And the records keep breaking!

It's late in the evening, so mi seddia to type out a long post.  Just wanted to say that my current plank record to beat is now 6:10!  Trainer says that's the longest time he's seen a female do a plank!  Aww yeah!

Also, I did a simulated stair climb in 15:50, which is also a record!  I had to pause more than a few times, but I am keeping them under 30 seconds.  If I can translate that to the actual climb, I should make it under 20 minutes.  Here's hoping!

Also, Trainer has told me to take this week off intense cardio and weight training.  I'll say now that I'm not liking it, but I think that I'll go into it more when the week is over and I have more time.

Broken records everywhere!

Last night I put another 10 seconds onto my plank time, so now my longest plank is 5:10!  Soon I'll be able to replicate that BOSU plank after all!

More importantly, on Tuesday I hopped back on the stair-climber to see how quickly I could do 144 floors, since I am looking to sign back up for the CN Tower stair climb this year.  This time I did it in 18:23, which is awesome, if you don't take into account the fact that I stopped so often.  The machine pauses the time when you take a rest, so I am sure it was over twenty minutes total, but I AM glad to say that my stoppage  time was pretty short, I had more energy and actually ran up the steps quite a bit, and I felt terrific after. 

Trainer has always maintained that it's harder to climb the stair climber than the actual stairs, and I agree with him.  Plus, I believe there were maybe ten steps to a floor at the Tower compared to the fifteen on the machine, so I'm climbing a Tower and a half!  He's now saying he thinks I can do it under fifteen minutes, but I'll be glad if I can get it closer to twenty than I did last year.

So the training begins!

Updates Galore!

So, where do I start? I guess I can start by saying I smashed by previous plank record and made it to 5:00! I don't know if I can repeat that often, depending on how I'm feeling, and my back did start to hurt near the end, but I made it! Now to beat THAT!

 Next up, monthly visitor. Last time she came around was in March sometime, and wasn't seen since, until this past weekend. I can't say I was glad to see her come back, but I suppose something was wrong if it wasn't happening. My trainer (and all the research I did) said that it was probably because I work out too much. Oh well, she's been generally well-behaved so far, so I won't complain.

On to the next topic, which is that I've had to go back to my original gym location. It turns out I don't have access to all the clubs in my area after all. I was getting in fine until one day they stopped me and told me I shouldn't be able to get it. That's fine, since they've improved the old gym by getting new dumbells and machines, and I kind of liked the atmosphere there better anyway. I will STILL try to transfer to the new one across the street from me when it opens. They've started work on the inside now, so hopefully it won't be long.

Now, just a mini rant about how white hairs are tough buggers. I shed. A LOT. But I do notice that the few white hairs I do have already are always there. Why can't THOSE fall out instead?

Okay, that's it for now. Until next time!

Courtesy of Diabetes Forecast: 35 Top Tips for Travel With Diabetes

This link popped up on my Facebook feed from the American Diabetes Association in their Diabetes Forecast magazine.  I had a read-through and the advice is pretty valuable, so I'm going to post it here for reference. 

35 Top Tips for Travel With Diabetes - Diabetes Forecast

Planking!

Planking was something I never really paid much attention to for most of my workout journey.  I hate doing them, and I never last very long, but with this latest program I've been throwing them in at the end of my workouts, trying to better my time.

My very best time was 7 minutes or so, with my arms propped up on a BOSU ball, and this was a long time ago.  I am still not sure how I did that, because now, even after all the work I've done since, my best with a plain ol' vanilla plank is about 4:16 (which I accomplished last night, thank you very much). 

I find using a favourite song to keep my mind occupied during the struggle really helps, and as I outlast each song, I pick a progressively longer one to master.

Of course, how long I can manage to keep myself propped up all depends on how I feel that day, how hard my workout was, and whether or not I've worked my shoulders, but I am happy that I am getting progressively better and hope to keep it up.

Have to wait until autumn!

I tweeted Goodlife to see when they'll open up that location near my place, and they said that it would be in the fall sometime.  I'm still generally happy with the one I've switched to now, but these places honestly have to be a little faster with their equipment repairs.  The leg press machine has been broken for at least a couple of weeks already, and they only have one!

My trainer trains me at L.A. Fitness, where he moved when Extreme was bought out.  I really love that gym, as it's brand-new, bright, full of machines, and even has 3 squash courts.  I would so switch if only it didn't take me half an hour to get there.  I don't mind once in a while, but not every night when I already spend almost two hours working out.  An hour-long commute would be horrible.

Canadian Diabetes Association Dictionary

Just wanted to leave this here, as a quick reference for common terms that come up when discussing diabetes.

Diabetes Dictionary - Canadian Diabetes Association