Insane

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Meaghan

I’ll admit it: I have a tendency to over-commit to things when I’m stressed out. It’s somewhat crazy, but it also gives me a welcome distraction at the same time.

This time around, I’m ~~over-~~committing myself to the Insanity 60-day challenge. 9 weeks of intense plyometric and cardio interval training 6 days a week, with a fitness test every 2 weeks to measure progress. Oh, coupled with 2-3 Burlesque Boom classes a week, two of which I’m teaching. Oh, and you know, teaching dance.

Ahem. Insanity.

Right?

Wrong.

Let’s just say this: I am 4 days into a workout program that I thought would drop me to my knees and drown me in a box of cheap wine. Because seriously, I wouldn’t be in any shape to pour wine out of a bottle. Surprisingly, it has been FANTASTIC. No, really. Fantastic. I’ve done the fitness test and 3 of the Month One workouts, and I have really loved every single workout.

This is why:

I’m kind of crushing on Shaun T. Not because he’s hot, but because I really dig his personality as a trainer. I was really expecting a jacked-up jackass trainer: a male version of Jillian Michaels. Shaun T is not. He motivates, he encourages, he pushes, but he is not a jackass. Maybe it’s his credible background (check out his bio here), or the fact that he actually smiles. Whatever. It’s working for me!
Encouragement to STOP when you need to and push when you CAN! Unlike some pushy trainers, the program is really quite sane! It’s really reasonable, encouraging you to listen to your body and do what you can. There’s no guilt for slowing down – it’s all about pushing yourself at your own level. I love that. I hate, hate, HATE trainers who tells their clients they can’t stop. Self-evaluation is key, and Insanity covers that constantly!
Lots and LOTS of pointers about form, alignment and mechanics. Almost every move is broken down and explained. I was really surprised by how many downgrades were given! Never once did I feel like I HAD to do the full-out version if it was completely beyond my capabilities. Even though Shaun T has some visible imbalances, he really takes care to tell people what to do, and show other participants good form!
SO MUCH FLEXIBILITY TRAINING! There is a real, true emphasis on flexibility training as part of the program – not just the whatever part of the warmup/cool down. So many programs miss this, but Insanity really focuses on stretching warm muscles. The program includes static and dynamic stretching too, which was really impressive. Maybe it’s because Shaun T is also a dancer? I don’t know. But what I do know is that this type of emphasis on flexibility is severely lacking in any other program I’ve looked at!
Body weight plyometrics! This is killer, but I love the trend towards traditional BODY work. No weights, no equipment. Just an incredible workout using your own body weight. The stuff that sports teams have been using to condition their players for years. Dance in itself is a giant ball of plyometric goodness, so this is right up my alley! Don’t get me wrong – I HATE basketball drills more now than I did in grade 9, but they are fantastic. And I love to jump. And hopefully by the end of this nonsense, I’ll be able to do a few more real pushups
Their full-on admittance that this is NOT for beginners. Thank you!! Not just “check with your doctor”. Nope – this is NOT for beginners, so please do something else.
Fitness tests every two weeks. 8 exercises, timed for one minute and recorded. Oh yeah!! I like performance measurements, not waistline and scale measurements. I’m doing this for pure fitness – I want to see if I’m getting better, not skinnier. Although I will gladly take the skinnier too… And the tests are built right into the calendar as part of the workout.
Start to finish, the workouts are under an hour, including lots of flexibility and well-timed water breaks.
There is a ticker at the bottom of the screen that tells you how much time you have left, and what intensity the current and upcoming sets will be. I love the visual!!

The first time I did the 30-day Shred, I wanted to punch myself in the throat. That is how much I hated it. I hated the “trainer”, I hated the music, I hated the words, I hated the set, I hated all of it.

I was terrified as I started the first DVD – I expected yelling, demeaning, army-bootcamp style intimidation. Instead, I’ve found a really challenging but SMART workout that pushes me beyond my abilities without making me feel bad. I am pushing myself, I am working hard, and I am really enjoying the time. It’s a true fit for me.

The test will be to see if I can make it for 60 days amidst dance festivals, recitals, and classes. But my goal is to take it one day at a time until May 12!

See you at the end

Sink or swim

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Meaghan

Sooo. I’ve decided to try and swim laps during my bugz’ swimming lessons this summer.

For real.

Twice a week, I spend 35 minutes poolside, reading trashy books and playing on my phone while my darling children splash and dive. As adorable as they are, it’s starting to get a little…old.

I was under the impression that because the preschool parents have to stay in the facility during lessons, we also had to just stay and watch. Today I finally asked the front desk if this was the case. She said no! If I want to pay the drop in (or buy a pass or membership, or whatever), I can absolutely use the facility during my bugz’ lesson time.

Score! I need some cross training to compliment my running, and biking is a bit too inconvenient for me right now. I used to love swimming. I was a regular fish!! I passed all my Red
Cross levels before grade 6. I was a born swimmer. However…

I have only swam twice since I was 15 years old and failed my Bronze Cross endurance swim by 2 minutes. Don’t even get me started on that: I mean really! 24 lengths in 14 minutes is totally valid when someone is drowning in your 25m pool. Totally reasonable grounds for failing me when I was stellar in every other area.

Whatever. I’m not bitter about it 16 years later.

Oh god. I just realized it’s been more than HALF my lifetime since I was a regular swimmer. Oh god.

I swam lengths twice in 2010 when I thought about trying a triathlon. I also swam at the Grant MacEwan campus pool once when I was 18. That, my friends, is the grand sum of my swimming-as-exercise since November 1996.

Now I’m more freaked out about this than I was when I started writing this post!

Thanks, blog. You’ve reduced me to a flailing, drowning mess. While we’re at it, let’s also remember that the swim club also practices during my kids’ lesson time.

I can’t WAIT to go swimming during my bugz’ next lesson. Oh freaking yay.

12k to go

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Meaghan

I ran 30 kilometers today. It was quite honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

It was hot out, to begin with. I also “lost” my dad around 24km- he was on his bike, stopped to stretch, and we missed each other. It was also right when I ran out of water…

I’ve never needed water on a run until today…and I ran out right when my training buddy was gone!!

The next 5km were the biggest psychological game I’ve ever played with myself. I *get* the wall now. If my dad hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have kept going. I was mentally done. I wasn’t in pain, for the first time ever, but I was done. I still had energy in my muscles, and my endurance was fine: I was keeping my “slow pace” at around 7 min/km.

But my brain? Done. Fried. I was counting down by 100m on my GPS. My dad tried to talk me into pushing past 29.3km (18 miles) and just doing 30km. Ha!

Then some trail-nazi decided to stand in front of my dad’s bike and freak out at him for cycling on his trail. Right. When. I. Was. Supposed. To. Stop. Running.

I was so pissed off that I RAN THE NEXT 700m JUST TO SHOW HIM. What a jerk.

But yay! I ran 30km with only fatigue!!

And then, on the kilometer-long walk back to my dad’s truck, the real test came. A dull ache spread down my fatigued legs, from my hips to my ankles. It hurt so much that I was in tears. It took so much strength to just keep moving and not completely lose it right there on the spot. The only thing I can compare it to is that awful ache of a sleeping limb waking up – not the pins and needles, but that take-your-breath-away ache that makes you still so very still until the blood and feeling returns.

It was the worst thing I’ve ever felt. But my dad? I’m so glad he was there. He didn’t crack a smartass comment about it. He just kept cycling and kept me moving. He kept me going.

So, 30km is done. It was scary. It was a huge mileage jump, and I’m exhausted. I slept on my mom’s couch for an hour before I could come home. The good news is that I only have 3 more long runs before the Okanagan marathon, and the only increase by 2 miles at a time…not 5 miles like today!

I need to sleep, eat, hydrate, and lick my mental wounds. I’m still in the game though, even though the game is suddenly a lot scarier!

Only 12 more kilometers to go!

Wavering

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Meaghan

It’s Day Two of the Whole 30. I hate every living minute of it.

I have never, ever, in my whole life wanted to quit something so quickly.

I hate it. Yes, the food is tasty. Whatever. It’s not satisfying at all. At. All.

My reasons for doing this were varied:

Of course weight loss is always a little bit nice. I haven’t been able to break 135lbs, but I also haven’t been trying.
I like the paleo food lifestyle. We can’t eat gluten-y grains, and we avoid most dairy anyway. This provided some structure, which was much-needed and much-wanted.
I love doing stupid challenges, like my sugar fast. I wanted to see if I could do it.
I wanted to feel better.

But guess what? The Whole 30 is a HUGE, SUDDEN CHANGE, even for someone who eats 90% gluten/dairy-free already. The physical act of cooking and eating the super-strict Whole 30 food isn’t what’s hard. It’s the mental commitment to it.

You see, I’m already pushing my brain beyond it’s happy place with my marathon training. I have to run 18 miles this Sunday, and I have some serious mental energy that needs to unblock before then. This year’s training is taking more mental commitment than anything I’ve ever done.

I also have a husband who has been gone since Saturday, and now won’t be home until August 2nd. He was supposed to be home today. Surprise!!

There’s also the timing on top of the mental stress. I am going away for the August long weekend with two celiac kids. I already need to plan for their food, and I don’t know if I want the added stress of bringing my own food too. Plus, it’s kind of imposing and rude to my hostess (even though she’s a beautiful, accommodating soul). The morning after we get back, I leave for 5 days in Las Vegas. I’ll be dancing from 9-5 every day, plus three training runs. I’ll have a tight schedule around meal times, and I’ll be at a hotel the whole time. The hotel is at the edge of town – no time for grocery store trips or anything like that.

That, my friends, is 8 solid days of food stress. On top of travel stress, on top of training stress.

I honestly don’t think I can do this right now. I actually feel anxious about eating. THAT is not healthy. I actually want to CRY. It’s pathetic. I don’t want to run out and get a Blizzard and a bottle of wine. I just don’t want to feel trapped and anxious!

I’m a healthy person! I’m not overweight, and I’m very active. I have no discernible health concerns. This isn’t a do-or-die nutrition situation. But I have to stop and wonder: am I having trouble because of all the other stress it’s causing, or because I really need to do this for my body. Is this just withdrawal/cleanse, and I need to push through it? Or is it just BS and I need to take the warning signs and walk away, try again later?

And it’s not like I’ve been starving. I’ve eaten LOTS – at least 2000kcal each day for the past two days. But I’m forcing it in, and I’m still not getting nearly enough carbohydrates to support my training.

Ugh.

I don’t like quitting, and I quit too often. But it’s not worth the struggle right now. Even if I woke up tomorrow and it was an easy day, it’s not worth it right now.

I can go gluten-free and dairy-free. I can’t do this Whole 30 right now. So while the title of this post is “Wavering“, what it really means is “Quitting“.

I need some breathing room right now. I can’t do food guilt. I need to just eat and train and dance and run that marathon in October!

So, Whole 30? I quit.

The Moose is Loose

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Meaghan

I’m going to start this off with the biggest disappointment:

Despite the name, there was NO moose anywhere on the race course.

Sadness.

But I did get up bright and early today to run my second half marathon!! It was also my second half marathon in 2012, and my second half marathon in 6 weeks!!

I was a little disappointed in the course. I was expecting a rolling 21.1km of trails. Instead, I got a fairly flat course that was only about half trail. The rest was paved pathway. Not quite the “trail run” I’d been told about… The course volunteers were also less than enthusiastic for the most part, sitting in chairs, not clapping or cheering, barely acknowledging the runners.

But the sun was shining, and it wasn’t yet scorching hot out. Once the initial bottleneck thinned out, I had a really enjoyable 21k! My IT band didn’t bother me until 14k, and it didn’t stop me in my tracks until almost 18k. Even still, I was able to keep a normal gait this time

I also ran the full distance! I took 5 seconds to walk and chug 2oz of water at 4 aid stations, and about 15 seconds when my IT band smacked me at 18k, but that’s it! My pace was awesome too: I varied between 5:30 min/km and 6:30 min/km for an average pace of 6:00 min/km. I was blown away! While my “burst” at Footstock was 5:30, I ran my last kilometer at about 4:15, with energy to spare!

All that speed meant that I knocked nearly FIVE MINUTES off my Footstock time! I finished in 2:05:56 by my Garmin!!

Crazy!

Half marathon #2 is done for 2012! I don’t think I’d do this race again, but it was still a nice morning. There’s no rest for the wicked though: next week’s long run is 18 miles in preparation for Kelowna!

Meanwhile, I have another finisher’s medal to add to my collection:

Whole 30 – Week One

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Meaghan

My meal plans are set out for the next seven days! Today and tomorrow are my farewell-to-grain days, as I am preparing for the Moose is Loose half marathon in the morning. Monday morning is the start of my Whole 30 Challenge!!

Breakfasts:

Egg muffins with spinach, sausage, onion, and pepper
Ground turkey with onion, kale, and apples
Shredded chicken with yam/carrot/onion hash
Sausages with sweet potato hash brown cakes
Omelette with spinach, onion, peppers
Apples with almond butter, hard boiled eggs, left-over asparagus
Shredded chicken with apples, onions and carrots

Lunches:

Spinach salad with tuna, avocado, peppers, and cucumber
Spinach salad with salmon, red onion, capers, and olives
Peppers stuffed with tuna, carrots, peppers, avocado, mayonaise
Shredded chicken, sweet potatoes, fruit
Omelette with sausage, kale, and asparagus
Left-over beef roast with kale, onion, green beans and sweet potato
Left-over beef stew with apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and onion

Dinners:

Spaghetti squash with ground beef, diced tomatoes, spinach, onions, and peppers
Beef roast with kale, onion, carrots, sweet potatoes, and green beans
Beef stew with apples, carrots, sweet potatoes and onion
Turkey chili with tomatoes, onions, and kale
Cauliflower pizza dough with sausage, onion, tomatoes, and peppers
Sausages with onions, apples, kale, and cucumber salad
Crustless spinach quiche

I’ll be honest: looking at my meal plan, the estimated cost of groceries for this week terrified me! Nothing but fresh produce and meat! And this is my first week of living on cash only! What if it was more than the $200 I allotted us??

I had a handful of the ingredients already (5 peppers, green beans, cucumbers, riced cauliflower, diced tomatoes, almond butter, and capers) but I needed to buy everything else. When the cashier at Superstore finished ringing up my items, I was shocked!

Shocked!!!

Now, I still need 2 rotisserie chickens (those are my lazy-protien days ) and a spaghetti squash, so my final total will be closer to $150. I’m sure I could do a little better on the produce if I went to H&W Produce, but I didn’t want to make 2 trips into the city today.

Not bad, hey? And this is for ALL FOUR of us!

Switching to gluten-free grain flours and products bumped my monthly food bill from $600/month to $850. It kills me to spend $4-8 on a loaf of bread. This will take a huge chunk off that total, AND it will also keep Leith from buying lunch every day. $8-10 a day, 5 days a week?? That’s another $200 a month saved right there!

I am so excited, and my mouth is watering just looking at the menu. I can’t wait to start…48 hours to go!

The No’s: any grains/rice/quinoa, seeds (including peas and corn), soy, dairy, legumes, sugar, caffeine (other than tea), and alcohol

I can’t wait to share the results with you

Confessions of a lazy runner

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Meaghan

I’m a running club’s worst nightmare.

I run. I love to run. I run a lot, every week. Indoors and outdoors. On treadmills, pavement, ditches, trails…

But that’s just it: I run. I suck at training. Oh man, do I EVER suck at training! I finished my first half-marathon with barely any training. I ran a couple 5k each week, and ran a long run every weekend or two until I hit 20 km. That’s it. No cross-training, no speed work, no hills, no sprints, no fartleks.

Hee hee hee…fartlek.

I didn’t follow a plan. I counted weeks, and back-engineered the mileage. And I ran a solid 21.1km with only one walk break in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Now I’m training for my first full marathon, and damn! It’s really hard to be lazy about this kind of mileage! I’m trying to stick to a “training plan”, but it’s really cramping my style… I don’t like being told when to run and how long for, and how to run. I just like to run.

It’s driving me crazy! And it’s creating guilt: it’s edging towards +31degrees today, and I am supposed to run 15 miles. That’s 24 kilometres! I was supposed to get up at 6:30am, but that didn’t happen, thanks to being sick on Friday/Saturday, eating/drinking too little, and being up too late with my kids. Now I’ve missed my window of (intelligent, weather-appropriate) opportunity. It’s already +24. Now what? Do I split it into 2 hour-long treadmill runs in the cool quiet of my basement? Do I hydrate myself to high heaven and set out on the glaring pavement? Ugh.

Then there’s the whole question of fuelling and hydration. I take a 4oz gel bottle of water on my long runs. I don’t drink; I only take it to keep my mouth wet. I drink a LOT of water the night before, and a litre in the morning before I go, but I just can’t get on the drink-while-you-run bandwagon. I don’t eat on my long runs either. I eat well the day before (part of the reason today’s run got sidetracked…I was sick for two days), and I eat well after. I don’t get hungry, and up until now, my energy has stayed consistent. So why eat and drink if I don’t need it?

Sigh. All the runners of the world are glaring at me right now. Reckless child…

I just don’t get the psychology of training. It sucks. I just want to run, when I want to run. Is that too much to ask? I don’t want to feel panicked about missing a long run, or worried that I’ll screw up my training schedule if I bump it to tomorrow. I don’t want to consider carbs and protein and gels and recovery drinks. I just want to eat pancakes, go for a run, come home, and have lunch.

I hate training. I just want to run.

Committed

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Meaghan

I did it.

I registered for the BMO Okanagan Marathon this October. This fall, I will be running 42.2km through the Okanagan Valley.

Crazy.

I made sure to opt-in for the bottle of souvenir wine with my registration. I’m pretty sure it will be the best $20 I’ve ever spent!! We are also turning this into a 4-day holiday so that Leith and I have plenty of time to stock up on other local wines before we head home It will be our first no-kids holiday in 3 years!! I’m so excited for the beauty of Kelowna in the fall…

Let this be a warning to all of you: don’t ever finish a half marathon. You’ll be sucked in to the thrill, and then you’ll find yourself clicking “confirm” on race registration upon race registration. You’ll be filling in the calendar with your insane training schedule, and praying that nothing happens to your ~~angel of pain~~ physiotherapist between now and race day.

You’ll buy new shoes:

new Vibram Komodos – so pretty!

You’ll actually contemplate hiring a babysitter so that you can get your long runs in if Leith is out of town…!

Commitment is such a sickness…

The Run!

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Meaghan

I spent the weekend in Cochrane with one of my dearest, longest-known friends: Suzi, also known to me as just Sku. I am home after a long, rainy drive, and my heart is full and happy from so much goodness!

The main reason for visiting this weekend was to participate in the Footstock half marathon on Saturday morning. I knew that I was ready, but that didn’t stop me from having incredible pre-race jitters!! I took 2 melatonin tablets before bed and still tossed and turned all night, listening to the rain and thunder outside.

I woke up to a cold, dreary day. The ground was soggy and the wind was howling. Suzi and I bundled up into my car, cranked the heated seats on, and drove to town! And before I knew it…I was off!

The pack mentality was hard to shake. I knew what my goals were: keep a 6:30 km/min pace or faster, walk one minute every 5 km, and finish under 2:15. The energy swept me away from the starting line and I had to fight to keep from pacing with the crowd. I held back, knowing that I would be better off in the long run

Six beautiful kilometres along the Bow River, and then the hill from hell that Melinda had warned me about. Even knowing, I was completely unprepared for the monster that lay ahead of me. Head down, one foot in front of the other, don’t walk. And when I wanted to walk, I didn’t, because I was going to OWN THIS DAMN HILL! At the top, it curved to the right…and then KEPT GOING UP. Oh god.

And then…I crested the top and headed 3 kilometres down a dirt road that had been magically transformed into a mud pit. The wind beat down on me, and I could barely see through the rain drops dripping off my eyelashes. I was soaked and cold, and just like *that* – the turn around. Halfway done!! I hadn’t even paused to walk!

I passed the 12km line, and all of a sudden my right IT-band started screaming at me out of the blue. I’d had no pain until then, although I’d been expecting it. I promised myself to walk if it started hurting worse. A couple hundred metres later, it did. I have never stopped moving SO suddenly. It hurt.

I swore under my breath as I walked it out, trying to stretch and lengthen my stride without stopping. I tried to talk myself up. I had just over 9km left in my run…I could do this. I had to do this. I was NOT letting some nagging stupid injury foil my great plan!!

So I ran.

And as I ran, I played with my gait until I found a strode that minimized the pain and let me keep going. I vowed to adapt as necessary, but for the next 9 continuous (no walking – woo!), I ran with an imaginary Skip-It on my right ankle:

Yup. I can’t WAIT to go to physio on Wednesday!! Pleeeeease don’t kill me, Laurie??

But surprisingly, even though I swung my right leg out for 9km, it didn’t hurt. And post-race? My knees were tender if I sat for too long, but not stiff and definitely not painful! And today? I’m not the least bit sore, tired, or stiff!

I screamed down the hill of death, and into the river valley. I was on track for my pace, and the wind was at my back. My energy was high, and I was flying. I broke out of the trail at 18km, and a song came on my iPod.

And suddenly, 3km from my goal, I had a lump in my throat the size of Texas and was fighting back tears. I was completely emotionally overwhelmed by the magnitude of the day and overcome with gratitude for everything and everyone who got me to that point. I was also profoundly proud of myself and my body for making it happen.

Yes, I was bawling on a dirt path while I ran.

And then the finish line was in sight. I bucked up my pace to a beautiful 5:30km/min for the last kilometre. I saw my dear Sku at the finish line, camera in hand. I heard my name on the loudspeaker…

And I finished.

And now, I have this to add to my collection:

Detox decisions

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Meaghan

After much thought and discussion, I’ve narrowed down my action plan to detox my aching body. There are so many routes to go, and I need to be conscious of my lifestyle and goals. I won’t embark on a journey that I know is beyond my grasp. I need something that is manageable for me, now.

Exercise is easy: run 5k three times a week, go for a long run on the weekends, and fill the extra days with other fun like Zumba! And yes, it’s time to restart the 30-Day Shred…not because I like it, but because I am mad about getting sidetracked!!

Food is trickier. This is what will take…willpower. You see, I am supposed to be gluten-free. But I’ve been cheating. Little cheats here and there: granola, a beer… So starting now, I am sticking to my kds’ GF diet. The only catch is my special dinner this Friday, but I’ll do my best!

Side note: I’d love to cut out added sugar as well, but between the anniversary and my birthday…well, I know I’d be setting myself up for failure! So that one will just have to wait and be limited for now.

Caffeine and alcohol will be easier than food. I can cut out coffee with no problems (surprisingly), and I’m sick of our homemade wine I’m back on a tea kick, and I’m letting myself have 3 alcoholic drinks a week.

After all…I do have twins!

And then, there’s the actual detox. With so many to choose from, and so many people with different experiences, it was overwhelming! I needed something healthy though: no fasting, no low-calorie food guide, no interfering with my endurance training!! I’ve narrowed it down to two. One has no food restrictions; the other has food restrictions in terms of what you may eat, but not how much. The good thing is that is it very GF/paleo. Most of the no’s are junk, processed, flours, dairy, and citrus.

My goal is 4 weeks. That will get me to my 31st birthday, and hopefully help me ring in my new year feeling much healthier! I’d love to leave these aching joints and swollen belly in the past where they belong!!

In the spirit of accountability, today I ran 5k and did The Shred but I ate a wheat hotdog bun and had a Corona. Baby steps

MagzD Life

Tag Archives: exercise