I hope that my posts inspire others, the way they inspire me #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

I have friends and family members out there struggling the same way that I have always struggled. I can only hope that my entries inspire them to keep up with the workouts and improved habits the way they inspire me. I do what I can outside of the blog. When one of my Facebook friends posts something about fitness I try to at least attach a 'Like' and if possible provide a positive comment. Well I do that for the ones that I know are or have struggled. I don't do as much for the few friends I have who are fitness fanatics, they don't really need encouragement any more.

Because, like anything else in life, positive feedback, no matter the source, is a good thing. And in a lot of ways that is what the blog is for me as well. It is my way of giving myself that feedback, and reminding myself how far I have come.

Although I still didn't get my full 6 days of workouts this week, I still feel real good about the week from an exercise perspective. I can feel the runs beginning to get longer and more productive, not dramatically so, but there is a progression and it is getting there. And best of all those increases have come without additional pain, which shows that the months of core focus were worth it. 

Once again running provides some needed stress relief #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

I have found myself under a lot of stress recently. Some 'real', some created. But it is all stress. Money issues, dog issues, family issues, recreational issues, they are all combining to make me a little grumpy and frustrated. 

Unfortunately, I have been letting that stress get to me in the form of letting my bad eating habits return. Fortunately I have generally not let it affect my exercise. I have kept up my running and other exercise for the most part. In fact those morning runs have really become my saving grace, some time alone to gather my thoughts and purge things at the beginning of the day.

I just need to push through some of the stuff, let it slide off me. And recognize when I am doing something I shouldn't, like getting that extra snack at night, or the second breakfast on the way to work, that I don't need that, it is the stress, and stop myself.

On the plus side, we had a great time at the race Saturday. Jimmy did very well. He has to learn to pace himself, he got ahead of me and was cruising for the first 2 miles, but then the pace wore him down and I had to help him finish the race, pausing to walk, jog real slow, keep talking to him and encouraging him. But he finished, both us around the 32-33 minute mark. I was real proud of him. 

I can always count on a good run to clear my mind & help destress #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

It has been a stressful week. We found out on Monday that we had to pay a large car repair bill on our remaining van. This on top of still having the old van that someone keeps promising to come and pick up, but never shows. And of course we still have Dottie, as we struggle to find her a good home and not just drop her off at the Humane Society.

But today I had my tempo run, and I crushed it again. I cheated a little and made certain that my run was mostly downhill, but still I held true to the pace, and finished my second mile under 19 minutes. 

This was especially gratifying because not only has it been a stressful week that I needed to clear from my brain. But since I changed my workout routine my legs were definitely feeling the additional mileage of 2 long walks, plus 2 decent evening walks with Spotty. But I am happy with how that worked out on Monday and Wednesday, it was much easier to get down and do those push ups and crunches after that walk then just trying to get into those cold.

Saturday Race

My first 5K of the season is this Saturday, my first race since my Half marathon. And to top that Jimmy is running with me! I am pretty excited about this. It's funny, because when I was about his age my mom and Stepfather at the time got into running and decreed that I should join them. And those were some pretty miserable times. Yeah, I was a chubby kid with no interest in physical activities so it was for my own good, but I really hated it. Which is one of the ironic points about my enjoying it so much now. But the really funny part is that Jimmy wants to run with me, and Danny says he does too (although that might change when we actually run.) I guess they see the joy I take in the running and want some of that, and also the chance for time with Daddy, as opposed to forced time. Still it is a little odd that that is so different from my own experiences.

I laugh in the face of the time change, no stopping my AM exercise! #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

No link for today's run as MiCoach was acting up so did not get accurate measurements, just know that I ran for more than 30 minutes, and by my map calculations ran more than over 3 miles at a good clip.

I made sure the time change did not affect my exercise schedule. I got out of bed at 5 yesterday, and 4:30 today. No dragging on either day, just got up and got the exercise done.

I didn't run Sunday, woke up with an upset stomach, and didn't feel up to chancing a run when I might have to dash into the closest bathroom every couple of minutes. But that was okay, I can miss once in a while without it being the end of the world, although it did feel strange to not get out there.

Also didn't do the last practice run with Jimmy, I got up early on Saturday and did my run, but was unable to get Jimmy out due to scheduling conflicts. I think he will be just fine on Saturday though, I just have to make sure he does the proper race prep as far as bathroom etc. and dresses properly. I am really looking forward to this.

Yesterday I started 2 new things. First, I got up and did a 30+ minute walk, with some sprints mixed in. I did my route with the really tough hills, and tried to sprint up those, with walking before and after. I have been working on doing that more, when I see a moderately tough hill I try to really push myself up it. I then got home and did my push ups & crunches, which were a lot easier than just trying to do them cold out of bed. 

I also got out and did a moderate walk with Spotty after dinner. With the time change I want to get back into the evening walk habit. And I know Spotty enjoys it, I will see how Dottie does tonight, just for practice if nothing else. 

Sunday afternoon we were hanging out outside, enjoying the nice weather and I think the kids are all closer to the age now where we can start doing more active weekend activities. And I think they are ready for some outside the house activities: walks, parks, hikes, possibly some bike rides.

Crushed today's run, plus some diet talk #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Today was a tempo run. Let me explain how that works. the Adidas MiCoach program has you test out to determine what you speeds are at a light jog, a run, fast run and full out max sprint, labeling these Blue, Green, Yellow and Red zones respectively. Most of my runs I spend the majority of the time in the Blue and Green zones. With the goal of trying to stay in that Green zone. Then on Tempo days I will have to spend time in the Yellow and occasionally Red zones. Well today I had the normal 5 minute warm up in blue zone, then 10 minutes in Yellow. That's a lot of time at that pace (that's a pace of 8:51 to 7:44 minute miles.) I wasn't sure how well I would do. Well I can say that I pretty much crushed it, I held pretty tight to that pace for the entire 10 minutes. So that made me pretty happy, a great way to start the day!

Diet

I have been trying something different the last couple of weeks. I had a realization a couple of weeks ago that since I normally eat breakfast between 6-7 AM and then have lunch at 12 I have a 5-6 hour gap between meals. Which is kind of a long time, and I get hungry. Which can cause me to eat a bigger lunch that I intend to. So I made a change, and started packing a small snack along with my lunch and afternoon snacks. That way I get a mid morning snack and soda, then lunch a couple of hours later. Then a mid afternoon snack and soda. And it is gradually making a difference in my appetite.

Change

Along with my revelation that I have become a 'runner' I realized something else this week. I have a hard time getting up for some simple calisthenics on my off days, I am more excited and used to getting up and going somewhere. So I have decided that starting next week I will add a short walk on those off days,then my other work outs, just to get the blood flowing.

Here's a truth I realized this morning: I am a runner now #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Today's Run

This morning I came to a realization, I really have become a 'runner'. Yesterday I was feeling tired and decided to sleep in and forego my off day workout. But you know what I don't do anymore? I don't just roll over and go back to sleep on my running days. I just get up, and get moving. 

I guess this has been the case for a while now, but the realization still caught me by surprise. On top of the waking up is the fact that on Saturday, even though my knee was still hurting from my fall on Thursday, there was no question I was going on my run, and the same applied on Sunday, even though I hadn't slept well Saturday night. I guess the real point when I should have realized this was the week before when I stepped outside into the blowing snow and wind and just kept right on going.

I don't really know where the tipping point was for this, probably some time last fall when I was dealing with the injuries but kept on running, or attempting to run. I had reached the point where not running was no longer an option.

This is pretty damn surprising considering the kind of person I was and the life I led for the first 40 some years. But I guess the old saw about not being too old to change is true. I guess the thing to do now is enjoy this change and just keep it up.

Earned a badge of honor this morning, or what happens when you run too fast in unfamiliar territory #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Today's run was a freebie, the day between training programs. So I decided to tackle my nemesis: the King Street hill. This is a roughly 2 mile route that goes uphill for most of the first mile, including 1 really steep hill. This hill is steep enough that cars avoid it when it is icy. Last summer at my peak conditioning I was able to run it all, so I figured that today was a good day to measure where I was at. I made it most of the way before having to walk. Then I had run the rest of the route, and decided I had time to add a little to my route. 

So I took off down a different road, downhill, and was going at a pretty good clip. When I found the crack in the sidewalk and gravity did the rest. Ouch! I fell mostly on my knees and shoulder, although I did hit my face hard enough to bend my glasses but no damage. I got myself up, walked a little then ran the short way home, rather than continuing my planned route. With as sore as my foot and knees were I figured that running more might not be a wise idea, plus it hurt. 

So I got home, did my customary crunches, and was doing my stretches when I realized that at least one of my knees was bloody. I took a look after my stretches and this is what I found:

Ouch!

So I am glad I took it easy after that. And glad that today was a freebie run anyway. That's only my second crash from running, so that's not too bad, and the only one to produce blood, so I will gladly take that as a badge of honor, and accept that my knees will probably be sore the rest of the day, and be glad that tomorrow is my rest day anyway.