Freshly Cut Grass..

.. is my favorite smell. Batting practice at a distance is my favorite sound. And walking home after kicking your own ass in the gym is my favorite feeling.

Today was Chest and Triceps. It also was the 2-week mark that my doctor said I could attempt running again. I. Was. Pumped. For someone who dislikes long time spent on the treadmill, I was really excited to get back. Probably too excited. But tomorrow will be the judge of that. My lifting was great too. I PR'd on every single exercise, both in weight and in reps. Can't be more satisfied than that.

Narrow Pushups 3x15
DB Bench Press 3x12
DB Flyes 3x12
Wide Pushups 3x15
DB Kickbacks 3x12
Triceps Cable OH Extension 3x12
Triceps Cable Pulldowns 3x12

I don't really know what I'm doing, though. I'm supposed to be between 10-12 reps on everything, but I really can't do the whole range thing. I need a set number. Maybe next week I should increase weight on everything and decrease reps to 10. Maybe. But most likely I'll just keep pumping them out until I get 12. I'm competitive with myself, can't do less than the week before, you can do the same, but never less. That's going to bite me in the ass tomorrow with this cardio workout. So I got on the treadmill, just thinking I'd leisurely jog for 30 minutes, get my endurance back up, get my ankle used to it. Set the TM at 6.0 mph. Nothing challenging. And then I thought, oh you can go faster then this. So I waited for 2 1/2 minutes to pass and bumped it up to 6.3. I thought I'll bump it up 0.3 and 0.2 alternating every 2 1/2 minutes until I'm at a comfortable pace and just listen to my ankle. Which starting out-- I was running with a limp. It was pretty tight and sore. But that slowly went away, and I kept increasing speed. Then I got to 7.3 and thought, this is good. Make it to 7.5 and you can just stay there. I never run faster than 7.5 for distance on a TM anyway, so let's stop there. (That would be 15 minutes in)

All I could do was think of it in the short 2.5 minute segments. I'd think, only 1 minute left, only 30 seconds. Not like it was 30 seconds until I was done. No. It was 30 seconds until I increased. I thought of the quote, "..Either you are getting off [the treadmill] first, or I'm going to die." There was no one on the TM next to me, so it looked like I was going to death. And I did. I kept increasing until the very end, taking it minute by minute. Reminding myself that my competitors were going hard, and if they weren't, well they are going to lose. And I'm not going to lose because I didn't give it everything I had. I ended the 30 minutes at 8.8 mph. Never have I ever ran that fast on a treadmill besides when I was doing sprints. It was liberating. Such an accomplished feeling. My HR maxed out at 198. Not bad, considering my "max HR" (according to the 220-age formula) is 196. My first real run back, and I ran 3.69 miles. I couldn't stop grinning-and panting-after the clock got to 0.00. So accomplished!

And now, I'm sitting down drinking the most amazing smoothie I've made yet. 8 oz water, 1 scoop powder, 1/2 c applesauce, 1/2 c greek yogurt, 1/2c frozen red raspberries, and 1/2 banana. YUM. Try it. Applesauce really makes it delicious.

Tonight, we are starting off the 4 day weekend with a Durham Bulls (baseball) game. I'm excited to get out and do something.

Life is good. Get your mental game right and you can accomplish anything. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, and be safe. And just because it's a holiday, don't blow all of your hard work and sacrifices from the week. Ciao folks.