Motivation? I Haz It! (A Merry Workout Pledge Recap)

Wow.

Just wow.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more motivated in my life. I’m not just writing that, I really mean it. After finishing the challenge I’m completely and totally motivated not only to do this again but to get back in the gym and eat healthy to make this whole week a good one. I feel so good inside and out. I feel that way because obviously exercise makes you feel better, but more, I feel that way because all of the people who did the workout pledge with me. You all have motivated me like nothing else ever has.

I’ve been following the tweets and the post recaps of everyone who participated. This is why I’m motivated: people destroyed this challenge. They ran, they climbed, they stepped, they biked, they did a great job. So many people posted great workouts yesterday and it was inspiring to watch.

You won’t be able to workout for 90 minutes every time you exercise. You don’t need to. But once in a while it’s awesome to do something like this where you completely shatter all previous workouts and challenge yourself to just do more. I’m in awe of all the people who did this challenge and ran the longest and the farthest they’ve ever ran. I’m in awe of everyone who took this pledge with me and pushed themselves past where they had previously gone. If that doesn’t inspire you too then I don’t know what will.

And now, just some proof of the workout pledges being fulfilled:

MINE:

This is my before the challenge I’m kinda excited but not sure about this thing face:

I wish I had one cool 90 minute picture to show you, but I had trouble not hitting the stop button for some reason. So it broke down into 15, 15, 60 on the treadmill. Oh well. Here ya go:

And the post workout sweaty picture for my friend Jen:

Yeah! Sweaty goodness!

So the workout was an interesting one. I walked the first 30 minutes at just a 2.0 incline. Then in the hour section I started out running 2 minute intervals then walking 5 minutes. I was trying to still get some running in but not overdo myself. I lost count of how many running intervals I did but it was as many as I could until I felt a bit tired. I got a few in and they felt really easy despite being at a higher incline than I normally run at!

After the running intervals I did hill intervals while walking. That was, um, fun? I hate walking hills but it’s a fantastic calorie burner and I wanted to make this challenging for myself. So I knocked out a few of those.

Then in the last 15 minutes I was feeling some pain because I developed blisters! I guesst sweat + more time than normal + wrong socks = blisters. It sucked. One popped while I was walking and the skin was rubbing against the sock and it was freaking painful for the last ten minutes but I refused to stop. I’m not going to post a pic of that, but if you want to see the damage you can. Ouchies.

But overall the workout was great! Including my warm up (which happened only because I switched treadmills after the first 5 minutes) I walked/ran 5 miles! And burned 655 calories, which was nice. :) I felt so good afterward and totally wanted to get right back in the gym and do more. That’s a fun feeling!

EVERYONE ELSE:

Steve ran 7.91 miles!

Jen walked 4.5 miles!

Kepa ran 7.7 miles!

Gina biked 16.2 miles in 100 minutes!

Rachel ran 8.3 miles!

Lauren traveled 8.71 miles on the elliptical in 98 minutes!

Tania ran and walked 5.5 miles!

Amber biked 7 miles!

Kat ran and walked 7.13 miles!

Lynn stepped for 90 minutes (11,622 steps!) then walked 20 more for 5.5 miles total!

Josie ran and walked 6.2 miles!

Beej ran 9 freaking miles!

Brooke walked 6 miles!

Sean traveled 6.61 miles on the elliptical!!

Jess ran 7.53 miles!

My mom walked 3.5 miles!

Alison ran and walked 6.5 miles!

Ms. Gigglepuss did 6.5 miles!

DCKate ran/walked 5.41 miles!

Shelli walked 4.3 miles!

Lynne biked 4 miles and ran/walked 4!

Tina ran/walked (I think?) 2.91 miles and did 45 minutes of spinning!

Carly walked 4.97 miles!

The total mileage for a merry workout pledge is: 160.88!!!

And the best thing is… this list is going to keep growing. Some people are still scheduled to finish their workouts later (send me your info when you finish!). I just couldn’t wait to get the list started because I’m AMAZED at what everyone has done. And if you want to join this list, take the pledge yourself and do 90 minutes of cardio of your choice then let me know. I’ll add you to the list of awesomeness!

If this stuff doesn’t motivate you I don’t know what will. Everyone who did this is a normal person, most of us with busy schedules, who decided to step up and do something a little bit harder than normal. They took the time out of their day to challenge themselves and to inspire each other. That’s so freaking cool.

I don’t know about you, but I needed this. I really did. Because now I’m super pumped and totally excited about my own time in the gym again. I’m ready to keep challenging myself and hopefully keep inspiring all of you guys. Maybe we will even do a monthly workout pledge with the same name that possibly even travels to different blogs. I think some of you are creative and fun and could come up with cool ideas. I know I could use it and maybe you could to. If you think it’s a good idea just let me know in the comments.

And lastly… keep it up.  You guys rock.

1. A Merry Workout Pledge! #amerryworkoutpledge
2. The Workout Pledge
3. Workout Wednesday: Live in The A.M.
4. Workout Buddies Rock + Workout Details
5. Motivation to Exercise: Reaching A Goal

Tagged as: challenge, community, workout pledge