March 5: 60 minutes weight lifting (back and legs) -- did 250 20lb kettlebell swings and my hamstrings are KILLING me already!!
30 minutes foam rolling

March 6: 3.3 miles treadmill running in 24:59, WHEW.

Daaaang Jen you're a beast! I like to do volume KB deadlifts, but I'm done after 100 at 45 lbs

March 3: my b-day-- 100 minutes Bikram Yoga

March 4: took the day off from work and did double bikram classes to try to offset my food-- still didn't work! 100 minutes x 2

March 5: 100 minutes bikram yoga.... back is feeling better but I'm being cautious. Did about 50 kettle bell swings and feel okay today.

Totals:
6 workouts
615 minutes

Thursday, March 6th:

60 minutes elliptical, random intervals, resistance at nine, alternating forward and backward, and I think I busted the machine. The right pedal started creaking and the action felt looser. I broke it, I broke it, and felt as bad as if I were a child on a play date who'd messed up a friend's toy.

60 minutes Pilates mat class, not exactly comfortable with the shingles rash on my butt and the small of my back. I expect every move to start popping blisters. This is why I carry my own mat to these classes -- to save my fellow gymgoers from contagion.

March 6: 50 minutes abs and shoulders
7 miles running treadmill incline 2% (1:02:05)
30 minutes foam rolling

Friday, March 7th:

30 minute StairMaster, difficult
60 minute back & biceps routine, a bit weaker than last week, and no wonder

When I was walking back from the gym last night with one of the instructors, who lives in a nearby building, I told him I was going to take a running class on Monday nights to correct my wonky gait. He said yes, I run very, very badly. He watched me on the treadmill the other evening. He can't tell what I'm doing, whether it's flat-footed, or skipping. I pitch forward. He said, "Some people just aren't made to run." Then he said the coach would probably tell me to focus on heel-strike and keeping my body upright. But I felt like a freak because I am floundering at something that is supposed to come naturally. I'm supposed to be pretty athletic, and maybe I am one of those people whose bodies are somehow weird so they can't run. Trying to get over this ...

What does "running badly" really mean? I mean, even if you're running slow and/or if you have a weird gait - WHO CARES??!! You still are running.

What is your goal with the running?

Jen

Agreed! If you aren't hurting yourself by running and you feel like you're getting some benefits, why does it matter? I HATE running so I don't really care what my gait looks like!!!

I'm debating what exercise to do tomorrow.... I've done bikram a million days in a row (thirty something I think). I don't think I can go tomorrow as I have an appointment in the morning and then dh will be home. He wants to get sushi which knocks me out of the afternoon class because the sushi place gets mobbed so we have to get there early!

My choices are to go early and swim some laps again (I have to go before the aqua aerobics class). I could also add on some rope pulling and kettle bells at home. I'm leaning towards this. My other option is an early spin class but it isn't my favorite instructor and the past couple of times I've done spin, my back has not liked it one bit.

March 6: 100 minutes bikram yoga

Totals:
7 workouts
715 minutes

I agree, too. Paula Radcliffe was quite a fast marathoner but her head moved in a non-standard way. She achieved her goal though.

March 7: 7.20 miles running (54:18)
Baron Baptiste Power Yoga (60 minutes)
30 minutes foam rolling

I want to run because it's so simple & you can do it wherever you are. You just put on the clothes & good sneakers ... and go.

And it's a great way to see your surroundings if you're on vacation or staying with someone.

And it would get me out of doors more.

It would be a changeup from solitary sessions with machines and from group spin classes.

My goal is to be able to run comfortably for several miles once or twice a week -- and it's also to break 30 minutes in a 5K.

Tom is a very kind man, actually, with a big heart & a great sense of fun. He is also an actor, and he's a gourmet personal chef. In the gym, he is a stickler for form and doing things correctly. I think he took it personally when I stopped attending his Monday night 7 PM circuit training class. But I like working out in the mornings on Monday and when I get home from CT, running an errand on the way home or maybe just trying to relax a little.

I'm not questioning WHY you want to run, I'm saying why can't you do ALL OF THE ABOVE with a "strange gait"? Form the sounds of it you ARE RUNNING. You might be running slower then you'd like and maybe not as graceful as you might want to be, but it doesn't souds like there is pain or anything that keeps you from running.

Am I misunderstanding?

Jen

No, Jen, you're right. I would like to see if there is anything I can do to improve my running, though, so I'm looking into some running coaching sessions. A coach might also be able to alert me of any potential for long-term injury from my strange gait.

Saturday, March 8th:

60 minute spin class, a killer, partly because of my skipping the weight intervals and pedaling away. There was a couple to my left who just gave up doing the jumps and sprints in the last 10 minutes of the class and just kept pedaling, too.

60 minute Pilates mat class, and wouldn't you know, she did a lot of leg work and lower ab work, which is harder after spin

Oh, I get that, and it's totally smart. But just because you're an effing ROCK STAR at everything, maybe running just isn't as natural and you'll have to work at it - that's okay!! You don't have to be great at everything immediately, you know

March 8: 60 minutes weight lifting (delts lats and biceps)
P90X 3 Yoga (30 minutes)
4 miles walking - with dogs up and down major hills
30 minutes foam rolling