couch to 5k - 2

Week 1, Workout 2 - Thursday, June 25
@ gym - treadmill

1. 5 minute warm-up walk @ 4.0 mph
2. 60 seconds jog @ 6.2 mph
3. 90 seconds walk @ 4.0 mph
4. repeat steps 2-5 for 20 minutes (8 cycles)
5. 5 minute cool-down walk @ 3.5 mph

couch to 5k - take 2

Well, as motivated as I was to start the couch to 5k program two weeks ago, I didn't make time to get past the first workout. Big FAIL. I re-started yesterday and I have a new plan in place to make sure I stay on track this time around. Even though the gym is only about 2 miles from our house, I will now pack a gym bag in my car so that I can go straight to the gym from work. So here we go again:

Week 1, Workout 1 - Tuesday, June 23
@ gym - treadmill

1. 5 minute warm-up walk @ 4.0 mph
2. 60 seconds jog @ 6.2 mph
3. 90 seconds walk @ 4.2 mph
4. 60 seconds jog @ 6.0 mph
5. 90 seconds walk @ 4.0 mph
   
6. repeat steps 2-5 for 20 minutes (4 cycles)
7. 5 minute cool-down walk @ 3.5 mph

Workout #2 (identical to #1) will be tomorrow night after work.

Aside from trying to get myself to the gym more often, we have been doing a ton of work to the house. This past weekend we put the windows in both of our bathrooms and this weekend we'll be finishing out the windows by installing the double window in our other upstairs bedroom - then we're done! Tim and his helpers (my father-in-law, possibly a cousin and a work friend) will also install our new French patio door! We've gotten word that our siding contractor should be starting on July 13th!

More updates after the weekend :)

6 weeks???

How is the 3-Day only 6 weeks away???
Good thing all my money is raised! I haven't been training as much as I'd like to, but it's hard when I really don't foresee having trouble walking that much. Regardless, I am trying to buckle down over the next 6 weeks just for peace of mind (and for my general fitness level).
To date, we have raised over $15,000 between the four of us!! I'm so overwhelmed by the generosity that has been shown toward us and our goal.

couch to 5k

Last week I decided that I needed to seriously do something about my lack of physical activity since the wedding. It's quite sad and embarrassing actually, how out-of-shape I have gotten since I graduated college and retired from PSU track and field 2 years ago. I had heard of this Couch to 5k program but never looked into it. Well I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out. I did the first workout last night and I really liked it! Even though I don't have an actual 5k in mind to run anytime soon, I figured it couldn't hurt to use this program to get into better running shape.

In order to try and keep myself accountable for following the program, I'm going to use my blog as a way to record the workouts. So, away we go!

Week 1, Workout 1 - Tuesday, June 9
@ gym - treadmill

1. 5 minute warm-up walk @ 4.0 mph
2. 60 seconds jog @ 6.0 mph
3. 90 seconds walk @ 4.0 mph
4. repeat steps 2 and 3 for 20 minutes (8 cycles)
5. 5 minute cool-down walk @ 3.5 mph

I felt really good the whole time and will try to up my speeds for steps 2 and 3 next time around (tomorrow!)

family room and siding

When I last posted, our family room was still in shambles from the window installation and new paint. Well it's all finished now and looks great!!


Right now we're working on our kitchen windows and the breezeway windows. We have 18 windows in, only 6 more to go! Up next this weekend will hopefully be our bedroom windows.
We also hired our siding contractor and he should be starting in a few weeks. We're really excited to have this done - our house will look brand new!! We've decided to go with a "Flagstone" color with white trim and red doors. Here is a picture of the Flagstone color on a different house:


Our new doors will look like this:


Stay tuned for more pictures of our continuing house updates!

new paint and more new windows

This past weekend, on Sunday, my father-in-law and Tim installed all the new windows in our family room (including the huge 5'x9' window in the front!). The room also got a facelift with new paint - something I've been wanting to do for a while and having the room ripped apart because of the windows was as good a chance as any to do it.

Here's what the room looked like just 4 days ago:


And here's what it looks like as of this morning:

(that is Sox, not caring that the couch is covered with stuff!)

I love our new windows in here - they are awesome and will really allow us to get some air in the room! The 3 front windows used to only open at the bottom ¼th of the window - how strange is that? I also love the new paint - it definitely brightens up the room.

Between tonight and tomorrow night, we should be getting all the trim around the windows done and the room will be put back together - stay tuned for those pictures!