Weekly Rundown- Feeling Thankful
Hello and welcome to the weekly rundown, hosted as always by our friends Kim and Deborah. There are lots of things I love about these weekly rundown posts- one is that it holds me accountable. Sometimes if I don’t feel like doing a workout- oh, let’s say core, for example- I’ll think about how I’ll feel when I’m writing the weekly rundown and have to admit I was lazy. That usually motivates me to do it. I also love reading about everyone else’s workouts! I get so many good ideas from this online community. I got excited about trail running from Wendy, motivated to race more by Darlene (just to name a couple) and of course inspired by many others to get the Peloton app. Not to mention all the great advice I get in the comments here- I could go on and on. Thanks, ladies! Now on to the week… Sunday Ah, such a great run! I did a new loop that took me from my house to a trail, and then circled back home. I was thinking it would be around seven miles, but when my watch beeped seven I was still a mile from home. I assessed the foot situation and all was well, so I continued on to make it an eight mile run. I loved it. Monday I took it easy today with a 30 minute yoga flow class. Like all my yoga classes, this was on Peloton with Denis Morton. Tuesday Started the day with a 3 mile run, followed by a 10 minute core class. In other news, I got a new Garmin (my old one died a couple weeks ago) so I can now see just how slowly I’m running, ha ha. Wednesday I was looking for a harder lower body strength class. I’ve been doing 20 minute classes, so I upped it to a 30 minute class. My usual guy, Ben Alldis, doesn’t have any 30 minute classes so I took a chance on Matty Maggiacomo. I also used 15 pound dumbbells (I had been using 10 pounders.) Well, I got what I wanted- a hard class. I also did a 10 minute core class and then pull-ups (assisted with a band.) Good strength day! Thursday As expected, I was sore today- but in a good way. I was happy that my hamstrings and glutes were sore- that’s where I really want to get stronger. Sometimes if I do a class with a lot of squats, I end up with really sore inner thighs. I already feel like my inner thighs are too tight- if anything I want to loosen them up, and strengthen the other muscles. So I was happy with my sore glutes and hamstrings! I did a 3 mile run, and in this run tried to figure out what in the world my 5 mile race pace would be. I’m running a 5 mile race on Mother’s Day and I have no idea what to expect. In addition to my recent lack of speed work, I think the last time I did a 5 mile race was…. 20 years ago? I tried to gauge my “tempo” pace, and came up with around 9:15 (figuring that a tempo pace is a fast-ish pace that you can hold for about an hour.) A five mile race would be a little faster than that, but then it’ll probably be hotter on race day, so who knows. At least I have a vague idea where to start. Followed this run with another 10 minute core class. Friday Lately I’ve been running every other day, but I’m at the point where I want to run every Sunday now. So I either have to take two days off in a row, or run two days in a row somewhere. I decided to just do a short 2 mile run, followed by a Strength for Runners class on Peloton. My new Garmin suggested that I run this recovery run at a 14 minute mile pace. WHAT? I mean I’m slower these days but not THAT slow. I can see this watch and I are going to need an adjustment period. Saturday I did a 45 minute yoga class which I’ve done once before- it has some hard balance poses and I love it. After work I did a 10 minute core class. All the rest of my core classes this week were with Ben Alldis, but this time I just picked the first core class that came up, which was Rebecca Kennedy from 4/29/22. OUCH. Ben eases us slowly into his classes with a two minute warmup and activation, but Rebecca started right in- this was a good, hard class. I like picking core classes at random- if they’re harder, great. A little easier, also great. Any core class is better than sitting on the couch eating pretzels, which is what I wanted to do after work. Sunday On tap for today- another trail run. In my last post I “runfessed” that I’ve been taking Advil before my longer runs, and some people seemed to think this was not a great idea. Okay, okay… I don’t think taking one Advil before one run a week is doing a lot of harm, but on the other hand it’s probably not doing much good either. So why risk it- I’ll probably skip it for this run and see how it goes! How was your week? Are you racing on Mother’s Day?
April Runfessions- Left Foot Edition
I know what everyone’s been thinking- “Gee, we haven’t heard much about Jenny’s foot lately. What gives?” Well, I’ve been saving it all up for RUNFESSIONS! I’m linking up with Marcia as she opens her “runfessional.” So how is it going? WELL. After dealing with this foot issue for two years, I finally got fed up. It still hurts, and no one can give me a clear diagnosis. The latest is that there’s a possible subluxation of the cuboid joint, which frankly sounds like bullsh*t to me. Then, right at the height of my frustration, my doctor’s office raised the price of the shockwave treatments I’ve been getting from $125 to $150. Bad timing, guys. Very bad timing. In the absence of any helpful guidance, I’ve taken matters into my own hands, and have made three changes: !. I stopped wearing my orthotics. In case you’re having trouble keeping track of all this, I got orthotics right around Christmas. My doctor explained to me that I have a “difficult foot” which would benefit from orthotics. I have a very high arch and over supinate, especially on the left side, and I’ve used orthotics in the past, so this seemed like good advice. After an adjustment period, I was wearing the orthotics almost all the time. I’m on my feet all day but can luckily wear running shoes to work, so I had been wearing the orthotics both for running and at work. Well, as time went on I felt that the orthos were working well for my runs, but at the end of the workday my foot was just throbbing in pain. It felt like the arch of the orthotic was stabbing my foot. I remember that in the past, I wore orthotics for running only. So I’m still using them for running (at least for now) but have stopped wearing them the rest of the day, and my foot feels so much better. I can’t say I’m pain-free completely at the end of the day, but it’s a huge improvement. 2. I’m increasing my Sunday “long” runs… …but I’m taking Advil before I run. I started to wonder if, possibly, I’ve just forgotten how to step down normally on that foot after all this time. And I was getting really miserable about not doing longer runs, so I figured “what have a got to lose?” Best case scenario, the Advil will mask any pain (I don’t usually have much while I’m running) and allow me to step down naturally, which could possibly break me out of a vicious cycle. My first longer, Advil-fueled run was a six miler, and then this past Sunday I went eight miles. Both runs felt amazing, and my foot held up well. So far, so good. 3. I fired my doctor. After eleven shockwave treatments, I canceled my appointment for #12. And when I called up to cancel, I told them that it was too expensive, my insurance isn’t paying for it, and I’m not seeing results. The woman I talked to said she would pass it along to the doctor and that he would call me. He did call me, twice, but both times it was while I was at work and couldn’t answer. So I haven’t spoken to him yet. In the meantime (ironically) I think I’ve actually, finally seen a glimmer of improvement in my foot. Sometimes it hurts just as much as ever, and sometimes I step down, bracing myself for pain that never comes. All along the doctor said that the shockwave treatments were doing something, that healing was happening even if I couldn’t feel it, and that eventually the pain would be gone. Are the shockwave treatments finally kicking in? Or is it the Advil? Or am I completely delusional, and will soon be hobbling around in a boot? For now, I’m loving my longer runs, which means I’m enjoying life a whole lot more. We’ll see where this new “plan” will take me- stay tuned for the next update in May Runfessions! What do you have to runfess? Ever taken Advil before a run?
Younger Next Year
Why do you exercise? Is it to maintain a healthy weight? Or to make your body look a certain way? For me, it’s mostly about mental health. Occasionally people will praise me for my dedication to exercising every day. No, no- you don’t understand! I have to exercise in order to feel good. When I exercise regularly I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water, mentally and emotionally. I’m so focused on my mood and endorphins, I sometimes forget about the physical benefits of exercise. A few years ago I read Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge. The authors lay out the best argument I’ve ever heard for daily exercise. The basic premise is that there’s a difference between aging and decay. Aging is inevitable, but decay is optional. Our bodies are constantly getting signals to either grow, or decay. In our youth, the tide of growth is strongly at our backs, pushing us forward. But in our 40s or 50s (when our reproductive years are behind us) our bodies switch into a “default to decay” mode. There’s no middle ground… you don’t just drift along at the same level. It’s either growth, or decay. Luckily we can switch these “decay” signals to “growth” signals with… you guessed it… exercise. The most simple rule in this book is exercise six days a week for the rest of your life. That’s the way to send constant “grow” message to your body. There’s a whole chapter on the science behind this (and it’s pretty interesting) and also a whole chapter for those reluctant strength trainers- like me- on why two of those days should be strength training. According to the authors, if we allow the default to decay scenario to run its course, our eventual decline will look like this: But if we send constant growth signals to our body, our trajectory can look more like this: Of course we’re all still going to die, but the idea is to live healthily and have the inevitable decline be right at the very end. The only thing I would change about this graph is that I’d like to live a bit longer… but if I can be healthy well into my 80s, I’ll take it! Funny thing about this book- I really enjoyed it and thought the information was fascinating, but wondered why it seemed so geared towards men. There’s a couple chapters dealing specifically male-related aging concerns. I kept thinking, “why does this book seem like it was written for men? These ideas should apply to everyone!” Then on the last page I found this: Ha ha… there’s a specific version for women, and I read the men’s one. Oh well! A couple years later someone gifted me the women’s version, and to be honest, it says basically the same thing. The important points are the same for everyone. If you find yourself struggling with motivation, or feeling burned out on your exercise routine, I highly recommend this book- either version. I promise you’re find it entertaining and inspiring- you’ll have newfound motivation to send your body those “grow” signals- and who wouldn’t want to be younger next year? I’m linking up with Kim and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics- check them out for more inspiration! What do you do when you struggle with motivation? Do you exercise with a specific goal in mind, like a race? Or is your motivation more general, e.g. slowing the aging process?
Weekly Rundown- Another Week Older
I have a 90-year-old client who I see once a week. She’s in pretty great shape, although she does have her aches and pains (as we all do.) This week when I asked how she was, she said “Oh, you know- another week older.” For some reason that cracked me up. So here we all are, another week older (and wiser!) I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah as always for this weekly rundown. Let’s just see how it went! Sunday Because it was Easter, I did my longer run the previous day so I could be home in the morning with my daughter. We slept late and made waffles, which was nice, but as the day went on I felt more and more blah. Lazy days are always better in theory than in practice… know what I mean? In the afternoon I did a 20 minute lower body strength class and a 10 minute core class on the Peloton app with Ben Alldis, then did my pull-up work. Full body strength- I felt much better! Monday Very exciting day- Marathon Monday! I had finagled the day off of work, and had the perfect morning. I did a 3 mile run, followed by a 10 minute core class. After I took my daughter to school I sat down happily to watch the Boston Marathon. Congratulations to everyone who ran this year!!! I enjoyed watching, tracking, and then reading race recaps throughout the week. Tuesday It seemed like forever since I had done yoga, and there was a reason for that. My left hip has been bothering me and last week I did a lot of yoga… and I think it made it worse. I was doing a lot of hip focus flows, and they all seemed to involve pigeon pose. When my hip is cranky like this, pigeon actually makes it worse. SIGH! I really missed my yoga though, so this morning I did a 30 minute twist focus flow- as always, on Peloton with my favorite instructor, Denis Morton. I really love this class, and there’s no pigeon. Later in the day I did lower body strength, not with a class but on my own. And I did core work on my stability ball. I just didn’t feel like doing a Peloton class for a change. Wednesday Another 3 mile run! Later in the day I did a 10 minute core class, and worked on my pull-ups again. In addition to my usual warmup and activation moves, I did 15 negatives- 3 sets of 5. The way I do this is- I pull myself up assisted with a band, then slip my leg out of the band and lower myself down, very, very slowly. 15 negatives is a lot for me. Thursday In the morning I repeated the same yoga flow from Tuesday. I was surprised that I wasn’t sore from the pull-up negatives when I woke up. But, as the day went on the DOMS kicked in- ouch. Later in the day I did a 10 minute core class. Instead of sticking only with Ben Alldis, I’ve been just logging onto Peloton and picking the first ten minute core class that comes up. This one was Daniel McKenna, and it was fine. Friday It was a running day, and just to mix things up I did a 10 minute strength for runners class with Matt Wilpurs as a warmup. It was all bodyweight, and mostly lunges. There were plyometrics at the end, which I ignored- I just did squats. It was a good pre-run workout. Then a 3 mile run…. And later in the day a 10 minute core class. Saturday In the morning I did a 45 minute yoga flow, and had every intention of doing a core class later in the day. But… I got very involved in acquiring our two newest family members! Over the years we’ve had many guinea pigs (it never ends well.) At one point we had five at once. We were down to two, and since the kids are getting older I was thinking of phasing us out of guinea pig parenthood. But on Thursday one of our girls died (so sad!) and I couldn’t just leave her sister all alone. Guinea pigs are very social creatures and they need guinea pig friends. In Switzerland it’s actually against the law to own just one guinea pig (I wonder how often that law is enforced.) Anyway, I fully intended to get ONE guinea pig but apparently I’m incapable of such a thing, and came home with two little sisters for our girl. I’m aware that I’m caught in a vicious cycle here- unless all our guinea pigs die at the same time, I’ll constantly be getting a new one (or two.) Oh well- who can resist these cute little faces? Sunday On tap for today…. a trail run! I’m planning to go seven miles, and because it’s pretty hot I unearthed my hydration vest- it’s been quite a while since I used it. I can’t wait! How was your week? Do you do well with lazy days, or do you get restless? – I like to do a hard workout or long run, and THEN be lazy. Have you ever had guinea pigs? – They’re really easy to take care of, and believe it or not they coexist happily with cats!