ActiveEggplant: Healthy Body, Healthy Life: Page 3

Mar

2012

Square One

By Theresa on March 20, 2012

This was my home for the day this past Saturday:

The indoor cycling room at HEALTHplex Fitness Center in Sarasota for Spinning Instructor Orientation!

The 9-hour day consisted of a classroom session with 2 rides – one before lunch & one to close out the day.

We covered everything from proper bike setup and form to class design (“terrain” and music) to heart rate training.

And THAT’s where I learned the most – heart rate training.

I’ve always known that heart rate training is an important piece of the fitness puzzle. But I never realized just HOW important it really is when it comes to making the most of your workouts.

I’ll be the first to admit: I never did my own research about how to properly use heart rate training in my own fitness journey. I simply strapped on that heart rate monitor and did my workout. Then I “looked” at what my average and max numbers were.

But that’s it – looked at it and filed it away. Out of sight, out of mind.

Admittedly, I didn’t gain anything by seeing where my heart rate clocked in – and I certainly didn’t know how they were impacting my overall fitness or the results I was seeing.

The Spinning program was created with the focus on a 4-level Perceived Exertion Scale. This scale is then tied to “energy zones” and heart rate.

Perceived Exertion Level	Energy Zone	% of Max Heart Rate
Easy	Recovery Zone	50-65%
Moderate	Endurance / Aerobic Zone	65-75%
Hard	Strength Zone	75-85%
Very Hard	Race Day / Anaerobic Zone	85-92%

Basically, the focus of the Spinning program is “training” rather than just “working out”.

By training in targeted heart rate “zones” someone can maximize the benefits of her training time.

Train less and benefit more from each of your workout sessions.

Makes sense right?

The Spinning program recommends training for several weeks in the Endurance and then Strength zones, building towards a “Race Day” effort. (See, really training instead of just sitting on a bike and pedaling for 40 minutes & then walking away.)

This would work especially well if you can take a Spinning class 2-3 or more times a week so you can really tailor your classes and have an “event” – followed by a recovery period.

Since my schedule currently doesn’t have room for more than 1 Spinning class a week, I’ve decided to put this same theory in action for ALL of my training – running and cycling (I’d say swimming, but it’s been months since I’ve been in a pool…and my heart rate monitor doesn’t work under water…).

After all, I’ve been struggling with race performance. So maybe a change in training focus – from distance and “speed” to true ENDURANCE will be helpful!

So after I came home from class with my ~~shiny~~ certificate of completion in hand…

This means I can start teaching RIGHT NOW if I want to!

…I decided to sit down and calculate my maximum heart rate.

Turns out I’ve been working out in the anaerobic zone (“race day effort”) a lot more often than in the aerobic zone (endurance & fat burning zone) – even during my regular old training runs!

Based on my resting heart rate and calculated maximum heart rate, I should be completing most of my workouts with a heart rate of 143-155 to stay in the Endurance/Aerobic zone (65-75% of my max).

(The chart above shows MY heart rate information. Please consult your physician or other trained health professional if you want to calculate your own heart rate zones because I’m not a doctor!)

Yet I’ve consistently gone over that in every workout. I haven’t gone over by much but in every workout, a significant portion of my effort was at a heart rate closer to 165.

Sure, there’s always wiggle room in every “calculation” and this definitely isn’t an exact science.

But I think now is as good a time as any to start from square one and shift my training focus. Instead of focusing on “distance distance distance” and obsessing over my less than stellar paces, I’m going to focus in staying in my targeted “endurance” heart rate zone.

Who knows, maybe this will be just what I need to feel excited about running again – because goodness knows I’m still feeling very defeated after Sarasota.

And if nothing more, this is exactly where I need to be for the beginning of my Spinning Instructor journey! (Even though I could start teaching right now if I wanted, I still have two phases of training to complete before I’m officially “certified”.)

WHAT ABOUT YOU: Do you train in “heart rate zones”? Do you even wear a heart rate monitor? Think it’s all a bunch of hooey? Or actually useful?

*****************

A few of you asked that I post a real “recap” of my Spinning training session, but the class materials are copyrighted and I would definitely be breaking the rules to post all of the information here. If you are interested in the Spinning instructor certification program and want to know more about my experience just send me an email: theresa[at]ActiveEggplant[dot]com

Posted in Cycle | Tagged heart rate training, instructor training, Spinning | 9 Responses

Mar

2012

Sarasota Half Marathon 2012 Recap

By Theresa on March 13, 2012

I seriously wish I could just forget this race. And I use the term “race” loosely because I certainly didn’t perform like I was “racing”.

Lucky (or unlucky?) for me, my Garmin ate the data from this event, so part of me wants to pretend this race just never happened.

But I’m a big girl and I’ll own up to this craptastic performance.

But before I get ahead of myself, lets back up…all the way to Saturday night…because that’s when I got to hang out with these girls:

That’s me (obviously) with Michelle and Paula at Café Epicure in downtown Sarasota. Ryan was with us, but he was playing photographer here. (BTW, I totally stole that picture from Michelle’s recap)

We all chowed down on Italian food and gelato and water. It.was.awesome. Both the company and the food. Michelle and Paula are seriously fun & it makes me sad that we don’t get to hang out all the time.

Once we all said our goodbyes, it was time to head home and get in bed. Thanks to the time change I knew we needed to get in bed by 10 (because it was “really” 11 in my book) so we could be up & at the race site by 6am without being total zombies.

Sarasota was the event that my Karna Fitness running group was training for so we all met up before hand for a group shot and then paired off for running the race.

My plan was to run easy, finish the distance and try not to freak out. Seriously. That was the plan. This may have been my ~~13th~~ 12th half marathon – and 5th time running SRQ – but it was a whole new game for me.

This was my first long distance race during the weaning process – and it was a “no medication day” so I wasn’t sure how my body (or mind) was going to respond to the distance.

I felt great for the first 6 miles – over the bridge, around St. Armand’s circle, and back over the bridge again. I was running with Kristen and we were having a grand old time chatting about anything and everything while we watched the miles tick away.

And then my stomach started bothering me.

I’ve had an upset stomach off & on during this weaning process, so I wasn’t surprised. And it was a super humid day (read: lots of sweating) so I was drinking a lot of water which definitely didn’t help the situation.

I managed to get to the 9 mile marker in decent shape – slow, but I still had a smile on my face despite not feeling very well.

Proof that I really *am* normal…or the course conditions were…you be the judge…

Shortly after that picture was taken my stomach situation got worse & I felt pukey with every step I took…and that made my “analyze” the situation even more…which lead to throwing myself into a mild state of panic.

“Can I get through this?”

“Is my heart rate too high?” (Yes, that one again…)

Just before mile 10 things got really bad – I seriously felt like I was going to vom and despite taking walk breaks every 2 minutes, my heart rate was not recovering and was in a constant elevated state. (Nothing like a self-fulfilling prophecy, right?)

AND THEN I WALKED 3.1 MILES TO THE FINISH LINE.

I definitely cried when the 3:00 pacer passed us, even though Kristen kept telling me I was NOT a failure even though I felt like one.

And I definitely cried when I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 2:59:15…because I felt like a failure…

But I didn’t puke. And I finished the whole 13.1 miles. And I didn’t have a full-blown anxiety attack on the course.

I was still feeling extra sorry for myself when I found Michelle and Paula in the beer tent.

But they quickly convinced me that ~~beer~~ Michelob Ultra solves everyone’s problems.

They were right. (Yep, another picture lifted from Michelle’s recap.)

And they may or may not have convinced me to run the OUC half in Orlando this December, provided I make it through MCM without wanting to swear off running forever.

***************

As for the race itself, I really have no complaints.

Sarasota is a very well organized race with great volunteers. There are plenty of water stops and lots of medics on the course. Plus, the course is challenging and has some great views, but isn’t crowded with around 2,000 runners.

The “expo” was lackluster…but this year was the first time in 3 years that they even had one (was just packet pickup before) so it’s a step in the right direction.

And I don’t care what anyone else says, I think the medal is pretty nifty, even if it isn’t life sized. It’s big and shiny and heavy – that’s about all I could ask for when it comes to a finisher’s medal.

The one “gripe” I have is really only about the results – because I tweeted and sent FB messages to find out where “Split 1” and “Split 2” were taken – but I never got a response.

I vaguely remember crossing timing mats around the 5k mark…which would put “Split 1” at an 11:45 average pace. A little fast for me for a long race.

Rumor has it that “Split 2” was either at the 10k point or at the 1/2 way point.

If it was at the 1/2 way point (6.55 mi) I was still clocking an average of 11:45 per mile, again much faster than I’d normally run for a half marathon. So that could explain why my stomach started bothering me so soon.

But if it was at the 10k point, that means an 12:24 average pace. So that really doesn’t explain anything because that’s right around what my goal was.

But since my Garmin data is lost and I didn’t get a response from the organizers, I guess I’ll never know for sure.

In the end, I’d definitely recommend the Sarasota Half Marathon to anyone wanting to run a smallish “local” race.

The end.

Posted in Run | Tagged anxiety, anxiety attacks, garmin, race recap | 13 Responses

Mar

2012

This.Is.Happening.

By Theresa on March 8, 2012

Source

I’m in! I’m in! I’m in!

I started the registration process at ~~2:55pm~~ 3:00pm ontheeffingnose…and had the site crash twice after I entered all of my info and payment details. Then the magic happened at 3:19 pm when this finally popped up on my screen after entering everything a third time:

Turns out I wasn’t the only one chomping at the bit to get registered. This mamma jamma sold out in record time – 2 HOURS and 41 MINUTES! I can’t believe I’m going to be a part of it!!!!

And I’m most definitely equal parts excited and terrified. I don’t want a repeat of this. (Sorry, ancient post, bad image links so no pictures.)

Holy moly – I still can’t believe I’m actually registered for the Marine Corps Marathon!

WHAT ABOUT YOU: Have you ever gotten into a race that sells out in only hours? Have you run MCM before? Are you one of the lucky 30,000 that will be doing it this year?

Posted in Run | Tagged MCM, race announcement | 14 Responses

Mar

2012

Psyched Out

By Theresa on March 7, 2012

I have a secret – one that I kept pretty close to the heart for a long time – that I think I’m ready to share now.

(Source)

I’ve been on anti-anxiety meds for the better part of the 7+ years that I’ve lived in Florida.

I didn’t tell very many people about this for two main reasons:

I think some things truly are personal and don’t need to be broadcast to friends, coworkers, or the internets.
It’s sort of embarrassing to say “I have an anxiety disorder and take medication for it.”

And now I’m taking a shot a weaning off of the medication – I’m 1 month into the wean actually.

But lets back up…what lead to me down the road of anti-anxiety meds in the first place?

In the October of 2003 my life changed: I met this guy!

Things moved quickly and we were engaged by April 2004…which meant it was time for me to start looking for a job in FLORIDA! (Either that or he looked in PA…which wasn’t a real option if you asked me!)

Then July 2, 2004 happened. While visiting Ryan for his birthday/4th of July I had an interview. Said interview lasted over 3 hours…and I was offered the job that same day!

Then things move even quicker: I had two weeks to pack up my life in PA and move across the country to officially start my life with Ryan.

In the span of ONE MONTH the following “major life events” happened:

I moved from Pennsylvania to Florida
I started living with a boy for the first time ever / was in my first ever “serious” relationship
I started a new job (which worked out well – I’m still with that same company 7.5 years later!)
I found out I had to have girly-surgery (I literally found this out on my first day at my new job by getting a call from my doctor in PA. Talk about scary.)
My father died very suddenly

Enter: Anxiety Attacks, seemingly out of nowhere. (I went to the hospital the first time I had one because I was convinced I was dying. I wasn’t. True story.)

I found a physician here in FL – the one the ER referred me to actually – that was convinced all of the changes I just went through were the trigger for my new high-anxiety level – he suggested medication to help me get through.

But I didn’t want that. I was strong! I never ever had high anxiety before so I didn’t have any anxiety problems NOW dammit! I WASN’T GOING TO TAKE ANY EFFING MEDICATION!!

So I started seeing a therapist. And it helped. My general anxiety level went down a bit…but I still had anxiety attacks – sometimes as often as one major one a day, and definitely no less than once a week.

After 3 months, I went back to my doctor with my tail between my legs asking for a prescription.

It was a DREAM COME TRUE! Once my body was used to the medication the anxiety attacks went away – and better yet, I wasn’t worried all.the.time.about.stupid.shit.

I stayed on the medication for about 3 years and I decided to go off of it. After a lengthy weaning process I was off of it…for 3 months before the anxiety attacks started up again.

So I went back on it. And here we are today, another 4 years later. I decided to try going sans-medication again for 2 major reasons:

I’m exercising regularly now. I wasn’t the first time around. I feel less anxious in general when I stick to an exercise routine.
I want to get pregnant some day and the medication I am/was on is no good for pregnancy. (And I figure better to come off of it now while it’s a choice and NOT when I someday get pregnant and I am forced to come off of it quickly.)

I think I have about a week left of the weaning process before I’m totally off of the medication. But I can already feel some of the general anxiety coming back.

I worry about random stuff again. Like Ryan getting an infection even though his new tattoo looks immaculate (and hot)

That my heart rate is going too high – and I’m going to die – while I’m working out.
That I’m going to get fired if I make one little mistake at work
That I’m going to get into an accident on the way home from work and never see my family again.

Seriously. These things and others like it are at the forefront of my mind all the time again!

The heart rate one is the one that was bothering me the most. Because RIGHT when I started weaning off of the medication, I started getting some really STRANGE readings from my heart rate monitor.

237 beats per minute? How was that even possible? Clearly my heart is going to explode!

Seriously, that was the first thought that entered my mind for many workouts. My “usual” maximum heart rate hovers in the 177-181 range with averages around 150. I didn’t FEEL any different during the workouts with these sky-high heart rate readings…but SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG BECAUSE THE HRM SAYS SO!

I immediately started obsessing:

I have to stop working out and call the doctor IMMEDIATELY.
I am never going to be able to work out again.
I can’t even walk down the street without throwing my heart into overdrive.
THIS.IS.A.BAD.SIGN.

But the rational human being in me (and my husband) knew better:

There is no way in hell my heart rate could make a jump like that without me really feeling differently.
There is really no way I would make it through a 5 mile run if my heart was actually beating 237 beats per minute.
If my heart rate was REALLY going that high during workouts it would be higher all of the time, even during mundane tasks like sweeping the floor. It wasn’t. My resting heart rate was still right around 60-65 BPM.

So I continued to obsess…and went on another run yesterday. (With my cell phone…you know, just in case I felt like I was going to die, so I could call 911 for myself.)

Within the first 2 minutes my heart rate spiked at 223 BPM. “I can’t do this! I need to turn around right now! Must go to ER.!

And then it dawned on me. I could feel my heart rate monitor making connection with my skin, then coming “up” with every step I took.

So I crammed that thing up right under my sports bra band and IMMEDIATELY my heart rate went back to my normal range.

Apparently over the past several weeks, I would wear my HRM strap lower and lower around my rib cage to prevent chafing…and apparently it got to a point that it was TOO LOW and was taking freaky readings because with each step one side would read my actual heart rate while the other side came “off” and then counted another “beat” when it touched my skin again.

Long story short, I just spent 3 weeks agonizing and stressing out over something that was totally my fault, and totally a “user error” rather than a real “problem”.

The only reason my mind even WENT into “holy crap I’m dying” mode is because I knew I was weaning off of the anti-anxiety meds and therefore let myself started obsessing.

So, a nice little wakeup call for myself – a reminder that I DON’T need to overthink things. I will KNOW if there is a problem with my body! (Clearly part of me knew this since I didn’t go running to the doctor after the first high reading 3 weeks ago.)

Long story short? There is an upside to this heart rate monitor debacle – slash – weaning off of anti-anxiety medication story:

THIS TIME I KNOW I’M DOING IT TO MYSELF. I KNOW I AM OVERTHINKING THINGS FOR NO REASON.
I KNOW THAT I CAN CONTROL MY THOUGHTS AND FIND RATIONAL EXPLANATIONS FOR THE THINGS I’M OBSESSING ABOUT.

And that’s that. For now I’m continuing to wean with the goal of being anxiety and medication free. Wish me luck!

Posted in General | Tagged anxiety, anxiety attacks | 20 Responses

Mar

2012

Princess Half Marathon Recap

By Theresa on March 1, 2012

What? I’m only like FOUR ~~and three quarters~~ DAYS post-race…so I’m not THAT late am I???

This has been a hectic week – thus the late recap – but but that doesn’t mean the magic of the Princess Half Marathon is any less magical!

The morning started like any other race day (only a hell of a lot earlier…a 3:00 AM wakeup call thankyouverymuch) with lining up and waiting for the start.

The weather was PERFECT for a race – cool & crisp but not COLD – and overcast but no RAIN.

While we were waiting I could tell this was going to be a crowded course. Sure, there were corrals to keep things manageable – but this was unlike any race I’ve ever seen. (It seemed even more insane than Peachtree which has 55,000+ runners…maybe the corrals were bigger?)

We were in corral “D” which meant we got to see FOUR sets of fireworks before it was our turn to cross that starting line.

And then We Were Off!!!

What a feeling – fireworks while you start running?! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a bit.

I was running with two women from my running group (Kerri and Allie) and the first three miles FLEW by while we made our way from the start to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, right around the 5k mark.

I promise that says “Magic Kingdom”!

And I promise that this sign is no less than 2 miles from when we actually entered the Magic Kingdom!

You see, first you have to go under the “Water Bridge”! It’s literally a bridge with water in it instead of a road! Boats from some of the Disney resorts transport you to the Magic Kingdom by going through this!

It might not look like much in this picture but trust me, that’s one heck of a hill (Ok, a “Florida Hill”) that you have to go back up after you go under the water way!

Before we knew it, we were out on Main Street USA!

I may or may not have cried again at this point – Main Street USA is one of my all-time favorite spots out of all of the theme parks at Disney World! (Ryan and I honeymooned at Disney and we got serenaded by a Barbershop Quartet on Main Street…which meant we got to have our own “bridal dance” in front of everyone while they were serenading us!)

Another “tear factor” is the Castle! That thing is AMAZING!

Once we ran down Main Street, I got re-energized in Tomorrow Land (thanks to copious amounts of techno music) and then it was time to run through the castle!

We of course stopped for a photo-op…

…um…I’m STILL not sure what the hell I was doing to end up with a face like that! Maybe chewing on some Chomps? Or maybe talking?

After the Magic Kingdom, the course gets somewhat boring.

Seriously. You’re running on back-lot roads and can’t see of the magical things Disney has to offer.

This is also the point where the course goes down to a single lane – even though the crowd does not thin out at all. Challenging? Yes. Annoying? Yes. Bearable? Yes, barely.

Disney does a good job of keeping us somewhat entertained during this stretch with little signs along the roadway. Did you know Disney World has the most AED units of any place in the world? True story.

Another true story? One would have to run more than 7 marathons to cover the distance of all of the roads in the Disney highway and roadway system!

While on the back stretch we also hit the half way point!

That definitely put a little pep in our step!

Next up? CARS!…and fire trucks!

Followed by glass slippers!

And princes from just about EVERY Disney movie ever made!

We didn’t even wait in line for this one! Just run up beside them, yell “hey” and CLICK! PRINCES!

Right around mile 10 I started to hit the wall. I had enough people dodging, and I had enough running.

My legs were getting tired and I was just mentally shot.

Luckily, before long we saw the light at the end of the tunnel – the entrance to Epcot!

This meant we had 2 miles to go! I think we can manage that much!

Allie had broken off from Kerri and me at this point – she usually runs about 2 minutes per mile faster than us but she held back with us for the majority of the race.

Kerri and I kept on trucking and before we knew it we were getting our medals!

Official time of 2:50:56! Considering we were dodging runners the entire way – and stopped for several pictures – Kerri and I were quite pleased with our time!

After all, we ran Sarasota in 2:48:23 last year and we were hoping to come in around the same time for Princess.

I’m not going to lie…2:45 would have made me REALLY happy…but I’ll take 13.1 in 2:50:56 with picture stops any day!

Ryan and I finished off the day with a much-needed nap followed by dinner with the Crazy Running Legs family!

We even made the husbands pose for a picture and they were totally into it. See?!

Michelle and Dan are two of the most awesome people ever – and their kids are frickin adorable! (But you’ll have to check out Michelle’s post for pictures of the kiddos. I just don’t feel right high-jacking pictures of her kids…but pictures of me & Ryan are fair game…thanks Michelle! )

After dinner Ryan and I went to Epcot for my traditional post-Disney-Race beer.

All I got was a picture of a tree…an AWESOME tree…

…and a picture of me looking like I was ready to pass out on the spot…

Told you! I hadn’t even had a beer yet! I guess that’s what a 3:00 AM wakeup call does to me by 8:00 PM.

And THAT my friends was my first ever Disney Princess Half Marathon experience! Definitely a fun time. Definitely not my best performance very. And definitely a race I think everyone should do a some point.

There’s just something magical about running through Disney in a tutu!

Posted in Run | Tagged race recap, run | 17 Responses

ActiveEggplant

Healthy Body, Healthy Life

Square One

Sarasota Half Marathon 2012 Recap

This.Is.Happening.

Psyched Out

Princess Half Marathon Recap

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