Ebbs and Flows

You might remember that a few months ago I was addicted to working out. Really obsessed. And then I had my knee injury and things just kind of trickled off… I would work out every now and then, take a Core Fusion class here, go to the building gym there, but it was never constant. I would go days upon days without doing a single eksusis. I wasn’t too down about it since my weight didn’t go up and I knew the rut wouldn’t last forever anyway. This is because of something the boy and I discussed about working out:

It goes in ebbs and flows.

You’re basically either in a phase of working out all the time, loving it, craving it, missing it, wanting it — or you’re barely working out at all and not really missing it! We both go through these phases and I’m sure many of you do as well.

Well, I believe I have exited the ebb and am back into the flow!

I had the opportunity to work out at a VERY cool boutique gym on Sunday. I am going to provide an official review later this week or early next week with more details, so I won’t go into it much now. But that experience is what pushed me back into the flow! Not because of yesterday’s workout alone (although it was wonderful) but because of what happened after.

At the end of yesterday’s workout, I made another appointment with this gym for 2 more trial sessions on Wednesday! More info on that in my review too — but let’s just say I am MAJORLY looking forward to my Wednesday evening workout. So feeling the workout euphoria from how great yesterday’s was, combined with my excitement for Wednesday, started to set me back on the path to the flow.

But.

Working out on Sunday and Wednesday hardly a flow makes. (Is that a sentence?) Yesterday afternoon I had planned to go for a run with the boy, but because of the unexpected cardio aspect of the gym workout on Sunday I was tired and just wanted to bask in the sun while he ran. So that is what I did, but while I was laying there enjoying the practically summer weather (still not QUITE hot enough), I was wondering if I should have just sucked it up and went on the run.

It is summer. My knee seems okay. I wanted to be able to run outside. If I wait longer, I will lose the warm weather opportunities to run outside.

But laying directly under the sun felt so nice. It was the first time all summer I’ve done this and that is another thing I don’t want to miss out on! I knew I made the right decision in not going for a run, but I decided I would go for a run — early in the morning on Monday. I actually wanted to get in another workout before Wednesday.

My friends, I was officially on a flow.

Which brings us to today. I woke up at 6 am (something I have not done in a long time to workout) and went outside for a morning run on the river. It felt very strange for me to be doing this since I had planned to run outside in the mornings all summer long; plans that dissipated after my clear inability to run due to a knee injury. I figured running was just not something my body could do. But then I tried running last week and felt great, and I wanted to do it again. So this morning I did.

 

As soon as I started running, it felt different than all my other runs. It didn’t hurt. I don’t mean my knee or any other joints, I mean that feeling in my chest. I had no problem breathing and no ribcage cramp. It felt easy and pleasant. I began to understand that all the blogs I read with girls who run long distances all the time feel THIS way when they run. The chest pain is not universal. No wonder people can run marathons. No wonder they love running and do it all the time! The fact that I ran first thing in the morning before eating really helped too. It felt great to run without the weight of the food jumping around.

For 15 minutes I felt great! It was the easiest, smoothest, freest (word?) run of my life (of all, like, 5 of them). About 15 minutes in I spotted a water fountain and stopped for a sip. Shortly after I resumed running, that old ribcage cramp resumed. Same spot. I didn’t know if it happened because it happened, or if my drink of water brought it on? Is that possible, could drinking water have caused the cramp? Maybe just a coincidence. Let me know if you know if water can cause cramps!

It hurt but I ran through it, remembering my last run where the pain eventually went away. My run became much harder at this point. It stopped being easy, free. It was no longer painless. I started having trouble breathing and feeling overall chest pain/weakness. Sigh. I kept going though since I wasn’t even at my halfway mark yet! I reached the end of the loop and turned back around, slightly disheartened to know that I had just as much to finish as I already ran. But I went on, pressing into the cramp with my fingers when I could. The cramp eventually stopped hurting but the ease of the run never returned. It remained difficult to the end, when I ran back up the ramp to the street and then I was DONE!

Stats

Time: 32 minutes (didn’t pay attention to the seconds)
Miles: ~2.82
Avg HR: 179
Max HR: 195 (uphills are HARD!)
Calories burned: 319

I felt GREAT! Yes, it became difficult during the run but for almost half the run it was amazing! And for the entire run I experienced absolutely no knee pain or hip pain! I CAN RUN!!!

I won’t overdo it. I’ll run once or twice a week. I love being able to do it in the morning. It was so so so so so much better running on the path while it was basically clear. On weekends I am navigating through bike riders (and hoping not to get run over), other runners, walkers, rollerbladers — going in both directions. This morning I dealt with none of that. At 6:20 am the paths are clear! And the weather was perfect, gorgeous but not at all hot. There were more people on the path on my way back (they were going in the opposite direction) but at my time it was pretty empty. I loved it!

I was so excited about my morning’s run that I signed up for a 5K!

I will be running the Komen 2009 New York City Race for the Cure. My mom had breast cancer when I was younger (she is completely OK now) so it is a cause has a lot of meaning for me.  I never did a Komen event before. A few years ago I volunteered at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Queens (I was one of the people cheering the runners and walkers on!) and last year Missy and I did that same walk in Manhattan. Now that I can actually run I am very excited that I can contribute in this way — and get a chance to practice my new abilities!

I JUST signed up so I don’t even have any donations yet — but feel free to contribute! I would really appreciate it and it is obviously an important cause, as I am sure you all know at least one person who had to deal with breast cancer. You can donate to my personal fundraising page here.

Missy signed up as well and Melanie might too, and then we can start an official team! If you want to join our team and participate in the run, let me know!

I have a lot to look forward to in September! The 5K, U.S. Open, Snow Patrol at the Beacon, anniversary, who knows what else!

I love the flows! But you know what? I learned that ebbs are not such a bad thing, and certainly nothing to get down on yourself about! If your body needs a rest, it needs a rest. A few weeks or even a couple months off is not the end of the world, and when you feel strong enough to workout hard again, you will. You don’t need to feel guilty (as I have in the past) for going any amount of time without regular workouts. Do what you can when you can, and it will all ebb and flow naturally. It happens to everyone. I will no longer fear the ebbs. But I will embrace the flows more than ever — and treat my body right during them. No overdoing it, no injuries, no pushing myself too hard. We only have one body and we have to treat it as best we can.

And for now, I am excited for Wednesday and then to be able to tell you about my fantastic workout experiences this week.

And I have a free 3 day guest pass at another gym, where they have this machine that I want to try! Have you heard of a treadclimber??

 

I got the guest pass a couple weeks ago but it doesn’t look like it expires. I think next week sounds like a great time to use it! Plus I have about 7 more Core Fusion classes left in my package — and 2 Physique 57 classes coming up! I got an email from them with a special offer — 2 classes for the price of 1. That is a BARGAIN at Physique 57! Those 2 classes are scheduled for July 30 and August 10.

Let’s enjoy the flow!