Saturday, October 17, 2009

A Step in the Right Direction

I kept telling myself that even though I couldn't run for about 3 months due to plantars fasciitis, I could make the best of an injury situation and use that down time from running to do some strength training and/or try to lose that extra 15-20 pounds I've been carrying around.

Did I? No. Instead, I pretty much turned to comfort food and gained about 5 pounds while doing ZERO strength training. I guess it's kind of hard to do strength training when we don't have any weights to lift or a gym membership. (if any of you do strength training without weights, tell me how please)

Anyway, all that is said to say that I am still trying to get my running legs back, and today was a nice step forward in that direction.

I got up way too early (like 330am--crazy I know, couldn't go back to sleep), and went running around 600am, a distance of 7.5 miles, the farthest I've ran in probably 6 months or so. I felt great the whole way and took it at a nice, easy pace (like 10:30/mile). I even got to see the sun come up. It was an awesome run.

Tomorrow is our hometown marathon and I thought about volunteering, but we have too much other stuff going on tomorrow, so for anyone running the Wichita Marathon tomorrow, have a great race! The weather should be perfect. Best of luck to everyone running races this weekend.




8 comments:

TiredMamaRunning said...

Nice run, Oz! And, um, nothing to do with your post but CATS CRUSH A & M! MUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHH! I bet the looks on their sad Aggie faces were priceless.

Regarding strength training....I take a toning class at my kids' dance studio....my arms and chest hurt for a week from the seal pushups in my first class! We do a lot of other things that are body weight versus floor that turn us to mush every week. Feeling stronger now too.

Target has some good workhorse dumbbells and other affordable pieces of equipment that are a happy medium between nothing, and a full-on home gym.

Twincerely,Olga said...

wow! Great run and so early!!! Awesome! Just stopping to say hi!

Unknown said...

yea, body weight. check out this site... http://hundredpushups.com/ for some good challenges and support. plus results you can MEASURE. i love that part. squats. calf raises on the edge of stairs. dips on the edge of a chair. all kindsa stuff. good luck! staying motivated is the toughest part for me. keep up the great work!

Unknown said...

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Felice Devine said...

For non-weight strength workouts, I would recommend push-ups and squats. That site Gene recommended is good -- I did the push up challenge last year but quit :-(

Mark said...

huh, I'll be damned, we're like the same person! ...except I don't play the guitar. I'll have to dig back through your archives and get to know you. Sorry to hear about the PF - I deal with mild irritation from that constantly.

No weights?
-pushups (normal, wide, military, diamond, inverted, etc, etc)
-pullups (pure evil)
-tricep dips
-wall squats
-lunges
-ab work (million and one exercises right there!)

...not like I hardly ever get around to doing any of that either, but hey, I could!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

i also use a band? stretchy cord? for some resistance training. Easy to keep around even when space is limited. Better than nothing. Kudos to you for getting up so early! Glad you're out running again. Feels good, doesn't it.

ShirleyPerly said...

I use just my own body weight (push-ups, dips, pull-ups, squats, lunges, planks) and stretch cords for strength training (bicep curls, tricep ext, rows, shoulder raises, squats/lunges with added resistance, etc). Can do pretty much everything with just them. There's lots of info online and stretch cords can be bought at Sports Authority or other sporting goods stores. No more excuses not to strength train, even when on travel ;-)