Monday, January 23, 2006

So close yet so far...

Today is cardio - HIIT and I made it to the gym first thing this morning.

Workout went like this:

Leg Stretches
WARM-UP: 5 minutes walking on the treadmill @ 3.5 - 3.8 mph & 0.5 incline
Leg Stretches
CARDIO: 20 minutes HIIT on the treadmill, followed by 5 minutes walking cool-down
Leg Stretches
ABS: Ab Bootcamp

Now for the cardio...I WAS SOOOOO CLOSE!!! I did not hit the 2 miles in 20 minutes goal, but I set a personal best - 1.98 miles/20 minutes. Not bad! My routine went like this:

Level 5: 5.3 mph
Level 6: 5.5 mph
Level 7: 5.7 mph
Level 8: 6.0 mph
Level 9: 6.2 mph
Level 10: 6.5-6.8 mph

All done on a 0.5 incline. I had to run Level 10 for 2 minutes (Minutes 18 & 19).

I am not discouraged though. I am so close I can almost taste it. I'll try again next Monday. I did notice that my running is getting stronger. My heart rate felt fine, even the Level 10. My legs though was getting tired at 6.8 mph. I think it will only get better with time.

I had to forego my lunchtime walk since it was wet all day.

Overall, an excellent day with the workout and eating is clean so far.

Gym Gripe
Since my company gym has changed management during the end of last year, a lot of improvements have been made - new equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, stairmasters, captain's chair, etc.), better floor arrangements, etc. After years of using out-of-date equipment, this was indeed a good thing. Well, I was optimistic about the whole thing, until last week.

I came in one morning and right in the middle of the exercise room is this big monolith of a desk. Now, they have a small desk already set up by the door of the exercise room and out of the way, which I feel is sufficient. This only serves as a seating area for people on duty. There's already a large desk and seating area by the gym entrance, and then an office area in the back. The small desk that was on the exercise room was replaced by this THING.

Now, my gripe is I would rather put that space to better use and get more equipment - for example, a cable machine with more stations, a stairmill, a good incline bench with multiple levels for ab workout - countless of possibilities! I noticed the other morning that a couple of people that work there were making fun of this enormous THING, so I'm not the only person that have this opinion.

I'm thinking dropping an anonymous note in the suggestion box. There might be plans underway that would justify installing this THING, but I wanted to make sure that the gym management is aware that there are better options from where it stands right now.

4 comments:

KatieFeldmom said...

YES YES YES
on the Suggestion Box.

They (mgmt) probably have no idea what people think of it, so you have to tell them.

Great HIIT-run, by the way!

Wolfie said...

Sounds like your cardio workouts are getting stronger. Keep at it! And yes, yes, yes to the suggestion box! And I was looking at your post below on wanting a treadmill. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Treadmill sales are up this time of year, but by summer everyone is putting them in their garage sales! lol. Gotta love those New Years Resolutions! We got ours free from someone who didn't want it anymore. It's not state of the art, but definitely handy when we can't do our cardio outside.

Wolfie said...

And hey, is your profile pic from the movie Coyote Ugly? I LOVE that movie!

chantal2bfit said...

Thank you both for your encouragement!

Jennifer-The picture is actually Jessica Simpson from Dukes of Hazard. Never saw the movie, but I like how fit she became for the movie.