Tag: running (Page 2 of 2)

Ups and Downs of Fitness Past 50

April 25, 2019 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

Let’s talk about some of the ups and downs of fitness past 50. A few things happened this week that made me feel good and then not so good. There were definitely some ups and downs of fitness this week.

Ups and Downs of Fitness

First, I signed up for a small group training class at my gym. The seven-week class starts and ends with measurements so we can track our progress. The measurements included weight, body fat percentage (oh, it’s been a rough year!), blood pressure, and actual body measurements. You know, the measuring tape around your chest, abdomen, waist, hips, thighs, and upper arm. Not really a good time.

This was followed by a brief physical test. We did inclined push ups. Inclined means we rested our hands on an elevated surface and did a full push up. The test was to see how many we could do in a minute. The other test was four minutes on the rowing machine.

I did not feel great about the weight and body fat percentage. I definitely have some work to do there. Too much time dealing with injuries and too much time traveling and having fun last year. It’s certainly an incentive to pay attention to this.

I did feel pretty good that, although I am clearly the oldest person in the training group, I was not the worst at the push ups and rowing. There were a couple young women there who looked very fit and said they go to bootcamp classes three times a week, but they couldn’t do the push ups. They said they always do pushups on their knees in boot camp. I don’t want to sound petty but that made me feel better that I managed to do some.

Oh NO! A Photo!

The second thing I did this week was scary. I took a selfie of myself while I was out running. It was a sunny day and the selfie of course was a close-up. Oh my, what a shock when I looked at the photo. I did not upload it to Strava where I log my runs. Yikes, I looked so much older than I felt. I know it was a sunny day so I was squinting and it was not a flattering shot but boy it knocked me for a loop. Fortunately, I didn’t see the photo until after I finished my run.

I know it’s more important to have completed my run successfully than to look good in a photograph but I still have some vanity left and that was painful.

Recovery

OK, so this week has had its ups and downs. I’m carrying around more weight than I like and I know I’ll feel better if I get it off. I prefer to focus on the body fat percentage, but I definitely need to lower that number.

I looked like a zombie in my selfie. Note to self, avoid selfies in the bright sunlight while running. It’s not a good look. All future sellfies should be taken after recovery from running, preferably after a shower, combing the hair, and maybe even using some makeup.

On the plus side, I successfully completed some pushups and rowed for four minutes. I ran my Couch to 5K session without problem and felt good afterwards. I’m choosing to focus on that. You know, the “be fit and strong” thing.

I guess all we can do is continue to work on being fit and strong and try to improve where we can. Set those goals and don’t feel bad about what you can’t control.

If anyone has any ideas on improving the selfie look, let me know. More importantly, let me know if you’ve had some successes this week in your fitness regime.

A Workout Wrap up from Last Week’s Fitness

August 27, 2018 / Chris Brown / 7 Comments

Most weeks I have a plan for working out but sometimes my week just rolls along. That’s how I felt about last week’s workouts.

Monday – rest day – restorative yoga

After lots of driving for sister weekend, Monday’s workout consisted of a restful day. I find that weekends are usually a busy time for me, so having a Monday yoga class at my gym fits well into the schedule. Restorative yoga is a workout for the brain where you help your body learn to relax. I am learning how to let go, focus on breathing and getting my body to relax.

Tuesday – slow jog

The goldenrod are just starting to open up in this field near my run/jog/walk.

The weather wasn’t cooperating very much on Tuesday, but I did manage to get a few miles in. Tricky with my Achilles Tendonitis acting up, so I keep the pace very slow and tried not to think about the 13.1 miles coming up the end of September.

Wednesday – 17 mile ride

This is my screen capture from Strava, an app on my phone that tracks miles, elevation and speed.

I had a nice ride with my bike riding group through Cuyahoga Valley. We started at Brandywine Falls and rode up to the lookout above Tinkers Creek. Two minutes into my ride, my Catseye mileage thing popped off my handlebars so I turned around to find it. Then I spent the next 5 miles really pedaling hard, trying to catch the front group. That got me breathing hard and it felt good. There’s one pretty big hill that also got my heart pumping hard, so by the end of the ride, I felt I had earned our potluck supper.

Thursday – missed a run

I had planned to run with a running group that I found through a woman at my gym, but ended up having to work late. Boo. 🙁

Friday – gardening

I didn’t get all my steps in, but managed to burn over 2000 calories anyway. Did a bit of gardening, but I feel can’t really call it a workout because I didn’t do a whole lot of heavy breathing. I did get some bending and stretching in.

Saturday – walk/slow jog

I notice when I walk instead of run, I tend to see more things. How many times have I run past this little mini garden without noticing?

When I woke up my ankle was acting up again. Feeling stiff mostly. So Saturday’s workout consisted of an hour of walking and slow jog. I listened to an upcoming podcast of Becoming Elli after doing some production work on it, so I was able to multi task to use the time to do an audio proofread of the podcast. I’m psyched about the one that is going to be published on Tuesday. I’m eager to hear your comments on it.

Meanwhile, I did some icing on my calf and ankle when I got back home, followed by heat from the rice bag. It felt better.

Sunday – 51 mile ride
My big cardio workout of the week turned about to be a bike ride instead of a run, which was more fun and a better workout than I would have gotten on my sore ankle. Four of us took the Valley Parkway up to the marina near the lake, had lunch and rode back. There was a big steep hill at about mile 48, but I managed to ride it all the way up for the final push. Definitely a big effort and a great way to start this next week.

After I got home, my husband and I went to the gym to go swimming. Definitely loosened up my muscles! A great way to finish the weekend.

Workout Wrap Up

This link goes to other women fitness bloggers who do a weekly workout wrap up accountability link up. The Weekly Wrap is organized by the rope-climbing Wendy and Holly, who’s starting a new empty-nest normal. I’m also linking to Liz, a writer who runs in ~~London~~ actually in Birmingham, in the Midlands. – Chris

Mid-August: Run Run Walk Run

August 18, 2018 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

I’m back to training for the Akron half marathon at the end of September. The MS150 ride is a great cross training for running, but nothing really prepares you for a long run than… well… running.

Despite the humidity, I love a mid-August run:

It is still officially summer
Lots of flowers along the trails
Time to reflect during the run
Great feeling of accomplishment after a good run

When I started this training run, I remember feeling a bit out of breath and had to remind myself, “Start slow. Give your body a chance to warm up.”

It’s funny. All these times I’ve been running, there is something that makes me want to go too fast at first. My blood has to start pumping a little more. Heart beating a little harder. And then about 7 or 8 minutes into it, I’m not sure what it is, but my arteries feel like they are open and I really like running again.

I’m pretty sure it’s not just me. Does this happen to you too, when you start exercising? I feel the most like quitting during the first 8 minutes. And then it’s not too bad.

It really gets good about a 30 minutes into it. The endorphins start pumping and I get that “You are rocking this” feeling. I guess that’s the runner’s high they talk about. I think that’s one of the many reasons I love running.

Knowing that feeling is coming helps me keep going to get over that starting hump that I’ve got to break through to get to the good part!

For this run, I forgot to bring my head phones, so I just let my mind wander a bit:

Was it only a year ago, running on this same trail and running a little more than 7 miles — that I farther than I ever did in my life! What a feeling of accomplishment.
What is a good mantra for today? Click thru to get the Becoming Elli list of mantras. I wanted to pick a simple one to say to myself during the beginning of this run. I ended up just using a two syllable mantra that I chanted to myself: “Elli! Elli” EL (left foot down.) LI (Right foot down.) EL (left foot.) LI (Right foot.). EL (left.) LI (right.)
I daydreamed about how in the heck did she beat Thor anyway? It must have been the training! Bet she was lifting weights and doing one legged squats.
Maybe doing more one legged squats would be good for me. Good for balance. Good for strength. Good for my Achilles. (I use straps, still working on “just” me.)

By this point I had captured my breath. Since the last few weeks have really been devoted to riding, not running, I didn’t want to over do it on my Achilles, so I adopted a run, run, walk, run pattern.

It was actually three minutes running, one minute walking, but I tacked the last run on after the walk, just because it helps me psych myself out by breaking up the run with a walk in between. I look at those four minutes as a set and then keep repeating it throughout the workout.

I tried not to think about the humidity. But I know my heart rate is faster and my pace is slower with the same amount of exertion, when the humidity is high.

Mid-August seems early for school to start, but it started around here this week. There were lots of kids standing at the end of their driveways, waiting for the bus.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t see very many people while I was out doing the run.

Over the 45 minute period, I saw one walker, one bike rider and one other runner. Ironically, I actually recognized two of the three people. They were from my gym. That makes me smile. Having the routine of regularly going to the gym keeps me staying fit, doing my exercise and expands my friendships. And I guess that works for other people that go to my gym too.

The more you do… the more you do. The more you can do.

All in all, I didn’t run extremely far. And I didn’t run extremely fast. But I was out there, putting one foot in front of the other.

I made my walking cool-down really fun by taking photos of some of the blooms I enjoyed during my mid-August run. Goldenrod. Queens Anne Lace. Joe Pye Weed. These flowers are fleeting and in another month, most will be gone. Just like the summer days!