Hello, Are you out there?

Well, hello again. I promise I haven’t abandoned you. As so often happens, life has gotten in the way. Between wedding and work, time has been at a premium.

Last Tuesday, I went for run before work. I’ve developed a plan to help increase my pace. It seems to be working and I can adjust it for the day’s need. I start with a regular five minute warm up and then start the work. Typically, I start at 5mph and each minute build up. And then build down. The first time around, I keep it slow, not building past 5.6mph. Second time, I build up to 6.7mph. And then back down again. How many times this is repeated is dependent on how long my run time is. It gives me an opportunity to work on pace and intervals at the same time. Even though it is an interval workout, it isn’t easy. I was dripping in sweat.

So here is the before picture

Wednesday, we had an airing aerial yoga class. The students and I had to let things go. We needed to air our frustrations out but not have any one try to fix it. Just say it and let it go. I would like to think we all felt a little lighter leaving class. In yoga, we talk about a mind body connection. Sometimes, where our minds go, our body follows. If our thoughts are kinda ugly, our bodies can go south too. In the beginning of class, we start with a seated meditation. Last Wednesday, we mentally swept our minds of all those things dragging us down. At the end of the class, we reminded ourselves that we are supported and safe and able to deal with whatever life was swinging at us.

I had the intent to run Thursday and Friday and Saturday, but it didn’t happen. I’ve been battling some exhaustion and a busy life.

We went to an Ani Difranco concert Friday night

So running on Monday happened. And I copied my workout plan but started at 5.2mph. I’m still slow. It’s ok. I remind myself that I just started running a year ago. I’ve been adding hills to my walking portions. A little birdie told me that my half marathon has some rather large hills. I don’t want to be surprised again like I was with the Great Pi Run.

Monday was rough. I felt like I couldn’t get going or catch my breath. Even before that, I had forgotten pants. No running pants. No running pants no run. Thankfully, my gym has clothes for sale and I got some shorts. They were super comfortable and unisex, so they weren’t short. They were long. I rolled them up so they weren’t knee length. It was an awfully sweaty run. But satisfactory.

Now this Wednesday, this Wednesday was fun. Last Wednesday, we did a little “foam rolling” with the fabrics. So I planned a whole aerial yoga rolling class. It was wonderful and painful all at once. In the past, I had a trigger point massage one day. The day of and the day after left me uncomfortable and sore. But the day after that, I felt so pain free. Foam rolling is of a similar concept. It is a popular way to work out sore muscles especially with runners. I’ve heard a lot of people with fibromyalgia use it as well.

I applied the concept to the low aerial yoga. It went really well. We used traditional yoga moves modified to let the fabric roll on certain muscle groups. The phrase “it hurts so good” surely applies here. Besides working out achy muscles and achieving myofascial release, it was great working on core, back, and arms. There was a lot of groaning after finding the spot. At the end of class, everyone expressed their happiness with the new class. I mentioned I might bring to a class I’ll be subbing for on the 22^nd and that sparked some interest as well. I think it was a successful class. Admittedly, I’m a little sore today but tomorrow will be better.

Studio was freezing this morning. Stayed in my coat for a bit.

Tomorrow, I plan on running. A few times, I’ve said I’m too tired to get up but I have found that I’m more tired and continue to get tired when I don’t get my butt up and run. Also, I don’t have to go to the gym to run either. I sometimes forget that I was a road runner first. When I run on the road, I don’t have the control that I get on a treadmill. The treadmill lets me fine tune what I want to do in a way that I cannot outside. They both have their benefits.

I love my active life. And it’s not as active as some and more active than others. At the same time, it’s really easy to fall into bad habits. I must be on guard. I’m looking forward to the half marathon. I just need to keep training and keep using my aerial yoga for recovery.

In the meantime, here is Karn sunbathing and straight up bathing

Also here are a few pets available at our local Hwy 100 at Petworld

Are You Breathing?

Are we ready for the weekend? I sure am.

So we are starting with Tuesday. I got up early and went for a run at the gym. I had a virtual 10k I wanted to get done. It’s thru a company called Will Run for Bling and you get a shirt, medal, and racing bib. This particular race benefited the ASPCA. I hauled thru it, getting thru another episode of Jessica Jones. I have to be close to the end which someone spoiled for me. Grrr. But still I need to see the story to the end. I only let myself watch it at the gym. It gives me one more reason to get there. In the morning, I find myself the most motivated too. I have no urge to go anywhere after work.

The run itself wasn’t bad. I wore my race shirt which is adorable. The WiFi at the gym worked pretty well. It only stalled out a few times. I kept pushing up my pace little by little. I’m sure my face matched my shirt. My hair was wet from sweat but I got it done before work. 6.22 miles in 1:13:20 with a pace of 11:47. It’s not my best pace but I’m happy with it. My Brooks shoes are really awesome. They have great cushion without losing stability or feeling like you are slogging thru sand.

Tuesday night I made the lentil and black bean stew from the Runner’s World cookbook. I made some changes though. I added more lentils, used leeks instead of a yellow onion, and added some smoked turkey sausage. It added more protein and a milder onion taste. It was delicious and filling. Judging from how fast it disappeared from the fridge, I think, the fiancé liked it as well.

Wednesday, at yoga, we focused on breathing. It’s one thing I haven’t put much emphasis on before but is an important part of yoga. It helps engage the body and core and also brings one more in touch with their physical self and mind. It helps a person relax into a pose and let go of tension being held in a particular muscle group or joint. This way we can fully express the asana and get the most out of it. I felt very chill leaving the studio.

The next day I had hoped to go to the gym in the morning, but life got in the way. Ice chunk versus rental car’s bumper led to me needing to go in the insurance center and make yet another claim. I do love my insurance company. They make me feel important and comfortable explaining everything and giving me time to read all the paper work. In the past, they have been very generous with a car that got totaled due to a deer.

From Tuesday to today, I’ve been suffering from extreme exhaustion. I’m not sure from what, it could be a flare of some sort. It could be my body recovering from doing an 8k on Saturday and a 10k on Tuesday. I have a few other indications it might be autoimmune related. While I have time to run or workout this evening, I think I’ll give my body more time to recover. We will be going to the gym tomorrow morning as a family.

I’ve been thinking about breathing. Breathing is life giving. No breath no life. I think, we are all familiar with that concept, but what else does breath do. It helps us relax into the situation we find ourselves in. It could be an asana, a hard run, or the second accident in a roughly a week. It helps us find connection to where we stand in life. It brings us back to our body and mind, to the now. And now is all we have.

Just do it!

Just do it! It’s so cliché but so true.

Yesterday, I did some aerial yoga at home. I worked on conditioning/strength and my flexibility. Both have taken a backseat to my running. I would probably even go to more classes but my running has made me a bit tired overall. So my aerial yoga has hit a bit of a lull. I need to get on that and keep improving my yoga vocabulary. Doing aerial yoga at home is nice because I can invert fully and use gravity to help me stretch. I’m frequently stiff when getting out of bed between getting older and myalgia. Doing some gazelles and downward facing dogs really gets me stretched out and ready to face the day.

This morning, I went for a run at the gym. Snow and rain fell last night and a quick look at the roads this morning showed somewhat slippery conditions. So far, I’ve made it with no serious injury and I’d like to keep it that way.

I got there earlier and I was able to park closer. As I was walking in, I wondered if it was ironic that I wanted a close parking spot to the gym entrance. Shouldn’t we all be parking as far away as possible in non-inclement or freezing weather? Mostly, everyone there was fit. There were “normal” people there but a lot of the people seemed very serious about their workout. There was a large turnout for the step class. It was encouraging to see all these people working hard to be fit or get fitter so early in the morning. It pushed me to sweat.

The run itself was hard. Not because of anything in particular but I couldn’t find a good, relaxed pace. I felt like I was breathing thru a scarf. Legs never hit a rhythm. Part of me wanted to quit, and do something else. Anything else. But I kept reminding myself to suck it up and enjoy my Netflix.

I still ran well. It was my second fastest pace. Maybe that’s why it was so rough. The only other time I ran that fast was during the Frosty 5k. I upped my speed running and ran a whole quarter mile at 7:00. My current plan is to slowly start increasing the length of my “sprints.” I’m also considering changing treadmills for my weekday gym visits, ones that have programs that have hills. This should help me with my road running.

I’m hoping some of this new treadmill running will translate into road running. The two are different and the same. I guess we’ll have to see.

In the meantime, I am waiting patiently for my dinner with friends tonight. Good food and good company. 

Falling in Love All Over Again

I fell in love with running all over again this morning. The past few runs I’ve not enjoyed much. They have been hard and slow and while it gave me a sense of accomplishment and reaffirmed my determination; I wasn’t enjoying myself much.

Even this morning, I was tired. I’m still flaring but feeling a little better. Getting up this morning was tough. There was lots of inner whining. Getting ready, I felt like all thumbs. Today, I thought I would try pairing my heart monitor to my Garmin again. It was an immediate success. More thumbs as I gathered up my reflective gear.

The dog was rather uncooperative this morning, running slowly directly in front of me. She also has not gotten the hang of the ice. We have more ice in the forecast tomorrow. I don’t like the idea of running on a treadmill but these super icy conditions might require it. Outside just feels so peaceful, especially in the mornings when so few people are up. It’s so still. It’s just me, the dog, and the road in front of us.

I ran with the intention of pushing myself with a little speed work. Run quickly between ice patches. I think it might be best described as a fartlek day. What is a fartlek? It’s a Swedish word meaning speed play. It’s an unstructured workout like running and then increasing your speed up a hill, or to the next telephone pole. There are fartlek workouts that are much more “organized” but it seems to me that it defeats the purpose.

And that’s where I fell in love. It was fun. I got to run hard and take it easy. I got to work around the ice rather than it be a detriment to my intent. I didn’t have the fastest work out. But I feel like this will help my overall pace. I have a hard time with short distances. I don’t feel like I warm up until after the 5k. My time didn’t really reflect how hard I worked, and neither did my Garmin or Runkeeper. But it allowed me to work with my conditions rather than be frustrated with them. It’s freedom.

Short post but I was just so happy to love running again, I wanted to share.

Wandering Around in my Mind

So I didn’t run this morning. I didn’t suck it up, buttercup. I accepted my situation for what it was/is.

Yesterday, I was experiencing sharp pain in the palm of my left foot. Out of nowhere, I felt like someone was stabbing my foot. Someone once told me if it’s a dull throb or ache, you can keep going but if it’s a sharp pain, stop. Sharp pain can be the sign of something wrong, more so than an ache, or that feeling you can get with tendinitis.

When I woke up I didn’t feel the pain but I was wary. Also, I don’t think I really woke up, even now I feel foggy. Exhausted in an way that did not reflect energy output over the past couple of days. My skin burned like I had sat in a tanning bed too long. My collarbones were sore to the touch. Among other things, these were red flags. Yesterday, I had had issues remembering words. I was flaring again.

Normally, I don’t let my autoimmune affect me and interfere with plans. I did that when I was first figuring how to live with it but now I would like to think it has minimal effect on my life.  Unfortunately, there are days I just need to slow down. Even normal stuff, like the time of the month, can put me down for the count if I’m not wary. Take normal stuff and then magnify it. Everyone hurts, everyone is uncomfortable sometimes. People with forms of myalgia are no different. It just seems like our bodies response to it is…exaggerated. And it can get in your head. You can feel betrayed by your body. You can feel defeated by your constantly shifting limitations. One day you can do thirteen miles, and a few days later, walking to the car is a serious effort. People who don’t have these issues try to understand but support from other people who have similar issues helps a lot. Or friends that understand. I have both and it helps tremendously.

Another thing that helps is acceptance. There are a lot of things I have no control over. People get to do what they want, weather gets to do what it wants, the creek gets to do what it wants. I can express influence, but I don’t have control. I don’t get to make people do what I want, even bosses I think can agree with that. I can curse the rain but it will still fall. I can ask the creek to go away but it will still flow. I can do what I can to avoid flares, but they will still happen on occasion. I have control over how I respond to them. I sometimes get cranky and whiny. What I should do is get rest, eat well, and focus on what isn’t wrong or outside things, like the new bearded dragon, or my new wool socks. I can enjoy time with my fiancé and have a delicious dinner.

Which brings me to my next thought for this post. Food. I love food. My love of delicious food helped bring me to high weight. I ate food with the disregard of a growing teenager. I have a weak spot for cheesecake and brownies. As a developing runner and as a person trying to lose weight, nutrition should really have already been part of my healthy journey. I have two new cookbooks: one from Runner’s World and one from Harry Potter. Sunday I looked thru them looking for foods that I could make with fresh food, especially fresh food that the dragon will eat. I ended up grabbing more from the running cookbook this week, but I see many a trifle and stew that looks good out of the Potter book.

While a calorie is a calorie, nutrition is about getting the most out of those units of energy. Losing weight and being a runner is a delicate balance. I hope my new books will help me balance better. Yesterday, I made a cucumber, dill and yogurt sauce to pair with roast beef and feta. All was enveloped in a pita. It was delicious. The fiancé agreed. I really loved that it was so easy to make. It was supposed to be made with hummus but no hummus was found at my grocery store. I also made a dill and curry egg salad that I forgot to bring to work today. But a taste test says that will be delicious too. I also used another recipe, subbing the mango chutney for raspberry preserves and creamy cottage cheese for breakfast. I have peaches for grilling on my new grill pan to pair with yogurt and honey tonight. Pears for baking another night. I’m looking forward to this new adventure. I get delicious food and fuel my body with wholesome foods. Don’t get me wrong, I will still eat cheesecake and I will eat brownies. I’m learning yet another talent. Cooking. I’ve got stuff ready to revisit baking too.

I’ve had to practice accept today. I forgot my Vivosmart. I am not tracking my steps and thus not getting an accurate track of my calories. I know one day will not make a huge difference but I feel strange, like naked. Instead, I could consider today a day of freedom. I can only do so much and I cannot change the past and go back and grab the tracker before I left for work. I cannot control if the dog eats it while I am at work. That chance is past. All I can do is if it’s not eaten, try not to ever do it again. The fiancé and I had gone to see Bridge of Spies and when asked by Tom Hanks character if he were worried, a prisoner responds, “Would it help?”

Not quite the same thing but you get the idea

It looks like the theme for the month, if not the year, is “let it go.” I promise not to sing the song. Unless there is a snow storm. Then, maybe J

In the meantime, here are a couple fish photos to help remind myself to go with the flow. And Karn because he's cute.