The Secret Scale Society

I apologize in advance for the length of this post...I feel like it has been forever since we have talked :)

Spending early Saturday mornings watching the sunrise and walking "the ribbon" is one of the most wholesome parts of my week. So...I did just that this past Saturday with my hubby and some of my favorite women on this earth. As we do many mornings, we all met out at the curb at 4:30am and set out on our journey thru the neighborhood. Now, I won't lie...the favorite women that I speak of would rather refer to "the ribbon" as about as much fun as a pap smear, mammogram, or root canal. It is quite an adventure. I like the endurance training of this course since you can really get your heart rate up without feeling nearly dead by the top of the hills. They would tell me, "Speak for yourself."

The builders and architects that designed this neighborhood about 7 years ago said that the side walks created a "ribbon-like" appearance throughout the subdivision. So, that's where we got the idea of "the ribbon". I hope you can visualize "the ribbon" as you imagine side walks on both sides of the streets pictured here. When I look at the picture, it looks more like a jumbled up piece of yarn..hahaha. Either way, it kicks butt with the nice hills and valleys for about 4.5 miles.

These last 2 weeks have slipped by ever so quickly. My usual day to day is quite busy but looking at the calendar from the past 2 weeks seems quite overwhelming in retrospect. Some days I wonder how I make it thru a month without forgetting the important things like taking a deep breath and enjoying the fresh morning air. Speaking of that...I need to admit a little something. I have NOT been making it to the gym daily or even at all in the last 2 weeks. Why?..you ask. Well, I have found a better place to be at 4:30am every Monday thru Friday and it's not in bed with my hubby and dog snuggled up tight.




Kelly, me, Angie, and Danielle...the beginning of the team

 

I have been fortunate enough to find other crazy people in my little town that are as short on extra time in the day for exercise and need the accountability much like I do. Our little group started with just 4 of us gals a week ago on Memorial Day and has blossomed to 7 of us by this AM (not even 2 weeks later). We have been "friends" for a few years thanks to 24 Church but never really gathered in the same group all together at the same time. This new found sisterhood is just what I needed to keep my workout interesting. Different paces with varied intervals of run/walk, longer legs and shorter strides, varying goal weights...but all headed in the direction of putting fitness back in our daily routine. Now, we have a couple of guys that have infiltrated our little group...one being my hubby and the other being Danielle's sweetheart, Tony. Neither of the guys are crazy enough to make it to the curb every morning at 4:30am but they are goal directed just the same.

In fact, Tony about killed me dead this past Monday. Being all new to running these silly intervals (as recommended by David..."the researcher"), I decided to step up the quantity of intervals rather than the increasing the interval time on Monday. I set my Garmin to 12 sets of 2:1...2 minute of jogging with 1 minute of walking..instead of 10 sets like last week. Shoes laced up and all ready to hit the curb, I opened the front door to find that Tony had tagged along with Danielle to test out our new found group. Rumor is that Tony doesn't run much...he usually just does strength training. Well, that rumor is a flat out LIE! We started out running in the road along the curb lining the side walk since the blacktop is a little more giving to the knees and hips. We finished those first 10 sets with the average feeling of being tired by the end and then the "kill me now" session began. Tony must have found that little cup of energy that he was holding on to and downed it in one big gulp because he started setting a new pace. A pace that made me feel like my lungs and heart were no longer working in sync. It was more like a boxing match between my heart, lungs, and legs. Long story short, I have met my challenge! Tony ROCKED my world. I will admit that the Wednesday following (yesterday to be more exact), intervals at my old pace seemed much easier overall.




Check out that heart rate...crazy up in the 180 bpm area.

 

So..just to set the record straight..I am doing MUCH better at getting to the curb by 4:30am EVERY AM for intervals on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and a brisk cross-training walk on Tuesdays and Thursdays rather than heading to the YMCA about 3 mornings a week. We are taking Saturday mornings to start at 7:00am and do some endurance training either on "the ribbon" or "The Greenway in Springfield" for about 5-6 miles. If this keeps up the way I intend, I will be able to save myself about $100 per month by dropping the YMCA membership for the summer and fall months. I will probably rejoin in December so that I don't freeze to death on those winter mornings before sunrise :)

So, I am super excited that my sweetheart put my 1/2 marathon stickers on my Xterra this week. I had 2 really cool stickers (a 13.1 and "I run for margaritas") that I totally screwed up when I tried to put them on by myself. Thankfully, he is much better at that sort of stuff than I am so he managed to get the backup 2 that I had bought in place with no trouble.  

  




Always Earned Never Given  and 13.1

 

Wrapping it up...last Friday was indeed Weigh Day Friday and I did it! 1/2 pound down...no complaints :)

                             May 25th Friday's Weight: 194.2, (Fat % 40.2, H20 % 42.9)

                                   June 8th Last Friday's Weight: 193.6, (Fat % 39.9, H20 % 43.1)

Tomorrow kicks off a new level of accountability for the 4:30am team. We are all wanting to lose weight...some fewer than others..but we all want to shed poundage. So, we are weighing in front of one another on Friday mornings before we head out to do intervals. Of course, they are not nuts enough to post it online in a blog so you won't get the full details of individual weight loss but I will be glad to share our grand total of blubber lost each week on my blog. Angie has renamed our team...

                                    "The Secret Scale Society"

Awesome! Have I mentioned how much I love these girls?! I will try to get my next post completed on Saturday with tomorrow's Friday Weigh Day and the results of the Hell or High Water 10K that David and I are set to do Saturday AM. Excited but nervous...