I took a rest day yesterday, and still had a whole 1-pound loss this morning! I always have mixed emotions when that happens, knowing I needed the rest day, but still feeling wary of losing too much in a day. I'm sure it helped that I slept later than usual and that I ate dinner rather early yesterday (4:30) because of a funky work schedule.
For those of you who are still losing and weigh yourself more regularly (I don't count calories, but I'm obsessive about weighing - spreadsheets, graphs, and all that - great motivation for me), do you ever notice patterns related to your running schedule?
mkroyer Good to know, though I don't think I'll be trying it any time soon. Perhaps after the weight comes off, it will be something to look into!
krampus 4 miles to and from work? Do you keep it up in the summer, too, or only in cooler weather? I also live about 2 miles from my office, and have thought about starting to walk to work, but it gets so humid in Taipei, I'm afraid of arriving too sweaty. Maybe I will try it out this weekend when I work in the mornings, and see how that goes!
slowrunner Summer is brutal here too, but walking is my only means of getting to/from work so I just deal with it. My office's climate control is pitiful at best so it hardly makes a difference in the summer!
25 minutes nonstop today with no pain! This is the longest I've run in almost a year since being diagnosed with hip impingement and being told not to do any physical activity until I get surgery. Conservative treatments include PT and letting the pain be my guide, so that's what I'm going by right now. I'll take tomorrow off and try to only do three runs a week. For now, basking in this mini-victory.
Congrats, indiblue! It's got to be frustrating to battle with weight and physical limitations at the same time. I've been trying to stay in tune with what my body has been telling me also, and hopefully I'll be able to avoid injury in the long-term. Keep it up!
As for me, I left a little earlier for work this morning with the aim of walking the 2 miles to get there. Thanks for the motivation, krampus! I normally drive my scooter on the weekends (7 minutes), or take the MRT if it rains (maybe 15 minutes), so doubling my commute time by walking was a foreign concept to me. That may be why, despite the fact that I pride myself on being good at math (I teach math! Shameful!), I completely failed to take into consideration exactly how many minutes it normally takes me to walk a mile! I gave myself 30 minutes for a distance that normally takes me at least 35, even if I jog part of it! And that's not even counting time waiting at stop lights. Luckily, since I live two stops from my work, I just hopped on the train at the next station I passed, and was able to get to work on time. I felt sweaty and gross when I arrived, but I luckily didn't need to see any students for the first hour, and managed to look a little fresher by my first appointment.
In any case, I really enjoyed the walk, and would like to keep it up. It was nice to get off the treadmill, and the breeze and sunshine were so lovely this morning that I wished I could just skip work altogether and spend the day walking around the city. I was even going to walk home from work this evening because I'd cut the morning walk short, but I ended up working 2 hours late, and could think of nothing but dinner by that point. I'll definitely do it again tomorrow, and be a little more realistic about my walking time!
MK - I have pretty average arches, definitely not flat footed, and I'm running in neutral shoes, which are way better for me than the stability shoes I wore pre-surgery. I know there is a whole barefoot proponent movement and while I doubt I will become as passionate about it as some, I think there's a lot to be said for trying something more akin to how our bodies should run, ie: without shoes changing the way you move!
I did get the Bikilas - with my 20% coupon and our dividend, I was out $27 for them. I've worn them around the house and just today went to the grocery store in them. They are insanely comfy for practically non-shoes! I haven't tried running in them, but simply walking in them feels good and I can absolutely tell my body is feeling it - not pain, but things are shifting. I'll keep wearing them for short periods of time and if I can find a track, with some cushioning, I may even try a run!
Ran 3.5 this morning, which is the longest run of my adult life (so wonderful and yet so sad!). It was cold - 40 degrees - but it felt really good. I took Gatorade in one of my fuel bottles and I think it helped, either actually or psychologically! I need to start running with an energy drink, even on short runs, as it is so dry here and soon it'll be 80 degrees at 5am when I run, and I know I need to stay hydrated and keep things balanced. Any suggestions other than Gatorade, which is at least pretty cheap!
Has anyone read Born to Run yet? I am loving that book!
MK, I do have high arches and find that supportive shoes and orthotics make my foot pain worse. I can't wait for my shoes to get here, I'll be hitting the trails for a few miles as soon as they arrive. My DH is super fit and he did find a lot of muscle pain in his calves, so I am expecting that too.
Ran 6km yesterday, replaced today's 6km with a trail walk with a fun friend, and tomorrow or Monday is my long run, 16km this week.
Jules, any time I'm running longer than an hour I add things to my water. Some things to try are: electrolyte tablets, honey, fruit juice. Right now I drop in an electrolyte tab with my water and bring a gel on the run.
I've made a homemade sport drink before consisting of 1/2 cup juice (I used blueberry), 1/8 tsp salt, 2 cups water.
hey everyone, now that it's getting nice out, I'm going to have to join this thread again! I ran 3.5 miles today in beautiful sunny spring weather along the river here
River: I have the Bikilas and I love them!! I actually bought them after reading Born to Run last fall.
I just want to say that although it may be tempting to wear them for a regular run right away and your hubby ran a decent distance right off the bat, proceed with caution! The runners world barefoot forum is full of people who started off trying to go too fast or too far and ended up with injuries. It's hard to start out slow with reduced mileage though because your gait feels so much more natural in the barefoot shoes. However, your stride will likely be modified by them so you'll be using muscles that have been neglected for a long time. The first time I wore them, I ran about a mile and could barely walk for a week. Really, barely walk. We're not just talking about not being able to walk down stairs, but just walk. It took probably a month of really short runs to be able to train my muscles, but then I was getting personal best 5k times every time I ran...it was pretty crazy! I wear them every time I run now and haven't gone running in normal shoes since November. I ran in them all winter -when the ice/snow permitted
Cheryl - very sound advice and something I've read over and over again (and yet I'm sure many people still ignore it!). I'm wearing my Bikilas just around the house and on short walks - as MKRoyer said, my calves are really feeling it already. Strangely, after my knee surgery, I've found my calves seem to be the weakest/tightest part of my body - pre-surgery, it was my hamstrings by far. My calves look strong but they're the body part that aches the most when I run - of course I have to keep in mind that half of pretty much all my runs are uphill, and that's going to have an impact on my lower legs. I stretch my calves before and after any workout and I'm using the foam roller after running, which feels really good. Wearing the Bikilas made my calves REALLY ache, but in that good way where you know you've worked your muscles!
River - thanks for the suggestions on the energy drinks. I got a couple of packets of Cytomax in my race packet from last week so I'll try that, and the Gatorade seemed to help. I've also been told Accelerade is good but it's quite a bit more expensive than Gatorade, so I'm going to try and find a single-serve packet to try it before I spend $30 on a tub!
Today is my rest day, so I'm taking it easy and just enjoying being lazy (except for riding my horse and cleaning the house a bit). I've been finding if I do my "hard" run on Saturday then take Sunday off, my "speed" intervals (I use the term speed loosely for me!) on Monday are so much stronger. Clearly rest days are very beneficial for me - and I worked out six days this past week, so I for sure need this one day off from formal exercise. Can't wait for the mornings to become lighter so I can get out and run four days a week - the late spring and summer are my favorite running times, even though the summer gets hotter than ****!
Well, I'm a big fat liar...I haven't rested at all. I ran a 2 mile warm up the day I promised to do only upper body follow by yoga and a 5 miler Friday. Today I did 10. The good news...the last 3 runs have been the best of the season. Also the swelling in my ankle has decreased dramatically. It's hardly swollen at all today and I'm about 95% pain free. Now that's not to say I haven't learned the lesson or heard all the suggestions. In hind sight I should have taken a week off when it happened in the first place. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your weekend all!
Ran 5.4 miles today...feels GREAT! Strong run...but still a little pain (nagging) in left knee. See how run goes tomorrow...grrrrhhhh!!! I HATE injuries!
When I began running just 10 weeks ago, I never aspired to run farther than 3.1 miles. Heck, just three weeks ago on race day, I told a friend that I was going 3.1 miles and never one step further LOL Today, I covered up the display on the treadmill and told myself I would run until I was de-stressed or until my body refused to move any further.....Well, I ran out of time before either of those happened, and I ran 4.25 miles. I felt like I was floating that last mile, totally in the elusive "zone" I have been searching for.
Ran 5.4 miles today...feels GREAT! Strong run...but still a little pain (nagging) in left knee. See how run goes tomorrow...grrrrhhhh!!! I HATE injuries!
See how run goes tomorrow...grrrrhhhh!!! I HATE injuries!
