Crazy Sexy Running (Thanks to Kris and Cathy!)

So, ya, Fitness Friday is a little bit late, huh? Well...here's the story...I got all my gear on and by the time I made it out to the living room (with the DVD player), the kids had already taken over the t.v. to watch a movie. So, I couldn't work out! Yep. There were a lot of lame-o excuses like that one last week. Sigh. But, you know, whatevs! No use pouting. I'm back on track.

I got Kris Carr's cool new book on the weekend. Have you heard about it, yet? I mean, it's everywhere! It isn't really a cookbook. Or a diet plan. It's more like a "life plan". Lots of interesting stuff in there. I'm about 1/3 the way through (because I keep skipping all around it--reading different parts here and there) and I think it's pretty darn cool. Kris was diagnosed with inoperable cancer about 7 years ago and made a complete over-hall of her life. Those healthy changes have kept her going with the grace and gumption of a goddess ever since. Just think of what those changes could do for a person who isn't even battling a life-changing disease. But, then again, aren't we all? I mean, 1 in 2 men get cancer. 1 in 3 women. I have got to think our SAD (Standard American Diet) diet has a lot to do with that SAD statistic. It's time to make some changes and I'm back on track for the challenge!



I even went out and bought a juicer yesterday. I love a kitchen appliance -- oh, yes i do. I wanted to be Jennifer Marlowe when I was a kid. All those kitchen appliances! Shiny and New and Never Used.  But, that's another story.


I actually used my juicer this morning and made Kris's "Make Love, Not War Green Juice". It is full of kale, and broccoli stems, celery, cucumbers, ginger root and pear.

Then I drank it.

For real life.

It wasn't so bad actually and I felt so flipping healthy after drinking it! Then I shared a bit of the left-overs with Bun-Bun and Chum-Chum (they thought it was the best thing ever). Side note: the recipe and my juicer make more juice than i really need. I'll have to cut it in half next time. 

Then, all high on life and kale, I hit the treadmill.




I started up my Couch to 5K app. again. I jumped in at week 2 this time since I remember week 1 being very easy last time around (for those of you just catching up...I don't think I ever got past about week 4 last time I tried this. I got a cold and missed a couple of days. Then something else, I can't even remember what, came up and I missed a couple more days. Then I felt like I was too out of it to continue on and I sure didn't want to have to start all over again...so, ya, that was that).

Here's the deal.
I love my running shoes (they are super adorable "Newton's", ordered from The States).
I hate running.
Hate is a strong word.

I can "speed walk" at a pace of 6.4km/hr. I could probably walk at that pace all day long. But, kick it up to 7.0 km/hr, or even 6.8, or 6.6...just to the point where I have to shift from walking to jogging, and I suck! I get all tense and seize up. It's like I'm afraid I'm going to fall or something. I don't know. I'm just keenly aware of how uncomfortable I am, how all my innards are just thrashing up and down, how this can't be good for my knee, how i'm going to hurt something, how I have no flipping idea how other people do this...let alone enjoy it...are you kidding me?!

This is what goes through my head for the entire 90 seconds that my app. is telling me to run.

Then I get to walk again.

So, I got through it and, as usual, I felt great after...but I have to get over my mental negativity! I have to try and think of something pleasant during my running time. Something better than, "This sucks! This sucks! I suck! I can't do this! How many more seconds?! I'll never make it! This sucks! This sucks".

I sent a little Tweet out to the beautiful and talented (and able to run 5ks like nobody's business) Cathy Zielske to see how she does it. Cathy is my (and everyone else's) scrapbooking hero, but she also happens to be my running hero. She took up running last year and hasn't looked back. I figured she must have run when she was a kid. Nope. She literally just started last year. She said it was also very foreign to her and took her about 4 months to really hit her stride and start enjoying it. So, I'm not going to give up. I'll keep going and try to reach that 4 month mark and hope to Cathy Zielske that by the time I get there I'm not thinking, "I suck! I can't do this!!" for every single stride, but "You Rock! You CAN do this!" instead. :)

Thank-you Cathy Zielske.
You're my hero.
And, thanks to Kris Carr, too. I feel the unicorns are a-coming!
{you'll just have to read her book...}
;-)


 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fitness Friday: Monthly Wrap Up {August}.

The month of August found me hitting the trails.  A lot. 
I used to cycle all the time in high school. On the roads, then. But a close encounter with a car left me afraid of going anywhere near the roads again. I mean, ya' think when you are crossing a road, at the cross-walk, with the light, in broad daylight, no one is going to try and run you over. You'd think so. Anyway. Ironically, my orthopaedic surgeon recommended cycling for rehabilitation for my knee. Insurance even paid for a new bike. But, I never used it. Not once. I was just too afraid. But, since moving to an area that is so close to so many trails...there was really no excuse anymore (well, except that my bike was in pieces and hubby kept delaying putting it together for me). But! August found me back in the saddle. And I've been loving it!! 

I quickly found that I was in need of a few upgrades. 

And some accessories. 
My best friends are my new riding gloves (my hands were starting to get really sore without them), my new bike shorts (they may look like regular ol' shorts, but don't let that fool you. There is some cushy science in them there shorts. And, my butt is very grateful), and my iPhone with a GPS app. that records my every move (distance, elevation, calories burned. It even records my time against previous times, maps my route, speaks to me during my ride! Coolest thing ever. And the best part--I just let my music play away and the app. continues to work in the background--just interrupting every few minutes to let me know how far I've gone, and how I'm doing, and if anyone has left me any messages on Twitter or Facebook. So. Cool. I heart my iPhone). 
So, what kind of numbers did i rack up in August? Well...just keep in mind it was my first month back cycling in, uhhh, well over a decade. Also, I am riding a Mountain Bike now and not a Road Bike. And I'm riding on the trails, not the road. So...speed might not be too terribly impressive (oh, how i do miss flying along!). Oh, also, i didn't get the app. until a few days after i actually started. But, anyway...enough of the justifications..here are the numbers:
August, 2010
Rides: 11Total Distance: 103.08 kmsTotal Time: 5:58:54Total Climb: 223 metresTotal Calories: 2264Average Distance: 9.37 kmsAverage Time: 32:38Average Climb: 20 metresAverage Calories: 206Average Speed: 17.23 kms/hr
And how do i feel? Terrific!!My legs feel so energized!They are that slight, tingly, just a wee bit sore feeling you get when you know you are accomplishing something, but you aren't incapacitated. I can actually see muscles in my legs that are getting bigger, and stronger...and some that i never even remember seeing before(like the one that runs across my shin. Hello there, muscle! Where have you been?)
I will definitely be continuing my cycling throughout September, and I'm hoping to continue on even when it gets cold out. Me? Out in the cold?? Ya, my hubby is finding that one hard to believe, too. But, i'd really like to! I'm loving it so much. We'll see how it goes. 
I'll be back next month with another wrap up. 
In the meantime...What have you been doing to take care of yourself lately?

Recovery Pants.

Yesterday I passed the big 6 week mark: 6 weeks post Lily-Pie's birth. This means that I can now start exercising again after months and months of total sloth. As soon as I found out I was at high risk for preterm labour (I think that was at about 6 months) all exercising came to a halt. The only thing that mattered was trying to get baby-one to "38 weeks" where it would be safe to bring her out into the world. Well, gratefully, we made it safely to that goal but with the c-section I was instructed that there should be no exercising for 6 weeks after, either. Not even "hoovering" the floors as one, funny, British nurse put it.

But, here we are! Six weeks past her birth and, as luck would have it, it was the most beautiful day we have seen around here in months. We reached a high of about 15 degrees Celsius and we even saw a bit of the sun. I promised myself that on that day, the six-week mark, I would get out there and go for a nice, long, fast-paced walk. I signed my pal, Shan (aka The Fairy Blogmother) up to be my walking companion. Unfortunately, her little My-Pie, got "the burps" so Shan had to bow out of our expedition. This would, normally, be the point where I may let myself off the hook and pass on the hike...but it was such a gorgeous day and, I tell you, I was eager to move it! I knew I had to start off easy since I've been so sedentary for so long (the longest stretch of not having any form of exercise I've even had in my life), so I just put baby in her stroller and we headed off for our walk around town. I went as quickly as I could without getting terribly out of breath and I hit a few little hills and dips as well.

It was fantastic! I swear, I think I could feel my blood moving around my body again! I even met another one of my neighbours on my walk. A lady (who seemed really, really, nice) who just had a little baby girl of her own a couple of months ago. Yay! I've found a new friend for Lily-Pie already!

So, this will be a regular thing from now on. Dave has teased me throughout the pregnancy with, "I don't know...are you sure you are going to be able to recover from this one?" Well, I don't have a scale in my house (I don't believe in having the horrid things around), but I do have the "series of pants". The series of pants goes like this...1) My pre-preggo pants 2) My preggo pants and 3) My "recovery" pants. The "recovery" pants are sized somewhere in between my preggo pants and my pre-preggo pants and they are what I can fit my butt into at this point. The goal, of course, is to get myself back into the pre-preggo ones. Once I've done that, I know I've pretty much reached my goal.

I also measured my waist the night before having Lily-Pie and we were up to 40 and 1/2 inches. Having given birth to her in itself quickly shaved 4 inches off that number and just getting my uterus back down to size has knocked another 3 inches off...the rest, I suppose, will be my responsibility. ;-)

So, wish me luck!

I figure "9 months on, 9 months off" so I'm not in any hurry...but I'll post updates here regularly just to keep me going. If you have any fitness goals you are working on, maybe you could join me and we could spur each other on! I can always use the encouragement (especially since that 15 degree weather is already gone and it's just getting cold and wet again...blahh).

{btw--the picture above isn't me. I just found it on the web because I really don't have time to take a picture of myself right now - 6 weeks is also a growth period for the baby and she is wanting to eat constantly! Gotta' go! bye!!}