Missing: Enough Time at the Gym

I'm not sure how so much time has passed since I last blogged. I am going to commit to one blog a week for the month of August to get back in the habit of writing. I've been sitting in training all week about how to effectively teach writing and one of the things the experts continually say is that we as teachers should be writing each day. I will incorporate my blog into the routine I am developing to increase my writing time. I love my blog and hate that I have been so neglectful. For the past few years, June, July, and August have been months where I have hit my workouts hard. Historically, I have done more miles of cardio and hit strength training extra hard during those months. Please don't think that because I'm an educator I and those three months off. That is not true at all. By the time all was said and done I had three weeks off. I taught summer school in June and in July had a couple of weeks of training. Now I am back full time. This is good for me. After more than a couple of weeks, I become anxious. I am much more comfortable in routine and structure. We have used this time to work on home improvement and have accomplished a ton in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, I have let my workouts slip. My last session with my trainer was the last week of June. He left me with goals to accomplish during July as we are to start up again this month. The biggest goal was to focus on strength training and increase my weight. The first week of July my husband and I spent in Colorado. We were gone for 8 days for an AMAZING vacation. I am most at peace in the mountains. Being in the mountains is a spiritual experience for me. The least we hiked was 4 miles on any of the days we were there. More frequently we hiked 6-7 miles. It is our goal to increase this on our next trip. There were hikes we wanted to do that were 4-5 miles one way. We plan to go back and do these hikes. On the day where we only hiked 4 miles I need to explain that in the 2 miles to the summit we climbed a thousand feet. After we completed the hike we looked at our guide book and realized we had completed a "strenuous" hike. We were very proud of our accomplishment.

(this was another summit of close to 1000 feet, but in a very short distance...we were so high that it started freezing rain on us...as soon as we descended it was regular rain) So vacation was not a break from working out. We had a very active vacation that we both very much enjoyed. It was when we came home that things didn't go as planned. We started on some minor home improvement projects, but I didn't make getting to the gym a priority. I was so lax in this that I didn't complete even half of my 100 mile cardio goal. I did walk a 5k with a friend during July. The entire last mile was up hill. Quite challenging. One would think that I would have learned my lesson before when I didn't make working out a priority. The number on the scale hasn't changed. I've maintained my weight. However, it is the mental/emotional side of things that have really suffered. When I am not in the gym, I'm anxious, become irritable, and fight depression. In the last few days of July I realized I had to make the gym a priority. There can be no excuses. For example, last Saturday I had a lot to do around the house. Cleaning, grocery store, laundry, but I also had a work commitment. When I am on track and making good choices...I would have forced myself to get to they gym no matter what. This past Saturday I convinced myself I had too much to do to fit the gym in. WRONG ANSWER! When people ask me how I've made such progress, I don't hesitate to tell them that I had to make a choice. I had to decide I was worth it. I had to give up excuses and go for it. If I were to give that advice right now, I would be hypocrite. I have not been putting my fitness first. I've been hitting the gym hard this week and plan to for this month. In order to do that, the rest of my life must be scheduled around workouts. I have to make this a priority in my life again. I'm happier when this is the case. There are physical results and just as important emotional results. Once I have a full month back into the routine of things, I'll be gung ho and not able to stop. This week I get to continue enjoying afternoon/evening workouts. Next week those workouts will have to take place in the morning. Getting back into that routine is going to be a challenge for sure. However, I've done it before and can do it again.