Sharing a challenge: I finally listen to my body

Welcome back to my series on Sharing a Challenge. My challenge? To train for a half-marathon race at the end of May.

To catch up, or refresh, on my adventures to date:

Sharing a challenge
Motivation
Getting the right fuel for the job
Falling off the rails
Going into survival mode
My body rebels

So, Sunday found me lacing up my runners and heading out for an 8 mile run. I was barely two blocks into my run when my body started up the inner dialogue it now insists we have.

“Are we done yet?“, my body whined.

“Done yet? We have just started!”, I retorted.

Silence. Then,

“My lungs hurt.”

“Yes, but if we keep going the pain goes away,” I patiently explained. Well, sort of patiently.

“My ears hurt.”

“It’s windy,” I sighed. “It will be fine when we turn onto Main Street.”

More silence. Then,

“Boy, is my face ever going to be a mess. My rosacea is totally going to flare up. Yes sir-ee Bob. Huge ugly rashy mess.”‘

Now that was a low blow indeed. It is very true that the flushing from the exertion does cause a rosacea flare. My face has been a mess since I started my training.

I chose not to respond to this, and was blessed with silence for an entire mile. Then,

“Shane sent you that article that said walking is proven to reduce strokes in woman, whereas running has not been proven to.”

“Ya, ya,” I muttered as I focused on making it to at least the next traffic light.

“I don’t like running.”

“Would you please stop?”, I retorted.

“Well, I don’t . I used to, but don’t anymore. It cases me stress.”

“Grrrrrr ….”, I seethed.

“Hey! Did Karen say that she will only do things that cause her peace, not stress?”

“Fine!”, I yelled. “I’m listening. What do you want?”

“I want to walk,” my body said matter of factly. “Let’s walk. We can still do the entire 8 miles, and I promise we’ll power walk, but seriously, let’s walk. I like walking.”

So, we walked. Together my body and I did 8.5 miles (13.7 km) in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 57 seconds. We never slowed down, and we didn’t even get tired until the last mile.

And along the way we discovered several things:

• a bike path along the river we never knew existed, so we switched to it
• a beautiful cardinal singing to find a mate
• two pretty pussy cats sunning themselves on a shed roof
• people fishing
• kids playing baseball
• and the cutest little house I had never seen before

When I got home, I logged into the race site. Turns out I am allowed to walk the half-marathon. So, I switched my registration to a walk race instead of a run race.

My body is very happy now. So am I.

WE are happy.

Don’t miss out!

To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the topics and discussions, subscribe by RSS or Email

Sharing a challenge: my body rebels

Welcome to the ongoing saga of my half-marathon race training. So far, we have covered the following:

Sharing a challenge
Motivation
Getting the right fuel for the job
Falling off the rails
Going into survival mode

I am going to start off by saying that on Sunday I ran almost 12 kilometres, which is over 7 miles. With no ill effects I might add!

Armed with the confidence of managing such an incredible feat (with my incredible feet), I headed out on Tuesday for a mere 6 kilometre or 4 mile run.

My lungs were tight, but this is normal. Both my brother and I suffer from running induced asthma. The key is to run through it. My brother’s lungs generally ‘snap open’ after 10 minutes. Mine ‘snap open’ somewhere near the end of 2 miles.

So, at about 1.5 miles I was surprised to feel my lungs getter tighter and tighter. At the 2 mile mark they were tighter still.

“Hey,” I yelled at my body, “what is going on here?”

No response, just even tighter lungs.

“Helloooo,” I tried again, “I’m talking to you. What is going on?”

“What did you eat today?” was the reply I got.

“Excuse me? I want to know why my lungs aren’t cooperating, and you want to talk about food?”, I fired back.

“What did you EAT today?”, my body persisted.

At which point I decided to humour my body. Maybe if we discussed the day’s menu we could get back to the business of running.

“6:00 a.m. espresso. 6:30 a.m. espresso. 10:30 a.m. coffee, 2 fried eggs over easy, buttered brown toast, 3 strips of bacon, home fries. 3:00 p.m. a bag of chips.”

“So, let me sum this up,” my body drawled in a truly irritating way. “Caffeine, fat, useless carbs, with a teeny tiny bit of protein thrown in for show. And expect me to do WHAT with that?”

This stopped me dead in my tracks. Literally, because by this point my lungs had completely shut down from the exertion of running and yelling at me.

“Oh,” I said. “Perhaps, it’s not really reasonable to ask you to run on that.”

“You think?”

Seems my body has sarcasm down to a science.

“Well, how about we walk the rest of the way home?”, I kindly suggested.

“‘Well, we can’t exactly sit down in the middle of the road, now can we?”

Clearly, my body was not ready to forgive me yet.

“And how about I feed you better tomorrow.”‘

“Fine,” it pouted.

So, we walked home.

I would like to say I did feed my body better the next day. I did not. Nor the next day. But, I sure wasn’t going to ask it to run either.

Running, it seems, is not really my challenge. Eating properly is. Not being able to run is the consequence of this.

Over the course of this next week, I am going to examine this whole food issue. I promise to report back on my findings.

Have your say:

When you fall off an challenge commitment, do you stop to figure out the root cause? What have you discovered?

Don’t miss out!

To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the topics and discussions, subscribe by RSS or Email

Sharing a challenge: falling off the rails

I have so fallen off the rails in terms of training for the half-marathon. Last week I ran twice. This week? Not at all.

This is NOT going to get me across the finish line in anything close to my under three hours goal. Heck, it might not get me across the finish line at all!

So, what happened?

Life happened. At least that is my story and I am sticking to it.

I was nipping off to the gym when I got a spare hour during the day at work. No spare hours. No spare minutes. Finding time to go the bathroom is a challenge!

“Well, that’s all fine and well, Eliza,” you chide, “but you could run when you get home.”

I could, except it turned bitterly cold. I mean sub-zero artic winds. And rain. Lots of rain. And did I mention the sub-zero artic winds?

“Excuses, excuses,” you mutter. And you would be absolutely right.

I could insist that I take the lunch hour that is due to me, and force my management to acknowlege that my workload is unrealistic. Or, I could stay after work and go to the gym then. Or, I could go home, bundle up in layers and ear muffs and mitts and scarves and mukluks … okay, it’s not that cold.

The truth of the matter is, I just haven’t given myself the kick in the pants I need to run. Which is ridiculous because I was just starting to feel that mind and body connection I was looking for. It’s like I got a taste of what I want and then I deliberately backed away from holding onto my reward.

My goodness, this is going to require some self-analysis!

In the meantime, people around me are being very interested and supportive. As mentioned in my introductory post to this series, I have my training schedule on display outside my office cube. The other day, a co-worker stopped and questioned what the calendar and pink smiley faces were all about. After I explained what I was training for, he shared that he was working up to walking 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) home each day.

He was pleased to share that he was up to 6 kilometers. I was a bit confused at what happened at the 6 kilometer mark, since he was still 3 kilometers short of home. Did he sit down and wait for morning and then walk back to work? Actually, no, he hops a bus for the rest of the way. But seriously, kudos to him.

Then there is the daily email exchange between my brother, daughter, and a good friend of mine. We have committed to a daily fitness report, since we are all trying to achieve fitness goals. My brother is running the same half-marathon as me. Another family member lost 20 lbs and is now getting into Cruise shape. My good friend is running and doing weights so he can continue to eat chocolate chip cookies, which I think is a noble fitness goal.

Tomorrow, I am making a copy of my training schedule to bring home. If I don’t get in a run at work, then I will do the run as soon as I get home. I shall laugh in the face of sub-zero artic winds! Okay, I’ll grit my teeth in the face of sub-zero artic winds, but I will run.

I too want to eat chocolate chip cookies!

Oh wait, no, that’s my friend’s motivator.

My mind and body shall be as one!

As yes, that motivator belongs to me.

Look out finish line. Here I come!

Other posts in this series:

Sharing a challenge
Motivation
Getting the right fuel for the job

Don’t miss out!

To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the topics and discussions, subscribe by RSS or Email

Sharing a challenge: Getting the right fuel for the job

Welcome to my third post on Sharing a Challenge where I share my half-marathon training journey. You can read the first two posts here:

Sharing a Challenge
Motivation

Today’s post on my half-marathon challenge is all about food. If I am going to push my body’s limits I better provide it with the proper fuel to enhance my performance.

I’m not a car gal; I leave that up to my vintage British car buff Mr Very Right. But I do know enough about cars that different grades of fuel impact the performance of your car. Personally, I’m satisfied with regular grade gasoline for my little Volvo. But I’m not asking it to do much other than get me to work and back, putt around town, and occasionally make a long distance trip to visit family.

And up to now, I’ve just been asking my body to get me through my work day, putt around on household chores, and occasionally push itself in harder labour for our home renovations. Regular grade fuel has been fine for this.

Let me explain what typical regular grade fuel is for me.

• Breakfast: a couple of espressos. Bacon, egg, cheese on brown toast with a bit a mayonaise.
• Lunch: deli turkey and lettuce on rye, with butter.
• Morning and afternoon snacks: yogurt, handful of nuts, dates, banana
• Mid afternoon ‘dear lord is it time to go home yet?’ treats: bag of chips, chocolate bar
• Hot tub when I get home beverage: white wine
• Dinner: meat, potatoes, gravy, small amount of veggies. Milk. 2 squares dark chocolate.

Notice the combination of definitely good for me stuff and definitely not good for me stuff. I am a healthy weight and my energy level is pretty good, so I guess so far I’ve gotten away with this particular fuel intake.

I wasn’t sure, however, that this diet really cut it as premium grade racing car fuel. So, off I went to do some research. According to How To Eat While Training for a Marathon, I need to eat the following:

60 to 70% of my diet should be carbohydrates such as whole grain breads, cereals, fruits and veggies.

Brown and rye bread are not whole grain breads. I do not eat any cereals. My fruits and veggies intake could definitely stand some improvement.

Eat 200 to 400 calories of carbohydrates within 2 hours of hard exercise.

Well, I generally exercise at work when I can slip away for an hour to run. This could be 8:30 in the morning or 2:30 in the afternoon. And I don’t even think about what I’m going to eat afterwards. I just grab whatever is in my lunch box.

Drink lots of fluids during and after exercise and avoid alcohol.

Yes, I drink water during my runs, but other than my espresso in the morning and my milk at supper, I don’t really drink anything else. Oh, except that glass of wine in the hot tub. Avoid alcohol. Dang!

Go easy on the fats

I can justify the small amount of butter on my sandwich. It is proven that fat is an essential part of our daily diet. And my two squares of 85% dark chocolate are good for me, so research says. But the mayonnaise at breakfast should likely go. And let’s not even talk about the fat content in the ‘dear lord is it time to go home yet?’ bag of chips and chocolate bar.

Conclusion? My regular grade fuel is not going to optimize my body’s race performance. As a matter of fact, it seems downright cruel of me to even ask my body to run 13 miles on regular grade fuel. Clearly changes are required.

Which brings me right back to my motivation of bringing my mind and body into harmony. To date, I don’t put too much thought to what I eat. For the most part, we only stock our kitchen with healthy food choices, so that’s what I grab. But the key word is grab. I don’t think about it. The food just goes into my lunch box or directly into my mouth.

Now I need to bring my mind into play. I need to put conscious thought to not only what I eat, but when I eat it.

Wait a minute! Isn’t that the key to a long healthy life anyway?

I don’t want a regular grade life. I want a premium grade life.

Volvos are nice, but from here on in, I am a Lamborghini!

Have your say:

My challenge is training for a race, so the fuel I need to consider is food. But all challenges require fuel in some form. For example, writing requires inspiration. Reducing stress requires quiet time. What fuel do you need for your challenge? And are you getting the right kind in the right amounts?

Don’t miss out!

To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the topics and discussions, subscribe by RSS or Email

Sharing a challenge: Motivation

I have found a great site for helping me work towards my half-marathon race goal. It’s appropriately called The Fitness Motivator. For the next several posts I am going to follow the various topics I am reading there.

The first topic is motivation.

Good one. Why am I running this race? What is going to keep me from losing interest like I did last year when I ended up watching my brother run from the sidelines?

First of all, I am inspired by a couple of books I read recently. What Should I Do With the Rest Of My Life, by Bruce Frankel, has a chapter on a woman who didn’t run a single race until she was sixty. Now in her seventies, she is professional elite runner. Her race times would depress my brother who is thirty years her junior.

If she can start running at sixty, I can continue running at forty-seven.

But it was this story in combination with another book I read that caused me to stop waffling and sign up for the race. Al Weatherhead, in The Power of Adversity, advises changing the thought process ‘I have to do it’ to ‘I have it to do’.

This is quite brilliant. ‘I have to do it’ implies a hardship that you really don’t want to undertake. ‘I have it to do’ says the decision is made, and now it’s time to simply get on with it.

So, I signed up. Done. Decision made.

But what is going to keep me training? What am I going to repeat as a mantra on those days I just don’t want to get off the couch? Or keep me putting one foot in front of the other when running into ridiculous head winds along the river?

I sat quietly and asked myself these questions, and the following popped into my head:

“I want to work in harmony with my body.”

Now, that’s interesting!

In the last year, my body has been going in one direction and my mind in another. My body is developing wrinkles, failing eye sight, and a stuborn increased belly girth. My mind, on the other hand, is becoming more youthful. I am calmer, more carefree, and happier than I have ever been in my life.

Running will require my mind and my body to work together.

My mind will get me out the door. My mind will insist on pushing my limits regardless of hills, wind, rain, or whatever other challenges I meet on a run. My body will take me greater distances on each run, or move me faster. It will push into the wind, and propel me up hills.

And as I become more powerful, my mind will become concious of my body.

There are glorious moments when I am in peak physical condition when I get the overwhelming feeling of moving like a jungle cat. Graceful and sleek, yet capable of great bursts of speed and strength.

It is a moment of complete harmony between my body and my mind. It is a feeling like no other.

That is my motivation. To enjoy this complete harmony more often than not.

And on the days I am trying to convince myself to keep going and not turn back to the couch, I shall conjure up my panther totem. And she’ll run beside me, reminding me that I can be just like her.

Have your say:

What is keeping you motivated facing your challenge? Or, if aren’t tackling a particular challenge at the moment, what got you through a past challenge?

Don’t miss out!

To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the topics and discussions, subscribe by RSS or Email

Sharing a challenge

As much as I love researching articles and reviewing books and products for Silver & Grace, my greatest pleasure comes from sharing other women’s stories. I do this through the Graceful Women’s stories.

This is where all the joys and challenges I talk about in my posts are examined in the light of real lives of real women. So, I thought it was time I walked my own talk, and wrote about my life from the Silver & Grace focus of physical and spiritual growth.

To that end, each Friday I will posting about a physical and spiritual challenge I have committed myself to. Training for and running a half-marathon race on Sunday, May 30, 2010.

To date I have run a 5k race and two 10k races. In the second 10K, I beat my first race by a full 4 minutes. My brother, who got me racing in the first place, announced it was now time to up the ante and run a half marathon. That was in May 2008 and my goal was to run the half in May 2009.

I signed up for the race and I did train, but I didn’t allow for how much training distance you have to put in before the race. And, therefore, how far in advance you need to start.

In the end, I pushed myself too hard in training, lost motivation, and stood on the sidelines to cheer my brother on in his race.

This year, however, I ran all Winter on a treadmill. The maximum distance I have done in a single run is only 4 miles, but at least I’m not starting from scratch.

Still, it’s a big challenge I set for myself, and will require physical and spiritual discipline. But, it’s a done deal. I’m all signed up.

And just to help me stay on track, I publically posted my training schedule on the outside of my Dilbert cube office at work. I work with a tough and unforgiving crowd of wonderful hooligans. Failure means public razzing.

Sadly for them, they shall not be given the chance!

Victory, as they say, is mine.

Have your say:

Are you undertaking a particular physical, mental, or spiritual challenge this year? If so, please feel free to share your journey. We can all support each other.

Don’t miss out!

To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the topics and discussions, subscribe by RSS or Email

Running after forty? Absolutely!

I have been running off and on for over thirty years. However, I did not start running races until my early forties.That being said, I am not a Capital ‘R’ Runner, but I do place in the middle of my age category, which I am more than happy with.

I have found, however, that running after the age of forty is very different than running before the age of forty. While I have far more discipline than I did as a younger woman, I can no longer push myself to extremes. As a matter of fact, when I do push too hard, I end up feeling quite unhealthy.

So, I run as the mood strikes me, and pay far more attention to my body. On the days my body is hinting that the couch looks like a better deal, I run for ten minutes. If the couch is still calling my name, I head home, and don’t feel the least bit guilty about it. I know that I’ll be ready to try again in a day or so.

Is it okay to start running after the age of forty?

It certainly is (with the usual caveat of always checking with a doctor first). But take it slow. Start off with brisk walking, with no running, for the first several sessions. As you get comfortable with this, start adding in intervals of running. For example, walk for five minutes, and run for one minute. Over time, add more running and decrease the walking.

Why is running different after forty?

Like it or not, our bodies change after forty:

• the ability to transport and utilize oxygen (V02 Max) decreases;
• our muscle fibres shrink;
• balance becomes more difficult;
• recovery time from injuries is longer;
• we start to lose bone mass.

Can we compensate for these changes?

We cannot prevent the natural changes our body undergoes, but we can work with them:

• concentrate on reasonably paced long distance runs, as opposed to short and fast runs;
• add short sprints into your runs once or twice a week;
• gently stretch your muscles after a run;
• round out your exercise regime with strength training;
• add activities that improve your balance, such as yoga or Tai Chi;
• allow more rest days between runs;
• stop a run if starts to hurt, and allow the injury to heal.

Do we having anything over those younger gals?

Yes we do! We have years of life experience, in general, that can add up to far more motivation and determination. And if we are seasoned runners, we are well tuned into the rhythm of running. So, while we may no longer beat them in the 100 yard dash, we have what it takes to wave at them as we pass them in the 10K and longer races.

What are the health benefits?

There are many benefits to running, both physical and mental:

• improves the functioning of our heart and arteries;
• strengthens our bones;
• builds muscle mass to protect us from breaks;
• boosts our immune system;
• improves thinking, learning and memory.

And my personal favourite:

• increases our sexual satisfaction.

I have a love/hate relationship with running. There are days when I wonder what the heck I’m doing, and other days I feel like I’m flying. But I keep at it, because in the end I am healthier and happier for it. And I plan on running well into old age. I’ll just make some adjustments to how I run as I go.

Suggested Reading

Running Your Best In Your 40s
Over 50 And Feeling It? Get Running
Running After Age 40 – How to Prevent Injuries and Improve Performance

Your turn

• If you are a runner, do you find you need to make adjustments as you age?
• What benefits do you derive from running?
• If you are not a runner, what aerobic activities do you do instead?