Exercise Diary: Setbacks

What I did today:

• 4 miles on the treadmill
• The only thing I was proud of was that I stayed on the treadmill till I hit the 4-mile mark.  I walked twice in between, and I was just really tired the while time.  My foot was hurting by mile 2, and that made me wary of going any faster.  I'm not sure what it was, I can only attribute it to a general decline in fitness.
• first half of the Ballet Beautiful swam arms series
• I thought it makes a lot of sense that on running days I would also work on my arms so my legs don't suffer too much.  But I neglected the fact that I did the same video yesterday and I was feeling its effect all day today.  I managed to work through the first half of the video before calling it a day.  I could go on if I wanted, but I didn't want to.  I would probably feel very sorry tomorrow if I did.
• Ballet Beautiful Out Thigh
• To make up for the incomplete of the first video I decided to look for another BB workout to make up for it.  I picked this one since it was short and the targeted outer thigh didn't seem too bad.  And it wasn't.  I mean, my legs were feeling both like lead and on fire when I worked on each, and I needed prolonged stretching after each set so I don't cramp, but after the workout I don't feel my legs so much anymore.  It's not like I can't walk or anything. 
• Blogilates Quick Ab workout
• After all that I felt that I really should work on my abs for a bit since I've been neglecting this area.  Mostly because it's hard and I can't do crunches or whatever you do for very long.  There are so many ab videos on Blogilates that I ended up just picking a random one, which despite being a 10 minute video was actually very short, since it only had two moves and worked to a 3:14-long song.  I still couldn't do it the whole way through and had to take breaks in between and didn't even bother to pause the video.  I'm feeling my abs and I think that's enough for the day.

About this time last month I stood in front of my full-length mirror in my gym clothes and took a picture of myself.  I had great ambition and hope that in one month, combining running and doing Blogilates workout and a modified diet I would change my weight and body shape somewhat, and I would document my progress.  I didn't expect to be all lean and skinny after just one month, but I did the same thing in front of the mirror today (not the same gym clothes though), and I don't think I saw any changes.  If anything I think I may look even bigger and wider than last month.  I don't think my weight had changed.  I would like to think that I had lost a pound or two but it's not very noticeable.  I think given some more time the changes will become more apparent, but this has been a very disappointing month.  I'm still adjusting.  And I feel there was progress.  But there's no proof.  Oh well.  I guess it's a good thing that winters are so long here; I still have some time before I no longer have my jacket to cover up my body of shame.  

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.

Exercise Diary: Got tired/ lazy yesterday, will not let that be a slippery slope

First of all, whoever binge-read my blog yesterday, thanks very much!  I don't advertise my blog much since I don't really put all my heart in it, but rather just use it as a place to record all my workouts and other random thoughts.  But to the few who do visit, thank you~

I got lazy yesterday (Tuesday) in that I skipped my thigh and butt challenges as well as my Day 8 beginner's workout.  I woke up Tuesday morning absolutely exhausted and sore, and just the though of doing lunges and kicks make my body ache.

I did end up going to yoga though, so it wasn't a completely waste of a day.  I have to say, last week's workout already has such a pronounced effect.  My crescent lunges were much stronger and stable, my standing splits and worrier IIIs were effortless.  I just felt that I could do the whole class with less effort, but because I was stronger I could push myself more so I got a better workout at the same time.

But because of that I was so exhausted when I got home.  And hungry.  I had a banana before going to class and that totally got burned away during the first 20 minutes because I was famished when I got home that I didn't feel like doing anymore exercises.  And after looking at the calendar, which said that Day 8 consists of a total body workout video, a cardio video, and a lower back stretch video, I died of exhaustion just by looking at the list.  So I made instant noodles, showered, and called it a day.  Totally unproductive for the rest of the night and even though I went to yoga class I felt like a failure.

Couldn't fall asleep last night despite going to bed early.  Woke up early today to make lunch and go to my friend's PhD thesis defense so I scratched the morning challenge routine.  Was tired the whole day since I opted to not take any coffee this morning, which was a big mistake.

But after getting home at 11pm I still managed to make up the challenges and rolled out my yoga mat.  It turned out that the workouts weren't so bad.  I cheated a little bit on my cardio workout since I couldn't jump around too much without shaking the while building, but other than that I did most other moves faithfully.  I felt that I had done the total body workout video before but parts of it felt foreign.  It was total body too, I got to work my abs, my butt, my back and my arms.  Not sure if I will feel all of them tomorrow but I was hurting while doing it.

So all my pilates workouts have been pushed back a day.  Which I guess is fine as long as I keep going more regularly afterwards.  And I have to remind myself that just because I skipped out on the pilates calendar doesn't mean that I didn't exercise hard.

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.

Exercise Diary: Blogilates beginners Day 2

No running today since I usually get home late on Wednesday nights.  But after I got home tonight I did manage to put on my gym shorts and roll out my yoga mat for my Day 2 ab workout.

I followed the two videos on Cassey's Day 2 page, and I think this is the first time i really sweated on my mat at home.  If we keep up like this i will need to buy some disinfecting yoga mat wipes for home.

The two videos brought about 30 minutes of workout, and I have to say, I really feel the time flew by even as I was crushed by the workout.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm used to 75-minute yoga classes now, or if Cassey is just a really great trainer (probably both), but I was glad and almost sad at the end of the videos.  Also the fact that Cassey likes to talk about random things during the harder reps made it a lot more interesting and tolerable.  It kind of reminded me of running with my friend; I could never talk during the runs and she would entertain me by telling me random stories.

I have to say that I definitely cheated during the workout because I simply could not continue during parts of the video.  I'm sorry but I just couldn't control muscle fatigue.  Also my abs got weaker and weaker and I couldn't help but used more of my neck to barely keep my shoulders off the ground during some of these crunches.  I think it is one of the reasons why people still get neck pains despite the trainer repeatedly telling them to pull their shoulders up with their stomach.  Sometimes we just can't do it.  I guess it just happens less often with the more experienced and stronger people because they could afford to lift up without using their necks.  The others will just have to be careful to not hurt ourselves.

But one thing for sure, my abs will definitely be hurting tomorrow.  Heck, they are hurting already.  Fun workout though.  Can't wait for tomorrow's bubble butt exercises.

Exercise Diary/Food Diary: the Yoga-doing hungry hippo

Yay for actually going to yoga today~  Every time I go I always feel reluctant beforehand, exhausted during class, and euphoric afterwards, until hunger sets in for real and I just want to eat everything under the (already set) sun.

Today's class went really well.  I felt that my legs and core became stronger.  I could hold out for most of the standing poses, and the core stuff we did (~10 secs of plank and ~25 crunches) was a piece of cake.  But there was one part, where we went from the chair pose to a chair twist and back, made my thighs sweat at an incredible speed that the area of my yoga capris became drenched instantly.  And the crescent lunge-- knee lunge-- worrier III pose killed my thighs even more.  But other than that (or maybe because of it) it was a very good class.

Despite eating lunch at almost 2pm, I began fantasizing about food about 15 minutes before class.  I think it went from fried chicken to Thai noodles to burgers to the actual dinner I was going to make to cake and some other random stuff.  I think chocolate made an appearance at some point.  The fact that I had to go back to lab for a bit after class really killed me.  I was ravished to the point of going crazy when I got home, but still somehow made myself do all the dished I left behind in the morning, and cooking rice and another dish.

I ended up cooking rice with a few new ingredients: tomato, corn, and salted beef (or is it pork?  I couldn't tell and didn't care).  It was a bizarre recipe that was circulating on Chinese social media for quite a bit a few months back, and I had been procrastinating on trying it out.  It's amusingly named "whole tomato rice," and the most basic version is adding an entire (uncut) tomato, along with salt and pepper, to a pot of washed rice and cook in a rice cooker as if you are justing cooking regular rice, and the result was supposed to be heavenly good.  I took the liberty of adding the extra stuff.

And it ended up looking like this:


Which is a lot of rice.  I think I over did it.  I had to add more hot water in afterwards and let it sit in "warm" for another while to ensure that all the rice is fully cooked.  But it tasted great!  Not too sour as I had feared, and the rice is softer and mushier than regular rice.  Very filling too.  I couldn't eat too much of it, which is good since I always over eat after exercising.

Also stir fried some broccoli tips.  Don't remember if I've ever had them before but it's certainly the first time I cook them myself.  Slightly bitter, but good nonetheless.

Happy Tuesday~~

Half Marathon Training Week 1: 2/2/2

After a long but absolutely wonderful trip abroad (went to Japan for 8 days and Shanghai for 5), I came back with a stronger resolution to: 1) keep running, 2) lose weight/ become more fit, 3) run a half marathon this year, 4) try to run a marathon at the end of the year and 5) learn Japanese.

The last one has nothing to do with the theme of this blog but I'm a firm believer of knowing the language of the country you visit.  Obviously it's not possible (and probably not very necessary) if you speak English and visit a bunch of European countries in one trip, but although I speak English and Chinese and can understand most of what I was seeing and doing while in Japan, I felt utterly useless and often frustrated because I couldn't communicate with the people there.  And that's changing now, I'm slowing building my vocal and grammar skills using an app called Memrise, and since there is no time pressure, I figured that as long as I use it everyday to review what I have learned and keep learning a few new things a day I'm in good shape.

I just hope that running and exercise can be as easy.  I do feel a time pressure on this one, since my coworker and I decided to run the 25K event at the Pineland Trail Festival at the end of May, and although it seems so far away from this cold January, it's only about 16 weeks away.  And although I'm determined and excited to do this, I'm honestly uncertain of my physical ability to tackle this >half marathon event.

And 16 weeks is the longest training plan time I could find too.  I like this plan because it doesn't make you run for two days in a row, as opposed to the shorter plans.  I found early on that I need at least a full day's rest after every run since I tend to over do things.  As in, if I go for a run it has to be a long one since I've already invested my commitment and energy to go.  And I often found myself tired out or injured when I do that.  The non-running days are either filled with your-choice cross training slots or rest days, and I plan to fill those with either yoga classes or core work.  I found a series of 9 core exercises that promised a set of nice abs if you do it 4x a week for at least a month.  I don't think I can commit 4x/week to it, nor can I do the suggested number of rep, and I have too much fat protecting my abs so I won't be seeing a 6-pack in a month.  But I know that core muscles are important for running and I also know that if I keep at it for long enough it will pay off.

So Monday I did my core exercise since there was no new episode of Castle and I went running on Sunday.  The site where I found these exercises suggest 3-5x of 12-15 reps per move, but I decided to take it slow and only do 2x10 reps for each, just to see how it feels.  I'm still feeling it today, 2 days after my exercises.  I guess taking it slow was a good idea since I haven't had the thought to quit yet.

Yesterday I went for my first 2-miler.  That's the first week of the training plan: 2:2:2 miles.  Easy right?  It's gets longer later on but the short runs don't get too bad.  I hope by the time I have to do 7-12 mile long runs it would be warm enough to do them outside since I can't imagine the boredom of doing that on the treadmill.  But the 2 miler went okay, and I was proud that I did go since I had a serious issue of laziness last night, and the weather didn't really help either.

So so far so good, I really hope I can complete this 25K with ease and lack of injury.