Weekend Workouts.

This past weekend was rather slow in the organized event line up for me but was very full of exercise related events in the form of me doing them as well as me watching them on TV!  I don’t even want to add up the amount of time I spent planted in front of the TV watching Olympians make me feel like a lazy human  Even the kids I babysit for were enthralled by the events on Saturday night so I didn’t have to do anything except explain what the pummel horse is!

Saturday was the day I set out for my longer bike ride of the week.  I hadn’t really gotten much time to ride earlier in the week so it was nice to be able to spend some quality time “in the saddle” (learned that one watching Women’s Cycling the other day )  I ended up covering about 18 miles which was a good amount for working up to something longer.  It was long enough that I felt like I’d worked pretty hard but not so long that my body ached or anything.  I am feeling more and more confident on my bike each time I ride.  I am finally not getting a major panic attack every time I start or stop on the darn thing!  (Now it’s just a minor attack).

By going 18 miles, I ended up venturing further on the bike trail than I’d ever been before so I came upon this scary little serpentine thing that they worked into the bike trail to make people slow down before crossing the railroad tracks.  That was by far the most scary event of my weekend.  That and being tailed closely by some dude on a bike as well.  When I said, “please go ahead” he was like “I’m waiting for someone actually” and I wanted to reply then leave me alone!  Why are people so rude on bikes?  This is one thing I am really not liking about biking….

After the bike adventure, I came home and did Level 2 of 30 day shred and waited for sister to be done with her AM yoga class.  After she got home, we both ventured out to a running shoe store to attempt to find some new shoes.  A friend of hers had recommended Performance Running Outfitters so we went to go see what they had to say about what kind of shoes we should wear.

I really liked this shoe store compared to the last one I’d visited because they actually videotaped you running on the treadmill and then you could watch it to see what your feet were doing.  It was very interesting for me to see that I have a little late stage pronation when I run which likely messed with my ankle and knee and might semi-explain my recent issues!  It was weird but after running slowly on the treadmill for like 5 seconds in the shoes that made my feet work the best, my knee felt so much better!  It was so weird how quickly the pain improved.  I’ve been struggling with this issue for weeks!  And it still seems to be doing a lot better even days later… weird.

What kind of shoes did I end up with you may ask?  Nikes.  I feel like a total hypocrite because I am sure I have said some not so nice words about Nikes in the past when I was such a firm believer in the dramatization that the barefoot running books all lead you to believe about Nike – that they created the running shoes that lead to people’s problems.  I think the thing I am realizing is that barefoot works better for some people and more supportive shoes work better for others.  And it’s a matter of finding what works for you and not judging what works for other people!  I still do love my Vibrams for walking though!

The shoes I got are not really corrective by any means but rather help prevent my ankle from rolling and creating an issue (hopefully anyways!).  It’s funny though because I ran in Nikes FOR YEARS before switching to fancy running shoes and never ever had issues!  Hopefully rediscovering my running routes helps me in the long run.  But who knows… I could very well be singing another tune in another 6 months !

Also got “The Stick” – works Amaaaazing on massaging your calves!

My new Nike LunarGlide 3 shoes!  I’m a little concerned they don’t actually make these anymore… Hopefully when these are worn out I can find something comparable… That would be just my luck!

Then on Sunday, I just had to give my shoes a little test run.  It had been 5 weeks since my last run so I was not expecting much but it ended up going better than I thought it would!  I wore my new shoes!  and just did a short 2ish mile loop around my house.  I ran for a few minutes and then would walk a little just to recover but I probably could have kept up the “running” for the full 2 miles.  Now that I am back running, I am planning to go s-l-o-w-l-y to hopefully avoid aggravating anything.  Going slow also helps me work on my form better and pay attention to how I am landing to further help with injury issues.

Wearing a marathon shirt to run 2 miles. And no, I never clean the kitchen…

My knee/leg felt a little weird and stiff at first but as I went on, it actually started to feel quite a bit better which is encouraging!  I’m hoping this keeps being the case!  I’ll set out for another run this morning and I am hoping for the best!

After the “run” I also wanted to put in a few more miles on my bike so I set out for another 12 miles to wrap up the weekend with 30 miles of biking!  My car did not even move that far this weekend!  It was really nice to get to cover so many miles but feel absolutely fine the day after.  If I would have ran that far this weekend, I would be wiped!  Biking is so much more efficient ;)

More Olympic watching action then followed!  Go Team USA!

Anyone else being extra inspired to workout because of the Olympics?  I know watching Women’s Cycling on Sunday morning is what made me eager to get out on Sunday!

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