Music, Shin Pain, and Food

What music do you listen to when you run? What motivates you? I want to add to my Zombie Running Tunes playlist, so let me hear what you listen to (feel free to post a reply on FB since this gets published there and that’s prolly how a number of you got to reading this now).

A friend of mine led me to a runner’s site with several interesting articles (see my blogroll for a link to No Meat Athlete). Two of the articles are particularly pertinent to me and I thought I would take a moment to share.

10 Best Running Songs Ever

I know most of these and have a few on CD already. I tend to like rock music or something with a bit of a driving beat. Guitar is fun too and I’m giving serious thought to tracking down my Joe Satriani CDs to add them to iTunes. I’ve had good luck with my music so far. Certain songs have played at just the right time to motivate me. I’m sure there’s some research out there to support how motivating music is to exercise, but I’m too lazy (ha!) to track it down right now.

How to Avoid Shin Splints and Stress Fractures

As you likely know by now, I’m currently plagued with shin pain. I ran the elliptical today, rather than run in the gorgeous weather outside, because my shins started whining while I was at work. The elliptical is a good way for me to have a low impact (i.e., no footstrike) variable intensity workout and still get in my 30 minutes.

Anyway, this article gives some good tips on how to minimize shin pain from experience. Listed are 6 tips, of which I already do 3 regularly (the three that are the least effective, according to the author). I run on a paved track at the park when I’m not on the elliptical or treadmill. Perhaps I should consider running on the grass by the track for a little while and see how that goes. My only concern is that it is a less consistent surface, but hey, I’ve been running for a few months, so what do I know.

Minimizing hard workouts is something I started doing more regularly more recently. Being gung ho about exercising can make you ignore little things like safety and overworking your body. It is doubly important for me to pay attention to this since I’m committed to doing daily exercising, rather than taking a day off here and there.

As for pacing, that’s something I plan on starting as soon as I get back to running (prolly tomorrow or Saturday). It makes sense, but it might be a while before I can really run at that pace. I’m mostly going for run far, not too fast, rest occasionally.

Which is a great segue to food. I am trying to eat more healthily by cutting my portions down, eating snacks, and trying to eat stuff that’s food. Maggie turned me on to a simple phrase by Michael Pollan: eat food, not too much, mostly plants. He has talked about these “food rules” just about everywhere. If you didn’t already notice, I tried to adopt a similar idea to my running (more succinctly written above than in my last post). I don’t see the point in dieting by complicated rules and paying close attention to caloric intake. Too much hassle. Seven words is enough for me. He does go into more detail, like what constitutes food, but the gist is in those 7 words.

I am making steady progress on my goal. I’ve been getting encouragement and tips from friends on Facebook and from lots of people on Fitocracy. I’m feeling a lot better about stretching and have learned a few more exercises. I’ve also lengthened each exercise and/or added a rep to my stretch routine. It’s amazing what a difference a few more seconds makes.

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Resistance

This week is going to be a make me or break me week. I have a presentation on Wed, a final on Thurs, and a couple more sections due on my dissertation asap. I have stepped up my workouts and am pretty much broke, so I’m not eating healthy. I start up my practicum again on Thursday, but it is out at Zorn, which is in Louisville…not within walking distance. Whatmore? My car died. Well, it won’t start, but I’m not sure about the 100 things that could be the problem, so in my mind, since I can’t afford anything and it can’t get me anywhere, it may as well be dead to me.

I got over the hump in my dissertation and I’m winding my way through another section. After this one I w,ill have two that deal specifically with the measures I am using, so they will be simple but tedious to write. I will have 2/3 of what I’m working on done by the end of the week, but my goal is to finish it all.

I ordered resistance bands, which came in the mail today. They are not the bands I ordered; they are a bait and switch. I thought I was paying $30 for a set of $60 bands (you know, nothing is full price on Amazon), but the bands I got are $45 bands. Granted, I still paid only 66% for them, but if I wanted the bands I got I would have ordered them in the first place. They work fine, but I’m (hopefully) sending them back. Yet another thing on my plate.

New House and Chuck tonight, which is exciting, but I’ll have to wait until everything is done this week to watch them. I’m an instant gratification kind of guy when it comes to my shows. I don’t know how I’ve gone almost 90 days without watching the Netflix of Dexter sitting by the tv.

This is my last week of graduate school classes…presumably ever. I have practicum supervision and dissertation (and later internship) left to complete, but they don’t count as classes. At any rate, I don’t have to buy any more text books, which is very nice.

As for P90, I am kicking my butt. I’ve been adding reps and challenging myself and I find myself exhausted, almost to the point of not being able to stand, when I complete the workouts–especially cardio and abs. I worked it out. I’ve done about 2500 crunches since I began P90. I am able to complete the cardio workout without stopping for breaks, but I can’t do all of the exercises for the full duration. The run lunges and crosshops are what get me every time. I will do them as intensely as the video, but I can only do one full rep and later a half a rep (total of 30 + 15 sec, 45 sec) of each. I continue to move and I will either run in place or do the alternative move (respectively) to keep up with the video, but it is all I can do not to sit down and rest. I’m proud of myself for that at least, even if my calves feel like 100 lb stones on fire when I’m finished.

I am taking things one day at a time and allowing for mental health time throughout the day, which has included napping, watching 30 min of tv, playing on the internet, and eating a snack. I will make it to May!

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Seven Pounds and Other Losses

I have lost seven pounds. And no, I don’t need any help finding them. I will just consider them gone and stop looking.

I passed my first 30 days of P90. It was a rocky start, but I’ve been pretty consistent and the scale tells me I’m doing just fine. As busy as I have been it has been hard to find time for the workouts and/or be motivated to do them after a full day of stuff. I will occasionally do them in the morning, but I’m not a morning person and would rather sleep in. I climbed 3 flights of stairs the other day and realized that I wasn’t winded like I usually am. Ok, maybe a little, but it was definitely an improvement.

I made omelettes tonight. Ham and cheese with some green veggies. I have only really watched people make omelettes before. I have on occasion participated in the making of omelettes, but this was my first solo omelette endeavor. It wasn’t half bad. Given the frequency with which we have most of the ingredients for these, I see more omelettes in my future. I’m looking forward to experimenting with them a bit as well. I’m open to suggestions!

Finally, I am sad about Butler (now onto the subject of basketball). I had hoped they would beat Duke and it looked good. I didn’t mind them going as far as they did after winning over Murray State. I figured, if they’re good enough to beat Murray, they better go all the way. They nearly did. Sadly, Duke ruined yet another March Madness experience for me. I don’t care for Duke, being a UK fan and still bitter about game ending long shots. For a brief moment I’d hoped the last shot had gone in if only to serve as poetic justice for Duke. Oh well. Better luck next year.

On to baseball. I need  some teams to cheer for. I’ve watched the sports seasons roll this year and participated in some degree in each thusfar. And so, I need a couple of teams to cheer for in each league. I may not watch the games, but I’ve enjoyed the spirit of sports this year and having a team to cheer for. Some of my teams have surprised me and some came very close to triumph. As for baseball, I’m not truly invested in any team. The Cubbies perhaps, but definitely definitely not the Yanks.

My horse this year for the Derby is going to be Dublin. I really want to see Make Music For Me go far as well. That’s my underdog. Sadly, Liz isn’t throwing her usual Millionaire party this year–she’s actually going to the Derby. Loser. I’ll go one year. This one prolly won’t be it though.

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Full Week

This week is already shaping up to be a busy one. Here are the highlights:

• I have a group project in Multicultural II that needs some TLC. My partner and I are researching Appalachian Americans and learning about history, culture, and implications for doing mental health work with this population. I have acquired 3-4 books on the subject and found a documentary that would be good for the presentation. I’m meeting my partner tomorrow to divide up the labor and implement a serious plan on the subject.

• I have a book review due next week for the same class on the book “White Like Me.” So far it is a good book and I have a feeling it is one that will hold my interest to the end. I’m kind of surprised by it though. Usually when I read about White Privilege I feel really guilty for being White. This book, however, seems to take the sting out of it through it’s personal story approach and “normalization.” What I mean by that is that the author is normalizing the ickiness that comes with learning about privilege and being willing to do something about it.

• Keeping with the Multicultural theme, I have an in-vivo experience to participate in. I’m interested in doing one based in the LGBT culture and my current plan, barring disapproval from my professor, is to go to a drag show. This is currently my only idea, so I’m hoping it is approved or something else comes along.

• Dissertation, Dissertation, Dissertation. I’m writing on this after a hiatus from it for over a month (which puts me behind schedule). Currently working through the “personality characteristics” and “coming out process” sections and I’m formulating a plan for the section on Bronfenbrenner’s work. At some point I’ll have to post more about my dissertation so people will know what I’m talking about. Briefly: it is a look at the coming out process in gay men through the use of Rorschach inkblot variables. I’m comparing positive versus negative coming out experiences and identifying how they may present on the Rorschach. I’m hoping to learn more about the coming out process and how it affects the mental health and personality of gay men, as well as what interventions and supports can be provided for those who are experiencing the coming out process.

• I’m planning another trip to NC. Sometime in May. I need to get my schedule figured out to determine when I can fly in. I’ve got some time but I’d like to check it off my list so I can make it a date to look forward to.

• I’m looking for a job and for opportunities for the next year. I need to prepare for reapplying for internship and I need to strengthen my CV in the process. I have more resources in Louisville than I do in NC, but I would rather be in NC with my wife and friends. I really want to have and eat my cake! Currently I’m trolling job sites for NC and looking for opportunities in Louisville as my peers vacate their jobs. I hate everything being up in the air like this, but there is little I can do about it. I plan on defending my dissertation before I go on internship and taking the EPPP to get both of those out of the way.

• On the fun side of things, I have another disk of Dexter Season III to watch and I will be playing D&D this weekend (in addition to my usual GURPS Saturday night game). That’s more motivation for me to get my work done during the week.

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