Smiles, sweat and weights.....

I am happy to write that this is day 2 of running for me! You read that right, I said, "running"!

I had such a greatThanksgiving day with my hubby and enjoyed really yummy non-traditional food of venison, brussels sprouts, pumpkin and sweet potato soup and a butter lettuce salad. The next day, we headed off to cut down our Christmas tree at our usual place, Butler Christmas Tree Farm. Every year we go, we head to the back of the farm and have fun wandering around looking for that perfect tree and every year, we find it! I love this time of year, and always have. It's this time of year that makes me appreciate all of the things great and small in my life and I thank God for blessing me with all of them!

Sunday we decided to head out for a run and I was a bit nervous because of my leg, however, I had a conversation with my lower leg. The conversation that took place went something like this, "leg, I don't care if you hurt and break in half I am not stopping. So, if you feel like acting up, think again because I'm not going to stop". While on my run I had a brief moment of pain and it went away. I immediately thought to myself, "hmm...maybe that whole mind/body conversation thing works". Thinking I scared the crap out of my lower leg, I continued on for a total of 4 miles! This was the furthest I've run in 2 months and it felt tough but great! I didn't worry about pace or what I looked like. I was running at what is for me, a really slow pace, but that's alright. I kept repeating the mantra, "one day at a time".

Today Martin and I headed out for our runs again. I had the same talk with my leg and off I went. I didn't know how far I was going to run, I just knew I was going to take it nice and easy and slow. The weather the last two days has been pretty chilly (real feel of 33 degrees), but I was dressed appropriately. I knew I'd be running slower, so my last two runs were done in Mizuno pants, long-sleeved tech shirt and a vest with gloves and ear warming band. I had a little bit of pain in my leg that quickly went away and I ended up running a total of 5 miles! I arrived back home and proudly proclaimed to Martin, "I just ran 5 miles! That's the longest I've run in 2 months!" He was pretty excited for me! Tomorrow's run will be a slow 3 miles, as I don't want to do too much too soon. I'm already looking forward to it!

Tonight I went to the gym with a friend, Leslie, in our building. She saw me in the laundry room last week and we got to talking about weight loss and working out. She and her fiancé belong to the same gym we do, so she threw out the idea of working out together sometime. I figured it would be cool to do because it would hold me accountable in actually getting to the gym.

I met Leslie in the lobby of our building and off we went! She worked legs while I was on the Elliptical and then when she was on the Elliptical, I was working upper body. It was a nice hour workout and then we headed home.

I ended up doing 15 minutes at levels 6 and 9 on the Elliptical. I then did the following:

Tricep Pull-Down: 3 sets of 12 with 30 lbs

Chest Press: 3 sets of 12 with 15 pounds

Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets of 12 with 40 pounds, 55 pounds and then back to 40 pounds, respectively

Low Rows: 3 sets of 12 with 40 pounds

Alternating Bicep Curls: 3 sets of 12 with 10 pounds

Needless to say, I am really excited about my effort the last two days. I am looking forward to my run tomorrow and spending some quality time with Martin! Ok, off to read my Oxygen magazine. Good night!