These are a few of my favorite things*

I love being active as much as possible.  And I like working out in the traditional sense, but honestly, being stuck in a gym isn't exactly my idea of a great time. So when I'm relegated to the gym (which is most days, especially during the week), I like to make my workouts as quick an efficient as possible.  That means doing high intensity moves that work multiple muscle groups at once. (It also means not spending a lot of time lollygagging between sets.  Which is why I'm always happy when there's no one else at my gym at 5:30 a.m.  No waiting for a weight or awkwardly having to figure out the best place to do deadlifts so that my ass isn't in someone's face.)

I've got about 50 of my "go-to" workouts saved in the notes app on my iPhone (I hate that you can't scroll through notes on the new iOS, so I may need to rethink this system soon...). What do all of my go-to's have in common? They all include one or more of my favorite exercises (and free weights.  Free weights make me feel badass):

• Push press: I love working my shoulders, and these make them scream.
• Burpees: These seem to be the "it" exercise lately, and for good reason.  They're a great full body workout with some cardio thrown in to boot.
• Manmakers: These make me want to cry.  In a good way.  Usually. A combo of push ups, renegade rows, squats, cleans, and push presses, this one has it all.  And kills me every time.
• Dumbbell snatches:  I love these.  They make me feel powerful, and also really wake up my muscles in the morning.
• Squat jumps: These make my legs buuuuuuurn.  They'll totally make you toilet sore the next day.
• Walking lunges (or walking lunches, as my sister and I call them): These don't feel that bad when you're doing them, but they'll make you work (and let you stroll around the gym and make some friends at the same time).
• Bench (or box) jumps: A quick burst of cardio and a great, explosive leg workout all in one.

When I'm at home and I'm feeling particularly slovenly while watching TV on the couch, I like to sneak in some moves. My favorites let me get my muscles working while also not making me miss part of my show:

• Planks (and plank variations, especially Spiderman planks and reverse planks): There are so many different varieties of planks and they're such an easy exercise to do (easy as in don't take a lot of coordination or any equipment, not that they don't make you work).
• Supermans (or is the plural Supermen?): A great way to work your back, plus you get to lay down on the floor.
• Pushups: I remember doing pushups in 6th grade gym class (which was in our cafeteria for some reason) with a few other girls and my gym teacher commenting that I was the only one doing them right.  I felt so special! Now, it makes me feel strong if I can do more than 10 in a row.
• Triceps dips: Triceps are a favorite part of mine to work.  And these are so easy - just use your couch or a chair.  Put your legs straight out to focus more on your triceps, or bend your legs to take some pressure off your arms.
• Squats: If you don't mind bouncing up and down a bit while you're trying to watch TV, these are perfect.  Or, you could always just keep sitting down and getting up from your chair.
• Calf raises: I always forget to work my calves.  I mean, I'm sure that I work them all the time throughout the day, but I usually forget to specifically target them.  So it's always good to get in a little extra calf work. 

I'll randomly plop down on the floor to do a few reps of an exercise or get in a good stretch while Olivia Benson's chasing down a predator or Phil Dunphy's being Phil.  I gets some weird looks from whomever I'm watching TV with me (especially the dog), but hey, I like to multitask.

So, what are you favorite moves?  I've always got my eye out for other exercises to work into the rotation.  I get bored easily, so switching it up often helps keep my mind and my body guessing. 

*I've actually never seen The Sound of Music...

An ode to my Crock Pot

I can't remember when or where I bought it, or even what possessed me to buy it.  They're things that working moms use.  Not me.

But I bought one. 

And every year when the weather starts to turn chilly, I break it out.

It's kind of dirty and dingy, and has a dent in it.  Probably from shoving something else into the overstuffed cabinet (I have the most poorly designed kitchen cabinets I've ever seen), pushing it further and further back during the summer months.

I load it up with pork shoulder and good barbeque sauce. 

Or veggies and meat and potatoes and stock.

Or apple cider and spices.

I turn it on and let it do its thing.  It will take a long time until it's ready.  In the meantime, it will make the house smell wonderful.

My Crock Pot is one of my go-to's in when the weather gets cooler.  (Much like Kleenex, Crock Pot is actually a brand name.  A company called Jarden makes them.  They also make Ball jars and Rawlings sports equipment and matches and playing cards and Mr. Coffee and fishing rods and Coleman camping gear.  (And yes, I knew all of those off the top of my head - don't ask.) Slow cooker is the general term for the product category.)

It so simple (even a caveman can do it).  Throw a bunch of stuff in it and turn it on.  Maybe stir occasionally. 

In 4-8 hours, depending on how high I set it, I have a hearty, scrumptious meal that will last throughout most of the week.  And it doesn't require slaving over a hot stove or setting off smoke detectors. 

I've made pulled pork (which lasted forever!), stews, chili, all different types of soup.  For Christmas every year, we use it for mulled cider.  The "warm" setting is perfect when you want to keep going back for more.

I've always wanted to try to make breakfast in it.  But that requires it to be on overnight.  My husband won't let me leave it on when we're out of the house (which seems to defeat the whole purpose...), so I'm not sure an overnight cook would be welcomed.

The great part about it is that you don't need a complicated recipe.  Sure, I've looked up slow cooker recipes online to get a feel for what you can do, but it's such an easy way to experiment with different ingredients.  Just throw in whatever sounds good to you, add enough liquid to cover it (watch out though - you will end up with more liquid than you started with.  Cornstarch and flour are you friends.), and let 'er rip.  

You can even add pasta or rice to finish it off, just do it toward the end of cooking.  It will also absorb a TON of the liquid, so make sure you don't add too much. (I learned that the hard way after a soup turned into more of a slurry.  But it was still yummy.)

And, if you have no cooking skills, that's okay, because the slow cooker does all the work for you.

So, while I generally hate when the weather starts getting colder, and while it seems to happen way too quickly and fall seems to last for only a day, I do love that it means it's Crock Pot time.  And, since I don't mind eating the same thing for days in a row, it makes planning my meals for the week super simple. 

I'd say I've definitely gotten my money's worth on this one. 

The perils of gardening

File this under "things that could only happen to me." 

I hurt myself gardening. 



Yes, you read that right.  Gardening.  That thing that old women do.  That kids do.  That Michelle Obama does.

You're probably thinking that it's easy to hurt yourself gardening. You could drop a shovel on your foot or swing a trowel into your leg or cut your arm pulling weeds or something.  

That's not at all what happened to me.  Heck, I'd probably be happy to brag about it if that's what happened to me.

Maybe this is why I live in an apartment in a decidedly urban environment with no plants. (I tried once.  They died. Womp womp.)  And, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that my last attempt at gardening, when I was maybe five, yielded two puny carrots and a tomato or two. 

Clearly, I do not have a green thumb and should stay far away from gardens. 

But, I felt like doing something good and being outside while doing it, so I signed up for a park cleanup last weekend. When I arrived, I found out that we'd be weeding and planting bulbs.  Both of these things sounded relatively easy, and I was pretty sure that they wouldn't give us something to do that we could majorly screw up, and it was a gorgeous fall day right on the water, so I was excited to get started. 

One of the volunteers who had clearly done this many times before gave me a quick run down of what I needed to do. (Dig down to get the weeds by the roots.  Don't pull the stuff that's not actually a weed.  Throw weeds in the garbage bag. Repeat.) I grabbed what looked like a flat hand shovel (which apparently is called a Cape Cod weeder), he handed  me a pad to kneel on and a trash bag to throw the weeds in, and sent me on my way.  

Turns out, those weeds really wanted to be in the ground. It took a lot of digging and pulling to get them out, and the whole time I was thinking that it was a really good workout. Eventually, as weeds started to get cleared, I moved around to different parts of the garden.  

It's at this point that I decided the little kneeling pad was too much of a pain to schlep around.  I also, for some reason, decided that it was a bad idea just to kneel in the mulch.  Which is strange, because I have no aversion at all to getting a bit dirty. 

So, my solution was to just squat the whole time.  More specifically, to squat with my butt resting on my ankles and my knees fully bent (kind of like these guys).  I did this as I weeded, and as I spread peat moss, and as I planted bulbs. I did this for probably about 2.5 to 3 hours, all in.

This was a really bad idea. 

After my volunteer project was over, I went home and got showered up and headed to a six year old birthday party.  I didn't stretch or anything because, well, it was only gardening. 

This was also a really bad idea. 

After sitting in the car for about a half hour on the way to my in-laws' to drop the dog off, my knees started to feel a little bit tight, especially my left one.  When I got out of the car and started walking, it felt like my knees were going to buckle if I made any sudden movements.  And it was really difficult to bend them.  But they weren't swollen at all.  It just felt like the muscles responsible for stabilizing and bending them didn't want to work together. 

So, I took a few Advil and carried on with my day.  

Back into the car for an hour ride to the party.  Sitting for most of the three hours at the party.  Back into the car for another hour ride to pick the dog up. 

As the night wore on, my knees started to feel worse.  To the point where it was incredibly uncomfortable to keep them in one position for a long time.  And I almost totally face planted when I got up to get more sushi. I hobbled into my in-laws' house at the end of the night and feebly flopped on the couch, attempting to stretch whatever it was that was bothering me, to no avail. 

So, I took more Advil and we headed home.

By the time we got back to our apartment 45 minutes later, I was walking like Frankenstein's monster - stiff legged and incredibly slow.  It honestly took me about five minutes to get my boots off and change out of my jeans into sweats. 

I decided to get down on the floor to stretch and foam roll.  Only after I made it down did I wonder how the hell I was going to get back up. (The answer: very slowly.  I had to use my hands to physically bend my knees.) 

As my final course of treatment for the night, I hauled myself onto the couch, strapped an ice pack on to each knee, and used The Stick.  I went to bed resigned to the fact that I was going to be in pain and out of commission for at least a few days. 

You can imagine my surprise when I woke up the next morning able to walk (almost) totally normally again.  Sure, my knees still felt a little unstable and I made sure to take it easy, but holy wow!  I almost wondered if the previous day had been all in my head.  By the next day, it was like nothing had ever been wrong. 

And I have no idea what actually happened.  Or what I did to fix it.  Or really how to avoid it in the future.

So, what's the moral of this story?  I don't know that there really is one.  Maybe listen to little old women who know what they're doing when it comes to gardening and kneel or sit?  Or that ice, Advil, The Stick and a good night's sleep can cure most ailments? Or that gardening is actually a lot of work and shouldn't be scoffed at?

I do know one thing.  Next time I garden, I'll be sure to actually kneel down.  No more squatting for hours.  I'm too old for this shit.

Why I exercise

In a recent interview with Shape Magazine, Kate Hudson said “There’s no way a woman gets up to work out at 6:30 a.m. just for the mood boost. She wants to fit into her jeans and look fantastic too.” 

I generally like Kate Hudson. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a great movie.  

And she's definitely got a point.  But I think she's missing a big part of the equation.  Yes, everyone wants to fit into their jeans and look fantastic.  But, there are so many more benefits to working out and being active on a regular basis than just the size of your clothes. 

What are they?*

A clear(er) head. There's a lot going on in my head, at all times.  Most of it has absolutely nothing to do with what's actually going on in the real world.  It takes a lot of mental energy to sort through it all.  But when I'm strength training, everything else gets a little quieter.  I'm much more able to be in the moment and focus on the task at hand and clear my head for a little while. And I've found that long cardio sessions are the perfect time to sort through my thoughts, mentally prep for the day ahead, or decompress from a long week. 
 
Me time.  Or time to interact.  I get to choose what kind of workouts I want to do.  So, if I'm in a particularly social mood, I can take a class or meet up with a friend to go rock climbing.  But if I feel like I need some me time (of which I need a lot), I can shove my earbuds in and jam to my music while tuning out the outside world (I may or may not randomly start dancing in the gym on occasion).  Or pop in a DVD and do an at-home yoga workout.

Energy. Working out is work and it wears me out.  But in the best way possible.  And in a way that allows me to have energy when I need it throughout the day and a great sleep at night.  Are there days when I feel like falling asleep at my desk?  Definitely.  Are there nights when I toss and turn for hours?  For sure.  But, on the whole, I definitely have more energy when I'm living an active lifestyle than I ever did when I was generally sedentary.

Strength and independence. For some unknown reason, we have one of those water coolers in our office that uses the 5 gallon jugs of water (which, according to the internet, weigh about 40 pounds each), instead of the kind that just taps into the building's water system.  Our office is rather large, so we go through a lot of water a day.  At least twice a week, the water jug is empty when I go to fill my water bottle or make tea.  So, I have to replace it.  A few years ago, I don't think I would have been able to lift the 40 pound jug and maneuver it onto the water cooler.  But now, I'm more than happy to do it myself.  I can even say "no thanks, I got it" to my male co-workers who offer to do it for me.  (Is that rude?) And, I can bring all the groceries in by myself on one trip, lift a heavy box, move furniture, etc., etc., etc.  

A clear conscience. I know some people get really mad when someone says "hey, I was going to eat that ice cream cone anyway, so at least I worked out this morning."  But it's totally true.  If I really want ice cream (or a donut or bread or wine or cheese or...), and its not just because I'm bored or depressed or something, I'm going to eat ice cream.  Depriving myself only makes me want it more.  But I generally feel so much better about it if I know that I already did something good for myself that day - be it a full-on workout or just a long walk.  

A larger (smaller) wardrobe.  Like I said, Kate Hudson definitely has a point.  Not only has working out made me lose weight and fit into a smaller clothing size, more importantly, it's made me feel better about the clothes that I wear. I no longer want to wear baggy clothes that just make me look bigger and miserable (well, most of the time.  Although I do love a good pair of sweats).  Now I want to wear things that show off my favorite features and that have shape to them.  I want to look better so I feel better.  And I'm no longer dragging my too big pants on the ground and having to hike them up all the time (thank God for wide hips or those things would have fallen to the ground on more than one occasion).

Does getting up at 5:15 in the morning or making time to be active on the weekend sometimes suck?  You betcha!  

But is it worth it?  Totally. 

Not only does my body feel better on a day that I'm active, but my crazy mind is able to slow down, if only for a little bit, and I'm able to really connect with myself. And to me, that's worth the pre-dawn wake-up calls.

*I'm sure there are as many different reasons to work out as there are people that do it.  But these are what get me to the gym or the park or the streets on a regular basis.

Om it out

The word meditation used to make me cringe and think of tie-dye t-shirts.  It just sounded so crunchy and so barefoot.  And I am definitely not crunchy and barefoot.  (It also made me think of Lost (RIP).  Namaste, Dr. Chang.)

While I still hate to say it out loud, because I think it makes me sound pretentious, I've actually been meditating (almost) every morning for a while now.  

I was wrong.  It's not at all crunchy.  It's actually something that I really look forward to. 

Now, let me get one thing straight.  I am be no means an expert at meditating.  I cannot sit in a meditative state for hours on end.  Or really even for more than a second or two.  My mind wanders, a lot.  

But that's okay.  I've learned that the important thing is being able to bring my mind back to the present, no matter how far it may wander.   

Meditating is a great way for me to start my day.  The calm before the storm, if you will.  It allows me some time to touch base with myself, my thoughts, my body.  And, it's something that I can come back to throughout the day, if needed. 

You know how sometimes, when you're freaking out, and someone tells you to just breathe, you kind of want to punch them in the face?  Because, obviously, you've been breathing your whole life so why would you stop now and you think it's the least helpful advice ever? 

Well, what they really mean is to take a deep, meditative breath.  Then another.  And repeat until you naturally calm down.  It honestly does work. When I meditate, I can feel myself calming down and relaxing.  I can feel the tension leaving my shoulders, if only for a few minutes.  Not to mention that meditation offers a plethora (love that word) of health benefits.

The best part about meditation?  You can pretty much do it anywhere.  You don't need any special equipment or instructions or even a great deal of time.  Once you get the hang of it, you can be meditating while you're walking, doing yard work,  or sitting at your desk staring at the clock and willing it to be 6 p.m. already. (I probably wouldn't recommend a full-blown meditation if you're driving or operating heavy machinery, but you can totally rock some deep breathing exercises.)

So what do you need to start a meditation practice?  Well, I'm so glad you asked.  Here are some tips from a (relative) newbie who is by no means an expert and is only sharing what's worked so far for her: 

• A technique that works for you.  There are many different kinds of meditation.  Many. Just like with anything else, you need to find one that's right for you and your lifestyle, or else you're not going to stick with it.  Try them out.  Go on some bad first dates with different techniques.  Eventually, you'll find one or two or five that you love and that work for you.  
• Consistency.  Like anything, if you want to establish a habit, you need to do it consistently for a period of time (be it two weeks or 60 days).  Now, let's be honest.  There are days when I'm running late because my pants are wrinkled and the dog took too long to poop and I forgot to make my lunch the night before.  On those days, sometimes I skip my morning meditation.  But, overall, I make an effort to consistently meditate for as long as possible before heading off to work in the morning, even if it's only for five minutes.  And if I can't get it done in the morning, I might take a short afternoon break and go to the park for a quick meditation.  Just like with establishing any habit, it's all about figuring out what works for you and then doing it.
• A ritual. When you're starting out building a habit, it helps to keep things as structured as possible.  I recommend finding a quiet, comfortable spot to meditate.  Tell your roommate not to interrupt you, set the dog up with his favorite chew toy so he'll give you some peace.  Find a good spot to sit - I like to sit somewhere comfortable, with plenty of back support, that's dark and cool.  Light a candle if you want.  Whatever you need to do to feel relaxed and comfortable and open to the experience.
• Quiet. Or at least a dull drone of consistent noise.  I tend to get distracted very easily, so I like to use one of several apps on my iPhone to create ambient noise.  Sometimes I even use an app that offers guided meditations.  It all depends on how I'm feeling that day.  My favorites are Calm, Take a Break, Sleep Pillow, and Relax Melodies. (Yes, I have at least four apps for meditating on my phone...)  At the very least, you should find a relatively calm, quiet, peaceful place to meditate.
• An open and forgiving mind. Meditation may sound like hooey or something that's just not for you.  You might think that you're bad at it.  Your mind might wander to far ends of the earth instead of repeating your mantra.  You might get distracted or antsy. It's okay. Don't get discouraged.  Don't beat yourself up. Keep at it.  Breathe deeply and take stock of what's going on in your body.  You'll get amazing benefits just by showing up and devoting the time. 

Most mornings, you can find me sitting on my couch (or the floor if it's a gym day and I'm all sweaty), a pillow supporting my back, feet flat on the floor, palms on my thighs, headphones firmly jammed in my ears, meditating for 5-20 minutes while my dog wonders when I'll get up and give him a treat.  Try it out and let me know how it goes - I'm promise, it will be one of the best things you do for yourself all day (or your money back).

Intuitively failing

Intuitive eating (IE) is all the rage these days. It’s the non-diet that basically says FU to diets and instead focuses on listening to your body and feeding it what it wants. You really want ice cream for dinner every day this week? Go ahead and eat ice cream for dinner every day this week, says IE. Just stop when your body says stop, and take the time to really observe what you’re feeling as you eat, how each bite tastes, and what your body is telling you.

The theory basically goes that if you eat what you really want and really pay attention to how it’s making you feel, you’ll eat less of it, be more satisfied, be fueling your body better with the foods that it needs, and eventually will start to re-learn your hunger signals. It’s supposed to be going back to how you ate when you were a kid. Despite your parents telling you to stay at the table until your plate was clean, you knew when you were full. Despite your parents saying you couldn’t have seconds, you knew when you were still hungry.

(Just like anything, there are rules - this is not 'Nam, this is bowling (warning: language!) - to IE (10 of them, to be exact). I’m way oversimplifying the theory, and I actually think that it’s a really good, sound practice, in my non-expert opinion.)

I first learned about IE on a blog, and thought that it was an interesting concept. I then read the complete book and was intrigued (and amused – I read the older version because it was cheaper, and some of the examples are pretty out of date!). At that point in life, I had been using a meal delivery service five days a week for over a year, and while it was convenient and I lost weight using it, it was expensive and I was getting bored. I wanted to eat like a real person again! So, I decided to give IE a try.

Actually, I kind of decided to just give living intuitively a try. And (spoiler alert), I’m kind of both failing and succeeding at it at the same time. How’s that for not at all intuitive?

It is hard. Having to really listen to your body and decided what you want to eat, or what kind of workout you want to do, or when you should go to sleep is really exhausting.

Take eating for example. Usually I bring my lunch to work, because it’s economical and healthier. In reality, that’s not at all eating intuitively. Because I can’t know until I’m hungry what I’m hungry for. I should really bring options, so that I can eat what my body needs. So I totally fail on that point.

On the days that I don’t bring my lunch, by the time it’s late enough to get something to eat (if it were appropriately adult, I’d eat lunch at like 10:30 most days. As it is, I usually eat at noon on the dot.), I’m usually pretty hungry and just go with one of my standbys. Again, healthy meal, but not really intuitive eating if I don’t take the time to figure out what it is I want. And then I go ahead and eat the whole meal. Most of the time, it’s just enough food, but even if it’s too much, I hate throwing it out. Fail again.

And then there’s sweets. I’m obsessed with the froyo place near work (and it’s like a 6 block walk, so I tell myself that I earned it by walking there…) and there’s a chocolate chip cookie in a mug that I’m crazy about with at home. I always eat entirely too much of both. Both taste soooo yummy at the time. Both always make my stomach want to jump out of my body and beat me over the head. Yet I still eat each of them fairly often. Fail.

Obviously, I’m not doing super well at this whole intuitive thing. It apparently takes much more of a concerted effort than I’m willing to give to be good at it 100% of the time. But I think that I’m getting it right at least some of the time, and I’ve been happier and healthier in the last few months since I started than I have been for years. Maybe the way to become better at being intuitive about your body is to just let it intuitively happen. Maybe it’s one of those things that you can’t teach and can’t really learn, but that just clicks into place one day.

Maybe it just hasn’t totally clicked for me yet. But I’m getting there. I skipped the gym this morning because I was out late and tired, and sometimes you need sleep more than you need an arm workout. And I’m going to get froyo in a few instead of eating the grapefruit that’s been sitting on my desk for the past two days. Because sometimes you just have to do what your body wants at the time, and accept the fact that your body will hate you for it later.

Why I won't be running a marathon (at least not anytime soon)

I've run numerous 5K's, 10K's, and various length mud runs, and have logged plenty of miles on my own over the past few years.  This year alone, I completed my first and second half marathons.

So, logic would dictate that next up for me would be a full marathon.

Except I have absolutely no interest in running a marathon.

Honestly, I really don't have much interest in running another half, although I'm sure that I'll be talked into it at some point in life.

But a full is another story altogether.  I know that I should probably feel ashamed to even admit this out loud.  A marathon is every runner's goal.  When you start running, you run so that you can eventually run New York.  And you dream about running Boston.

Maybe I'm a bad runner.  Or maybe I lack the motivation that it takes to want those things.

But I know how I felt training for and running two half marathons.  And I know how my body feels when I'm just running for fun or training for a 10K.  And they're two totally different feelings.  One is a feeling of strength and freedom and calm.  The other is a feeling of dread and pain and loathing.

Can you guess which is which?

Running is hard on my body.  I'm not the thinnest or fastest person, and I have bad knees (three ACL surgeries, two before I was a sophomore in high school), ankles that crack if I move them wrong, and tight hips that pop when I stand up (I'm like a bowl of Rice Krispies whenever I move).  And plantar fasciitis that only gets progressively worse when I train for long distances.

Training to run 13.1 miles takes its toll on me.

And not only physically.  It's mental too.  It takes a lot to motivate myself to run 4 or 5 days in a week, especially when that means my beloved strength training will have to fall by the wayside.  It takes even more effort if I have to do any of those runs on a treadmill.  I am mentally incapable of running more than 3 miles on a treadmill at any given time.

So why would I subject myself to double that pain?  Double that agony?  Just to run double that distance? Just so that I can say I did?

I may not be the most self aware person in the world, but I know my shortcomings.  I know where I need to draw the line.  And running anything over 13.1 miles is one of them.  

Heck, running anything over a 10K should really be where I draw that line.

But I have a habit of letting myself get talked into doing thing.  Most of the time, they turn out to be fun.  Most of the time.

And sure, running two halfs had its fun moments.  Like the bagels at the end of the last half (who knew Cosi had such great bagels?).

But I will not let myself be talked into running a full.  Now, never say never and all that good stuff.  On the off chance that I ever did decide to run a marathon, it will be because its something that I want to do for myself.  Because I feel like I'm capable of it. 

Not because someone pressured me into doing it.  Badgered me until I said yes just to get them to shut up.  Somehow convinced me that it would be fun.

I'm a runner when I'm running regularly and I'm not a runner when I'm not running regularly.  When I'm not a runner, I'm a weight lifter or a yogi or a Nike Training Club fanatic or an at-home fitness junky.  And that's fine with me.

I don't need to always be a runner. 

And I don't need to run 26.2 miles to be a runner.

Just lacing up my shoes and getting out there, for however long, makes me a runner.  And when I get home and take my shoes off, I become many other things.  Chef, office worker, sister, wife, dog mommy, strength trainer, burpee lover, outdoor junky.

26.2 miles aren't going to change that.

Plantar fasciitis is no joke

If there's one thing that any runner doesn't want to experience, it's an injury.  Or really, I guess nobody wants to experience an injury.  But, when it happens while you're training for a big race, or a big event, it can really throw a wrench in your training.  And your life.  Sometimes, with a small injury, you can just suck it up and power through and it will eventually start to feel better.  This method is probably not really recommended.  Most times, rest, ice, and other treatments are necessary.

But, what are you supposed to do if your injury is something that there's no real treatment for?  Where the most common recommendation is "try not to run or walk on hard surfaces too much for a while, and try not to be on your feet a lot"?

Welcome to the world of plantar fasciitis. In case you don't know what plantar fasciitis is (and why would you?), it's an incredibly painful inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is the ligament on the sole of your foot that goes from your heel toward your toes and supports your arch.  Plantar fasciitis is most commonly caused by overuse (like if you run or are on your feet a lot), and can also be a problem for those that are overweight.  Your foot generally doesn't get a ton of blood flow, so the inflammation takes an unusually long time to heal itself.

Plantar fasciitis is most common in middle-aged people.

Apparently, my foot didn't get that memo.

It all started several years ago, when I was fresh out of college.  I had just started working, was regularly wearing heels and walking a lot (two things I hadn't previously done), and I started to have a lot of problems in my left foot.  I went and saw a few doctors, got a few cortisone shots (those things are a god-send), and was feeling better.

Until a few years later, when the same foot started acting up again.  This time, it was very localized to the area where the heel meets the arch.  And it was very painful, especially when I first got up in the morning, or the first few steps after I'd been sitting for a while.  I went to the doctor, and was told it was plantar fasciitis.  I really had no idea what that was, expect that it really hurt!  We tried medications and shots, I was given stretches and strengthening activities to do.  They helped a little bit, but I was still in pain.  Finally, my doctor suggested I try a shockwave therapy.  I honestly have no idea how it works, but I do remember that they put you under anesthesia for it.  And I remember that it started to wear off in the middle of the procedure.  And that whatever they were doing hurt! (And that the billing and insurance process was a huge pain in the ass.)  But I didn't care.  Because once the pain from the procedure went away, I felt great again.  I was cured!

Or so I thought.

Until I started running again.  Actually, it didn't happen when I first started running.  It happened about a year or so later, when I started training for my first half marathon.  In preparation, I went to a local running store that analyzes your gait and suggests the proper shoe for you.  Well, they suggested a minimalist shoe.  I bought a pretty pair of Brooks and proceeded to train in them.  In addition, I was walking to and from work on an almost daily basis - about two miles each way.  So I was on my feet a lot.

That's when my plantar fasciitis started flaring up again, big time.  I thought that it was just an inevitable thing that I'd have to deal with whenever I ran, so I sucked it up and finished the training and the race.

After the half, I gave myself and my foot a rest from running.  Not complete abstinence, but I was only running for pleasure at that point.  No more than five miles or so at a time, twice a week, at most.  But I was still walking a lot.  So, while my foot felt marginally better, it never really got back to having no pain.

Then, I signed up for another half marathon.  In preparation, I decided to get custom fit insoles for my sneakers, figuring they might give me some more padding and help support my foot.  So, I headed off to Road Runner Sports where the Shoe Dog (how cute is he!) and his human coworker analyzed my feet.

Apparently, the minimalist shoes that I'd been wearing were all wrong for my feet and my stride. I have very high arches, so they need support.  I also tend to strike with my heels first, which explains why the heels of all of my shoes wear much faster than the rest of them.  (And apparently I run very straight, which explains why the back of my ankles are always filthy after a run. I kick myself a lot.)

The new shoes and the custom insoles helped a bit (and my right foot felt nice and comfy with them), but they weren't the cure that I was expecting.  Although I don't really know why I was expecting them to cure my plantar fasciitis. 

I trained for and ran the half marathon with heel pain in my left foot almost every step of the way.

To be fair, most of the time, whether I'm walking or running, the pain subsides quite substantially once I get going and I can power through the dull ache.  By that time, the rest of my body is usually aching anyway.  But man, those first few steps out of the gate, whether it be getting out of bed, starting a run, or getting up from my desk, can be torturous.  And slow.  Little old ladies with their walkers could move faster than I do.

But it's not even the pain and the slowness that bother me so much.  It's that I change how I walk or run to mitigate it.  So, eventually, my knee starts to hurt, my hips ache, my muscles get tight.

I've tried the stretching.  It feels good, but I'm not sure it's doing anything.

I've tried a night brace.  It annoys me too much most of the time to keep it on.  It's big and cumbersome and with two people and a dog in the bed, can get really hot.  The nights that I can keep it on, it helps a little, but not a ton.

Ice helps, at least for a bit.

A foot massage ball is great, but can be really painful.

When it really hurts, I'll take some ibuprofen.  But that's not a great long-term solution.

Since I finished my most recent half, I've cut way back on the running, in hopes that it will help me stop limping around every time I get up from a chair.  So far, no dice.

So I now have a decision to make.  The way I see it, I can either completely alter my lifestyle and cut out running and cut way down on walking until the pain has subsided, and then ease back into activity and hope it doesn't come back, or I can continue to suck it up and power through.  I guess a third option would be to see a doctor, but I'm afraid that they'll force me into choosing a path that I might not want to take.

I don't really know what the best thing is.  I like to have the freedom to do whatever workout I'm feeling like doing, and I really like to walk.  So for now, I'll probably just listen to my foot and do whatever it tells me it's up for.  And I'll be sure to keep plenty of ice packs and Advil on hand. 

Flying high above the sky

It's decided.  I'm quitting my job and joining the circus. 

Or maybe not. I don't know if living in tight quarters with elephants and clowns is really the best idea in the world.  Especially when I require lots of sleep and very specific hair care products. 

Why this sudden interest in the three-ringed world?  I took my first ever flying trapeze class the other day and surprisingly loved it. 

It probably shouldn't have been that surprising that I loved it.  It was my idea after all.  Nobody was holding a gun to my head and forcing me to do it (unlike the poor woman in my class who's husband made her do it and who was afraid of heights.  She barely made it through one flight before she sat the rest of the class out).  

I was actually really excited about doing it. 

Until the night before.  When I remembered that I hate falling and that flying through the air 30 feet off the ground would probably replicate that feeling pretty well. 

But, we had already signed up and paid our $70 (+$22 registration fee) for our 2-hour class at Trapeze School New York.  

So off we went on a (gorgeous) Sunday afternoon to the South Street Seaport. 

I honestly don't know what I was so worried about.  I volunteered to go second in our group, just to get that first fly over with.  We were hooked into a harness, with safety lines and incredibly knowledgeable (and awesome) instructors.  We pretty much just had to do whatever they said -  no real thinking involved on our part. 


At first we learned the leg hang - where you're flying upside down from the bar by your knees with your arms hanging down below you.  You start off holding on to the bar, then bring your knees through your arms and over the bar, before letting your hands go.  Just reverse the motion to come back upright and let go to float down to the net. 

The leg hang - just not with my arms down yet.
Look at me go!

I know, it sounds difficult.  I honestly didn't think that I'd be able to pull my legs up to the bar - that takes a lot of core strength on the ground!  

Except that it kind of doesn't in the air.  Gravity does a lot of the work for you. And the instructors do a lot of the work for you too - from the ground, they yell out the exact moment to move your body to get the biggest advantage from gravity and make your flight as easy as possible. (See, there's photographic proof above that I can do it!)

(The instructors did yell a lot while you were flying.  But that's because everything was extremely reliant on timing.  So they weren't mean yelling, just making sure that you heard them and did what they said.  One woman in our class did not like this part.  So it probably wouldn't be recommended for people that don't like being yelled at!)  

After we learned that basic flight, we built off of it.  First was the back flip dismount - which was admittedly slightly terrifying the first time I tried it.  I mean, I was flipping backwards and upside down in the air as the net was getting closer and closer!  But I mastered it (ha!) by the second try. 

Finally, we did a catch. Which was probably a lot of work for the instructor that was doing the catching, and really not so much work for us.  We just had to get in our knee hang and put our arms out and wait for the catcher to grab us.  You're supposed to let your knees go at that point, but honestly, I didn't have to consciously think of letting them go.  My legs just kind of followed along with the rest of my body. 

The catch.
In my mind, I looked a lot more graceful than I do in this picture. 
Apparently not.

After the catch, we had time to learn one more trick.  I'm not entirely sure what it was called, but it basically involved you getting into a position where you're pretty much face down, looking at the net as you let go and do a swan dive, arms and legs straight out (think Superman flying through the air). In a real trapeze act, this is part of a catch and someone's supposed to grab your outstretched arms as you let go.  In class, the instructor working the ropes on the harness just lowered you slowly down to the net. 

This was the one trick that actually really freaked me out.  I got into the correct position right as the instructor called for it, but when she called for me to hep (which is trapeze lingo for let go.  It's also the cue to jump off of the platform and start your fly.), I freaked out.  

I mean, I was face down staring at the net and logic told me the only way to go was straight down.  I finally let go on the second hep call, but instead of floating gracefully out in a superman pose, I kind of flailed around and landed on the net on my feet (which you're not really supposed to do.  You're supposed to kind of sit mid air and land on your butt). 

Not the best way to end my trapezing career.  

But I had a ton of fun.  And apparently snuck in a lot more exercise than I thought.  I woke up the next morning with incredibly sore arms and shoulders (like, muscles I didn't even know existed), bruises on my calves, and rope burn on my arm (which was totally my fault).

If it wasn't so expensive, I'd definitely want to fly more often. (Seriously, why do the fun workouts all have to be so freaking expensive?) The circus might not be in my future (I feel like allergies would be a real issue too), but maybe I could follow our instructor's lead and go work at Club Med?  (That's also apparently where the founder of TSNY got the idea for the school.)

I'm also happy to lend my expert knowledge to anyone who wants to take a trapeze lesson and is too afraid to go it alone.  Seriously, call me. I'll go whenever.