Lessons for Today

Lesson #1: If you are going to work out for 2 hours, eat more than a 90 calorie piece of toast for breakfast

Man, I wanted to sleep in this morning. But, I had a session with my trainer and if I missed it, I would still have to pay...so I got up at 5:30 a.m. The latest possible time I could get up and still make it to my 6:00 a.m. session (okay, so I was a little late). Ran around the house to find clothes for work and the gym (of course, I know that I COULD pack my bag the night before, but for some reason I can never actually seem to do this--I don't know. It was save me a lot of grief. Especially on those days when my attempt to get an entire outfit into my bag fail--and that happens more often that I would like to admit). I make a piece of toast (yummy cinnamon raisin kind) and run out the door.

The workout is good. I didn't whine that much and there wasn't too much eye rolling this morning :) All signs of success!

So, after an hour with Scott the trainer, I hop into my car and head out to the gym (Scott is training me at this little gym that doesn't have good cardio equipment). I get there and start my workout around 7:30--an hour on the elliptical. At first I am feeling good, rocking through the "hills" and watching random TV. Then, my legs decide that they just want to stop. This was probably around the 25 minute mark. I convinced myself that it was just because I was on a particularly big "hill", but no, that wasn't it. The little ones were hard too. I kept pushing, but noticed that I was slower and the time seemed to be dragging on and on and on. I thought that the last 15 minutes would never end. And then the cool down. And stretching. By the time I hit the shower it was nearing 9:00 a.m, so a good 3 hours since my 90 calorie piece of toast. Then it hit me...90 calories of fuel does not equal 2 hours of output. Duh!

That leads to lesson number 2: Recovery is imperative (especially if you fail lesson #1 above). After a typical gym workout I have a routine. Hit the locker room and chug about half a bottle of this drink mix that has a good mix of carbs and protein to help my body recover from what I just did to it. I shower, and then drink the rest. If I am doing long sessions of strength and cardio, I will sometimes drink something between them, to keep the body going. Well, today, I didn't even think about my recovery drink. I am blaming it on the effects of #1.

So, I am crashing right now as I type. I need a nap. But it is 10:00 a.m., so no naps for me. I get to work instead! Hopefully my post post-workout attempts at fuel will help and I will be somewhat awake before too long. If not, at least it's Friday!