Something has changed, for the better, but it kind of crept up on me

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Today's Run

Last week, on Thursday, I had set up my training schedule so I would only have to do a short 3 mile/30 minute run, in the interest of not overly stressing myself before the race. But when I hit that mark, I had no interest or desire to stop, it wasn't quite like I felt that I was just getting started, but I did still feel fresh and strong. So I kept running.

This has all crept up on me, but I have increased my minimum runs, now to run less than 4-5 miles doesn't feel like I have gotten very far. It's odd, and if you had told me a couple of years ago that I would be at the point where I considered a 5K race to be a short race I would have thought you were disturbed. But that is what is happening, I mean I am not a marathoner by any stretch, but I have reached the stage where 3 miles just doesn't feel like a huge number at all any more.

I know it's all a process, and if my goal is to run longer distances this will happen, and eventually I will reach a stage where today's 6 mile run feels like a short run. But to even think that, or to get my head around the idea that I will reach that point is great, but very strange.

The Classic 10K was a true #fitwinning moment for me

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Race review

That's 6.2 miles, just under 58 minutes! I am very proud of that number.

I was number 29 in my age group (40-44 year olds).

I felt real good the entire race, only slowed to a walk for a short hill towards the end. Kept up a good, comfortable pace, never felt like I was laboring at all. And pretty much spent most of the race passing people rather than getting passed, although that has as much to do with the fact that I usually start towards the back of the pack, let the super runners start at the front.

And I made sure to follow the prescribed things for post race: hydration, carbs, and a cold soak. So far no ill effects from the long race. Of course I had already cracked the 6 mile mark before so it wasn't like when I do that 10 mile run in 2 weeks, I knew I could make 6 miles.

My goal now is crank out a couple more 6 mile runs this week, try for at least 8 on Sunday, then see how next week goes. For now, I am very content with where I am, and very happy & proud of my race results.

New skill needed: learning to recover properly

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Today's Run

Good run, and walk today. Ran 4+ miles, then eased to a walk to avoid overdoing it, plus biological needs. My legs and knee felt fine during the run itself. And the more I thought about it, and really analyzed where the soreness came from Monday night and after the more I came to realize that it wasn't joint pain in the knee. Instead it was muscle soreness right at the top of my calf, and my lower hamstring. Probably a result of the long Sunday run which topped off a big week of more than 20 total miles.

Which brings me to the crucial point. I think I need to learn some better methods and tools for my recovery, particularly after these longer runs. Yes, part of it is just age, I know my muscles don't recover as fast as they used to (or at least I assume they would have if I had ever actually pushed them). But I figure there have to be some skills and strategies I can learn to minimize the soreness and speed up the recovery. So that's a new research project for me.

Focused on recovery before the race

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

For a while yesterday I was thinking of maybe running today. But when I got home last night, and my knee started acting up again I decided to just ice it, take some ibuprofen and focu on getting a good nights sleep. I am more confident that this is not just a result of all the kneeling Monday night, but more residual soreness from my long run Sunday. It always takes a day or so for the real soreness to kick in when I train hard. And that's what this appears to be. Of course all the kneeling didn't help, probably stressed it a little more than I should have. Bottom line, I don't think there's any damage, just muscle soreness, and I should be good to go on Saturday.

After more consideration I have determined that it is just not feasible for me to go wholy hog for the 4 hour body diet. Not when I am the only one in the house doing it. But I can follow the core ideas: Low carbs, low fat, no sugars. And after my races I will probably get back to the general calorie counting.  And I can change up some of my habits in the mean time. The biggest is breaking the diet soda habit. I am slowly working towards that. And in general we can focus on having more vegetables and less carbs at our meals in general as a good dietary ideal.

Tough evening tackling house projects led to poor sleep

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Last night what should have been a simple job or replacing the innards of a toilet ended up being a 2 hour ordeal. Most of which was spent sitting awkwardly or sitting on my knees. And my knees just can't do that as well any more, so by the time I went to bed my knee was killing me.

On top of that it was a very hot night, the bed room would simply not cool off. So I slept very poorly, unable to get a comfortable position for my knee and just way too hot. Around 2:30 I made the decision that I probably would not run, and when my alarm went off I went with that. Partially because I was exhausted which never leads to a good run. And I also wanted to let my knee recover, not wanting to risk damaging anything permanently so I couldn't run my race this weekend.

So here I am, relying on the caffeine of Diet cola, then Ice Tea to keep me functional at work. I figure that I can walk at lunch, and then run tomorrow and still be good for the race on Saturday. I want to be ready, but not exhausted on Saturday.

At the risk of a Jinx, I feel very ready for the race this weekend

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Sunday's Run

I was feeling frisky, and decided early on to push myself on this run. Even though my training schedule called for a 50 minute run (which would be around 5 miles) I chose to stretch it out. And ended up doing 7 miles! And I felt good, not completely wiped at the end of it. So, at the risk of jinxing myself, I feel ready for the 10K this coming weekend. The 10 mile race in 3 weeks? Well that I am not so sure. I figure that in the intervening weekend I will try to really stretch myself, go as far as I can. But I figure there's a good chance I will end up walking some of those 10 miles.

Diet

Had a couple of relaxed days, probably ate more than I should have on Friday/Saturday. But I sat down and made my modified weekly menu, which is maybe 80% 4 hour body diet, with some added carbs on my running days to help keep my energy up and maintain the fiber intake. Did my official Total Inches measurements and weight check Saturday morning, so we will see how this all really works. It is tinkering at this point, just trying to knock off a few more pounds and maybe drop some inches from my belly.

Much better, stronger run today, feeling more #fitwinning today

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Today was much better than Tuesday. Not that Tuesday was horrible in the grand scheme of things, I mean I made it to 5 miles, and if you had told me even a year ago that I would be irritated about how I finished a 5 mile run I would not have believed you. But there were 2 differences: got a better nights sleep, and ate a little differently yesterday (more on that in a bit). So today I was able to get to 5 miles under 50 minutes, and felt really good about it, could have kept running had I needed to.

I am confident that I will be ready for the 10K next weekend, and pretty confident that I will be able to handle the 10 mile in 3 weeks. And for the first time in a while I was really looking forward to today's run for some reason, not sure why, but I was excited about it, probably just eager to prove to myself that Tuesday was the aberration.

Diet

Well I have determined that the 4 Hour body diet is not for me, at least not 100%. Not because it wouldn't work, it would probably achieve exactly what I wanted. But I am starting to notice problems with my digestion. Things are not regular. And for a normal person they could probably deal with that for a couple of weeks. But given my diverticulosis, and my tendency to get blockages, and not wanting to repeat a trip to the ER, I need to change it up a bit. I just need a little more fiber than the diet provides, I thought that eating all those beans would take care of things, but they are not sufficient apparently.

So I will take elements of the diet, with it's emphasis on slow carbs, no sugars, and add in a little more whole grains. We'll see how that goes.

Running and #Fitwinning continue, tinkering with food again

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Sunday's Run

Good weekend. Saturday run and swim with the kids at the Y. Then had the energy to go home and do some much needed yard work, lots of weed whacking. Sunday I got in a good run (see above link). Returned to an old route, which featured an initial climb, then some downhill, then the rest of the run is gradual uphill. So the majority of the run was uphill. While I didn't rush to the end, I still did well, and doing runs like that on Sundays help overall for when I get to run downhill or mostly level races (like my upcoming 10K and 10 mile races.)

Diet plan

I have been reading Tim Ferriss' book the 4 hour body, and was intrigued enough to give his 4 Hour body diet a try.

The 4 Hour Body Diet

With any diet my biggest concern is will I get enough fiber? Followed by how hard will it be to maintain? The fiber concern is taken care by the predominance/reliance on beans (legumes). Because those are very high in fiber, so while I won't be taking in my whole grain breads etc. I will still get my fiber. After 2 days at home trying to stick with the diet I think I can stick with it, at least for the recommended period of time. It is definitely not a long term diet, it is intended to drop weight, reduce body fat%.

The reason I am tinkering is that I have been in a good pace for a while now, since I got out of the hospital I have kept generally in the same 5 pound range. But I want to try and reduce my belly some, and get my body fat percentage lower. My plan is to follow this diet for 1 week at first, see how I handle it. Then if I can, stick with it for the recommended 6 weeks, and then assuming I have reached my goals modify it to fit closer to something I can do on a regular diet.

Another week, another 7 mile run, plus kickball tonight, that's some #fitwinning!

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Today's Run

Another 7 mile run!

Another 1K plus calories burned!

How sweet that feels! Oh yeah, I could have run more at the end, but biological needs slowed me down (had to go potty real bad). And I did skip Tuesday's run, but that's okay in the long run. Because I feel good! And I could have run longer this morning had I not have to stop. I am feeling confident about that 10 mile run in August, and the half marathon, because I am getting stronger every week.

I changed up my route a little, ran up to Manitou, then ran down the Midland Trail. Had to get my feet wet when I got to the place where there was no bridge yet, but it is getting close to completion, and that's a fun route to add. Like I was telling my brother this weekend I avoid getting bored on my runs by taking different routes, varying things so it never feels like I am doing the same thing over and over. Because I think one of the dangers to keeping up with fitness is boredom, you have to keep doing different things to keep it fresh, in my case that means running different places and routes.

Good active #fitwinning weekend, no run today though

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

I had a good weekend: 2 runs, swimming on Saturday, dancing at the reception on Sunday, basketball and swimming on Monday. It felt good to be able to do all of that and not be over the top exhausted. However, I did not run today, due to exhaustion.

We got home late last night, and then Spotty decided that since she had been sleeping in her pen all day long that she wasn't tired. So she was up what felt like every 30 minutes. Not a good restful nights sleep at all, and combined with getting home so late anyway I decided to not try and run today.

But that's okay to do some times, I know I will work out tomorrow, then run Thursday as planned. And I will also get in some lunch time walks too.

I also did well as far as holding to decent eating habits over the weekend, despite irregular eating schedules, lots of snacking options, and other difficulties. Which I am pretty happy about.

I have come to one realization though after reading this article. I am going to have to kick my diet soda habit, in favor of unsweetened tea and other options. Because while I agree with one point that some of this is psychological, there could be a physiological issue that I need to address and resolve.

Experiment did not go way I expected, but still #fitwinning

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

This week I decided to try an experiment, what would happen if I just didn't record my calories for the week? Still eat like I normally do, good breakfasts etc, but no recording. Still do all of my workouts like I normally do.

I thought that since the intensity of my runs increased that I might end up with some weight loss, despite the fact that I did end up eating out a couple of times, but still did not overindulge, especially in the evenings. That was not the case, my weight went up a little (at this point I drift up and down over a roughly 3-4 pound range).

This tells me 2 things. First, what I think is reasonable eating may not be the case. Counting those calories really is a good hedge for me. Second, while my habits are better than they once were, they are not precisely where I want them.

The conclusion: get back to recording my calories and food, keep up with my workouts and running (not that I planned to stop either way.) And try to find some better alternatives for some of my snacks etc.