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.

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Stronger Day By Day . . .

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Coco

. . . but not stronger every day.

I’ve been doing the Bob Harper Pure Burn: Super Strength DVD several times a week since I first got it in January. (You can read my detailed review here.)

I started off doing the 20 minute “beginner” program (yeah, right!) until I got used to his cuing, pace and exercises.  After I did that one a few times, I moved on to the full 65 minute program (it’s actually 67 minutes according to the countdown bar on the program, but who’s counting?). 

From the start, I found the program challenging, but do-able–up to the very last segment, which looks like this:

  • plank on elbows
  • plank on elbows with hip raises
  • plank on elbows with hip/waist twist
  • plank on elbows to straight-armed plank, to elbows, to straight-armed . . .
  • plank with knee to elbow (like a slow motion mountain climber) to full speed mountain climber

After a few weeks, I was able to make it through the planks (at least if I put my knees down for a few seconds) but I still couldn’t do the knee-to-elbow moves. I just stood there in a downward facing dog position thinking, “Are you kidding me?”

But then, yesterday, I finally was able to do a reasonable imitation of the last few minutes (or maybe it’s only one minute, but it seems like an eternity)! When it was over I collapsed with my arms burning, but I did it! 😀

I think one reason that I enjoy weight training so much is that I generally can see a relatively constant progression. Running isn’t like that for me. I don’t run faster every time (as much as I’d like to), and an interval workout that was easy one day can be nearly impossible the next time.  Maybe more factors go into an awesome run–not just how well I’ve been eating, hydrating, sleeping and managing my stress level, but also how rested my legs are, the status of any emerging or recovering injuries, even the weather!

Still, I don’t feel stronger with every weight workout either.  Even over the past few weeks, I’ve powered through the Super Strength workout on Monday only to suffer through it on Wednesday. On my old YogaFit tape (yes, it’s a VHS tape!), Beth Shaw reminds me that every day my body is different, and so I should approach each workout without expectations.

Beth Shaw's Yogafit [VHS]

Now, I’m never going to be that zen, but when I am having a hard time with a workout, I can cut myself some slack, chose lighter weights (or an easier run), and know that it’s a normal part of the process of getting fit. I can’t set a personal record every day, or even every race, but each workout builds on the foundation of previous ones and makes me stronger.

Do you set a challenging goal for every workout?

How do you cope with “crappy” workouts?

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , | 5 Comments

DVD Review: Rodney Yee AM Yoga For Your Week

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Coco

 

In September I finally stopped resisting the call of yoga, and added this Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga DVD to my library:

Click here to see A.M. Yoga For Your Week via my Amazon Affiliate Link

I like it a lot, and have been using it at least once a week.  Since I wrote the DVD review for Bob Harper Pure Burn Super Strength, friends have been asking me to write a review for this one. So, here goes. Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness, Product Reviews | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

What Am I Praying For?

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Coco

Even though one of my favorite passages from the Bible advises me to “pray constantly,” I don’t always remember to pray about everything that is worrying me. When I do pray about something that is making me anxious, I don’t always pray for a specific result. I’m not sure if it is something I learned in Sunday School or just picked up on my own, but I don’t feel right praying for my desired outcome. Instead, my go to prayer is from the Lord’s Prayer:

Thy Will Be Done

Continue reading →

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

Tackling Treadmill Tedium

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Coco

Another busy Saturday here, combined with lingering snow and ice and the possibility of sleet meant another Saturday morning on the treadmill (the third week in a row, I think). After I suffered through the 10k program a few weeks ago, I have been doing some kind of interval workout on the treadmill to make the time pass more quickly.

Today’s workout was a variation of the “tempo” type workout I did last week:

Warm-Up
0-5 min: walking, 3.7 mph (1.5 incline)
5-10 min: running, 5.7 mph (0.5 incline)
10-15 min: running, 6.0 mph (0.5 incline)

Tempo Intervals
15-25 min: 6.5 mph (0.5 incline)
25-27 min: 5.7 mph
27-37 min: 6.5 mph 
37-39 min: 5.7 mph
39-49 min: 6.5 mph 
49-51 min: 5.7 mph
51-61 min: 6.5 mph 
61-63 min: 6.7 mph

Cool Down
63-65 min: running, 6.0 mph (0.5 incline)
65-66 min: running, 5.5 mph
67-70 min: walking 3.7 mph (1.5 incline)

Nailed it!

It felt comfortable, but I also “felt” my ITB (no pain, it was just reminding me of its existence) so I was reluctant to push harder.

It also was my first run in my new shoes and Zensah compression socks:

I didn’t think I *needed* new shoes yet (I got my current pair sometime in September, I think, and have been running about 16-18 miles per week), but I wanted to get the most out of my 25% coupon for RoadRunner Sports that expired this week.

I also got this wonderful “Rubz” ball that I hope will keep my plantar fascitis at bay.

The little nubs feel so good when I roll my feet on it, like I’m doing right now. Aaahh . . . .

One final product plug. Last Friday I broke down and got a manicure. I swore off them over a year ago when I found that my nails were weaker after getting one–they would be strong and in great shape, but then suffer from daily breaks in the weeks following my appointment. I decided to give another salon a try, and made an appointment for their “healing” manicure that included a warm wax treatment and lots of lotions, etc.

During my short wait for my appointment I saw displays for soak-off, UV-cured “gel” nail polish that was guaranteed to last for 2 weeks. Since I always manage to chip my polish ithin a few days, I decided to give it a try. It was an extra $20 (I was at a nice salon, mind you!) but totally worth it.  Here are my nails a full week later–not a chip in sight!

(but I do need to use more hand cream!)

Now, I do have some qualms about the soak-off process. It looks like it involves soaking my nails in acetone for an extended time. So, maybe this isn’t something I will do all the time, but it is nice to know that this is available if I *need* my nails to look pretty and polished for more than one day.

Posted in Fitness, Treadmill Workouts | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments