Gym Update

Today was my fourth 5K. In my next entry, I will give the full race report. My previous race was on March 20, 2010. I had six months of running behind me and thought I should work on my speed. My speed work was the beginning of the end of running for a while for me. I started the speed work soon after my third race and the same day I started speed work I started having some nagging pain on the inside of my right knee.

I kept resting my knee, icing it, and compressing it without any success. Ibuprofen didn't give me much relief either.

I finally went to physical therapy after a few months and that helped a lot. I also learned to swim and that was a tremendous aid in my recovery.

My physical therapist Nita explained to me that my hamstrings and thigh muscles were weak and needed to be strengthened. I hated strength training back then and thought it so boring.

Nita and the orthopedist I visited thought that my knee itself was fine and that I'd strained my thigh muscles. After physical therapy and working out on the big machines I started to like the way my knee felt. It felt stronger and I liked that my muscles started to look more toned.

I decided to join a nearby gym to prevent re-injury. I didn't know how to use any of the equipment so I hired a trainer. Her name is Ildi McShae and I love her; she has helped me so much. Unfortunately though, I never have the time to run more than once or twice a week and it's usually on a treadmill.

Nevertheless, I have had great success at the gym. I love strength training. I used to be a hater (of strength training.) :)

I have made some minor changes in my diet upon Ildi's suggestions and my body fat has decreased from 27% to 16 %. I attribute that to aiming for 30 grams of protein per meal. One major factor, too, is that I consume a one egg/four egg white omelet six days a week, at the least. I throw in a little salt, freshly ground coarse pepper, onions, and yellow, green, orange, or red peppers. It is so filling, low in calories, and cheap. The other thing I've done is to decrease my sugar consumption. I don't crave it the way I used to now that I'm consuming more protein.

I also eat roasted chicken breast and a huge salad for dinner every night. I eat my heaviest meal at lunch and not at dinner. Additionally, I consume no carbs after 3 PM in general. Ildi explained to me that carbs are not needed after 3 PM and that "they just stick to your gut."

I've also lost an inch of my waist, dropped two dress sizes. The width of my hips has decrease as well as my brasserie size. TMI? Sorry. I'm a nurse.
:)


Race report to follow.

October 7, 2010 with Tina

This morning I went for a short one mile run. It wasn't easy as my quadriceps and hamstrings were angry from yesterday's hack squat machine.
In the evening I visited Tina's huge 3 story gym. We had a great time. If not for our babysitters we would have stayed even longer. I worked on chest, shoulders, triceps and abs.

October 6, 2010

I did some new very difficult exercises with Ildi today. The Hack squat machine (10 x 3 reps);reverse lunges while holding onto a bar, 3 reps; squats while holding onto a round 10 lb weight; leg press machine, 3 reps,:adductor, 3 sets with one set leaning forward; prone curls, 3 reps 30 lbs leg extensions; sit-ups 20 x 30 reps; lastly, 30 minute walk run intervals on treadmill. FUN.
This was all followed by a well deserved warm bath at home.

October 5, 2010, 7 A. M.

Last week I spied a fellow at the gym with great running form and he runs fast! I asked him if I could talk to him before he left. I found out that he runs at a 9 or 10 m.p.h on the treadmill. He runs for fitness for about an hour. His name is Vinnie. He is 43 and has been running for 20 years.

I asked Vinnie his advice on how I could better prepare for a Turkey Trot 5K after coming back from an injury. I'm finding it difficult to prepare for that along with strength training, homeschooling, cooking, washing laundry, and working part time. :) He suggested that I run after or before my sessions with Ildi at the minimum.

I decided that I will add some cross training as well to increase my endurance. So today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. I haven't been on the elliptical for a while so I stayed at level one and two throughout the half hour.

October 4, 2010, Monday with my trainer, Ildi

One hour with Ildi McShae:

1. Pull Ups on Modified Pull Up Machine for lateral back muscles, holding bar wide. 15 lbs. X 2 reps
2. Pulls Ups on Modified Pull Up Machine for medial back muscles, holding bar close and inside. 15 lbs. X 1 rep
3. Seated Row: Lean forward and pull bar to stomach with chest stuck out, 40 lbs. X 3 reps
4. Lateral row, pull down bars 50 lbs. (super-set with Dual Axis Row/Rear Deltoid machine) X3 reps
5. Dual Axis Row/Rear Deltoid machine, 30 lbs. (Super-set with above)
6. Biceps macine, the heavier and harder machine, no weights, 15 X 3 reps
Seated decline biceps curls with 7 lbs. weights, 3 reps
7. Biceps curls on cable, 15 lbs. X 3 reps. Keep arms and elbows up.
8. Calf standup machine, 50 lbs.
9. Seated calf, level 4, 20 X 3 reps
10. Hyperextension on Roman chair, abs workout with 10 lb. weight, 20 X 3 reps
11. Abd cruch machine, lying down, no extra weight, 20 lbs. x 3 reps
Solo: Treadmill, 3 minutes running alternated with 1-2 minutes walking x 35 minutes, 4.8 miles per hour, no incline.

Stretching for ten minutes.

Progress

I've made a lot of progress at the gym and that improves so many areas of my life. I'm more disciplined with keeping a schedule. My mood is more even. We are getting more school work done. My stamina has increased greatly.
On the nights I work 12 hour overnight shifts I have far more energy than I've had in the past when I reach home.
Ildi took some measurements of my body and measured my body fat, which was 29%. She will retake the measurements in one month. She would like me to get down to 23%. Ildi says that will take some time and first I will lose inches and gain some inches in certain areas. Once that occurs body fat starts to decrease. I'm not stressing over it at all.
Today I went for a swim for the first time in about three weeks. I am not a great swimmer and I feel more secure using a pool noodle. Regardless of my swimming skills I was able to swim for one half hour without feeling winded. I may as well have been sitting on the couch relaxing. That's just how great I felt.
I have a problem with one of my great toes. I hyper extended it a couple of weeks ago and it's a little sore. I picked up my orthotics this past Monday. They definitely give me more support. I started running at the gym on a treadmill about two weeks ago. I'm easing into it. My longest run has been fifteen minutes without walking. I may be able to go a lot farther if I do some walk/run intervals. I will give that a try if I can ever make it to the gym early enough.
Increasing my protein to 25 grams/meal has had a positive consequence. I no longer crave sweets. Yay! I limit them to the weekend.
I'm no longer able to drink fat free lactose free milk and that's sad. Unfortunately, it gives me chest pain about 20 minutes after I drink it. I purchased a plant protein powder drink with hemp, rice, peas, and Omega vitamins that I'm going to try soon. My kind sister gave me her barely used blender. I hope I like it. As long as it tastes different from soy I should be fine.
I'm looking forward to a Turkey Trot. I'm excited that my friend Tina plans to run with Jimmy and I. Bruce is even interested in running but I'm not sure he will follow through with that. :)

Transitions

I completed Physical Therapy last week. I am very thankful for my physical therapist, Nita. I learned so much! I went on a couple of test runs that went well. Both runs were half a mile each. I had pain after the first run about four hours later. After the second run I had pain about 12 hours later. Truthfully though, I had no business up at 12 AM. I am not increasing the length of my runs nor am I going to run more than once or twice a week. I saw a podiatrist and I'm waiting for orthotics. I have been told quite a few times by varied health professionals over the years that I have flat feet and no arch. The podiatrist showed me the bones in my foot on an x-ray and indeed there is no arch. I don't think it is wise for me to run seriously until I have orthotics so I wait for them. I would like to run until I'm 70 or 80, Lord willing so I can wait for my orthotics.

In other news, I joined a gym. The gym has a relationship with my employer in which I pay $20/month for three months. My employer will reimburse me every three month the sum of $45. It's a great deal. I had my first one hour session today. It was awesome. My personal trainer, Ildi, guided me on upper arm, chest, and abdominal exercises. My favorite exercise was hanging at a 45 degree angle with my head toward the floor and then doing a crunch with my arms crossed in front of my chest.

I have to have my food ready to go after the gym. I had a banana right after the workout but had lunch too late. I felt as if I would chew my arm off and started to feel very ill.

Ildi wants me to have a minimum of 25 grams of protein three times a day. That is going to be challenging as I don't eat eggs or cheese. I was able to consume 79 grams today though. Ildi suggested that I have carbs in the daytime and not at dinnertime. Hmmmm?