The Irish Have Taken Over Charlottesville

Au revoir my good friend!

...Or so I assume by the complete lack of gym-goers tonight. Seriously, I got to Gold's around 8pm, and it was practically deserted. As I mentioned on my Facebook earlier tonight (gotta love technology), "Dedication is: being one of the few people at Gold's Gym on St. Patrick's Day." I had the choice of almost any treadmill my heart desired! Luckily, my favorite one was still free. In case you were wondering, based on a prior post about how much I hate(d) treadmills, I have had a change of heart. Or rather, I was forced to have a change of heart. I realized the elliptical just wasn't doing much for me cardiovascularly. I didn't feel like I was exerting myself at the level I should be. What about the StairMaster? Well, when the elliptical went by the wayside, so did the StairMaster. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a great workout, but in all honesty, the treadmill does more for my body. Not to mention it brings back memories of when I was actually good at running high school cross country and track.

LOVE

Since the gym was practically empty, I also decided to get back to jump-roping for the first time in months. I highly advise the use of jump-roping as a suitable form of cardio. Not to mention it works your core (keeping you abs tight), your calves (all that jumping), and your arms (all that rope twirling). So after 3 1/2 miles on the treadmill and 10 sets of 111 reps jump-roping (I guess you would call them reps...or jumps?), I was ready for a back workout. All in all it went pretty well...with the exception of dead lifts. As usual. I don't know what it is about them--I start off in good form (and trust me, Kevin corrected my form like 10 times tonight), but not even halfway through, I get fatigued and my form crumbles. Not to mention, tonight I was particularly sweaty, which was just distracting. Anyway, I decided tonight, instead of just rambling on about my workouts, I'd try something new/fun and list my personal pet peeves about working out. Here goes nothing!

1. Having an itch you can't scratch because you're in the middle of a set (i.e. nose, ear, etc.)
2. Terrible form on dead lifts, or any exercise (I just get so frustrated! I should be able to do this right by now!)
3. Sweat dripping in my eyes (I'm sorry, I won't be caught dead in a thick sweatband)
4. Terrible music (you know, those songs that you hate yet know all the words to)
5. Unevenness (mostly my shoulders--I can see it, yet so hard to correct/takes too much thought)
6. Lack of energy (not to be confused with lack of motivation. In this instance I refer to the times when motivation is there, but I'm running on empty)
7. Having to go to the bathroom in the middle of cardio (it's inevitable sometimes!)
8. Baggy clothing (I have one or two shirts that are kinda baggy, and running in them is just really frustrating because they move around a LOT)
9. My ipod (this includes the excessively long earphone cord and the inability to smoothly/swiftly change songs mid-stride)
10. That one hair that never seems to stay pinned back (seriously, almost every time!)

There were a few more I thought of when I was in the shower, but it's late and my brain has decided it's done for the day. Hope you all are having a wonderful St. Paddy's Day! Have a drink for me!