Day 3--In the books...

Today started off the most dreariest of all days...Mondays are usually hard for me, because I spend the weekend doing all of my fun stuff..and Monday is just back to reality for me...back to the beginning of a long work week...and five whole days until the next weekend of fun.  Today was no exception--in Atlanta it was rainy and dreary most of the day...and since it gets dark at 5 p.m. now...by the time I left work (near 6), it seemed like it was 10:00p already.  Enough of my complaining...hey, at least I am that much closer to the weekend...:)

So, Day 3 workout consisted of cardio endurance training.  I was to do 35 minutes of any activity--but I had to push myself to my limit for at least 10 minutes of that.  I decided that I would get on the Stairmaster for 35 minutes...something that I have never done.  (In the past, when I was working out regularly, the most I had done was 20 minutes without stopping...and that was on a manual mode...where everything was the same...same resistance, speed, etc.).  So, tonight, I decide that I am going to embark on the cardio burn program...level 4...for 35 minutes...What was I thinking?  I think that at one point, I thought I was going to die...is what I was thinking.  I now can somewhat imagine what those folks at the Biggest Loser feel the first week or so that they are there and Jillian and Bob are pushing them outside of their comfort zone.  (Sidenote:  Luckily, I didn't have Jillian jumping on my back and cursing me...though in my mind, I was just as vocal as some of the contestants I have seen on there.  I am pretty sure that was only in my mind, anyway...).  So, I had my new Zune up and running (pun intended...because if I am running...okay, slow stair climbing...someone had better come with me!).  So, we were off...luckily the stairmaster shows a graph (what looked like a big bar chart of highs and lows...maybe my motivational scale...or worse my weight??? Oh dear...good thing I didn't think of it while I was on it...because I would have stopped then and there) and it breaks each "bar" down by the total time that you are working out and counts backward on the clock...I am so engrossed with the timers and all of the numbers that are shown...completely fixated.  Anyway...the first ten minutes went off without a hitch--then things got a bit more difficult...and it was only uphill literally (though my emotions were steadily going downhill) from there.  I pushed through it...and made it to minute 35...and then the 2 minute cooldown.  Personal best on the stairmaster...37 minutes!!!  I climbed 98 flights (need to do the research to ascertain what a flight is...), a total of 2.25 miles and burned almost 350 calories...I was also drenched in sweat...as I wore a long sleeved technical shirt because it was raining when I left home for the gym...How stupid!  I am pretty sure that no one in the gym would be marveling at my stats...but I was super proud for pushing myself...for not stepping off and saying...well, 25 minutes is good enough...I did it!!!

So, here's a photo of my post-workout...just before I started writing this post...nice 'do, I know...:)

 Have a great evening...off to bed very soon!