Week 1 - Day 4

Today I picked myself back up and accomplished my morning workout of abs and spin class. My body was so sore this morning from my weight lifting class on Wednesday. I spent some time stretching at the gym prior to my spin class to ensure my muscles were loose enough so I wouldn't injure myself. After spin I felt great, for those of you who have never taken a spin class I recommend it. It is one of my favorite workouts because it is low impact on your legs, unlike running, and it works out quite a few muscle groups. I found a really good diagram (Here) that shows what muscles are used when cycling... so if you want really nice legs, cycling is where it's it. You also work your abs to stabilize yourself, and you arms to hold your upper body weight.

Leg Muscle functions and their recruitment during bicycling

	Muscle	Muscle function while cycling
	Quadracep (Quads)	Extension at the knee combined with hip flexion during the initial downward phase of the pedal stroke
	Hamstring	Recruitment pulls the heel back towards the buttocks as part of the pull back phase.
	Buttocks	Initiates the downwards push down phase
	Hip Flexor	Hip flexion
		Recruitment during push down phase
	Upper Calf Muscle	Pointing of the toes (Plantarflexion) during climbing and pull up phase of pedal stroke
	Lower Calf Muscle	Recruitment contributes to knee flexion
		Pull back phase with biceps femoris.
	Front Of Shin	Bringing foot up towards the shin (Dorsiflexion)

Visual Representation of Cycling Leg Muscle Anatomy during the pedal stroke

My PM workout

After work today I had to run 3 miles and it was raining out, which really discouraged me. I was tired and kind of cranky, but I knew I had to do it. So I invited TJ, my husband, to go to the gym with me so we could motivate each other to run 3 miles. Since he is also training for the 1/2 marathon and the century ride I've been trying to push him as well. I was very proud of him for taking the initiative to go to the gym and train with me. Once we were there I got on the treadmill and the first mile was terrible because my muscles were so sore.  Once they loosened up I was good to go. I was watching "Rehab Addict," which is apparently a show about remodeling a home, and that got me through the full 3 mile run and made me want to remodel an old home.

Food

As far as my eating goes I did very well today. One of my favorite evening or post workout drinks is the Silk Dark Chocolate Almond milk you can get pretty much anywhere. It is rich and chocolatey and full of Calcium and other vitamins. If you have a chocolate craving I recommend it. It is good for you and tastes like a chocolate milkshake. You could also add this to a smoothie, or blend it with some ice to make it an actual milkshake. I haven't tried either of these yet, but if I get desperate and crave chocolate I may have to experiment. You can checkout my food log on myfitnesspal.com "caywooda" is my ID if you want to add me.

My Challenges

The hardest part about today was how sore I felt. I am dreading waking up tomorrow and going to the gym to do more weight lifting. I'm not sure how much I will be able to do, but the key is getting to the gym and doing it. It doesn't matter how much weight you use, or how fast you run... what matters is that you make the effort to go and do SOMETHING.