Recently in Health & Wellness Category

This year my vegetable garden has taken on a different look. The grapes vines I planted the year before came out like mad this year along with the raspberry bushes. I tried to build some structure for the grapes to grow over and still may get a trellis. The artichoke plant that overran a huge part of the garden last year is gone replaced with its smaller runt cousin.

The collards are looking hearty, along with my Armenian cucumbers and one of my zucchini plants. Beans & peas didn't come up as I wanted so I may replant some more. My Okra wasn't doing great so I planted another plant in a different part of the garden and that plant seems to have stabilized.

Overall I have a promising looking garden plus an ultrasonic pest deterrent device I picked up because of the rodent issue I had last year in my garden. Take a look and hope your garden does well if you have one!

I have been getting back into my work outs in fits & spurts so I re-examined my approach and mentality as I always do with all areas of my life to find the reason for the inconsistent effort.

Well one of the largest issues but not the only issue for sure is that I haven't been keeping true to my extensive stretching routines as I used to! I started sliding off of my stretching in part because my body doesn't feel as beat up after a run like it did before I started running in the VFF's (Vibram Five Fingers). Since my back and legs weren't beat up I wasn't as dedicated to my stretching especially after the runs and actually before the runs the stretching activities were half assed!

Well I am back into my stretching routine where I stretch without taking shortcuts before the run]workout after the workout and prior to going to bed whether I worked out or not. Today this was very important since I had a hard gym workout last night along with a nice stroll on the treadmill after hitting the weights & abs.

Besides the stretching I need to be more dedicated to hitting push ups, leg raises, crunches & trunk twists after my runs. My runs are plodding right now when I do back to backs but I feel the body ready to move forward to shed weight and firm up. Man I have been through this enough times I shouldn't let myself get in this shape anymore.

One of the things I read that made me re-examine is this article from Active.com which helped me realize I wasn't doing my all:
http://www.active.com/running/Articles/A-Full-Body-Strength-Workout-for-Better-Runs.htm?cmp=291&memberid=105296370&lyrisid=22276275

Well I wasn't feeling great and needed to get out and wanted some fresh but hot air so in the late afternoon here in Sacramento this past Sunday so I went and bought a fishing license and headed to the American River parkway, to of course fish the American River from the banks.

I took my special fanny pack with lures, a couple of select poles and for some reason my large tackle box and my KSO VFF's (Vibram Five Fingers). I have been so busy with so much lately I realized I hadn't been out on trails fishing with my VFF's. I took the KSO's instead of the Flows since it was hot and I still needs to wash all of my VFF's and I generally like to wear the Flows without my Injinji toe socks in warm weather. I wore the socks with my KSO's to prevent the after funk. I just really need to remember to wash these things.

Anyway the KSO's felt so nice on the dirt trails even on the sharp rocks next to the raised train tracks while uncomfortable I didn't have to worry about my ankle turning on the uneven surfaces. I really liked the way I was able to get to those special casting spots by crawling on fallen tree trunks, soft dirt outcrops jutting into the river without the usual foot sliding due to not getting a grip.

 I really love how I was able to stand on a thin strip of dirt right next to the water beneath tree roots, keep my balance while casting in all the directions I wanted without getting into an unbalanced stance.

Walking back past all of the oak trees, wid licorice smelling plants on the horse trail felt great on my KSO's. I will definitely be taking out the VFF's on the trails fishing a lot more now.Come to think of it I think the VFF's are intended for this type of outdoor activity on trails and climbing not just the running I have been using them for.

Seems like I'm still adjusting my stride to be more efficient when running in my Vibram Five Fingers. I found myself today consciously making sure I was putting my feet down and picking them up quicker and also  not leaning but but running more upright. The results were that I felt even better than normal after the run!

  Just a bit ago I came back from another run in the rain. I clipped my toenails, put some lotion on my feet, threw on my Vibram Flows then headed out the door into a nice 4 mile run.

 

  I had on some shorts that went down to my knees and a long sleeved t-shirt I got from last year's Natomas May Day run and over that a water proof windbreaker, topped off with a dark beanie cap.

 

  With the hot Sacramento weather about to pop out at any time I couldn't pass up an opportunity to run in some nice cool weather in the middle of the afternoon! A run in hot Sacramento at this time of the afternoon will be very tough when the temperatures start getting to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and above so I'm taking advantage!

 

   Hey it just feels very nice to get out and run in the rain with the fresh air and a bit of wind.

 

   I have to get back in shape!

I just got back from a nice run in the rain today about an hour ago after doing some work on my rental property. This little drizzle we had today is the perfect weather to click off a few miles especially if you are out of shape as I am. The wind is light the rain drops are very small, almost mist and the air is cool & fresh as you can get around heavy street activity. Today I ran with my Vibram Five Finger Flows without socks of course and they felt warm and comfy. This was my normal 4 miles course.

Well I never start out wanting to do a slow run but it was a nice grind and a good start to get back on track. After last night's work out on the weights followed by some treadmill work lack of a consistent workout and being on the edge of being sick with little sleep the last couple of weeks a slow run should have been anticipated.

I have been alternately on the road, under the weather, injured and busy with projects interrupting my workouts. Well its time to get Darryl Hoytt busy again on the work outs and it started tonight!

Been falling behind in my posts about running and Vibram five Finger KSO's, and I'm here to report the runs have been going well even with my gardening and other home projects and getting used to another schedule!

I have been running intervals and as stated earlier that put a new type of stress on the calves and I think I'm finally almost out of the discomfiture that caused mostly.

The thing about it running shorter interval distances trying for speed really gets you up on your toes and the balls of your feet more than the 5k's & 10k's. Especially once you wind down to doing anything under 400 meters! Being on your toes and forefront of your feet really stretch calves and ligaments in a way not used before in the typical running shoe circa now!

I also strange enough noticed that with the VFF's (Vibram Five Fingers) my toe nails are growing out! Let me explain.

I was on the back end of doing the end of my interval workouts a week or two ago and I noticed as I got up on my toes I felt a weird pulling sensation as my feet gripped the ground, my toe nails!

Before in umm ... ahem what passes for normal running shoes my toe nails took a beating and rarely grew out especially the toes right next to my big toe which are the same length and maybe a tad longer than my big toe. In fact my toes right next to the big daddy toe always had crunched up bloody looking toe nails that were about 1/8^th of an inch thick.

This is the first time I could ever recall having intact regular sized toe nails that weren't, half off or mutant looking. Another unexpected benefit of running in VFF's barefoot minimalist style!

Next up is a 10k this coming Sunday at the first annual Natomas Mayday run here in Sacramento California right here in my neighborhood utilizing part of my normal road course. How exciting!

Anyway her is the link to the run Sunday: http://www.natomasmaydayrun.org/

I'm signed up and not totally in the shape I want but ready to go come on out and join us and run part of my course!

Going to be cruising in my VFF KSO's on this run as well of course!

Oh yes in case you are confused even though I have discomfort getting used to the VFF's it is well worth it my running has become more efficient and the only discomfort are a little getting used to the calves doing the job they were meant to do

Wow its late for me time to go to bed!

Finally able to get some pictures of my vegetable and flower gardens.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Celebrate Earth Day with our Gardening Projects (craftzine.com)
• Gardening week ahead: Tips for beginners (telegraph.co.uk)
• Getting the garden going (ckenb.blogspot.com)
• Is It Time For That Home Garden Yet? (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• DIYnetwork.com Provides Top 10 Spring Gardening Rules (eon.businesswire.com)