28 Day Handstand Challenge

/ Jess / 5 Comments

When a friend of mine showed me a picture of herself doing a one-armed handstand against a wall, I was equal parts in awe and intrigued: I could do that if I wanted, couldn’t I?? I run 13.1 miles for fun! Surely I could just throw myself up against the wall and balance there with my feet against the wall for safety, right?

Well. As it turns out, I most certainly cannot.

SO, being the stubborn Polish girl I am, I took to the interwebs in search of a “handstand challenge” because I will not stop until I get fully inverted too. There were a few interesting plans out there, but I chose the free plan offered by Chris Salvato. He gives you a LOT of information, and I won’t give away all the details (it is free though, so why not go sign up yourself?), but the bulk of his plan boils down to a simple 2-step process:

  1. Wall Planks, progressing into…
  2. Wall Handstands

That’s it! That’s all there is to it. It’s really just about overcoming the fear of being upside-down first, while building up the arm strength to hold yourself up.

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At Day 1 I was only able to hold one :55 plank before my lungs felt like they were being crushed. And while I felt like I was in total danger of tipping over and cracking my skull open, the photo evidence above suggests that I was more in danger of falling flat onto my tummy than anything!

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Seriously, it’s a real trip to realize how much your body will resist going upside down!

By Day 2 I progressed to 2 sets of :45, but I only made it a few inches closer to the wall. And my lungs were still none too pleased with being compressed upside down. But I kept at it, aiming for a few more seconds or one more set each day. I also followed Chris’s “Never two in a row” rule (never skip more than 2 days of practice in a row) and used my rest days from running as rest days from handstands. I also started videotaping myself to check my form, and I’m loving it!

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Keeping my practice to the same area now is a great way for me to see how much faster I can get up, and how close I can get to the wall. I’ve gotten up to 5 sets of :45 and will keep doing this for the next week or so, until I’m ready to face the other way and try kicking up to the door. My main concern now is having an exit strategy: the closer I get to the door, the less room I have for a controlled exit, and the greater my fear of falling out of the handstand. If I face the other way, I’ll be able to just gracefully land out of position when I’m done (in theory).

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Wherever this takes me next, I have to say that I’m loving it! I’m working new muscles that I forgot about and finding new courage to push closer to the wall and to hold for longer than the day before.

How about you: are you currently doing any extra challenges along with your training? Can you do a handstand already? I want to see! And how did you solve the “graceful exit” problem I’m faced with now? Inquiring minds want to know! 🙂

Week 1 of 18

/ Jess / 6 Comments

Well I’m still here! I know I’ve been quiet lately (ok, SILENT), but it’s been a very eventful first week of marathon training and I’m really excited to share it with you!

So I’m officially following Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 plan, and I adapted it to allow for extra cross- & strength-training (and to accommodate my still-kinda-new-ACL). I started on Tuesday of last week – in this plan, Mondays are rest days. This works out perfectly because I’m usually pretty active during the weekend, and Sunday long runs keep me from going out drinking on a Saturday – so even my liver wins! So after mentally prepping and adjusting my diet accordingly on Monday, I was good and ready for an early morning 3.1 miler on Tuesday!

Image I know that it should be 3 miles, but does anyone else have a hard time just running 3 without the .1 to make it a 5k? No? Just me? Ok then. Moving on!

Anyway, it was hot. And humid. Frankly, it felt like I was running through chicken soup. I was leaking from every pore and slow and kinda hated it, but I kept telling myself to soak it in because it was my first training run for my first marathon. How stinking cool is that? I got to watch the sun come up over the bay as I ran loops around the park, said Hi to some little baby bunnies out for breakfast with their mom on the side of the path, and I got through it with a smile. Winning!

To enhance my training, I also decided to add 15-20 minutes of strength training in each day. Even if it’s 3 minutes at a pop in front of the TV while the commercials are on, I’m getting it in. Arms, abs, back, and legs, no body part left behind (ew). So I did my 20 minutes with some coworkers in the office gym in the afternoon, and topped off my day in the evening with my handstand challenge practice.

Come Wednesday, my knees were extremely achy from wearing high heels at work and the humidity. So I invoked my training plan tweak and opted out of running, choosing instead to get the mileage the plan called for (4 miles) done on the elliptical. This saved my knees a LOT of pain, and it worked out fantastically.

ImageYou can tell it’s working because I look like death!

I still got all the cardio benefits (I was dripping with sweat!) by keeping close to my running pace and loved it. When I added another 20 minutes of strength training and more handstands into the mix that day, I was shredded.

So when Thursday called for 3 miles, I was surprised (not really though) to find that my body was not having any of that. I got my strength training in, but suffered all day through my monthly migraine (any of you ladies experience the same hell as me every month?). By the time I got out of work, I wasn’t even close to motivated to run 3 miles. It was 95 outside, about 97% humidity, and I was out of Motrin. I call that The “Trifecta of Suck”.

BUT – when I got home, I put on my gear and told myself to get out there. Even if I did one mile, I’d call it a win. So I got out there in the soupy weather and walked for most of a mile, threw in 4 sprints of around 8:00/miles just to get my heart rate up, and as soon as that damn Nike+ app said 1.00, I called it. I was just not feeling it. But I didn’t beat myself up – I chose to be happy with my training and chalked it up to good experience, and looked forward to rest day Friday!

ImageInstead of 🙂 or 😦 I decided on the third option, not shown here-  :-/

After resting (and yes, having a slice of homemade pizza) on Friday, I attacked Saturday and Sunday with what I can only describe as an intense desire to KICK ASS. And kick I did!

Image I tackled Saturday morning with an 8-mile bike ride before breakfast, and felt unstoppable. It was my longest ride since before my surgery, and I felt like I could have easily kept on going! Then Sunday I attacked my 5 mile training run in under an hour:

Imageby 32 seconds, but it counts!

And then punished my legs just a little bit more with 2 hours of hiking and trail running at Holmdel Park.

ImageMy legs were so tired I tried to ride the deer home.

Then I finished the day with some more handstand practice and looked forward to resting today!

So that’s my Week 1 (of 18). It’s kind of scary to think that I have to keep this up for another 17 weeks (my god I’m starving and exhausted!) but I’m feeling stronger than ever and very excited to see where this training takes me!

How about you, are you training for anything right now? How’s it going?

 

 

First Marathon Training Time

/ Jess / 11 Comments

I’m about a week away from starting my first ever full marathon training plan, and – we’re friends right? Good. Then I feel no shame in telling you that I’m about ready to soil myself.

do not wantdo not want.

I can’t lie – there’s a lot of “why the hell did I ever say I’d do this in the first place?” going through my head right now. I’m an idiot. I watched one video about people finishing a marathon and suddenly I’m ready to take on 26.2 miles myself? Come on, 13.1 just became doable like a month ago!

But alas, I made a promise to myself (and paid the registration fee), so I can’t run away from this problem.

200although that sprint might be good training, so on second thought maybe I should?

So now I’m staring down a 16 week training plan that will basically change my life: I’m starting it just as a “runner”. If anything, I can call myself a half marathoner. But at the end of these 4 and a half months, I’m going to be a marathoner. Even thinking about it gives me chills!

Am I scared? Hell yeah. But I’m excited too. And I can’t wait to prove to myself that I can do it. I’m going to start a journey that I never thought I’d ever take on, and it’s going to consume a lot of my life. I’ll have to re-evaluate and shift my eating and drinking habits (oh god my drinking habits) for optimum performance. No more late nights – or late mornings, for that matter. I’ll live and die by the mileage. Whatever the number on the plan, I’m sticking to it and following through. Cross training will be for-realsies, too – biking, swimming, strength training; it’s all going down.

Because come October 19th, when I hit that boardwalk, I want to be as prepared and confident as possible. I will leave all of my doubts in my dust, and I’m going to crush it.

tumblr_static_dumbledorebasically I’m going to be Dumbledore

Now I want to hear from you – what are you ready to take on like Albus up there? Are you training for your first race? A 5k? Your first marathon? Tell me what’s going through your mind – I want to hear it all!

Celebrate You (now with 100% more Jim Carrey)

/ Jess / Leave a comment

While I’m sure we all try to be positive people, sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged and down on yourself.

I don’t know about you, but all it takes for me is one “bad” meal to get sidetracked and fall into the labyrinth of self-doubt and regret: You’re such a freakin’ pig. You can’t even stay on the wagon for one day. Did you really need that slice of cake? And you wonder why it’s so hard to break a 10-minute mile. It’s because you can’t keep your trap shut after a normal amount of food.

hard timeAnd so on.

Sometimes I get so into beating myself up over my failures; but how often do I actually congratulate myself on my accomplishments? Think about it – when was the last time you truly patted yourself on the back for a job well done, whether it was at work, or in running, or even just for checking everything off your to-do list over the weekend? Go ahead, think about it. I’ll wait.

andyYou’re having a hard time thinking of something, aren’t you?

I say no more. Our society praises success against all odds and achievement above all else, but who’s actually holding the measuring stick?

Screw it. I’m going to be proud of my accomplishments. Every day, I’m going to try to find one thing to be proud of – to show myself that I can finish what I start and be successful, even if “success” that day is putting on pants not murdering anyone in traffic on the way to work.

power

…the power to not kill people!

Today, I’ll kick off this new positive outlook by looking back at how far I’ve come on my weight loss journey, with the only non-Jim-Carrey picture in this whole post:

photo 3

In 2003, I weighed over 267 lbs, I was miserably uncomfortable in my own skin and I had a severe anxiety disorder. The following summer of 2004, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer (and later beat that cancer’s ass, hooray!!). That’s when I realized that I had to turn my damn life around. So I started running. And doing yoga, and kickboxing, and the elliptical, and the bike, and weight lifting, and I stopped eating every damn thing in sight. And after 5 years, I lost over 100lbs. And I’m not planning on going back to that size anytime soon.

I do have days (weeks even) where I feel like that girl on the left again. When I eat too much for a few days in a row and slack off on my workouts and call myself a failure. But that’s when I look at that picture up there, then glance in a mirror. I’ve come a long way. A really long way. I worked hard to get here. But dammit, I did it, and I can keep kicking ass because I’m a winner and that’s what winners do.

be positiveWe wear bad wigs and plot revenge against Bruce Wayne.

So today I encourage you to do the same thing. Think about something you’re really proud of. Something that it took effort to achieve. Have you run a full marathon? Cleaned your whole house lately? Raised a family? Are you wearing a bra today even though you don’t want to be wearing one?

feel the loveOr are you flexing your freedom muscles and going bra-less?

Tell me about it. I want to feel the love like Chip Douglas up there. Shout out how proud you are of your accomplishments and let’s share the happies!

My First Nike+ Run

/ Jess / Leave a comment

Let me preface this post by saying that I love Instagram. If you are on it, and not currently following me there, please do me a favor and give me a follow (if you’re so inclined). I’m on there multiple times in a day, and I find so much joy in “meeting” new people that like to share their journeys too! On Instagram, it’s all about the community. Everyone there is just so encouraging and helpful and inspirational – and as I’ve mentioned before, it’s even been a source of fashion inspiration for me too!

So last week, my runner friend at work Instagrammed a photo from her nightly run: a gorgeous scenic photo, with her Nike+ run info along the bottom. I’d seen plenty of other IG’ers with the Nike+ jargon, and have always thought “Eh, it’s too complicated, it’d just be one more thing to carry and sync and post and drive my friends on FB crazy with when I post with it.” The photo was gorgeous though, and when I saw her at work the next day I complimented her on it. We got to talking about Nike+ and she reassured me how easy it is to use, how it doesn’t drain your battery, how you can create challenges with friends – well, before I knew it, I was inspired to take the leap and jump on the Nike+ bandwagon, and now I’m wondering why it took me so long to do just that!

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…and if all my friends jumped off bridges, I would too.

It took some getting used to – I don’t normally carry my phone with me, and I still ran with my Garmin too, simply out of habit. It’ll be easier on long runs or those jogs where I’m wearing pants that have pockets where I can stash my phone, but overall I found that the Nike+ app was perfectly accurate on my pace and distance, and I’ve already connected with some friends on there! I feel like a part of a bigger community, which is always a good thing, and I can’t lie – my work friend who introduced me to it has already said she’ll challenge me, and I can’t wait to bring it. Talk about motivation!

Plus, it didn’t hurt that today was my first solo run around the industrial park near my office, where I was surprised to find beautiful sights like this one:

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perfect running scenery

I can’t wait to lace up again tomorrow and see where I go with my Nike+!

What do you think – are you on Nike+ too? What tracking app/product do you rely on? Share your favorites in the comments!

From 2 Legs to 2 Wheels

/ Jess / 5 Comments

So back in 2011, I got a bike. Specifically, a good friend gifted me the bike as a wedding present. And it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten!

I still remember unpacking that thing a few weeks after we got back from our honeymoon and putting it together with my own damn hands. I was so excited! I was going to finally get back in the saddle after almost 10 years, and I was going to jump right in! Well, once I figured out why the brakes weren’t working and if I could get the tires to stay inflated. Then winter came. I promised myself I would get back into it after the snow finally cleared out. Then we moved. OK, I’d get it all fixed up and hit the road once we were all moved into the new house. Then I figured I’d wait until after the AC Half Marathon. And then I tore my ACL and lost 15 months to rehab.

SO. Fast forward to this past weekend when I found myself laid up with a surprise ear infection the same day that my good “virtual” friend (and Mermaid Club founder) Helena completed the Ironman Texas Triathlon. I was inspired, to say the least! Since I’ve managed to incorporate cycling into the last 3 months of my training, and have found that I REALLY like it, I finally called my papa – AKA the Bike Doctor – and he swung by to give my pretty girl Maggie a tune up. 

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Yeah, that’s the bike’s name, so what?

A quick 20 minutes of tightening and oiling, and I was ready to hit the road! So the next morning, when I woke up feeling much better (thank you, modern medicine), I threw the bike in the back of the Honda and we went for our inaugural ride!

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Selfie time with Maggie!

I set out to ride on feeling, just to see how far I could get. I even found that I could use my Garmin for biking – score! And after one mile-long lap, I felt so good that I took the turn out of the park and went exploring. My knee felt great and I was having a good time, and before I knew it I had done 3.5 miles! I started to feel it in my legs after taking a few small hills, but I kept going and told myself to push for 5 solid miles as hard as I could go.

So push I did, and I completely surprised myself when I finished all 5 miles at a little over 6:10/mile pace! 

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happy biker

Needless to say – I’m hooked! I can’t wait to incorporate biking into my fitness plans, especially when I start getting into the thick of my marathon training and need to give my legs some good cross training. I’m already planning out new routes to test my limits now that I’ve transitioned from 2 legs to 2 wheels!

Tell me: if you’re a runner, do you bike too? What are your other favorite cross-training exercises? Give me some other ideas, I’ve gone exercise-crazy and I’ll try anything next! 

Bad Blogger

/ Jess / Leave a comment

OK, so first let me apologize for the lack in posting. Secondly, Happy Friday! I’d like to thank the good people at QuickCheck for caffeinating me enough to answer all the emails in my inbox *and* blog before 11:00AM. Nicely done, folks.

ImageThis has basically been me for the last 90 minutes.

I’ve had a good week here, filled with new running gear, jewelry, and more – let’s get right to it!

First, we’ll start with last weekend. On Mother’s Day I participated in a virtual run called Mermaids for Mamas, with my online friends in The Mermaid Club. It was a great day to get some miles in around town, and to take some time to think about all my mother has done for me. To say that she’s my inspiration would be an understatement. Without getting all mushy here, let’s just say that it was a great run that filled me with love and pride in my family 🙂

ImageThat’s my mama and me in the bottom right, at my very first 5K ever!

When I got home I found that Lucy had “surprised” me with a Mother’s Day gift: my very first Alex & Ani bracelet!

ImageShe did need a little help with the online ordering, being a cat and all.

The warm weather over the weekend made me realize that I need to seriously look at what I wear when I run. Yes, capris/tights feel good and cover everything, but when it’s 85 degrees out, I am not all about that heat stroke life. So on Tuesday, I finally bit the bullet and went shopping for some new running shorts.

Being a larger girl for basically 95% of my life, I was never very comfortable in shorts of any kind. Especially when I warm-weather run. Shorts are a necessary evil, but with the typical swishy shorts I always end up with – let’s be honest – a ridiculous frontal wedgie. It’s just not cute. All of my pictures from last month’s half marathon prominently feature my thighs snacking on my shorts, big time. It’s time for a change.

So a few of my Instagram runner friends have been rocking some SUPER cute little fitted shorts, and it got me thinking maybe I should see what the big deal was about. So off to the Nike outlet I went…

Image…and I hit the mother lode!

The tank and swishy shorts were my usual style (who can pass up $10 Nike shorts & tanks?), but I’m more excited about the top right and lower left mini-shorts. SO out of my comfort zone – but so perfect!!

ImageReady to run!

I tried the top right shorts out last night and I’m in love. They are so flattering, and fit like a glove without any muffin top. They still ride up a bit (that’s what happens when thighs collide), but I just feel freer and faster in them. Maybe it’s the placebo effect and I’m really no faster than when I wear my swishy shorts, but I noticed a distinct difference. And also? While we’re on the subject of differences?

ImageHello, new booty!

I’ve been hitting it pretty hard since my half marathon, and I have to say that I’m amazed at the difference I found in these two pics, only taken about 2 weeks apart. I’ve been watching my sugar intake, I added more protein and veggies into my diet, and I’ve squeezed in 50 squats a day (10-20 at a time) since my half – and magically I earned myself a new booty and belly!! Sure, the usual bloating/diet of the day may have had some effect, but when I saw this last night I actually said “Dayum!” aloud, like I was in a Wayans brothers movie.

So tell me – how was your week? Do you have any exciting plans? Is anyone racing? Tell us about it in the comments!

Magic or Science?

/ Jess / 5 Comments

With my first half marathon post-ACL surgery in the books and few more weeks until my first full marathon training plan starts, I’ve found myself floating around in this cloud of indecision and inspiration. If it sounds weird, just imagine living it.

I’ve only gone on about 4 or 5 runs since my half, telling myself to get back into the swing of things easily now because once full training starts, my knees will be begging for mercy. But at the same time, I’m anxious to get out there again and again because – and I’m not kidding here – every run since my half has been amazing. Like, A-MAY-ZING with a capital A. I feel lighter, my pace has improved, the hills are easier to tackle, my breathing is even, I fall right into a rhythm as soon as I start… it’s unbelievable!

actual photo of me running Sunday morning

How I felt running this past Sunday morning

Have I finally pushed through all of those crap-tastic training runs I fought throughout February and March? Is my running karma finally turning around after feeling like Homer Simpson for pretty much the first 2 miles of every. damn. run. I’ve taken in the past 6 months?

Probably not because that’s what I actually looked like running Sunday morning.

I’d like to think it’s magic. But when I examine the facts, I really can’t deny that everything I’ve heard about “getting out of running what you put into it” is really true. In my training, I added serious cross-training to strengthen my whole body and protect my injury-prone joints. As a result, my post-surgery knee feels stronger than ever (except when it’s humid. NOT when it’s humid). I built up my mileage slowly, and have seen my limits grow with every long run. I learned how to alter my pace to my distance to avoid burnout, and have found shorter distances to be much faster now that my endurance is built up. Sure, I went from a 13:00 mile to an 11:00 one, but hey, I was on track to break 10:00 before my injury and I never thought I’d see it again!

So while I’d like to think that it’s magic, the facts really don’t lie: training smart really does make you a better runner. Although a little magic doesn’t hurt.

What do you think? Have you noticed any improvements thanks to your training? Have any tips or tricks that you like to use? Share your story!

 

“There goes my head.”

/ Jess / 4 Comments

When I was about 11 my uncle introduced me to the world of The Far Side, and I was never the same. My little tween brain couldn’t grasp the fact that one square drawing could be so damn funny, and I usually ended up laughing until I cried after just a few pages of the anthology books he got me for my birthday that year.

While I’ve got plenty of favorites, one comic stuck with me through the years and has gained a LOT of relevance for me in the past year. When I first saw it, I didn’t quite understand what made it so funny – I’d heard people who had previous surgeries talk about their random bits “acting up” with humid weather or snow storms, but what did I know? I was 11 and had all my factory-original parts.

All I knew was that this comic had a direct line to my funny bone. Behold:

Imagethat potato head is pure comedy gold. ask any eleven year old.

Fast forward to this past year, which has found me dealing with all manner of aches & pains thanks to this new ACL. For the past 48 hours, it has been pouring rain here in New Jersey. I mean pouring. Humid, disgusting, cold miserable rain. Which has prompted my knee to figuratively turn into a weather balloon of anger, willing the rain to stop with each throb.

Before my knee surgery, I never understood the “bionic human barometer” thing. Now, I stand (limp) before you as living proof.

I guess I can thank God it’s not my head though.

How about you – can you predict the weather with any body parts? Do tell! And if it’s your face, I want pictures.

Rest & Recover? lol jk

/ Jess / 7 Comments

Here I am, 3 days post-race, and I already miss training. Not being able to run after a race like that kills me! Especially since I had such a great experience; PR’ing with my new ACL has me convinced that I can – and should! – take on another race soon, to maintain my fitness and improve my time.

But alas, I’m forced to “take it easy”, at least for this week. OK, my knees can use the rest. Truth be told, they’re both still a little tender. This new ligament was just put through the wringer, and my good knee has taken on a lot in the last year, so they’ve earned a few rest days.

ImageThis may be my grandfather. Maybe.

But I want to GO! I went from talking about nothing but training to talking about wanting to get back into training. I think my coworkers may tie me to my chair and roll me into an empty office soon. How about you, does the post-race rest period drive you as insane as it’s driving me?

Also, can we talk for a moment about the whole post-race appetite thing? During training, I was like a vacuum. I required constant feedings, like a 165 lb. newborn kitten.

Image…and then eat some more!

But after my half on Saturday, my appetite has all but disappeared. I fantasized about pancakes for pretty much all of miles 11 & 12, but once I finished, the thought of food just turned me off. We only stopped at Baja Fresh after the race because I knew that poor Mike had to eat *something*. Sure the guacamole was good, and my shrimp taco was delicious, but I could only manage a few bites of each before calling it a day. That night I had a chicken salad and treated myself to some hash browns, but again could only take about half of each. I couldn’t even finish my celebratory brownie that night.

Guys, do you understand what I just said? Let me repeat myself: I couldn’t even finish a brownie. What the what??

3 days later, I’m still not as ravenous as I expected – which is certainly a good thing, especially if I have to take a few more days off running. But this goes against everything I am and desire in life. Have any of you ever experienced an appetite decrease after a race? Am I entirely alone here?