Gotta Start Somewhere

I figured I'd update you while my coffee is steeping in the French press. So I just did my first REAL workout. Wanna hear about it? Here it go...

I started with 6 minutes of yoga. Sun salutations to be exact. I love them. I somewhat followed the illustration below.

I took about 5 breaths while in each pose. It got me warmed up a bit and reminded me how much better I used to be at this kind of thing. Oh well, I gotta start somewhere. Anyway, here are the stats from this mini yoga session.

Wait. Let me back up. I started off with my B-12, iron supplement and some water. THEN I got into the workout.

Next I did some circuit training with weights. I had gotten the basic workout from Nerd Fitness.

I did 3 circuits, but of course I modified it a bit. Body weight squats turned into a squat press with 5 lb weights. Pushups were done on my knees. Always hated them but I'll get better. Walking lunges were done with 5 lb weights. Dumbbell rows were done with 10 lb weights. And planks were done for 15 breaths. I did start with a 5 minute warmup after yoga. I pretty much jogged back and forth across the livingroom rug. I finished up with a 5 minute cooldown consisting of slow walking and stretching. My hamstrings didn't used to be so tight. Oh well. Gotta start somewhere.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that the exercises that I can't stand, well I still can't stand them. But nothing was excruciating (that's probably because I still roller skate from time to time). There was a time when an ankle injury made lunges hella painful. But that time has come and gone. I thought about ending it at 2 circuits but honestly, nothing was wrong with my ass. So I did 3.

I may end up talking shit tomorrow if I wake up feeling broke down. Shit. At this age, things start to hurt when you didn't even do anything. So we'll see. But as of right now, I'm fine.

Also, you'll be happy to know that no cat was stepped on during my workout. For whatever reason, when you decide to bust out the yoga mat and get your workout in, here they come strolling through. But they let me have my me time this time around.

Anyway, I need to see about my coffee. Until next time...

Here we go again...

After many years, I'm back at it again. I decided to change the name of my blog to take the focus off running. Not sure if I'll run again. But I want to get back in shape. I came back to my blogging roots because it helped to keep me motivated. And maybe it will help someone else too.

In any case, yesterday was the beginning of me starting over. I made it a point to get up earlier so that I could walk to the train instead of taking the bus. It's about a half hour walk. Figured that would be a good place to start. Right now, I'm halfway motivated to do some strength training. We'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, I'll see if I can figure out how to post my stats from yesterday.

Skipping Workouts & Skipping Ahead

So I took off a couple of weeks. One week for that special time and another week because I was just super tired. I have no idea why. I'm still tired. I haven't done much on my non-running days. I really need to step up my cross training. I guess it's taking longer for me to adjust to this time zone. I was away for 4mos. I need to take it one day at a time.

But I got back into my running plan and skipped ahead as per usual. The shorter running intervals don't agree with me at all. Then after going from longer intervals to no walk breaks in W5D3, I decided I was over walk breaks. I remember how I hated W6D1 the first time around. It felt so hard. So I skipped it. Went on to W6D3 with no problem at all. It was actually a good run. Oh, I ditched the warm up walk too. I'm starting to feel more like the old me. Warm up walks don't warm me up. Slow jogs do. That explains why I have a history of my 1st mile being the slowest. If I start out slow enough, the run will come to me. I need to remember that going forward. It's so easy to get caught up in the people on the track/path with you. You want to match their pace or race them when you really should be concerned with doing your own thing.

In other news, I know I've been slacking on my workouts but I've intentionally taken more time off in between runs. No, I didn't mean to take off as long as I did. But running every other day won't work right now. Remember, I'm still doing the minimalist "barefoot" running thing. It really taxes my calves. That's not a problem, I just need more rest time. Running in regular running shoes never challenged my calves. I wonder if that means I'm burning more calories too?

Anyway, on to next week. Hopefully, I'll have the energy to get more workouts in. Wish me luck.



8/3 - Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll (1:15)

8/6 - Yoga Class (50min)
C25k - W5D1
Warm up/Cool down walk - (11min)
Run/Walk - (21min)

8/7 - Yoga (Grounding & Stability - 40min)

8/8 - Hi-Low (55min - water exercise)

8/10 - C25k - W5D2
Warm up/Cool down walk & some extra - (1.2mi - 21min)
Run/Walk - (1.8mi - 20:45 - 11:31pace)
I ran with Black Girls Run. I did an extra long cool down walk while waiting for the ladies to finish their runs.

8/13 - Yoga Class (50min)
C25k - W5D3
Warm up/Cool down walk - (11min)
Run - (20min)


8/17 - C25k - W6D3
Run - (22min)
Cool down walk - (7min)
Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll (1:15 - still hanging in there practicing backwards skating)

What had happened was...

I decided that chisel class is the devil. I skipped both classes this week. I planned to replace the Tuesday beatdown with the water exercise class that was mentioned to me. It must be a super secret class because it wasn't on the website anywhere. I guess that's why hardly anyone comes. Anyway, I was going to either do the class, swim or hit the gym for the elliptical but I was so so tired. I can't even explain how tired I was. But my sleep ain't been right since I got home a couple of weeks ago. I go to bed really late and wake up early. I find myself needing to pass out at some point. Then I'm wide awake at night. Great. It was a darn shame that I wasted a day. My body felt great but was way too tired to be bothered.

Speaking of feeling great, my runs have been great. Okay, I'm lying. They were good but they started out so-so. The longer the interval, the better I feel. I spent a day or two before my 1st Week 4 run concerned about the 5min interval. Would I make it? Would I hate it? Would I be too tired? Man, look. It was the best part of the run. Whatever pain, muscle burning, irritation or whatever I felt worked it's way out the longer I ran. It was the 3min intervals that had me feeling everything. I swear, my hamstrings have so much to say. But if I run long enough, they're absolutely silent. So I'm kind of back to where I was mentally when I was at the height of my running. I have to talk myself into sticking with the run until it feels better. It will..eventually.

After having a taste of 5min intervals, I'm beginning to think that I should skip to Week 5. Day 1 has three 5min intervals. Day 2 has two 8min intervals. And Day 3 has one 20min interval. I should be good and warmed up by then. In the meantime, I need to search for my Garmin. Yeah, I know. Bad runner, bad runner *smacks hands*. I have no clue where I put the darn thing since I haven't used it in AGES. I plan to join Black Girls Run in the park once I'm done with intervals. I could use a phone app but Garmin is SO much better. And I paid enough for it. I better find it!




7/13 - Bounce, rock, skate, roll (1:52 - getting better at backwards skating. Yay! me.)


7/16 - Yoga (50min)
C25k - W3D2
Warm up/Cool down (10min)
Run/Walk (18min)


7/18 - C25k - W3D3
Warm up/Cool down (10min)
Run/Walk (18min)
(Oh and water exercise was canceled. Boo!)


7/19 - Elliptical (2.92mi - 35min)
Recumbent bike - (2.8mi - 20min)

7/20 - C25k - W4D1
Warm up/Cool down (10min)
Run/Walk (21:30)

To the pool!

I went to my very first water exercise class, Hi-Low, yesterday. Why is it called Hi-Low? I don't know and I don't care. But it was pure awesomeness!

Anyway, I showed up to the pool and felt out of place. I thought maybe I strolled into the Joint Effort or Arthritis Foundation class. There was a group of women already in the water whose median age was probably about 60. But no, I had the right class. The instructor introduced me to the group. Everyone was really friendly. Some of the classmates helped to explain some of the moves.

We did a series of kicks, jumps, side steps, jogging, treading and etc. Having had chisel class the day before, I felt every bit of it. But it was nice being in the water. Water makes everything better like my skin, my hair and exercise. Some things you're not willing to struggle through on land, you'll gladly do in the water..well IF you can swim. They had swim belts and such for those who couldn't swim. But I can't imagine taking that type of class and not being able to swim, especially since the instructor told me that it's best to work out in water that is chest level to avoid shin splints. I don't think the average non-swimmer would feel comfortable in that. But I digress...

I felt so good about the pool last night that I did some laps today. Lord, what was I thinking? I'm still really sore from this week's workouts. Flutter kick and frog kick drills had my quads on fire. On top of that, my swim fitness isn't where it needs to be. When I started swimming a couple years ago, I was at the height of my running. And even then it was hard. Maybe if I was less sore it would have been better. Maybe.

Since I swam today, chisel is definitely off the menu. It just may be permanently. It's just too much if I want to do other things that I actually enjoy throughout the week. Also, one of my classmates told me about another water exercise class that goes down on Tuesdays, the same day as chisel. I may do that instead.

In other news, I'm due for another run this week. I may save it for the weekend. My legs should feel better by then. But I'm skating tomorrow so..we'll just have to see. Until next time..

7/11 - Hi-Low (50min - water exercise)

7/12 - Swim (1000yd - 38min)

I'm Back & It's On!!

So I got home from Alaska last Wednesday. I've been really tired but I'm trying not to let that get to me. I find myself needing an afternoon nap. I'm fine today though. Yay!

Anyway, I got back to being active on Friday. I went skating. Yes, skating. While I was not blogging or running, I started skating on Dec 1, 2010. It's been an off and on thing so I'm not exactly a pro. I'm pretty decent but don't ask me to skate backwards. I'm still working on that. Come Saturday, my inner thighs were feeling it.

Starting this week, I made my way over to the Y for the classes I signed up for. I did yoga on Monday. The instructor figured that I did Dolphin pose pushups too easily. She thought I could handle more. I said, "Oh, you think?" She had me move my feet in. I thought she was trying to kill me. That's when the trembling and sweating started. My arms and shoulders were definitely sore after that. And after that, guess what I did? I ran. Yes, I RAN! I moseyed over to the indoor track, put on Robert Ullrey's Couch to 5k podcast for Week 1 and went to work. I found the 60sec running intervals too short. I ended up running before I was supposed to and not wanting to stop when it was time. I sped up some and started to feel like my old self. At the very end of the run I sprinted. That's something I did with most of my runs. If I have enough juice in the tank to sprint at the end, I know that my pacing is okay.

On Tuesday, I went to my first chisel class in ages. I hated the class way back when and still hate it now. I have a different instructor. She thought of new ways to torture us. Men were in this class too and even they were struggling, so I didn't feel bad. But yeah, I hate it. I was doing some arm exercises that burned my muscles so bad that my neck felt like it was on fire. It felt like someone slathered lye on my neck and let it burn. And at some point during the class, I felt nauseous. That was weird because I ate HOURS before. Anyway, we worked all the major muscle groups from top to bottom and I was hurting bad. But you know what? I ran after. Why? Because I knew it would hurt even worse today.

Okay, so I fast forwarded to Week 3 of Couch to 5k. I'm sure I would have been fine if I didn't set my muscles on fire just minutes before. But when I started running, I felt it in every step all in my glutes and hamstrings. Being that my butt is the biggest muscle on my body, my run wasn't too enjoyable. I started to feel it in my calves too. That didn't happen during the first run. Maybe because the intervals were shorter. Or maybe I was trying to land more lightly on the balls of my feet so that nothing else would hurt. That makes my calves work more since I'm still doing the minimalist/barefoot running thing. I don't plan to ever run in regular sneakers ever again. So I'm sure my running experience this time will be totally different from the first time. Maybe it means I'll burn more calories too.

So today is Wednesday and I have a water exercise class on the menu. I hope that doesn't kill my already dead muscles. I have chisel class tomorrow but I think I'll try to swap that out for some laps in the pool instead. I can't deal with that torture twice a week. No way.

7/6 - Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll (2:15 - once I'm on skates, it's hard to get me off.)

7/9 - Yoga (35min - I got there late)
C25k - Week 1
Warm up/Cool down walk (10min)
Run/Walk (20min)

7/10 - Chisel Class (50min)
C25k - Week 3
Warm up/Cool down walk (12min)
Run/Walk (18min)