Making Plans

I've been taking Floradix for about a week now. I wanted to start running again on Monday but I was running low on energy. For one, I'm sure it takes more than a few days to feel the benefits. And two, it's that special time women love to hate. I always get extra tired. I'm not a big eater then either. Getting all aerobic with no energy and no food? Not a good look.

Anyway, I'm due back home next Wednesday morning (I'm SO EXCITED. Happy Independence Day to me!) so I may as well get back into the swing of things then. In the meantime, I've signed up for some classes at the Y. It's been a while since I've been up in there. I'm so glad I kept my membership. I think it's worth it for the heated pool and the indoor track alone.

So I signed up for yoga on Mondays, chisel on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a water exercise class on Wednesdays. I didn't opt for Zumba this time. I don't want to overdue it. And I figured that if I'm running and swimming like I plan to, then that will be more than enough cardio. I haven't decided  which days I'll be running. I just know that as long as I make my way out to the gym, there's a good chance I'll do something. I'm a big fan of the elliptical. I think the machine calls me to it. I have to answer. And it's a good way to warm up the legs before a run.

Will I pick up where I left off? I doubt it. But I've got plans to get back there one step at a time. Besides, I need to be in tiptop shape to out-dance everyone at all the parties I plan to hit up when I get back :)

I'm Coming Back...S...L...O...W...L...Y...

So I haven't fallen off the wagon or got on the wagon or whatever piece of equipment is involved. How does that go? Oh, who cares. It's not important. What's important is that I plan to get back into running...again. I was all about it last September when Black Girls Run started a chapter near me. But no one would show up. Then the weather would be crappy. Then I got out of the habit.

Anyway, for the past 4 months I've been away from home in the nose bleed seats of the country, also known as Alaska. Since I've been here, BGR has been growing in my absence. I'm missing all the fun. But I really can't join in until I start running again. But it's not even about BGR. I just miss it. I miss that part of me that always had something on the calendar like running, swimming, yoga, Insanity, all that. It would help if I was consistent taking my iron though. You may recall that I'm extremely anemic and didn't start running or much of anything else until I began taking Floradix (it's expensive but I highly recommend it). I took the liquid version 2x/day. But then I found out about their tablets which are much cheaper but need to be taken 3x/day. I'm not disciplined when it comes to taking pills like vitamins and such daily. Three times a day is out of the question. So yeah, I skipped LOTS. Who knows where my hemoglobin is right now but I know I'm not feeling the way I should, especially if I want to be Active Christie again.

I did some research and found a local health food store sold Floradix. It's more expensive up here than in the lower 48 but I gotta do what I gotta do. So today I decided to walk up there (about 1.3mi away) and grab some. I figured I'd get my walk in for the day too. I've been walking off and on. The weather is nice again, so I'm trying to walk more often.

So how do I plan to start this thing up again? Couch to 5k. That's how I did it last time. But I have no Garmin with me. And I'm not willing to buy a C25k mobile app that may actually suck. Oh yeah! How could I forget? The first time around I used Robert Ullrey's Couch to 5k podcast. Unfortunately, they weren't posted on whatever page he had set up anymore. But someone else found them and posted them here. Hallelujah! I downloaded them to my mp3 player and now I'm set.

When will I start running? Probably not tomorrow. I just started taking the iron today so I want to give it some time to actually work it's way through my system. But I hope to start soon. I'll just have to play it by ear. Wish me luck. In the meantime, I hope all is well with those of you in the running world. I hope to join you again shortly.

Naked..It's the New Black

So there has been this naked running trend going down on Dailymile. No. I'm not talking about exposing booty butt cheeks. I'm talking about running sans music and Garmin. Well, going without music may not be a big deal. I did a 10 mile race without it. But the whole no Garmin thing, well that's HUGE. Once you get into the world of running, you become obsessed with numbers. How fast did I go? How far did I go? What's my best pace? What are my splits? All this goes on and you start to forget why you started running in the first place. And it stops being fun. Yes, it's nice knowing that I can run fast if I want to. But do I really enjoy it? Not that much.

I hit the road yesterday without a damn thing. In all honesty, I've been running without the supposed necessities for a bit now. I don't do socks, unless it's cold. I got rid of the stability shoes 3 months ago (viva la minimalist running!). I've been without music for 2 months (because I'm waiting for an ear bud replacement from Hong Kong..Long story. And now I can't tell you where my mp3 player is.). So yeah, I was almost there. But I never ran without my Garmin until yesterday. I wasn't tempted to take my Timex Ironman watch. I didn't set the stopwatch on my phone. Heck, I didn't even look at the time when I started/stopped. And you know what? It was a wonderful feeling. And the best run I had in ages. I wasn't even a minute into it when I started smiling. Who does that? Apparently, I do. I haven't run with a smile probably since the very beginning. Running went from something I enjoyed to me saying, "Okay, let's just get this over with." What are the chances of having a good run when you think of it that way? It shouldn't be that way.

So I enjoyed naked running so much that I may do it for the rest of the week. If all goes well, I'll be knocking out a 6 miler by the weekend. I won't stress about it. I won't try to hold a certain pace or beat a certain time. I'll just do it because I like to do it. And I'll remember how overjoyed I was when I started. Because running was something I was never capable of (damn anemia!). I dreamed about it, but couldn't do it. And when I finally did it, my thought was, "Thank you, God." I need to get back to that. And yesterday was one of those moments. I had no distractions. It was me, the sun, the blue skies, and the Canadian geese (one hissed at me).

Speaking of dreams, a couple weeks ago I dreamed of running a half. I know I mentioned the possibility of running one. But you don't understand. When I dream something, I must make it happen. Or I'll keep dreaming about it until it happens. That's how I got into running in the first place. If I dream it, it shall be or I shall be nagged to death in my dreams. So if all goes well with my running, all the sudden, you'll check my blog to find a race report out of no where. Yeah, that would be funny considering how much I hate racing. Hmm, maybe I'll race naked. That's a thought. But first, let's hope my mojo continues and that nothing breaks down on me.

Happy running or whatever it is you do. Be free! Run naked!

My God, I Think I Found It!

Found what? My running mojo, that's what! I was reviewing my running log last night (well, early this morning). And I was wondering what the heck happened. I haven't run consistently since some time in 2009. Then I took 10 weeks off due to injury. I started back slowing going "barefoot." I went to Miami. Caught the flu on the way back. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the flu in my recap. Told you I'd forget something. Anyway, I caught the flu at the very end of March, like the 29th or 30th. I spent about a week or so laid up. So yeah, the beginning of April was not productive in the least bit. I ran once after, and it was horrible. Got lightheaded and everything.

Then not too long after that, like the following week, I had some type of stomach thing going on where I couldn't keep any food in me. I guess it was stomach flu gone wild. That lasted over a week, close to two. I was absolutely miserable. I love food and couldn't enjoy any of it. I was limited to yogurt, apple sauce, rice and other blandness. Then I would get hard headed and eat something normal like an orange. And then pay for it within minutes. That's another couple of weeks of no running.

Okay, so that's over with. I'd run and I'd hate it. My cardio was all jacked up. I got turned off. I felt like all my runs would be crap, so I didn't run. In the meantime, I've been dubbed Yoga Queen, so that's good. That reminds me, last week I DID A HEADSTAND! I was not against a wall or a door. I had no help. I was alone in the middle of my living room floor. Pretty soon, I'll be balancing all of my body weight on just my fingertips ;) Ha! Is that even possible?

Anyway, back to what I was saying...RUNNING. I haven't been doing it. But now I want to. I've had a couple good runs. I've got a new "barefoot" approach. I've got a new mindset. I've got some goals. I want to develop my own plan. And I don't want it to feel like a chore. When it feels like work, that's when I shut down. I don't like that. So no pressure. No races on the calender. No training runs that MUST get done. No running back to back days, unless the weather dictates otherwise. No running more than 4 days a week. Honestly, I just want to keep it at 3 days (a medium run, a fast short run, and a slower long run). I operate better with a rest day in between anyway. Then maybe, once I'm back to running like a well oiled machine, I'll consider a race. Most likely, it will be a half. I prefer longer distances. I ran a 5k once and hated every minute of it. However, 10ks are pretty decent.

As far as my own plan goes, I'm trying to get into the habit of taking my resting heart rate in the morning. I just started yesterday. It was 57. Today was 56. I will be monitoring my RHR so I know when to workout and when to rest. Elevated RHR could mean I'm over-training or I'm getting sick. Either way, it's a good indication of when I should sit my butt down. I think this will be a better approach instead of going by some program made up by someone who has no idea how I feel. I gotta do what's best for me. I've been injured one too many times. And I'm not going down that road again. If my body says no via elevated RHR, irritated head of fibula, hip or IT band, headache, or whatever else that causes me to run in pain, I'm going to listen to it. Damn what the plan says. It's not worth it.

So ladies and gentlemen, that's where I am right now. The I'm-Gonna-Run-When-And-How-The-Heck-I-Want-To Plan starts this week. Wish me luck.

Plans and such

I needed to get out, so last night I met up with my sister and my niece to see Wanted. It was full of action, bloody (my kind of movie) and some parts were just funny. The opening scene was a tad raunchy for young viewers. My niece is 16. My sister covered her eyes. That was funny. Anyway, I spent the whole movie admiring Angelina Jolie's eye make up. I'm not into make up at all. I don't wear it partly because I don't know how to put it on. But I couldn't help but notice that her eyes were amazing. They hooked her up with the smoky eye look. It really works for her. I also spent a little time checking out Common. I've always found him attractive, but he looked especially fine in the movie. Eye candy is always good. I spent the morning glued to the tv. I had to catch the Wimbledon coverage. The Williams Sisters were playing each other in the finals. I couldn't miss that. Venus won, in case you're interested. So after the match, I did my Girl push ups. I did more than I expected. Oh, but the best part was that I did one regular push up before I got into my routine. I can actually do a push up? That's a huge accomplishment with my weak arms. Then it was time to run. But I didn't feel like it. It's just one of those days you just want to lay up. I'm sure it has something to do with the weather. It was pretty humid and it started to drizzle when I left for the park. I wasn't sure how far I'd go today. I felt pretty good. I would/should have run longer. But it started to rain a bit harder. And we are due for some thunderstorms. And I'm not trying to be stuck in the woods under the trees. So I cut it short and came home. I really should have run longer though. This run felt easier. And after checking my stats, it was easier. My heart rate wasn't through the roof. Who knows with the heart rate thing. If it's really high or really low, they both could mean good or bad. My guess is that I'm doing alright since my heart hasn't jumped up out of my chest. In other news, I've decided to start HM training again. But this time, I'll be following a plan from Hal Higdon. I've posted my training schedule on my Google calendar. I start tomorrow, and I'm kind of looking forward to it. His plan includes cross training which is good. Maybe I'll get creative with cross training. Maybe I'll finally get my butt down to the Y again. I haven't gone in forever. Heck, maybe I'll start getting up early for my workouts. Uh, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm so bad at getting up earlier than I need to. More in other news, I've just purchased a food processor and a raw foods cook book from Amazon.com. I've been in need of a food processor for a hot minute now. The blender can't handle everything. And it would just make my life easier. In regards to the raw foods cook book, I'm not going raw. I just think I could benefit from some raw food in my diet. It's for the part time health nut in me. I think my next purchase will be some type of veggie slicer contraption that can turn veggies into noodles and such. I've been researching and not too sure what I will get yet. Any suggestions? Music: 4hero presents Brazilika Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 36 ft Location: Willingboro, NJ Elev. Gain: -23 ft Date: 07/05/08 Up/Downhill: [+88/-111] Time: 12:37 PM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0 Weather: Light Rain 75 F temp; 84% humidity 78 F heat index; winds N 3 Performance Distance: 2.71 miles Time: 0:27:55 Speed: 5.8 mph Pace: 10' 18 /mi Heart Rate: 167 bpm (Avg) Calories: 305 184 bpm (Peak) Notes Cool Down = .29mi Girl Push Ups = 21 Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 34 +0' 16 5.7 -0.2 151 -49 ft 2 10' 20 +0' 02 5.8 -0.0 174 +33 ft end 9' 52 -0' 26 6.1 +0.3 180 -7 ft Versus average of 10' 18 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Plans

The One Hour Runner program should be wrapped up by Thanksgivingish. What will I do next? I'm seriously thinking about half marathon training. Runner's World has personalized training programs for whatever distance you want to run and how long you want to train. It sets your pace and includes tempo runs and speed work. You can also choose your long run day. It should be interesting, especially since I have a good feeling that I'm going to hate speed work.

No, I don't plan on running a half marathon although it's not totally out of the question. I like knowing that I can do something. Maybe I will one day. But for now I want to get better at running. It's only been 3mos and some change, but I have no doubt that I can run 13 miles. The hardest part would be planning the route and music, and finding a comfortable contraption to carry all my crap. Oh, and let's not forget I have to talk myself out of throwing in the towel. Okay so the whole mental thing is the hardest of hard parts. But after that, if my body doesn't go on strike, it should be an attainable goal.

Oh, and here's this week's plan...Week 6: Run 30 minutes, 33 minutes, 41 minutes Weekly total: 104 minutes