RICE-ing it Up!

Guess what? I made it to my goal of going 2 weeks without running to let me shins heal!

And guess what else?

My dumb shins still hurt! I’m so angry at them for not being better yet!

I’m RICE-ing like a mad woman (resting, icing, compressing, and elevating). I’m also foam rolling and stretching. And the pain remains.

Resting, Icing, Compressing and Elevating all in one swoop!

I went to the doctor (internal medicine) last week about the problem, but she turned out to be the dumbest doctor I have ever encountered, so that was a) not helpful and b) super annoying!

So…I guess I’ll keep on with my RICE-ing. Hoping that things pay off in the form of me being able to run again soon. I’m really sad about this. I’m not going to run until the pain is completely gone…or at least that’s what I’m saying now!

Have you ever consulted a sports medicine doctor? How do you know it’s time to consult a sports medicine doctor?

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My First Spin Class

Have you ever been to a spin class before?

Well…the first time I heard of it, I thought it sounded kinda stupid. A stationary bike? C’mon, isn’t that how people worked out in 1993?

Then as I heard more about it, I became a little afraid…people told me terrible stories about how badly it hurts their butts and how unfortunate it is for the pathetic little guys who don’t have the fancy bike shoes that clip into the pedals.

So when I went to my first spin class, I was a little nervous, and I didn’t know what to expect.

Here’s how it all went down:

Ada the Dog and I went up to Vancouver, B.C. this past weekend and stayed at my friend Rachel’s house. (Thanks Rachel!) Rachel told me about a spin class that we could go to in which the proceeds benefited cancer research or something of that sort. I wanted to try spinning, and it sounded like a good cause, so I agreed to go. It was to be a 45-minute spin class. That sounded reasonable enough to me.

The 45-minute break down:

Minute 0:00 Oh yay! Everything is great! Hey nice instructor lady, can you help me figure out the right height for my bike? Oh thank you! This is going to be fun. Let’s take pictures!

Minute 1:00 (Warm-up). Ugh. This is not fun. How many more minutes? What? 44 more minutes? Ugh!

Minute 5:00 Drip drip, drop, drop. Oh. I seem to be sweating profusely.

Minute 10:00 Hmm…this guy next to me is a legitimate biker. I wonder what his tension is set at. I’ll try to look….Uh oh! He saw me trying to look. Now he thinks I’m a creeper! Back to pedaling furiously!

More of the spin class. I stole these pics from facebook. Sorry guy-who-took-the-pics. I don’t know how to credit you through facebook!

Minute 15:00 Am I having fun yet? This is just painful. Is this how non-runners feel when they run? This is awful.

Minute 20:00 O.M.G. I want to quit. I really want to quit. Dang it! I’m in public. I can’t quit. If I quit everyone will see me. That would be embarrassing. I better finish. Hmm. Maybe that’s the whole point of exercise classes…embarrassment pushes you farther.

Minute 25:00 Okay, so maybe quitting will be embarrassing, but I can cheat! When she says to increase the tension by two, I’ll increase it by only one! Oh yeah! I’m sneaky. This is perfect!

Minute 30:00 Cheating.is.not.working. Must blatantly sit and pedal along while the rest of the class does up-downs. Can’t.move.up. Sorry instructor lady.

Here I am (in the pink) sitting while the rest of the class is standing. That’s why I’m smiling so big. I’m trying to compensate for my bad behavior by charming the instructor.

Minute 35:00 Oh goodness. I reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally hope that there’s a 5 minute cool-down. I might only have 5 minutes left! I hope I don’t die before then. Please, instructor lady, give us 5 minutes for cool-down!

Minute 40:00 Still no cool-down? Really? And she’s telling me to go faster? I can’t go faster until you tell me what’s next lady….what if you’re tricking me and the next thing is even harder? Oh! Increase the tension you say? I knew you were tricking me! You sneaky instructor, I don’t trust you.

Minute 42:00 Please? Cool-down? Pretty please?

Minute 43:00 Cool-down starts! Oh yeah!

Minute 44:00 That was my cool-down? That 60 seconds? And now you want me off my bike to stretch? Okay…Uh, whoa. My legs seem to have lost their bones and turned to jello. I will do my best to stand up.

Minute 45:00 Done! I did my first spin class. That was awful. Do people like that or do they just like to push themselves? I can understand why people do it, because its good for you, but it is not pleasant!

Spin class is not fun, people. It’s not like yoga or zumba where it honestly is enjoyable during the workout. It’s mostly painful. BUT there is something very nice and useful about a class that pushes you beyond where you’d try to go on your own…so maybe I should keep doing spin till I don’t feel like I have to cheat at it!

Do you like spin? What’s your favorite group exercise class?

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NUUNKOTB!!!

Alright, the Nuun Ragnar Northwest Passage team has made it official: We are the NUUN Kids on the Block (NUUNKOTB).

Why is that important?

Well, because now we have to plan wardrobe! We’re pretty much going as a team of New Kids on the Block fans…except instead of being fans of Danny, Donny, Jonathon, Jordan, and Joey, we’re fans of hydration! (Except, just to clarify, I AM still a fan of Jordan Knight. Yes. My 2^nd grade crush will never die).

So, we’re going for an 80s/90s look.

Looking at what I’ve already got, I do have 2 items that will work for this:

My day-glow yellow/green sports bra. ($10 on clearance at Target)

Ada the Dog was NOT pleased to be my model.

My hot pink shades. ($1 at Target. I got these for my bridesmaids and I at our wedding).

So. I’ve got a base. And now I need to build things up from here.

I’d like to have a NUUNKOTB t-shirt with a wide neck so that my bright yellow/green bra can peek out. Of course, I’ll also knot it to the side at the waist.

Now, what I would really like is an acid wash jean jacket and an acid wash jean skirt. However, these items don’t sound very practical for running. So instead I want some spandex/lycra fabric that looks like acid wash jeans, which I will fashion into a running skirt.

Does anyone have some acid wash jeans-look spandex/lycra fabric out there? It should be relatively easy to find, right?

Any fabulous costume ideas for us? Van decoration ideas? Who was your favorite NKOTB member?

P.S. Use the code “bloggerslovenuun” for 15% off at the Nuun website! A discount on fabulous electrolytes! Yay!

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Weekly Workout Round Up

5/19/2012-5/25/2012

Since I’m not running, I’m having trouble keeping track of my workouts. (Usually Runkeeper takes care of that for me). I really am not sure what my workouts were last weekend. I think the rest of the week looked like this:

5/21: Walk Ada the Dog, Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred Level 1 – 5 & 10 lb weights, 35 minutes stationary bike

5/22: Walk Ada the Dog, Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred Level 2 – 5 lb weights, 45 minutes stationary bike

5/23: Walk Ada the Dog

5/24: Walk Ada the Dog, Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred Level 2- 5 lb weights

5/25: Walk Ada the Dog, Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred Level 1 – 5 & 10 lb weights

It’s been really nice having the gym so that I can still do cardio while keeping things low impact. (I also modify the cardio in the Jillian Michael’s workouts so that they are low impact). I’ve been too scared to even to the elliptical, because I’m trying so, so hard to do everything I need to do to get better. My shins still hurt. Not badly at all…just enough to scare me away from running.

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Team Slacker

Runnah Numbah Five!

For those of you who didn’t catch it, that’s supposed to sound like “Mambo Number Five.” See? It’s my running leg theme song.

Yesterday we were given our running leg assignments for the Nuun Ragnar Northwest Passage Team. We had been told to pick our top 3 choices and then our Nuun friend, Caitlin, told us who was to run each leg.

Well…in picking my 3, I was super confused for what to look for. I knew I shouldn’t try to do anything crazy like try to run the longest distance or the steepest hills, since I’m currently not even running. But, at the same time I didn’t want to be a slacker and choose the easiest legs.

So, I picked the two legs I would have most liked to run, #9 and #10, because they looked like they’d be pretty and somewhat challenging. I also decided to play it safe with #5, which is listed on the Ragnar website as consisting of 1 moderate leg and 2 easy legs.

Well, the results came out today and I’m Runnah Numbah Five! I looked back at what I was running and realized…I am literally running the easiest leg.

Oh no! I’m the team slacker!

I’m honestly a little bit embarrassed about it! I was actually uncomfortable picking my legs, because I’m a nice little Midwestern girl. Usually when it comes to teams or group assignments, I let everyone else pick what works for them, and I say, “Okay, I’ll do whatever no one else wants to do.” I now realize that I always do that because I’m completely uncomfortable with taking the easy road. Even though (hopefully) none of my teammates will think of me as “Slacker Becky.”

Me slacking while my teammates run.

So Much Fun!

Do you know what is SO FUN?

Going to the gym!

I’m serious, I had forgotten how great gyms are! I don’t like paying a lot to workout, since I’m happiest running outside, so it’s been rare in my life that I actually had a membership. But, I had a Groupon for a 6 week membership at a local gym, and figured that I should probably use it to get some low-impact cardio in while I’m resting up my shins. (I know, seriously, what a lame way to use a gym membership…)

Exciting picture for you today! I hope you aren’t too overwhelmed by its artistic quality!

I started out with a badditude, and I wrote this WHILE I was working out…

*****

So, if I can blog while completing my workout, does that mean I’m not actually working out?

I suspect that it does. But here I am, typing this as I complete my cardio.

Lame.

But better than not working out at all, right?

It just struck me how I must look to other people, as if I’m texting while working out. I’d judge me if I could see me. But I was forced into this activity by shin splints! Don’t judge me!

*****

I then put my phone away, and once I put the phone away I realized that I could actually get my heart rate up and make the time worthwhile if I worked at it instead of playing with my phone. So I did. And it was fun. And I even got my heart rate up and sweated.

And that’s when I remembered how much I love gyms. The last time I had a gym membership I was 27 years old. And freaking ripped. Okay, not that ripped, but super ripped for me. It was the best shape I’ve ever been in, because once I added strength on top of my already good cardio, suddenly I just toned up everywhere.

I then lost my gym membership card and didn’t want to pay the replacement fee, so I just quit the gym. Welcome to my spaztastic life. Doing something like that is completely typical of me

So…back to my great time at the gym. Here’s what’s great about the gym: Yeah, it’s fun working out, and yeah, the classes are great, but what I love love love about the gym is the energy. The music playing, people sweating, pushing themselves, being uncomfortable. People bettering themselves is the best energy ever!

Hate the gym? Love the gym? What’s good/bad about gyms?

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Wanna Be Triathlete

It seems to me that all the cool kids are triathletes. And, since I want to be a cool kid, I want to be a triathlete.

There’s just one problem:

I don’t like being aerodynamic.

Loving sitting up straight on my beach cruiser!

I don’t understand how people can enjoy biking while leaning forward. Don’t they realize how much more fun it is to sit up straight and tall?

I feel this way about all 2-wheeled vehicles. I really, really don’t like sport bikes, look at how much cuter and comfier a cruiser is:

Me sitting upright on my cruiser motorcycle. I just don’t like being aerodynamic!

(FYI, cruisers only maintain their comfort up to about 65MPH. After that point, the wind pushing against my upright body makes me wish that I were hunched over like the kids on the sports bikes…but this only convinces me to drive the speed limit. It does not convince me to become aerodynamic).

So I’m in quite a conundrum. Can I maintain my identity as an anti-aerodynamic human and still become a triathlete? I propose a Beach Cruiser Triathlon…a triathlon where the only acceptable bikes are beach cruisers…and biking must be completed the way it was intended…in flip flops and sundresses. Anyone with me on this one? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

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Two weeks

2 weeks. They say you should take 2 weeks off from running when you have shin splints. I took a week and a half off from running. But during my time off I did Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30 which is how I hurt myself badly enough to think I had a stress fracture…so I really only took 1 week off.

Given the fact that the stupid things (my shins) still hurt even though I’ve been taking it so, so easy, I’m giving in to them. Two weeks you say? Fine, I’ll give you your stupid two weeks, but in exchange, please, please, please give me my shins back! The nice ones that didn’t hurt. Thank you!

This is how I feel about not running for 2 weeks.

So, that stinks. But I’m trying to be an adult and make good decisions. And on the bright side, because I’ve been trying to be good to myself, I’ve already taken a half a week off. So 1.5 more to go!

I’m okay as far as marathon training goes, I still have time to train, but I’m scared of what this means for Ragnar…I guess I shouldn’t have been joking with my teammates about running the hardest legs. What I meant was that I volunteer for the very easiest legs. Thank you!

This is how I’ll feel after my shins get better. Hurray!

What’s the longest break you’ve taken from running, and why? If it was for shins, then please tell me the break helped!

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Race Recap: Santa Barbara Wine Country 1/2 Marathon…2008

Usually on running blogs, people recap their races. I plan to do this with my future races, and also decided to write about my past race because…well, there’s only one past race, so if I just write about the one, I’ll have all my races documented here in a lovely organized fashion.

In 2008, I decided to run the Santa Barbara Wine Country ½ Marathon, and I convinced my friend Jeff to run it with me. I thought it would be great because it sounded like a beautiful course (running past vineyards, etc), and at the end they give you a wine glass and free wine. Plus it ended in the beautiful town of Solvang, pretty much the cutest town in America.

Here’s a picture I took once in Solvang. Cutest thing ever? Yes. Especially if that minivan wasn’t there!

My training wasn’t much, I was already running 5 miles 5 days a week, so all I really did was add weekend long-runs, and that seemed fine.

My friend Jeff ended up getting injured, so I had to run the race myself…with no one cheering me on. Yep, that was awesome.

It was a long time ago, and I don’t want to bore you with the details, but here’s what I remember:

Beautiful course. Gorgeous. Running past vineyards, farms, and horses. I honestly can’t imagine a better course, with the exception of running in Big Sur.

Yep, here’s an illegit race photo. With my amazing heel strike.

There were no mile markers. And I didn’t have a way to track my mileage, so at every aid station I would ask. I eventually realized how very off the aid stations were when their reports of where I was at meant I had just run 2 sub-7 miles. Nope. So then I was paranoid, because I didn’t know how close or far I was from coming in sub-2 hours. (My goal).

They had our names on our bibs. I love that. I found it to be so encouraging and kind when people yelled my name, especially since I was running this thing with no friends or family there to cheer me on. (However, I had registered as “Rebecca,” so they were cheering for me with a name I don’t use, which made me a little sad).

There was one hill. It was hard. But my only goal for the hill was to not walk, and I didn’t. And plenty of my fellow racers ended up walking that hill, so I was proud.

I made the mistake of drinking strongly-mixed Gatorade towards the end and nearly puked all over myself. So. Gross.

I was not pacing myself nicely. I was in the restroom when the gun went off. So when I finally got to the start line, the slow people had already taken off. My first mile was spent trying to get around strollers and walkers. I went faster than was ideal from a pacing perspective, but I couldn’t handle getting trapped behind large groups of chatters, so I thought it was worth it. Then for the last mile or so I was BEAT, and went rather slow I believe. I was so exhausted. I must have looked it because a kind runner came and told me I was getting close to the finish line and to keep pushing.

Yet another stolen photograph. And yes, those are cotton shorts. I didn’t know about running shorts yet.

Somehow I made it to the finish, and within my goal of under-2 hours. 1:54:59 to be exact, but I think that was the gun-time, so I don’t know my actual time. I remember being super proud, exhausted and a little sad because I didn’t have anyone to share the moment with.

Along with medals, they gave us wine glasses and a bunch of local vineyards were there offering up free wine to finishers. I drank a little wine at the post-race celebration. But I was by myself and it was lonely, so I quickly left after just having a few sips.

In conclusion, it was a great race. I know the course has changed a lot from when I ran it, but I’m sure it’s still beautiful and would be a really fun race to run. I think the wine party would have been really really fun for anyone who had friends or family there.

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You is Kind, You is Important, You is Smart

You is kind, you is important, you is smart…

Anyone know what that’s from? I’ll tell you! It’s from The Help! In the book/movie, there was a little girl whose mom mostly criticized her all the time, so her nanny/maid used to tell her “You is kind, you is important, you is smart.” To try to offset what the girl’s mom said.

One team had this on the back of their team shirts. They also had headbands with special encouraging names for each girl.

Do you know what that nanny/maid was worried about? A self-fulfilling prophecy. Kids reflect back what’s reflected on them. If they’re constantly told that they’re bad or stupid, they will act bad or stupid. It’s as simple as that. So that’s why we need adults in the world who will reflect good things on kids.

And that’s why Girls on the Run is such a cool organization. Because it’s all about reflecting good things onto girls and encouraging them to move and live healthy lifestyles.

So when Girls on the Run needed volunteers for their end-of-the-year 5k, I was happy to help out. The thing that they seemed to need most? Photographers.

Now, I have been known to take some good photos in my day…but I’m out of practice when it comes to photography. Because I thought it would be a good challenge for a good cause, I decided to do it. My hope is that I got a few photos that the organization, its sponsors, and the girls who ran will appreciate!

The girls each had “buddies” to run with them while they finished the race.

One thing I can say though is that I was exhausted by the end of my time there! It wasn’t that the work was that hard, but I was surrounded by excitement and noise and my job was to stay quiet and take photos. Because I’m an extrovert it was honestly exhausting for me to focus on my silent-job rather than chat it up with everyone around me! I did get to talk with some of the girls a little at the end when I was taking their photos. They were so cute.

I loved taking their photos post-race when they were flushed and happy and full of endorphins!

Do you remember people who reflected “good” onto you when you were young? Tell me about them!

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