My Path to Outer Skinniness

I was going to run today, but it wasn't really at the front of my mind today. It was so nice out today too! I really wanted to go find a nice trail to run. This weekend was full of distractions. Yesterday I got up and immediately started deep cleaning my house. I decided it was time to go through all of the things in the closets and cupboards. The things you sort of ignore because they had a place to be. It was well worth it though. Our spare bedroom is looking much better. We even found the key for the door of the Subaru so we can actually lock the doors again! I'm excited to go run tomorrow, but with my luck it's going to be overcast and rainy since it was so nice and sunny today. I suppose that's my punishment for not making it a priority. I'm excited for tonight's dinner. I made an Italian salad with garbanzos, red peppers and artichoke hearts tossed in balsamic and olive oil. For the main course I'm currently cooking chicken marsala over pasta with th...

I just remembered what I wanted to write about so two posts today. I was thinking about all the sports I used to play. I did Softball for 6 years, Volleyball for 4, I also dabbled in track, basketball, swim team and bowling. I wondered how I could have played so many sports for so long and not ever felt like an athlete. I never felt like I was the same as the girls I played with on my teams. They were volleyball players, I just played volleyball. And I realized it was this attitude that's probably held me back from really being athletic. I'm not a runner, I'm just running. This has big implications for my success I think. As someone who is just running, I never have to feel bad if I don't ever run a marathon. I don't have to worry about finishing my runs in any sort of timely manner. I walked most of my run today. I'm not a runner so that's okay. I'm just someone who happens to be running to get fit. I'm not a fit person, I'm an unfit person d...

Lyrics from a song that has nothing to do with anything at the moment, but I thought of them. Anyway... Did my run today on the track at Jesuit again. I like their track, but I can't help but be bored with the same loop over and over. I only ran the first two intervals of the 6. I was going to run the last one, but then a big group of kids started running on the track so I ran myself right on out. I didn't want to think about how slow I am compared to a bunch of healthy rich kids. My next run is on Saturday and I'm going to go find a trail or something to run so that I have lots of pretty things to look at. I have two things to add to my wishlist. First, I need the insoles for my shoes. My knees were killing me today which partly why I decided not to push my runs. I also want a foam cylinder. They had them at 24 hour fitness. What you do with them is you position yourself so that your calf or thigh is carrying your weight on it and you roll your leg across it. What it ...

Well, this is a monumental day! I did Week 2 Day 1 of the Couch to 5k program today and I finished it! I think this workout is actually slightly easier and more motivating. The first week is 60 second runs and 90 second walks in intervals. Week 2 is 90 second runs and 2 minute walks. I feel much more of the burn and I don't feel the sort of painful aching that I was getting in my calves. Actually, every time I'd run it would help stretch my calves out so I'd look forward to the run interval. When I finally got back to their house my legs felt like jello. Once I sat down and stretched I could barely get back up again. My legs still feel this way several hours later actually. I've also decided that the insoles that lady footlocker recommended are a must. I wasn't running as long before so my knees really didn't take the hit they took today. I can tell that they're bending in because of where I feel the pressure and I need more arch support. I was really hoping...

Okay relatives, you probably get this better than anyone, so you have to back me up on this! My grandpa fell down the basement stairs on New Years Day and broke his leg. Fortunately after several weeks in a recovery facility he's healing up and was able to go home this weekend. I subbed in southeast Portland today so I called my mom to see if I could join her in visiting him. She was at their house so I went over. And then the German Food Assault (I'm going to give it an acronym so it's serious! - GFA) happened. This has been my experience and Oma's from childhood. I walk in the back door, and the first thing I hear is "Hi Hi! You finally came to see me. What would you like to eat?" As a kid I would always run for the fridge and consume everything in sight. Today, I had to practice the weekday vegetarian plan. She won't leave you alone until you eat something of course, so I had to figure out something to eat so that she'd be satisfied. She had som...

I made it through my workout again today. The downside is that I walked through most of it. I kept thinking about this while I was walking the track today. Actually, I thought about many things...this is the general thought process: "Yeah, my arches are hurting now, I'm not going to run this next one....okay I'm going to push through it anyway....is it over? can I stop running yet?...oh thank god I can walk again...and now my calves are killing me...I'm going to stop and stretch...I should probably get those insoles, my knees are starting to hurt now...I'm going to just walk the rest of the workout and finish the whole thing...walking is better than nothing at all...maybe I should walk from now on....no, if I only walk it won't feel worth the effort...actually, I'm more of a sprinter, I've always been better at that sort of thing...I remember when I couldn't do stuff as a teenager and I just attributed it to my body type. It's amazing how much ...

Today makes a week of the weekday vegetarian plan. So far I only had some chicken so that my curry chicken salad wouldn't go to waste, and it really wasn't that good. I think this plan is going very well. I've completely restructured the way that I eat. The best part is that I'm not feeling like I'm deprived, I'm eating more fruits and veggies than anything else, and I feel pretty good. Breakfasts thus far have been yogurt, an orange or a banana, and a slice of Dave's Killer Bread with a glass of orange carrot juice mixed with apple juice. Lunches and dinners have been mostly my quest for the ultimate homemade veggie burrito, another piece of fruit, lots of peas (I forgot how much I love peas!), the mushroom marsala I made a few days ago, and whole avocado light caesar salads. Tonight I just wolfed down the most delicious Portobello burger from Burgerville! I usually end my night with a few bites of the fanciest coconut milk ice cream. Right now I'm w...

I try not to post too frequently - like twice a day - because I don't want anyone to stop reading my blog! But I can't help myself. I'm watching the biggest loser. This is dangerous for me because it's so inspiring that I want to get out and do all this crazy stuff to get healthier. I think that what I'm doing is probably sufficient for the time being. However I do have some different things I want to try once I've gotten a bit further with my couch to 5k program. Here's my list so far: Water Aerobics - I started to do this once and I loved it, but then I had a bunch of snafus that prevented me from getting into it regularly. I think that these can be resolved now since we've moved and I got a card for the local parks and rec. Some form of Martial Arts - I did this some as a teenager and I really enjoyed it. Problem is that it's not cheap and it's a bit embarrassing to do as an adult in a beginner class. I'm sure they have classes for t...

I found out today that I can run on the track at Jesuit High School as long as it's not in use by students. This is pretty much great. I was getting tired of running in the parking lot. So I gave it a shot today. This running stuff is really hard. I finally hit my goal, but I can't maintain it. I ran the track and I realized that without the benefit of walking up hills and running back down them I get worn out much quicker. I didn't finish today because my calves got really tight and my ankle is bothering me again. I also realized that I need to pay attention to what underwear I have when I run because nothing is more unpleasant than a 30 minute run with a wedgie! I got myself some socks to see if they wouldn't get eaten by my shoes. I shall test them on Thursday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I really didn't want to run today. I spent about 3 hours procrastinating this morning and trying to talk myself into it. Eventually I did decide to get out and do it. This could have been a fine run, except that I didn't really stretch that well and I forgot to use my inhaler first. I didn't realize this until I finished the first run interval and couldn't breathe. Now I have shin splints again. I would probably call this a total failure except that I did get out and do something at all today. Before I started this running stuff, it was near impossible for me to get my butt out the door just to go for a walk. I guess walking just doesn't seem like it's enough of a challenge. Anyway, it's good that I at least did that much today. I realized today as well that I love oranges. I bought some heirloom navel oranges at New Seasons - these are the cheap ones there - and they are just exactly how I like oranges. They're not too firm and they're not too jui...

Today marks the day that I finally finished the stupid week 1 day 1 of Couch to 5k! Now I just have to do it two more times to move on to the next week. At this rate, I'll be running the 5k from start to finish in about 3 years. Okay, maybe not that long. I may be a tad bitter because of how bad my calves hurt right now. I really pushed myself to finish in spite of the pain. There are some silver lining things about todays run however. First I figured out in my second to last run that if I use my thunder thighs more to pump my legs, my calves don't hurt as bad. I don't know how I never realized this before. Thunder thighs thunder for a reason! Second I think my shoes just need to be broken in a bit. They hurt my feet much less today than last time. This is only my second run with them, but I think in one or two more runs, they'll feel great and won't give me any foot pain at all. Third I ventured out of my little parking lot stretch and took to the side...

I realized today that I've been eating veggie the last two days. I haven't had any meat at all. I had meat Wednesday because of my chicken salad, but other than that, no meat. I think I will finish my chicken salad, but try to continue on this path otherwise. It is so much easier to cook without meat. I want sushi super bad though so I'll make exceptions here and there, but I really feel like my diet has taken a turn for the better this week. I feel like I owe some of this to my friends Cristy and Stacey. I went to their house after I got done teaching Tuesday and they are such fun and happy spirits. I sat in their kitchen and watched Cristy cook the most amazing spicy veggie broccoli soup while Stacey steamed broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts (grazing and munching on them as they finished cooking). She also made a really delicious looking food processor avocado soup. I feel so inspired by their healthy eating habits that I've been exercising them the last fe...

EVIL SOCK EATING SHOES! At least that's how my shoes feel still. Maybe it's a Nike thing. I tried to do W1D1 again today. This is the 4th try. I'm still not getting through it and I'm starting to get frustrated with the whole thing. But I need a goal and this is a doable one. My feet are unevenly flat. I did a foot scan and my left is flatter than my right. So I think what I need is more arch support in my right shoe and to just break in my left shoe. My feet and calves hurt a whole lot less than they did with the other shoes. And my ankle doesn't ache at all. Good things. The bad thing is that it's raining. I tried using a different treadmill, but I hated it. So I braved the rain. The back of my pants are soaked. It feels like as soon as I fix one problem, there's another one to deal with. I can't afford to keep up! So I made a runner's wishlist and posted it as a sidebar thing. I'm sure there will always be something in it as I can ...

This is the replacement. I am very sad to see my extremely cute pink Nike's go. But it needed to be done. Check out the Nike Zoom Structure Triax+ 12 Women's Running Shoe I found at Nike online I would like to think the Walking Co. that let me use their technology to see how my weight was being distributed on my feet. My left foot is actually flatter than my right foot! They had me try some insoles that were amazing. The only problem is they cost as much as my shoes. So I decided to see if I could either get much cheaper shoes so I could afford the insoles, or find shoes that didn't need them. Next I would like to thank Macy's for completely ignoring me for about 10 minutes, but also for not asking any questions about my return when they did finally acknowledge me. Basically a hassle free transaction. Last, I would like to thank Lady Foot Locker for providing lots of information and being very patient with me as I tried on several pairs of shoes and even ran...

Today I ran 21 minutes, 35 seconds, 1.54 miles at a rate of 13'58" per mile. The weather was nice outside so I ran on in the parking lot. I far prefer this to the treadmill because I have better control of my pace and when I need to stop and stretch. I can't adjust my speed as naturally on a treadmill. I didn't have shin splints except a little bit in the beginning. But boy do my low calves hurt! I stopped to stretch about 3 times during my workout. My feet hurt really badly too. Todays next goal: EXCHANGE MY SHOES. It needs to happen. As badly as I really want to have normal feet that can wear normal cute pink shoes, they just aren't going to work for me. I was really hoping to avoid the tedium of going to the mall and returning these. I still didn't get through the whole thing, and I think that my podcast isn't what I thought it was. I expected it to take 20 minutes, apparently it's longer because I went that long and I still had another run lef...

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/detail/268666208/142001870//all/allRuns?sitesrc=fbk_ab_plus The good news is my lungs are starting to keep up. One whiff on the really old albuterol seems to keep me breathing without pain. The bad news is that I think I'm allergic to treadmills. I started out by stretching my calves really well this time because I didn't want to get the shin splints again. They're still a bit sore to be honest. I did that and then I started the C25K on the treadmill. I adjusted the grade to 7% at first and kind of played with it and found that 6% was pretty good. But once I started to just go, my calves started to hurt. And then my feet started to ache too. I stopped and stretched again to try to alleviate some of the tightness in my calves, but they just got worse. The arches in my feet hurt so bad I thought I would fall off the treadmill. So I decided to try running outside in the blistering cold windchill. I tried ...

I thought this was awesome so I wanted to share it! Even in such a short time, I'm finding that it's really accurate. See Julia Run: Benefits of Running Most serious runners will say their addiction goes beyond the physical benefits they achieve from running. Runners say the intense exhilaration and euphoria that comes after a run is what motivates them most. In fact, this euphoria comes from a betaendorphin release triggered by the neurons in the nervous system. Intended to alleviate the pain after a run, it creates a feeling of extreme happiness and exhilaration. Runners become addicted to this intense high, and it can often replace other addictions to drugs, alcohol, and even food. While runners claim to achieve more energy in daily life from running, it also helps bring appetite, exercise and food into balance. Furthermore, as running makes the body function better, it improves sleep, eating, and relaxation.

I decided to take today off from running because the program says I should. And so does Julia. And she's smart so I should listen to her.  Anyway, I really wanted to run so badly today! I had to wear shoes that I can barely walk in (yay fashion!) so that I wouldn't hurt myself and try to run. My shins feel much better after a good ice packing, but I'm noticing that my left ankle is not as happy as it probably should be. I think I'll ice it tonight. I'm going to attempt to run week 1 day 1 of the program again tomorrow to see if I can get through it. And I will try stretching out really well first. And I will set the treadmill at an incline.  Hopefully my ankle won't be bothered and hopefully I'll make it through the entire 20 minutes!  

Okay, I know I may be getting annoying with the massive amount of blogging lately, but I wanted to answer my own question! So here's some of what I found: From Wikipedia Tight calves can cause anterior or frontal 'shin splints'. This occurs when tight calves cause an overstretch of the anterior tibialis—see illustration above. Overstetched muscles become weakened and inflammed. A heavy stretching program for the calf(ves) can alleviate the condition rather quickly.  There's much more detailed information than this through that link. It explains why they're caused and what you can do to prevent or alleviate your legs when you get shin splints. Running Injury Free Has some good tips about how your feet should hit the ground for training purposes and for injury prevention purposes, Sports Inury Clinic Has some really good information for treating shin splint pain. For me, I think my problem might be my shoes. I have flat feet so that when walk my feet tilt...

C25K, week 1 day 1 I started out running outside, but it was so windy that I decided to continue on the treadmill in the rec center at my complex. Problem is that for some reason treadmills give me awful shin splints. I got through the first two runs and wasn't even out of breath. And then the splints hit. I stopped and stretched a bit and tried to keep going but it wouldn't stop hurting. So I decided to run back to my front door and call it good. I got through 11 minutes, and went .75 miles according to my iPod. Which isn't bad. I just need to figure out how to keep my legs from hurting so I can finish! Is this an endurance thing? Will it get better the more I run?

Apparently the layout changes I made disabled my comments. I figured it out though and changed the comment format so you can comment on my posts now. I just took the Real Age test on Dr. Oz's website. It pretty much covers the gamut of things that affect how you age. Based on all of these questions it calculates what your "real age" is, or how your body is aging because of your lifestyle rather than your calendar age. I'm 2.7 years older, which isn't bad. However, I have a feeling that this number increases exponentially as you get older. Which is why I think I need to work on being younger on my real age test than my calendar age. Here were some of the suggestions it gave me: Cut down on red meat - it's a high source of cholesterol. Limit to one serving per week. Eat breakfast every day. (I've been slacking in this department) Eat more fish throughout the week. Eat more fruit and vegetables.  Increase my exercise time. More cardio, more resistan...

Well, Julia has finally convinced me that it's time to do the Couch to 5k. I've been able to maintain a good amount of running for about a month now (although, not enough yet to make any difference) but it's become part of my thought process each day. So it's time that I set my next goal. It's pretty cool really, you can repeat days as you need, and you can download a podcast that instructs you when to walk and when to run according to the program. I'm excited to get started! She also has a great link on her blog that I wanted to pass on to anyone interested: http://www.c25k.com/ I just have to say that I like that this isn't a new years resolution kind of thing. It's nice that I've been steadily working on it. I look forward to saying "I ran x miles today" and I'll remembering back when I thought that running was something other people did but never me. I can already say that now, but it'll be way cool to prove I can do more...

Con number 1: Running without using my inhaler first. I thought I'd be ambitious today and see how I fared without my 3 year old inhaler. Not good. I could have gotten much more running in if my chest didn't feel so constricted. Using it after works way less effectively than using it beforehand. It's time to accept that asthma is just part of my workout. Con number 2: My new shoes pull at my heel, so no matter what socks I'm wearing (and I've tried several different kinds now) my socks get pulled into my shoe. This is really only a minor annoyance, but it's easy to fixate when you're doing something difficult. Con number 3: McDonalds has a new snack wrap that is basically a Big Mac in a flour tortilla. Normally I could resist such things. I can easily resist the Big Mac. I really only have one every few months or so. I might only eat one 3 or 4 times a year. But in a snack wrap I get all the happy of eating a a Big Mac without the guilt (which I should p...

So far I have only gotten one run in my new shoes, but I realize now that I really did need to get some better running shoes. My left ankle is a little upset with me for not getting shoes sooner as are both my knees. Fortunately they are much more forgiving than they should be and are gradually starting to feel better. I just need to get my shoe insert and I'll be able to track my progress better. I'm glad that I've at least formed some habits with my eating. I had chipotle for lunch and ordered what I always get. The steak fajita bowl with tons of salsas, no sour cream and no cheese. It's amazing how good it is. The funny thing is I wasn't even thinking about trying to be healthy. Good times. I definitely needed it after the last few days of eating I've had too!