A BETTER DAY

Good day today! (Well, aside from my neighbor across the street backing into my car and totaling my bumper). It's amazing how the struggle can turn a corner, if you just keep plugging away hard enough. At least, that's how it feels today. Although circumstances prevented me from sticking exactly to my food plan, I made healthy and reasonable substitutes. I avoided the temptations of Amy's Ice Cream, gelato, AND frozen yogurt (on a stressful day with temps well over 100F. I got home much later than planned and I did my workout, complete with 15 Minutes of Hell Abs Ripper. I wrote my food plan for tomorrow.

Boot Camp officially ended yesterday. It was a success in that it helped me rev up to get back to doing what I need to be doing --- dedicating myself to daily workouts, planning my food, cutting out the extras, paying attention and staying mindful. For the next two weeks, that's all I'm going to try to do. Stick with P90X and pay attention to what I'm eating. Keep on my reminders. Essentially, keep working on getting myself in shape to get in shape.

It's always important to give yourself credit for the things you do right. Although I've gained some weight back, more than I'd like, I am still in much, much better shape than I was the last time I was at this weight. I am much more toned, stronger, with more endurance. That makes me happy, and it makes me want to keep working to be in the very best shape I can.

In about two weeks, I go on the road again. It's not very far from home --- just to San Antonio -- but it's far enough that I'll be staying in a hotel.  But I am determined to use that time for serious concentration. I'll be taking my travel kitchen so I can eat in most of the time, and my workout DVDs so I can keep up with the program. Also, there's a nice gym in the hotel and I hope to do some extra sessions on the elliptical, just for variety.

Always in the back of my mind is getting back to running. I did a little bit earlier in the summer and loved it; but since getting home I've been insanely busy, and it's filthy hot. It hasn't been possible to get up at the crack of dawn to run. But maybe I can find a good place in San Antonio. Maybe I'll go run on the RiverWalk. I wonder if people do that?

Another thing on my mind is doing some hiking again. We just haven't had time and frankly, the remote locations we like to go are chock full of snakes this time of year. I wouldn't risk it until later in the fall, when it will be cooler and we'll be less likely to come face to face with a rattler or coral snake when we're ten miles from civilization, on foot with no cell reception. I like a little adventure but that's too much even for me!

This time last year, I was also getting ready to go sing in San Antonio, and having problems working out because of my mysterious foot injury (turned out to be the seisamoid bones, which had somehow been wrenched out of place) and knee problems (caused by the foot injury). Those injuries turned into many months of problems and I still have issues with the foot, but nothing that prevents me from working out, thank goodness. I hope that in September 2012, I'll be able to post a pic that shows me in significantly better shape than this year (which is already better than last) --- and maybe even with some kind of medal for running a half marathon! That seems like  a worthy goal.

Comments

[thudson]

Sorry to hear about the auto accident.
I agree with Beach Bum on running techniques. It takes a while to get used to, but it is well worth it.

[Cindy]

Thanks for the info! I've been interested in "barefoot" running and the Vibrams for a while, and if it minimizes heel strike it might help me out. Among my list of woes, I've been having chronic heel pain. It may or may not be related to the giant heel spurs I have in both feet! Interestingly, lately I've been doing my cardio barefoot, on a mat, and it does not increase my heel pain. It doesn't lessen it either, but I've noticed that my feet cramp more in shoes, and since I started doing more of the cardio barefoot I have much less cramping when I do yoga.

[Beach Bum]

In the last few months, I've been running in the finger shoes (Vibram 5 fingers). It requires a totally different running technique; with little to no heel strike at all, you run on the ball of your feet. It really works the calf muscles, but my chronic knee and hip problems haven't bothered me at all. New Balance now makes a running slipper with a very thin sole. If you're worried about injury, I'd recommend running in as thin a sole as possible. The reason for this is that if you run in a modern running shoe (using a heel-toe technique), regardless of how much padding there is in the shoe, the force of the foot fall is absorbed by the heel and transmitted directly up the bones of the leg into the joints. With a running style that doesn't involve the heel, the force of the foot fall is absorbed by the achilles tendon and the calf muscle, which are designed and very capable of taking the force (as well as better able to heal any injury).