Spanishbelle’s BodyBlog

My first two weeks of training were difficult, challenging, invigorating and all that good stuff.  Unfortunately, my third week was a bummer.  If I’m honest with myself, my left leg has always bothered me at some level since I started, I kept pushing though and the injury has caught up to me.  I stopped with the lower body workout last week.  I’ve been working around the injury and it really throws me off in the gym.  Aside from the fact that I’m going to see the therapist for this injury, the question that resonates in my mind is what to do in the meantime.  "Approach" is really something to consider.  It’s what I like about working out, what works for you might not work for me and there is no one right way to reach your particular goal.  It’s also what puzzles about working out, the no one size fits all kind of deal is at times a little too much freedom.  I’ve been walking around thinking about this since my last blog and nothing great has come to mind.  Today though, after a couple of Malibu Rum drinks (LOL), I’ve decided to start with what I don’t want.  I don’t want to aggitate my injury to the point where I can do nothing.  Running is a little taxing, so I’m scaling that back some.  I plan on feeling my way through different cardio machines and see what happens.  New workout plan…wish me luck!

I am so sore from my upper body workout it hurts to breathe!  Here’s the truth, I’m falling apart.  I have this pinching sensation that started in my lower back has moved to my left glute and now I have discomfort running down to my calf and up to my left shoulder.  Let me just say the left side of my body feels like it’s on me, not a part of me.  Aside from this physical ailment, I’m exhausted, to an extreme.  All of this is getting in the way of working out, daily activities and I’m a little down, weepy…which I can’t stand.  I decide to make a trip to my Chiropractor/Kinesiologist.  I figured I’m out of alignment and not sure what to make of the sentimental/emotional crap.  So, as my doctor is checking me out and I run through the list of my ailments, physical and emotional she says to me, "you don’t have enough fat in your diet."  Having her say that was comparable to hearing nails on a chalkboard.  I said to her, "You’re kidding me right?  There is plenty of that crap in storage on my ass."  LOL, she was not kidding.  Emotionally, I’m feeling much better, she started me up on a supplement.  I’m afraid to say the pinch is back today.  I called up a deep tissue specialist and he KNOWS what’s up.  I told him how it began and he told me where it’s at now.  I’m excited, I have hope a solution is on the horizon.  On a good note, I’m fitting into some size 0’s!  A little tight, most definitely progress though.  As for that darn number on the scale, it’s finally moving in the direction that pleases me.  I have to say, I’ve envisioned myself reaching my goals many times.  In that vision I never imagined myself attaining my goals feeling defeated and beat-up.  I’ve taken a moment of pause to reassess myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all entertwined, emotional health, physical health, mental health, spiritual health and if one gives…in my case it has, talk about a landslide.  I know this and I lose track of it every time.  The word and concept that comes to mind in order to put this in perspective for myself, BALANCE. Hmm…it’s where I’m at right now, trying to get it all back to good.

I had an incredible upper body workout today.  I increased my weight load by five to 10 pounds and managed to crank out the same amount of reps, 15.  I planned on working at a heavier weight for one set and stripping to my original weight load, however, I was pumped and pushed through my workout with the heavier load for both sets.  It was hard and I loved it.  I’m not looking for mass so I usually crank out high reps for muscle endurance.  My stratedgy in the gym is simple, I pick a weight heavy enough to where I can crank out 12 to 15 reps and I build from there.  The goal is to reach 25 reps and start all over again with a different weight load, different exercises and so on.

I’m starting to get those "you look skinny" comments.  I tend to lose inches before any weight loss reflects on the scale, which really annoys me.  Yes, I’m one of those, need to see the number go down!  I have noticed a loss of inches here and there on my waistline, legs, abs and arms.  I do carry junk in my trunk, much work still needs to be done.  It’s a curse, first place it comes on and last place it comes off of.  My left leg is bothering me, supposedly my Sciatic nerve is acting up.  It’s a diagnosis from my massage therapist.  I do feel discomfort when running, sitting or standing.  A weight bearing leg workout is out of the question, I tried.  I’ll be getting a medical diagnosis and proceed from there.  In the meantime, I am increasing my weight load for my upper body and working around the discomfort of my lower body.  As for the cardio, whatever is doable will be done.

Long physical day ahead of me today.  If I thought I was spent on Wednesday, I was road kill come yesterday.  I skipped it all, the gym, the run.  Hence the long day at the gym, I have a full body workout to get in and a run I plan on working-out on the treadmill.  I bought this stuff called GAKIC, we’ll see.

I am spent.  Todays run was beyond difficult, it was a struggle from the get go.  The monkey really jumps on my back between two and half to four miles.  I didn’t have much energy to begin with, my good old friend PMS is to blame.  I put in everyting I had during my run and pushed myself.  Although I am disappointed with my performance, it is better than not doing anything.  My pace is improving, I’m down to a 9:09 pace per mile, however I didn’t have 60 minutes in me, down to 45 today.  I’m considering splitting my time and start interval training on the treadmill next week.  It’s always been my intention to do so, I’ve been holding back to give my body some time to adjust.  Lifting weights is going very well, today is my day off, headed back tomorrow.  My diet is also on track, and now it’s a waiting game.  Waiting to see when weight starts coming off, waiting to see some physical changes and waiting on some fat loss.  I keep reminding myself to be patient, it’s only been two weeks.  I’ll probably call a girlfriend so she can remind me of this when I lose my patience in about a week or two.

Having one of those mornings where I’m a little on the slow side.  I’ve been awake since 4:45 a.m. and somehow I still don’t feel quite awake.  Maybe I’m feeling the effects of my deep tissue massage I had yesterday.  Well, I have one week of working out and running behind me.  It was a good week.  I took my long run on Sunday and increased my running time to 1 hour and covered a total of 6.5 miles during that time.  This week has started out on an unsual note, my routine is off due to other circumstances around me.  This present situation brings to mind flexibility and discipline.  Those two terms don’t go hand in hand whereas I am concerned.  My boys are busy with school activities, social activities and sports.  There is always something to do, someplace to go and having a set routine of "workout" time is not practical.  I’ve been thinking about my goals and what will be required of me to attain those goals on a personal level.  Dedication, discipline, flexibility, being open minded enough to go with the many surprises life throws your way and staying motivated through it all, quite a juggling act.  Suddenly, my simple goal of getting back into my size 0’s entails a whole lot more than just showing up to the gym.

Well, I tried this N.O.-xplode stuff.  Sad to say, there was no explode of any kind for me.  My teenager uses it, he says it works for him.  Two thoughts come to mind here, could be a supplement engineered for guys or maybe I’m too old to get that kind of explode.  The workout went well this morning, not as tired or sore.  Knees are bothering me some, nothing unbearable.  I’m sticking to the same workout for next week, it’s still challenging for me.  Tomorrow is my day off and Saturday is my long run with Luke’s Locker.  From the looks of the schedule it’s a 10 mile run.  I’m not close to that but I’ll show up and do some time. 

Soreness is definitely wearing off, however, I came down with some incredible fatigue today.  I hung out on my couch for a while and took a cat nap here and there.  Regardless of how much rest I got in, I didn’t feel rested.  I knocked out my workout first thing this morning and due to being tired I seriously considered bailing on my 30 minute run.  After resting and not feeling rested I decided to increase my carbs and down a sugar free Red Bull (I NEEDED IT).  I went for my run and I had a decent run.  Here’s the thing, I even felt "good" about it.  I didn’t have my Nike gadget with me, misplaced it somewhere.  Here’s what I’m thinking, aside from being physically challenged while running, I believe my Nike+ IPOD is causing my mental state of mind some funk.  One of it’s many features is being able to program your run to a timed run, a distance run and so on.  I’ve set mine for a timed run and so every five minutes a voice comes on and it tells you how many minutes you’ve been running.  Picture this, I’m out of shape, panting for air and battling the heat.  Any amount of running at this point feels like a lifetime.  Then I hear my Nike+ IPOD say "five minutes and 40 to go."  My brain does not have a friendly reaction to this.  I begin to wonder how the hell I’m going to survive the next 40 minutes and the greatest disbelief of all, it’s only been five minutes! The good news is that didn’t happen today.  The run was challenging, but, I managed to run 40 minutes straight, no breaks during my run.  There is more good news, I wasn’t as spent as I normally am.  Obviously the time thing doesn’t work for me, time to reprogram my Nike+ IPOD, I can keep track of my own time!

Love my Nike gadget.  So far, I’m stuck at a 9 "22" mile pace.  So very slow.  What happened to the 6 minute miles I used to run?  The good old days, so very gone!  LOL.  I’m close to 5 miles in 45 minutes.  There comes a point in any physical activity where you’ve put in so much time and effort it starts feeling good once you get in shape.  I’m most certainly not there, running or lifting weights.  Today feels a tad bit better than yesterday though and I am relieved to be on the downside of this soreness.