Monday’s Manifesto

It seems like it’s been a while! It hasn’t really, I guess; I doubled up on Thursday, was sore as heck and skipped my run on Friday, and took the weekend off as usual.  Today I got out for an average 35 minute run.  It’s muggy outside and I’m definitely not used to it– I need time to acclimate before summer arrives or I’m going to keel over!  I was so drippy.  But most of my tired was cardio tired, the oh-dang-it’s-hot-and-this-is-a-big-hill tired not muscles hurting tired.

I need to do laundry and my only workout pants remaining were capri tights.  They’re not my favorite (I feel pretty exposed in them) but I put them on and headed out.  Further complicating matters, I left just when a bunch of high school kids were walking around so I got some odd looks from them and I did hear a girl giggling as I passed her (though others were perfectly polite).  For the most part, though, I armor myself up pretty well– headphones mean I hear very little, and sunglasses mean I can ignore most nonsense.  The things we do to survive out there…

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While I’m here, I just wanted to remind my readers once again that:

1. This is not a weight loss blog; I am not seeking to lose weight and my weight has been stable for some time (which is pretty cool)
2. My personal fitness goals are to get stronger, faster, more flexible, and have more endurance
3. Each of us has responsibility for our own bodies, whatever that means for us
4. I do not support a system of oppression that tells us our bodies need to look a certain way and that we can only achieve “health” with thinness

That said, I am trying to document my own journey here, and maybe share some experiences and encouragement and find like-minded folks to talk with about it!

Piling it on

Very good lifting day today! I lifted All The Things and wore myself out to the point of minor clumsiness (not the best result, but so it goes). Bucket list of lifts:

Bicep curl, pec fly, SKULL CRUSHERS (heh), bent-over row, bench press, upright row, good mornings, squats, deadlifts, mountain climbers, crunches, planks. Plus some quality time with the rowing machine.

It was a lot of stuff, and I’m going to add to it by trying a new yoga class this evening, I think. I spoke with someone that attends it regularly and he likes it a lot, so maybe I will too. However, my workout clothes are still damp and kind of smelly so hopefully that’s not a problem! I’m airing them out in my cube right now (sorry cube neighbors).

I go to the gym where I work, and shower afterwards so I commute in in an unwashed state (though my clothes are clean, and I manage to brush my teeth and usually brush my hair). So, I have a very strong systematic motivator to exercise: so I can shower! I enjoy showers, too. See, there’s another carrot for me. :)

Legs combo

My desire for a lifting legs day and a good ol’ run collided today, though it was constrained by the fact that I have a long meeting this morning. I was in before 7, so I got to the gym early.

I started off with leg presses and squats. In the weight room, I ran into a woman who I met after the 5k and she is perhaps my new Favorite Gym Person. She was using the squat rack so I asked if I could work in for a quick set and she was like "Yes! I love ladies in the squat rack!" So she is officially awesome.

The run was kind of cruddy– okay, really cruddy. My legs were all kinds of tired and sore. However, around 25 minutes in they sorted themselves out and the last 10 minutes was much better. Too bad it took them so long! And I just missed the rain too; it was lightly sprinkling as I ran but the shower really picked up after I came in.

I guess that, if I want to have a nice easy run, the way to do that is NOT to lift with my legs beforehand. (Nor is it to break in uncomfortable boots the day before, but that’s a different problem.) But I feel somewhat accomplished for doubling up my effort, even if it meant that neither was my best work.

Well, now it’s time for that 2 hour meeting– so I’m stuffing some almonds in my face and hoping I make it until noon…

More, heavier

Slightly abbreviated and augmented upper body lifting day today. I managed 2 sets of 10 at 100lb for bench press; previously I’d done something like 2 sets of 7 at 105lb. I’m not sure if it’s better to do less, heavier; or better to do more, a little lighter. Hopefully soon I’ll be doing more, heavier…

I capped off the lifting with 15 minutes on the rowing machine. I wanted to get some cardio in, and figured it fit well with my upper body focus so I cranked away on that for a while. It got me sweaty but wasn’t super hard at a 2:16 pace. My weak point was my hips; they got really sore towards the end. I like rowing, though I’d never cut it as a rower, since I’m pretty strong but heavy. I would like to improve my form a little, however!

I hear that, thanks to Crossfit, there is some controversy over whether people who lift should wear gloves or not. (This is at the front of my mind today, since rowing has left me with blistered palms.) I wear gloves. My palms sweat so I like the extra grip. Plus, I do other things with my hands– play piano, paint, sew– so I prefer to keep them somewhat soft and uncallused. But like many things it’s down to personal preference.

Topographic awareness

My quad is feeling better after a weekend of tennis balls and Tiger Balm so I headed out for a run today.  I want to get my mileage back up, so I set out to do 3.5 miles.  And I did, and it wasn’t great– but it’s done.

The terrain around here is variable, ranging from long, rolling hills to big dips down to creek beds and back up.  Edge-of-foothills stuff.  When I’m driving around I never really register the terrain as changeable, unless I stop in my manual car headed up a hill.  But when I’m running I am intensely aware of when I’m running uphill– even a small grade is obvious.  Luckily, so is downhill!

Yesterday we had tacos for dinner.  (Taco-graphic awareness? Groan.)  I love tacos, and I ate several.  They might be a Sparklefood for me– you know, those amazing foods that can bypass my ‘I’m full’ sense– but I like them a lot and eat them rarely so whatever!  Om nom tacos!

Battling feels

Some days, "woke up on the wrong side of the bed" isn’t quite enough to express how unpleasant my mood is. Most of my bad days involve an overabundance of feels, and today the feels make me want to punch everyone. (Of course, I wouldn’t. But still.*)

My usual solution is to go for a long, hard run to burn off some feels. But my legs are still awfully sore, so I debated doing something else. In the end, though, I went and ran, battling soreness up hills. It was only 30 minutes, but I think it might be enough to get me through the day. I hope.

Yesterday evening I spent trying about everything to work out the knot in my quad, above my knee– tennis ball, frozen peas, a good rubdown with Tiger Balm. It feels a little better today; I’ll have to keep it up.

* Any angry, violent feels may get turned against myself if I can’t get them under control. It veers between rageful and frustrated sadness. If I can ride the line between, I’ll be fine.

Jinxed joints

Back to the weight room today. It was a Legs Day, and that always seems to eat up a lot of time. I don’t feel like I did a lot of lifts, but I still ran late.
My joints have been feeling sort of odd lately, sore around the edges. My arm rotator cuffs are tender. Where my triceps attaches near my elbow is twingey (sort of an extended ‘funny bone’ feeling) and I feel like something’s pulling on my kneecap. I foam rollered my legs carefully and found a big knot in my left quad right above my knee, along with general IT band tightness. And have I mentioned my hips are tight too? I’m not sure why everything feels wonky– I’ve not done a whole lot this week, so there’s no reason for all this soreness.

Roll it out, stretch it out, hope for the best.