Running behind

Hmm I’ve been a little distracted lately, sorry about that.

To follow up on my last post, I met with my new personal trainer, and this is going to be great. For the summer, I’ll work with him on Wednesday mornings and then go to the group class on Saturday mornings. And what’s even better—I asked Kent to go with me the first time in hopes this would be something we do together. And he agreed!

I will say, the day after the first group class, we were both sore but not where we thought we would be. Since we’re both runners, neither of us expected to be sore in our quads but oh my goodness we sure were. We joked about trust falls onto the toilet . . . only we weren’t really entirely joking.

Jerry had told me I'm to work out four days a week, rather than six. I tried to negotiate to five days but he asked me to give him two months at the four days a week and see how I felt. My biggest concern with losing a day of working out isn't overall fitness, it's my running base. You see, to be ready to train for a full marathon, I need to be regularly and easily running more volume than I am right now. Still, I agreed to cut back for the summer and work on the strength. He's fine with me having active recovery days, so I can cycle (as long as I'm not doing 20 mile rides--oh hey, no worries there!). 

This week, I cycled on Sunday (7 miles), ran 5.5 miles on Monday, walked I'm not sure how far but close to 3 miles yesterday, today I worked out with Jerry and I will run probably tomorrow or maybe Friday. We're in a brutal heat wave and the "low" temperatures the next two days isn't very low: 76 and 78. Then Saturday I'll be at the group class.

He also had me bring in my food diary (very easy to do since I've been tracking with My Fitness Pal for a few years), and then laughed at my protein. Yeah, he wants me to up that considerably. And that's not easy as a vegan. I'm working on it though.

I mentioned that Sami and Jerry own this gym and that she’s a nationally recognized expert in exercise for cancer patients and survivors. At the first group class (which she teaches), she asked if I wanted to stick around afterwards as she and Jerry were going to make a short video of other cancer survivors who work out there for an upcoming conference. So I did! She tossed me a logo'd tee shirt and then I worked out with the rest of them while Jerry filmed. It was so much fun and even more, I felt entirely normal there. I wasn’t the only person who had to pay attention to scar tissue or what have you.

Here’s a photo from the end—Sami is in the front row on the right, and Ruth is their adorable dog.

I like having goals

My niece (who's named after me) is into fitness. She loves weight lifting and is pretty good at it. She's also working on mastering her hand stand; she kicks up to the wall just fine but wants to get to the point where nothing supports her.

I saw the photo of her taking a foot off the wall and posted that I wondered if I could still do a hand stand. Years ago, when I was a little girl, I fell in love with gymnastics as I watched the 1968 Olympics. We had a dinky black & white TV with awful resolution but I didn't care. I was mesmerized watching those girls fly around doing their floor routines, the uneven bars, all of it.

I pestered my folks to let me take gymnastics and they found a place that met at my elementary school on Saturday mornings. So I walked there every Saturday morning and did my darndest to turn into a gymnast. But let's be honest. I am a stick, I was born a stick and I will no doubt die a stick so while I learned to do handstands, cartwheels and round-offs, I was too inflexible to master a basic back bend. 

That didn't stop me from avidly watching the 1972 Olympics when I and probably every other 12 year old in the US was captivated by Olga Korbut. I kept dabbling in gymnastics but I knew in my heart that will power doesn't equal talent and so I moved on to other things. I ended up falling in love with running, thanks to the Army, and have tried other sports as well (roller blading is fun, I'm not very good at it; I'm not a good softball player either but I sure tried, and so on). When I lived in Germany (thanks to the Army), I was the assistant coach to the girls gymnastics team from my Army post and loved working with them as they mastered their routines. 

Anyway, fast forward to this week and my rash statement about wondering if I could still do a hand stand (which I did master). My niece seized on that and said I should try and so I did. 

I have some work to do, although I'm closer than I thought I would be. But I think I can master it again, and I'm going to give it a try. My core is strong enough, and so are my arms but my right hammie did not like the kick  up at all.

I'd like to do one proper hand stand by my birthday on February 3. I'll be 61 and I think it would be a hoot to do a hand stand to celebrate.

A new fitness device

About four years ago, I got a Jawbone Up (wrote about it here). Pretty quickly I realized that I didn’t like the interface or the looks so I returned it and got the Fitbit Flex I’d originally planned to buy. I wore my Fitbit faithfully, and manually entered my runs and workouts online. Last summer, it quit holding a charge so I got a new one. I (briefly) considered getting one with more bells and whistles but went with what I knew and was already comfortable using.

But over the last year or so, I’ve gotten frustrated with the Flex. It’s not designed to provide anything more than a relative scale of activity—you get your steps, you get some sense of whether the steps were light, moderate, or intense, and you get a very rough guide on the amount of time you spent doing your steps at that level of effort.

When I say rough guide, I do mean rough. For example, in Yuma I ran the same route twice; the first time Fitbit thought I ran 3 miles, and the second time, Fitbit thought I ran 2.65 miles. That’s a pretty big difference. It's the same with the amount of time; the Flex tracks in 15 second slices (I think?), so if you stop a run at the beginning of a slice, you'll look like you took more time. And you have to do the math to get your average pace per mile (assuming your mileage is tracked halfway accurately), and you still have to enter the info yourself.

So I’d been thinking about other fitness device options. While we were in Yuma, Jen showed me her Garmin Vivosmart HR+ device, and I was intrigued. Turns out Ben had done a lot of research to find a device that would do what Jen wanted it to do, and it turns out that what Jen wanted was pretty much what I was looking for. AND it turns out that I was able to buy a refurbished one for about $80 less than new. Although honestly, this device sure seems new to me—I’m pretty sure whoever bought it didn’t use it more than once and then returned it.

The verdict? I love it. I love that the device is fully synced to my phone, that my runs get uploaded automatically, and that I can enter something manually if I need to. I love that I know what kind of elevation gains I had on my runs in Provo (49 feet if you’re curious, there was an overpass I ran up and over every day), and what the starting elevation was too (4498 ft). I love that I can see my total average pace per mile, where I was slower and where I was faster. I love knowing my heart rate, resting and while working out, and I love that I can set the device to alert me if I'm not in my target heart rate zone, or I can set it up for running sprints.

All in all, I’m very happy I made the switch. Now I need to figure out what to do with my Flex.

My Fitbit and me

I got my Fitbit in June, 2013—I wasn’t sure how much I’d use it, or if it would change my workout behavior or activity levels. But I was willing to spend $100 to find out.

Turns out I loved it. I like the days when I hit the 10k mark for steps and get the light display and buzzing wrist, I like seeing my friends and where they are in their steps (I’m always third), and I love, love, love that I can set a daily alarm. There’s something far more civilized about waking up to a buzzing wrist rather than the abrupt loud blatting of an alarm clock.

Two weeks ago, my beloved Fitbit quit taking a charge. I went through all the recommended steps to troubleshoot the issue, and ended by calling customer service (the last step when nothing else works). The conversation was a bit surreal. The customer service rep didn’t speak American English as a first language so the tone of the exchange was beyond polite, especially the way he said my name (Ee LIZ ah beth, very precisely).

He walked through all the trouble shooting options and then looked up my account. There was a longish pause (long being relative when you are talking to a call center employee and they are measured by call handling times).

Customer service rep: Elizabeth, you bought your Fitbit in June of 2013.
Me: That’s correct.

Pause

CS: So you have had your Fitbit, Elizabeth, since June of 2013.
Me: Yes, that’s correct

Pause

CS: Elizabeth, the warranty period for the Fitbit Flex is three hundred sixty-five days.
Me: OK

Pause

CS: Elizabeth, that means your Fitbit is no longer covered by a warranty.
Me: OK

Longer pause

CS: Because the warranty is for three hundred sixty-five days, Elizabeth.
Me: Yes, I understand.

I think he thought I was going to get mad. But honestly I called because the website said if you do all these troubleshooting steps and still have issues, then call us.

Long story short (with much more exquisitely polite conversation), he offered me 25% off the purchase of a new Fitbit. I hadn’t asked for that, or asked for anything actually, but I was sure pleased to get it.

Thank you and good-bye

Once the new one got here, I told Kent I felt a little sad just tossing the old dead one. After all, I’ve traveled to three continents with it, and gone to seven countries and a whole bunch of states. He asked if I needed to thank it for its service a la Konmari and I realized that yes, actually, I did.

So that’s what I did, I thanked my dead Fitbit for its service and moved on. My new Fitbit is performing like a champ, my wrist no longer feels inappropriately naked and I’ve got my preferred morning alarm all set up.

Fit Bit Flex after two weeks

The verdict: I love it.

You might remember that I did a compare & contrast with the Jawbone UP. Here's some updated results:

• I wasn't sure which sync process I would end up liking better, the Fit Bit (which automatically syncs to your computer, and has to be manually synced to the phone app but only certain phones are supported -- mine is) or the Jawbone UP, which syncs to the phone (only certain supported phones) but only by plugging in the jack. Now, just over two weeks later I prefer the Fit Bit sync process.
• Putting the Fit Bit into sleep mode is still slightly hit or miss. I'm not sure if there's something in the way I tap or what but sometimes I have to try a couple of times to get the Fit Bit into the sleep mode. 

Fit Bit also sends you emails when you hit goals (like getting 10k steps in a day) and also a weekly summary of your progress. You can tap the band and the lights blink to indicate how many steps you've gone so far that day. When you do hit your 10k steps, the arm band buzzes and does a cool light display to let you know you did it. I am a little surprised at how motivating it is to get those badges or check the online dashboard for my progress.  I think you can set it to buzz if you haven't moved in a while, although I haven't done that (yet).

Finally, here's a picture I completely forgot to post on the compare & contrast post:

Fit Bit is black and on the left;
Jawbone UP is blue and on the right.

Compare & contrast

I got into the fitness device craze . . . I wanted to get a Fit Bit Flex but it was back-ordered six to eight weeks. Lacking any patience, I bought a Jawbone Up, then realized I really did prefer the Fit Bit Flex instead. So I returned the Jawbone Up.

Some friends were interested in a comparison of the two devices so here you go -- my completely unscientific and utterly personal opinions:

Click the picture for a better view

One friend specifically asked if I thought the device is motivating me. I'd say yes, although I was already pretty motivated. It's just a nice, visible reminder that I'm committed to getting back to the level of fitness I had three years ago. With both devices, you get feedback either on your phone (Jawbone Up) or on the phone dashboard and by email (badges for achievements from Fit Bit). Yes, it's silly but it's still kind of nice and surprisingly motivating.

Both devices track my sleep (no idea how they know I'm asleep but they seem to be pretty accurate). I liked that the Jawbone Up told me how much deep vs. light sleep I got but on the other hand, the Fit Bit seems to recognize that I'm a restless sleeper (was restless eight times last night)

I also like that I can look at the Fit Bit dashboard on my phone and see where I am with my eating plan and activity plan for the day. After a couple of weeks, I should be able to identify trends with the goal of improving my health.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think?

Fresh starts and motivation

I’ve exercised regularly most of my adult life. Some of that is because I served in the Army, sure, because physical fitness is part of the culture plus everyone gets regular fitness tests. You'd get written up if you didn't pass and those test scores counted in the promotion boards. So we all worked out.

But I wouldn’t say I was ever all that dedicated; in Basic mostly I just wanted to be done. We did PT every single day and we did old school exercises like squat thrusts and push-ups and five mile runs in our combat boots. I picked up the habit of sort of phoning in the exercises, not really paying attention to things like how I stood or held my back or anything like that. At that point I wasn't working out for me, I was working out because I had to. Unfortunately I carried that attitude into my workouts for a long time.

But I did work out pretty regularly for years after that. My mother had lots of exercise tapes back in the VHS days, so I had lots to choose from when I visited my folks. And she was very generous and often got me a copy of the ones I really liked. Those Jane Fonda workouts were pretty good, to be honest. They included a lot of aerobics, usually 20 to 60 minute workouts, plus later tapes incorporated free weights too. But then everything moved to DVD, except those Fonda tapes. For whatever reason, Warner didn't release her workout tapes on DVD. So I struggled a bit and sort of sputtered to an on-again-off-again routine, not consistent and regular.

Almost seven years ago, something changed for me. Don't get me wrong, I was no more of a sluggard than I’d ever been. It’s just that I’d undergone the sixth of the seven abdominal surgeries I’ve had and my belly was done fighting with gravity. I realized that I had to make a change or else I was going to end up with the worst case of grandma belly in the world—and I wasn’t a grandmother.

So I begged my best friend to go to Pilates classes with me at our company's fitness center, and she did. I started to realize that how I did those exercises actually mattered, and how often I did them mattered as well. Slowly, slowly I got a bit stronger. I think it took about six months before I could do a roll up with no modifications (Kerry cheered for me in that class). The Pilates class was only offered once a week at our gym, so I started doing yoga once a week too. I tried step aerobics (and felt very klutzy), zumba (which was far too free form for this child of Jane Fonda's grapevines), the treadmill (too boring) and the elliptical bike (always crowded). But I stuck with the Pilates and yoga.

And my work paid off. Just eight months later, I had the seventh (and I hope final) surgery. I recovered so much faster, even my poor abused/severed belly muscles. I have mostly stayed faithful to regular work outs over the last five years—I got in the habit of three strength workouts and three aerobic workouts every week, I’d switch them up so I wouldn’t get bored, although doing the same tapes over and over can get stale. I also picked up running while still living in Kansas City. That filled the gap of no good aerobic workouts that are not interval training, and last 30+ minutes. Living in Boston meant I had to find alternatives to running during the winter months, so I have a couple of not very good aerobic workouts—yes, I still miss those Fonda workouts. I flat won’t run on snow and ice, and I won’t pay for a gym membership either. I think it's the height of silliness to pay to work out, then have to get to the gym, change clothes, work out, change again and then get home. No thanks.

In the last two years, I’ve struggled with motivation. I fell pretty badly right after we flooded in 2009 and screwed up my elbow. That, in turn, affected any work out with free weights. I got utterly tired of my two yoga and Pilates DVDs (I’ve had them for seven years now). And then this past year, I just sort of started phoning in the workouts again.

But the thing is, I still have weak abs and that will never change. I can’t just rest on my laurels of having gotten fit and then do nothing to maintain that fitness. And I’ve had enough of phoning it in. I didn’t wait for the start of the new year. Two weeks ago, I started back up again. Yes, those same workouts are boring, so I ordered another DVD. According to the reviews on Amazon, this is a 40 minute aerobic torture test by Jillian Michaels. I will tell you, I got spoiled in years past with those Fonda workouts, but they still aren’t available on DVD. Since the current fad is to do short interval aerobic training I’m kind of excited to have found a 40 minute aerobic workout. Of course I haven’t done that one yet so I may change my story. Stay tuned for a review.

Groan

I've had seven major abdominal surgeries and after the sixth one I really got serious about getting and staying fit. The seventh surgery was to repair incisional hernias I had from all the other surgeries, and I have a synthetic mesh in my abdomen as part of that repair. Two years ago, I tore scar tissue away from the mesh while doing some intense yoga--as my surgeon said, in a battle between scar tissue and mesh, the mesh wins every time. It's never fully healed so I pay attention and modify a couple of abdominal exercises so I don't strain that spot too much. But I only need to modify a couple, generally ones that involve using both legs straight and raising and lowering them--that movement just puts too much stress on the scar tissue and I get immediate pain when I do it. But I can do pretty much all of my workouts without modification. As I said yesterday, I'm pretty fit now or so I thought.

I did the Core Cross Train DVD this morning and I'm going to feel it all day. Heck I feel it now. I had to modify quite a bit and not because of my mesh/scar tissue problem but because these exercises are hard. Whew. I can already feel my legs and it's not even 9:30 AM. Tomorrow's run should be . . . interesting.

I'll be doing this workout more, I intend to conquer it.

New running shoes

I've read a few articles lately that discuss how modern shoes tend to do our feet, knees and legs no favors because we end up with very weak foot muscles. This makes sense to me because when Kent and I spent a week on Little Gasparilla Island off the west coast of Florida a few years ago, I took very long bare-foot walks along the shore and had the sorest muscles in my toes! I didn't even know I had muscles like that there.

Yoga—and to a lesser extent Pilates—has strengthened my feet a lot. In yoga, you really use your toes, arch muscles and the entire foot in the various poses, while in Pilates, you are constantly pointing your toes. So my feet are much stronger. But my running shoes don’t let me use my feet when I run, and I feel very disconnected from the pavement.

My dear friend, Laura Haney, runs barefoot for just this reason (see also here). She’s struggled with knee issues a lot and the bare-foot running has ended all that. Well I am a bit vain about my feet and don’t want huge ol' calluses plus to be honest with you, I would never ever ever run barefoot in Boston. You just never know what you’ll step on! So this week I got a pair of Nike Free 5.0.

They are very different shoes, I’ve run in them once so far and so far I really like them. It will take some getting used to, feeling the pavement this way and really using my feet when I run. But I think it’s good for my feet, my knees and my entire body.