Good Row G

I’m a full time working mom with a great life. Except that it’s too full of absolutely immovable stress. And my health is getting away from me. I’ve never been heavier. Not at a problematic place now, I like some of what I see in the mirror. But my clothes don’t fit and I feel off track. I get to the gym pretty frequently, and am pretty strong, but have no clear goal there either. The only important background I need to share is the dark cloud on the horizon. In a family full of life threatening auto-immune issues, seems like I’m no exception. One the one hand I feel like a Viking warrior, big, powerful, and capable of any task. Which I know because I do physical things I’m proud of all the time, like hopping on the rowing machine and knocking out 10,000m in 45 minutes or painting the bathroom on a free Sunday. On the other, for lack of a better classification, my doc calls what I have “mild lupus” and it’s clearly getting worse. Minor colds last for weeks on end. The least stress makes me break out in hives. So I’m in hives almost every day, to a greater or lesser amount. This is especially true when I restrict my eating and drinking. I need relaxation, it’s too often in the form of a cookie and a beer in front of the TV. Which is usually the high point of my day. So what do I do? I could go on and on about what I can’t or don’t want to do: restrictive dieting, hate the elliptical machine, love the treadmill but it’s not treating me well. Want to get into HIIT workouts, but the ones I’ve tried kicked my ass. I will try again soon. Small change has too often turned into no change, and now at 200 lbs with limited time in my schedule, it seems like every path is blocked. Over the years, feels like I've tried everything with mixed results. At the stage I'm at now, I NEED more time to myself, and more fun. So the idea of taking away the little flexibility and joy I have doesn’t seem good. I need a plan, and it’s got to be positive. I need to be adding happiness. But it needs to be clear and specific, something I can remember when I sit down at a dinner I worked hard to make that everyone could enjoy and need to self-regulate portion size. Or when I'm sitting in the car outside the gym at my lunch hour. I’m at a total loss. Any ideas? Thanks for any thoughts you have for me!

Congrats on broadening your food choices! That Michael Pollan quote is a great guide. Love his writing and thinking. These are two areas I really struggle with too, so all I can say is that you're off to a good start by focusing on food and sleep. Working out hard helps my body remind me to get to sleep on time. And I've had some success with intermittent fasting. Keep at it!

Thank you, I didn't just mean this as a self-serving thread asking for permission to do what I wanted to do, but YES, I want to sprint! Requiring that I wait until I'm at 30 mpw seemed a little crazy. I don't know running, but I know my body, and it's begging for a little challenge. Thanks.

Very new to running and in my honeymoon phase. Sometimes I like running and sometimes I LOVE it. Partially because I had written running off for life in the past, but now figured some basic errors out and moved past them. Training for my first HM, and am running about 18 mpw. Slow and steady, as I've been told to do. Pace of around 9:30 minute mile. Running doesn't always feel easy, although sometimes it does. But my heart rate had dropped a lot. What used to have me panting at 168 bpm, now has me mostly breathing easy at 128. I guess that's good, but aren't I falling out of even the low intensity zone? Should I push for more speed? Not that it matters so much, but since it feels easy, am I burning less calories? I am doing a little strength work too, and that does get my heart going. Know this might sound like a stupid question, but I'm putting in a good amount of time running and I want to make the most of it. If I should be working harder, I want to be. I read elsewhere that I needed to be running 30 mpw before starting any speed work. Which is a great goal, and I guess I can see the need for a training base. But is that right? I want to keep it fun, but not be a slouch either, if that makes sense. Also trying to be careful about overtraining. If it matters, I'm a 38 yr woman, in Ok shape. Some athletic background. Thanks!

We'll, I know next to nothing, and have the opposite problem, but maybe it'll be some help. A few weeks, maybe a month ago I had the same experience as you. Also training for my first HM, also resting heart rate of around 55, and also finding my training heart rate would get really high. For me, 168 regularly. I wasn't heart rate training, so I just pushed through it. And as my mileage increased, and my condition increased, my heart rate has dropped. A lot. Three runs so far this week, each time by the end of 4 and 5 mile runs my heart rate is 128. While running. I'd guess if you keep at it yours will drop quickly too. Or of course you could slow your speed down to train in a desired heart rate now. Good luck!

Alright! I checked out a cool article on running surfaces (http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/top-10-running-surfaces/152.html) and got inspired to find a trail near my office. Scouted it out today and will give it a real try tomorrow. A little muddy, but worlds better than concrete. Means I have to drive there on my lunch break, but worth it. Not sure how my "road shoes" will hold up to wood chips, but I'll give it a while to see how I like it and feel. Ankle exercises and stretches, yes, thanks for the reminder! Exactly what I need. Feeling very positive and looking forward to a more serious foray. I've worked here 8 years and been looking for this kind of place and finally found it! Thanks for the support!

My primary goal at this point is weight loss. First I need to lose some weight I've built up over a couple inactive years, and then I'll move on to other goals like strength, open water swims, etc. But dieting alone hasn't worked out for me. In the past I've had great success, but now with lots of life stress, dieting for it's own sake seems like choosing to make life suck just a little bit more. This is exactly how I feel: http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-brings-lunch-from-home-to-cut-down-on-small-jo,37912/ I've been active and eaten healthy in the past, and I eat well now. I know how to make healthy eating pleasant. I just eat too much sugar, refined carbs, and all around food. And too little movement. Relevant facts: 38 year old woman, married, long commute, young kids, full time job. 5'9" and 190 lbs. *** That's a long prelude to asking about jogging. A couple years ago I decided to get back into running and for 2 weeks it was great. By focusing on running, I wanted to eat less and it was easy. Double effect, exercise reduces my appetite (for real) and I really didn't want any food that would weigh me down. But ... two weeks in and both ankles started hurting badly. I was running on concrete, and have no access to trails. There's a pretty serious history of joint issues in my family. Running just doesn't seem like a good idea, my past experiences, my family, my size, and all on concrete. *** With all the stress in my life, I need whatever I do to get fit to be a positive, not a negative. Like Steve says, willpower is a limited resource, and all my willpower is put into being professional in my job, patient with my kids, and diligent in my personal life (laundry, bills, social obligations.) I think dieting so that I can run might be the motivation and pleasure I need. But I don't want to be stupid about it and get into a lame 2 week experiment. Guess I could start slow and short: run 10 minutes a day and slowly add on. But when I hurt my ankles I wasn't running long either, no more than 10-20 minutes. Should I look elsewhere for my motivation? I'm really struggling. I know I need to eat less, I just can't remember why. Jogging might be the answer, but not if I can't make it last more than 2 weeks. Thanks for reading this far! Ideas?

That's true, and thank you for keeping me focused on it. Working to a sweat is a good guide. What seems to show some progress is leveling up progressions, not just volume. EG, I've started doing elevated plaks and feel sore in the best way, rather than being bored by 2 min+ at standard ones. Machete - yes! I keep meaning to check my resting heart rate when I wake up and see if it's dropping week to week, month to month. Wonder if it would be a good measure. Thanks for the quote above, I think I'll write it largely over my workout journal!

Hi nerds! Can someone give me advice on how to intense to start with an exercise plan? Would call myself a former athlete, in desperate need of being more active. Over the past few years I've started various things for a few weeks or months, overtrained, gotten mildly injured and slipped back into inactivity. A repeating vicious cycle. My plan is to do some low intensity cardio (walking, rowing eliptcal, swimming) and a few minutes of bodyweight exercises, along the lines of an Angry Birds workout. A 4 mile walk followed by 10 push-ups, 20 squats, and maybe a few other light things feels like barely a workout. But I know it might be where I need to start. I used to be able to handle a lot of strength work, and my mind believes I still can. Steve says level up everyday. What does that mean in practice? If I max myself out, I end up injured. If I hold back, it makes me feel fragile and bored. Where's the middle ground? TIA! PS - Forgot to mention, I'm 37y woman, decent weight, decent health, but with a few permanent health issues - low back injury, mild lupus. Nothing that can't be worked around, but does make me a little more careful than I'd otherwise be.

OK, I broke the streak and got back in the pool today and had fun on my own. A lane to myself, it was fantastic! I think what will keep me happy is low expectation and minimal freestyle. The breast and back felt pretty good. Maybe I should dial it back and commit to 2 solo swims a week and 2 practices. And make sure the solo swims are fun. And stop trying to be fast in practice, just what i can manage. I can do that!

Yes, me too! It's funny, during my masters practice there was a scuba class that meets. I'm always jeleous of them, hanging out at the bottom of the pool, watching us go back and forth. It's one reason I'd like to be in the faster lanes, those are in the deeper part of the pool. Thanks for being patient with me. I feel like such a whiner. But I got to the gym today and did a little training, which felt good. Tomorrow I'll get in the pool and Saturday back to practice I think. You're exactly right, I need to come up with mind games and make it fun! And do more playing in the pool on non-practice days so I don't associate the pool with torture. Play in the deep end, and reward myself with some diving off the boards. Yes!

Mariah Snow - Swimming is kinda water yoga! Nooooooooooooooo! Playing, floating, being in the water is bliss. I've spent a lot of time in the water, or on it in a boat. Just no luck / success / time in it as an organied sport. What I don't like about "real" swimming is how powerless it makes me feel. When I rowed, kayaked, ran, etc, etc I could power through. I could push myself. Tomorrow was almost always better than today. I could do a workout. With swimming, more often than not I can't finish the workout, and may feel like I'm drowning on my 4th lap. If there were sprints on the agenda I might even feel good. But if it was 90 minutes of 500m after 500m, I knew I'd fall further and further behind if i wouldn't have to hang on the wall through one or two pieces. Then the lane dick would ask that I go first for the next one. Sucked. No one seemed to be enjoying the experience. Swimming by myself is OK, but I'd guess it's not going to get me anywhere. I need a coach to push me and make sure I'm doing it all right. I just assumed all masters groups were similar. But maybe I should think about trying a different one and seeing if I like it any better.

Thanks Syren. I feel a little guilty about venting here, but I want to work through my issues and make a smart choice - swim or not, and how. "Most swimmers are dicks." Ahhh, haha. It's awesome to hear that out loud. And I did meet some great folks. Just the dicks were the loudest and somehow always in the lane the coach put me in. Use the big muscles, yes. Straight body, top of the water. Yes! Maybe I should tatoo that on my arm. "Painfully slow until I have my form down." That resonates and gives me pause. I was putting my all in a few months ago - strength and cross training, putting in the hours. 3+ months and my last practice was no better than my first. I can be mentally tough, and like to push myself physically, but swimming is like taking things on blind faith. Very scary to me to invest so much time (4-5 hours a week in the pool) without results. Not faster, not smoother, not even feeling stronger / healthier. I love the water, love swimming in the ocean, love moving underwater reaching out and gliding. And I have joint issues that make swimming a very clear choice. But for the time swimming seems to require, I'd really like a positive feedback loop. Posting my OP was like airing my fears. Well timed and helped me think it through. TJust heard that there's a meet the day before my birthday next month. I'll swim a few weeks and enter and to get some official times. Then give it my best until the next meet, and see if there is any progress. Maybe progress in swimming is deceptive. Maybe it was there and I just didn't notice. Oh, and maybe no more than 2 practices a week. Maybe a swim on my own for every practice. Try to make the solo swims fun. They can be. And pay the dicks less mind. Hard to hear 'em when your face is in the water!

May through July 2013 I got into masters swim practice pretty seriously. Posted some about it here. The coach was great. But ...three months and no measurable progress. Passed over and over again by swimmers older, fatter, pregnant. One practice came around and I got out of the pool almost in tears. Missed the next practice because of other commitments. Haven't been in the pool since. And my peace of mind has been better for it. Just probably not my health. Things I hated about masters swimming - While my muscles never really seemed taxed (which I like) I often felt weak, breathless and flailing. My futter kick was so slow I might have been moving backwards. But I never got sore. What was I doing all that time? Crowded lanes, and only half of the other swimmers were cool. Some were really irritating. Self appointed lane "coaches" whose helpful tips only left me more discouraged. It was a huge family sacrifice to allow me the time in the pool, and it was no fun. But, I'm girding my loins and thinking about getting back in the pool. I need cardio activity and I think it's got to be swimming. Do I go back to the same group, tail between my legs? Ask / demand to stay in the slowest lanes so I can actually finish a workout? Try another local group (the cost is three times higher and doesn't allow new members until January.) Swim on my own for a little while until i have more confidence in the water? Why does it take so long to see progess? How do I know I'm moving in the right direction? If i slog through for a year will it become fun? How much is "physical" and how much "technique?" Because I suck at technique generally, and worry that I set myself up for failure investing such a technique heavy activity. What I need to do it burn some energy, move. I hate yoga! Is swimming just water yoga?

LOL, don't doubt you're right, I-Jo. Halters were just an example. As I remember, having straps slant out, neck to armpit, wasn't my best look but I've avoided them so long that might not even be true. I thought straight straps look better for me, but now you've got me wondering. Flattering's flattering, that's just something to figure out. FWIW, I dropped my 120 push-ups a day habit because it was too much volume for me and I was getting injured. I could have worked around those problems, but didn't have a good reason to and I felt deeply that my body didn't want it. I'm like Usain Bolt. Could he get bigger? Of course. Would that make him faster and healthier? No. Guess it wasn't really relevant to the OP. As a lady and a nerd, I'm still kicking around the experience. Not my DH's comment so much, but the experience of working up to a certain level and the changes, some good and some bad, that it had on my body. I'll probably look back at that time as a good learning moment. Stopped the insane push-ups (started on a dare). Instead, I chose to play to my body's strengths - planks, handstands, balance work, and lots of swimming. I'm still big, strong and still have to pick my shirts carefully. Still bigger than my DH. But I'm big the way I was meant to be and my body's happy. *** The shorter and more accurate way to say what I wanted to originally, is that feeling big is all perspective. Hang with some athletes, join a rowing team. Find a handful of similarly built folks and see how awesome they look. Helps remind us how awesome we do.

You could join my family! We're giant sprinters. Long limbs, lots of fast-twitch muscle. Here's the thing. Standing next to my co-workers (or most people), I'm a freak. I have to weigh twice what my paralegal weighs, and I'm a lot closer in height, body fat and muscle to the men in my office. But I'm not manly. I'm just a different tribe. My brother looks almost exactly like Michael Phelps. My dad looks like Sean Connery. Next to them, my sister and I (5"11" and 5'9') are clearly womanly. When I do some of my BW exercises like the back bend, I'm all feminine curves and my DH will stop and admire. But then I get up and notice every muscle of mine - arms, pecs, back and legs - is bigger than my husband. Not comparatively bigger, absolutely bigger. And he was in the Army. He loves me, and loves my body. But he has asked me to scale back some exercise because I was getting too large. Which I did, because I was over-training and my body wasn't happy either. But It's kinda a bummer. We're attracted in so many ways and well suited, but physically just barely compatible. Ce la vie. We Amazons are the few and the proud. We're frigging awesome and everyone should be so lucky. It feels weird to be so much BIGGER than the norm. But that is what it is. Don't over-train, just go for healthy and amazing. You're likely at or near to the shape your body wants to be. Get to know it, figure out how to dress it. When you reluctantly have to put the halter-top back because it doesn't flatter your shoulders, know that everyone has to learn what suits them and what doesn't. But not everyone has a 6' wingspan and can do handstand push-ups. As you say, you're absolutely perfect!

Ah, KZ, you always make me smile and feel better. You're right about gradual, technique driven progress, and I'm taking it to heart. Growing out my hair. And I think masters practice x2 a week balanced with solo workouts on off days is a good mix. Group practice pushes me, and solo practice lets me really feel the water and the pacing. Guess one of the reasons I'm not seeing improvement is I'm not really timing myself. Feels like I have too many other things to think about instead of time. At this stage, easy and still refining basic strokes, is it worth it to have test pieces? A good part of me would rather not know my time. Just go by feel, and when I can go 1000m with my lane-mates, I'll be doing well.

Help!!! I'm totally hooked on swimming, want to be a swimmer (although I am a touch intimidated by how intense swimmers are about their sport). Even think I have some natural talent. Could swim before I could walk and I love the water. But I've got no background in it. Gave it up as a competitive sport in childhood when i kept getting demoted lanes (i was stubborn about doing the strokes wrong). Now I'm committed. But. I was very near to tears at last night's practice. Had to get out of the pool, get some water and have a moment. It's so hard for me. It's everything I have to push the breathless wet noodle up and down the pool. My calves burn and I feel like I have been rendered totally strengthless. It's been 2 months and I'm no closer to finishing a whole masters practice. I have to sit out a piece here and there. FWIW here was last night's scene: Warm up: 200 swim (free), 200 kick, 200 pull. 500 medium pace 5 x 200 (I sat out the middle 200, that was my low point) 10 x 50 IM, breast instead of fly (sat out one or two of these) 20 x 25 kick "sprint" Should have done some 100s and then cool down. I did 50 and was D-O-N-E. Not sure if i could swim more if my life depended on it. Getting back in the pool after mentally crashing mid-way was my accomplishment for last night. 2 months in and I've yet to finish a workout, much less have much strength to vary my effort. Forget intervals. It's a matter of getting down the pool or hanging on the wall. Those are my 2 states. OK, i have a sprint in me on good days and do fairly well. But it'll nearly kill me. I'm not seeing ANY ANY ANY improvement. Except maybe higher expectations and slightly more serious and professional about my pool etiquette. As I understand from the coaches and feel in my bones, it will take a crushing 6-9-12 months of 5 hours a week of disappointing and humiliating pool time before I'm a functional Group 2 swimmer. The pregnant mom smokes me. The 60 y o with the beer gut. I want to break through. I know I've got to just keep going to practice and swim on my off days. I'm trying to eat clean, sleep, and get strong in other ways too. i can be mentally tough. Is there anything you can tell me that will help me see the silver lining in this time? Being in the water is nice. I can enjoy that part of it. Small victories? Push off from the wall a little more at a time? There's a lot of stress and difficulty in other areas of my life. I'm proud of what I've done so far, but a little scared of adding months of this kind of challenge. I want to go to practice knowing I can keep up, lead pieces when it's my turn, complete the workout, enjoy pushing myself. It's hard knowing other people are waiting for me to get out of their way, to have the wannabe lane "coach" giving me excuses for why I'm so slow. Sorry for the whining. Not sure I've ever done anything so hard in my life. Probably worth it. But MF hard.

Right, good reminder! Thanks!

Finally have a vacation planned! When I'm at the beach, I'd like to keep up my workouts in the ocean. How do lifeguards take to fitness swimmers? Am I going to get the whistle for crossing over jetties or going out further than most? Any etiquette i should know? Thanks!

Been struggling with form for body squats and started to think there was something wrong with me. Thought I had to keep feet parallel and narrow, which put noob me on my ass. Asked the nerds and read lots of good links. Now I'm just working towards perfect form. Feet only as wide as i need them to be, only as turned out, and going as far past parallel as I can. So today, I did three solid sets of 20 BW squats! The first couple required some fine tuning, and maybe warm up. But then the last 15 felt good, burning in the right places (thighs) not the wrong ones (low back)! Got me breathing hard, and in between I did 2 x 90 sec shoulder planks. Now that's a great little office workout! Closed my door, knocked those out, and felt strong - not like my body was falling apart around me. Squat woot! Next I need to video myself and post at form check for a woot confirmed. Yeah NF help!

New favorite quote: You're just one hard workout away from a better mood. That gets me to the gym, trail or pool when I'm wavering. Once there, if I'm on my own, I find it really hard to push past a certain point. i can set goals, but to push harder is tough. I try to tell myself to test my body out. See how a sprint would feel here, or a hard 30 seconds, etc. But intervals and pushing past my limits? I'm not so good. And the chocolate bar? If it's an inferior bar, I'm too good for that. If it's one of my pricey organic dark slivers of heaven. Well, ask someone else about that one.

Oh yes, another thread entirely. Form check section, right, will do!

King Zora - you know my secret, that I'm asking about squats because I know I need them to become the breaststroke machine! Oh yeah, and for all around good health too.

OK, and thanks especially for the link to the Warrior thread! Ahhhhh! Yes!! Sometime there's just that one thing we need to see to make it click. Sorry for the dejection above. That warrior thread has a BRILLIANT progression chart. Now that's something to follow! OK, I've got a plan now. Work on supported and half squats, and keep trying a full one at the end of the set until one day when I don't fall! Mix some calf stretches in too, and see where 4-6 weeks gets me. Sound right?