Vibrams: Start Small

Boyfriend#1 started the whole Vibram thing as men tend to do. He read about them on a apparently really up-to-date blog and showed me the article right away. It was this very informative one.
I was actually very interested, too but not in the mood to spend a lot of money (which I do not possess) for shoes (which I may never use). But it all made very much sense indeed.
Then boyfriend#1 is apparently richer than I am (though I am not quite convinced yet) and not as stingy he got to try them out first. The day they got deliverd he wore them in his apartment and felt fine. The next day he said he wanted to try them running and worked a little circuit of 10km. He went to bed happy though with a slight muscle pain in his calves.
He couldn't get up the morning after. And the morning after, and the morning after. I laughed my head of but he really had severe problems to get even to the loo. I confess that I pittied him a bit. Who could have known...
Well, at least now I know. He highly recommended to start with only 5km for a maximum. I started with 8mins (two kilometres maximum). Then I did 12mins the day after. Today I made the whole of 16mins. Maybe I get crazy with 30mins tomorrow. But we'll see. I really don't want to end up in such a pain. I'll have that after the marathon anyway.
On the other hand it would be so much fun to run the marathon in Vibrams. But I guess that is a bit short notice as we only have a month's training left. Therefore, the marathon in Vibrams will mean so much pain that I won't be able to work for a whole week. Who will pay for all the food I usually consume after this long a distance??
Would have really been so much fun to watch people's faces. Probably, I wouldn't have even noticed the first 20km. On the other hand, I can do that in a couple of months still. :)

Running Rat Became Entertainer

You can see her shows almost daily in a small park in a German town called Leipzig. Most people there believe her obviously to be hilarious. You can see it in their faces as she runs by with her stoic face looking at her watch from time to time. 

But why is she so funny? She is wearing ordinary running clothes: black running pants, a white cap, sometimes a pink shirt which may be out of the ordinary to one or the other - but in general... 

But wait! What's that on her feet?? You have never seen that before!

They are called Vibrams and are believed to be the new trend in sports and health. I (and most peope around me) admitt that they do look, well, let's call it special. A runner wearing them looks even more special to grandmas and grandpas in the park and to the average uneducated park runner. 

Just a couple of minutes ago people stared at me as if I was from a different galaxy. 

However, it is kind of fun to watch people's reactions. I could hardly  refrain from laughing as I watched their faces. 

Not even one of the runners held his hand up to greet me as it is usual around here. They all stared at my feet and probably had severe thoughts about me having escaped the nuthouse.

Therefore, I am still quite relieved that I only run a couple of minutes a day to get used to these shoes. Why you should better start small I'll tell you very soon. 

Passing Exams and Marathon?!

Oh my, I am really registered at this marathon in April and actually do neither feel fit nor motivated. Maybe you know exam times when you do not even have time for a single day to relax (or to train). I feel quite burnt out, don't want to study anymore (at least not daily). I would prefer anything to English literature, essay writing and translations.

But I will make this exam! And do you know why? Because I want it. I made an affirmation. And I have a strong motivator: I want to start my first real job finally, have my own place to live and save for fabulous trips around the world (though that kind of collides with my wish for a dog). There you have it. If you look for me, I am studying.
On Wednesday everything is over (at least for a couple of weeks) then training starts again!! And I'll make the marathon as well.


pic by drexel.edu

HIT it!

Do you know these desperate times? Times when you have no idea how to handle your life? Times when you don't have time for friends or a relationship, not to speak of hobbies? I just have a time like that. It is awful. I study most of my day and have to work the rest of it to earn at least a little bit of money.
And the Leipzig Marathon is comming up! Only 47 days to train but no time at all. And I want to improve my time of course. I need to run the 42,2 km under four hours this time. I'll lose my self-esteem otherwise.


So, thanks to boyfriend#1 here is the solution for all this: HIT. Of course you can use hit also as a running training. I'll try for the next two weaks at least. Of course you'll never make a marathon with skipping the long runs altogether. But with HIT you can save a lot of time and improve your performance. See also here.


Then, let's try it. I'll keep you updated on this.

Futher Thoughts to Intermittend Fasting

Maybe I said it already. I love the concept of intermittend fasting! 

That brought me the idea I might try a thirty day trial. One day I faste until noon, the next I don't. This is really a nice thing. 

I felt wonderful about a week in a row. The pros were: I did't get all these aggressions when I can't run for a while. I usually begin to bug all people around me then by being either whiny or grumpy. I feel very clearly that I have to much energy in me then.

But I also bug myself then by being kind of unsettled sitting anywhere for a longer time.

Moreover, me - the never satisfied running rat - have a time in the day when I don't eat. This is very new. The only time I didn't eat before IF was while sleeping. And I really mean that. I practically ate the whole day through and dropped asleep when I stopped. 

Now that I don't have the time to run very much as it is winter and I need to study I was gaining weight each day. I rather lose weight with IF and a bit of training. Though I really hope it is not muscle weight I lose. 

But after a while there became more and more cons manifest: I felt light-headed and dizzy. Also, I was thirsty. Always. I could hardly schlepp all my drinks with me for some hours' work in the library. And I drank too much coffee, especially cappuccino. Then there was the heart-racing sometimes. I also prefered eating choci absoultely over anything healthy. And I just quit this bad habit. I don't want to start all over again.

And all those things happend though a drank a lot of juices, too. So there actually was 500kcal calorie income. But maybe this is simply not enough for a running rat.

Therefore, I cut back on fasting days again. I guess I'll do a lighter variation with fasting once or twice a week depending on the amount of kilometres I ran. I guess that might be healthier, too.

Intermittend Fasting

I did it. A fasted for about 24 hours. Actually not on Sunday because I was kind of hung over and needed vitamins desperately. 

Eventually, I succeeded to fast from Sunday afternoon to Monday. It wasn't really that bad. I thought it might get ugly but it didn't. 

I assumed that my mood would drop during the day and that I wouldn't be able to concentrate on my studies but that was not the case. 

Actually, my mood was perfectly fine and concentration even better than usual. Maybe that was because I didn't have to think about food, choci and sweets all the time? I also felt light as a feather and didn't have this annoying rumble in my stomach which I usually have when sitting too long and eating too much.

There were some annoying things, though: First, the drowsiness on Monday morning so that I needed a cup of coffee eventually. Therefore, it was not a perfect fast but much better than nothing. Some fruit juice was a nice breakfast and kept me from the worst starving feeling.  

Second, I had those really loud collywobbles after having the second tiny coffee. This was kind of embarrassing in the very quiet reading room of the library but I needed something warm in my stomach (apparently they don't sell tea there).But I suppose that was only because my stomach is not used to fast.

Third, my heart raced again and again for some time. This might have been due to the coffee, though. I also have to add that I drank about three litres of water, tea and juice only on monday morning until lunch. So whenever you plan to fast better take a couple of liquids whereever you go.

Monday afternoon I ate again. A little wrap with vegetables for a start. It made me feel kind of nauseous first. Should I have strated with something else? It could hardly have been too much because it was really a teeny tiny thing. I should do some research on that issue. By the way: of course I ate the whole evening afterwards. But I think, that's how it's supposed to work. I never ate a whole day's amount of food then but felt absolutely satisfied by some greens (and some choci).

In conclusion, I must say that I think I'll need some practise. If I can avoid the coffee and drink more tea instead I guess that my heart won't race. And I also think that I won't feel nauseous anymore. I'll stick with it for 30 days. Intermittend fasting is my thing!

Actually, my clothes feel bigger already... 

Old and New Issues

I found myself thinking that  it's really time for news here!

So in short (before I have to get back to studying) the topics I deal with recently:

1. Dark Chocolate Trial
I still stick to my just-very-dark-chocolate-trial (most of the time). 
First, I gave it up after the 30 day trial. Actually, I gave myself a couple days to eat all the choci-stuff there is. I consumed huge amounts. What it brought was a rash on the skin of my hip. First, it was only one side, then it was both. It wasn't really itchy but it also didn't look nice and when I left the milkchoci alone the rash left me alone, too. 
Running rat's mum made similar observations by the by. Of course, you can state now that this is probably a family issue but on the other hand it could as well have been a general body sign which may differ from person to person.

2. Gaining Weight  
I'm still getting fat sitting on my bud all day (I also get insanely intellectual but who cares?). As a consequence, I still look for possibilities to intervene. Unfortunately, sport is not really in the question as I simply cannot afford daily hours on running. 
Then I stumpled upon fasting again. I'm not really good with eating nothing for a longer period (as probably everybody else) but then I found a compromise! It's name is Intermittend Fasting. Not that it is an entirely new concept but now it has a name and a certain structure. You do it willingly and it shall help keeping you healthy (and slim). You can read about the benefits on wiki. Boyfriend#1 and me will start trying out tomorrow.

3. Sleep 
I wanted to write an article about sleep for ages already. I still haven't. But then boyfriend#1's sleeping issues made me aware again how gifted I must be. I usually sleep within seconds. 
So if you have sleep issues you probably want to do something about them. You'll soon be able to read an article about all the details here. 
In the meantime some very short advice: 
Skip coffee. Get up early, like at 6am - go to bed early, like at 10pm. Get a sleeping routine for your nights (like drinking tea and reading some book). Don't watch TV directly before you go to bed. Switch also your computer off early. Dim the lights directly before you go to bed and make sure that the room in which you sleep is really dark (and quiet of course) after you switched off your reading light. 
If you didn't know already: There are certain devices to track you sleep which also might help you if you have sleep issues. 
Believe me, with about 8-9 hours sleep a night you'll will feel much more rested, fresh and energetic.
I used to need naps during the day. But now that I have a daily routine (get up early, go to the library, sleep very early) I even sleep better than I used to (though I really rather have being-awake-issues than falling-asleep-issues). And my concentration span is longer, too.

4. Job Search
I still haven't got a new job. Though I'd really love to work for amazon if I can make it happen!


Now that was the short update. I'll post a longer one soon.