Finding Radiance » running

Rules for trails and paths

Lori — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:49:19 +0000

Katie had mentioned in a comment about what was proper etiquette for multiuse trails and paths. This is separate from riding/walking in the streets. Too many times, people get on a path and just do whatever they want, not realizing there are rules you should follow to prevent inconveniencing others or worse, causing an accident. Sometimes these may be posted at the trail head, but not always.

People actually tie their dogs to this sign. I don’t know if they are being ironic or just don’t read it.

No matter what your mode of transport (feet, bike, roller blades) – stay to the right. Unless you live in a country where driving occurs on the wrong left side, always be on the right side of the path. You should always be passed on the left side and those people need room to do so safely.

Don’t walk in groups side by side. If you have multiple people in your group, do not spread across the path. Most times when people are in large groups, they are talking and are not paying attention to what is going on around them. At most, 2 people across and only if there is room to do so leaving adequate space on the other side. Also, do not bike in groups like this either. Cyclists should ride single file unless there is *plenty* of room for oncoming path users and for people to pass you on the left.

Never just stop dead on the path. If you need to stop for whatever reason, move off to the side off of the pathway itself. You never know who may be coming up fast behind you or if you are on a path with curves or a narrow portion and you aren’t visible.

Let people know when you are coming up behind them. Whether you are a jogger passing a walker or a biker passing, signal to the people in front of you that you are approaching. You can use a bell or horn or just give a holler. I usually say “Passing on your left” which lets them know I am back there and getting ready to pass and on what side. Also try to give them enough time to hear you and process that in order to react.

Short leash your dogs. If you are walking with your dog on a path, first make sure they are allowed there. If so, keep them on a short leash. As a biker, I can tell you it is really scary to be coming along and have a dog on a long leash come across the path in front of you. And don’t forget to pick up their poo

Headphones – this is such a touchy subject. You should always be able to hear someone trying to connect with you, so keep your music at a level that makes that possible. I can’t tell you how many times I have shouted as I was passing a jogger/walker with headphones on and they didn’t hear me. Then I scare them coming by. I personally don’t think bikers should wear headphones because you are just moving so fast that you need to be very aware of what is going on. And you know, the nice thing about multiuse paths is that you can enjoy the sites and sounds of nature! So try leaving the headphones at home.

Hope these tips help! Anyone have anything else to add?

To run or not to run, that is the question

Lori — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:04:35 +0000

So cold this morning. So cold! It was minus 5 degrees and I was not wanting to go out in that weather, so I stayed home instead I figured I would either do a rest day or ride the trainer later. No running today, and I will address that below.

So, I made up breakfast! I did the 1-minute muffin topped with peanut flour (mixed with water). Plus some of the platoon of strawberries we have now – thank you K-Mart!

No work this morning, so I was able to get right into today’s soap batches.

A funny note about our wedding rings. We get tons of compliments on them. Our original bands (which John did also lose … maybe he is trying to tell me something??) were gold with channel set diamonds and not many people commented on them. I don’t wear that one because it is several sizes too big and I never had it resized. When John lost his first ring, we decided to buy new ones and ended up really liking these rings:

- and they were only $20 each! Gotta love it. I am so happy he found it!

Time for lunch! I did have a bunch of peanuts this morning while moving around the house. I really am starting to head to Crack Town with those. Not quite sure what is up with that. Those may have to go up high now. So, I made up a nice salad to eat.

This had chicken, greek dressing, and a few chopped pecans. Simple, but very tasty!

I have been thinking a lot about running lately, particularly after last weekend. Ever since I herniated my back, which was about 11 months ago now) – running has been a little problematic for me. It took me a long time before I was able to run again and I never made it back to my previous form. I still have a little remaining permanent numbness/hypersensitivity in my knee left over from that injury, plus a tiny bit of residual weakness in that leg. Gotta love nerve injuries.

While the actual act of running does not bother me, what I have found is that there are consequences the next day. The day after I run, I always feel pain in my knee and a tiny bit in my back. I took me a long time to put two and two together (hello Sherlock). Whenever I run, the next day = pain. This last Saturday was the worst. I had run on Friday, and then Saturday my knee was bothering me and I stepped onto a stepstool and got shooting pain in my knee. What is it with me getting pains or hurt when I am not doing anything? That is when I began looking back and realizing this pain happens the day after I run. I am assuming it has to do with the high impact of running on the old herniated disk/nerve.

So, what to do. Right now, a medical workup is out because I am one of the many uninsured and am not sure any diagnostics would lead to me be able to do anything about this if you understand what I mean. I don’t want to go through all of that and be told it is what it is, which always seems to happen at the doctor’s office.

The thing is, I feel somehow pressured to keep running. I wanted to do a duathlon this year, and possibly a half marathon, but right now I just don’t want to train for those. I want to ride my bike, which thankfully causes no issues for me. I feel like I am *supposed* to run. However, I don’t know if running is really good for me if it causes problems. I do want to do a few smaller races because those are fun (and I love the swag!), but not sure I want to do big events. I would have thought that at a year out from an injury that I would not even be talking about it, but there you go. Maybe I will just run periodically and not really do any training with it.

Dinner time! Didn’t reading all that running talk make you hungry? It did me.

On the menu tonight was some ground pork from the smokehouse. Burgers are good.

Happy 40th anniversary to Starbucks! To celebrate, guess where are tonight?

What’s blooming today and vegging out.

Lori — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:19 +0000

Ah the weekend. Fridays are never crowded at the gym. Guess nobody wants to work out on Fridays? Had a protein drink and then biked in. I decided to take it easy on the legs today with a race coming up Sunday.

Exercise	Set/rep/weight	Muscle worked
Stiff-legged dead lifts	3 sets of 10 with 45# bar	Lower body
1-arm dumbbell row	3 sets of 10 with 20# DB	Back
Chin ups	2 sets of 2, 2 sets of 1	Upper body
Railing squats	3 sets of 10 – body weight	Lower body
Standing Cable Fly	3 sets of 10 at 30# (each side)	Chest
Shoulder Shrug	3 sets of 12 with 30# bar	Shoulders
Horizontal Wood chop	3 sets of 10 at 30#	Abs
Nosebreaker	3 sets of 10 with 25# bar	Triceps

Nice non stressful workout today. I rest 1 minute between sets for the most part unless I am supersetting any of the exercises. The above workout took about 35-40 minutes. Then I biked home for some brekkie!

It was a cooler morning, so warmth was in order. Pumpkin cream of wheat – custard style. Cooked with molasses as the sweetener and topped with a bit of crystalized ginger and toasted pecans.

Yum. I spent a good chunk of the morning puttering around in the garden. A few new things today:

Potted painted daisy

Allysum:

Gazania:

Clematis:

This thing is a monster, too. The twine broke that it climbs onto the porch along and it is just drooping in a big mass:

Lunch break!

More sweet potato with laughing cow and sauteed broccoli. I was trying to find a good protein source and didn’t feel like eggs and chicken was set for dinner. So I mixed some strawberry protein powder with greek yogurt. I think I would try freezing this mixture.

More miscellaneous outside work today. We are working on the southeast side of the house which is kind of overgrown with vegetation. It is really a nice day outside today!

Straight up latte snack:

plus a granola bar.

Think the warranty on a PlayStation would cover cat butt?

It’s off the floor so it doesn’t get stepped on, but Pixie thinks it is her personal seat. This is why we can’t have nice things….

Classic Lori salad for dinner:

Those bagged salads are so handy. We get either Dole brand or Fresh Express (I like spring mix). One bag makes 2 salads for me That’s a lot of greens. I am totally vegging out in a good way today.

I didn’t bike today (other than to the gym) so that I could get in one last run before Sunday’s race. I wanted to do 3 miles one last time. I did pretty well. Completely pain free. I finished up in 33:33. A little bit faster than last time. Tack on 0.1 miles and I hope to finish up under 35 minutes on Sunday.

Treat afterwards:

Banana soft serve. I put cinnamon in it and topped with a bit of chocolate sauce. What a great post run treat!

I am in a really good spot with food lately. It feels good.

Question: Do you do bagged salad mixes?

Running FAQ

Lori — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:01 +0000

I got a lot of questions about my running, so like with the weight lifting post, here are my all my secrets

How did you start running/How long have you been running? I started the Couch to 5K program in April of 2008. Here is the post where I talked about my running evolution last year. This is still one of my favorite posts. So that makes almost 2 years of running now. Where does the time go, anyway?

When did running become an enjoying experience DURING the run, and not only afterwards? Hmmmm…. this is hard because I don’t always enjoy the running. When I first started out, I was actually nervous for the jogging sessions of training, literally palm sweating nervous. How bizarre is that?
There are days where it feels really good and I feel fit and the running is easy. Those days I love. Then there those days where my legs feel leaden and I think, “What the hell am I doing? This isn’t fun.” Then I just get over it and keep going, unless I feel something funny that would lead me to believe I might get injured if I continue. Most times that feeling of yuck dissipates after a while, but sometimes it stays the whole run. That is usually when I refer to it as ‘slogging it out.’ I do have to say that I love, love the feeling when I am done running. Knowing that great feeling is coming always outweighs the wanting to stop. I don’t know if it is the endorphins or the feeling of accomplishment (or a little from both columns), but that is part of what keeps me running. Ermmm….. is that called addiction?

Did you run as a heavy person? Sort of. I tried running when I weighed over 200, and I made the mistake of going too hard, too fast, so I stopped (I still had that all-or-nothing mentality then). I weighed in the 160s in 2008 when I started again. It is easier when you are lighter, but there certainly are people much heavier than I am that do 1/2 marathons! It’s all in how you train. I do still need to wear compression on the bottom, because I don’t like the feel of loose skin when I run. It just makes it more comfortable. My trisuit was the best purchase ever!!

Why do you say you don’t consider yourself a runner, as it seems like you run a lot? I consider myself a biker and a lifter first, because those 2 things I love, and I would bike all the time if I could (and did last summer). Running is just kind of something I do, but not necessarily what I am.

What shoes do you wear? I have become a convert to Saucony shoes. I have wide feet and they fit me really well.

What do you eat before you run? Depends on the length of the run and the time. Usually a protein bar or some type of bread with nut butter on it. Sometimes dates with nut butter. Nothing really heavy.

Do you have any running goals this year? I had a mileage goal in mind of 750 miles for the year. A minimum of 500 (I am sitting at 166 the day of this post). I had thoughts of doing a 1/2 marathon, but I realized that I don’t love running so much that I want to do it for 2.5 hours. I think I might get bored, not to mention that it would be really hard. It’s funny, we are going to do a 100-mile bike ride this summer and that I look forward to that. I was not looking forward to a 1/2 marathon, so I think that is reason enough to not do one. And that is okay. Sometimes I feel like I *should* because there is no reason that I can’t, and it seems like so many others are having fun doing them. It certainly would be a challenge. I can always change my mind on that one, though. I am doing the duathlon again, though. Yay!

So, those are just some musings on running.

My first 5K ever in July of 2008 (with my sister)

Let the countdown begin!

Lori — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:10:04 +0000

Thank you for all the nice comments on the Locks of Love post!

Sunday is the start of my work week – and the official countdown to vacation can begin! WooHoo!! (Can you tell I am excited??) I realized that since we stopped biking on Sundays with the cold weather that I have a very relaxing start to the work week. It’s my rest day, so no gym and I can sleep in. Then we go out for bagels and chit chat. Then I start my work day. That is a *great* way to start the week, I have to say. Easing into it.

So speaking of bagels, I decided on a blueberry one today. Haven’t had that one in a while. Nom, nom!

Plus about 3 cups of coffee. Okay, not about 3 cups, definitely 3 cups

We picked up a few groceries. Judicious shopping to get us through the week. Although, I supposed my parents can eat whatever they want out of our fridge (they are house watching and Pixie watching while we are away).

I made a vow that there was to be no intermittent snacking today. I have been noticing lately that there has just been too much of it, which I correlate a little bit to the increase in mileage from running. I really found the snacking habit hard to break! Planned snacks are one thing, but the constant reaching into the peanuts or chip bag without thinking really needs to stop. I think I will shoot to make this a goal in the week leading up to the cruise as well. My pre-vacation challenge!

Lunchtime was a superfood fest! Vanilla greek yogurt, protein powder, canned pumpkin, cinnamon, and ground flax seed.

Note – no cereal!

This week’s run plan will be to decrease mileage. It’s a good idea when you up your mileage to take a week and back down again. Helps prevent injury and over training.

Snack break during the football game (and work break). Latte plus my beloved Attune bars!

I had a coupon for these, so I got some. So good. Portion controlled (unlike chocolate chips!).

Dinner was ring around the hot sauce!

Plus 1/2 a granny smith. I like apples, but I don’t eat them as often because there are other fruits I love more, but it’s getting down to eating up stuff in the house. I had asked John to get me a couple tart apples last week (he likes sweeter ones) and I am just getting around to them. Oops.

Come on on Saints – I’m rooting for you tonight!!

Question: Do you start your week easy, or jump right in with workouts, work and eating right?

4-miler and Chipotle!

Lori — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:11:59 +0000

Woke up to a sunny morning, and I thought a nice outdoor run was in store, but would do it after breakfast. Had a comforting bowl of banana oats topped with PB2 and apple butter! This was delicious!

Then I checked the temperature. 26 degrees. I really had to talk myself into going out for a run. I knew if I didn’t do something in the morning, I would likely not get any exercise in at all. I contemplated over a 2nd cup of coffee and the temp didn’t rise at all. I finally sucked it up and put on my Nike technical turtleneck and sweats, and added some 180s to keep my ears warm!

(The turtleneck is a Nike drywick – $50 shirt I got at TJMaxx for $15.) Did 4.2 chilly miles! The only thing I forgot was a tissue. My nose runs on the best of days when I run (guess it likes exercise as well). So, nose – meet sleeve. I was fine after about 1/2 a mile and still got really sweaty in this cold!

My mother was feeling well enough to go shopping, so we hit a big craft show. I brought along a Zone bar and one of my granola bars to keep from eating whatever food would be there, and it worked! I got a couple of Christmas gifts, so that was good to get started on shopping early!

We went to the Chocolate Mill for some coffee and a snack afterwards.

Small desserts, again perfectly good and perfectly sized. I got an almond apricot tea cake:

Mom got a lemon tart.

I owed John his football dinner from last week, and this was the first chance we had for me to take him out! He wanted Chipotle since one had opened up nearby. I kind of panicked, because Chipotle can be hefty on the calories. However, we hadn’t been in over 3 years since we moved out here, and there were more choices.

In the old Lori-weighs-250-pounds days, I would get a barbacoa burrito with rice (no beans), cheese, hot salsa and sour cream. Usually I got extra rice because I did not get beans. I would eat the entire burrito, too. Looking up nutritional info, this would be over 900 calories just for the burrito!

Today, I still wanted some cheese and sour cream, but that meant leaving out something else. I chose to get a lettuce base in a bowl and to leave out the rice:

This left me with the yummy flavors of the meat and my favorite cheese and sour cream, but no rice or tortilla. This salad was 410 calories. That’s half of what I would have eaten before – and it was really tasty. Yes, I kind of missed the rice, but I also realize that I had a treat earlier, so in the calorie balance of the day – I knew that was the best choice.

It’s back to work for me tomorrow. Good weekend, a little indulgent, but not overly so

My running progression

Lori — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:48:53 +0000

Woke up to a cloudy and rainy morning. Think it was the remnants of Hurricane Bill bands going by. Still kind of humid! We went for bagels and I forgot my camera! Probably a good thing because we had some difficulties with service and ended up leaving where we went to go to Panera Bread. Not a good start to the day.

I just thought I would give a history of my starting to run to getting to 8 miles for those that weren’t with me a year ago. I have always loved biking, but jogging was one of those things that I thought I hated because I had tried it in the past and just didn’t enjoy it *at all*.

I was also scared of running a little bit and had the dislike for it from past experience. Way back in high school (20+ years ago ), the very first thing we did each fall in PE was to run 3/4 miles one day, and the next gym class was running 1.5 miles. Well, you can imagine how horrible that was to an overweight child and of course I tried to run fast, hyperventilated and was made fun of by other kids. The gym teacher made everyone wait until the last person finished (usually me), so you can imagine how that did not make me very popular with those kids. It was the most miserable thing to start each year with.

Fast forward to adulthood. Well, it turns out that the all-or-nothing mentality I had at one time gave me problems. When I tried running a few years ago, I tried the couch to 5K program, but ran too hard and too fast during the running segments and quit after a couple weeks because it was too intense for me and I hated it. This reminds me of Diane’s post on exercise the other day.

I am one of those people who doesn’t like to admit defeat, so the idea kind of nibbled around in my mind to try again in April 2008.

With some wisdom about how to train, I realized that I didn’t have to sprint during the running segments (seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?). That was the biggest revelation to me. I did the C25K program again, this time with this mindset:

1. I would just jog a comfortable pace during the running sections. Being slow is okay.

2. I would repeat weeks if necessary and it was okay.

3. It would be okay if I could not run 3 miles in 30 minutes after 9 weeks.

Finally, I got somewhere. I did not need to repeat weeks, but I think that was because of #1 and #3 above. I gave myself realistic goals. <—— key point there, people.

Here are a couple of the posts I made during the training last year:

Started Week 3 of C25K today. I had no problem doing the 3 minute jogs. Maybe I don’t give myself enough credit for all the work I have been doing to get into shape. Curious as to how far I could actually go, but I want to make sure I train properly.

Today was Week 5 Day 3 of C25K. That means 20 minutes non stop of jogging. I did it!! And I wasn’t even out of breath. I went 1 3/8 miles, so that is about a 16 minute mile or so. I will take it!! I really, really think I can do the whole 5K.
Started Week 7 of C25K. That was a 25 minute jog. I am getting used to it. I still think the first 1/4 mile is the hardest part. I did 1.5 miles in the 25 minutes.
Started Week 8 of C25K. Was supposed to jog for 28 minutes. My Mp3 player ran out of juice about 3/4 of the way, so I didn’t know exactly how long it took – but I went jogging for a full 2 miles!
I really never imagined myself doing that. It’s crazy!

I was able to run 5K after the C25K program, but it took me almost 50 minutes to do it. Now I can run a 5K in under 30 minutes. I owe it all to small, incremental goals.

I started thinking of longer distances around June of this year, I think. That was when I tried 4 miles. I think I may have figured out how to push myself just enough, but not too much to progress without failing. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t get injured. I am very lucky that I have not suffered any serious injury over the years, which I owe to cross training. You will almost never see me do the same thing 2 days in a row, except maybe for biking.

I have now done 8 miles twice, and could likely go farther. Yep, it is slow, but the feet keep moving and I am not hating every minute of it!

I don’t think I will do the 1/2 marathon this year. Part of that is because my niece wants to run the 5K portion of the same race and wants to run with me as my sister can’t do it, so that race is out. I am happy that she wants to run with me! Maybe I will set my goal to do one next year, as I already did my big fitness goal this year of the triathlon.

So that’s my running story. From nothing to 8 miles at a time, all with slow, patient steps. I may not be the fastest runner on the block, but I am the one with a smile on my face

8-miler, running thoughts and ice cream

Lori — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:57:45 +0000

Well – last night was ice cream at Friendly’s! I got a happy endings sundae with butter crunch ice cream and peanut butter sauce.

It was very good and I enjoyed every bite! Plus it was nice just to get out of the house for a while.

So, this morning was the 8-mile jog! Here is me fresh as a daisy before going out.

Well, maybe not so fresh

I fueled up with the other Odwalla bar that John got me before I went out. This was tasty. I packed along a POM juice, a bottle of water, and a few dates with cashew butter to have during my run.

Went down to the track to do 32 laps (snore!!!). Luckily, it was cloudy for 1/2 the run. I did 4 miles straight, then stopped and drank the POM juice. I got an instant rush from that (it is straight juice, after all!). Then I continued on. The sun came out after that and it started to feel really humid. I felt like I was running even slower, which wasn’t true, it just felt like it. Did 2 more miles (6 at this point), then stopped for a date and some water. I had to really charge myself up for the last 8 laps. There were maintenance people there working on the football field inside the track and on the school roof – they probably were getting a kick out of hearing me talk to myself. The last mile was fairly hard, more from the point that I just wanted to be done. Finished in 1:35:15. Just about a 12 minute mile pace (or 5 mph). I was so soaked in sweat when I was done, I literally could wring out my trisuit (yuck!!).

Check out the GoWear fit – it gave a calorie burn of about 1000 for this run. Even if I knock 10% off of that just for fudging sake (mmmm….. fudge… that is still 900! You can see where I took the 2 stops.

And yes, I do eat more on days like this.

It got me really thinking about whether I want to do a 1/2 marathon or not. I know I could probably finish it, but I don’t know if the desire is there to, and that is very important. When I was training for the triathlon, I wanted to do it and I was excited for it, even though I was kind of scared. The 1/2 doesn’t feel that way. I need to mull it over. I told myself I would decide when I had done an 8 mile, but maybe I need more time.

Had a fabulously refreshing shower and made a late breakfast of chocolate banana oats!

40 grams of oat bran
1 small banana
4 grams of dark cocoa powder
spoonful of cashew butter.

Work is really slow today. That’s the downside of doing transcription. No files = no work.

Lunch today is a tuna/hummus wrap (last of the hummus) and the last pear. We really need to go grocery shopping!

Neat online giveaway!

Run to the finish -It’s Amanda’s birthday and she is giving away a ton of stuff to a lucky reader!

(Teaser, look for a giveaway on my site next week!)

Lucky me that John fired up the grill and got some chicken going. He used some Emeril’s seasoning that I got to sample for being a Food Buzz publisher. The afternoon got busy!

The last of the blueberries, and this was a frozen veggie mix. Down to the dregs now of everything!

Preseason football tonight. Are you ready??

Question: Do you watch football, and if so, what team? Go Broncos!

5 miles and Day 2 of challenge

Lori — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:27:00 +0000

I ran 5 miles today!!! I have never run that far before. The most I have ever done is 4 miles. The Y was closed today for Memorial Day, so I just went outside to run. It was a glorious morning. I had a small preworkout snack of a date with peanut butter (yum)

Note my new headphones which go over the ear. These are the best invention ever for working out and surprising comfortable!

Anyway, I was just going to do 3 miles, and then thought I would just go until my tunes ended or I felt like stopping. Then 4 miles hit and I was totally in a groove. I wasn’t going so fast that I was out of breath, and I had hit a good stride (probably somewhere around 5 mph) so I thought I would keep going. It was so nice out this morning on the track and no one was out. No traffic because of the holiday, so it was a peaceful time. I knew I was going to make 5 miles with no problem, but I should have had a bigger preworkout snack as all I could think of for the last 3 laps was waffles! I would have had a bigger snack if I had known I would go extra miles. So, I came back home all proud of myself! I’m thinking maybe a 1/2 marathon really is not out of the picture this fall!

Day 2 of my 12 day challenge went really well. I stayed within calories and no nibbling!

Bracing for winter…. brrrrr….

Lori — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:58:00 +0000

We normally go out for bagels on Sunday morning for breakfast. There are various places we go to, but decided to go to Starbucks for something different. Being early in the morning, the pastry case was chocked full of goodies like donuts, muffins, and Pumpkin scones. I wavered a tiny bit, but then got the Perfect Oatmeal with brown sugar topping. 190 calories and pretty good. Can’t believe I went out and bought oatmeal, but it was a better alternative than even the low fat coffee cakes (and I really wanted a Pumpkin Scone). Victory there, although I do have a bit of craving for a bagel LOL!

We are getting a big blast of cold air this week. I toughed it out today for a jog, despite the cold and wind. Low 40s and very blustery, but this is the best looking day for the next 7 days! So I had to run while I had the chance. The wind blew so hard at times that it made my eyes water, but the rest of me wasn’t cold, since I had bought a new technical shirt, turtleneck to keep me warm. I just kept thinking of burning 300 calories, and that was enough motivation for me to keep going. Temps for the rest of the week are going to be low 30s with snow and yucky precipitation.
I don’t necessarily love the running itself, but I am totally addicted to the feeling of accomplishment after I finish.

So I made it through the weekend eating pretty well. I really want those 130s.