Aqua Jogging- How to Make It Interesting

In my ongoing quest to stay active with a bad hamstring, I took to the pool today. Aqua jogging is a great substitute for running but it can be boring.  To make it more interesting I have done the following:

1. Wear a watch and run for X number of minutes.  As with starting running for the first time, you need to build up time.  Start with 10-15 minutes. If you go out with a goal of 30, 45 or an hour, you may be setting yourself up to fail by not building up to the time. Physically it may not be as demanding but the mental challenges as the different mindset may need to be built.
2. Do speedwork.  High knees for a minute. Jog for a minute.  Or quick feet and arms for a minute. Pump your arms only for a minute.  Not only does changing the routine get the heart rate up, time will go quicker when you're focused on the next set.
3. Wear a heart rate monitor and see how high you can get your heart rate.  With aqua jogging I've never got my heart rate up close to where I can get it with running but it's a good workout to try and get it high or to keep it high.
4. If at a pool with lanes, go with a friend and run races in the lanes.
5. Wear a hat and clip a mp3 player on the bill (my older shuffle has the clip), put the cords under the hat and run to the music.
6. Add some freestyle swimming (without the flotation belt) to break up the running. 10 minutes of running, 5 minutes of swimming breaks up and makes it interesting (if you don't drown first).

What have you done to make aqua jogging more interesting?

Happy Running!

A New Adventure in Yoga

Yoga is touted to have many benefits and I've been interested in trying it from the stand point of staying healthy for running. A couple years ago I bought a Yoga DVD that sat wrapped in the package until I bought a new DVD player and needed to test the playing functionality.  After testing the DVD did in fact run, the disk sat there waiting to be played.  About a year ago, I bought a Groupon for a yoga studio less than a mile away from my house and the Groupon has since expired.  The class schedule didn't work well for me and I'd rather be running anyways.

When Amanda at Run To the Finish posted about her May Yoga Challenge and her giveaway for My Yoga Online I knew I had to check out the website. The videos that are available look amazing.  Videos on  postnatal yoga, pilates, meditation, beginning yoga, regular yoga, cleansing and more.  There's even some sort of cooking videos too.  Since time is often limited and I have a short attention span, the lengths of the videos of 6 minutes to an hour were really appealing.

For $9.95 a month I decided to sign up and give it a try. After all, if I watch just one a month I'd feel like I got my monies worth.

After waking up with the sun at 4am, I decided to try my first beginning yoga video called Discovering Sun Salutations.  The moves were easy and I enjoyed the stretches and breathing exercises and the 25 minutes went quickly.  This afternoon I even fit a 6 minute breathing video.

I recommend you check out the website and watch the video samples that are long enough to get a good feel  of the content and if watch many of them you can create your own workout. (disclaimer I haven't gotten paid for my glowing recommendation (or at least yet...hint, hint myyogaonline))

Do you participate in yoga classes or videos?  

Happy stretching!

Monk and The Elliptical and the Case of the Mismatched Shoes

I canceled my Blockbuster membership and switched over to Netflix.  Blockbuster closed the local stores making it impossible to exchange the DVD for another one and having the DVD's show up in the mail wasn't as fun anymore when they sat there waiting to be watched.  Netflix doesn't have a great selection of movies but they do have some TV shows that I enjoy watching, like Monk.  Netflix has 100 episodes of Monk that I am thoroughly enjoying and only have 85 more to go.  Monk is an excellent detective and has an EXTREME OCD personality that if it wasn't for his assistant, he would be unable to function in the world.  His OCD habits cause me to cringe yet laugh out loud.   This last week I have been watching one a day while I use the elliptical.  I signed up for a boot camp thinking it would force me to do my core exercises and day one the lunges left my glute screaming for a break and I was so sore the next day.  On the 2nd day the little short sprints caused my calf to cramp up tighter than Adam's butt out while he's out on a run trying not to poop.   So it's been a week, the calf is still tight and I get terribly grumpy when I can't run.  And why is it when I can't run, I increase my food intake 10 fold and  make poorer choices.  French fries and chocolate have been staples the last week.   It should be the opposite.  If I can't run then I should be more aware and make better choices.  Oh well.  At least I'm getting in lots of Monk time.

My friend Rob showed up to track with two different shoes (at least they weren't two left shoes) and two different brands at that.  The jokes flew around that he was cross dressing and took the advice to switch out his shoes to the extreme.  Have you ever showed up with the wrong shoes, mismatched shoes or two lefts/rights?

Have a great three day weekend.

Happy Running!

Mile High Sky Diving

Sky diving is something that I've always wanted to try and even have it on my 101 things list.  For my birthday, John bought me and my brother a jump from the  Mile Hi Skydiving Center out of Longmont, CO.  Earlier in the week I watched the weather on Saturday fluctuate between thunderstorm warnings and showers.  Saturday morning the fog and threat of rain cancelled a hot air balloon launch for a local town fair but two hours before my reservation to jump, the sky diving company said they were flying.

Jumping tandem doesn't require much instruction before jumping.  I met Brenden, my instructor, who turned out to be a 57 year old ultra runner turned trail runner, and got my jump suit, my harness along with my brief instruction.

Our plane was full with other jumpers, some in the air force, some jumping on their own, a couple jumping solo after a day of instruction with their instructors and then my brother and I and we were all squished next to each other in the noisy plane.  Sitting on my instructors lap, he hooked us together and went through all the connections with me, I guess to give me assurance that I wouldn't be freefalling without him and without a parachute.

Just after 12000 feet from 0 (total elevation would be between 17000-18000)jumper after jumper fell out of the plane and then it was our turn.  Looking out of the airplane, there was nothing out there but the ground and the sky.  I hooked my thumbs into the front of my harness, we fell out of the plane and then I went into my flying position. Free falling was exhilarating and scary at the same time.  Brenden spun me around and pointed out the mountains, he spun around again and pointed out something else. 

Once the parachute opened we started floating down.  He said I had the Elvis leg going and sure enough my right leg was shaking.  It wasn't so much from fear but the adrenaline that was surging through my body.  He handed me the steering handles and had me pull on the left side and we veered swiftly to the left. From the start of the jump Brenden asked me how I was doing.  Up to this point I had felt queasy since the middle of the plane ride but I hadn't said anything. Fearing throwing up I told him I was queasy. Had I considered the possibility of being motion sick before the flight, I would have taken something.  He had me focus on the horizon and breathe.  I saw my brother on the ground and didn't want to throw up over him.

Brenden manuevered us over the landing spot and had me lift me feet up.  He wasn't sure if we would come in fast or catch some wind and be able to land standing up.  Right before we go to the ground he told me to put my legs down and we'd land standing up. It was a perfect landing. 

Brenden gathered up the parachute while I walked over to where John and my sister-in-law waited.  We rode back to the hangers, got out of the gear and parted. The queasiness continued on the ride home and I multiple times I considered asking John pull over to let me out.

Overall this was an awesome experience and I'm so glad that I did it.  It was truly amazing. If you'd like to see more pictures go to my facebook page.

Weekend Long Run and Workout

Now that we've moved, we can participate in group runs along the canal.  Saturday's run was to meet at 7:30am and then go to Vincent's for breakfast.  It was my first time to Vincents and on the weekend there is a farmer's market. I love farmers markets.  The friendly bustle of people, the aroma's of  omelets, crepes and pizza remind me of Europe. I settled on a fresh baked scone (although pizza was also calling my name) and some water.  My only complaint was there was no chai tea. The group of people we run with are a bunch of lawyers and really great people.  Now you may think that lawyers are boring but one thing that I've learned working in an accounting center with anal accountants, is that every group is interesting and diverse so I find the lawyers and their cases really interesting.  Plus, they are runners and all runners are great.  

I ran 9.5 miles and started off way too fast.  Starting out like its a race usually happens when I run with others, especially if they are men.  I want to keep up and not slow them down. I kept their pace for about a mile and finally claimed you guys go ahead.  Guess what, the pace was kind of quick for them too and we all slowed down (some).

I have a left leg quad/groin thing that is lingering now for about a month.  It seems to be getting worse so I opted for a bike ride on Sunday only to find out the bike tire was flat and it was starting to rain.  I debated skipping any type of exercise but deemed I needed to burn some calories and used the elliptical while listening  to Phedipidations podcast.

Happy Running!

Freezing Bike Ride

The guilt of not running or biking yesterday morning along with the fact I ate anything I could find with sugar in it, I decided to go for a run last night and not take the day off after all.    I ran 4 miles with the middle  two at close to 10k pace and felt really good.  This morning I went for a bike ride and FROZE by butt off.  I wore a long sleeve shirt and my shorts but was so dang cold it wasn't enjoyable.  I need to discover where I stashed my gloves and start wearing them along with pants.  I feel bad even saying its cold because there are people running in the snow and layered up with clothes and here I am being wimpy.

Terquita

I was bound and determined to go for a run this morning. It has been 2 weeks and 3 days and darn it, it’s time to get back on the road.  First, I put a heat pack on the ankle hoping that would warm it up. Next,  I walked to the end of the street, started to jog and it was very tight and uncomfortable.  I was favoring my foot and probably looked pretty gimpy.  Because I was compensating heavily and I didn’t want to cause additional injury, I turned back around for home and grabbed the bike.  On the bike ride I realized that I didn’t give it enough time to warm up and work the kinks out.  When I got back I jogged around the block with a little more success. 

Although I am a terquita (little stubborn one), I do want to be smart and not cause additional injury.  I recognize that it will take me a bit to work out the stiffness and it won’t happen overnight, nor will it go away all by itself.  I will go out each day and bike and once its warmed up jog around the block.  Then I’ll jog around the block twice, maybe by the weekend I can run a mile or heck, even two.   If each day I keep moving it, keep working on working through the soreness and kinks (within reason), it will be no time before I’m running again. 

Besides turning off my Buckeyeoutdoors emails on my daily training schedule, I haven’t done anything with my running schedule yet.  I’m anxious to pull it out and see if I could be ready for  the PF Changs Rock N’Roll marathon in January but I know that until I can run it doesn’t make sense to try and put together the schedule yet.  If the January marathon doesn’t work, there is one in Surprise, Arizona in February but at that point the rates for Boston jump up for 2010.  I suppose I could qualify and then run in 2011 but remember I'm a terquita and I already have the room for Boston all figured out and just need to qualify.

Morning Bike Ride

Jumping on the bike for a bike ride, I rode around the neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning.  The weather this weekend was in the high 90's/ low 100's and this morning was still quite warm considering a couple weeks ago I was thinking I would need to wear a long sleeve shirt.

I think tomorrow I'll go for a walk/run and try out the ankle.  Although there is still some swelling, this morning I can actually see my ankles and foot structure up by my toes.  Everyday the swelling and the discomfort changes but I'm very optimistic that my cankles are almost gone.

Morning Bike Ride

Today is the first day of exercise since the sprain and I had a great morning bike ride. The ankle felt fine during the ride and I'm wondering (again) when I can try it out running. I went to a podiatrist yesterday and he said every thing looks fine and I could be running next week if I go to PT. PT is one of those things I don't know if it really works but I want to get better (and quickly) so I go and do it. My ankle did feel much better on those first steps right out of bed so I guess the PT already helped.

The mornings are really great and getting cool. On my ride tomorrow morning I'll need a long sleeve shirt to offset the cool morning. When I got home I was happily surprised to see my cactus in flower again. It only flowers at night and if you're early enough you can see the blooms first thing in the morning. I've been fortunate because its flowered many times this year.

Have a great day!

Day Before the Long Run

Typically I make the day before a long run a rest day. However, with the frantic level of stress occuring at work, I needed to do something and went for an easy bike ride. The weather, although still warm, is starting to cool. The bike ride was really pleasant and I listened to the Extra Mile Podcast, a new one for me. In another month the weather will be awesome. I can tell the change of season especially with the evening workouts with the running group. Last night we ran hills at A Mountain and although we started at the same 6:30pm time, we were finishing up our last reps in the dark. Soon the time will be pushed up to 6pm and I won't be able to run with the group because of work schedules.

The day before a long run I get excited about doing the run. Tomorrow I have 16 and am excited and nervous. During the run it gets really tough but the sense of accomplishment after finishing is great. Until tomorrow.....

Happy Running!

Keep Moving Forward

Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm going off at 4:30am while in the midst of dreaming is an abrupt awakening. Today is a 20 mile bike ride that needs to be completed quickly (along with eating and showering) to make a 9am appointment. It was still dark out when I headed out a 5am and it didn't take too long before I saw another biker and then a runner. I brought my camera along today to take pictures of the buffalo to prove to those unbelievers there are buffalo in Gilbert, Arizona. The buffalo pictures are at the bottom of the blog. When the sun started coming up I stopped and took a couple of pictures. Here are a few pictures from my morning ride.

Last night I wrote in my journal and I've debated sharing it but feel it helped me (some) shift to a better feeling and so I decided to share.

I'm really, really nervous about my training. I'm so worried I'll come up injured again. I can feel twinges in my knee and hip and worry I'll have to stop my training. (They are currently ok now while running but at rest I can sometimes feel them. ) The worry is affecting me

. I've been reading an e-book and am trying to

change my thinking when I'm aware of it. I find myself thinking, worrying about running. I don't want to feel like a failure. I write that statement knowing I just used "don't" and I did it purposely so I can look at it further. Is it really failure? Worried about what people will think? What will other runners say? What will I say...oh, I'm injury prone. It is interesting that I choose the word failure. My whole life I try and yet I feel like a failure. What is a failure? Someone, something that didn't live up to standards. Standards defined by someone else. Based on beliefs and views of others. Take running...is that really a failure if I can't train for a marathon? I will qualfiy and yes, I'd like it to be this year, but who is saying I'm a failure if I don't? Other runners? Don't they also understand how tough it is? They may have an opinion but its no a failure. I don't consider someone who comes up with an injury or decides not to run a failure. I will keep moving forward.

On my ride when I would see runners and feel

that twinge of disappointment (yeah, I know I'm running again

), or find myself worrying about my knee, or having self doubt, I would tell myself...Keep Moving Forward. It helps shift the feeling to a better thought, something more manageable, something less focused on potential bad. Its all good.

As promised, the pictures of buffalo in Gilbert, Az.

Back with Plenty of Time for a Nap

The last couple of weeks the routine on the weekend has been get up at 4am, to beat the heat, and go for a run or bike ride and then go back to bed. On Saturday, we left at 4:30am and you could barely see the light coming over the horizon. At my turn-around point at 2.5 miles, the light was still dim making the signs along the canal look like people standing there fishing. On Sunday I left around 4:15am for a 20 mile bike ride and it was dark for a long time. On the way back there were so many hummingbirds over the canal that I decided next week I'll leave the house later so I'll be able to see more hummingbirds in the light. There's something about hummingbirds that brings a smile to my face and my mood always lightens. Once home, I climb back into bed for a couple hour nap.

Hopeful

I'm still bouncing around running, not running and then running again. I've run 3 miles twice this week and doing ok. My hip ache is still there and I've decided to go to the orthopedic doctor the PT recommended. I have an appointment set for next week. Mentally I feel I could go out and run a 10 miler and when I'm at the beginning of a run I actually consider increasing my run to 4 miles or maybe even taking a lap around the 6 mile loop. And then I get realistic and come off my runners high and realize I had best be smart and take it easy. Later, when my hip aches after 3 miles I know I've done the right thing.

I've just finished my bike ride and love being outside. The heat isn't too bad at 5:30am and my ride is over before I know it. I'm amazed at how many runners are outside and I always look at them with envy. As long as I can keep up running the couple miles, a couple times a week I'll be able to join them soon. The important lesson I've learned is to cross train and don't stick to my schedule to make the miles, fit a type of workout in and its ok to be lazy.

Laps, laps and more laps

I'm by no means a swimmer but I have made my way up to 30 minutes of swimming. I suppose that I'm not totally bored out of my mind because I have to concentrate on breathing and not drowning. Yes, on occassion I still come up gasping for air but overall I'm doing really good with the laps and the breaks at each lap are getting shorter. Who knows, if I get "good" (hahahaha) at laps, I may try a tri.

Aqua Jogging

With my Ipod Shuffle clipped onto my visor, I aqua jogged for almost 30 minutes. Surprisingly it wasn't as boring as I expected. Although there was no discomfort in my hip, I wonder if the movement would bother it later. After my jogging I did 17 minutes of laps. I'm amazed that I am a runner yet after 1 lap I'm struggling to catch my breath. Overall I had a good workout and am pleased to get 45 minutes of low impact cardio.