January 7- Run 3.5 miles

Today was a day where I needed a run. There was some unnecessary drama between a friend and I that put me in a funk. I don’t like drama and try to stay away from it as best as I can, but this time it wasn’t something I could look past.

Without getting into to much detail, after our hour long talk I felt emotionally drained and down. After getting back to my boyfriends apartment and spending some time with him and his roommates I made the decision to run Lake Padden. I can’t begin to tell you how good this run felt. I had good mile times (about 8 minutes and 30 second miles) and I was in the right mindset to push myself as hard as I could.

It felt so rewarding when finishing the lake out of breath and legs tired beneath me. It was at the moment when a feeling of gratitude rushed through me. I was thankful for the sun shining, my friend and I sitting down to talk, and that classes will be starting up again tomorrow.

Running helps give me a more positive outlook on my day and it is something that I need to remember as classes begin tomorrow. I’m a little nervous to hit the gym tomorrow with all the other college kids trying to fulfill their New Years resolutions, but I am hopeful that this week I will be able to obtain my workout goal.

January 8- Full body circuit

Today was the first day of classes and it went by so fast! It was great seeing and catching up with friends I have not seen since winter break, and others since last spring quarter. It also felt great being on a schedule and a routine again with a specific time to go to the gym, it makes my life so much easier and is so rewarding to make it one of the last things to do on campus.

I decided to hit the gym late tonight, around 7pm after dinner had settled in my stomach. My boyfriend and I both went to the gym, while he biked, I fulfilled all of my circuit. It felt great to lift the dumbbells again and focus on strengthening my leg muscles.

It’s amazing how much better I feel after hitting the gym. It puts me in a motivated mood. This is something I’m going to have to keep in mind as classes start to pick up and begin to get harder.

January 9- Run 3.5 miles

Today’s run was tough to get through. I was going to run outside after my classes, but realized I left my running shoes at my boyfriends apartment who had class from 2pm-6pm. What a bummer! I was pumped to run outside, but had to change my plan up a bit.My boyfriend and I decided to hit the gym around 7pm. I ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill.

As I continue to increase my mileage, I think I might have been a little too optimistic about how many miles to increase every week. I still want to increase my distance to 4 miles by the end of the month, but I think it is going to take a little longer to build up to that. Today’s run was a little challenging, but I’m hoping to increase it to 3.5 miles on Friday!

January 10- Full body circuit

I got done with classes at 10 this morning and decided to hit the gym on my way back home. There weren’t too many people in there, making my routine go by fast because all the machines I needed were open!

I’m hoping to stick to this time for the gym on Thursday’s and Friday’s to make sure get the best workout in that I can. I feel like I’m starting to get used to the 5 pound dumbbells as the arm workouts aren’t seeming too hard anymore… my goal was to increase the weight at the end of each month, but I’m thinking it might need to happen sooner!

January 11- Run 4 miles

Last night I ended up going to the Greta Van Fleet concert with my dad in Seattle. When classes were over I drove home from Bellingham, my dad and I went out for sushi, and then headed over the the Paramount Theater to wait in line until the doors opened. My dad LOVES live music and luckily I do too, so on occasion either my brother of I get to accompany him. The show was great, if you haven’t heard of Greta Van Fleet I would totally recommend checking them out- especially if you listen to rock or like Led Zeppelin.

With this being said, the show got done around 10:45pm and we were at home and in bed by 11:40pm. Unfortunately, I have an 8am class on Friday’s so I only got about four and a half hours of sleep before having to head back to Bellingham. Running on four and a half hours of sleep sucked, after class I took a two hour nap but still feel exhausted. With this being said, I am deciding to switch up my calendar routine… I honestly never thought there would be so many changes or interruptions in my workout plan! Good thing I haven’t started working on February’s calendar yet.

Here is my new plan for this weekend:

FRIDAY– Rest

SATURDAY– Run 3.5 miles either outside or on the treadmill

SUNDAY– full body circuit

Hopefully this will keep me on track for this weekend and next week!

January 12- Run 3.5 miles

I successfully took enough time out of my day to head to the gym and run 3.5 miles on the treadmill. It felt really good! I was able to finish in 33 minutes, a lot faster than I thought it would take me!

Overall, this run felt really good. I hit 3.5 miles and wanted to keep going. I’m excited to finally hit 4 miles… hopefully within the next week or so! Holding myself to running longer distances has been a mental block that I am excited to overcome as I gradually run longer distances each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

January 13- Full body circuit

This workout was a nice break from reading textbooks and preparing for the week ahead. It gave me a time to clear my head and focus on my body and building muscle.

I completed my legs, arms, and core workouts. I increased the dumbbell weight from 5 pounds to 7.5 pounds. This was more of a challenge, but I was able to complete the full workout. Hopefully I am not too sore tomorrow for my 3.5 mile run!

It finally feels like I am getting into a routine and it feels amazing! It makes working out everyday a lot easier and something I look forward to. I can’t wait for next week to see the progress I can make in both mileage and weight training.