Saturday, Sept. 17:

Just over an hour of a Kripalu Yoga beginners' class at a large yoga center about 20 minutes away from here. I signed up for the session that starts Monday. I want to attend two to three classes each week. There wasn't a lot of effort here; I wasn't sweating like in Monday night's class. I felt so good at moments during this class. And had some realizations during one or two poses: I try too hard sometimes. What would life be like if I didn't try as hard?

Then I went to an enormous farmers' market, where parking was insane, reminding me of Saturday shopping near the city. Many people who have been brought into the city of Syracuse through the Refugee Resettlement program seem to do their shopping there, either because it reminds them of shopping in markets in their native countries or because produce costs far less there. I saw women in head coverings of various types and shawls and people of color whom I never see in the village where I grew up, which is just 15 minutes or so away from the city.

The 5K race -- my second 5K ever -- ran right through my little hometown village, so it seemed only fitting that I enter it. Last time I ran a 5K back in 2008 (well, I speed-walked some of it), my time was 38:10. I had a timer thingy attached to my shoe laces, so my slowness is official. This time, I believe that I went faster, but we'll see. For this race, my entry number had two strips pasted along the back, which apparently the sensors read at the finish line. This advance in technology interests me a great deal.

I found a race calendar & can't believe how many 5K races will be run during the coming weeks in the villages & towns & small cities around here. It's this crisp weather that seems to make them proliferate and every area is celebrating Oktoberfests or the harvest, particularly the apple crop coming in, or Halloween. I want to run in them all, but of course, I won't. I'll be checking on how my feet and my knees feel, particularly my arthritic big toe joints.

Sunday, Sept. 18:

My feet actually feel pretty good today. It's my lower back that's bothering me. Perhaps from some of the asanas in yoga?

15 minutes, Stairmaster stepper, aerobic, resistance at six
60 minutes Chest, Shoulders & Triceps routine, a completely new routine for me based on the P90X video. This did not go very well. I had to move my mat and pushup handles out of the way for a big guy using a weight bench & felt self-conscious doing my girlie pushups in the very masculine weight area where all the guys who see each other every Sunday morning were fist-bumping & shoulder-slapping. I forgot some of the moves from the P90X video, though I've watched it several times. And my arms just gave out on me while doing pushups -- I got barely any reps in toward the end.
45 minutes on Nautilus elliptical, half backward, at eight and four, intervals

My time in yesterday's 5K was 32:21:80, a definite improvement over my first 5K run time back in 2008. This is not a very good time. But I've gone running out-of-doors just six times so far this year before running in this race. Until a few weeks ago, I relied solely on spinning and the elliptical and arc trainer for my cardio fitness. It's okay to be slow. I'm a beginner. Who nevertheless ran every step of the way. I've got the breath for it. I have to get used to the pounding and how to pace myself.

That isn't that slow Saef! I think it's pretty awesome......

Sounds like you may sign up for some more races??

Originally Posted by traveling michele:
September 16: 45 minutes elliptical

September 17: took the into to scuba diving class. 60 minutes plus of diving and swimming......

Totals:
17 days
1186 minutes

Feeling like crap still:?::(
Walked with dh and Dewey. Dewey was hot and tired so I had to carry him much of the way. I worked up a good sweat so I'll count it as a workout! ;)

60 minutes plus walking

Totals:
18 days
1246 minutes

Michele, thanks for the kind words on my running time. And I meant to tell you that your Intro to Scuba class sounds SO COOL. If you have a vacation planned for tropical waters this winter, you are going to be all set.

Monday, Sept. 19:

Ran the usual route, counterclockwise, which has an added grade, so it's harder. Also at certain moments the sun was in my face. It was chilly, which was okay for my arms in short sleeves as I warmed up, but at the end, my hands were stiff and slightly numbed with cold. I need some kind of light gloves. Now I'm drinking my second mug of flavored decaf coffee just to wrap my stiff hands around the warm mug & get them moving again.

saef and michele, I think you are both totally :cool: :cool:.

I am getting back to the gymn this week. I was there this morning.

TM - 5 mins
Bike - 5 mins (I really enjoyed this which I don't remember happening in the past. New machine, perhaps?)
Physio exercises (what still? Yes.) - say 20 mins.

As I've remarked somewhere else, the important thing is Not To Overdo It.

Saef, that is an excellent time. You run only a few times after no running in years and you already are blasting away my PR on a 5k! :lol: (For the record, my PR is somewhere around 34:30.)

Yet again I wonder if there is some crucial gene I am missing which makes me the world's biggest slowpoke at all sporting events.

Also Saef, is the arthritis in your toe something that you have had SINCE your weight loss or before? Because if it was before, it may have been gout instead of arthritis and may be gone now with your improved diet.

9/17:
15.5 mile 1:12:35 bike ride

9/18:
28 min dog powerwalk

Off to the gym for some pilates now...

Also on Monday, Sept. 19th:

75 minute Beginner I Kripalu Yoga class


After all, I am very fortunate to find that my mother's house is within a half-hour drive of an excellent yoga studio, where I've signed up for the session that just started today. If the weather holds, and the Saturday class that I'm slotted for doesn't conflict with all the 5K meets in the area, I should be showing up there three times each week. I always meant to try being more serious about yoga.

Jessica, the problem with my toe is called a dorsal bunion, or hallux limitus (or something like that) and has to do with genetics and the physical structure of my foot. Nope, it isn't gout. My father had gout and took medication for it. But my issue has been diagnosed by a podiatrist and confirmed through x-rays of my feet. I told my podiatrist we'd treat it conservatively, that is, that I'd avoid surgery on my foot as long as possible. I have found ways to exercise around it without being in too much pain. I think my feet and legs and body in general are a lot stronger, so maybe that will help me with my problem.

Originally Posted by saef:
Michele, thanks for the kind words on my running time. And I meant to tell you that your Intro to Scuba class sounds SO COOL. If you have a vacation planned for tropical waters this winter, you are going to be all set.

Monday, Sept. 19:

Ran the usual route, counterclockwise, which has an added grade, so it's harder. Also at certain moments the sun was in my face. It was chilly, which was okay for my arms in short sleeves as I warmed up, but at the end, my hands were stiff and slightly numbed with cold. I need some kind of light gloves. Now I'm drinking my second mug of flavored decaf coffee just to wrap my stiff hands around the warm mug & get them moving again.

I recommend these gloves (field-tested by me at various different fleece weights and also in nylon)

http://www.manzella.com/

Dagmar :cool:

Saef, you will love the title of the pilates video I did yesterday...

9/19 pilates:
15 min Beyonce Bootylicious Bum Butt Badonkadonk Bonanza
10 min Crazy Core Workout

9/20:
30 min dog powerwalk (about 2 miles)
planning bike ride this evening.

Gee, Jessica, which body part did that Pilates video focus on? ;-)

Tuesday, Sept. 20:
15 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance at six
60 minutes back & biceps routine
45 minutes Nautilus elliptical, half backward, intervals at eight and four

Okay, I am officially unpleasant to be around when I plan a morning workout for 6 AM but can't make it due to work deadlines and have to go after 5 PM instead. I'm on edge all day. Partly from anxiety at maybe not getting to do what I'd planned to do, partly from not burning off my usual base level of anxiety from cardio, and partly from lack of the serotonin jolt, which I badly need these days, as on many mornings, I awaken feeling low.

Listening to "Da Butt" on replay on the machine, thinking of becoming Bootylicious.

Actually that's one of my most hated body parts because of something my mother once said:

"You've got a big ***, but it's flat."

I can still remember her telling me this. I think I was 17 & in a dressing room somewhere. Since I was a slim child who became a fat teenager, many horrors took place in that setting.

Anyway, after that I knew I was deformed in some way, and really hated my backside. Now it's smaller but it has that cellulite texture. It is not Bootylicious unless you are a large curd cottage cheese lover.

Wednesday, Sept. 21:

Again, I had trouble launching, not leaving for the gym till close to 7 AM. But once I got there:

60 minutes, Stairmaster stepper, aerobic intervals, resistance at 4


I dropped the resistance lower to see if I could last an hour, hands free. I was mostly hands free, though not completely, not on the steepest grades. This machine is the devil. I have to press down my feet and lift up quickly & very shallowly to prevent the whole contraption from sinking downward. I was trying to keep my weight on my mid-foot, rather than toe or heel. The small of my back didn't like this exercise much. That's a surprise. My core muscles aren't really weak -- three hours of Pilates mat work weekly for the past year means my core is actually doing okay. Must be a posture issue: I have to figure out a better posture. Or maintain a steady gaze forward rather than glancing down at the instrument panel all the time. Also, the machine is not placed well in the gym for mirror checks.

This gym doesn't make me happy. I do not look forward to going there, the way I did to my old gym. Time to scout out other gyms, and put up with having to make a half-hour drive to get to them. I'll just have to get up at 4 AM instead of 5 AM. Ugh.

9/20 addendum: 7 mile bike ride (easy, ~35 min)

Saef, if you are considering butt workouts definitely check out the one I mentioned on youtube! :lol: I totally couldn't keep up with it at all. The first 7:30 or so of the 15 min video has you in a one-legged bridge without any breaks. I think my butt was maybe half an inch off the floor if I could get it off the floor at all.

Also, re: the stairmaster. The stairmaster is a punishing machine. I think this is why I love them so much and am so sad that most newer gyms don't have them. If you are stepping very shallowly or have to use your hands, you have the level turned up too high. I wouldn't call it "resistance" because it is really a *lack* of resistance when you level up (more like an assisted pull-up machine, where more weight means it's easier to do). The work should be done by the leg that is on the "top" step. Rather than pushing the step down, imagine that you are on a real staircase and are lifting your body up. When you step shallowly it's like climbing a very shallow staircase. The deeper you step is basically like a steeper staircase. The trick is to find somewhere in the middle, where you are still stepping high enough to get some glute action in there but not so high that you can't keep up and start to sink.

Originally Posted by paperclippy:
a one-legged bridge

You know I talk about doing physio exercises? This is one I'm working towards being able to do. At all. 7.5 minutes? :faint:

I didn't go to the gymn this morning as I decided to move a load of old computers and so on out of the office and over to the tip. Weight training, you see. My back is moaning that I didn't unjam it properly at the gymn first.

Just my opinion, but 60 minutes on a stairmaster is too much. It's no wonder your back hurts, saef. Is 60 a "magic number" for you? That is, you feel compelled to do machines for that long?

I have never gone more than 15 minutes on a stairmaster. I go from the stairmaster to 20 minutes walking on the treadmill, or I'll go from 20 minutes on a bicycle to the stairmaster, or I'll do 15 minutes rowing machine, 15 minutes stairmaster, and then some number of minutes on the treadmill walking. I'm not saying this a better way--just listing it to show that there are different ways to approach exercise machines.

Jay