My body betrays me once again… March 20, 2013

 

So THIS is what it’s come to… I have had horrible knee pain lately, and my knee pops. I also deal with shoulder pain. I’m looking for advice: any runners have suggestions on knee pain? Something that doesn’t require prescription pills?

Confessions of an Ex- Athlete March 9, 2013

Since I started playing organized sports, I hated running. When I played softball, we ran when we got in trouble. When I played basketball, we ran for conditioning, and when we got in trouble. In track, we ran because that’s the basis of track and field.

 

Despite hating to run, I joined track so that I could miss school every week with my friends when we had meets out of town. It was a good trade. I missed school, won medals, and had a six-pack. All I had to do was run.

 

Once my days of athletics were over my sophomore year in college when I stopped playing softball (we were still running when we got in trouble) I was finally free. Finally free of running, of consequences, and I was also freed of my six pack.

 

For years I knew what I had done to make my body so perfect, but I refused to do it. “I hate running. Running is stupid. I’m not a runner.” I want to slap myself across the face for having that mentality for so long.

 

I might as well said, “I’m lazy.  Work is hard.  I don’t care about my health or my body.”

 

 After getting a bit of courage and running steadily since the end of December I finally took my training to my first 5k. The Reach out and Run 5k was set in beautiful Chaffee Crossing,  and hosted by the Junior League of Fort Smith. It’s their second annual race, with the proceeds benefitting the Aging Out of Foster Care. The Vibe was also there playing music.  It was a great turnout, with a variety of ages. We could have even brought our dog out. 

 

The whole time I had this plan in my head to keep my husband in sight in front of me so that I kept a strong pace, and if I had the energy at the end, I would attempt to sprint past him. He doesn’t run regularly, but runs pretty fast. I know it will be a tough workout.

 

Every tough workout needs a tough playlist. Not just any playlist, but one where every song should be played at the climax of an action movie. I had to dig deep into my tortured soul for this one.  I pulled together a playlist that featured the likes of the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Limp Bizkit (oh yes, I did) and the fighting songs from Kill Bill. I WAS READY.

 

Before the race I had butterflies. I was so nervous. I hate that despite the fact that I can run the distance I was already preparing myself for a bad run. I’m still working on thinking positively. It’s okay to be confident and proud sometimes.

 

 Once the gun went off, I was in the zone. My plan to stay behind my husband dissolved when he broke out into what I call a showoff sprint, but I kept a great pace, running a 9-minute mile, and finishing in 32.45, a personal best!

 

It went by faster than I thought it would. It took me a while to recover, because I ran so much harder than I would have on a treadmill, plus there were people around to keep a pace with. What I liked the most about running a race outside was that I actually ran at a good pace. It’s not as easy to do on the treadmill because I still have the fear of falling if I run too fast.  I would be lying if I said I ran the whole thing, I actually walked a total time of a minute and a half.  To think, if I hadn’t stopped I may have had an even faster time.

 

I will most definitely compete again. It’s liberating to do something that I spent years saying that I wouldn’t or couldn’t do.  I’ll take that as a personal victory, Shannon, 1, Shannon’s perceived limitations, 0. Since I’m becoming such a diligent runner, maybe my 6-pack might come crawling back. I would accept it with open arms.

 

 

If you would like to participate in a 5k but need help getting started, check out the Couch to 5k workout. It’s available as an app, and online at www.coolrunning.com.  If you are looking for a 5k to run,  visit www.arkansasrunner.com for a list of dates and locations  hosting runs across the state. 

I can’t run in silence… February 26, 2013

One of my favorite parts of working out is listening to music as loud as I can, drowning out everything around me while I people watch. I have actually tried running without my music and noticed that I don’t run as hard, or as long. I’ve put together some playlists, check them out!

Dirty Work (if hearing profanity gets you going)

• Won’t Back Down- Eminem & P!nk
• Tush- Ghostface Killah
• Touch the Sky- Kanye West
• ‘Till I Collapse- Eminem
• Summer on Smash- Nas
• Storm Coming- Gnarls Barkley
• Dance (A$$)- Big Sean
• $20- MIA
• Stand Up Guy- TI
• She’s a Killah- Ghostface  Killah
• The Rooster- OutKast
• Pass that Dutch- Missy Elliott
• Morris Brown- OutKast
• Monster- Kanye West
• Jesus Walks- Kanye West
• Ghetto Musick- OutKast
• Ayo Technology- 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake

Pop Queen and Her Court ( Britney Spears and the gang)

• Rock Me In- Britney Spears
• Blow- Ke$ha
• I Like It Rough- Lady GaGa
• Toxic- Britney Spears
• Down Boy- The Yeah Yeahs
• SOS- Rihanna
• Outrageous- Britney Spears
• I Wanna Go-  Britney Spears
• Bad Romance- Lady GaGa
• 3- Britney Spears
• Don De Replay- Rihanna
• Telephone- Lady GaGa
• Teeth- Lady GaGa
• Shut Up and Drive- Rihanna
• Lovegame- Lady GaGa

More to come… 

 

Feeling like the Biggest Loser February 13, 2013

I know that the weight loss shows like Extreme Body Makeover and The Biggest Loser are meant to inspire people, but it just makes me feel bad. Oh, in the beginning when I watch them get all into it and lose 10, 12, 8 pounds a week I’m amazed. I’m over here thinking to myself, maaan, if I got my act together, I can be over here lookin ultra fly in a month or two.

So I work out hard. I eat better. I’m not gonna lie and say that I just eat perfect, cause once every few weeks I’ll eat a cheeseburger and fries.

When we went to Dallas I decided to be a good bridesmaid and help her test out the cupcakes. There were 6 cupcakes, and a few truffles. On any normal day I would have declined, but I figured if we both need to make sure that we make it in a dress in June I could eat half so she wouldn’t bear the extra weight. Obviously I am the prime example of a good best friend.

In fact I am trying on my bridesmaid dress tonight. I purposely ordered it a size smaller to motivate myself. Sounds crazy and dangerous, right? I believe in me!

Back to the Biggest Loser. I do all of these things without taking into consideration the fact that they don’t go to work 40 hours a week or take care of an infant and husband. They have a personal trainer to make them sweat and cry at the same time. They also have a chef making them delicious and fat-free meals. The biggest fact that I always neglect to remember is that they are morbidly obese.

I will be perfect if I lose 35 pounds, not over a hundred. The chef at our house is a great cook, but she also works 40 hours a week and takes care of an infant and husband.  I do have a workout partner that I wouldn’t trade for the world, though.

It’s hard to remember my reality of getting healthy when I DVR these shows. Would I love to lose ten pounds in a week? Absolutely! The only way that  would probably happen is if I took performance enhancing drugs like phentermine and HCG. I’ve been down that road, and it didn’t work for me. I’m not saying it’s a bad route to take, but it wasn’t mine.

In two days I get to see my results from this whole month, and I have a shoulder injury that has affected every aspect of my workout for the past two days. I even have trouble picking up the baby. Am I worried about how this will affect my weigh in? Terribly. For the first time in over a month I took a weekday off, to try to give my muscles some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow morning, but I really planned on hitting it hard this week. It’s hard to feel bad when I’ve logged in 21.87 miles in eight days.

I just need to keep telling myself that I’m not a big loser because I’m not the biggest loser. I’m going to enjoy the victories that I have every day that I work out, and trust that everything I do to get stronger will take my body and soul to the best place it can be.