The 100

Okay...note it on the calendar:  today is the first day of my new workout plan.  I have let this 38 year old body get too far out of shape and I'm putting a stop to it NOW.  Not only have I not run in weeks, due to a sick child, I haven't even walked on the treadmill this week.  In fact, I haven't done a whole lot of anything physical this week and it's driving me batty.  Especially since I had found this workout over the weekend and had been planning on starting it Monday morning.  Then I had a puking kid on my lap for most of the week....

The workout is called 'The 100' and it's all around the internet in a variety of forms.  I like that I can easily modify it for my needs.  Here is what I came up with:

Monday  - Wednesday - Friday

The 100 Workout – Lower Body

100    Lunges

90       Crunches

80       Squats

70       Leg Lifts

60       Lunges

50       Crunches

40       Squats

30       Leg Lifts

20       minutes of running

10       minutes of stretching 

Tuesday – Thursday – Weekend

The Modified 100 Workout – Upper Body

50       Hand to Knee Pulls – each side

40       Curls

30       Chair Dips

20       Lat Raises

10       Pushups

50       Hand to Knee Pulls – each side

40       Curls

30       Chair Dips

20       Lat Raises

10       Pushups

Clearly the original (and I use that term loosely) plan is geared toward lower body exercises.  So, I made up my own modified version to work my upper body.  The beauty of this is that I can swap out exercises when my body becomes used to these.  It's relatively quick...although it took me a while to get thru it this morning.  And it's deceptively hard!  When I first looked at it I thought, really?  It's 4 or 5 exercises, repeated twice, how hard can that be?  Answer:  my legs are still shaking.  

One of the driving forces behind getting myself in shape again is that I've been asked to be a part of a team running the Cascade Lakes Relay next summer.  This is great on a bunch of different levels.  First, I finally get to run with my very awesome cousin who is a very accomplished runner.  Second, if gives me a concrete goal.  I have to pay an entry fee and I have people counting on me.  Third, I'm nothing if not competitive.  I have no illusions of being the fastest person on the team but I'll be damned if I'm going to be the slowest.  

So...here's to a new workout plan, healthy kids, a great cousin, a goal and a little competition!