Having taken two weeks from running, I am extremely frustrated to say that I am still experiencing pain in my ankles and knees. It is very disheartening. I do, however, toy with the fact that I shouldn't be hard on myself. If there is anything I've learned from talking with others who have tried to change their lifestyles through diet or exercise, it has been the affects of too high of expectations and not being able to give yourself credit for what you have done. I was talking with my grandma yesterday, trying to encourage her in a new adventure she is about to embark on, and I told her that no matter what, she needs to be proud of herself. For the little victories. For taking it one day at a time. And basically I need to practice what I preech.
So having said that, I am, unfortunately, not going to be running in my 10-mile race, in order to take care as to not permanently injure myself. I know (at least I tell myself this) that I cannot possibly be the only one who is building a collection of shirts and gear from races she has not been able to run... right?
In other news, my manly man will be gracing me with his presence in the very near future! And with that comes some Insanity. I mean, it very well may be insane in multiple ways, but more specifically, the Man and I will begina 60 day Insanity challenge. He told me the other day that he gave one of the workouts a try, and that... well... I don't think he really actually said much after that. He just breathed a few heavy breaths which communicated to me that there is a pretty good chance that I miiiight die one of the first few days. Welcome home honey! Let's go kill ourselves! Yep, we're pretty crazy.I'm excited! And I think it will be great for my legs and ankles to take a bit of a break from the same stress day after day. When we start, I will let you know our beginning "Specs" and our ending ones. T says that if we aren't ripped by the end of this then it will never happen. So at least I will be able to set my mind at ease knowing that I will just never be ripped. But I have a feeling we'll be looking pretty fly by the end of this.
I haven't been very good at keeping up with my spudly efforts. As of late the only thing my arms have lifted is a paint brush and a roller. That is all about to change.... I guess I'd better go enjoy my last couple of weeks on the couch.
Peace, love and insane husbands and wives
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
I have no idea what day it is
Well I injured myself running. I guess it's kind of no surprise, considering I was training so much more than I am used to, and working, and doing crazy active things with my nieces. So yes, this last week I spent more time with an ice pack than the road. I was quite frustrated about this for the first few days. I went and got yet another pair of good, supportive running shoes yesterday, hoping and praying I was making the right decision for my seemingly needy feet. I took them out for a jog today, hoping to only do about 2.5 miles, making sure as to not injure or irritate my ankles and shins further. After a few strides they seemed alright, but the problem seemed to lie more in my dang feet. They were numb. And yes, I stopped several times to adjust my laces, making sure they were not too tight, and I STILL couldn't get the numbness to go away! FRUSTRATING! I just want to run! And feel confident that I will be able to cross the finish line on the 29th! Sigh... Man! But I do have to admit, it was quite nice to be lazy this week and not have to work so hard. But after a couple of days I began to really miss how much better I feel when I run... and the lack of guilt when eating m&m's that I would normally feel had I not burned a few calories. Life without exercise is a life full of guilt... because I don't have the excuse that I ran today, so I deserve those m&m's.
A great thing that I realized this week is that I have achieved three of my few goals upon starting this blog.
1) Use it as a guilt-tool to get me to exercise because I know people will wonder why I haven't blogged about it.
2) Get someone who is not a)my mom, b) one of my sisters, or c) any person I have ever met, to comment on one of my posts.
3) Find others who have been "encouraged" by my feeble efforts and begun a running career of their own. What a humbling honor to be able to encourage someone to go down the hellishly rewarding road I've been on!
Thank you, to you two or three of four people, who read this. You help me get off my butt and do something (most of the time).
Peace, love & encouraging one another
A great thing that I realized this week is that I have achieved three of my few goals upon starting this blog.
1) Use it as a guilt-tool to get me to exercise because I know people will wonder why I haven't blogged about it.
2) Get someone who is not a)my mom, b) one of my sisters, or c) any person I have ever met, to comment on one of my posts.
3) Find others who have been "encouraged" by my feeble efforts and begun a running career of their own. What a humbling honor to be able to encourage someone to go down the hellishly rewarding road I've been on!
Thank you, to you two or three of four people, who read this. You help me get off my butt and do something (most of the time).
Peace, love & encouraging one another
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Day 21: It's all about day nineteen
I'm busy. The spud in me is crying out for a couch because since arriving in the great north I have had few opportunities to really, truly just veg out on the couch. Between working 40 hours a week and then training, and then seeing family and friends, it's been an entirely different experience than my usual day to day routine at home. Once again, I am not complaining, I am simply stating that the couch potato in me is like, "what's up with this?".
On Friday I only worked a half day, so I was able to enjoy the absolutely breathtakingly beautiful weather. We're talking 66 degrees, clear blue sky, awesome breeze and sunshine. The trees around here are incredible these days, as they prepare themselves for the frigid winter. I am so thankful to be here during this brief time of the year. When people ask why one would enjoy living in the north, what with the never-ending winters, it is no surprise to hear that it is because of this short period of time. It makes the rest of the year completely worth it.
I went to the lake, setting out to do two laps around it. One lap is 2.5 miles, so I was ready to go and break another record with 5 miles. Prior to arriving at the lake, I went to Schuler Shoes and purchased a new pair of running shoes. As you know, I have been having a lot of problems with my toes and my calves. Based on my foot needs, my foot strike, and what feels comfortable to me, I have done a lot of research on the New Balance Minimus Trail shoes. I understand that they are made mainly for trail running, but they can be worn on the road. I have gone back and forth with shoes that provide more support and shoes that mimic barefoot running, and after much debate, decided to give the Minimus a try. Either way I knew I would want them for when I'm back in Texas and give the trails a go. So I went to the lake set out to do my first lap in my new kicks and the second in my old. It took about 3/4 of a mile to get into the groove, but after that I felt great in my new shoes. My calves didn't hurt at all and my toes never even got close to cramping up. On my second time around, in my old shoes, I no more than started and my calves were on fire. I had to stop about 4 times to stretch, and it was all I could do to make it around that last lap. So, I can safely say that on Friday, I learned the importance of good running shoes. They will make or break your running experience.
All in all my time at the lake on Friday was just wonderful. The weather, my attitude and my body were all in sync and I was happy. I did make an observation. Minnesotans are extremely active. Young and old alike are out running and biking and walking. It makes me happy to be around so many people who are doing what they can to take care of their bodies (until an older man blows past me while running. A little part of me struggles to not consider myself completely pathetic. But then I remember how freaking lazy I am, by nature, and I run on with my head held high, knowing that no one else knows my inner spud. I intend to keep it that way, and trick those around me into thinking that I'm a super hot athlete.)
After spending the day climbing stair after stair and the waterpark yesterday, and anticipating rock climbing today, it's safe to say that my derrier can expect some good couch time tonight.
Peace, love & athletic old people
On Friday I only worked a half day, so I was able to enjoy the absolutely breathtakingly beautiful weather. We're talking 66 degrees, clear blue sky, awesome breeze and sunshine. The trees around here are incredible these days, as they prepare themselves for the frigid winter. I am so thankful to be here during this brief time of the year. When people ask why one would enjoy living in the north, what with the never-ending winters, it is no surprise to hear that it is because of this short period of time. It makes the rest of the year completely worth it.
I went to the lake, setting out to do two laps around it. One lap is 2.5 miles, so I was ready to go and break another record with 5 miles. Prior to arriving at the lake, I went to Schuler Shoes and purchased a new pair of running shoes. As you know, I have been having a lot of problems with my toes and my calves. Based on my foot needs, my foot strike, and what feels comfortable to me, I have done a lot of research on the New Balance Minimus Trail shoes. I understand that they are made mainly for trail running, but they can be worn on the road. I have gone back and forth with shoes that provide more support and shoes that mimic barefoot running, and after much debate, decided to give the Minimus a try. Either way I knew I would want them for when I'm back in Texas and give the trails a go. So I went to the lake set out to do my first lap in my new kicks and the second in my old. It took about 3/4 of a mile to get into the groove, but after that I felt great in my new shoes. My calves didn't hurt at all and my toes never even got close to cramping up. On my second time around, in my old shoes, I no more than started and my calves were on fire. I had to stop about 4 times to stretch, and it was all I could do to make it around that last lap. So, I can safely say that on Friday, I learned the importance of good running shoes. They will make or break your running experience.
All in all my time at the lake on Friday was just wonderful. The weather, my attitude and my body were all in sync and I was happy. I did make an observation. Minnesotans are extremely active. Young and old alike are out running and biking and walking. It makes me happy to be around so many people who are doing what they can to take care of their bodies (until an older man blows past me while running. A little part of me struggles to not consider myself completely pathetic. But then I remember how freaking lazy I am, by nature, and I run on with my head held high, knowing that no one else knows my inner spud. I intend to keep it that way, and trick those around me into thinking that I'm a super hot athlete.)
After spending the day climbing stair after stair and the waterpark yesterday, and anticipating rock climbing today, it's safe to say that my derrier can expect some good couch time tonight.
Peace, love & athletic old people
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Day 17: Well Hello There, Grim Reaper
I ran 4.5 miles today.
I think I might die now. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you'll know what happened.
I think I might die now. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you'll know what happened.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Day SixTEEN: Dang You, Achilles!
Shame on me... I just caught myself wasting precious blogging time perusing facebook. That stupid social networking site has stolen many hours from me... but I will continue to let it take them.
I ran Saturday with my nephew. He did awesome!
I did not.
I mean I didn't do horrible, but I also did pretty much not great. We ran in a new place, and I was with a person, and we only went 2 miles... so I didn't have a chance to reach my awesome mode and rock it out. All in all I felt pretty bad afterwards because I knew I didn't push myself.
I also ate pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast. That might have had something to do with it.
Yesterday I sat the day out (from running, not life) due to an extremely painful Achilles tendon. Not sure why it hurt, but it hurt real bad. Icing it definitely helped me be better prepared for today. I ran, once again, in a new place (which always poses as a problem for me), and was able to do four laps before it got dark. That ended up being 3.78 miles, which is definitely not 4 miles, but is still my furthest distance yet.
Tomorrow I have to do 4.5... PLEASE pray for my calves. They are not up to speed on this newfound running career.
Peace
and love and such
I ran Saturday with my nephew. He did awesome!
I did not.
I mean I didn't do horrible, but I also did pretty much not great. We ran in a new place, and I was with a person, and we only went 2 miles... so I didn't have a chance to reach my awesome mode and rock it out. All in all I felt pretty bad afterwards because I knew I didn't push myself.
I also ate pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast. That might have had something to do with it.
Yesterday I sat the day out (from running, not life) due to an extremely painful Achilles tendon. Not sure why it hurt, but it hurt real bad. Icing it definitely helped me be better prepared for today. I ran, once again, in a new place (which always poses as a problem for me), and was able to do four laps before it got dark. That ended up being 3.78 miles, which is definitely not 4 miles, but is still my furthest distance yet.
Tomorrow I have to do 4.5... PLEASE pray for my calves. They are not up to speed on this newfound running career.
Peace
and love and such
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Day 11:"I Feel Hardcore"
That is the chorus to the techy tune I finished my run with tonight... and let me tell you, I felt pretty hardcore. I had settled on the idea that I would only run three miles today, because I was tired, overslept, had issues with one puggle, and felt achy while painting... so three miles sounded like plenty. But, I decided to text my girl Mel and ask her what she thought I should do. Really? Did I even have to ask? She told me to "push myself" and do more than I thought I would. "Go for 3.5". Of course, I was not surprised to read this. She's a trainer, thats what she's supposed to do. As if she would say, "Nah, I think three miles is plenty. Actually, why don't you just do 2.5... you don't want to push too hard." Pshh, yeah right!
So I ran 3.3. I could've done 4, for reals, but it was dark, and I had sweet potatoes in the oven at the house. You see, I am not a fast runner, so to commit to 3.3 miles, let alone 4, seriously hogs my time. So, with sweet potato volcanoes (my recent invention. Totally scrumptious and totally easy!) on the brain, and my mother calling on my phone, I ran back to the vehicle to head back. But I think I might have been floating, I felt so light on my feet. I was running harder and faster than I have, ever... well, ok, not ever, but consistently, not while doing an interval, and out of doors. As that song was playing, and he said he felt hardcore, I thought to myself, "you know what, dude? I feel pretty hardcore too! Yeah!" But do you want to know what is not hardcore? Not stretching. I didn't stretch last night. I hurt this morning. So, as you can guess, I'm not doing that again!
I guess you could say I experienced my first ever Runner's High, and I have to say, it is so awesome. Everything it is cracked up to be, for sure. You just feel happy. You feel proud. You feel powerful. You feel thankful. You understand your body in a way you never have before. You feel... high, haha. [Insert "like" button here]. And I actually caught myself not thinking about running... I laughed at myself. I was thinking about tattoos. That's pretty dang impressive for the almighty convincer here.
It was a good night. Now to soak my cares away and hit the sack.
Peace, love and getting high
So I ran 3.3. I could've done 4, for reals, but it was dark, and I had sweet potatoes in the oven at the house. You see, I am not a fast runner, so to commit to 3.3 miles, let alone 4, seriously hogs my time. So, with sweet potato volcanoes (my recent invention. Totally scrumptious and totally easy!) on the brain, and my mother calling on my phone, I ran back to the vehicle to head back. But I think I might have been floating, I felt so light on my feet. I was running harder and faster than I have, ever... well, ok, not ever, but consistently, not while doing an interval, and out of doors. As that song was playing, and he said he felt hardcore, I thought to myself, "you know what, dude? I feel pretty hardcore too! Yeah!" But do you want to know what is not hardcore? Not stretching. I didn't stretch last night. I hurt this morning. So, as you can guess, I'm not doing that again!
I guess you could say I experienced my first ever Runner's High, and I have to say, it is so awesome. Everything it is cracked up to be, for sure. You just feel happy. You feel proud. You feel powerful. You feel thankful. You understand your body in a way you never have before. You feel... high, haha. [Insert "like" button here]. And I actually caught myself not thinking about running... I laughed at myself. I was thinking about tattoos. That's pretty dang impressive for the almighty convincer here.
It was a good night. Now to soak my cares away and hit the sack.
Peace, love and getting high
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Day Nine: What Am I, An Old Lady?
So I'm sure you remember me saying that I was beginning a painting job on Monday. Well, I can sure tell that I have spent the last year "unemployed". I am not going to complain and say that it is tough... but... I really want to. Ha! First off, let me just ask all of the high-jean wearing mama's out there a question:
How do you go, day after day, wearing those horrible mom-jeans? I am pretty positive I have a rug-burn like circle on my UPPER stomach from the denim wearing against my skin. Pants are not meant to be worn that high. Not to mention the fact that, I've come to the conclusion that the jeans are to blame for some of your self-esteem issues. You get down on yourselves because you may have a hard time bending over to grab something or tie your shoes, all the while assuming that you are a)getting old, or b) getting fat when in reality it's the damn jeans cutting into your abdomen, causing you to be unable to bend as much as you probably could.
I think about this, nearly every time I have to bend down to paint the bottom of the door frame. My heart goes out to all of you. If you have any pointers for how to make the experience less horrific please let me know.
Anyways, yes, painting is a lot of work. But having said that, I am realizing that it is also a great leg workout. There is a lot of squating involved, and stepping up and down off of the step stool. I like to tell myself I am doing what the cool CrossFit girls do when they step up and down off of their big box things. But lucky for them they don't have to do it in pants that go up just under their "girls". So I'd say I just might be working harder than they are. Yeah, right. So my thighs are really sore, therefore I am making sure to stretch like a crazy person these days. It's definitely helping, Lord knows what I would be like if I weren't stretching every 10 seconds. But I am still sore. I almost don't like sitting down because I know as soon as I do that part of my body is going to start to ache.
So let me just interject here and say, in my defense, I am sore from painting AND running... I'm not THAT much of a pansy.
Anyways, I am trying to get my mom to stretch, because she is painting with me, and knowing her, she will wake up the next day and be oh so sore. I had to remind her three times yesterday to stretch. Do you think she did? Nope. I scolded her this morning. But tonight, as our soup bubbled on the stove, we proceeded to stretch on the kitchen floor. I am quite proud of her for taking nearly twenty minutes to stretch with me! We used chairs, a towel, stools... we were doing the darn thing. It might just be us, but have any of you ever noticed that you could probably stretch further if your belly weren't in the way? Yeah, I'm blaming the belly. So our stretching session ended with my mom sprawled out on the floor of the hallway, and I felt successful. I won't mention how many different "poses" it took to get her on the floor. It was almost a whole sun salutation just to get her down there. Mom, if you by chance read this, I'm sorry... don't be embarrassed!
Anyways, on to the running part.
Tonight I ran my longest distance to date. 3.5 miles. I understand that this is just slightly over a 5k, but I've always run on a treadmill, so when I hit that 3.2 mile mark, I am D-O-N-E. So running that far felt great. I sort of might have been beaming or something, because I was so proud of myself. The only problem was that at around 2.5 miles I got a pretty rad cramp in my right toes. I tried to just keep going, but eventually I had to stop, take my shoe off, and stretch my toes real good. I'm not sure what that was about, because my shoes were not too tight, and they are still in pretty good shape. And, of course, it happened on a moderately busy street, so I made sure to really stretch it like a pro. I didn't want people to think I was lame and had to stop on the side of the road. But how do you not look lame when you are standing on the side of the road with a shoe on your left foot and an orange and black tye-dyed sock on your right? Maybe I should rethink my sock choice next time.
Time to let these poor old lady muscles rest up and get all kinds of tight before I wake up tomorrow. Too bad you can't sleep stretch. That'd work out pretty well for me right about now.
Peace, love and old ladies who rock ugly jeans
How do you go, day after day, wearing those horrible mom-jeans? I am pretty positive I have a rug-burn like circle on my UPPER stomach from the denim wearing against my skin. Pants are not meant to be worn that high. Not to mention the fact that, I've come to the conclusion that the jeans are to blame for some of your self-esteem issues. You get down on yourselves because you may have a hard time bending over to grab something or tie your shoes, all the while assuming that you are a)getting old, or b) getting fat when in reality it's the damn jeans cutting into your abdomen, causing you to be unable to bend as much as you probably could.
I think about this, nearly every time I have to bend down to paint the bottom of the door frame. My heart goes out to all of you. If you have any pointers for how to make the experience less horrific please let me know.
Anyways, yes, painting is a lot of work. But having said that, I am realizing that it is also a great leg workout. There is a lot of squating involved, and stepping up and down off of the step stool. I like to tell myself I am doing what the cool CrossFit girls do when they step up and down off of their big box things. But lucky for them they don't have to do it in pants that go up just under their "girls". So I'd say I just might be working harder than they are. Yeah, right. So my thighs are really sore, therefore I am making sure to stretch like a crazy person these days. It's definitely helping, Lord knows what I would be like if I weren't stretching every 10 seconds. But I am still sore. I almost don't like sitting down because I know as soon as I do that part of my body is going to start to ache.
So let me just interject here and say, in my defense, I am sore from painting AND running... I'm not THAT much of a pansy.
Anyways, I am trying to get my mom to stretch, because she is painting with me, and knowing her, she will wake up the next day and be oh so sore. I had to remind her three times yesterday to stretch. Do you think she did? Nope. I scolded her this morning. But tonight, as our soup bubbled on the stove, we proceeded to stretch on the kitchen floor. I am quite proud of her for taking nearly twenty minutes to stretch with me! We used chairs, a towel, stools... we were doing the darn thing. It might just be us, but have any of you ever noticed that you could probably stretch further if your belly weren't in the way? Yeah, I'm blaming the belly. So our stretching session ended with my mom sprawled out on the floor of the hallway, and I felt successful. I won't mention how many different "poses" it took to get her on the floor. It was almost a whole sun salutation just to get her down there. Mom, if you by chance read this, I'm sorry... don't be embarrassed!
Anyways, on to the running part.
Tonight I ran my longest distance to date. 3.5 miles. I understand that this is just slightly over a 5k, but I've always run on a treadmill, so when I hit that 3.2 mile mark, I am D-O-N-E. So running that far felt great. I sort of might have been beaming or something, because I was so proud of myself. The only problem was that at around 2.5 miles I got a pretty rad cramp in my right toes. I tried to just keep going, but eventually I had to stop, take my shoe off, and stretch my toes real good. I'm not sure what that was about, because my shoes were not too tight, and they are still in pretty good shape. And, of course, it happened on a moderately busy street, so I made sure to really stretch it like a pro. I didn't want people to think I was lame and had to stop on the side of the road. But how do you not look lame when you are standing on the side of the road with a shoe on your left foot and an orange and black tye-dyed sock on your right? Maybe I should rethink my sock choice next time.
Time to let these poor old lady muscles rest up and get all kinds of tight before I wake up tomorrow. Too bad you can't sleep stretch. That'd work out pretty well for me right about now.
Peace, love and old ladies who rock ugly jeans
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