Category: fitness

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Fighting Intertia

Finally got off my butt today and went for a walk around town with my son.  We took the long way, and dropped off some library books on to discover (horrors!) that it wasn’t open this early on a Sunday morning.

He’s asked if he can go back later to pick up some books.  Hmm… Let me think… <grin>

I’m trying to encourage him to be more independent, so I’m sending him by himself, even though I could use both the hangout time with him and the walk.

I talk about fitness a lot in my blog, but to be honest, I am quite sedentary by nature.   I don’t get spazzy from sitting all day, and I’m perfectly content in my writing chair all day knitting and writing.  It makes it difficult to motivate to move.

The problem is, if I do that for too long, I start to hurt, and then it hurts to walk and then… Well, you get the picture.

It’s gorgeous today — about 25 F and a bright sun in a cloudless sky.  So, a perfect day for a walk instead of a swim.

I’m still exercising in fits and bursts rather than consistently.  Certainly the fits and bursts are better than nothing, but I’m feeling the lack of resistance training, especially in all the joints from my hips down.   I need to be better about weights if for nothing more than to have the physical stamina to be on my feet all day when teaching a class.   When I was working at Hogworts, I was getting in those 10,000 steps a day without even thinking about it.  I couldn’t park any closer than a half mile from my office. I worked on a campus, so I was all over the place.   And for the last year I was there, I was  quite good about the swimming and weight training.   I think having a slot that was the only slot I could get my exercise in was actually better for me in a lot of ways.  The “Now or Never” mindset was a real help in motivating me.

Be that as it may, I really want the benefits of working out, and the way to get them is to  (and stay with me here) work out.  I know, it’s a crazy and radical though, but it’s true!

I’m gonna go back to the swimming three days a week and weight training three days a week first thing in the morning.   I liked the schedule and stuck with it longer than anything else.  I’m bumping my swims up to a mile, though.  I need the longer workout, and well… I can!  I like that a lot. Because my cardio is swimming, my weights are gonna be concentrating hard on lower body and not quite so hard core on upper body.  You can’t beat distance swimming for upper body strength building.

I’m going to go back to doing at 5:30 in the morning, because I want the habit developed for the days I’m teaching as well as the days I’m not. I often blow off a workout when I am teaching and I don’t want to blow off workouts on busy, out of the office days.   So, I’ve got a couple of weeks to really build the routine before I hit the classroom again.

It’s a constant struggle to stay motivated to stay active, and I’m not just talking about the “getting skinny” bullshit.  I mean staying active enough that I’ve the physical energy to do my day, accomplish my goals and feel good emotionally.  I oughta put that first.  I’ve never in my life had as good of results from an anti-depressant as I have from regular workouts.  Special Snowflake, that’s me.  I’m all delwikite and have to pump some iron or I get all weepy and emo.  But it is a struggle to stay active.  I generally love how I feel after I’ve gotten the heart rate up good, but I’m immature enough that it’s often difficult to remind myself that dragging my ass out of my chair/bed/whatever and getting moving is a good thing.  The thing is, it’s not a “do this today and a year from now you’ll be glad you did”.  Oh, no.  I get the emotional results in less than an hour.  How’s that for impatience and foolishness when it comes to difficulty of motivation?  LeSigh.  Maybe I’ll grow up someday.

But, I will have my rear in the pool tomorrow morning at five thirty.  I can certainly make myself do that much!

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Swimming, Open Water and Writing

There’s something just innately satisfying about swimming a mile. Well, I swam an 1800, so that’s slightly over a mile. Took me 48 minutes and change.  No, I am not a fast swimmer!  For swims like these, I’m grateful for my Otterbox (waterproof casing for an iPod).  I was listening to Jim Dale’s reading of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I wish there were some marathon open water swims where I live. You’d think with all the lakes around… I mean hell, Lynne Cox, that crazy1 woman who swam in the Antarctic spent her early childhood in Manchester, NH!

I’m not in the least interested in participating in a triathlon, though.  I remember bitching last winter and swearing I was gonna try to start an open water swim event.   Looks like to get such a thing going, I may have to do just that.  Feh.   Maybe I could talk to the Master’s team over at my pool and see if there’s something doing I didn’t know about.

I got some good news.  I’ve got a month more on my gym membership than I thought I did.  Gives me another month to dig up the money to continue it.  I haven’t been doing worth a damn on the weights — at least getting my butt to the gym.   For some reason, I’m more likely to stumble outside my bedroom first thing in the morning, and take 20 minutes six days a week to do an upper or lower body workout than I will go to the gym to do a full body workout three times a week.  I suppose I shouldn’t sweat it.  My body doesn’t care if I lift heavy stuff in a gym or in my home as long as heavy stuff gets lifted!

But, I am swimming, which is also important.  Lately I’ve been swimming on the days I’m not teaching computer classes.  Gets me out of the house on days I don’t have to work away from my writin’ chair, and ensures I do something besides sit in my writin’ chair all day.

I have to finish outlining a document for a client today and study for a class in MS Access I’m teaching tomorrow.

1I use the word “crazy” with the upmost respect. I love to swim and all, but that woman is hard core!

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Why I Do It

Just got back from my swim for today.

I skipped yesterday because I was going to be on my feet all day teaching and I figured I didn’t want to be too tired.

Feh. I’m sorry I chose that. Not that it’s not possible to get too tired. It is. Not that is it not sometimes wise to pick and choose daily activities to keep from overtaxing yourself. It is. But I was tired and spazzed last night, and I think that if I’d gotten up and taken my swim, I just would have been tired.

The simple fact of the matter is that when I swim most days, I am clearer-headed and have calmer energy throughout the day.

I don’t swim to get skinny. I’ve been swimming for a year and a half and I ain’t skinny, nor even “not overweight”.

I swim because A) It feels good and B) I’m clear-headed and relaxed after one.

I did have a long and exhausting day yesterday, and had promised myself I was going to work from bed all day, only leaving it to swim.

Changed my mind and moved to my writin’ chair after my swim today. It’s a sunny day, my living room has lots of windows and I propose to enjoy it while I work. Also, wanna bake some bread and I’d rather be working where I can actually hear the kitchen timer. I think it felt like some sort of mental dissonance to be working in bed once I got dressed.

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Swimming Hair Care

Swimmers, here’s a little trick:

Get thee some Mane ‘ n Tail (it used to be marketed as shampoo and conditioner for horses, but people use it with good results, too), wet down your hair with non-chlorinated water, put a little Mane ‘n Tail on your hair and work it through, then put on your bathing cap and do your workout. Afterwards, wash and style as usual.

Your hair will be all soft and shiny.

Don’t use too much or your cap will slide off and you’ll be leaving a trail of conditioner scum and make no friends at all in the pool.

But it really is a good treatment for hair abused by chlorinated pools.

I’ve been reviewing my goals for this month.  I’m quite on track.  It’s hard for me, sometimes, to let go of the big picture and concentrate on the day.    Now don’t get me wrong.  The big picture is crucially important.  I refer to it each time I plan my month.   But when I’m planning a week or a day, I’ll look at my goals for the month or the week rather than the year.  I try never to look more than one step up timewise to keep myself from getting overwhelmed.  I try to look at my yearly goals only 12 times a month after I made them.  I know it sounds funny, but I think this is going to work.  Making sure your dailyness is leading you where you want to go, it’s all good.

I’ve always been lousy at “slow-n-steady”.  I’m trying to teach myself this, as if I do a little slow and steady and do accomplish everything I plan to for the year, I’ll have had a happy, productive and balanced year!

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Being a Fat Athlete

I was doing some research on swimming and sore abs because… Well, I went for a good swim today and my abs are sore! Look, don’t you Google every damn thing you go through? You don’t. Fine. I’m a weirdo. Deal.

Anyway, as I was maundering around the Internet and avoiding finishing my last article for today (but I did send out a good query for AT THE FOOT OF THE THRONE three days early thnxsomuch!), I ran across Fat Girl on a Bike.

This chick made me ashamed of myself and face how damn’ vain and shallow I can be.

Vain? Yeah. You see, I’m fat. No, it’s not a value judgement. I am.

But I’m also an athlete, dammit. I never called myself that because I’ve always felt I “wasn’t there yet”. I played soccer, but I wasn’t great it at. So, I wasn’t really an athlete. I was a martial artist but I never earned a black belt, so I’m not really an athlete. I’m fat, so I’m not really an athlete.

This woman, who is doing triathelons not to “get skinny” or any other damn reason than she bloody well wants to compete in triathlons puts me and my scale stepping to shame. I’ve actually had to psyche myself out to go to the pool and swim, which I love because I didn’t feel like I really belonged in the pool with all the real athletes. It’s idiotic. Like you don’t deserve to claim a love of movement, which I do have, unless you’re committed to “getting skinny”. That’s gotta me more important than loving the movement for itself.

Now, I know swimming is good for me. How I feel after a good workout (and the sustained good mood for many hours) is a powerful motivator to get me moving. Yes, yes, yes, I’m all for the increased health benefits of being active.

But I swim because I love to swim. It feels good. I lift weights because I love to do it. I adore moving heavy stuff. When I was a martial artist, the love of having the guy a foot and a half taller than I am go THWACK! on the mat was immensely satisfying, and so was being knocked flying. (Hey, you know I’m a weirdo). Anything that requires finesse of physical control excites me.abbyestockton2.jpg

Will I get stronger and more fit the more I do it? Of course. But I don’t have to have goal of looking like Pudgy Stockton (I know, not fashionable, but I really, really like the way she looked) to just enjoy the workout for its own damn sake.

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Just total randomness

I’m choosing to be a little lazy and swimming later in the morning today, instead of getting my butt in the pool first thing. I had an idea that I wanted to put in some notes on right away. So I did.

I’m kinda stuck for an idea for a Misanthrope column for next week. Honest, it’s no joke trying to find a weekly topic on the theme of “Don’t be a fucking idiot”.

I got a pasta machine for Christmas, and I’ve been using it a lot. I’ve been doing an experiment with whole wheat pasta, and you know? It’s pretty good.

I need to think about sprouting some herbs soon, actually. I prefer fresh herbs in cooking and haven’t had an herb garden of any sort since the summer 2005 (which wound up being my “pesto year” as my basil went out of control). I’ve got dirt. I have a sunny, south-facing window. It’s no trick to get a seed try and germinate a few plants. I’ll even get myself a bukkit, and I’ll have a nice, portable herb garden for my porch this summer.

Has anyone had much success growing fresh herbs indoors? I do have a room where a philodendron, a Boston fern, a Christmas cactus, several spider plants and a calendiva are pretty happy. Would this be a place where herbs would do well? I’ve only ever cultivated them outside and in the summer.

I also want a bukkit for some mint. I’ve been yearning for a good mint julep lately.

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What to do on a snow day? Swim!

I didn’t go swimming at 5:30 this morning.  It’s snowing and I don’t like driving in the snow.  I’ll walk to the gym later today when and swim then.

School is closed, so I’ll be taking my son with me.  Yeah, just the “snow day” treat — a long swim!

If I’d had somewhere I had to be later in the day, I probably would have gone ahead and gone swimming early this morning, but I don’t.    I usually get up early to get in my swim just because if I get it done, I’m up and going for the day, better.  Still, it’s nice when I don’t have to!

Got some site work to do.

I’ve mentioned it before, but if you’re a user of MS Office, I really encourage you to try One Note.  I find it a fantastic planning tool.

I’ve been collecting a book list for the Polyamorous Misanthrope recommended reading page, but it’s going to be very different from the usual Polyamory “recommended reading”.  It’s not that the poly books aren’t good.  Many of them are excellent.  But I’m going to be dealing a lot more with historical example of social dynamics (why yes, the Oneida Community among others), and modern practices in negotiation and interaction.  I’m increasingly of the opinion that the new business model for interaction works very well indeed in poly situations.  Yeah, I’ve got a Misanthrope article brewing on that, too.

I’m also looking at the shambles that is That Damned Book and wondering where to go with it.  I had it all plotted out and when I read what I’ve written, individual scenes are kinda keen.  But as a flow of plot and events, It Just Won’t Soar, Dammit.  I’ve been working on That Damned Book intensely for two years now.  (And have been noodling with it for more like twelve years).  Maybe I oughta just let it go.  I wrote At the Foot of the Throne, which is a much better story as far as plot and pacing, in about seven months.

Oh, for you writers?  If you really enjoy novel writing software, I encourage you to check out yWriter.  I do use and enjoy it.  It can’t solve my problems for me, but golly does it help with planning and plotting!

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Did it for this week

Well, I did manage to hit the pool every weekday this week since I’ve decided to get stern with myself about the exercise.

I live in a relatively small town, but it was a bit of a surprise this morning to share a lane with my family doctor. I’m not sure if he recognized me1. I never would have pegged him as a swimmer. He seems more the runner type, but I suppose cross-training ain’t all that unusual.

I’m trying to decide if I should just stick to my original goal of swimming 900 yards every weekday this month, or if I should up the yardage. Since my original fitness goal was to swim at least four miles this month, I think I’m gonna just stick with the 900 yards deal. At 4500 yards a week, I’ll have swum considerably more than miles by the end of the month.

I’m noticing a problem I have with getting to goals, and I need to address it. I’ll go all hard core on a goal then burn out, rather than go slow and steady — looking to the long term. It’s why my goals for this year were relatively modest. I’m having to restrain myself from going hammer and tongs at the things that interest me. I have a good plan for the year and need to stick to the “slow and steady” version if I want to ensure I get there.  I’m glad I wrote everything down, let me tell you.  Having the original goal written down as a referent makes it a lot easier to say, “Woah, slow down there, Hoss.  You’ll get there if you stick to it slow and steady.”  I’m already finding great value in having that yearly goal, then breaking it down by month, week and day!

It’s so easy to get sidetracked.  As I was swimming, I was trying to plan how to get my weights workout in. I started all these plans about spending hours in the gym, blah, blah, blah. As I was coming home, I started laughing at myself. Just sticking to the original plan will be fine. I don’t need to go harder. It’s even possible that I shouldn’t go harder.  Accomplishing exactly what I set out to do for the year will be a good year enjoyed and well-spent.

1One does not chat in a swimming lane at 5:30 in the morning.

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I can has work and I swimmed!

Ya! Got some freelance writing work. This makes me happy.

Every dollar I earn from my writin’ chair is worth two (emotionally) dollars earned leaving the house. Yeah, I know, I’m a weirdo.

I was also a Good GirlTM and swam this morning. It felt good. Thing is, I’m still having a hard time getting over being the heaviest woman in the gym at a given time. Early mornings are harder because it’s all the sleek athletes and hard-cores in then. Then here’s me. I know I need to bloody well get over myself and be done with it. No-one really cares but me and I know that, too.

I’m thinking about saving up to get my life guard certification, or possibly even my WSI. I’ve checked over the requirements, and I’m plenty capable of passing them, though it’s been over twenty years since I was last certified. I actually did use my training once, about ten years after I’d gotten my certification.

A mother with two kids (all of whom were inexpert swimmers) got into rough surf I would hesitate to swim in. As a matter of fact, I’d just been griping about the dangerous surf red flags and the fact I’d be spending the day on the sand instead of in the water.

The mom was playing in the surf with the kids, holding their hands, and lost a grip of one of them. He was being pulled out. I was nearby and charged in to grab the kid. The lifeguard was about six seconds behind me and according to my parents, was shouting at me (I couldn’t hear it. I was busy) when she saw me use a standard lifesaving technique to get the kid in — the reach and grab. It’s a method of getting someone without getting too close to a panicked person who can drown you, but is a very firm hold. The guard got the mom and the other kid in and started chewing her out for getting in the water during red flag surf. (You really should stay on shore when the red flags are flying). The guard thanked me and told me that even though she was glad I was able to get the child in, I should be careful with that sort of thing. Well, okay, she was right. I’m not ocean rescue trained.  That’s some specific and rigorous skills and I know it! Still, the kid was being swept away, the mother and other kid were in trouble and the lifeguard would have had to choose who to help.

I hope I would have had the sense not to try to swim out after the kid if we both got swept off our feet and out into the deep water.  And that’s why ocean rescue is a different sort of training than your standard Red Cross Pool lifeguarding.  Conditions are harsher and change a whole bunch faster.  The reach and grab in a pool when you’re on deck and there’s someone flipping out within your reach?  No biggie.  You’re on steady ground, there’s no current or waves to deal with, and you can focus on getting the person out of the pool.  In the ocean?  Different story by far!   Waves are a lot stronger than people, and you can be knocked down while you’re trying to use that very simple technique.   Combine that with rough surf, a lot of wind and an outgoing tide (the exact conditions of that particular day), and things change fast.

When I was a kid my dad told me something that I’m not sure if he actually knew the stats on or not, but I’ve never forgotten it:  Strong swimmers drown more often.  Why?  They get cocky and take dumb risks.  I don’t know if this was to caution a little girl quite prone to get cocky about her own physical skills or if it was a real statistic.   But I figure the caution is fairly useful.

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I swimmed

I was a “good girl” and swam today.

I think I may wind up being a little sorry tomorrow. I’ve been lazy for the last few weeks and I swam half a mile this morning.1

Still, it felt good.

I find that swimming early in the morning does have several positive effects. I get exercise out of the way early, so I start the day feeling like I’ve accomplished something. Because I go so very early (pool opens at 5:30 AM) I’ve worked out, am showered, dressed and ready for my coffee by the time the rest of the house gets up. I can accomplish more between 6:30 in the morning and eleven than I can the whole of the rest of the day. Being up that early kind of gets me going better.

But, boy oh boy, can I tell I’ve been slacking. Usually I’m not creaky or sore until the next day when I’ve worked out well. Today? I’m feeling it good and proper — especially in my butt.

Common theory is that swimming isn’t so hot for the legs because it’s not a weight-bearing exercise. It’s one of those fuzzy things. You do work your muscles in your legs just fine, swimming. What it’s not good for is preventing osteoporosis. You really do, no kidding, need to do weight bearing exercise to keep up the bone strength. Walking, running, standing calisthenics, free weights2… But building muscle? Hell yeah, swimming does just fine. Do a few hundred yards of kicking drills. You’ll feel it all through your legs if you’re doing it right.

I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to fit in lifting if I’m going to swim every morning. I don’t know that I really wanna go back to the gym most evenings to do my weights. I may go back to dumbbells for that, though a bench with a squat rack is starting to look attractive…

1 Yeah, yeah, you hard cores can roll your eyes and tell me that’s really a warm up!

2 I say free weights specifically, because you have to exclude any machine where your weight is being supported if you’re looking for the bone-building benefit. Nothing where you’re sitting down will be good for this specific need. That throws out leg extension machines and those things for the supine hamstring curls. Yes, they’re useful for strength, but they’re not what you need for bone-building.