Brooks Pure Cadence update...

Last night I went out and hit the streets for my Walk/Jog/one-woman-sweat-fest.

Trying to run obese has it's own set of trials, let alone having to worry about your shoes!

Suffice to say, the Brooks Pure Cadence 2 shoes that I purchased are not the shoes for me!
On Saturday I noticed that my calves were burning. I chalked it up to being fat, like I do most things!
However, on Monday night when I started my run, I knew something just wasn't right.

My calves hurt IMMEDIATELY.
Literally, 15 seconds into the Warm-up portion of the workout. I got two blocks before turning around and heading home. I didn't even make it 10 minutes. I was in PAIN.
My calves were so tight and burning. They felt charlie horsed, if you know what I mean.

So then I spent the next half hour looking for my previous running shoes, the Nike Pegasus 28.

There isn't anything wrong my nikes shoes, per se, I just wanted to get a new pair and to have the best running experience possible! These rub my heels just a bit, so I will always need a band-aid/moleskin with them, which is a bummer.
But after I finally found them.. in the pantry of all places, I was determined to start my workout again.
The difference was obvious right away. No calf pain. I didn't even start feeling like I burned a little in the calves until like the 3rd run portion. Thank goodness!
Although I will admit to a little bit of shin pain in theses shoes that I had not experienced before. I assume it's because these aren't made for people who over-pronate.
Rather than starting the search for yet another pair of shoes, I will just buy some good inserts and stick with the Nikes.

I wish I could fully explain the horror of pain shooting through my calves when I was wearing the Brooks!! I know I am going to have a hell of a time trying to get the store to take them back. I'll probably end up with a credit on a gift card that I will never use. Serves me right I guess, buying something when I still had a perfectly good pair at home. Ugh.

I am just happy to have finished Week 1. I am on to Week 2 on Wednesday. Tonight I will do my strength training and my yoga video.

The weird thing that's been happening since starting this workout routine is that I haven't had many sugar cravings.
Weird, right? ! Who knows if it is directly related or if I am finally "getting it" in terms of trying to lose weight. Now if I could just drink all the water I am supposed to, I'd be on a real roll here, folks!

Back Care Yoga and Calorie Counting!

Somehow in early July, after stopping the Weight Watchers program, I jumped up about 5lbs. It took me a few weeks to get back into the swing of just counting calories and macronutrients (fat, protein, carbs etc) rather than counting points.

Gasp!! A new high weight for me.

I love Sparkpeople - free calorie tracker for counting my calories (and fitness and more, LOVE) and they have a new option for counting where you set a baseline of calories per day based on the idea of being completely sedentary, which works great for me, as I sit at a desk all day, and then your calorie goals change day to day based on the activity that you add into your "tracker". The only caveat is that you have to be diligent in tracking what you intend to do that day and stick to it, or your calorie goals will be higher than the output you actually did.

This isn't a problem for me though, as I am doing pretty much the same workout every other day (jogging) and on my off days, I am doing yoga, Rodney Yee's Yoga for Back Care and now adding in some light strength training. That video is great. You try lugging around 20lbs of breasts and tell me your back doesn't hurt!

I really think that this way of tracking is paying off. For example, if I do not do any activity, my calorie goals for the day will be a range of 1200-1550. However, if I burn, say, 400 calories in a workout, my range will go up to 1600-1950. I usually stay pretty close to the low end of the ranges and am feeling super satisfied and have lost weight too.
Which is actually surprising, given that I just jumped into a steady fitness routine... I expected to gain some water weight until my body caught up with my new routine.


Now, with my monthly about 2 weeks away, hopefully I can do some real kicking ass on the scale so that the pound or two I most usually gain will not negate any work I have down so far. That always seems to be the problem. I lose and gain the same few pounds over and over again.
Ugh.
Well, I have another run on the schedule for today!! I have been doing them in the evenings, when it cools down. I just don't know if I will ever be able to get up early to do this! I like the feeling of a long cool shower afterword and just relaxing for the night, like I truly earned it.
It wouldn't feel the same if I had to hop in the shower and get to work after my workout. I enjoy the almost luxurious feeling of "ok, it's done. I'm a badass, now lets slather on some fruity lotion and call it a day!".

Fat girl running and Brooks Pure Cadence 2

I'm feeling pretty good about my jogging overall. Of course, baby turtles could lap me, but hey, it's progress!

A few things that I have noticed is that my feet and legs seem to get tired way before I get out of breath or my heart rate feels too high. I guess all those Leslie Sansone Walk at Home videos really did improve my endurance as far as lungs and heart. 

So I really need to step it up (ha ha, get it... Steps!)... with strength training for my legs. I will google some routines, but in the mean time, I will try squats, lunges and some calf raises. 

It seems to be my calves that hurt the most so far. 

Now, on to shoes!!

These are the Brooks Pure Cadence 2. Nice, huh. 

Apparently I am an overpronator (which means my ankles roll inward when I walk or run). Who knew! I noticed it last week that while running, my left foots big toe was practically off of the sole of the shoe by the time I was done! Because my foot kept rolling inward and pushing my foot inside the shoe.

So off to Finish Line I went, I wish we had a "serious" sports store around here, but alas, teenagers with no real running knowledge is what we get. I didn't want a big bulky shoe and the sales person said that the pure cadence was sort of a hybrid of a stability (for my pronation) and a minimus type shoe for people who like really lightweight shoes. 

My initial reaction was that they didn't rub on my heel, so that was a bonus. They are also much cushier than my new balance minimus shoes. 

It took about a mile to get used to them, I still think I may need a wide, gonna give it a few more runs. But all in all, no blisters, no shin or knee pain and other than a slight soreness on the outside section of my left midfoot, I like the shoes. I think the pain on the left foot is from having wide, flat feet. There's just something there in the shoes that's outing pressure on it, but not on the right foot.

Blah blah blah!! Who needs to hear about my flat feet, lol. I just thought I'd provide some info on the shoes. I will update after I give them a week or so to seriously break them in.

 I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Now... I'm off to eat some skinny cow and cuddle with my dog.