Still here! Winter Fitness Update

Hey everyone! Thanks for tagging along with my Zero to Hero series! It’s been so fun looking back on the highs and lows of being a college cross country runner, but I am going to take a pause on that to fill y’all in on what I’ve currently been up to. We still have lots to talk about in Zero to Hero, with the heat of the series yet to come (my collegiate cross country career didn’t end in a very traditional manner) so get ready for my next posts.

It has been a little difficult to start my post about why I abruptly terminated my time as a college athlete, especially now so that all of my other teammates just got their final track/beach volleyball seasons cut short due to COVID-19.

Where have I been?

I got two words: Spring Semester

As a 4th year college student/kinda senior/kinda junior, my schedule ~~has been~~ was hectic! I am only taking four courses, however, Exercise Physiology (and it’s lab) have been taking up all of my free time. If you ever have the chance to take exercise physiology or continuing units in integrative physiology, metabolism, or similar, I highly recommend it! This course is definitely challenging, however the most rewarding and applicable to my training. I’ve been feeling a little lost finding my specialty in the Health and Exercise Science major, and now that I’ve found exercise physiology, I am constantly wanting to learn more! If you’ve had a exercise class in college or heard a really cool lecture in the field, I want to hear about it! Let’s hear you comment!

The lectures in exercise physiology have been full of energy expenditure, metabolism, and energy production, but the labs have put these numbers into a real feeling.

And what exactly is that feeling?

Exhaustion, nausea, and MAJOR head pain.

Last month I was the test subject for a Wingate Test, and let me tell you, it is not my cup of tea as a distance runner. The Wingate Test is traditionally used to test Anaerobic power– so see how powerful you are in a sprint, dynamic lift, ice skating, etc. Not endurance. However, as I rarely do speed work (oops), my body is more favorable to my Type I Slow twitch muscle fibers. Although genetics dictate the primary distribution of muscle fibers, the type of activity you do also has some say in the predominate fibers you will have.

So here I am, a distance runner doing a anaerobic power test. It was PAINFUL. Not only was it painful, I was slow! In the test, an athlete reaches maximum speed within 10 seconds of beginning a sprint on a stationary bike and then releases 10% worth body weight resistance to the bike fly wheel and must sprint as hard as possible for 30 seconds. Most people reach at least a maximal speed of 160RPMs, should be easy right? I could only get to 156 RPMs, and get this, I hit that number at the END of my sprint. Not only did I fail to reach maximal speed until the end of the 30 second interval, I maintained roughly that speed for the entire sprint.

Me vs. the more anaerobic trained athlete (maybe a little dramatic on their peak power, but you get the point). At 10 seconds, the weight is dropped increasing resistance on the bike, and ultimately power to move it.

After this experience, I realized I am truly not a sprinter. Low and slow is what I’m here for.

Life hit hard

Right before COVID-19 came out of center field and tackled us all, I was beyond busy. I was working close to a full time schedule which primarily consisted of night closing shifts, my classes were heating up, I had interviews for three different jobs, and I was going through a breakup. Not a fun time. I’ll admit, I’m normally the type to avoid conflict, but in the case of my ex boyfriend, it ate me alive. My nails weren’t growing, I constantly felt nauseous, and my academic performance was suffering.

But then COVID-19 hit. I was newly single, finally making valuable connections in all of my labs, and felt like I knew what I was doing and where I was going. Then every plan I had for the rest of my year got cancelled, much like everyone else’s. I no longer see my clients, lab group, or friends that keep me sane. I teach fitness classes online now and have to make up data for my exercise physiology experiments as I do not have a Parvo machine lying around my home.

Thankfully, to push past the madness in the world, I’ve still been able to do what I love, run.

Fun Runs

In Colorado, spring is here, and it is the one thing holding me together during the current times. We are lucky to have our trails open (As of April 1st they still are at least!) and have had almost perfect weather. So, below you will find images from some of my spring runs, long and short, that have boosted my morale.

I am so lucky to live in a city with such developed bike and running trails! This photo was taken on a 10miler where I combined the trail with some foothills dirt trails and then some road running. I’ve only scratched the surface of trail possibilities in this city and I can’t wait to run more of them! This was taken on the Spring Creek Trail in Fort Collins which connects to multiple other paved bike/walk ways to bring the town together.

Not so scenic: In order to avoid bringing back my hamstring tendonitis, I have been continuing my physical therapy exercise and incorporating them into my warm ups. This is probably the least favorite part of my run, but I try to enjoy it by playing my favorite tunes and think about the route I am running that day.

I spend my non-running days staying active hiking….and trying not to fall off my hikes. Or at least pretending to. I think I’m funny at least.

I drove north a little bit to hit up some new trails to run and had a trail running/picnic. It’s nice to escape during these times.

Quarantine Foods

It has been extremely difficult for me to avoid snacking and baking, but I’ve been having some foods that make the times so much better!

Caprese Salad

Veggie Pizza

I’m going to start off by saying that this pizza was sort of a fail. Being at home makes me want pizza so I figured I’d just make one of my usual homemade veggie pizzas– simple enough. Except every single grocery store in my area was out of flour when I was looking for ingredients. But then I saw a gluten free pizza dough base where you just add egg, water, olive oil, and yeast. What could go wrong? The dough was so sticky I began adding the extra flour in my pantry to attempt to thicken the dough, but once my resources were exhausted, I had to paint the dough onto the pizza pan because it was still too sticky to roll out. From there, I added a pasta sauce, fresh mozzarella pearls (love them!), cherry tomatos, mushroom, bell pepper, pesto, and spinach (the spinach burnt, I’m not happy about it). And it turns out, that wet pizza dough inflated like a balloon in the oven, so I ended up with an undercooked, not really gluten free pizza. Can’t win them all, but I still ate it all!

Takeout

Stay strong

During this time, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless, but I have found going with the flow to be key in keeping myself sane. I give myself time to do work, go on my runs, go on walks/self care, relaxation, and leave time for cooking. Keeping balance in my life gives me something to control, and I encourage you to find what you control and use it as a strength.

And you know what you can control? EXERCISE! Keep in mind that for ample immune system benefits you need at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise per day. So, get out there and get those 30 minutes in today!

Thanks for taking time to catch up with me and I promise for the next Zero to Hero installment to happen VERY soon!