Tag: running

Today’s Lesson in Fitness

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75 minutes of yoga is powerful stuff. I went to my first real yoga class in many years last night at a local studio, 8 Limbs Yoga. I was able to do a lot more than I feared, and came out feeling fantastic. My muscles were a little sore today, but felt good. I decided to do my regularly scheduled 30 minute jog and found that I went the shortest distance I’ve done in a month.

I was a bit annoyed by the short distance, then I came home and read up on using my heart rate monitor for training, realizing that I maybe just need to throw this distance thing out of the window once and for all. Here’s another clue – my muscles were sore BEFORE I went out. Maybe going a shorter distance was expected by my body, if not exactly what it needed. Then there’s the thought that maybe I should have skipped my jog today because right now, I hurt!!

Today’s lesson, in sum, is yoga is a lot tougher than it seems and overworking my muscles does nobody any good.

Ouch.

Reflection: Road to Running

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Now that I’m over half-way into this walk/run program, I thought I would reflect a moment on where I am right now with running.

It’s unbelievable, in some ways, that I’m going out of the house, four times a week, and instead of hiding on an eliptical trainer in the corner of a gym, jiggling and jogging past neighborhood people for thirty minutes. Even better, I’m doing this with shorts that show my flabby thighs and shirts that expose my flabby arms. This, I’m finding, is the side-effect of weight loss. Much as with my venture into scuba and the wetsuit, I respond to my fears of judgment from others with a, “Well, I don’t see YOU daring to do what I’m daring to do.” What I’m choosing to do isn’t easy – either diving or running. People much thinner than me can be just as unable or fearful to be out in the world and do what I’m doing.

I’m finding that sometimes, on my “off days” from running, I really just want to go out there anyway. I jogged yesterday, and I try not to run two days in a row except on Saturday and Sunday just to give myself a rest. The thing is, though, is that I enjoy going out and going around the neighborhood. Yesterday I tried a new route. It’s tricky to find a mostly flat route in Seattle, but luckily where I’m at there are a few north/south streets that run parallel, and aside from *getting* to those streets, they stay fairly flat.

This past Saturday, Jon and I went to Green Lake Park, an Olmstead designed park about 5 miles from where we live. The trail around the lake is about 2.8 miles around, and features a gravel and asphalt path for both walking/running and wheeled bipeds. Jon and I just walked about a third of the path to check it out. Driving to a park to run seems wasteful to me, but the was something just absolutely lovely about the area that may make the trek worth it.

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Week 6 – Slow and Steady?

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Frustrating week for jogging. I only did 3 of my usual 4 days this week because I spent one day this week diving, and was in a fair amount of pain the next few days afterwards, so I gave myself a break. Diving, it turns out, works out most of my backside, whereas running seems to do more to my front. At least, this is where I experienced the muscle pain.

Yesterday’s run (above) was disappointing distance-wise. I’m not seeing much improvement in speed or endurance, but yesterday was also a day where I was really stressed mentally, and had about 5 hrs sleep the night before (new noisy neighbors!) I’ve mostly switched to the heart rate monitor letting me know when I need to slow or speed up. A good chunk of the time, I’m wanting to go faster than it says I should. I know from the book that my muscles will be able to do more than the rest of me, so I have to have patience with the cardio-training.

I’m realizing that I really want to not just run a 5k, but also do really well when I do it. If we’re in town Thanksgiving weekend, I’m thinking of doing the 5k that accompanies the Seattle Marathon. It’s also the weekend of my birthday, and I think that a good way to celebrate one step further into my third decade is to do something fitness oriented. Next year, I’m thinking 10k, but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself.

This week, I’m just going to keep on paying attention to my heart rate monitor, and hope that by keeping mindful of not over-exerting myself, I may just get where I need to go faster. 🙂

End of Week 5 – When will I learn to listen?

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From Runner’s World Complete Book of Women’s Running by Dagny Scott Barrios:

page 46
Week 5. Walk 3 minutes, then run 12 minutes, then repeat. By the end of the week, walk 3 minutes, run 15 minutes, walk until rested, then run the rest of the session.
Goal by week’s end: a 15 minute running segment.

page 45
By the Numbers
If you decide to run with a heart-rate monitor, you can use it to determine when to walk and run during your 30-minute sessions…The method is simple: Just jog until the monitor registers your 75 percent limit, then walk until your heart rate drops to the 60 percent rate. At that point, begin jogging again until you hit 75 percent, and so on.

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End of Week 4

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Getting back to the Seattle chill was refreshing after trying to run in the Chicago heat. I ended the week with being able to jog for 20 min straight, and even better, at a consistent pace. The only reason I was able to do this, though, was thanks to re-reading the first few chapters from Runner’s World Complete Book of Women’s Running and purchasing the Polar F11 Heart Rate Monitor. I’ll still be using my Nike+ SportBand, especially because I like the data I get from it, but I was focusing too much on how fast/far I was going, and not on plain old conditioning, and I was wearing myself out. Thanks to the OwnZone option of the Polar F11, I was able to stay at a slow, steady, consistent pace for a longer period of time, allowing me to ultimately go a greater distance with less strain on my body.

So far, I’m loving the Polar F11, and am glad I purchased it. I had wanted one initially that didn’t require the chest strap, but it looks like that the $80 savings for the non-strap models (of varying brands) don’t do the play-by-play heart rate, nor would they reasonably be able to protest when I’m over or under exerting myself. The strap is comfy, and for the most part, the readout is large enough that I can read it while jogging, with the exception of being the OwnZone details when I start up my exercise.

Today I’m taking a much needed rest day. I did two days in a row, two times last week, and my joints are complaining a bit. I have a natural tendency to push myself too hard (in about all areas), so thanks to my new gadgets, and re-reading the pertinent chapters, I’m learning to take it easy.

I’m also learning to eat a bit differently and remember my vitamins! This is especially important since I was diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency.

At some point this week I’ll try to blog about more than my running pursuits. My mini-goal for now is to sign up for a fun 5k sometime in September or early October.