Monday, September 1, 2008

The return of the weekly challenge

So, yeah, my previous weekly challenges weren't all that successful. I'm the first to admit it! They weren't all spectacular failures, though, which is important to note--I am still pretty much Diet Coke free. I do have one every now and then, but it is super rare. So score one for me and the weekly challenge!

At any rate, I thought that given all the life changes I'm going through lately, and all the effort I am making to sort of reset my life, it would be appropriate to bring the weekly challenge back. As of tomorrow, I am going to give getting up early in the morning to run another shot. Not only will this be more convenient with my work schedule, it will also give me a chance to relax during the day and not worry about going running in the afternoon or evening, and will (hopefully) help me to avoid some of the crowds in Central Park (which have been exceedingly unpleasant lately).

On a semi-related note, I have started the 100 push-up challenge over again. Man, am I out of shape. Since today is September 1st, I think today would be a good day to make a commitment to strength training. I've been so bad about doing it consistently in the past, but lately the importance of it has really been driven home to me and I'm kind of scared of the consequences of not doing it. Case in point: a couple weeks ago I visited my paternal grandmother, who is in a rehabilitation facility recovering from a knee injury. One of the women who is in the rehabilitation facility with her is there because her bones pretty much collapsed one day while she was watering her garden. Essentially, her bones were so porous as to be see-through, and got to a point where they could no longer support her weight. While she was watering her garden, they just shattered. Hearing about that was a wake-up call! And, to a slightly lesser extent, so was the difficulty of doing those push-ups this evening.

7 comments:

SueWho said...

Hooray for you! Those are good weekly challenges (or is it just one - whatever). Just keep consistent with the strength training and you will see results very quickly!

Anonymous said...

WOOHOO!!! The weekly challenges are back!! And you are back also!! I was wandering what had happened to you.

Glad to hear that you are still out there running, keep it up!

Chris said...

Yeah, that is pretty scary, Em. I have never been good with my strength training. But, since my injury, I am a weight lifting fool. And I love it.

I had to restart the push up challenge myself a few weeks ago. It is amazing how quickly you lose those muscles when you stop using them! Good luck to you.

Rachel said...

Yay for weekly challenges! I personally am really bad at maintaining any sort of scheduled strength training. I usually do it when I feel like it. So kudos to you for working it in!

Alissa said...

I was glad to see you are back! I think that your strength training goal is excellent. I've been meaning to get back into that lately too. I just don't enjoy it as much as running, and I hate being sore the next day! Thanks for adding your perspective and advice to the comments on my blog. I took your advice this weekend and made a special effort to do something fun with Joe. Also thanks for pointing out that I shouldn't feel guilty doing something for myself. Yes it is so hard to figure out what the right balance is sometimes. But I'm working on it! Thanks!

*jen* said...

I'm so glad you're back! Love the weekly challenges. I hope they go well for you. I need to do more strength training also.

jlou said...

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