DPC: My legs are going to fall off. Sports&fitness

[reidransom]

I've been half laid up from my workouts because I jacked up my left leg from running on a consistently uneven surface. I changed up my jogging path just to mix things up a bit and give me better options for longer runs, but a lot of it is through residential areas with no sidewalks, and the streets are pretty heavily crowned. Seems that after 5 or six weeks of that at 2-3 miles a day, all that running I've been doing on the right side of the road has fucked my left leg up a bit. Doc told me not to run for a month or so. And that blows. Also no squats. Bummer.

e: but it gave me an excuse to pick up some new kicks, and that's pretty OK. My old Nike Frees were getting pretty worn out, and I don't like running in my Vibrams, so I picked up a pair of New Balance Minimus, and I dig em so far, though I haven't run in them yet.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

My new running shoes are NB 880's, and I love them to bits. Sucks about your injury, I'm lucky enough to have plenty of flat surfaces to run on. Moved on to week 6 of C25K, and week 2 of 100 pushups, both proceeding well.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

New Balance are Nike's for people who don't want sweatshop shoes.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

That is pretty much the appeal, yeah. You can get more ethically produced shoes, but not for a reasonable price.

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

I love my new balance shoes; I never did like Nike.

[brakelessA pegasus will fly long and hard for a bit of gilded brass.]

blows

Injuries always do. Have patience to get yourself better.

To all runners: If you have the chance, try running on forest trails. Seriously. If there's roots and rocks around, you have to concentrate on not fucking yourself up, but otherwise it is the shit.

[In West FillydelphiaSCHWEIIIN]

I love where I live sometimes. 3 miles from a city, but right on the edge of beautiful farmland. There's common land nearby, with a few acres that's part wood, part marsh, and mostly tall grass. The numerous travellers who cut across this place have worn away a series of trails, weaving around the features and slicing through the overgrowth. The morning dew gives a springiness to the soil there which feels amazing. I have, at times, ventured this place barefoot. I find the uniformity of pavement so drole by comparison. On repeated visits you find yourself knowing the various features of the land, no two steps feel exactly the same. If you're walking, running, jogging, cycling - I'd recommend a natural trail over pavement any day.

Though I do want to say something about cycling. You can't win! The cars want you on the path and the pedestrians want you on the road. I tend to avoid the road/path issue and take nature's routes, but that's not always possible. Of course, I do use the road and not the path, as it's technically illegal to cycle on the path here in the UK. Thing is, this country sticks a 60mph speed limit pretty much anywhere. The little tiny winding country roads that have been reduced to gravel through their lack of attention are frightening in this respect. Also, many drivers are complete assholes. If you're going to turn left imminently, don't overtake me just before you do. Also roundabouts, you give way to the right no matter what the hell it is. Finally, if your wing mirror is clipping my elbow, you're not finding enough room to overtake.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

They sky's a sullen sheet of lead
The weathers looking bleak.
Made my decision, can't stop know.
Got to run down to Wynnum Creek.

The heavens open, no surprise.
I'm laughing like a freak.
The local dogs all howl at me
As I run down to Wynnum Creek

Crest of the hill, and there's the wind
The chill near makes me shriek
Wish I'd left my hoodie on
It'll be a cold run to Wynnum Creek

There's the sea, slate grey and fierce
With foam on every peak
The waves rush up the old sea-wall
Wetting the path to Wynnum Creek

The salt is crusting on my face
The cold makes muscles weak
Shoes are sodden, feel like bricks
I'll never get to Wynnum Creek

Fight through the pain, fatigue and doubt
Be stoic, like the Greek
This really was a bad idea
To run on down to Wynnum Creek

Thighs are burning, knees are sore
My whole body feels weak.
But there's the goal line, just ahead.
The fence that marks off Wynnum Creek

Slap the metal, gasp for air
Now turn back and repeat.
No rest for the wicked now
Got to run back from Wynnum Creek

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

SportsBlog update: week 6 C25K completed! 25 minutes of running! Checked my distance on Google Maps afterwards: 4.15km!

DPC: I can barely stand.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

SportsBlog update: week 6 C25K completed! 25 minutes of running! Checked my distance on Google Maps afterwards: 4.15km!

DPC: I can barely stand.

Hurrah! Congratulations, man! I'm about to finish off the second to last week, myself!

[OctaviaHow does Frederic do it?]

Congratulations!

Once you hit the end of C25K, you have a few options. You can plot out a 5K course, then try to improve your time every week. You can run for 30 minutes and try to improve your distance every week. Or you can try the gateway to 8K plan. The chart on that site is written in BPM, but what it means is 5 mins. walking warmup and cooldown during every week, then the long intervals are running and the short intervals are walking. I myself chose the first option of just trying to improve my time in a 5K course. I'm a bit skeptical of the short amount of time walking in weeks 7-9 of gateway to 8k (I think it should be at least 3 minutes walking per interval), but other than that, it seems like a good way to increase distance from 5K to 8K.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

I think I'm gonna work on time, and to see how much distance I can cover in half an hour. I don't think I have the patience for any longer at the moment.

[brakelessA pegasus will fly long and hard for a bit of gilded brass.]

If you've got/develop calluses on your hands and/or feet, remember to show them some love now and then. A relaxing bath session with hot water, a skin file and some lotion will do wonders to even an chafed relationship. You don't want to let things detoriate to the point where sever becomes the applicable word.

[reidransom]

I like to maintain my callouses with my Captains of Crush grippers. They eat your hands up something fierce*, but once you get good even coverage they're pretty great. And they give you mad hand strength.

* I used to wear gloves, but I cut that shit out.

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

I use weight training gloves. A bodybuilder friend of mine badgered me in to buying them, so hell if I'm not gonna wear them.

[Momar]

I wear gloves, because I've seen the other people that work out with weights at gyms.

[reidransom]

Well, I've got my own equipment these days, but when I do go to a gym with like a friend or something I'll usually use gloves. And maybe rarely at home. Like on my pull-up bar for instance. It's metal and it's outside and this is Texas, so it can get pretty untouchably hot some days.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Week 7 of C25K and week 3 of 100 Pushups complete! Starting to see changes in body composition, which owns. Need to buy more plates for my weights equipment, which is comforting but financially awkward.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

C25K complete. Holy hell I need to get started on that push up thing.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Awesome work! I need to get a proper running shirt fairly soon, after about 20 minutes even soft cotton takes on the texture of a cheesegrater.

[Marcturus]

I ran for the first time in two years on Friday. It. Was. Amazing.

I noticed some pain behind my right ankle and upper calves, but it felt like I just needed to get used to it again. My hamstring tendons didn't give me any problems at all which is what made me stop in the first place, the time I spent researching technique and preparing my body really paid off. My quads are still sore two days later, but its such a good sore.

[brakelessA pegasus will fly long and hard for a bit of gilded brass.]

INTEREST CHECK

I had an idea for a little competition. Since we seem to have a decent bunch of runners here, it would revolve around the Cooper test, which is a simple way to gauge your maximal oxygen uptake. Performing the test is simple, run as far as you can in 12 minutes, preferably on a racetrack so you can count your distance accurately.

Here's how it would go down: Participants make their first run during the first week of august, setting their baseline. This is followed by three months of training and bragging, until everyone does their second run on the first week of november. The results are compared, and the winner is the one who posts the biggest gain in absolute meters, e.g. 3500m-2500m=if you pull this off in three months, go get yourself tested for possibly being half ostrich. The winner gets something not too expensive fitness related. Something better than a neon sweatband from the 80's, I promise.

Obviously this would work on the honour system. I assume you scrubs know what that means. Just in case, it means giving it everything you got on the first run and posting straight numbers. Being honest to internet people isn't that big of a deal, being honest to yourself is.

Any takers?

[OctaviaHow does Frederic do it?]

I've had some people express interest in IRC about how I lost 130 lbs in 15 months (and have kept it off for 7 years now!), so I'm gonna post what worked for me. This is Weight Watchers' plan from 2005-2006. From what I understand, it's completely changed now from what it was back then, but I still use it for maintenance and it still works.

Everything you eat on Weight Watchers has a points value that can be calculated by knowing the calories, fat and fiber of the product. Usually, this is on the label of the package, but for things like meat & produce, you can go to a place like Calorie King to find out its nutritional info. For chain restaurants, most places have nutritional info on their website. You can eat whatever you want while on this plan, but you can't go over your daily allotment of points, so you can eat a lot more if you choose things that are healthy, high in fiber, and high in protein to keep you full.

Calculating Your Daily Points Value:
Answer the following questions and add up the total number of all steps:

1. Divide your weight by 10 and get rid of the remainder. (Example: I weigh 185, so my number is 18)

2. If you are a female, add 2 points. If you are a male, add 8. (+8 for me)

3. If you are between the ages of 17 and 26, add 4. 27-37 add 3. 38-47 add 2. 48-58 add 1. Over 58 add 0. (+3 for me)

4. If you are under 5'1", add 0. If you are over 5'10", add 2. If you are between those heights, add 1. (+2 for me)

5. How do you spend most of your work day? Add 0 for sitting down mostly (office worker). Add 2 for standing mostly (retail salesperson). Add 4 for walking mostly (waiter). Add 6 for physical labor mostly (construction worker). (+0 for me)

6. (This step is for nursing mothers, so I will ignore it.)

18+8+3+2+0 = 31 points per day for myself. If you got a number higher than 44, then your daily total is 44. If you got a number lower than 18, then your daily total is 18. Your daily points allowed will get lower as you lose weight, so it needs to be updated every time you lose another 10 lbs. In addition to your daily points total, you also get 35 free points per week to spend as you please. You can add 5 a day for 7 days if you wish, or you can blow all 35 in one day of the week.

Calculating the Points Value of food:
Weight Watchers hands out these point sliders that help you calculate points easily, but I happen to know the mathematical formula. BUY A FOOD SCALE. Nutritional info goes by weight, so having a food scale will let you know exactly how much you are eating. Anyway, here's the formula:

(Calories/50) + (Fat/12) - (Fiber/5) = Points

The maximum amount of fiber you can count as a points deduction is 4. So I'm sorry, you can't eat lo-carb tortillas and beans all day and have it count as negative points.

Example:
McDonald's Large French Fries



(500/50) + (25/12) - (4/5) = 10 + 2.083 - 0.8 = 11.283 Points

Round up or down accordingly, so one order of large fries from McDonald's is 11 points.

These are just the basics. There are additional requirements, like drinking milk, getting essential oils, etc., but this is a good start. Good luck and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have!

[reidransom]

INTEREST CHECK

I had an idea for a little competition. Since we seem to have a decent bunch of runners here, it would revolve around the Cooper test, which is a simple way to gauge your maximal oxygen uptake. Performing the test is simple, run as far as you can in 12 minutes, preferably on a racetrack so you can count your distance accurately.

Here's how it would go down: Participants make their first run during the first week of august, setting their baseline. This is followed by three months of training and bragging, until everyone does their second run on the first week of november. The results are compared, and the winner is the one who posts the biggest gain in absolute meters, e.g. 3500m-2500m=if you pull this off in three months, go get yourself tested for possibly being half ostrich. The winner gets something not too expensive fitness related. Something better than a neon sweatband from the 80's, I promise.

Obviously this would work on the honour system. I assume you scrubs know what that means. Just in case, it means giving it everything you got on the first run and posting straight numbers. Being honest to internet people isn't that big of a deal, being honest to yourself is.

Any takers?

That sounds fun, but I'm gonna have to see how my leg/hip has healed before I go starting something like that. Doc said take a month off, and that's up this week, but I'm not sure it's 100% yet.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

I'm up for the competition, but I'd like to wait until I've finished c25k and got a bit more running experience. Speaking of which, week 8 down, and week four of the pushups.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

I'm up for the competition, but I'd like to wait until I've finished c25k and got a bit more running experience. Speaking of which, week 8 down, and week four of the pushups.

Where....uhhh....is that schedule of the push ups again?

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

http://hundredpushups.com/index.html

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

:sweetielarm: http://hundredpushups.com/index.html

Oh boy.

[Marcturus]

I ran 15 minutes last week, and upped it to 30 minutes this week. Climbing the ladder before the plateau is the best part, but being at the best you can be isn't bad either.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Did my first 5K run today. I'm not normally a superstitious man, but I can't help but feel that running my first 5 kilometers on the first day of spring is some kind of good omen.

[MordjaLYRA is the cool pony who likes to hang out. You can find most of the cool ponies with her. LYRA can just chill and do whatever and totally relax. "Take it easy" is the LYRA motto, for example, that's how laid back she is.]

Did my first 5K run today. I'm not normally a superstitious man, but I can't help but feel that running my first 5 kilometers on the first day of spring is some kind of good omen.

What.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Southern Hemisphere

[reidransom]

I tried a light bit of jogging tonight... no good.

It's not bad, but it's not 100%, and it feels like I'm going to aggravate it if I don't go easy. I hope it's just that I need a little longer and not that I've done something more serious. Man, if that's the case, I'm gonna seriously regret that last lap I took before going to the doctor to see if it had improved. That's when it was worst. I'm probably worrying for nothing, though. I hope.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Your doctor said to give it a month or so, right? Just take it easy for another couple of weeks.

I feel kind of guilty for having had a really nice run tonight. Full moon, kind tide, sea like black glass, and not a soul around. Just me, the fish, the birds and the wind.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Finished C25K today.

Probably going to try and improve my time over the 5K, work on my technique and fitness. I bitterly regret not discovering that exercise is fun when I was a kid.

[reidransom]

e: ^^^^ Congrats!

I slipped into my ridiculously short plum-smuggling shorts, leashed up my dog, and took off in the opposite direction than normal just for luck, and sure enough, I'm feeling pretty near back to form.

My poor dog, though, those squat little legs just aren't made for running. Got all tuckered out and started lagging after maybe half a mile. I should really get him out more. But he's properly my brother's dog, and they're more an athletic match anyhow, haha. He needs to take the poor fella out so they can start slowly together.

e: grrrr.... maybe a few more days yet after all.

[brakelessA pegasus will fly long and hard for a bit of gilded brass.]

Finished C25K today.

Probably going to try and improve my time over the 5K, work on my technique and fitness. I bitterly regret not discovering that exercise is fun when I was a kid.

Way to go. I suggest you try raising the maximum distance slowly but steadily. Do one run every week where you stack on an extra 500m each time. You'll soon find out that 10k isn't shit, and then it's on to 15k for another kick. God I feel like a drug pusher.

@reid: Doesn't recovering just suck? You just gotta hold yourself back until your body is 100% ready, otherwise you just prolong your troubles.

I broke my clavicle a few years back. As soon as I got my hand out of the sling, I went back to gymnastics even though the doc said the full recovery time would be longer. In hindsight it was really fucking stupid, although it's not every day that you get to feel a bone wobble inside you, so maybe it was worth it.

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

Nothing like adding a little hill to your run to remind you how much work you need to do to get within shouting distance of fit.

[In West FillydelphiaSCHWEIIIN]

What is fit? When are you there?

[thatbastardkenWant it, Need it]

A little way in the future. Maybe once I can run 8k. Maybe when I can lift my own body weight over my head. Maybe when I have rock hard tasty abs. Certainly not today.