I moved to Minneapolis in February and it has already become HOME. I've lived in the suburbs for 12+ years, driving up into Minneapolis proper at least weekly for events, restaurants, museums and shows. I've always loved the lakes area and Uptown, downtown and Nordeast. Only this year did I finally make the move to my first solo apartment and into one of my favorite Minneapolis neighborhoods.
It didn't take long for it to feel like I belong here. I noticed within days of moving in that one of my neighbors lets her cats run the building. It's fun to come up the steps to see a kitty in the stairwell window. They're friendly and they make me smile. A day or so after that, while walking to my car, I discovered the sweater on the nearby tree. I'm a crafty person when the mood strikes me and always appreciate rogue artworks.
(picture of tree sweater to be added when Blogger decided it wants to cooperate)
As spring arrived, and warmer temperatures started to bring us all out of the woodwork, I started exploring the neighborhood a bit more. The gorgeous tree-lined streets almost feel magical. The diversity of the area, in race and culture, in financial class, in age and stage of life, feels so incredible. Growing up in a mostly middle-class, caucasian town, I found myself craving the rainbow of the city. Looking back, I remember being so excited every time my family would come into the "big city" for a day trip. Now I understand why. The energy of the city is my lifeblood.
The best part of my new neighborhood? It's conducive to exercise! I'm an outdoorsy girl. I hate to waste the short months of Minnesota summer holed up in an air conditioned building. Being so close to the lakes, I am regularly motivated to bike or walk around them. The beautiful tree-canopied streets, each one lined with very different houses from an era gone-by, make me WANT to explore them, be it on foot or on bike. I look forward to my runs when I am able to take in the greenery and flowers in the well-loved yards. I can run in one direction and stick to relatively flat streets or meander in the other direction to hillier streets and a very different experience. I'm a short bike ride from many amazing stores and restaurants. I'm close to the Midtown Greenway, an amazing bike route that cuts across the city. When I do finally give in to Mother Nature and buy a gym membership (October?), I have easy access to many of the major clubs and a ton of smaller ones. In short, I love it here. It's a perfect for me and is doing wonderful things for my health. :o)
What's your favorite outdoor place to exercise?
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
C25K: A Love Story
(The days and weeks slip by so quickly in the summer, and everything - including online life - goes to the wayside. I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just been busy living. :o)
I was the girl that walked half of the mile in gym class. I was the girl who avoided most anything to do with running for 30+ years of her life. Then I found Couch to 5K.
C25K: a love story
Couch to 5K has been so good to me. I started the program in early May. I did week one, which was a series of one minute runs, alternating with 30 second walks. Easy peasy. I felt really good about it. Week two was equally good as far as my cardio ramping up. I could feel myself get stronger by the day and was finally experiencing the "runner's high" that I had often heard about.
Then, in the midst of week three, I started to feel a burning in both of my shins. I've had shin splints before, but this felt different. I started to do some research, being the semi-nerd and information hound that I am. I learned that this pain might be caused by my calf muscles growing and the fibers beginning to pull away from my shin bones. How EW is that?! The good news is that this pain subsides in time as those fibers re-form and reconnect. Treatment was simply to keep at it, with rest days of course, icing and elevating after runs. I also found that wrapping my calves with ACE bandages during runs helped immensely with the discomfort as well.
So here I was, week three, in some mild pain, but still feeling the uber-motivation that got me started on this ride to begin with. The run/walk intervals were starting to get longer and I was starting to feel it. I've never felt very fit cardiovascularily (is that a word?) and now I was feeling like a dang slug. Early in w3, I had realized that if I kept on schedule with the nine-week program, that I would graduate the Friday before my birthday. What a gift to myself that would be! And so, it was frustrating to be unable to keep up with the 3 minute run intervals and realize that I may have to repeat w3. I hemmed and hawed over it, stewed over it, and then got over it. I repeated w3 and was super glad that I did. I finished with flying colors.
(I ran the w4 intervals for two weeks as well before moving on to w5, running with wrapped legs. I iced and elevated upon returning home while fortifying my soul with old LOST episodes. During this time my calf/shin pain had all but disappeared completely.)
Last week, When I learned what the intervals for w5 were like, I nearly had a panic attack (not really). It starts with reasonably easy alternating sets of 5 minute runs and 3 minute walks, but then ramps up FAST. Day three had in store for me ONE LONG 20 MINUTE RUN. *gulp*
By Friday (my d3), I had myself pretty nervous about that run and was pretty convinced that I'd be unable to finish it. Wouldn't ya know it, I rocked it! I had run for TWENTY FREAKING MINUTES! Week 5, check! Runner's high, check!
Now I'm on w6. D1 was... okay. My mood has been sluggish, probably due to the rainy, dreary weather, and this translated heavily to my run. In addition, after two GLORIOUS pain-free weeks, while doing my cool-down walk, my right leg twinged in pain and my face probably showed it as well. Granted, I had been hitting some hills, which I'm coming to learn, are much harder on one's legs than flat terrain. Okay, lesson learned. The rest of the week will be spent running the slightly less gorgeous, but flatter streets to my north. Can the solution be that simple? Let's hope so.
What makes this a love story? Remember at that priorfatgirl meeting when I said to the group that, "I'm not a runner"...? Well now I can say, without hesitation, that I am undoubtedly a runner. I am not yet fast or accomplished, but most days I look forward with glee to my next run. I am excited by the changes that it is making in me, both physically and mentally. I do believe that this makes me A RUNNER. C25K, I love you.
Are you now, or have you ever used the Couch to 5K program? If so, what was your experience like?
Update: I ran d2 last night in the rain and it was great. No pain. whew!
I was the girl that walked half of the mile in gym class. I was the girl who avoided most anything to do with running for 30+ years of her life. Then I found Couch to 5K.
C25K: a love storyCouch to 5K has been so good to me. I started the program in early May. I did week one, which was a series of one minute runs, alternating with 30 second walks. Easy peasy. I felt really good about it. Week two was equally good as far as my cardio ramping up. I could feel myself get stronger by the day and was finally experiencing the "runner's high" that I had often heard about.
Then, in the midst of week three, I started to feel a burning in both of my shins. I've had shin splints before, but this felt different. I started to do some research, being the semi-nerd and information hound that I am. I learned that this pain might be caused by my calf muscles growing and the fibers beginning to pull away from my shin bones. How EW is that?! The good news is that this pain subsides in time as those fibers re-form and reconnect. Treatment was simply to keep at it, with rest days of course, icing and elevating after runs. I also found that wrapping my calves with ACE bandages during runs helped immensely with the discomfort as well.
So here I was, week three, in some mild pain, but still feeling the uber-motivation that got me started on this ride to begin with. The run/walk intervals were starting to get longer and I was starting to feel it. I've never felt very fit cardiovascularily (is that a word?) and now I was feeling like a dang slug. Early in w3, I had realized that if I kept on schedule with the nine-week program, that I would graduate the Friday before my birthday. What a gift to myself that would be! And so, it was frustrating to be unable to keep up with the 3 minute run intervals and realize that I may have to repeat w3. I hemmed and hawed over it, stewed over it, and then got over it. I repeated w3 and was super glad that I did. I finished with flying colors.
(I ran the w4 intervals for two weeks as well before moving on to w5, running with wrapped legs. I iced and elevated upon returning home while fortifying my soul with old LOST episodes. During this time my calf/shin pain had all but disappeared completely.)
Last week, When I learned what the intervals for w5 were like, I nearly had a panic attack (not really). It starts with reasonably easy alternating sets of 5 minute runs and 3 minute walks, but then ramps up FAST. Day three had in store for me ONE LONG 20 MINUTE RUN. *gulp*
By Friday (my d3), I had myself pretty nervous about that run and was pretty convinced that I'd be unable to finish it. Wouldn't ya know it, I rocked it! I had run for TWENTY FREAKING MINUTES! Week 5, check! Runner's high, check!
Now I'm on w6. D1 was... okay. My mood has been sluggish, probably due to the rainy, dreary weather, and this translated heavily to my run. In addition, after two GLORIOUS pain-free weeks, while doing my cool-down walk, my right leg twinged in pain and my face probably showed it as well. Granted, I had been hitting some hills, which I'm coming to learn, are much harder on one's legs than flat terrain. Okay, lesson learned. The rest of the week will be spent running the slightly less gorgeous, but flatter streets to my north. Can the solution be that simple? Let's hope so.
What makes this a love story? Remember at that priorfatgirl meeting when I said to the group that, "I'm not a runner"...? Well now I can say, without hesitation, that I am undoubtedly a runner. I am not yet fast or accomplished, but most days I look forward with glee to my next run. I am excited by the changes that it is making in me, both physically and mentally. I do believe that this makes me A RUNNER. C25K, I love you.
Are you now, or have you ever used the Couch to 5K program? If so, what was your experience like?
Update: I ran d2 last night in the rain and it was great. No pain. whew!
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Baby, it's hot outside.
It's 102F in my city right now. Thankfully, the humidity is low, but it's still uncomfortable. I'm definitely a 60-70 degree gal.
I ran my first day of C25K for the week on Sunday night, a day early, because of the Heat Advisories for Mon-Weds. It's only two days later and I'm already getting antsy for activity. Unfortunately, most of my options involve being out in the heat as I don't have a gym membership. I'm considering cracking up my bedroom window AC and doing some yoga, but I have a feeling that alone won't get it out of my system.
What do you do for physical activity when it's too hot to think?
I ran my first day of C25K for the week on Sunday night, a day early, because of the Heat Advisories for Mon-Weds. It's only two days later and I'm already getting antsy for activity. Unfortunately, most of my options involve being out in the heat as I don't have a gym membership. I'm considering cracking up my bedroom window AC and doing some yoga, but I have a feeling that alone won't get it out of my system.
What do you do for physical activity when it's too hot to think?
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Monday, June 06, 2011
Why am I here? (Act three)
Over the course of a few weeks, I found myself engaged in what these amazing people were up to and starting to consider that running might just be an option for me. (huh???) I had heard many mentions of a program called Couch to 5k and was curious about it. It seemed to work for many of my peers. I was working on something called 30 Days of Biking at the time, and so decided that, at the end of the month of April, I would buy some running shoes and give Couch to 5k (c25k) a try.
30 Days of Biking started to fizzle out for me around mid-April as the weather was uncooperative and I was just getting too busy as summer approached. I started to read up on c25k, running shoes and equipment, and started to get engrossed in a few healthy living blogs.
As my relationship with the #priorfatpack started to grow via Twitter, I began reading about their lives and journeys on their blogs. I was starting to get pumped up! If these, seemingly very normal, people could do this, why couldn't I? I bought running shoes and started c25k on May 2nd. (DUN DUN DUN!) More on this later.
One of the #priorfatpack gals, Misty, asked if I had a blog that she could follow. Actually, several people had asked if I had a blog and I had to say no. Misty started quietly urging me to start writing. I thought back to when I was really involved in the livejournal community many years ago and how much I had enjoyed that. Okay, I was in, easy as that. So here I am.
Please excuse my messes while I get settled in.
30 Days of Biking started to fizzle out for me around mid-April as the weather was uncooperative and I was just getting too busy as summer approached. I started to read up on c25k, running shoes and equipment, and started to get engrossed in a few healthy living blogs.
As my relationship with the #priorfatpack started to grow via Twitter, I began reading about their lives and journeys on their blogs. I was starting to get pumped up! If these, seemingly very normal, people could do this, why couldn't I? I bought running shoes and started c25k on May 2nd. (DUN DUN DUN!) More on this later.
One of the #priorfatpack gals, Misty, asked if I had a blog that she could follow. Actually, several people had asked if I had a blog and I had to say no. Misty started quietly urging me to start writing. I thought back to when I was really involved in the livejournal community many years ago and how much I had enjoyed that. Okay, I was in, easy as that. So here I am.
Please excuse my messes while I get settled in.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.0
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Why am I here? (Act two)
So, the day of the gathering at the coffee house, I was really nervous. I'm not good in situations with a lot of people, especially when I don't know the majority of them. Yet, shortly after these ladies started sharing their stories, I began to feel comfortable. They had such amazing attitudes and welcoming smiles. I noticed myself speaking up here and there, when I would normally be hiding in a corner.
When it came time to introduce myself, I still hated the feeling of 20-some pairs of eyes on me, but I knew that they were not judging me, but were listening to what I had to say. I explained that I've come from a place of post-relationship anxiety and depression and a lot of emotional eating. I told them that I had worked hard to lose weight and turned around to gain most of it right back again. I was ashamed, but knew I was amongst friends.
Across the room, a gal with an outgoing and passionate personality (based on what I saw during those couple of hours), mentioned a group of Twitter friends who were using the hashtag #priorfatpack to communicate about an upcoming 5K that they were running. It would be the first for most of them. I shrugged it off at first because, as I had described myself, I was not a runner. It still stuck in the back of my mind as she mentioned it another time before we parted ways.
My curiosity got the better of me and, after I made my way home, I looked up #priorfatpack on Twitter. I think it took me a day or two to join the conversation, but then something came over me. I started cheering on these women (and one man), most of whom I had only met once.
(to be continued in Act three)
When it came time to introduce myself, I still hated the feeling of 20-some pairs of eyes on me, but I knew that they were not judging me, but were listening to what I had to say. I explained that I've come from a place of post-relationship anxiety and depression and a lot of emotional eating. I told them that I had worked hard to lose weight and turned around to gain most of it right back again. I was ashamed, but knew I was amongst friends.
Across the room, a gal with an outgoing and passionate personality (based on what I saw during those couple of hours), mentioned a group of Twitter friends who were using the hashtag #priorfatpack to communicate about an upcoming 5K that they were running. It would be the first for most of them. I shrugged it off at first because, as I had described myself, I was not a runner. It still stuck in the back of my mind as she mentioned it another time before we parted ways.
My curiosity got the better of me and, after I made my way home, I looked up #priorfatpack on Twitter. I think it took me a day or two to join the conversation, but then something came over me. I started cheering on these women (and one man), most of whom I had only met once.
(to be continued in Act three)
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