jogging

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Insomnia and Running on Empty.

Posted by Splashfit on July 12, 2013
Posted in: Active Play, Workouts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Running stairs is a great addition to any workout

Running stairs is a great addition to any workout

It was 3:30 am when I finally gave in and looked at the clock on my nightstand.  I was wide awake, and I could not turn off my stupid head.  A cacophony of traffic noises assaulted my brain. That, combined with the raucous snoring of  my little french bulldog, had me slamming my pillow over my head in frustration.  Why is there traffic at 3:30 in the morning?  I live in a tiny little town, where is all of this noise coming from? Is it this noisy every night and I just sleep through it?  When I cannot quiet my mind, there is no way that my body will succumb to the fatigue of the day and sleep. My mind is racing, I am rehashing conflict and conversations; I should have said this, I should have done that, Next time I’ll do this… I am making myself insane. I need my sleep to allow my body to recover.  Just knowing that I need to sleep and can’t is stressing me out even more. My mind is flying all over the place. None of the places are serene. Pretty soon, I find that I am going through different exercises in my head and trying to plan the workout for the day.  Just a suggestion here, but if you are trying to go to sleep, I cannot recommend doing pushups and burpees in your head.  Finally, when my little clock read 4:30 am, I just decided to give up and start my day a bit early.

I was worried, that given my lack of sleep, I would be running on empty with regard to my gym time. I surprised myself.  Other than fatiguing a bit more rapidly than usual, my performance was spot on.  I doubt that I could go too many nights without good quality sleep and not be more severely impacted.   At any rate, after enjoying my coffee, I headed to the gym for my 7:00 am session. I was on the elliptical for 15 minutes before anybody showed.  People oversleep sometimes… given that I had the opposite problem today, I am less than sympathetic, but it happens.  A quick warm-up, and we headed outside.  Yes, it is once again cooler outside than in the gym.

Our Workout:

The Countdown…

100 yard sprint, stairs, 100 yard jog, stairs, 10 fitness band squat rows, 10 push-ups, 10 bench dips
100 yard sprint, stairs, 100 yard jog, stairs, 9 fitness band squat rows, 9 push-ups, 9 bench dips
100 yard sprint, stairs, 100 yard jog, stairs, 8 fitness band squat rows, 8 push-ups, 8 bench dips
and so on…. all the way to 1
Jog back to the gym…
Bench Press Drop Set to Failure x 2 sets
Barbell Power Clean and Press 3 sets x 10 reps
Reverse Deltoid Flye 3 sets x 10

Plank series:
Elbow plank 75 seconds, rest 15
Plank to T-Stand 30 seconds, rest 15
Toe taps 30 seconds, rest 15
Shoulder taps 30 seconds, rest 15

Fitness Ball Knee Pikes x 30
Knee up crunches x 30

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Done!

Once again, I am so impressed with the improvement I see from my training “victims”.   While in the midst of the sprint / upper body countdown, I could feel my client breathing down my neck as she mirrored my pace and intensity.  One of these days, and I don’t think it will be too far in the future, I will see her surpass my performance.   It is a joy to watch somebody dig deep and begin to reach their fitness potential.  As we were jogging back to the gym, we had a conversation about how much easier the running is now than when we first began.  She lamented that in the beginning, just once around the block felt difficult.  I remember it well.

It is not within my normal personality type to “ease” into things.  While thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (2662 miles) from Canada to Mexico, I was given the “trail-name” Splash.  Long-Distance hikers often accept a “trail name” which accomplishes a couple of things, one it identifies us as members of the “super-secret-elite-club” and two, it helps to differentiate between the 4 Mikes and 5 Sues that are on the trail at any given time.  My initial naming happened because of a rather spectacular cartoon style slip on a slime covered boulder which resulted in an equally spectacular “splash” flat on my back into a creek, but I have to say that I accepted the name for another reason entirely.  I chose to accept Splash as a trail name because it really fits my personality. I have always had a tendency to jump into life with both feet. No questions asked.  Make a big splash. It fits and I like it.  That being said, I have not always approached running in the most intelligent manner.   I have often started off with 3 or 4 miles runs, and being a bit obsessive, have completed these on consecutive days when my body, my joints, my tendons, my ligaments, and my bones, were not physically prepared for it.  I have paid the consequences for over enthusiasm with event cancelling injuries.   This year I vowed to take myself and my two running newbies, and shun my all or nothing tendencies in favor of a more intelligent  and gradual running program.   We began painfully slow with embarrassingly short distance runs, and we kept at it.  Gradually adding distance, and then adding sprint intervals.   I have said it before, I am not a natural runner.  But here’s the thing, I have always yearned to be a runner.   Six months into this program, and I can run faster and longer than I have ever done before, and guess what?   No shin splints!   No plantar fasciitis!  No knee pain (this is especially miraculous given that I am a candidate for full knee replacements).   I can’t say that I really enjoy running.  It is still hard and it still hurts, but I am out there, and today, I feel like I am winning.

Sailing on the Columbia River

Sailing on the Columbia River

Now…. off to my windsurfing lesson!  I can sleep when I am dead.

New Shoes and Kayak Rolls

Posted by Splashfit on July 12, 2013
Posted in: Active Play, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments
I just completed a successful roll in the kayak!

I just completed a successful roll in the kayak!

Still on a high from completing my first (Not ONE but TWO) successful rolls in a kayak, I had just pulled into my driveway. I hadn’t even put the car in park yet, when I spied the familiar brown cardboard box sitting on my back porch! New running shoes! They’re here! They’re here!  I ran up the ramp to the porch, scooped up the box, clamored in through the back door, grabbed a knife, (I know they say not to use a knife, but come on, we all do it… right?) and whilst doing an impatient little ‘I have to go potty’ dance, I quickly removed the contents from the box. Did I mention NEW SHOES? When I was a small child, my family did not have a lot of money. My mom was working part-time and my dad was going to school to get his degree. I got maybe one pair of new shoes per year (it may have been more, but that is what I remember). Oh, how I loved my new shoes!!! Always, the first night after being blessed with the shiny little vinyl things, my mom would scold me to take off the shoes and go to bed. I would wait until she left the room, and with all the stealth a five year old could muster, I would sneak out of bed and into the closet, scoop up the new shoes, and climb back up into the bed with my prized possession in tow. Ecstatically happy, I would place them in a place of honor on my pillow. Scarcely believing my good fortune, I would fall asleep, one arm draped over my shoes, with contentment oozing from my little body. It is funny how the happy memories from childhood carry over into my adult life. Although, I drew the line at sleeping with my new kicks last night, I think I will always love new shoes.

The best thing about my new running shoes?  I am actually excited to go running!  Go Me!

Bat Wings and Turkey Waddles

Posted by Splashfit on July 9, 2013
Posted in: Workouts. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

Track

I woke this morning to feel the sun dappling across the skin on my face. The light filtering through slats of the blinds was tickling my eyelids; back and forth, light and dark. I could feel the warming rays urging me to break free of my dreams and face the day. Finally awake, I lazily reached for my clock from the night stand. Oh crap, I should have been up 45 minutes earlier. I knew the light was wrong this morning, as in there was too much of it hitting my face for it to be 5 am. I love mornings, but I am not a “morning person”. Mornings for me are quiet. There are absolutely no outside demands placed on me. It is me time. I can place my feet firmly on the ground, breathe deeply, and ready myself for whatever the day ahead may bring. I brew a strong pot of coffee, sit behind my keyboard, read the news, catch up on facebook, and generally just “ease” into my day. Today, it was not to be. I gulped down a hot cuppa joe, scarfed down a quick bowl of shredded wheat with blueberries, threw on some gym clothes, and ran out the door.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I have the pleasure of training a couple of ladies. As a fitness carrot, the three of us have signed up for the local “warrior dash” race. We have just a little over a month left to prepare. I have to say that it has been extremely gratifying to watch these ladies tackle my fitness program with gusto. The progress they have made and are continuing to make is very tangible and visible! I love seeing the outline of the trapezius muscle, the sleekly defined legs and calves, and the über defined biceps! When we began the running and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) program in January, well, lets just say that those early runs were pretty meek. I can see the speed and intensity improve each week. To have the opportunity to help mold somebody’s fitness, to help change them, and change their lives, it is an honor, and it humbles me.

I arrived at the gym with ten minutes to spare. I hopped on the elliptical machine to warm up. I had only one victim show today, and as the temperature inside the gym was hotter than the temperature outside, after a quick warm-up, we headed out the door. A half mile warm up jog and we arrived at the local high school track. This was our workout of the day:

Moderate pace run 220 yards
Sprint 220 yards
Moderate pace / sprint intervals 440 yards 30 seconds moderate / 15 seconds sprint
Moderate pace 440 yards
100 1 1/4 Squats
110 yards Alternating Walking Lunges (really hard)
110 yards Side stepping Wide Squats (alternating sides)
Half mile jog back to the gym

My first couple of sprint intervals this morning found my breakfast a bit too close to the surface for comfort. Nothing says “I’m a über chic fitness professional” like vomiting on your client’s shoes. I guess that leads me to clarify, that if you want to see posts and fitness information ONLY from somebody who looks good all the time, then I may not be the trainer to help you stay motivated.

A few weeks back, while perusing google news, I happened upon an article about Katie Holmes and her “Knee Cootchie”. Seriously people? You don’t have anything better to do with your time or airwaves than to be hypercritical of somebody who has obviously lost weight and has loose skin on their knees? Seriously? That is what you choose to focus on? Shame… shame on you. If you have read my other blog posts, then you will realize that I too, gained and lost a large amount of weight… (right around ninety pounds to be precise), and I have to tell you, that the loose skin remaining on my middle aged frame is a constant reminder to me of where I’ve been and where I do not wish to return. In fact, while doing a kickboxing workout recently, I realized that the backlash from the loose skin on my thighs could probably swing up and knock me out if I was not careful. My body is lean now. My bodyfat tests at between 13 and 14 percent. That does nothing to alleviate the excess skin. All I can say is that capri tights and knickers are my friend. I wish I had the confidence to let those bat wings and turkey waddles fly, but alas, it is not so. Bottom line, if you have firm skin and can wear short shorts with pride, I applaud you. As for me, I will continue with my financial contributions, to keep those blessed creators of yoga pants and capri tights providing us with a remedy for the knee cootch.

Fighting for every mile

Posted by Splashfit on July 8, 2013
Posted in: Motivation, Workouts. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment
Great for Cross Training

Great for Cross Training

I am sitting in front of my computer, and I am stalling. I need to go for a run this morning, and I don’t want to leave my house. I am doing everything I know how to do to burst through this incredibly annoying tendency that my body/mind/spirit has. It wants to be lazy! It wants to relax and take it easy. Even though I am having a hard time getting out the door, I put on my running clothes, I put on a visor, I got my ipod ready… now I just have to put on sunglasses and lace up my shoes…
aaaaaand…. she’s off… like a thundering herd of turtles.

I constantly struggle with self motivation. Given my not so distant past and complete and utter failure at self motivating, this issue, and how to overcome it, is ever present on my mind. The running thing for me can get really ugly in my head. I am not a natural. I do not get a runner’s high. It mostly hurts… Okay, well that is an excuse, because that part IS getting better. Still, I often struggle. Today, these are the things I had to do to get myself out the door. I left behind all pace monitoring devices. No Map My Fitness, no Runtastic, and no Heart Rate Monitor. I gave myself permission to do an intuitive workout. (I do a lot of speed intervals, but today, this is what I needed to do to motivate myself to leave the house). I gave myself permission to turn around at the half mile mark. It got me out the door.

Once my body was moving, I fell into a natural rhythm and I actually felt pretty good. I reached the half mile mark and knew that I wanted to keep going. I allowed myself to jog/run/plod at whatever pace I wanted. Of course, when a vehicle would drive past me, all bets were off, and I ran like the wind… I imagined that I was an Olympian going for gold… I saw myself reaching the finish line (cue the theme music from Chariots of Fire)… and as the car zoomed on out of sight, I slowed my pace (gasping and trying not to vomit) and jogged to recover. (Doesn’t everybody do this? Isn’t it listed somewhere in the runners’ code?). Seriously though, the times during my run today that I wanted to stop and walk were numerous. I had to play mind tricks with myself to keep running. My self talk goes something like this, “Okay, if you just run up to that next tree, then you can walk for 15 paces.” I ran to the tree, and then realized that I still felt good, and so I kept running. “When you get to the half way turn around point, then you can walk for a minute.” I got to the turn around point and felt good, so I kept running. I use this technique constantly when I am doing something that I perceive as difficult. Just a few more reps, just a few more steps, just a few more glides, just a few more paddles… and then I can rest. It is an amazing thing to watch as “the few” turn into the many. Before I know it, I am no longer counting steps, glides, or strokes. I am running, I am skiing, I am kayaking. I am “in the groove”, and it feels amazing.

So my workout for today is completed and I feel amazing. I can scarcely believe that I was balking at leaving the house. It is ALWAYS this way. We’ve all seen the “memes”, I really regret that workout, said nobody ever! It has gone viral not for its creativity, but for its truth.

Today’s Workout
5 mile run
300 body weight squats
200 body weight alternating lunges

I can find a hundred and one excuses for not exercising. Ignoring the hater in my head, the liar who tells me I can’t, and the lazy ass who wants to wallow on the sofa, is not only essential to my success, but it is my biggest challenge.

I know that there are people out there, athletes, who do not appear to struggle with motivation. I am not one of them. Not only am I not a “natural athlete”, but I have to fight for every single mile, every single pound, and every single inch. I can only hope that my struggle might just light a tiny little flicker of hope in another kindred spirit. I am nothing but a supremely stubborn and very ordinary person. If I can do something, then so can you. You just have to want it. Today, I want it. How about you?