Cardio-tastic

I'm fairly certain I've mentioned this before, but I hate exercise. However, I also hate the idea of getting fat, mostly because the longer you wait to counteract fat the more exercise you have to do to make the fat go away. 

Sucks how that works.

Well I'm pretty sure you guys have also figured out that I love reaching goals and what's more is I love surpassing my goals. I love excelling at anything really. Finding out I'm really good at something is basically the best feeling in the world (right behind the feeling I have after eating a crunchy beef taco and drinking a Mexican martini, but still). 

As far as exercise go, I did quite a bit of yoga in Taiwan. It was easy, made me feel good and — most importantly — I didn't have to leave the comfort of my own home to do it. Hell, I didn't even leave my bedroom. Running, on the other hand, came to be something I loathed. It was hot and humid and smoggy out and no one wants to run in that. 

Now I've come to the conclusion that I also didn't like running because I found it difficult to track my progress. I never knew if I was getting better or anything. Being a goal-oriented person (I know it sounds like something you put on a resume but it's true) I become disinterested in things that don't let me track how bad ass I am — also things that show me I'm not bad ass, like math.

Well, after a distressing glimpse of a jiggling belly full of Tex-Mex, I've been running in the gym at my parents' apartment complex on the treadmill or on the elliptical machine. 

Day one (Monday): I power-walked one mile, got a drink of water then ran a half-mile all on the treadmill. Then I got on the elliptical and ran another two miles. This all took me about 35-40 minutes. At this point I wasn't too thrilled with exercise, but I was impressed that I stuck it out for three miles. I decided I would push a little further to see what happened the next day.

Day two (Tuesday): I got straight on the elliptical machine. By the time I made it to mile number three I decided I still felt pretty good and I would push on. I got to four miles and decided I should probably stop myself. No need to strain, after all. Oh, how long did it take? Four miles in 23 minutes. I know what you're thinking. As my friend David said, "Are you part Kenyan?" I had no idea I could do this and decided that I would have to push a little further to see if it was just fluke.

Day three (Wednesday, aka today): My mom went with me today. We went earlier today than I had been so it was pretty busy. She got on the one open treadmill and I got on the one open elliptical machine. I spent three minutes trying to get it to start over (it was still counting the time and mileage from the previous user) before I finally just unplugged it to reset the computer. Then I hopped on and ran and ran and ran. I ran five miles in 29 minutes. I guess it wasn't a fluke, eh?

I'm skipping tomorrow evening to go hang out with some friends, though I'm half considering going during the day. I'm not sure yet though because I've been waking up with some awful headaches the past couple of days. Hopefully the exercising and headaches aren't related. That would be ironic.

But I'll definitely be back on Friday. Maybe I'll just go for four miles again?

Once I get comfortable with running long distances I hope to bring the distance back down and then kick up the resistance level. 

I'm really not sure about how to put together a good weekly cardio workout. Should I build up to a peak and then back down throughout the week? Should I just keep building up no matter what? Should I stick to a time frame rather than a distance?

All I know is heart disease runs in my family (along with a slew of other health problems) and my diet, lack there of really, isn't exactly going to help any of that. But since I'm not quite ready to give up on the Tex-Mex or the BBQ or the bacon and eggs, a little exercise might be the way to go. Right?

Besides, at least I eat my vegetables now.