10/14: 30 min dog powerwalk this morning

Gary, that is a really touching story about those kids whose parents weren't there to cheer for them.

I think what is the most frustrating about those moments at the end of a race are when you see how many people are already done and realize how far back you are. Like for me, last year I did a sprint triathlon that was at a park. Now, I nearly made my goal time and was going really fast FOR ME, but I still came in close to dead last. The most frustrating thing was coming back from the bike segment and having to slow down to weave around the pedestrians who had already finished their run and were headed to the parking lot (which yes, is a failure of the race administrators for not keeping them out of the way, but still). It was also frustrating on the run to see all the people walking to the parking lot which was along the run course. BUT, I really appreciated those people going to their cars who cheered for me.

Saef, it is so hard to sort out our own feelings of inadequacy. I see your race times and I envy you, because despite the times I have done training programs and pushed myself really hard, I have never been able to pull off anything so fast. I pick up training books and get depressed when it says something like, "This is a book for the slow people," and then the program is based on being able to run 10mins/mile, which is super fast for me. On the other hand, when I have done races and I finish faster than the last time, or I finish a longer distance, I still feel great because at least I DID IT and there are so many people out there who never did.

Okay, now I am going to be depressed all day about my perpetual injuries. :p

Jessica I know how you feel. I remember the first 5K I did...walked it...my son was in cross country, my daughter walked it with me and Angie walked with me instead of running. My son ran the race then ran back to meet me about 1/2 then walked with all of us in. If I was last I was damn close!

As I got better I could run them, although slow....but no matter how fast I got when I got to the beer garden the real runners were already drunk! :D

I have to say though, once I went to walking them as I got older, I met a lot of nice people in the back of the race.

Keep going gals...get to the front of that pack!! You're almost there! :carrot:

Hooray! Book fair is over and I exercised!:carrot::carrot:

Oct. 11: none
Oct. 12: none
Oct. 13: none

Oct. 14: 90 minutes Bikram Yoga

Totals:
11 days
732 minutes

Saturday, Oct. 15:

60 minutes on Cybex arc trainer, hill intervals, resistance at nine, and this was a real workout. Glad to be back on this machine at my new gym.
60 minute beginning Kripalu yoga class

Sunday, Oct. 16:

7:32 rowing on the Concept 2 at my new gym got me just over 1,500 meters, and I stopped there, having tired myself out. I don't remember how to pace myself to do 2,000 meters. It's been a while since I rowed that, not having had access to an erg machine.

60 minutes back and biceps routine, with an awful lot of lat pulldowns. My new gym has all kinds of great equipment, but not a Gravitron.

45 minutes stationary bike, halfway with the bike's height set at No. 2, and resistance at a steady 9, then the rest of the way with the bike's height set at No. 3, resistance at 8.

60 minutes yoga class. This was an exercise in humility. I've been going to a beginner Kripalu yoga class three times a week. But this seemed to be a vinyasa class at a much higher level, and I was lost and physically incapable of following parts of the class. No headstand. None of those inversions with one toe pointed straight up in the air. In fact I have enough trouble going down in runner's lunge, keeping my head up & back straight & managing to get all five fingers on the ground. What is it with my thighs, hips and haunches?

Quick post before I turn out the light. I've been in the garden for a few days, sorting out the border and cutting hedges. I'm doing 20 mins on, 20 mins off in an attempt not to overdo it.

Saef, I've missed your news about the new gymn. Is this the one with the hopeless person who didn't turn up? A gymn to which you gave, graciously, the benefit of the doubt? Or is it somewhere else which has emerged out of the early morning mist?

Good work, everyone! Breath! Stretch!

Oct. 15: after working a million hours (felt like) at the book fair, I had to be up at 4 am to work my second job. I tried to go to the gym-- got as far as my gym clothes and shoes on, my water packed, and gave up. Just couldn't drag myself there.

Oct. 16: hopefully can get back on schedule! today-- 90 minutes Bikram Yoga. It was an interesting class because since I started these classes 6 months ago, I am always in the middle row in class (there are three rows). Like most people, I stay in a similar spot each class. Today the instructor asked if anyone was new in their first 2 weeks and the woman in front of me raised her hand. The instructor asked me to switch with her because they don't want newbies in the front-- she said that the "experienced" students need to be in front to lead the others. I was right next to the instructor with the mirror in front of me. I was so self conscious trying to do everything just right. This instructor is a real stickler for form and she corrected me multiple times (to be fair--- she corrected most people). It was exceptionally hot and I was just dripping, plus trying so hard to do everything just right-- I was even more exhausted afterwards! :carrot:

Totals:
12 days
822 minutes

Birchie, yes, it's the gym where the "trainer"* never showed up for my orientation at 10 AM on a Sunday, and no one ever called to explain. After giving them several days, I called to complain. (I had the devil of a time trying to find out where the franchise's main office was. They kept claiming they were local but really seem to have come out of Ohio.) Two days after I complained, someone else called & offered to show me the place. He made a sale almost right away, after offering an apology, mostly because the price was decent and I was drooling over all the new equipment and the full slate of classes, particularly the 5:45 AM & evening spin classes, which are harder to come by around here than where I used to live. Also I saw some pretty seriously fit-looking people on the machines and in the free weight section. Turns out the local professional hockey team trains there, though I've been unable to identify any individual hockey players for certain. (I do not follow this sport.) The spin classes are full of runners, and on Friday they are all talking about the races they plan to run, and then, on Monday, what the races were like. They do marathons & half-marathons & so I shared nothing about my recent goal of cracking 30 minutes on a 5K.

Monday, Oct. 17

45 minute spin class, with some serious resistance going, and the instructor complimenting me on doing really good with the resistance today. The instructor ran a half-marathon on Saturday, then ran six miles on Sunday in a local marathon, trying to encourage flagging friends.

I'm mentally contrasting the spin class members here (which include some muscular large males) with the Russian mafia wife in my downstate Pilates class, who seems to run a tanning salon as a hobby. It's a different type of gym goer here most definitely.


* These are really fit-looking salesmen, rather than people who are knowledgeable about fitness, exercise or gyms. They have formica desks in one section of the gym & it looks like a shady boiler room stock or real estate sales operation, like in "Glengarry Glenn Ross."

10/15: 40 min doggie powerwalk
10/16: 30 min bike ride, 15 min dog walk
10/17: 30 min doggie powerwalk

Also on Monday, Oct. 17:

1 hour beginning Kripalu yoga class, with the class starting to learn inversions

Oct. 17: My 60 minute body pump class was changed to a 30 min. body pump class followed by (I think it was called) CRX for 30 minutes which used bands for resistance and was mainly core work.

Totals:
13 days
882 minutes

Oct. 18: 60 minutes elliptical

Totals:
14 days
942 minutes

Tuesday, Oct. 18:

I'd much rather go to the gym first thing in the morning, almost entirely for the psychological relief of having done one good thing for myself before the day's onslaught begins. Tuesday was one relentless barrage of emails from which I hardly looked up till nearly 6 PM. Then dinner. Then gym. And the gym was jampacked at 6:30 PM, and the weight section was all guys, and me with my little five-, eight-, 10- and 12-pound weights, trying to get a bench, then moving off to the tiny corner under the stairs where I'd placed my mat and pushup handles.

20 minutes warmup, aerobic setting, resistance at five, on the Stairmaster stepper
60 minutes triceps, shoulders and biceps routine, the one with the pushup intervals. Finally, I am getting better at doing pushups. But I feel self-conscious about doing them in front of all those large, very fit guys. As self-conscious as I felt when first visiting a gym when I was fat.
40 minutes Stairmaster stepper, aerobic, resistance upped to six, and this was difficult & tiring, though the movements are small.

Tried something new yesterday. Have read descriptions of lunge-walking and decided to give it a try in the small park where I take my remaining creaky girl. I did 4 sets of 15 lunge-walk steps (if that makes sense) :dizzy:

Wow! Very tiring and my whole butt aches today. I think I'll try it again when it's not pouring rain so probably Friday.

Dagmar :cool:

Wednesday, Oct. 19:

45 minute spin class
60 minute beginner Kripalu yoga class

My back and shoulders are still sore from yesterday's workout. I felt fine when I woke up but it set in as the day went on.

Oct. 19: 30 minutes boot camp
30 minutes Core/bands class

Totals:
15 days
1002 minutes

Thursday, Oct. 20:

About 10:33 rowing on the Concept 2 to reach 2,000 meters, a very humbling number, which demonstrates to me how one has to stay in practice with this to stay up to speed. But everyone who's ever been on a crew team and has gotten up before dawn to practice knows this already: It takes constant practice.
45 minutes arm & shoulders routine, which is feeling like an old friend, and I'm debating doing the whole routine twice, rather than once, which is what Tony Horton tells people to do on the P90X video.
45 minutes Alpine climb at resistance of eight on the stationary bike

Behind again!

10/18: 30 mins pilates "total body bangin' workout"
10/19: 30 mins stationary bike, hill program level 6

Jessica, I want to do a Total Body Banging Workout too!

But mostly I am wondering, does the workout bang your body, that is, beat you up till you're wiped out, or does your body end up being bangin' as a result of the workout, that is, very bang-able ... I'd better not go any further with that verb or adjective.

Friday, Oct. 21:

45 minute spin class, and yesterday's aches are working themselves out. But I feel like a zombie from lack of sleep last night.

Thank you, saef. That's enough now. :o

Gymn this morning. It's going OK and I'm making progress but I still woke up with a stiff back.

I received an email this morning that my winning prize will be dropped off to Angie on Monday afternoon at a yoga class she is teaching at the studio.

Pretty sure I will never see it!

And I am smart enough not to ask questions! lol

Here is my gift ...

FIRST PLACE: A package of body products, candles and books from the Chopra Center for Wellbeing - Value $300 and a free copy of the Home Cooked Comforts ebook.

Thanks once again for all of you that voted here to help me win...

big hug!

LOL Saef, at the beginning of the workout she says, "I hope that name isn't offensive to anybody!" A little of both I think. As with most Pilates workouts, it's as hard as you make it. I did the "beginner" version of most of the moves.

Saturday, Oct. 22:

60 minutes stationary bike, Alpine climb, resistance at nine
60 minutes beginner Kripalu yoga


Then I was walking around an antique show for a couple hours.

Sunday, Oct. 23:

I ran in a 5K Race for the Cure, this one in honor of an area resident, Carol Baldwin, who's the mother of the Baldwin brothers, the actors. (I believe Alec Baldwin is the eldest son.). Carol Baldwin is a double mastectomy survivor & arrived at the race in a wheelchair to see us off. And there were a lot of us, rubbing our arms & shivering, with gray clouds overhead but sun breaking through at last.

Anyway, the good news is ... I now have a new personal best time. I broke through 32 minutes, running it in 31:37 net time and 31:39 gun time. (When I'm done posting here, I'm off somewhere to look up the definition and why the times differ.)

I wore headphones for the first time, which may have helped me maintain a better tempo. But also I was watching my form, specifically, thinking about a few tips I've read online: Looking straight ahead, trying to keep my arms from going up or crossing my midsection while pumping, and trying to land on the front part of my foot, rather than on the heel or midfoot. (I had been heel-striking, partly because of some idea that because this was the way to use an elliptical, it was also a good way to run.) Also I leaned just a fraction forward, rather than bolt upright, which seemed to be a good move, as I had no back soreness during the run or after the run.

This race was exciting because there was an altruistic hum in the air. It's the whole anti-breast cancer movement. (Which I have mixed feelings about -- for some of the same reasons Barbara Ehrenreich enumerates in her book "Blindsided.") What's interesting is how many runners dedicated the race to someone. They had a tag, like your number tag, which you could put on your back. Mine was dedicated to my mother, who has been a breast cancer survivor for nearly three years now. I was both heartened and saddened by how many people had these personal dedications on their shirts.

Note to self: Next time you run in this kind of event, wear a pink shirt.

This was the one event that I've run in where participants actually wore the event's official shirt that you got at registration. (Maybe to keep warm.)

BTW, every run I've participated in so far has served free bagels. Is the bagel official running food throughout the U.S. or is it a northeastern thing?

I'm doing double cat visits tomorrow and Tues. so no exercise in the a.m. I did double the sets of reps with the weights this morning to try to compensate for this coming Tues. I can feel things starting to stiffen up now, although I was fine at 6 a.m. when I did the reps. I will know my butt is there tonite. :p

I also did the last of our required work at the sailing/paddling club. It was a beautiful day and I was all alone at the club, except for a gaggle of Canada geese. They became accustomed to my walking past them within minutes and were following me at the end, hoping for a handout. Magnificent birds but quite jaded by urban living. I toted 10 garbage binful's of debris out to the road and our little strip of beach (the paddlers are kinda ignored by the rest of the club and off in a corner) looked good when I was done.

Good evening all!

Dagmar (lift that barge, tote that bale) :cool:

SAEF Bagels at races is very common at 5K and Marathon events...as well as bananas and oranges. Runners eat these for a "carb load" prior to running. A lot of the bigger races around here have get togethers for their 5K and marathon teams at the local pasta joints to load up the night before...a very fun tradition here with some of our high school cross-country teams too for carb loading and bonding.

So runners still carb-load, EZ? In this era of low-carb and paleo eating, the practice continues? Well good for them, for the sake of the bonding, anyway.

Monday, Oct. 24:

45 minute spin class with the teacher who pushes us into putting on maximum resistance
60 minute beginner Kripalu yoga class, with the teacher going into the idea of one pose flowing into the other

Oh my goodness! ABSOLUTELY! At least the well trained ones I know and a well known guy around our parts...now friend and past coach in college of my son...a guy by the name of Steve Scott...you may have heard of him ;)

Looking at the shape of these runners I am pretty sure they don't worry about their carbs :)

Now, as for me, I carb load with pizza and beer AFTER the race :D

October 20: none-- traveling to see dd

October 21: 30 minutes elliptical on dd's elliptical (much harder than those at the gym! Sweating and gasping for breath!)

Oct. 22: 30 min. on dd's elliptical again

Oct. 23: none-- traveling back home

Oct. 24: 30 minutes body pump class and 30 min. core/bands class

Totals:
18 days
1122 minutes

EZ, I hear so much about low-carbing and paleo eating on the Internet ... maybe I need to get out more & spend time around actual runners to see how they live and train.

As for me:

Tuesday, Oct. 25:

20 minutes warmup on the Stairmaster stepper, aerobic setting, resistance at six
60 minutes triceps, shoulders and chest routine -- the one with the pushups. Also, since the free weight area was relatively unpopulated, I laid myself back on a weight bench and tried an unloaded bar for bench presses. I'd been using a 50-lb barbell and before the flood, had gone up to 60-lb barbell, so I was able to handle it. It's a bit more awkward to hold but I was able to do it comfortably.
40 minutes on the Stairmaster stepper, resistance at six, and this felt doable, as if I'd figured out the balance and foot placement

Saef, eating enough carbs is critical for endurance athletes! You will often find if you look that the people on the internet who focus on the low-carb/paleo type diets are people who focus on weight lifting, body building, etc. You need a lot of protein to build muscles and not a lot of carbs. However, you need those carbs to run a marathon (maybe not so much for a 5k).

The goal of carbo-loading is to store up glycogen in the muscles. The glycogen is then used during the endurance activity to provide energy to the muscles. Carbo-loading, though, is really a complex issue and not as simple as "eat spaghetti the night before." Also, it is key for endurance athletes to consume high glycemic index carbohydrate *while* exercising (the gu, gels, shot blocks, etc. -- basically salted sugar) to provide a continuous stream of glucose to the body to use as fuel.

In any case, I'm obviously not an expert on the issue, but carbs are important for endurance athletics. That said, the post-race food is usually just junky stuff for people to feel like they earned a right to eat. ;) I often see cookies and muffins at races. Personally, after running a race, I have never been able to eat anything because my stomach gets upset -- all I could ever handle was gatorade. DH on the other hand chows down on the bagels and muffins and then feels guilty later. :lol: Post-workout recovery meals should include both carbs and protein, which is why they've been pushing chocolate milk so much lately and you'll find it at a lot of races.

JESSICA I am living proof that you can run a 5K w/o carbs...on coffee alone....maybe why my times are not that good! ha!

SAEF a lot of the food provided at 5K's is just what businesses are willing to donate. Back when times were real good some of our 5K's had full on pizza making trucks from Freschetta.

It's been 10 years now but Angie and I trained with an excellent program here to do our marathon. We were broke into our areas of ability but I have to say it sure was inspiring watching and learning from those elites and just damn good runners!

Thanks, EZ and Jessica, for helping me figure out the running culture.

I'm an interloper and a rank amateur, since for many weeks, I don't run at all, not till the race. But I can't shake my admiration of runners.


Wednesday, Oct. 26:

45 minute spin class, tough as usual, as the marathon-training instructor was doing tabatas with us
60 minute beginner Kripalu yoga, with the instructor who's into breathing and being gentle.
What a contrast between them.

Oct. 25: 30 minutes running on treadmill

Oct. 26: 30 minutes Boot camp plus 30 minutes CX core/bands class

Totals:
20 days
1212 minutes

Thursday, Oct. 27:

20 minutes Stairmaster stepper, warmup, resistance at six
60 minutes biceps and back routine with weights
40 minutes Stairmaster stepper, trying a lighter resistance at four, putting weight in my heels, trying to see if I could work hamstrings and glutes

I tried the Gravitron machine at my local crummy gym. On this one, you kneel while using the bars to lift yourself. I found myself arching backward rather than keeping my body straight, which can't be good, so I stuck to the lat pulldown machine instead.

Oct. 27: 60 minutes Zumba

Totals:
21 days
1272 minutes

Friday, Oct. 28:

45 minute spin class


This is turning into a sort of "rest" day for me, in that all I do on Fridays is get my cardio done early in the morning. I am thinking maybe I need to work on abs afterward, to get something else in, as I am really missing my old twice-weekly Pilates classes.

Can I say again how the spin class members intimidate me? Again at the beginning of the spin class, when we are just sitting upright, peddling, warming up our legs, they were talking about their marathon training. One of them was disappointed in her time because she was just slightly to slow to qualify for Boston. The others were encouraging. They talked about how they loved half marathons, because they "leave you with something afterward" and are less exhausting. Also, after class, the instructor was talking about her foot injury with a very compactly muscular triathlete guy (who usually stays on the bike after class to get through further work on his own), who was giving her advice on treating it, beyond rolling it over an iced water bottle. He was talking about fluid buildup, which was interesting, but I did not want to obviously eavesdrop.

Some class members run on the treadmills for a while after spin class. They wave to me as I head to the stretching area & then leave, feeling like I am skipping out early.

I'm fascinated by the difference between the culture in my current and former spin classes.

In my old neighborhood, the 6 AM spin class people are not necessarily marathon runners. They are just people who work long hours at their jobs, getting home too late for evening exercise classes, and the gym is on the way to their train, so they work out, shower & make up at the gym, then walk a half-block further to the train to get to work.

Here, where people don't walk as much (except pairs of women out for exercise), the early-morning spin class people seem to be the really serious athletes.

So, the norm on exercise & training & fitness varies according to your peer group. Whereas in my old spin class, I seemed to be training hard, in my new spin class, I am not. Not at all.

Saef-- your new spin classes would intimidate me! Most of the folks in my spin classes are not serious athletes. There are a few that wear their biking gear so I assume they bike outside competitively but they don't talk about it.

Oct. 28: 60 min. elliptical

Totals:
22 days
1332 minutes

Saturday, Oct. 29:

60 minutes Cybex arc trainer, hands-free, hill intervals, resistance at eight, and this really worked me
60 minutes beginner Kripalu yoga class, with an instructor I hadn't worked with before. She must teach the 9 AM and 4:30 PM classes, which are during my working hours. (In fact, a great many of the yoga center's offerings occur during my working hours.) She was really good, as they all are.