Back on the Workout Wagon

For most of my life, and especially prior to my wedding last June, I was extremely consistent in my workout routine.  I would make it to the gym at least three times a week and more often than not, four or five times a week.  I was running regularly, both on the treadmill and outside.  However, when I got to Newcastle in August, I just seemed to fall off the workout wagon.  I don't know if it was burn out from a hardcore regiment prior to my wedding, or perhaps a bit of depression after moving half way around the world, or maybe a little of both.  But either way, I stopped working out completely.  And I don't know if this is true for everyone, but when I'm not working out, I tend to eat really bad too.  For me, not working out and eating poorly seems to go hand in hand, which tends to lead to weight gain...obviously. 

In October, after about two months of slacking off, I made a decision to start training for a half marathon.  I had run 5K and 10K races before and in my head, the next step was a half marathon.  I found a twelve week training schedule online, and I discovered a half marathon in early January in Long Beach that I could do while I was home for Christmas with Josh.  I decided to go for it.  The training program was intense, four days a week of running with two days of cross-training and one rest day, but I was determined to do it.  I honestly don't think that Josh believed that I would adhere to the program, especially since for the two months prior I had sat around and done NOTHING, but I knew I could follow through.  So the first week of October, training began.  I was consistent.  For the first 5 1/2 weeks I didn't skip one training day and then I was dealt a major blow.  I hurt my knee the second week of November. If you haven't read my previous post about my knee surgeries, you might want to start there and come back to this post. 

Anyway, all hopes of running my half marathon in January were squashed as I couldn't even walk.  On January 5, 2011, I had my 3rd knee surgery.  Recovery has been relatively quick, but my physical therapist told me not to push things too fast.  When I got back to Newcastle, I started walking more, and did a little stationary bike riding at the gym.  I know you can get amazing workouts from a bike, and those spin classes look like an hour of pure torture, but I personally love to run and do the elliptical or the stair climber.  I don't feel like I'm getting as great of a workout on a bike.  Maybe the thing is, I'm just not motivated enough to make a stationary bike challenging enough to get a good work out in, I don't know, but as it stands I don't like the bike.

So you can imagine my excitement two weeks ago when I decided I was ready to go for it on the elliptical.  And great news, I did fine.  I had a little soreness in my knee after, but that was to be expected.  I was thrilled.  So the last two weeks, I have been heading to the gym regularly, doing both the elliptical and walking on the treadmill.  I even took a yoga class today which I think I'm going to do again next week.  It feels great to be getting a good sweat in and I'm excited to get back into shape (I'm sure Josh is too, even though he'd never say it).  I'm not quite ready to run yet.  It could be a few more months until that happens.  My goal is still to someday do that half marathon but for now, I'm satisfied with the elliptical.  So finally, I am back on the workout wagon and can I just say, it feels awesome.