On Training and Other Random Stuff

On Training and Other Random Stuff

Training for hours on end isn’t my cup of tea any more. Concentration, which counts for a lot, wavers early now. After all, marathon training is more about mental toughness than anything. Mind over matter, the will to do it, standing up to the challenge - that motivation doesn’t exist anymore.  In other words, my mind has become lazy.  I don’t know if the reason is because I’m no longer able to run but I’m sure that’s part of it. Not that I mind too much. I still have the motivation to exercise every day. I just don’t want to spend so much time doing it. Running had become a case of brain pleasure versus joint pain and joint pain won. I grew tired of waking up, getting out of bed, and limping due to pain.

I don’t know why my hamstrings are sore. All I did was the clean and press last Friday morning, which I haven’t done in months. This soreness has never happened before. It’s my shortcut weight training workout when I’m pressed for time or when I get lazy.

I figured out why a workout in the recumbent bike is relatively easier than one on a spinning bike. Because you can put your back into it.

Since I couldn’t find someone to work for me on the weekend of the Long Beach marathon, I sent an email to our running club members offering my race bib for a discount. A couple of days later I was able to sell it. He was going to switch it for a half marathon bib since he hadn’t trained for the full marathon. Still, the price was $30 lesser than if he signed up this coming week at the expo.

I don’t know if many people remember that in the late 80’s we already had minimalist running shoes. They were the original Nike Huaraches. It was yellow mesh on top, thin white soles, and a buckle on top to tighten it.

I tried using kinesiotape for my posterior tibialis tendon problem last month and it seemed to have a placebo effect because my ankles didn’t hurt so much. The second time, it didn’t seem to make a difference as far as perceived pain. I found out that body fat percentage is not accurately measured when part of the sole is covered by kinesiotape. The body fat weighing scale shows an additional 3 to 4%.

Speaking of working out, I’ve started to use my rowing machine again (a cheaper imitation of a Concept II ergometer). I’ve hardly used it in the past couple of years and all because I didn’t want to drag it out of the corner of my living room and unfold it. But lately, I’ve been wanting more variety to my workouts. I would prefer to just run of course, but since I can’t do that, I have been relying on machines. Rowing by itself is pretty boring to me, so I break down this particular workout between several machines. By breaking it down I’m able to increase the duration of the workout. If you’ve been following this blog, you already know I also have an elliptical machine, a recumbent bike, a spinning bike, and a treadmill. The elliptical machine makes my ankles hurt so I’ve eliminated that machine for now. If I do 4 sets of five minutes on each machine, an hour goes by quickly.

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Post-Crooked Running Workouts

After doing all that crooked running two Saturdays ago, my ankles couldn’t quite recover even though I kept myself from running again since then. The pain in the past week was just too much despite all the icing, compressing, and elevating. That means I didn't even bother preparing my running gear on Friday night and missed the AREC training run this past Saturday morning. I even avoided walking so as not to put pressure on the sore tendons, so the workouts for the past week have been limited to the stationary bikes with a few bouts on the elliptical machine and rowing machine. I even had to go overtime on the bikes one morning because I lost control of my eating the previous day. There was a sale on cookies with lemon flavored cream filling and they were so yummy that when I started eating them, I found it hard to stop. I’m now trying to keep it down to three cookies as dessert after a meal. Just one bout of mindless eating and you pay for it dearly.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before now, that I’ve started using the rowing machine again. I find it hard to do a rowing workout for extended periods of time so I do a sort of circuit training among all the machines in my living room. I usually start off with rowing for 5 minutes, followed by 5 minutes each on the elliptical machine, spinning bike, and recumbent bike. That makes one set. I do three sets and I’ve done an hour long workout while avoiding the boredom of doing it on only one machine. Heck I only usually do 40 to 50 minutes on the recumbent or spinning bikes if I use those by themselves. Five minutes increments on each machine at medium intensity makes it more manageable and easier on the mind, rather than thinking of it as a whole hour of working out. I turn the TV on for the rowing portion, then turn it off and read the newspaper on the other machines. It’s not as satisfying as finishing an hour run, but it’s enough to keep the endorphin cravings at bay.

This is life with a bad case of PTTD. Run a few weeks as the tendons allow, stop a few weeks when they protest. By the way, I bought a roll of Kinesiotape from Walmart a few days ago but I haven’t applied it yet. It was a surprise to find it at that store because previously you can only buy them online or locally from podiatrists and chiropractors. Although I think my PTTD is beyond help from Kinesiotaping, I’m willing to give it a try. I’ll let you know how it works out.

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