Week 4 of Portland Fit

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever spent fitness or health dollars better than I did when I invested in Portland Fit. I am absolutely enamored of the program, of watching spring unfold and bloom as I discover what I am really capable of doing.

Today I had a great chat with one of the AC's about when to best do upper body and core exercises. She stressed (like super stressed) the importance of letting off days truly be off days. "Recovery" is coming to have a whole new meaning for me as I learn about how to best move my body. I also tried some new ways of walking and increased my pace by a little over a second per mile. And I ended up chatting with someone in the last leg of the 5 miles. I really love the sense of community.

I had my walking pace today down to just a hair above 16 minutes/mile. I'd like to get that between 14 and 15 before my first 10K, but we'll see what happens. I'm not going to push myself to injury. Not when this has been going so well. I've never stuck with training this long, so it's paying off to take the time and listen to my body.

Looking forward to dinner - we're working to adopt the Mediterranean way of eating, and keeping it clean. I think it's important to keep options open to eat what I want, but I really am noticing how crappy I feel when I eat fried or over-processed foods. I'm having to work to find quick ways to cook well during the week, though. The last thing I want to do is come home and spend hours cooking after being at work all day. And I don't particularly want to spend all Sunday cooking in prep either. The slow cooker is super helpful in this regard and if anyone has any healthy slow cooker cookbooks (or websites) to share, I'd be grateful.

Finally, today's song - pretty much sums up my mood of the last few days. Yay spring!