Thursday Plycore: 8/9 Why I Have to Go to This Class!

Of all of the Classes at the Y, Dan's Thursday Plycore is the class that I hate to miss the most.  This was the first morning class that I attended, so it is the class that means the most to me.  My life changed with this class, and I hate to miss it or sit it out.  I know that some people might think the I am overstating things when I say that that one exercise class changed my life, but I wanted desperately to change the way I lived for my entire adult life, but I could never find the fortitude to change until that morning.  The class kicked my ass!!!  Seriously, I am sure that the people in the class feared that I would pass out and die right there in the middle of class.  I could even do half of the exercises that they were doing, and my only real goal was to not give up.  I'll be honest, about twenty minutes into class, I thought that these people are effing insane and I'll never be able to do this class, so I should just go home!  The exercises were difficult, but what was more difficult was fighting though the thoughts in my head.  I kept think that this was a huge mistake -- these people are wearing shirts from marathon's that they have run, and I can't even do ten push ups!  Thoughts like this just streamed through my head, but the clock kept moving and so did I.  When the class was over, I had done less than half of what everyone else had done, sweat twice as much, and smelled worse than everyone combined.  I doubt that any other the class members ever thought that they would see me again, but I knew that I would see them.  My wife took this picture as when I got home.  

That shirt is completely soaked in sweat, but if you notice , I am smiling! 

I guess that somewhere in my mind attending Thursday morning Plycore has come to mean that I haven't given up.  That I am still hanging in there, struggling to make all the changes that I desperately want to make.  So, on Wednesday night, I decided that I would return to Plycore Thursday morning. That night I set out all of my stuff, set my alarms for 4am, and went to bed at around 10pm. I had no problem getting up -- I actually woke up about 5 minutes before my first alarm.  I left my apartment, and when I walked through the doors to class was greeted by Dan and several of the class members, who asked how I was and said that they were wondering why I hadn't been in class.  It felt really good to be back.

However, I had to be realistic because they are primarily running stairs in the class, and there is really nothing that could be worse for my legs than stairs, and running stairs for thirty minutes straight would be beyond stupid of me.  I really do miss taking part in the morning classes.  Even though I almost always keep my I-pod on and don't talk that much I really enjoy being part of the group, which has made these solo workout all the more difficult. So I asked Dan How long he thought that they would be running stairs and he said about thirty minutes, so I told him I would Run 5 kilometers out side and join the class for the last 15 minutes of their workout, which I did.  It felt great to be back because without Plycore, my wife wouldn't have taken this picture of me getting my medal at my first 5K!

 

Weds. Sports Conditioning & the Foam Roller: 8/8

In accordance with my plan to try and strengthen my lower legs.  I returned to Sports Conditioning Class this week.  I also miss taking part in the classes, which I mentioned in my last post.  My plan was to take the first half hour of class and then go off and Stretch and use the foam roller.  I really wanted to do the ab portion of class and then do the lower leg portion that usually comes next, but I also knew that I would need to avoid the jump rope and jump squats.  I replaced these exercises with heel raises and regular squats.  The abs were a little difficult because I had done Bryan's Toning Class less about 12 hours earlier, which was ab intensive.  The single leg squats were not too bad, which was somewhat shocking.  The leg raises were not fun however, but I wasn't really worried about how my achillies would be during class because it mainly flares up after I have been sitting or inactive rather than while it is in use. 

I did leave the class after thirty minutes like I had planned, so that I could stretch and use the foam roller.  I was able to take my time stretching.  I the roller really seems to make my legs feel better.  It isn't a pleasant feeling in the least, but the roller does seem to reach deeper into the muscle than ordinary stretching.  If you are having leg pain I really recommend giving the roller a try.

Toning Tuesday: 9/7

Needed this class badly!  Tuesday was one of those days where you just have watch life just pile it on someone that doesn't deserve it.  All that you can do is offer your support and hope that the person is strong enough to deal with everything.  I can't really tell you how I felt when I left work,  I guess it was a  combination useless and sullen.  Nothing had happen to me directly, but I still felt like crap.  I just wanted to get to the gym so that I could do something physical and hopefully turn off my mind.  I took the Toning  class which was tough, but not tough enough for me to escape my thoughts.  We did a lot of abs and leg work.  Both things that I need. 

I am going to try to attend more of the classes, so I can work on strengthening my leg muscles.  My heels need the support.  I don't want to do too much, so I will be skipping some exercises, leaving early to do extra stretching, and making use of the foam roller as much as I possible.  I did a good stretch after this class and made use of the roller, which I think helped a lot.  I miss attending classes because they give me a sense of camaraderie that I really like.  I don't mind running alone, but I am not fond of doing exercises alone.  Abs, push ups, and lunges are a better when done with friends.

Umstead Labor Day -- Three Naps and Four Miles of Spider Webs: 8/4 & 8/6

On both Saturday and Monday, I ran the same trail that I've been running: the Loop of the Company Mill Trail.  Saturday's run was good, but not as great as last week.  By the time I got the the beginning of the loop I was chomping at the bit to run.  I could tell right away that my pace was too fast, and that I would be forced to back down at some point, but I just couldn't hold myself back.  It felt as if I were really monstering it until I hit the utility road.  I got there much quicker than I had anticipated.  I reeled it in a bit after I crossed the road and was still doing well on at about the two miles, but then I hit the up hill portion of the trail leading back to the utility road, and I felt every mile that I had run that week smack dab in the middle of my quads.  My pace slowed a great deal during the up hill, and by the time I crossed the utility road again, I was grunting it out.  Luckily, I was able to recover some energy during a couple of tricky down hill spots and was able to finish off the last bit respectably. 

After the run I was wiped out.  My wife and I were going to the NC State game that night and had some errands before hand.  I took a nap after I got home from the run, another nap after we got home from our errands, and another one after the game and before dinner.  I was just beat.  Sunday, I just stayed home watched movies and read running blogs. 

Monday's run was much better but had it's own issues.  And by issues I mean 4 miles of spider webs.  I got to the park just after 7am, even though the hours are from 8am to 8pm the gate has been open when I've gotten their at that 7 on Saturday's.  I guess that since it was a holiday they were waiting until 8am or were too short staffed to open the all of the gates early.  There were already at least eight cars parked outside of the gate, and almost all of them had some sort of triathalon or Marathon related bumper stickers!  Love it!  So I pulled in right behind the last car, and I made my way to my trail.  I figured that surely someone had already gone down the trail before me.  But, alas, I was mistaken!  The only thing that had been down that trail were raccoons and snakes, and their tracks were fresh!  Also, all of the spider webs were in tact.  I know because I cleared the entire first mile of the lead trail, and then nearly the entire loop.  I didn't see another person until just after I crossed over the utility road for the second time, which adds up to about 4 miles of spider webs.  By the end of it my hair was in absolutely no need of any gel!  Overall this run was much better.  My legs felt fresh, and I paced myself better at the beginning of the run (because I was looking out for snakes on the trail).  I was still running strong as I completed the loop, which only took me 45mins.  It was really a great run!

However, I am coming down from a major running high -- I can feel it. Can you say Junkie boys and girls? Although my goals are still weight loss centered, I can tell that there has been a major shift in my focus. I still like when the scale is kind to my, but it feels so much better when the clock is kind. The scale is a fickle mistress, who loves to screw with your mind, but the clock is the super sexy, above playing games, and speaks with direct mathematical honesty. It's refreshing! I have had the feeling for a while that I needed some sort of competitive direction for my training. Weight loss just for the sake of weight loss is a wonderful thing, but I think that it is difficult to sustain. It is easy to get frustrated because your goals are not being achieved, and just as easy to lose focus once your goal has been reached, so I've thought for sometime that I needed a sport or hobby to focus my activities. Also, I've always felt like I missed out on something because I didn't take part in any real competitive sports in school. I wasn't on any of the teams in High School (unless you count chess . . . yes . . . I was on the chess team!), nor did I do anything competitively in college -- not even on the intramural level -- which I have always regretted.  I played sports until around Jr. High, but I quit mainly because I was playing football and baseball, which I loved but wasn't really any good at. I lacked the concentration and aggression needed for football, and I just sucked at baseball. And even though the idea of Cross Country always appealed to me, I thought that I was too big to run and honestly was too scared to try. Also, because of my size, there was always pressure to play football anytime the topic of sports came up, so I avoided the topic in general.

Now, I find myself on the back end of my 30's, and I am filled with this overwhelming desire to both run and compete. I have no delusions of ever being anything more than average runner, and I know that I still need to lose around 50 pounds. But, I can't get running out of my head, I am talking about it all the time, I have a Garmin 205 in my cart on Amazon and have told my wife not to even think about getting me anything else for Christmas, I am truly obsessed. My Achilles has been injured for around two months.  And it made me crazy to stop running. It is getting better (I think), but I know that it would heal quicker if I took some more time off, but that is just not an option. I already have my next two races planned out, but I can't help looking for more. The achilles are really improving, and I think that if start to strengthen the muscles around them that they will get better. The morning stiffness and pain is nearly gone, and I hardly have any problems throughout the day, but it still is not to the point where it feels 100%. I am frustrated a by it and really tired thinking how my achilles are doing. I know that the people around me are tired of hearing me talk about it!

Last week people kept asking me if I had any plans for Labor Day weekend , and I would get all excited and tell them how I was going to go running in Umstead Park on both Saturday and Monday!!! They would just stare back at me like I was a Fucking idiot an idiot because of course for them "plans" meant trips to the beach or the mountains -- Not running in a park 10 mins from my apartment. But, truly that is all that I can think about these days. I've been reading running blogs like other guys read porn ( I'll give you links later). Currently, my wife is humoring me -- meaning she listens to me talk about running until it is too much and then just goes into English off mode, which is easy for her since English isn't here native tongue. She just flips a switch in here mind and filters out anything that isn't Japanese -- and then the smile and nod fest begins, but the worst part is that I am so desperate to talk to someone about running that . . . it works for me!!  But, I am not sure how much longer it will work for her!?!  So, I need to find another outlet for all of this quickly!

Blog Links:

Fitness Junky
The Boring Runner (He's not)
Frayed Laces

Another Car Share 1.67 mile dash: Friday 8/3

I was off on Friday, so I slept in!  My wife took the car to work, which was no problem.  I had some stuff to do later in the day, and I needed to do a shorter run.  Everything just fit into place, so I ran from our apartment to her work again and picked up the car.  Our little car share system worked really well once again.  I used to do this on my bike all the time, but now that I am running more, it just makes so much sense.  I can also make this into a longer run really easy on weekends if I want.  I probably won't be doing much of that until the weather turns bad and I can't run in Umstead or one of the other local nature parks.  This short little run was just what I needed because I was planning two Umstead run for the three day weekend and wanted to have a little rest up before hand.

Thursday 9/2: Morning Run

I was wiped out Wednesday morning and overslept.  Not a little either, I had my alarms (three of them set for 4am, but my wife had to wake me at 6am so that I wouldn't be late for work.  I took it as a sign that I just need to give myself a day off.  Plus, I wanted to see how my achilles would react to a full days rest.  I got up on time Thursday morning, but opted not to go to Ply Core because I figured that they would be running stairs for most of the class.  I decided to run down to the capitol again and do my 5k route.  My achilles were feeling better, not fully healed, but considering all of the running that I have been doing, I really shouldn't complain -- I will -- but I know that I shouldn't.  I enjoy running in the morning just before sun up.  When I leave my apartment, I can still see the stars in the sky and get to enjoy the sunrise as I am leaving the gym .  I never thought that I would be a morning person, but I am now.  Thursday morning was a really great morning for a run through the city.  The run went off with out a hitch, very little traffic on the street.  I got off to a really good start.  I attempted to really soak in this run, enjoy it, and not let the moment escape me.  I did however make a point to sprint out the last portion 10th of a mile.  I wanted to end it on a strong note rather than just ease on home.  I wanted to feel those big deep breaths of cool morning at the end of the run.  I really like this side of running, which is probably why I don't mind running alone.  I never really get bored on runs.  Granted, my longest run are around 45 to 50 mins. but still I doubt that it will ever be a problem for me.used to be when I was younger.  I used to say that that was why I didn't like running, but I doubt that that was true.  I was just lazy!  As long as I have my I-pod, I am sure it will never be an issue, but I don't think that it will be one if I ran without it. 

After the run I stretched, did some abs, and hit the foam roller, which just sorted me out like you wouldn't understand.  I miss going to my classes, but I am enjoying my running more than I care to attempt to explain.   I know that I need to get in some cross training or I will regret it later. 

Tuesday Two-a-day: Had a Feel It Would Hurt . . . 8/31 Toning Class & AM 5k Run

Since the Y had canceled their classes in order to refurbish the floors last week, I spent the entire week running and did not one crunch or push up.  The closest I came to a push up was when I lowered myself on the ground to look under my car so that I could make sure my neighbors cat wasn't under it, and I am pretty certain that doesn't count.  I knew for sure that the afternoon toning class was going to be a giant suck fest!  And, I thought to myself: how can I make it worse?  I thought this because . . . sometime . . . I like to piss myself off  challenge myself.  So in the morning, I got up and ran 5 kilometers just to make sure that the class would be a grand old giant suck fest times two . . . And . . . it was . . . it was . . .it was!  Push ups, bicycles, planks, they all sucked big time!  The worst was the side planks because at one point I thought that my kidney was going to pop out!  I would like to say that by the end I was starting to enjoy it, but that would be a bold face lie.  I was happy that it was over.  End of story!  I stared at the clock for the last five minutes, thought about crying, and just prayed that it would end.  The bigger problem is that right now I am still in full on running mode, and even though I know I need to attend more conditioning classes, all that I really want to do is run.  I am going to have to rectify this after the labor day holiday or life will just suck when I start doing more conditioning once the weather gets bad.

Numeric Interruption Run: Sunday Aug. 29th

August is quickly fading and won't be missed.  It hasn't been an awful month by any means, but I am no fan of summers in the South.  The weather seems to entering into a more moderate phase with fewer days feeling like a punishment from God!  The previous days run in Umstead Park had me on a real high, and Sunday's weather was just too good for me to take the rest day that I needed.  So after spending the morning debating about going for a run, I did what I knew that I was going to do all along and threw on the new running shoes.  Now. I'll admit that this was not the best idea.  I really was in need of a rest day, and even though I was able to run in my new shoes the day before I really did need some time to just get use to the new insole.  But, like the Good little Cancerian Crab that I am I got my little claw around this idea and would not let it go. 

I decided that since it was nearly noon that I would just run around my neighborhood because even though the temperature was in the low 80's, it was rising quickly, and the Sun was already beating down pretty hard.  My neighborhood has a lot of nice shady trees, so I hoped that this would provide some relief.  However, I didn't really matter all that much because this run was going to suck for a variety of reasons that no shade tree could help.  I finished my warm up and had run for about 5mins when I realized that I had a pressing numeric issue if you catch my drift.  Now had the value been any greater than 1, I'd have been heading straight for home, but considering it was less than two I decided to go find a public restroom that I could duck into.  I live very near NC States campus and was only about a block away from the library, so I headed off in that direction.  I doubted that anyone would notice me since it was Sunday afternoon on the second weekend of school and a gorges day.  I could pretty much guarantee that the library would be empty except for a few international graduate students and the checkout attendant.  Luckily, I know that library like the back of my hand, so I was able to go straight to the nearest restroom without drawing any attention to my sweaty self.  After, my pit stop I decided to go and run on the intramural field, which is a nice place to run -- very flat with well maintained grass.  However, as soon as I got there and started to run around the field, my I-pod decided that it had to die.  I knew that it was on it's last leg because too much sweat gotten into it and had started to act like it is possessed: turning on when it wants, skipping songs, ignoring the hold switch.  But I was hoping to get another few weeks out of it, but the sucker was toast, and I took that as the final sign that I shouldn't have attempt this run, so I went on home before things got any worse.   If you want an example of worse just follow this link: Frayed Laces: $150 pit stop mistake

Return to Umstead: Sat. 8/28

Armed with new shoes and determined to take advantage of some great weather, I made my return to Umstead park.  I felt really great after my first run in the park and have been eager to return ever since.  This time I wanted to run the entire Company Mill Trail Loop, which is around 3.8 miles.  The trail has several hills and can be a little narrow in places, but I have wanted to run it for a long time.  The last time I ran in Umstead, I cut across the utility road rather than running the more difficult upper section of the trail.  I had decided on that route before I began because I wasn't sure if I was ready for the full distance.  At the time, it was a wise choice, but after running my second 5k and armed with new shoes I was felling great about the prospects of the morning run.  My achilles felt much better after the rest, and the new insoles were giving me a lot of confidence.  The store attendant warned me that I should walk around in the the shoes for a day or two before running just to get used to the insole, but that recommendation went right out the window.  He'd of had better luck asking me to read the instruction manual to a new car before I drove it!  

Saturday morning and I was standing in The parking lot at Umstead looking around at all the runners forming groups, stretching, some preparing for runs while others were finishing, I felt like this was right were I needed to be at this moment.  I didn't feel the least bit out of place or at odds with myself, which for me is a rarity.  I don't often handle new social setting well internally.  Externally, I don't think that most people are aware of tumult of my canerian soul, which is a good thing.  I decided that I would once again walk to the trail that leads to the base of the loop as a warm up, then run the loop, and walk the trail back as a cool down.  Things started rather oddly when about halfway down the trail a mixed bag of runners were stopped in the middle of trail do the a rather testy copperhead (poisonous) snake.  I stood their like a bitch waited while a woman poked it with a stick until it decided to move off of the trail.  After that I made my way to the loop and started my run.  Everything went really well!  The new shoes were doing get and my achilles felt stable.  The first mile went by fairly well.  It has one pretty good hill which was no problem.  Also, I wasn't fighting the trail, which felt very natural, and I wasn't worried at all about twisting an ankle or falling.  After crossing over the utility road and beginning the second mile, I started to notice that I was running a lot stronger than I am accustom to running and was still able to sing along with my I-pod (OK . . . sing is an overstatement considering I am tone deaf -- I could speak the words in a rhythmically challenged sort of way)!  After I crossed back over the utility road and was headed  back toward the bridge, I expected to start to lose steam, but I really didn't.  In fact, when the bridge came into sight I was really shocked -- my exact words were "you've got to be shitting me!" -- I had no idea that I was that close to the bridge.  After I crossed the bridge, I knew that I could continue the run back to my car and was tempted to do it, but I decided to stick with my plan and walked out.

I made a point to try to enjoy my walk back to the parking lot.  I looked at the sunlight shinning thought the trees and just stay in the moment.  This moment felt exactly like I had hoped.  So few thing in our lives live up to or expectations, but this run had.  After I returned home I told my wife about in an annoyingly detailed and ecstatic manner, but she loved me enough to listen, which is about all I can ask.

Friday Aug. 27th: Short Run and A Shoe Fitting

I ended up taking the better part of three days off in order to let my body rest and my achilles recover after running the 5k and my mistake run on Monday.  Fortunately, the class at the gym were all canceled, so I didn't have to feel like I was skipping anything.  I did do a little stretching session on Thursday, but I wasn't anything of note.  I thought about taking Friday off as well, but I couldn't hold myself in check any longer.  Instead I went for short run.  My wife and I both needed the car our car on Friday, which isn't normally a problem because we both live within 2 miles of our jobs and own bikes.  We use as our normal mode of transportation.  However, with my achilles acting up, I have been driving most of the month, my wife wasn't feeling well and needed to drive to work.  Since she had to be at her work earlier than I needed to be at mine, I told her to drive the car and I would just run to her work then drive home, shower, eat, and go to work.  It was a great way to handle both of our needs for the car, and since she would be working a little overtime anyway.  I could work my regular work day and pick her up without her having to walk home or wait on me.  The run was 1.67 miles with two nice little hills, exactly what I needed after a layoff.

After work, I dropped my wife off  and picked up all of my running shoes changed into some shorts and went to Fleet Feet for a fitting.  I spent about an hour there talking about the problems I have been having then trying on different shoes and insoles, until we found the combination that worked best for me.  I ended up getting some Superfeet insole, which I hope will combine with my new shoes to improve my achilles. They are not your regular soft insole, but a hard insole designed to support your feet more than cushion.  They take some time getting use to, but I've noticed a marked improvement in my Achilles since I have worn them.

I am not prepared to say that my problems have been solved, but thinking back, my problems began around the time I bought new shoes.  I  recently read over my blog and compared that to my bank statement and noticed that the pain started about a month after I bought my last pair of shoes.  So it is could a least be a factor.  And when you consider the haphazard way I have gone about selecting shoes in the past . . . I am kind of ashamed to say this, but this was my first proper shoe fitting.  I wear size 15 shoes, and I grew up in a small town where the shoe buying options were limited, when I would go shoe shopping I would be lucky if the store had two pairs of shoes to try on.  The town where I went to college was the same way, and I never once bought shoes when I lived in Japan because I was a giant there.  I always had someone buy them for me in the states and mail them to me.  So, it never entered in my mind that I might have options concerning foot wear until recently.  My habit had always been ask for a size 15, see if it fit, buy it, and go home and wear it until it falls off.  But, I recently started noticing that most of the shoe store around my stocked a lot of 15's, which caused me to think that I should invest more time in my shoe shopping.  Also, one of my friends who runs and blogs gave her local Fleet feet a ring endorsement: Running in Circles: Fleet Feet.  The push I needed came when one of their staff members came to the Y and provided some details about their store and services to the members.  I spoke with her for a good 15 mins. and it was her suggestion that I bring in all of my current shoes when I came to the store, which I thought was a great idea.  Well now that I have what I hope will is proper footwear for me, I might be able to enjoy my workouts more and worry less about injury.