Monday Morning Musings, Or Topics We'd Discuss While Running (or Therapy... Same Thing?)

I have too much swirling around my head to devote this post to just one topic. So I'm going to purge it all right here, in much the same way I'd do with friends on a run. Seriously, I'm one of those people whose mouth runs along with my feet. (Fair warning to those who might consider running with me... come to think of it, is this why I can't convince any my neighbors to join me?)

That's not entirely true. Last night my 16-year-old babysitter called to see if I wanted to run. It was 8:15 and I had just kissed all my children goodnight. I quickly dismissed the idea; my day was done. Or, so I assumed, because that's just the way it always is. Once the kids go to bed, it's a race to get myself in bed as fast as possible to maximize my own sleep, which, I'll tell you, is improving these days -- The Boy graced me with 8 hours last night. So, thanks to hindsight (I hate hindsight) I wish I had stepped out of my rut, taken a play from the "How to be Spontaneous" handbook, and threw on running clothes instead of pajamas. I'll bet that run would have felt great. What about you? Can you get your heart rate up after the kids go to sleep? Should I explore this option further? (Go ahead, give me your thoughts, I don't completely monopolize these running conversations.)

Which brings me to today's track work out, emailed by Darcy, like she does every Sunday (she's awesome like that). Even though I haven't been in track-workout shape, I love reviewing what's on the menu. Today the girls are doing my fav track workout, so I thought' I'd share with you if you feel so inclined to get over to your local high school track. Here's what Darcy has to say:

Warm-up: 1-3 miles

4 x 100 m striders

If you haven't done a mile baseline, do that. Otherwise....using your new mile baseline time, go to the link below to figure out your new paces.

All done at 5km pace, recovery half of effort time.

400m

800m

1200m

1600m

1200m

800m

400m

1-3 mile cool down

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/paces.php

There will not be a sitter on Monday a.m. As always, I approach workouts with low expectations so when my kids behave and I actually get the workout completed, I count that as a SWEET victory!

I love this last sentence. That should be the Mama Sweat Motto!

Hey, and what about that latest Time magazine cover article? Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin. Have you read it? I read most of it while waiting to get my hair done (I was able to read without falling asleep!) I do think there's truth in the fact that exercise will make you hungrier, but does it sabotage weight loss goals? Let's assume for just a millisecond that exercise won't help you lose weight (I have a hard time writing that because it's so ludicrous) there are still more good reasons to exercise: heart health and mental health, among them. But as my husband and I discussed, he brought up a very important point: consistent exercise can change your metabolism. Maybe it is true that initially exercise makes you hungrier, you eat more, perhaps don't see instant results. But over time your body gets it. Your body starts burning calories faster and more efficiently. This is absolutely true for me. I always believed I hit the gene lottery for metabolism, but maybe, because I've been active all my life, especially the last 20 years of consistent exercising, I have shaped my metabolism. Did I create my own luck? Do you gain weight the more you exercise?

Now, on a lighter note: I just saw Michelle Obama in a public service announcement with Elmo. You've got to see it:

I love it, of course. She says that if you want your children to exercise, parents have got to get out there too: "You are your child's best role model." Yes! I've been saying that in this blog for more than a year, so what I'd love to believe is that Mrs. Obama is a Mama Sweat reader and chose to help me get the message out. We make a good team, no?

OK, this running/therapy session is over. Now, your turn. Tell me what you have to say.

More About How to Return to Running

I heard from a Mama Sweat reader this week (I do love hearing from you via comments and email, hint hint) and she had a question I've been asked before. I thought I would follow up with my last post, by posting her question.

I have been trying to get into running. I was doing pretty well, up to 2-3 miles on my treadmill—don’t laugh. Now the bummer part, my hip hurts. I guess now that I’m in my 40’s I need to pay better attention to my aches and pains. I haven’t done any running for the past week and I’m bummed because I like how it makes me feel physically and mentally. It is so hard to work up to and I don’t want to stop. Any advice on stretching or proper shoes? Maybe this is my problem. Where do I learn about this stuff being new to running. Are there books or websites to learn about better stretching or how to start running without injuring myself? I have never thought about this before, not until my hip started to hurt.

First of all, I'm not laughing about the treadmill mileage. Even seasoned runners who can pull off 40-mile weeks have a hard time going farther than 3 miles on a treadmill. I would rather stick screwdrivers in my eyeballs. That said, working up to 3 miles from nothing is fantastic. Be proud of that and hang on to it while we work on your hip.

So, let's start with the advice on stretching and proper shoes, specifically, "where do I learn about this stuff being new to running."

My first bit of advice to anyone starting out running is to go to a running store--a real running store, not something you'd find in a mall--to get fitted for a pair or running shoes that match your feet (arch, width, toe box, etc.) as well as your goals (some shoes are better suited for longer distances versus moderate mileage). Reputable running stores hire seasoned runners who can assess all this and put you in the right shoe. You'd be surprised at how far this will go at keeping the aches and pains at bay. The only real equipment you need as a runner is good pair of shoes, so don't skimp. Expect to pay anywhere from $80-$120, but it is money well spent. Next question probably is: How do I find a good running store? I just found an answer for everyone: Runner's World online has a store locator (click here) to find a shop near you.

Once you find a running shoe "home" you'll be amazed at the wealth of information you can accumulate from the in-house experts. A lot of stores have treadmills so they can watch you run and give you pointers on form. Stores often have seminars on running-related topics and group training runs that leave from the store.

Group training runs--whether they originate from a running store, your health club, at work, your neighborhood, etc--are another great way to learn about training and preventing and treating running-related aches and pains. Remember in high school when your mom told you to study with people smarter than you? (I know, such a blow when you realized your mom didn't think you were the smartest kid anymore.) Well same theory applies. Run with people who know more, so you can be a sponge.

As for that hip; I feel you pain! I love yoga and that has worked for me for the last 10 years. I can't always make it to a class, so when I do yoga at home, my all time favorite yoga tape is Rodney Yee's Yoga for Athletes. Even if I can do just the first 15 minute segment, I know I've done some good.

That's my take on the question. I know there are many seasoned runners who read this blog. What do you have to add to help out this new runner?

Return to Running Recipe

The Boy is now six months old and I can officially say I am running again. Since I didn't even try to pick up the pace until he was about 3-months-old (just the thought of running again after six weeks was laughable) you can do the math and figure out it has taken me three months to truly be "up and running." Paula Radcliffe, I am not.

If you've ever had to take a break from running, you know that it can feel like starting over (so if you've never been a runner and are considering it, this post applies to you, too). The motivation for me was knowing how good a run can feel.

My return to running has been a little like trying to feed The Boy solids right now. He likes handling the spoon as much as I like wearing my Mizunos around. He will take the first bite, but then gives me a look like I'm trying to poison him. Indeed, those first steps can feel like a death march. The Boy has spit up or thrown up most everything he's tried. Indeed, that is exactly how I can feel after picking up the pace. So we wait a few days and try again (I'm referring to both me and The Boy, here).

Instead of green beans, oatmeal and bananas, these are the "first foods" on my return to running diet:

1. Fartlek: Once again, I use this method as much because I enjoy the name as for its spontaneous nature. (I like spontaneity and when you're a mother, you look for it in any form that doesn't wreak havoc on your life. Does that still count as spontaneous?) While traditional fartleks, known as "speed play," are often used by runners who want to improve on their race times, there's no rule that says this speed play can't help you go from a walk pace to a shuffle. So that's what I did. While out on walks, whenever the mood struck, I'd pick out a sign or tree or mailbox in the distance and run to it. I never knew how many times I'd throw these jogs into my walk, or for how long. The number and durations was totally and completely... spontaneous! Woo Hoo! Stay-at-home fit mama goes crazy!

2. Timed Intervals: After the fartleking whetted my running appetite, I turned to my watch. I started with one minute of slow running, with a one minute rest. The next outing, I increased my running time to a two-minute interval with a two-minute rest. Once I worked my way up to three minutes of running, I backed my walking interval down to two minutes. I worked up to five minutes. Next I ran an eight minute chunk in the middle of my walk. Then a 10-minute run in the middle of my walk. Next thing I knew I was running for half of my walk. I worked my way up to a 20-minute run.

3. Walking breaks: Once I set out for a run Vs. a walk, I still needed walking breaks. Nothing to snub your nose at. There are marathon training programs that use walking breaks to help people run a personal best. This was like reverse fartleks. I ran with walking fartleks for sporadic bouts as needed.

Those three steps were the ingredients for getting me back to running. But how did I get it all to congeal? While I was working my way up to running, I didn't have a regular routine. I wasn't running, such as it was, consistently; just when the mood struck, or more likely, whenever I could get out of the house (which is not as spontaneous as it may sound).

Two things have turned me into a three-times a week runner.

1. Jump Start: This is whatever gets you started. This is where you simply decide to make running part of the fitness routine. For me this happened while on vacation. I ran four miles (with walking breaks) with Pam three times that week. That made it official. I had started; the momentum was rolling. I ran three times the next week and increased my distance to five miles.

2. The GOAL: There isn't anything on the planet that motivates me more to workout than an impending race. It just so happens that the stars were aligned so that a week after my jump start, I learned I was in the Twin Cities 10 Mile on October 4. That's just seven weeks away. I have seven weeks to double my mileage. Fun. Exciting. Motivating. That's what got me to run my 5 miles yesterday without a single walk break. Hurray!

I'm definitely on my way, but I don't want to overcook my enthusiasm. How to keep from burning the whole batch?

1. Form: A funny thing happens when you start running more. There's less time for the conditioning exercises that were once my fitness staple: core work, muscle balancing exercises, stretching, yoga. Sigh. As I've increased my running I've --oops!--forgot about my core and my low back and my feisty hip. They are all raising their voices and reminding me not to forget them.

2. Pace: I know better not to increase my mileage too fast. I will ramp up slowly. Speed? Not important for now.

3. Attitude: I have always considered myself a "fun core" athlete. This will allow me to work my way up to that 10-mile race and complete it at whatever level I'm at. If that means I have to walk some of it, I will. My ego won't insist that I run my best race ever out of the chute. What this finish line represents is my return to that piece of my identity I've missed for the better part of a year: my identity as an athlete.

The Power of Fit Moms

Yesterday I was witness and participant in an extraordinary event. One of my favorite fitness instructors, Shelly Dose, held a fundraising boot camp class at a local park for a family in town whose son is dying of a rare pediatric brain tumor. Your stomach probably just turned, like mine did hearing this for the first time. It's the combination of anguish for this child and his parents and the horror that such things are possible. You can read about Tyler Magnuson on his Caring Bridge Website (warning: not easy to read).

I did what I'm sure everyone else did when Shelly sent the email letting us know of her plan: I forwarded the information to all my neighbors (the park is in walking distance to us). Guess what happened? Apparently the people we told, forwarded the information to more people. Result was nearly 100 people in the park that morning. Some of those neighbors are the same moms who tell me: "I can't work out in the morning" or "I hate running" (we did a lot of running) or "I'm just too wiped out to work out." When all forms of motivation seemed to fail, a little boy with terminal cancer got them up and out and moving.

More imortant, the participants brought in $1800 for the family. I know I speak for everyone there yesterday morning when we wish we could do more. I'm sure the financial donation is helpful, but what we wouldn't do to rid Tyler of the cancer, lessen the pain of this awful experience, provide enough love and comfort for the family to diminish the sadness. We can't touch that with a 10 lb. barbell. So, suffering through Shelly's boot camp class is the most we can do.

Shelly's having another boot camp class tomorrow morning. I'll bet even more people show up (if you're in the area, email me and I'll send the details). Perhaps some of those people who thought they didn't have it in them to workout will be back. Back for Tyler. Back for themselves.

I'd say it was a win-win situation. But it's not for Tyler.

A Week of Workouts and a Jump in the Lake

As you may know from my last post, my goal while on vacation was to workout every day. Mission Accomplished.

Sunday: Run 45 minutes
Monday: Run 45 minutes and Ride 60 minutes
Tuesday: Playground boot camp with Pam and kids
Wednesday: Body is saying, "What the what?" I go for a power walk
Thursday: Kayak 90 minutes (Oh, how I loved!), Ride 2 hrs, Jump in the lake (see above)
Friday: Run 60 minutes

It was a fantastic week on all fronts, but to see my exercise log look like this? Wow, it's been awhile.

To be clear, I don't need to work out eight times a week. That was indulgent, as vacations are likely to be. Still, as typical, when vacations end, I'm left thinking: How do I transfer just a sliver of this "good life" into real life?

I've spent the weekend considering this so I can employ the mindset I had last week to help get me moving more. If you're also in need of moving more, perhaps my vacation analyzing will help you, too.

First, I have to figure out what worked.

1) Childcare: Since we were staying with our friends and my husband was around, there was always an adult around to watch the wee ones.

2) Workout Partners: With the exception of my power walk, I had company on all my workouts. Since I'm just now starting to run more, having Pam with me made all the difference. Her presence allowed me to forget how lousy it feels to start over. My dear husband guided me on the two rides. I can't remember the last time we rode together... two years ago? That definitely counts as quality marriage time for us.

3) Few Priorities: Spending a week at a lake house absolves most of a mom's day-to-day priorities. My to-do list consisted of feeding and clothing the kids (and because they spent their days in the sand box and lake, this wasn't particularly challenging). Plus, I wasn't at home, where I am tempted to "get things done," which often act as distractions (procrastination?) for exercise.

4) A Goal: When I set out on our vacation I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to workout every day. I said it out loud and I shared it with the people around me. Not only did the goal set me on the right path, but by sharing it with others, they enabled me to getter done, too.

Next up, I have to figure out what would transfer to real life.

1) My reality is that my husband works (long days) and Workout Partner Pam is now a five-hour drive away. Neither one are available to watch the kids during the day. Not having childcare, however, does not exempt mom from her workouts. I know this. It's a matter of reminding myself of my alternatives: early morning workouts before my husband leaves for work; creative workouts with the kids around; the gym's childcare; a babysitter on weekends for workout dates. It's not as easy as walking out the front door whenever the mood strikes, but I still have options.

2) These days I don't get to workout with others often. I can sit around and boo hoo about this or reach out to my friends and neighbors when I feel the need for company. That's a ridiculously easy solution.

3) Squeezing in a workout among the many other things on my to-do list is always a challenge. But, that's what this blog is all about. Even though I didn't have as many distractions last week, getting in regular workouts reminded me how much I enjoy them. I'm going to consider that when something "comes up" to keep me from my workout. It is so easy to let exercise slip on the priority list and I'm not going to let it happen. The difference between how I feel when I want to workout but don't, and how I feel when I do workout (whether I feel like it or not) is a happier, more confident, competent feeling me.

4) Probably the most important component of my vacation week that I can transfer to real life is the fact that I had a plan. Yes, a plan. I knew what kind of workouts I was going to do for the whole week. Honestly, I think that's half the battle. A plan takes out the guess work, the pondering, the wiggle room. Putting it down on paper makes it all the more concrete. From now on my workout will go on my to-do list, not just hang around the ether of my subconscious.

After each successful workout week will I go jump in the lake? Perhaps not, but I will definitely find a way to celebrate all of my small victories.

Sweaty Vacation

I am on VACATION! Don't get too excited. We all know what it means to be on vacation when you have children along. Still. We are in a cabin on beautiful Green Lake in Wisconsin, sharing the week with friends, which includes Workout Partner Pam. Or, I should say Former Workout Partner Pam, because now Pam and family live here, not right around the corner from me, which allowed her to be my workout partner. But this week, she's been rehired.

After two weeks of near nothing for workouts (unless the aforementioned squatting over an airport toilet with a baby counts) I am experiencing workout withdrawal. My only goal for the entire week here is to workout every day. Every. Day.

Running shoes. Packed.
Workout clothes. Packed.
Bike and related gear. Packed.

(Side note: The Griswalds have nothing on us. We packed up the Suburban with our four kids, what amounts to the entire baby room, luggage, triathlon gear, including three bikes--because my husband wanted to take two--and lots of coloring books. Nobody could move for the five hour drive.)

Every. Day. Heck, maybe twice a day.

It sounds so endulgent. Would you like to tell me to go jump in a lake? No problem.

Swim cap and goggles. Packed!

I am so excited I can't even blog about. All I have to say this week is that MamaLikey wins the Go Girl. MamaLikey--send me an email with your address. You are the big wiener!