I’ve mentioned how much I love and hate dead lifts before haven’t I? I love them because they make me feel really strong and powerful. I hate them because I am fairly incapacitated for a few days after.
Yesterday Mike had me do a whole bunch of them. We did a couple sets of 8 or 10 (can’t recall, I pay him to count) and then he added weight (I complained) and did another 4 sets of 6. Afterwards he said it was the most I’d ever done. 110! I was super proud of myself. I’ve put on a little weight this year (emotional eating combined with less cardio) and I was feeling very fat going to gym…after the dead lifts I felt STRONG and AWESOME.
Some people will think, wow that’s a lot. Others, huh that’s easy. We are all different—but it was the highest I had ever lifted for so many sets.
I don’t understand people who complain about lifting weights. I love it! Bring me your squats, your dead lifts, and your lunges. I love when I’m carrying in all my groceries at once and I realize that a year or two ago I would have been struggling and now it’s totally no big deal.
Of course I woke up last night and my back was super sore, and today I’ve been crazy sore—every muscle in my back (I think, I’m not a doctor) and my hamstrings are starting to really hurt. But I’m still thrilled. I may be a little heavier, but I’m a little stronger, and that’s good enough for me right now.
Well it’s not entirely. But I’m happy to feel strong.
I could pretend I haven’t gained weight. I’m up about 15 pounds from my wedding weight…I guess it’s the “newlywed 15”. I’ve had to buy new pants. I may need to buy new running shorts when the weather gets nice. Eating healthy and getting out there for a run has been proven to be a struggle over the past few months.
I think spring will help though. I am over the cold weather, seriously! I’m still going to push myself through the Go Half in a couple weeks though my goal is to finish before Leslie finishes her full (not really—my goal is to finish and not kill myself, and use my lack of training to motivate myself to do better in the future and to remind myself that I am not perfect, life gets in the way, and sometimes it’s okay to just half-ass parts of life when other parts you’ve been giving your all.). And I’m considering a fall marathon so there’s that too. It’s still a goal I have and I know I’ll have much more time and energy to train over the summer.
I used this creepy Hannibal Lector style mask tonight. It was scary, but it felt really nice on my face.
And I’m relaxing tonight, enjoying a rare Wednesday night off—watching movies and drinking wine and hanging out with this fine creature.
Creepy Hannibal!!!!
I did dead lifts tonight and have been bitching and moaning for hours. Tomorrow is gonna hurt.
I fear tomorrow will be worse than today…
I like squats better than dead lifts, but I do love lifting weights. I’d really like to have a trainer to tell me what to do and make sure I’m doing it right. Definitely on the someday list.
Racing without training sufficiently! Yes, it can certainly be great motivation. I know that I was so sick of writing the same thing about my races and lack of training that it’s been a real source of motivation for me.
I’m thinking of you! I was going to be trained…and then…who knows.
LOVE lifting. I get ancy when I miss my lift nights. If you really want to be inspired, check out the 2013 USAPL Missouri State Powerlifting championships at Oakville. My buddy, Rick Fowler, puts them on every year.
When I was a kid, I recall reading (to the best of my recollection) a James Thurber quote from Reader’s Digest which defined “exzpert” as follows (this part I distinctly recall, because at the time, I thought it was hilarious): “x” is the mathematical symbol for ‘unknown’ and “spurt” is a drip under pressure, therefore, an “expert” is an unknown drip under pressure.