Last year, my friend Susan developed a fracture in one of her cervical vertebrae, and she had to take a break from all exercise.  She couldn’t lift her arm above shoulder level until she went through months of physical therapy.  What caused this injury?  Running on a treadmill.

More specifically, my friend liked to read novels while running, and she held the book open with one hand on the treadmill rail.  This put enough pressure on her spine to eventually break one of its protective bones.

Many people hold onto the rail while running on a treadmill, but it’s dangerous. Perhaps you hold on because you’re worried about falling.  If so, slow down until you feel comfortable running without the rail.  Then gradually increase your speed.  In case you do fall, use the safety cord of the treadmill, which will stop the belt so that your skin isn’t sandpapered away.

Treadmills can be useful equipment to keep you exercising in the cold, dark days of winter, but like all exercise equipment, they should be used properly to reduce the risk of serious injury.

theskinnyveg:

We’ve decided to try vegetarian stew with dumplings (I’m 99% sure we’re going to fail this one, haha) and also no bake energy bites!

http://fooddoodles.com/2012/01/10/vegetarian-stew-with-dumplings/ http://nofrieskinnythighs.tumblr.com/post/10458141120 

Gonna be making these within the next two days. I’ll let you know how it goes and if I burn the house down.

That vegetarian stew with dumplings looked so good, I decided to make it for dinner last night.  It was amazing (and perfect comfort food for my cold and the nasty rainy weather)!  Thanks for sharing it.

Yes, I’m skipping weeks 2 and 3 for now; I’d rather work on the same thing as everyone else, but I’ll catch up by doing an extra week each week.

WEEK FOUR CHALLENGES:

• As soon as you can, find a partner on these challenge forums. I’m making an official buddy thread where you can all meet up. I’d suggest keeping the communications inside the thread rather than the dialog system so we can all see who’s still in need of a partner. Once you guys have connected, start with the dialogs and I would even suggest trading emails/FB info so you can stay in touch more readily.

1. Since I’m not officially enrolled in the challenge, this might be difficult.  Does anyone want to be my accountability buddy?  It doesn’t have to be fitness-related, if you have something else you’re focusing on.

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I’m a bit late to the party, so I figure I’ll do 2 weeks a week (the current one plus one I missed) until I catch up.  I figure it’s best to start at the beginning, so here’s week 1.

WEEK ONE CHALLENGES:

Write down five quantifiable goals for yourself. Emphasis on quantifiable. And they must be realistically achievable within one month (more on this below the challenges).

1. Finish reading “Dubliners” by James Joyce (part of my “read 12 classics from around the world in 2012” resolution), and pick out a relatively short/easy book for February (probably from South America, Africa, or Australia).
2. Increase my writing, starting with 15 minutes per day and working my way up to 1 hour per day (on average).
3. Improve my eye health through exercises; practice 15 minutes 3 times per week.
4. Improve my fitness, especially my knee.  Increase running (or walking) to 4-5 days per week.  Increase strength training (at least the knee exercises) to 2-3 times per week.  Stretch after every run, walk, and strength-training session.  Do dynamic stretching every morning.
5. Get into the habit of goal setting.  Spend 15 minutes each day (for this month) identifying long- and short- term goals in various areas, assigning completion dates, and then breaking them into quantifiable tasks and setting deadlines for the first steps for those I want to tackle immediately.  Each week, set goals for the week, and then each day, set 3 goals for that day.  (Yes, this seems like a recursive goal, but I want to live my life more mindfully, and getting into the habit of setting goals and deadlines will help me do that.)

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Looking back, I left Tumblr with excitement after completing an 8-miler.  I tried for nine not much later, using the same techniques, but had to stop partway and limp home (wearing shorts in freezing cold, no less — it was misery).  Okay, no problem, I’d just sign up for the 5-miler on November 5 (instead of the ten) and take it easy while I build up my no-knee-brace running.

Just after the 2-mile mark in the race, my knee was starting to be a bit sore, but I thought my pace was fine.  Suddenly, I felt a sharp spasm of pain.  No more running for me.  As I walked, I realized even walking wasn’t going to cut it.  The water station should be about halfway around, right?  So I should be close…

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Sami Stoner loved running, competing on her junior high cross country team.  However, in eighth grade, her vision started to worsen.  The diagnosis was the worst possible: Stargardt disease, a condition that would make Sami legally blind, though she retains some peripheral vision.

Sami was determined to continue running, however.  In high school, she started running with a guide who would warn her of roots and ruts.  However, her guide graduated last year, and Sami’s eyesight continued to worsen.  Fortunately, Sami was able to train with a guide dog named Chloe, and they soon learned how to run together.

When cross country season started, the state refused to let the pair compete, thinking it’d be too dangerous for them and for other runners on the course.  The decision was appealed, but Sami had to agree to start 20 seconds after all the other runners (though this time is not credited back to her at the end of the race), and she is not allowed to be a scoring competitor.  Sami and Chloe can pass other runners as long as they don’t impede them, and she can’t cross the finishing line with Chloe if the chute is too small.

Even with all these stipulations, Sami was eager to get back on the trail.  With Chloe, she has managed to drop nearly a minute from her PR — and that’s not accounting for the 20 seconds she loses at the start.

I found juggling high school classes and cross country practice challenging enough — and I wasn’t learning to adapt to being blind.  Sami Stoner’s indomitable spirit has kept her running.  That spirit promises her a bright future, on and off the trail.

theskinnyveg:

Here’s the swag:
-One magazine of your choice (Fitness related, of course! Up to $6.00, I must be able to find it at Barnes & Noble in the USA)
-A mix CD made by me (though it may end up being two [or more] because sometimes I just can’t stop myself!)
-A promo to my followers
-A headband in…

She has a pretty cool blog, with some good recipes and lots of motivational stuff.

theskinnyveg:

Join the newest fitblr directory and find new friends: http://thefitblrdirectory.tumblr.com/

I will choose (a minimum of) 10 tumblrs to promo from those who reblog this post. Must hit at least 100 reblogs (the more reblogs, the more I promo)!

I think I’ve finally figured out how to approach long runs.  Start slow.  Slower.  Slowest.  Start at the pace at which I’ve been finishing my long runs.  Run 1 minute, walk 1 minute.  Loosen the knee brace for the walks.

Of course this approach totally killed my pace, but I didn’t have the pressure-pain on my knee until 1:30:00 into the run (twice as long — which makes sense since I was wearing it half as much).  I even sped up my runs a bit on the last two miles, and got two 1-minute and one 15-second runs in without the knee brace at the end.  I wish I’d had the guts to switch over to 2-minute runs, 1-minute walks at 1 or 2 miles from the finish, but I was scared my knee would want to give up before the end.

Right now, I feel like I could run another 3 miles.  I definitely dialed back the pace a bit too far (it was over 14 minutes per mile).  But now I know that I can run over 6 miles and not have to limpwalk more than half the time for the additional miles.  Nine miler next weekend.  Now I’m pumped.

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses.  Or pick the pecans.

I came across these guys on my easy run Thursday, so I stopped to stuff my pockets (good thing it was cold enough for my fleece!).