Saturday, January 25, 2014

"No more running until February at least!"

I lied.

Yesterday, I went on post, to a different gym.  This one was much smaller and I was the only woman there.  Bunch of fit guys there because it's close to aviation/SF stuff, but the atmos was still chill.  I hopped on the treadmill and put on the fones and tunes.  Total 6.? miles (I mistakenly reset the session).  10:50-40/mile felt rough for the first ten minutes or so, and I was beginning to consider ditching the workout, then I loosened up to about 8:30/mile feeling great, breathing still easy (this is a biomechanically and usually aerobically very comfortable pace for me on roads and TMs)...and then I got ambitious.    Or creative. 

I'm not used to fancy treadmills anymore; pushing the buttons and seeing the numbers change was oddly satisfying.  The going-round-the-track graphic was enthralling.  In addition, it felt good to move more quickly even though the gym was too warm and I was overdressed (thanks to the influence of the poorly-insulated change room).  Beep Beep Beep.  Plus the music was perfect.  Once again, I (butterfly) have been searching for something new, and after some searching and accommodating algorithms, I've found that sort-of prog metal suits the bill these days.  Ok!  Oh, and this gym was also close to helicopters--I couldn't hear much of the noise through my headphones, but perhaps feeling it goaded me further.  Because helicopters are exciting, no?

I found my limit.  The treadmill had a bit more oomph left, but it was starting to feel unstable: I was herding cats.   I am sort of out of shape...I have a better base now and hopefully better musculature, but I'm also heavy and slow.   I was expecting that and it's been cool, but yesterday was the first time I wanted to get out of the tank in a while.  It's not time yet, though: I would love to have a solid gluten-free month or two, and put a bit more in the muscle bank before I consider trimming down. 

Although I've had a bit of a headstart: I didn't seem lose any discernible weight during the ultra because I was drinking and eating fine, but shortly after DOMS wore off about two days later, I suddenly dropped about five pounds.  Guess there was a lot of repair going on.

We're at the beach now and I may run on it tomorrow.

2 comments:

Fran said...

Did you have to do any special stretching after your big event (imagine a question mark here; keyboard is on the friz again)

cs said...

Basically lunges, pigeon pose, hamstring, foot stretches, spinal and hip exercises...some of these are undefined. I wiggle around until I find sore spots. Like, right now, I'm on my back with my feet on the floor and knees up; if I push one knee forward and contract that glute and tilt that hip, I can feel the stretch further up my back. It's hard to explain!