So I went to the gym again today, on a sort-of empty stomach. I had to cut my usual lunch of the entire plate of drunken noodle with chicken in half after finding out how many calories there are in a cup of drunken noodles, and I was sort of fine until about 5pm when I had to leave for the gym. But I didn't eat anything else, and I wasn't really famished so all was well.
I usually start my run at 5mph for about a mile before doing something else, and that's what I did today. But as I was doing that, I felt like I wasn't really running. I was more like... speed walking. And I didn't feel tired like I usually would after about 7 minutes. I barely had to deepen my breath after I finished the first mile.
And although this was kind of cool, I wasn't really sure what kind of improvement this would count as. Muscle strength? Stamina? Or just finding a new and better technique to run? As I increased the speed for the next mile I was out of breath for the fastest minute or so, and stopped when I got to about a 5K.
And I felt really good. Sweaty and slightly out of breath, sure, but my foot wasn't hurting and I didn't stress my body too much with it. It was just strange. I mean, it doesn't mean that I'm all of a sudden a very fast walker, and if I walk like the way I did on the treadmill I would look very silly, but I really don't know what I did differently of where I have improved to achieve that. Or did I just learn to take shorter steps and not bounce as much? I don't know.
Today the gym was relatively empty. I went around the same time as I did on Tuesday, but on Tuesday the gym was packed and there was no unoccupied treadmill at all. I think finals week is approaching for the undergrads and that might explain it a little bit. Also it was so warm and sunny out I passed at least half a dozen runners and a equal number of cyclists, so maybe everyone was working out outside. Either way it was very nice not to feel crowded and claustrophobic. And the fitness room is air conditioned, so what's not to like?
I really think all of my strength improvement is due to my HIIT class, but the class will likely not be offered in the summer, and plus I've gotten to the point in the term where I just become very afraid of the class. Afraid of the tiredness and out-of-breath-ness, even though I know it's good for me in the end. I've purchased an arm band for my iPhone and wireless sports headphones so I could maybe do some weight lifting or something in the future on my own without having to worry about where to put my phone if I will have to do with music/podcast-less. I will never achieve the level of fitness as i do in my class, but any muscle building is better than none at all right?
Showing posts with label Treadmill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Treadmill. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
That extra scoop of coal
Had a really good run today, though it was a struggle getting there. By 6pm or so today I was suddenly famished, and desperately wanted crispy chicken pad thai for dinner. So before I left work today I sat and debated with myself for a long time as to what to do. In the end I decided to go to the gym, run my 5K, and have thai takeout as a reward afterwards to balance out the calorie intake/output.
I was originally going to just run 25 minutes non-stop, and then do a 4-minute run/1-minute walk thing until I get to 40 minutes, which usually equates a 5K more or less. But luckily, I caught half an episode of Castle that just happened to be playing on the treadmill I picked. It was a season finale, during which Beckett was fighting some bad guy on the rooftop of a building that ended with the bad guy getting away and left Beckett hanging by the edge of the building and had to be saved by Ryan. The actual fighting part happened about 20 minutes into my run, and even though I kind of knew what happened, having seen the episode before, I was nonetheless engrossed in the plot and I almost jilted when Beckett was ambushed at one point. The episode cut to commercial right after Beckett rolled to the edge of the building and was hanging by her fingers, and I could feel my heart pumping faster because of the suspense.
And that's when it happened. Just minutes before I started to breathe really heavily and audibly as I usually do around minute 20 and had to really put an effort and focus on my breathing and running, but as I watched the show and I got excited by the plot I found myself breathing normally again, as in, no loud, forceful breaths to artificially pump my heart faster to accommodate the demand of my body. Watching the show seemed to give me an extra shot of adrenaline without me having to do any extra work. The effect was not long lasting though, half way through the commercial break I found myself having to breathe really hard again. I managed to keep running until I did 31 minutes, and ended up running the fastest mile, km, and 5K according to my Nike, earning a pre-recorded congratulatory message from Paula Radcliffe, which was kinda nice. The data is false, by the way. Nike has a tendency of overestimating my distance and I don't always recalibrate afterwards. So now I have a 32-minute 5K record that's not real that I will have to beat later on. Oh well, none of that really matters that much.
But that kind of got me thinking. I used to be really afraid of watching anything suspenseful while running on the treadmill because I didn't want the plot of the show interfere with my breathing. But now it seems that having my heart beat faster is actually a good thing and I might need to do it more often. I also found that during the first 10 minutes or so I really need to concentrate on whatever I'm listening to keep myself from being bored, but this distraction is less necessary beyond the 10-minute mark, as running then requires more conscious effort. Now it seems that around 20-minutes I need something exciting again to give my heart an extra push. I'm not sure this is completely good for me, as people usually talk about increasing their lung capacity instead of heart rate when exercise, but before the capacity of my lungs are properly expanded I'll have to settle with faster heart pumping.
Afterwards as I was walking home I asked myself if I still wanted pad thai, and as usual my appetite gets curbed after exercising and my desire for thai food and fried chicken was not as intense as before. But I still like the idea of very savory food and I couldn't think of any good alternative that I could make at home that would be comparable. I set my mind on the salty ramen noodle in the end, as I was feeling for something soup-y, but I still could not abandon the idea of pad thai. I literally was at a crossroad, having one way leading home and the other leading to the thai restaurant. I ended up sitting on a very cold bench and played 2048 for 3 minutes before my butt got really cold and I just told myself to go home and have ramen and save the $13 I didn't really feel like spending anyway. In the end it was a very successful day with eating, exercising, and money spending.
I've also start to take more walks. On Monday I walked around the nearby pond twice (roughly 2 miles) because I didn't want to go running but I felt the need to exercise. Today I walked around the pond once, since I really need the time to think about the outline of a review I needed to write and I was too full from lunch to sit in front of my desk comfortably. I still haven't come up with a good outline but I did stop feeling bloated. As spring hesitantly approaches there are more runners coming out. On my walk today I saw 2 guys and a girls jogging (separately), and a group of young kids doing some sort of track workout. I started mile 2 and all of a sudden decided that I didn't want to walk anymore but would like to go back and start making a tentative outline and assemble a reading list, so I literally stopped abruptly, turned around, and walked back to my office. As I turned around I saw the group of young kids running their third and they must have thought that I was most weird. Oh well.
I was originally going to just run 25 minutes non-stop, and then do a 4-minute run/1-minute walk thing until I get to 40 minutes, which usually equates a 5K more or less. But luckily, I caught half an episode of Castle that just happened to be playing on the treadmill I picked. It was a season finale, during which Beckett was fighting some bad guy on the rooftop of a building that ended with the bad guy getting away and left Beckett hanging by the edge of the building and had to be saved by Ryan. The actual fighting part happened about 20 minutes into my run, and even though I kind of knew what happened, having seen the episode before, I was nonetheless engrossed in the plot and I almost jilted when Beckett was ambushed at one point. The episode cut to commercial right after Beckett rolled to the edge of the building and was hanging by her fingers, and I could feel my heart pumping faster because of the suspense.
And that's when it happened. Just minutes before I started to breathe really heavily and audibly as I usually do around minute 20 and had to really put an effort and focus on my breathing and running, but as I watched the show and I got excited by the plot I found myself breathing normally again, as in, no loud, forceful breaths to artificially pump my heart faster to accommodate the demand of my body. Watching the show seemed to give me an extra shot of adrenaline without me having to do any extra work. The effect was not long lasting though, half way through the commercial break I found myself having to breathe really hard again. I managed to keep running until I did 31 minutes, and ended up running the fastest mile, km, and 5K according to my Nike, earning a pre-recorded congratulatory message from Paula Radcliffe, which was kinda nice. The data is false, by the way. Nike has a tendency of overestimating my distance and I don't always recalibrate afterwards. So now I have a 32-minute 5K record that's not real that I will have to beat later on. Oh well, none of that really matters that much.
But that kind of got me thinking. I used to be really afraid of watching anything suspenseful while running on the treadmill because I didn't want the plot of the show interfere with my breathing. But now it seems that having my heart beat faster is actually a good thing and I might need to do it more often. I also found that during the first 10 minutes or so I really need to concentrate on whatever I'm listening to keep myself from being bored, but this distraction is less necessary beyond the 10-minute mark, as running then requires more conscious effort. Now it seems that around 20-minutes I need something exciting again to give my heart an extra push. I'm not sure this is completely good for me, as people usually talk about increasing their lung capacity instead of heart rate when exercise, but before the capacity of my lungs are properly expanded I'll have to settle with faster heart pumping.
Afterwards as I was walking home I asked myself if I still wanted pad thai, and as usual my appetite gets curbed after exercising and my desire for thai food and fried chicken was not as intense as before. But I still like the idea of very savory food and I couldn't think of any good alternative that I could make at home that would be comparable. I set my mind on the salty ramen noodle in the end, as I was feeling for something soup-y, but I still could not abandon the idea of pad thai. I literally was at a crossroad, having one way leading home and the other leading to the thai restaurant. I ended up sitting on a very cold bench and played 2048 for 3 minutes before my butt got really cold and I just told myself to go home and have ramen and save the $13 I didn't really feel like spending anyway. In the end it was a very successful day with eating, exercising, and money spending.
I've also start to take more walks. On Monday I walked around the nearby pond twice (roughly 2 miles) because I didn't want to go running but I felt the need to exercise. Today I walked around the pond once, since I really need the time to think about the outline of a review I needed to write and I was too full from lunch to sit in front of my desk comfortably. I still haven't come up with a good outline but I did stop feeling bloated. As spring hesitantly approaches there are more runners coming out. On my walk today I saw 2 guys and a girls jogging (separately), and a group of young kids doing some sort of track workout. I started mile 2 and all of a sudden decided that I didn't want to walk anymore but would like to go back and start making a tentative outline and assemble a reading list, so I literally stopped abruptly, turned around, and walked back to my office. As I turned around I saw the group of young kids running their third and they must have thought that I was most weird. Oh well.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Exercise Diary: Being afraid
Today was the first time I went back running after my first road run of the year. That road run was hard, in that my legs were sore for days afterwards that made me feel like I had not done any running at all since I stopping running outside last year.
The weather never got warm enough to run outside again but I had not done any running otherwise. Life happened and I used that as an excuse to not go. I was sleep deprived so every day when I got home all I wanted to do was take a nap. Last week I was overwhelmed with work stuff that I decided to focus on my diet instead of spending hours after work going to the gym. I did manage to shake off a few stubborn pounds by eating very little in the evenings and very early. I told myself that if I feel lighter I would have an easier time exercising.
My parens came 2 weeks ago and brought a bunch of stuff that I didn't get to take with me when I got back from my winter vacation. With two more suitcases in my room I no longer had space to roll out my yoga mat so I didn't do any other exercises either besides running.
All of this was fueled by the fact that even when I had the time and energy to go to the gym and run a few miles, I was afraid that I would get tired, or that it was take up too much time before and after (like now; I got home before 10 and now it's 10:40 and I still haven't showered or changed). It's not just putting on my gym clothes and go running. It's making sure that I'm not too full or too hungry before I go, the stretching and doing other exercise videos after coming home, the writing of the blog, and the constant debate of whether I should eat something because on the one hand I feel that I deserve food after exercise but on the other hand I really don't deserve that much food. It's not like I ran a marathon or something.
Life finally went back to normal for a bit. On Friday we assembled the graded exams which took up a lot of my time last week. I had a very relaxed and unproductive weekend which made me slightly guilty but at the same time absolutely happy. I ate way too much over the weekend because of an awesome shopping trip to Trader Joe's, and all of these culminated to my determination and actual execution of going to the gym. I wasn't very hard on myself and only did 2 miles. I stopped because my legs were tired. They felt tight and sore and I thought I would allow myself some time to get back into the load I was doing before. After coming home I did Cassey Ho's new squat challenge video which was a very intense few minutes but felt absolute heaven. I need to clear out my room so I could have enough space to do other videos later but hopefully today was a nice beginning of getting back into my old workout routine. It's almost May and this month has gone so quickly in so many ways while being so slow in other, but I don't think I will see a significant change in my body shape when I'm ready to take a new picture of myself. I'm not terribly worried, but I would like to change faster.
The weather never got warm enough to run outside again but I had not done any running otherwise. Life happened and I used that as an excuse to not go. I was sleep deprived so every day when I got home all I wanted to do was take a nap. Last week I was overwhelmed with work stuff that I decided to focus on my diet instead of spending hours after work going to the gym. I did manage to shake off a few stubborn pounds by eating very little in the evenings and very early. I told myself that if I feel lighter I would have an easier time exercising.
My parens came 2 weeks ago and brought a bunch of stuff that I didn't get to take with me when I got back from my winter vacation. With two more suitcases in my room I no longer had space to roll out my yoga mat so I didn't do any other exercises either besides running.
All of this was fueled by the fact that even when I had the time and energy to go to the gym and run a few miles, I was afraid that I would get tired, or that it was take up too much time before and after (like now; I got home before 10 and now it's 10:40 and I still haven't showered or changed). It's not just putting on my gym clothes and go running. It's making sure that I'm not too full or too hungry before I go, the stretching and doing other exercise videos after coming home, the writing of the blog, and the constant debate of whether I should eat something because on the one hand I feel that I deserve food after exercise but on the other hand I really don't deserve that much food. It's not like I ran a marathon or something.
Life finally went back to normal for a bit. On Friday we assembled the graded exams which took up a lot of my time last week. I had a very relaxed and unproductive weekend which made me slightly guilty but at the same time absolutely happy. I ate way too much over the weekend because of an awesome shopping trip to Trader Joe's, and all of these culminated to my determination and actual execution of going to the gym. I wasn't very hard on myself and only did 2 miles. I stopped because my legs were tired. They felt tight and sore and I thought I would allow myself some time to get back into the load I was doing before. After coming home I did Cassey Ho's new squat challenge video which was a very intense few minutes but felt absolute heaven. I need to clear out my room so I could have enough space to do other videos later but hopefully today was a nice beginning of getting back into my old workout routine. It's almost May and this month has gone so quickly in so many ways while being so slow in other, but I don't think I will see a significant change in my body shape when I'm ready to take a new picture of myself. I'm not terribly worried, but I would like to change faster.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Exercise Diary: Need more data~
A friend of mine defended this thesis today and officially became a Ph.D. Juxtaposing that with the fact that I have not been doing a lot of lab work due to my TA schedule and my inability to compartmentalize my mind and focus on things in front of me, made me feel on the one hand extremely proud him and on the other hand slightly worried for myself.
Anyhoo, in order to go celebrate his successful defense I skipped yoga today, had some champaign which was for some reason much stronger than I anticipated (probably because I was drinking on an empty stomach), and then ingested an obscene amount of cake, chips and salsa, and veggies with yummy ranch dressing. I got home with a headache and was absolutely exhausted. Took a nap and really struggled to go to the gym afterwards.
I did only 2.5 miles today, just to save the long run for the weekend. Given how tired I was when I got up and how much junk food I had in my stomach I did not anticipate that I would have an excellent run. But it just felt... really easy. My foot didn't bother me, I felt energetic, and I felt really comfortable going up to higher speeds. I was pleasantly surprised how short my run felt, and I had a blast watching a documentary on wildlife in Russia on the Animal Planet channel.
And I can't really figure out why. I had assumed that because of the stress, the slacking of fluid intake, the lack of sleep, and my general decline in running ability had contributed to my recent struggle every time I get on the treadmill. Maybe I was mentally less tired today since I knew it was going to be a short run (but I was still afraid of it)? I can't quite figure out what was different about me today. I got about 6.5 hours of sleep last night, plus another 1.5 or so hours before going. I ate oatmeals for breakfast, a vegetarian lunch, and about 2.5 L of water before the cake and snack fiasco. I took my daily vitamins right after I got home. I don't consider that a wild stray from my normal daily routine.
I don't know what made today so easy.
After I got home I did two Ballet Beautiful videos: swam arms and butt series 1. I wasn't in the mood of trying anything new today, and both were a struggle but after many pauses and stretches and coconut water I managed thru them both. I wanted to do another abs video from blogilates but I was tired, and it was getting late. So maybe tomorrow. I think since tomorrow is not a running day I will do legs and abs and something else.
Wednesday morning I tried to do a video before leaving for school. It was a new video too and that wasn't very smart. I forgot why I decided to do it, probably to make up for not doing anything on Tuesday (granted I didn't leave lab until 10:30 for TA stuff and had to get up for the 8:45 am the next day). I didn't get through the entire video due to time and lack of strength, but yesterday was also a long day and I felt much more energetic. I was hungrier faster, but I wasn't tired, and I think the morning exercise may have something to do with it. I just couldn't get up this morning to try again, but I will repeat this experiment someday.
It's almost the weekend! My parents are coming to visit so I will have to plan my time carefully, but they will bring me yummy food, and we are going to see ballet together and all of us are very much looking forward to it.
Anyhoo, in order to go celebrate his successful defense I skipped yoga today, had some champaign which was for some reason much stronger than I anticipated (probably because I was drinking on an empty stomach), and then ingested an obscene amount of cake, chips and salsa, and veggies with yummy ranch dressing. I got home with a headache and was absolutely exhausted. Took a nap and really struggled to go to the gym afterwards.
I did only 2.5 miles today, just to save the long run for the weekend. Given how tired I was when I got up and how much junk food I had in my stomach I did not anticipate that I would have an excellent run. But it just felt... really easy. My foot didn't bother me, I felt energetic, and I felt really comfortable going up to higher speeds. I was pleasantly surprised how short my run felt, and I had a blast watching a documentary on wildlife in Russia on the Animal Planet channel.
And I can't really figure out why. I had assumed that because of the stress, the slacking of fluid intake, the lack of sleep, and my general decline in running ability had contributed to my recent struggle every time I get on the treadmill. Maybe I was mentally less tired today since I knew it was going to be a short run (but I was still afraid of it)? I can't quite figure out what was different about me today. I got about 6.5 hours of sleep last night, plus another 1.5 or so hours before going. I ate oatmeals for breakfast, a vegetarian lunch, and about 2.5 L of water before the cake and snack fiasco. I took my daily vitamins right after I got home. I don't consider that a wild stray from my normal daily routine.
I don't know what made today so easy.
After I got home I did two Ballet Beautiful videos: swam arms and butt series 1. I wasn't in the mood of trying anything new today, and both were a struggle but after many pauses and stretches and coconut water I managed thru them both. I wanted to do another abs video from blogilates but I was tired, and it was getting late. So maybe tomorrow. I think since tomorrow is not a running day I will do legs and abs and something else.
Wednesday morning I tried to do a video before leaving for school. It was a new video too and that wasn't very smart. I forgot why I decided to do it, probably to make up for not doing anything on Tuesday (granted I didn't leave lab until 10:30 for TA stuff and had to get up for the 8:45 am the next day). I didn't get through the entire video due to time and lack of strength, but yesterday was also a long day and I felt much more energetic. I was hungrier faster, but I wasn't tired, and I think the morning exercise may have something to do with it. I just couldn't get up this morning to try again, but I will repeat this experiment someday.
It's almost the weekend! My parents are coming to visit so I will have to plan my time carefully, but they will bring me yummy food, and we are going to see ballet together and all of us are very much looking forward to it.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Exercise Diary: what a day
Spring is finally here! Need proof? Mud. I actually stole the last bit off of a board somewhere on campus. But it's true. It's been raining all day today and we've moved on to snowy to muddy. Not my favorite part of spring but I did go to the gym today with no heavy jacket or outer pants so...
So much happened today in terms of everything fitness. So far today I've drunk about 3 liters of fluids (coffee and water) and still counting (I'll try to get down 3 14-oz mugs of tea before bedtime), which I've been doing all week but today I actually rigorously counted and timed my fluid intake. My diet, however, fell short by about a mile since I ate nothing but spaghettios all day (breakfast and lunch). They are homemade and they were make this morning so at least there was no preservatives and they are fresh, but in terms of nutrition... well, telling yourself it's got protein from milk and cheese and veggie from the tomato sauce can only go so far. Plus I way over ate and basically spent the whole working day today doing everything I could, short of self-induced vomiting, to get all this carb and fat out. This included standing all day, walking around as much as possible, drinking a lot of water afterwards, and even doing squats while I was in the dark room developing some film for my experiments.
The good news is, I did manage to get some of it out before going to the gym. I wasn't worried about feeling bloated or full while I run, but I just don't want to carry any extra weight if I can.
I also found these fat burning pills I bought way back when, that if you take them about an hour before your workout, they help increasing the amount of fat you burn. They got good reviews when I bought them who-knows-when, and I figured that since I had some left I might as well take them before I go running.
I think part of its mechanism is to induce water loss right before your workout, and somehow quench your thirst during the workout, and I still haven't figured out if it does anything to you afterwards. I don't feel that my belly or thighs getting extra warm or anything so I don't know if there are more fat being burnt, but the whole water loss at the beginning was unsettling. I had thought I just drank too much water during the day and therefore I had to go to the bathroom more but what happened before I had to leave for the gym was unsettling. I was afraid that I wouldn't last even a mile on the treadmill before I had to go again but thankfully somehow by the time I got on the treadmill my body went into no-i-don't-need-anymore-water-but-i-also-don't-need-to-get-rid-of-any mode.
So that was all weird, but my run today was fantastic. I still weighed more than I did yesterday when I got on the treadmill (still lots of people today and the cardio machines were dangerously full but there was one for me and that was all it mattered), but my 4-mile run felt great. The speed I usually run at felt easy and effortless, and I could just go on and on. The only thing that bothered me was my right foot as I sped up, but I managed to stay at 5 mph for about 10 minutes before I forced myself to slow down as my run was approaching an end. I really think I am getting better.
Watched an entire episode of Makers series on PBS on the women's movement. It was the first of a two-parter (I think, there may be more than 2 parts so who knows), and it ended gloomily as the Equal Rights Amendment failed to be passed in the 70s and abortion clinics suffered severe harassment till today, but the show was narrated by Meryl Streep and ended on a promising note. The second part advertised things like gay women's rights (featuring Ellen Degeneres) and some other exciting but now-forgotten topic I can't recall, so I think I'll actually go search for it on the PBS website and finish watching the two-parter. But it was a remarkable show and at various points I found myself to be very emotional and almost cried, all while running of course. It was weird. But I guess after all the LOLs while watching various cop shows and sit-coms it's time for some opposite emotions.
After I got home I buckled down and did the Day 10 beginners pop pilates workout from Blogilates. It consisted of some ab workout, bubble butt workout (which I also did on my own on Tuesday and was still feeling it), and a stretching video. I also added a new arm workout that was part of new video Monday. That video only had five moves and 1 minute each for each move, so it seemed easy (and short), but by the time I finished doing the arm circles and arm spears (which were too bad) and triangle and cobra push-ups (really really bad) I had absolutely no strength for alternating plank push-ups, as my arms started to involuntarily crashing down onto the floor. So it was only a 4-minute workout for me. My arms still hurt a lot and I had trouble pointing and clicking the right window on my computer screen afterwards.
Now I'm done. Yay and it felt really good too. Plus I'm feeling hungry as much carb-heavy lunch has finally passed through my colon. No carbs tonight. Okay maybe a little but definitely no spaghettios and no heavy dairy stuff mixed in. Maybe some soba noodles. Mmm.
So much happened today in terms of everything fitness. So far today I've drunk about 3 liters of fluids (coffee and water) and still counting (I'll try to get down 3 14-oz mugs of tea before bedtime), which I've been doing all week but today I actually rigorously counted and timed my fluid intake. My diet, however, fell short by about a mile since I ate nothing but spaghettios all day (breakfast and lunch). They are homemade and they were make this morning so at least there was no preservatives and they are fresh, but in terms of nutrition... well, telling yourself it's got protein from milk and cheese and veggie from the tomato sauce can only go so far. Plus I way over ate and basically spent the whole working day today doing everything I could, short of self-induced vomiting, to get all this carb and fat out. This included standing all day, walking around as much as possible, drinking a lot of water afterwards, and even doing squats while I was in the dark room developing some film for my experiments.
The good news is, I did manage to get some of it out before going to the gym. I wasn't worried about feeling bloated or full while I run, but I just don't want to carry any extra weight if I can.
I also found these fat burning pills I bought way back when, that if you take them about an hour before your workout, they help increasing the amount of fat you burn. They got good reviews when I bought them who-knows-when, and I figured that since I had some left I might as well take them before I go running.
I think part of its mechanism is to induce water loss right before your workout, and somehow quench your thirst during the workout, and I still haven't figured out if it does anything to you afterwards. I don't feel that my belly or thighs getting extra warm or anything so I don't know if there are more fat being burnt, but the whole water loss at the beginning was unsettling. I had thought I just drank too much water during the day and therefore I had to go to the bathroom more but what happened before I had to leave for the gym was unsettling. I was afraid that I wouldn't last even a mile on the treadmill before I had to go again but thankfully somehow by the time I got on the treadmill my body went into no-i-don't-need-anymore-water-but-i-also-don't-need-to-get-rid-of-any mode.
So that was all weird, but my run today was fantastic. I still weighed more than I did yesterday when I got on the treadmill (still lots of people today and the cardio machines were dangerously full but there was one for me and that was all it mattered), but my 4-mile run felt great. The speed I usually run at felt easy and effortless, and I could just go on and on. The only thing that bothered me was my right foot as I sped up, but I managed to stay at 5 mph for about 10 minutes before I forced myself to slow down as my run was approaching an end. I really think I am getting better.
Watched an entire episode of Makers series on PBS on the women's movement. It was the first of a two-parter (I think, there may be more than 2 parts so who knows), and it ended gloomily as the Equal Rights Amendment failed to be passed in the 70s and abortion clinics suffered severe harassment till today, but the show was narrated by Meryl Streep and ended on a promising note. The second part advertised things like gay women's rights (featuring Ellen Degeneres) and some other exciting but now-forgotten topic I can't recall, so I think I'll actually go search for it on the PBS website and finish watching the two-parter. But it was a remarkable show and at various points I found myself to be very emotional and almost cried, all while running of course. It was weird. But I guess after all the LOLs while watching various cop shows and sit-coms it's time for some opposite emotions.
After I got home I buckled down and did the Day 10 beginners pop pilates workout from Blogilates. It consisted of some ab workout, bubble butt workout (which I also did on my own on Tuesday and was still feeling it), and a stretching video. I also added a new arm workout that was part of new video Monday. That video only had five moves and 1 minute each for each move, so it seemed easy (and short), but by the time I finished doing the arm circles and arm spears (which were too bad) and triangle and cobra push-ups (really really bad) I had absolutely no strength for alternating plank push-ups, as my arms started to involuntarily crashing down onto the floor. So it was only a 4-minute workout for me. My arms still hurt a lot and I had trouble pointing and clicking the right window on my computer screen afterwards.
Now I'm done. Yay and it felt really good too. Plus I'm feeling hungry as much carb-heavy lunch has finally passed through my colon. No carbs tonight. Okay maybe a little but definitely no spaghettios and no heavy dairy stuff mixed in. Maybe some soba noodles. Mmm.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Exercise Diary: tight and tired
Day 2 of pre-8pm gym adventure. The gym was again packed. And I somehow ended up running next to the same old man as yesterday, although I wasn't on the same treadmill. In fact, I was on the treadmill next to the one I was on yesterday, which incidentally was the treadmill the old man was using yesterday. I realized today that even though he ran intervals, he ran way harder and longer than I could ever do since his intervals were for 1 mile and he did like a bizillian of them.
Sadly, the only reason why I was on the treadmill next to the one I used yesterday was because yesterday's treadmill was broken. I don't think I'm the one who broke it, but it's still sad and weird to know that just a day ago I was using it and it was fine. Incidentally the now-broken treadmill also used to be my favorite, until I kept not able to use it and subsequently realized that all the treadmills, except for the really bad ones, are pretty much the same.
One of the result of running next to a broken treadmill was that I got to watch countless number of people getting on it, trying to start it, failing, and moving on to another treadmill or another piece of machinery. It's kind of funny that neither I nor the girl on the other side of the broken treadmill bothered to warn them, and as far as I know no one had reported it broken to the front desk. I didn't bother since I couldn't really talk, and also since I had been one of those people who jabbed the touch pad without success, I thought it would be fun to watch other people doing it too.
Watched almost an entire episode of Rizzoli and Isles during my run today. Too bad I didn't get to find out what happened in the end. But since I don't even remember what the episode was about now I guess it wasn't a great big loss.
Oh, and I also somehow had the belief that I had to do 3 miles instead of the planned 2.5, that I struggled the last half-mile for no reason.
I don't know how it happened. Somehow during mile 1.5 I told myself that I was half way done and never realized until after I was done how silly I had been. My Nike+ was also being bitchy. Somehow now it thinks I'm running slower than before, after countless times I had to re-calibrate it for over-calculating my speed. I think it may have to do with the way I moved my legs. I tried to slow and lengthen my stride as I got faster to control the number of time my feet had to hit the ground, and since my Nike+ iPod uses a sensor on my foot that measures the speed and length of one's stride, I guess I could appear to be going slower than usual. Except I think the sensor should be smarter than that. I don't know, I hope I don't have to get a new sensor before switching to an iPhone. Not that an iPhone would be great to use on a treadmill, but evidently the Nike+running app on iPhone allows you to input your workouts manually, so you will still have a record of your runs on Nike without having the app doing any work. I wonder if I could do that on the webpage when I move on to my GPS watch. So far I haven't figured out how.
Anyhoo, today's run was... brutal. I had a banana before going and I didn't feel hungry or anything during the run, and it was a short run, but I just felt so tired and it was such a struggle. I should not run the day after a long run, even if the long run was only 5 miles. My legs were tight from the very beginning. In fact they were tight all day today, and I could feel the muscles as I walked up and down the stairs. They weren't sore, they were just tight, and you are aware of them. Now they are sore, even after stretching and all that. And the thighs are particularly bad since I think I used my thighs a lot to pull my feet up since the run today really ruined my right foot. The plantar fasciitis was really acting up, right after I slowed down after my speedier pulses. It got even worse during my cool down walk, and I really hope I can still walk tomorrow. I also wanted to use more of my upper body to take some of the pressure away from the legs, but I didn't know how. I tried to breathe from the core, and all it did was made me spit a lot. I tried to tighten the core and lift my torso a bit but all that did was giving me tight shoulders. I know strong abs help with running, but since I still don't have strong abs what am I supposed to do?
But somehow I still manage to finish my run, half a mile more than planned no less. I didn't stop to walk or anything, and I really hope I either burned more fat than usual or strengthen my thigh muscles some what. I went home and did two blogilates videos, one on the glute and the other on the arms. I also resumed my thigh and butt challenge moves, Day 13 of the 30-day workout, on the 25th of this month. Oh well, better start again some time. It's really starting to get warmer out (I went to the gym today in my capris, a fleece and a wind breaker, it was that warm), and before I know it I will be running outside with my t-shirt and capris, and I really need to get serious about this weight loss thing. I realize that now I'm not really trying to use running as a way to lose weight, but rather I'm trying to lose weight so I can run better. Not just to lose weight, but also to build my muscles. I like running, and I like to run long and far. It would be great if I can actually be good at it. I have marathon goals, goddammit.
Sadly, the only reason why I was on the treadmill next to the one I used yesterday was because yesterday's treadmill was broken. I don't think I'm the one who broke it, but it's still sad and weird to know that just a day ago I was using it and it was fine. Incidentally the now-broken treadmill also used to be my favorite, until I kept not able to use it and subsequently realized that all the treadmills, except for the really bad ones, are pretty much the same.
One of the result of running next to a broken treadmill was that I got to watch countless number of people getting on it, trying to start it, failing, and moving on to another treadmill or another piece of machinery. It's kind of funny that neither I nor the girl on the other side of the broken treadmill bothered to warn them, and as far as I know no one had reported it broken to the front desk. I didn't bother since I couldn't really talk, and also since I had been one of those people who jabbed the touch pad without success, I thought it would be fun to watch other people doing it too.
Watched almost an entire episode of Rizzoli and Isles during my run today. Too bad I didn't get to find out what happened in the end. But since I don't even remember what the episode was about now I guess it wasn't a great big loss.
Oh, and I also somehow had the belief that I had to do 3 miles instead of the planned 2.5, that I struggled the last half-mile for no reason.
I don't know how it happened. Somehow during mile 1.5 I told myself that I was half way done and never realized until after I was done how silly I had been. My Nike+ was also being bitchy. Somehow now it thinks I'm running slower than before, after countless times I had to re-calibrate it for over-calculating my speed. I think it may have to do with the way I moved my legs. I tried to slow and lengthen my stride as I got faster to control the number of time my feet had to hit the ground, and since my Nike+ iPod uses a sensor on my foot that measures the speed and length of one's stride, I guess I could appear to be going slower than usual. Except I think the sensor should be smarter than that. I don't know, I hope I don't have to get a new sensor before switching to an iPhone. Not that an iPhone would be great to use on a treadmill, but evidently the Nike+running app on iPhone allows you to input your workouts manually, so you will still have a record of your runs on Nike without having the app doing any work. I wonder if I could do that on the webpage when I move on to my GPS watch. So far I haven't figured out how.
Anyhoo, today's run was... brutal. I had a banana before going and I didn't feel hungry or anything during the run, and it was a short run, but I just felt so tired and it was such a struggle. I should not run the day after a long run, even if the long run was only 5 miles. My legs were tight from the very beginning. In fact they were tight all day today, and I could feel the muscles as I walked up and down the stairs. They weren't sore, they were just tight, and you are aware of them. Now they are sore, even after stretching and all that. And the thighs are particularly bad since I think I used my thighs a lot to pull my feet up since the run today really ruined my right foot. The plantar fasciitis was really acting up, right after I slowed down after my speedier pulses. It got even worse during my cool down walk, and I really hope I can still walk tomorrow. I also wanted to use more of my upper body to take some of the pressure away from the legs, but I didn't know how. I tried to breathe from the core, and all it did was made me spit a lot. I tried to tighten the core and lift my torso a bit but all that did was giving me tight shoulders. I know strong abs help with running, but since I still don't have strong abs what am I supposed to do?
But somehow I still manage to finish my run, half a mile more than planned no less. I didn't stop to walk or anything, and I really hope I either burned more fat than usual or strengthen my thigh muscles some what. I went home and did two blogilates videos, one on the glute and the other on the arms. I also resumed my thigh and butt challenge moves, Day 13 of the 30-day workout, on the 25th of this month. Oh well, better start again some time. It's really starting to get warmer out (I went to the gym today in my capris, a fleece and a wind breaker, it was that warm), and before I know it I will be running outside with my t-shirt and capris, and I really need to get serious about this weight loss thing. I realize that now I'm not really trying to use running as a way to lose weight, but rather I'm trying to lose weight so I can run better. Not just to lose weight, but also to build my muscles. I like running, and I like to run long and far. It would be great if I can actually be good at it. I have marathon goals, goddammit.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Exercise Diary: Think I'm actually getting better at this running thing...
This is the last week of March and I'm into Week 7 or 8 (it got fuzzy in the middle at one point) of my half marathon training. Considering it was a 14 week plan I'm almost or more than half way through it. I've been following the weekly milage dutifully and have even thrown in some pilate weight training in the middle, but I've never really felt like I'm making any progress with either distance or speed. I've given up on trying to increase my speed before my body is ready, and I've not yet done any distance that I didn't do before (I think the longest I've done is 7 miles, outdoors of course). So even though I've accomplished some of my longest runs on a treadmill, I'm not sure it translates well or accurately to the road. I still tell people that I'm training for a half-marathon, which I am since I'm following a plan and everything, but I'm not sure if the half-marathon is actually going to happen. My friend still has not gotten back to running after her dental surgery, and now she's also got high blood pressure problems and I think she's going to bail on me. I don't have an alternative plan; I don't really want to do the Boston half-marathon in May (or whenever it is, it's probably sold out anyway). But I think I'll still go through my half-marathon training and maybe do the CHaD half that I didn't end up doing last year (which is in Oct I think) and move on to a full marathon training plan in case I actually go through with the Honolulu Marathon in December.
People seem to be impressed that I'm running and even training for something. I think my only merit is the fact that while running became a fad among my (real-life) friends for a short period of time last summer, as far as I know I'm the only one who's still doing it. Still doesn't mean that I'm good at it or anything. I'm the slowest person I know, which is one of the major reasons why I run alone, or more accurately, why I consciously avoid running with people. As in, purposely avoiding group runs.
Today is my catch-up day, catching up on the 5-miler left over from last week. I've already finished my run and it's only half past eight. I had completely forgotten that the school athletics facility is on spring interim hours and the gym closes at 8pm. So much for watching Castle on the TV tonight.
But I've managed to time my lunch well so I'm not full or famished by 6:30, but still had room for a banana and a light snack. I got to the gym ~10 minutes ahead of schedule, which almost never happens. And (probably) because of the short evening hours the gym was packed. Full of grad students, post docs, and old people working out, mostly on various weight stations, thankfully. The treadmills and ellipticals were mostly empty, but somehow I still managed to get stuck between a girl who runs fast but funny and an older dude who made a lot of noises when he ran (and he only did intervals, running really fast for a bit then stood around for a bit longer). That and an old lady working on her upper body strength who pulled a lot of pained faces while doing so kept me fairly well entertained for a while.
I started slow and gradually sped up. I find that I'm better at doing that now, but I'm having trouble slowing down. I can speed up gradually and maintain at higher speed for as long as my lungs would allow, but as soon as I slow down my lungs suffer new challenges. While I was able to breathe better I also felt like hauling ass because my body wanted to go faster still. But after a while it gets used to it and I could go longer than 5 miles if I wanted to while my body settles happily at the slower speed again.
But the main reason why I feel like I'm actually getting better is that after I reached my goal of the day I realized that I had ran almost all the way through (I had to stop at ~1 hr since the treadmill was programmed to stop after 1 hour, to make room for the next user I guess) and although my thigh muscles were feeling tight by the end I felt that I could go on if I really wanted to. My stomach wasn't giving me any problems, my foot felt fine, my lungs didn't feel like they wanted to collapse, and the NCIS episodes were keeping my mind very happy. I was in a good place. Even though as I stepped into the gym knowing that I was going to do 5 miles on the treadmill (another first) I was genuinely scared. Scared of all my body parts giving out during the middle of the run. I was also focusing on the time instead of distance and I think that helped too. I knew it would take me a bit more than an hour to do 5 miles and I was timing and playing with my speed that way. I think it would've been much more painful mentally if I had been focused on distance. But for all of these reasons I finished my run happy and accomplished, and for the first time I felt really good about myself, and that I was actually improving.
People seem to be impressed that I'm running and even training for something. I think my only merit is the fact that while running became a fad among my (real-life) friends for a short period of time last summer, as far as I know I'm the only one who's still doing it. Still doesn't mean that I'm good at it or anything. I'm the slowest person I know, which is one of the major reasons why I run alone, or more accurately, why I consciously avoid running with people. As in, purposely avoiding group runs.
Today is my catch-up day, catching up on the 5-miler left over from last week. I've already finished my run and it's only half past eight. I had completely forgotten that the school athletics facility is on spring interim hours and the gym closes at 8pm. So much for watching Castle on the TV tonight.
But I've managed to time my lunch well so I'm not full or famished by 6:30, but still had room for a banana and a light snack. I got to the gym ~10 minutes ahead of schedule, which almost never happens. And (probably) because of the short evening hours the gym was packed. Full of grad students, post docs, and old people working out, mostly on various weight stations, thankfully. The treadmills and ellipticals were mostly empty, but somehow I still managed to get stuck between a girl who runs fast but funny and an older dude who made a lot of noises when he ran (and he only did intervals, running really fast for a bit then stood around for a bit longer). That and an old lady working on her upper body strength who pulled a lot of pained faces while doing so kept me fairly well entertained for a while.
I started slow and gradually sped up. I find that I'm better at doing that now, but I'm having trouble slowing down. I can speed up gradually and maintain at higher speed for as long as my lungs would allow, but as soon as I slow down my lungs suffer new challenges. While I was able to breathe better I also felt like hauling ass because my body wanted to go faster still. But after a while it gets used to it and I could go longer than 5 miles if I wanted to while my body settles happily at the slower speed again.
But the main reason why I feel like I'm actually getting better is that after I reached my goal of the day I realized that I had ran almost all the way through (I had to stop at ~1 hr since the treadmill was programmed to stop after 1 hour, to make room for the next user I guess) and although my thigh muscles were feeling tight by the end I felt that I could go on if I really wanted to. My stomach wasn't giving me any problems, my foot felt fine, my lungs didn't feel like they wanted to collapse, and the NCIS episodes were keeping my mind very happy. I was in a good place. Even though as I stepped into the gym knowing that I was going to do 5 miles on the treadmill (another first) I was genuinely scared. Scared of all my body parts giving out during the middle of the run. I was also focusing on the time instead of distance and I think that helped too. I knew it would take me a bit more than an hour to do 5 miles and I was timing and playing with my speed that way. I think it would've been much more painful mentally if I had been focused on distance. But for all of these reasons I finished my run happy and accomplished, and for the first time I felt really good about myself, and that I was actually improving.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Exercise Diary: Do no engage in other activities after running
For a variety of reasons I did not move much after Yoga Tuesday. For one I wasn't feeling well, and the sudden temperature drop on the east coast didn't help either. We even had snow on Friday, although judging by other people's feedback we had it easy.
I also partook in some St. Paddy's day spirits. Our local supermarket is currently under renovation so everything in the store kept moving every time I go there and therefore could never find anything I need and constantly ran into stuff I never noticed before. This week they for some reason had to stack their alcohol (beer mainly) in small batches all over the store, and the smartly did so by beer type. So all my favorite types of beer, porters and stouts mostly, were stacked in the same location (as opposed to by brand which was what they did before). I found three different porter and stouts that seemed interesting. And since my shopping on Thursday I had already polished off two of the three bottles I bought, and naturally on those days I was unable to do anything active afterwards...
Today was my 3.5-miler. I'll have to put off my 5-miler long run until Monday, which also means I'll have to go there extra early, before Castle starts, so I could finish before the gym closes, since i don't think I could finish 5 miles in an hour, as I've never kept a 5mi/hr pace for very long.
After my run today, and the run felt eerie, I had a performance rehearsal in the same gym so I thought I would shoot two birds with one stone. Except I forgot how much I smell after I run, and we had to take our shoes off in the room we rehearsed in. Nobody said anything during that time but I felt very self-conscious and it wasn't fun. So that's the last time I'll be doing that. It's straight to home and shower from now on.
But since the undergrads are still on spring break but the gym is still open for regular term hours, and since today is Saturday, there was almost no one in the gym after 8. I was one of the 2 or three people in the gym (besides the front desk person), and it felt really weird. I was constantly wondering if the gym was going to close and I was going to be kicked out. Caught the end of an episode of "As time goes by", saw an old episode of "The Big Bang Theory", and caught the beginning of an "Are you being served" episode. So it wasn't heart-pounding television (which some forms actually helps with my runs just like high-energy music does), but very sweet and enjoyable nonetheless.
I also partook in some St. Paddy's day spirits. Our local supermarket is currently under renovation so everything in the store kept moving every time I go there and therefore could never find anything I need and constantly ran into stuff I never noticed before. This week they for some reason had to stack their alcohol (beer mainly) in small batches all over the store, and the smartly did so by beer type. So all my favorite types of beer, porters and stouts mostly, were stacked in the same location (as opposed to by brand which was what they did before). I found three different porter and stouts that seemed interesting. And since my shopping on Thursday I had already polished off two of the three bottles I bought, and naturally on those days I was unable to do anything active afterwards...
Today was my 3.5-miler. I'll have to put off my 5-miler long run until Monday, which also means I'll have to go there extra early, before Castle starts, so I could finish before the gym closes, since i don't think I could finish 5 miles in an hour, as I've never kept a 5mi/hr pace for very long.
After my run today, and the run felt eerie, I had a performance rehearsal in the same gym so I thought I would shoot two birds with one stone. Except I forgot how much I smell after I run, and we had to take our shoes off in the room we rehearsed in. Nobody said anything during that time but I felt very self-conscious and it wasn't fun. So that's the last time I'll be doing that. It's straight to home and shower from now on.
But since the undergrads are still on spring break but the gym is still open for regular term hours, and since today is Saturday, there was almost no one in the gym after 8. I was one of the 2 or three people in the gym (besides the front desk person), and it felt really weird. I was constantly wondering if the gym was going to close and I was going to be kicked out. Caught the end of an episode of "As time goes by", saw an old episode of "The Big Bang Theory", and caught the beginning of an "Are you being served" episode. So it wasn't heart-pounding television (which some forms actually helps with my runs just like high-energy music does), but very sweet and enjoyable nonetheless.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Exercise Diary: I hope I don't get appendicitis...
We are more than half way through March, and yet I'm still only on Day 9 of my 30-day beginner's workout out and Day 11 of the thigh and butt challenges. Yet, since the one week when I intensely followed all the workout schedule despite my other activities with running and yoga-ing, I could no longer distinguish one type of pain from another. Does my heel bone hurt or just my skin on my heel? Is my plantar fasciitis acting up again or does my foot just feel real tight? Did I pull something on my hip, or am I just getting sore muscles that happen to be near my hips? Do my knees hurt from all the kneeling I did for my New Year performance practice or did I do something stupid during my running? Am I getting premature menstrual pain, or have I just over-worked my abs?
Did I just get appendicitis from running after eating too much too soon, or was the pain I felt during my run tonight a normal side-effect of running?
I certainly felt no more pain now, or I would definitely get myself to the emergency room. But tonight's run didn't go the way I wanted. With only 2.5 miles tonight I was going to do some mini tempo work, playing with the speed a bit to make the run more interesting and productive. But after 1.3 miles my left side of my stomach area start to hurt in a way that had nothing to do with my muscles, or at least that's what it felt like. I didn't know what it was, and as I made it to the 1.4 mark the pain persisted so I slowed to a walk, hoping that by not bouncing up and down as much I would alleviate the pain a bit.
And it did. So I finished running the last mile. And for the most part I felt fine, until I finished and slowed to a fast walk and the pain returned, until I got home and stopped moving. I stretched and sat down to write the post and now I don't feel any more pain anymore, so I hope it's nothing serious. I probably just ate too much tonight and the food hadn't completely digested. It's still a problem I have. i get hungry in the afternoon and instead of eating a quick snack to curb my hunger I start fantasizing about what I want for dinner and like today, I actually went to fulfill my fantasy.
Before I went running I did this butt workout, in addition to the butt and thigh challenge. I did this because they were short moves (the video was only 8 minutes long, and the actual workout was only 5 minutes), and I thought it would be good to warm me up and wake me up before my run. My legs ended up hurting so much during that 5 minutes and my butt hurt more after I was done (it as a glute workout video after all). I think I will feel my butt more tomorrow, and it was a hard core workout, very effective too. Still I think I liked the other 6-minute workout better, only because I didn't feel as much like dying while doing that video. And now I'm way too tired to do the Day 9 workout (most because it has a 28-minute total body workout that I'm just scared to do, even though i've already done it twice already and it's really not as bad. I think I will do it Wednesday. I probably shouldn't try too hard to add the workout to days I'm already exercising, but rather to use it to fill in the days I'm inactive to created a more regular routine. Maybe this way I won't feel so guilty during all the days I'm just to tired to do the videos.
Did I just get appendicitis from running after eating too much too soon, or was the pain I felt during my run tonight a normal side-effect of running?
I certainly felt no more pain now, or I would definitely get myself to the emergency room. But tonight's run didn't go the way I wanted. With only 2.5 miles tonight I was going to do some mini tempo work, playing with the speed a bit to make the run more interesting and productive. But after 1.3 miles my left side of my stomach area start to hurt in a way that had nothing to do with my muscles, or at least that's what it felt like. I didn't know what it was, and as I made it to the 1.4 mark the pain persisted so I slowed to a walk, hoping that by not bouncing up and down as much I would alleviate the pain a bit.
And it did. So I finished running the last mile. And for the most part I felt fine, until I finished and slowed to a fast walk and the pain returned, until I got home and stopped moving. I stretched and sat down to write the post and now I don't feel any more pain anymore, so I hope it's nothing serious. I probably just ate too much tonight and the food hadn't completely digested. It's still a problem I have. i get hungry in the afternoon and instead of eating a quick snack to curb my hunger I start fantasizing about what I want for dinner and like today, I actually went to fulfill my fantasy.
Before I went running I did this butt workout, in addition to the butt and thigh challenge. I did this because they were short moves (the video was only 8 minutes long, and the actual workout was only 5 minutes), and I thought it would be good to warm me up and wake me up before my run. My legs ended up hurting so much during that 5 minutes and my butt hurt more after I was done (it as a glute workout video after all). I think I will feel my butt more tomorrow, and it was a hard core workout, very effective too. Still I think I liked the other 6-minute workout better, only because I didn't feel as much like dying while doing that video. And now I'm way too tired to do the Day 9 workout (most because it has a 28-minute total body workout that I'm just scared to do, even though i've already done it twice already and it's really not as bad. I think I will do it Wednesday. I probably shouldn't try too hard to add the workout to days I'm already exercising, but rather to use it to fill in the days I'm inactive to created a more regular routine. Maybe this way I won't feel so guilty during all the days I'm just to tired to do the videos.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Exercise Diary: Delayed Feedback
I've recently taken up recording my workouts as soon as I finish them so I develop the habit of writing about them/ recording them promptly. But now I think maybe waiting for a bit before writing about them may give me more time to feel about the aftereffects of these workout.
For example, I did my Day 8 Beginner's pilates workout yesterday, and right afterwards I felt good that I managed to squeeze some exercises into my long Wednesday. But before I went to bed and was brushing my teeth, I could distinctly feel my glutes hurting. I knew why it was hurting, but I was surprised that it hurt that much. It was the result of the bridge exercises I did as part of the total body workout video. The move starts out like a regular bridge you would do in yoga classes, but instead of staying in bridge form you move your hips and back up and down and touch the mat with your tailbone. I have tried this before and never felt the true effect. The trick is to squeeze your butt cheeks real tight when you lift back up into the bridge form. According to the video you pretend there's a penny you are clenching between your butt cheeks. I don't think I was squeezing that hard, since as big as my butt is I couldn't quite manage to pull my cheeks in that closely. But the effect was real and my butt was hurting all day today too.
So that was a pleasant surprise and I hope one day I will have cute bubble butt too.
I chose to do my long run (4.5 miles) today since I'm not sure if I will even have time to run this weekend. Going to Boston on Saturday, which I already knew, and apparently now I'm going cross country skiing with my friend on Sunday, which I just found out today. On Tuesday on our way to yoga class, as I watched two guys jogging past our car in shorts, I absent-mindedly said that it's a shame that I never went cross country skiing this year and it's already getting warm. So my friend came by today and basically forced me to clear my Sunday so she could drive us up to Bretton Woods, which is like more than an hour away from where we are, so we could go cross country skiing. I was pleasantly surprised, and somewhat overwhelmed, but also worried that I won't get to do my weekend run. I fear that I will be way too tired to do a long run afterwards, but I thought if I still have the energy to get my butt to the gym after skiing I should at least treat myself with a shorter run. So long run today, which also meant no pilates. It's late and I'm tired, and I still have other stuff to do before going to bed.
Don't know how I will feel tomorrow but the run didn't really tire me out in terms of the cardio. I was doing pretty slowly so I could keep running the whole time, which I did. My foot was hurting for like the second half of the run. My Nike+ failed at one point so now it's congratulating me on running twice in one day. My breathing got hard during the last half-mile so that wasn't too bad. I watched an episode of the Middle and two episodes of Fresh Prince of Bel-air which was pleasantly nostalgic. And the gym was empty (every treadmill was vacant when I got there) during finals week and it's kind of sweet. But I do have to remember to pay attend to interim hours and the new schedule come next term.
So all in all a pretty good workout day.
For example, I did my Day 8 Beginner's pilates workout yesterday, and right afterwards I felt good that I managed to squeeze some exercises into my long Wednesday. But before I went to bed and was brushing my teeth, I could distinctly feel my glutes hurting. I knew why it was hurting, but I was surprised that it hurt that much. It was the result of the bridge exercises I did as part of the total body workout video. The move starts out like a regular bridge you would do in yoga classes, but instead of staying in bridge form you move your hips and back up and down and touch the mat with your tailbone. I have tried this before and never felt the true effect. The trick is to squeeze your butt cheeks real tight when you lift back up into the bridge form. According to the video you pretend there's a penny you are clenching between your butt cheeks. I don't think I was squeezing that hard, since as big as my butt is I couldn't quite manage to pull my cheeks in that closely. But the effect was real and my butt was hurting all day today too.
So that was a pleasant surprise and I hope one day I will have cute bubble butt too.
I chose to do my long run (4.5 miles) today since I'm not sure if I will even have time to run this weekend. Going to Boston on Saturday, which I already knew, and apparently now I'm going cross country skiing with my friend on Sunday, which I just found out today. On Tuesday on our way to yoga class, as I watched two guys jogging past our car in shorts, I absent-mindedly said that it's a shame that I never went cross country skiing this year and it's already getting warm. So my friend came by today and basically forced me to clear my Sunday so she could drive us up to Bretton Woods, which is like more than an hour away from where we are, so we could go cross country skiing. I was pleasantly surprised, and somewhat overwhelmed, but also worried that I won't get to do my weekend run. I fear that I will be way too tired to do a long run afterwards, but I thought if I still have the energy to get my butt to the gym after skiing I should at least treat myself with a shorter run. So long run today, which also meant no pilates. It's late and I'm tired, and I still have other stuff to do before going to bed.
Don't know how I will feel tomorrow but the run didn't really tire me out in terms of the cardio. I was doing pretty slowly so I could keep running the whole time, which I did. My foot was hurting for like the second half of the run. My Nike+ failed at one point so now it's congratulating me on running twice in one day. My breathing got hard during the last half-mile so that wasn't too bad. I watched an episode of the Middle and two episodes of Fresh Prince of Bel-air which was pleasantly nostalgic. And the gym was empty (every treadmill was vacant when I got there) during finals week and it's kind of sweet. But I do have to remember to pay attend to interim hours and the new schedule come next term.
So all in all a pretty good workout day.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Exercise Diary: Total Body Workout
Other than the fact that Nike+ needs to seriously get its shit together, today has been a great day workout-wise. Granted Nike+ is currently undergoing a scheduled site maintenance (and hopefully it will sync my runs properly after it's done), at least last time (that I know of) they did it discreetly in the middle of the night instead of in the evening when plenty of people are still getting their runs in. Seriously, yeesh.
I read some post somewhere that in order to burn more fat (which I really need to do), it is better if you do you weights and other general anaerobic exercises first, to burn off all the sugars you ingested before your workout, and then move on to your cardio so you are tapping into your fat supply more. It sounds like a pretty reasonable strategy so that's what I tried today. I did my Day 6 of beginner's pilate workout, which consists of 7 minutes of the most tiring warm-up I've ever done, 6 minutes of some intense arm workout (felt great though, and no push-ups involved!), and a killing 5-minute ab workout which is bonus for today since the video was emailed to me as part of the Blogilates newsletter. None of the moves (there were 5) were particularly hard or foreign, and you would think that doing each for a minute, and doing abs for 5 minutes total wasn't going to be that big of deal. But I absolutely died after 2.5 minutes and totally cheated after that. Still tried to do the best I could but it wasn't much. That's what I like about Cassey and her workout though. I felt stronger every day, and I could clearly feel the benefit during my runs, and she is very good at encouraging and motivating you to push through, but just as you are beginning to feel good about yourself she makes you humble again by challenging you with something that just absolutely crushes your body, so you don't get too cocky. I like that. I need that.
Today's run. Well. I'm definitely happier that the weather is finally getting warmer. I saw at least 5 people running outside today in the 10 minutes I stood there waiting for the bus. This is the second night in a row that I walked to the gym with only my capris and no outer leg cover. I didn't even bother with a scarf or a hat tonight. I think as soon as the ground becomes dry I will venture an outdoor run. But in the mean time I will stick to the gym.
Today I tried a different running strategy that would keep me more entertained. I did 10 minutes on a low speed, 8 minutes one button faster, 6 minute at the next speed, etc. I managed my 2 miles (I know, it's so not a big deal) quite easily, and Everybody Loves Raymond and Julie and Julia (does anyone else still remember that it's actually two stories in one movie? I totally forgot that Amy Adams was playing Julie and got quite disappointed that they had to cut away from Meryl) kept me very entertained. I found Everybody Loves Raymond, which I watched only ~10 minutes of, especially funny tonight, probably because I was already releasing endorphins before starting my run.
But I really need to burn for fat to make myself weigh less. As I got to 5 mi/hr, which really is not a lot, my plantar fasciitis really acted up, quite suddenly too. My foot is still hurting and I think it will persist for some time. My foot does that every time I start to run fast(er). Whenever I persist at the higher speed it would eventually go away until I slowed down or slowed to a walk. But as my weekly milage goes up this will really be a problem in the future. More stretching I guess.
Overall all a great day. Now if only I could just buck up and do my laundry my day would be truly complete.
I read some post somewhere that in order to burn more fat (which I really need to do), it is better if you do you weights and other general anaerobic exercises first, to burn off all the sugars you ingested before your workout, and then move on to your cardio so you are tapping into your fat supply more. It sounds like a pretty reasonable strategy so that's what I tried today. I did my Day 6 of beginner's pilate workout, which consists of 7 minutes of the most tiring warm-up I've ever done, 6 minutes of some intense arm workout (felt great though, and no push-ups involved!), and a killing 5-minute ab workout which is bonus for today since the video was emailed to me as part of the Blogilates newsletter. None of the moves (there were 5) were particularly hard or foreign, and you would think that doing each for a minute, and doing abs for 5 minutes total wasn't going to be that big of deal. But I absolutely died after 2.5 minutes and totally cheated after that. Still tried to do the best I could but it wasn't much. That's what I like about Cassey and her workout though. I felt stronger every day, and I could clearly feel the benefit during my runs, and she is very good at encouraging and motivating you to push through, but just as you are beginning to feel good about yourself she makes you humble again by challenging you with something that just absolutely crushes your body, so you don't get too cocky. I like that. I need that.
Today's run. Well. I'm definitely happier that the weather is finally getting warmer. I saw at least 5 people running outside today in the 10 minutes I stood there waiting for the bus. This is the second night in a row that I walked to the gym with only my capris and no outer leg cover. I didn't even bother with a scarf or a hat tonight. I think as soon as the ground becomes dry I will venture an outdoor run. But in the mean time I will stick to the gym.
Today I tried a different running strategy that would keep me more entertained. I did 10 minutes on a low speed, 8 minutes one button faster, 6 minute at the next speed, etc. I managed my 2 miles (I know, it's so not a big deal) quite easily, and Everybody Loves Raymond and Julie and Julia (does anyone else still remember that it's actually two stories in one movie? I totally forgot that Amy Adams was playing Julie and got quite disappointed that they had to cut away from Meryl) kept me very entertained. I found Everybody Loves Raymond, which I watched only ~10 minutes of, especially funny tonight, probably because I was already releasing endorphins before starting my run.
But I really need to burn for fat to make myself weigh less. As I got to 5 mi/hr, which really is not a lot, my plantar fasciitis really acted up, quite suddenly too. My foot is still hurting and I think it will persist for some time. My foot does that every time I start to run fast(er). Whenever I persist at the higher speed it would eventually go away until I slowed down or slowed to a walk. But as my weekly milage goes up this will really be a problem in the future. More stretching I guess.
Overall all a great day. Now if only I could just buck up and do my laundry my day would be truly complete.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Exercise Diary: Sunday Evening run
My Nike+ is fucked up. I can't wait to run outside (so I can use my GPS watch for tracking) or until I get and iPhone (come to think of it, I would have to hold the phone during my treadmill run if I want to use the Nike+running app on the phone so maybe that's not a good solution either). Or if I win the lottery so I can get a new iPod or something. But at least it tracked my run today accurately. I had to calibrate it again to adjust for the right distance, but somehow my iPod uploaded today's run twice so I got a trophy for running twice in a day and my mileage shot up by a third. But nowhere else can I find the record that I ran twice today, and I have no idea how to delete the run. I'll just have to re-sync my iPod tomorrow when I go for my 2-miler.
And I'm skipping my Day 6 beginner's workout. Not skipping, really, but switching. Day 7 is a rest day and I thought I would do that for my long run days so I can still walk the nest day.
Today I did my long run (4.5 miles), and because of my experiments in the morning and daylight saving, there was no way I could get up early to do it. But this didn't stop me from running into the same problem. I again didn't eat well. As soon as mile 0.5 I could feel my flabby but empty stomach jiggling and I felt sick. Then my stomach hurt, I don't know if it was the cold water or hunger, or maybe both. I ate a good breakfast (courtesy of Dunkin' Donuts), but after I came home I ate half a bag of chips, felt disgusted, took a nap, woke up and watched the most sickening episode of "Fortitude" yet, and the whole time I just feel like throwing up. I ate a banana and orange, and had two bites of my freshly made mashed potato before I left.
Apparently it wasn't enough. And I had been worried about the 4.5-miler. I ended up, after the first mile and half, doing a 5-minute run/2-minute walk routine to sooth my stomach, and after 58 minutes I finally managed my 4.5 miles. I didn't feel physically tired, not really. My shoulders were tight and that didn't feel good, and my breath got short at points, but my legs were fine and I didn't have the exhausted feeling. Still feeling a bit queazy and I'm not sure if I even want dinner anymore. A nice curry would be good though.
Doing a 2-miler tomorrow to start the week off. Should be a piece of cheesecake after today's fiasco.
And I'm skipping my Day 6 beginner's workout. Not skipping, really, but switching. Day 7 is a rest day and I thought I would do that for my long run days so I can still walk the nest day.
Today I did my long run (4.5 miles), and because of my experiments in the morning and daylight saving, there was no way I could get up early to do it. But this didn't stop me from running into the same problem. I again didn't eat well. As soon as mile 0.5 I could feel my flabby but empty stomach jiggling and I felt sick. Then my stomach hurt, I don't know if it was the cold water or hunger, or maybe both. I ate a good breakfast (courtesy of Dunkin' Donuts), but after I came home I ate half a bag of chips, felt disgusted, took a nap, woke up and watched the most sickening episode of "Fortitude" yet, and the whole time I just feel like throwing up. I ate a banana and orange, and had two bites of my freshly made mashed potato before I left.
Apparently it wasn't enough. And I had been worried about the 4.5-miler. I ended up, after the first mile and half, doing a 5-minute run/2-minute walk routine to sooth my stomach, and after 58 minutes I finally managed my 4.5 miles. I didn't feel physically tired, not really. My shoulders were tight and that didn't feel good, and my breath got short at points, but my legs were fine and I didn't have the exhausted feeling. Still feeling a bit queazy and I'm not sure if I even want dinner anymore. A nice curry would be good though.
Doing a 2-miler tomorrow to start the week off. Should be a piece of cheesecake after today's fiasco.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Exercise Diary: No excuses
I had planned to do my 2-miler today since I had nothing else on after work. After I finished dinner, which I ate too much, I just sat there feeling and seeing the little mountain in front of me that we call a stomach and felt extremely sleepy. And I just wanted to go to bed early and convert my dinner into fat. I was telling a friend that I didn't want to go to the gym tonight because it's too cold out and I was too tired.
She didn't really comment, but paraphrased some of my outlooks back to me. One of which was, do what you have set out to do and don't make any excuses. And that hit me. I do have that expectation for others, in that I get annoyed when people become lazy and make excuses for themselves. And I realized that I was doing the same thing to myself. I didn't really have an excuse to not go to the gym. I had enough time to wait for my dinner to digest a bit, and I have a jacket and scarf and hat to ward off the cold. The only thing I did not have was an excuse.
So I stood around for half an hour, put my gym clothes on, and went to the gym. And I'm glad that I got my run out of the way, even though it felt long again. What else is new.
The run felt long but not painful. I think I had a hard time because I felt heavy, and therefore it felt like more work. But all the pain I had before were gone. I attribute this solely to all the Blogilates exercises I did for the past few days. I did the day 3 beginner's total body workout after I got home from my run, and I swear I'm going to finish the 30 day calendar and then some. I could already feel my muscles strengthening, heck I have been feeling them for days now. My knees did not hurt probably because of all the leg muscles I worked. My belly felt flabby because I could at the same time feel all the ab muscles I had worked on, which made all the fat felt even more prominent and unnecessary. I breathed better and more controlled. I wasn't as tired (even though it was only two miles). And I didn't feel as terrible as I sped up during mile 2. I have finally understood the benefit of cross training, and I now believe that cross training and muscle building are not only good for breaking the monotonous running routine but absolutely necessary for becoming a better runner.
So thank you Cassey, and please keep pushing me. I'm only on Day 3 and it's already done me a world of wonders.
She didn't really comment, but paraphrased some of my outlooks back to me. One of which was, do what you have set out to do and don't make any excuses. And that hit me. I do have that expectation for others, in that I get annoyed when people become lazy and make excuses for themselves. And I realized that I was doing the same thing to myself. I didn't really have an excuse to not go to the gym. I had enough time to wait for my dinner to digest a bit, and I have a jacket and scarf and hat to ward off the cold. The only thing I did not have was an excuse.
So I stood around for half an hour, put my gym clothes on, and went to the gym. And I'm glad that I got my run out of the way, even though it felt long again. What else is new.
The run felt long but not painful. I think I had a hard time because I felt heavy, and therefore it felt like more work. But all the pain I had before were gone. I attribute this solely to all the Blogilates exercises I did for the past few days. I did the day 3 beginner's total body workout after I got home from my run, and I swear I'm going to finish the 30 day calendar and then some. I could already feel my muscles strengthening, heck I have been feeling them for days now. My knees did not hurt probably because of all the leg muscles I worked. My belly felt flabby because I could at the same time feel all the ab muscles I had worked on, which made all the fat felt even more prominent and unnecessary. I breathed better and more controlled. I wasn't as tired (even though it was only two miles). And I didn't feel as terrible as I sped up during mile 2. I have finally understood the benefit of cross training, and I now believe that cross training and muscle building are not only good for breaking the monotonous running routine but absolutely necessary for becoming a better runner.
So thank you Cassey, and please keep pushing me. I'm only on Day 3 and it's already done me a world of wonders.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Exercise Diary: Week 5 of HM training 3/2/4.5
Happy March! Can you believe we are already in Month 3 of 2015? Seems yesterday that I just came back from my fabulous trip from Japan and China. Since I did relive my journey as I was telling a friend about it yesterday, it seems that I did.
Went to Boston yesterday to see a show that was postponed from snowy February, although it snowed again last night and Craig Ferguson had a big riff on that. Met my friend that I haven't seen in a few months, had way too much food (Dim sum, cupcakes, vegan thai food, and bubble tea) that I almost got motion sickness on the bus back, and laughed so hard during the show that I was exhausted afterwards. All in all a great day.
And now we are in week 5 of training~ I did my 3-miler today even though my Nike+ only registered 2 of those miles, which pissed me off since it was a hard run. I didn't eat a real dinner when I got home tonight and could feel the tiredness it brings, and the fan on my good-TV treadmill was way too weak so that I was sweating through everywhere and felt very stuffy and hot. When I sped up for my last mile my right foot protested with persisting dull pain near the arch, and I'm not sure if I will still be paying tomorrow. I did find out that the pain I was feeling on the heel of my left foot was not from the bone (well, not totally at least), but also from the peeled dry skin I always have during winter. That made me feel a bit better.
I'm not sure what to do about it other than to take it easy. I think my body just can't take the extra few pound of weight I put on from the last two weeks and is telling me about it as I put more pressure on it. So I guess I will just have to be patient until the weight get back down again. I'm almost getting there.
Went to Boston yesterday to see a show that was postponed from snowy February, although it snowed again last night and Craig Ferguson had a big riff on that. Met my friend that I haven't seen in a few months, had way too much food (Dim sum, cupcakes, vegan thai food, and bubble tea) that I almost got motion sickness on the bus back, and laughed so hard during the show that I was exhausted afterwards. All in all a great day.
And now we are in week 5 of training~ I did my 3-miler today even though my Nike+ only registered 2 of those miles, which pissed me off since it was a hard run. I didn't eat a real dinner when I got home tonight and could feel the tiredness it brings, and the fan on my good-TV treadmill was way too weak so that I was sweating through everywhere and felt very stuffy and hot. When I sped up for my last mile my right foot protested with persisting dull pain near the arch, and I'm not sure if I will still be paying tomorrow. I did find out that the pain I was feeling on the heel of my left foot was not from the bone (well, not totally at least), but also from the peeled dry skin I always have during winter. That made me feel a bit better.
I'm not sure what to do about it other than to take it easy. I think my body just can't take the extra few pound of weight I put on from the last two weeks and is telling me about it as I put more pressure on it. So I guess I will just have to be patient until the weight get back down again. I'm almost getting there.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Exercise Diary: Monday Night 3-miler
The only thing easy about tonight's run was getting to the gym. And even that was kind of hard.
Dozed off right before going but still made it there before Castle started. We had a major temperature drop from yesterday's warm and sunny weather, and the night walk was kind of brutal.
My favorite treadmill was again taken but who cares anymore. My Nike+ is more or less calibrated for distance but the speed it measures was a total lie. I totally did not run at a high speed during mile 1 and slow down afterwards. But I guess that doesn't matter either.
I've decided to push my training plan back by a week so this will just be a catch-up week. I got a 3/4/3 on my plan for this week but I doubt I will get to them. Yoga tomorrow and a show on Thursday that I promised to go with a friend, and a weekend in Boston so the only other definite running day is Friday. I don't know if I can actually do a 4-miler.
Running on the treadmill is SO boring, and I think if anything Castle made it worse. The suspense moments mess with my heart rate and that is very distracting. I think I do better with a harmless show that does not require too much of my attention or emotional investment but at the same time can distract my mind from the run. I found myself staring at the treadmill monitor, looking at distance already covered, time lapsed, and thinking about how much longer I would have to run, how much longer I would have to run till my Nike+ registers the proper distance, and that really drives me crazy. There was a very appropriate blog post a few days ago about treadmill running tips, which I found somewhat helpful, but not entirely useful. It's mostly about running with a positive attitude and make the run more interesting by playing with the speed and what not, and that makes sense. I tried to distract myself. I tried to tell myself that when I do my 25K (in less than 3 months, yikes!), 3 miles will just be 1/5 of what I will have to do. That sort of set me in a calmer mood for about 1 minute before I gave up trying to talk myself out of how boring it is.
I also felt more pressure on my feet with this run. I don't know if it's the longer distance, the short rest before my last run and this one, my greasy dinner (I will never ever eat another greasy dinner before a run ever again). the fact that I tried to increase my speed during the run (by only ever so slightly), or the fact that I gained a few pounds during my hiatus (which I didn't really feel until after my run when I looked at myself in the mirror), but I think I was putting more pressure on myself than I wanted. I guess the few days of rest before my next run won't be so bad.
I know it's not even March yet, but I am really over with this winter and can't wait till I can run outside. The hills in my neighborhood may make the runs tougher, but I think I would gladly trade the scenery for the stuffy indoor runs, even with the TV thrown in.
Dozed off right before going but still made it there before Castle started. We had a major temperature drop from yesterday's warm and sunny weather, and the night walk was kind of brutal.
My favorite treadmill was again taken but who cares anymore. My Nike+ is more or less calibrated for distance but the speed it measures was a total lie. I totally did not run at a high speed during mile 1 and slow down afterwards. But I guess that doesn't matter either.
I've decided to push my training plan back by a week so this will just be a catch-up week. I got a 3/4/3 on my plan for this week but I doubt I will get to them. Yoga tomorrow and a show on Thursday that I promised to go with a friend, and a weekend in Boston so the only other definite running day is Friday. I don't know if I can actually do a 4-miler.
Running on the treadmill is SO boring, and I think if anything Castle made it worse. The suspense moments mess with my heart rate and that is very distracting. I think I do better with a harmless show that does not require too much of my attention or emotional investment but at the same time can distract my mind from the run. I found myself staring at the treadmill monitor, looking at distance already covered, time lapsed, and thinking about how much longer I would have to run, how much longer I would have to run till my Nike+ registers the proper distance, and that really drives me crazy. There was a very appropriate blog post a few days ago about treadmill running tips, which I found somewhat helpful, but not entirely useful. It's mostly about running with a positive attitude and make the run more interesting by playing with the speed and what not, and that makes sense. I tried to distract myself. I tried to tell myself that when I do my 25K (in less than 3 months, yikes!), 3 miles will just be 1/5 of what I will have to do. That sort of set me in a calmer mood for about 1 minute before I gave up trying to talk myself out of how boring it is.
I also felt more pressure on my feet with this run. I don't know if it's the longer distance, the short rest before my last run and this one, my greasy dinner (I will never ever eat another greasy dinner before a run ever again). the fact that I tried to increase my speed during the run (by only ever so slightly), or the fact that I gained a few pounds during my hiatus (which I didn't really feel until after my run when I looked at myself in the mirror), but I think I was putting more pressure on myself than I wanted. I guess the few days of rest before my next run won't be so bad.
I know it's not even March yet, but I am really over with this winter and can't wait till I can run outside. The hills in my neighborhood may make the runs tougher, but I think I would gladly trade the scenery for the stuffy indoor runs, even with the TV thrown in.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Exercise Diary: Back on the Treadmill, a very Betty White run
First time back to the gym after Monday's run. Wasn't feeling well this week for a variety of reasons, and I wasn't even sure if I could make it to the gym this morning. Went to bed late last night finishing up some stuff, and woke up this morning with a terrible headache. I seriously played with the idea of getting up late today, go to lab, grocery shop, and hit the gym afterwards. But I think if I gave myself this way out I would further make excuses to not go later.
So instead I got up, made coffee, had breakfast (banana, orange, and a bowl of grain powder mixed with water, so a kind of protein shake?). I think it was too much liquid, since I kept wanting to pee while running. But it definitely was enough to keep my energy up.
Arrived at the gym at ~9:30, and the gym was again packed. Seriously, there is a big crowd of Sunday morning gym goers. I did two miles, just to ease my way back into a week of more regular runs, but did some speed work, in that I speed up and slowed down gradually during the second mile.
But I was glad that I stumbled upon the Hallmark channel this morning. I caught the last 2/3 of The Middle, which had Betty White in it playing the school librarian. And right after that they showed an episode of The Golden Girls, and the main plot was Rose-centric. There must be some sort of Betty White themed marathon going on, but I didn't stay long enough to figure that out for sure. But still it was awesome! I was grinning like an idiot from beginning to end. Did I tell you how much I love Betty White? No? Well, the fact that I bought a Betty White calendar back in 2012, and the fact that I own the entire series of Golden Girls on DVD, 3 books written by her (and an audiobook of her second autobiography), entire series of Life with Elizabeth, and have watched almost all the available clips of her interviews and appearances on Youtube should tell you something.
Need to stretch more before running now, especially after such a long hiatus. My shins are feeling really tight. Nothing hurts too much, but I think I'll have to be careful.
So instead I got up, made coffee, had breakfast (banana, orange, and a bowl of grain powder mixed with water, so a kind of protein shake?). I think it was too much liquid, since I kept wanting to pee while running. But it definitely was enough to keep my energy up.
Arrived at the gym at ~9:30, and the gym was again packed. Seriously, there is a big crowd of Sunday morning gym goers. I did two miles, just to ease my way back into a week of more regular runs, but did some speed work, in that I speed up and slowed down gradually during the second mile.
But I was glad that I stumbled upon the Hallmark channel this morning. I caught the last 2/3 of The Middle, which had Betty White in it playing the school librarian. And right after that they showed an episode of The Golden Girls, and the main plot was Rose-centric. There must be some sort of Betty White themed marathon going on, but I didn't stay long enough to figure that out for sure. But still it was awesome! I was grinning like an idiot from beginning to end. Did I tell you how much I love Betty White? No? Well, the fact that I bought a Betty White calendar back in 2012, and the fact that I own the entire series of Golden Girls on DVD, 3 books written by her (and an audiobook of her second autobiography), entire series of Life with Elizabeth, and have watched almost all the available clips of her interviews and appearances on Youtube should tell you something.
Need to stretch more before running now, especially after such a long hiatus. My shins are feeling really tight. Nothing hurts too much, but I think I'll have to be careful.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Exercise Diary: Beginning-of-the-week long run
3.5 miles Done~
My favorite treadmill was taken again, by a friend of a friend no less. But the one I got on worked fine enough. This week's Castle is about its recurring plot line of the 3XK killer, which is kind of dull but still engaging enough.
I don't think I've ever done a real 3.5-miler on the treadmill before. My Nike+ record may say otherwise, but it usually over calculates my distance. Today it was off by almost 0.4 miles, which, after the slight ego boost, just seemed too much. I've calibrated it before uploading the data so it's actually actuate.
The first 3.2 miles were fine. Started to get bored by mile 2.5 but at least my body could still keep going. But by 3.2 I was just tired and couldn't go on. I still ran the whole thing but reduced the speed by quite a bit for the last stretch. I hope it won't be as bad when I move the runs outside (but given the incessant snow we are getting that's not going to happen any time soon. But on the treadmill I could manage a steady speed and I think that's important.
Tonight I felt pain on both of my heel bones. More serious on the left, but I could feel them both. I don't think it's the running that did it. I think it's all the walking in my snow boots that really upset my foot. I got these boots that go up to my calf and when I lift my foot I feel my ankle is being dragged up, and I think with the big cushioning on the side I underestimate how hard I step down with my feet, thus the added pressure. Although I'm having a busy week ahead I'm not going to run tomorrow, so to give my feet some rest. But I hope it won't turn into some sort of stress fracture or something terrible. I still got a plan to stick to and a 25K to run and marathons to finish in the future.
So there.
My favorite treadmill was taken again, by a friend of a friend no less. But the one I got on worked fine enough. This week's Castle is about its recurring plot line of the 3XK killer, which is kind of dull but still engaging enough.
I don't think I've ever done a real 3.5-miler on the treadmill before. My Nike+ record may say otherwise, but it usually over calculates my distance. Today it was off by almost 0.4 miles, which, after the slight ego boost, just seemed too much. I've calibrated it before uploading the data so it's actually actuate.
The first 3.2 miles were fine. Started to get bored by mile 2.5 but at least my body could still keep going. But by 3.2 I was just tired and couldn't go on. I still ran the whole thing but reduced the speed by quite a bit for the last stretch. I hope it won't be as bad when I move the runs outside (but given the incessant snow we are getting that's not going to happen any time soon. But on the treadmill I could manage a steady speed and I think that's important.
Tonight I felt pain on both of my heel bones. More serious on the left, but I could feel them both. I don't think it's the running that did it. I think it's all the walking in my snow boots that really upset my foot. I got these boots that go up to my calf and when I lift my foot I feel my ankle is being dragged up, and I think with the big cushioning on the side I underestimate how hard I step down with my feet, thus the added pressure. Although I'm having a busy week ahead I'm not going to run tomorrow, so to give my feet some rest. But I hope it won't turn into some sort of stress fracture or something terrible. I still got a plan to stick to and a 25K to run and marathons to finish in the future.
So there.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Exercise Diary: Church goers, fitness fanatics
Week 2 of my half-marathon training completed!
I tried to start some HIIT routine yesterday, and I think I seriously did something bad to my knees by attempting to do some air squats. I think given my weight and my general lack of exercise and muscle strength I shouldn't do anything too strenuous, especially to my knees. The thing is, the day before yesterday I tried to do my core exercise again, and the next day my abs were sore like crazy so I figured I shouldn't repeat what I did, and instead tried to find some other moves.
So screw HIIT, I'm going to try some bridge variation next.
Anyhoo, I got up before 8 this moring, cooked some rice with salmon so I have protein, healthy fat, and plenty of carb before exercising, waiting half an hour, and did my two miles.
I have to say, even after arriving almost 30 minutes before last week's workout, the gym was still full of people. They must've waited outside for the gym to open or something. All the cubbies were full, and half of the people there aren't even students. I'm really starting to think that of all the people who get up early on Sundays, half of them dress up to go to the church, and the other half lace up their sneakers for the gym.
Couldn't get my usual treadmill again, but this time the TV worked on my alternative. To my delight the 2 miles went a lot easier this time. I had to look at the time and milage about 7 minutes in and wonder why it's taking so long, but after about a mile in I no longer had that feeling. My insoles arrived yesterday so I switched them in, and although now I wish I have more arch support my feet were a lot happier. Could feel stress on my knees but that went away after a while (it's coming back now so I have to be extra careful).
Given how I had a terrible night of sleep (with tiring dreams) I think last week was bad because I didn't have a good and full breakfast. And maybe I didn't give myself enough time to wake up. But it's definitely improved. Coffee helped too I think. But carb and protein, and enough of them, I think is the key.
Anyway, running late now, gotta go. 3/2/3.5 next week. It's gonna be tough since I will be having a busy week and I'm going to Boston and staying the night over the weekend. But we'll manage.
I tried to start some HIIT routine yesterday, and I think I seriously did something bad to my knees by attempting to do some air squats. I think given my weight and my general lack of exercise and muscle strength I shouldn't do anything too strenuous, especially to my knees. The thing is, the day before yesterday I tried to do my core exercise again, and the next day my abs were sore like crazy so I figured I shouldn't repeat what I did, and instead tried to find some other moves.
So screw HIIT, I'm going to try some bridge variation next.
Anyhoo, I got up before 8 this moring, cooked some rice with salmon so I have protein, healthy fat, and plenty of carb before exercising, waiting half an hour, and did my two miles.
I have to say, even after arriving almost 30 minutes before last week's workout, the gym was still full of people. They must've waited outside for the gym to open or something. All the cubbies were full, and half of the people there aren't even students. I'm really starting to think that of all the people who get up early on Sundays, half of them dress up to go to the church, and the other half lace up their sneakers for the gym.
Couldn't get my usual treadmill again, but this time the TV worked on my alternative. To my delight the 2 miles went a lot easier this time. I had to look at the time and milage about 7 minutes in and wonder why it's taking so long, but after about a mile in I no longer had that feeling. My insoles arrived yesterday so I switched them in, and although now I wish I have more arch support my feet were a lot happier. Could feel stress on my knees but that went away after a while (it's coming back now so I have to be extra careful).
Given how I had a terrible night of sleep (with tiring dreams) I think last week was bad because I didn't have a good and full breakfast. And maybe I didn't give myself enough time to wake up. But it's definitely improved. Coffee helped too I think. But carb and protein, and enough of them, I think is the key.
Anyway, running late now, gotta go. 3/2/3.5 next week. It's gonna be tough since I will be having a busy week and I'm going to Boston and staying the night over the weekend. But we'll manage.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Exercise Diary: 2 mi semi speed workout
Second run of week 2 of training done~
The run was fine. More than fine actually. My insoles bothered me even less. The Big Bang Theory was on. It was only 2 miles. I tried some speed work and today my legs felt fine (which is more than I can say about them after the last time I tried to run faster than I normally do).
So to make the run more fun basically what I did was upping the speed by 0.1 mph every minute, until I got to 5.2 (which is still slow, I know, but bear with me here), and came down at the same speed and rate. I actually felt really good running at a faster speed. Had to breathe a lot harder but you would expect that of course, and the one minute increment made it feel less torturous.
But I realize that I still need to work on my posture while running at a faster speed. I was too focused on my breathing that I did not realize that my upper body was very tense. My shoulders were hunched up and my torso was very tight. I tried to relax, and I felt that I was relaxed as much as possible, but it still felt really tense. I need to work on that.
No running tonight, but I'm hoping to still get to the gym and do some elliptical work as cross training. Mainly I want to burn more calories and lose a few pounds so running could feel easier. Also want to do core work, but we'll see.
The run was fine. More than fine actually. My insoles bothered me even less. The Big Bang Theory was on. It was only 2 miles. I tried some speed work and today my legs felt fine (which is more than I can say about them after the last time I tried to run faster than I normally do).
So to make the run more fun basically what I did was upping the speed by 0.1 mph every minute, until I got to 5.2 (which is still slow, I know, but bear with me here), and came down at the same speed and rate. I actually felt really good running at a faster speed. Had to breathe a lot harder but you would expect that of course, and the one minute increment made it feel less torturous.
But I realize that I still need to work on my posture while running at a faster speed. I was too focused on my breathing that I did not realize that my upper body was very tense. My shoulders were hunched up and my torso was very tight. I tried to relax, and I felt that I was relaxed as much as possible, but it still felt really tense. I need to work on that.
No running tonight, but I'm hoping to still get to the gym and do some elliptical work as cross training. Mainly I want to burn more calories and lose a few pounds so running could feel easier. Also want to do core work, but we'll see.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Exercise Diary: Week 2's Long-ish Run
So last night I did what I had planned to do with this week's training, and did my 3-mile run on the treadmill while watching Castle. I didn't even finish the episode since my 3 miles were up and walking seemed boring, but I didn't want to continue running in case I screw up my legs and what not. Besides, as much as I still love Castle the plot is getting more and more predictable, more so than it is acceptable I think.
Anyway, the run went fine, much to my surprise, and at the same time I wasn't really surprised at all. I knew I could run 3 miles without stopping or too much struggling. Granted I was going at a pretty slow pace, and had to slow down a bit (but not walking) about twice in the middle, before gradually upping the speed again. I hovered my pace at ~4.8 mi/hr, which is probably extremely slow, but I figured since I was covering a long-ish distance at the beginning I shouldn't push myself too much.
I had a normal sized dinner about 1.5 hrs before I went, I even took a small nap before I left for the gym. My only warm-up was the walk to gym (in deep snow). It was like every other night runs, and although I had to slow down during the run I didn't struggle too much, physically or mentally, to finish. Also, knowing that I had to watch an hour-long TV episode as well as running 3 miles made the first 2.5 miles seem extremely. It was only after that I started to get anxious and my mind kept wondering to the finish. Maybe the solution is to trick myself into thinking that I was actually doing a much longer run?
My insoles were still bothering me, to the point that I really wanted to stop about 1.5 miles in, and that's where I think I slowed down for the first time. It wasn't as bad as the day before, but still uncomfortable. Can't wait till my new insoles arrive. In the mean time I think I will switch to another pair of shoes.
This was also the first time I didn't finish an entire episode of Castle. I left before the murderer was even revealed. I couldn't quite figure out why that is, whether the show got boring, or I was anxious to move on to the next thing (going to lab for a quick set-up and go home to sleep), or I have finally pushed through the treadmill boredom and no longer need a good distraction to keep me going. The other day I happily watched part of an episode on PBS where Hugh Bonneville was talking about "Midsummer Night's Dream, " and found it extremely interesting. On Sunday I watched/listened to part of a documentary about fake Egyptian artifacts and the beginning of some show where an Archbishop was interviewed about his life experience. Either I've become more curious or I no longer need a good distraction. I've also started to pay more attention to my stride and breathing and posture. For the past two days that was inevitable since my feet were hurting, and last night I felt slight pain in my right knee at the beginning of my run. Hopefully that will not happen as often when I space out my runs again. I think I'm going to yoga tonight, but if not, I think I will try and do some elliptical work at the gym, or something else that's not as stressful on the knees.
Anyway, the run went fine, much to my surprise, and at the same time I wasn't really surprised at all. I knew I could run 3 miles without stopping or too much struggling. Granted I was going at a pretty slow pace, and had to slow down a bit (but not walking) about twice in the middle, before gradually upping the speed again. I hovered my pace at ~4.8 mi/hr, which is probably extremely slow, but I figured since I was covering a long-ish distance at the beginning I shouldn't push myself too much.
I had a normal sized dinner about 1.5 hrs before I went, I even took a small nap before I left for the gym. My only warm-up was the walk to gym (in deep snow). It was like every other night runs, and although I had to slow down during the run I didn't struggle too much, physically or mentally, to finish. Also, knowing that I had to watch an hour-long TV episode as well as running 3 miles made the first 2.5 miles seem extremely. It was only after that I started to get anxious and my mind kept wondering to the finish. Maybe the solution is to trick myself into thinking that I was actually doing a much longer run?
My insoles were still bothering me, to the point that I really wanted to stop about 1.5 miles in, and that's where I think I slowed down for the first time. It wasn't as bad as the day before, but still uncomfortable. Can't wait till my new insoles arrive. In the mean time I think I will switch to another pair of shoes.
This was also the first time I didn't finish an entire episode of Castle. I left before the murderer was even revealed. I couldn't quite figure out why that is, whether the show got boring, or I was anxious to move on to the next thing (going to lab for a quick set-up and go home to sleep), or I have finally pushed through the treadmill boredom and no longer need a good distraction to keep me going. The other day I happily watched part of an episode on PBS where Hugh Bonneville was talking about "Midsummer Night's Dream, " and found it extremely interesting. On Sunday I watched/listened to part of a documentary about fake Egyptian artifacts and the beginning of some show where an Archbishop was interviewed about his life experience. Either I've become more curious or I no longer need a good distraction. I've also started to pay more attention to my stride and breathing and posture. For the past two days that was inevitable since my feet were hurting, and last night I felt slight pain in my right knee at the beginning of my run. Hopefully that will not happen as often when I space out my runs again. I think I'm going to yoga tonight, but if not, I think I will try and do some elliptical work at the gym, or something else that's not as stressful on the knees.
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