Friend of Julie: Take a Hike

Last night, a friend told me she was feeling depressed and overwhelmed. I told her to take a hike. Well, I didn't say it quite like that, I suggested she go for a 15 minute walk. An hour later, I took my own advice and found the results were as I had suggested: my mood and energy level shifted.

Why would I want to increase my energy level at 8:00 pm? Because I had fought off taking a nap most of the afternoon, something I often do on the weekend, and I didn't want to go to bed so early. I figured fresh air would be just the thing I needed. Who cares if it took me an hour to get outside...I took the walk and the rest of my evening was far enjoyable than going to bed at 8 pm.

I took my c25k outdoors today. Aime and I met at 8:30 and did our program in the crisp morning air. It's a harder program for me outdoors and today I tried to figure out why. One thing that might help is  take something for outdoor allergies. I also realized something happened a couple times that slowed me down: when we encountered other people, I lost my momentum. I need to learn how to stay focused so this isn't an issue during the race.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and stocked up on foods I need for the next few days: bacon, eggs, ground sirloin, sausage, coleslaw, cheese, fresh herbs, and butternut squash. This afternoon I'll make meatballs. I'm creating a new recipe, in which I'll add ground sirloin with ground Italian sausage, and I'll make the sauce from scratch, with crushed canned tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh basil, parsley, and garlic, and I'll grate fresh parmesan.

I was hungry when I got home from exercising, but I had shopped with a quick meal in mind: coleslaw, black forest ham rolled with a small amount of sharp cheddar cheese, and seltzer. This meal hit the spot. I had cottage cheese with chives and toasted onions in the refrigerator, but I wasn't hungry before I left home. If I'm not hungry in the morning, I just have coffee.

This week I realized that when I make coffee at home, it's far better than any place I can drive-through. I poured skimmed milk into a pan, brought it to a frothy boil, poured it into a stainless steel frother, and then pumped the milk until it was nice and thick. I filled half of the cup with coffee and the second half with thick-as-whipped-cream-froth. Yummy.

In looking ahead at exercise goals beyond the 5k, which is two weeks away, I looked for inspiration by previewing books on Amazon about fitness, running, marathons, half marathons, and yoga. I read a little about kayaking and I found something called "orienteering."

I went to Wikipedia to find out what that's all about:

"Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points."

Kayaking is something I have wanted to do in recent years, but because my body feels so stiff and inflexible, I didn't dare. When I was in Alaska this summer, I had the opportunity to kayak, but the fear of not being able to pull myself back into the boat if I fell out, stopped me from trying. In spring 2012, I would like to give this a try in warmer waters. As far as, orienteering goes, well, one thing at a time.

The book about yoga led me to this inspiring video (below) about Pilate's and Brooke Siler, leaving me to contemplate Pilate's as the next type of exercise to add to my life. I'm enjoying this new found energy and attitude from c25k, and I plan to continue running and walking after my 5k, but I want to work on making my body more flexible too. About five years ago I fell and when I hit the ground, my full weight was on one knee.  Stretching is supposed to help keep away the pain, but I haven't felt comfortable sitting on the floor since that fall. My fear for falling is intense, and walking down slopes with leaves, snow, ice, or mud, causes my whole body to tense up. The thought sitting on the floor, brings tears to my eyes. I fear I won't be able to get up, because putting my weight on my knees to get up is excruciating. Pilate's seems like a good next plan for  me.