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Posts Tagged ‘treadmill’

2013, The Year of Redemption!

Posted in Like it or not I'm a Runner, tagged , , , on January 4, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

i have been fortunate enough to run the last two days.  i am really proud of that.  it seems that life has gotten out of control and i am lost in the chaos.  i feel like clothes in a washing machine, i’m caught in the wash & the confusion that is life.  luckily i carved out time for a run at the park yesterday while my daughter was at basketball practice.  it was really cold, the 20 degree air burned through my unconditioned lungs and i had a cough the rest of the day.  normally a run in the cold would be nothing, but due to my running break, it kicked my butt.  i decided to walk a lap and then ran a lap, 6 all together totaled up to almost 3 miles.  today i got 3 treadmill miles in before heading into town to run errands.  when i do this, set aside this time, i feel so much better.  i feel like me, i feel strong.  i have two half marathons i am keeping my eyes on them both, unfortunately they are a week apart & i’m not sure that’s a great idea.  i am excited, nervous, anxious and a hole mixture of other things, but more than anything i am determined.  i intend to make this year, 2013, the year of redemption!

maui marathon (8)

 

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A Cosmic Joke

Posted in Daily Life, Health, Like it or not I'm a Runner, tagged , , , , , , , on July 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

i really feel like going to the doctor is a huge practical joke at the expense of the patient.  i went today & had 2 hours of waiting in order to see a doctor for about 10 minutes in which he said “i just don’t know what to tell you”.  so here is what i accomplished today, along with reading my new issue of Runners World cover to cover…..

Well I finally broke down and am sitting in yet another doctor’s office. My legs swelled so bad last night that they were pulsating. Its hard to even cross my legs. My legs don’t even feel like they belong on my body.  I dread it so much. I dread the weigh-in, but most of all I dread having to tell the same story to someone else. It is like a story, one that is well rehearsed.  I know my part, it never changes & yet there seems to be no solution.  I feel like I do nothing but complain.

Enough of that.  Let’s focus on the good things. This morning at 3:45 as I was getting breakfast fixed and lunch packed for my husband, I opened the door to tell the dogs good morning and a bat came flying out of no where. It came about 5 inches from my hair & God knows if it gets in that curly mess, it will never escape! I screamed and did some sort of dance that I have since nicknamed “the bat-s— crazy dance.” My husband got a good laugh at just hearing the stomps and squeals coming from the front room of the house.

After that, I decided to go for another treadmill run and about half a mile in I was smiling. Like seriously goofy grinning. That lasted a bit & then I saw this huge red wasp flying straight for me. I nearly fell of the treadmill trying to swat it while bobbing and weaving.  I thought of my friend Michelle who does what she is supposed to & actually attaches the kill switch to her clothes when on the treadmill.  That probably would have been a lot safer!  It finally left me alone after 2 episodes of attack.  (I got in 4 wasp free miles yesterday & only 3 miles today.)

Now why are those the “good things” you ask? Because in a split second I can do the bat-s–t crazy dance, I can get away from wasps, I can maneuver, I can RUN! It has been a great day overall. The rest of the crew here in the waiting room is probably wondering why I am sitting here grinning and typing on the laptop, but I don’t care, I have done much weirder stuff. To say the least! If you can’t laugh at yourself, laugh along with those who are laughing at you. So no matter what you are doing, or facing try to see the good things, even if they do involve bats & wasps.  btw, i hate bats, they freak me out.

Bat

Bat (Photo credit: Lee Carson)

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Race Relations

Posted in Like it or not I'm a Runner, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

i’m up early on this chilly 27 degree saturday morning.  i have had all the best intentions for the last 2 weeks of finally running outdoors (off the treadmill).  i had met my goal of miles per week to test my feet and that went well.  then i went to the high school regional basketball tourney with my daughter & caught the worst round of crud i think i have ever experienced.  i have been sick for 2 weeks, drowning in snot & coughing up the scariest stuff a body can produce.

this past thursday was the first workout of any type, it was strength training core & arms.  it was hard due to the fact i still can’t breathe good & i have been down for so long.  friday i was sore (that’s a good thing) so i did legs & back.  at one point i felt like crying.  about half way through the work out i realized i was way off my usual effort & i was frustrated.  i am still coughing and blowing snot, so i tried not to be too hard on myself.

the rest of the day friday i was so tired.  like i needed to rest.  i suppose my body was just still worn out from being sick, i’m not sure.  you would think that nearly 2 weeks of being off would be enough rest, but not so.  so after an intense leg workout, i puttered around  just waiting for bedtime.  about 3 a.m. this morning i had to get up and pee & as i swung my legs off the bed it hit me.  OUCH, my butt hurts, my calves hurt-Yay!  I was sore from the leg workout.  I was really excited, i hadn’t gotten sore from a leg workout in a long time.  the lunges & squats did the trick!

so this a.m. i am waiting for the temp to rise, contemplating a nice slow first pavement run in the valley.  we shall see.  my chest is still very heavy from congestion, so not sure if it is a good idea or not.  but, in case you haven’t heard,prime running season is upon us & i have my first 5k of the year coming up next saturday.  it will not be a PR for sure, but it will be a chance to get back on the road with like-minded people.  that is something i miss terribly.  i miss the very thing that when i first began racing terrified me the most.  i worried so much about what the “real” runners thought of me that i couldn’t enjoy the process.  now i long for it.  pinning on my bib & chatting with the other runners is like going to church for fellowship or for some going out with a huge group of friends for lunch & a movie.  it is what brought a smile to my face during all those dreaded treadmill runs.  i would get totally out of it & then a past race or an upcoming race would pop in my head & immediately my pace quickened and i was smiling.  i don’t race to win.  i race to race.  to see how honest my training has been,  to see if i have improved or if i need improvement.  i race because i just love it, the nervousness in the air, the smiles, the laughs,the chatter-all of it.  so my race this coming weekend will be more of a training run with a lot of people i don’t know.  it will be a chance to see where i stand.  not how i stack up against other runners, but rather how i stack up against myself.  i am anxious, but i am so ready.  this long break has been tough.  i will be honest i am terrified of re-injuring myself, so i will make sure to be very cautious, but in the immortal (and nasal) words of the beloved Sponge Bob Square Pants “I’m Ready, I’m Ready, I’m Ready, I’m Ready!!!!!”

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The Fickle Fathlete

Posted in Like it or not I'm a Runner, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

i remember the day i learned what fickle meant.  really i do.  i remember the analogy that the teacher used in order to drive the point home.  apparently it worked.  today as i plodded along on the dreadmill i started to grumble.  i have been having a few consecutive days of either putting off running or not running altogether.  now i have never ever been a treadmill fan.  however, it was just a short couple of weeks ago that i could not run at all.  no treadmill, no highway, no track-nothing.  when the doc cleared me i knew there would be several weeks of me hitting the hamster wheel.                                                              A ca. 6 months old Winter White Russian Dwarf ...

i was excited.  yes, you read that right.  there are several benefits for me, coming off injury, to running on the treadmill.  it has more “give” to it than pavement.  i don’t like running on gravel, and i love running on the highway.  the treadmill does a lot of work for you.  it helps propel you along and when starting out/over that helps a bunch.   for me there is a safety in knowing if something tweaks or feels funny, i can just go upstairs and stretch more.  if i am on the road, i tend to push a little too much and don’t wanna be seen on the side of the road stretching-yeah i am a little weird.  i always tried to give myself a prize when forced to run indoors-iPod!  heck ya.  i love music.  all kinds-seriously.  i don’t run on the road with one because i don’t want to get flattened out, safety first.  so on the treadmill i can crank it up and just mindlessly plod along.  for some reason though….i still hate it.  i had to remind myself not to be so fickle. ” just be happy you can run you big dork!”  i told myself this more than once.  it actually worked the first couple of times.  then boredom set in even more.  i am not trying to whine or complain, but for those of you who run outside you know what i am talking about.  right?  auto pilot is nice, but there is nothing like being on the road enjoying the fresh air (even with the occasional roadkill blob).  my big bonus is i get to run with my dog.  maggie love love loves it!

i have a few more weeks of indoor running to go.  i know, i can feel it.  i haven’t been given a definite amount of miles to run before going outside, but i think i will just “know”.  i think i will be able to feel it and i hope i don’t rush it.  i do not want to be injured again, so i have to play this smart.  which sounds easy, but when i only get to really feeling good after 3-4 miles, it is tough.  i can only run 3-4 miles right now.  it is hard not to just keep going, but i know what the price for such foolishness would be.  so i will try not to be so fickle and i will be happy with whatever stage i am in.  that feeling will come and go, yes, but i am resolved to keep myself in check.  also, i thought these were cute.  man we have come a long way baby!    enjoy:

English: Simple treadmill, seen in Thailand.English: a TreadmillEnglish: Treadmill in which steers were exercised.A woman on a treadmill (Original caption: &quo...

Related articles:
The “Evil” Treadmill (cusseswhilerunning.com)

Let’s maybe not be so harsh on the treadmill, ok?(autopilotlegs.com)

 

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Lazy Butt

Posted in Daily Life, Health, Like it or not I'm a Runner, tagged , , , , , , , on February 15, 2012 | 2 Comments »

i know that i have been overly excited lately about being released from my medical running hiatus.  but does that mean that every run is going to be magical and birds will sing and all will be right with the world?  uh no, no it does not.  today was just a crappy day.  nothing wrong, but i feel unmotivated and more slug like than cheetah like.  okay i will be honest there aren’t really any days that i can remember feeling like a cheetah.  penguin yes, cheetah no.

so today i got dressed, stretched out really good, plugged in my iPod thingies in my ears & got the dreaded “low battery” voice….wth.  so knowing how truly awful it is to run on the treadmill w/o music, i decided to wait a bit & let the battery charge.  mistake…..big mistake.  i then decided to eat lunch….mistake.   then i got started on paperwork for the office.  mistake-well running mistake.  i got a lot done today, but nothing in regards to running. i just feel lazy.

Thermometer-lazy-4

Image via Wikipedia

so today will go up as a big ole “0″ in miles ran for this week.  dang it.  i have a goal of 20 miles for this week and taking off monday (snow day) and today (ugh blow it off day) is not going to make the rest of the week very easy.

i just don’t want this to feel like a job. i want to keep this newness i am experiencing, but with everything that is new for me, there is a tendency to blow it off.  things must be engrained in me for a long time.  i would not have made a good lab rat in a maze.  i would have gotten shocked a lot.   i am stubborn and it takes a long time for me to set a new habit.

i love running.  i just wanna keep it that way.  so i will scrap today & look forward to tomorrow.

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