Suffering for what I love

I took this picture of my left foot this morning.

Big toenail is slowly coming apart and falling off (it keeps catching on things so I've been clipping it down in an obviously haphazard fashion). Second toenail is easing off the nailbed, thankfully in a single piece. Third toenail has already fallen off; new toenail growing in.

These are all badges of honor from marathon day in November. Throughout all the weeks of training, I didn't do any damage to my toenails. In fact, I hadn't had any trouble with them at all since the first time I trained for a half marathon, in 2007. I lost four toenails after completing that one.

After doing so much more training -- for two additional half marathons plus the full -- without a single lost nail, I thought the first time had been a rite of passage and I'd never deal with toenail trouble again.

But apparently 26.2 miles were more than my toenails could bear. 20 miles? No problem. 26.2? Off come the nails.

Just a tiny example of the many ways running has changed me.

How much lean body mass is enough?

SAJ's obsession with lean body mass got me thinking.

The whole reason we started our 16-week weight training is because she discovered, at her most recent body fat test, that she'd lost a quarter of a pound of lean body mass over the course of a year.

Yes, you read that correctly: over 12 months, SAJ lost a one fourth of a pound of muscle. Same as the amount of meat (I use that term loosely) in the popular McDonald's burger. Doesn't seem like a lot to fret over, does it? Unless you consider that she'd been working out a ton and changed her whole diet around while thinking that she was on her way to more muscle mass, not less. Losing anything, even a quarter of a pound, must have felt a bit like a smack in the face.

I've never really considered how much muscle I want to have on my body. I've really been focused on how much fat I've got, and how much I want to take off. Five years ago, when I first started exercising, I was completely focused on fat (and weight) loss. It's safe to say that I was only working out so I could eat a bit more while continuing to drop pounds. Exercise was a total means to an end for me.

Obviously, now it's completely different. Exercise is the means as well as the end -- with a fantastic side benefit that it helps me stay slim. If I gain a few pounds, I don't necessarily address it with exercise anymore (I can't really fit any more workouts into my life); instead, I start strategizing about how I'm eating and how it relates to my workouts.

Anyway, when I was first embracing exercise, I had one of those half-assed body fat caliper tests that trainers provide in a lot of gyms. Not very accurate, but it gave me a sense of what my body fat percentage was. Did it even cross my mind to consider the inverse -- what my percentage of lean body mass was? Not at all. I just wanted to know about the fat.

Fast forward five years, and I'm suddenly less concerned with fat and more interested in muscle. Perhaps that's because my percentage of body fat feels manageable to me. Or perhaps it's because SAJ has me all fired up about the importance of lean body mass -- let's call it LBM from now on -- and how it can benefit us as recreational athletes. (I'm embarrassed to call myself an athlete in any way; not sure if it helped to put "recreational" in front of it or not.)

Finally getting to the point of this post, I realized recently that I didn't know how much LBM was ideal for me. SAJ kept talking about the importance of 100 pounds of LBM -- but I had no idea what that number was based on. So I asked her.

Turns out she was referencing a formula, which I'll post a link to here:

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/devine.htm

Uh oh. I just re-read the page. The formula isn't about ideal LBM, it's about ideal total weight. (Pause while I email SAJ to tell her about the misunderstanding, and to look around for info about ideal LBM.)

OK, I can't find a single online source that talks about ideal LBM in terms of pounds. Instead, it's all about percentages. And here's where I can finally say something definitive:

"When in ideal shape, body fat will make up about 15% - 18% of a male's body weight and 18% - 22% of a female's."

Here's where I found it:

http://www.air-water-nutrition-healthsmart.com/metabolic/bodyfat.htm

This, at least, gives me something to work toward. My body fat percentage is currently 23.1. I'd like to get it down to 22% so I can fit within the range listed above. At 22% fat, I'd have 78% LBM. At my current weight, that would translate to just about 125 pounds of LBM. Right now I've got 123.

So, after a lot of rigamarole, my official goal is to add 2 pounds of LBM during this 16 weeks of weight training. Ideally, without increasing my total weight. In fact, I'd love to drop 5 pounds.

How to do that? Other than following the program, eating right is going to have a lot to do with it. Since this post is already long and complicated enough, I'll save nutrition for the next one.

TRX is super cool

Check it out:

http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/

This site covers a bunch of info about TRX suspension training -- which is defined as leveraged bodyweight exercise. Kits are available at a range of prices from $200 to $300. And apparently, you can attach them to a variety of anchors -- fences, posts, trees, playground equipment, you name it.

I kind of want one.

The 16-week plan

I posted about this earlier and included a link, but here's a writeup of the plan SAJ and I are following right now.

Day 1: chest, biceps, calves

Curls with dumbbells

Curls with bar

Standing calf raises

Bench press

Day 2: back, triceps, hamstrings

Military press

Shrugs

Overhead tricep extension

Lat pulldowns

Hamstring curls

Day 3: chest, calves, shoulders

Standing calf raises

Pec fly

Front arm raises

Side arm raises

Incline bench press

Day 4: quads, triceps, back, biceps

Quad extensions

Tricep extensions with rope

Reverse pushups

Tricep press with bar (close grip)

Pullups

As I said, the program is divided into four 4-week sections. For the first section, you do 5 sets of 18-20 reps of each exercise, at weights that are somewhat light -- but heavy enough for you to feel fatigue at the end of the set.

The second section is 4 sets of 15 reps, with weights that are heavy enough to cause grimacing at the end of the set.

The third is 3 sets of 10 reps, with weights that are so heavy that the last rep is literally all you can manage. If you feel like you can handle more, you should add weight.

Last section is 2 sets of 5-8 reps, with every single rep feeling extremely difficult. SAJ and I are going to have a good time with that one, grimacing and groaning and spotting each other!

The website says that you should start the program all over again at the end of the 16 weeks ... I'm not sure if either one of us will be up for that. Gaining a good chunk of lean muscle mass might help sway me, though.

We're now in week 5 of the program and there's already a significant different in the amount of weight I'm lifting. I've increased my amounts in nearly every exercise -- and I'm guessing I'll have upped every one of them by the time we get to the end of this week. I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can take it. Although I always smirk at people (mostly men) who flex in front of the mirrors at the gym, I have to confess that I like seeing defined muscle on my body when I'm lifting weights. Now if I could only get some of that definition on upper legs ... a girl can dream.

Return of the weekly roundup

Oh, it's been so long! But since I've changed up my workout routine so thoroughly, I thought a roundup might be in order. Here we go!

Monday, February 1:

Day 1 weights

40 minutes on the elliptical trainer in zone 1 (approx. 120 bpm)

I'm going to list the weight routine in a separate post, so that's all I have to say about this for now.

Tuesday, February 2:

Day 2 weights

3-mile run (easy) plus 20 minutes on the elliptical in zone 1

And by "easy," I don't mean, "I'm such a running star that 3 miles is easy as pie." What I mean is that I ran 3 miles at an easy pace -- i.e., not pushing myself so hard that I keep wondering when I can finally frickin' stop.

Wednesday, February 3:

Day 3 weights

40-minute tempo run

Man, those tempo runs are killers! I can't remember the official formula for what constitutes a tempo run. I'm just telling myself that I need to get my heart rate to 165 and hold it in that general area until the run is over. If I slip down to 162 or so, I increase my speed. If I notice that I'm at 169, I slow it down. Either way, these are truly exhausting, ass-kicking runs. Why am I subjecting myself to them, you ask? Because they're called for on the intermediate half marathon training schedule that SAJ passed along to me. And you know I always do whatever she says.

Here's some happy news: I ran 4.14 miles during that 40-minute tempo run. Yes, that's below a 10-minute mile! Since I am a lady who was working on accepting a 12-minute mile pace just a few short months ago, the fact that I'm suddenly able to cut that pace by a full two minutes (and some change) per mile has me totally blown away. Now I want to see how much faster I can go!

As a bonus on this day, I tried out a new class at my gym. It's called TRX and it's based around some tricky straps that allow you to use your own body weight for resistance. Since I'd already run my brisk 4 miles and completed a weightlifting session, I was pretty wiped out before the class even began. But I did learn a few things and would consider trying TRX again after our 16 weeks of bossy weight training are over. More on TRX in a separate post.

Thursday, February 4:

Rest

I've been trying to take Saturdays as rest days so I can enjoy a full day of happy family time ... but I just couldn't face the gym again so soon after Wednesday's killer workout. I was so fatigued and sore that I decided to jump the gun on the rest, and I think the rest of the week was friendlier to me as a result.

Friday, February 5:

Day 4 weights

4-mile run

Back at it. Weights felt good but the running was hard: my legs seemed to be filled with wet cement. I dragged myself through the 4 miles in 44 minutes. A few months ago, this would have been cause for celebration. But now that I've gotten used to being a bit more speedy, I was a little embarrassed by my 11-minute miles.

Saturday, February 6:

3-mile run (pace)

Plus 1.5 times walking around Green Lake

Hooray! Even though I felt like I was slogging along at a dismal pace, I was able to complete my 3 miles in 30 minutes. Is my 10-minute mile the new 12-minute mile, like 40 is the new 30 (but in reverse)?

I haven't been running at Green Lake in months, not since the very early days of marathon training last fall. And one thing I noticed straight away is that it's no longer guaranteed that every single runner is going to pass me by. In fact, I even passed a few folks myself. That was hugely gratifying, I must say. I used to tell myself that it was good for my ego to have other runners pass me -- that it helped me learn that running is about competing with no one but my own self. But now that I've gotten a little taste of what it feels like to be faster than a few people (admittedly, the slowest runners out there), I can only say that I WANT MORE! What a hypocrite.

I also didn't set out intending to walk around the lake another one and a half times after running it. But it was a lovely day, so why not? I did the first chunk with a friend as part of a rally in support of the school levy vote taking place this week; the second chunk with a different friend who drove all the way from Woodinville to meet me. Funny enough, my body hurts more after walking than it does after running ... I always get a stiff back.

Sunday, February 7:

10k run, race pace

OK, not entirely race pace. For this run, I met up with a group of women that SAJ has introduced me to. My understanding was that we were going to go full out (well, full out for me -- most of them are stronger and faster runners than I am, so they were probably planning on regular old runs). But I realized soon after we got started -- and I was trotting up the street at a good clip ahead of them -- that they were aiming for a pace that was slower than I anticipated.

I ended up having mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I was relieved. It was nice to have an easier Sunday run than I had planned on. On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed. Although I felt apprehensive about doing a 10k at race pace, I was excited to see how quickly I could get it done. I was looking forward to feeling like I'd pushed myself hard the whole time. As it was, I ended up having a nice, chatty run with a great group of women.

The icing on the cake? I finished faster than I thought I'd be able to, chatting and slower pace notwithstanding. I was hoping to run the distance in 64 minutes (a bit more than 10-minute miles). I'd come up with that goal the night before, thinking that I might not be able to sustain my new, faster pace for 6.2 miles. Instead, when I checked my watch after reaching the golden 6.2 mile mark, I saw that I'd finished in 62 minutes: 10-minute miles exactly. Wahoo!

(A confession here: we did have a couple stops along the way -- at crosswalks and water fountains, stuff like that. I stopped my timer during these small breaks, so my 62-minute time reflects only the minutes I was in motion. I don't know if I could have finished that quickly if I'd been moving the whole time, since the stops gave me a chance to catch my breath a bit.)

And a last note: I felt so much joy during this group run, I can't even tell you. Running along with this group of fit women, I suddenly realized in a new way that I have become a fit woman myself. I don't stick out like a sore thumb with these athletes. I'm not a bumbling fatty, stumbling along behind, huffing and puffing and dropping out after a miserable mile. I can keep up with them! I fit in! So many times I've admired other women as they jogged past me, looking so strong ... and now I'm strong myself. It really is heavenly, and I just want to get stronger.

Oh how I love this book about running and writing

Because it's so much more than that ... in my mind, it's a totally Buddhist way of looking at them both. I don't know if the writer is Buddhist or not but he has what I think of as a totally Japanese perspective on the world. (Fortunately he is Japanese so that makes sense and I'm not being inappropriate.)

I was so moved at several points while reading this book that I wanted to set it down and write a letter to the author exclaiming about how he seemed to be speaking directly to me. I didn't, because I read it on the elliptical machine at the gym -- but that doesn't mean I won't.

I'm not the kind of writer that he is, obviously, but the beautiful parallels he drew between running and writing were so inspirational to me ... they make me want to try writing something with more depth and intention than what I've attempted before. Plus, I loved his spirituality and acceptance of the ways things are. He writes at several points about growing older and feeling at peace with a decrease in endurance/performance while running. He likens it to pouring water in a pail that has a hole in the bottom. Then, near the end of the book, he points out that even if he is pouring water into a pail with a hole at the bottom, the strength and intent of the effort remain -- even if the water does not. Oh, profound!

I want to buy this book for every person I know who runs and engages in any kind of creative endeavor. Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/What-Talk-About-When-Running/dp/0307269191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265162732&sr=1-1

23.1

That's my percentage of body fat according to the test I had done last week.

I actually like to look at the flip side of that number: if 23.1% of my body is made of fat, that means over 76% is made of good stuff like muscles, bones and organs.

Overall, I'm happy with that number. At just over 23%, I'm in pretty good shape. Here's a link to a chart that lists different percentages and what they indicate -- with a caveat that there are all kinds of charts online with a decent amount of variance about what the percentages indicate. This one seemed pretty middle of the road.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php

So I'm right in there in the realm of "fitness." That's a huge step forward from where I would have been five years ago, when I first started working out.

But I can't help it, I'd like to get my percentage down a bit. Maybe not all way into the "athlete" zone of 20% or less ... I don't think I could get there without making serious and long-term changes in my diet and, as I've proven before, that's something I don't do well.

I'd definitely like to get where SAJ is: 22%. Can this 16-week weight training program make a dent in that extra percentage point? Like I said before, time will tell.

16 weeks to more lean muscle

So, here's the plan SAJ and I have been doing:

http://www.startinglinechrisgarrett.com/increaseleanbodymass

The 16 weeks are broken into four equal segments, each calling for four days per week of weightlifting. That's an increase for me ... even when I wasn't training for a marathon, I was generally lifting weights three times a week. Four times is really unusual for me.

On each of the four days, we work a few different muscle groups. The exercises and muscle groups remain constant throughout the entire 16-week program. What changes is the number of sets/reps and how much weight we're lifting.

The beginning of the program calls for 5 sets of 18-20 reps, all at relatively low weights. Then, as the weeks progress, it gradually does the inverse. By the end, it calls for just 2 sets of 5-8 reps, at much heavier weights. I'll be curious to find out if I can see any difference in myself when we're through -- although I'm planning to get a body fat percentage test as soon as possible after we wrap up, and then I'll really know. I'm tempted to do before/after pictures but worried that would be weird ...

So, we're now in the fourth week of the first segment. Things are going well. We've gotten used to the individual exercises and we've been able to increase the amount of weight we're lifting on most of them. I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say that we're looking forward to next week, when we decrease the sets/reps and increase the weight. It will be a nice change of pace, for one thing, and it will also be good to spend a little less time on exercise. I do love working out but I've been spending at least two hours at the gym on weight-training days since we started this program. Fortunately I've had the time but I've been ignoring some other stuff and it will be nice to get back to it.

Will I be a ripply musclebound 42-year-old mom 12 weeks from now? Time will tell ...

The next phase

Hmm, that little break turned out to be a lot longer than I'd anticipated. I'm not even going to try to get up to date on the weekly roundups except to say that I continued to bumble along for the rest of December and into early January ... aiming for 6 days per week of exercise and sometimes getting there, but not pushing myself super hard.

Then the breath of fresh air known as SuperAthlete J (SAJ) returned from her 6-week holiday (yes, you read it right) in Australia and we were off and running -- literally and figuratively. We immediately embarked on a 16-week weight training plan that she'd read about: it's supposedly guaranteed to increase lean muscle mass. I'll include the specifics and a link to it in another posting.

At the same time, we also started training for the Mercer Island Half Marathon in March.

http://www.mercerislandhalf.com/index.html

Sounds like a cakewalk after training for a full marathon, doesn't it? Not quite. This time, at SAJ's urging, we're doing the intermediate plan instead of the novice. The main difference between the plans, in my estimation, is speedwork. We're doing lots of tempo and pace runs -- pushing ourselves a lot harder than we ordinarily would -- and the intervals are really challenging: they involve escalating numbers of quarter-mile sprints as the training calendar progresses.

Whew! But you know, so far it's really fun. I came out of December feeling a bit flabby and uninspired ... now I'm completely back to the gung ho. It's pretty fantastic.