This was the first time I have ever done a full workout on the elliptical. The only other time I went on that machine was five minutes one time, and that was just to fulfill an assignment from my therapist that I try something new at the gym.
But I must say I really liked it. At first, I thought it was going to be pure misery, because I could feel right away that my quads were working harder than they typically do when I am doing my regular, shuffling little jogging, but once I warmed up I was good. I had planned to do 30 minutes, not setting a distance because it was a new machine for me, but by the end I was enjoying myself so much I decided to go ahead and do 3.1 miles, which only took me another four minutes. I really liked it! No pressure on my hip at all, and very little on my ankle and I think that may have been caused by my tendency to be picking up my feet and going on my toes on the machine, which I think you are not supposed to do, it looks to me like you are supposed to keep your feet flat, so I suppose that is just something I will get better at over time.
And what a workout it is! Geez, I had it only on level 2 and my heart rate was right up there where it usually is when running and I really felt like I got a good workout! Chris usually puts that damn thing up to like level eight or something!
Anyways, certainly a really good alternative to running while an injury heals or just to take a break, or for when I have to be at the gym and not outside.
In other health goal news, my latest thing is trying to dilute my "water" even more than I typically do. I keep reading that artificial sweeteners, when used too much, tend to trigger cravings for sugar, and my goal right now is to have as many sugar free days as possible. So, I typically use one of those little "water bottle" packets of Crystal Light in a one quart water bottle, but now I am diluting it even further and using one of those little packets to half a gallon of water, so just one packet per day, if I drink my full two quarts of water a day, which is what I always try to do. I will be keeping sugar free days on my exercise log, so we'll see how I do. I'm not willing to swear it off entirely, since I think a life without chocolate isn't much of a life at all, but at the same time, I know that it contributes mightily to my not being able to lose more weight and also to just me feeling miserable.
I'm thinking my first 5K of the year will be in March, a suburb near here does a St. Patrick's day 5K, so I think I'll do that.
I think I told you that my gf trained for a half marathon primarily on the elliptical. I scoffed at the time, knowing my road miles were superior. But she kicked my ass. I really do think its excellent cross-training, especially when healing from injury.
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