I was experiencing a high today, after accomplishing my running goal last night in the rain. I can tell you that the motivation I have gained, just by accomplishing that small goal, has been tremendous. So tremendous that it makes me want to break every single goal that I set for myself in the future. All I could think about today, while driving to the event, was what I am going to be doing tonight for my workout. Well, today is a weight lifting day so that much was determined. However, when traveling, not every hotel is equipped with weights or sufficient workout equipment. So, a lot of times I have to adjust on the fly.
Anyway, once Patty and I arrived at the hotel we unpacked, got settled in, and I went right out the door to search for the hotel fitness center. And what happened next is not an exaggeration, the following events unraveled exactly the way I am going to tell you right now. I walked into the fitness center and it looked like the machines haven't been used in a while. The treadmill had tape holding parts of it together, the elliptical looked like it hadn't been tuned up since it was placed in the room, and the bike was missing several buttons on the main control board. Unfortunately there were no weights at all. But I figured since I was there, I would give it a try because any form of exercise is better then nothing.
First, I thought I would try out the treadmill because I have been running pretty well lately and I wanted to continue. So I stepped up on the machine and started a manual program. As the belt on the treadmill started moving, I proceeded to start running with it. However, as my foot touched the belt, it would stop and then start up again when my foot came up. I must have tripped about 4 times trying to run because the belt kept on stopping every time my foot hit it. So, I decided to stop that right away. As soon as I stepped down from the treadmill, I made my way to the elliptical. As I started to move on the elliptical, the left foot platform kept on sliding back and forth on the leg of the machine, making it very hard for me to keep my balance. I figured that I would try the third and final machine in the room before I gave up on trying to conduct a workout, in what now seems to be, the worst fitness center in the country. As I sat down on the bike, that was missing buttons and apparently the straps that hold your feet to the pedals, I started to move my legs. And as I kept on pedaling faster, the seat kept on moving backwards until I couldn't reach the pedals anymore. It was official, every single piece of workout equipment in there was broken.
I was still determined to get a workout in and I wasn't going to use traveling all day or broken equipment as an excuse to not workout. So I decided to take it to the streets once again. I went back to my room, grabbed my hoodie, and made my way down stairs. As I passed the front desk, I figured I would ask them if it was a safe neighborhood to run around at night. And the person said with a very serious face, "I would not recommend it." So with that advice in mind, I did the only thing I could do. I ran in both the parking lots of my hotel and the Holiday Inn next door. I actually ran in gigantic circles that went around the outline of both parking lots. I managed to execute a cardio workout when nothing seemed to be working. I was just as proud of myself tonight as I was after accomplishing my goal last night.
With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:
Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man - 37 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)
Breakfast - 4 Eggo Nutrigrain Waffles = Points 4
Snacks During the Day - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream cup and a serving of mini wheat thins = Points 5
Lunch - 1 serving of homemade Chicken Parmigiana (Weight Watchers Recipe) with a side of whole wheat pasta and 2 crescent rolls = Points 16
Dinner - (1) 6" turkey sub on whole wheat bread with 2 slices of american cheese and a serving of baked chips = Points 10
Total Points Eaten Today = 35 Points (2 points under my daily limit)
Exercise
Today I ran outside for 30 mins. Tomorrow I will be executing the weight lifting and strength training portion of my workout routine.
Day #138 - Weigh-In = 240.6 lbs
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| Day #138 Weigh-In |
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| Day #138 Front Shot |
That takes dedication. You could have just as easily given up since all the machines were broken and the neighborhood wasn't ideal. I'm impressed. You did it despite all of the things that were solid excuses not to work out. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but i had to chuckle as you were tell us about the fitness center. I can't believe they don't have someone suing them for being injured in there!!
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed that you managed to get a workout in despite the fitness center and the dodgy neighbourhood!
Go you!!!