When Pushing Yourself Leads to Falling

I didn't literally fall, but all's been quiet on the Blogspot front for awhile now. At the beginning of this month I started to experience quite a bit of pain upon impact of running in my knees and ankles. Where I was formerly running about four and a half miles, which admittedly was pushing it, one day I could barely make it around the 1/10th of a mile indoor track. I took that day to cycle, took about a week off and then did a mile-and-a-half jog, but was still experiencing pain. So, as I am wont to do, I justified to myself that injury and impending graduation meant I could just stop running for awhile.

I'm sure it was a good decision, but I feel endlessly guilty about it.Plus I miss the roommate running, but Danny is training for an event and I need to slow down. I've also been sluggish and moody from not running, and I think I've gained back a couple pounds, too. So today, when my first class let out over an hour early and my second class was canceled and the sun was shining, I thought, RUNNING. NOW. I bussed down to the good old South Bay Trail and jogged the whole length of it, Fairhaven to the edge of downtown, without stopping. My extremely casual fresh-off-a-two-week-break pace clocked me in at 22 minutes for the 2.3 mile trail, or about 9.5 minute miles.

...Of course since I have not up to this point timed any of my miles, that doesn't really mean anything to me, except that I'm fairly certain that in middle school when they used to make my lazy butt run the mile, it took me eleven to thirteen minutes. So it's nice to know that my tortoise pace now is faster than my best effort then. Even if I'm not one of those five foot tall speed demon girls who used to get six minute miles in middle school. MIDDLE SCHOOL. Those were the same girls who did the V-sit by simply collapsing their spines and pelvises and reaching like twelve inches past their toes. "What manner of beast is this?"

Anyway, nothing hurts and I enjoyed some lovely chipotle guacamole as an after-run snack and now it's time for a shower. Love to The Offspring for musically fueling my run. If it is two weeks before I post again, I shall be as disappointed as you, dear readers.

If you're still out there.

Hello?

Over the Parking Lot and Through the Woods, To Muscle Soreness We Go!

This past Saturday, Danny and I were on a time crunch. He got home around 4:00 and had to leave again at 5:00, but we needed to run! Tuesday and Saturday are the only days we can really get together to do that. So Danny suggested we head up to the arboretum but a short but intense trail workout with hills. I definitely have my days where running is unusually difficult, and this was one of those days. My legs were burning 100 yards into the first hill. Hills are bad, mmkay? And if I didn't have Danny's tiger spirit (yeah, he was actually dressed as a tiger, with face paint and a tail and all) I would have wussed out on myself. As it was I had to walk for a bit... but it was my first time out on any extended hills in months. I think with weekly training that will get much easier, and I will get much more buff, and the runners' legs will be mine. Oh yes, they will be mine.

I have heard and am inclined to believe that if you don't cross train you will never get ANYWHERE. Running at a consistent pace around a flat track for 6 months didn't really get me anywhere, as Mike and I gave up on the hills pretty early on, and then it was fall/winter/cold/gross/snowy/AUGH. I actually ran better when I started out than I had been prior to roommate running. Now I am going to focus on varying my runs, so that most Saturdays Danny and I will do hills, Tuesdays will be for the nearly 5 mile loop, and Thursdays I run on my own so I think I will do interval training (short sprints with walking in between).

The positive spin on the muscle-destroying hills of the arboretum was that the entire second half of the run (when we turned around and got to go downhill) was perfect. I was in that "casual run" mode where I was not at all out of breath. It was really comfortable, actually. And yesterday we went back to the nearly 5 mile loop and I held up okay. We also popped into Creativitea, where we're going to make roommate shot glasses together! Roommate running and roommate drinking go hand in hand, apparently. Along with roommate spandex. Shmexy.

Anyway, Bellingham Bay is an absolutely GORGEOUS view to run next to, and the chilling wind felt amazing when contrasted with the almost-too-hot sun. What's funny is that while I am an over-70-degrees-loving solar powered lightophile (there's gotta be a fancier Latin word for that...), running seems to be best at like 50-55 degrees, slightly overcast. I can go out in shorts and a tank top for a 5 mile run when it's 50 degrees, cloudy, even maybe a slight drizzle... but same weather not running requires my largest ugliest coat and a grim expression. (P.S. Lucy means "light"--Lucifer means "light bringer," haha--so that may explain the love of the sun!)

Speaking of weather, it's currently dumping in a typical Bellingham fashion, and I'm watching it unenthusiastically from the library window, hoping those thundershowers predicted for tomorrow don't come to fruition. DON'T FRUIT, PLEASE DON'T FRUIT!

Well. I'm Embarrassed.

Oh. Hi there. Didn't see you for TWO MONTHS. Ughhhh. I failed. The end of the quarter rolled around and I just... yeah. I went to the gym in November and maybe like.. once in December? And then I went to Indonesia and went on the treadmilll once for like 20 minutes. And now I'm back and school's starting up and I started to wonder why I feel so lazy... UGH. I really felt justified in letting it go at the end of the quarter, because I really was overwhelmed. But then over break I didn't keep up, and I could say I felt justified not exercising in Indonesia, except there was a treadmill and stationary bike and weights RIGHT IN THE HOUSE. So I just fail.

But I'm back. Really. The second day of school I went to the gym, then took a day to rest and be sore, then was still sore on Friday and went to the gym again, and now I'm still sore from both of those combined days. And I love it. I'm happy. Part of the motivation problem is that the Rec Center, where I'm sequestered until this terrible thing called winter lets up, is on the other side of campus from me. In the summer I could leave my house and begin a jog right outside my door. But as I had mentioned in previous posts, I don't have Under Armour or the money for it, and there's currently a couple inches of snow on the ground. I'm not a winter person. I also hate our indoor track (see also: I feel like a betta fish in a glass running around this tiny little thing) but I'm not sold on treadmills. I run differently on them, because, well, I'm trying not to fall off. I also get WILDLY dizzy upon dismounting. Sooo I've been doing things like the stair machines and the silly ellipticals, and the thing that I DO like about going to the Rec, the weights. I don't do weights if I'm just jogging around outside. So that gives me a chance to work out my arms and develop different muscles in my legs, which incidentlally became complete TWIGS while I was off not working out. Working to fix that now. At least I've got 6 months to get a "beach body" right?? Never mind that I'll need an interview body more than a beach body in six months... Wait, what's an interview body? Whatever.

SO ANYWAY. It's my great hope you'll hear more from me now. I'm also taking fewer classes, so I really have no excuse not to work out. It's built into my schedule three times a week at the moment. Hopefully I can figure out how best to run indoors, since more than just generally working out, my interest DOES lie in running. I've lost most of my progress and am easily winded and super discouraged about it. Maybe I'll jump on the Couch to 5K program? Who knows.

The Jog of Shame

Ugh. In my last blog post it had been a week since I last jogged. This time it had only been six days (ONLY SIX DAYS? I'm still kicking myself) and I felt like I got worse. Maybe I didn't wait enough time again after eating. But yesterday I only jogged about .9 miles and I had to fight off strong waves of nausea when I finished. I was gasping for breath so hard on the last block that I wanted to stop. Now granted, it was a loop, and the first half was downhill, the second half uphill. But Mike and I have done this jog before with far fewer problems. I must've been tired, or had not eaten well. I don't know.

I was so upset when I got inside. It's official: college wants you to be unhealthy. I have been living the wake-up-go-to-class-do-homework-try-to-find-time-to-cook-go-to-bed routine for a couple weeks now. My dreams of jogging every other day are far from realized. I simply could not find the time until yesterday night around 9:30 PM to go out and jog for 10-15 minutes tops, and I almost threw up.

This quarter I'm taking 15 credits and working a part-time job. Next quarter I'll only be taking 11 credits with the same job, and in Spring only 10 with the job. So I'm in the roughest times of my senior year right now. My goal might suffer a little this quarter. But the thing about it is, this is a hobby for me. No, it's not the kind of hobby where I obsess over it and nothing else. It's also not the kind of hobby that I want to drop, leave behind, forget about. I'm frustrated that I can't find or make the time to do this as often as I'd like. But I will have more time in a couple of months. And I'm just going to have to live with that for now.

Even if I was jogging every other day, I don't think it's realistic to update constantly. I mentioned that in my last blog. I think 1-2 blogs a week is appropriate for what I'm blogging about.

I don't know when I'm going to get out jogging again. Next week is looking like a lighter week than I've had all quarter, so hopefully I can get some good time in then. Mike and I have been consuming produce at a much higher rate than before, which I feel good about, and it helps my peace of mind that if I can't exercise as much as I want, at least I can eat pretty well. RIDICULOUSLY well for a college student, at least, even on a pretty low budget. We're working on buying more in bulk, less packaged foods... other little cost-saving tips. I wish I could be a Coupon Queen who saves 80% every time she goes grocery shopping, buuuut I'm not.

I have no idea how to end this blog. Honestly, it's a Friday night and I'm exhausted. So: the end.

With great sameness comes great lack of things to say.

HELLO, my 9 loyal readers! It's been awhile! As the title suggests, I haven't been able to think of anything to say here recently. I haven't pushed myself to much longer distances, but I have definitely retained the benefit of the previous workouts, to where the same length and intensity workouts are much easier for me now. Mike is also improving, having a much easier time running and I'm pretty sure he's losing weight. We don't have a scale so it's hard to say for sure. Maybe he just appears svelte because I've been working out alongside him so I know the exertion he's going through!

I'm also fairly certain that my runners' legs are coming along nicely. I think it might be too soon to do a second set of pictures though. Yes? No? I'm not sure if I'm just perceiving my legs as looking nicer or if the effects would actually be noticeable in a photograph. Well, if you're dying for pictures I could oblige.

My blog just turned a month old on Saturday! And Mike turned 29 on Sunday! We were going to jog then; didn't end up doing so but we did go on a bike ride! ...A bike ride to get a burger. Hey, it was his birthday. And I had a veggie burger, because I don't do the whole meat thing, although it still left me feeling gross. I don't doubt they cooked it on the same grill as the regular burgers, but they must've also injected it with lard or something. It's a Gardenburger brand Gardenburger! How can you add fat to that?! I even opted out of the "special sauce." Me and fast food just don't mix.

So at this point we haven't jogged since Friday (although that was a nice urban jog of about 1.8 miles, the first half gradually downhill and the second half gradually uphill). It is of note that that's about .4 miles longer than we've gone before (at least as a consistent run without walking or stopping). I'm hoping to go out in about a half hour. It's rainy and cold tonight. Not sure where we'll go, but where ever it is, we'll certainly look dramatic with our wet hair and beads of sweat mixed with beads of rain on our faces.

My triumphant return!

...Okay, there's not much to triumph about. Basically, I haven't jogged in several days because I got a four-day promotional job that consisted of me circling Bellingham about 5739 times on foot, sketchy tricycle, and (first time for me!) Razor scooter, spreading the word about a giveaway for college students. But you know, cheap tricycles and Razor scooters are not really Bellingham-friendly modes of transportation. Both of them are just terrible on hills and in rain, both of which I encountered more than once during my employment. All of it was absolutely exhausting; I generally couldn't walk at the end of the day. I let myself stop jogging for the duration of the job because my legs retained (or gained?) plenty of muscle from all the work, not to mention all the calories burning from never stopping or sitting down! I have to give some credit to the Razor scooter, which I vehemently rejected in its popularity when I was a kid. MAN did I feel the burn in my quads from balancing on one foot while pushing myself furiously up sidewalks with the other!

So today, a few days after the job ended and I regained the ability to walk without cringing (thanks in large part to the second pedicure of my life--soooo relaxing), I finally ran again! I was worried that my jogging endurance might have gone down a little, but I did that 1.4 mile section of the trail near my house with no problems! It was even a surprisingly warm and sunny day, which we haven't seen many of up here recently, and which makes it a little bit harder to keep up the pace. I got a huge full-body blood rush when we stopped running. I almost needed something to lean on! It went away quickly though. Was it runner's high? Maybe I should look up exactly what this runner's high thing is supposed to be, anyway, before I keep going around claiming I've experienced it.

I was all set to jog back, too, but Mike wanted coffee (which is available for purchase in the park!) and we ended up walking the whole way back. I'm still glad we got out at all, though. Mike's breathing also seems to have improved a lot since we first started! It's much easier for him to jog the trail now. We're both doing this without walking or stopping: a straight 1.4 mile jog. Granted, it's a casual pace, but it's definitely jogging.

On Mike's aunt's recommendation, I entered a sweepstakes a few weeks back to try and win a pair of Vasque Mindbender trail running shoes! Eagerly awaiting the results of the contest now... I'm sure they're only giving away one pair, and hundreds if not thousands of people entered, but my chance is as good as anyone's, right?

Not much else to report other than that. School started up; senior year! We're going to try waking up early to run in the mornings before class. We'll see how that goes...  I am definitely not a morning person. Happy autumn, everyone!

Cramping My Style

After a day's break, Mike and I decided to try for a run yesterday. We were busy cleaning the house and grocery shopping, among other things, so we wanted to fit a run into a specific time slot. The time slot happened to be very soon after I had stuffed myself with a cheap cheese pizza. I figured maybe I would get a gross sloshy feeling from the food bouncing around in my stomach, but nothing major.

Well, five minutes in I got a twinge in my lower abdomen on the left side. Three seconds later it escalated to one of those pains that translates as "If you don't stop running now, you're just going to fall over." I walked it off for a few minutes but it came back after another minute of jogging. Again and again and again.We only had this small time slot in which to run, and my digestive system was not having any of it. My legs were fine--in fact, they were itching to run. My lungs had no complaints. It was just this one little part of my intestine that said, "Oh no you don't, missy; you slow down to a boring walk. No elevated heart rate for you!"

So we made it just a bit into the north end of the arboretum, exited to campus, and went back home through campus. A total of about 7 minutes of running. That would have been okay if we had been going up those killer hills, but no, it was flat. I wanted to run again later, but between cleaning and dinner and company, it didn't happen.

What I did accomplish, though, is taking pictures of my laughably bad shoes! 

Skechers--it's teh suck.

I bought these years and years ago, probably for high school gym class. I never wore them outside, because running shoes have never been part of my "personal style." I like how they look only when paired with other designated exercise attire. So these are still in good shape; however, I'm pretty sure they're mostly for show. I will say they have a good bounce in the sole, but the primary fabric is this strange meshy material that provides very little support. The ankle thing in the back there rubs up against my skin all the time. And the plastic details around the lace holes are just for show. I'm pretty sure no one goes out shopping for running shoes and comes home with Skechers.

Nice bulbous heel. Wut?

Buuuuut like most things at the moment, being a college student, it's not really in my budget to go get a gait analysis and custom fit shoes. Plus, it would be advisable for me to keep running for say, a few months, to make sure I'm actually going to stick with this. I don't want to be like the people that buy ice skates, use them once, and then stick them in the back of the closet, passing them on to their children 30 years later. If I buy running shoes, or anything else that's an investment, I want to get a good return. Which brings me to my leg pictures. I don't think I can fairly call them "before" pictures anymore, so I'll just call them "early on" pictures.

Any muscles you see here are already an improvement.

 

 

So I've got these new thigh muscles. Those are the ones that felt like they were going to burst through my skin while jogging the hills, remember? Yeah. And my calves were previously about the thickness of a normal person's arms. They've already gotten a bit better too. Oh, and note what I call the awesome tiger tan on my feet. That would be from my sweet cage sandals. I usually don't like trends in fashion very much, buuuut those I dig.

I think I spy a little bit of tone in those calves... WIN!

I'm about to go on a really long jog. I've run into (no pun intended!) some very frustrating situations today, and I'm not satisfied from the crampy run we did yesterday, so it's on today. No mercy. There will be a blog about it. I'll see you there.