Sunday, April 20, 2008

This Body of Mine

Well, first off, I have to ashamedly admit I have not done a SINGLE workout this weekend. Sigh. Actually, it was the smart thing to do so I guess I shouldn't be disappointed in myself. My hubby's been sick with a bad cold and I have been feeling very run down and tired. I didn't expect to ride this weekend because it's been bloody cold with this snow. (A high of only 6 C today). I chose not to swim yesterday because we had a hectic schedule. Not only that, hubby would have had to drive me and wait around because my eyes are still really bad. (Please heal!!!)

But all was not lost. I could surely run today. I enjoy running in the cold and my shins are feeling better with two days rest. But this morning, I woke up with a murderous headache. Two rounds of Ibuprophen and one of Acetaminophen have not budged it. And now, here I sit at my computer which I'm pretty sure doesn't help. :) I just drank a litre of water because I thought I'm dehydrated. Crossing my fingers that'll help a bit. I haven't discounted the idea of a run but it's becoming less and less likely.

Weight Loss


So I just sent an email to Nigel of Running from the Reaper fame to see if it's not too late to join his 10 in 10 challenge. They're already two weeks into it but I only need to lose 7 lbs so maybe they'll still let me join. Either way, I'm going to follow along because it always motivates me to announce my goals in various places. I gained 2-3 lbs over our Spring Break holiday and I need to lose those plus the elusive last 5. I dunno. Those five pounds may NEVER come off. I've been trying for a year now. I get down to 118 and then a holiday comes along. So, I will 'go hard' until the end of June and see what happens. I was 121.6 this morning, well see how it goes. I think I'll aim for 1200-1300 calories a day. That's the only way I ever lose, despite my 30-60 minutes of exercise every day. It's just not fair being a woman my age. :)


This Body


Anyway, the point of this post was to meander through my thoughts about this learning process. I am constantly trying to figure out what I can and cannot do and I think I learn something new every day. I am always trying something different, tweaking a variable or two, to find the right balance. But in many ways, it's impossible really. There are so MANY variables, you can't control them all.

This week's challenge? Why the heck did my shins start hurting on Friday and my piriformis act up again on Saturday? I felt achey all over actually. I ran with the kids at school on Tuesday and felt good - bumped it up to a 10 min run, 1 min walk and did a full 5km while the kids did 2km. I iced my shins and stretched lots after and although they were a bit tender the next day, they weren't bad. Great! Run #3 and the orthotics seem to be working! Thursday, repeated the same process - ran 5km at school during the lunch break and felt great during the run, felt good all day in fact. After work, just before supper, I went out on my bike and 25 minutes of hill repeats. 7 X 40 seconds climbing a 4-6% grade. Felt good. No problem. Friday morning, woke up sore. Saturday, felt even more tender. Ugh. I sure WISH I could tell that I need to take it easier WHILE I'm running, instead of a day or two later. It's such a PITA.

So anyway, I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't run AND do bike hill repeats on the same day? D'uh. Ya think? Next week, I'll do my hard biking on swim days and leave my run days for running only. Running is hard on my body - I am always a little sore the next day. But hill repeats, or a hard fast ride can tire my legs as well. Usually on their own, they are manageable, but perhaps doing them both on the same day isn't wise. Sometime I wish I was 30, but mostly I don't. I guess I'd like my 48 year old mind and a 30 year old body. How about that huh?


This Coming Week


This week's training will be a bit dicey. Right off the bat, I can't swim tomorrow because young son has to work on his science project after school and will need my help. Then he has his first baseball game tomorrow night! That should be exciting!

I will definitely run Tuesday and Thursday.

I will try to swim on Wednesday but hubby and I are going out for dinner so it might be a bit busy. If we go to the pool right after school, I might be able to fit in hill repeats before our dinner reservations at 7:30 to Garnet Rogers at the Minstrel Cafe.

Thursday
is a write-off because we have a staff meeting and the boy has a second baseball game this week.

Maybe Friday won't be a rest day?

Maybe I should do more yoga and be flexible......

2 comments:

Sue said...

I gave up running 10 years ago when I had back surgery. I did try to pick it up again last year but the pain in my knees, legs, hips, and back just weren't worth it. At 54 I guess my running days are over?! Sad because I loved to run. In my 20s and 30s I ran all the time. My daily runs were 5-7 miles with my long run on the weekend. Usually 10 or 15 miles. When I was preparing for a marathon I would slowly increase my mileage each week. Those days are over. I picked up cycling a few years after my back surgery and I've doing it ever since. I love it. This winter I sort of fell off the fitness and cycling wagon. It is so hard getting back in shape. I learned my lesson and it's this: at my age I have to keep at it because if I stop oh my goodness the getting back in shape is HARD. Oh to be 30 again!

Sorry just using your shoulder to cry on!

Pedal On!

Susan

Kelownagurl said...

Yup, it's good to have cycling to fall back on when I can't run any more. (I'm not going to "if I can't run", because I'm sure it'll happen eventually.) And now I've added swimming which I figure I can do even when I'm really old. :)

Thanks for the comment, Susan. I'm off to check out YOUR blog now!