Due to my tendonitis, I decided to stop running for at least two weeks, and today marks the end of those two weeks, and although I still do not feel healthy enough to run, I have been enjoying my time at the gym, and I have been spending between an hour and a half to two hours at the gym. So here is what I have learned!
1. Cardio always uses the posterior tibial tendon: On the first day that I was at the gym and not running, I used the rowing machine, and I used the elliptical, and my tendon started to bother me on the rowing machine, which I was not expecting, because it is nothing like running, and then it persisted through the elliptical, so I decided not to do either of those anymore. Jumping rope in between sets also seemed to start to bother it, so I basically eliminated all cardio except for 10 minutes of Jacob’s Ladder at the end.
2. I do not miss running as much as I thought: Running is the best, and I do want to run again, but man do I look forward to going to the gym every day and getting stronger. It is really just replacing one addiction with another one, which I do not think is healthy, but it is the way life goes. Just like squeezing running into the schedule stresses me out, it stresses me out now thinking about my schedule changing, so I will have to move quicker at the gym to make sure that I get everything in, but when I think about running, it no longer makes me crazy.
3. 10 minutes on Jacob’s Ladder is better than 10 on the treadmill: One big boost is that the ten minutes I do on Jacob’s Ladder usually fly by. The whole body is being used, and where rhythm is important for running, it is even more important for Jacob’s Ladder. If the arms and legs get off set, it is so hard to get back on track, you must skip an arm movement, and that messes with balance. It happened often when I first started it, but now that I have been doing it for almost two weeks now, I am able to stay consistent, and if something does go wrong, I now am able to fix it quicker, although it still is not the easiest. The first like seven times I did it, I kept setting personal records for my ten minute segments as I got better at staying in the grove.
4. I started craving protein: Right before I moved in December, I decided to go back to eating a normal amount of meat, like during dinner, and occasionally at school for lunch. This turned out to be a good decision with the transition to weightlifting, and it made me realize how little protein I was eating. I ate a lot of beans and other protein veggies, but besides a serving or two of meat on the weekend, I was basically plant based, and protein powder. It feels good to eat more meat again though, and I want to eat so much more of it right when I finish working out.
5. Protein is more expensive than veggies: The only problem with eating more meat is that it is so expensive! It is like seven dollars for a pound, whereas a pack of protein veggies is a little over three dollars. So I opted for the cheaper option, which is eggs, but the issue is eggs are higher in fat than chicken breast or turkey breast, but nothing is perfect. I also started drinking regular milk again, because almond milk has little to no protein, and also milk is cheaper than almond milk, but with inflation, they are closer to the same price than they used to be. I also started just having a protein smoothie for breakfast instead of oatmeal to cut out the smallest amount of carbs. I still eat a ton. In the original Mean Girls, one girl asks Regina if she wants to go eat Taco Bell, because she was sad, and she said no because she was on a carb only diet, which sounds amazing! (Had to make one movie reference)
6. I do not eat as much pizza: Not running as much has limited my pizza intake. I have not been having a weekly Thursday pizza. I do not think my stomach could take that. I still split one once a week with my dad, but that is very different from eating a whole one by myself. I do still have pizza once a week at school too, but I have been more mindful about how many squares I eat, and that should have been happening when I was running anyways, because when I would run after eating the pizza, I would always feel awful. My pizza consumption really is about to go down though because I am starting student teaching today, so no more free school pizza. It is depressing.
7. When you are skinny muscle builds up easy: After years of running thousands of miles, the muscle on my upper body slowly disintegrated, which was fine. It mostly was not needed, but the cool thing is that the muscle definition comes back pretty quickly, especially if that becomes the sole focus of the exercise, not cardio anymore. I am not saying that I have put on a ton of muscle or anything, but in the two weeks that I have not been running, I have gained a little over five pounds, and I can promise you that it is not from fat.
8. It is easier to make friends running than in the gym: I do miss my friends though. It is a lot easier to go to a group of runners and just start talking to someone on the journey, and even more so when you know just about everyone in the group. At the gym, I think it would be weird if I just went up and asked someone to workout next to them and then follow them around the gym. One guy at the gym did finally talk to me, so I have had a conversation, but I still cannot say that I have a friend, which also means I need to be cognizant of how much I am lifting, because I will not have a spot. The guy told me that he thinks I am the only one that uses Jacob’s Ladder, and I think he is right. I do not know why though, because it is fun and a whole body workout.
9. The gym is not as intimidating as I thought: The first couple days I went into the gym, I was a little worried. I had not been to a gym that you pay to go to before. The closest I had been to that before was my gym in college, which was filled with a variety of people, and I thought that due to this being a smaller gym than like a Planet Fitness, it might be more intimidating with more serious people, but it is not too bad. It is never too busy, and although the people that come are mostly very muscular dudes, I am just as welcome as anyone else. It is like running, just because you are not super speedy does not mean you cannot run, and just because you are not strong does not mean that you should not be in a gym. I am just waiting to get back to being able to bench press 135.
10. Spicy Food Still Hurts: One big perk of not running is being able to eat spicy food, or at least being more willing to eat spicy food again. When I am running the last thing, I want to do is take a spicy bathroom stop, so I basically ignore spicy foods for the most part, or I keep it pretty mild, so this has been a welcomed change. I do love spicy food. I have also been eating way less fiber because I switched from my mostly veggie protein, and so this has been a welcome change for my stomach as well, but the spicy food does still cause havoc.
So overall, I have greatly enjoyed my time at the gym, and I have seen some solid initial progress. I am still taking my running rehab very seriously, and Boston will be here quickly, which is stressful, but until I am ready to run, I will be working hard in the gym.
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