Hotel Gym Mix & Match Workout

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Coco

A family overnight trip for my son’s wrestling tournament meant a Saturday morning in a hotel gym. I did an awesome 7+ mile run Friday morning, but since I was going to spend the day sitting in an arena, I wanted to get some cardio in. I decided to do a 30 minute elliptical workout and then a free weights routine.

Since I usually workout in my basement, I enjoy getting to use fancy machines in hotel gyms, but the downside is not knowing what I’m getting into with unfamiliar equipment.  I selected a “random” workout at level 4. It probably was harder than I needed after a 7 mile run, but it got the sweat dripping and the endorphins flowing.  The machine had a built-in TV and a built-in fan that I turned on for the last 10 minutes. I couldn’t find a screen that showed the workout “profile” (what incline I was on, what was coming up), but I did find this screen at the end: 

 

I have no idea what the “WtLoss Training” and “Cardio Training” numbers mean, or how “Stride Length” correlates with the “Strides Per Minute” I usually monitor. 

The program did not give me a cool down, so I got on a treadmill and walked for 5 minutes before heading to the free weights area.

Since I’ve been doing my Bob Harper Pure Burn Super Strength DVD since January, I had to dust off some mental cobwebs to remember my free weights superset routine. This is what I came up with:

  • dead lifts/overhead press/push-ups
  • plie squats/tricep dips
  • lunges/bicep curls
  • chest flies/crunches
  • squats

Yes, I skipped lateral raises, but they get overdone with Bob Harper!

I did 3 sets of each move, with 15 reps for each set.  For most of the segments I paused between the 2nd and 3rd sets to grab a sip of water .

After that, I tried out the stretching “machine:”

The tilting “chair” and handle bars really did seem to give the stretches an extra oomph.

Did I forget any of your “must do” moves in my free weights routine?

Have you ever tried the stretching machine?

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Back In Action

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Coco

My light week got even lighter when I came down with a sore throat on Tuesday. It kept me from getting much sleep on Tuesday night, so when my alarm went off @ 5:00 on Wednesday I decided that my body needed more rest more than it needed a workout.

 When my alarm went off @ 6:00 I felt more rested, and craved the stretches of the “Twists” program on my Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga For Your Week DVD.  Since I usually workout until 6:30, I still had time in my morning schedule to squeeze it in. Aaahhhh.

Yesterday at work my throat still felt scratchy, but my energy level was better than it was on Tuesday. I figured that I would be able to get my workouts back on track by doing weights today and running Friday. Last night I went to bed early (actually, on time, but earlier than I have been lately), and slept pretty well all night.

When my alarm went off @ 5:00 today I was ready to get up, and ready to take on the full-length, 65 min program on my Bob Harper Pure Burn Super Strength DVD.

The last time I did this workout I was so psyched because I finally had made it through the killer plank sequence at the end, but that was a week ago. I wondered if I would be able to complete those moves again, but I started the workout with “no expectations” (as Beth Shaw advises on my YogaFit tape).

Beth Shaw's Yogafit [VHS]

Some of the moves were more challenging than they had been last week, but I made it to the end, including the bitter end with the “knee-to-elbow” plank moves. Yay!

I ended my workout with stretching and foam rolling, and am happy to be back in action.

Do you have a hard time getting back to your workouts after being sick, or are you anxious to get back to it?

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My Valentine To Myself

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Coco

This is the 44th Valentine’s Day that we’ll be spending together, but I’ve never asked you to be my Valentine. I don’t know why. I guess we tend to overlook those who are close to us, and take for granted those who love us most.

hearts

There is so much about you that I admire.

You love your husband deeply and truly, rivaled only by your love for your children. You are a loyal friend who enjoys sharing a good laugh (often with wine and/or chocolate) and is always willing to offer a shoulder to cry on (or more wine and chocolate) or be a sounding board for ideas, worries, or new life plans.

You are passionate about your work, and you have earned respect as you achieve your goals. While you continue to develop your career, you take time to mentor others and build broader platforms for success.

You have a strong belief in God, but you understand the different faiths (or lack thereof) of your friends.

You have learned (finally) to take care of yourself, even as you give so much of yourself to others. By nurturing and nourishing body, mind and spirit, you really are enjoying the best years of your life, and it shows in your confidence, your energy, and your smile.

I’m sorry that it had taken me so long to realize what a wonderful person you are.
I hope I’m not too late.

Will you be my Valentine?

** Thanks To Colleen at TheFitBee.com (Twitter: @Tryn2Bfit) for sharing the idea of writing Valentines to ourselves.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Resting In Uncertainty

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Coco

When I was tapped to be a member of a Discernment Committee to help a woman from our church “discern” whether she is being “called” to the priesthood, our training was based on two Books: Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community (Farnham, Gill, McLean & Ward) and Grounded in God: Listening Hearts Discernment for Group Deliberations (Farnham, Hull & McLean).  I re-read Grounded in God this weekend to prepare for a meeting with our Senior Warden (who also was on the Discernment Committee), for ideas on how to introduce the concepts and practices of discernment to the vestry.  The book is a fast read–50-ish small pages with relatively large font–but every page has a powerful message.

The book describes discernment as a “prayerful, informed, and intentional attempt . . . to get in touch with God’s Spirit at work in a situation and to develop a sense of the direction in which the Spirit is leading.” Not surprisingly, “[d]iscernment is more a journey than a destination.”

Today, this passage grabbed me:

Resting in uncertainty goes against the grain . . . . To explore an issue may be painful, force a change or delay action, but it also can be a doorway to greater understanding. It is not that solutions are undesirable; rather, an early solution may shut off a deeper exploration of the question and foreclose the opportunity to listen to God and one another.

Often when a passage grabs me it is because it speaks to me about an issue or event in my life. I see a message in its words, or guidance, or comfort. But I don’t know where this one fits.

The most obvious situation is my son’s college recruiting/application process. It is not being resolved as quickly as we hoped. We are living in the limbo of the uncertainty of a delayed decision. We may be forced to explore other options. We may yet walk through doorways that would have been shut off (or unopened) had the decision we were hoping for been made sooner. But I have been at peace with that uncertainty for the past week. I have even stopped thinking about it, although just a week ago I was sick over it. Other events put this worry in perspective, and I am no longer troubled about it. Still, because the situation remains unresovled, this passage could be speaking to my lingering concerns that must be lurking under the surface.

Or, maybe it is speaking to me generally, since I do like to solve problems quickly and move on.

Or, maybe I need to rest in the uncertainty of where this passage fits in my life, and be open to other situations where I may need to be listening more, to God and others.

How do you respond to uncertainty?

Are you good at mulling things over or do like to make a decision and get on with it?

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Screeching Halt

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Coco

I have shifted my workouts into high gear lately. Doing that 65 minute Bob Harper Pure Burn Super Strength DVD three days a week, running 4-5 miles two days a week, doing a long run of 6-8 miles on Saturdays, and unwinding (literally) with yoga on Sundays. I’ve been careful with my ITB and I’ve been stretching, but I have been pushing myself. 

As the weather and road conditions made me turn to my treadmill for more of my runs, my runs got more intense. I have a hard time (mentally) doing a “steady state” run on the treadmill. Even the incline variations of the “random” or “sport training” programs aren’t enough if I want to run for 45 minutes or more. So, I turned to hill intervals, speed intervals, and tempo programs.

If I had stuck to one of these intense workouts a week, I would have been fine. Even two with a lighter day in between probably would have been OK. But I was pushing it with the Super Strength DVD (which includes ploymetric segments with jump squats, lunges, and mountain climbers) on alternate days while “playing” with challenging treadmill programs on the other days.

That all came to a screeching halt on Thursday. After my kick-ass tempo run (which felt great at the time), I ended up with a literal (and acute) pain in my ass, probably my left piriformis muscle.

Thursday night I turned to rolling, stretching and icing.  Friday morning I did the “twists” program on my Rodney Yee DVD and iced some more. At work Friday I alternated ice and heat. Last night I did more stretching and icing.

This morning  I woke up feeling good.  Maybe 75% better. At another time in my life, I would have “tested it out.” Tried 20 or 30 min on the elliptical or even 30 min on the treadmill. Or maybe a strength routine with no squats. But one of the things I read last night stuck with me.

One website I came across said that piriformis syndrome should be treated by the standard RICE approach: Rest Ice Compression and Elevation (although I’m not sure how to compress and elevate!).  I was doing that. But it also said that doing RICE for the first 48-72 hours was key to recovery. That means that swapping out strength training for yoga on Friday was not enough. It even means that swapping out running for yoga today might not be enough. It probably means that I should take tomorrow off as well.

Because I do feel better this morning, I am feeling good about taking time off this weekend and focusing on icing and stretching. (It helps that my next race is months away so I have plenty of time to do what I need to recover and get back to training.) I am taking it easy on the foam roller for now, because the area is still tender to the touch and I don’t want to aggravate the inflammation. 

I am so glad that I have this ThermiPaq that I can use to ice and heat:

It has a clay insert that you can freeze or microwave and really does hold its temperature (cold or warm) for a long time. There also is no mess with leaky ice bags. So, I’ve been writing this post while laying on the pack that I kept in the freezer last night. In a little while I will microwave it for about a minute and use it as a heat wrap. Right now both feel so good.

I hope you aren’t sidelined by any injuries this week, but if you are, it really is important to take the time to recovery fully. It is a hard lesson to learn (and you might need to remind me of it later this week) but it really does pay off in the long run.

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