We now return to our regularly scheduled program

I've needed to get back to a workout routine since, ah, the baby was born, but I've been finding it difficult. It shouldn't be. We have a gym in our house. On our lower floor is what what was probably meant as a bedroom, but one tucked far away from all the other daily living and sleeping spaces in the house. With the full bathroom across the hall, it may have been intended by the builder to be a guest space, but because it's next to the basement, we decided to convert it to our gym. We have a lot of equipment that in our old house was in the unfinished basement, a dark, damp and loveless space that we were looking forward to escaping. So when we moved into this house, we repainted that secluded room, replaced the carpeting with a rubber floor and installed our treadmill, free weights (power rack, lat machine, seated calf raise, dumbbell and plate racks) and the rest of our accessories. Best of all, we hung a television and DVD player on the wall, in clear view of the treadmill.*

Originally, the free weights were mine (go figure) and the treadmill was the Hubster's, but as it's hard to mountain bike during bad weather or with a child, I eventually came around to the idea that running was great cardio. Plus, it gave me the chance to watch DVDs of television series I loved, something I would normally not take the time to sit down and do (although I own quite a few series). A few years ago, after running through the seasons of Northern Exposure**, I started on Firefly. I was a die hard Joss Whedon fan, but for some reason had never caught more than 15 minutes of it while it was on the air (add me to one of the many people to blame for the show's cancellation). As I watched an episode per run, I fell head over heels in love with the series, but after only half of its single season, I stopped running and working out due to my pregnancy quest and fertility meds. So I also stopped watching Firefly as an inducement to get me back to the gym as soon as possible.

Two years later, I'm back.


When I started running again a few weeks ago, I pulled out my old running journal (the ubiquitous steno pad) and noticed that, other than one 30-minute session of walking last summer, it had been a bloody long time since I'd run at all. It had been so long I had to re-learn how to program the treadmill. And there were more obstacles to a successful workout than just that.


Seriously, the Hubster has been running amidst this? I told him that this was further proof that men do not care about aesthetics and without women they would all live in houses with plywood floors, unpainted drywall and lawn furniture. His response? "That's not true. I'm not the one who started using the gym as a storage space for a Christmas tree and all those other decorations and shit."

I couldn't bear maneuvering around that, but I want to be back in my usual sized clothing by summer's end, so I cleaned up. Then I started lifting and running again. Adding insult to injury is that when our treadmill is turned on, it has a question for you.

1 from Negative Lane on Vimeo.

It's been a couple of weeks now. I've finally finished Firefly. I think I like it better than Buffy, Angel, Dr. Horrible or Dollhouse. And I love those a lot. Also, the Hubster bought me Serenity on BluRay as part of my anniversary gift (which I made him watch already, even though he hasn't watched the series). My review? Wow.

It's good to be back. But with Firefly finished, what TV series should I watch next? I can rent just about anything from Netflix, but it's got to be something fast paced and compelling enough to hold my attention. I also like one hour shows best, because I usually run from 40 minutes to an hour, depending on my program that week. Any suggestions?



*Disclaimer: I absolutely do not watch TV when I lift, because lifting requires me to pay more attention to what I'm doing. If I don't stay focused, it's a crappy workout. But while running, focusing on TV helps get me in the zone (as lame as that expression is) and since I can program my treadmill, it does all the thinking for me.
**The greatest television show that ever was. Seriously.

Plateau. Mesa. Tableland. Butte. Oh, whatever.

So, about my postpartum weight loss... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Getting back into shape this time around has not been easy. After my first pregnancy, I experienced a fairly steady and easy return to my pre-pregnancy size and shape. By six weeks postpartum, I was in non-maternity clothes, by twelve, when I returned to work, I was in my "fat" clothes (one size up from usual). I don't remember, but if I had to guess, I'd say I was in my normal clothes by the time the Monkeyboy was four, maybe five months old tops.

This time, at nearly six months postpartum, I'm still not in my fat clothes. I lost weight steadily at first and at my six week checkup I was at the exact same point I was six weeks after my first pregnancy. I thought I was going to be treated once again to a fun ride on Jen's Quick and Easy Lose the Baby Weight Experience* But since then, I haven't lost any weight. I've held steady at just-slightly-too-fat-for-fat-clothes weight. (Meaning I had to endure the torture of purchasing new, larger clothes in order to return to work this fall in something other than pajamas or sweatpants).

I'm really not justified in complaining, though. I haven't done anything about it. My weight loss plan has been merely to stop being pregnant. Obviously, this laissez faire attitude isn't going to work. I need to do something to kick my metabolism in the metaphoric ass, thereby slimming my literal one. Somehow, I'm going to have to carve the time out of my days to start running and lifting again, which I haven't done since the summer of '07 when I stopped exercising during my medicated cycles and never started up again.

Truth be told, I miss exercising. Since I do it alone, it has a meditative quality. Sometimes I use the time to watch DVDs of television series, either favorites I'm rewatching or new series I've borrowed from Netflix. Either way it gives me a chance to do something merely for my own enjoyment. As toddlers like to say, all by myself.

The most challenging part of this... well, challenge, is going to be finding the time. If I can do that, everything else should work itself out. (Go ahead, groan at the pun. I couldn't help myself).

*Disney's been trying to get me to sell them this ride for their theme parks, but I'm holding out for more money.

Why I Like Mountain Biking Gloves Better Than Gardening Gloves

Because they have a little patch of terry cloth to wipe your sweaty forehead with.

Firefly

I needed a change from my usual Northern Exposure episodes that I watch while I run on the treadmill, so I asked The Hubster to put Joss Whedon's single-season (canceled) TV show Firefly into his Netflix queue.

I'm addicted.

There's just something about the worlds created by Joss that draw me in. I was a late-comer to Buffy, maybe starting to watch around season three, but became a die hard fan almost immediately. Angel, of course, I jumped on as soon as it started, already being invested in Buffy as I was. I admit I did abandon Angel after a few seasons, but like so many others, returned once Buffy was canceled. (Actually, I returned before Buffy was canceled, because I wanted to watch all the cross-over episodes of the last season). I have stayed faithful to both through their current re-run schedules.

Firefly has drawn me in from the first episode. I love the snappy dialogue (although I have to watch it with the sub-titles on so I can catch it all over the drone of the treadmill).

It's bittersweet that there's only one season. On the one hand, there's no false promise of "more" and then a shocking and disappointing cancellation. But then, there's just no promise of more at all.

In Training for the Boston Marathon

No, not really. But wouldn't that be cool?

What I am doing is running, three to four times a week, on the treadmill in my home gym while watching DVDs of Northern Exposure.

There's a phenomenon that makes it feel 20 degrees warmer than it really is when you run. (Or actually, that you should dress as if it is 20 degrees warmer because you warm up as you run). That means that even though our basement is usually about 62 degrees, we still have a ceiling fan and two tower fans in the gym. I've actually seen the room temperature climb (we have an atomic clock with a digital thermometer) by several degrees as I run. I know the human body generates heat, but it still surprised me.

Running Woman

I fell off the exercise wagon last month while caring for a sick child (three days spent on the couch doing nothing but cuddling, watching Jack's Big Music Show and administering Pedialyte one teaspoon at a time). As of April, I had to start over with my goal of no less than three days a week.

It's helped that I finally figured out how to program the treadmill so I don't have to adjust speed and incline throughout my run.

I'm following the graduated program in one of The Hubster's books, where the ratio of walking to running is adjusted up each week, until you're running for 30 minutes (or should that be stated, the ratio of running to walking?). It also focuses on running for time, not distance, at the beginning of the program. It's what I've always used to get back to running and it works well for me.

Here's hoping I'm back to running 30-45 a day minutes by the beginning of summer.

Back at it

I am trying to commit to a work out schedule to get ready for the summer bike season. Since the baby, it's been sort of hit-or-miss. I might be dedicated for a period of weeks and then just... stop. Adding to the challenge is that my elbow -- I think it's tendonitis -- is still bothering me. I probably do need to make an appointment with my orthopedist, but I've been putting it off. I think it's going to be like the carpal tunnel/ulnar neuropathy of my pregnancy: there was nothing that would be done. I really think he'll just tell me to rest it. Hard to do when there's a 25-pound sack of potatoes that needs to be picked up all the time.

So instead of lifting, I have to contend myself with walking/running on the treadmill. And as the weather gets better and I get my gear in order, I'm hoping to be able to hit the bike trail. That means I need to get the Monkey a helmet and hope that he'll tolerate riding in a bike trailer. Again, the skeptic in me surfaces: Somehow I doubt it.

But I've decided that since this whole return to fitness thing essentially coincided with the beginning of the month (actually, the day before), the goal is to do work out in some fashion three days a week minimum. If I do that for at least a month, I can buy myself this poster for my gym that I've been wanting for a while now. I've been wanting to get it since I was really into lifting about three years ago.

I already have the "Growing Old is Not for Sissies" posters. This will complete the gym "art," except for maybe a few mirrors at some point.