Over the weekend I completed my first 5k. It was so much fun and am looking to do other 5ks in the near future. Today I did 45 mins of cardio and some strength training after work.

Weekend
 

I got to the office at 6:00 am this morning, so I thought I'd leave work early to go for a run through the forest while the sun was still shining. The trails were muddy but not icy. The snow on the fields sparkled. I could have sworn I heard a black-winged blackbird. I must have been imagining that. It felt good to be out on the trails again after a week of running on asphalt. :)

She made me do two lots of downsets. On the same machine. It's a whole new level of mean. My thighs are going to hurt tomorrow.

Gym: 1 hr stair master (45/50 intervals), 1 hr Arc Trainer (hill intervals, level 10), and a combined hour of abs, back, and stretching.

It's nice to see Jill, the gym-obsessive, bounding about the gym as always. I wish I could take a photo of her and post it here. Then I swear you'd say, "Wow, no wonder you always mention her. She looks absolutely fascinating." She doesn't like me I don't think (avoids my eye, VERY rarely will smile at me). Still I feel comforted by her presence, the way one does in seeing something familiar and thought provoking.

Why doesn't she like you, do you think? Not, why do you think she doesn't like you, but assuming you are correct, what's the reason that she doesn't/wouldn't?

I don't know you off the board, but you present as someone who would be non-judgemental, open, non-threatening, etc, so it makes me curious Maybe your simple presence of "openness" so to speak, makes her feel too vulnerable, threatened. What's your theory?

Dapper, you ask great questions. Are you a therapist? ;)

I don't know why she doesn't like me or even if she really doesn't like me. All I can do is muse about it. And there's a lot of time to do that working out next to someone at the gym for hours. Maybe I'm not cool enough. Maybe I look at her too much. Maybe she picks up on the fact that I get that there's something strange about her, and my eyes read her in a way that feels threatening/invasive. Maybe she's a guarded person and just ignores people until she knows them through something.

I felt like we had a moment of connection one day recently but it could have just been a mirage, like being in a desert and thinking you see water because you are in such desperate need of it. I had plugged in a dvd player in a way that would trip people. That sounds terrible but I was trying out something new and didn't realize it would do that. So Jill was the first person to trip, a minor stumble. i called out, "Sorry!" thinking it was not set up in a way that would trip everyone, maybe just that one time with Jill. So then Jill got on a piece of equipment nearby. Then this guy came off the basketball court and totally tripped (did not fall but it was a much more major tripping than Jill). I said, "I'm so sorry!" and the guy was embarrassed and also irritated and ignored me. Then I got off my machine and remedied the way I had the cord set up. Anyway before I got off the machine Jill seemed to chuckle at the guy tripping over the cord. However, maybe she was actually chuckling at the t.v. program she was watching. I tried to catch her eye and chuckle with her, not because I thought it was something good to do to laugh at someone tripping because of my stupidity (btw, it was a silent type chuckling that he could not see), but because I was taking my bonding with Jill in any way I could due to its short supply.

Sorry for such a long answer. I was struggling with an answer I don't really have.

Rainy day today. Went to the gym and did an hour on the Arc Trainer (Level 10, Strength program); then 45 minutes on the stair master (45/50 intervals); and then a combined 45 minutes of weight lifting and stretching.

Jill was beside me throughout. I made some efforts towards eye contact and eeked a little smile out of her. She was wearing her tiny tight black booty shorts and her Underarmour white top pulled up so one can see the very bottom of her breasts. I was wearing my Smurf-blue jean cut-offs and my wrinkled over-sized "Honey Badger Don't Care" yellow t-shirt that my mom got me. She was watching sports, and I was watching Caught in the Act (an engaging Court t.v. show where shop lifters are caught in the act).

I also hung out with my friend LaKeesha in the locker room. She arrives every single day at the gym at 4:55am on week days before work. She said, "I have to take care of me before I can take care of anyone else." I do that by sleeping!

Nyc,

I wrote a fantastic response to your post (what other kind of post would I write?), but then I lost it.

I think the bottom line is she thinks you are a creeper (actually, I have several theories, but don't feel like writing them all out again).

I love the way you tell a story...keep us up to date!

Jill has a few very select friends. A female trainer in particular and a tiny smattering of other cool people.

Dapper, I'm so sad your response disappeared :missing:

response to nycfem
 

If Jill would warm up to you, then she'd have one "extra cool" friend.

That's right!
:)

Jill and I are both weird but in different ways. I think that's part of why I'm interested in her. Her story, her "deal," remains a mystery. We're always within a foot of each other but I can't know her beyond what I see.

I have been a slug. I am not sure what is going to motivate me to "get back into the game." Obviously, not this belly I have accrued. Spring/summer, I hope.

Fitness
 

I love the sound of water too. I wish I had a waterfall near me. Also I am more than ready for warm weather so that I can go back to mixing the gym up with walking outside.

Today I did an hour on the stair master (intervals 45/50), an hour and a half on the Arc Trainer (Level 10, Strength Program, and a combined hour of weightlifting, abs, and stretching.

I only saw Jill out of the corner of my eye, glistening with sweat, going as fast as only Jill can go on an Arc Trainer.

I talked a bit in the locker room with my "friend" Marilyn. We have nothing in common, and she's a little too talkative for my taste but sweet none-the-less. She suggested we go out to lunch when it gets warmer. No thanks. She has a nice smile and warm google eyes.

...
 

At work, only had time for a little free weights and 50 mins treadmill.

One word....
 

Planks ;)

planks?

Three words: what are planks?

They're hellish I tell you! I try to do them every gym session and feel very excited when I have gotten them over with. Look up the many torturous variations on youtube! They feel good after but not during!

The classic plank but remember to keep that butt down!

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...w/IMG_7550.jpg

Just watched a woman called "Lisa" planking 10 different ways on youtube. I'm relieved. I envisioned water boarding.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...psde68c765.jpg

Side plank. And what a ponytail!

Yikes, don't you hate when posted pictures come out too big? And especially when they're ones you've posted? Just sayin'

I just thought you wanted to show a life size example.

Yes, whenever I do something new it's a a real roll of the dice how my body will respond by the next day! It will either tell me:
-whatever
or
-you have awoken parts of me that were in a long sleep
or
-you have injured yourself and this is my way of warning you never to do that again!

I always overdo it with new shit too! My brain suggests being cautious but my body says, "Oh, go for it. I'm sure it'll be fine!" NOT!

Gemme,

I have been consistent with some long, fast, walks with Mr. Potato on the weekends. I've started to be a bit more consistent walking him in the neighborhood during the week, as well (side note: anytime I say I walk the dog that means I am walking fast enough to have the heart rate up), for about 30 minutes each time.

The above isn't SO unusual, though, so I can't expect any weight/body changes from the above.

My hope is that the consistency, however, will move me towards getting on that elliptical that takes up 1/4 of my living room! :|

BB has an exercise bike from Costco that we ordered through Amazon a few years back, and it's like the center piece of our 700 square foot apartment. Literally when guests come over they look at me as to where to sit, and I nod quite seriously towards that cheap recumbent bike :|

today....

I opted to sleep in (if 6am is "sleeping in") and skipped my morning yoga so I could get more sleep....its a necessity after all...

I redeemed myself with a 2 hour hike...with a lot of uphill....through some snow and ice. I had to scramble up a rock face at one point...after all that...the only thing that remotely aches is my ribs from all the attempts to keep my balance on the slippery slopes!

just as a little aside.... Im signed up for a 5k end of May and may commit to one for end of April....both for good causes. Im going to step up my hiking/walking accordingly :)