I'm not a runner....and I'm okay with that...

In the past, I always thought of running as the ultimate in fitness. I have thought that to prove my fitness, I need to run more and more. I needed to build endurance and run longer and longer events. To me, if I couldn't run more each week, I was failing at building my fitness. Everyone seemed to be a runner. I subscribed to running blogs and read over and over about all the great things people were doing, thinking that I need to do them too. I knew I would never be fast but at least I would have endurance. I felt that the only way to prove my increased fitness was to continue running.

Recently, I am finally becoming convinced that I can't do everything and that I am probably at danger of over training again. I need to get a handle on things. I can't run, lift weights, and do all the other things I like. AND most importantly, I just really do not like running. I still have issues with my foot/ankle from last summer. Running aggravates it. So, I have decided that I am not longer going to attempt to be a runner.

There were a few reasons I chose to run. First, my friends were running. I will still be there to support my friends. I will be seen in the crowd holding signs. Second, I like to be outside running but I can be outside walking, hiking and doing other things. Third, I like events. I will still be doing my stair climbing events and walking events but I will likely not be doing another running event for some time. I can always volunteer at events as well.

While I still may incorporate some sprinting (well, running intervals) from time to time, training for running events will not be a part of my life. I will not say that I will never train again but right now I am accepting the fact I can't do everything. I am going to concentrate more on my strength training because I want to be stronger. I want to lift heavier weights. I want to do what I enjoy, which involves lifting. With strength training, I have gained an immense amount of confidence. I want to continue to work on that. I love kettlebell workouts and I want to work with them more once again. I want to work on my cleans, my kettlebell snatch, and some day perfect the Turkish getup. I also want to learn additional lifting movements. I want to learn more about how to improve the lifts I already know.

This does not mean that I won't be doing cardio. I will but it will not be the focus of my training regiment. I will train with my heart rate zone intervals but it may not be with running. I will be doing body weight workouts. I will be working on mobility and flexibility.

Today was my last "running" event for some time. I really did not run much but I felt good about it. I enjoyed my time with friends on the course. It was okay that we walked a lot. I no longer feel like I need to prove anything. I am not a runner...and I'm okay with that.

Brussels Sprouts and Massages

These two items may not seem to have a lot in common but to me, they are both signs of how much my life has changed. Somehow I have become a person that likes Brussels sprouts....and massages.

While there have always been some vegetables that I have liked, things like Brussels sprouts, asparagus, zucchini, snap peas, kale, chard, and several other things are relatively new to my lifestyle. It is still a bit strange when I actually crave things like Brussels sprouts or some other vegetable or when I actually prefer to have "zoodles" for dinner. I have totally overhauled my diet and, although I still struggle with a few things, I feel so much better eating whole and real food. There is very little processed foods in my diet.

Having gone through a few elimination diets, I have found a few things to which my body reacts negatively. Not satisfied that I had enough information, I just followed up with a food sensitivity test. I found out a few more things that could potentially be causing inflammation. I am now working on eliminating these things for a few months in order to see how I feel when I reintroduce the foods. One of the biggest items is all dairy products. I have kind of known that I should give up dairy but have not been able to do so. Now I am committed to doing this, even though I have not found a protein powder yet to replace my whey protein.

As far as massages, well, in case you didn't know, I am an introvert. I am not someone that feels at ease with strangers. I especially do not like being touched by people I don't know. I am not a huggy feely kind of person. A few years ago, I started to step out of that comfort zone. During a visit to a spa in Utah (a week where I stepped out of my comfort zone over and over again), I decided to get a massage. To me, a massage was something I never considered. I was not looking forward to it at all. In fact, I contemplated cancelling the appointment several times. Speaking with some other women at the spa (another step out of my comfort zone in that I was actually interacting with other guest of the spa, sitting at the community table at dinner, going on hikes), they convinced me to follow through with it. I did....and I loved it.

Since then, I have gotten a handful of massages. Last night I had my latest with a masseuse that I have been to twice before. I like her. She is learning a lot about my muscles and what pressure to use on my back. We talk about my training and how things are going with my workouts. I fill her in on the most recent pains and such. It's a new experience for me but, even though I hesitate and consider cancelling each appointment, I am following through and my body is happy about it. I find it much more relaxing than I ever thought I would. Of course, the financial aspect of massages does not allow for this to be any more than an occasional indulgence.

So, I am stepping outside of that comfort zone over and over again. My trainer continues to push me out of it. I have friends that push me out of it over and over. I find that I am putting myself out of that comfort area more often as the months pass. With each step outside it, I discover more about myself and realize that I am much stronger than I think I am.

FINALLY! Deadlift goal met...

So, last year I participated in a TEAM fitness class at my gym. I joined because it was quite a bit of strength training and I knew that I was not doing enough strength training on my own, especially since my kettlebell classes had ended a few months earlier.

I liked the classes but it was a little frustrating for me because I felt like they were always talking about goals and what we imagined looking like or what our goal weight was. Personally, I had long given up having a weight goal or a "perfect" body type. I just knew I wanted to be healthy and strong.

Ben, the trainer who led the class, told me that I really needed to have goals and would ask me what they were. I finally blurted out, without really thinking about it, that I wanted to be able to deadlift over 200 pounds. Since the beginning of the classes, the deadlift was my favorite lift, even though it was done with the cable machine. Why 200 pounds? I really have no idea but at the time, it seemed like a attainable but challenging point.

As the class went on, I realized how much I like the strength workouts but I really wanted to take it the next level. At some point, the cable machines were just not cutting it any more. I spoke with Ben about it and he arranged for me to meet with a personal trainer. It did not take long to realize that I wanted to learn more about free weights and Olympic weight training. I knew that this was the next step in my fitness journey.

I told Travis, my first trainer at the gym, that one of my goals was to deadlift over 200 pounds. We worked on deadlifts along with other lifts. While with kettlebells, I was able to deadlift two 88 pound kettlebells (176 pounds), lifting with a bar is a lot different. Even though I would get frustrated from time to time, I did love lifting heavy things. I did like working with Travis until he left the gym. Now I am an introvert and I do not deal well with change. Before Travis left, he set me up to continue working with another trainer, Adam. Adam would also help me with my lifting. It took me quite a few sessions to settle into working with the new trainer. 

Working with Adam, I have been working on a lot of things and trying a lot of new lifts. I did have a few difficult times. I hate failing and there were times I would fail to complete a lift. It would drive me crazy.

About a month or so ago, I was able to deadlift 175 pounds but just once. I know I wrote about it before here. My response was not the best. I vowed to get rid of negative thoughts...it hasn't been perfect since then. In fact, two or three weeks ago I really thought I was going to give up personal trainer. I was worried that the rest days I was taking based on his advice were really going to sabotage my fitness efforts. BUT the same day that I was frustrated by all of this, he start to teach me another lift....and I loved it. I knew that I had to stick with the weight lifting and I needed to improve my attitude. I am working on that. I am not doing things that cause me to question what I am doing. I am staying off the scale because it just plays games with my ego. I am sticking with the rest days and the stretching, at least for a month to see what happens.

So, since my 175 pound deadlift, I did a 180 on my own. Another PR. Then with Adam, I did multiple reps at 175 pounds. I have been doing speed work with the deadlift and rack deadlifts. Earlier this week, I asked him if it was okay if I tried to lift heavy on my own today and he was fine with it.

I went to the gym today to see what I could do with my deadlift. After my warm up, I set up the deadlift in the back corner of the gym. I did some warm up lifts and then tried 185 pounds I was able to do a 3x3 with this new weight. So, I thought maybe just maybe I could lift 200 pounds, my goal since last summer.

I put the appropriate weight on the bar and started to visualize lifting the weight. I just couldn't do it. I tried and tried and tried but even though I could get it off the ground, I couldn't make the last move to stand up. Fortunately, Adam and another trainer were there, talking to each other. They started to encourage me. Honestly, I was quite happy that I had done the 3x3 at 185 pounds but I really wanted to get this weight lifted.

Adam had me try some things to activate my glutes. He had me lift from a slightly elevated state. I did it. I then was ready to try the 205 pounds from the ground, one last time. AND I DID IT. 

GOAL MET and crossed off my 50 during the year I turn 50 list. Now on to more goals! 

My husband, who is my biggest fan, presented me with this charm today. I love it so much and I love even more that he believes in me.

 
It is such a good thing to set a goal and reach it. I am still feeling good about it.

And They All Cheered for Me....

Today I participated in a Polar Plunge. A friend that was to do it with me had to go out of town at the last minute so I went solo. This particular polar plunge was very team based. I did not know that when I signed up to participate. It did benefit the Special Olympics and was sponsored by law enforcement around the area. There were all types of teams....and then there was me. My husband came as moral support...and my own personal photographer but he was not plunging.

I got into the queue for the plunge. When I had checked in, they had said that I could ask the teams around me if I could plunge with them so I wouldn't have to be alone. Honestly, I thought about it but I did not want to get into the middle of their moment and I did not realize that EVERYONE was part of a team.

So, team after team was announced and they plunged away. People in costumes, law enforcement teams, family members of Special Olympians all went. It was fun to watch people (although mostly I was just anxiously awaiting my turn). I decided that I had to do it on my own. When I got to the front of the line, I told them it was just me on the team. The announcer embraced it and got the crowd cheering me on. So I plunged. It was COLD COLD COLD but I did it.

The water was not deep so you had to make an effort to get under the water. When I did, the freezing temperature of the water (38 Fahrenheit) took my breath away and it kind of scared me. But I got up, high fived one of the firemen, and left the water. I completed my first ever polar plunge....and everyone cheered for me. It was an extreme step out of my comfort zone...but isn't that what my lifestyle changes have been about over the past few years.

I can't wait to do my next one!

So many comments at the gym....

I am having an issue again....wanting to be more anonymous at the gym. This past week it seemed like EVERY day I was at the gym, someone approached me to say something. They were all nice comments and I was good about saying thank you and continuing my work. I don't know why it is so hard to accept people saying good things to me...to be okay with people noticing my progress.

Some days I would just like to be in a corner at the gym with no one noticing me. I do tend to work on things in the corner and at hours that there are few people at the gym. I choose the treadmills in the odd areas of the gym.

BUT I will not let it get to me. I will be proud that people are noticing changes. I will be proud that people wish they could dead lift like I do. Enough of the putting myself in the corner and getting my hackles raised when people invade my personal space.

On another note, this weekend is a polar plunge that I am going to participate in. I have NEVER done anything like this. It could be interesting.

A new PR

So, the American Lung Association stair climb at the Republic Plaza was today. 1,098 steps, 56 floors. I did it in 2012 but missed last year because we had a snow storm that day. Here is the link to the climb post from 2012.

When I did it in 2012, my time was 29:04. Towards the end, I was resting every two flights. It took everything in me to finish. I was just happy to finish. I do note that this was my first event in a long string of events in 2012. It was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone and I so appreciate the women that pulled me outside of that zone. They continue to support me and they never make me feel like less of a person just because I can't keep up with them as well as I would like.

What a difference two years makes! Today my time was 18:26. I did stop to rest two or three times in the first 15 floors, but after that I just kept walking. I think I passed more people than the number that passed me. My time was not remarkable or anything as the winning times are less than 10 minutes (I think this year it was just over 6 minutes)....but for me, I am very happy with this improvement. It also is good because in 2012 we were practicing downtown in a 22 floor building and this year I didn't even get to Red Rocks to climb.

So, now I have a mark to beat next year. I plan on continuing this climb as long as I can.

 

Oh, and I continue to do burpees. I am up to 1,287. I hope to be at 1,500 by the end of the month. I really do love burpees.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I am trying the whole rest thing. I do try to be as active as I can be on these days...lots of walking and standing but my heart rate remains below zone 1.

What I learned by doing 1,000 burpees....

At the end of January, a challenge was posted on Facebook. The challenge was to do 1,000 burpees before the end of February.Two friends and I have been challenging each other to do certain body weight exercises the past few weeks. Part of this has been 50 burpees a week. Although I was sort of joking when I invited them to do the challenge, part of me was considering it. In case you need a graphic on how to do a burpee, here is a sample:

Well, one of my friends started working on the challenge on the 27th. I caved to peer pressure and joined her on the 28th. Yep, lesson number 1 is that I still cave to peer pressure. In this case, not a bad thing. 

We started doing burpees, 30 to 50 a day. Then on Superbowl Sunday, I had the bright idea of doing a challenge, one burpee for each point the Broncos scored and two burpees for each point the Seahawks scored. Yes, I was one of those that really thought the Broncos would win and that the Seahawks would not have much of an offense. Who would have guessed that we would be in for NINETY-FOUR burpees by the end of the game! We both threw in an extra six to have an even hundred for the day. It was an exhausting time but we got through it. Second lesson -- if you have an event that you want to avoid overindulging in food and drink, plan a burpee challenge. You may be so busy doing burpees that you never get around to eating or drinking. AND I was busy doing burpees. I even did an extra thirty during half time to get ahead of the game. Well, if you watched the game, you would know that the idea did not help as after kickoff for the second half, fourteen of those burpees were used up in a matter of seconds. Still, it was fun....in a strange sort of way.

My next lesson was just how competitive I am. I hated behind my friend in our quest to get the burpees done. I did everything I could to be ahead. I would do 30 to 50 burpees in the morning, only to have my friend catch up or pass me in the evening. She was not "competing" with me but I so wanted to "win." Finally, I took advantage of the fact that she hurt her back falling on the ice. Not that I was happy she was in pain but I kept doing burpees even though she couldn't. She has been out of town the past few days and I did a shitload of burpees over those days, finishing up today with 150 burpees at the gym. Yeah, I am a little too competitive at times.

Some other things I learned:

• I like burpees...maybe even love them. I can do burpees. They used to intimidate me so much. I even remember the first time I did a "true" burpee. It was an AHA moment for me.
• I can be proud of accomplishing something. I am not usually a person that likes to share a lot but I told a lot of people at the gym about the challenge and about my progress. It felt good to be proud of an accomplishment. It felt good doing something that others thought was "crazy."
• One of my favorite ways to get a number of burpees in was to "superset" them. I would run a quarter mile and then do a number of burpees (between ten and twenty). I would repeat this as many times as I could. In fact, today this is how I got in the 150 burpees I needed to finish up. It was a sweaty sweaty workout but it felt good to finish it. I am still going to do burpees along with my friend when she is able. I hope to be at 1500 by the end of the month. We will see.
• I'm not quite as uncomfortable doing things like this in the gym. Believe me, burpees are not a pretty movement but I did them. Most of the time I would do them in a corner, out of view of most of the gym but other times I would be on the training floor.
• Sometimes it is good to have support. There was one day that I had wanted to do a certain number of burpees but I just couldn't do any more. I needed ten more to meet my goal. Seeing my trainer as I was going to stretch, he asked if I had made my goal. After telling him I was ten short, he "encouraged" me to do the final ten and he did them with me. It definitely helped to have him do them with me that day.

During my work to complete this challenge, I have had to take some rest days. I hate rest days. It is sort of a sticky point with me and trainers (current and past). In many ways, I am obsessed with working out. Who am I kidding? In EVERY way, I am obsessed with working out. I set myself up to be cranky and upset by rest days. HOW RIDICULOUS IS THIS? 

Like the worst thing in my life is that I have to take a day off from the gym? Really? I know that I am still stuck in the "calorie in versus calorie out" mentality. Even though I know it is true, I so feel like I need to work out more, work out harder, work out as much as I can to see scale victories. In fact, it is hard for me not to think the scale frustration I had today wasn't caused by the rest day yesterday....but I am told constantly about the need for recovery and such.

This week I actually took TWO rest days. Believe me this did throw me for a bit of a loop but honestly I survived. I probably even was able to work out more intensely because of the rest days. After Sunday's rest, I ran three miles (the longest since I started to run again) Monday morning. After yesterday's rest, I ran a couple of miles, did 150 burpees, completed 110 Russian twists, and completed a team cardio workout...a total of two hours at the gym. Not that I wouldn't have done these same things without the rest days, but I am kind of seeing that I wouldn't do it and felt as well as I did. The jury is still out on rest days but I am trying it.