Change it Up

Because retail is a crazy world when it comes to work, because of the position I am in, when my worker takes vacation, I'm the one who has to take up the slack.  For me, that means doing a shift of 12 days in a row.  Granted, they're shorter days (sometimes only 6 hours!) but still, it means hopping out of bed on a weekend when the only thing I want to do is curl up and sleep in!

But, I didn't.  I headed in to work, and of course, being the gym is right there - no excuses for skipping out on gym time!  I think my exercise routine got stuck in a rut. I've been doing the elliptical, because let's face it, its much easier on the joints. But I've worked my way up to a resistance level 8, doing 13 minute miles, a minimum of 2 miles per day. While its great cardio, I decided I needed to switch it up, so I hopped on the treadmill last week.

Walking can be repetitious without some a goal to achieve. So I walk/jogged a mile, and it was 14:50. I've never been much of a runner, but hey -- things change! And so can I! I did some reading on ways to transition from walker to jogger, and have decided that I will walk 2 mins and jog 1 min, for a minimum of 20 minutes. I'm hoping that this pace will ease me from being a walker to jogger for more than a minute at a time. An entire mile would be a major milestone!

Along with that, I also need a goal to reach, and I believe that striving for a 13 minute mile is a good goal for 2014. Because the gym is right next door to work (really handy, no excuses for not making it to the gym, I'm already there 5 days a week!) I tried out my theory by heading to the gym (on a Saturday!) and did my walk/jog rhythm, and set the bar at a 14:28 mile! Ok, so that's not a speed record by any means -- except for me!!

And that's the whole purpose of gym time --- improving me!