Days 37, 38, and 39 - Impossible.

These past few days have been the sort that make this challenge seem nearly impossible.

It seems like I'm staying extra hours after every shift, and I'm scrambling to get prepared to leave my apartment for three months. Eve kindly took me to buy months worth of food for the cats, but I still need to get keys cut for the friends who are looking after Desi and Guinness, and I need to figure out what I'm bringing with me and, you know, maybe pack a thing or two for when I leave on Sunday night.

Incidentally, I am leaving directly from a competition.

So yeah, things are busy.

But I am sticking with it.

Today I had synchro practice. I've been struggling with synchro this year; it has been hard to come back from everything that has happened recently with my shoulder, with the brief couple of months of arrythmias I was weirdly having (all clear now!), and with being generally deconditioned after a year away. I am trying hard to just take this year as a developmental season, but the fact is that I am such a poor swimmer compared to 3 or 4 years ago. Every practice is a struggle at this point, and there are still things I don't feel I can do. Nevertheless, I went today and worked hard and I will continue to work hard this weekend as I finish my season.

6k and feeling good on Day 39.

My favourite sweaty t-shirt.

Yesterday I ran 6 k on the treadmill as part of my marathon training. I have noticed that my speed and endurance are quickly improving, so I'm feeling successful in that regard. I feel confident that I'm improving, though I know I need to balance all the running with some yoga and/or stretching.

The day before yesterday, I only had time for a quick bodyweight set at home after a shift that went two hours longer than expected. At least I got something in, though, and Katie sent me a timely link that very day to an article discussing the benefit of even short ten minute bursts of physical activity throughout the week; it made me feel much better about my progress.

Anyway, onward and upward.

Here's to tomorrow.

When did I become such a shameless hippy?

Dear blog world...

...I have not forgotten you and am still going strong in the challenge. I hope to have time to write tomorrow!

Day 36 - Marathon Training Begins!

I ran my first 5k at Limestone Race Weekend in late April of 2012.

I ran my first 10k, the Wolfe Island Classic, on July 1st 2012.

I ran my first half marathon, the Canadian Evening Half-Marathon, September 1st 2012 in Ottawa.

Today I started training for my first marathon.

I will be running May 26th 2013, during the Ottawa Race Weekend, just over a year after I ran my first 5k. My only goal is to finish without walking.

I'm pretty pumped.

There is patchy ice covering just about every surface outside, so I took it to the treadmill and ran 6k (I think...Resolutioners had taken every metric machine in the building, so I had to do some on-the-fly calculations). Even with my muscles still sore from the past couple of days (what did I do???), it felt good.

I felt strong.

I ran without stopping, except for a brief coughing break that reminded me that I'm not 100% over this cold yet.

Uh...I think 4 miles is about 6k...

I couldn't have done this a year ago. In fact, when I started running regularly, around March of 2012, I wasn't able to run longer than a minute or two at a time. I was painfully embarrassed during Dragonboat practice when it seemed like everyone else could effortlessly complete our runs around the short loop at City Park. I would slowly jog as far as I could and stop to walk, running again when I caught my breath. I was always the last to finish the loop and the team would wait for me so that they could start the subsequent bodyweight training interval. I wasn't exactly in the best shape of my life, but even when I was in excellent shape and would be sent out on a run with my synchro team, I would lag behind, feeling like I was dying while my lungs burned.

I started running after I had my shoulder surgery; it was really the only physical activity I could do without too much pain or risk of undoing the yet-unsolidified good work my surgeon had done.

It can be hard to get started in running, but I used the Couch to 5k program, and found that it helped me progress to running a full 5k in a little less than the promised 9 weeks. I notice they have an app now, so if you're interested in getting started, you may want to check that out. There's also a lot of great support out there for beginning runners, including the great communities at r/c25k and r/running.

By the time I ran my first 10k, I was training for a half-marathon, but I've since learned that there are Bridge to 10k programs out there for runners who have completed the C25K program and want to move toward longer distance. There's also a subreddit for that.

For half-marathon and marathon training, I've been using a training plan Amy used for her half and full marathon training and passed on to me, but there are plenty of programs out there for runners who want to move toward 21.1k and 42.2k - Hal Hidgon's training programs seem to get the most respect from the recreational running world. 

My big finish at the Canadian Evening Half-Marathon

Ultimately, I'd love to get into ultrarunning, but at the moment I'm too scared to even look into how one trains to run back-to-back marathons!

Day 35 - Thank you!

More than a month in - and you have helped me get there!

Dear lovely blog readers of the world, 

You make me feel so good.

It's hard to keep up all the physical activity and still find time to blog, but it is so gratifying to know that this blog has somehow - incredibly - had over 2600 views. And I love seeing people I haven't run into in a while for just a brief moment, and having them toss a casual 'I've been reading your blog!' over their shoulders as they speed down a hospital corridor or downtown sidewalk. The emails and facebook messages I've been getting make me feel so lucky.

I don't know what I did to deserve all the support, but knowing that you are reading helps keep me going on tough days like today, when my muscles are sore and I can only bring myself to go for a walk. When that walk is actually a delicate and treacherous tip-toe across iced-over sidewalks, knowing that you're keeping tabs on my progress stops me from turning around and going back home.

Now I just have to get the other girls to contribute a bit more often!

I think I'll go do a butt and thighs workout now. I feel like I owe it to you.

From the bottom of my stinky, sweaty, sore-muscled self: Thanks!

PS, I am finally almost over my cold! Back to the gym properly tomorrow, if all goes well!

Day 34 - Exercise and The Sniffles

Check out my yummy tea and awesome new tea infuser!

Today was my first day back at synchro after winter break.

In case you've never worn a tight cap and goggles and been upside down underwater with congested sinuses, I've got to tell you that it is kind of painful! I didn't want to miss practice (because I will be able to make very few practices for the rest of the season due to rotations), but it probably wasn't the right time for me to be back in the pool.

Pool feet. Let's try not to get warts.

Nevertheless, it was really nice to see all my teammates (almost - Anna was missing) and our coach, and get in the water for a couple of hours.


I've done a bit of a preliminary lit search to try and find out whether there is evidence suggesting either that you should do physical activity with a cold, or that you should not. As I've mentioned previously, it seems like everyone's got a different idea about it, and google turns up a wealth of completely unsupported, uncited, and unscientific recommendations.

A quick PubMed search dug up a number of articles discussing immune function and physical activity, but very little about whether you should exercise with a cold...in fact, nothing at all.

I did find an interesting study that suggested that people who engage in high levels of athletic training have upper respiratory tract infections (i.e., colds) more often. Immune effects of exercise don't seem to differ between women and men, but may become more pronounced in people with particularly high training load (i.e., lots of physical activity).

Will exercise scare a cold off? Should you exercise with a cold? No clue.

Other authors completely disagree - this study suggests that individuals who are physically fit and active experience fewer colds and are sick for shorter periods. The authors of this study also assert that physical activity reduces the risk of upper respiratory tract infection.

It's hard to know what to believe.

In fact, whether physical activity helps or hinders your immunity to colds may depend on a host of poorly-understood individual factors

So, in sum, I am still completely in the dark about whether I should work out with a cold, and now I also don't know whether physical activity will keep me from getting sick or will result in me being sick more often.

Huh.

Side note: My legs and bum hurt from yesterday's workout - I definitely wasn't expecting that!

Day 33 - 500 Bodyweight Challenge.

It was a day for Camino Dark Hot Chocolate and Reddit.

I'm pleased to say that I am starting to feel better already. I woke up still quite foggy and congested, but things seem to be clearing up ever so slightly today, and I imagine that I'll be feeling a lot better by tomorrow.

I briefly entertained the idea of going to the gym today, but the burning sensation in my nose deterred me from going outside and breathing in all that cold air on my walk over, and I decided to do a short workout at home instead. Anyone have a solution? I constantly feel like I'm about to sneeze.

Not me, but a reasonable facsimile of what I have felt like nearly every minute of the past few days.

For my activity today, I downloaded an app called 500 Bodyweight Challenge, which is a no-equipment-required home workout. 

I like bodyweight exercise because it's portable - you generally don't need any specialised equipment, and you usually don't need much space, either, so you can work out just about anywhere.

Perfect for those days when you don't want to leave the house and brave the snow and wind.

Of course, you only get out what you put in when it comes to bodyweight exercises. It's easy to coast through a routine with loose muscles and poor form, but if you pay attention to form and keep the appropriate muscle groups engaged, you can really get a great sweat going.

The app initially takes you through a video tutorial that teaches you how to complete a bunch of bodyweight exercises, including Cossacks, Y squats, and Squat Thrusts, among others. Then you get the chance to complete a challenge - 50 reps of each exercise. It's timed, which allows you to compete against other users and your own prior attempts. You get a chance to review a short video of each movement as you're doing it, which is helpful, as there are several activities in the set to remember.

Unfortunately, I did not make it through the entire challenge.

Nope, not that kind of dirty dog.

The penultimate exercise in the set, Dirty Dogs, was just too challenging, probably because I'm still not quite (read: not at all) recovered from whatever I've got. The attempt precipitated quite a coughing fit, and - feeling quite lightheaded - I had to concede defeat before completing the final exercise, Burpees. 

I think this would be a great little at-home workout under different circumstances, and I was impressed that I felt I was doing some cardiovascular work, not just strength training. I'll likely give it a try in the upcoming weeks and see if I have more success when I'm not feeling so yucky. 

If you've used this app, I'd love to know what you think of it.

Day 32 - Still sick.

Just a short post today because I am, as the title says, still sick.

I have spent most of the day in bed, subsisting on cups of instant miso soup and throat lozenges while coughing, sneezing, and generally feeling miserable. Whatever has hit me has hit me pretty hard. I'm entertaining the idea that I may have the flu, but I really hope that's not the case.

I did, however, yank my sorry butt out of bed for a 30 minute walk in the snow.

Please think some healthy thoughts for me, wash your hands regularly, and stay healthy and active.