Insanity Peer Pressure

Last time I blogged, I went on about how everyone on Dailymile was on the naked running kick. So I had to try it out for myself. Well, there's also an Insanity thing going on. Everyone is either doing P90X or Insanity. I looked into P90X months ago. I was turned off from the cost, along with additional contraptions needed that you have to buy separately. I hate strength training anyway. Not a good match.

But everywhere I looked, people were talking Insanity this, Insanity that. I've done triathlons and Insanity still kicked my ass but I love it, type thing. So let me check it out. Apparently, some part of me wants to get my ass kicked. Luckily, I found a website that sold legit ass kicking dvds for cheap. It was shipped from China, but who cares? I paid only $65 AND got the deluxe version that would cost close to $200. So I got it, put it off for a couple weeks, got a little visit from a year + old injury, then started the program.

Each dvd starts off with a disclaimer basically saying: If you're a couch potato, this is not for you. Please consult with your doctor because you may end up within an inch of your life. Don't be a fool. If you know your fitness sucks, we won't call you a punk for starting with something less intense. It's better to be a wuss than to be dead. For whatever reason, I decided to go through with it. So I began last Thursday with the Fit Test. He starts you off with a warm up that I quickly learned is not a warm up. It's a mini workout. Yeah, I had sweat dripping into my eyes and everything. Then into the actual test of various exercises that I expected to hate. Come to find out, the exercises I thought I'd be bad at, I was pretty good at. I did more than I thought I could. After doing some online research, I saw that my initial results were better than average. Go me! Really, I surprised myself (I've come so far, but that's a story for another blog post all together). But then I got worried wondering if I'll actually improve on the next Fit Test. Will I get any better?

As of yesterday, I finished up the first week of workouts. I've noticed improvement in my endurance so far. I'm able to go faster in some exercises. There are some exercises that still kick my butt, and will continue to do so. That's what they're designed to do. In between circuits, I find myself gasping for air like I just did sprints. And it's all good. Do what you can, take a break if you need to, and keep it moving. If you can do that, it's not scary at all. And believe me, I was scared to even begin. But now, it's Kool and the Gang. I'll actually start running again soon while doing Insanity. I don't think it will be too much for me to handle. I guess that says something about my fitness. I've come a long way, baby!

So I've put three videos up on Youtube about Insanity. But I'll just show the one I did yesterday. It's a wrap up of my first week. I think I'll keep the videos to once a week. I figure if I do videos, it will keep me motivated to continue with the program. Well, just the workout portion. There's a handy guide for meal planning and such, but food is not my issue. I have no weight loss goals. I'm at a healthy weight and my body fat percentage is in order. Actually, I wouldn't mind shaving a bit of fat. Just a bit. But mainly, I want to improve my fitness. You can always improve your fitness. I get stronger every year. I love knowing that I get better with age.

Naked..It's the New Black

So there has been this naked running trend going down on Dailymile. No. I'm not talking about exposing booty butt cheeks. I'm talking about running sans music and Garmin. Well, going without music may not be a big deal. I did a 10 mile race without it. But the whole no Garmin thing, well that's HUGE. Once you get into the world of running, you become obsessed with numbers. How fast did I go? How far did I go? What's my best pace? What are my splits? All this goes on and you start to forget why you started running in the first place. And it stops being fun. Yes, it's nice knowing that I can run fast if I want to. But do I really enjoy it? Not that much.

I hit the road yesterday without a damn thing. In all honesty, I've been running without the supposed necessities for a bit now. I don't do socks, unless it's cold. I got rid of the stability shoes 3 months ago (viva la minimalist running!). I've been without music for 2 months (because I'm waiting for an ear bud replacement from Hong Kong..Long story. And now I can't tell you where my mp3 player is.). So yeah, I was almost there. But I never ran without my Garmin until yesterday. I wasn't tempted to take my Timex Ironman watch. I didn't set the stopwatch on my phone. Heck, I didn't even look at the time when I started/stopped. And you know what? It was a wonderful feeling. And the best run I had in ages. I wasn't even a minute into it when I started smiling. Who does that? Apparently, I do. I haven't run with a smile probably since the very beginning. Running went from something I enjoyed to me saying, "Okay, let's just get this over with." What are the chances of having a good run when you think of it that way? It shouldn't be that way.

So I enjoyed naked running so much that I may do it for the rest of the week. If all goes well, I'll be knocking out a 6 miler by the weekend. I won't stress about it. I won't try to hold a certain pace or beat a certain time. I'll just do it because I like to do it. And I'll remember how overjoyed I was when I started. Because running was something I was never capable of (damn anemia!). I dreamed about it, but couldn't do it. And when I finally did it, my thought was, "Thank you, God." I need to get back to that. And yesterday was one of those moments. I had no distractions. It was me, the sun, the blue skies, and the Canadian geese (one hissed at me).

Speaking of dreams, a couple weeks ago I dreamed of running a half. I know I mentioned the possibility of running one. But you don't understand. When I dream something, I must make it happen. Or I'll keep dreaming about it until it happens. That's how I got into running in the first place. If I dream it, it shall be or I shall be nagged to death in my dreams. So if all goes well with my running, all the sudden, you'll check my blog to find a race report out of no where. Yeah, that would be funny considering how much I hate racing. Hmm, maybe I'll race naked. That's a thought. But first, let's hope my mojo continues and that nothing breaks down on me.

Happy running or whatever it is you do. Be free! Run naked!

My God, I Think I Found It!

Found what? My running mojo, that's what! I was reviewing my running log last night (well, early this morning). And I was wondering what the heck happened. I haven't run consistently since some time in 2009. Then I took 10 weeks off due to injury. I started back slowing going "barefoot." I went to Miami. Caught the flu on the way back. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the flu in my recap. Told you I'd forget something. Anyway, I caught the flu at the very end of March, like the 29th or 30th. I spent about a week or so laid up. So yeah, the beginning of April was not productive in the least bit. I ran once after, and it was horrible. Got lightheaded and everything.

Then not too long after that, like the following week, I had some type of stomach thing going on where I couldn't keep any food in me. I guess it was stomach flu gone wild. That lasted over a week, close to two. I was absolutely miserable. I love food and couldn't enjoy any of it. I was limited to yogurt, apple sauce, rice and other blandness. Then I would get hard headed and eat something normal like an orange. And then pay for it within minutes. That's another couple of weeks of no running.

Okay, so that's over with. I'd run and I'd hate it. My cardio was all jacked up. I got turned off. I felt like all my runs would be crap, so I didn't run. In the meantime, I've been dubbed Yoga Queen, so that's good. That reminds me, last week I DID A HEADSTAND! I was not against a wall or a door. I had no help. I was alone in the middle of my living room floor. Pretty soon, I'll be balancing all of my body weight on just my fingertips ;) Ha! Is that even possible?

Anyway, back to what I was saying...RUNNING. I haven't been doing it. But now I want to. I've had a couple good runs. I've got a new "barefoot" approach. I've got a new mindset. I've got some goals. I want to develop my own plan. And I don't want it to feel like a chore. When it feels like work, that's when I shut down. I don't like that. So no pressure. No races on the calender. No training runs that MUST get done. No running back to back days, unless the weather dictates otherwise. No running more than 4 days a week. Honestly, I just want to keep it at 3 days (a medium run, a fast short run, and a slower long run). I operate better with a rest day in between anyway. Then maybe, once I'm back to running like a well oiled machine, I'll consider a race. Most likely, it will be a half. I prefer longer distances. I ran a 5k once and hated every minute of it. However, 10ks are pretty decent.

As far as my own plan goes, I'm trying to get into the habit of taking my resting heart rate in the morning. I just started yesterday. It was 57. Today was 56. I will be monitoring my RHR so I know when to workout and when to rest. Elevated RHR could mean I'm over-training or I'm getting sick. Either way, it's a good indication of when I should sit my butt down. I think this will be a better approach instead of going by some program made up by someone who has no idea how I feel. I gotta do what's best for me. I've been injured one too many times. And I'm not going down that road again. If my body says no via elevated RHR, irritated head of fibula, hip or IT band, headache, or whatever else that causes me to run in pain, I'm going to listen to it. Damn what the plan says. It's not worth it.

So ladies and gentlemen, that's where I am right now. The I'm-Gonna-Run-When-And-How-The-Heck-I-Want-To Plan starts this week. Wish me luck.

Oops..Please forgive me.

I'm such a slacker when it comes to maintaining this blog. If I still have readers out there, I truly apologize. Now if you took a hint and followed me on DailyMile or Twitter, then I don't feel too bad. A lot has gone on since I last checked in. I'm not going to recap everything. For one, I don't have that kind of time. And two, I probably don't remember it all.

But here's what I will recap...I've gone up to 5mi "barefoot." My calves have gotten used to it. So I don't even think about foot strike and all that other foolishness. I just run the way my body says to. But the thing is, I haven't been running much. Yes, that's part of the update. For whatever reason, I'm just not in the mood. I'm still very much active. In fact, I've been really into yoga lately, more than usual. I've noticed great improvement in my strength. There were poses that I couldn't do that I now can do with NO issue. Yay me! In other previous news, I went to Miami and had a GREAT time. That's a trip I need to make every year. I got a nice tan :o) Then lost it with this crappy weather :o( Also, I've been spending a lot of time on various dance floors. I guess that makes up for the lack of running.

So what's new? I finally figured out what I want to do. It's kind of been sitting in my face for a while now. Months even. People were coming to me like I'm some kind of fitness expert. So why don't I become a fitness expert? I'm one of the laziest people I know. I think I could motivate someone else to not be lazy. So yeah, I'm studying to become a certified personal trainer (in-home). I completed a workshop a couple weekends ago. Last week, I took classes to become certified in CPR, AED and First Aid. And now what's left? I have to study for the CPT exam. It's some dry reading, so I've had trouble motivating myself to crack the book open. But I need to hop to it so I can get to the fun stuff. Maybe later on I'll also take some courses in nutrition and such. I know how to eat, but I need some type of certification to rightfully tell others how to. Please wish me luck. I don't want to step foot into an office again. Too many times have I wanted to leap across a desk/cubicle and choke a b!tch. And with my improved strength, I could really hurt somebody.

In other news, I learned that my fitness is damn near excellent. During the workshop, I completed a series of fit tests. I was surprised at how well I did. I scored excellent in the push up test and partial curl up test. My cardio is in between good and excellent, based upon my heart rate after cardio exercise. Flexibility is good. And my personal favorite is finding out that I have 19% body fat after being measured with calipers. That's better than I expected. By their standards, I'm considered an athlete. That's not too shabby for someone who never played a sport in school. I couldn't run. I couldn't do much of anything. And now, many years later, I'm healthier than I ever was. I grow healthier each year. That is truly a blessing.

In any case, I may be going in a completely different direction with this blog. Every move I make, as far as exercise goes, is recorded on DailyMile. And whatever else that just happens to cross my mind, if I choose to share, is on Twitter. What else is there to talk about after that? So we'll see.

Anyway, I hope all is well with all of you. And I'll try to hit up your blogs soon. I'm so out of the loop.

"Barefoot" Running

Here's how I feel about it so far. I'm noticing that my calves are less irritated after each "barefoot" running session. I've had 5 so far. I ended up running back to back days to avoid the treadmill. I knew we had rain coming, so I did a 4miler yesterday instead of today. My calves are a little sore, but nothing serious. Considering that they had no rest, they feel great. I'm still not hobbling downstairs or busting out the liniment. When I ran in my stability shoes last Saturday (to supposedly give my calves a break), my left foot got irritated. I've been cracking my left ankle ever since. It was harder to run properly on my forefoot. With that being said, I think I'll be switching to EVOs (Terra Plana Vivo Barefoot EVO) as my primary running shoe. They just feel better. I'm still easing into the EVOs and back into running in general. So I'll be increasing mileage slowly. Don't expect a 10miler from me any time soon :)

In case you care, here's what I did since my last post. And yes, I'm still going strong with yoga, 13 days straight. Namaste.

3/9 - Yoga Meltdown Level 1 (34min)
Swim (1700yd - 49:09)

3/10 - Yoga: General Practice w/Backbends (38min)
3mi Run (27:36 - 9:12 pace)

3/11 - 4mi Run (See below)
Weights (11min)
Yoga: Hip Mobility (30min)

3/12 - Shimmy (21min belly dance)
Yoga: General Practice (46min)

Activity Route: Track Elev. Avg: 36 ft Location: Willingboro, NJ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/11/10 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 04:42 PM Difficulty: 1.7 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 59 F temp; 64% humidity 59 F heat index; winds N 5 Performance Distance: 4.00 miles Time: 0:37:21 Speed: 6.4 mph Pace: 9' 20 /mi Heart Rate: 172 bpm (Avg) Calories: 448 193 bpm (Peak) Notes Cool Down = .55mi Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 180 - 200 0h 07m 19% 0.83 mi Zone 4 160 - 180 0h 28m 75% 2.99 mi Zone 3 140 - 160 0h 03m 8% 0.32 mi Zone 2 120 - 140 0h 00m 1% 0.04 mi Zone 1 100 - 120 0h 00m 0% 0.02 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.01 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 45 +0' 25 6.1 -0.3 159 0 ft 2 9' 29 +0' 09 6.3 -0.1 173 0 ft 3 9' 16 -0' 04 6.5 +0.0 176 0 ft end 8' 49 -0' 31 6.8 +0.3 182 0 ft Versus average of 9' 20 min/mile

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