So on the 5th run, suddenly the Get Running app would not work with the iPod app. When I opened the app after my music was playing, the music would stop and I would be left to warm-up in silence. Luckily, I used the app to connect to their forums, where I found posts entitled "Help with iPod issue..." and "Playback not resuming", . So this has happened before! The advice was simple, and something I had been about to do anyway - restart the iPhone. Last year, whenever an app would suddenly stop working, my husband would ask "When's the last time you booted your phone?" And it would usually solve the problem. The developer suggests the same thing in the forums, and it worked, so I was off and, well, running.
Now if I could just get over my fear of slipping on wet leaves, I'd be golden...
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Running in place - Week 2
For my 4th run, Mother Nature decided to get in on the act and have a torrential downpour on Monday. Now I know that die-hard runners relish this sort of weather, and will run in a hurricane because they can. Me? Not so much.
My original plan was to go to the gym and run around the basketball court, but since there is usually a cadre of out-of-work Hollywood types having a pick-up game at any given moment, I decided against it. Well, it was that, and the fact that it would mean making an extra trip in the car, in the rain.
My friend pointed out that this early in the program, you are really doing cardio conditioning as much as you are practicing running, so some coordinated aerobic/plyometric exercise would do just as well.
I hooked my phone up to the stereo and did intervals of "high knees", jump rope, and jumping jacks for the prescribed 90 sec. (up from last week) and marched around the house or did the twistboard during the 2 minutes of walking. I tell you, 30 seconds doesn't seem like that much more on paper, but when you are talking sustained movement, it adds up. I just wanted to stop. When the lovely voice would prompt me "Only 45 seconds more!" I would snarl "Only??!!! Only???". But I didn't stop, and that's what it's all about.
My original plan was to go to the gym and run around the basketball court, but since there is usually a cadre of out-of-work Hollywood types having a pick-up game at any given moment, I decided against it. Well, it was that, and the fact that it would mean making an extra trip in the car, in the rain.
My friend pointed out that this early in the program, you are really doing cardio conditioning as much as you are practicing running, so some coordinated aerobic/plyometric exercise would do just as well.
I hooked my phone up to the stereo and did intervals of "high knees", jump rope, and jumping jacks for the prescribed 90 sec. (up from last week) and marched around the house or did the twistboard during the 2 minutes of walking. I tell you, 30 seconds doesn't seem like that much more on paper, but when you are talking sustained movement, it adds up. I just wanted to stop. When the lovely voice would prompt me "Only 45 seconds more!" I would snarl "Only??!!! Only???". But I didn't stop, and that's what it's all about.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Rarefied Air
I've always like this phrase - "rarefied air". I like it used in terms of something fancy, esoteric, or better than usual. So imagine my surprise to find out it also means 1. (of air, esp. that at high altitudes) Containing less oxygen than usual.
So basically all the air in Los Angeles is rarefied! One of my husband's suggestions was that I stick to running before work in the morning (6:30am!) because there is less junk in the air before everyone in LA starts driving around. I pointed out that early in the morning was also when I slipped on ice, had burning lungs, and frozen (and now fractured) fingers and nose. To which he said "I have a ski mask you can use". Yes, because what a beginning runner needs is to be mistaken for a burglar fleeing the scene of a crime.
So my third run took place in the afternoon, using a new route I plotted using Google Maps. I tried to anticipate a path that would have nice, even sidewalks and no hills to slow me down / pool water. What I found out is that all the sidewalks in Los Angeles are crappy, even in the "rarefied" neighborhood adjacent to ours. Basically it's like the planners planted trees without considering where the roots would eventually grow. Then they laid concrete over it for sidewalks, with a sort of "we conquered this" aplomb. And 80 years later, the trees are like "F*ck you."
I kept thinking of Craig T. Nelson in Poltergeist "You moved the headstones, but you never moved the bodies!"
So basically all the air in Los Angeles is rarefied! One of my husband's suggestions was that I stick to running before work in the morning (6:30am!) because there is less junk in the air before everyone in LA starts driving around. I pointed out that early in the morning was also when I slipped on ice, had burning lungs, and frozen (and now fractured) fingers and nose. To which he said "I have a ski mask you can use". Yes, because what a beginning runner needs is to be mistaken for a burglar fleeing the scene of a crime.
So my third run took place in the afternoon, using a new route I plotted using Google Maps. I tried to anticipate a path that would have nice, even sidewalks and no hills to slow me down / pool water. What I found out is that all the sidewalks in Los Angeles are crappy, even in the "rarefied" neighborhood adjacent to ours. Basically it's like the planners planted trees without considering where the roots would eventually grow. Then they laid concrete over it for sidewalks, with a sort of "we conquered this" aplomb. And 80 years later, the trees are like "F*ck you."
I kept thinking of Craig T. Nelson in Poltergeist "You moved the headstones, but you never moved the bodies!"
Friday, December 9, 2011
Couch to 5k to radiology
On day 2 of my Couch-to-5k run regimen, I slipped on a patch of ice. During a walking section. In Mid-City Los Angeles. So not only is it the least probable running injury in history, it also resulted in a fractured finger, which is definitely "uncool". Doc says a splint for two weeks and re-evaluate. Since it's not a lower-body injury, I have no excuse not to complete day 3.
I finally told my husband about my plan, something I had resisted for fear of "slim smuggery". When we met, we weighed within 5lbs of each other. Somehow after having our daughter, 3.5 years ago, I ended up with 30lbs that have never left - through breastfeeding and clean eating, 6:45 am spinning classes and (prescribed) metabolic enhancers. We tried the 4 Hour Body, I lost 6lbs initially, then gained, he lost 4lbs from the weight he's maintained during our whole relationship. So I was apprehensive about telling him about my Get Running plan, because I actually didn't want his input. I figured I have the app, that's all the encouragement I need.
And it went about as I expected. He immediately started offering advice on how I should run, when I should run, what I should wear. It was infuriating. But at the same time, I think his feelings were a little hurt. Even though we do stuff together, part of me knows that running is something I have to do for, and by, myself.
I finally told my husband about my plan, something I had resisted for fear of "slim smuggery". When we met, we weighed within 5lbs of each other. Somehow after having our daughter, 3.5 years ago, I ended up with 30lbs that have never left - through breastfeeding and clean eating, 6:45 am spinning classes and (prescribed) metabolic enhancers. We tried the 4 Hour Body, I lost 6lbs initially, then gained, he lost 4lbs from the weight he's maintained during our whole relationship. So I was apprehensive about telling him about my Get Running plan, because I actually didn't want his input. I figured I have the app, that's all the encouragement I need.
And it went about as I expected. He immediately started offering advice on how I should run, when I should run, what I should wear. It was infuriating. But at the same time, I think his feelings were a little hurt. Even though we do stuff together, part of me knows that running is something I have to do for, and by, myself.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Get Running or Bust!
I decided that I need to change things up a bit, and instead of waiting until New Year's, I think December is the time, so by January I'm already in the groove. I'd heard about the Couch-to-5k program, and since I inadvertently took our 11 year old dog for an almost 3 mile walk the other day, I thought "I can do this!". So the next step was finding "an app for that...". I read a bunch of reviews and settled on Get Running, what seems to be a UK-based app from Benjohn Barnes. I just like saying "Benjohn".
I also liked that the reviews all mentioned how seamlessly the voice prompts worked over your music, how soothing the woman's voice was, and how the app didn't freeze or crash when the iPhone went into "sleep" mode. So far, all of this is true. The app follows the run for 1 minute, walk for 1:30 minutes schedule for the first week, gradually adding more running and less walking until you are running for 30 minutes straight. If I can get to a ten minute mile, I'll be golden for a 5k in February.
My favorite part is the app's accent when she tells me "You've just completed your 4th run. There are only 4 runs left".
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