Realized that for the summer routine will be hard to come by, but I always have my #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

I had been feeling a little down on my running strength lately. Failing to complete the long run can do that. So it was no surprise that it was a struggle to get up today. And a struggle to get moving, especially knowing that today was a tempo run.

The thing is that during the school year I had a consistent routine: get up, exercise (making certain I got back before Kim had to go to work so I could help move the cars), shower, eat, then get the kids ready, then school & work. But with the arrival of summer vacation we are looking at a different routine almost every day. The kids schedule changes up almost daily and weekly. There may be a couple of weeks where they have a similar routine, but it will still change up.

All of that means it is hard for me to stick to a morning routine. I get back 30 or more minutes on the days that I don't have to take the kids anywhere. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to get up at 4:30 on those days, when I don't have to leave the house until 8. But there will be a couple of days where I do need that early wake up, therefore the inconsistent schedule.

All of which made it harder for me to get up early today, and get into that tempo run. But once I got rolling you know what? It felt good! I had to keep repeating the word 'strong' a few times, but overall it was a real strong run. And made me feel a little better about my ability to get where I want as far as being ready for races.

Which means one thing: no matter how inconsistent the rest of my schedule is, so long as I get my morning exercise, it will all be good. Because those morning runs will be the log in the stream of chaos that I can hold onto so I can enjoy the rest of the ride.

Plateau's are difficult, regardless of the cause #Running #Diet

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Today was a struggle, not the struggle that Sunday was, but a struggle regardless. I'm not sure exactly why I have been having so many problems of late. It could be an early summer cold. It is also possible that after 45 years I have developed some allergies. Either way I have been battling a runny nose and congestion for the last week or so (likely less, it just feel like a week.) 

What that did was I did not sleep very well Saturday night, and when I woke up and tried to go for my long run on Sunday I just couldn't make it. I still managed to run 3 miles and nearly 4 miles total once I finally gave in and started walking. But my body was just really fatigued.

And I felt the same thing today, despite a better nights sleep and a true rest day yesterday. My legs and body just didn't want to get moving or keep going. I still managed 4 miles, but it was a struggle.

So it appears I have come to a plateau in my running. Where I can comfortably run a certain distance, but making the jump to the next step in mileage is giving me a real hard time. I have 2 choices when this happens. First, trust the process, and just keep pushing to that next level. Second, ease back and accept where I have gotten to.

At this point I will keep pushing, I really want to be able to complete multiple Half marathons this year. But if my body keeps telling me no, despite my adhering to the process, then I might have to listen. But I am not at that stage yet.

Now, another part of this could be caused by my dietary choices. I really need to take a closer look at what I am eating, and start cleaning that up a little. I have already basically cut out the fast food, but I need to make better choices at home too, and show a little more control. That's something I know I need to do, and have done in the past, it's more a matter of putting it into practice.

A successful week of redoing the routine #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

After a workout week of changing things up I feel good. Glad for the little warning my body gave me last week. Taking that as my warning to not overdo it, and also return to some better practices.

Just making sure that my Monday and Wednesday morning walks were shorter and more relaxed I gave my legs a little more rest. Which is especially important on Mondays. And I had gotten a little ahead of myself with the longer morning walks. My quest for miles was a little too ambitious.

Also, and I am a little ashamed to say this, but somehow I had gotten away from my post run stretching routine. Not sure exactly how it happened. But the important thing is that I got back to it this week and I am sure that has also made a difference.

Patience & knowing I have been here before help solve the problem

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Today's Run

Last week I had a bit of a crisis, my legs got real sore, so much so that by Thursday I couldn't run. I thought it through, and reasoned out the cause of the problem. I was definitely pushing myself too much with the mileage. Bit off more than I could chew. And the solution was pretty simple and two fold: cut back and actually let my off days count as true off days, and get back to a better stretching routine.

Doing that has done the trick so far, I was able to crack my long run mileage at a good number, topping any distance I had since the Half in September. And while I do feel a little restless on the off days I know it is for a good reason. 

Yesterday I was scanning the race schedule. Trying to find a good 5K to run with Jimmy & Dad this summer. Also just seeing what is out there for me to run in. 

So much of where I am now is about awareness. Being aware of what is happening with my body, and how it reacts. Last week I stuck to the new change in my diet of refraining from red meat, heavy grease, and focusing on lighter meals and sandwiches. And that has truly done the trick so far as my digestion. It truly is amazing how much more aware I have become of my body in the last couple of years.

Felt sluggish today, miles starting to take a toll, but I kept with it #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Today I could definitely feel the miles from the week starting to take a toll. I was real sluggish, and had a hard time getting going. But you know what? I still got out there and got in my 4+ miles, because that's what I do!

See, my plan has me actually running only about 3 miles 3 days a week, then the long run. But my personal goal is to hit 4 miles on my weekday runs, then keep Saturday light. And I have been doing just that. Except this last Saturday I took Danny on his Cub Scout hike, and ended up doing 2.7 miles of extra walking mileage. Which meant that my last Monday through Sunday mileage actually broke 30 miles for the week combined walking and running! That's a lot. And my legs are feeling it, they are ready for a true recovery day.

On the hike I was reminded of the range of people out there when it comes to exercise. One parent, when I mentioned running, shuddered and stated flat that he didn't run. The other parent however, told us before the hike that she had put in an 11 mile run already. So I was definitely in between them, which is a spot I can be content with.

Still figuring out the diet. I was good the rest of the week last week, but made sure that when I had my meals out, I had sandwiches instead of fast food burgers. But on Sunday I had a turkey burger, and was fine, until I had a bratwurst, and that did me in. So I am narrowing things down to having problems with a high grease content, boy doesn't that just take the fun out of life?

I guess I just cannot eat junk food anymore #running #diet

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

That was a real good run, and a great way to wind up my exercise week. A week that was 1 day shorter as I missed out on my Saturday run. But the miles just keep piling up. I am already at 12+ miles in running & walking miles heading into the weekend.

The only downside to all of this is that I am discovering that I am getting real hard on my shoes. I had to just give up on my every day tennis shoes this week after reaching the point where they hurt every time I wore them. And the only thing I do in those was walk. All of this exercise is going to result in my developing a serious shoe habit & need a special budget for it.

As far as the eating, much to my chagrin, but probably to my doctors happiness, I am developing a real intolerance of any fast food. Tuesday I had to take a short day from work so I could take James to the doctor. So I went out to eat at Culvers. Which is a small cut above the Wendy's/McDonalds level, but is still basically fast food. Well all I had was a sandwich, fries and an ice cream. Not really that big of a meal comparatively speaking. But a day later I was really feeling it, my digestive tract was very unhappy with me. It is becoming increasingly real to me that I can't even eat a meal like that once a week any more. I will have to keep adjusting my eating habits accordingly.

While this is generally a good thing from a nutritional perspective, and theoretically from a weight loss (although I was steady for the week, despite the really light weekend eating and increased calorie burn, go figure) perspective. But it does suck from the perspective that I am slowly losing my ability to enjoy eating, or at least eating the things I enjoy.

New Motto: All I've got to do is run, run, run

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Another healthy 4+ miles. Felt real good and strong. I guess the side product of breaking new milestones like 7.5 miles on Sunday, and marking 1200 + miles overall make a morning 4 miler seem easy. It's just all part of the overall progress I have made.

Another way to mark it is when you see someone you haven't see in a while, particularly someone who knew you at your heaviest. And have them remark over and over about how good you look, and show amazement about how much weight you lost. That happened to me over the weekend and I am still feeling the glow.

On another point, I seem to have developed a kind of internal appetite governor, for lack of a better term. I know that I have put some weight back on, and have been having trouble getting my appetite back in control. Well over the past week, culminating this last weekend, I was starting to develop stomach pains again. Kind of like the ones I associate with the dreaded stomach obstruction incident of last year. So I had to start easing back, and then over the weekend did a kind of purge, really limiting myself to some very limited meals, and making certain to drink plenty of fluids. As a result the pain eased off.

The lesson I am taking away from that is that was my body's way of telling me that it couldn't handle the increased weight and intake. So, I sensibly listened, and the pain eased off, and hopefully some the extra weight will start to come off as well. It was a bit of a revelation, but something I can take to heart. My body just cannot handle that much weight any more. So I have to maintain my vigilance, keep up the running, and listen to my internal signals and I should be okay.

Musing on feeling tired & how it impacts workouts

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Yesterday I was posting some comments on Facebook to a friend who is getting into working out, and having the normal struggles. In a karmic confluence I read an interesting article on Runner's world that in some sense addressed the latest problem: how to deal with the fact that sometime you just feel too tired to workout.

I certainly know that feeling, there have been many morning that I didn't much feel like getting out of bed and getting moving. The odd thing was that for me those days can often become some of my best runs as far as effort.

Well in my initial comments I hit on some of the general ideas that came up in the article: focus less on pace and more on the end result, try different work outs, focus more on where you are than on where you want to be. But after that, on my drive home, I hit on another idea: physically tired vs. mentally tired.

There is a real difference between the two feelings of tired. Being physically tired is just that: your body is fatigued, often from a good workout, or from a physical job, or a physical effort like yard work or a house project, or from illness. Trying to exercise when affected by one of the above is a fool's errand. And your body will let you know that. And not only will you not get the workout you desire there is a real chance of injury or damage.

But mental fatigue is different. This is where I was really going with my comment to my friend. When your work is mentally challenging, and stressful, that make you feel tired. But your body is not fatigued. This is one of the reasons I love to run first thing in the morning, because while my mind may not be awake yet, my body is totally fresh, and I can just let my body do the work. And then the rest of the day my body can be in recovery mode, while my mind works. Ideally I should do something physical before bed as well, but that is a mental bridge that I have a hard time crossing.

To sum up: pay attention to your body, not your mind, when it comes time to decide if you are going to exercise. Your mind can trick you into feeling like you can't workout, but try hard to ignore that and focus on what your body tells you.

The miles are starting to stack up, what a wonderful feeling #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

The miles are starting to build, where I used to have to push to get 3 miles on a weekday, and 5 was a goal for my weekend long run, now I am pushing 4 on my weekday runs, and I cracked 6.5 miles on my long run this past weekend! 20+ miles in a week is becoming the norm. It feels so good to see and type those numbers. I can feel myself getting stronger, and know that I can do even more so long as I stick to the plan.

On other news, the meal plan is working pretty well. I mostly stuck to the goal of no eating at the coach or my desk, making a point to separate my meals from the rest of my life. It's too early to tell if it is sticking for the long term, but it does feel right.

Also, I have been battling something lately. It almost feels like an obstruction again, but the feeling only comes after a big meal, and eases off after I move around some and drink some fluids. One obvious solution is to not eat big meals. But the other lesson is that it is possible that maybe my body is adjusting to the miles, and is seeking a different equilibrium as far as appetite. All I know it that I will be careful about the eating and try to lighten up a little on my cheat days.