The Midlife Reframe

Category: HIIT workout

  • When Life Gives You…..Shingles

    Yes, You Are Reading That Correctly

    Pic courtesy of Bitmoji 🙂

    This is NOT an “old people” thing.
    Your risk of complications increases over the age of 70.
    TeenThing had them when she was 10/11 years old.
    They appeared on the right hand side of my stomach, just across from my hip bone, just over a week ago.
    At first, I though something had bitten me in my sleep, as I discovered them within an hour of waking.  I stripped my bed looking for the culprit.  NOTHING.
    They were itchy, and warm.  So I took a picture and sent it off to my mother.  She told me I needed to get to the doctor, because it looked like shingles.  So off I went.
    My doctor (she was on duty at the walk-in clinic, yay!) confirmed that I did indeed have shingles.  She wrote me a prescription, which I filled (and started taking) right away.
    Now, before this happened, I thought I was getting a chest cold.  A day or two before that I had a sty in my eye.
    Those shingle things were itchy and burning.  They also “tingled”, like electric shocks.  I, thankfully, did not have much pain.  I was very, very fatigued.

    Everything came to a grinding halt

     

     

    My training had to stop.
    I had to rest.
    I had to try and bring down the stress levels.
    (I know what you are all thinking: Exercise is supposed to eliminate stress.  It does.  But sometimes you are burning the candle at both ends and you are blind to it.  As a single mom I can sometimes get tunnel vision thinking I can do it all, when I can’t.)
    I am still following the group I was training with on Running Moms.  Still watching the running form videos.  Still downloading my workouts and the meal plans.  Carey’s HIIT workouts and running workouts were really showing me what I was neglecting in my training.  This is going to come in handy for the rest of my running season and when I start my half marathon training in January.
    For now, I am slowly going to work my workouts back into my day.  Being on vacation for two weeks is going to make this easier 😉
    So, anyone else out there had shingles?




     

  • Week 1 With a Coach and a Plan – Not Dead Yet!

    Holy Crap I Am Still Alive…

    Also, still able to walk.  Hahaha.

    I received my workouts for the week late last Sunday eve.

    HIIT workouts with running workouts, a rest day, and a cross training day.

    What I loved about the HIIT workouts is that I could adjust to my level of fitness.  I chose to do modified push-ups on the floor.

    My speed workout was a killer.  I live where there are hills EVERYWHERE.  Some of my sprints were UPHILL, lol.

    I tried to do my HIIT workouts in the morning as our weather has been hot and humid. 

    I slept in Friday.  Hot sweaty mess after supper workout.  Blargh.  No more sleeping in 😉

    Being accountable to a coach and a group of people works well for me.  I made sure my workouts were done each day.
    I took my rest day on Thursday (it was supposed to be Saturday) as my muscles were sore.  Carey was glad that I was listening to my body and totally endorsed the rest day on Thursday.  I am feeling the muscles I was definitely neglecting, even with my gym workouts.
    Saturday’s workout was a pyramid (5 min warmup – then x2 of each one fast and one regular pace -> 1 minute , 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute).  This is what I was supposed to do on Thursday.  I really enjoyed this run.  It was hard, but I felt really good and aware of my running, my form, etc.
    I was asked to track my food for a couple of days.  I used My Fitness Pal for this, which I used during my half marathon training earlier this year.  I learned then that I was not eating enough during my training.  This time I also made note of what made me feel good and what made me feel not so good.  (I still ate my feelings a couple of times, lol.)
    Today was cross training day.  After I watched the Olympic Women’s Marathon I did some yoga for 30 minutes.  I was tight for sure, lol.  Felt really good afterwards though.
    I was given a meal plan for the week ahead.  Can’t wait to see how I feel after this week is over with different fuel for my run 🙂
    Being aware of my body and being told every day to be aware of my body is really making a difference.  I don’t ignore pain, I am noticing the muscle groups I am neglecting and focusing on my plan.
    I am currently awaiting my workout plan for next week and I am super exicted!
    If I am still alive next week, you’ll be seeing another post, lol.
    If you went from doing your own thing to a coach, what differences did you notice?  Let me know!