Daily Workout Thread- Fri March 17

[akw94]

Good morning everyone,
I am happy that it is Friday! I have been tired this week. I didn''t get my 5th day in this morning, just too sore and sleepy. I have promised myself though, that I must workout tonight or tomorrow morning. I haven''t been eating great so I need all the exercise I can get.
Not much else to report on my end. I think i''m still half asleep even though i''m already at work.

Btw, I had this weird dream about me and my bf going to look for a house to buy and the weird agent left us there for a long time after we had finished looking. The house was fabulous though! I can still picture it. Not a surprising dream given that we''re going to buy in a few months but a bit odd. I wish I was out house-shopping right now!
Have a good day!

 

[stermag]

Ran 5 miles this morning. I''m pooped, but oh so glad it''s Friday.

 

[AsscherGirl]

Hi everyone!

I''ve been battling some sicknesses/lack of sleep/overall crankinees for the past couple of days so I''ve been skipping workouts like crazy

.

Last night however, I went to the gym & ran my 3 miles. I did it in 40:50!!!!!!! When I was finished, I was so excited, I threw my arms up in the air and did a little victory pumping (I probably looked crazy). Also, I ran an entire mile straight without stopping for the first time. It felt awesome!

Although it is still slow, I feel accomplished anyhow. I''ve been such a wimp about running my entire life. Last night, I think I finally felt the ever-talked about runner''s high.

Since it''s St. Patty''s day, I don''t think there''s a workout in my future for today. I think one day this weekend I am going to attempt my first run outside and see how I do on a 3 mile trek.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[stermag]

Danielle, I am sincerely proud of you. Running is, in my opinion, the most difficult of exercises, but also one of the most, if not THE most, effective.

Let me tell you, just a two short months ago, I was at a point where I couldn''t comfortably run more than half a mile. Today, I ran 5 in less than 50 minutes.

Running requires that you really take care of yourself and listen to your body, since it''s really rough our feet/knees at first. You may have to pamper yourself a bit more, deal with a blister or two, but the rewards are definitely plentiful. And I''m not really talking about the weight loss ... that is merely a sweet bonus. The rewards come in the form of improved performance and incrased endurance. You''ll be surprised how quickly you will work up to running 3 miles without stopping once. And shortly thereafter, you will see that your form is improving and that you aren''t nearly as tired as you once were.

I don''t feel nearly as accomplished after doing weights or rowing for an hour as I do after running for 60 minutes straight. Regardless of what the various machines tell me regarding the calories I''ve burned, my body can''t be fooled into thinking that workout I get on the stationary bike is harder than a run.

Now, I realize running isn''t for everyone and if you really can''t do it, you really can''t do it. It''s a sad reality for some people, but there are plenty of other great options. Still, I command you, Danielle on your great effort today!

 

[akw94]

Stermag and Danielle, congrats on the workout! I would like to become a runner but my body keeps saying no. It''s a little frustrating. I am pretty much sore everywhere from my short spurts of running on Wed. I am torn b/c I don''t want to make my back bad again but I know i''ll never adjust unless I keep it up. Will the soreness on my shin (is that the lower, front part of the leg) just go away or is there something I can do about preventing that? It hurts, all the way down to my foot. Usually it doesn''t when I do the interval running but I stopped using the incline, increased speed and went for 3 minute intervals instead of 2. Not sure if any of that matters though.
Stermag, how did you increase and get comfortable so fast? I feel like it would take me waaay longer to get where you are. I am impressed! I''ve always wanted to be a runner, it just hasn''t happened for me quite yet and my back got in the way awhile ago. Very annoying!

 

[Mara]

hehe mag you mean ''commend'' her...but it''d be funny to see you ''command'' her...

Danielle, congrats girl!!! that is so awesome, i''m a total non-runner, i pant and wheeze, but i can walk 5 miles with the best of them at a quick pace and be fine. it''s just something about running that really gets me all hot and bothered and not in a good way. i used to run sprints in HS but i have never been a distance runner at all. so i really love it when people who aren''t turn into ones that are because i find the exercise so darn hard!!

i walked ~2.5 miles yesterday and guess what? today its pouring rain out and rained all last nite too. bah! so i was going to do 2miles at the park near my work this afternoon but now who knows. we''ll have to see if its a break in the rain.

last nite i actually made us sauteed scallops with lemon fettucine from cookinglight.com and it was really yummy!! i used real butter instead of margarine so it probably wasn''t AS healthy as the recipe, but the calories were something like 400, fat was like 7g with margarine, so if fat was more like 12g that''s still okay too...it was still better than going out to get pasta at the local restaurant and it turned out yummy too, i adore scallops. then we had chocolate covered almonds for dessert...hee hee.

lunch today is going to be albondigas soup from one of my fave restaurants, i''m not sure how healthy it is but i have convinced myself it must be really healthy since all it is is steamed meatballs in a beef broth based soup with veggies. but who really knows. it is yummy though. and then dinner, who knows, since it''s friday we''ll probably go out!! but another mentally successful week for me....which is positive!

have a fab weekend gals!

 

[akw94]

Mara, your dinner last night does sound good. I''ll have to check out the cookinglight website. I made some pasta too but not so healthy, noodles w/tuna and cheese. Very yummy though! I did use mostly mozzerella cheese, to make myself feel not quite so guilty.

I''m going to meet a friend for lunch and we''re having Chinese or maybe sushi. Not sure that it''ll be all that healthy but.... It could be worse, right??
Dinner, who knows... I think i''ll have a weight watchers frozen thing so that I don''t add to my bad eating or maybe i''ll go by some scallops.

 

[Mara]

amy, you have to have the code from the magazine or be a subscriber to access CL recipes database, but the march code is KITCHENTIPS, you can use it for the rest of march...

i may subscribe just to keep access to their website, i really love all the recipes on there and they all have the nutritional info which is kind of fun! they had some great sounding stuff.

 

[AsscherGirl]

Aww, thanks guys!

Running is just soooo hard. Amy, my body has been saying no to running my whole life. I remember when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I was friends with a girl who went running with her dad every weekend. I thought this was an awesome idea, so I asked my dad if we could try it one weekend. Well, I went about 20 feet and that was about it. My friend ended up being a National Champ in high school and continued to run in College, ha.

I think for me it was a total mental block. I kept telling myself I couldn''t run, I didn''t have the endurance, it was too hard, blah blah. But now that I am actually pushing myself & have a specific goal in mind, it''s really changed my mind set. I do however have a joint problem in my hips. I have bursitis, which basically means the liquid between my joints that keeps them gliding smoothly is either worn down or not really present. Therefore, the joints in my hip rub together, and cause inflammation, irritation & obviously pain. Exercising really helps, but I have a delicate balance of doing too much.

I''ve also noticed that during my runs, I am using my core muscles in ways I never really realized. So Amy, it''d be interesting to see if you could stengthen & repair your back before you started running & how those muscles may support you instead of hindering you.

Mara, what a bummer about the weather. It''s been sunny here, but still very cold. Unfortunately, I hear there is more SNOW in the forecast. Boo, I''m soooooo over winter

Stermag - thanks so much! Although, I have to say I love lifting weights and I love the way that I feel after a good session. I do NOT enjoy the stationary bike - what a snooze fest

Who are we missing? I know we haven''t heard from AmandaPanda in a couple of days, and Virginia - do you still have diamonds on the brain? And hey, where''s Jelly?!

 

[stermag]

Mara - evidently, my command of the English language is not as good as I thought. Ah, I''m a foreigner, what can I say?

Amy - not to break into a story but, three years ago, I started running with my boyfriend, which lasted about 5-6 months. At no point during this time did I ever manage more than 3 miles. It was a difficult trail through a wooded park, with many challenging hills but still.. never more than 3 miles, and was in much better shape than I am now! Had I had a goal of 5 miles, or perhaps another (longer) trail to run, I might have worked up to running longer distances but that was not the case.

Fast foward to Jan 2006 - a girlfriend signed me up for a marathon relay which takes place this May. My leg of it will be approximately 6.5 or 7 miles. We started training with that goal in mind, increasing our distance by half a mile each week. When we got to 5 miles, we decided to stick with it for a bit as the jump from 4.5 to 5 was somehow more difficult than we expected.

So, my limited experience gained during the two stabs at "becoming a runner" has taught me that, for a healthy person, the biggest obstacles to running long distances are mental. This doesn''t make them any easier to overcome, unfortunately. The things one must combat is boredom, lack of faith in oneself and also that horrible feeling of being overwhelmed by how much is still ahead of you. I firmly believe that the first half of any distance is much more difficult to cover than the second. Once you''re past the mid-point, it somehow just goes down hill from there. And it has to be mental because it''s not as though I suddenly get an extra surge of energy at the 2.5 mile marker. And yet, it never fails: once I''m on mile 3 or 4, my gait improves, I speed up, my breathing is less labored.. dare I say, I even start to enjoy it.

When I first started exploring interval training, the instructions said something like "sprint 50 meters and then run 50 meters at a comfortable pace". I kept thinking "what a crock of poop, NO *running* pace is comfortable!". However, I''ve discovered that, once your legs and core are strong enough to handle the motion of running, if you slow down enough so that your heart rate doesn''t go through the roof, you achieve a perfectly sustainable pace... that is, you get to a point where it feels as if you could run for a really, really long time.

My biggest challenge right now is with the feet - I can run comfortably for 4 miles, but past that point, whatever blister protection I''ve put in place seems to shift (probably due to sweat) and something starts to rub uncomfortably. I''ve four pairs of running shoes, all kinds of microfiber socks, and gadgets... but so far, all fail by lap 34.

Have a great weekend, everyone!