The Sick Zone

For the past few days our apartment has been a sick zone and it felt like all I could do was empty tissue boxes.

My attempt to rid myself of my cold on Thursday with a run did not work. In fact I ended up losing my voice and taking two more days of mostly rest. Maybe what I needed was an IGP.

I took a walk on Friday morning to test my energy level (so low I decided to skip Pilates), but I did enjoy the sights on the walk.

Beyond daily planking, the only other thing I did was bake. I finally had all the ingredients to make Buffalo Chicken Quinoa (recipe here), one of my all time favorite meals (and gluten free).

Today I woke feeling like my cold had taken a turn and all I could think about was running. All the virtual cheering I did for my ZOOMA friends who ran the Cape Cod race really had me itching to go.

To make sure I didn't do too much, I ran intervals. It was a much better run than my last one:
1. I was feeling better
2. the weather was cooler
3. it was earlier (no sun).

Before I knew it, I had run nearly 4 miles.

I'm going to take it easy the rest of the day and share this little video of an epic sendoff my old school gave to a student (link).

1,200 high school students and staff come together to give a 21-year-old student aging out of the special-ed program an epic, sweet sendoff.
Posted by ABC News on Friday, September 25, 2015

I love GOOD news like this. Let's keep it going. Tell me something you've seen or heard recently!

Sniffles, Smoothies, and some Running

I came home from my #treadmilltuesday progression run feeling all happy and then went down with a head cold.

SNAP!

Just like that I was drinking Emergen-C, skipping Wednesday yoga, and sipping smoothies because my throat felt like it was on fire!

I literally spent the day sleeping and watching episodes from season 1 of The Good Wife. Good show. I don't know why I didn't watch it before.

I woke up today feeling a bit better, definitely not sick enough to miss SWIC running group. Plus, I thought it would help to sweat a little. I should have looked more closely at the weather app. That feel like temperature is a killer. And the sun...I struggled.

So yes, it was a very tough run. Heat, humidity, and a head cold. And it's good that I went because it was only two of us today. Ironically, two New Englanders running in China :)

Post run and planking, I went for a nice cold smoothie. Main ingredients today: blueberries, raspberries, almond milk, protein, flaxseed, kale and greek yogurt. With a side of GF Rice Chex. I finally got my hands on some. It's only the second time I've seen it sold here, so I bought two boxes. I love munching on them.

I spent the rest of the day using up all the kleenex in the apartment while wish-listing for some new gear.

Loving these long roga shorts...good for running, but great for hiking too.

and these chi extra long tanks...any color would be ok.

How does a cold affect your fitness?
Favorite smoothie ingredients or snack?

Treadmill Tuesday: Progression Run

I saw this on Facebook and it describes exactly how I feel any day that I don't run.

It was even worse yesterday when a red rainfall warning cancelled the weekly SWIC hike and schools too. The warning says that enough rain has fallen to flood the streets making it dangerous to be out, even in cars.

After taking the day off from fitness, I was really looking forward to today's run. Tuesdays mean SWIC coffee at the Hilton. I don't mind chatting with friends and having a snack before heading upstairs to the fitness center.

A lot of runners use progression runs to increase their overall speed. I like them because they help me increase my endurance. I always have a better run when I start off at a comfortable pace in the beginning and slowly increase.

Here's how my progression looked today.

Treadmills make progression runs easy for me and I'm feeling really good about this one.

Other things making me happy today:

Swimming. The best way to cool off.

Very large Fuji apples. My favorite.

SWIC Running Group becomes official.

Finding good ideas for post run snacks.

How do you feel on rest days?
Do you use progression runs in your training?
What's making you happy today?

Yoga and Running with Friends

Even though I was tired, I stayed busy this weekend.

On Saturday, I was thinking about skipping yoga until my friend texted me that she was going to go too. I took it as a sign that I was meant to go to yoga. Isn't it funny how things work out that way?

It was another Hatha class with the same instructor, but much easier than the first one I took. It was still challenging, for ME, but not as hard. If you've ever been to a yoga class, you probably know what I mean.

Today I met up with two friends for #SundayRunday. There's always a nice view of the marina.

The humidity is back, but we still laced up and got out there for a nice and easy 3.5 miles. It feels really good to finish a tough run.

Keeping the promise to myself, I planked after my run. Some days it is harder to do this than others. Today was one of those days,

I spent the afternoon shopping and came home with a little present for my feet. This brand new pair of Skechers GOwalk2 Super Breathe are like pillows on my feet. I can't wait to try them out on the SWIC hike tomorrow.

How was your weekend?
Have you ever tried Skechers?

Exploring on Foot: Shenzhen International Garden & Flower Expo Park

My trips with the SWIC hiking group lead to a Fitbit party on my arm quickly!

You can tell by my Fitbit stats (which are still sorted by US time) that I was up about 6AM and then walking with the hiking group between 9-12.

Today we explored the Shenzhen International Garden & Flower Expo Park. The park was created for the expo in 2004, but is still open to the public and free. We walked around almost all of it. 

Here's a glimpse of some of the interesting things we saw.

Near the end we spotted these. Not sure what they are called but it looked like the idea was to walk across them. It looked difficult and like it would be a serious leg workout!

What part of the day are you most active? 

What's the strangest piece of fitness equipment you've ever seen in a park?