Category: Fitness

Talking and Running

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Yesterday at lunchtime, Liz and I ran for about 50 minutes and we went about 4 miles. We talked the whole way. I could not have gone so far for so long without someone to talk to. Having a friend, especially Liz, is totally encouraging, challenging, distracting.

At the end of the run, when we neared Riverside Church, I slowed down, even though it was not time to walk — We’re still doing that five-minutes-run/one-minute-walk interval training. Liz said, “Is that it? Is that all you’ve got? We’ve got two more blocks.”

“Yes, that’s it. That’s all I’ve got,” I said, but then laughed and joined her again running the last two blocks.

I’m proud of myself. I am doing great. I am encouraged by my friends. Someday I will do a 5K, running the whole way.

It has been a stressful week. Chris has probably messed up Social Security Disability eligibility, which is really distressing and, likely, very costly. Running takes away some of the stress. Talking while running helps too. “I get by with a little help from my friends.”

Peace of Me

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I am trying to run a 5K. It’s a small goal. But, as I like to say, low expectations = high results;  high expectations = low results. (I might have made that up.)

I like to write down this goal, because some Harvard study says CEOs who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. (I like to throw in Harvard studies on this blog to show that I am erudite.)

Let’s face it, a 5K is doable. I will never run a marathon. I will never win, place or show in any major sporting event. I just hope to occasionally beat my kids – or simply, keep up with them — at tennis, swimming, and dancing.

Living an athletic life is not that hard. My biggest hurdle is something within me that says I am being selfish if I pursue physical activity simply for my own well being. How can I go for a run when I should unload the dishwasher or declutter the top of my dresser?  

It seems to me there is always something better or more family-centered or more productive to do than work out. 

You don’t actually need much to do sports. Running requires a pair of shoes (and for me, a really good sports bra). Tennis requires a racket, balls and an opponent. Swimming? A suit and a body of water.  

But the thing I need for any sport is gumption or stick-to-it-ive-ness. I need the ability to leap over my Mental Block (my MB). MB is standing by the front door, tapping her toe, barring me from my exit. She looks like the SuperNanny. She says, “Stay home and do housework. Who do you think you are? You’re not all that. You can’t even run a 5K.”

And this is when I have to slip on my headphones, tune my Pandora to Britney, baby, and slip on past my pissed-off SuperEgo. Tune my SuperEgo out. Turn my Inner Britney up.

Britney sings, “You want a piece of me?” And it’s really a good song to run to. Because it feels so right. Everyone wants a piece of me and if I don’t run or work out on a regular basis, I will have no piece to give them. I will get crabby. Then they’ll get a piece of me all right. And it won’t be cute or funny.

When Will I Learn?

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I got the kids together — all 8 of them (kids, cousins, friends, nephew) — and set out for a run on Camp Dudley Road on Memorial Day. I just got this new app for my droid — cardio trainer. Will not only tell you how long, how far, but will map our your run for you as you’re running. All righty. All set. Got everything. Except the kids are not into the run. Hayden was going to try barefoot running but did not last with that. (And the other shoes he had in hand were his Mets slippers which work for lounging, not running.) Some of the girls kind of hung back, chatting. The boys gave it a good go of running to the 1819 School House.

The view there is just too delicious. The tree is right there for climbing, as is the creaky fence. Who wants to run when you can lay in the grass? or turn cartwheels by the School House?(See the picture above.)

I know I’ve said this before. I should stick to running alone. Or run only with adults. Liz and I ran on Friday. We did the 5 sets of 5 minutes of running then one minute of walking all the way to the Riverbank park from Riverside Church. Really fun.

Last week, I also went on Runner’s World website http://www.runnersworld.com/ and learned about fartlek running. I don’t know if it’s fun to do — short bursts of full out running — but it’s super fun to say. It’s a Swedish word. I think it means “Never run with children. Run alone.”

4.5 K in 39 mins.

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around my corner

Today I ran for about 39 minutes and I made it about 4.5 K. Last weekend in Miami, I did 4.5 K in like 36 minutes.

Today I was hampered by running with my Number One Son. We were running him to baseball practice at 10:30 am.

Hayden complained that his joints ached every morning for the first half an hour after he woke up.
I wondered, “Maybe it’s growing pains, but honey, keep running.”
“I can’t. I’m tired.” He’s 13! How tired can a 13 year old be! I’m tired and I’m a million years old. I must say I feel proud of myself.
My friend tells me, if you give to your body, your body gives back. If you run, your endorphins kick in. You feel good.
When I’m running I don’t always feel good. But I can’t believe how energized I feel the rest of the day.
I’m trying to give to my body, so that I get back.

On my way to 5K

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Jen, the gorgeous lunchtime exercise teacher, told me all I really need to do to achieve my 5K goal in a couple of months is carve out six out of seven days of 20-minutes everyday of cardio. So no problem that was Mon. Jen’s walking class got my heart rate up as we walked in Riverside Park. That night the girls and I did our usual Monday night work out of swimming lackadaisical laps and synchronized swimming at Open Swim at the JCC.

On Tuesday, I did lunch-time yoga/pilates/exercise. Okay maybe it’s not as cardio as the walking class but Shane (equally beautiful and inspiring as Jen) does make us do five series of 15 Jumping Jacks. That counts.

Wednesday, I joined the Global Ministries Walking group. For 30 minutes we walked down from 120th to about  106th. Nice group, fun.

On Thursday, I did four intervals of running for five minutes and walking for one. Felt I could’ve gone more but I was taking a Comp Day and needed to get on the Communications Conference Call.

Friday was the most strenuous of exercises, one hour of tennis after work with Dan. Even with the generous handicap Dan gives me, it was exhausting and I lost.

Saturday may have been equally strenuous. Dancing Salsa at the PS Dual-Language Fiesta Latina. I got a little choked up at that party, remembering that I’ve been celebrating Fiesta Latina for eight years. I worked the drinks table this year. In previous years, I’d emceed the performances. Tough crowd. Doesn’t matter how I contributed. The point is I always dance at it. And this was my last Fiesta dance.

So there you have it — six out of seven days of cardio. So point me in the direction of the Finish Line. What? Hunh? You have to run a race before you grab the trophy? You can’t just run through the tape and call it a day?

In other words, I have no idea (although I have my doubts) whether I could really run a 5K in a couple of months. People say you can walk for a few minutes in the middle.

And the other night when my bro Brendan and I were walking together in Riverside Park, he suggested that I not start in the front of the pack.

But hey I’m not doing this exhausting training just to cakewalk the 5K or launch my race with the riff-raff in the back of the pack. I am in it to win it. Just cue up the Salsa music, please.

St. Louis Run

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In St. Louis I ran to the arch. It was only like a ten-minute run from the convention center. I knew I should get to the Press Room. (This is a common theme in my blog posts about St. Louis — always running to or from the Press Room. See my blog at https://mbcoudal.wordpress.com/ about my walk on the Labyrinth on my way to Press Room.)

Any way, back to my run. It was kind of clammy that morning. But I really wanted to run. I tried to do the interval training that I was so excited about last week. I ran for five minute and walked for one. I did this about three times. Then I stopped to take a picture of the arch. And I kept walking. I didn’t feel like running again. But I saw a guy in a yellow shirt ahead of me. And just seeing someone else run makes you feel a little guilty if you’re not running. So I ran one more interval.

Then I took my headphones off and listened to the music coming from the riverboat casinos. It was like 9:00 in the morning on the Mississippi.  A school group was heading into the arch. The teachers were permissive and let the kids jump off a bench into the air. I liked that.

I thought about how hungry I was. This seems to be a theme in this blog. I start running and then I start thinking about eating. I wonder if the pros get sidetracked with thoughts of food. Maybe it’s just the boredom of running.

So I did get a run in. But then I stopped for an egg sandwich. And a homeless guy chatted me up — he told me “With some cream and sugar, honey, you’d sure taste good.”

People in St. Louis were very friendly.

Interval Training

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Wow! I think I know everything. I don’t. I.e., interval training.

Today at lunch time, I met up with a friend. She introduced me to running in intervals. We ran for 5 minutes and walked for 1 minute. Then we ran for 5 minutes and walked for one. And so on. We did about 7 of these bursts of running for 5 and walking for 1. You get the idea.

It was way fun. It was way better than just trying to push myself to cross my 13-minute barrier of running. That’s my usual routine — run for 13 minutes, then walk home, dejected that I couldn’t run longer or farther.

This interval training extends the work out. My friend figured I ran about three and a half miles for 45 minutes. We ran from 120th to Riverbank State Park at 144th Street. This park is genius — an awesome track and other facilities over a sewage treatment facility. It is, actually, lovely. Lilacs blooming around the track’s perimeter. (Flowering trees make me weak in the knees.)

Only problem with interval training is that after 1 minute of walking, it would just feel so good to keep walking. I think this kind of running for me will work best when running with a friend.

You totally get the endorphin rush of running. And that, of course, is why I run.

Lakeshore Run

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image

Haven’t run in a while so this morning, in Chicago, I told myself you don’t have to run for long, you just have to run for 12 minutes and I did.

I slowed down to take this photo. I walked for 2 minutes. And then I ran for 10 minutes until I found the Dunkin Donuts. Just like in the TV commercial, the idea of a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and a hazelnut coffee really inspired me. That goal made the morning run fun. And I am not a paid sponsor.

Walking in New Jersey with Babies

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I know I should be running. There’s really nothing like running. The only thing remotely like running is walking.

Yesterday Barbara and I drove with my sleepy daughters to visit Mandy and her baby in Summit, New Jersey. We sat in the sunny suburbs. We  pored over the school auction catalog.  (Last night was the big fundraiser. Spent too much).

Then we walked in a public park. Morris County Park. Maybe it was half a mile there and back — past a stream, past dog walkers and curled-up caterpillars. We had to step off the path when little tyke bike riders rode by.  The girls bickered. Then held my hand. Mandy’s funny husband, KC, pushed the stroller. Baby Nathaniel wore a baseball cap.

It was absolutely idyllic. We stopped near a playground. We chatted at a picnic table.

The thing about walking that’s better than running is you can talk to several people at once. When you run, you can only talk to one person. But when you walk you can spread yourself around. Or you can talk to no one. You can stare at the teeny tiny shoots of green emerging from the dead leaves. And you can marvel at the miracle of it all.

The miracle of growth. Of that new baby growing into some big kid. Impossible to arrest the march of growth (in March!). My little kid was once that little baby in the stroller.

I miss the baby days. I love babies. Their silliness, chubbiness, simplicity. The way they have no subtext. They feel something, even gas, they express it. They do not censor themselves. I love my grown-up kids. Their witty remarks, their athleticism. But I miss their snuggly baby days. I try to hang on to them as long as possible. I still baby them.

I was a bit depressed  on Friday, having to write about Haiti —  the incredible sadness of losing my coworkers in Haiti. And then worries over Chris’s inevitable decline with Parkinson’s. But then, I see a baby, or feel the sun, or one of my kids hugs me tight, or I walk or ride my bike, or yes, I  run. Or like on Friday, I ducked into a NYC museum and see great art. And I feel better.

These fixes are non-pharmaceutical cures for whatever ails me. Take two walks in the park and call me in the morning. Tell me if you don’t feel the same way. Feel some inevitable March of growth.

so psyched

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I ran 16 minutes without stopping this morning.

I saw a Red-Tailed hawk near the playground at 83rd in Riverside Park — the River Run Park. I had to stop running to take a picture of him (why is it a him? Why not a her?)

The day was so warm and I had been trailing this father and teenage daughter. He was sort of racewalking. Yes, that’s how slow I am — I run as fast as an old man racewalking.

I don’t care. At least I got out there.

I have to admit I was inspired last night to run today. I read the girls “The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food.” Sometimes I think the Berenstain Bears are so sexist. Why is Dad always the buffoon and mother so wise, as she darns his socks or whatever? But then again, there is a lot you can learn from children’s literature. If you’re open to the message and you can overlook the household gender stereotypes.