Some Things I’ve Learned

Published on March 8, 2010 in Exercise and Health/Wellness. 2 Comments

Since diving headlong into the whole running scene, I figured I’d post a few things I’ve learned/experienced so far. Keep in mind, though, that this is nothing earth shattering, just some interesting bits of info on yours truly.

1. The first thing is that since beginning running (or just working out more consistently in general), I have noticed my sleep at night is better. I wake up more refreshed in the morning. It also doesn’t take me as long to fall asleep and I don’t wake up in the middle of the night. Not that I woke up in the middle of the night that often before, but now when I crash, I crash hard. It’s great!

2. The second thing I’ve noticed is that my recovery time after a workout has improved significantly. Today after I ran, it didn’t take hardly any time to bring my heart rate down. Not only that, I wasn’t utterly exhausted when I was done. That’s pretty neat!

3. The third thing I’ve noticed physically is that my endurance is improving. When I was running today, I was able to keep up without feeling like I needed to gasp for air. My legs were getting pretty sore, but I really felt like I could keep going. In fact, I did! I was supposed to run 20 minutes today (day 3 of week 5; I was a day behind and will start week 6 tomorrow). Instead of running 20 minutes, I just tacked on another 5 minutes at the end. And you know what? It was great!

4. I am beginning to realize that I really like running. This factoid is earth shattering, at least in my book. I never, ever, ever, in my life thought I would ever say that. I mean, why would someone want to run voluntarily unless a gun was held up to their head? I really think the key is starting out slowly and then working your way up. Like Elizabeth said in her post about setting goals, set little ones along the way instead of going for the big one, losing steam, and then giving up. It was overwhelming when I thought of running 3 miles a few weeks ago. Now, though, it seems totally doable. Just keep at it. One foot in front of the other. You can do it.

5. Another thing I’ve found (and this is probably a no-brainer) is that it is SO much easier to run with someone else! (Thank you, Cara!) To have someone there to talk to is a great encouragement and makes the time fly. I highly recommend a workout buddy! I don’t get to run with someone everyday but I’m sure thankful for those times when I get the opportunity!

I’m sure there will be things to add to this list as time goes on. I’m already looking at a 10k training schedule that looks doable (changing my rest days to Sunday). Keep going everyone! You can do it!

I Came, I Saw, I Got Intimidated, I Was a Wuss, but at Least I Ran

Published on March 1, 2010 in Exercise and Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Let me just say, Exercise really kicked me while I was down today. And again, I really don’t know how I ran those 2 miles before. I ran 1.5 miles total today following the training schedule and wow. It really wiped me out. It felt like it was the first time I ever ran. I was sucking air just wishing it were all over (the run that is; life isn’t that bad). I had a stitch in my side; my breathing went out the window; and it was just plain hard. I had visions of this slim and trim Lisa in a fancy black dress running in front of me, telling me to hurry up if I wanted to look like her (rather cheeky, but she looked great. And yes, I have a slight obsession with this vision of Lisa in a fancy black dress. What can I say? I have issues. At least I don’t talk to her. I only talk to Exercise, but he’s mean and someone’s got to put him in his place).

Tomorrow’s run is kind of freaking me out a little since I have to run 3/4 of a mile twice! David offered me some words of encouragement though. He said when he was in the military, one of his sergeants told him if he wanted to improve his run, he should work on steady breathing and also push hard at first and then you can ease off as you get into it more*. David said he probably shaved two minutes off his run by working on his breathing and another two minutes by pushing hard at the beginning. Wow, really?! That’s kind of what I did today. In the spirit of pushing myself, I, uh, pushed myself. Because I wanted to work on my time, I ran faster at the beginning. David said that is probably why I was so wiped out afterward. He said if you feel full of energy when you’re done running, you’re doing something wrong. So, tomorrow I’ll see how it goes.  I will keep you all updated. In the meantime, hang in there! You can do it!

*Of note, after further talking to David, it appears I misunderstood slightly what he was getting at. He said if he wanted to “kill” himself on a PT (for all you non-military folk, this means Physical Training) test, then he would push hard at the beginning and then ease off. However, if you are not seeking to “kill” yourself, he recommended running at a pace in which it is comfortable enough to talk.

To Boldly Go Where No Lisa Has Gone Before

Published on March 1, 2010 in Exercise and Health/Wellness. 3 Comments

Unless there is another Lisa besides me who has, but I certainly don’t know her, so in my limited knowledge of other Lisas, I suppose the title could be true. But I feel a rabbit trail coming on here so I better get to the point.

I am about to embark on week #5 of Couch to 5K. Technically, last week was supposed to have been week 5, but there was too much snow on the ground and I was, uh, trying to be careful and not slip, yeah that’s it! (of course, it has nothing to do with me being a wimp, nothing at all) What’s on the agenda for week 5? Glad you asked! :) Here’s the skinny (at this point, I would love to insert a picture of me as skinny; however, that will have to wait until I can fit into a fancy black dress, but I wore a fancy black dress on Saturday for a nice dinner, but it wasn’t THE fancy black dress…okay, rabbit trail! Ahem):

Day 1: Jog 1/2 mile or 5 minutes
Walk 1/4 mile or 3 minutes
Jog 1/2 mile
Walk 1/4 mile

Day 2: Jog 3/4 mile
Walk 1/2 mile
Jog 3/4 mile

Day 3: Jog 2 miles without stopping

I’m trying to psych myself up here. I am really convinced that exercise has so much to do with your mentality. On Saturday I ran with fellow runner, Cara. We went ahead and did week 1 of the program and I was kind of pooped at the end. And then I thought, “How in the world did I run 2 miles the previous week?!” Unless it was a dream. And as you know, I do have some pretty nice dreams. So today, I’m going to attempt my running routine. Right now, I’m in one of David’s old Army PT shirts; my hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and I have some sweatpants on. After an attempt to find my motivation, however, I have come up empty handed. But, I’m thinking I may find it at the end of my run today. Wouldn’t that be lovely? And then I hope I don’t ever lose it again. Fancy black dress, come to mama!

I’ve Lost It!

Published on February 26, 2010 in Exercise. 3 Comments

Where in the world did my motivation go? I just can’t seem to find it anywhere, not even in fancy black dresses! *sniff sniff* So, like, it’s been cold and snow has covered the ground for the majority of this week. In fact, I haven’t run at all this week, just did workout videos inside. After attempting to go run on the snow-covered ground, I realized that it was just not going to happen. My feet were cold and starting to get wet, so I went inside and worked out to Jillian Michaels, but it’s pretty amazing how long a 27-minute workout can be. I would much rather go running (wait, did I really just say that?!). But right now, I just want to go bake something with chocolate in it. That doesn’t involve sweating, right? Unless I stand next to the oven for awhile. Sigh. I ran two miles last week. Really, I did. Shouldn’t that be enough to motivate me? BLAH!!!

Fancy Black Dresses and The Mile x2!

Published on February 23, 2010 in Exercise. 3 Comments

I had the most awesome dream the other night. David and I were in England in front of this really beautiful fountain at night, and I had on a fancy black dress and was SO THIN! And then I woke up. C’ est la vie. But really, you should have been there. It was great. But it may have been weird to have you all there in my dream. No offense, but you may have spoiled it. After all, it was a romantic getaway for me and David. But you may have commented that I looked great in my dress, and I would have loved that (and then told you to get lost, with love of course).

Anyway, enough talk of dreams; let’s talk reality. And the reality is, I have some really crazy news to share. Most of you reading this already know it, but I still can’t get over it. So here it is: Saturday, I ran two miles. Not terribly exciting, right? But you don’t understand! I RAN TWO MILES! And you know what? I didn’t have to stop (except that I stopped in between miles because at the time, I didn’t know I was going to run two). I wasn’t winded while I was running. I just kept going. Wanna know what was going on in my head? Maybe not; it’s probably scary. :) But I was just thinking, “This is weird. I’m running The Mile and I’m okay with it.” Before I began running though I started feeling nervous, kind of like I used to feel before I ran The Mile in grade school, except not quite as frantically nervous and panicked. But I reminded myself that I didn’t have my PE teacher’s approval to gain, no grade to think about; I was just running because I wanted to (which is pretty crazy in and of itself by the way). So, yeah, I like, ran and junk!

Now here’s the frustrating part. I had these visions of an 8 or 9-minute mile floating around in my head, thinking that I had been working out for awhile and surely my time would be around that. Well, I was sorely disappointed. The time for my first mile was 11 minutes, 29 seconds. The time for my second mile was 11 minutes, 10 seconds. I did better in grade school! But I’ve been thinking of a few things that may help me out. The first one is that I need to figure out something different with my breathing. What I had been doing was inhaling every time I stepped on my right foot, exhaling on the left. When I picked up my pace, though, I thought I was going to hyperventilate so tried to slow it down and breathe deeper but was having a hard time concentrating on that and running, so I think I need to practice it. The second thing I think will help is to run faster. That sounds like a no brainer, eh? I don’t think I was pushing myself enough during my training days so on Saturday when I picked up the pace a bit, I could definitely tell I needed to push a bit harder. The third thing I think will help is to shed a few pounds. The lighter I am, the faster I’ll move, right? And then I may be able to wear that fancy black dress and be thin! Maybe shedding some poundage won’t land me in England though, but we can just pretend. There’s gotta be a slim Lisa in there somewhere! (I think I ate her!) So my friends, that is what is going on in my world of running. This week may be a bit harder to get my actual running in because we had lots of snow this past weekend. But, I found some helpful information on running on snow and ice, so I might just give it a try (or not).

This Should Go Down in the History Books

Published on February 17, 2010 in Exercise. 0 Comments

Today’s run was…AWESOME! I could have gone longer except I had to work. Who knew? :)

In Which the Author Waxes Poetic

Published on February 17, 2010 in Exercise. 2 Comments

A limerick:

There once was a girl who was flabby.
And her running was terribly shabby.
She ran out in the cold.
Which was really quite bold,
Now her ‘tude shines forth awfully crabby.

I was having trouble finding rhyming words, okay! :) (and actually I just wanted to stall because I really don’t want to work out today…)

And The Winner Is…

Published on February 16, 2010 in Exercise. 3 Comments

So yesterday, I had this conversation. It didn’t go very well, but in the end, I won, which is what really matters in arguments, ya know? :) But this conversation wasn’t with just anyone. In fact, I don’t know that you could really call it an “anyone” at all. It was with Exercise. And he was mean. So I blew a raspberry at him and told him to leave me alone. Here’s how it went:

Exercise: Hey Lisa, it’s been since Saturday that you worked out last. If that’s the case, you really should push yourself today.

Me: Well…I don’t know. Mondays are always hard for me to get going. I’ll probably just wait until after dinner this evening.

Exercise: Yeah right. You know that won’t happen. You have to clean up from dinner and you’ll want to spend time with David and relax. There’s no way you’ll want to exercise!

Me: Can’t prove it! Maybe I will! I might even do something pretty hard, like Billy Blanks!

Exercise: You won’t either! You’re a sissy!

Me: Them’s fightin’ words! You better watch out!

Exercise: Whatever! You don’t scare me!

Me: Oh yeah? Well THHHHBPT! (that’s a raspberry in case you didn’t know). I’ll deal with you tomorrow!

Exercise: Fine! Be that way!

Me: I will! Now get!

Whew. It didn’t go well, but I held my own. (and just between you and me, I didn’t end up working out yesterday. In fact, I ate a hotdog during a movie with David, but it was okay because it was on a whole wheat bun. But there’s no way I’ll tell Exercise about that. I’d never live it down). So, um, that’s what happened with me and Exercise yesterday. Today though, we seem to have made amends and I ended up working out. Not to Billy Blanks though. I Wii’d it. Super Hula Hooping sounded a lot more fun. And I threw in a little kung fu as well. To top it off, I went on a bike ride on Mii Island and fell off a cliff. That’s dangerous living! I probably burned more calories that way though, right? Not quite as tiring as Billy Blanks, but a workout just the same. In other exciting news, we recruited another good friend to join our running ranks! Hi Cara!

That’s all for now. I will keep you all posted on me and Exercise. That makes for some good blogging; just throw in a good argument every now and then to keep people coming back for more. Juicy stuff!

Update Shmupdate

Published on February 11, 2010 in Exercise and Health/Wellness. 0 Comments

I ran today. The end…

Okay, okay! I know I can’t just leave you hanging like that so I’ll fill you in on the nitty gritty. What have I been up to this week? Amidst flurries and mud, I actually found time to run. But when the flurries were bad, I worked out inside. Yesterday the sun was out and it was such a nice day, if not a bit cold, so I got all decked out in my running gear…and took a nap. Yes, I did! I’m not exactly sure why I was so tired but I could hardly keep my eyes open. The bad part was that when I woke up I felt like I hadn’t even taken a nap at all. And then I had to work when I woke up too. Blah. Today though was a good run. I am still doing week #4 of Couch to 5K. It seemed a little easier today than before. Yay! I am planning on running again tomorrow and Saturday. Sunday it’s supposed to be cold and snowy again. I’m definitely looking forward to spring. And here’s a news flash for ya: I  just realized that I’ve worked out everyday this week so far! Yippee!

Stay tuned for more workout/running updates and maybe just for kicks I’ll throw in a recipe or two or something totally random just to keep you coming back for more! :)

Did You Ever Know That You’re My Gyro?

Published on February 9, 2010 in Home Life and Recipes. 0 Comments

I just have to say it. I’m pretty pleased with the title of this post. Say what you will, I think it’s catchy. But why am I talking about gyros to begin with? Because, yesterday we got lamb meat!

“Great, Lisa, but what’s the big deal?”

Because! I’ve wanted to get lamb meat for a long time now and can’t find it or am too stingy economical to buy it. However, one of David’s coworkers went to Kansas City the other day and purchased some for us that was pretty reasonably priced, for lamb meat that is. And so I’m excited! (you’ve probably noticed by now that it doesn’t take much to get me excited, does it?). I will probably not be fixing gyros though despite the catchy title. I’ve been in the curry mood and when we have company over soon I will probably fix this recipe. Along with this. And then a salad. And maybe something for dessert. I was looking for some Pakistani/Indian desserts to make but a lot of them call for some really strange (to me) ingredients. So, I may just skip the authentic dessert and stick with American or maybe I’ll go out on a limb and just have fruit for dessert *gasp!* But then again, I like to take chances. :)