Quitting Running

Something occurred in my mind during my 30k.

I was in an extremely pessimistic state of mind during the run and thought "Should I quit running?". Briefly I decided that I would.

Quickly after I decided there is no way I would quit running.

Why would I quit running? Well although I have the body shape and type to run, I honestly do have some physical impairment with my running. I think it is either my bone structure or my tendon/ligament strength.

I do not overtrain. But I have had constant injuries. I have seen some doctors and they say nothing is wrong, or they refer me onto another doctor, but in the end I am just told to "stop running for 2-3 or 4-6 weeks". Then after I am healed, I go for a run a few more times, and then I am injured again.

I am tired of this constant fight with my body. I have gone through so many pairs of shoes, because I think the shoes could easily be the problem. But I just can't find a solution!

I have a half marathon on May 6th in Toronto. I haven't ran since my 30k on March 24th... other than no more than 2k, because then my leg/hip and/or knee starts hurting. I can't run!

I literally cannot run.

So whenever I attempt to run and I literally can't, it gets me down and makes me think I should quit.

Soon after that I think "Why would I ever quit? I love it!".

But the truth is that I think I am harming my body more and more. I don't want to quit.

Since I am on running rest, healing up before my half-marathon, I ask myself "Should I run the half marathon?". I should drop out of it. But I know by then I will be fine (or at least usually I am fine in 4 weeks). But my running time will be off. The purpose of me doing the half-marathon was to get an improving time, from september. I wanted to run it in under 1:45:00, compared to my first half marathon which was at 2:01 something. During my 30k, I hit 21.1k around 1:55:00 (approximately). So I know I COULD run it faster. But the thing is, if I am not training for weeks, waiting for myself to heal, my time might not be that good.

I think I will stick it out and do the half-marathon. But my time might be horrible compared to september. I know I can at least FINISH. Even if I have to walk the last 8k of it, I will finish.

But after the half-marathon, I think I am going to take a bit of a break. I don't want to, but I want to give my body a lot of time before I kill it again.

After that, I think I am only going to go for a run once a week. I still do cardio at the gym, of course! But I am only going to go for a weekly run.

I think that having these timelines with these races is stressing me out. I will eventually run a marathon, but I can't until I am 18 anyways. I think I will run it in the spring of 2014. I was going to run it late fall this year, but there isn't a rush. I don't know why I thought there was a rush.

I am just going to hope that my leg really does get better before the half marathon.

I know it did this before the 30k, but during the 30k my leg felt better. Towards the end my hip hurt, and then I hurt my knee 2 days after that.

I think in 2 weeks I should be fine to run. But I just have to wait.

I need to be patient. 

Running Updates!

I have come to the realization I had not yet blogged about my 30k which I ran on March 24th.

My official time was 3:06:49.5

You can look up my times, photos etc., at this link right HERE

If you saw the times, you can tell that I ran fast, and then got progressively... erm, extremely slow... throughout the race.

I ran way too fast the first 10k. My pace was like 5:02 ish, which was :25 faster than I should've been going. I got extremely tired come around 22km ish.

My goal was to finish under 3 hours. But I still placed well! 9/20th in my age/gender category, and I was in the top 50% of all women. So that's good!

But the worst part, is that I hurt my knee a little during the run. This progressed to a hip injury, a few days after the run. Now I am ONCE AGAIN on running rest. I am going to get an extremely expensive pair of running shoes on Saturday (hopefully) that will help me.

Also, on March 31st, it was time for me to submit my progress photos on bodybuilding.com, as a part of a contest I was in. You can see the before and after pics here: http://blog.bodybuilding.com/sarahfloria/2013/03/31/the_end_is_just_the/

I am happiest about my back progress, because my trapezius and rhomboids are a lot more defined. Also you can kind of tell that I've lost a bit of body fat in my stomach, and my butt.

When I was taking my "before" pictures for the contest, I was somewhat bloated. So I'm real sexy there.

I feel like there is way more to say than there actually is. Oh well. I am just hoping that my hip will feel better soon!

I have my half marathon in Toronto in a month! Woo!

Here's a photo I posted on instagram on the day of the 30K around the bay in Hamilton!

Runrunrunrunrunrun

It's time! My 30k run is on Sunday!

30k Around the Bay in Hamilton! AHH!

It's starting getting exciting, now. I am excited to look at the stuff at the expo today. 

I was thinking back to "Why did I sign up for this?". I heard about it from my coach from cross country. I think I decided since it is 30k, and a half marathon is 21.1, and a marathon is 42.2, that this is a good halfway point. 

I've been anxious/nervous for the past... well especially the past 2 weeks, and very much so the past few days. But right now, I am not too bad. I think the worst thing for me is the nerve racking feeling when you stand at the start line.. erm, start clump. I remember during the half-marathon we were waiting for the start, sitting on the bleachers, then we got called to the start. Standing at the start at first was quite intimidating. But as soon as the gun went off, I actually didn't really notice it. But the first few kilometres at the half marathon were intimidating. Then you get used to the feeling.

The same thing was at cross country. Standing at the start line I was ridiculously nervous. I tried to keep moving to distract my mind. As soon as the gun went off, it's just this terrible feeling like you are running for your life.

Breathing doesn't really help me. Music sometimes helps me. So that will be good. 

We talked about this in exercise science, how people get nervous before sports events.

I have my meals planned out this time, because during the half marathon in Ottawa, I was forcing myself to eat. 

But I am excited. I just have to realize no matter what my time is when I finish, that I will have finished. I have 4.5 hours to do it. I am aiming for 2.5-3. If I hurt myself, I'll keep on stumbling. 

Ahh!

Should I compete?

Bodybuilding competitions.

I've been thinking about bodybuilding competitions lately. Should I do them?

I am obviously not ready for them yet, I probably won't be for at least another year, year and a half or so.
But when the time comes, should I do them?

First of all, I need to decide which event to do.

Bikini competitions are less muscle definition, and more for beauty.
This is the 2010 Miss Bikini Olympia winner, Sonia Gonzales.



Figure Competitions, generally have a lower body fat percentage and are judged more for the more "ripped look"
This is Erin Stern, the winner of IFBB Figure Pro and Ms. Figure Olympia 2010


Fitness competitors not only compete for physical appearance, but also are tested with strength activities . This is Tanji Johnson.
 

And lastly, Bodybuilding competitors usually go for the extreme muscular look.
This is Cheryl Myers in 2010.



I would be most likely to compete in Bikini competitions, since it seems to be the easiest. I can also see me doing figure competitions as well. But I am still not sure if I want to do them or not.

Why?
1. It is a huge commitment! Your diet, exercise, training is so intense and takes a lot of time and hard work. Not to mention the fact that if you suddenly decide to stop doing competitions... well... you just don't do that.
2. You might not win, and in general, bodybuilding isn't anything you can really earn money off of. Some people strike it lucky and win competitions and prizes, some get sponsorships, but usually sponsorships are more like a lot of free samples, rather than actual money.
3. It is a really "public" thing. You are showing off your body, and it can be really intimidating. I don't think I would mind this so much, but it is still the type of thing to take a lot of confidence and charisma.
4. Expensive. With travel, bathing suits, tanning, food, the gym, shoes, and EVERYTHING it really adds up. There isn't a big payoff as I said before. So it is extremely expensive. Plus if I am really going for it, I should probably invest in a professional trainer.

There is one more thing, that I thought was a bigger deal than in all actuality: Tanning.

If you have seen me, I am EXTREMELY pale. I have the whitest skin ever. I was stressing thinking "If I do bodybuilding competitions, I have to tan a lot more" which is true, I am going to have to tan to create a base coat. But obviously, as you can see from those images above, they are super tanned. This is from spray tanning. Bodybuilders usually spray tan once the night before and once in the morning of competitions. The reason why bodybuilders tan so much for competitions is because the lights on on the stage are really bright, and darker skin + the lights creates more muscle definition.

So in all actuality, the tanning really isn't THAT much of a big deal. The spray tan takes a few weeks to wear off, but other than that, it's not an enormous detail.

So will I do competitions? Well. I can't answer this question at this time. I want to wait to see where my fitness route takes me. If I develop a good physique, than I think it wouldn't hurt to do a couple of competitions. But as I said, it is going to be at least another year or year and a half before I achieve that body.



Sources:
http://blog.bodybuilding.com/fitnessprincess/2011/07/06/an_introduuction_to_some_of/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdzzANd3leA
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ramsey19.htm

Nerves/Anxiety before a run

I get ridiculously anxious before a running event/competition.

On the day of my half marathon, I was so nervous I could barely eat. I had cereal (only like half the amount I usually have) and then I grabbed a muffin. I ate the muffin from like 10am-3pm. It took me 3 hours to eat it. It had a lot of carbs, which is why I forced myself to eat it. But I was alone from this time, as well, because my mom was hanging out with her friend during the day. So I didn't eat anything else. Later around 4/5 we had an early dinner of some pasta stuff and a couple of raw veggies. I could barely eat there either. Then my run was at 7. I had some pre workout and water and stuff before the run. It turns out I didn't do so poorly on so little food. I think it's because I probably ate mostly carbs, so at least that was good.

Before runs in cross country I would get so nervous I wouldn't want to eat. I specifically remember it was Bay of Quinte, and I was ridiculously nervous. My time was worse than the last run I had in cross country. At BOQ I swear I was like shaking. Standing/warming up at the starting line was the worst feeling ever. I felt like I was waiting for hours. Then at COSSA I was a little nervous, but nowhere as bad as BOQ.

Now I have my 30k in 13 days. I am nervous for it now. But it is in the morning, which is good so I don't have as much time to be nervous throughout the day or waiting. The thing I am the most nervous for is the fact that there are 8,500 people running it. What the fudge? I'm also nervous because there are 3 corrals and I am not in any of them. I'm with the "other" runners. I'm not that slow! Grr. Whatever.

I hope to run it in 2:45:00. But if I get an adrenaline rush, I might be able to run it in 2:30. Somehow I doubt this. I'll hopefully not go over 3:00.

Usually my pace for 30k is between 5:00min/km-5:46min/km

So that means that my time will be 2:30-2:53.

Ahh! Stresss.

To calm down, I usually just wait it out. The nerves go away about 1-2km after I start running.

I am a little more nervous for my half marathon, even though it is 21.1km. It's because I am really going to try to get a really good time! I want to try to get it under 1:45. The fastest I've run a half-marathon distance is 1:47. But that wasn't an event. So in the toronto half-marathon, I really am going to push it.

I'm going for a run today. Probably going to be somewhere between a 18-22km run. I ran 30k on Thursday.

Let's do this!

Do you get nervous before you run?

Bigger, faster, stronger. Part 2!

I experienced two things today that made me feel amazingly strong.

1. You know those windows in classrooms and on buses that are insanely hard to open and close because you have to pull in the tabby things? Well, today in class some people couldn't shut a window. Someone said "Sarah is strong she can do it" and I just kind of looked at them. I said I'd try it. I walked over and it took me barely any time to shut the window. It made me feel awesome because they couldn't shut it, and I remember as a kid being unable to open and shut those windows.

2. I was at home and my mom was on the couch next to the dog. I charged at the dog and started goofing around with her when my mom said "pick her up!" as a joke. I haven't been able to pick her up since she was a puppy, and she is a full-grown lab now. So naturally, effortlessly, I picked her up. I wasn't expecting to be successful picking her up because I remember about 4 months ago trying to pick her up and being unable to. Later, I decided to pick her up again and weigh her. So I did, and she weights 79lbs. This makes sense because sometimes at the gym I walk around with a 90lb barbell to do deadlifts with, which is essentially lifting it up and putting it down (not quite, but you catch my drift). So this made me feel amazing too.

This is a picture of my dog, Sadie from about 2 years ago. She is a chocolate lab. She is considered overweight, and is probably 5lbs lighter in this picture than she is now. But ain't she cute ;).

Have you ever experienced something like this where you have noticed an extreme difference in strength, agility, speed, etc.?

Eating... And shoes!

First of all, I apologize because I am typing this blog post on my iphone. Therefore, it will be short.

I feel the need to talk about something serious.

I used to have eating issues in grade 9/10 and for the most part after that, I've been fine.

But recently I've run into some trouble.

I've been trying to eat healthier lately, and it is really not working out well. It did for a while, but I've been so hard on myself. I'm trying to eliminate all bad foods. For me, this essentially means portion control and eating less baked goods, like cookies, muffins, and any desserts my mom makes.

I've been so hard on myself that I am overly concerned about my weight, which is weird.

I'm trying to hit 130 lbs and I usually get excited when I gain weight. But I bought this scale that tells me my body fat % which is what is freaking me out. My weight is going up, but so is my body fat %! I'm honestly starting to think that the scale is inaccurate, but I have no way of telling.

The problem is not that I am not eating well, it's just I am so concerned about it I am getting anxious about my weight more than I should.

This has been going on for 2 weeks ish.

I just had to step back and really look. I came to the realization that even if I har gained body fat, that I am still extremely healthy and fit. Sure, I can't let it get too high, but gaining 1% isn't that much of a big deal, especially if I am unsure whether or not he scale is actually working.

Although, there is good news! I've been wanting some hi tops for the gym, just for training, and I finally bought some. But they are special because I customized them! I wanted customized Adidas but they don't ship To Canada, so. Got reeboks. I got to pick the colors and I am getting them personalized with something else.

Once I get them in (hopefully before the end of march, and likely not before the Ed of march break) ill probably do a hole blog post about them because I'll love them so much. I just hope they are as nice as tht were online!