With gas prices rising so I've been cutting back a bit by passing up on the fitness center occasionally...especially on Sundays when I'd have to drive both ways. During the week the fitness center is less than a mile from where I work.

So...that means I've been reacquainting myself with my treadmill again. Dusting it off, getting a new stereo to replace my old receiver which blew a fuse ($85 just to bring the old one into the repair shop!) and clearing out more of the clutter which had gathered in my workout room. It's a struggle to "rehabilitate" what used to be strictly a "stuff" room!

It's been great to get those 4 speakers cookin' in each corner of the room!

My usual cardio at the fitness center is 30 mins. each on the elliptical and stationary bike...at least that's my usual when I'm not Spinning! My old treadmill was my first and long-standing cardio outlet. And I was able to really crank it up to some long sessions. I believe my longest was over 80 mins. with the incline at "10" and going between 4.5-5 mph.

I was surprised to find myself "feeling it" more on my old treadmill than my elliptical workouts at the fitness center! Back in my first times on the elliptical I remember THAT being harder than the treadmill. I guess it's getting used to another type of movement. Mixing it up!

Which is why even though I am not a fan of running / jogging, I DO like ramping up this time of year so that I'm ready to return to our local Binghamton Bridge Run in May:

www.binghamtonbridgerun.
org/

We had a nice contingent of fellow local Sparkers running last year and I'm hoping we'll be pulling together again for more fun this year!

Today I managed to hold a 4.5 mph pace for 60 mins. which felt good. Makes me wonder about the difference in cardio benefit when one pours it on for 2 thirty min. sessions vs. one sixty min. session. I'm hoping to keep kicking it up a notch. Soon when the weather warms up enough I'll be commuting by bike to work (20 mile round trip) and stopping off on my way home to jog a 5K at Otsiningo Park as the treadmill is NO comparison to getting out there on the trails!

Getting back to the treadmill is sorta like getting back to my roots and what got me rolling back around the beginning of my journey toward living a Sparked life! It's been a little nostalgic and WAY cool to listen to my tunes LIVE, not on the headphones! :-)

Hope you all have had a super weekend and enjoy a great week ahead everybody!

Don