I hate that it gets dark so early in the winter. Yesterday was Winter Solstice in my hemisphere. It’s a sweet sad day in that the sun will set a bit later every day, but that we still have about 78 days until DST begins.
Blah. If you need me I’ll be over here waiting for March 9th to arrive. I plan to run when I get home from work on March 10th, just because I can.
A couple of people have mentioned to me that I said I was going to go running on Monday, but then posted that I went to the gym. They were curious if I had not run because of my hip and why I hadn’t mentioned it in the post about Monday.
The short answer is, I meant to mention why I hadn’t run, but forgot to.
The long answer is, I had been lifting for a couple of days and all the muscles in my legs and back were sore and I thought it would be a colossally horrible idea to run when the supporting muscles were fatigued and might not provide the support I need.
As a result I am still off. I don’t know what the plan is either. I am taking it one day at a time at this point. Someday very soon, there will be a running post here.
I got this link via Eric and I thought it was worth a share. Very inspirational.
I have been continuing to work out, but I haven’t posted much since it wasn’t running. However, since I am injured and trying to maintain my weight and my fitness, I thought it would be a good idea to get back in the habit of logging my training. After all, my goal is to make myself better at running during this time off by doing other things.
First off, I finally got the book, Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Running. It’s pretty good. I haven’t read it cover to cover, but I have read large chunks of it. Most of it isn’t meant to be read through, as it’s demonstrations of various lifts.
Along with the book, my neighbor agreed to take me to the gym and show me proper lifting technique and workout plans. As did a coworker, but I never did get a chance to take him up on that. It has been interesting. Saturday I did Legs and Shoulders, Sunday was Back and Triceps and today, on my own, I did chest and biceps (since I was shown those earlier last week).
I am wiped out. Since I did all that over three days (not something I would do often, but I was off all three days and could spend a bunch of time in the gym) just about every major muscle hurts :)
For lifting I will express the weight reps as weight/reps (so 10/15 is 10 lbs 15 times).
Training Log:
Cardio: 1 hour on the bike at Level 8 (540 odd calories burned (according to the bike)).
Chest:
Barbell Press: 65/10, 65/12, 65/10
Incline Press: 65/10, 65/10, 65/8 (This was too heavy, but I think if I hadn’t been lifting for 3 days straight this would have been fine)
Decline Press: 55/12, 55/12, 55/12
Biceps:
Dumbbell Curls: 15/15, 15/15, 15/15
Bent Bar Curls: 20/15, 30/15, 30/15 (This could have been a little heavier)
Abs:
Ab machine: 30/15, 30/12, 30/10
Alternate Heel Touchers: 25 each side
Stretching:
Figure 4 hamstring: 3 times each side, hold for 30 seconds
Alternating knees to chest: 2 times each side, hold for 30 seconds
Ok, that was a lot to type, I need to pair that down some. Of course, it was a lot to do too, I was in the gym for almost 2 hours :)
My hip is slowly but surely getting better. When I take the ibuprofen now I have no pain at all. Without the ibuprofen it doesn’t hurt too much.
If I hadn’t just been off and in pain, I am not sure I would notice the pain outside a typical ache.
It’s funny, but the older you get the more you just get used to hurting all the time. I wake up in the morning and I feel like I was in a fist fight sometimes. Man it’s a drag gettin’ old.
I went to the gym tonight to…well, work out of course. And I felt so good I thought I might try a couple of strides on the treadmill. And while that didn’t really work out and I only ran .03 of a mile, I was glad I at least tried since now I know it still hurts :)
Let’s see, what did I want to talk about? … Hmmm. Oh yes, I recall. MY HIP. :)
The hip. On the upside, I think skipping the Jingle Bell Run was the smartest thing I have ever done with regards to my training. Usually I will just cowboy it. Run now, let the physical therapist figure it out later. I didn’t do that this time, I let it rest. It was fun to just watch the race and not have to be concerned with strategy or pacing or the idea that I am breathing so hard I think my forehead might cave in. But it was also kind of a bummer to not be able to talk about the course afterward. And a bigger bummer than that was getting a long sleeve t-shirt with long enough arms that I can’t wear (I am going to wear it under other shirts, but I am writing DNF on it).
I know I have said this before only to backslide, but I really want to record all this here. My hip feels better. I really think I need to redouble my efforts on the bike and with stretching because I think it’s starting to work.
I have 1 more week till my orthosis come in, and I can continue at the gym during that time. I am hopeful another week off will put me back in business.
As an aside, I have gotten comfortable with not running. But in a good way. I want to get back out there, I can’t wait actually. I haven’t gained weight (in fact I lost a couple pounds) though. Also the biking I am doing, while not as good as running has kept me sane and focused. 1 more week, 1 more week, 1 more week, 1 more week.
See, sane as they come.
I worked from 8 am Thursday until around 2 pm Friday. I was, and still am to a degree, exhausted.
In the wee hours of Friday morning I was looking out the window of the office at the cold snowy parking lot, and I was hit with an overwhelming urge to go outside and have a cigarette. It was so powerful that I can still feel it a little.
If I could have had one without repercussion I would have done it. I know I would have.
But repercussions are why we quit smoking in the first place so it’s a silly idea. I am mad at myself that I am still thinking about it and wanting to do it (I am not going to), but I suppose it is what it is. Nothing about getting mad at myself will change wanting to smoke.
What kept me from smoking? Nothing really. Sometimes all that stands between us and not smoking is some vague idea that throwing away a streak is a bad idea.
I asked myself that last night at the gym. I feel like I have lost my identity as a runner entirely.
My hip still hurts. So much so, that I have decided to bag the race on Sunday. I am done. My racing for 2007 is over. It was a great year for me and running, don’t let this last month fool you.
I knocked my 5K PR (since coming back to running) from 36 minutes in April to 23:24 in October. 13 minutes is pretty crazy in my opinion. I also ran a half marathon, trained at over 20 miles a week for a while and lost like 30 pounds…all while quitting smoking using just one hand. I am thankful for all that, I really am. I am not going to pout about not having run for the last two weeks with all that to be happy about.
Which brings me to the question of where I am. I don’t know really. I mean, my hip hurts and I am not running. I am a little more comfortable with this idea since I have been good about getting to the gym to ride the bike (which I did 3 times so far this week, and I plan to round it out tomorrow with another hour). And I am waiting. Waiting to wake up and feel like it’s better, waiting to feel like running on my hip won’t cause me damage….waiting for hell to freeze over.
To recap, racing for 2007 has come to a close, I am cross training at the gym and lifting weights (sort of) and I am waiting. Ok, just so I know where I am, I think I can still breathe.
I am officially a card carrying member of a gym. I joined up Saturday morning at the Harrisburg location. I hit the bike for 1 hour to burn off 7 days of built up aggression and frustration. After that I went to the mat and did some crunches, and began in earnest to stretch my hamstrings and calves. That all went pretty well. Then came the weights.
I have to say, I found the weight area to be overwhelming and intimidating. There were a bunch of huge meathead looking dudes there lifting more weight than I could hope to carry.
Don’t get me wrong. I am perfectly happy with my (lack of) muscles. I like being lean. I like to (try) to be built like a runner. And I am not even worried about standing beside some huge guy who is benching twice what I weigh while I curl soup cans. None of that bothers me. What bothers me is that I don’t know what exercises to do, in what order, how many times and what form.
Those guys obviously put into weight training the kind of time and energy I put into running (maybe more), and I feel like I should at least have a passing understanding of what I am doing before I go getting in the way.
I am going to order the book, Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Running. I think that should go a long way toward helping me figure out a decent routine. I also sent a text message to a friend that is pretty interested in weight training and he has agreed to help me come up with a plan.
Today I was a little more adventuresome. I rode the bike for a hour again, and then followed up with the stretching abs workout from the day before. Then, since the gym was not very busy, I wandered around reading the instructions on the different machines and used the ones I though might be helpful.
I didn’t use any of the leg machines because I don’t know if that will aggravate my hip. The workout was disorganized but I figured, much like beginning running, just trying some new things while taking it light and slow would be fine. Hopefully I can put some time into learning about weight-training and make the most out of the time I spend in the gym.
I have also made a discovery with my hip. Stretching my hamstrings, has a positive effect on it. After I am done riding the bike, my hip usually feels a little tight. After a good 15 minutes of stretching I can walk around pain free. My current thinking is that my inflexibility: A) helped cause the injury and B) is prolonging it’s recovery. Tsk tsk. Do your stretches children!