15 Days

Today is Gorgeous!!! The sun is shining, the temperatures are wonderful and there is a nice little breeze. These are the days you truly look forward to....Picture Perfect!

Time is definitely growing short...Baltimore is only 2 weeks away! I know I've put in a lot of training but it is about this time that I usually start getting nervous about my conditioning etc. This time is no different. Every little ache and pain starts my head spinning with....am I getting an injury? Did I do something that I shouldn't have? etc. Then, of course, there is the worry over nutrition.

This past week my main "issue" has been my right heel. Thankfully, it is feeling better today. I still really don't know what caused the issue in the first place but I'm wondering if it was my trail run on Monday. When you change running surfaces, it can be good and bad. I love the fact that you don't get the same type of pounding that you get running on the roads. However, running on surfaces like trails or sand (ie beaches) can be very hard on your feet - working them in ways that you aren't used to. This is, of course a double edged sword - you don't progress if you don't challenge yourself but if the challenge is too much then you run the risk of injury. The only drawback to this conclusion is that it didn't happen to both feet. I would have thought that is 1 foot wasn't used to the surface the other wouldn't have been either...LOL!

On that note I decided to stick with my bike workouts this morning. I'm getting a great workout and no pounding on my foot which I think has helped a lot. I absolutely love my Cardio Coach workouts - they are interval type workouts and use both resistance and speed to get your HR up. You are in control of your speed &/or resistance so anyone can use the sessions and you can use them on just about any type of equipment. I've used them on my bike and on a treadmill and it works great! Speaking of working great, I love my new HR monitor. It is really basic but it allows me to track workout and calories burned while still inside. My Garmin, tracks these things but will only calculate calories burned while utilizing the GPS. That means that I can only get calories burned when I'm outside....doesn't do me much good with my inside workouts!

After my bike workout was over I did a lifting session - legs and shoulders. I've now done this twice this week and I've really enjoyed the change. Over the past year, my lifting sessions have all been P90X workouts. I love those workouts but it does feel good to change things up every once in a while! I changed the exercises from the last time I did the legs and shoulders so I was able to add in even more variety - gotta love that!

The next product I want to get is Insanity Asylum. The videos I've seen have been awesome and intimidating all at the same time! If that program gives me 1/2 the sensation that Insanity did I know I will LOVE IT! I haven't seen 1 bad review about the program other than it is a real butt kicker. But that's what I'm looking for!!!

Few more things to do before the day gets away from me. Have a great day!!