push. push. push...and i managed.

yes, i did it again!
35 on the stepper: 35 on the threadmill.
5mins of progress respectively.

after a sumptuous breakfast buffet at the brasserie this morning, i went out to Penny Mart to get some goodies to bring back home on my next trip back. came back to the hotel to surf the net and buried my nose in the novel for several hours before hitting the gym.

it's been exactly 10 days since the last work out. so i didn't push myself too far when i first got on the stepper. got the ipod music playing and began from a speed of 2mph to 5, back to 3, and maintaining speed there, then gradually pushing to 7, 8 and then 9. too fast! i almost got pushed forward when i tried to slow down too abruptly. went back to 4 and 5 and maintained.
30mins was over without much of a struggle this time. pheww~
summary of stepper work out: 10 laps with an average speed of 5.49mph in 35mins. not bad. not bad at all.

took 3mins off walking around, surveying the gym equipments. checked out the speed this caucasian man was on, on the threadmill: 12.5kph!!! madness! when will i ever get there. (this is rhetorical)

on the threadmill - started with an incline of 1.5% - 2.0% with speed of 5.0kph. brisk-walked while holding on to my novel, and when i look back on the machine's screen, 15mins had passed. whoa, wasn't that some good distraction? put my novel down and changed speed. jogged at 6.0kph and ran at 7.5kph. pushed myself to jog and run for 5-7mins. i remembered the first time i was on the threadmill, 1 min of jogging at that speed felt like forever and i could feel my organs swapping places. this time, i could focus and control both my breathing and tension in the muscles. tsk tsk tsk~ i certainly am seeing light at the end of this journey. *pat pat*
last 5mins on the threadmill, speed was steadily slowing down to cool me down. body is perspiring profusely. my damp clothes hanged on me. but i felt GOOD! apparently, it only takes a little coaxing, motivation, and dragging that lazy ass off the bed/chair to the gym, and the feel-good effect is a 1-hr money-back guarantee.
summary of threadmill work out: 7laps with an average speed of 5.37kph in 35mins (including cool down period).

with my favorite playlist on the play; instead of seeing trees and building pass me by in a blur, i 'saw' flashback of memories triggered by each songs, flicker like an old film before me. yes...that's how sentimental i get even when working out.

ok...its dinner time now that i've skipped lunch.