Home » Archive by category 'Exercise' (Page 98)

Archive of ‘Exercise’ category

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.

  Running Cartoon

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.

Charity Marathon

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??

TreadclimbTreadclimber

 

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!

My No Knee Pain Run & Crazy Phone Story

Hi friends.

Run
I ran outside yesterday for 32 minutes! That is a PR for me and even more of an accomplishment is the fact that I had NO knee pain the entire time — or after! My hip didn’t hurt during the run either, although that one did act up when I was walking to dinner later on. But I am SO excited that my knee felt fine the entire time! This is the first time I ever ran outside where it didn’t hurt. About a month and a half ago, after a failed run, I told the boy that I decided running is not for me. I would not try it again, my body can’t handle it. I’m glad I didn’t listen to myself and tried again!

I hope this leads to longer runs in the future. But I will not rush into anything. That was my old mistake! My plan is to run outside once a week — no more. Every week, if I feel no pain and no weakness in my lungs, I will increase my time. Last week I ran for 25 minutes, this week was 32 minutes. Maybe next week will be 40 minutes. Gradual. If I start incorporating spinning back into my routine, I will not do that more than once a week as well. Because really, when I overtrain and injure myself, I can’t do either!

My once concern during my run was my heart rate. I wore my HRM and as soon as I started my run — and keep in mind I run slower than you probably walk — my HR jumped to 170. If there was a slight uphill, it would reach 198. Throughout the run, it remained between 175 and 188. This is even higher than my HR during the most intense spin classes. And it stayed high the entire time. Which is part of the reason I felt so beat after 32 minutes. My knee felt fine but my lungs did not!

I expressed my concern to the boy, who is a doctor, and he explained to me that it was a very hot day and that it is not at all abnormal to have such a high HR during even the slowest of runs. And then I did what we tend to do here in blogland — I compared myself to other bloggers. “Well this girl lives in a hot climate where it is always very hot and HERS never gets this high,” and “This girl lives close to us and hers never gets above 175!” The boy reminded me that everyone is different, that people who live in a warmer climate are more used to running in these temps, we all weigh differently and we all have different cardiovascular ability. You can’t compare!

And then I felt better. And happy, because I RAN FOR 32 MINUTES WITH NO KNEE PAIN! I can’t wait to tell my PT on Thursday, at our final session (for my shoulder though). More on shoulder PT this week!

Running cartoon

Phone
Two weekends ago I brought my phone into the Verizon store. I signed in and waited an hour for my turn on the technical assistance line. When my turn finally arrived, I explained to the technician that every time I press the 1 button, a 2 comes up! He told me that my warranty had expired so he couldn’t replace the phone. “What about insurance?” I asked, having paid $4.99 a month for the last 2 years to protect this phone. “Insurance doesn’t cover software,” he explained. I later found out that it was not at ALL a software problem, which you’d think someone in TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE would know. Anyway, he told me I needed to leave my phone there for 45 minutes while he upgrades the software, which might fix the problem. Again, I later found out this was a ridiculous statement as it was NOT a software issue.

I left my phone there and exactly 45 minutes later I returned. I approached the technical assistance guy and he was busy helping someone else. Eventually he looked at me and told me the software upgrade didn’t work (duh) and there was nothing more he could do. I told him I was eligible for an upgrade in a few weeks, could he just move that date up and I would upgrade on the spot? He said no. I told him I need the 1 button! He said he was busy helping someone else and if I want to sign in again and wait for my turn (another hour) he could talk to me more.

I left.

I waited an hour to speak to him the first time, and 45 minutes for him to do something to my phone that was unrelated to the problem. I was NOT waiting another hour! WTF.

I decided I would make do with no 1 button until I was eligible for upgrade. I wasn’t planning on upgrading yet, I wanted to wait until there was a phone I really wanted, but what can you do? I needed a phone. During the week I was talking to my cousin about my problem and she told me that they absolutely lied to me. She went through a similar experience at Verizon with her warranty-expired phone, and they replaced it for her. She explained to me that if their product is defective, they HAVE to replace it. Regardless of warranty or insurance or anything. They sold me a defective product, it is their problem to deal with. She told me she would come with me to the Verizon store that week and make sure it worked out right.

On July 4, the boy and I made a stop at my apartment and since we were by the Verizon store near me, we decided to go in. I figured it wouldn’t be a madhouse like the other one, and when we walked in we were the only ones there! I went to Technical assistance and the girl told me the same thing as the guy at the other store. She said there is nothing she can do. Then I explained to her that I am eligible for an upgrade in a couple weeks, can I just get my upgrade discount early? She said no. I confirmed again, asking if there is any way at all she can allow me to upgrade early. What is the difference if I do it now or then? My phone is broken now! She said no, I could deal without a 1 button if it’s only a couple weeks.

Angry and annoyed, I went back to the boy who was standing at another counter talking to sales people.  I started mumbling about how angry I was and how I was switching to AT&T and how this is ridiculous and on and on and on. After a couple minutes of my grumbling, they asked me what was wrong. I gave them my phone and explained again about the 1 button. The guy played around for a few minutes and told me that not only is my 1 button gone, but my entire touch screen was shot as well.

I was thrilled. First, because I had suspected more was not right with the phone (I haven’t been able to scroll in quite some time and it just didn’t seem as usable as it used to) and second because he recognized and acknowledged the real problem, something no one in Technical assistance there was able to do! He told me it was not at ALL a software problem and he couldn’t believe that guy said it was. He said the screen was dead, that was it.

He explained my options to me, which was this: Pay $50 to have my phone replaced or UPGRADE EARLY using my $50 upgrade credit! After all the arguing I had trying to get them to let me upgrade early and this guy can do it with no problem? GRRR!

But I was happy. I won! I got what I asked for and I would get $50 off any new phone! Most of the phones sucked. And then I saw the BlackBerry Curve.

I had been toying with the idea of a BlackBerry for awhile, but because of money issues I didn’t think much of it. Every now and then I would think about how much I would benefit from being organized, like the time I forgot to go to jury duty in May (oops). But I know the data plan is more expensive, and the phone itself is expensive, and do I really need it? And I heard rumors that the iPhone might be coming to Verizon in 2010, so I wanted to wait around for that. But here I was with a broken phone and a $50 credit. In front of me was a BlackBerry that was on sale for $49.99.

IT WAS FREE!!!! A free BlackBerry! I know that a new one — and better and cooler from what I heard — is coming out next week. But that wouldn’t be free. And whatever the new and better features are, I’m sure I don’t actually NEED them. Not enough to justify the price — no matter what the price is, it wouldn’t be FREE! And my last phone was the brand new original cool version of its kind (LG Voyager) and I do know that after I got it, better versions came out. So really, you can never win! And this one is FREE!

And the data plan? Only $10 a month more than my current one, although the insurance is a few dollars more a month so that will add up. But that’s OK. So I got it! It is light pink and it has a light pink case and it is so pretty. At first I didn’t want pink but the Verizon guy and the boy convinced me to first get the pink phone and then the pink case on top of it, and I am happy I did!

It was SO hard at first! I didn’t have any idea how to do anything. And the keyboard is much more difficult to type on than my last phone’s was. I was a pro at fast texting on my old phone. But it all started making sense. It began to click. The more I played around, the better I understood it all. The guy at the store told me it would take about 5 days, but here I am 48 hours later and I think I get it pretty well! And I seem to know it better than some of my friends who have had theirs for months. 🙂

BlackBerry Curve Pink

I have been loving talking to Melanie (and now Jen!) on BBM. Wow, that makes chatting so easy and quick! I can’t wait for the boy to get the new one (as he most likely will) so we can BBM all the time! And I installed Google Talk and Facebook and downloaded a ringtone. Whenever I get a new phone, I treat myself to one ringtone purchase (yes, I know you can do it for free on the BlackBerry but I didn’t feel like going through lots of steps). So every time you call me, I will hear Shake Me Like a Monkey Baby. Every time it rings I am so caught off guard! I felt very cool on the shuttle this morning to the subway when I busted out the BlackBerry. Very, very cool.

And it has only been 2 days and I already don’t know how I ever lived without it.

Gotta run now, but I will be back tomorrow to talk about my 4th of July on the Hudson! With pictures! And as I said, information about my shoulder physical therapy.

Woo! Federer!

1 … 96 97 98 99 100 … 130