Week 2: Workout #2 and Weigh-In

I’m a little late posting this, but better late than never, right?

I only managed to squeeze in two workouts last week, the second one being last night. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I’ve been getting really sore muscles after my workouts. I figured it was probably a result of either not stretching enough or pushing myself too hard—or possibly both. So I chose to address both those issues last night.

Before I went to the gym, I went through an entire stretch routine geared specifically toward runners. Then I went to the gym and made another attempt at the Week 1 Day 1 segment of Couch to 5K. I did my walking segments on the treadmill at 3 miles an hour and only increased it slightly to 3.5 for the jogging segments. (I had been running at 5.0 earlier, which is why I was tuckered out with crazy sore calf muscles after only two or three segments.) I also stretched my calves after each running segment to keep them from tightening up on me.

I’m excited to report that not only was I able to finish the whole 30 minutes (5-minute walking warm-up; 20 minutes alternating running and jogging; and 5-minute cool-down), but I was comfortable upping my speed for the last two running segments. I did one at 4 miles an hour, and my final running spurt was at 5 miles an hour.

And you know what? I felt great afterward.

After the treadmill workout, I worked with free weights:

• 3 sets of 10 bicep curls
• 3 sets of 10 tricep extensions
• 3 sets of 10 chest presses
• 1 set of 10 squats
• 1 set of 10 lunges on each leg
• 1 set of 10 plies
• 30 crunches

Then I returned to my apartment and stretched again. For the first time, I had no post-workout pain, and with the exception of a slight twinge in my right bicep and lower back, I’m pain-free today, too.

Fabulous.

I also had my weekly weigh-in yesterday. I lost the pound I gained last week and I’m back to my starting weight. Yay for small achievements!