Exercise session, and new wall charts

Things were conspiring against my treadmill efforts today. I managed to tweak my left knee somehow, and every 7th or 8th time I stepped down on it, I got this un-nifty shooting pain under the kneecap. Within a few seconds of attempting to jog, my left plantar area also began complaining sharply, and of course my right hip is still out of whack. I’m 37, just in case you were wondering if I’m 80. I can see why you might be confused.

But ALL WAS NOT LOST. I was on the treadmill for about ten minutes before I decided that the pains I was getting were strong enough to try something else, so I moved onto the floor and began doing some light aerobics, which for some reason didn’t hurt. I’d love to know why dancing around the room didn’t hurt, but the treadmill did – I’m sure it’s some kind of alignment issue. When running, I’m facing forward and moving everything along one axis, while the light dancing I was doing was, well, I won’t embarrass myself here, but let’s just say that more than one axis was involved. I got about 20 minutes of exercise in that way, which felt good.

They say exercise makes your brain work more better. HAHA. I’m not sure how true that is, but I did have a flash of inspiration while moving along my many axis: wall charts. I recently bought a large white pad of paper that has post-it glue on one side, allowing you to effortlessly adhere it to the wall. This is great when your six-year-old is an artist, but it also works great when you suddenly realize that having a list of exercises on the wall would be really inspiring:

On the left is a list of muscle groups, and on the right is a list of those groups, with corresponding exercises underneath them. I haven’t finished that list yet, but the idea was to be able to go into my workout/library/ukelele/massage room (I am hugely fortunate to have a large room that I basically get to do whatever I want in), and be able to do  few minutes of warm ups, and then pull from the list an exercise for each muscle group. There are 8 groups, so I’ll likely try to do 4 a day, and do workout nearly every day. Keep in mind I’m very out of shape, so I’ll be taking it really easy; “workout” won’t be an hour of hard-core weight lifting or anything.

I’ll let you know how useful this becomes. I’m going to go crack open a few more fitness books and write down more exercises on the wall.

Snowpocolypse appears to be melting

I haven’t written in days, I’ve been too busy coping with the snow that fell on Seattle in a great white blanket of agony. Oh right, you like the snow? Yeah I know, a lot of people do. Maybe agony is too strong a word, but unfortunately for me, snow is an anxiety trigger. I’m not going to try and explain it, because anxiety disorders by their nature tend to be largely irrational, and I get frustrated trying to rationalize something I can’t. It’s just frozen water, I get that. It’s also the substance that makes it hard to get around, and that’s the triggering part. I can’t escape! I’m trapped! When it snows in Seattle, I take a lot of hot baths, spend a lot of time curling up with my Kindle, and avoid looking out the window until Greg tells me it’s passed.

This past week has actually gone pretty well, and I can say that now (knock on wood) because it appears to be over; rain is falling now, that glorious unfrozen water, and the snow is (HURRAH!) melting. Ollie and I took a short walk up and down the block, noting that there are more cars everywhere (everyone drove home after being away?), and the street is slushy but workable. A big sigh of relief came over me.

I’ve gotten a few friendly notes from people asking if I’ve been running – no, I haven’t. Running also triggers panic attacks, and I’m already fighting off the anxiety from the snow. I’ve had three attacks this week, one each night I went to bed and it was still frozen out. On top of that, a lot of free-floating anxiety. I wish I could control this. I would if I could. But since I can’t, I do what I can to avoid triggering it, which has meant that I didn’t exercise this week.

Now that it’s melting, however, I’m ready to get back on the treadmill. I’ll do that tonight and let you know what happens.

 

First run of the year for 2012

I managed to do 20 minutes before the itching became unbearable. That’s 11 minutes longer than I went the last time, so I’m counting this as a win.

I’m feeling okay about doing this, but not very hopeful that I’ll be able to run much of this event, if at all. I still can’t even imagine running a mile, let alone three. I’m nervous about race day, even though it’s still 10 weeks away. I keep reminding myself that right now, even walking that distance would be a huge accomplishment for me. That’s what helps me keep going.

In the meantime, I walked and jogged for 20 minutes, and an hour later I’m very sore. And not at all whiny, in case you were wondering.


I’m still on the treadmill upstairs, using a novel Couch to 5k (which I keep misspelling as COUGH to 5k) application that works great. I’m walking and jogging barefoot, which works fine the first ten minutes, until I get a zingy pain in the arch of my left foot, at which point I either put on the flattest sneakers I own (Converse – my Tom’s were awful for this), or slow way down – which is hard to do because it isn’t like I’m that speedy already.

I’ve got my iPad open in front of me (yes, iPhone and iPad on the treadmill, at the same time), with my Kindle app open to Barefoot Running Step by Step. According to Roy, if you’re running right, nothing should hurt, but it also can take weeks to get used to this, so I’m going to give this barefoot thing more time before I quit.

I have a tendon in my hamstring that is giving me trouble. I noticed it before I started this project, a twanging on my hip bone every time I took a step. I can identify where in the step it happens. It isn’t something I can avoid, unless I stop walking entirely, which seems an impractical and perilous solution (although it would be fun to hire a butler). I have ten more PT appointments left in my prescription, so tomorrow I’ll call them up and ask for an appointment to see if there are exercises I can do to help whatever is causing the issue.

 

Running update: simulpost to the Against the Wind Blog

Hey folks,

As many of you know, I’m a guest blogger at the Against the Wind Blog, run by the Dick Beardsley Foundation and in support of the Virtual 5k Race the Foundation puts on every year. This is my latest post. You can read it at their website directly, or here:

I wish I had progress to report, but this the lazy reality: I spent most of Christmas break fighting stress and avoiding exercise of any sort. I ran exactly twice, which I fully admit is pitiful by nearly any standard. By way of explanation, I want to talk about something that I didn’t mention in my last post.

I have panic disorder, which is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by panic attacks.

Panic attacks are, in a nutshell, a collection of terrifying physical and mental sensations that can hit a person in a series of intense waves, often suddenly and without warning, but also often triggered by certain things. I’ve been waffling about whether to bring this up in the guest blog, but the fact is, this information is already in my regular blog, and it has a large and important impact on my exercise and fitness program. If I didn’t talk about it, you’d be only be getting half the story.

The attacks that affect me began after the birth of my son in 2002, a birth that was so harrowing I was diagnosed with PTSD afterward, or post-traumatic stress disorder. A few months later I moved from periods of intense anxiety to having full-blown panic attacks, although it would take a few months (and many trips to the ER for heart-related issues) for us to really understand what they were.

It’s nearly ten years later, and I’m still coping with them. I tend to do much better during spring and summer, when we have a lot of light (yes, even in Seattle!), but much poorer in the fall and winter. My doctor has no explanation for this save perhaps for plummeting vitamin D levels, which is why I supplement now, and that does seem to help a bit.

How does this affect running? I haven’t exercised regularly in years in large part because exercise tends to bring on attacks. When my heart gets pumping, it often starts exhibiting an erratic beat, which easily triggers an attack (I’ve done a stress test and been checked out by a cardiologist). Even when the actual running seems to go well, when I stop exercising my heart rate will stay high, and that will trigger an attack.

In books about anxiety they will often state that a panic attack “lasts approximately 5-15 minutes.” Mine regularly last 90 minutes, and sometimes longer. It’s a huge distraction from life, and even after one is over I still have to cope with the after-effects, namely exhaustion and a low-level nervousness that might have a second wave. It’s kind of like the opposite of an after-glow.

All this is to accomplish two things: one, to reach out to those of you with anxiety disorders. You aren’t alone. It’s a quiet sort of illness, isn’t it? It’s surprisingly easy to hide, and often very private, and yet terrible to cope with – and so many of us do it alone. And second, to help readers understand why I did so little these past two weeks in the way of running. Christmas was so stressful; the idea of risking an attack by getting on the treadmill felt like a truly unreasonable thing to ask of myself (and of my family, who have to fill in for me while I’m recovering from one).

But look! What do we have here? JANUARY. That’s right. January is here! A full, new month is just around the corner, and with it comes several months without a major holiday. In other words: it’s time to boogie. Or run. Heck, maybe boogie while I run.

Here’s hoping everyone had a happy holiday, however you celebrate the lovely season, and a very happy new year! A new leaf is about to turn over. I’ll catch you on the flip side!

Daily photo: It feels really good to use less plastic.

I’ve talked before about wanting to use less plastic, but I keep forgetting to post what we’re doing. Here’s one thing! I bought mesh bags for bulk foods and produce, and I love them, they work great. They were $6 for a pack of four bags, and I bought three packs so I’d have no excuse to use the plastic ones at the store.

We aren’t  as good about this as Beth Terry is (my personal plastic-free hero), but we’re on the way. As you can see there are still several plastic containers there; mustard (I couldn’t find regular mustard in a glass jar, just the Grey Poupon, and I can’t buy that stuff since I don’t have a chauffeur and my fake British accent is alarmingly poor), and unfortunately I buy a lot of Bob’s Red Mill stuff which does come in plastic. The herbs were a mistake – I was on auto-pilot and it wasn’t until I even got home and uploaded this photo did I remember that OH YEAH, they have glass-bottled spices too. Next time.

The gluten-free focaccia is also plasticized, but I just want you wheat-eaters out there to think about all the delicious things you get to eat, and then while you’re doing that, I’m going to run away with this bread, which is really, really good.

 

Daily Photo: First world problem #072 a.k.a.The Produce Sticker

I get it, I get it, they have to be inventoried, ALL THE FRUIT MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE GREAT WORLD OF FRUITDOM, but geeeez, do you have any idea how long I spend pulling these stupid things off? Like minutes. These are valuable minutes I could be spending chastising a congressperson or something. And then you can’t stick them in the recycling because they’re plastic and covered in adhesive (the stickers, not the congressperson), and you can’t put them down the disposal for the same reasons, I TELL YOU PEOPLE, it is so frustrating.

So then I’m standing there with a knife and apple in one hand and using my other hand to try and flick these stickers off my finger into the garbage. And we have like two or three stickers for every apple, it’s like one to say APPLE, and then another to say ORGANIC, and then another to say YOU WILL NEVER GET ALL THESE STICKERS OFF JUST GIVE UP NOW AND GO BACK TO EATING CHEESEBURGERS.

(I’m kidding.)

Black Bean Burgers and Cajun Home Fries: NOM NOM NOM

Oh Happy Herbivore, how I adore thee. After a year of giving up herbivorous ways and trying paleo (this was effective only in raising my cholesterol, increasing heart palpitations, and reminding me why I don’t like eating meat), I have finally gone back to plant-based eating, and look at the lovely cookbook that was awaiting me!

Tonight I made Black Bean Burgers (pg. 86) and Cajun Home Fries (pg 30).

First, the burgers: Oh wow, they were so good. I honestly didn’t think they had enough stuff in them, I figured they might be boring. They weren’t boring, they were delicious! I put them on gluten-free focaccia bread and used gluten-free bread crumbs in the recipe.

But the best part is, my nine-year-old son adored them, and I’ve been working so hard at finding things he’ll eat. He said, and I not kidding, “These are the best burgers I’ve ever had!” I was stunned. We all were, you could hear crickets for a few seconds at the dinner table. “Really?” I asked him. “Yes! Whatever these are made of is really good.”

And then the adults all changed the subject really quick so that he wouldn’t hear the word BEANS. Heaven preserve us.

Next the Cajun Home Fries: Just NOM. Here again, I’m not yet used to eating low-fat, so it seemed wrong that we weren’t covering these babies with oil before baking, but Lindsay was right, they were still delicious. The kids even loved them, although they said they were “too spicy” which was my fault: have you ever noticed that cayenne pepper and paprika look a lot alike? I KNOW, RIGHT? Once reassured that next time the potatoes wouldn’t be as spicy, she also declared the dinner a total success.

I just made a meal that pleased three adults (two of which are unrepentant meat-eaters), a nine-year-old who believes that “food” is either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or bacon, and a six-year-old who last night told me she didn’t like beans because they taste “foggy”.

I know that pictures of food look better when someone isn’t halfway through stuffing their face, but too bad, I was hungry and I forgot to take a “before” shot.

I know, I know, there is mayo on there. BABY STEPS. Hey, at least I’m off meat. Also – that mineral water comes in various flavors, and it’s very tasty. You can get it at Whole Foods for $1.37 a bottle. I go through one a week.