Throwback Thursday & Today's Work Out

Photo by my lovely friend Talia of TC Joy Photography - taken when I was 5 days out from my first bikini competition!

Happy (Throwback) Thursday, friends!

I am blogging from the kitchen table tonight after a delicious dinner. Food always tastes good after a work out, or maybe I was extra hungry and worked up an appetite.

After the work day was finished, I was debating whether I wanted to go to the gym or not. I had scheduled a gym date in my planner, but after trekking to the car in the rain (without the hood on my jacket because I took it off yesterday - bad idea), the thought of flopping on the couch and having popcorn for dinner didn't sound half bad. However, I took one look over at the lone gym bag in my passenger seat, and soon I found myself driving to the gym. Whenever I skip the gym I end up regretting not going, so I knew that I would feel better if I just did it.

I have been making a larger effort these past couple weeks to incorporate more running into my routine. Sure, I did lots of cardio during my bikini prep, but most of that was mixed between the elliptical, stair climber, and treadmill - treadmill being the last thing I wanted to do. That being said, I have been using my planner to plan out my weekly mileage. I am starting out small (small compared to what I would run before when training for half marathons & whatnot), but small steps will help me achieve bigger goals such as stepping on stage in 2016 and potentially running a full marathon in years to come. Disclaimer: I have not signed up for a full marathon! Totally not there yet, but it's one of those longterm goals or items on my bucket list.

My workout looked like this today:

Cardio: Total of 3.3 miles (or 5.3km)

Strength: back & biceps

My strength workout was comprised of movements such as lat pull down, bent-over rows, seated rows, straight bar pull down, alternating bicep curls, and bicep curls with the rope/cable attachment.

It felt good to increase the weight on some of these moves as well. I am making a larger effort to increase my lifts. If I don't, I won't see my body changing. A large part of when I was in competition prep was challenging myself to do more in every session, of course depending how my body felt and being mindful not to go over my own boundaries. I feel like I am back at that place now, and it feels good to see those improvements!

Another photo from my shoot with TC Joy Photography

Tomorrow's goal is to wake up early and get a run in before work. After the work day, we are headed over to a going away party for a co-worker of mine, so it is important to me to get that work out in before the day begins. I know I will not make it to the gym after work because of an alternate commitment, so I'll force myself to make the time! And now I have to, because I've put it on the blog. And it's in my planner. Written in stone!

I hope you all had a wonderful day & I will check in with you this weekend!