Tag Archives: exercise

Cold Weather Running for the Scared and Shivering

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You all know I’m running in the Route 66 Marathon this weekend, and it’s finally time to start my favorite part: packing! Here’s what I’m bringing to ensure that I have perfect control over everything I CAN control (i. e. everything but the fact that there might be snow on the ground).

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1. My Mizuno Wave Rider 16s. They’re kind of important for the running to occur. Also, three pairs of running socks. Because I am a chronic sock loser.

2. Running tights. I got mine from TJMaxx about a year ago, but I’ll be bringing 2 pairs to the race because I will probably need both of them. Layering is key, kids!

3. Armband for my tunes. At the OKC Half, I held my phone in my hand, but I don’t want to risk dropping my phone thanks to the cold giving me stiff fingers.

4. My Lululemon half zip. I don’t think they carry it anymore, but it’s closest to the Star Runner pullover. It’s great at wicking sweat and also super warm.

5. Running gloves (with fingertips that work with an iDevice). It’s cold. Self explanatory. I’ll have B on the course to hand these off to in case they’re too warm.

6. A fuel belt. Not sure if I’m going to wear one with water bottles or one with just a pocket for foods. I was well hydrated without my own water during OKC, so I will probably be fine without it this time.

Other things I won’t be able to live without:

hot hands

sweats for the drive home

a scarf?

throwaway gear from Goodwill?

Two for Tempo

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After taking a nice week off of running (oops), I hit the treadmill for some fast tempo miles. I was channeling Ricky “I wanna go fast” Bobby the entire time. I probably should have pushed more, seeing as tempo miles are really supposed to be speedy (read: painful wishes for death), but I felt good about them. Running 9 minute miles has (thankfully) gotten easier. I never thought it would.

Nine Miles and a Sunburn

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Saturday, I got a sunburn.

If you’re currently in the OKC area, you will find this unconscionable due to the mass flooding going on. The OUProblems Twitter aptly described it as “our sidewalks being at high tide”. 

I got a sunburn because I was out pounding pavement with my flat feet for 2 hours. 120 minutes. It’s hard to imagine what running for 2 hours is like. I’m not even sure I can give you an accurate description because I took approximately double the number of walking breaks I usually do, due to the whole heat-so-blistering-I-have-a-sunburn phenomenon.

After mile 3, my legs felt great. I felt like I had a great run in me, but my heart rate was like “No, thank you, too hot, try again next time”. My heart rate reached 180 at one point when I pushed myself particularly hard.

I wanted to run 10 miles in 2 hours, and I still think I can do that. Just on a different day. One with more water stops and more sunscreen.

For now, my sunburn and my umbrella are going on a really awkward date.

Tips for my Hips

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Yesterday, I had a twinge in my upper leg area.

Dun-dun-dunnnnnnn.

I brushed it off. I had taken the day off before, so I couldn’t possibly have done something to my leg. Was it my leg that hurt? It was hard to determine where the twinge originated.

Oh well. I scooted off to hot yoga, hoping the warmth and stretching would help out Mr. Twinge. Yoga was a blast, but as we laid on the floor as the class finished, I felt the twinge come back- with a vengeance.

By the time I went to dinner, I could barely walk.

Dr. Google tells me I have a hip flexor strain. I spent most of the morning in bed, icing my hip and hobbling around the house. As I showered (in mid afternoon, shamelessly), I realized that heat felt way better than ice. My hip almost felt like new after a hot shower.

After that, I decided to go walk around at Watter’s Creek (an outdoor mall) to keep my hip from tightening up badly (which seemed to be causing most of the trouble I had walking). So funny. Stop walking, pain. Start walking with pain, pain goes away.

When I got home, I took a nice long hot bath and watched a documentary about vegans. That made my hip flexor feel very happy and also very guilty for eating meats. Oh well. You can’t win every battle.

I’m not running for at least another day, unless there’s an overnight miracle and I wake up pain-free. Then I’ll run two easy peasy miles.

Any suggestions on what I can do to heal faster?!

Who Can I Blame This On?

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I had a scheduled run today of 3 miles, and I decided to double my 1.5 mile route. So, two loops. Super simple, right?

Nope.

There’s this weird part of the trail that I run on that loops around the lake, but there’s like a little side path that you can take to skip the little baby lake loop. When I came up on it, I instantly forgot if that little baby lake loop was included in the path I had so carefully created on MapMyRun. Cue internal battle!

I should have just done the loop, because who complains about running OVER their target for the day? But alas, I skipped the little baby lake loop and discovered when I got home that I only ran 2.75 miles. Blast you, last .25 of a mile that consisted of that lake loop!

I mean, I’m really not that upset about it because as I came in, it started pouring rain, so if I had taken the time to do the little baby lake loop I would be soaking wet with a water damaged phone so… I’m not too torn up about it.

2.75 miles/ 26 minutes (shoulda known I ran less with that super fast time!)

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Me and my little baby timing chip at my latest 5K! A pretty interesting race report is to come…luckily it has a happy ending!

An Anti-“health” Manifesto

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Your way is not the best way.

I know, I know. I’ve bruised your ego so much you’re probably just going to go back to Facebook. It’s okay, I won’t let my feelings get hurt.

Something I write about often is my love of fitness and healthy eating. (In fact, I’m about to make it a new section on the blog!) I don’t like to focus on numbers, because the terrific way I feel is reason enough to do it, but I’ve lost weight and overall, I think I’m a healthier person than I was last year. I can run a 5k. I have defined leg muscles. I somehow found my biceps and triceps. The double chin I dread in pictures is fading. I don’t need my inhaler after climbing the three flights of stairs up to my room.

Most of all, I feel strong. I know now that I can do so much more than I think I can.

That’s really the most important thing, I think. Because being healthy physically does not mean you’re happy, does not mean you’re better than anyone else, does not mean that everyone can fit in your mold of “health”.

“Fitness” and “health” are subjective terms. What you find healthy, I might find the antithesis of a healthy lifestyle.

So think on that before you tell someone that you want to make them healthy your way. Your way is not the only way, and may not be the best way for that person. Since I’m a college student, I have lots of free time to be spent in the gym. If I had a big-girl job, I would probably have to be on a stricter diet because I can’t spend 7 hours a week in the gym. 

Your way is not the only way. My way is not the only way.

Respect your friends enough to not push them into your way, your health, and your beliefs.

Think about it.

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anthropologie:

I seem to have forgotten how to ride a bike. What they say about easy-to-recall things being like “riding a bicycle?”  Not entirely true. If I did ride, however, I’d spring for this beauty. From the bell to the crate to the leather seat, it’s two-wheeled perfection.

Via: Anthropologie

If I had a bike this cute, I would run the risk of being crushed by cars all of the time.

Down, but Not Out

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I seem to have done something extremely tragic to my knee.

And it’s really, really, superbly depressing.

“Why is it,” I tell my friends on the phone, “that when I finally do want to exercise, my stupid knee stupidly fails me?”

They respond “maybe you should have stretched more.”

It hurts on the side and behind my right knee.

Any diagnoses, audience? All contributions, even silly ones, will be referenced in a future post.

36.20

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So, yesterday I ran my second ever 5k.

My first ever in 18 degrees.

For this race, I threw fashion out the window. It’s hard to see your cute leggings and matching compression top when you’re wearing two pairs of pants, two long sleeve shirts, a hoodie, and the race shirt over that. Add a grey ear warmer, my standby blue Nike hat and a balaclava to the mix, and I’m that kid from A Christmas Story.

Or I’m a bank robber dressed in a tutu and listening to a 3OH!3 Pandora station.

The race itself was less agonizing than one would think running 3.1 miles in 18 degree weather would be. I got warm fast, and the balaclava became somewhat unnecessary. The tutu, of course, was very necessary. The first two miles were a breeze. And then…my right foot felt funny…oh wait, it’s now numb. Party foul, foot. The extra pair of socks I wore managed to both keep me warm and cut off my circulation really well.

Despite my right foot bowing out of the race, I still finished within 20 seconds of my 36 minute goal. I was nearly four minutes faster than the 5k I ran 2 months ago.

A small but meaningful victory.

(Yes, the picture says 36.25. My time is based on the chip times of the people around me, because mine fell off during the race, effectively making me a big sad DNF. It took me at least 6 or 7 seconds to cross the start line. Trust me.)