Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread

Parent Cafe
3521

<p>BC - I sometimes participate in regular road races. Here’s the problem. I have a modicum of pride. I am racewalking. That means I abide by the rules of the sport, I don’t jog down hills and make up time, I don’t break into a little run to ease up a little. The problem is, people I pass just think I am an out of shape runner who decided to walk fast for awhile. I get sympathy applause or encouragement. It is just annoying. So, once in awhile I will enter a road race, but I would much rather go to a judged, racewalk event that is sanctioned by masters track. </p>

<p>VH - nagging by family members usually doesn’t work well with me either. This was different. DD was really bummed that I wasn’t racing this summer. She was chastising me because she thinks I have some talent and I should be working to do the best I can. It was just funny listening to her. I figured with her senior year of college coming up and plans for the next stage of her life being discussed, it was not a good time to say “who cares?”</p>

<p>So, I will bust my butt and hope that if this old girl can do it for a couple of races, she will follow suit for more important things.</p>

3522

<p>There’s a heat advisory in my state and I assume for the rest of New England today. Temperatures in the 90s combined with high humidity will put the heat index over 100.</p>

<p>And walking can be dangerous:</p>

<p>[Hot</a>, parade-filled weekend lands Lieutenant Governor Murray in hospital - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/06/hot_parade_filled_weekend_lands_lieutenant_governor_murray_in_hospital/]Hot”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/06/hot_parade_filled_weekend_lands_lieutenant_governor_murray_in_hospital/)</p>

3523

<p>I am heading for Maine today for business and WAS looking forward to cooler weather.</p>

3524

<p>Planning an afternoon kayak. Might just have to “accidentally” fall in if it’s too hot.</p>

3525

<p>I just want to see the sun! Going on at least a week where the sun has not even peaked out. Another morning of heavy fog. I am playing tennis in a few hours and I suspect the court is going to be wet. This type of weather makes me tired.
Workinprogress-On my hills this week I am trying to be aware of my steps. Every once in awhile I put the arms at the 90 degree angle but it is not natural. What do you do with your hands. Open, fist?</p>

3526

<p>Hi All! Back from the cabin for the past few days. Workouts were spotty and lots of snacking and drinking but I hit the gym today and fell right back in to my routine. I am afraid to go near the scale and will wait until my regular weigh in day this week. Felt good to get back on that bike. I really missed it! My knee wasn’t as bad as it has been when I miss a work out but I can really tell how much it helps me.</p>

3527

<p>MOWC:</p>

<p>You can report to your handlers that you sold a pair of Brooks running shoes today. After a couple of stabs in the dark trying to buy a pair of shoes that fit comfortably, I finally headed off the to store to figure out which Brooks model and size fits my poor old fat guy flat-footed no arch wide walkin’ feet. I kinda figured that it would be the Addiction or the Adrenaline, but sizes are so screwy in athletic shoes that I wanted to be able to try them all on. It took a while to convince the salesman that what he measured was not going to fit my foot – lord knows, I’ve tried to squeeze into shoes that size. I kept sending him back for bigger/wider and we finally got it all sorted out. I walked out with a pair of clodhopper Addictions with Superfeet inserts. I also now know my Brooks size so I can shop the discontinued outlets online in the future. I figured I owed it to the guy to buy the first pair after he hauled out a dozen pair of shoes. Of course, they ended up being the size I would have ordered online as a best-guess.</p>

<p>Running shoe companies have fallen into the same trap as jeans manufacturers. They make so many different styles and then describe them with utterly meaningless buzzwords such that even a fairly smart guy can’t figure out how to buy them.</p>

<p>Of course, that meant that I had to go for a little walk despite declaring today an off-day. It was 98 degrees here with oppressive humidity and New Englanders just can’t handle that at all. After dinner, it had cooled off to 92 and was getting dark, so off I went in my shiny new booties. Probably exercising right after curry tuna salad is not ideal, but I did the two mile version of my hilly river walk and defintely worked up a good sweat. I did walk it in the second fastest time ever without trying to push it (must those those shoes, right?) </p>

<p>Now, I’m back in one of our air-conditioned rooms feeling like that was a bonus workout.</p>

3528

<p>Yay!! Glad you got some Brooks that worked. I agree-there are too many models in all the brands. I am always looking for the one that will make me faster!
I had the travel day from hell, so did NOT work out at all today except for carrying my heavy computer backpack through various airports. I wound up with a 5 hour drive from Manchester, NH to Houlton, ME, which was not ideal for my hamstring, although it held up pretty well. I had to do some “car aerobics” to the satellite 60s station while I was driving. Long, long day without the best food choices, either. Turns out everything in Houlton closes at about 8 except for the gross Subway that is part of a gas station. Tomorrow is another day.
Did some aqua-jogging with my suspension belt yesterday after my bike ride. Aqua-jogging is incredibly boring, but I use my iPod sealed in a ziploc bag under my hat. I look like an idiot.</p>

3529

<p>You should check out the New Balance Factory Outlet in Brighton. You can go in the discount area and try on shoes to your hearts content. We buy EEEE shoes but New Balance carries some of their shoes in EEEEEE. Typical price we pay is $20 to $30. They don’t always have our sizes when we visit so I usually stock up and keep a year’s supply for the family in a closet at home. When we need a pair we just grab one. We stop in there from time to time to keep enough on hand for future needs.</p>

3530

<p>Well, the report here is also hot, hot, hot. I went for a four mile tempo walk early this morning and when I was finished I looked like I had just been doused with water. I could not stop sweating. Tomorrow here is more of the same, will just have to go out a little earlier and see how I hold up. </p>

<p>I was thinking of the poor people who live in upper level apartments without AC - it is truly dangerously hot. I should stop my complaining and be grateful for the many comforts I have.</p>

3531

<p>MOWC - I’m starting to get a slight drift of what you’ve been going through with your injury. After an active, busy holiday weekend, I sat down in bed with my laptop last night. After about an hour, I tried to get up, and my left leg would not cooperate. I thought it was just stiff from maybe sitting funny, so I got up and tried to walk around, and it did not go away. Feels like my IT band; luckily I had an appt. with my massage therapist this morning, so I told her once she assessed my back (to make sure it wasn’t something originating from the piriformis, et al), to focus on the leg. My back was fine, but when she started working on the outer portion of the thigh, she hit paydirt. Initially did not find any knots, but as she worked on it, and was able to go deeper, she found a number of knots. I haven’t the foggiest of ideas how I did this, although I can speculate. Sunday afternoon, D2, her friend and I went to our local water park to float on the lazy river. The first tube I had was on the small side, and my hips were sort of squashed in. I remember when I first tried to get out of it, feeling some pain in my hip area. Then later that night when we went to watch fireworks, and I sat down in our portable folding chair, I remember feeling some pain. Monday I was in the pool, and was determined to spend part of my time laying on my stomach on the float, but had a difficult time getting comfortable (which is why I initially thought it might have originated in the lower back). I’m thinking as I bent my left leg at the knee, while on my back, I may have stressed the IT band. And it took until I got inside, sat still for a while to notice.</p>

<p>Anyway, the work she did helped, but since I’ve gotten home this evening from work, and have been at the computer again, I’ve noticed it is stiffening up again. I cannot bend my knee back far enough for my heel to touch my rump because the band is so tight… feels like it would tear if I pushed it, so I’m not. </p>

<p>Was supposed to meet with the trainer tomorrow, but rescheduled for Thursday to give this an extra day to settle down. Am going to ice it before I go to bed. </p>

<p>Finally got a call back from my doctor’s office regarding my blood tests from the end of May. He is allowing me to go on a trial run of lower Lipitor dosing for six weeks, then retest me. If my LDL stays below 100, he will let me stay at the lower dose, so my challenge is to focus on this for the next six weeks. </p>

<p>Totally blew any healthy eating habits over this weekend… our town has a four-day event every Fourth of July, including a Munch where local restaurants provide food. Whenever I go, it’s like grazing, and the food is hard to walk away from. I will not get on the scale for at least a week. Am hoping I can find some sort of exercise to hold me over until this injury subsides. Might try the chiropractor tomorrow, as I know he utilizes ultrasound and electrical stim. He’s also really into rehabilitation.</p>

<p>As you guys are talking about shoes, it reminded me of a really sad story from this weekend. There’s a discount shoe store in the midwest which has a retail store in our town where I always get my athletic shoes (their prices are unbeatable and they often have a 'buy one, get the second pair half off sale). The family who owns it lives in our town and had a son who graduated with D2 and was in one of her classes. He drowned this weekend in a small man-made lake that we lived on when we first moved back to Illinois and were renting 21 years ago. I knew the mom and dad from a period in time where our high school was going through some miserable transitions and there was a grass-root effort to get rid of the superintendent. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through… makes my little inconvenience seem negligible.</p>

3532

<p>BTW - MOWC - sorry to hear about your travel woes today. That sucks.</p>

3533

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</p>

<p>Ouch. Welcome to my world. That move has been out of my repetoire for decades. Something in my knee says, “no way, big fella”, so I’ve become a bit gunshy. Doing lunge walks (and the associated strength in the thighs) has improved the situation.</p>

3534

<p>^^^Doing lunges strengthens and tightens your quadriceps, which makes it harder to bend your knee. I’ve heard that tight quads contribute to knee problems.</p>

3535

<p>Teri- Do you have a foam roller? Otherwise, use a nalgene water bottle and put it under the sore spots and roll around. It will hurt, but does help. I hope it resolves quickly!</p>

<p>Went out and walked 1 1/2 miles around the parking lots here. This is really bad…</p>

3536

<p>Yes I do have one, but it’s way to painful to use it as it’s intended (even my massage therapist told me yesterday I would not be able to stand the pressure from typical use of the foam roller). So last night before I went to bed, I had D2 help me out. While I laid on my side with bad leg facing up, I had her roll the foam roller up and down my leg for about five minutes, starting with very minimal pressure, and increasing it every minute or so. But she was using way less pressure than had I been using my own weight on my side. Oh, I found some stretches I could do before I had D2 hep me out (thank you for the internet at 11PM). Then I iced it. </p>

<p>All I have to say is when someone who has lived in Texas says it’s bad, then it’s really bad. The worst part is the inconsistency of A/C in New England. D1 was glad to have worked from home yesterday so she didn’t have to take the T to work.</p>

3537

<p>My D who is doing a research project in Boston this summer was really happy that she paid the extra fee for an air conditioned room. She and her buddies carpool to work, so she does not have to endure the T in this horrible heat. I still remember the horrors of the last summer when we were hit with a record-setting heat wave: 109 degrees at my house. :eek:</p>

<p>My steroid pack worked - my back is not in pain anymore, and my left leg does not feel tinglish. My doctor referred me to a P/T for some tips on core strengthening exercises - apparently, weak core muscles are one of the factors contributing to back injuries. So do those planks, ab crunches, etc., my fellow athletes!</p>

3538

<p>Pushups and squats are good for the back too. Just don’t injure yourself doing them.</p>

<p>I have a barbell at home that is set to 60 pounds most of the time. Good for doing military press and squats. It’s a good thing that part of the basement has a fairly high roof.</p>

3539

<p>Good to know, BC! The absolutely worst thing for one’s back is a cat that is trying to climb up the leg while said person is doing weights. Grrrr…</p>

3540

<p>I had a back injury about 25 years ago. I had bought a weight set and was carrying it up to my apartment and tried to carry too much. Another time was when I was on a leg press machine with 300 pounds of load. I had an itch in my back and adjusted my position to try to scratch it on the backrest. Definitely not good to do while bearing weight.</p>

<p>In general, I don’t have any back issues if I’m doing situps and pushups regularly. Those are two simple exercises that are probably the most effective for back health. The other stuff is a bonus to help strength, balance, etc.</p>