Workout 65 was vexing

Patrick had to work late on Monday, so our plan to start out one week free trial at the Sport Fit (a new gym near home) had to be delayed. I wound out exercising by myself at a different Planet Fitness from our "home" gym.

I've worked out at this other Planet Fitness before -- it's not a bad place, though it's considerably more compact than our usual one. I don't know that it has been more crowded as far as the machine-to-person ratio, it's just seemed like it because there's a lot less open space.

On Monday evening, between the compactness of the gym and the New Year's Resolution people at the gym (I shall call them "Resolutionaries") it was jammed. Almost no treadmills were free for my 10 minutes of cardio warmup time and the ones that were free needed rebooting. Same with the elliptical machines.

I wound out on an Arc Glider, which totally sucked. All the quad abuse of the elliptical without nearly as much calorie burn or benefit.

It didn't help at all that I was really jammed for time and stressed out about it. I was so short on time (because I didn't want to make Patrick wait for me in the cold at the Metro station) that I wound out doing the 30-minute circuit at Planet Fitness rather than what I wanted to be doing.

I was reminded why I don't like their 30-minute circuit very much -- 15lb weight intervals on the machines. It is very easy to fall into an unhappy valley where one weight is too high to move for a whole minute (or any substantial portion thereof) and the next weight down is too light to be accomplishing anything.

And my back hasn't felt quite right since.

Grrr.

So that's all I have to say about that workout.

Next workout is scheduled for tonight: With any luck at all, we'll be going to the Sport Fit to start our free trial week. I'll be doing Workout J#5 and I have high hopes that it will go well. Goal for the workout: Do it well and smoothly in the new gym.

I hope that Sport Fit isn't completely clotted up with Resolutionaries as well.

Workout F #2: Darn it! (Workout 30)

The ouch doesn't show on the front and I was in fact able to complete
everything. But...

In some ways, Saturday's workout went really well -- I feel like I'm ready to go to up on the weight with the Rear Lateral Raises and the Cable Chest Presses, which is awesome. I felt like I'd worked out a different way of doing the elliptical that didn't beat up my quads so much (and may have really succeeded with that, it's hard to say in light of what came later). For the most part, I felt like I had the *move* down for the Reverse Lunge/Cable Row. It was really good. Even the Dumbbell Front Squats went well and felt good (those are just really hard). 

What didn't go well is that my right quad is definitely and un-ignorably Not Happy. I think the High (Bench) Step Ups is what got me, because I was fine until that point. The extra height on those adds a lot more quad work to something that's in the workout as a single-leg hamstring exercise and those are just killers. I think that's what did me dirt, though that's not when I started hurting. I felt a sharp pain across the front of my right thigh when I was doing the Reverse Lunge and Cable Rows (specifically on the side when my right leg was stepping back and being the non-working, down leg, which is when I've always had problems). 

I've been holding off posting in hopes it would sort itself out over the next couple of days, but it hasn't shown any sign of doing that. Well, I mean it hurts less than it did, but even just sitting it doesn't feel quite right. I took an Aleve last night and that my have helped some, but I don't want to read too much into it either. 

As I've always said, you shouldn't be aware of your insides. If you are something's not working right. As I'm sitting here typing doing nothing at all, I can feel the muscle in my leg. It doesn't exactly hurt, but I'm aware of it. 

Not good. 

So, I'm going to have to figure out something *else* to do for my single-leg quad exercise, because reverse lunges are out of the question at this time. I'm also going to have to figure out something else to do for my single-leg hamstring exercise, because I do think that the high step-ups are the real, actual culprit. At the least they're *not* helping. And no more elliptical for me, at least for a while, because I know that's hard on my quads. In a few days, I'll see if I can do something like a single-leg stand up (sit on bench, extend one leg straight in front of you, stand up using only other leg) or a single-leg squat instead. 

Eventually. I'm not even trying for a few days at least. 

I'm not sure exactly how long I'll have to stop the Reverse Lunges and so on -- I'm hoping only for a few days, but I don't want to risk a serious injury. A coworker of mine tore a muscle in his arm a few years ago and had a bruise basically from elbow to shoulder and was in a lot of pain for a while. I do not want to have that happen.  

Saturday's workout was: 

• Cross-body Mountain Climbers - 2 x 30, 25 - I was finding lower numbers of repts way too easy for these, so I ramped up both the speed and the number of reps and that was *good*. Very very good. :D I'll probably stick with 30 as a target next time, because I didn't make my reps in the second set. 
• Elevated Explosive Push Ups - 2 x 10 - I'm still good at the hip-high railing for these because while I made my reps, that was really really hard. And I think I can go lower into the pushup-ness before pushing back up. And I can concentrate more on using my chest muscles rather than my arms. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Front Squat - 3 x 12 - Glory be, these are hard. I need to keep a note in my book to keep my weight back on my heels and to push up through my heels when standing back up. I was rocking too far forward onto my toes. That doesn't make them easier, but it is the right form. I continued with a pair of 15lb dumbbells and will continue with those again next time because this exercise is *hard*. 
• Rear Lateral Raise - 3 x 12 - I used a pair of 5 lb dumbbells again and really felt good about it. The weights weren't quite singing, so I may stick at this level one more time, but they were close. So I may go up to 7.5 lb dumbbells (if those aren't in use). I'll see when I'm doing these next. They're definitely a good exercise for me. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• High (Bench) Step Ups - 3 x 12 - I'm still not using any weight for these (other than my bodyweight) and they're definitely very very hard. Less technically difficult than the Front Squats, but they just kick my butt. And my quads. I didn't make a note about my right leg hurting at any point when doing these, but I did note that they're *hard*. 
• Single-Arm Cable Chest Press - 3 x 12 - I think I've finally got the knack of these. The trick is to have the pulley behind the shoulder of the working arm, so there's not as much rotational and wobble motion involved. I did 15lbs again and will move up to 20 next time because now that I get what I'm doing, I feel I can totally move more weight. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 12 - Still improving, but not to the first goal of being able to stand on one foot while moving for 12 whole reps. Still at 15 pounds. I'm probably going to just do these in every workout until I can do the reverse lunges again. The work isn't in the rowing, it's in the standing on one leg, and that's not putting undue strain on my muscles. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats. Interestingly, perhaps oddly, despite whatever's up with my quads, these Jump Squats didn't bother them at all. Though maybe they got tired a little sooner. I didn't really notice that though. It does bode well for me being able to do jump squats tonight. 

Next workout is scheduled for tonight. Goal for the workout - do as much as I can without putting any additional strain on my quads. I'm going to be walking for warmups, because the elliptical is out of the question. My routine tonight is supposed to be: Half-Kneeling Cable Chops, Dumbbell Jump Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, Scaption and Shrug, Offset Reverse Lunges, Kneeling Lat Pulldowns, and Coordination Rows. I'm definitely not even trying the Reverse Lunges and I'll probably do the Cable Chops as totally kneeling rather than half kneeling. Everything else I'll *try* to see how it goes. Any twinge and I'll just move on to the next thing. 

Run Seventy-Two: And Other Stuff

I don't know why I'm sucking so badly at running
right now.

I went for my first run in a little over a week today -- it did not go well, though I did keep walking, and walking pretty fast, so I did get a decent workout. My hip started hurting while I was walking and it never really felt quite right. I'm not at all sure what's up with that. 

I haven't run in a while, but I haven't been slacking either -- we went to visit my parents over the weekend and went to her local gym twice while we were there. Small-towns are awesome, by the way -- the owner of the gym let us come in on Saturday, even gave us a key because no one was likely to be there when we went, without charging any sort of daily use fee because we were just using the cardio machines. Very nice. 

I went on one of the elliptical machines on Saturday, so Patrick and I could be next to each other. Also, I'm enjoying mixing things up, which may be part of why my running is getting worse. Though I'm not sure how much sense that makes. 

On Monday, I spent a lot of the time talking to the trainer at the small-town gym about what I want to do with dumbbells and weights. I didn't do full sets of anything, but did a lot of moving dumbbells around. Some of what I learned from her was really helpful -- good form for squats -- and some I'm keeping in my head for the future (the Cybex leg press machine is a beast). 

We did a lot of driving to get to my parents' place and back so maybe I'm just sort of congealed from  sitting all day yesterday and that's why running didn't go so well today. I'm glad I at least got out and moved around. And I didn't stop when my hip got a little hurty -- I just slowed down. That's a little bit of something anyway. 

(Note for my mother: Nothing is seriously wrong with my hip. It just got a little tired while I was walking, but I was walking pretty fast. It'll be fine tomorrow.) 

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday -- It's going to be a sort of a prep day. I'll do some cardio to start off (maybe 20 minutes or so), then I'll go through all of the strength-training exercises I'm planning on doing (there are two different workouts which I'll be alternating) to make sure I'm comfortable with what I'm doing. Also to get an idea of where to start as far as weights. 

(More detail on the two different workouts and the exercises I'll be doing after Saturday's prep session.)

Run Sixty-Five: Plans Changed

I did wind out running after all. Which was
cool but not awesome. 

Patrick and I went to the gym together yesterday -- we thought we were going to be talking to the trainer there about getting a personalized fitness program for each of us, but (due to a miscommunication with the girl at the gym) we weren't able to. Apparently we need to sign up for that days in advance. So we're signed up for *next* week's design your own program session and we went on the treadmills instead. 

I wasn't really prepared for the treadmill -- until we were actually on the treadmills, I thought we were going to be trying to figure out their 30 minute circuit machines thing -- so I didn't have my phone, or a towel, or headphones so I could listen to music or watch TV. I just felt a little behind the eight-ball. 

Maybe the lack of other things to think about is part of why I felt so crampy in my calves and hamstrings (not just fatigue buildup) and winded. 

Another contributing factor for the crampy and winded is that I started out faster than I have been -- I usually ease into things and save my highest speeds for the last few minutes rather than starting out fast. I tried it the other way yesterday and I can't say it was a success. 

(A third contributing factor is that I've been swamped at work and haven't kept my head up enough to remember to drink water during the day -- so I was probably a little dehydrated when I started.)

On the other hand, I did pretty well, so I can't say it was a total failure either. And it was super cool having Patrick with me, so I'm actually pretty pleased!

Next run is scheduled for Saturday. The weather is supposed to be stormy and Patrick may be going to the gym with me. So I'll almost certainly be in the gym. Goal for the run -- improve! No cramps!

Run Forty-two: Crampy calves, darn it!

Crampy calves kept me a little slower than
I wanted to be. 

I was inside on the treadmill this evening, mostly because I wanted to try and redeem myself from Saturday's run. Not that it was as bad as all that (and honestly it might have been one of my best) but I wanted to get back on the treadmill and do better than when I was running off a delicious lunch. 

I did not succeed with that -- I didn't stretch or massage my calves after Saturday (I've been getting lazy about that). I also didn't eat after running Saturday and having a post-run snack (or getting home in time for dinner) seems to make a huge difference in how sore I am. Anyway, I think the two of those made my legs very very cramp-prone today. I've been finding the last few days that running faster gets me through calf cramps, but that didn't work today. I just couldn't go as far or as fast as I wanted to. 

Darn it!!

All of that said, I didn't do that badly -- this distance is 1/100th of a mile off my best distance over 40 minutes (discounting the wonky numbers from Saturday). So yeah, I didn't do better, but I didn't do horribly worse either. It just didn't feel as good. 

And that's a bummer. 

Next run is scheduled for Wednesday. If the weather report holds, I'll be outside. Goal for the run: Go farther and faster than last time on the road. Goal for the run, if I'm inside: Feel good. 

And now I'm off to massage my calves some -- see if I can work these cramps out.

Run Forty-One: Not a great run, but a good day!

There were treadmill and timing fails, so the
best distance doesn't really count. I don't think. 

I did go for my run yesterday, but didn't get home until relatively late (around 8pm) and then the evening was all discombobulated. And there was some discombobulation with the distance and time numbers with my run, so I wasn't quite sure what to say. 

Basically there was an issue with the treadmill (I accidentally knocked off the emergency stop thing), which meant there was math involved. After 25 minutes of running, math is not my friend. Anyway, I actually ran for about 43 minutes, but I have no idea how far I went in that time (except that it was less than 2.69 miles). My heart rate was really high (above my "max" HR) but my calves never cramped up. 

It wasn't a great run, that much I know. We met up with some friends and had a *huge* lunch -- so even several hours later, I wasn't feeling too much like pushing or running too hard. (And even after running, I didn't have dinner.) I did go at 4.3 or 4.5 miles an hour for 15 minutes, maybe more. So it wasn't *bad*; it just wasn't great. 

Next run is scheduled for Monday. I have no idea what the weather is supposed to be. The way this spring is going, I'm not sure if the weather forecasters have much of an idea. Goal for the run, if I'm on the treadmill: See how far I can go at 4.5 miles an hour. Goal for the run, if I'm outside: Try to run farther than last time. 

Run Thirty-four: Lowering the Bar a tad

A better showing than expected given how much I walked.

When I set my goals for today's run, I wasn't thinking very clearly. I knew my husband and I were going to an evening baseball game but totally forgot what that would mean as far as getting home late, sleeping very little, and being super-tired the next day. It was actually a little worse than normal, because there was an hour rain delay so the game started late. We got home around midnight and had to get up for work around 5am.

The net result of all of this is I'm even more tired tonight than I was on Tuesday. 

So I didn't push myself too hard, but I didn't totally relax either. I walked about 15 minutes, but I walked at 3.5 mph, so I wasn't going slower than I would have been. I also ran for 16 minutes at 3.7 mph. I might have sped up for the last five minutes, but I can't remember for sure. 

I tried to start running sooner than I did, but my calves were cramping pretty badly. So I just kept walking. 

I signed up for an online drawing class and watched one of the videos while I was running -- it was a 31 minute video (which is why I went for 31 minutes instead of my usual 30). It made the time pass incredibly quickly, but I had to kind of lower my head too much to see the video on my phone and I didn't like what it did to my form. I have to explore how I can watch the lesson videos at eye level. 

Anyway -- I didn't make any of my goals for today's run, but I did actually run and I only missed my best treadmill distance by six one-hundredths of a mile. Which for a day when I was on fumes all day, I'll take and actually be pleased with.

Edited to add: I totally forgot last night to put in my goals for my next run (a sign of how tired I was). Next run is scheduled for Saturday. So are a whole lot of errands and getting new tires on the car. If I can get out for my run before dark, I'll likely be outside as the weather is supposed to be nice. If I'd be going out after dark, I'll go to the gym. Goal for the run, if outside: beat my last at-home outside distance (2.44 miles). Goal for the run, if on the treadmill: I want to see if I can do any sort of sustained time at 4.0 mph, which would be my best speed ever!

Goal for between now and my run -- get rested up so I've got energy for a good run. 

Run Twenty-eight: I finished C25K!!

Not awesome. But apparently I did okay.

Way way back at the beginning of February, before Run Six, I was strangely anxious and worried and really nervous about running. I went anyway, and it went very poorly. This evening, I had a similar strange anxiety before running -- just nervous and weirdly reluctant and worried about it. Fortunately, the outcome was different this time. The run didn't go wonderfully today, I don't think I made any of my goals for the run, but I did way better than I thought I would. 

I had some bad cramps in my calves (particularly the right calf) for the first eight minutes of running and wound out walking for a bit. When I got back to running after a few minutes, the cramps had pretty much resolved and I was able to keep going. I took another couple minute walk break a bit later and wound out finishing strong. 

Given how weird I felt beforehand, I'll take that as a pretty good outcome. 

And I only missed at least matching my best distance by one one-hundredth of a mile. (I think I must have made the walking time up by walking pretty fast during warm up and cool down.) 

The other big thing from this evening was that this was the last of the "programmed" runs from the C25K app. I have now finished the program!! *does happy dance* :D 

On the other hand, I still can't run for 30 minutes straight and I haven't even gotten close to going 3.1 miles. 

My plan for now, going forward, is to get up to actually running for all 30 minutes. 

Once I've done that, I'll see what kind of distance I'm covering with that and be able to decide what to do. I know there's a 5Kto10K app by the same people who did this one, but I don't know that I'm especially interested in 10K right now (not writing it out forever, just not right now). I've seen an "Improving your 5K" app somewhere that might be just the thing. The British National Health Service has three structured runs as a follow on program for C25K graduates. (Podcasts, not apps, so no route tracking, though I could have a different app do that part.)

Anyway, once I've gotten so I'm running for 30 minutes, with no breaks, I'll explore these options.

Next run is scheduled for Saturday. I suspect I'm going to be on the treadmill again due to the weather. (This spring is coming in tiny little fits and starts.) Goal for the run: Run for all 30 minutes. 

Run Six: Not awesome.

I painted one of my running shoes. Because obsession is like that sometimes.
(c) Sara Rabe, 2015, gouache on paper

I did run six at lunch at work today -- the weather at lunch was merely unpleasant (mid-30s F and wet), when we get home it will be pretty brutal (wind chill around 18 F and winds around 20 miles an hour sustained). I did this with Run Three last week and it worked out just fine, but today not so much.

I was scared and worried  before I went out. Anxious. My heart was racing before I even put on my running shoes. It wasn't that I didn't want to go, exactly. I was just scared of what would happen.

Let me be clear - I work in a heavily travelled and well patrolled part of Annapolis and knew I was going to be running in the middle of the day in the heart of that well patrolled and travelled area. I wasn't scared about my personal safety.

As far as I can tell, I was scared of it not going well. There was some niggling worry that if I didn't go out there and cruise through my goals for the run (which should have been a total softball) Something Bad would happen. Something Bad maybe in the form of losing my motivation to do my next run and the run after that and so on.

Possibly because of fears just like this I have a history of peaking early and low in physical activities -- I took a Tae Kwon Do class in college and got praise for how well I did a particular sort of roll in the second and I never did anything in the class as well again. Not even that roll. I quit after a couple more classes because I was so frustrated.

Anyway, despite being scared of going out there and failing and Something Bad happening, I tied on my shoes and went anyway.

It wasn't a great run. My calves were cramping from before the mid-point on (I'd been feeling so good, I've been slacking on stretching and massaging them). I got horribly winded in the first run (up a little bit of a hill) and never really recovered. My shins were (and are still) a little hurty. And it just didn't feel good.

My goal for the run was to run all 90-seconds of four of the six running intervals and at least sixty seconds of the other two. I did not make my goal. (First time for that, darn it.) I ran all 90 seconds of one, almost all 90 seconds of another, at least sixty seconds of what must be three and completely wimped out on one because my calves were so crampy. I kept moving the whole time, but I didn't run nearly as well or as much as I wanted to.

So now it's on me to avoid Something Bad happening. I'm not going to give up because of one unsatisfying run, for heaven's sake.

My next run is scheduled for Wednesday. I'm going to take a step back in my goals for the run and go for: Run all of at least two of the 90 second intervals and at least 60 seconds of the rest. But mainly, just get out there and go for a run.

Small note on the painting: Drawing and painting are what I do in the evenings when I'm not running. The colors on the painting are pretty accurate but the proportions are off (I really do have toes). I'm sure I'll be drawing my running gear again. And as all the gear I have at this point are my shoes, some socks, and the massaging roller ball, it'll probably be the shoes.