The Beast...

Sooo, I didn't do the US Bank Tower challenge on Friday... I didn't think I was ready for 75 flights straight up (even though I did 105 flights on the Evil Escalator on Tuesday -- not the same thing...)

A friend of mine told me about this fairly new walking trail with a staircase.  I looked it up, and the pictures looked insane... concrete steps built into a mountain... no hand rail... crazy, right???  Of course, that meant I needed to go check it out.  I went this morning, and it was indeed insane.  It's not normal stair climbing... the stairs are tall.  Some are over a foot high, and spaced out all different ways.  It felt like climbing bleacher benches... but way worse.  LOL.

There is also a trail that zig-zags up the mountain.  I climbed up the stairs, and I walked down the trail.  The stairs are much to crazy to climb down.  Four times on my first visit to the place, so I was very content.  Thankfully, it was nice and overcast Sunday morning as I started to climb.  The sun came out during my third time up.

This is a view from near the top...  I affectionately named it "The Beast!"

I'm going to go stretch some more... hopefully I'm able to walk tomorrow....

The Evil Escalator...

I've been mixing up my workouts a little bit by going to the gym.... yes, I actually have a gym membership, and I do go to the gym from time to time.  (ha ha)  Sometimes the treadmill gets a little boring, so I mix it up with the elliptical machine or the StairMaster... or "The Evil Escalator" as I like to call it.  This thing is just brutal... I mean, seriously???  It's basically walking up the down escalator.... um.... FOREVER!  But it certainly is a great workout.  I like this machine when I want a stair climbing workout, because I never have to climb down stairs.  So that's good for my knees, and I don't take breaks like I do climbing actual stairs... oh, wait... is that a good thing?  Hmmmm....  I dunno.  Anywho... I tackled that beast for 25 minutes today, and then I headed to the spa for a massage.  Yahoo!!!

I worked out every day this week.... and I'm pretty sure I'll work out ever day of the coming week (except Thursday)... I promise I'm taking Thursday off!!!  Thursday is pedicure day!!!

Lose it!

Okay... I've found what I needed to jumpstart my weight loss again!  The Lose It!  iPhone application!  OMG, it is great!  I've only been using it a week, and I'm already dropping pounds.  It's basically a calorie counter.  I told it my current weight & what weight I wanted to be... plus gender, birthdate, and height.  My plan is to lose 1.5 lbs per week, and Lose It!  gave me a daily calorie budget of 1,155 calories per day.  If I exercise, I get to add more on for the day based on what I do.  I've already lost 5lbs, which I know is just the initial big drop when a person first starts eating better.  I'm really excited.  I might just get to 130 sooner than later!  My workouts have been so great, and now I'm super excited to get my eating/drinking under control after a carefree summer!!!  It's ON!!!

I love holiday Mondays!

Yes, I do love holiday Mondays... Memorial Day... Labor Day.... because I can go to both of Claudine's classes at the gym! She teaches a cardio/weights bootcamp style class at 9am, and she teaches a Strength & Endurance Training (SET) class at 10. Normally, I offer to pick Claudine up & take her to the gym... that way I'm forced to stay for both classes! LOL! I feel great right now, and I won't even go pig out at a BBQ later. I just finished a salad and a couple of pieces of sushi roll for lunch... then a nap... and we'll see what else I can get into today!

A special, special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big sister, Kimberly (above in the green)... check her out on www.gradydoctor.blogspot.com

I love you, Mizzle!!! Hope you're having a GREAT birthday!

Great day!!!

Yes, it's another post already! LOL! I just have to pat myself on the back today. I was planning to go to the hill at Valley Ridge (which I will post about when I go back...) But I decided to make an appointment for a body wrap after work. I knew after a relaxing evening at the spa, I wouldn't want to get all sweaty and sore from a workout, so I laced up my sneakers at lunch time & climbed the stairs in my building.

Here is what happened.... my building has 12 stories, so it's 11 flights to climb... each flight has 20 steps. In the beginning, I would get winded & take a break around the 3rd flight.... after a while I didn't need to take a break until the 7th flight.... today, I started up those stairs, and I got up to the 12th floor without stopping once. I was fine... amazed, but fine! I'm pretty sure I was in shock as I SLOWLY headed down the stairs. The trip down took longer than the trip up! **My sister, Dr. Kimberly Manning (www.gradydoctor.blogspot.com) told me to take the elevator down or walk down the stairs slowly & deliberately to save my knees...** So I go down, and I head back up... again, up to 12 without stopping.... I'm thinking, "Yay for me!" I head back down.... back up to 12 for a third time and a fourth time without stopping. I head down again for the 5th and final time... I got tired around the 6th floor on the 5th time up, but I really think that was because I knew it was the last time... the fatigue was all in my head.

So I'm patting myself on the back tonight. The fact that I climbed over 1000 stairs today has me completely fired up. In fact, I'm considering doing the YMCA Stair Climb downtown at the US Bank Tower (picture above) on Sept. 25th.... 1500 steps, but this is UP, UP, UP with no break to walk down in between. I'm in no race, but I think I'd like the challenge.

I KNOW I can do it!