End of week #5 Stats and Progress~

  Here it is a day late and not very exciting... my goal for this week was to maintain which I did.   Still around 122.5, some days I fluctuated up a little, but I didn't fluctuate down at all 122.5 was my low.   I'm not taking measurements today, although it's possible I lost a little from working out, I'm going to wait another week to re-measure.

Week 5:  

                       Height   ~ 5'4"
                     Starting  ~ 125.5

                 Last Week   ~ 122.5

                      Current  ~ 122.5   

                         Goal   ~ 116-118

  
On the fitness front I had a great week!  I signed-up for 2 5k races, committed myself to both a push-up and a pull-up challenge and started working out with a kettlebell.

Push-ups:

  I did my initial push-up test yesterday and performed 8 good form push-ups.  This puts me in column 2 for the first week, I'll be starting Day 1 on Monday.

DAY 1 REST 60 SECONDS BETWEEN EACH SET (LONGER IF REQUIRED)
	up to 5 push ups	6 - 10 push ups	11 - 20 push ups
SET 1	2	6	10
SET 2	3	6	12
SET 3	2	4	7
SET 4	2	4	7
SET 5	max (at least 3)	max (at least 5)	max (at least 9)
COMPLETED THIS WORKOUT? GO LOG IT AT PUSH UPS LOGGER!

Pull-ups:

     For the pull-up challenge I really did not know were to start since I can't even do 1 pull-up and didn't know what exercises I could do in order to change that.  Fortunately Abby over at Fit to be Fit wrote an awesome post on assisted pull-ups,complete with demonstration pictures. Since then I've been using resistance bands to complete assisted pull-ups and I absolutely LOVE IT!  I have probably been doing to much pull-up practice just because I am love the feeling of pulling myself up.  Even with the bands (I am mostly using my least resistance yellow band) I still have to pull my hardest to get myself up and it feels so amazing.  
      I cannot wait to get my first unassisted pull-up!  I think I had it in my head that I would never be able to achieve one, but after trying it with the bands and reading how Abby worked her way from barely hanging to 10 push-ups, I am totally confident :D  My goal for the pull-up challenge is 1 unassisted pull-up! (also thank you to a few commenters who also gave me tips on assisted pull-ups.)

Racing:
Lastly, my running training has been going great, I've been logging it on my Daily Workouts page. I haven't been this passionate about racing in a long time and I definitely missed it.  I got out all my inspirational running books, including, The Quotable Runner, to sike me up for Sunday.  It is  such an motivational book!  One of my favorite quotes from the book right now is:

      "Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about."

- PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian 

I'm totally amped up for my race on Sunday :) My goal is 22:30 or under, it is a flat course so I am ready to rock it!

      I'm glad I chose to focus on fitness goals this week, I made great progress and I feel accomplished! I'd still like to lose a few lbs/inches, but that will come with training and fueling myself properly :D