Hoping for Healing

I injured my hamstring at the end of August.  I have not run since then (I did a couple test runs, but the pain was too great).  Our insurance doesn't cover much of PT, that and other expenses have kept me from going to see a PT,  I've been doing strength training and yoga, trying not to irritate  my injury. I want to run.  I want to run a whole lot.  I've been thrilled with the progress I've made in my strength training, but I still miss running.  So today I got on my treadmill and ran.  I ran for 1 mile using a 1 minute walk, 3 minute run pattern.  I could "feel" my hamstring, but it didn't hurt.  I plan on running that same mile tomorrow.  In fact, I plan to try it everyday for a month.  If it starts hurting I will not put off going to the PT anymore.  I will know that I need to go if I ever want to run again.

In the meantime I plan to keep up my strength training.  Last month's schedule of 4 strength days, and one shorter cardio day of kettlebell worked great.  This month I'm going for 3 strength days, 1 longer cardio (with the kettlebell) day, and a shorter kettlebell day. I plan to warm up each day with my 1 mile run, then the workout.  I'm also going to add, at the very least, a 4 minute tabata exercise at the end of each strength day.  Today I did 30 minutes of strength, which consisted of half TGUs, push-ups, squats, lunges, cleans, and swings, and I followed it up with a tabata of swing and snatches.

I'm also still trying to get in more yoga, even if it's 15 minutes of restorative before bed, or a few sun salutes and some meditation after lunch.  Yoga everyday is my goal, at least 15 minutes.  I do about 7 minutes of a yoga cool down after my workouts, but I want at least 15 minutes at some other point in my day.

Over Thanksgiving break I bought a new kettlebell video.  It's a streamable version of Kettlebell Lightning.  So far I'm loving this video.  I wanted the streaming version so I could use it when I travel.  I can stream it on my iPad or phone.  When I travel I only like to bring 1 bell, and these workouts seem perfect for that.  They are short and more cardio focused.  I can do 1 or do more, depending on the time I have.  I love all of Lauren's stuff.  I think she has some of the best kettlebell DVDs on the market.

Making a Goal

So last Saturday my workout called for Turkish Get-Up practice then a 22 minute cardio workout with the kettlebell.  I did 5 Get-ups per side, alternating.  I started out with my lightest bell, a 15#.  I then moved on to my 12kg (26#) bell.  I've had a goal of using my 16kg (35#) bell for my Get-up.  I've done half get-ups before with the 16kg, but I could never get past the seated part.  On Saturday I decided to go for it, and I did it. :)  I did the 16kg Get-up on my less strong side first, then my stronger side.  I did a total of 2 each side with the 16kg, then finished off with one more per side with the 12kg.

Since Saturday, I've been sick with some stomach thing.  I was able to workout with my kettlebells on Tuesday, but Monday and Wednesday were no good.  By Thursday I felt a little better and went to a yoga class.  I tried Brikam again, and I'm starting to like it.  I like all of the balance poses. I really need to work on those.

Today I did a kettlebell workout; it was a series of half TGUs, swings, then squats, push-ups, lunges, and cleans.  It felt good.  I pushed the weights and felt like I worked as hard as I could have by the time I was done.

I may do some yoga tonight.  I had planned on going, but a bad illness with one of my kids kept me home. If I still feel up to it, I will use YogaGlo.com to get in a practice tonight.

Being Sick

I had a nasty head cold last week.  It's still hanging on a bit, but not too bad.  It started last Tuesday, and on Wednesday I couldn't do much as far as working out.  I end up only missing one workout, but I could tell that even Friday's workout was not as strong as it could have been.

I tried Brikam yoga last week.  It was my first time.  I didn't mind the 105 degree room, and working through the postures was nice, but I missed having a flow.  I love vinyasa, so I don't think doing just those 25 postures each week would be my yoga class of choice.  It was very therapeutic, and I can see why people love it. I liked it, I just didn't love it.

My daughter and I were supposed to go to a vinyasa class on Friday night, but unfortunately we got stuck in horrible gridlock.  A trip that should have taken 40 minutes took over 80.  I had built in extra time (I thought there would be some traffic) but not that much time.  We were way too late to head to the class, so we headed to the mall for some shopping instead. :)  My daughter and I did have a good time.  She got some new sweaters for winter and I took her to Sephora to try out a new foundation.  (I had a 20% off coupon so it wasn't too bad.....)  We also picked up some Christmas gifts for teachers at Yankee Candle.

This week I using The Ultimate Sculpting and Conditioning for Kettlebells, Vol 1 +2. These are more cardio focused, with a higher volume of lifts so I'm using lighter weights and enjoying the sweat.

I'm also planning on trying a power yoga class on Thursday, as well as trying again for the vinyasa on Friday night.

Trying to Share the Love

My workouts went great last week. I had wanted to post results but didn't have time.  I did get all of my yoga in, which I wanted to make sure I did, and I had 3 days where I was able to take walks.

Last week I was able to convince my 16 year old to go to a yoga class with me. I've wanted her to try yoga for a couple of years, but she's been unable to find a love for it practicing home alone. So an opportunity came up for us to attend a class together,  and then she went again by herself tonight. I want to get her hooked on yoga. I would love if it became a passion of hers. So I intended to spend the next couple if months trying to work it into our schedules.

This week I have lots more kettlebell on the menu. This week I'm using Lauren Brook's Kettlebell Revelation DVD.

Monday - strength 1 +fat burning
Tuesday - strength 2+ abs of steel + restorative yoga
Wednesday - fat burning+ abs of steel+ 30 mins of yoga
Thursday- yoga +walk
Friday - strength 1+ plus 30 mins yoga
Saturday - strength 2 + yoga
Sunday - Yin yoga day

I hope to walk more often than one day, but it is planned for Thursday.

I did strength 1 today plus the fat burning (cardio work). It felt good. Today was lots of Get-ups, cleans, deadlifts, and presses. The cardio was swings, a variation of jump squats,  and snatches. 

I feel like I've been working hard, and while I do miss running, I'm content to have a new focus.

New Schedule and Binge Eating

I'm going to start with the binge eating.  I never had an eating problem.  I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I was full.  Then I got to my 40's.  It's been an issue, not a huge issue but an issue.  I don't know if it's stress, hormones, or both. I have been hungrier thanks to the increase in my strength workouts, but I don't think that's it.

Today I had eaten well, that is I had until tonight. I was very hungry all afternoon, but I did eat a good snack to deal with it.  I then ate a good dinner (mushroom-pumpkin chili). I ate the chili but I was still hungry, and that's when I lost control.  I think I ate half a box of Peanut butter Puffins!  I just kept eating, and now I feel over stuffed.  I find it odd, because I was never a person who did that.  It's very new to me.  It hits me a few times a month, and I find it disturbing.  It's not a weight thing. I'm not overweight, and I'm not dieting and trying to lose weight.  It's just an out of control food thing. I need to find a way to make it stop.

Now on to a more fun topic, my workout schedule!  I still can't run.  I had been doing kettlebell 3x's a week and yoga 3x's a week.  Kettlebell is about to go all out, with 5 workouts a week.  Some will be strength focused and some more conditioning focused. I plan to incorporate yoga after most workouts.  I'm determined to keep it up.  I need yoga.  Yoga, for me, is meditative, and I don't want to lose that.

But now for my workouts.  I'll be using Lauren Brooks DVDs.  I made a 5 week schedule based on suggested rotations of the DVDs that Lauren provided.  5 weeks gets me to Thanksgiving, at which point I plan to take a week off and just practice yoga, then it will be back to strength training.

I'm using these DVDs





             










I'm excited. I feel like this is a good direction for now, even though I'm missing running a lot.  I'm hoping to really improve my overall strength so that I can get back to running when this hamstring gets healed up.

This week I'm using the Kettlebell Body DVD.

  Monday will be Sculpt plus an added tabata,
 Tuesday will be Butts plus yoga,
 Wednesday will be a conditioning workout from BeSlam, Conditioning 1(not a video) plus yoga,
 Thursday is my yoga class day,
 Friday will be Sculpt plus yoga,
 Saturday will be Body plus yoga,
 Sunday is my Yin yoga day.:)

 That's my week.  I plan to report back on how it's going.

Change Can be OK

This week the yoga class I have been attending has changed format.  It's a new studio and I guess the instructor wants to try different things to see what pulls people in.  I loved doing yoga.  This new class is more of a fusion class. It's a sculpt and tone class, with some yoga.  But even though I was disappointed when she announced that the format was changing, I am trying to embrace it.  As we worked on different poses, breaking them down and trying to engage the core more, I realized that I need to correct some of my poses.  I was going down too far in Chataranga, and while in chair pose I haven't been "knitting my ribs together".  These subtle things make a big difference, and after just that intro class I can tell I need it.

For me, the last couple of months have been all about change.  My kids started attending a once a week co-op for school that has been a huge change for our little homeschool.  I had to stop running because of an injury.  I have to stop consuming any dairy, because it now makes me very ill even if I have just a bit. And we are also in the process of finding a new church home.  All that change can be disturbing.

I've tried adding good habits, like meditation and more scripture reading.  I'm also embracing the strength focus with gusto.  I can tell that my hamstring is getting better, but I think running is still a couple of weeks away.  And by the time I go to start it will be very cold and dark.  I may just run a mile a day (on the treadmill) and continue to focus on strength and yoga.

Change can be good and I'm working on embracing the now.

No More Running

I've had a hard time admitting to myself, but I'm done with running, for probably 3 or more months (it could be 6!).  My hamstring is not improving.  I do fine with kettlebell and yoga as long as I avoid deadlifts in kettlebell and don't try overstretching in yoga.  In a way, it's nice to just be doing the 2 things.  Trying to do it all was hard, and I didn't make much strength progress.  I was ok with that, but still, I didn't progress.  Now I can focus on these 2 things.  I want to continue working on my upper body strength, (which I did more of while running) but also lower body.  Time to increase the weight for my goblet squats and lunges.  Time to start working on single leg squats.  In yoga I want to work on inversions and improving my back bends.  I can do these without aggravating my hamstring.
I've ordered a new kettlebell DVD, Lauren Brooks Kettlebell Revelation




I have 3 DVDs by Lauren, as well as her book and BeSlam program.  I plan on rotating the DVDs, adding extra stuff when needed, such as some conditioning at the end of the strength workouts, and a strength warm-up before the conditioning workouts.

I may eventually try a series by Pat Flynn, of Chronicles of Strength.  He uses mostly double kettlebells, and I don't have 2 8kg bells, I don't even have 1.  I have a 15lb bell and a 20lb bell, then I have two 12kg bells.  I guess I could do his program with the 15# and 20#, alternating hands each set.  I could not do it with the 12kg.  I plan on 6 solid weeks of using the DVDs, then maybe I'll try his.

Yoga continues to be great.  I love the class I'm attending and I use YogaGlo.com almost everyday.

This week at yoga class I got to try a yoga toy.



This thing was amazing.  It was easy to get into headstand with it, and now I want one.  I could do much longer headstands, and it was easier to engage my core, and work on that instead of my head/neck or hands hurting.

So many new things I want.  If only I had unlimited funds for my hobbies. :)