Whew

Friday, March 02, 2012

Well, I stretched out both my achilles and hams for like 15 minutes when I finally got home last night, and this morning everything feels great! WHEW. Of course, now I'm terrified that if I run tomorrow, I'll screw everything up again. Should I walk instead, and wait till Monday to run to be safe, or should I assume everything is okay? It was just so weird, how it didn't start hurting till about an hour after my workout yesterday - if it had hurt during my workout, I certainly would have stopped right away.

Anyhow, wanted soooo badly to stay in bed this morning, but hubby was good and went out for a walk, despite the nasty wind chill, so I dragged myself out of bed for a 20-min yoga workout. Not too rigorous, but felt good, and I always figure something is better than nothing!

As for eating, yeah, well, do we have to talk about that? ;-) Last minute change of plans (long story) led to pizza for dinner, then Rick's Dessert Diner, and instead of being good and sharing, I had an entire huge, heavenly piece of carrot cake all by myself. LOVE it!!! But probably won't make me happy on the scale this weekend. Oh well....I've been good today.

  

Victory!

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Well, the weather cooperated this morning and I was able to get my C25K workout in. I started out figuring okay, Week 1 workout, since that's what I did on Monday. But when I hit a minute ,I was like, this is silly, I'm doing fine, I'm going for the Week 2 workout! So I did. So if I get another Week 2 workout in Saturday, I should FINALLY be able to bump back to Week 3 next week, woo hoo!

The worrisome thing is that about an hour after my workout, my left achilles started really bothering me. Didn't hurt at all during, but hurts now. I'm trying to stretch it as I'm sitting at my desk - hurts when I flex, not when I point. Not horrendous, I don't feel like I've done major damage or anything, but hurts enough to worry me a bit. Hopefully it'll pass.

I REALLY wanted to hit the Girl Scout cookies last night, but I dove into pretzels after dinner instead....not great, but better than pigging out on Thin Mints! So I have stuck to my resolution this week of no Girl Scout cookies.

So overall, I feel like the week is going well...as long as I haven't screwed up my achilles!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LILY_SPARK 3/1/2012 2:15PM

Be kind to yourself. It sounds like you dropped down hard at some point. Anti-inflammatory meds NOW, if you're into taking them. I say this as somebody who tore her Achilles' in my early 20s. I was put on strict bedrest for 2 weeks and prescribed high-heels for several months (I'm not kidding -- it was to keep the foot flexed rather than pulled) and BIG anti-inflammatories for the first 2 weeks. Yours isn't grievous but the shallow end of that treatment should help! You're doing great! Let yourself recover :) Report Inappropriate Comment

Rained "In" and Question re: Weights

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Today was supposed to be C25K day, but it was pouring rain and blustery when I got up. I have worked out in many different kinds of weather - dark, foggy, super cold, even light rain (though that was not on purpose!) - but I draw the line at pouring rain. So I did weights instead - not ideal, since I just did yoga yesterday and I tend to get super sore when I do weight-bearing exercise 2 days in a row, but I figured it was better than blowing off the workout altogether.

Question on weights. I keep reading that women my age (mid-40s) really need to focus on weight-bearing exercise and weights. I try to do yoga and weights each once a week, though I don't always succeed. My question is, with the running, do I really need to worry about leg weights? I have felt my legs becoming so much stronger over the months with the running, and it seems like I shouldn't really need to do weights on top of that. I'm not opposed to it, just curious.

I'm now only doing one leg weight exercise - I don't know what it's called, the kind where you stand at the machine, the weight goes behind your knee, and you kind of kick backwards. I had been doing leg extensions (where you sit, weights in front of your ankles, and straighten your legs), but last month Spark said that one is bad for you so I quit that one. Instead, I'm trying to do lunges, but my knees don't like them much, they hurt.

As for upper, I do bench press (sit and push weights out in front of me), pulldowns (standing, pull bar down to my waist), curls, and seated rowing.

I also do situps and pushups (modified) on my weight days, which work my abs well. I usually get a lot of ab work in my yoga workout too, since I like doing the balancing poses.

So, I guess 2 questions - do I need to be doing weight-bearing exercises for my legs, and, if so, any suggestions for lunges or other types of things I could do? Or any other weight-bearing exercises in general?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LILY_SPARK 2/29/2012 12:47PM

Hey kiddo! I'll put it this way: in my experience, the more ST you do, the better. Period. Body LOVES lean mass. A plus is doing crap around the house with ease :) It sounds like you've laid a great foundation. PU are FABULOUS. Yoga is GREAT. If you're not really wanting to add a "program," maybe try adding weighted squats. I'm the best squatter in the world Seriously! I have bad knees from age 13, so at age 40? I'm still taking care of those babies. You probably know this: never EVER let your knee go beyond your toe (take that, Jillian M). Sit back through your heels and allow your bum to almost throw you backwards. When I look down, I can see my entire shoelaces, not just some of them. That means my knee is above my ankle! Squats are about the best lower body exercise you can do -- if you're not wanting to do bunches. Lunges are also awesome but DANG I have trouble with perfect form. I can so easily tweak a knee, so I sort of avoid them or don't do them enough...and they're SO good for us! Boo, bad Lily! All that said, a program is best because once you get 2-3 wo / week going for about a month, you'll see a lot of improvement. Personally, I'm cuckoo for kettlebells. Report Inappropriate Comment

LILMISSRED79 2/29/2012 12:44PM

I think you're awesome for not just skipping the workout altogether, but finding something else to do to work around the weather. As to your question about weights, I'm honestly not sure. It seems logical to me to let running do its thing, but maybe I'm wrong about that. As for other workouts, you can always look on SP in the fitness section, or on Shape.com. They have really awesome ideas for ways to mix it up! Report Inappropriate Comment

Gonna Be Good This Week

Monday, February 27, 2012

So, spent the weekend fighting sniffles and achy sinuses...I was really worried I was getting hit by the "other" bug that's going around, but I'm doing better today so I'm crossing fingers and toes that it's the change in the weather. Though I am pretty low-energy...I had planned to bump back to Week 2 on C25K this morning, but as soon as I headed out I knew that wasn't going to happen. So I decided okay, I'm just going to do a Week 1 workout and not beat myself up, because it's better than just walking, right? Which is what I really wanted to do...well, what I REALLY wanted to do was go back home to bed, but I didn't give myself that option!

Anyhow, I have decided that I am really going on the good eating bandwagon this week, there's been way too much slippage lately. No more Girl Scout cookies, no after-dinner snacking! And I need to get back to more little snacks throughout the day...I do this thing where I don't snack all afternoon and I feel so virtuous, but then I'm so hungry I eat way too much at dinner. Not productive!

Let's make this a good week, all!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LILMISSRED79 2/27/2012 2:48PM

I hear you on the sniffles front- I thought maybe I was getting sick, but I think it's actually allergies due to all of the wind and things blooming. I need to pick up some Zyrtech or something! Anyway, good for you for sticking to your workout and resolving to make healthier choices that work for you this week. You can do it! Report Inappropriate Comment

Beautiful Day

Saturday, February 25, 2012

D-r-a-g-g-e-d my sluggish self through c25k this morning...I tend to be pretty low-energy on Saturday mornings, since I take my Enbrel on Friday nights. Which is why I usually do c25k on MWF, so I can take Sat off or do something lower key like yoga. But it didn't work out that way this week. Hard, but I did it. Next week, back to Week 2 (had to start at Week 1 again after being sick).

Today I'm heading to the Bay Area to check in on my parents. My dad is sounding a lot better, but he tends to go into coughing fits when he talks on the phone so it'll be nice to be able to have a real conversation, face to face. Of course, the ugly part is that I've got to talk to them yet again about the living situation...for now, they still have the caregiver there 24/7, which is good. I'm really hoping to get them out of that house this year though, and into a smaller, one-story place, or ideally into assisted living, not that I'm holding my breath on that.

Anyhow, it's a beautiful day, so I will try to enjoy it on the drive even though I'm dreading the conversation. :-p I'm thinking I may hit the local mall on the way in or out of town as a little incentive to myself. :-)

Oh, and as for the scale, I've gained back all the weight I lost when I was sick, and a tad more - I'm almost up to 187 now. :-p Not surprising, with all the Girl Scout cookies in the house this week, I have no willpower on that sort of thing!!! Fortunately they're about gone - those thin mints kill me, I just can't stop.

Have a great weekend everybody!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LILMISSRED79 2/25/2012 12:07PM

I think it's awesome that you got through your workout this morning despite feeling so sluggish- way to be flexible! Good luck with today's conversation, I will be thinking of you today my friend! Report Inappropriate Comment