Day 9: Sunday, January 25, 2009

Okay, I am really, really feeling the effects of 20 simple squats I had done on day 8, but I am determined to get myself moving for day 9 - which incidentally, is the same day I "close out my week" and will report my progress on my weekly recap.

I begin workout number 9 in similar fashion as I had done the previous day - with 3 sets of 15 curls at 40 lbs. Then I get on the treadmill - the despised treadmill.

I start off on the same fashion (remember, I plan to change this regime starting on workout number 10 - i.e. after two full weeks are in the books) walking at 4 MPH for two minutes, then running at 5 MPH for one minute, and repeating until I hit the 30:00 minute threshold.

Within the first minute of walking, I felt the burn - like I hadn't felt since probably day one. This burn (or more accurately agony) was not only due to the effects of walking and running two days in a row, but more due to the extreme burn in my thighs from the squats ... the dreaded squats. But no worries, I was determined, I only had 30 minutes to go, and I could do it.

Running brought even worse pain - but it was only a minute at a time, in other words, nothing so ungodly that I shouldn't be able to perform the task. Every time I slowed to a walk, I willed my legs to keep pumping. Every time I ran, I counted down until I could slow my pace again. Each and every step burned - the squats were officially getting their revenge.

However, I continued, I conquered - and on my last run time (at the 29:00 mark) I even managed to somehow eek out two full minutes at 5 MPH. And then I slowed my pace - to 3.5 for a minutes or so before doing a minute of a full cool down/slow down.

After the treadmill, I did 2 more sets of 15 curls at 40 lbs.

My workout was complete - thankfully - and I skipped the squats for the day ... my legs ached.

In total, I walked 20:00 minutes at 4 MPH for a distance of 1.32 miles, ran 11:00 minutes at 5 MPH for a distance of .917 miles, and for a total distance and time, including the cool down, of 2.34 miles in 33:00 minutes.

I also did a total of 75 curls at 40 lbs. - by doing 5 total sets at 15 reps each.

And so week 2 comes to a close. Starting on Monday I will either up my time running or my speed on both running and walking - I'm not sure which yet, but I think now comes a good time to change paces in some fashion. Stay tuned for day 10 on Monday.