There’s something magical about sweating. I know it sounds a little gross, but those of you that are athletes or workout-aholics, get it. Sweating just makes you feels, well, lighter, brighter, better.
I also know I am more motivated to sweat when I feel like I look good. And one of the first things that comes to my mind when wanting to look and feel good working out is Lululemon. Now before I continue I have to tell you I am not getting paid for this post, or any other post for that matter. This is a simply for me blog of things I love and want to keep a journal of and share with the ocassional onlooker, or family, friend.
That aside, Lululemon is a great source for clothing And inspiration. Their blog has become one of my go-to’s for motivation. Today’s post was no exception, in fact it was so moving, that I had to go ahead and write my own blog post on it!
Kate Hickl, a spin teacher and over-all fitness goddess. out of New York. Her video from Lulu is a must check out. She was once a big wig in the advertising world and left for her love of sweating (yoga, spinning) hits close to home for me. A real inspiration.
And if I were only in NYC I would check her class asap.
I am in love with my new yoga studio down the street from me.
I hesitate to share the name because like any good thing in LA as soon as you mention it, it gets jammed and the place you once discovered and loved is now overwhlemed with newbies and you can no longer enjoy your peace and quite. But alas it’s so delightful I have to give them a shout out, Thanks Studio Surya.
Yesterday, I shared my plan for work outs for the week. And I just had to share that I was able to squeeze in an unexpected visit to my lovely yoga studio this morning and now I am off to run with the gals in Santa Monica. Yey motivation!
I haven’t posted anything on fitness or working out lately. So I thought today being that it’s nice and cloudy outside would be the perfect day to get motivated.
Here’s what I am doing this week in Workouts:
Monday: Guilt-free Rest Day
Tuesday: Full Workout (10 minutes of abs, 30 minutes of hard cardio, 20 minutes of strength training, 15 minutes of stretching)
Wednesday: 45 minutes run with the girls
Thursday: Full Workout
Friday: Tennis at the club with parents (Palm Springs)
Of course I am a huge fan of Fab.com … AND March Madness. SO this vintage sale today really knocked me off my chair. Especially when my Alma Matter is in the mix. So here’s to No. 3 seed Georgetown. Go Hoyas!
I know we have all heard of the Grateful Journal. And I do try to be grateful in my daily life. But I read something the other day in Health magazine that said that if you write some thing you are grateful for once a week for at least nine weeks, then you are more likely to be happier, healthier and even exercise more. Well I already exercise 6 days a week on average, but who wouldn’t want to be happier!
So, I am taking on my first ever weekly post. Every 4th day of the work week I will do a “Thursday Thanks” post, with at least one thing I am grateful for.
For this inaugural post I am most thankful for my sweaty lunches. Today I went on a 13 mile bike ride along the beach. I mean how can you not be grateful for a place of work that lets you get your sweat on in the middle of the day! Love it!
It was truly so exhilarating to get out there. I only did 3.5 miles, walk/running, so, I took my phone with me to help pace myself. Here are the shots from the lunch run. (I even got so inspired I learned how to create my own animated gif! eeekkkk!!!)
I am heading out for a run at lunch today! I can’t tell you how excited I am. It’s been a while since I went for a run, like probably well over 6 weeks. And I really Really miss it. I miss those endorphins coursing through my body as I pound the payment.
It’s been a long and frustrating road getting into an orthopedist office due to a not so great Family doctor and the insurance. But finally I made it into one yesterday morning.
And after running through all the horrible scenarios that a runner with first time knee injuries can think up, like perhaps the doctor is going to tell me I can never run again, or I will need cortisone shots for the rest of my life, no please, I am still so young! I have so much more miles to put on these puppies and so many more running shoes to buy! Please, No!
Thankfully, that wasn’t quite the case.
The pain I was feeling is called “lateral knee pain” and some even call it “Runner’s Knee”. It can present itself in many different ways. For me, it is a sharp pain mostly on the outside of the knee going in. It’s infrequent and generally goes away after a few minutes of warming up during exercise and will continue throughout the day. But the pain you feel when it acts up is debilitating and you just want to drop to the ground in agony. I stopped running, thinking it would heal itself with rest. But nearly 2 years later it’s still hurting.
Seems like the problem is my IT Bands and Hamstrings. More specifically their lack of strength. For those that don’t know, “the iliotibial band is a superficial thickening of tissue on the outside of the thigh, extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, moving from behind the femur to the front while walking.” (wikipedia)
So I need to work on stretching the IT bands and getting those hamstrings nice and strong. So, for me it looks like foam rolling every day, stretches 2 -3 times daily, icing, of course, a bit of targeted strength training, and yes, deep tissue massage, though they are hardly enjoyable.
Great news is that with some work and no more running consecutive days anymore, I should run a long and healthy life with these knees pain-free.
Most of the runners and athlete I know have some sort of issue with their IT bands being too tight. So, here are a few things to help those suckers loosen up. This is a great article from Runner’s World with stretches and strength moves. And this is a good video to get you started on foam rolling for IT bands.
Have you even had injuries from your love of running? What have you found works? And now, off for my lunch run! Eeekkkk!
Runner’s World is a great resource of mine. Especially while I am recovering from some knee and heal injuries. Today, I ran across this on their site, and despite it being a cycling graphic, I thought it was great for anyone who out exercising among those in their automobiles.
And while I would love to write a commentary on the fight between car and bike, I will restrain myself with only one comment: Person in the car, we are not looking for a fight. You are in a car, we are on a bike. You WILL WIN. And thought that might sound nice at first, it won’t be for you, your drivers license or your insurance. Just keep that in mind, next time you want to hit one of us, cyclist or runner.
These are some great ideas and alternatives to my standard “give ‘em the ole bird.” My personal two favorites are starred. I might actually try the “call me” one, just to see what they do.
What do you do when confronted with a rude driver? Have any other great ideas? Happy Sweating.
