Killed It

   So the end of the week rolled around and it was time for another workout.  Since I had gotten in my longer weekday workout on Wednesday, I was planning a shorter, higher intensity work out for Friday.  I got to the gym and immediately took my place on my elliptical.  I now call it "my elliptical" because I don't think that anyone else ever uses that machine.  Once I hopped on, I basically stepped on the gas.  I don't know why, but I was definitely tuned into the workout on this day and really took off right from the start. 
   The elliptical portion of the workout went great.  I was moving at about 160 rpm which translated into a 8:50 mile.  Thankfully, I was able to keep this pace for the entire 30 minutes which turned out to be 3.3 miles or so.  Like I have mentioned before, it always feels good to do things that I wasn't able to do when I first started my training.  Going back to early December, I recall one of my early workouts on the elliptical.  When I first got on I selected a 30 minute workout, set the resistance at 7 and basically kept my speed at 130 rpm.  After only about 12 minutes, I needed to slow it down and catch my breath.  I was able to get to the 30 minute mark but there were a few more times during the workout where I needed to slow down and recover.  This last workout .... I killed it (even the elliptical thought it was a great workout, see pic below).  I started the 30 minute workout with a resistance of 9, averaged 160 rpm, put in multiple "hills" and was able keep that pace for the entire 30 minutes.  Just another reminder about how far I have come.
    Once the cardio portion of the workout was complete, I started on the PT / rehab portion.  As I mentioned, the PT instructions have now moved from simple stretching to more intense exercises aimed at the hips / quads.  It took another 25 minutes but I went through my whole routine of stretching, stretching some more, running man squats, side lunges and dumbell pickup squats.  When I was done my legs were on fire, I can only hope that these exercises start to pay off.