I did a trial run on my cardio exercise yesterday and it nearly killed me. I felt a little bit disheartened to only get through two cycles but Terry said it was ‘well done’ and I should be proud. He’s been doing it for months and can only do four cycles. I did the same routine this morning and again managed to get through two cycles. In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it goes like this:
On the treadmill I start with a speed 6, three minute warm-up. After three minutes put the speed up to 7 for a jog for two minutes. After a minute increase the speed to 8 for a minute, then 9 for a minute, then finally 10 for a minute (my treadmill doesn’t go any higher than this, but if yours does keep going until you cannot go any further!). Then drop the speed back down to 7 for two minutes and repeat.
As I said above, the most I managed was two full cycles this morning. Afterwards I could feel my pulse beating in my temples. I was whacked. So tired from the exertion. I finished it off with a set of crunches then had a light breakfast of cereal and milk before work. I did well to remain positive. Two cycles plus the warm-up is only 13 minutes in total. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but theslow / speed / slow / speed is apparently really good for fitness and fat burning. Shocks the system, or something.
I felt pretty good all day up until mid afternoon when I really started to flag. I had salad for my lunch and I’m thinking that maybe it just wasn’t enough to keep me going until home time. I’ll need to start taking food to work for lunch. Something healthy but a little more substantial than a salad from the supermarket and some tomatoes.
Feel okay now though and I’m looking forward to getting the weights out tomorrow morning. I was saying to Dave today that I will probably do really well this week, but the real test will be next week, and if I can maintain the commitment when I’m seeing no results and feeling tired/hungry.
I just have to remember I have goal and that I’ll not be persuaded from it.
Keep going, Alan!
