LOL!

Ok so yesterday I went for a run by the canal, while Mr. broken leg went for a bike ride. My run was only 6k, so my goal was to run straight through - something I hadn't done since June, and something my body just doesn't want me to do since I got sick in July. The run was going ok until I got to 3k. I was just dragging. And my heart rate wasn't happy, not danger zone, but not happy. So I took a walk break, ran another 10 mins, took another, and ran the last 1.5k. This last 1.5k almost killed me. My pace was 7:05/km, my HR averaged 165. I probably should have walked, because it felt like my legs were going to fall off anyway, but walking is even more painful when your HR is stuck at 150. Not sure if this makes sense, but you feel like you're running but you're not, and your chest gets really really sore. At least when you're running you're used to a higher heart rate, though at the time it's skipping beats all over the place. Blah. Anyway, I'm fighting for the last 300 metres, and with the end almost in sight, I get passed by an old man in a bucket hat. He says "hi", I pant "hhhhhello". And I'm done. He keeps going for about 50 m or so and turns to look at me. I'm walking, drinking, breathing trying to get my HR down. We both walked another 250m or so when he stops and waits for me. He says "I wanted to thank you for the challenge". I say "you're welcome". He says "I'm very slow". I laugh and say "clearly I'm slower than you". He then says "well I don't run, I do what's called "power walking"". I laugh again and say "I'm intimately acquainted with being passed by power walkers as well". We said our goodbyes and I laughed my way to the car. He was trying to be nice and grateful, but man, how to kick you when you're down!

Oh well, good on ya old fella!

I got back to the car and stretched, then walked a few laps of the parking lot. My HR wouldn't drop below 150 :(. So I stood still (because sitting is that much more painful when the heart is racing) and it finally dropped to 143. Argh. I had a 2pm meeting, so we hopped in the car and I breathed it out. Within 30 mins I was at 100 bpm, and felt much better. Though my legs were killing me from the lactic acid. Amazing how it shouldn't hurt, but when your HR is so high, you slow right down and the burn sets in. Blows me away.

Before dinner I did the P90X Legs & Back - that didn't go well at all! My quads were still burning and there was only so many squats and lunges I could do. I lasted 30 mins of 60. Oh well.

My legs are smarting today, no running on the sched, just Kenpo (kickboxing) at lunch. I'm not sure how well that's going to go though... I tweaked my knee (the one I hurt in Feb) lunging when I should have stopped and it's still 'there' this morning. And my quads/glutes are screaming!

My body is tired. I've worked out really hard the past two weeks, much more than I'm used to. I'm not near injury, just tired. Tomorrow is a 7k run, Sunday is the Stretch DVD. Can't wait for that one!

Could it be working?

Could I really have lost 2.6 lbs last week? I never lose weight. My body loves its jigglies. Hmmm. What I can say is I am loving the P90X program. At least the parts I'm able to do.

Yesterday I noticed there were little blobs of something on the tv. Ewwww, it's flying sweat stains from the KenpoX dvd (kickboxing). Yesterday was Shoulders & Arms (57 mins... no problems here, actually need a heavier weight), and AbRipperX (15 mins). I could hardly do any AbRipperX. My body just doesn't do those things. Might be because I'm really heavy and it's asking waaaaaaaay too much of my core to haul an extra 60 lbs. Or maybe it's my gut in the way. Pretty sight non?

No great soreness today, though it hasn't been 24 hours yet. Today calls for a very short run, and Yoga. I did the yoga DVD last week. It's 90 mins. I think I was only able to do 60 or 70. Or maybe 50. I don't remember! What I do remember is way too many downward dogs and planks. Since my downward dog injury a few years ago (bursitis in both shoulders... couldn't do my bra up for weeks!), I'm really careful.

Better get to work!

It's about time!

So I figured I'd better get back to this!

After coming back from vacation to a week of project meetings, covering for a colleague and 4 huge consulting requests, finally, yesterday, it's settled down. Of course at 3:45 another large request came in, but I'll start that one next week, once I get the requirements. I LOVE my job so much. Geeze I hope I don't lose it!

Anyway, throughout all this work stuff my workouts have suffered a little bit, however my heart rate has settled down (touch wood).

Today I ran a fantastic 7k at the canal. It was white-cap windy, and much much cooler than the temps we've been having, so I wore a jacket and it was perfect. My heart rate was a well behaved average 153 (I'm looking forward to this dropping but at least this is the acceptable range!).

As I was finishing my last km, I saw some guy in the distance and I thought "oh he's fishing". Then realized that no, "I think he's looking through binoculars". Of course as I get closer I think to myself "what the heck do you think you're looking at you pervert". And finally "OH! It's Steve and he's filming me running!" Boo-urns. His reasoning? "I thought you might want to analyze your running gait". Um. Not really ;)

So this small speck of blue in the distance would be me questioning the pervert ;)


This would be the up close and scary photo:


And the last one:


I'm the speck in blue coming back towards Steve. On the right is the locks at Hogsback Bridge. Honestly, the winds were awful and the water was horribly choppy on the other side of the bridge!

In other news, this week Steve and I began P90X. OH.MY.GOD. On Sunday we passed the fit test, but much of it barely for me - at least anything involving upper body strength. Darn little raptor arms. Anyway, on Monday we did the 'Core Synergistics' DVD. 60 minutes of pure pain. Our heart rates were almost as high as running, and we were both sweating madly. And it's NOT a cardio DVD! This was all strength training. I hurt for 3 days after! Thank goodness the next day was a cardio day, I opted to run in lieu of the cardio DVD. The day after was Yoga. NINETY MINUTES. I have zero flexibility in addition to my lack of upper body strength so I was a-hurtin'. There were some poses I couldn't do at all, so in all I completed 70 minutes of it. Very proud of this! My shoulders are still sore though! But it's a good feeling! I think I'll like this program - finally a strength training program I don't hate!

So in other news, Steve got the results of his MRI. Two lower back discs are bulging but not pressing on his spine nor any nerves. This is great news! However he's still in constant pain, as he says 'always there in the background', and can't run. Well he can, but it hurts. A lot. Stepping back to April, when Steve was getting his new store set up and working 16 hour days, not eating well, and training for his half marathon with Gotta Run, the doctor supporting the team thought the pain in his leg was radiant pain from his back. So they performed every treatment they could. Which is where the MRI came from. Back to Monday, Steve reviews the MRI with his own doctor and tells him his leg is still sore. So they schedule an x-ray of his leg for Tuesday. Once the x-ray was done, Steve was told his doctor wanted to see him right away, but first he had to get the intern. Steve of course now thinks the worst! The doctor (also a runner) came in, shook his hand and said "you have my respect. you ran a half marathon on a broken leg". Steve was stunned and said "you mean stress fracture?". "NO - a full break of your tibia".

There were a few days where the pain was so bad he was popping Advil like candy (well the Advil he took for probably 2 months), and I forced him on crutches, which he grudgingly accepted as a compromise - as the alternative was my driving him to ER. So a full break in his leg, caused by over training, over working and not eating/sleeping enough, probably came out of a stress fracture, and only 4 days on crutches. FOUR.

His leg is almost healed now, though he does have a calcium deposit and it's not a clean heal, so he's not allowed any impact sports for 4 weeks (swimming and biking are ok, and definitely no P90X), then they will re-assess. If it's not better, or not better looking on the x-ray, he will have to have it surgically broken and properly set.

I don't know whether to hug him or break the other leg ;) Stubborn boy!

Other than that, we checked out the Renoir exhibit at the National Gallery last Sunday. Love Love Love it!