I’ve had some highs and some lows in these last two weeks.

Workout highs and lows: Week 3 and 4 saw me on the road, traveling to Denver. Every time I’m in Denver, I go to Washington Park. Washington Park is a wonderful park in the city that has great paths for walking, running, biking around two small lakes. I’ve walked around Wash Park on many previous visits, but this visit was my first time to try any jogging, and the path had snow on it in a few shady spots. I was on the last day of Week 3 and the first day of Week 4 of the C25K program while in Denver. I wondered if being a mile high would adversely affect my breathing. Surprise!!! I did great on Week 3 Day3. In fact, I was feeling so good when I finished, that I decided to immediately try it again. Yahoo, I did it. A couple days later, I headed back to Wash Park to complete Week 4 Day 1 of the C25K program. It had snowed significantly the day before and the paths weren’t cleared but were starting to melt and it was wet and slushy. Amazingly, I managed to complete all but the last 5 minutes of Week4Day1. Those last 5 minutes are a jog. About 2 minutes into that jog, I slipped on the path and at the same time was really feeling the altitude. So I WALKED (bummer) for about a minute and then jogged the last 2 minutes. I was still happy I managed to do as much as I did at Denver’s altitude and with the snow, ice and slush on the paths. I was home in Illinois for Week4 Day 2 and expected that I would nail it. About 10 minutes into the day’s plan, my lungs were screaming at me, my legs were feeling really tired, and I just felt totally bushed. So I called it quits for the day on Week4 Day 2 and simply walked for 30 minutes, and did my strength training workout and my normal swim. My swim took twice as long because I was still feeling fatigued. I didn’t work out the rest of week 4. Tomorrow, I’m starting the C25K Week 4 Day 1 again, with the hope that this time I will finish day 1 as written.

Food: No excuses. My food on Weeks 3 and 4 was not balanced. Not enough green leafy vegetables and not enough protein, and too much sugar. Oh well, lesson learned. I’m moving on into Week 5, with a better food plan. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ve set aside time to write down my menu plan for the next couple weeks. I’ve been “winging it” too much. A written menu plan will help me eat balanced foods without overeating.

Weight loss for Week 3 and 4: Zero, Zip, Nada! In order to win my 90 day challenge, I need to be averaging 2.5 pounds/ week. Yikes! This was not good. I choose not to be deterred. I knew that this 90 day challenge of losing 27 pounds and 7% body fat would be difficult and practically impossible. Still, if it helps me lose any weight and any body fat, it’s all good!

Clothes: One high point during week 3 and 4: My snow pants have zippers up the outside of both legs. Normally, I can zip one side the whole way and the other side is too tight to zip up over my hip. In Week 3, I pulled my snow pants on and what do you know?!!! They zipped up the whole way on both legs!!!!! So, while I didn’t lose weight, I think I’ve lost inches.

Here’s looking forward to a better Week 5 of my 90 day challenge! Gotta get to bed in order to start Week 5 right.