Winter?

4.58 K @ 7'53

Today was a meh jog. I was actually getting my second wind closer to the end of the run and probably could have kept going but I have a lot on my plate so my mere 36 minutes was all I could devote. Speaking of wind...It was incredibly winy out there today. With the sand, salt and pebbles left from the melting snow there was some debris blowing in my face that I had to contend with today. I'd just close my eyes and mouth and wait for the prickling feeling to stop before watching for the next wave of dirt to come towards me.

Today is incredibly warm for the season. This winter has depressed me. I had lots of stuff planned that I wanted to do and really, haven't been able to do any of it. I also prefer running in cooler temperatures. I feel healthier doing it, somehow. I sweat less, I feel like I have more endurance. Plus it doesn't make me think about climate change. 

"Through Running I Found Athleticism...

but I've realized that, more important, I found strength." Claire Kowalchik

4.82 K @ 7'24

With that 7'24 pace time closes my first week since I started running again that I ran under 8 for the entire week.  I had an amazing run tonight. With my crazy busy schedule this week I didn't have time to run yesterday and I really REALLY waffled over going tonight after a long, busy day but after a nap I decided that I may as well go for it. This blog and you, dear reader, have really made me accountable.

It was a chilly -4 but felt like -10. Apparently that's what my body likes. I felt SO GOOD out there. I didn't even want to look at my pace time. I just felt amazing. I didn't even care if I WAS going over 8 it was all so right. I managed to get my layers just right and wasn't at all chilled. As a result of my perceived speed I decided for the first time to focus a bit on form.

With my new job being at a call centre I am sitting on a computer for 8 hours. I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders to begin with so , sitting staring at a monitor with my arms at a keyboard doesn't help the situation. When I run I find that my shoulders migrate up to my earlobes. Having read a bit about running this week (my new job affords a lot of time for reading as well, as I often finish "reads" and tests quickly...I HAVE been in school for 23 years), I read that, similar to yoga you're supposed to do that whole head attached to a string pulling up thing. So that's what I did, plus ensured that my upper body stayed relaxed. I have no idea what I looked like but it felt all right. Especially my relaxed arms, they felt better than my usual clenched fists and tightly bent arms.

I tend to take a do what my body tells me approach to running, again. No idea if that's what one's supposed to do, or what the heck I look like when I'm out there. I hope people notice the smile on my face rather then the shuffling that I feel my feet do.

In the Zone

4.52 k @ 7'42

Today's run felt really good. I actually was exhausted when I finished. I could have sworn I ran farther than that. As previously mentioned as I jog I often ponder the topic of my blog as I move along. Today I didn't have a topic by the end of my run. I was really just feeling the run and didn't even really pay attention to my music. Normally I spend a lot of time shuffling through songs to find just the right song while I'm out. I can tell when I'm really concentrating on my run when I don't even know what song is playting.

I was on my least favourite route because it's a gradual uphill on the way back and then there's a brief steep uphill on my last block. I was TIRED today on the way back. So I guess to answer my pondery in the last blog about pushing myself and how innate it is was answered. For me, it's partially automatic.

I'm getting closer to the 5 K marker. Soon I will be there again, my race is going to be here before I know it. I was happy that my time was under 8 minutes it's a good sign for race day.

“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.”

4.52 K @ 7'38/k

I came across the title of this entry the other day. I'm not really a motivational quote kind of person but this one stuck out to me. When I jog I know that I can push myself harder and don't. I have this thing where I'm afraid I'm gonna run out of gas and I'd rather do a 5 K in 40 minutes than 3 in 20. When I go I often think "at least I'm doing something" When I talk to others they say well at least you're out there, I don't do anything. When is just doing it not enough anymore?

I'm a recreational runner. I know I'm never gonna be a competitive runner. I do it because I enjoy it. Yes, I like it when my pace times decrease. Yes, I like it when I see the kilometres rack up. But, should I be pushing myself more? I think it's a personal choice. After I had run in the 5 K race in May there were several compounding issues that made me just absolutely unable to run. My body would NOT do it. At that point I'd say that an "at least I'm doing it" mentality would have been acceptable.

I'm just stuck right now trying to decide if I should get out of this self congratulatory behaviour when I could do more, but I am getting out there...and that IS good. I'm hoping that I'll just become more results oriented and driven naturally once I start picking up the pace more consistently.

New Schedule

34 minutes at 8'08 = 4.21k

Hiya, I know this one's posted a day late for all my avid readers (haha). Today's runs was one of those that I just did for the sake of doing, I didn't exactly enjoy it.

I started a job this week and am training for it from 4pm to midnight. I am not a morning person and often used to run at night. Clearly, this was no longer an option. I wondered if I would still be able to stick to a schedule with my new hours of operation. I successfully did it. Even making it to the gym one day for a cycling workout. I even did my sun salutations in public while there. I also tried aqua zumba today. So fun. I wouldn't really consider it a huge cardio workout but really really fun!

Back to running though, I really try to do it Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays because you should get 30 minutes of cardio a day. I used to run 3 days on one off then another 3. I've started to incorporate other forms or cardio exercise into my routine because I also would like to do that try-a-tri. I've noticed that I'm not progressing as quickly with my running in speed than I was when I was running more frequently. I do however, find that I am exercising with more frequency and regularity.

Last week I'd gotten into a discussion with my brother about fitting exercise into your day. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada to stay fit you should:

Be active at least 2.5 hours a week to achieve health benefits.

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Focus on moderate to vigorous aerobic activity throughout each week, broken into sessions of 10 minutes or more.

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Get stronger by adding activities that target your muscles and bones at least two days per week.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/pa-ap/07paap-eng.php

It's REALLY not that much. If I could go from 0 minutes of activity to about 3.5 a week, in two months, take it from me it's not bad and easy to do. I like writing this blog because I literally did NOTHING for a long time exercise wise and now I feel like I am moderately active. Back to the discussion with my bro (who I love dearly). He's a chef and works long hours and spends a lot of time on his feet. He was saying how tired he was and doesn't feel like working out after those long difficult days. I don't blame him at all. I did point out that it can be broken up into 10 minute segments, so his walk to the gym could be considered his warm up, do some weight training and then walk home as a cool down to save time. Or do something at home. I find that that is often something I have to do and I refer to various youtube videos or dvds from the library to do so.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's really easy to fit into any schedule as long as you find something that you enjoy doing. I know I say that again and again but it's true that everyone has their "thing" they just need to figure out what it is.

One last item, I've now gotten hits from Russia and have 6 readers there. Interesting.

Happy (long, for some) weekend!

"Running for enjoyment is God's way of saying you have too much time on your hands"- Shameless UK

4.26 @ 7'31- Nice to be under 8 again.

I had a really great go today. Ran the furthest I had in a long time at a pace I was absolutely content with.

Over the past couple of months I've been getting some nice compliments about my appearance. Yesterday I bumped into a friend from high school and she told me that I had lost weight and looked good. She then asked how I did it... Well, a couple years ago, I would have told her that I was sick and lost a bunch of weight, which was absolutely the case. I did nothing whatsoever to affect my weight other than harbour a faulty pancreas. When I moved home and became less sick with Dank, I obviously put some weight back on (not all of it but 2/3). I then got Diabetes and whether it be the Diabetes itself or the fact that I've altered my eating habits, I again lost weight. Then gained it again. And I'm not talking 2 or 3 pounds my weight can  fluctuate by 10 pounds over a month. The thing is, I don't notice weight loss on myself, nor do I step on a scale unless I know I'm going to my doctor cuz she'll ask. Sometimes if someone comments that I had lost weight I'll check, but not unless it's someone I see on a regular basis.

The thing is, I accept the compliments, I like getting them, but for the first time ever, I attribute them to the fact that I've committed to exercise. I picked up doing yoga pretty much daily and running 3 times a week. Dank hasn't bothered me for a while with any significant pain (KNOCK WOOD), and I'm just feeling healthy. I think that's the difference people are seeing in me.

I loved the reaction from my high school chum when I attributed my lighter physique to running. She shook her head and asked how I did it. Really, it was so gradual with me. Using the Running Room Learn to Run program was key. It helped me build up endurance. Even now, I am again returning to running and doing so gradually, building up time and distance. I also know that I should not be killing myself by running as fast as I possibly can right off the bat. If I did that of course I wouldn't enjoy running. I'm not saying that it's for everyone. It is for me, though. I like it, I smile while doing it and now, I myself and others are seeing the benefits of it. It's so wonderful how easy it is to gain further motivation to exercise once you start in.

Precious

Heya, I had an abbreviated run today. I noticed a short distance in that my phone(Precious) was no longer in my pocket. So I did a slow walk back to my place to see if it was there, in case I missed a red phone in the snow, the Bobcat (snowplow, not animal) that shortly followed was sure to have destroyed it. I called it and used my Blackberry protect to see if someone had rescued it but it wasn't on. If it was in my house it would be on. So it's gone. I guess you have to make sure electronic devices are secured before heading out for a run. That is my advice. Also, if anyone has a Blackberry please let me know ASAP. Thanks.

BRRR

4K @ 8'13

First off, I'd like to give a shout out to my Ukranian readers. For some reason I got three hits from this site: http://troll-face-ru.blogspot.com/ . I have no idea what it is and it looks strange.

It was blustery and raw out there today. I had to stop at McDonalds (note the golden arches on the map) to go to the bathroom and warm up. I felt like I was jogging through Buffalo. My body would not stretch out, I could feel it in my calves while running everything was just tight, tight, tight. Took me a looong time to warm up. During my cool down stretches my legs were sore I don't recall that ever happening before.

My pace time wasn't great. I couldn't get my body to relax to go faster. I also blame my music. My mp3 player, Orlando, really has NOT been doing a great job of late. I'm gonna have to remember to start making up a playlist before I head out.

The Silver Lining

4 K @ 8'09

Today there was no procrastinating. I was ready to get out there, regardless of the grey day and sub zero temperature. I laced those shoes up went out the door and started. I was displeased. It wasn't until the 2nd Kilometre that I was feelin' it today and as I had planned a 4K I was halfway through before I started to enjoy myself. My music was not enjoyable today. The post run cool down was nice though and I was in better spirits once I'd finished that. 

I have taken to checking my blood sugar and blood pressure when I get back to ensure that I am not going to pass out. My BP was fine and so were my sugars. My blood sugar being a 5.5 was astonishing! As long as I've had Diabetes (Diagnosed in June) it's never been normal. My dr's been trying to control it using other meds that are not insulin without much success. She switched up my meds a couple of weeks ago but it had still remained high. The ideal range is between 3 & 6 and I was twice or three times that. I found it frustrating because I had adjusted my diet (somewhat) and I've obviously been more active than before and had not seen any results. So as much as I hated the run today there IS something good to come out of it. That's the tricky thing about running, every time I go, no matter what- there's always something nice that comes of it. I'll surprise myself with a great pace time, the weather will be beautiful, I'll catch an amazing sunrise... I should remind myself of this more often when I am mentally grumbling about heading out.

If you would like more information on Diabetes you can head to: http://www.diabetes.ca/. I actually got my free blood glucose (sugar) testing kit from them.

Pain in the Thigh

I ran 3.79 K @ 7'40

I reaaaaaaaaaaaally wasn't going to run tonight I debated it all day. then I thought, I blogged last week about not running. Can't do it again this week, pathetic. I'm glad that I did.

The reason that I didn't want to go was that my thighs are KILLING me. I finally (wo)manned up and made it to a Cycle Fit class on Saturday (aka spin class but I don't think the Y owns the rights to call it "Spinning"). I liked it, yes. I would go back. I really liked the instructor (I can't really remember but I want to say John). He's this like, 70 year old extremely fit guy who really likes music so throughout the class he would tell us what artist was singing the song that was playing at the time.

Cycle fit/Spinning is that class that you may hear people call torture that you do on a stationary bike. I introduced myself as a newbie when I got up there and I wasn't alone, there were at least 2 others. John?got me set up on my bike and I sat there awaiting this legendary workout. Honestly, it's tough. I think that one of the guys behind me is a real cyclist as he was wearing a cycling shirt and the other dude directly behind me knew him so I assumed he also was a cyclist. Hey, I have to do something to keep my mind occupied. I normally make up stories about people when I am not focusing on staying alive. Anyways- the point is: there were varying degrees of athletes there.

It's actually really easy to make the workout suit your level. You can choose not to stand up, you set the tension on the bike yourself and you choose your pedaling speed. I definitely was not adjusting the tension very much and my friend gave me a great trick afterward. In her spin class they tell you how many times to turn the tension dial- when they say 3, she turns it 2 and then does a pretend one. In this one  the instructor just told us to work to a percentage of our own choosing. So baseline we should be working 60% then he'd up it to 100%. So I didn't need this handy method with him. He wasn't the yelly type he was very encouraging. If you were smiling he'd acknowledge it, which made me smile. 2 things I took pride in...and I'm petty I know. One of the new girls had to leave after 15 minutes. I stuck it out the whole time although for a portion of if I envisioned my BP dropping and me passing out on the bike with my feet still in the little footholds. The other- the man behind me was really given 'er throughout the class I could hear him. Trust me. In fact at one point he dropped an f-bomb. I liked it. Ok, so we're doing the cool down at the end and for one of the stretches we have to put our foot up on the seat and touch out toes. Thanks to yoga I had no problem whatsoever and I got pretty deep into the stretch. The guy behind me could barely touch his shin. I realize he's obviously way more fit than me, but I took the small victory in my flexibility. I knew I was in trouble after the class and I could barely walk down the stairs. The following day I couldn't even walk with substantial pain. Then today- still sore.

So I am sure you can understand why I wasn't so keen to get out there. I had a good time once I got out there though. Good music played. and my legs felt good once they warmed up. Clearly, I did an abbreviated cool down afterwards. The stretches were a bit much for my traumatized legs.

Final Chapter (hopefully)

Why hello again and thank you for reading this. I did indeed go for a run today!

3.5 K @ 7'28. You may see that this is reduced from 8'15 last week  and 8'20 on Monday. I am a little proud of that. I always find it so interesting how your actual physical well being affects things. I know it shouldn't be a surprise but it is to me. Just shows that you gotta take care of yourself. Before I ran today I checked my BP, I also checked it after I got back from my run and after my cool down. It was high normal, then normal then low-normal. So it seems I am good to go again and can close the Low blood pressure saga.

The actual run in itself felt really good. I find that I have a short stride so I tried to stretch out a bit and it felt good. As I finished up I felt so good I picked up the pace and did a bit of a dash.  Subsequently, I got a stitch. They always remind me of the one day I was on the cross country team in elementary school. Not one day when I was on the cross country team, the one day. I was 7, got a stitch, didn't know what the heck was happening and quit the team.

As a follow up to the last post, I did register for a race. On April 15, I will be running the 5K individual race in the Hustle for Hunger. The race raises money for the Daily Bread Food Bank. If you would care to donate, go here: http://www.giving.runningroom.com/hm/index.php then you can click on pledge an athlete on the bottom left of the page and search for me. My goal is to raise $50 from soliciting 5 dollars from 10 people. Of course more is welcome.

Guess what?! It's Heart Month. Heart and Stroke is a cause dear to my...wait for it...heart. Right now you can do a risk assessment and just for doing that Desjardins Financial Security will donate $1 to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. It only takes 10 minutes and you're helping others as well as yourself. Here's the link: https://ehealth.heartandstroke.ca/heartstroke/hsra/?LID=1&pgSrc=risk_MDW_panel_HSF_desjardins_en I did the assessment and have 10/16 positive risk factors (improve my heart health) and 6/17 negative risk factors (that reduce my heart health). After the survey they give you tips and tools that you can use. One of which for me was build a network that supports you. And that's you guys! I check every day to see how many hits my little blog gets and I love the support. Like I mentioned before I think about what I'm going to blog about while I run. I was not so keen to get out on this oh so grey day and the thought of sharing how my run went got me out there.

No Run

I was scheduled to run yesterday but my morning blood pressure check revealed that it was still too low. Raw deal. It does mean that all I want to do now is run. I was walking (very slowly) home from a friends' place and considered just legging it figuring I'd be home by the time I passed out and decided that this may not be the healthiest course of action and continued dragging my heels all the way home.  I think the meds are pretty much out of my system today and I will be able to pick it up again tomorrow after checking in with my doc. In the meantime, I've been looking at some races online that I'd like to do. It's always more motivating having a date to train for. I can't believe that there was a time when I had sworn I'd never do a race. I had also forgotten (until I watched too fat for 15, terrible TERRIBLE reality tv show) that I had toyed with the idea of doing a try-a-tri. I checked out the distances and to train for one in the summer seems realistic. I'm thinking of doing aother 5 k in April then the try tri in June. If you're interested lemme know.

This is also the first post that I've done on my phone so please forgive any mistakes until can fix them on my computer. I committed to blogging Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and don't want to fall off the wagon so soon.