Category Archives: Running/Fitness

It’s Just One of Those Days

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Mincing words, I shall not.

My run yesterday fucking blew. A lot. Not by timing standards as I finished 7 miles at a 9:04 average mile pace, but guys? It fucking sucked. The whole thing.

I’ll not sit here and list the reasons it was horrible, but suffice it to say a little over half way through my run, I stopped. Flat out stopped. Shut off my stop watch and stood there. That will get me all of nowhere when I get to the day of the half marathon.

This is one of the frustrating things about working out is that sometimes? Sometimes workouts just suck. In retrospect the workouts that I put myself through on Thursday and Saturday probably had something to do with the exhaustion I felt, so I made the decision to take today off.

Well, tweaking my left knee helped make that decision too.

It’s rough when a day that FEELS like it’s going to be great then ends up beating the shit out of you. It’s demotivating, it’s frustrating, and it certainly puts up a mental block. I KNOW the type of training I have heading for me in these last few weeks, and after yesterday there’s a part of me that wants to throw up my hands, shout “fuck it,” and not even worry about it.

Every once in a while I have to remind myself that I AM human and these bad days are going to happen, but it will be worth it in the end to make sure I keep going.

I have to keep going.

I will keep going.

Tomorrow. Heh.

Oops I Did It Again

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It’s late. I should be sleeping. I can’t sleep. Thought vomit.

–My little sister is pregnant. Holy crap, my little sister is pregnant. I have a niece and a nephew who I adore to the ends of the earth and beyond, but this one? This one could look like me being that we’re genetically related. Baby watch 2012 is officially ON.

–Relatedly, the number of pregnancy announcements on facebook has been UNREAL lately. At least six within the last week. Mazel tov?

–I pissed a lot of people off on Twitter the other day by ranting about how diet pills were never going to be as effective as a healthy diet and consistent exercise (this coming from an article I saw about a pill for obesity heading towards an FDA approval board). I stand by that statement, but the tone and the timing, being that it was a day or two after the article on Aerys that I wrote about how much I love my abs probably didn’t help my case. Ironically enough, I got to work this morning with an email in my inbox from WebMD and the CDC about how doctors are increasingly prescribing their patients exercise. In a nutshell, I really wasn’t trying to be a dick about it, and would rather be there to support any and everyone in their fitness goals rather than piss them off. My girl Lo and I messaged back and forth a little bit after the firestorm, and she decided to start her own blog about her journey through getting back into working out. Check her out!

–So that full marathon thing? Yeah, it’s been decided. January 13, 2013 in Walt Disney World, my friend Steph and I will be running a full marathon. Um….yikes? Yeah, I’m fucking petrified right now, but like I said on facebook, three half marathons and a Ragnar til I get to it, so focus goes to those first. Seven weeks til my next half. Ragnar’s at the beginning of June. Fuck yes, let’s do this.

–Why is it that dating comes in waves? The guy from a while back got cut because he fucked up REALLY badly (red flag after red flag after red flag). Then there was the one who I thought I had the mutual feeling thing with, but for some reason he shut down on me, which of course caused me to shut down on him. I said I’d leave him alone, and I have, though I’m still not entirely certain what happened there, which is a bit frustrating and disappointing, but there’s nothing else I can do. And finally there’s the one I’ve seen twice, maybe three times now who on paper is extraordinary but in practice? There’s something missing. Let me tell you just how much this makes me feel overly picky, and, like Ali said earlier, like I’m trying to find something wrong. I swear I’m not, so maybe there is something wrong with me? I say that mostly in jest, but on dark nights it’s difficult to convince myself otherwise. I suppose it doesn’t so much matter given that I’m sure I’ll be right back to the perpetually single life (and subsequent depressing posts) once again in short order.

–I can still taste the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake shot I took earlier. That will probably come back to haunt me. Probably some time in my lifting session that starts in six hours. If not then, I’d say definitely on the run I intend on going on after that. Seven weeks. Here we go again.

–According to this, I am a freak:

Now Step Up, Step Up. Let’s Do This

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Last night I ran four miles. This in and of itself isn’t anything special.

I ran on a treadmill. I HATE treadmills. I always have. During training for my last half, I did spend quite a bit of time on one because it was August in St Louis, and that’s just abysmal humidity to run in. When you break into a sweat walking to your car because it’s so muggy outside, you know running in that heat is going to be horrendous. So I did the indoor running thing. About two-thirds of the way through training, 4-5 weeks before the race, my left calf decided to rebel HARD after every step on the treadmill. It was as though my calf was flexing but not ever releasing. Guys, that HURTS. Every step that hurts. I swore off treadmills for the rest of my training.

This time around instead of being hot, well, it’s February so it’s cold (obviously). Also not desirable running weather. Not to mention all the New Year’s resolutioners who are still sticking around (which, yes, good for them) but seriously, it’s super crowded in the gym every day, which is annoying. Nonetheless, I went knowing that there was a distinct chance my leg could act up again. Luckily, it didn’t.

Maybe I should count it as a good thing that there were so many people there, too. I find myself pushing that much harder if there are people around. I’m not going to let them see me stop.

And I didn’t. Last year my first four mile run was totally weak. There were stopping points and times I thought I was for sure going to die. This time? Nope. Four full miles, non-stop, at an elevated incline. There is something about that kind of sweat, that kind of physical exertion that’s invigorating. When I thought I might need to pause? This song came on.

It’s always a war. A war of wills between two sides of myself. Between the desire to stop and the knowledge that it’s going to feel fucking fantastic if I keep going. It always feels fucking fantastic when I can get through something like that. Every time.

Last night’s run did something else too. It reminded me that this thing I’m doing here is a lifestyle change, not just some passing hobby, that this is something I have always loved to do. It made me realize just how much I’ve fallen in the past few months.

After the plague hit around New Year’s, I swore that I’d get back into the swing of things hard core. I didn’t. Sure, I worked out on a regular basis, but I ran a grand total of four miles in the entire month. One run in January. Pathetic. I spent more time skipping my workouts for things like hockey games and drinks with friends and my own sheer laziness. Yes, sometimes it’s a good thing to give into those things, but not now. Not with my race 66 days away. I plan on cutting ten minutes off my whole time, and that’s going to require a refocus, a rededication of myself to this training.

Going back in my mind over what happened in January, I’ve also come to realize that my own diet habits are, well, shitty right now. I know how to cook, I am good at it, and yet I still find excuses to not do so. I know for a fact I’m not getting enough protein in my diet, and my vegetable intake leaves something to be desired. The thing about running on a treadmill is that it will tell you a ballpark number of how many calories you’ve burned. Four miles, 550 calories. Sunday I start the progression of increasing my mileage. That means the calories I’ll be burning will increase, I’ll logically be hungrier, and then the choice falls to me to make sure the fuel I ingest is good for me, rather than drowning myself in an oversized bag of Pretzel M&Ms.

Last night motivated me in so many ways.

I’m fixing the way I eat. Starting yesterday. Making a point to eat SOMETHING for breakfast, incorporating more lean proteins into dinners. Cooking instead of going out, and then taking lunch to work. Choosing snacks like Wheat Thins or yogurt with granola. Eating more fruits and vegetables. I am going to be better this time around because I know just how good I FEEL, not to mention how good I can look, when I eat better.

Last night also reminded me just how much more I have to give, just how much more I could push to improve myself. I’m clearly way ahead of where I started last time, and I know just how much I improved over the course of those twelve weeks, so I have high hopes. I started tonight with increasing weights on three of my lifts. I can barely walk, can hardly lift my arms up to even shoulder level. I hurt all over so badly, and yet this pain is ADDICTING.

Sixty-six days until the half marathon. One hundred twenty days until the Ragnar. Half marathons in October and November.

Let’s do this.

Wild Thing

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You know how sometimes I get some really wild hairs (hares?) about me and commit to doing something that’s just wildly insane? Every once in a while, those commitments end up falling through. Remember the 100 Push-Up challenge? That one got derailed when my finger got all surgerized and I got shishkabobed with that damn pin (which is still in a glass vial on top of my entertainment center, where it will remain).

This time, though, I think I’ve gone above and beyond anything I’ve committed to before.

Have you ever heard of a Ragnar race? I have agreed to run in Chicago’s.

Nutshelled: eleven other people and I run a relay race (three legs apiece) over nearly 200 miles, spanning from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago. My piece will be sixteen miles.

I have until June 8 to make myself be physically capable of running sixteen miles over the course of two full days and overnight.

I’M BRILLIANT.

I also have this crazy idea that I’m just going to up and quit drinking after the weekend of St Pat’s. That’ll give me a full month of no booze before my marathon, which can have nothing but good effects. Now, we’ll see how that choice pans out as I see what the work stress situation is, but I have high hopes.

Hell, last time I quit drinking (for about two months after my Los Angeles trip about a year and a half ago), I lost two inches off my waist in a month. Things could get interesting.

Tomorrow is a day I would normally do Turbokick, but I’m feeling like since I’ve got these two monstrous races headed for me very soon, I should start running again instead. I’ve got six miles on the agenda for Saturday after I lift.

My muscles are never going to forgive me for this.

Up in the Gym Just Working On My Fitness

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The other day, Josey posted about her postpartum determination to finish the Couch to 5K program. She asked me in her post about how I chose my lifting/workout routine that helped strengthen my knees before my half marathon.

I told her that I’d get a post up if I got my shit together that day. Clearly, I did not do so. Fail on my part.

But since I’ve been meaning to post about the whole fitness thing anyway, I figured now was as good a time as any. Thanks, Jos, for the motivation.

I haven’t actually written anything about running in a couple months, and back then I was incredibly gung-ho about the race series I had just signed up for. Let’s recap. I ran the 10 mile race on Christmas Eve. I kind of died for a couple weeks with the sickness nonsense. I got back into the gym two weeks ago. Running has all but disappeared from my workout plan. I skipped the 20k race (spent the entire day on my couch), and this past Saturday I was supposed to run a half marathon. Yeah, I lifted early in the morning then went to the Lake and got pretty damn schnuckered instead. I make good life choices. I have been back to lifting though, and lately I’ve been lifting REALLY HARD, just because that’s my way of stress release, of mentally working through things that clog up my brain. I’ve been sore for the last two weeks, because every day I lift, I push harder and harder.

As the Frostbite Series draws to a close (a 15k on Feb 4 that I still haven’t decided if I’m doing, since I don’t know if I could physically handle 9.3 miles in less than 2 weeks), I am realizing just how close the next half marathon is (April 15, for those keeping track).

Back when I signed up for the first one, and again this time, I am putting lifting at the top of my priority list for making it through. I absolutely attribute my ability to finish that race to the strength training I’ve been doing. That aspect of training started as just a fun class to take, but ended up being the key to my success. I recognize that one, I’m not an expert, and two, not everyone has the options available to them that I do, but I feel like there are definitely some items I could contribute.

The particular lifts that have helped me more than just about anything have been the squats and lunges that I do. Josey, this could be something you could do even while you’re holding little Miss Stella, since holding her could be considered adding weight to your lifts, even if it is only 10lbs or so. I’ve found that squats, either weighted (small handweights or a bebe in both hands) or just utilizing one’s body weight, have been helpful when it comes to hamstring and quad strength, and lunges, both stationary and moving, help the glutes and calves.

With squats, it is important to make sure that at the low end of the exercise your knees don’t shift further forward than the ends of your toes. As we’re told regularly, it’s like hovering over a public toilet at the bottom of it. Thighs end up at a slight angle above the knee, or just parallel to the ground, making sure to not go lower than that, with your butt pushed back. I prefer to use a wider stance with my toes turned just slightly outward, keeping my body weight centered, but that’s something everyone can adjust based on their comfort level. At the low end of a squat, weight should be in the heels. If it is, a person should be able to wiggle their toes when they’re at the bottom of the squat. I’ve found that it’s incredibly useful to change tempos during squats so as to take the momentum out of the lift. That disrupts muscle memory and forces the parts of the muscle not normally used to adjust and grow.

It helps me to lift to music, as I can use it as a way to count the timing of my squats. Down for two counts, up for two counts. Down for three counts, up quickly on one. Down for four, up for four. Down for one, hold for one, up for two. If you’re feeling a little adventurous, stay in a low squat and only come half way up for three counts, resetting to a standing position on the fourth. It’s all about comfort level, though. A person’s body will tell them when they physically cannot do something anymore, and surprisingly enough, that cutoff is actually further past what one’s mind will tell them they can’t do.

When it comes to lunges, moving lunges are simple enough. Start at one end of the room, take a large step forward, and lunge down to where your front leg is parallel with the ground. Push up with the front leg and step forward with the back. Repeat all the way across the room, and back if feeling adventurous. The purpose of a lunge is to work the front leg, not the back, and it’s important to keep the heel of the back leg off the ground. Standing lunges can be done with the same mindset as squats, weighted or unweighted, and utilizing the same tempo adjustments.

Though both of these sound absolutely basic, and some of you are probably going “duh, Ann, we’re not fucking stupid,” it’s amazing what kind of an impact they can have. They can be the difference between finishing a half marathon versus having to quit half way through training because of joint issues.

The one final thing that had a huge (and surprising) impact to my running was my core strengthening. Every single class that I take at the gym has an ab portion to it, and building that core strength not only has built my muscles so I stand up straighter (remember the strutting post? Yeah, this had a lot to do with it), but it also helped build my endurance throughout my training. It is very easy to google or Youtube ab workouts, and even just three sets of 12 full situps after a running workout will help more than doing nothing.

It’s important to remember that running is not based on just leg strength. It’s an exercise that requires muscles all over your body. The stronger all those muscles are, the easier running will be. Along with that is one’s own comfort level. I push myself incredibly hard in certain workouts because I like being sore after, feeling like I’ve actually done something. A lot of that pushing is a mental battle however, and the change of a person’s mindset is a lot different than changing a physical habit.

Wanting to change something is not always the same as committing to changing that thing and then following through with it.

I love running and working out. I love the feeling that I get from that adrenaline rush. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes from being able to look back at something and go “look how much I’ve improved.” I’ve especially come to love that the most basic moves have had the most visible impact on how I look and feel and what I’ve become physically capable of doing. I’m by no means a fitness guru, but I’ve become pretty damn comfortable with what I know, what I can contribute.

I love helping people reach their goals, too. I’ve promised my mom that when she gets to the point in her own Couch to 5k journey of actually running the race that I’ll travel up to her and run it as well. I want to be able to do this for everyone, but I think it would be just as much help to offer that support. I’m willing to do that. If you’re new around here and want a helping hand, let me know. I’ll help anyone in any way I can. That I promise.