Sunday, December 16, 2012

:-S

I found a new fitness app recently and have been doing its workouts occasionally, not really sticking to a schedule. They're nice b/c they're short. Yesterday I did 2 workouts with lunges, and today my legs are sore and have been getting more sore over the course of the day. I can't wait for tomorrow morning! ;-)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

To run or not to run

I went running last Thursday, and afterward, my hip hurt so much I almost cried. Finally on Saturday I took 2 Aleve twice (morning, evening), and it felt better. The ache has wrapped around the side of my hip now, though it hasn't felt as tight or as bad as even before last Thurs. I'm nervous to try running again now. Bicycling is nice; I don't have to use that muscle to bend my leg up b/c my other leg does the work as I pedal. I really ought to go to the pool to see how it does swimming, but right now I have a cold. Ugh. There's a Christmas 5K/10K coming up; do I run? I could probably walk it. It didn't hurt after walking to work this morning (~1.3K).

I found the Skimble app for free on the Amazon store (daily special) and downloaded it. It mostly has paid workouts plans, but there are some free ones too. I've done 1 week-long plan and am in the middle of another. The workouts are about 7-12 min, so nothing major, but yesterday's did help me stop feeling cold in my own house--I just needed to get my blood moving I guess. We had such nice weather up until Sunday afternoon, and then it just got really cold all of a sudden. I was warning my kids about it, and when I said it would be 20deg (F) in the morning my son said "That's not cold! We had that in Ohio, and I stood out in it!" (for crossing guard, thought I think that was pretty close to the allowed lower limit)

After tracking my food and exercise in myfitnesspal for a month, I ended up the same weight as I started. I figure I was giving my exercise too much credit for calories burned. So now I'm just logging food and not exercise, most of the time...well, not so well since Thanksgiving, but I'm getting back into the habit. Still drinking too much Coke at work.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Aha! Tensor Fasciae Latae

...or TFL for short, is what's been hurting in my hip for the last month. It's sharp-achy and tender to the touch just below the right iliac crest. I found a great discussion/conversation on it here: http://www.adoseofhealth.com/2010/05/hurt-tensor-fasciae-latae/

I couldn't find any tennis balls around the house, but we do have a back massager, so I used that on my hip, and it helped. Now though I feel the ache has spread farther around my hip. I haven't run in 2 weeks, but I did do 2 kettlebell workouts last week, and I think they exacerbated the pain in my hip. I've also done 3 longer bike rides recently: Thursday (1.9mi), Friday (3.2mi), and today (5.7mi!).  The KB workouts were short, ~15min or less. I started with 4-5 min of 2-handed swings: 30sec work, 30sec rest. Then I did cycles of clean and jerk; the 2nd workout I finished up with a set of snatches. The next day my wrists were slightly bruised from the 2 workouts in 3 days and no wraps--my kids lost them. I tried using my arm warmers folded in thirds over my wrists, but they kept sliding, so it didn't help as much as I'd hoped--but it did help some.

Sitting also exacerbates the TFL pain, and I did quite a bit of sitting at work yesterday and today. What hurts the most is changing from a sitting position to standing and then putting weight on that leg. And the longer I've sat, the more it hurts. Lately it's been extra noticeable how much time I spend sitting.  On the plus side, my other hip has been hurting less; I've even been able to sleep on that side lately, which is nice. I was getting pretty tired of always sleeping on the same side.

When the weather turned colder, dropping into the 30s (F) at night, my bike tires got low and sluggish, so much so that the back inner tube shifted & the valve was no longer perpendicular to the tire. My husband fixed it and aired up my tires more, so my bike rides much faster now. Today's ride averaged 11mph! Cool beans!

Hey, what did Einstein's mother say when he didn't want to go to the family reunion?
"Why not? It's all relatives!"   Ha ha, told ya I was a nerd.