Week 9's recap is a little late- I had an impromptu road trip to take, but all is going to be well.
So, last week, there was swimming, whereupon my coach overestimated my abilities- she forgot that I haven't done anything faster than 1:40 per 50 and went with a time for a set of 300s that put me doing them on 1:30. I think I made the first one of the set, barely, but I definitely didn't get the rest of the set. But, I didn't fall off pace too, too badly- I was making the 50s in about 1:45, which is not awful. I could definitely have curled up right on the pool steps and gone to sleep, though, after.
Then, on Tuesday, Dad and I moved the vast majority of my belongings out of the storage locker where they've been hanging out for the last year. Since that was a lot of lifting and carrying, I didn't do an additional workout. I was pleased, though, that my back held up really well. It's getting stronger!
Wednesday was more swimming, and that went better. We also practiced flip turns, and I found out the right way of doing them, as opposed to the not-quite-correct way I've been doing them for years. They might be a little easier for me now. We'll see this week. I'm hoping to do them at least during warm-ups.
Thursday was a Not Good Day. And working out didn't happen. But, Friday, I hit the treadmill, whereupon I "ran" (I say I ran. Mom keeps saying it's not running if you were only going 2.6 on the treadmill. Whichever) for 8 minutes. Which was actually the goal for the week- 8 run, 22 walk- and it felt reasonably good. My ankles keep getting cranky after a little while, but it's not sharp pain, and it walks off, so it's probably that they need strengthening more than an actual problem. So, I've more or less caught back up on the running plan. I'm going to go for the goal of 10 minutes "running" this week and see what happens. If it works, then, yay, I'm on schedule. If I have to do it again next week, then, well, whatever. It's fine.
This week I also hope to make it to a spinning class. I got my bike shorts a few weeks ago, but there was that week I was sick, so it put that back a little. But it's all good. Things are going well, and hopefully they'll continue that way.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Revolutionary
This post on the Fat Nutritionist blog* really resonated with me this week. Not in the least because I got a dirty look waiting for the elevator to go to the parking garage at the gym. Given the quality of the look and the mumbling under the person's breath, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if I were thin, I probably wouldn't have gotten that look. And I refuse to defend my choice to take the elevator instead of the stairs. I have good reasons, but they're really no one's business but mine.
But really, I'm mostly lucky. People at the gym I go to don't usually give me dirty looks or act condescendingly towards me, as though it were the first time I've ever attempted to work out. I've heard stories from other fat people where such things have happened. I've gotten my own looks at other facilities. So, I am lucky in that I don't face significant harassment at any of the three branches of my gym that I frequent, occasional dirty looks at the elevator notwithstanding. It's generally a very welcoming place, and the employees I've interacted with have been nothing but kind and respectful.
At the same time, though, I am aware that putting on my swim suit and hitting the pool for practice is something of a revolutionary act. I'm a size 22 and I have no qualms about wearing a swimsuit. Part of that is because I love to swim, I love my water time and I'm coming to believe that it just might be a necessity for my mental health and sanity. So, those things outweigh any body consciousness I might feel. Part of it is that after being on swim team in high school, I don't have a whole lot of body consciousness in a swimsuit anyway. Once you've spent 15 hours a week or so in a suit as a teenager, you kind of don't care too much anymore.
The thing is, however, it shouldn't be a revolutionary act for me to go swimming. It shouldn't be a revolutionary act for anyone to put on a swimsuit. Or to get on the treadmill, or walk outside, or go to Zumba, or do yoga, or do whatever type of movement makes you happy. Everyone should have the ability to do any of those things without fear of ridicule or harassment. And the fact that this is not true is wrong. It is just plain wrong.
*The Fat Nutritionist is one of my favorite Heath at Every Size blogs. It was where I was introduced to the concept and the concept of Intuitive Eating. I recommend it for anyone.
But really, I'm mostly lucky. People at the gym I go to don't usually give me dirty looks or act condescendingly towards me, as though it were the first time I've ever attempted to work out. I've heard stories from other fat people where such things have happened. I've gotten my own looks at other facilities. So, I am lucky in that I don't face significant harassment at any of the three branches of my gym that I frequent, occasional dirty looks at the elevator notwithstanding. It's generally a very welcoming place, and the employees I've interacted with have been nothing but kind and respectful.
At the same time, though, I am aware that putting on my swim suit and hitting the pool for practice is something of a revolutionary act. I'm a size 22 and I have no qualms about wearing a swimsuit. Part of that is because I love to swim, I love my water time and I'm coming to believe that it just might be a necessity for my mental health and sanity. So, those things outweigh any body consciousness I might feel. Part of it is that after being on swim team in high school, I don't have a whole lot of body consciousness in a swimsuit anyway. Once you've spent 15 hours a week or so in a suit as a teenager, you kind of don't care too much anymore.
The thing is, however, it shouldn't be a revolutionary act for me to go swimming. It shouldn't be a revolutionary act for anyone to put on a swimsuit. Or to get on the treadmill, or walk outside, or go to Zumba, or do yoga, or do whatever type of movement makes you happy. Everyone should have the ability to do any of those things without fear of ridicule or harassment. And the fact that this is not true is wrong. It is just plain wrong.
*The Fat Nutritionist is one of my favorite Heath at Every Size blogs. It was where I was introduced to the concept and the concept of Intuitive Eating. I recommend it for anyone.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Week 8: Mostly Swimming
I feel considerably better this week, which is good. So, I went swimming on Monday and Wednesday. Monday was a little rough- I was still pretty tired and still had a lot of crud messing with my throat, which sometimes made it a little hard to breathe. But Wednesday was much better. And then, yesterday, I felt pretty good, so I went to the gym and hit the treadmill. I figured I'd try for running for 4 minutes, which was where I was on the plan before I got sick, but I hit 4 minutes, still felt pretty good, so I went for 6, which is what I was supposed to be doing last week. And that went just fine, so clearly taking about 10 days off while my immune system protested the coming of fall didn't have a huge effect on my cardiovascular endurance. Good to know.
Next week, I'll be doing my swimming and adding back in my strength training and walk/running. So, almost back to normal. I have to redo my calendar for the running, because I'm now a week behind where the calendar says I am, but that's all right. I'm definitely making progress!
Next week, I'll be doing my swimming and adding back in my strength training and walk/running. So, almost back to normal. I have to redo my calendar for the running, because I'm now a week behind where the calendar says I am, but that's all right. I'm definitely making progress!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Getting back into it
I am feeling much better after feeling pretty lousy for the past week or so. I wasn't actually sick- it wasn't a cold. It was just chronic sinusitis acting up combined with weather allergies. Aside from being a little bit coughy and sniffly today, I feel all right. I can breathe through my nose again and I can take a deep breath without coughing, and my throat has stopped being so irritated, so I think it's safe to say I'm pretty much fine.
I was tempted to just jump right back into the full schedule for this week, which included 2x swimming, 2x strength training/run/walk and introducing spinning class. And then the more rational part of my brain took over and said, um, yeah, no. So, this week, I'm going to do my swimming. I might throw a walk in there later in the week if I'm feeling good after Wednesday's swimming. Next week, I'll add back in the strength training/walking and then the week after, I'll see about adding the spinning class. It's possible that this is a tad over-cautious, but October and I have a History, so chances are pretty good that I'll be back to dealing with this or a similar issue sometime in the next month. I'd rather not tax my already stretched reserves (my immune system might have been fighting itself as opposed to a virus, but the effect is nearly the same). I know exercising is supposed to improve one's immune system, but mine has disadvantages (I need inhaled steroids to breathe within reasonable parameters. While they aren't as rough on your system as oral steroids, they still decrease immune function), so I don't expect miracles here.
So, swimming this week. Yay!
I was tempted to just jump right back into the full schedule for this week, which included 2x swimming, 2x strength training/run/walk and introducing spinning class. And then the more rational part of my brain took over and said, um, yeah, no. So, this week, I'm going to do my swimming. I might throw a walk in there later in the week if I'm feeling good after Wednesday's swimming. Next week, I'll add back in the strength training/walking and then the week after, I'll see about adding the spinning class. It's possible that this is a tad over-cautious, but October and I have a History, so chances are pretty good that I'll be back to dealing with this or a similar issue sometime in the next month. I'd rather not tax my already stretched reserves (my immune system might have been fighting itself as opposed to a virus, but the effect is nearly the same). I know exercising is supposed to improve one's immune system, but mine has disadvantages (I need inhaled steroids to breathe within reasonable parameters. While they aren't as rough on your system as oral steroids, they still decrease immune function), so I don't expect miracles here.
So, swimming this week. Yay!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Week 7: Um.
A conversation with myself today:
Brain: Hey, we haven't been to the gym since Wednesday. That's, like, five days.
Body: Yes, I am aware of this.
Brain: Training? Triathlon?
Body: Extreme fatigue? Nasty sinus drainage causing you to cough since Saturday? Exercise induced asthma that kicks up badly when you're already coughy?
Brain: Oh. Right. But...it's a little better today, right? I mean, we're not quite so tired?
Body: We have the energy to possibly try to work out...
Brain: Great! Let's go!
Body: If you'll let me finish...
Brain: Oh. Sorry.
Body: As I was saying. We may be able to work out, but we also have to have enough energy to wrangle 2-6 4th to 6th graders through homework this evening. We don't have the energy to do both without a nap.
Brain: And it's 1, and that happens at 6.
Body: We also need to eat.
Brain: Right, right. So, what you're saying is, I can do one or I can do the other, but not both.
Body: Exactly.
Brain: And while the triathlon is a priority, the kids are too.
Body: That's your department. I'm just telling you what the capabilities are for today.
Brain: Okay, okay. No gym. Tomorrow?
Body: I'll take it under advisement.
...In other words, I'm sick (well, I'm having allergy/sinus issues due to the weather changes. I'm not actually infectiously sick). And while many people can work out when they're sort of sick, if I'm coughing, I kind of can't. I'm pretty sure the coughing is mostly due to throat irritation, but that's a bit of an academic distinction. In practice, coughing is coughing, according to my twitchy airways. I might give swimming a go tomorrow night, but it'll depend on how I feel tomorrow afternoon. I am annoyed, but well, it's not like I didn't know this was likely to happen at least a few times during this whole process. It's the body I have, after all, and while at the moment, loving this body is a little beyond me, I can at least manage to accept it. Mostly.
Brain: Hey, we haven't been to the gym since Wednesday. That's, like, five days.
Body: Yes, I am aware of this.
Brain: Training? Triathlon?
Body: Extreme fatigue? Nasty sinus drainage causing you to cough since Saturday? Exercise induced asthma that kicks up badly when you're already coughy?
Brain: Oh. Right. But...it's a little better today, right? I mean, we're not quite so tired?
Body: We have the energy to possibly try to work out...
Brain: Great! Let's go!
Body: If you'll let me finish...
Brain: Oh. Sorry.
Body: As I was saying. We may be able to work out, but we also have to have enough energy to wrangle 2-6 4th to 6th graders through homework this evening. We don't have the energy to do both without a nap.
Brain: And it's 1, and that happens at 6.
Body: We also need to eat.
Brain: Right, right. So, what you're saying is, I can do one or I can do the other, but not both.
Body: Exactly.
Brain: And while the triathlon is a priority, the kids are too.
Body: That's your department. I'm just telling you what the capabilities are for today.
Brain: Okay, okay. No gym. Tomorrow?
Body: I'll take it under advisement.
...In other words, I'm sick (well, I'm having allergy/sinus issues due to the weather changes. I'm not actually infectiously sick). And while many people can work out when they're sort of sick, if I'm coughing, I kind of can't. I'm pretty sure the coughing is mostly due to throat irritation, but that's a bit of an academic distinction. In practice, coughing is coughing, according to my twitchy airways. I might give swimming a go tomorrow night, but it'll depend on how I feel tomorrow afternoon. I am annoyed, but well, it's not like I didn't know this was likely to happen at least a few times during this whole process. It's the body I have, after all, and while at the moment, loving this body is a little beyond me, I can at least manage to accept it. Mostly.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Week 6: Master's Swimming, Strength Training and Walk/Run
I'm moving on to weeks, because I lost track of how many days. I could go back and count, but after 30ish, weeks just seem to work better. Anyway.
So, Monday night was my first night swimming group. It went all right. I really appreciated not getting up at 4:40 am. But I was a little out of sorts because I broke my good nose clips on Saturday when I went swimming with Mom (I mostly just messed around with practicing head position and kicking and just really playing around. I think the professionals call that "active rest". Sounds better than "I was just messing around in the pool", no?). So I had to use another kind that I really don't like. They work well, but they don't seem to fit on my nose the way I want them to and they're just awkward. The kind of nose clips I like don't seem to be sold in stores very often (and it's not like nose clips in general have ever been all that easy to find, in my experience), but I do have some on order and I am hopeful they will come in today's mail so I have them for tonight. I actually ordered them before I broke my other ones, because it occurred to me that only having one pair of clips was probably asking for trouble. And yes, yes it was.
But anyway, swimming was hard, because I was a bit of an idiot who forgot to take her inhaler. It wasn't even that I was getting cocky and wanted to try without it. I just flat out forgot. I'm blaming that on being at a different time and flustered about the damn nose clips. I will not forget tonight, let me tell you. I did it, I even did it well, according to Mich, but damn. It was ridiculously hard. And I also kept choking because I figured out where my face is supposed to be when I breathe, but I have not mastered not breathing in the water. Having taken my inhaler wouldn't have prevented it, but I probably would have recovered a lot quicker and maybe still wouldn't have been coughing yesterday morning (I'm fine now). So, yeah, not my finest hour.
Tuesday, though, was better. I met with Kevin the trainer to get some lower body strategies. Turns out that I know how to do a squat and a lunge with good form. And that I still can't breathe right when my abs are engaged, which makes doing bridges and leg curls with the balance ball its own special kind of hell. Oh well, it's not like I'm being timed on any of that, so if I have to stop and breathe, then, I suppose that's just going to have to be all right.
But then, I did my walk/run- this week, it is walk 26, run 4. I split this up by dividing the walking part by 2, so I walk 13, run 4, walk 13. This gets me nice and warmed up for the running part and gives me lots of time to recover afterwards. At least right now it does. I was thinking that going from 2 minutes to 4 minutes was going to be very, very challenging. And I was feeling a little bleh after the leg workout (note to self: don't take the fish oil capsule right before going to the gym, unless you like the tummy upset feeling. Which you don't). So, I got on the treadmill and said, "okay, I'm going to do the 13 minutes of walking and see how I feel". Well, I got to minute 12 and my stomach had settled down and I was feeling pretty okay, so I said, "Well, let's just try. If I don't make it all the way to 4 minutes, that's okay, but let's see if we can at least make it 2 minutes". And then I got to minute 15, and I was still doing okay, so I thought, "Okay, well, let's see how far we can get." and then I was at minute 16 and 20 seconds and it was like, "Oh, heck, there's only 40 more...30 more seconds. You can do this!" and I did it! I had to stop completely for a little bit (less than a minute, I think) when I was done to get a drink and get a deep breath, but hey, I ran for FOUR MINUTES. Without stopping. There was a lot of self-congratulatory self-talk going on for the remaining 13 minutes of walking. I think that's probably okay, though, because heck, if I can't tell myself I did good, then who can, really?
So, Monday night was my first night swimming group. It went all right. I really appreciated not getting up at 4:40 am. But I was a little out of sorts because I broke my good nose clips on Saturday when I went swimming with Mom (I mostly just messed around with practicing head position and kicking and just really playing around. I think the professionals call that "active rest". Sounds better than "I was just messing around in the pool", no?). So I had to use another kind that I really don't like. They work well, but they don't seem to fit on my nose the way I want them to and they're just awkward. The kind of nose clips I like don't seem to be sold in stores very often (and it's not like nose clips in general have ever been all that easy to find, in my experience), but I do have some on order and I am hopeful they will come in today's mail so I have them for tonight. I actually ordered them before I broke my other ones, because it occurred to me that only having one pair of clips was probably asking for trouble. And yes, yes it was.
But anyway, swimming was hard, because I was a bit of an idiot who forgot to take her inhaler. It wasn't even that I was getting cocky and wanted to try without it. I just flat out forgot. I'm blaming that on being at a different time and flustered about the damn nose clips. I will not forget tonight, let me tell you. I did it, I even did it well, according to Mich, but damn. It was ridiculously hard. And I also kept choking because I figured out where my face is supposed to be when I breathe, but I have not mastered not breathing in the water. Having taken my inhaler wouldn't have prevented it, but I probably would have recovered a lot quicker and maybe still wouldn't have been coughing yesterday morning (I'm fine now). So, yeah, not my finest hour.
Tuesday, though, was better. I met with Kevin the trainer to get some lower body strategies. Turns out that I know how to do a squat and a lunge with good form. And that I still can't breathe right when my abs are engaged, which makes doing bridges and leg curls with the balance ball its own special kind of hell. Oh well, it's not like I'm being timed on any of that, so if I have to stop and breathe, then, I suppose that's just going to have to be all right.
But then, I did my walk/run- this week, it is walk 26, run 4. I split this up by dividing the walking part by 2, so I walk 13, run 4, walk 13. This gets me nice and warmed up for the running part and gives me lots of time to recover afterwards. At least right now it does. I was thinking that going from 2 minutes to 4 minutes was going to be very, very challenging. And I was feeling a little bleh after the leg workout (note to self: don't take the fish oil capsule right before going to the gym, unless you like the tummy upset feeling. Which you don't). So, I got on the treadmill and said, "okay, I'm going to do the 13 minutes of walking and see how I feel". Well, I got to minute 12 and my stomach had settled down and I was feeling pretty okay, so I said, "Well, let's just try. If I don't make it all the way to 4 minutes, that's okay, but let's see if we can at least make it 2 minutes". And then I got to minute 15, and I was still doing okay, so I thought, "Okay, well, let's see how far we can get." and then I was at minute 16 and 20 seconds and it was like, "Oh, heck, there's only 40 more...30 more seconds. You can do this!" and I did it! I had to stop completely for a little bit (less than a minute, I think) when I was done to get a drink and get a deep breath, but hey, I ran for FOUR MINUTES. Without stopping. There was a lot of self-congratulatory self-talk going on for the remaining 13 minutes of walking. I think that's probably okay, though, because heck, if I can't tell myself I did good, then who can, really?
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Training Plan Changes...Again
So, I suppose it's a good thing that I didn't expect my training plan to be static, because it's changed more often than...a really change-y thing.
The way things were originally planned was 1 day of swimming, 3 days of walk/run, 1 day of cycling. That changed pretty quickly as I figured out my swimming endurance wasn't as high as I thought it was, and also because I joined the Masters' swimming, which is twice a week. So, then it looked like 2 days of swimming, 2 days of walk/run and 1 day of cycling. But then I realized that some strength training was probably going to be necessary to keep me from hurting myself. Then, the plan looked like 2 days of swimming, 2 days of walk/run, and 1 day of cycling and strength training. And then...it occurred to me after doing a fair amount of reading that 1 day of strength training is generally not thought to be sufficient. And I want to do a spinning class for my cycling. And then someone mentioned overtraining could be part of why I'm really tired (maybe. There's a few other possibilities). So, the plan is changing again. I'm backing off a day for a few weeks until I get the strength training incorporated, and then I'm adding the spinning class (it helps that I didn't want to start the spinning class until I got a pair of cycling shorts. They're on their way).
Until the 1st week of October, the plan looks like this:
Starting in October, the plan looks like this:
The way things were originally planned was 1 day of swimming, 3 days of walk/run, 1 day of cycling. That changed pretty quickly as I figured out my swimming endurance wasn't as high as I thought it was, and also because I joined the Masters' swimming, which is twice a week. So, then it looked like 2 days of swimming, 2 days of walk/run and 1 day of cycling. But then I realized that some strength training was probably going to be necessary to keep me from hurting myself. Then, the plan looked like 2 days of swimming, 2 days of walk/run, and 1 day of cycling and strength training. And then...it occurred to me after doing a fair amount of reading that 1 day of strength training is generally not thought to be sufficient. And I want to do a spinning class for my cycling. And then someone mentioned overtraining could be part of why I'm really tired (maybe. There's a few other possibilities). So, the plan is changing again. I'm backing off a day for a few weeks until I get the strength training incorporated, and then I'm adding the spinning class (it helps that I didn't want to start the spinning class until I got a pair of cycling shorts. They're on their way).
Until the 1st week of October, the plan looks like this:
- Monday: Swimming (from 7-8pm, thank God)
- Tuesday: Strength Training and Run/Walk*
- Wednesday: Swimming
- Thursday: Strength Training and Run/Walk
Starting in October, the plan looks like this:
- Monday: Swimming
- Tuesday: Strength Training and Run/Walk
- Wednesday: Swimming
- Thursday: Strength Training and Run/Walk
- Friday: Spinning Class
It's entirely possible that the days will shift, depending on a million potential complications, but the general outline should stay the same now. I hope.
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