JCC 2021 Fitness Goals

I've been able to keep up my running pace for longer than before, but still room for improvement. I'm hoping to lose a little weight too (175 and about 6' 1''), so I'm hoping to continue to resist my usual indulgences. I got better before slacking slightly

 

I still drink every day, but I have cut back on the alcohol. Haven't been sith-faced in a while.

It's too cold for me to journey to the park very often. Last time I was there, I walked down the frozen river. lol. Spring starts around my birthday. I can't wait for warmer weather.

I make it a point to chat with people a little when I visit the store. When I'm in Denver in a couple weeks, I might do some restaurant hopping. Flight schedules are spread out, and I'll have plenty of free hours there.

ttyl

 

Good Luck @Obi Anne I am excited your doing the race!

 

Glad this thread got revived - I was going to ask the mods to make a new one. Anyways, I like to run but Im a sissy and the weather has to be warm for me to do it outside. I hate "dreadmills" so even though we have one I dont get near it much at all. In spring and summer I try to a 5K at least twice a week. Not much but mixed with walking, strength training and cycling it keeps me moving! I got in shape back in 2013 and have stayed there since. Lost a ton of weight and got off the blood pressure meds and avoided diabetes(I was close, lol).

So a few years ago I tried out and bought a water rower. The Concept 2 is also a very popular model but we liked the look of the water rower and the woosh of the water. Great machine. Once you get the hang of it you can get a great workout on a rowing machine. It seems easy at first but do it for a while. You'll see. It works most muscle groups and also gets yer heart pumping too. Most other exercises dont cover all the bases like that. So, if you havent tried one at a gym or whatever and have a chance - give it a try. My doctor loves them and she says its arguably the best full-body machine/workout you can do.

 

I got a bit of a wake up call yesterday. I have to pass a very intense fitness test in a couple of months. I won’t bore you with the details, but it involves two timed runs followed by a set amount of body-weight/lifting and carrying exercises.

I went to a local running track with my friend (he’s exceptionally fit) and we done the timed runs followed by the pull-ups etc. While my strength is still at a good level, my running is the worst it’s been in years. If I were to attempt the fitness test today, I would embarrass myself. The positive thing is that the test is in April and the snow has melted. So, I now have the motivation to get out and run every day. I find that I can get myself into good shape when I have a goal and a deadline to work towards.

 

Got a work out in with some weights yesterday that I found in my basement. I haven’t touched weights in years, but hey it won’t hurt to exercise something other than my legs

 

My goals for this year fitness wise are:

1. Run 2 Marathons this year (usually only run 1 since I was 18)
2. Improve my healthy eating habits

 

The snow and power outages in Texas put a one week pause in my schedule. I did a 12 mile run Monday with the temperature in the 20’s and a stiff wind. And that’s when I said screw this, will wait for things to get back to normal cold (40’s and above).

 

Make a plan and stick to it. Your running "wind" will come back soon.

 

I finally got out to run again after the icey weather on Thursday. I saw a few runners as early as Friday evening, but I don't know how they made it. Even today there is one extremely icey patch I had to walk each time I passed it on the main 1.25 mile lap of my neighborhood. The final time I even slipped, but since I was walking I didn't fall, just lost my balance and recovered. I can not tell you how many times I have lost my balance out there just walking, trying to scrape the ice off my sidewalk, and escorting my son to the mountains of ice the snow plow made where he enjoyed playing. I saw a grown woman and my son completely wipe out yesterday, luckily both of them were fine. Tomorrow we are supposed to have one last burst of snow in the morning, but it should change to rain by lunch and be 50 by Tuesday. Looking good for running in just under 48 hours!

 

32k steps today. Either gonna stop at 35k or 40k

Edit 35k now

 

I'm trying to increase my exercise regimen, but even so, I don't understand how I eat low carb, and I watch my portions, and I just don't lose weight.

 

35K? Where the hell are you going??? Thats awesome. We did a 3 mile walk this morning as its more mild here in old upstate, NY this week.

May I suggest treading carefully with the low carb thing? Thats not all its cracked up to be, especially long term. How much are you looking to lose if I may ask? Are you tracking calories?

 

This week has been great for running between 6 and 7 AM. It's light out. Next week is the last week I'll enjoy this light until about May. I am really dreading running in the dark again, even if it's only for about 4-6 weeks. I finally got a job where I get to see daylight more than 6 weeks a year and I still want more. Besides as a morning person I just never liked those summer nights when it's light past 9 PM. But I also know most everyone else loves them.

It's been 2 years since my surgery and my leg is holding up well. Yeah I had to take a year + off running and seeing my running friends from about Feb of '18 until August of '19 and I only got about 6 months of starting to feel like me again before this virus hit. I don't know when events can go back to normal, the Boston Marathon announced they would give medals to runners who can't make it to Boston. Obviously these runners qualified for the race and they still have to, on the honor system, be the ones wearing their watch to run 26.2 somewhere safely. But the running community which in my opinion can be a bunch of chauvinistic jerks, is all up in arms about it. I mean if you don't consider the medal "real" don't sign up for one. I don't know. I haven't run a Boston Qualifying time since '12. Luckily when I did run one my husband insisted I go run the marathon, so I can say I've done it. It's one of the few things I've gotten to do. I want to run NYC, but it's so ridiculously hard to get in and it's been cancelled twice in less than a decade with Sandy and now the virus, probably the virus has already cancelled it again this year. Which just makes the number of people who will enter the lottery when it does come back, well ridiculous. Also it's freakin' expensive to run NYC plus hotels that obviously raise their rates since they are in demand that weekend. Oh but what I wanted to say is I haven't really had a true race season since '17 and now it'll be '22 before I get to have one. Wow, see how smart my husband was to make sure I got to Boston when I had the chance! And I miss my running friends.

 

Okay, I did it. I walked the city streets, took my time on my way to the doctor, and then to the rail for my hotel. What a whacky place, Denver. It's good for your fitness.

Salvaggio's Deli. I got a 6", 4 cheese philly sub with horseradish mayo and extra red onions. Some kind of tomato. It was tasty and filling. I ate a little while there, took the rest with me and nibbled as I went.

The Corner Beet. Let's call it a... "wiccan coffee spot". Someone there recommended me a banana and peanut butter choco smoothie with expresso. The cup was small, but it didn't matter. While great, a little goes a long way, and I didn't drink it all. Server gals were friendly. I stood at the counter and talked LGBT issues. (I'll order something healthier next time)

I next ate at a place called the Moonlight Diner between Ramada and Hampton Inn, on the outskirts of town. Sleek blue and white 50's aesthetic. A quality poster of Marilyn Monroe smiles at customers. Attractive waitresses. I ordered an artichoke omelet. omg sooo good! And fairly healthy. Took it back to my hotel room and ate the rest for breakfast.

Three great choices in a row. But I made mistakes when eating at the airport today. I arrived early morning and started drinking. Maybe you'd drink too if you had to wait 10 hours for your flight. I walked into one restaurant (I won't say where), and a waiter zoomed over and gave me an obnoxious, pointless speech on where I could sit and couldn't sit, even tho there were little signs everywhere. I sat him down and explained that he had screwed with my vibe.

anyway. Stay fit, BYE

 

Trying to keep us positive without going into argh mode again because mom is finding it tricky to be positive (with her health issues, I get it). It is a challenge for us and we try to be each other’s cheerleaders, must work on my temper.

Meanwhile, still stretching and striving to eat better, and continue to know and believe our future is great. And I’ll keep working on this. I know we can have an awesome life, I’ve made this happen 4x in the past 14 years and I will do it again.

Hope everyone is okay.

 

We've got a warm spell here, forecast almost 60F tomorrow, so I hope to get out for a run instead of a walk. Fingers crossed.

 

For about a month now my right arm hurts whenever I try to lift anything heavy. I'm not sure if the problem is arthritic or muscular. If it's muscular, I probably overstrained it trying to do a few pull-ups weeks ago (they would have been pretty ugly, and I imagine I favoured my right arm). When I do some light bench-presses my shoulder screams in agony for the first few sets, then it seems to become less painful until I don't really feel it. I've tried not doing any strength work for a week, but that hasn't fixed the problem. It's frustrating.

 

Not being as active while I was working on site, I can relate (pulled several muscles in my arms, torso and ankles) and haven’t resumed the exercise videos yet.

Have you tried heat/cold on the areas? Hope you’re okay.

 

I've not. Not being able to pin the pain down to bone or muscle is tricky, and unlike my calf problem it's not obvious where to apply the heat/cold. I shoud probably go to the doctors, but I don't want to go to the doctors!

 

Honestly, you probably won’t like hearing this but I had a similar elbow issue and had to quit weights for almost a year for it to heal. It’s good now and I only do light weights these days but don’t hurt yourself and realize that it might just take time....and lots of it for your shoulder to recover. Of course, if it’s a strain or just tweaked then it won’t take as long. But if it’s in "agony" then Something is clearly amiss!

 

Sounds to me like you know what you need to do, even if you don't want to admit it. I understand a lot of doctors are "seeing" patients by Zoom to limit covid contact these days; maybe a remote appointment would be helpful?