you speak of? sounds no where near fun ... so I'll pass LOL
That is so awesome. You have inspired my workout for today.
I frequently have amazing workout moments when I'm doing yoga; I am not very flexible so when I can get into and hold a pose I am astounded at what my body can do, and at the importance of the mind-body connection.
It was a real epiphany when I realized that I wasn't working out to get to a goal weight or even a goal "shape"...I was working out because it is it's own reward. I feel like when you "get" that moment, exercising becomes much more than just a workout. Sounds like you got there. Good for you.
I'm so proud of you! I am completely confident that you will reach your goal.
My best workout moment was during the Breast Cancer 3-Day (60 mile walk). I did it twice with a friend of mine. They have it mapped out where you walk approximately 20 miles each day.
One of the days was extremely windy, and we had a bunch of hills to climb. My friend and I are also extremely competitive. They kept saying it's a walk, not a race, but for us it was a race. We were racing against our own best time. Well, we pushed ourselves too hard. Near the end of the S. day, we were really hurting. It was very windy, and we had about 6 miles left to go. We wanted to stop and rest, but that was something neither of us ever does. I looked around at the other women around us, and some of them had "survivor" shirts on. It made me remember the real reason we were there, and the struggles so many women go through. It inspired us to keep walking, and helped us feel stronger. We made it through the last 6 miles and got up the next morning to do the last 20. We stayed competitive just because it's our nature. There were about 3000 women walking, and we finished in the first 25 each day. Part of our rush was that we wanted to hurry up and get to camp so that we could rest, though. :)
One morning I tried to do Yoga with my girls in the room. I was in the middle of Downward-Facing Dog when suddenly my toddler gets underneath me on the mat and copies me. By the way, she's WAY better at Down Dog than I am. :)
Finishing my 1st 5k, then my first triathlon, now my 2nd triathlon. Have a mud run signed up for next month. I realize if there is something for me to work towards, I stay more on track. Congrats on your accomplishments!!!
That's awesome! Congrats! Like you & unlike other " athletic " posters I'm a little under the 200 lb mark & short :(. Last week, I did a 11.33 minute mile ( my goal is 10 min) . I know that's not great but I'm getting there.
oh my. i handle myself in exactly the opposite fashion. if i boot-camped myself through hard workouts, i'd never go back. and when my old knees start to bother me, i slow down. walking is perfectly acceptable. the only response i don't allow myself to give is 'i'll do nothing.'
a good workout for ME is when i finish up feeling terrific and looking forward to the next day's. if i'm counting down the minutes til i'm done with pep talks and prayers to get me through, i'll have a much harder time going back to it.
i never know til i'm out there what a run will be. sometimes i feel great heading out the door, but i never hit a good stride. sometimes i plan a 10 mile run but only get 6 because it's just not there.
but i still get 6 miles.
almost invariably, if i'm having a bad start i can babytalk myself through. 'it's okay, S.. if it still sucks after a mile, you turn around. or walk. slow down, there, old girl! just keep shuffling!' and i almost never end up giving up early.
but sometimes i do. and i always can. the fact that i know i'll let myself do it without beating myself up paradoxically encourages me to keep going.
i also know that i'll spend the first 1-3 miles whining incessantly, so while i'm moaning, part of me is also smiling tolerantly. long runs are almost easier, because once i get past the tsunami of excuses and complaints, i quit thinking about it altogether and just go, my mind free to think Deep Thoughts.
but my workout goals, whether it's weights or yoga or running, is always to enjoy it, push myself appropriately, and finish feeling great. because i always have to come back to it the next day.
ETA oh yeah, your question! so far one of my best moments was crossing the finish line of my first half marathon. i was exhausted, but felt like such a boss!
khairete
S.
ps new ETA, for CAE and the other speedy gonzaleses out there, i think 11.33 is INSANELY fast! that's my best 5K speed, not one i could even begin to maintain overa long distance. for long runs i allow myself anything under 15 minute miles. okay, for short runs i do too<G>, although i do usually go a bit faster with a couple of sprints for short runs. will you get faster results if you push yourself and get speedy? i'm sure you will. but please don't get TOO hung up on times! it doesn't really matter how quickly you get across the finish line. it matters a) that you do it and b) that you keep on doing it. tortoises rule!
I love this story! Thanks for sharing - that is so amazing that you had that breakthrough! Keep pushing like that, you don't have to do it every day, maybe once a week or every two weeks! I don't have a specific workout moment that I can think of, but I have had several like that. I have been running for 3 years and I do speed workouts once a week. Those can get intense, and I am always amazed at how my body responds and changes when I workout like that. I constantly see progress, I have consistently gotten faster year after year. I keep thinking I'll reach a point where I can't go any faster, but I keep surprising myself. So keep it up! I'm so proud of you and you should be proud of yourself - good job!!!!
