Happy Happy High

Isn’t it amazing what a day and a really good workout can do? Today I feel amazing.  I feel better than I’ve felt in days and I swear it has everything to do with the fact that I just came alive last night at the gym. Some days it’s really that simple. My weekend sucked and I felt like crap, and clearly I was missing the happy high that I needed.  Monday I ran 7 miles which was great but I am sure the guilt was mostly what set in for not doing any strength training. 

Last night I was bound and determined to squat.  That crazy irrational fear that my ass was suddenly going to go flat and droop was a real motivator.  So I worked up a plan.  A highly squat driven plan.  I didn’t want to go crazy heavy because I didn’t want to be sore, but I wanted lots of reps.  I succeed at one of those goals.  I did lots of reps but alas I am sore today.

This workout, if you count it up included a total of 500 squats.  Yup, my 500 squat workout.  And it was amazing. And it was hard and it was exhilarating.  Not to mention all the other exercises as well.  Actually I should back up, I got to the gym and I started with a warm up run which turned into a longer run.  I felt really good last night and I bumped up my speed to 6.2 which isn’t crazy fast but a little faster than I normally go and I ran 4.5 miles at this pace.  So yes, I started with a 4.5 mile run.  And THEN I did the workout above.  Which took about an hour.  So yes, I spent almost 2 hours at the gym last night by the time I got there, got going and left. 

And it was fabulous.  It was delightfully torturous.  I actually didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish but the thing is once I make a plan and write it down I cannot allow myself to stop until I actually accomplish my goal. I.E. the list. If I go in without a list I am never as successful.  The existence of the list forces me to complete it.  And this one ended up being a doozy as per typical of my lists.  It was good. 

My legs feel it today. But not in a crazy I can’t walk way. In a nice I used these legs ouch they are sore but I can still function kind of way. Perfect.  My ass actually is the most sore which is what I was going for.  And mostly I appeased the voice in my head that was getting down on myself for not doing strength training.  And today she is stated and happy.  And that is so important.  

And I feel crazy good today as a result of those extra endorphins.  As a result of killing it at the gym.  Of putting in my earphones and zoning out and just getting it done.  This is why I love exercise in all forms.  Perfect night all around.  Tonight is my rest day from running.  This means that I will only run 1.5 miles as my warm up to my workout.  With that 1.5 mile run that will actually put my total for the past 3 days at 13 miles.  So after I sprint out 1.5 miles to warm up I will have run a half marathon in the last 3 days.  Nice way to ease myself back into running after my shitty weekend.

So with only a 1.5 mile run tonight that means I have to concentrate hard tonight on strength training and it will be upper body clearly.  So later today I will once again work up a great hard, long, intense workout for my upper body.  Something I am looking forward to actually. I need it.  I got it. Upper body tonight and then a 3 mile run tomorrow night with some more weights. Friday will be rest day.  Saturday I have a 5k which will just be a nice leisurely run/walk with my sister and then Sunday is a half.  I’m feeling pretty happy all things considered.

Things are pretty dang good really. I honestly can’t complain today.  I am once again excited about all the fun things I have coming up in my life. I’m excited about this weekend.  I am excited about next weekend when I get to go to Seattle and hang out with my husband on a mini-adventure and run the Rock N Roll Seattle.  This is my happiness. I am an odd duck I realize.

I went ahead and added a page up to the top of this one with all my workouts I’ve penciled out. It’s kind of nice to go back and look at them. I mean, this isn’t all of them, just the ones I’ve photographed before I threw them away.  Anyway, I will try and save them from here on out and post them to this blog for future reference.