Day Four, Workout

Well, I woke up today fully expecting to learn how to get more flexible. I was looking forward to my Pilates instruction only to get a text from the instructor that she would not be in today because she was sick. Oh well, I say, it does happen. No big deal. So, I headed off to the gym, thought I would get in a little run. I had worked really hard the past couple of days using the new workout routine I learned and I was kinda feelin' it! Before I go on, I would remiss if I did not tell you that before I do anything in the gym, I do two things: 1- I have a cup of coffee. I read somewhere that a cup of coffee, straight black, gives you a pick me up. It is low in calories and the caffeine boost you get helps you get "up" for your upcoming workout. 2- I stretch. I do a series of stretches, mainly my lower body because I do a lot of running. The first stretch I do is standing up, legs together and touch my toes. I then cross my legs and touch my toes. I alternate my right and left leg on top . This helps get the hamstrings loosened up and also helps a little with my back. Next I sit down and stick one leg out and tuck the other leg towards my body and lean forward and try to touch my nose to my knee. I hold it for a 10 count and do each leg three times. Again, this helps the hammies and my back. Next, I tuck both legs in a "butterfly" position. Your heels should be tucked in towards your groin region. I then wrap my arms around the outside of my legs and while I am pushing down with my legs towards the ground, I am providing resistance with my arms trying to not let them touch the ground. I then bring my arms to the inside of my legs and the opposite of the first exercise. This helps stretch and strengthen the groin. The last stretch I do is what I call the "pretzel". You sit up, tuck one leg into your body, you then cross your other leg over the lower leg. Then you try and touch your nose to your shoe. Hold for a 10 count. Next you come up and twist your upper body and put the opposite arm over the leg that is over the leg tucked into your body. You then switch legs. There you go, now you have some stretches.
So onto today's workout. I did a treadmill workout. I decided to do a incline interval workout. I ran three miles with a steady increase in the degree of the incline. I started at 0% and at the peak was at 7%. Now this does not sound like a lot, but it is! I thought I would be doing a light workout today and all of a sudden I was knee deep into a hill workout! I thought to myself, "holy shit!", I am killing myself. My next thought was, "well, you started this you idiot, so now finish it and do not adjust either!" Now Mamma and Daddy did not raise a puss, so I trudged on. The second mile was the toughest. The last mile, I was just thankful that it pyramided back down on the incline. It made it feel like I was running down hill. My legs thanked me for it! All in all it was a good workout because I know not all the terrain in North Georgia is going to be like it is here at the beach. So doing a little hill work in retrospect was a good thing.