Three Things Thursday: Running, Push Ups, Bike Bus

Sunrise during morning run
on Research Parkway

1) I had a great run this morning, which  let me enjoy the cool weather and see the sunrise! I usually do not have time or enough sunlight to run before catching the bus to work, so I got creative :) I took an earlier bus (which meant leaving my apartment just after 6 am), then got off on Alafaya and ran 3 miles to work. Running down Alafaya is not the best, but running into the sunrise on Research Parkway and the nice morning breeze was well worth it. It was good enough to make me run a little faster and have negative splits: 11:55 -11:51 - 11:29.

2) I did day 2 of the push up challenge last night, and managed 17 full push ups (3 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 5)! Yes! =D I almost forgot to do it. I was so sore from Sunday, that I had to take 2 rest days in between. I'm hoping that next week my muscles will start to adapt and I can do them every other day. I'm actually not too sore today. I've also been rocking the yoga and stretching every chance I get. The foot is achy from time to time, but overall it feels good more often than not. Yay! :)

3) The UCF Bike Bus is still riding strong, and we'll be representing at the One Less Car Expo this Saturday. Check out my latest Bike Bus Update at Commute Orlando.

UCF Bike Bus

One Less Car Orlando Expo

One Less Car Flyer
(click to enlarge)

Jason and I will be representing the Central Florida Bike Bus at the One Less Car Orlando Expo this Saturday, September 25, from 10 am - 4 pm. at The Center – GLBT Community Center of Central Florida located at 946 N. Mills Avenue.

ONE LESS CAR ORLANDO is a celebration of transporation alternatives like your bike, the bus, your feet, your skateboard, your scooter, carpooling, etc. The event will have two components: an expo where you can learn about the various groups and resources available to you, and a line-up of speakers called Park-n-Chats.

This is your chance to learn more about the Bike Bus and other resources available to you in the Orlando area if you want to try alternate transportation. We hope you stop by to say hi, and please spread the word!
Facebook Event

Creative Time Management

Living without a car has forced me to make creative use of my time, but it has taking some time to come to this realization. When we began commuting by bike and bus regularly almost 5 months ago, some aspects of my workout routine (yoga/core/strength) began slipping because I spent most of my time commuting--that's what I told myself anyway. Bull! That's just an excuse; I'm simply not making it a priority. Well, it ends now!

If I want to run a marathon in February, and I desperately do, then I need to take care of my body now and stop cutting corners. Even if I don't want to get up earlier to exercise before catching the bus, I can spend less time screwing around on my computer after work and use that time to do yoga or cross train. I've made this a priority this week, and I've gotten creative with how I squeeze in my workouts:

• do yoga when I get home from running or cycling, even if it's a quick 10 minute stretch. It's a lot easier to get this out of the way before I shower, while I still have endorphins motivating me to workout, than after I'm cooled off and clean and ready to chill and eat.
• do yoga before bed while I lay in bed. I've been using this routine from Chaz but I just did a quick search and found a ton of other options I may try, like this 8-minute routine. My favorite pose before bed is to lay with my legs up against the wall. 
• run to the bus stop from work. If I go one stop further, it's a full mile. I much prefer this than walking, but it sucks to then sit on the bus for an hour before running again. Since the bus is always late, I may trying running to other stops so I spend more time running and less time seating on a bench waiting for the bus.
• get off the bus early and run the rest of the way home. This maximizes my time and I don't waste any walking home first, changing, then going back out. I'm also less likely to loose motivation and stay home instead of going out for my run, and I can't cut my run short because it takes longer to walk home :) In fact, I can run further because I don't have to rush off to work. This takes a bit of planning, but I now have the routine down. If Jason is on the bus with me, he carries my stuff home. If not, I change into running clothes at work and bring my fuel belt and race ready shorts to carry the essentials: iPhone, ID/money, bus pass, water, towel.
• do yoga at the bus stop! The bus is always late, so jason half suggested when I was complaining about not having time for yoga that I do it at the bus stop. While I'm not about to do downward dog on the sidewalk, I can certainly do some of the standing poses, upper body poses (for back and shoulders), and stretch those calves and feet!
• do yoga on the bus. I don't do this often or if the bus is really crowded, but YOGAmazing has yoga on an airplane (or chair yoga/yoga with a desk) that would work well for this. Again, they are mostly seated upper body poses to stretch the back, neck and shoulders.
• stretch in the break room while heating up my lunch. Instead of just standing there watching the microwave, I'm using up this time to do some wall push ups and calf raise to stretch my legs. I often also making popcorn in the afternoons, so that's over 3 minutes I can use to stretch my calves/quads/hamstrings/feet.
• do yoga at my desk. I work at a computer all day, and my shoulders/back get tense a lot. When I got a massage on Monday, he commented on that and suggested I take breaks during the day to stretch. It only takes a few minutes, but doing a simple twist or interlacing my arms over my head and doing a backbend does wonders. I also have the office fitdeck, which I should use more often.
• I restarted the 100 push up challenge, but with full push ups this time. I started at the easiest level since it has been a while, and I am still sore from the 14 I did on Sunday. But I'm going to stick with it, even if I have to take 2 days off between workouts until I get used to it again. 

The most important thing in making this change was realizing that I don't need to immediately go back to doing 30-60 minutes of additional exercise every day (on top of running/bike commuting). I was getting overwhelmed thinking about how I would do that, but just adding 10-20 minutes of yoga when I can is a step in the right direction. Pretty soon I'll remember how much I love yoga, what it does for my body and I'll start finding the time to do it more often :) Now if I could only find time for some kickboxing again. All in due time ;)

Road to Recovery & Week 37 Recap

I'm almost afraid to post this, but I think my foot is on the mends. I woke up with zero pain today, even when I took my first steps out of bed, and it's felt great all day! Every now and then I think I feel a twinge, but that's probably in my head because it feels too good to be true and I don't want to get my hopes up too soon.

It is a strange sensation to finally feel a body part healed. When you have an injury, the pain decreases both in intensity and frequency as it heals, but you still have that nagging dull ache until it's fully heals. Then all of a sudden you wake up one day and it is completely gone. You almost miss the pain because you barely remember what it was like to not have it and wonder all day if it's really gone or if stepping the wrong way will suddenly bring it back. It's a wonderful feeling!

Even though I ran 9.5 miles this weekend, I took really good care of the foot. It was bothering me a bit on the ride Friday night, but I stretched it well and taped it before the run. The taping worked wonders. Not only was I not in pain during most of the run, there was no pain after. I kept it taped most of the day while we were out, and I think that helped too. What I think really put it over the edge was that I finally did yoga and lots of stretching on Sunday.

Apparently thunderbolt pose (where you sit on your heels) is great for this, and I did that a few times without knowing it. I did yoga before bed last night, wore the splint, and was sure to stretch and flex the foot before stepping out of bed and I could not believe it when I didn't feel pain even on that first step. I'm still going to be cautiously optimistic, continue to stretch every chance I get (e.g. when waiting for my food to heat up in the break room) and do yoga regularly again in hopes that the pain stays away for good!

This makes me feel much better about the upcoming Half Marathon in 6 weeks, and that I'll be able to train for a full marathon in February! I was going to run a 15k this weekend, but decided against it earlier this weekend. I am tempted to register now, but I don't want to push it too soon, so I'm going to sleep in, go for a short(er) run and enjoy running :)

Week Totals (rounded)

• run - 17 miles
• walk - 6 miles
• bike - 39 miles
• strength/core - 14 (full) push ups (oh yeah, I'm restarting 100 push up challenge, but with full push ups this time)
• yoga - 40 min
• totals - 10 hrs / 61 miles

Workout Summary

See details on Dailymile

• Monday - 1 hr massage :)
• Tuesday - ran 3 miles; biked 1.3 miles (publix)
• Wednesday - walked 2.5 miles (bus)
• Thursday - ran 4 miles; walked 1.25 miles (bus)
• Friday - walked 2.5 miles (bus); biked 17.25 miles (ice cream)
• Saturday - ran 9.5 miles; biked 20 miles (fm, lunch, gms)
• Sunday - 40 min yoga (2 sessions); 14 (real) push ups!

Update and Belated August 2010 Recap

There seems to be a direct corrolation between my motivation to blog and my ability to run. Since I've not been running as much, and certainly not racing, I find that I don't want to blog about the negative so I just don't blog at all. The truth is there are plenty of positives in my life, and even the running is progressing. I ran 8 miles this weekend and it felt good. Yesterday I ran 3 miles non-stop @12:10 pace without really pushing it and it felt great. I still have a glimmer of hope that I'll run BCM in February, but I'm playing it by ear and will see how the Miami Beach Halloween Half goes first.

See more birthday photos

I celebrated my 32nd birthday two weeks ago, and that week was a blast. I took a few days off from work and fully enjoyed my birthday:

• Wednesday - Birthday lunch with coworkers at First Watch
• Thursday - Took the day off for some much needed me time. Started the day with yoga, then easy biking to get a facial. My sister came over early so I could spent time with my adorable niece, then went to PF Chang's for dinner when my parents arrived.
• Friday - This was my actual birthday and Jason took it off from work too. I slept in a little (7 am) and started the day with an easy 6-mile birthday run, then Jason and I had a lovely time enjoying the outdoors on our bikes and making fresh ice cream with my new ice cream maker :) We finished the day with the First Friday ride for civility, which was a huge success, followed by dinner at Ethos. I was exhausted and glad I could sleep in the next day.
• Saturday - Slept in and then went to the Trek Tri expo with Kelly.
• Sunday - Rode the bus to Disney to cheer and take photos at the Trek Women's Triathlon.

In other news, Jason completed his first Half Ironman Triathlon this weekend and he rocked it! He gets extra credit hard core points for doing it in Clermont (read hills) and in Florida in September (read hot and humid). It was brutal, but he got it done and is even contemplating a second one already :) I of course was there cheering him on, taking lots of photos, and volunteering. It was a very long day, but lots of fun and it made me crave running a marathon again. *sigh*

August Accomplishments

• 31 Photos in 31 Days
• 10 Day Real Food Challenge
• Began UCF Bike Bus
• Commute Orlando Author

August Stats

• walk = 42 miles (3 < July)
• run = 34 miles (7 < July)
• longest run = 6 miles
• bike = 218 miles (22 > July)
• longest ride = 16 miles
• total = 294 miles / 38.5 hrs (avg 1.2 hrs/day)

This Friday is the next night ice cream ride, and I can't wait. Join us!