Recovery Run or Whatever You Choose to Call It and an Article: 10/10

I am not a science guy but the science of running interest me.  From time to time, I will post different articles about running that I come across not because I take them as gospel, but because I am pretty new to running, and I want to know what the conventional wisdom is saying.  There are so many sources of good, bad, and misinformation out their that I am more looking for patterns rather one place that holds all of the answers.  So, I have been reading tons of blogs, looking up articles on the web, and have signed up for a subscription to . . . wait for it . . . yes . . . Runners World in order to get a broad range of information.  Recently on other blogs I have been reading: I Am Boring said something about doing a recovery run, and despite not being able to find the post again because I am too lazy to scroll through his whole blog again, so I google the heck out it the term and found lots of interesting info, which all seemed to disagree with each other on one level or another.  Below, you find a link to one article that seem fairly interesting, didn't put meet to sleep, or sound like someone rocking back and forth on their own little hobby horse. 

A Fresh Perspective on Recovery Runs

The reason that I was interested in the concept of a recovery run is that I felt like total garbage after each of my last 5k's for the better part of week, something I didn't care to repeat after Saturday's race.  I already figured that it would be less likely because this race was on a much less humid day, and my conditioning has improved greatly since either of those races.  But, I just didn't want to sit on my couch and watch football all day, so after reading up on recovery runs and deciding that I probably didn't need to do one, I did one anyway.  I also think that I just wanted to get back out there to try to aid in my mental recovery.  I felt better about the race after getting a nights sleep, and the time didn't bother me.  It was the fact that I had to stop running that really had me down.  I basically wanted to run just to clear my mind.  However, I wanted to take it easy and run on as flat a surface as I could.  About a mile from my apartment there is road that is just perfect for my needs.  Fleet Feet of Raleigh is right near there, so there are all kinds of runners and jogger running along that stretch of road.  It also has really nice bike lanes, so it is just ideal.  I walked the mile to where the road started then did an easy 3 mile.  It was just what I need to sort myself out.  After walking the mile home, I felt really relaxed.  I didn't have any pains or soreness to speak of at all, so I was just pleased as punch with my recovery run or . . . whatever?

Friday the 26th & Sunday the 28th: Rope Work

I didn't have a lot of time to work out on Friday, so I just did some jump rope intervals. I knew that Saturday would be a busy day because I would be working on a service event that I had help organize, and I just wanted to do enough to get a good sweat going, which was why I chose to do some rope work. When push comes to shove, there is really no other form of exercise that can compare to jumping rope, especially when you consider that it can be done just about anywhere and with a minimal amount of equipment. One of the main reasons that I like to jump rope is that I rarely get bored with it. It requires enough concentration that time just seems to pass by quickly, and on the rare occasions that start feeling bored, all I need to do is change up the rhythm, speed, or pattern that I am jumping in order to refocus. Recently, I have been trying to skip rope about three times a week, and I have found that these workouts are always some of the sweatiest workouts of the week. At first I thought that jumping rope would be hard on my knees but that has not been the case thus far.

Here is a link to an article on the benefits of jumping rope.

Friday's Workout:

Jump Rope 15 intervals of 90 seconds of work and 15 seconds rest


Sunday Jump rope and Laps:

100 skips
1 lap around track (1 lap = 1/15 of a mile)
200 skips
2 laps
300 skips
3 laps
400 skips
4 laps
500 skips
5 laps

Weds. Sports Conditioning & Thurs. Plycore:

Ok. My Weds. & Thurs. classes were about the same as last week, so I will not give a breakdown of the exercises because you can see them elsewhere on this blog. So, I am going to make this post about the one thing that was different about these classes: the smell! It is unfortunate that there is a person in our classes who does not practice proper hygiene. I am not writing this to try to embarrass anyone (I doubt that anyone from my gym even knows that I keep this blog). I am writing because it is a real problem that has been going on for a while, and I am really not sure how much more I can take. I am usually the type of person, who likes to confront problems head on rather than leave things unspoken, but in this case, it just does not feel right. I just can't bring myself to go up to a person and tell them that they stink, and this person does in fact--stink. It is to the point that I have almost been nauseous. At first, I thought that the person might have some sort of medical condition, but as time has gone by, I am pretty sure that they are re-wearing gym clothes without washing them. I have noticed that the smell is worse on days that their clothes appear more wrinkled and nearly non-existent when the clothes look like they are fresh from the drawer. All of the regulars from the morning classes are aware of this problem, and we know to avoid the culprit. However the person often comes in late, and if class has started, you'll smell their presence before you know that they are there. We have complained to the gyms staff, but nothing has been done about it to my knowledge. I am really afraid that one day, I am just going to snap and say something. In fact, Thursday was almost that day.



Weds. class was bad, but it takes place in a open gym, so unless the person is right beside you, you are alright until you have to run the stairs! Once you hit the stairs, the smell is motivation to leave nothing in the tank and hit those stairs with a purpose. So Weds. passed for me with just a mild amount of aggravation because, I knew that it could be much worse, and much worse it got on Thursday! A large part of Plycore class takes place in a small aerobic studio, and the olfactory offender, true to form, came in late and took the spot right beside me. One of the first exercises we did were arm extensions. Honestly, the air was so ripe that I had to leave the class and exercise in the hallway outside the room. I felt sick for the rest of the class, and by the time we started running the stairs, I was in a nasty mood. I couldn't enjoy my workout, and I was so upset that following class I had to speak with one of the staff members. Personally, I need to be in these workout classes. They really help me push myself, but this person's lack of hygiene is pushing me. I hope that the staff will say something either directly to the person or to the class as a whole.

Here is an article about Gym Etiquette

Outsmart Your Brain Article & Saturday's Postage Due Workout

Yep . . . I must admit that Saturday's workout was nowhere near my best effort. In fact, I need to call the check with the Postal Service and see what I owe them because this one was pretty much mailed in. There is no denying it. I was just not feeling it at all. I was still sore and had a lot things planned for the day, so I just did enough to feel like I had done something and left it at that. I don't feel bad about it either. It is ok to take it easy on days when you feel out of sorts in order to avoid injury and to regain energy for the days ahead. Anyway, since Saturday’s workout was rather uneventful, I figured that I would make this post more interesting by sharing an article from Esquire (Yes. . . I am a subscriber, and you should be too.), which is one of my favorite magazines to peruse on a monthly basis. I'll put all the workout info in after I talk about the article.

What I really liked about this article is that it reflected exactly how I feel about dieting, which is that that strict diets are a trap because eventually you’re going to come off the diet and then . . . well you're screwed. That is not to say that people shouldn't watch what they eat. I am all for people eating more healthy foods and avoiding over eating. My basic point is that if you drastically alter the way you eat isn't beneficial and instead people are better served by making long term minor modifications to how they approach eating rather than jumping headlong into whatever fad diet book is atop the NY Times best seller list. One of the things that I like about his article is that it provides simple scientific explanations of how hunger works and some good ways to deal with it. Specifically it talks about how almonds act as a hunger suppressant: "The good fats that nuts contain cause your stomach to suppress ghrelin production, but it takes about half an hour for them to kick in. Note: Peanuts aren't actually nuts, and they contain a lot of saturated ("bad") fats. Stick with something that grows on a tree. (Esquire)" I must admit that the whole peanuts--bad--thing had always confused me and led me to think that all nuts were bad. Now, I am sure that those salted and sweetened nuts that I always see in the stores that look so tasty are certainly not what the article is talking about, so I will be sticking with some plain old unsalted almonds.

I thought that this article was pretty relevant to where I am with my weight loss goals because I am trying to make healthy changes to the way that I eat. I want to scale back my eating a bit, but I am more interested in ways to improve my diet with healthy alternatives to things that I know that I should eat regularly. Also, I found the tips for dealing with the physiological sensation of hunger relevant because I know that often my stomach will be telling me that I am hungry when I am not. So, the ideas that the Esquire gives for dealing with hunger are great.

Outsmart Your Brain

Satuday's Mailed in Workout:

Round Two: 60 seconds work 10 seconds rest

1. Crossover Crunch Left
2. Crossover Crunch Right
3. Standard Crunch
4. Bird Dogs
5. Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension
6. Crossover Crunch Left
7. Crossover Crunch Right
8. Standard Crunch
9. Bird Dogs
10. Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension
11. Crossover Crunch Left
12. Crossover Crunch Right
13. Standard Crunch
14. Bird Dogs
15. Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension

Round Two: 60 seconds work 10 seconds rest

1. Standing Tricep extensions
2. STANDING SIDE BENDS 35 lbs. weights (right)
3. STANDING SIDE BENDS 35 lbs. weights (left)
4. Alternating Kickbacks 12 lbs weights
5. Overhead Press 12 lbs weights
6. Alternating Bicep Curls 12 lb. weights
7. Standing Tricep extensions
8. STANDING SIDE BENDS 35 lbs. weights (right)
9. STANDING SIDE BENDS 35 lbs. weights (left)
10. Alternating Kickbacks 12 lbs weights
11. Overhead Press 12 lbs weights
12. Alternating Bicep Curls 12 lb. weights

Monday Workout Waffle

I could not make up my mind today about going to the gym. I had my mind set on going last night, but I stayed up too late and knew that I was not fond of the substitute instructor slated to fill in for Dan (I don't dislike her as a person, but I don't like her class. It just seems like a lot of basketball drills to me, and I loathe basketball). So, this morning as my alarms started to go off, I decided that I needed another day off to sort out my neck. Now, I knew that I was just making excuses because I didn't want to go and had I said that I didn't like the instructor and left it at that, I could have accepted things the way they were. But, I knew this was BS, and it was eating at me all day. So around 3:30 I made up my mind to go to the gym after work. Then I spent all of the next 90 minutes changing my mind back and forth. Heck, even after I was home changed, nipples Band Aided and everything; I still changed my mind two more time before I forced myself out the door. I figured that if I stayed I might drive my wife crazy and force her to stab me with her some form of cooking utensil. Once I got to the gym, I had no problems going about my workout and actually enjoyed it a lot.


Today's Workout
Jump Rope: 15 rounds, 90 seconds of skipping & 15 seconds of rest.

Interval Run Around the Track: 10 rounds, 30 seconds of running & 15 seconds of jogging.

I think that my interval time is really making me push myself more than what I had been doing. I really enjoy it a lot. I do plan to work out without it some as well, but I know that it will be a fixture of my upcoming workouts. I listened to a story about interval workouts last summer that I thought was interesting at the time but didn't really take to heart that much, but I went back and listened to it today and thought that it would be good to share, so I have linked it to this post. I'm also including an article from Men's Health that gives a overview of why interval training is so effective and some sample workouts.

Links:
men's health article
Interval Training NPR story


 

Killer Corn (Syrup): Drop the Soda Can & Back Away from the Sports Drink!

As part of my attempt to become more healthy, one of the things that I have set out to do is eliminate as much Corn Syrup from my diet as I possible. I have not consumed a sports drink in over three years, and was never a big fan of them in the first place. When I lived in Japan, I would sometimes drink what the Japanese call "genki drinks", which are energy drinks that come in bottles about the size of an airplane bottle. I have to admit that I was pretty fond of these drinks when I was sick and had to go to work or when I was going to pull an all night bender in Tokyo. However, when I returned to the states, I was shocked by the size of American energy drinks like Red Bull and the way that the were marketed and have never partaken of one. Soda, however, is a whole other story. Prior to going to Japan, soda was my life blood! I drank it all of the time and much more than water. I knew that this could not be good for me, but I just didn't really care enough to look for other options. If I was thirsty, I had either soda, coffee, or maybe OJ. Water was something that I drank with medicine and sometimes not even then. I just did not have enough self respect to care about the condition of my body or what I put into it.

But upon arriving in Japan, I decided to makes some changes to my life, and one of the first changes that I made was cutting back on the amount of soda in my diet. I did not buy sodas out of machines, at convenience stores, nor would I buy them for my home. Weening myself off of soda was much easier in Japan than it would have been in the States because Japanese vending machines

 and convenience stores offered a much larger selection of tea, coffee, and juices than can be found in their American counterparts. By the time that I left Japan, I would drink about one Soda a week on average, which was a remarkable change considering I had to average at least three a day before my move. Upon return to America, I made a concerted effort to keep the sodas out of my life. I came across a story about the over use of Corn Syrup in the American Diet and the dangers of soda's and sports drinks, which led me to really harden my stance concerning these beverages. I can not claim that I have kicked the soda habit, but I can tell that I have drank less that one soda since the new year, and that in all of last year, I had around one per month (over half of which were sodas made from pure cane sugar and not HFCS). Recently, I found another article that adresses the danger of high-fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose and a story on NPR talking about beverage companies moving back to sugar. I really think that the best way to improve your health is to do so in an across the board approach and for me eliminating soda and products that use HFCS is just one small step in what I know must be a lifelong process.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/sugar-may-be-bad-but-this_b_463655.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103825807

Tuesday is an Off Day & Sweet Tooth Article

Instead of just writing about my workout only. I also plan to start righting about all things health related that strike my fancy. Tuesday was my off-day. I had been on and eight day gym rush and really needed a day to let my body heal and build new muscle. I often struggle with my off-days because I don't like to miss the gym and I often wait longer than I should to take a day off. Friday's were my initial off-day until I started taking circuit class on Friday. Now, I try no to plan an off day but use the days that I oversleep as the day I skip. However, this isn't really effective because my body need at least one day of rest at least once a week, and I don't oversleep that often. Tuesday's & Sunday's seem to be the best day to miss, because of the short gym hours on Sunday and the lack of a great class on Tuesday. But, I'll just have to wait and see how I do next week.

Off-days are always a problem because I feel like I have too much time on my hands. I find myself snacking more and craving sweets in order to stimulate my mind. This has been a major issue for me for most of my life. Food and boredom have always been linked for me. If I could not find something to do, then I would eat to pass the time. The same is true for me now. If I am having a slow day at work, I find myself standing in front of the vending machine much more often. Recently, my snacking has dropped off significantly, and I attribute that drop off to this Blog and some other small project that I have recently started. The article below is something that I stumbled across today and thought was pretty interesting.

Study Links Children's Sweet Tooth to Alcoholism, Depression - AOL News

There has never been a history of Alcoholism in my family, so I am not interested in speaking to that portion of the article. However, depression has been a major issue in my family along with issues with weight, and I really see these things as clearly related. I know that depression issues lead to both over-eating and poor eating habits in general, which more often than not leads to weight gain, poor self image, and a lack of self respect (some people might think that self respect and self image are the same thing, but I don't . . . at least not always). I have seen and experienced this relationship and cycle firsthand and know just how crippling it can be.

This article interested me because it was focused upon children and not adults, and considering all of the talk about childhood obesity these days, the article provides somemore insight into a subject that should be of great concern.