Although it's not the last day of the month till tomorrow, today is the last day of the July Journey to Splits Blogilates challenge. For 30 days we stretched various parts of our legs every day, and each day we do a new stretch in addition to the basic 5. And theoretically by the end of the month we would be able to (or getting closer to) do a standing split.
Well, I did my last split stretch yesterday and I can confidently say that I still cannot do a standing split. But my hips are much closer to the ground on my side splits and I can almost do a forward split, so the month-long work was not in vain. And for the most part I was able to successfully do my stretches every day and managed to take a semi-respectable selfie of that day's new pose. And after a month, looking back on my Instagram history, I have to say it was quite impressive.
This is the first time I did something this public. It's one thing to blab random thoughts and report progress on this blog about my various running, yoga-ing, and other exercises, but it's quite another to take a picture of yourself doing some stretching pose, post on social media, everyday, for a month. I had a lot of insecurities, about how I look, about how I look while stretching, about my surroundings (I have a very small and messy apartment), about what I wear, everything. Initially I took pictures in public places like the gym, then I switched to fancy photoshopping apps and went on a PS diarrhea. Then I just thought, you know what, screw it, and ended up doing a basic blurring of the background and called it a day. Many pictures had my face in it, and in some of them I really didn't look very appealing.
But the feedback was amazing. From the very first picture I posted accepting the challenge I got "likes" from many popsters (other people who also follow the blogilates workout). I returned their kindness with my own likes of other random people on Instagram, and a few of us started following each other and my feed began to be flooded with other people's stretches and other workouts. Every day after I post my pictures I will receive about 20-30 likes, which is not many compared to some other people but considering that I only opened an account for this occasion and only had three real life friends on Instragram (for this purpose) it was a pretty good response I think. And I got slightly more traffic on this blog after putting the web address on my profile. Occasionally I got comments and felt very flattered, but this form of quiet camaraderie and support is perfect for me. It's partly what keeps me going forward and I'm very thankful for those who cared.
And now this month is coming to an end. There's a short plank challenge for the beginning of next month that I think I will do but didn't seem very interested or very well put together. But after this month, with the new gym classes I'm taking and this everyday goal I try to achieve, I think I've gotten into a good momentum to keeping going forward, doing workouts and stretches every day, just to keep myself moving if anything else.
Here's to another great month!
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Exercise Diary: Random Thoughts
- The spinning classroom in our school gym recently got new spinning bikes that made the old bikes (which are currently sitting sadly in the hallway outside of the room) look like yucky ancient dinosaurs. The new bikes are shiny, slick, and got a nice touch of red color. They are also equipped with a display monitor that shows you how long you have been spinning, rpm, watts, calories burned, and distance. I was very sad to learn today that after 35 minutes of peddling I only burned 197 kcals. Also I really hope the distance display is in miles and not kilometers.
- This is the fourth week into my gym class and 2nd full week of 4-5 days/wk workouts. Sadly my weight has not been dropping like I had hoped, and different parts of my body have been hurting everyday. But I think I've got more arm muscles already, as I can already see a little bulge when I flexed my arms in front of the mirror today. So that's kind of cool. If I can build up some arm/upper body strength this summer I will be very happy.
- One morning (could've been Tuesday) as we were leaving I saw a very old woman in the gym getting ready for her workout. The whole time I was watching her she was just stretching and flexing her extremities, but she looked very lean and muscle-y, probably more fit than I am, and looked as if she's in her 80s. I really wish I could be like that when I'm her age.
- This week I also saw a girl doing what I like to call "seizure crunches." She was doing crunches, and then bicycle crunches, but it was obvious from the way she worked that she valued speed more than anything else. Her head and shoulders weren't lifted very high, which is totally fine since I think that's how I look when I'm doing crunches, but she was doing it so fast that she looked like a crazy person. It was funny to watch if anything else.
- Speaking of abs, crunches are very effective when they are done on an exercise ball. I felt that I could lift my body up much more, and my feet are more grounded in order to be properly balanced on the ball. And afterwards you can stretch and drape yourself over the ball with arms extended like nobody's watching. It felt good.
- I force myself to go to the gym and workout ridiculously early in the morning by paying and working out with people who are considerably older than me, but every time I go the gym is also well populated with other people and after a while you notice that it's always the same crowd. And they are just there by themselves, working their heart out, apparently with only their self-motivation. And my emotion switches between admiration and jealousy.
- The steps class that usually take place on Wednesdays has now been switched to spinning. Which means that instead of getting to the gym 4 days a week I am now doing 5. I actually really like this since even with 4 days a week I still manage to complete not follow my routine on my day offs. And with the new spinning bikes I got a very nice workout today.
- I still don't know everyone's name in my class but they all seem to know mine. Awkward.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Exercise Diary: Birthday Yoga~
I'm back! I took about a week off from school life last week and went home for Independence Day/ my birthday. Spent 2 blissful weekends shopping and eating and spending time with my parents and a whole week (about 3 days actually) wondering around in New York, saw 4 play/musicals and visited one museum. All in all I was very productive fun-wise.
While I kept at my July Journey to Split challenge and stretched (and took bad selfies) every day, other than that I barely did any real exercise. On two days I did some glute work but that didn't really count toward anything. Granted when I left the house I did serious walking in the city (and in the mall), and was poorly hydrated throughout, but given the amount of junk food I ate they all sort of cancelled themselves out.
The real gain was in the gears. We got a big discount from Kohl's and I went crazy. Got back home with two new sports bra (with trippy summer prints too) and a yoga top that was both practical and cute.
And I put that top into serious work today at yoga class. Having missed a week of regular exercise (and after getting up at 5:30 for my other gym class), today's class was particularly difficult for me to sustain through. I was serious hungry (beginning of my super-serious weight losing plan now) and I was thinking about what to have for dinner the whole time while getting super sweaty. While the top (sleeve-less and barely any fabric covering my upper back) was very freeing and breathable, the lack of fabric meant I had to keep all that sweat either on my body or on my mat. This was the first time I almost slipped during a down dog.
But I think my brief stint so far with my morning weight class paid off somewhat. I was able to do side plank on my both sides today without too much trouble. This may not seem like a big deal but before today I always cheated on my side planks, either keeping my bottom leg bent or using the other leg to help support myself, and my arms always shook so hard my body almost shakes with them. But today, my arms didn't shake, my bottom leg was straight and my torso was off the ground and my upper leg was even in the air! And I was able to keep this posture for as long as we did the pose. Still can't do a half wheel bent but small victories.
At least for this term I have gym class 4 times a week at 6 am, but I don't know what to write about them. We always to something slightly different every time, changing the workouts and I always end up sweating through my shirt and properly worked out. But I usually don't have time in the morning to blog and I don't usually get any profound realizations after each class so writing about them would feel more like a chore. And because of these classes, which were supposed to help me build muscles to become a better runner, has somewhat now taken over my running. I haven't been running at all this month and it's already half-way over. Not quite sure how to balance it all. It's not like I'm still dead set on a race any time soon but I really don't want to neglect running. As part of class today we ran around the track a few times and I was tired after just the first lap. I used early morning as my excuse but I was extremely sad about this. How is it that I now am a worse runner? I think it's the lack of practice. I just need to do it to keep up (plus it will probably burn a few more hundred calories every week).
Still a struggle. But at least I managed to get up a 5:30 first day after coming back and that's a good start.
While I kept at my July Journey to Split challenge and stretched (and took bad selfies) every day, other than that I barely did any real exercise. On two days I did some glute work but that didn't really count toward anything. Granted when I left the house I did serious walking in the city (and in the mall), and was poorly hydrated throughout, but given the amount of junk food I ate they all sort of cancelled themselves out.
The real gain was in the gears. We got a big discount from Kohl's and I went crazy. Got back home with two new sports bra (with trippy summer prints too) and a yoga top that was both practical and cute.
And I put that top into serious work today at yoga class. Having missed a week of regular exercise (and after getting up at 5:30 for my other gym class), today's class was particularly difficult for me to sustain through. I was serious hungry (beginning of my super-serious weight losing plan now) and I was thinking about what to have for dinner the whole time while getting super sweaty. While the top (sleeve-less and barely any fabric covering my upper back) was very freeing and breathable, the lack of fabric meant I had to keep all that sweat either on my body or on my mat. This was the first time I almost slipped during a down dog.
But I think my brief stint so far with my morning weight class paid off somewhat. I was able to do side plank on my both sides today without too much trouble. This may not seem like a big deal but before today I always cheated on my side planks, either keeping my bottom leg bent or using the other leg to help support myself, and my arms always shook so hard my body almost shakes with them. But today, my arms didn't shake, my bottom leg was straight and my torso was off the ground and my upper leg was even in the air! And I was able to keep this posture for as long as we did the pose. Still can't do a half wheel bent but small victories.
At least for this term I have gym class 4 times a week at 6 am, but I don't know what to write about them. We always to something slightly different every time, changing the workouts and I always end up sweating through my shirt and properly worked out. But I usually don't have time in the morning to blog and I don't usually get any profound realizations after each class so writing about them would feel more like a chore. And because of these classes, which were supposed to help me build muscles to become a better runner, has somewhat now taken over my running. I haven't been running at all this month and it's already half-way over. Not quite sure how to balance it all. It's not like I'm still dead set on a race any time soon but I really don't want to neglect running. As part of class today we ran around the track a few times and I was tired after just the first lap. I used early morning as my excuse but I was extremely sad about this. How is it that I now am a worse runner? I think it's the lack of practice. I just need to do it to keep up (plus it will probably burn a few more hundred calories every week).
Still a struggle. But at least I managed to get up a 5:30 first day after coming back and that's a good start.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Exercise Diary: Morning Mumble Grumble
5am: beep beep beep, beep beep beep....
snooze
5:10 am: beep beep beep, beep beep beep...
snooze
5:20 am
Up, wash, chow down a banana, surf the web, change. Oh look it's almost 5:50, time to go.
This has been my routine for the past 2 days.
So far so good.
So for the past 2 week I had been very afraid of running. I get really tired in the afternoons, and although I bring all my running gears with me to work I end up lugging everything back at the end of the day unused. I make excuses: I was hungry, I was sleepy, I was tired, I felt sluggish, it's too hot out.
I think I've been afraid. Afraid of the out-of-breathness around mile 2, afraid of the return of my plantar fasciitis, afraid of being famished and exhausted after my runs and order take out instead of cooking, and the general sluggishness afterwards that usually make up my post-run evenings.
All in all I had not been running a lot for the past two weeks. But I did do a bunch of other stuff. There was a hiking trip over graduation weekend, regular weekly yoga classes, and last weekend I did a group yoga thing with two of my friends who sort of got into weight losing and fitness. And now I'm taking these two gym classes this term that make me get up obscenely early in the morning and make me seriously sweat out some major toxins.
And it's been good. My abs are protesting, my body felt looser. Tonight while I was walking I could feel that my shoulders are not even, with the right one higher than the left. So I consciously tilted my body while walking and surprisingly that felt good. Maybe I should look up on proper posture and standing, and maybe that will cure my weird and problematic right foot.
I've also activated a new Instagram account to participate in this month's blogilates challenge of doing a split in 30 days.
Above are the stretches. We do #1-5 everyday, and starting day 6 we add the pose corresponding to the number of the day in addition to 1-5. The whole thing takes about 10 minutes to do every day and theoretically at the end of the month we will be able to do a split (don't know about the standing split, balance is a whole other issue for me). And as proof of our commitment we are to upload a picture of ourselves everyday on Instagram for a chance to win stuff every week. I have a feeling that while the stretches will only take 10 minutes, taking the perfect selfie (which will involve a lot of timed capture, perfect camera and body positioning, and a lot of pain in the tush) for Instagram will take maybe an hour and half. So we will see. I've already tried to do a selfie today and truth be told, while the stretches felt great I look stupid (and fat) when captured on camera. Maybe some people are meant to exercise in secret and who who are not don't really need to exercise that much.
Anyway, any exercise is better than no exercise and if I can become more fit (and hopefully slimmer) by the end of summer I will be the happiest glutton in the world. I also need to re-think about this whole running thing. I told myself that all the yoga and strength training are done to make me a better runner, but now I'm not so sure. The whole point of any exercise is to make me healthier. Although I probably won't give up running altogether, maybe it will take second or third place at least for the time being. Is that so bad? Or am I just impulsively flaunting myself over something new and again not making a commitment in anything? I don't know and I need to think about this. In the mean time, I will be very disappointed if either the number on my scale does not drop or I don't lose a few pant sizes. I'm not drowning myself in sweat at 6am for nothing.
snooze
5:10 am: beep beep beep, beep beep beep...
snooze
5:20 am
Up, wash, chow down a banana, surf the web, change. Oh look it's almost 5:50, time to go.
This has been my routine for the past 2 days.
So far so good.
So for the past 2 week I had been very afraid of running. I get really tired in the afternoons, and although I bring all my running gears with me to work I end up lugging everything back at the end of the day unused. I make excuses: I was hungry, I was sleepy, I was tired, I felt sluggish, it's too hot out.
I think I've been afraid. Afraid of the out-of-breathness around mile 2, afraid of the return of my plantar fasciitis, afraid of being famished and exhausted after my runs and order take out instead of cooking, and the general sluggishness afterwards that usually make up my post-run evenings.
All in all I had not been running a lot for the past two weeks. But I did do a bunch of other stuff. There was a hiking trip over graduation weekend, regular weekly yoga classes, and last weekend I did a group yoga thing with two of my friends who sort of got into weight losing and fitness. And now I'm taking these two gym classes this term that make me get up obscenely early in the morning and make me seriously sweat out some major toxins.
And it's been good. My abs are protesting, my body felt looser. Tonight while I was walking I could feel that my shoulders are not even, with the right one higher than the left. So I consciously tilted my body while walking and surprisingly that felt good. Maybe I should look up on proper posture and standing, and maybe that will cure my weird and problematic right foot.
I've also activated a new Instagram account to participate in this month's blogilates challenge of doing a split in 30 days.
Above are the stretches. We do #1-5 everyday, and starting day 6 we add the pose corresponding to the number of the day in addition to 1-5. The whole thing takes about 10 minutes to do every day and theoretically at the end of the month we will be able to do a split (don't know about the standing split, balance is a whole other issue for me). And as proof of our commitment we are to upload a picture of ourselves everyday on Instagram for a chance to win stuff every week. I have a feeling that while the stretches will only take 10 minutes, taking the perfect selfie (which will involve a lot of timed capture, perfect camera and body positioning, and a lot of pain in the tush) for Instagram will take maybe an hour and half. So we will see. I've already tried to do a selfie today and truth be told, while the stretches felt great I look stupid (and fat) when captured on camera. Maybe some people are meant to exercise in secret and who who are not don't really need to exercise that much.
Anyway, any exercise is better than no exercise and if I can become more fit (and hopefully slimmer) by the end of summer I will be the happiest glutton in the world. I also need to re-think about this whole running thing. I told myself that all the yoga and strength training are done to make me a better runner, but now I'm not so sure. The whole point of any exercise is to make me healthier. Although I probably won't give up running altogether, maybe it will take second or third place at least for the time being. Is that so bad? Or am I just impulsively flaunting myself over something new and again not making a commitment in anything? I don't know and I need to think about this. In the mean time, I will be very disappointed if either the number on my scale does not drop or I don't lose a few pant sizes. I'm not drowning myself in sweat at 6am for nothing.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Exercise Diary: Ups and Downs
An update on my workouts:
- Thursday: 3 miles around the pond
- Friday: ~40 minutes of spinning and 20 minutes of free weights, abs, and stretches
- Saturday: ~4 miles in the morning on my favorite Norwich loop
And if I had written before this morning's run, I would say that I'm finally getting comfortable with this running outside thing. Last weekend I did the same Norwich loop and maintained the same pace throughout, while the 3 loops around the pond felt like nothing and I felt that I could run around that pond forever while listening to Neil Degrasse Tyson interviewing Chris Hadfield on the newest podcast episode of Startalk. And I thought, okay, maybe it just takes about 2 months to get used to running on a surface that doesn't move, and now I get to improve my distance and maybe even speed instead of teaching myself how to run on concrete again.
And then I went for a run this morning. And I felt like shit.
To be fair, I only felt terrible for the first 2 miles. I was out of breath after the first mile, and my body felt like lead. I slowed to a walk twice, and seriously questioned my decision to get up at 6am after a poorly rested night so I could run while no one's watching. And that didn't even work; there were way too many runners (and their dogs) on the road, and other random people who just happen to be up ridiculously early on a Saturday morning. Throw in the outside folks who gathered here for graduation weekend, who happened to be the only people who stared at my matching color outfit (other runners don't care), and the beastly sun who decided to come out strong before 9 am, I might as well run in the middle of the afternoon when everyone else is out.
Anyways, I had a hard time this morning because I was poorly rested, and that's that. Still put damp on my nice running streak this week but oh well. I started listening to audiobooks on my runs now, since I'm all caught up on my runnable podcasts. Currently I'm listening to the dramatized version of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, which features Sir Derek Jacobi as the narrator, and Neil Gaiman, among other people, doing the voices for the different characters. I can just listen to Derek Jacobi's voice forever. I like it when his voice is outright gay, and I like it when it's less camp. It's silky smooth and so endearing, and if I didn't care about the story I could just zone out and just bask in his voice. But the story is interesting too, and since I don't really read fiction anymore this is really a good chance for me to immerse myself in a fantasy world.
On Friday morning I went to a morning PE class offered by the college. The instructor was kind enough to let me try a class before I officially sign up for the summer term. I really did this so I don't have to pay $200 for a summer yoga pass that would give me nothing but extra pressure to schedule my summer around going as many classes as I can to get my money's worth. So instead after much agonizing thinking I somehow convinced myself that getting up early 4 days a week to attend a 6am morning class that include spinning, free weights, and weight training is the best alternative. There are many reasons that led to my decision but it still sound like a crack of an idea. It's only for the summer and I think it will do me more good.
But what it boils down to is this: I'm running as much as I can now and I really love it. I don't know if I will be running in the upcoming half-marathon in October, or exactly what my goal is, but I don't want to give it up. And in order to run as best as I can, I need to improve on other areas of my fitness. Flexibility is very important, and thankfully I do yoga regularly so I've got that covered. But I also need to do weight lifting to strength my muscles and core and areas that are not directly affected by running, so I need to lift weights, or something along that line. And since I have no self discipline and no ability to clear enough space out of my pigsty of an apartment to even roll out a yoga mat, I have to do it in the gym, and I don't know how. And that's where the classes come in.
It just really sucks that all the available PE classes offered in the summer term happen during crappy time. In order to attend most of them you either have to skip lunch or ditch work early, and I don't want to do either. And that leaving late afternoons and early mornings. Since none of the anaerobic classes are offered in the late afternoons, I'm forced to make the decision that I will just have to enjoy the summer mornings more and take a morning class. And why take two classes so I'll have to be up early 4 days a week? Because doing only 2 days will probably kill me since I will never develop a workable routine this way. We still got 2 weeks before the classes start, but it's pretty much settled, and I want to get up early in the summer anyway.
I better look fabulous after this summer.
Plantar fasciitis is still bothering me after every run, and I ice my foot afterwards each time. Because of this it hasn't set full on, but I really hope I can keep it at bay so I don't get cripple for another summer. Stretch! Strengthen! I really don't need the inflammation and the pain thank you.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Exercise Diary: I'm back, it's back
Weekends are for long runs during times you would not normally be out. And I'm glad that I took advantage of my weekend. Yesterday morning I got up extra early and went to the next town over to do my favorite loop, and today I tried to do some fartlek around my usual pond. I really need it too to burn of all the delicious I ate in the past week.
After many last minute yoga classes and pond runs, I spent 6 blissful days in New Orleans, where my lab mate and I attended this years American Society of Microbiology conference and did all the touristy things one would do in New Orleans. There were 4 days of overwhelmingly vast choices of workshops and talks and vender and posters to attend and look at, we each presented a poster detailing our work, and got really excited about microbiology in general and our research specifically.
But perhaps more fun were the things we did outside of the conference. We went up and down Bourbon way too many times since our hotel was right in the heart of the French Quarter and a block away from Bourbon, went to the French Market, visited many pubs and bars, looked around in many galleries and antique shops, and took many pictures. But the reason for my runs, and the things that I was most akin to, were the southern food. Surprisingly only very few meals I ate there consisted of fried food; somehow I managed to avoid that for the large part. But I did make a point to eat as much seafood as possible, because why not? So after these blissful days I managed to try beignets, alligator sausage, po-boys, gumbo (many many times, it's my favorite!!), étouffée (which tasted just like gumbo), oysters, catfish, and many other delicious things. Not to mentions the cocktails and beers I tried every chance I got. Unfortunately apart from the Hurricane we had on our first night there, none of the other cocktails (including a very expensive absinthe drink that was way overpriced) gave me any buzz. At least now I know now how these traditional New Orleans drinks taste.
Both my lab mate and I were absolutely disgusted at ourselves by the end of the trip for how much we ate and how lavishly we ate. I could feel that one of my shirts became noticeably tighter. Surprisingly after I got home I found my weight stayed within a reasonable fluctuation of what I normally weigh, and after not eating any real meals for two days after coming back (there was no food in the apartment and I was too afraid to go shopping on an empty stomach, and I was abnormally exhausted after coming back), I actually lost a pound. Perhaps I didn't eat as much junk food as I thought I had. After all I did eat a lot of soup (gumbo).
But it was time to go back to regular exercising. Although I brought my gym clothes and running shoes to New Orleans I didn't get any chance to go running. The hotel gym closes at 11pm every night and apparently that just wasn't late enough for all the things we ended up doing every night. On our second to last day I saw many people out running along the tram tracks that go through the middle of the road and those people made me happy. For one, there are runners in New Orleans, and for another, none of them were very fast (though they all looked very fit). It's probably the humidity that slowed those people down, or maybe where I am from people are just more into running as a whole. Either way I was very happy to see them and if I had stayed for another week I would definitely join them.
Did 3.5 miles yesterday and honestly it wasn't as bad as I had thought. I was going extra slow at first since I didn't want to burn out again after mile 1 with its steep downhill and grueling uphills, and surprisingly I managed to do the whole run without any walking. Granted the entire thing was slow, and I wasn't really concentrating on my run since I went back to my podcast listening, but it was nice and cloudy and breezy, and I had a good time outside enjoying a beautiful town early in the morning. People were extra friendly too, every cyclist, runner, and other early risers who saw me waved or smiled at me, and I really appreciated the comradery. On my way back I even saw one of my students running too. Since they were taking their finals later that day I guess it's her way of de-stress.
Today I couldn't get up early enough for a run so I resorted to the pond in between my experiment. I've long given up the idea of me lifting or doing HIIT exercises so I thought doing fartlek or interval running to increase fat burning would by my way to burn more fat. But maybe I over did it today. By the second lap I could feel a sharp pain surging from the bottom of my right foot and all I could think of it, oh no, my plantar fasciitis is back. I'm not sure if it ever fully went away but I haven't had the cropping pain in a long time and my foot hasn't bothered me in a big way after my runs for a while. Maybe given my weight at the moment and the pressure I put on my legs and feet when I try to run too fast is just not a good idea. I will still do intervals but maybe I shouldn't push myself too hard. I just hope today's little episode won't turn into something bigger. I don't want to spend another summer not running and procrastinating on stretching out my plantar fasciitis. Fingers crossed.
After many last minute yoga classes and pond runs, I spent 6 blissful days in New Orleans, where my lab mate and I attended this years American Society of Microbiology conference and did all the touristy things one would do in New Orleans. There were 4 days of overwhelmingly vast choices of workshops and talks and vender and posters to attend and look at, we each presented a poster detailing our work, and got really excited about microbiology in general and our research specifically.
But perhaps more fun were the things we did outside of the conference. We went up and down Bourbon way too many times since our hotel was right in the heart of the French Quarter and a block away from Bourbon, went to the French Market, visited many pubs and bars, looked around in many galleries and antique shops, and took many pictures. But the reason for my runs, and the things that I was most akin to, were the southern food. Surprisingly only very few meals I ate there consisted of fried food; somehow I managed to avoid that for the large part. But I did make a point to eat as much seafood as possible, because why not? So after these blissful days I managed to try beignets, alligator sausage, po-boys, gumbo (many many times, it's my favorite!!), étouffée (which tasted just like gumbo), oysters, catfish, and many other delicious things. Not to mentions the cocktails and beers I tried every chance I got. Unfortunately apart from the Hurricane we had on our first night there, none of the other cocktails (including a very expensive absinthe drink that was way overpriced) gave me any buzz. At least now I know now how these traditional New Orleans drinks taste.
Both my lab mate and I were absolutely disgusted at ourselves by the end of the trip for how much we ate and how lavishly we ate. I could feel that one of my shirts became noticeably tighter. Surprisingly after I got home I found my weight stayed within a reasonable fluctuation of what I normally weigh, and after not eating any real meals for two days after coming back (there was no food in the apartment and I was too afraid to go shopping on an empty stomach, and I was abnormally exhausted after coming back), I actually lost a pound. Perhaps I didn't eat as much junk food as I thought I had. After all I did eat a lot of soup (gumbo).
But it was time to go back to regular exercising. Although I brought my gym clothes and running shoes to New Orleans I didn't get any chance to go running. The hotel gym closes at 11pm every night and apparently that just wasn't late enough for all the things we ended up doing every night. On our second to last day I saw many people out running along the tram tracks that go through the middle of the road and those people made me happy. For one, there are runners in New Orleans, and for another, none of them were very fast (though they all looked very fit). It's probably the humidity that slowed those people down, or maybe where I am from people are just more into running as a whole. Either way I was very happy to see them and if I had stayed for another week I would definitely join them.
Did 3.5 miles yesterday and honestly it wasn't as bad as I had thought. I was going extra slow at first since I didn't want to burn out again after mile 1 with its steep downhill and grueling uphills, and surprisingly I managed to do the whole run without any walking. Granted the entire thing was slow, and I wasn't really concentrating on my run since I went back to my podcast listening, but it was nice and cloudy and breezy, and I had a good time outside enjoying a beautiful town early in the morning. People were extra friendly too, every cyclist, runner, and other early risers who saw me waved or smiled at me, and I really appreciated the comradery. On my way back I even saw one of my students running too. Since they were taking their finals later that day I guess it's her way of de-stress.
Today I couldn't get up early enough for a run so I resorted to the pond in between my experiment. I've long given up the idea of me lifting or doing HIIT exercises so I thought doing fartlek or interval running to increase fat burning would by my way to burn more fat. But maybe I over did it today. By the second lap I could feel a sharp pain surging from the bottom of my right foot and all I could think of it, oh no, my plantar fasciitis is back. I'm not sure if it ever fully went away but I haven't had the cropping pain in a long time and my foot hasn't bothered me in a big way after my runs for a while. Maybe given my weight at the moment and the pressure I put on my legs and feet when I try to run too fast is just not a good idea. I will still do intervals but maybe I shouldn't push myself too hard. I just hope today's little episode won't turn into something bigger. I don't want to spend another summer not running and procrastinating on stretching out my plantar fasciitis. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Exercise Diary: Sweaty Summer
Went to yoga yesterday and the class was packed. I guess since most of the classes were canceled yesterday on campus due to the holiday, people did most of their sunbathing during the day and decided it was time to go to yoga in the evening.
Worse, because of the holiday there was no public transportation. So instead of rushing to finish my experiment (yes I still worked) so I could catch the bus, I had to speed walk to the studio only to find that the only empty spots in the classroom were way in the front. So for the first time I did yoga in the front row and I guess it was okay.
Basically I was wet from before the class started to way after it was over. I broke into a sweat walking to the studio, I soaked my shirt and my towel during the class, and after we were done it started to rain outside so I was wet again while walking home.
And for some reason I decided to do about 30 squats (got to have a booty to fit into nice shorts right?) while cooking dinner last night and my thighs today were hurting like I had never excised before yesterday. So much so that I chickened out again today and only did two laps around the pond (2 miles).
I again decided not to bring my visor today and again it was a mistake. The sun was beaming, and it was very very warm. Nice breeze, but still very hot. While running I could feel sweat dripping down my forehead and neck, but it wasn't until after my run while stretching that I realized the low back of my shirt was completely soaked. So is my bra, and basically my whole upper body. I think next time I need to bring a change of clothe so I don't walk home wet again. Gross.
I feel like I've become weaker since I started running outside. Today was probably because of my sore thighs, but I felt like I was ready to be done barely half way into my first-miler. That was an ego crusher. about 0.8 mile I decided to do a little fartlek and ran toward some arbitrary land mark before succumb to a walk. And that was about 10 minutes of running so I guess I was sort of doing my 10K training maybe. I did two more run-relatively-fast-then-jogged-for-a-bit-and-walk thing before deciding that 2 miles is good enough for today.
Listened to fast music again, all of them at least a few years old now but familiar and comforting. I really don't understand, other than for safety reasons maybe, why many races don't allow the runners to wear headphones. I don't find the music distracting from my running and breathing, rather I think it helped me to focus. I sort of simultaneously tune into the music and zone out of it. I could feel my breathing but couldn't hear how excruciating it sounds, which in truth is a discouraging distraction.
My coworker forwarded me an email today about a half-marathon in November. I was tempted because of the swag, but I just don't think I can make a commitment right now. And after today's run I really don't think I'm ready either. While I know that I need a goal so I don't always run the crappy 2 miles when I get myself around that pond, I think a half-marathon (whether it's just finishing or finishing within its time limit) is a bit out of my reach. It's a good goal theoretically, but I think in truth I would just be afraid of it and do what I always do when I'm afraid: procrastinate. And that will not be helpful. So we'll see.
Worse, because of the holiday there was no public transportation. So instead of rushing to finish my experiment (yes I still worked) so I could catch the bus, I had to speed walk to the studio only to find that the only empty spots in the classroom were way in the front. So for the first time I did yoga in the front row and I guess it was okay.
Basically I was wet from before the class started to way after it was over. I broke into a sweat walking to the studio, I soaked my shirt and my towel during the class, and after we were done it started to rain outside so I was wet again while walking home.
And for some reason I decided to do about 30 squats (got to have a booty to fit into nice shorts right?) while cooking dinner last night and my thighs today were hurting like I had never excised before yesterday. So much so that I chickened out again today and only did two laps around the pond (2 miles).
I again decided not to bring my visor today and again it was a mistake. The sun was beaming, and it was very very warm. Nice breeze, but still very hot. While running I could feel sweat dripping down my forehead and neck, but it wasn't until after my run while stretching that I realized the low back of my shirt was completely soaked. So is my bra, and basically my whole upper body. I think next time I need to bring a change of clothe so I don't walk home wet again. Gross.
I feel like I've become weaker since I started running outside. Today was probably because of my sore thighs, but I felt like I was ready to be done barely half way into my first-miler. That was an ego crusher. about 0.8 mile I decided to do a little fartlek and ran toward some arbitrary land mark before succumb to a walk. And that was about 10 minutes of running so I guess I was sort of doing my 10K training maybe. I did two more run-relatively-fast-then-jogged-for-a-bit-and-walk thing before deciding that 2 miles is good enough for today.
Listened to fast music again, all of them at least a few years old now but familiar and comforting. I really don't understand, other than for safety reasons maybe, why many races don't allow the runners to wear headphones. I don't find the music distracting from my running and breathing, rather I think it helped me to focus. I sort of simultaneously tune into the music and zone out of it. I could feel my breathing but couldn't hear how excruciating it sounds, which in truth is a discouraging distraction.
My coworker forwarded me an email today about a half-marathon in November. I was tempted because of the swag, but I just don't think I can make a commitment right now. And after today's run I really don't think I'm ready either. While I know that I need a goal so I don't always run the crappy 2 miles when I get myself around that pond, I think a half-marathon (whether it's just finishing or finishing within its time limit) is a bit out of my reach. It's a good goal theoretically, but I think in truth I would just be afraid of it and do what I always do when I'm afraid: procrastinate. And that will not be helpful. So we'll see.
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