Motivation (or lack thereof...)

Sure, I can blame any number of things for not running much in the past three weeks... Don't want to exacerbate injuries... My achilles hurts... My knee hurts... Traveling out of town... Shortened number of waking daylight hours... Don't like running in the morning... Don't like running at mid-day... Too cold... Too hot... Foul weather... Don't feel well... Wish I had some kind of exercise equipment in the house... And the killer, "Don't feel like running"

I'm sure I could think up a million other reasons, but it all really comes down to motivation.  Plain and simple.  I wake up late.  I stay up late.  I spend entirely too much time sitting on a couch ticking away at the computer and/or watching TV.  But really, I was doing that when I was running on a regular basis.  Of course, when you're not physically progressing towards fitness goals, this can only make things worse.

Yes, I've slipped back into a downward spiraling pattern that's all too familiar to many people, including myself.  Being unemployed always does that to me.  Not having to get out of the house and be somewhere on a daily basis induces an insidious malaise that's all too easy to slip into and hard to shake off.

It's like a warm, comforting, lazy, 200-pound wool blanket.  Somewhat nice and snug while you think you're cozy beneath it, but you can't get a lot accomplished and it's difficult to get out from beneath its weight.  So it can be easier to just stay there and let it slowly smother you and suppress the urge to do anything else whatsoever.  The itch to do something about it can be maddening, depending on how much you feel about actually doing something about it.

And telling myself I'm going to run today, what do I do?  I blog about it instead.  "Plenty of time to run" I tell myself...  There's still a good couple hours of daylight left until sunset.

Enough procrastinating... Time to put on the running gear!

Adventures in Agony

Woke up in the middle of the night to the most debilitating back pain ever. Flat on my back, could barely move my torso or legs even an inch. Felt like I was lying there, impaled by a sword driven through my spine.

I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead, my lower back was on fire. Every time I tried to adjust the slightest bit, searing flashes zeroed in on my lumbar. I was almost to the point of tears, it hurt so bad. Steeling myself against the agony, I made quick work of checking that all my limbs, hands, feet, fingers and toes were still functioning, for fear that an even greater symptom would go unnoticed. Luckily, there was nothing else -- no numbness, nothing felt broken, no additional localized pains, everything that I attempted to move could move.

So I lay there, wanting but unwilling to move and tried to sleep.

Thankfully, I did eventually drift off, though I'm sure it was fitful sleep at best. At one point I had roused awake, the pain had subsided enough, so I made the effort of trying to get up. It was still pitch dark in the bedroom and I could barely see the glow of the window. Gritting my teeth, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach and slid off the side of the bed, feet going first. One hand on the night table and the other against the mattress, I made an attempt to stand up on my own. Supported by my arms it was bearable and didn't seem too poor a task, but the instant I tried to stand without being propped up by anything but my legs, my back screamed that it wasn't going to happen.

I dropped back down onto the bed as quickly as I could, taking care to again find a position for my body that wouldn't keep me awake the rest of the night. Noticing that only one pillow remained, I reached over the other side to the floor, blindly feeling for the other. Locating the errant cushion within a few grasps, I returned it to its rightful position at the head of the mattress and tried to make myself somewhat comfortable.

Since I haven't been plagued with chronic back pain, I reasoned that this was just some freak occurance and that that the only thing that would help at this point was waiting it out with as much of a good night's rest as I could muster. A few more lapses in unconsciousness amidst my dozing reaffirmed this, the pain still there, but lessening gradually as the darkness wore on.

Morning came and my radio alarm clicks on. DC101 and the oftentimes amusing, sometimes annoying voice of shock jock Elliot and class tell me it's time to get up. My seemingly daily ritual of laying there continues for several minutes, listening to the banter, snuggled up against a pillow and sheets while my brain attempts to slip out of neutral and into first gear. I test the waters a bit, wriggling around atop the bedding and hoping for the best.

It's still there, the pain... But it's considerably dulled and feels no worse than what I experienced a few weeks ago after apparently pinching a nerve in my leg and abusing my back further with a long and hard run. I am ever so glad I have a friend who's a licensed physical therapist, that I can call on a moment's notice and squeeze in a rehabilitative full body massage when I'm in pain and/or in need. Thanks Kim!! =)

Taking a morning dose of Aleve and Glucosamine Chondroitin with breakfast, I don't recall dutifully ingesting my ration yesterday. Up until very recently, I've only been dosing myself with Advil or Aleve prior to doing a run as a preventative measure, but I'm sure the timing is merely a coincidence.

So I still feel *something* back there, but I feel much better and don't have to mince around, carefully coordinating my movements when traipsing about. And I have yet to figure out what brought on the sudden pain. But I do feel the need for additional upright support from my arms when negotiating anything that might compromise the relief and bring it all back.

A Quick Three Miles?

Well, as quick as I can usually be without a downhill grade the whole way! ;o)

I completed the Couch-to-5K program some weeks ago and wasn't completely sure where to go from there. While I was training, I told myself that improving pace was the first priority and then I'd go for distance. Weeks later, I guess must have forgotten that little tidbit and I've been pushing distance instead, all that goading from certain folks who shall remain nameless.

After a weekend of recovering my calves from Wednesday's focus on proper running form (balls of the feet strike first) and a slightly horrible run on Friday (three miles running plus two miles walking home), my calves are still not 100 percent. My achilles are tender and sore, likely from pushing them too hard rather than any injury caused by the heels of my shoes -- in the summer, I spend a lot of time in a pair of Teva sandals.

So anyway, about today's run... A somewhat hot 85 degrees, luckily tempered with a relatively low 53% humidity. Sun was out in force at the start, but slipped behind cloud cover some time after the first mile.

With the mile and a half out I attempted to keep my foot strikes to the balls and returned a respectable time of 9:46 for the first mile. Discount the time waiting for the traffic light to change and it's maybe 30 seconds or more lighter. Suppose I should pull out the iPhone and stop the clock while I'm waiting, but it's not convenient enough to warrant the effort.

Return trip from the halfway point was noticeably lacking in energy and I took most of the distance the "wrong way", heel-striking because of the calves. I could tell I wasn't moving as fast, but the audible prompts for "current pace" from RunKeeper aren't always that accurate -- I could feel it and I just knew I was moving slower. The wait at the traffic light was shorter than the run out so I have no excuses there.

But, I feel good about the faster overall times, something I know I could keep steadier if it weren't for all these up and down grades along my route.

RunKeeper

Start Time 5:11 pm

End Time

Duration 0:32:04 h : m : s

Distance 3.04 mi

Avg. Pace 10:32 per mi

Splits

mi	pace	climb (ft)
1	9:46	38
2	10:40	61
3	11:10	51

So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt

Headquartered in Oregon, Turtle Mountain and its So Delicious brand is known for concocting all-natural, dairy free/lactose free beverage, yogurt, ice cream and frozen novelty products based on organic soy and coconut milk.

Since I've been plagued by lactose intolerance for most of my adult life and quite likely longer, I was very intrigued by this product. I've tried Stonyfield Farm's O'Soy! yogurt and while it was tasty enough, in short, it was a little tangier than I'm used to, had a strange aftertaste and left me wanting for a better flavor.

First time I even heard about coconut milk yogurt was from a Whole Foods weekly deals flyer. So Delicious was "on sale" and priced to sell at 3 for $4 (regularly $1.99) for a 6 ounce cup. Not exactly what I'd consider a bargain, since I'm used to buying garden variety store and brand name yogurt cups at $0.50 or less a pop. I bought all the flavors I could find, nine altogether: blueberry, strawberry, strawberry banana, pina colada, raspberry, chocolate, passionate mango, vanilla and plain.

Important thing to note is that these are NOT "light", non-fat, low fat, low calorie or low sugar products. Ingredients are all natural and as such, may include a little more fat (from the coconut milk I'd imagine) and sugar than you'd get from your average yogurt, though the calories are pretty much in line with competing products.

Peeling back the plastic film lid, the yogurt came off a little on the thin side -- compared to yogurts I've had in the past anyway -- even after stirring away the characteristic yogurt-whey separation. A bit of an odd mouth feel to me -- little characteristic yogurt tanginess and what I can only describe as a slightly greasy, almost airy or whipped artificialness -- which could result in dislike for more choosy palettes. And I'd suspect it's due to all the "filler" added to boost product texture and thickness, some ingredients commonly found in ice creams: algin (kelp extract), rice starch, locust bean gum, agar, carrageenan, guar gum.

Blueberry (140 calories, 60 from fat): I tried blueberry first, because it's usually one of my favorite flavors. Lots of blueberry color mixed in and plenty of visible fruit bits to be found throughout, but not one of your "fruit on the bottom" types with largish samples of fruit. Very, very tasty and doesn't seem to be quite so overly sweet as others have claimed, I found it to be just right.

Strawberry Banana (150 calories, 50 from fat): I had heard from other reviews that strawberry banana was a big favorite. Don't know whether it raised my expectations, but taste is certainly up to each individual and I wasn't as happy with this flavor. The greasy mouth feel was more pronounced, there were no visible bits of fruit to be found and I could definitely taste the coconut milk where I hadn't with the blueberry. Would not be my first pick of flavors if I ever buy this stuff again.

Pina Colada (140 calories, 60 from fat): Another flavor I'd heard through the grapevine as being good and this time they're right on the money. Tiny chunks of pineapple and perhaps shredded coconut add texture to what's likely a natural flavor for coconut milk yogurt. Granted it could use a touch more sweetness, but maybe that's just me -- blueberry is still the reigning favorite.

Passionate Mango (130 calories, 60 from fat): By far the smoothest appearing mix of flavors, though curiously devoid of visible fruit, with its tropical ingredients composed of juice and puree. Also the only other descriptive flavor name rather than the simple fruit ingredients. A little more tart and tangy comes through this time, but I'd guess it comes from the passionfruit and mango rather than being a yogurt. Personally, I think it could use a touch more sweet.

Chocolate (170 calories, 50 from fat): Not what you'd normally expect to be in a lineup of flavors for yogurt, but still very good. Looks and tastes almost like pudding, though not as sweet and for once the tangy comes out more noticeably. If I had to take a guess, I would say that the cocoa comes from an unsweetened or bittersweet variety, but for now that remains a mystery, for the ingredient list merely includes "chocolate".

Raspberry (140 calories, 50 from fat): Another favorite flavor of mine which I usually avoid due to the seeds that get stuck in my teeth, this one didn't disappoint on either count -- great raspberry flavor mixed with that tang of yogurt but unfortunately no deficit of seeds. Most of their fruit must come in pureed form, so it's a little disappointing that they chose not to take the seedless path.

Plain (130 calories, 70 from fat): If ever there was a yogurt flavor I wouldn't like so much it would be plain -- never been a fan of eating it all by its lonesome. Looks like a cup of shortening, all white with a slight translucent sheen, has very little flavor beyond the slight tang and the greasy mouth feel is amplified by the lack of anything to distract your taste buds. Fortunately, I anticipated this problem and toted along a ziploc baggie bearing dried bing cherries and walnut pieces (thank you Trader Joe's!) -- flavor and texture to the rescue? Somewhat, but the non-flavor of the yogurt still comes through and I still can't shake the sensation of spooning down a cup of shortening.

Well, what should have closed with reviews of strawberry and vanilla was not meant to be. What I thought was strawberry turned out to be another cup of strawberry banana and apparently I grabbed a second blueberry as well. Now that I think about it, looking at the refrigerator case while shopping, a few flavors were sorted out of order and there were no vanillas to be found. Is vanilla the most popular flavor or was it just stocked poorly? Who knows, but I'm certainly not enthusiastic about test driving it or strawberry at a $2 price point.