Stairs & thoughts

These are the stairs in my apartment. Each floor has 17 stairs. There are 5 floors. 17 X 5 = 85 steps

I live on the 1st floor so I rarely have occasion to use these steps. It turns out that they make a TON of noise when you go up and down them. They creak and groan and feel soft underfoot like they might give way under you at any second.
(As I'm typing this, I can hear one of my neighbors galloping down the stairs sounding like a massive Clydesdale. I know I'm an old mother of two little boys but WHY does this one doofus neighbor feel the need to jump down the last 5 steps landing with the force of a mortar round right next to my front door?!)

Since I decided not to go to Boot Camp today, I knew I had to do something else and so I did two rounds on my buildings stairs. 170 steps falls 30 shy of what I'd wanted to do today but we can't be picky.

I huffed and puffed and my legs are achy but I'm glad I got it done!

I'm realizing that part of working smarter not harder is listening to my body. As I've said before I'm notoriously lazy and I'm still, even after a dedicated year of Boot Camp, I'm still shocked that I end up at the 9am class after dropping the kiddos off at school.

When I decide to skip class, I always go through this angst internal dialog where I have to prove to myself that I'm not just being lazy and slacking off.

I also have to be careful that this new found bulldog in me doesn't push me to class when I'm really not up for it physically because once I'm there I'm there 100% and then some.

Yesterday is a perfect example - I didn't feel well and yet still pushed myself to not only finish class but go the extra mile and work with the 40 pound weight and then I pushed even harder to go and do the steps.

I'm afraid I should have listened to what my body was telling me because today I'm paying for it by having to sit class out.

I need to find that middle ground within myself that stops the lazy alarms from sounding but also doesn't work me till I'm sick or hurt.

Always a work in progress...

Yet another...

Oh my GOSH. I so so so so so need to be a part of this event!
http://challengemam.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CW_MAM_homepage

My Goal

The 40kg kettlebell is the gal I have my sights set on...

More Cardio

I'm aware that I'm in love with strength training and totally ignore and shove aside cardio training. I'm also aware that without cardio, I'm not going to take this weight off as fast as I might like.
The stairs will really help but I feel like I need to add more cardio overall to my routine.

The trouble is I'm lazy as hell by nature and because my cardio endurance is so low, my motivation to even get started is also low. (As in, I know I can't do much so why bother?)

I started this post early this morning, Pre-Boot Camp and I swear to GOD David was in my head because today was 90% cardio.

Jumping Jacks, Squats, Trunk Twists and my favorite ass kicker step ups onto a monster truck tire.  My legs are TOAST.

Half way through class I started to get lightheaded and found walking in a straight line was a difficult task. I drank some water and pushed on but I struggled today.

I'd promised myself I was going to do the stairs today however and come hell or high water I was going to do those damn stairs.

Here is one flight. Each flight has 10 steps and there are two flights between each floor with 6 floors. So someone wanna tell me why I only counted 93 steps to the top?

By the time I got to the top, my legs were screaming and I was huffing and puffing like a baby hippo.

Click the photo to enlarge. It's a great view from the top!

 

However, rather than be mad at myself for being so out of breath and near death at the top, I stopped and looked out the window and thought about what I'd done not 10 mins before in class.

I did  100 squats, 100 trunk twists with a 15 pound Kettlebell, stepped up onto that damn tire what felt like a million times, pushups and pullups on the rings and did overhead presses with a 25 pound kettlebell. At the end of class I did my 10 presses with the 40 pound Kettlebell and then did 20 swings with the 40 pounder.

In other words, I was exhausted before I started the stairs. I also reminded myself I have 13 weeks and there are no medals being handed out at the Monroe Center for who gets to the top the quickest.

Today I was able to do one round of 6 flights. Tomorrow I will attempt 2 rounds, Wednesday 3, Thursday 4 and Friday 5. By Friday I will be doing half of what I need to do for Rockefeller Center!!
Here is the info on the Rock Center Steps:
Course Description:
There are 1215 steps. The stair width is 66 inches and the length is 10 inches. Each story has two flights of stairs, separated by a landing. The length of a flight varies, but most are nine steps each.

Each day I have to push myself a little more and a little harder and remember what my goal is and what I'm working towards.
I can do this, I know that I can.

I just have to remember to be patient with myself and not always see what I can't do or haven't done but remember what I have done and what I can do and what I couldn't do a year ago.

Eliptical

My husband is obsessed with this damn machine. He's never used one and doesn't currently use one but according to him, this critter is the way to fitness.
I've never stepped foot on one either but I found myself totally buying into his frenzy. I started thinking "How can I do Boot Camp AND join a gym and make both investments worth while? The reality is there isn't enough time in the day for me to do both and now that I've watched videos of this machine in action I realize I can get the SAME workout running stairs.
To that end, tomorrow after Boot Camp I'm going to attempt to do 30 stories of the stairs at the Monroe Center here in Hoboken.There are only 5 stories so I'll have to do quite a bit of up and down but that's okay.
The stairs are on the creepy side because I don't think many folks use them and they are old with lots of character and I'll bring my camera with me.
I'm excited to get started!

Pie

I'm cleaning out the fridge from Thanksgiving and before I tossed the pies out I cut a slice of Pecan and Pumpkin to enjoy one last time this holiday.

They weren't very good but I ate them anyway and now I'm sitting here wishing I hadn't done that and feeling slightly guilty. I didn't finish either piece but it doesn't matter. I'm still feeling regret.

This is a FANTASTIC sign that I'm really ready  to be back on track. The last time I felt guilty about eating anything was years and years ago. (I was actually 21 years old and I remember what it was I ate and who I was with and where I was)

Just wanted to share this small change...

Measurements

To catch myself up the measurements for today November 27th 2010 are
Bust: 44
Waist: 37
Hips: 40
and the dreaded bathing suit photos.

Photos

Another habit I need to get back into are the daily photos. Here are the two I usually show you but I'm adding a couple more because it's been a long time since a part of my body made me smile or want to show it off...

Cupcake Goal

It's time to get back on track and get serious. I've been doing a whole lotta internal therapy and one of the steps I need to take to like myself more and regain some of my lost confidence is get back to taking the weight off and getting back to turning myself into a serious bad ass.
Because I'm goal driven (I can't get motivated to just do. I have to have a reason for doing.) my goal is my cupcake tattoo.

My promise to myself is that I will take off 50 pounds and once I do, I can go and sit for this tattoo. (I'm going to be making some changes to it. The banner will be more centered and proportionate to the cupcake)  

Two days a week, I'm going to supplement Boot Camp with stair runs. The Monroe Center which is where Boot Camp is held has a good set of unused stairs (that are semi creepy) that are 5 stories with 2 sets and a landing on each floor. Tuesday I'll start slowly and do as many as I can. I'll chart over here each time I do them.

The whole reason I'm doing this is because I've signed up for Climb to the Top for MS. I have 13 weeks to get in shape and ready for it.
That means I have 26 climb sessions.

Wish me luck!