Running Thoughts

What a cold, windy, but sunny strange day!  I inclined to 4% grade and ran Hiits on the mind-numbing monster.  Why does the treadmill seem so hard when studies show that it's easier?  Is it just me?  

I just haven't gotten to blogging...and have very little time right now, but here is a short post! I did my lifting the day before yesterday and ran THREE miles yesterday.  I'm just so slow that the FIVE miles I had planned didn't fit into my day.  It was really scheduled to be 3 anyway, I think, but 5 sounded fun.  Five takes me an hour.  (slow, I know.) No Need For Speed, right?   I was a bum today, though.  No lifting, no yoga.  I spent the day with my hubby, though.  That's always a good exercise.  :)

In the mountains, we don't get spring showers.  We get spring snow.  The little birds were so confused today as the snow floated down, then blew all around like a small blizzard.  I think the HIGH today was around 30 degrees.  I decided that it was a good day to NOT run.  I did go to Yoga, though, and that was good.  I figure there will soon be a prettier day for a run outside...probably Saturday.  Tomorrow, I will lift, but will probably be sore from Yoga.  Hubby is assembling this right now.  Will try it out tomorrow!

Got those weights done...just wanted to say so!

I went for a short run this morning, working on form and enjoyment.  My road that I love to run on is being worked on, so I ran as far as I could before the road grater mess and then retraced my steps and wound around through town.  I made this discovery:  Trying something new is good, but having an old favorite is good too.  I'll be back on my old favorite soon.

I like the full body, multi-joint workouts, but I've figured out what it is that I miss.  In BFL and with the Maximum Growth lifting, you isolate muscles and reach for a "10" in every workout.  With this new (to me) method, it's harder to feel a "10" because muscles aren't isolated.  Now, not isolating a muscle, but working more muscles per exercise is a good thing in my opinion, but I do miss that feeling of reaching a TEN.  There are exercises in this program (The New Rules...) in which I do get that "I can't do one more" feeling of 10.  Like push ups which I can't do as many of as I did not long ago what's up with that?  But like with squats (one of my favorite exercises), so many of such large muscles are in use, that it's really hard to feel that feeling, but I know that I worked hard none-the-less.  Anyway, I did my lifting today!  Totally forgot to go to Yoga.  But I feel my core from my run yesterday which means that I w...

I have the attention span of a toddler when I run. Maybe that's why I don't get bored. I go from one thought to another, like this: checking in with my posture and foot strike. wow that's pretty. so is that. I can't believe no one else is out today, oh, HI (to a biker that surprised me), oh yeah, my posture..I don't remember seeing that before, I wonder if we should change some things in homeschool, oh! I want to re-do Kaegan's playroom, I should look at paint colors...posture, and while I'm at it, breathe deeply....I felt poetic at moments, too, but those thoughts never made it home. Maybe I'll remember them another day, another run. I know that some people solve problems while they run and some people mull over things that upset them. I think my brain just sort of enjoys not having to concentrate on any one thing. How about you? What goes on while you move one foot in front of the other? Yesterday, I could not wait to get out and run! I wante...

Alas, I did not lift yesterday.  I have trouble fitting in yoga and lifting.  The yoga is power yoga and very muscle-intense, so it's hard to decide whether to lift or rest.  Yesterday was yoga, so I didn't lift.  Today, I had only 20 minutes to run, but it was fun!  The sun was shining and I felt more comfortable with the new running form.  So far, my knees are liking the chirunning style.  I always feel knee pain, but not lately!  I'm really happy about that.  Part of the focus is on relaxation of legs and arms and working from your core.  So, yoga really helps with that.   Now for the more interesting section of this post... I read about Jonathon Brunot, a 19 year-old with severe autism.  He speaks only about 10 words.  He trained with "Rolling Thunder" which is a special needs running program and ran the New York City Marathon in 4:49.  At the finish line, he clapped and waved to his family for the first time ever .  Afterward, he received his medal and looked...

Today marks my 3rd attempt at aligning my posture, lifting my legs behind me, tilting my pelvis upward as I lean forward, relaxing, making sure my feet land underneath me, and swinging my arms back rather than forward.   I'm talking about chirunning.  And sure enough, my knees are liking this better running form so much more.  No pain during or after my somewhat faster runs.  Relaxing while remembering everything is the hardest part and I find that my neck and shoulders could use some loosening up!  I have to slow to a walk often to re-focus, but I'm liking it.  Every now and then, I feel that childlike feeling of running.  So great! I'm having trouble getting around to lifting...I'm not sure why.  I'm just so into the running part right now.  But, I will continue to plan my lifting sessions and JUST DO IT! I went to Yoga on Monday, too.  I did a headstand!!!  I've never been very inclined toward gymnastics, so I surprised myself, lifting myself up from my core ...

Ok, so I'm very excited about my running pal, Sara, becoming a (really great) mommy in November.  But now she will not be running with me and there will be only me for the July 4th Half Marathon that Ruthie is planning.  So, woe is me as I am also rejoicing about becoming a pseudo-grandma.  (So cool.  I've never even had an opportunity for grandishness until now.) In honor of my new grand-status, I have been shopping, and I think Sara will need this to go along with the all terrain stroller she will certainly HAVE to HAVE.  

I've been pondering what to do about lifting and losing the few pounds I gained while training for the Half I ran in October.  And I want to run another Half in July which means more long runs and possibly more weight gain.  When I trained before, I lifted on my cross training days for the first half of the training time, but I stopped lifting toward the end because I was zonked from all the running.  Building muscles through running means building those slow-twitch muscles and sort of ignoring the fast-twitch muscles.  This training time, I plan to keep the lifting and include more core work and more sprints within runs.  I'll have to be sure to eat enough carbs for the running and enough protein for the muscles.  And I'll have to be sure to listen to my body and not over train, which was one thing I was worried about before.  So, I lifted yesterday...yay!  And today looks lovely for a run day!

I found a new tiny camera that works.  It's a fab disney princess camera.  See?  How cute is that? I took it with me on my first attempt at chirunning today.  I forgot to take a picture until the end of the run, but it works!  The only problem is that the software doesn't jive with my mac.  I'll have to get my hubby to download the pics to his pc and send them to me.   Chirunning is new to me.  I ordered the book and the dvd but they aren't here yet.  I have been looking online and reading about it, though, so I went out with what little knowledge I have about it and I was faster.  And my knees don't hurt.  I had to walk between running intervals because it's a new posture and took some work and concentration.  It felt young and free and best of all...pain free.  I don't complain alot about my knees.  But I could.  Not today, though!

SURELY I'll get to work out tomorrow!! Twice, I got all dressed to go run but never did manage my time.  It would be easier if I could get it done in the morning, but it is super cold in the morning and gets really nice later in the day.  Normally, that isn't a problem.  But every now and then, something happens.  Twice lately, I've been heading out the door when friends have popped in.  I love that, but the run never got to happen.  And I've been trying to love the new lifting workouts, but I just don't feel them.  I don't reach that "10" that feels like I've done something and I don't feel any soreness the next day.  So, I'm re-thinking that aspect of my fitness life.   Always somethin'!

Sorry for being MIA, but we went to Colorado Springs for my hubby's lasik surgery.  All went well and he can see perfectly suddenly!  So cool what they can do! Just wanted to share this with you... cool daily prize/grand prize contest

So, I promised myself that I'd run some 10Ks through the winter.  Today was a promise keeper day.  I had noticed a Nikeplus challenge that was a 10k by March 4th.  I signed up for it on a whim a couple of days ago, hoping that the weather would permit an outdoor run.  It was snowing when I woke up...but before I got out there, the snow stopped.  In fact, I got so stinkin' hot, I had to take off my jacket and tie it around my waist and carry my gloves.  It was a slow-motion-10k...I haven't been putting in the kind of miles to run a good one, but it was fun and I did it!  That's 2 10k runs this winter along with a few 3,4, and 5 mile runs.  Not bad for living in the mountains with unpredictable weather! I was DEADLAST in the challenge, but hey!  Hooray for being deadlast!  I'm running most of it uphill and at 9000 feet, so whoooooooopppeeeeeeee! AND, my tiny camera worked!  ...for a while.  Until the on/off switch broke off.  Now I can't turn it on to download the...

I'm not sick, but when your kids are sick, nobody's well.  I finally did get to run yesterday.  I want to run intervals the first half of a run and then run for distance the second half.  Mainly because intervals are an effective weight loss method of training, plus they help with speed and form.  I'm sort of "beginning" again.  I kind of plateaued a long time ago with the loss of my muffin-top.  Training for the half marathon made me HUNGRY and worked on the slow twitch muscles rather than the fast twitch which are better for burning fat.  So, my weight has climbed a little and I've made no progress in the midsection.  But, I RAN A HALF MARATHON!  And had fun.  I love the distance running, which I never thought I would.  I don't want to give it up, but I do want to build muscle at the same time, which is a dilemma.  Anyway, I KIND OF did interval work yesterday.  I walked in between running for the first half of my 3 miles.  Today is workout number 3 from...