Posts Tagged ‘yoga’
29 Weeks and Counting: A Run For Your Lives Update
I skipped my weekly countdown to Run For Your Lives last weekend. Sorry; last weekend was crazy busy, the following work week was even busier, and now, as I sit sidelined with an injury, is the first real time I’ve had in a while to sit down and collect my thoughts.
Okay, not entirely true. I posted about my planned month-long attempt at intuitive eating that started on April 1st. So far, so good. I’m feeling mentally good, I’m feeling physically good, and I am truly looking forward to weighing in on May 1st and hopefully seeing a significant loss.
I’m going to combine this update with the story of my 2nd 5K, because the two are very closely related. So before I go on to describe the update of my training plan for Run For Your Lives, let me tell you a bit about our experience at the 3rd Annual Buffalo Crossing 5K in Munfordville, Kentucky.
This was a much smaller race with about 150 participants as opposed to the 500+ present at last weekend’s Family Enrichment Center 5K. Not a problem. It was also in my hometown, which was a nice bonus. (After the race, we went to visit my parents. And I actually saw my dad during the race, because he is the president of the local Rescue Squad and they volunteered to block off the intersections so we didn’t get run over. He was our only cheering section during the entire race except for the finish line.
And a quick photo of Tina and I before the race… much warmer than last weekend, which was nice. (Note: You can also see the tattoo on my lower left leg that I want to get removed at some point.)
The race started in Thelma Stovall Park by Green River. I realize if you aren’t from Munfordville, that pretty much means nothing to you. Just know that it meant that, as soon as the race started, we would have a VERY steep, 1/8 mile climb out of Thelma Stovall Park to get to the historic downtown streets where the rest of the 5K took place.
I don’t mind saying that the first hill kicked our butts. It is seriously a tremendously steep hill. It is probably the steepest hill I have ever walked up. Very few people were even able to jog up it.
The rest of the race went up and down the remarkably hilly streets of Munfordville. It was a surprisingly strenuous course. Even though I more or less grew up in Munfordville, (I actually lived in the country NEAR Munfordville), I had no idea how hilly this little town of 1,700 people actually was.
The last ½ mile of the course took us back to Thelma Stovall park where we finished on a very uneven, rocky, dangerous “walking” course. It would have been tremendously easy to turn an ankle. I was very relieved to finally cross the finish line at fifty-ish minutes. I can’t give you a time more exact than that because the timing system was… well, it was pretty much a guy with a clipboard and a stopwatch.
My thoughts on this race: Suckfest. Hated it. I am SO glad I did the 5K I did last weekend first, because if this had been the first road race I had EVER done, I would probably have never done another one. It was poorly organized, and those of us who signed up for the walk (instead of the run) were told at the start line that we were not allowed to run. Pfft. Tina and I ran past the guy who announced that just for spite. I get his point; people who ran during the walk portion can throw off their awards system. Well, I had no plans to place high enough as a walker or runner to receive a medal.
As far as race swag, nothing but a t-shirt. I will concede that it is a nice t-shirt, even if it is the brightest pink I’ve ever seen.
Last weekend at my 5K, I said I was going to write the name of someone who inspired me on my arm as inspiration. I thought that was a great idea, as a lot of people have inspired me to get to this point. While that remains true, the words of Carla a.k.a MizFit also rang really strongly in my ears this week, too.
“I am my own superhero.”
Truer words have never been spoken. While I am grateful to everyone (and I forget tons of people off of the list I posted last weekend – one of my main fears for creating such a list!), I must also acknowledge that I am doing this for me. So I did this 5K with no sharpie tattoos. All me.
I wish I could keep this 5K story from being a total downer, but I’m afraid I have even more bad news. I have a pretty severe case of bursitis at the moment.
Okay, maybe it’s not severe. Maybe it’s mild. All I know is that there is clearly an inflammation on the back of my right heel, it hurts in a BIG way, and I am currently hobbling when I walk.
I’m blaming it on three things. One, I am obese. That’s obviously a big contributor.
Two, my shoes suck. They are old and clearly no longer do the work they should. (Tina and I took a trip to Shoe Carnival this afternoon to remedy this.)
And three, I pound when I run or walk, and I was running/walking on pavement. Bad move. I’ve really, sadly come to the conclusion that I am not meant to run on pavement until I’ve lost some more weight. Last weekend, my right heel hurt pretty severely, and I was pretty much on ice-pack detail for two days. Same this weekend, only it hurts more. I’m not insane; something must change.
So, the 5K plan is being temporarily scrapped. I still hope to someday do 223 5Ks, but while I am now two down, the other 221 are going to have to wait for a while. It does me no good to injure myself and prevent me from doing any substantial exercise.
Now, all that being said, I do still have the Run For Your Lives coming up on October 22nd, and I am still immensely excited about it. It’s not just a 5K; it’s also an obstacle course. So there is still TONS of training that I can do.
I’m going to continue doing 5Ks at the gym. The treadmill is more cushioned than pavement, and it doesn’t hurt. (Please note – if it starts hurting on the treadmill, too, then I’ll have to modify this yet again.)
The Run For Your Lives is also an obstacle course, so there is plenty of strength and agility training we can do, too. We’re going to keep hitting the weight room hard. We’re going to keep doing yoga and stretching, and we’re going to incorporate some plyometrics, too.
Zombies beware. I may be injured (note to Zombies: my right heel is especially tough, so if I am caught and you decide to eat me, I won’t be offended if you give my right heel to your zombie dogs.) but I am not down.
Zombie movie of the week?
28 Days Later.
Just a little over six months to go. I’ve still got TONS of training left to do!
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33 Weeks to Go and Counting: A Run For Your Lives Update
I can’t believe how ultimately simple it was for me to enjoy the process of starting to jog. I am not running yet. I am still slow. If today were October 22, 2011, I would be zombie chow. (And to be honest – I think I might even want a zombie medal instead of a survivor medal… still not sure.) But I am in the process of walking and jogging my 5Ks (all on the treadmill). My time is steadily increasing.
My first 5K was 56:47. Then I bumped it up to 53:36. Today?
52:24. I am getting progressively quicker. Okay, still slow. I get that, but you know what? For me, this is EPIC.
And the best part? I’m enjoying it!
Today, I put my DVD player on the elliptical (below is a picture from a workout about a week ago), play Supernatural (just started Season 3), and I walk two minutes at 3.2 and jog one at 4.1. I realize that for a lot of people, 4.1 miles per hour is a fast walk. For me, it’s a jog. I’m in “jogging motion,” so to speak. But I’m finding it gets progressively easier. Today, I did one minute of jogging for every two minutes of walking. Tomorrow, I’m going to bump the jogging time up a bit. I’m concentrating on jogging the ENTIRE 5K at 4.1 miles per hour before I work on my speed.
During today’s 5K, I realized the change that made me enjoy it.
I HATE Couch to 5K! It is too freaking difficult to time and I get bored… I’m either stopping jogging too soon when I want to walk or I feel like I have to jog for too long too early. C25K has done miracles for some people, but I think I am better off just listening to my own body and slowly increasing my jogging time.
And I’ve got another piece of running related news to share. I am signing up for my first 5K. It’s not my first sign up (that honor will always be with Run For Your Lives), but this one is happening first. It’s in my hometown of Munfordville, Kentucky (population 1,700). I’m signing up for this one because it has the benefit of a 5K Walk option. I’m not quite ready to run 3.1 miles, but I fully expect to walk and jog this one. And who knows? Maybe I can even break 45 minutes. It’s on April 2nd, and I can’t wait!
(BTW, if you look at the picture closely, you’ll notice I circled the wrong age division. Wishful thinking, perhaps?)
Don’t worry. I’m not just doing cardio in training. Tina and I continue to lift weights. Even though I’ve already gotten a 5K in today, we’re doing yoga tonight. Run For Your Lives is also an obstacle course, so we’re working on strength and flexibility, too.
Zombie movie of the week?
Zombie 4: After Death.
A friend gave it to me YEARS ago. It’s on VHS. Watching a VHS movie is going to feel like building a fire with flint or something. I’m not even sure if Zombies 1 thru 3 even exist… It’s been eons since I’ve watched this, and I remember it sucked. I’m sure it still does.
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Run For Your Lives!
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time at all, you may have encountered my attempts to become a runner. I’ve tried Couch to 5K at least three times, and each time, I just can’t stick to it.
It’s not that I become injured or necessarily even in pain. I just end up so freaking bored that a part of me hopes I’ll get hit by a car while jogging just so something interesting may happen.
I love exercise. As soon as our financial situation is in better condition, I’m going to start taekwondo again. (I left at senior 1st degree black belt, and I am dying to test for probationary 2nd!) Tina and I both love lifting weights in the gym. I even like yoga, as I find it rather soothing and the perfect exercise to do before bed. (It’s also exercise that I need to do more often, as I am ridiculously inflexible.)
However, running… meh. I can tolerate doing cardio, but the Couch to 5K program just doesn’t appeal to me. The last time I did it, I resolved to simply not becoming a runner. That made me sad, because I love reading various runners’ blogs and living vicariously through the joy they clearly experience.
Well, a little. I think bleeding nipples and blackened toenails is just ten kinds of crazy, but aside from that, I do like the idea of getting to race periodically and getting a t-shirt for it.
But something happened yesterday, and things have changed a bit.
Steve posted a link on Facebook of a run in Darlington, Maryland. The run was called Run For Your Lives, and it was being held on October 22, 2011. It looked like your typical Halloween fun run, I thought, where you do a 5K while dressed up as a zombie. I think the very idea is amazingly cool, but it wasn’t enough to get me to actually sign up.
But then I clicked on the link. Go ahead. Go visit. I’ll wait for you.
Are you back?
Holy crap!
It’s more than just a race. It’s a race for your life! You are literally chased by zombies through a 5K obstacle course that has multiple routes and obstacles through it, and you are running to survive. (I assume they are Zombieland zombies and not Night of the Living Dead zombies, because really… anybody can outrun the black and white zombies.) You wear flags, as in flag football, and if the course zombies get your flag, you can’t win, you can only place as a zombie.
Can you hear my childish squeals of glee?
Tina is as excited about it as I am. We’re signing up.
Err, scratch that.
We have already signed up.
That’s right. I weigh over 350 pounds, but I am officially committed to running a 5K zombie-infested obstacle course in eight and a half months.
Okay, so that means it is time to train, right? Right.
Well, I’ve established that I suck at Couch to 5K. So I’ve got to come up with a different plan.
Granted, we have eight and a half months, but I know that time will slip away from us before we realize it.
Keep in mind, this is more than just a 5K. It is also an obstacle course where we will LITERALLY be chased. Therefore, strength and flexibility will also be important skills.
So, for training, I am committing to the following.
Endurance – at least three cardio sessions per week, slowly increasing the amount of my jogging until I can actually jog a 5K. Just for the practice of it, we plan to run a normal, non-zombie-infested 5K before the Run For Your Lives race.
Flexibility – at least two yoga sessions per week, along with daily stretching.
Strength – We’ll do four strength sessions a week as well. We do this anyway. I don’t know how important strength will be during this obstacle course, but I’m picturing the possibility that I may need to scale a wall or something. Regardless, strength will be an asset, no matter what the course looks like.
Zombie Survival – We’re going to watch one horror movie a week. We’re also watching the t.v. show Angel every night before bed (I’m slowly introducing Tina to the wonder that is the Buffy-verse), and I’m thinking that watching a vampire fight crime might offer skills that can transfer to surviving a 5K zombie apocalypse.
And hopefully, a wonderful side effect of this training is that I will weigh about 80 pounds less by then. We’ll see…
This is a big event for us. Darlington, Maryland is about twelve hours away from us by car, so we are making a big commitment by signing up for this race. But you know what? I am so excited, it is driving me through every workout right now. Every move I make, every muscle contraction, every stretch, every bench press, every squat, is in training for this event now. And on October 23rd, I’ll have something to show for it. I’ll either have a medal that says I survived, or I’ll be giving some zombie indigestion. Either way, it’ll be a fun eight and a half months of training leading up to it.
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A Yoga Weigh-In
Quick, quick post today, mostly because if it’s a long post, I’ll just end up bitching for a really long time.
Today has largely sucked. I have eye problems. The doctor called it a corneal infection and irisitis or something else that sounds made up, but all I know is that I’ve spent $105 so far on two office visit and eye drops that make the back of my throat taste bad.
No, I swear I’m not drinking them, but apparently, the taste of them somehow ends up from my eyes in my throat. Six times a day. And I’ve got blurry vision.
And to put the icing on the cake of suck, I got a traffic citation this morning for not coming to a full stop at a stop sign. And then when he saw my POS car, he added another $20 to the ticket because my windshield is cracked.
I hate hypocrites. Unless that cop has always come to a complete and full stop at every stop sign he has ever encountered, he is a hypocrite for giving me a traffic ticket.
Oh, and the best part of this story? It’s in a quiet neighborhood where the stop sign doesn’t even need to be and you can clearly see that no one is coming from a good half mile away. Frankly, even a rolling stop is pretty freaking generous. I know this neighborhood is quiet because it is MY neighborhood. I was literally pulled over in my driveway. I’m going to call the County Attorney on Monday morning and see if I can get this ticket put on the shelf. I’d be okay with a ticket if my actions could have caused harm to someone else. I was not speeding irresponsibly. I did not speed through a stop sign in a location where you can’t see around a corner or there is anyway anything could dart out in front of you.
Hate hypocrisy. This is why God has never given me super brain powers, because if he had, there would be a LOT of people lying around in bloody chunks.
Oh, and the kicker? For the past three days and about another week more, I can’t work out. Apparently, any type of strain could exacerbate the cloud of infection currently living in my head.
So, in an attempt to make this NOT a complete and utter bitch fest, I’m going to concentrate only on good things from here on out.
To start off with, here are some good things in the world.
You probably didn’t get a traffic citation today. I’m happy for you. Truly I am. Unless you are a cop. And if so, please reference the explosion picture above.
I have a lot of friends and loved ones who care about me. Huge bonus there.
I have a roof over my head. I pay a mortgage on said roof, but I’m much happier paying a mortgage than paying rent. At least I’m building equity.
I never have to worry about where my next meal is coming from.
I never have to go to bed hungry.
I never have to worry about having clean drinking water.
I have a job. That I enjoy. With people I enjoy. Eh, let’s be honest. I freaking love my job! Do wish it paid more, but I’d probably think that if I was that loser who invented Facebook. (BTW, friend me on Facebook! The link is on my main blog page.)
I’m married to my best friend.
I have four animals who are, despite being immensely irritating, immensely entertaining. Oh, and we have determined that Malcolm’s (one of our dogs) entirely vocabulary consists of four words. Eat, speak, sit, and poop.
Even if I can’t get my citation put on the shelf, I will come up with the money to pay it.
My life is good. I just have to keep reminding myself that.
Oh, and this is a Yoga Weigh-in, because while I can’t do strenuous exercise, I REFUSE to do nothing. This is Yoga Week.
January 28, 2011
Last Week’s Weight: 359.0
Today’s Weight: 358.1
Change from All-Time High: -44.7 pounds
Change from Last Week: -0.9 pounds
It isn’t amazing, but I’ll take it. And this next week will be a nice experiment to see if I can lose weight without spending hardcore time in the gym. Instead, I’ll be relaxing at home with a huge mass of eye infection on the right side of my head, doing yoga.
And just to leave this post on a high funny note, here are four of the funniest meme I have ever seen.
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