Throwback Thursday: Running—Then vs now

I'm 32. Half a lifetime ago I was running track for my high school. And running has changed a lot in the last 16 years. I was thinking about what's different in running for me now.

1. Running by myself
The biggest difference is that when I was running in high school someone was telling me what to do. And I had team mates. Now I run by myself. I make up my own workouts. There's no team (and I do miss this). I've thought about getting a coach or even looking into online training plans. For now it's just running three times a week—2-4 miles. I'm not really training for anything either.

2. Frequency

I ran six days a week in high school. Some times twice a day. Now, I run three times a week now, and never on back-to-back days. My knees and joints don't like running consecutive days. I feel like three times a week is enough to keep my endurance without overexerting myself. (I do teeter on the verge of over-use injuries. I battled tendonitis in high school.) It's just enough to push myself without breaking myself. This could change if I wanted to train for something in particular, but for now I think three days a week works for my body.

3. 20 pounds
I'm 20 pounds heavier than I was in high school. My thighs are bigger. My arms are bigger. I have more upper body strength. I might have been a tad slimmer then. But there's not that much difference. I could probably fit into a lot of my high school clothes. At size 4-6, I think I'm doing just fine.

4. Supplements
I'm sure supplements were around when I was in high school. I remember my mom gave me health bars for races. (They tasted terrible.) And some of the guys would take yellow jackets (caffeine pills) before races.

But now supplements are so much more common. There's pre-workout shakes and post workout shakes and all sorts of stuff you can take to enhance your performance. My routine is usually to eat a banana or a granola bar an hour before I workout—if I'm hungry. I like a shake after gymnastics, because it's so late and I'm usually too tired to eat (but usually it's almond milk, a banana and some fruit. No synthetics here).

5. Watches
I used to run with a purple Timex. I could see my running times. I could see my splits. I loved that watch (it went over a waterfall in North Georgia when I was in college.) Now, watches are crazy advanced. I run with an Apple Watch. Watches have GPS, heart rate monitors, sleep trackers, step counters, calorie goals. Some can compare your pace. Smart watches can get text messages. Watches are so much more advanced now.

6. Heart rate monitors
I don't think I'd heard of a heart rate monitor in high school. We just ran. And if we felt dizzy, maybe we sat down. Now, all serious athletes wear heart rate monitors.

7. Shoes
I ran in Nikes or Addidas in school. I hadn't heard of Brooks or Asics. Now, you can go and get your stride measured on a treadmill with a gait camera. I think I remember FANCY sporting goods stores having the tiniest indoor track you could run on. Now, you can find out exactly what pricey brand of shoe you need to wear.

8. Popularity
In high school, my cross country team was TINY. Most years we didn't have enough girls for a team. I was the only senior on the track team, my year. No one ran in high school. Now, I see so many of my high school friends posting about races on Facebook. Now, everyone runs. Which is great. Except they thought I was weird then. I guess I was just ahead of my time :)

9. Music
Running to music? Some times they played music at my high school meets. I remember running a 3,200 meter to Destiny Child's "I'm a Survivor." We didn't run with music. I used the quiet to reflect on my day or plan. Now, I run with wireless earbuds to songs with good beats.  (iPods and iPhones didn't even exist then).

10. Running clothes
In high school, I ran in T-shirts and Umbros. I had a few tank tops and shorts. Dry-wicking shorts came out my senior year of high school (at least that's when I noticed them at Target). Running clothes are so much more IMPORTANT now. Crops with compression. Sports bras with pockets. There are so many choices. There are so many high-end lines—Lululemon, Lorna Jane, Sweaty Betty, Koral, Athleta. I could have had screen printed panther leggings for my mascot. But that wasn't around then. Now, I am so addicted to workout clothes. I love wearing workout clothes and picking out my gym outfit is usually the highlight of my morning. (As opposed to mindless throwing a T-shirt and shorts that smelled clean in my backpack.) Clothes for working out are fun now.

Also new: running skirts.

I guess all of this means that one day I can reminisce to youngsters about the time when we ran without earbuds or heart rate monitors—and didn't know the exactly mileage we ran when we ran for 45 minutes.

I sure am glad I learned to run when I was young. It makes it so much easier now.  Thanks coach!

At the state cross country championships.

Valentine's Activewear Wish List

Dear husband,

If you want to get me something for Valentines Day, here are a few ideas:

Werkshop leggings in heart prints

If I taught fitness, this is what I'd wear Feb. 14.


S'well water bottle in hearts

They have a whole Valentine's collection. I also like the pink bikini bottle.

I do need a new water bottle. I lost two in the last four months.

Carbon 38 also has a Valentine's Day edit full of hearts, red and SEXY activewear pieces.

Splits 59 also has some cute heart leggings.

And I could use a new purse (the handle broke), this pink Vera Bradley bag is lovely.

And I'm sure I'll see a few more Valentine's Day promos in my emails in the coming days.

Is there any activewear you want for Valentine's Day? Or just chocolate?

Blue Ridge Flying Trapeze Part 2

Today was another 2.5 hour drive up to Blue Ridge for flying trapeze. The weather was in the 60s and I finally talked a friend into coming with me. The drive was definitely better with a friend.

Ashlynn working on her layout.

The trip was also better with tunes. My CD player broke in June and my husband installed a new CD player the night before. This was the first time I've had an iPod hookup in my care. It was awesome. It was like a radio station with all of my favorite songs. LOVE.

Nerdy Girl's Guide to VPL: Visible Panty Lines

So many women make such a big deal about Visible Panty Lines.

I have better things to worry about. My next fitness class. If I have clean socks. If the dog is up to date on his vaccines. If I paid the water bill.

Sure, I don't want to see the entire outline of your panties, down to where the cotton gusset starts when I'm behind you at barre*. If I can see a shadow of an outline—I don't care.

Good for you for wearing underwear! (*this has happened. The see-through lavender leggings weren't helping this new mom. Dark leggings are always my recommendation.)

I'd rather see that than your hot pink thong. (And I see way too many of those at barre.)

Thongs are the devil. They were really popular when I was in high school. In college, I tried to be sexy and tried thongs. I thought they were the worst thing ever. They are uncomfortable and don't support you. They increase your risk of urinary tract infections and yeast infections. 

Even doctors think thongs are a bad idea.

Ladies, most of you don't need to wear pants so tight that you can see your underwear. Some fabric does show panty lines. Wear a long tank if it bothers you. Try out seamless underwear if you want.

And yes, wear the right underwear.

“Cotton undergarments are the best due to their breathability,” explains Melissa Goist, MD, an ob/gyn at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Synthetic fabrics tend to hold onto moisture, possibly causing skin irritation.”

Though cotton is likely your gyno’s first choice in fabric, it sometimes lays lumpy and bumpy under your clothes. But fear not, there are close runner-ups. “Panties made of things like polyester, nylon, Lycra or Spandex sometimes have more stretch and lay nicer under clothing and still come with that cotton crotch,” adds Melissa Piliang, MD, a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

—From Health.com

But basically, no one cares about your panty lines other than you. Spend your time and money on something else. Maybe pants that aren't see through, or are quality enough that this won't be an issue.

You still shouldn't wear red panties under a white skirt, but if you're wearing reasonable underwear under reasonable clothes I just don't see what the problem is.

If you're that incensed that someone is wearing cotton Victoria Secret hipsters under her lulu, then look away.

WOMEN SHOULDN'T BE JUDGING OTHER WOMEN on whether or not they can see panty lines.

Handstand progress

I've been working on a handstand for forever. (A year and a half.)

I started doing handstands at the trampoline gym and circuit training class. That progressed to wall handstands and gymnastics classes and finally taking a handstand class.

Progress is slow but I'm getting there.

My husband snapped this one of my at gymnastics tonight.
1. Straight up and down. (I tend to tilt my hips and not form a line. Or arch my back)
2. Toes pointed
3. My hands might be a tad wide, but it's okay
4. My head might be a tad out.
5.. Fingers are tented.
I'll take it. I can tell the difference between my handstand now and last summer. 

The goal is a 10 second hold. This picture was like a 2 second hold. I have more 5 second holds now.
I've got a better idea where my balance point is and more holds and fewer junk handstands. (Still plenty of those.)

I still need to work on
• Really squeezing my quads and butt to straighten my handstand out
• Entries. Getting me head between my arms and not out.
• Holding longer. Finding that balance point and holding it—instead of kicking up too hard and falling over.

Super happy about my progress on handstands and hope to be able to hold it longer each month.

Goal: Practice at home.
I don't have a lot of space to practice in my townhouse, so I take a Sunday handstand class and Wednesday gymnastics. That's twice a week. If I can get a few handstands in at my house or at the student gym, I think I'll make more progress. I've really just been doing them once a week and that's not enough.

(What I wore: Glyder Mosiac crop and Athleta PR tank. I like tanks with built in bras that won't come up like a loose tank might for gymnastics. )

Bonus: My husband came with me to my adult tumbling class tonight  :) It was awesome. He had a blast. He said "that was a lot of fun for $10. They have all the toys. You can pick want you want to do. And there are coaches around to help you do it." He wanted to play on the bars. So Robert worked with him on basic bar work. I think he wants to do a kip.

We walked on the balance beams. I showed him the cheese wheel for back handsprings. We played on the tumble track. He played on the parallel bars and had a bar set up for him on the floor.

Lesson: You're never too old for gymnastics. (My husband is 35.) And it is fun!

Unintentional mud run

I haven't run a trail in a month. It's been too cold. (I have asthma and cold air constricts my air ways.)

It was over 60 degrees today, so I decided to try a trail run. I sped home, changed in a hurry (wished I had packed running clothes), sped over to the botanical garden, did a too quick stretch and then hit the trails.

Only it was muddy. Really muddy. I forgot that it had rained recently.

I kept running around the trails, trying to go around the mud puddles and do some fancy footwork when I did have to step in the mud. Then I got to my favorite part of the trail—the flat sandy part by the river and it was swamp. There was no trail to run on.

I think the massive rains from a few weeks ago overflowed the river onto the trail. There was only mud.

I looked at that swamp. And was grateful I had worn my oldest shoes. I then turned around and ran back the way I came.

I ran back to the start and to the hilly white trail. It was not rained out. I got 30 minutes in. Super slow, but it was still nice to run on a trail and not 30 laps around the indoor track dodging and weaving oblivious walkers.

Observations:
• Saw a deer at dusk. Said hi. Deer said not to talk to it.
• A squirrel jumped out and scared the bejeezus out of me. Seriously this happens a few times every time I run here. !

When I got home, I spent about 20 minutes cleaning my shoes before the mud could dry. I paid too much for my Asics for one mud run to ruin them. I still have some miles in them and want them to last as long as possible.

Cleaning my shoes splattered mud on my neon shirt. This mud did not come out in the wash. I'll try again.

What's in your gym bag?

I'm not sure what's in your gym bag....but my gym bag has a bottle of water and....a cat?

Maybe he wants to try the elliptical at the gym?

(He jumped in the bag. He loves to see if he will fit in small spaces.)