Day 36: "You can't start a week with quitting!"

I woke up this morning and didn’t feel like working out at all and strongly considered staying in bed…my back was a little sore (probably from all the crunches and upper body workout at the stairs) and my ankle seems to hurt more again these days, especially in the morning. But luckily, it just took another minute and I finally got up to get ready for Basic training. I’ll go with Lisa’s attitude which is “There is no quitting on a Monday! You can’t start the week with quitting.” And she is absolutely right!

Jenn and Michael were our instructors today and we went for a pretty exhausting run in the Presidio. We ran a beautiful trail, passed the golf course and lover’s lane, it almost felt like running hills non-stop – but I really enjoyed the run even though I was sweating like crazy. In between, we took short breaks to do some exercises for the upper body using resistance bands that we carried with us. The group was smaller compared to the last couple of days and most of the people are strong runners as well. As a consequence, I was last throughout the run, but it really didn’t matter. I had a chat with Jenn who joined me at the end of the group. She gave me great advice on how to deal with my sugar cravings, we talked about over-exercising and also about stress relief, healthy snacks, food diaries, general rest and the right amount of sleep. It was really helpful to listen to her point of view. I think that she really cares about the overall well-being of people, not just about a great workout with Basic Training. She made me understand that sometimes, an hour of additional sleep might be more beneficial for you than a double workout and that stress relief and especially identifying sources of stress might be an important step to feel good and to reduce “emotional eating”. It was really very helpful to talk to her. Thanks, Jenn! Taking her advice into account, I canceled my bar method class tonight and practiced my presentation for work instead (which is my major source of stress at the moment). And I booked a massage for tomorrow night. And I had a big tablespoon of chocolate ice cream. Ok, may be the icecream wasn’t her idea…but I feel quite relaxed now ;-)

I had a great day, the run was awesome and my conversation with Jenn was so encouraging. For me, Basic Training is SO much more than just a workout!

36 days down, only 6 days left!