1051.6 Miles

(2.1 treadmill)

It continues to be overcast. Everyone is on edge.

Today was a bit of a challenge to get myself onto the treadmill. My calves were still sore from the run on Wednesday which I expected. What I wasn't expecting was how much time it took for them to feel looser (walking) and how little time it took for them to hurt (running). So today was a much shorter run time. Even so, I feel good that I'm getting stronger.

There are days when I do want to quit. I've never considered myself an athlete, never thought of myself as super-fit, or anything like that. I also refuse to give up homemade cheesecake, Brianna's Brownies, or old-fashioned roast. In my mind, none of these fit into the "healthy lifestyle" that seems typical. Please understand, I'm not bashing anyone who has given up all of that, I just don't see myself that way. I enjoy sensual things and the taste, aroma, texture and visual appeal of food pleases me. Granted, I have let go of a lot of foods such as Oreos, white sugar, and myriad others, but it hasn't been arduous. Especially since I've learned about the attractiveness of so many other foods... or relearned in some cases (like fresh blackberries).

So, if you are reading this and you think you feel like giving up. Just push yourself for one more day. And do it again tomorrow. And the next. You can do this, too.

981.4 Miles

(3.3 treadmill)

Yes, that says 3.3 for today. I really wanted to push myself today and feel pretty good about it. It's a personal record in distance, but not in time... I don't think.

...

The last official run I did my time was 3.1 in 44:11. According to my calculator (divided 45 minutes by 3.3 miles to get 13.64 minutes/mile. That would have made the 3.1 mile mark at just over 42 minutes) I beat my time from my run in Asheville! How cool. It might have been even better if I didn't have to adjust the treadmill speed, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

It won't be long until I hit the 1000 mile mark. That's a little strange to think about. It's not quite half the length of the Appalachian Trail, but it's not that far from it, either.

Now, it's time to eat something and finish up this day.

959.9 Miles

(10.2 bike)

I'll admit that I've not been listening to the book lately. I know that the traveling on the river doesn't take up a lot in the story, and I don't like to only listen for a couple minutes at a time. Soon, though, I will have to make a decision about which path to take. Will I stay with Frodo or will I go on with Strider?

Wednesday was a weights day again. I should be more specific since it's not just weight-training, but that's what I call the day. What it involves is various exercises that work the muscles of my body and I use 8-pound weights. Cardio isn't really a factor even though I do tend to get winded sometimes.

On these days I set my timer (an app on the iPad, but I can't remember what it's called right now) to intervals of 1 minute with a 10 second "break", repeated 12 times. During the 1 minute I will do an exercise for 30 seconds, then switch sides for the remaining 30 seconds. For example, if I am doing lunges, I'm doing the right leg for the full 30 seconds, then the left. The 10-second break gives me enough time to get into position for the next exercise. When an exercise works both sides at the same time (squats, for example) I will do them for the full minute. There are 12 different exercises that I do during these intervals so the session lasts 14 minutes. At this point I will take a short water break then start all over again. After that, I will do stretches and a few Sun Salutations.

So, when I say it's a "weights day" you now know what I mean.

Today's ride involved reading on my iPad. I've tried to knit while I'm pedaling, but when you're trying to maintain a speed of 20mph, your gauge just gets wonky.

938.1 Miles

(2.2 treadmill)

Today was one of those days when I just knew that getting on the treadmill was a great thing. Although I would have preferred running outside, I know that the treadmill is still a good thing. I can let my mind wander to other things, to other ideas, to other places, all with the knowledge that I'm not going to trip over a branch.

The few times I have run outdoors thought (not counting the 5ks I have been in) I made sure I was always aware of the things going on around me. I ran at Osborne park only once and the feeling of being out in nature was a heady experience. I'm looking forward to doing something like that again.

My calves were sore again today, but not quite as sore as they were last time, which made me smile. I like the fact that I'm not out of breath as quickly as I used to be. One day I will be posting about how I ran the entire 30 minutes.

A step backward

In my Ravelry group there is a thread called Summer Era. In this thread we post goals for two weeks, then recap and revise the goals as needed. These aren't just fitness & health goals, but also goals for our overall well-being. Some of those goals can be clearing out old boxes and decluttering your home and these are good for our mental and spiritual health.

So, my goals for last Session (what we call the 2-week period) were to get running again. Which I did, but not nearly as much as I wanted to. My last time on the treadmill was on Saturday.  I know why and I know that I don't have the will or the energy to change it right now. I've had the daycare kids here for about 14 hours a day. By the time they leave and I get the house cleaned up and take a few minutes to myself, it's well after 8. This might not be a big deal if I wasn't going to bed by 9:30.

I have tried getting on the treadmill and bike after they leave but, by then I feel like lead. There is no joy in completing the miles, and it just feels like castor oil or something (you know, really icky). If I could legally leave the house while they were sleeping each morning I would walk/run around the block a few times or something, but I would get into serious trouble if anything happened while I was out.

So, as much as I wish otherwise, I'm going to lighten my goals for the next session and I'm going to post them here as well as in the Ravelry group.

Week 1 (nearly over already):
- get on the treadmill today if they leave before 5, walk
- get on the treadmill Saturday morning, walk, maybe run
- continue building up the chains, I've been doing half and I want to get all of them done (there are 55 total reps, and the complete round consists of 8 different movements)

Week 2:
- Sunday, get on treadmill again, even though it's Sunday (normally I'm busy until 6 or 7, which would seem a bad time to do this, but I feel relaxed and content with life and I do believe that makes all the difference), walk, maybe run
- continue working on the chains
- Friday & Saturday, get on treadmill walk, maybe run

Okay, the main reason this really upsets me is that I won't be able to reach my goal of running 3.1 miles by my birthday. This bothers me on so many levels I can't even describe it. I know it's not really that big of a deal since I'm still putting in effort, but I really wanted to start out my next year on a different track. Yes, I've looked back at my progress and am pretty happy with that, but I wanted more. So much more. Once these kids are back in school (August 27th) I will be able to shift my training into high gear. I know that, realistically, I won't be able to push myself (without injury) to run that distance in 3 weeks. Instead I will push myself to get as far along as possible. Until then, I will keep doing other physical activities that will help bring strength and endurance to my body.

Whoever reads this, please keep in mind that there are times when it's important to evaluate what really will be right to do. Listen to your body. Nudge it, push to the limit, but don't go so far over the edge that you feel like giving up completely.

-

Edit: Okay, my trainer told me some cool news -

Here’s the thing. You don’t need to go back to the C25K program. You need to get on the treadmill and warm up then RUN. Run for as long as you can and then hop off and catch your breath for a few seconds and then start running again. (This is because of the way your treadmill adjusts. I would have you walk otherwise.) Run at a slower pace than you usually do for your intervals. I’d try running at 5.0-5.4 and see how long you can run. The intervals you described to me are speed work. You need some easy runs in there too. The easy runs help you extend your distance. The speed work helps you improve your time. Right now you just want to run for 3 miles. You are not looking to break any speed records. I wish I were there with you. I’d have you run 3 miles today. I know you can do it!

So, provided the kids leave early enough, I will be trying this out. I'll use a stopwatch to keep my time and figure my distance that way... which means I won't get a picture, but I'll take a picture of the stopwatch instead.

Sometimes it just takes knowing that someone is cheering you on and has faith in you to keep your spirits up enough to push harder.

893.1 Miles

It's been a while, hasn't it. I have been focusing on no-impact movements since the dentist scraped out the extraction site and packed some vile tasting stuff into it. The first week was pretty painful and I didn't eat much. The week after that (the 16th) I started doing the chains again and got Brianna involved, too. Last week I did some jumping jacks to see what would happen and there was very little remaining pain. So, this week was the beginning of training again.

I started out with the first day of Couch to 5k, but then I realized that I didn't start feeling winded until I'd run for a whole minute. That was pretty cool, and I advanced myself to the second week. I think it will push me harder, which is fine.

It's harder on the treadmill to adjust the speed. This one can't be programmed so I have to press the buttons with each change. I had the thought of setting it to the speed I like to run, then just walking through the house for the walking section and hopping back on the treadmill for the running section. The only problem that I see for that it that I won't be able to keep accurate count of my miles (I'd leave the treadmill running). I'll keep thinking through this and see what I come up with. in the meantime, here is today's picture. I chose black & white to see if it helped make it more clear.

Other movements

Today was strength training only. And about 12 hours of yarn work. By the time the last skein was done I didn't even want to shower (I did anyway). I'm mostly fine with that, especially since the scale this morning showed 171.2! I guess the balance has begun to shift now.

Having the daycare kids here is a little more challenging than I first thought, but I will keep my focus on what is important to me.

Other movements

Today was all about stretching and getting more oxygen to the muscles. I'm sure that, if anyone was here through the day, I would have been laughed at. I did this slow marching walk down the hallway anytime I needed to get to a different room. While I reskeined the shop yarn I did the quad stretches. Anytime I was standing still for any reason I stretched out the muscles in my legs. Even sitting cross-legged created an opportunity to stretch. And I feel a lot better.

Oddly enough, my legs still want to buckle at odd times. Like during my belly dancing and hooping. So, I stuck to the upper body and called it a day.

What strikes me the most is that I really thought my legs were strong. I walk a lot, I bike a lot, I use them daily. So why this much pain? Why this much time needed for recovery? Because the parts of the muscles that are now being strengthened haven't been used that much. Yes, my legs are fairly strong, and now they will start getting stronger.

There are some goals along this journey through Middle Earth that I am beginning to see clearly. One is a weight loss, another is a healthy and strong body. April pointed out that once these goals are reached, it will be time for new goals. That thought frightens me a little bit. What I said to her was that the need for the goals doesn't scare me, but the ideas I have do. Just a little.

For example, the Appalachian Trail. It's 2180 miles long. How long would it take for me to walk that? I couldn't do it in one summer, that's pretty clear (after I looked at my math again). But if I took a week or two each year, maybe one in spring and one in autumn, how many years would that trail take? What beauty would I encounter along the way?

I sit here now and I dream of such things.

156.6 MIles

(9.1)

Still heading toward Chetwood and am pretty sure that I will reach it tomorrow.

My legs are pretty sore today, but I kept my pace steady at 16mph. When I checked the mileage tab I was surprised to see that I'd gotten just past 9 miles for the morning. I didn't have a lot of time for a shower, but that's not really that big of a deal.

Knitting was a challenge. The blanket is now just large enough to be too large for comfort, but too small to drape over the handles. I think washcloths are definitely in order now. I don't really want to start a new project, but I still want to keep my hands busy. Luckily, after the first, there will be new classes in the HPKCHC group so I'll be able to focus on what I want to craft.

For now, I want to keep going. To remain enthusiastic about this. After all, the main drive behind this is the blood sugar levels. They need to be a lot lower than they are. And that is the most important thing to remember.

109.8 Miles

(8.4)

 Still traveling through the Barrow-downs. Dark & creepy here.

Today I got up early to bike. I'm not sure what prompted this, but I wanted it done before the daycare kids got here. I didn't eat first and had a protein drink almost immediately after I was finished. I will eat a more substantial breakfast after I get back from dropping the kids at school.

I stood on the scale the other day and was pleasantly surprised at what it said. But I didn't want to post anything until I waited a couple days to be sure. Yep, this morning it is still in the same range... 175.6. That is pretty cool.

There is no picture today because I forgot to bring my camera into the living room, but I'll make it a point to remember from now on. :-)

35.6 Miles

I've passed the first encounter with a Black Rider. Whew! And I really didn't think I'd make it, either.

Yes, I'm being serious. You see, I asked April (of The Fire) if it would be okay to do 2 20 minute sessions instead of one 30 minute session. And I asked about higher intensity. Essentially, this is how the session is supposed to go: {3 minutes regular speed then, *1 minute regular speed (about 15 mph), 1 minute fast (19-20 mph)*, repeating between the * * for 15 minutes, 2 minutes regular}. Hop off the bike, stretch for a minute, run to the kitchen and do next segment of dyeing for 20-30 minutes, repeat { }.

Only, my high-speed minutes were actually 24mph and my regular-speed was 16mph. Yes, it really does make that big of a difference. After the 3rd high-speed minute (about 9 minutes in), I thought my heart was going to bang right out of my chest and that my legs were going to turn to mush. My 4th high-speed session was only 20mph and no matter how hard I tried to get a little faster, my legs were not cooperating. I finished out the last  9 minutes at only 16mph. And still my legs were wobbly when I got off the bike. I think I'm better suited for a more steady pace... like wolves. Not fast sprints like cheetahs.

Still, I can do this. Luckily, I have friends who are cheering me on. I will post about the next 20 minutes later on.