My Health Journey

For the last two months, the unbearable humidity stopped me running. Instead, I focused on the corrective exercises in the book  Anatomy for Runners . Those exercises aimed at strengthening my glutes while stretching my hip flexors, letting me swing my legs back further than I did. In other words, they aim to take out a lifetime of sitting postures out of my gait. The nice weather this week afforded me to test my (partially) corrected body on a couple of runs. My shadow running. The stance of the legs has improved. As can be seen from the shadow picture above, my legs project equally front and back from my hips. My upper body posture needs some work, but the key is the leg stance. Previously, I would run largely by thrusting my legs forward, one at a time. My legs extend too far to the front, causing me to hit my heel more, probably contributing to my recurring plantar faschitis. Further, only one leg's muscles are used at any one time, and my center of gravity (cg) wobbles a...

With the weather cooling down yesterday, I took my daughter out on a rowboat. It was a beautiful day. Not too hot, not too cold, not to cloudy, not too sunny, a few sprinkles of rain, ... Since my daughter is only 8 years old, I ended up doing all the rowing. I don't row much so found it much harder to move and control the rowboat compared to a paddle boat. My left arm was hurting until I realized that the oars had slipped through their rings and thus weren't of equal length. After correcting their alignment, the rowing became easier.  I ended up rowing steadily for 2 hours, with only two short breaks. That's the same length of time it takes me to run a half-marathon. I fully expected my back, chest, and upper arm muscles to be sore and hurting. Thankfully, that hasn't materialized (yet). After getting back home I was exhausted, energy-drained, and starving. Practiced yoga at night to ease the tension in my neck, accentuated by the need to constantly turn my head...

For 36 hours on Monday and Tuesday, we were drenched by the remnants of hurricane Florence. Intermittently, walls of water fell from the sky. I was awakened at 2 AM on Tuesday morning by a flood alert in my area. Suddenly and ahead of the schedule, on Tuesday afternoon, the storm blew over, the sun peeked at us, and the humidity began subsiding. I had to go outside. Though I had worked out in the morning, and was somewhat exhausted, I had no power to resist the inviting sunshine after days of gloom. I headed over to the nearest lake to watch the floodwaters rush the dam.

I have practiced yoga on and off for decades, having participated in classes and also on my own with the aid of books. When I started running, I wanted to continue my yoga practice, but in a way that is complementary to the running. I found this book called Yoga for Runners, by Christine Felstead to be really helpful. Like other yoga books, it illustrates many yoga poses. However this books goes beyond many yoga books I have seen in several useful ways: It is organized by muscle group. Each chapter opens with a section illustrating and discussing the different muscles and their relation to running, followed by yoga exercises aimed at strengthening and stretching those muscles. The book indicates the exact benefits of each pose. The section on "Restorative Yoga" teaches a number of poses where the body is supported to allow for deeper relaxation. I use some of these after a race or a particularly hard workout to reset my body. It has two tables on injuries: one ...

The humidity over the last few weeks kept me mostly indoors. I walked here and there, but I couldn't even contemplate running in 90% relative humidity, even with cooler temperatures in the 70s. Yesterday, the clouds finally cleared up and a partly sunny sky invited me to go outdoors. First I thought about a long walk, but when I saw the humidity was down to 70%, I couldn't resist putting on my running shoes and heading out. Turtles basking in the late summer sun after days of cloudy weather. It was a good run, though more on the humid side, and a sweat bath when the wind is to my back. I ended up running 2.4 miles around the lake. The construction is almost completed on the opposite side of the trail, flattening out a severe 30-40 bank in the trail that was gradually steepened by erosion. The new flat trail is nice and so much easier on my ankles. Today, the main residual soreness is in my glutes. That's a good sign. It means the program I've been following to ...

Exercise calendar I made using an excel Template To keep track of my workouts and help me vary it up, I use a monthly exercise calendar I customized using the Excel templates at Vertex42.com . Typically I rotate between three types of activity, like running, weights, and yoga. The calendar helps me sequence them to ensure I have enough days of rest or active recovery. If I am training for a race, I weave my selected training schedule into the calendar. I can then check completed workouts, enter notes about my time, etc. For more detailed notes, I recommend keeping a dedicated exercise journal. A good example I have been using is the  getfitbook .

Blank chart I use to fill out my workouts Record-keeping is key to successful weight training. Though I have always recorded my exercises, I was applying the records far too automatically in determining what weights to use on a particular day. Looking back, it appears I have been increasing weights too fast, and adhering too rigidly to the plan. That, perhaps, can explain the frequent injuries I was having. After a year-long hiatus from weight training, I wanted to ease in gradually. I am finding the need to revise my strategy for weight training. The main observation is that my form degrades as I continue an exercise for more reps . As muscles fatigue, others pitch in to fill their place. The hip starts to move to assist the bicep, or the lower back moves in to help. That's not good because it's recruiting muscles other than the ones in focus, for a job they're not meant to do in the first place. Another observation is that I'm not training for an event. Rather...