Life can be tough

So tomorrow morning (Friday) is supposed to be a running day for me but I am just not feeling up for it. I have a meeting early in the morning then I am out all day with errands and I won’t be home until late evening. I think I am going to have to move it to Saturday or Sunday.

On top of being busy my mind has not been able to shut off. I feel exhausted. A relative has been sick for a while and things aren’t looking good at the moment. I want to be hopeful but my mind thinks the worst. All I can think of is how hard this will be on her kids…they are only teenagers. I have been stressing out so much over my future school and career options and then hearing this news is putting things into perspective for me. Your health is so important… if you don’t have your health then none of the rest really matters.

I want to learn to cherish every moment I have here on earth because you never know when it will be your last. Take the time to tell the people you love how much they mean to you. Do something nice for a stranger even if it is something tiny… maybe we can make someone’s day a little better. Appreciate what you have and if you can give back to the community.

On that note I am going in to volunteer for my first day at the Canadian Diabetes Association tomorrow morning. I want to make a difference in my life. I think I want to work for a non profit organization but if my life doesn’t take me there then I will volunteer my time as much as possible. Volunteering has always been a big part of my life and I really enjoy it.

Well I went on a bit of a rant there. Anyways be safe everyone and have a good night.

Late night workout & morning emotional run.

So last night I decided to do some weights instead of doing them today after my run. So I dedicated an hour to upper body strength training. I watched New Girl and Mindy Project while I worked out. It was great and I didn’t even feel like I was working out for that long. I have some wrist issues so these gloves help.. plus I wanted to take a pic cause I LOVE my new nail polish haha

Today I did my week 7 workout 3. My weeks are a bit messed up from my random outside workout but oh well. It was another 25 min jog. Right before I was about to start my jog I had a bit of an emotional phone call and I wasn’t sure if I would still run but I pushed myself to do it. It went well other than the fact that my nose was a little plugged (from the emotional convo) and breathing was a bit annoying. I put my speed a tiny bit up and I did the 25 mins non stop. I ended up with a distance of 2.67 miles.. getting closer and closer to that 3.1. The last 5 mins were a bit tough as my legs were getting tired and my head was getting in the way. It wasn’t so much negative thoughts as it use to be but I don’t know how to explain it… It was like my head still was telling me to stop or slow down.

Anyhow I pushed through and finished. Next workouts are increasing to 28 mins. I am wondering if I should redo week 7 or not… I can do the 25 mins but I am wondering if I should redo them and try to speed up a bit or just move on and focus on my speed once I finish the c25k program. Any thoughts?

Quick weight update

So my weight doesn’t change forever then all of a sudden I see a dip. So right now I am down another 2 lbs. So… that makes it a total of about 17 lbs lost from my highest weight (last summer). I am getting there slowly but surely.

My goal is another 30 lbs or so. But for the first time I am focusing more on how I feel and my health benefits I am seeing rather than the number on the scale. Yay!

Foam Roller bought! It is amazingly painful

So yesterday I got a foam roller. First I used it on my shins and let me say it was sooo painful but good at the same time. Its like a massage. I then tried it on my calves and wow I never realized how tight they are. I started looking up videos on best exercises to do with the foam roller and came across this video. All the exercises here are great so I thought I’d share. Its specifically for runners.

I would definitely recommend anyone with tight and sore muscles to check it out.

Above is a pic of me using the foam roller. Yes I was in PJs. So the foam roller I got has some bumps in it. They guy at the store recommended this one and I like it.

And below is just a random pic of what my cat was doing while I was rolling. Watching me lol

An attempt to run outside… and Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians :)

So it is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I celebrated it at my bf’s place this weekend. Originally I was just going to run on his treadmill this morning but he suggested we go to the soccer field by his house and we could jog there. He does a lot of weights but hasn’t really been doing much cardio so I felt ok because I knew he wouldn’t be so great at it like me haha. So we woke up around 8 am got dressed and headed to the soccer field. Unfortunately it was drizzling a bit and the soccer field was locked. So we found a courtyard near the school in the area and decided to jog around there. I must say jogging outside is so much harder than on the treadmill. My endurance was better than his (not by much) so I felt a bit better because at least I was thinking that my weeks of running on the treadmill were doing something.

After a while it started to rain much harder and my ears were killing me. When it is a bit chilly my head and ears hurt a lot and it was becoming unbearable. So we decided to head back inside. I continued my workout on the treadmill where I did about 30 mins but intervals of running 5 mins and walking 2. I was already feeling tired from the outside run. I think all in all I did about 3 miles maybe. After the treadmill I did some weighted dead lifts which exhausted my legs even more.

After that it was time for turkey and stuffing 🙂 and various other fixings. For dessert was homemade apple pie and peach cake. Lets just say that I feel like I am going to be full for days. Haha.

I feel good! Week 7 Workout 2.

So I just did my 2nd workout for week 7. So another 25 min jog. I kept a 12min/mile pace because last time when I tried to speed up it backfired. So I was able to do the full 25 mins without stopping. I even hiked up my speed to a 11min/mile for the last minute as I just felt like I could do it and the music was pushing me to. I have been noticing that my negative thoughts are less and less. My mind is clear for the most part which is odd for me because I always have 101 thoughts running through my head. I mean yes there are time during the run tht thoughts come back and enter into my mind but its much less. When the thoughts come in that say “you are tired” or “it would feel so good to just stop and walk right now” I can tell those thoughts to get the f*ck out of my head and replace them with positive ones. Soooo I feel good!

Above is a pic of what I do after my runs. I sit on my treadmill and stretch my legs. It feels amazing to stretch them. I continued my workout with some weights and squats after. And as I type this I am battling with my cat’s head because she is trying to block my keyboard (as you can see in the pic below). So I will cut this short and go on and give her some much deserved love.

A so so workout acompanied by my cat. Week 7 Workout 1

So as I was setting up my treadmill my cat decided she needed to be pet at that exact moment. So… the pic you see above is what was going on. She is so funny haha. Later after I turned on the treadmill to o my warm up she decided to stare at me.

She was just so curious at what was happening. This is the first time she has watched me run.

Anyways my workout today was the same as the last one. Warm up, 25 min jog, cool down. Last time I did the 25 mins with no major problems. Today I struggled a little more. I increased my speed by just a little bit and I think that mixed with the fact that I was not feeling very well the day before lead to a not so great workout. I had to slow down and power walk 2x. Once my hair was driving me nuts and I had to fix it and the 2nd time I was getting cramps. So I jogged for about 22 mins instead of 25 because of those 2 walking intervals. I am a little annoyed but oh well I have more 25 min jogs to tackle and get it right.

I worked out my legs after the jog. Did some weights, squats, etc. I also made sure to do my exercises for my shins. We will see if these end up helping. I will probably get a foam roller this weekend.

What do you guys do for shin pain??

So last year I had to do track and field for a semester for school and I had the worst shin splints ever. I found the track to be very hard and every step I took I felt the impact traveling up my leg. It was so unbearable at times. This time I am trying to be proactive and prevent this. Since starting the c25k program I have been running on a treadmill which doesn’t have as much of a negative effect as the surface is not as hard and there is a bounce back which I find helps… but I know at some point I want to start running outside and it will most likely be on sidewalks and etc as I don’t have a big park close by that I could run on grass.

I know my shin splints are caused partly by the fact that I pronate which I have gotten running shoes for people who pronate and I have orthotics to help correct that. I also think that since my calf is tight that it puts more strain on my tibialis anterior muscle. So I am going to try a few different things to try and reduce this pain (which lately I feel is starting to come back)

1) Do exercises to strengthen the tibialis anterior muscle such as: drawing the alphabet with my feet, walking on my toes, walking on my heels

2) Ice the area 3) Correct my running form as I am pretty sure I do the heel strike and that puts more strain on my tib ant muscle

4) get a foam roller to help roll out the muscle knots and work on my tight calf muscles

 

Anyone get any more suggestions??

 

First 25 mins jog is complete! Week 6 workout 3.

So today I did the first 25 min jog with 5 min warm up and cool down. I was supposed to do this run on Friday morning but life happened. I had a late night Thursday (at a concert) and I didn’t sleep well and was just tired and was not feeling ready for the run. Saturday I worked all day and so that left today, Sunday. I had a late night last night as well but I just had to get up and run. This was going to be the longest duration (the last long one was 20 mins). I did this run at the same speed as the 20 min jog which was 12 min/mile. I focused on finishing rather than speed. There are a few more 25 min runs so I will focus on slowly getting faster over the next workouts.

I did the 25 mins pretty easily. I covered the time on my treadmill because I knew if I didn’t I would keep looking at it. That was the best decision. I just ran and didn’t think about the time too much. I looked at the time here and there but not nearly as much as I would have previously. I felt really good running. No cramps and I didn’t have much negative thoughts running which is a pretty big deal for me. I had the best distance I have had yet but this workout was a a couple mins longer than the last. I did 2.61 miles in total. I also did weights after and worked out my arms.

Before I did my run I took a new pic of myself to compare to a pic I took a few weeks ago. It is in my bra and undies so I won’t share that haha but it made me feel good to see it cause I could definitely see a difference. The biggest difference being in my mid section.

Last night I went out for a friend’s welcome home get together and I was full with about 1/3 left of my food and I got it to go. Before I would have probably just eaten it but I told myself that I was full and satisfied. I am trying to make decisions like that. I am not depriving my body of anything but I am having things in moderation.

Feeling decent. Week 6 Workout #2

So today was a better run after the last disappointing workout. It consisted of 5 min warm up, 10 min jog, 3 min walk, 10 min jog and 5 min cool down for a total of 33 mins. Last time I burnt out too quickly so I slowed down to a speed of 5.2 (11.5 min/mile). I felt much better this time. Yea it still wasn’t easy but I was able to do the full 10 min jogs. I have been alternating having the tv on with music playing as I can’t seem to decide which i prefer. I think I am going to stick to music. While running my last 10 min jog I kept looking at the time and at one point I told myself to stop staring so i covered it with my phone and told myself I would check the time at the end of each song. I think that helped because I was just focusing on getting to the end of the song instead of looking at the time constantly cause then all I can think is “omg there’s still __ mins left”. At least this way I look at the time less often.
Lately I have been finding that when I run I have been cramping in my upper right abdomen. I am not sure why this is. I usually cramp if I have eaten but I have made an effort to always run in the morning on an empty stomach and that use to do it for me but im not sure what the issue is now. Anyone have any suggestions??