The past few days I've done a variety of workouts, rather than my old treadmill and weight training defaults...

January 16: I took a BodyPump class at the real gym with my friend Sarah. I really liked this class and am going to try to go every Saturday when I'm in town. I still can't believe I got up earlier for a class at the gym on a Saturday than I do for work most days, but I think it's going to be worth it. It was a hard workout. I can't believe how weak my lower body is! I didn't have too much trouble with the upper body portions of the workout; sure, I got tired by the end of each segment and I was sore the following day, but that was nothing compare to my legs. I have neglected strength training my legs lately because I make the excuse that I just finished running, or I have a long run the next day. I've just been going through the motions when I do work out my legs, without really pushing it. Well, I sure paid for it! I could hardly walk on Sunday! I'm hoping that doing more strength workouts with my legs will help me increase my speed and stamina for running. Seems pretty logical to me!

January 17: There was no way I could run Sunday after Saturday's BodyPump class, so I did an easy hour on the elliptical instead. I didn't push myself very hard, but my goals was just to get some blood moving in my legs and start getting over the soreness.

January 18: My legs were still sore, so I did a flexibility yoga DVD to give them a good stretch. We also went to a friend's house for dinner last night, so I didn't have time for too long of a workout.

January 19: Another three mile run. I'm trying to increase my speed each time I do it so hopefully I can keep up with my friend Carolyn when she runs her first 5K next month. I'd hate to be the 5K veteran and not even be able to run with her through her first race! I remember how nervous I was for my first 5K and how nice it was to have someone running with me. Today's three mile run was in 30:30, with each of the last two miles at 9:45.