Addicted to Exercise

With my short little runs this week and not getting to ride yesterday, I had not really had a good base cardio workout at all this week. So, I knew I needed to do at least an hour on the elliptical trainer. I had pretty much settled on that, but as fate would have it, when I arrived at the gym, the only one available was the one that let me key in 90 minutes. I took that as a sign.

I wanted to take it a little bit easy, so I did not go very high on the resistance. I put my towel over the stats during the workout and just cranked the volume on my music as loud as my ears could take. I actually had a reasonably good time. Maybe about once a week on this thing would not be so bad. Anyway, I watched people around me come and go, and ninety minutes later I got to do my five minute backwards cooldown. I think I ended up averaging just over 200 strides a minute.

Yesterday, I felt something in my ankle, so I did not do my running minutes. It was normally the kind of thing I would have ignored, but these days in my heightened awareness I called it off.

So, this morning, when I hopped on the treadmill for a brief run, I was determined to be as smooth as possible. I basically took really short steps and tried to see how little impact I could make with each one. I was supposed to do 8 minutes of running (with a minute of rest between each one), but I think I did 9. (I started walking on the treadmill before I was ready to run, and I forgot to notice exactly what time it read when I started the first running minute.) Anyway, I do know that I did that first one as slowly as I could manage (12:00 pace). That was barely more than a fast walk, so it was easy to keep my feet soft on the ground. I picked it up each time, and my last one was at a 6:00 pace. I had not moved like that in a couple weeks, and it felt great. Even at the faster speeds, I noticed that if I really focused on it, I could hit the ground very softly.

So, I had all that in my head when I hopped on the elliptical machine immediately afterwards. My plan was to do two 45 minute sessions with a break in between for water. Unfortunately, I was so bored after the first one that I quite after that. I felt okay, and I had chosen one of the built-in workouts to get some flats and inclines. I was really, really, thirsty after the 45 plus 5, so I enjoyed a drink, but then I decided to just go ahead and do my weight routine instead of another session on the trainer. Now that I had a little taste of running again it’s even harder to stay motivated on that thing!

This morning I just stuck to one hour on the elliptical trainer. I felt a little tired towards the end, and I had to hold on to the rails for a bit. Other than that it was the normal drill. I did the 5-minute cool-down backwards again, and I think I am getting smoother at that.

The real fun started after those 65 minutes, though. I was allowed to try 5 sets of 1 minute run/1 minute walk on the treadmill. That felt remarkably good. I kept expecting to take a step and have my leg hurt, but it felt good the whole time. I guess I was used to it hurting a bit because on the first couple I kept thinking something felt funny until I realized it was the lack of pain that was different. Anyway, I made it a point to make my steps as small and quick as I possibly could.

I had been planning to attend Gilbert’s workout this morning. They were doing circuit training, and that’s a nice easy one as far as the running goes. I was actually driving to the track when I got too scared to try the running and went to the gym instead.

So, I hopped on the elliptical trainer, started my music and stayed there for 90 minutes. (I actually got the 90-minute machine today, so I didn’t have to program multiple workouts!) I went a little slowly, but I kept my arms off the rails. At the end, I did the 5 minute cool down backwards as usual.

I had spent all that time staring at an empty treadmill in front of me, and when I got down I could not resist. I made a deal with myself that at the slightest hint of anything abnormal I would stop, but barring that I would run for a couple minutes. I was right in front of a mirror, after all, too. I ended up doing walk 2 minutes/run 1 minute three times and then a couple more minutes of walking. That felt remarkably fine. I kept expecting some pain, but it never showed up.

I described that to the PT today, and she said that tomorrow I should try alternating one minute of each five times. That sounds like a fun assignment.

This was certainly a wacky sort of morning due to a conspiracy of a number of factors:

1) I was not doing the long run with everyone else because I am still letting my leg rest

2) The long run for today started and ended at Gilbert’s house instead of RunTex

3) It turns out the gym doesn’t open until 8:00 on Saturdays

4) Gilbert needed someone to go pick up all the post-run tacos

So, I ended up doing things pretty much backwards this morning. I drove up to the north side of town to pick up the breakfast tacos, timing the trip so that I would arrive at Gilbert’s house with them right as everyone was finishing their runs. On my way back down there, I came down Manchaca and got to see all the runners that were finishing. They were pretty well spread out by then, having run 16 miles. I yelled encouragement at them and honked as I passed. It was almost like being at a race.

So that was fun. Then began the backwards section. I ate tacos, stretched, and then headed off to the gym to do my workout.

Since I’ve been spending so much time in the gym, I finally caved in and bought an MP3 player. As Richard pointed out, I had been living under a rock since I did not know how small these things had become lately. I swear, the thing is the size of my finger and weighs nothing. That’s pretty nice since that means I could even have it when I run if I happened to be so inclined and it wouldn’t slow me down at all.

The elliptical trainer is a great workout, but I had been limited on it because I just got so bored while not going anywhere. Being able to blast a bunch of music I like into my ears really helped with that. I was on that thing for more than two hours this morning, and my hands were off the rails for most of that. The only time I had to hold on was for a couple minutes when the incline got really high about 45 minutes into it. (I decided to leave the incline on a reasonable settting for the whole second hour.)

So that went really well. Even once I am running all the time again I can certainly handle doing that once a week from here on out. I felt really good today. I probably could have run, but the PT told me the other day to hold off some more. Obviously I am staying in great shape. Unfortunately, I was not the fastest person on the elliptical trainer today. There was some dude on the one next to me, and I saw he was doing over 220 strides/min for an hour. I wasn’t going that fast today — somewhere around 205 I think. That’s what it showed when I removed the towel from the display at the end. Either way, it was nice that I wasn’t the only one there with a big puddle of sweat under the machine for once.

This morning I went to the gym for my usual spin on the elliptical trainer. Again I used the strategy of covering the display with my towel. I got burned on that today, though. I selected one of the preset workouts, and after about half an hour I was getting bored so I started counting my strides. I knew that when the timer was set at 60 minutes the incline could change every 4. I counted 800 strides, but it didn’t change. I figured maybe I was going faster without realizing it, so I kept counting. After a while I couldn’t take it any more, so I peeked and discovered that some of the segments in my workout were actually two segments long, so they lasted 8 minutes. I had not noticed that when I selected the workout.

I lasted more than half-way without holding on, but after that the incline was very high, and I had to hold on for a while. I felt pretty stable on teh backwards 5-minute cool-down this time.

Afterwards I remembered to investigate something that I had been meaning to do for a while. The machines I was using would only let me choose up to a 60 minute session, but I was sure I remembered going higher than that a few months ago. So, after I finished I went down the row and tested each empty machine. After a few I got to one that let me pick 75. I found another 75, and then eventually a 90. That’s the one I will use the next time I can! I want to see how high a score I can get on that thing!

This morning I was due for an hour on the elliptical machine. In order to avoid thinking about all the stats, I covered the display with my towel while I was on the machine. I also tried to do as much as I could without holding the rails. I ended up holding them for a little while in the middle of the session. I had chosen one of the pre-programmed courses, and the middle of it had the incline set so high it was uncomfortable to not hold on.

On average, I went a little slower than normal, but it was still in the ballpark. Besides, it felt fine. Again, I did the 5-minute cool-down backwards, and that is starting to feel a little more natural.

My legs felt really, really tired when I woke up this morning, so I opted for only 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer. I took it easy on the resistance and the speed as well. I felt like a total slacker. I barely managed to make a puddle of sweat under the machine.

My plan when I went to the gym this morning was to do an hour and a half, but the elliptical machine I was on would only let me choose up to 60 minutes. I thought for sure one let me do 90 a few months ago, but I took that as a sign today that I only needed an hour. I went a little faster than yesterday on average, and I made sure to spend time without my hands away from the handles.

I would still like to be smoother going backwards during the 5-minute cool-down, though. I am still a little bouncy during that. At the end of the 65 minutes, I had well over 13,000 strides. I know I was keeping it set around 210 strides/minute for the whole hour I was at speed.

I know this is helping. I need to do this at least once every couple weeks even when I am running all the time.

This morning I did not feel like spending the whole hour on the elliptical trainer, so I slept in a little bit and did a half hour plus the five-minute cool-down.

I started out pretty much where I left off yesterday, but I kind of instinctively picked up the pace at the end. I was doing over 220 strides per minute for the last few minutes. Those are some seriously quick-moving legs.

After thinking about it later, I have concluded that that was how I managed to actually gain speed the last time I took a break from running and just used the elliptical machine. If I ran with that kind of turnover I would be moving really, really fast, and I could not get away with trying it several times a week. This exercise lets me practice moving my legs that quickly without putting any of the associated stresses on my body. I know I said it last time, but I have to say it again: Doing this regularly would help my running a lot.

After that I did some core exercises on the stability ball (crunches and cobras) followed by some stretching (focusing mainly on my calves), and that was it for today.

I’m going to do 90 minutes either tomorrow or Saturday. I haven’t decided which yet. I’ll see how motivated I feel in the morning.